Chapter 3

I snickered as I watched them walking along on the sidewalk. Halloween was the perfect night to cause some real damage without getting caught. When so many people were in costume, it was just so damn easy to lose yourself. I pulled the Batman mask even lower on my face with a smirk as I trailed behind some bitch and her brat. That's when I heard it.

"Mommy! Mommy! I want to go to the haunted house!"

Her voice was so fucking happy it made me sick. "Okay, sweetie, we'll go."

I whipped around just in time to see Her take his hand and cross the street. My Ophelia ADD kicked in and I began following them. This took me to a school where people were standing outside trading canned goods for tickets. I watched silently as she took out an assortment of items and placed them in the box. A fat woman handed Ophelia two tickets and smiled at her. They disappeared inside. While the fat woman was busy with someone else, I slipped past her and strolled inside.

…

What a fucking waste of time. I punched some asshole dressed like me when he jumped out at me laughing like a retard. If you're going to impersonate someone like me, at least get the personality down. I shook my head as I exited. To make things worse, I had lost her. I was tired of doing that…losing her. I shook my head again. Get a hold of yourself. You didn't miss the bitch. You couldn't have. She was always whining when you hit her or let her starve for a few days. I didn't want that. I wanted something with no attachments, something easy. Basically, I was contended with Harley.

But I wasn't. I felt like I was missing a chunk of me, and it made me feel weak. And I hated feeling weak. I continued to walk along until I was on a quiet street. I scoffed as I thought about all of the happy fucking families that lived here. Daddy was probably a closet fag while Mommy fucked the mailman. Happy families didn't exist. They were just cover-ups so people didn't go around causing anarchy. They were just rules made by society to suppress man's primal urge to destroy. But I was above that. And that's exactly why I didn't need Ophelia and That Child to take up anymore of my time.

I walked up the walkway to the last house on the street. Imagine my surprise when I saw the same woman I had vowed to ignore through the window. She was carrying a boy in his pajamas out of the living room and up the stairs. I watched her until she disappeared. Tearing myself from the window, I began walking to the back of the house. Maybe I would just make one last house call before I decided to never see her again. I ripped the Batman cowl from my face and shook out my hair. Discarding the rest of the costume, I straightened my vest and walked up to the sliding door. I was about to smash in the glass when I saw that it was unlocked.

Stealthily, I opened it and slipped inside. I looked around the kitchen. She kept her house neat, I'd give her that. But I didn't have time to admire her interior decorating skills. I walked into the living room and then up the stairs that I had just seen her go up. I frowned; I could either go left or right. I went left and hit a dead end. Growling, I turned and went in the opposite direction. When I hit the end of the hall, I saw that if I went left, the hall continued. That's when I saw her silhouette slip out of a bedroom and close the door softly. She began walking my way, and I smirked at her.

"Hello, Dollface."

"I doubt you're here for some candy." She put her hands on her hips, "What do you want?"

Hmm, what did I want? I stared at her blankly. Why did she always manage to wipe my mind completely blank with just a simple question? Lamely, I scratched the back of my neck. "I want to see the boy."

"Really." She sounded skeptical. "Because I doubt you even give a damn about him."

"I want to see him, Ophelia." I glared at her, "And I'm not leaving until I do."

We stared at each other until she sighed, "Fine. Just be quiet."

Ophelia walked me down the hall and opened the door softly. I peered into a blue room with some sort of rocket-outer-space theme. On a small bed in the corner was the kid. He had black hair like her, and his skin was just a little lighter. He had her long eyelashes and soft face; the resemblance was a lot for me to take in.

"He likes clowns." She murmured.

I jumped. I hadn't realized she was still there watching. "Oh." I said.

The kid stirred and Ophelia grabbed my wrist. "Come on." She whispered, as she dragged me out of the room.

In the hallway, I shifted my weight from foot to foot like some sort of nervous teenager. "So, what's its name?"

"His name," she said glaring at me "is Jack."

I stared at her, and the next thing I know, my hands were around her neck and I was squeezing. "Who the fuck told you to name him that?" I hissed.

I raised her up higher as my grip tightened. She was choking and gasping and flailing around like a fish out of water. I would've kept going if I hadn't heard a sleepy voice mumble, "Mommy? What's going on?"

I let her go as my eyes widened. She fell to the floor and gasped for air. "Nothing, Jacky! Nothing's going on." Ophelia scrambled to her feet, "Let's go back to bed, okay? Come on." She ushered him back into the bedroom and shut the door.

I sank down to the floor and sat with my back against the wall, waiting for her to come back out.

…

"Get up." Someone smacked my face lightly, "I'm not messing with you right now. You need to go."

I opened my eyes to see Ophelia in my face. I stretched, "What?"

"Get out, Joker. I really don't need this right now."

I allowed her to pull me up and drag me back to the stairs. When we were in a better lit area, I noticed the bruises that had formed around her neck. I touched them softly. "Did I do that?"

"Yeah, just now when you were strangling me." she glared, "Or do you not remember?"

"I'm sorry, Ophelia. I just – that name is just –"

She put up a hand to silence me, "Save it, because I'm not buying it. You aren't sorry for anything."

"Ophelia, I miss you." I said softly.

"I told you, I'm not buying it."

"Come back with me, baby." I looped an arm around her waist, "Please?"

Ophelia pushed at my chest, "Get off of me, Joker. I'm very tired right now."

"Hey," I glared at her as I pressed my forehead against hers. "I'm fucking opening up to you right now. I expect you to listen."

"I don't want to listen to you. We hate each other, remember?"

We stood there and glared at each other. I smirked, "You never win against me, you know that Dollface?"

"I know I don't! That's because you use brute force and drugs!" She stomped a foot, "How am I supposed to win against that?"

I grabbed her by the wrists and slammed her against the wall, "What's that now?"

"What are you going to do? Rape me again?"

"Maybe I will!" I hissed.

She growled back, "Maybe you should!" That's when she frowned, "No, wait, don't do that."

I stared down at her before chuckling. Letting her go, I took a step back. "Fine, I'm leaving. Don't expect to see me again."

She looked surprised, "What?" Ophelia frowned, "You aren't coming back?"

"You obviously don't want me."

"That hasn't stopped you before."

I smiled an actual smile at her. "It is now."

"What if I stopped you?"

"And why would you do that?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. You're the father of my child, a psycho who manages to enamor me, the list goes on."

I pressed her against the wall again and looked down. Her eyes were bright, which was something that I didn't usually see when she looked at me. "So what if I kissed you."

"Maybe you should." She grinned, "And this time you should."

So I did.

A/N: This chapter is cheesy, I do realize this. But there is some goodness to come. Remember to review and stuff! Bye!