Scaring The Crows

Chapter Nine

I watched as Harley jumped up and stormed (well, as best as she could) into Jonathan's office. I tried to protest it, as it would only make things worse, but when I managed to stop myself from crying she had already gone. The door was shut. Silence.

"You're making Kristie real upset y'know. You're horrible to her. She was only making a point" Harley frowned, folding her arms. "You need to be nicer to her. She's a nice girl, she's the first one who may even like you! Don't throw that away. Stop yelling at her. She's my friend" she continued.

"It's none of your fucking business Harley!" Jonathan growled, rubbing his temples. I heard that from where I was sitting.

"Yes it is! You're hurting one of my friends!" Harley frowned, stepping closer to his desk. Cautiously, she tilted the good doctor's head up to see that he too had been crying.

"The patients shouldn't treat the scientists" he replied, pushing her out of his office and locking the door behind her. I sniffled and staggered up from my slumped over sitting position and wiped my eyes the best I could, then walked down the multitude of cells and stopped outside a familiar one.

One with a question mark sprayed onto the door.

I unlocked the door with a spare key I'd been given and walked in to find Edward sitting at his desk, messing with what looked like a very complex puzzle box. You know, the ones you have to slide, press and twist for it to open. Only this one looked really bog and really difficult. Edward looked like he was concentrating hard, which also confirmed it's difficulty. "E-Edward? Can I talk to you?" I sniffed. He shrugged.

I sighed and sat in the chair opposite his desk, watching him mess with the puzzle. Determination was an emotion I could sense, he just didn't look like he was going to give up easily. "What's wrong?" he asked, still focusing all of his attention to the puzzle box.

"Me and Jonathan had an argument. He got all angry with me because I was making a point, then kicked me out of his office. We haven't spoken since. I just...It's got to the point where I honestly think he hates everything about me because it seems like it" I sniffed. "Then he had a go at Harley when she was sticking up for me...and he called me a patient"

But I knew that he wasn't really listening. "Mhmm" he mumbled, still trying to solve the box. I stood up, still fuming, and slapped the puzzle from his hands. It hit the floor with a crack and shattered into little pieces. I didn't even watch for his reaction before storming out of the room, where I took a deep breath and composed myself.

"Eh, stupid box wasn't worth it in the first place" he shrugged.

Paint. I needed paint. I ran down to Joker's cell and quickly grabbed a pot of red paint from under Harley's bunk (I still don't know why she has it, but it would do). "What're you doing with that?" she inquired. I smiled at her sweetly.

"You'll find out Harley" I smiled, grabbing a large paintbrush and running into the main room/living room. It was the first room I could think of that had a large enough wall: a blank canvas. Taking the paintbrush from my pocket, I set the pot of paint on the carpet and got a large amount on my brush before painting onto the wall. It would be nothing short of a masterpiece, even if that was just my opinion. I'm pretty sure there would be other people here who would love it.

I concentrated as I painted it, then scrawled a beautiful picture next to my message. Standing back, I observed my artwork and smiled. 'ROT IN HELL SCARECROW' with a morbid, red drawing of a scarecrow next to the ominous message, sporting a Joker smile. I had to say that the picture was a truly inspired moment, which in return made me grin. The joker smile gave me an idea too.

The Joker was being mean towards Harley, abusing her every time he could get the chance. Harley was my friend; she didn't deserve the punches or the kicks. The way she was being beaten up made me think about how Jonathan was making me feel. I cut a picture of Harley from a newspaper article and, while Jonathan was out testing toxins, scrawled the message 'YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE HE DOES TO HER' on his wall in paint and stuck the picture of her up. Then, I smuggled all of the patient files under my jumper and ran out, dragging a paint brush along the walls as I did, leaving a long, glistening trail of blood-red paint in my path. He'd like his little surprise.

I briefly considered burning the papers but immediately decided against it. Didn't want to make the information un-retrievable. Wait. With a wide grin I sprinted towards the stairs, running up the endless flights, unable to control my smile. I didn't realise this asylum had so many stairs. Finally I reached the top floor, and, with a kick, broke the flimsy lock on the door. Easy. I stood at the top of the building, close to the railing, holding the stack of papers precariously off the edge of the high building. I heard Jonathan running up the stairs after me and waited for the perfect moment.

"Don't you dare, Kristie!" he yelled, running over to me. I smirked softly and wavered them over the edge, watching him advance to wards me slowly. Now completely facing him, I dropped the pile of papers and watched as they fluttered towards the ground. His jaw dropped.