Bloody Mary

That's Life

  *** Present Day***

  You blinked, shaking your head to clear it. Forcing the emotions welling in your chest away, you taped up the boxes. Whatever you forgot, you could always replace. You'd been working extra hours at the Grill, building up some extra money to prepare for your fresh start.

  Sam initially had a lot of questions. What happened that day at work? Did someone hurt you? Who do I need to punch in the face for you? You didn't blame her for asking. You'd passed out on the floor and she'd practically carried you home. You simply told her it was family issues; she didn't believe you, but eventually stopped bringing it up.

  Oh, Sam. Part of you felt awful. You'd picked up a paycheck yesterday, and would never show up to work again. She had absolutely no idea. Your new apartment was on the opposite side of the city, far on the outskirts. You didn't want to spend another day here, constantly being suffocated by memories.

  Nobody had approached you, asking if you'd ever met Arthur Fleck. You'd spent the first weeks after Murray paranoid, sure that someone was following you. But nothing ever came of it. Somehow, you'd escaped the investigation. And boy, was there an investigation.

  Arthur's apartment had been closed off and searched, the city suddenly obsessed with trying to piece together who this madman was. The contents of his apartment were broadcast to the world, launching massive theories regarding his backstory. This included, of course, the corpse that was discovered in the bathtub. The blood, which you'd assumed was his mothers, had actually belonged to one of his coworkers, Randall. You could only assume it was the coworker that lied about Arthur to their boss, getting him fired. If any of that was true, that is. You would always be thankful that you hadn't opened that bathroom door.

  The riots hadn't stopped. In fact, they'd gotten worse. The death of Thomas Wayne had triggered complete political and economic disarray. The piles of trash had only continued to grow. Criminals had grown bolder after Arthur's public declarations against society, against the system.

  He'd disappeared, almost as if he'd never existed in the first place. For a short while there were reports, claiming he'd been killed during the riots and dumped into some body of water. Or that he'd been arrested, and was currently locked up in some sort of super-secret government torture dungeon. But then evidence started popping up. It seemed like every time you turned on the news, there was a new criminal in a clown mask being arrested. A few of them proudly claimed to be his henchmen, out doing his dirty work. A few people even claimed to have seen him, with his signature green hair and red suit. People with connections to Arthur had mysteriously shown up dead. You knew he was alive.

  In truth, you'd stopped being afraid of the detectives and police a while ago. There was nothing tying you to him, no evidence that you'd ever even known him. It had been months - if there was anything to find, they would have found it already. No, you'd quickly become afraid of something else. Something far more terrifying.

  You imagined Arthur showing up at the grill, or suddenly knocking on your door in the middle of the night. You worried that he was tying up loose ends, and that you were one of them.

  So, you were leaving no trace behind. No information for him to find. A clean break from work, a new apartment, a new phone number, a new job, everything.

  He'd created a new life for himself, and you needed to do the same.

  You could never let him find you.

  (Author notes:I just want to say a quick thank-you to everyone that has read this story.  There will be a second book but it will take a while. But Thank you guys for supporting and have a lovely day.)