Inescapable

Chapter 18: Rescuing Gordon

Tim's Point of View

I wish I could say that everything was fine after that night, but it wasn't. It was only the beginning of an unpredictable nightmare. It started with several banging knocks on our door. I opened my eyes to see Jason getting out of bed, in only his boxers, to go see what was going on. The banging persisted until Jason opened the door. It was Barbara. Her freckled face was flushed and crying.

"What the hell, Babs?" He asked, taken a back.

"He has him. He has my dad!" She blurted out before Jason had finished his question.

"We'll be right down." Jason answered almost immediately. She nodded and raced back downstairs. Jason turned to me after closing the door, concealed anger behind his bright blue eyes. We both knew what was about to happen. I sprung from the bed.

"Let's go." I said, getting dressed. Jason joined me, but didn't say a word. Two minutes later we were downstairs with the others. Dick, Alfred, and Roy were all gathered around the enormous flat screen in the den. I noticed Barbara wasn't with them.

"What's all this about?" Jason asked abruptly, looking up at the giant TV.

"This." Dick answered, clicking a button on the remote. We all looked up at the TV as a dark video began to play. It was filmed from the camera of a smartphone. The quality was grainy and pixelated in some areas. The video began by panning across three police officers whose faces were covered in bruises. A fourth person was tied to a chair with what looked like a blood stained pillow case over his head. The officers were bound and gagged and their badges were noticeably torn off. At first I thought the camera was being held upside down, but it soon became clear that unlike the masked person bound to the chair, the three men were hanging upside down. Their bodies swayed slightly into each other periodically. Blood was rushing down to their head resulting in their faces retaining a reddish color. Then an unusually creepy voice began to speak.

"Is everyone comfortable? Good." The voice laughed, making the men tense up as the camera came in closer and began to pan across so we could view all four of them. Their faces were bloody and beaten, but still recognizable. No doubt, these were the missing officers. That's when the camera zoomed out all the way, revealing a tall, lean man in a purple suit standing beside the first man hanging up by his feet. The Joker stood at eye level with the man, who could do nothing but create a muffled yell through the strip of duck tape covering his mouth. The Joker adjusted his tie and took a bow as if he were a host of a bad talk show. There were cheers and applause from off camera.

"You're too kind!" He shouted as the cheers began to simmer down.

"Joining us tonight is Officer Stanton, of Gotham P.D." Boos erupted from the off screen audience.

"Can we get a close up, Harley dear?" The Joker said with a venomous smile.

"Sure thing, Pudd'n." A woman answered in a high, annoying voice from behind the camera. The shot zoomed in on Officer Stanton's bruised and terrified face. Sweat was pouring down his face and he was shaking.

"Come on now, Officer. Surely you aren't afraid of little old me." Joker said as the camera zoomed back out. The Officer didn't try to talk again. He remained as still as possible.

"You certainly didn't seem too afraid the other night on the 10:00 news. I believe you said that I was, and I quote." The mad clown cleared his throat.

"A sick piece of human garbage.' I gotta admit, that really hurts my feelings." Joker said, leaning in closer to his face with a slight frown. The poor man's face was dripping sweat as he stayed silent. Joker' red frown dramatically turned back into it's unnatural smile. Then the clown's purple gloved hand pulled a small gun from within the folds of his purple jacket. I looked away for the moment I knew was coming. There was a bang, followed by a sickening laugh.