Black Eyes

Chapter 11: Happy

"Alright we are moving out. Wrap it up!" The Joker screeched as we ascended the stairs. "You-" He pointed to the closest clown near us. "Follow me." The Joker led the both of us into a room which used to be an old office, but was instead stuffed with guns, ammunition, and other weapons I had never seen before.

I shrieked when the Joker slammed the door shut and stabbed the goon right in the head. The man collapsed as the Joker ripped his clown mask off- tossing it to me. I juggled it in my hands for a moment and looked up at him bewildered.

"Congratulations, you're the new happy." He stated as he sliced the bindings holding my hands together.

I turned the mask to look at the face which was smiling up at me. "I'm... You want me to wear the mask of a man you just killed?" The thought put me in a state of awe and disgust.

"Is there something wrong with that?" The Joker paused to look at me before continuing to gather guns and smoke bombs.

I looked at the man on the floor sadly. Blood was quickly pooling onto the floor and making it's way towards my shoes. It wasn't the Joker's right to take lives like this. What if he had a family? "Come on come on." The Joker furiously ripped the mask from my hands and shoved it on my face. He purposefully tangled my hair up a bit after snapping the string on my head. "We've got some collecting to do." He giggled in excitement and began handing me all of these things which I had no idea how to use.

"But-"

Without a word I was handed a knife similar to the Joker's and shoved back out the door. It wasn't until we reached some black vans parked outside that the other henchmen began to look at me suspiciously. By now they must've noticed that Happy was now a woman.

"Uh, this one is taken." The Joker hissed at a clown who tried to get inside the first van. The guy backed away as I was shoved inside.

I couldn't tell if it was adrenaline or panic that was making my body feel this spastic. What did he mean by "collecting"? Anxiety began to crawl up my throat from the pit of my stomach as the van roared to life. If it wasn't his driving that was making me sick, then it was the situation I had put myself in. I completely blamed myself- first rule for anyone is do not talk to strangers... at night and especially in Gotham. I should've at least made a point to look at him when we spoke before getting on the bus.

We screeched to a halt at what looked like a night club. It was probably at its peak seeing as the sun had just disappeared behind the city's skyline.

A couple vans behind us came around and parked on the other sides of the building thus flanking it completely. "So this is where the fun starts, doc. We're going in there to pluck out um, a few of Gotham's 'finest' and we are just gonna take them for safe keeping until I need em." The Joker excitedly smiled showing his yellow teeth.

"So you are kidnapping people for a future hostage situation." I stated, looking back at the club. The distant thumping from heavy EDM music vibrated the car.

"Precisely. Daddy ever teach you how to play with these?" He swung a gun in front of my face playfully as he pulled out what looked like a couple smoke bombs in the other hand.

I pulled out the smallest gun he gave me which looked similar to the most popular pistol- a GLOCK 19. "Daddy wasn't in the picture growing up." I replied bitterly, checking to see if the gun was loaded (which it was) and made sure safety mode was on. "Aunty had to do all of the work and aunty was a retired cop." I unexpectedly handed the Joker my gun. "Shooting is a hobby of mine. Killing is not. Find yourself a new Happy because I won't do this."

The Joker rolled his eyes and looked at me annoyed, liking his lips. "I never asked ya to kill anyone. That's my job, though I wouldn't argue with you if you wanted to shoot someone. No no, what I need for you to do is throw these." He handed me 4 smoke bombs and a gas mask. "The gun is for protection. There's a lot of security in there. If they suspect you're with me- which they will- they will shoot."

"What will these do?" I handled the bombs in my hand carefully.

"Deliver a good night's sleep... Plus no one gets harmed. You happy yet?"

"I guess I have been since I put the mask on." I mumbled as he ruffled my hair.

"Atta girl!"

xoxoxo

Watching the other clowns take out the security guards was mesmerising. I had never seen a crime as serious as this play out before and it was definitely adrenaline pumping. We moved into the club stealthily even though we didn't have to. Most of the people here were either drunk or high, except the security guards who stood stiffly at their posts.

While I regretfully planted the already smoking bombs, the other clowns took out the guards. Once their job was done, I watched the Joker stand among the dancers and rise his arm up, gun in hand. He shot in the air a couple times, taking down lights and shattering them to the ground below. People scattered like ants and the DJ abruptly stopped his music.

"Sorry to cut your party short but I'm looking for a couple volunteers. Any takers?" When no one replied the Joker dropped his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "No? Ah well, looks like I'll have to pick them myself."

The smoke from the gas bombs began to rise dramatically as he snapped a gas mask on his head and watched it encase the building. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and turned to see a security guard struggling to get to his feet while pointing a gun at the Joker, ready to fire. I'm not sure if it was instinct, but something led me to draw my gun, point it at the guard, and shoot.

Everyone shrieked- which wasn't that loud considering they were already inhaling the gas and half knocked out. The man dropped his gun and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The Joker and all of the goons turned to look at me, knowing full well I had just saved the Joker's skin.

My heart sank at what I had done. One: I just killed someone. I now had blood on my hands. Two: I just disposed of my only way out. If that guard was allowed to shoot, I could've walked away free from the Joker.

My gun fell in unison with the people effected by the gas. Why did I let myself get caught up in this excitement? I looked around at what I had done. I planted those smoke bombs. I killed that man. I was responsible for these people who I knew the Joker would harm in some way. It felt like something snapped in my head; like a circuit disconnecting. I felt in that instant my organized mind which I tried so hard to hold up for so long came crumbling down. I was a criminal now. I couldn't possibly face my dad or continue in my education. I had just aided the Joker in his plan to bring Gotham to its knees.

I had done something unforgivable.