* J *

Part Nineteen: Chapter 138: House On A Hill

Joker's POV

When your entire world is about crime it makes one unable to do certain things. Simple things that we mostly take for granted because it's just the way things are. For instance, I couldn't deposit my money in a bank. It means no credit cards, no checks. That means all my transactions are in cash. Sure, I have several legitimate businesses that make more than enough money, but I'm not about being a business man. So I stash my cash, and it's all over Gotham City.

But I simply couldn't stay here in this house any longer. I can feel my sanity fraying like a rope. If I stay here something bad is going to happen. See, I'm all too aware of what it's like to lose your sanity. And I don't necessarily recommend it, not unless I'm inflicting it. I'm sure you all know how much I get off on other people's pain. And you know what, it's been a while since I've made anyone suffer. It's like an itch you can't scratch. And boy was I itchy.

So today I'm going out to find a new safe house. Isolation was the most important thing of all. It was absolutely necessary. I was, after all, in hiding. With a baby coming, I'm overly concerned about seclusion. I had to hide from my problems, because my problems are also Harley's problems. The last thing I needed was a threat against her life. No one but Frost knows about the baby and I plan to keep it that way.

So Frost, Harley, and I got in a car and started to drive around, looking for realtor signs on front lawns. We didn't need a very big place. Ideally, something in a shitty neighborhood would be more logical for hiding. But when you've been at the bottom of the barrel and climbed out, going back is the last thing you want to do. The Joker has more class than to live in a dump. I've worked too hard to go backwards. So we weren't going to be living anywhere near a ghetto. Not even over my dead body.

But as we're driving through a middle class neighborhood, more of a suburbia hell, I took note of the things I saw. The yards were so small that you could cut the lawn with scissors in twenty minutes. I could give a fuck about the lawn. I'm more concerned about my neighbors being so close that they can tell me "bless you" everytime I sneeze. What I saw most was children playing, not a care in the world. Then I could see father's washing cars in the driveway. The mother's on their knees planting flowers. And happy fat pets, running together like a pack. This. Was. Not. A. Joker. Friendly. Neighborhood. Can you imagine the stares at my appearance alone? And of course the nosey neighbors would ask questions. No thankyou.

Those people lived in a dream. In a fantasy. Living with the notion that the world is a great place. They're content in their claustrophobic suburbs where nothing bad ever happens. I'm not part of the rose tinted American dream. I'm a part of its nightmare. A part of a depressing truth no one will ever fully understand. I am rage. I am madness. I am chaos. I am anarchy. I am the monster under the bed. And every once in a while I have to remind the city of that. Have to remind...

...Bruce...

But I wasn't in Gotham. I was somewhere where I had less pull and less control. But if I stayed in this place any significant amount of time, they would learn to fear me. Damn. Its so hard trying to stay out of the spotlight. I was angry that I was running. It felt cowardly, and I hated that. But I knew what I had to do, whether I liked it or not. I couldn't let them put me through a competency hearing. My fate has already been chosen by D.A. Alday. He would do anything to make sure I'm sent to prison for the rest of my life. He won't stop until I am. There was only one viable option. I had to kill D.A. Alday and hope that the next guy fears me a bit more.

As I peered out the car window my eyes fell on a house on top of a hill. It looked like a castle. It wasn't as large as a real castle, but it was still a very large home. Every tree and bush had been strategically placed, and the yard was quite cared for. It reminded me of Wayne Manor.