FREAKS || Jerome Valeska¹

06 || 'Apology'

Gotham City had become wild this week. Then again, when isn't it? Plenty of people were dying gruesome deaths as a cause of a new drug being handed out for free called Viper - It tapped into "junk" DNA. It used up all the calcium in the body, and since it was practically impossible to replenish what was lost, their bones crumbled, and they turned into blobs. They asphyxiated.

We had been sent home two hours into the school day because some students had also taken Viper and exhibited unnatural strength. They had crashed into the high school, damaging the place and injuring people. The sad part? I knew one of the kids who had done this. His name was Ethan. I remembered him as the loneliest student in school. He didn't try to make friends. I tried talking to him a few times, and I remember the one time he actually smiled at me for a stupid Biology joke I made. He was astute but also very troubled.

The cops couldn't understand the demand for such a drug if it killed you in hours, but I did. There were some people who used it for the thrill, or they did it cluelessly. But others did it for escapism. Gotham was shit. Many selfish politicians catered to the rich, there were shit jobs that made you work day and night for a minimum wage, and their only choices were to get exploited by the capitalist system or work for crime families/commit their own crimes. People have shitty lives here but cannot escape this city because they are too poor to leave it and search for better.

Why wouldn't they take this drug? They would go out with a bang if it was their last day.

I have to say, it was entertaining to watch the cops and detectives get tossed around like rag dolls. The GCPD had been like a warzone that week. They had been uncontrollable, they had turned the precinct upside down.

This week also marked the beginning of something new - Arkham Asylum had reopened its doors after fifteen years. Hopefully, there would be some change, and they were hiring good doctors in the facility to make actual progress.

Also, James Gordon had been temporarily removed from the GCPD and sent to Arkham as a correctional officer.

Today was a contrast to the entire week, and it had to do with the fact that today was the party I'd been anticipating. I had this bizarre feeling in my gut - I didn't know if it was because I was nervous or excited, or maybe both. I wanted to see Andrew but didn't want to attend this party.

I found Edward in the laboratory grinning, flashing his teeth from ear to ear, like a little boy in a candy shop. My eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Well, well, well, what's got you acting like that?"

When his gaze connected with mine, the grin only grew - I don't even know how that was possible, but it was for him. "I finally gave Miss Kringle the letter."

It had been a little more than a week, but regardless, I was proud of him. "Good job, Ed." He had tried several other ways to woo her, like a riddled cupcake, but she had dismissed them all. Now she had a boyfriend - Arnold Flass. He was such a dick. I hated his guts. He was painfully obnoxious. Whenever he spoke, I just wanted to drill my ears. "Let's hope she'll dump that Flass guy now."

"Ugh, I know. How can someone so beautiful fall in love with that disgusting gorilla?" His nose scrunched in disdain as he inspected something in the microscope. I chuckled, walking closer to his side. He smacked his lips and glanced up at me. "You are going out tonight... with your friend, was it?"

"Yeah, but I think I'll come see you after school." I nodded.

His eyes squinted, "I can't recall if you mentioned if this was a date."

"Uh... it is," I mumbled, nodding. Edward looked a bit uneasy with this information. I laughed at his expression. "Don't look at me that way. I'm not a kid anymore - I even walk myself to school." I joked.