Diary: Jeremiah Arkham

19/04/1971

It's been weeks since I found Amadeus' diary, and god, I want to forget. How can something so sad, be so unnerving at the same time?

I had to burn it. That thing was the stuff of nightmares, what my uncle was thinking when he wrote it, I'll never know.

I pity what happened to him.

///

02/03/1972

Nightmares again.

Work's taking its toll, needed to get out, get away from it all. Dropped by the funfair at Amusement Mile, good thing it's not staying open, the whole place was ready to fall apart- still, part of me found it charming. Francis says it was his favorite place when we were kids.

Met someone by the bumper cars. Diana. She's working for the Wayne's Social Care Trust in Park Row. I told her about Francis, about our dad, she said she doesn't see her family anymore- I couldn't bring myself to ask why.

Diana's meeting me for dinner on Tuesday. I just hope I'll have some better sleep by then.

///

Cassidy smiled as she finished reading the chapter of Jeremiah's diary, with a small photo attached to the bottom of the page.

Outside the burger stands and hook-a-duck stalls of Amusement Mile, showed two people. Jeremiah; the same geeky frame and bad fringe, but with a pleasant, youthful face. Diana; golden hair, dressed smart, if not older than her age, but with a smile that had no trace of pessimism. Innocent.

They look happy...

Then, Cassidy's smile faded.

... So why...

She closed the diary and headed inside. It was time she got some answers.

Brisk walking to Joker's cell, she skidded. The hallway was shiny and wet, as if from a rushed cleaning job.

Cassidy carried on walking as a whiff of bleach stung her nose.

It was an oversight. It had to be.

As Cassidy approached his cell, she found it empty, and stood for a moment, confused.

"He's gone..."

Cassidy looked around for the source of the sing-song voice and found another patient a couple of cells down:

Julian Day.

Bald, with droopy eyes disguising the danger beneath, and his forehead tattoo showcasing all the months of the year.

She approached Julian's cell as he was reading a leather-bound book:

'The Telltale Heart

And Other Stories'

"Seems like he had visitors last night..." Julian tutted.

Cassidy paused.

Lifting her shoe, she saw, to her horror, specks of blood.

Tiny red spots left behind. Careless.

Panic gripped her face, but Julian didn't notice, flipping through pages as if he had remarked on the weather.

"All that mess. Wonder if he's survived this time-"

Cassidy rushed out of Maximum Security and straight to the 2nd Floor, as Joker was wheeled away. His pale arm hung out of the stretcher. Limp. It was too crowded to see much else of him.

Before she could run to the Med Room, a hand pulled her back.

"Cassidy! You can't go in there! Listen to me!" Joan stressed, clutching her arm.

Cassidy wriggled, crying. She was in hysterics.

It wasn't clear if she was shouting to get free- or to get to him.

"Hey. Hey... Listen- he's ok. Alright? He's ok" Joan said, softer this time, as Cassidy leaned on the verge of tears.

Joan held tight onto Cassidy, trying to calm her as Joker's stretcher reached the Med Room. After a few moments, Cassidy fell into shock, limp, as though she were nothing but a paper bag.

Joan finally loosened her grip, leading her away bit by bit.

"Come on"

As they left, Joan looked behind them, holding Cassidy in her arms as if some invisible thing were behind them, following.

///

The 2nd Floor Staff Room was nothing special. People usually went in there to raid the fridge, or for the night shift to sleep on the sofa beds when Arkham was quiet. And that was rare.

Still, for the weeks leading up to December, the Christmas decorations were up. A nice change from the usual dreariness.

Cassidy was nearest to the tree, in its trimmings of star baubles and twinkling lights. But she didn't react, not even as Joan helped her down into the chair next to it.

Joan stood beside her, keeping her away from the crowd of staff yelling around the tables. Joan squeezed Cassidy's shoulder, desperate for a sign that she was okay, but she said nothing, did nothing. She was not there.

"Like I said, the CCTV cut out- must've been somethin' up with the electrics-"

"Cut the bullshit. You know the power was working" Alyce scoffed.

"Oh, you wanna know what's bullshit? How 'bout Arkham hiring you with your fucked up past-"

"Least I'm not kissing up to the mob. By the way, who's paying for your whisky habit, Frank? Cobbepot? Or the Falcones?"

The room went silent, as if an air of dirty laundry hung over them that no one dared pile onto.

Frank's eyes saw red, and he lunged out, stopped by Lyle at the last second who trapped him in his arms like a steel vice.

Hugo stepped between them with his arms out, attempting to diffuse the situation.

"For the last time, we are not accusing anyone of anything. Mr. Doe has not informed us of the cause of his injuries. There is still a possibility they were self-inflicted-"

Cassidy, all at once, sprang to life as Hugo said this, looking up at him, her face twisted in disbelief.

"Self-inflicted?! 39 of his bones are broken!" Aaron yelled.

One of the young kitchen staff mumbled to herself, Pearl Crawford; short frizzy hair, pale eyes. Nicknamed because of the ethereal, shimmering look in them, and it stuck ever since.

"Maybe Batman did it?"

Some of the staff began whispering.

Despite Pearl's honesty- she had a bad habit of blurting things out unwanted.

Lyle, in particular, rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, sure- bet he came in for a nightcap"

Before anyone could react, they heard the door slam shut, reverberating in the air like the end of a bad joke.

Joan and Aaron saw the empty chair by the tree, and met each other's eyes with sadness.

///

It was a warmer day. So much so that the mist had, for once, parted outside the window to see the statue from the old gardens. Watching.

Flies buzzed in and around Cassidy's office, with not enough room to leave. They were the only company she could deal with. And even that was pushing it.

And it was only a matter of time before she would snap.

Cassidy stared at the rim of her coffee cup, one of many, courtesy of Arkham Asylum.

The logo in the middle read:

'You sure don't have to be crazy to work here-

But it helps!'

And that was it.

She threw the coffee cup off the table, the paperwork, and anything else on there. Digging her nails into her hair until she cut into the fleshy scalp underneath.

"Cass?" A voice from outside called, knocking on the door.

Leave me alone...

When there was no response, Aaron entered, seeing the mess firsthand.

The window. Cracked. Like a spiderweb in ice.

He looked to her for an explanation, but she didn't have one to give. She didn't even look at him.

"Back there... I... I'm sorry you heard that. Everyone's just... Been on edge-"

He knelt in front of her by the desk, with only the slightest blink from her as he approached. She didn't acknowledge him other than that. He might as well have not been there.

"Look... All of us... We came to Arkham because we wanted to help- but... It wasn't easy... We weren't prepared.... The patients... They..."

Aaron winced, gripping his hook hand as if he remembered something painful.

"... We didn't know what they were capable of... some of us got hurt..."

"So- it's ok to hurt them, right?" Cassidy sneered.

"What are-"

He looked at Cassidy, and panic set in.

"No..."

He tried to approach her, but she shook her head, backing away from him.

Distrust marked her face. And it broke him to see it.

"No! No- I swear I've never- NEVER- hurt any of them! But god- y'know- sometimes... Sometimes I wish I had..."

Cassidy looked at him, trying to search for some lie there- but his face was deadly serious.

"You don't know what they've done... The damage... the people they've killed..."

Aaron raised his hook, and Cassidy flinched back.

"This- THIS is what happens when you let your guard down with those people!"

Cassidy's fear grew, wide-eyed and speechless. If he wished to scare sense into her, it was working.

"I'm not saying they're monsters- but they're dangerous!" Aaron said, slamming his fist on the desk "More than you know!"

There was a silence between them, as Cassidy hid her face, on the verge of some other emotion that she wished to hide.

"I'm sorry... I..."

Aaron rubbed his forehead, clearing his throat of the topic.

"Listen. About John Doe... he's in Solitary... It's the Isolation Unit next to Maximum Security. I thought you should know, in case you... Wanna visit..."

He turned to her with a solemn gaze.

"Just... Be careful..."

Aaron closed the door behind him, leaving Cassidy in peace. Peace. It wasn't the word she was thinking of at all.

Flies nested in the far corner of the room- a few landing on Elizabeth Arkham's painting.

In all impossibility, Cassidy swore the picture's eyes were darker, and the mouth was more open, as one of the flies crawled across it. As if something was rotting underneath.

And something was.

///

In the auditorium, Cassidy sat with Arnold Wesker on one of the cinema pews, watching Disney's 'Pinocchio' from the projector. Arnold sat giggling, like a child, while his big bad puppet held the snacks.

"Solitary? That don' surprise me- laughin' boy's been in there more times den I can count" Scarface said, unsuccessfully throwing popcorn at his wooden mouth.

Cassidy watched most of them drop to the floor as her voice broke.

"Why? Why don't they just take him to a hospital?"

"Why do ya think? They don' wanna put up with him! No one does!" Scarface said, wafting his hand. "Not the cops, not rehab- nobody. Only place he can rest is solitary- and boy, ya have to do some pretty messed up stuff to get in there- or piss off the wrong people, anyway. And Joker? He's a master of both. My guess is he pushed too many buttons. Guards are sensitive to critique, believe me- we know"

Scarface pointed to Arnold, too oblivious to know they were watching him, and it was then that Cassidy saw them. Bruises. Some yellowish, some a deep purple, all around the side of his head. Cassidy held in a pained gasp when she saw his neck.

Dented. With finger marks.

"Don' sweat it kid, it happens to most of us in here- we're used to it"

Cassidy leaned in close to Scarface, checking around them to make sure none of the guards in the auditorium were paying attention.

"Please- if someone's hurting you- you have to tell me!"

"Doll, we've tried the same routine a million times. Nothing works. They think we're nuts. Hell, to them I'm just a pile o' wood with termites!" Scarface laughed, shaking his head. "C'mon, who's gonna take us seriously?"

"I do"

"Yeah, yeah... I know" Scarface muttered, his tone heavy with defeat. "Your grandpa was like that. Too soft, always lookin' out for us. Didn't do him any good-"

Cassidy grimaced, and there was a pause between them.

"Just be careful... alright? Dat's all I'm sayin'"

Arnold laughed louder as the film's song came to an end.

"🎵There are no strings on me!🎵".

A/N: Slowly going crazy from the amount of times I've searched 'Pinocchio' on YouTube...