The heart of the joker

Chapter 17

I wake up to someone tapping my shoulder. Jolting up i see the man from earlier, 

"h-hi?"

"your gonna miss your stop..again"

Looking out the window my eyes widen, its dark. I jump up and stand in the aisle and he stands next to me, 

"thank you for waking me, when did you get on?"

"no problem hun, and about 10 minutes ago"

I nod and a few minutes later the bus stops at my stop, 

"thank you again"I smile,

he nods and i get off. I go in my bag and get my phone out, 

"10pm! fuck"I say,

running into me and Ash's house she stands up from the sofa, she had been crying,

"where were you?! why didnt you answer your phone!"

"im sorry, i fell asleep on the bus, i only woke this tome because a man tapped me"

She rushes and hug's me, 

"wait, a man woke you?"

"yeah, blonde hair, dark eyes, roughly 6 foot"

"stay away from him, hes a dangerous man"

I pull away from Ash, 

"what the hell? you know even know him, and can you stop being so protective of me? im fin e okay!"

I push past her and head to my room, 

"Ryder, im sorry.."

"whatever"

I slam my door shut, i place my head agaisnt the door, and suddenly theres a sharp pain in my head and i couch to the floor,

"Sleep with me tonight?...please?"

"...okay"he says quietly with a nod,

I walk to a wardrobe and I change from my jeans to pyjama shorts and a test top, I turn to see a fuzzy figure in just shorts,

"Am I alright like this?" the figure asks,

"Yeah"I smile,

I walk over to the bed and the figure lifts the covers and I get in, it covers us and wraps their arm around my waist and pulls me in,

"Is this okay?"

"No"I say,

they let go and I turn over, the figure lays flat and I put my head on their chest and in return they wraps their arm around me,

"This. Is fine"I smile.

The pain goes, slowly and i let go of my head, 

"what are all these things i keep seeing?"I whisper,

I change into pyjamas and get into bed. 

6 months have gone by and the flashbacks are less frequent but they're longer and more painful. Im starting to see more but the figure is always blurry and his voice is always slurred and the pitch always changes. Mr Wayne took me out on more dates and we are officially dating. 

I walk out of work and see Bruce outside, stood by his car. 

"Bruce what are you doing here?"

"im taking you out tonight"

"but im supposed to walk Ash home, remember"

"no Ryder, its fine, go have fun"She smiles,

"both of you get in the car"Bruce laughs, "Ill drop you home Ash"

"oh no yo-"

"its not a question"he grins, 

Ash rolls her eyes but we get in anyway. Once we drop her home Bruce takes us back to his. 

"this place always amazes me"

Bruce laughs and puts a hand behind me and gently leads me to the bedroom. As we pass the lving room I look around, as I walk through the door to the bedroom a sharp pain goes through my head, 

"ah!!"I gasp and collapse to the floor, 

"Ryder?!"Bruce says,

he holds me as I glaze over, another vision thing is in my head.. 

"im sorry, i didnt mean to hurt your boyfriend!"a fuzzy figure shouted, this one was different to the other though slightly shorter and more built,

i dropped a bag and ran out the room and got into the figure's face,

"HES NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!"

"then why did you save him? after everything hes done?!"

"i dont know!! i have and i dont feel any regret!"

i walk back to a room simular to the one Bruce had just taken me to and continue to pack a bag again,

"i think its a bad idea! you'll end up getting hurt!"

i growled, i finished grabbing everything and stomped out the door,

"i dont care what you think! and i can defend myself thank you! now i have my things and ill be leaving!"

The pain subsides and i slowly open my eyes, Bruce is stroking my hair and looking down at me. 

"what was that?"He asks, 

"ah nothing, i just get these vision like things"

"oh really? what are they about?"

"i dont really know, its like they're memories"

Bruce's hand stills in my hair,

"what was this one about..?"

"well i was in a room, that looked a lot like this.. and i shouted at someone 'hes not my boyfriend' and i was packing a bag really angrily"

Bruce's eyes widened for a second then he laughed,

"maybe when you hit your head your memories are jumbled? ill get you a doctors appointment"

"no, no its-"

He strokes hair out of my face and kisses my forehead, 

"id rather you get checked"

"okay"I smile, 

when Bruce said he was going to get me a doctors appointment I wasn't expecting the next day..but here I am walking out of the doctors with a bottle of pills in my hand, 

"so remember to take them every morning and night, and-"

"-and if i start to have a flashback yes I know"

"im only trying to help"

"i know, i know"I sigh, 

we get in his car and I cant help but feel something is wrong.