The A, B, Cs—Batstyle—A is for Arkham

A. Arkham Asylum

Chapter One

Arkham. A place even Satan would call a hellhole. The criminally insane lurk at every corner. They stare you down, somehow twisting your own mind in the process. It's a dark, depressing place. My skin crawls every time I go there. Especially when I have to meet with one of psychos. Even so, I probably belong in there. But I know I'll never put myself up to that.

I can't sleep. All I can do is work. I've been staring at the computer screen for hours. I've read of the same files a million times. I've come to memorize it all, but I still look at them again and again, hoping I had missed something. That I had overlooked some major clue that would put this whole thing to rest. But I come up empty.

It's 4am. I sent Alfred away to rest a few hours ago. Rest. I don't think he ever sleeps. But then again, neither do I. I haven't had a good night's rest since I was eight years old. And I won't again until the streets of Gotham are safe and secure. They'll never safe. Not in this city.

Alfred worries about me. Alfred worries about all of us. We know what we're doing, we've told him that. But he just can't help but worry. Even after all these years. He's a good soul, Alfred. He's family to me. But he could never replace my father. He is just a dear old friend. He's one of my few only friends. God knows I would not be here if it weren't for the old man. Hmph, God. I try not to think about my own religion. I was raised as a Catholic, at least until my parent died. From then on, I wondered if there even is a so-called God. And if there was, why did he do that to them? Why did he do this to me? Why has Gotham fallen into the pit of the devil's lair? Why…Why…Why? That's all I can do. Ask why. But I know I'll never get an answer. I'll never know if there is a true God. I'll never know why all of this had to happen. All there'll ever be left is the question, never the answer. And I hate not knowing the answer to a question.

I still have nothing. No hints. No clues. No answers at all. I only have six hours left. I've working on this case for weeks and still don't have anything to use. There has to be a lead somewhere. There's always a lead. Only six hours. Six hours before I have to go to that psychotic zoo. That prison for those who are probably too far gone to ever get the help they need. The place full of over-medicated and deluded scum. That hellhole where the walls are made of paper. Where you can't even trust the guards who run the place. In now less than six hours, I have to go there. I have to go there and I still haven't found anything. In less than six hours, I have to meet…him. The biggest pain to me living in Gotham. The king of the criminally insane. One of the two men I hate most of all. I hear his voice in my head at night. I know that he's planning something. He always is. The thought of it keeps me awake and working. He's the one person who I just can't… I don't even know who he is! Or at least who he was. Now, the whole world knows who he is. I can't even play solitaire anymore. His name…it's poisonous for me to say. Every time I see him, rage fills inside of me and I just want to… I have to meet him in just a little over five hours from now. Five hours. That's not enough time. But then, there is never enough time. I can feel him waiting for this. Waiting to tick me off. Waiting for me to grab and threaten him as our "little game" always goes. Five hours until…The Joker.