Hanging with Sorrow

Chapter 17

"Fuck off," Raven said venomously, yet with a slight tremble that she knew the Joker was aware of. She knew that he was enjoying her fright, that it made him feel powerful. She gulped and did her best to imitate Damian's infamous glare, channeling all of her anger towards her captor. As long as she was here, she was gonna do her damn best to make sure that he didn't sense any more of her fear.

"Raven!" Joker clutched at his heart dramatically, grinning like a madman. "How hurtful and vulgar! What did I do to deserve this?" Raven squirmed against her bonds as the Joker stalked closer to her, leaning into her face so that their foreheads were almost touching. Raven's eyes widened, and she tried to back her head away from him as far as she could. 

"Let me go," Raven spat. 

"Now, why the hell would I want to do that?" The Joker asked in a husky tone. "God, you look even better than Harley."

"You disgust me," Raven growled, struggling against her bonds more. The Joker put his hand inside his coat, pulling out a pocketknife from one of the hidden pockets. He flipped it open, examining it, before placing it on her chin, and drawing it down to her collarbone, then to her breasts, stopping just above her belly button. He barely put pressure as he cut, just enough to draw blood. Raven tried to stop from squirming, squeezing her eyes shut. Azar, this place reeked. It smelled like death, like rotting bodies and old blood. The Joker leaned in even closer, moving his hands around on her, and Raven tried to focus on the demon inside of her, trying to access her powers, if even for a second. But she was too weak. Her energy was drained. 

Joker chuckled, messing with her hair. "There's no point in trying to use your powers. You're too weak, and even if you managed to use them, I have my men all over this joint. You'll never make it out of here, alive at least."

Scowling, Raven said, "I might not be able to use my powers right now, but at least I can still do this!" Using as much strength as she could muster, Raven headbutted Joker in the nose, and he stumbled away, grimacing in pain. Raven rest her head back against the bed, panting. She'd barely done anything, yet she felt like she'd just ran a marathon. Come to think of it, she didn't remember how she had gotten here in the first place. She had left her room and went outside to get some air, and then she couldn't remember anything else until she opened her eyes here. The Joker had probably drugged her with a dart or something so she couldn't put up a fight or alert anybody inside. How had she let this happen? 

The Joker was hunched over, his head cradled in his hand. Raven felt a pang of fear run through her body. She shouldn't have done that. She was completely at Joker's mercy, and one measly headbutt wasn't going to stop that. She had probably just made him more mad. The Joker slowly straightened, his hands still covering his face.

"Peekaboo," Joker said, moving his hands away from his face. Raven let out a tiny squeak. Joker had smeared the blood running from his nose all over his face, and there was still a steady stream of blood flowing from his nostrils. His nose looked like it might be broken. "That was very, very naughty, Raven," Joker cooed, holding his nose in a bad attempt to stop the blood. He stepped closer to Raven and cradled Raven's cheek with his other, just as bloody hand. "I was going to save this for later, but now I want to do it now since you've been such a bad girl." He stepped out of the room for a moment, and came back holding what looked like a bomb canister. 

"What- what is that?" Raven asked, trying to keep her voice steady. She felt Joker's sticky blood on her cheek, and she repressed a shudder. 

"Why, I'm so glad you asked! This is a little thing that I traded with my good buddy Scarecrow for a night with Harley," He chuckled, and attached the canister to a mouth piece. "Open wide, and put this in your mouth dear, or else I'll chop your toes off!" The look in Joker's eyes was so deranged, Raven knew that the smart option was probably to comply with what he was saying even though she had no clue what kind of drug he was about to give her. She knew that he probably wouldn't kill her right away, not before he had his fun with her, so at least she knew that whatever she was about to inhale wouldn't kill her. The drug in the canister looked different from all of Scarecrow's other fear toxins; this one was bright pink rather than a yellowish green.