You Can Run But You Can't Hide

Chapter 1

Lightning eliminated the black night sky of Gotham City. The thunder rumbled shaking the buildings on the street.

The sounds of traffic, horns honking, and people talking was all anyone heard when they walked down the streets with their umbrellas.

Although in the back alley of Gotham, it was dead silent. In the silence, there was a teenage girl. She was shaking from the cold. This was Regina.

Her clothes were torn. Her long red hair was wet and plastered to her skin. The dark eye makeup she had applied earlier that day was running down her cheeks.

Her hands were across her chest, rubbing her arms trying to keep warm. She was sitting with her knees up to her chest. She rocked back and forth.

Am I safe? Will I be ok? Who is going to save me from this nightmare? If only I hadn't run into him, she thought.

She started to cry silently while her thoughts went back earlier that day to when the living nightmare had started.

(Earlier that day)

Regina had gotten up at the sound of her alarm clock. Getting out of bed, she threw off her black nightgown and slipped into her black jeans with a black turtleneck.

Sitting at her vanity, she brushed out her long red hair and put on some black eyeliner and eye shadow. Seeing she looked fine, she went downstairs.

She said nothing to her drunken sound asleep pig she called a dad. Grabbing her backpack, she exited the apartment and went to school. Her dad always worked nights. She never asked what he did and frankly she didn't care.

Her mom had died when she was 7 from a car accident in the Narrows. Regina had no other siblings. She was an only child.

It was just another day in Gotham City for her. Regina was antisocial in school. She had no friends and had acceptable grades in class.

Waiting for the bus to come, she shivered from a gust of wind that had blown near her bus stop.

"Hey Regina!" called a male voice from beside her. Regina groaned as she looked to her side to see a gang of boys that had always tormented her.

"What do you want Sean?" asked Regina now looking the opposite direction.

"What do I want babe?" repeated Sean while he and his gang buddies came up to her.

"I want you honey," he said as he touched her ass.

Regina gasped and swung at him, but missed.

"Don't you fucking touch me ever again," said Regina.

"You know you want it," said Jason, another of Sean's group.

"The only thing I want is for you dipshits to drop dead," said Regina as she got on the bus that had arrived.

The boys followed her onto the bus to continue the tormenting.

Regina sat at the back of the bus along with Sean's gang.

"Please just leave me alone," said Regina as Eddie sat next to her pinning his body to hers near the window.

"You know, you have gorgeous hair," said Matt.

"I know that," said Regina.

"I wonder what would happen if it got cut," said Sean as he pulled out some scissors.

"Don't you fucking dare," said Regina as she got her hair together in her hands.

Then the bus stopped.

"Hey you kids!" yelled the bus driver.

Regina knew they had gotten into trouble.

"Hey You! The redhead. Off the bus," he said.

"What?! I didn't do shit!" yelled Regina.

"Off now!" he yelled.

Regina didn't need to be told twice. She gathered her book bag and got off the bus.

The driver then closed the door in her face.

Regina glared at the bus and flicked it off. Then she looked where she was. This was the BAD part of Gotham City. Regina knew where to go thankfully.

All around her were old buildings and homeless people. She saw some fires in the trash cans and people near them trying to keep warm.

Regina kept on walking until she got to a bridge that led over the river and into the busy part of Gotham.

Regina looked over her shoulder. She didn't know why, but since she had gotten off the bus she had felt someone watching her.

Regina looked up and saw nothing. Nothing was out of the ordinary. She shrugged off the feeling. But she was sure she had heard someone laughing.

Regina was late to school and had gotten a warning not to be late again, otherwise she would get detention. It was a fast day for her.

In history class, the teacher had actually made them watch a tape of the local news. It was 3 months ago this was recorded on the local news.

Apparently the Joker had threatened to blow up a hospital unless some guy named Coleman Reese was shot dead.

Back then, all of Gotham was in a panic. Some people had already tried to kill Reese and were unsuccessful. Regina didn't actually care. She watched the tape and took notes and then the bell rang.

"Oh crap. I'm going to be late to my next class," said Regina.

She gathered up her notebook and put it in her bag. Then before she left the room, she saw the Joker on the news.

"Oh God. He's totally scary looking. I'd hate to run into him," she said as she left the room.

She went down the stairs and into her next period class. Her last class, which was art.

"Alrighty class! Settle down!" he said.

Regina took her seat at the front of the class and listened to see what the assignment was.

"Current events," said the teacher Mr. Smith.

"I want you to choose a place or a person you have recently seen and capture it on paper," he said.

Regina racked her brain. "Recent," she said.

Then it clicked. She was going to draw the Joker.

By the end of the class, she was finished. Regina had drawn the Joker dancing on a burned down Gotham. A gun in one hand and a knife in the other.

Burned skeletons were all around him. And the Batman was flying above.

Mr. Smith came over and looked at the work she had done.

"Regina," he said. "What is this?" he asked holding up the picture and inspecting it.

"Uh, a current event?" asked Regina trying to perk up the situation.

"I am going to have to have a talk with your father about this," he said.

"Good luck," whispered Regina. Regina closed the sketchbook and put it back in her backpack. Then the bell rang signaling the end of another school day. Now it was the weekend.

Regina got up and ran out the door to her locker, grabbed her coat and rushed to catch the bus home.

Once at the bus stop, she saw the bus and the people boarding it.

"Made it," she said as she started to get on the bus, but the bus driver stopped her with his hand.

"Sorry missy. NO room for you on this bus," he said.

"Excuse me? Why the fuck not?" she asked clearly getting angry.

"I saw what happened this morning and there is no way I'm letting you on this bus," he said. He shoved her out the door and Regina landed hard on the cement.

"What you are doing has to be illegal," said Regina standing up and brushing the dirt off her.

"You want to whine, tell it to someone who cares," said the driver. Then he sped away again leaving Regina in the same situation she was in this morning.

Regina sighed and then began the 10 mile walk home. Clouds came and soon the wind really began to pick up.

Regina walked slowly and cautiously throughout the bad part of Gotham. She got looks from the homeless people. Regina kept her head down and walked faster.

Maybe if I leave them alone, they'll leave me alone, she thought.

Then just like this morning, she heard it again. The laughing.

Regina looked around and couldn't find the source of it.

But being curious, she followed the laughter. It lead to an abandoned warehouse.

Once inside, Regina then figured out the laughter was coming from the 2nd floor.

She slowly stepped on the stairs. Her breathing came from her mouth.

At the top of the stairs, she saw light coming from under a door. Regina kneeled down on the rotten floor and peaked in the keyhole.

There she saw him. The Joker and he wasn't alone. His henchmen were there wearing clown masks. Regina silently gasped. She had accidentally found the Jokers hideout.

Regina watched intensely. The Joker was laughing and waving around a knife.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked to a particular person who was bound and gagged to a chair. He was beaten pretty badly and was bleeding badly.

There was no response from the guy that was tied up. "You know you can't go to the police. And do you know why?" asked the Joker.

"Because it isn't part of the plan," he said. Then he took the blade and carved a smile into his lips.

"There! Now you look just like me!" said the Joker.

He licked his lips. That's when Regina got a very good look at this psychotic clown.

He was clad in a purple suit. He had purple leather gloves on. But his most scary feature was indeed the make-up. His eyes were surrounded in black war paint. His lips were red and so was the scars on either side of his cheek.

Regina backed away from the door. She knew where this place was.

I just saw a murder. I'll have to go for help. I'll go get the police, she thought.

Regina descended the stairs slowly. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure no one had seen her.

Regina was so close to the door when it happened.

"HEY YOU!" shouted a voice from the top of the stairwell. "Shit," cursed Regina, then she ran.

Regina burst through the door and into the now pouring rain.

She heard footsteps behind her and knew that she was being followed.

Dropping her backpack on the sidewalk, Regina bolted into an alley and just kept on running. She dodged in and out of alleys.

The goon had chased her as fast as he could. He saw which way she was heading. Then he opened fire with the machine gun he had around his arm.

Regina screamed as the bullets missed her or ricocheted off the metal trash cans.

"I'm in a living nightmare," she said.

The goon had gone back to the Jokers hideout.

"She saw us," said the goon to the Joker.

"Mm-hmm," replied the Joker.

"Did you kill her?" he asked.

"No, but I got something better," said the goon. He handed the Joker Regina's fallen backpack.

"Ah. The little rabbit dropped something," said the Joker. He unzippered the bag and pulled her sketchbook.

"So she's an artist," said the Joker as he flipped through the pages. Then he saw the drawing she did of him.

"Oh wow! That is an awesome drawing of me!" he said as he danced around with the drawing. "Wheee!" he said.

Then he looked at the name on the sketchbook. "Regina Blackburn," said the Joker.

"And what do you know? Her address is on here too. Pack up boys. Tonight we are going rabbit hunting," said the Joker. Then he and his henchmen left the building.

Regina had ran and ran until her legs were bruised and bleeding. After taking so many twists and turns, her clothing had ripped. Her hair was soaking wet and she was panting hard.

She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she was lost in the city that had jokers and clowns around every corner. And these ones were carrying weapons.

"How did this happen to me?" asked Regina as she hugged her knees up to her chest.

"What is going to happen to me? I know the Joker is after me, but what can a girl like me do?" she asked.

"You can start by telling me exactly what happened," said a strong voice from in front of Regina.

Regina looked up and there standing right in front of her was the Dark Knight himself: Batman.