Terror In Gotham City

Chapter 14

*Accalia*

Dressed in a black skirt that stops just before my knees with a vibrant red shirt tucked into it, my black combat boots, my satchel, and Jerome's jacket from weeks ago, I walk into Arkham with Edward right behind me, being guided, once again, by Mr. Scott. The woman at the reception smiles at me this time, her hazel eyes alive and happy - quite obviously enjoying having another female around that isn't crazy. I return the smile and follow the guard past the recreation room. Unfortunately, this time there are people in it. Wolf whistles sound and I roll my eyes, but stop when Edward pokes my shoulder. Looking back at him, he motions into the room. Following his motions, I meet the bright blue eyes of my adoptive mother, and my jaw drops. Her eyes glisten with happiness and she skips over to us, a giant grin on her face. All I can do is stare at her Arkham uniform in disbelief when she stops right in front of me. "Barbara?" I ask, blinking several times in shock. "What the hell did you do to get in here?"

"Killed my parents," the blonde replies, merely shrugging as though murder is a trivial thing.

"Well, you'll get along just fine with my best friend then."

"Ooh. Jerome's in here?"

"He killed his mother. At the circus? Remember?"

"Right. Sorry. My minds a little mixed up right now. I just got over the aftershock of killing my parents. Now, I feel good about it."

I lower my voice. "Killing someone does give a little rush, doesn't it? It's addictive."

Her eyes widen. "What?"

"Miss Gordon," Mr. Scott says, drawing my attention. "I am sorry, but I must cut this off. The patients are starting to get... rowdy, if you will, with your being here."

I smile, moving away from the fence. "No. I understand. See you later, Barbara."

"Accalia!" Barbara calls. "What the hell did you mean by that?! Accalia!" Sending a wink over my shoulder at her, I follow Mr. Scott to the visitation room from last time. At our exchange, Edward lets out a small chuckle but says nothing. Opening the door, I walk in and instantly plop onto the comfortable bed, sighing in delight as Edward sits down at the table once again and Mr. Scott goes to collect Jerome from where ever the ginger gets to when he's not in the recreation room with the rest of those admitted to this horrific place. It doesn't take as long as last time for Mr. Scott to get Jerome. As soon as he walks through the door, I run over to him and wrap my arms around his neck, his hands going around my waist and lifting me off the ground as he spins me around. Setting me back on the floor, I tug my skirt back down from where it had risen and grin up at him, my eyes sparkling with a mixture of tears and happiness. An answering grin appears on his face as he takes my outfit in, and confusion spreads across his features when he sees the skirt.

"You don't wear skirts," Jerome murmurs, his forest green eyes looking up into my blue-green ones. "What's with the drastic change, little terror?"

Backing away from him, I watch as his expression becomes slightly terrifying. "There's something I never told you, ginger. Something I never told anyone until last night."

"Why are you backing away from me?"

"I don't know how you're going to react to what I'm going to say."

"This is really bad, isn't it?" I nod, looking over to Mr. Scott. All he does is nod and walk out of the room. A moment later, the red light turns off on the camera, and it's not missed by Jerome. His eyes zone in on my skirt as I sit on the bed, crossing my legs and allowing the black material to slip down, revealing the white of the medical patches. Jerome's jaw tenses and he clenches his hands, walking over to me and just standing there. My eyes flicker to Edward and he nods, getting up and leaving. As soon as we're alone, the ginger's eyes darken.