“Try not to scream,” the Joker cackled, as he brushed the ropes that webbed me with the taser. The electricity licked the copper coils, and I whimpered as I felt burning, buzzing heat all over my body. My face twitched. My left eye snapped shut, and drool oozed down my cheek.
It frightened me more when he stopped laughing. I felt his breath on my ear. “What? No scream?”
No. It felt like I had bees stinging all over my body. I didn’t care. I hated him. He didn’t know that I made my peace with dying here yesterday, and all I cared about now was not giving him the satisfaction, any satisfaction at all.
He laughed, harder, and I could feel his teeth brushing my ear.
No. No.
He snapped off the taser. I slumped into the chair, gasping and blinded from sweat. I couldn’t see. I smelled awfully ripe, too. “You’re not any fun,” I heard. His voice sounded far away. “I might be done with you.”
The door slammed. I heard footsteps, and on number five, just like the past week, he turned off the lights. This time the snap of the switch was angry. I heard something that sounded like punching a wall. For the first time in a week, I actually smiled instead of him.
This post was inspired by the prompt “Try not to scream” at Inspiration Monday at Be Kind Rewrite.
“Why So Serious?” is a drawing by Shavonne Bryan and is used without permission.
Wow. Love this. I especially like the detail of the number of steps to the light. It adds depth and reality.
I’ve missed you! It seems like forever since I’ve read your stuff.
Thanks!!! It *has* been forever. I was finishing up a class, gobs of overtime at work, and I had a short hospital visit in between. As always, in the end I couldn’t stay away from writing. TheDaily400 may be more like TheDaily100 this year.
[...] WritingSprint [...]
Excellent writing, you left me in the character’s mind, feeling the same things – the feel of teeth brushing the ear was almost worse than the burning electricity, so subtle but so invasive. Well done!
Thanks! Heath Ledger’s Joker has to be one of the most frightening characters I’ve ever seen. I used the ear image because the worst villains seem to play with intimacy in a way that goes too far — turning a sensation that’s usually comforting into one that’s awful.