Rebecca woke up very drowsy. Well at least she assumed she woke up. For a start, she was never really asleep. The darkness just seemed to cloud around her due to her senses being muddled with the drug Scarecrow used. If she did sleep, she didn't dream anything, which she was thankful for. Only God knows what damage her mind had received.
The air was still thick and suffocating. The remainder of the drug had obviously not worn off yet. She could hear the ticking of the clock; the only hint that she was in fact conscious, but then she remembered Alex didn't even have a clock, hence why her timescales were horrific. What difference did it make? There was defiantly a ticking sound in her head. She was not imagining it.
"Crane," she mumbled. He did not come back even though he promised he would. Rebecca was in no state to lay the blame on anybody, but Dr. Crane's face stayed in her mind when she thought about the events of the previous night.
"Time?" she twitched her fingers and raised her head slightly, but keeping it up was too big an effort. She was facing a large wooden wardrobe which she recognized as being the one in Alex's bedroom. Remembering the position of the wardrobe in the room, she concluded that she must have been lying on the floor and as the feeling returned to her legs, it was confirmed.
"Get up," although she told herself this, her willpower was a bit less lenient. Lying there, she began to understand the common phrase, 'Life fucks us all.'
Meanwhile Dr. Crane was on his way to visit Rebecca and see how she was doing. He was whistling, as he always did when he was pleased with himself and he carried a back of groceries that were due yesterday. He would just have to spin a line and hope she'll trust him.
When Rebecca heard the door opening she nearly shit herself. Literally.
"Only me," Jonathan beamed, light-hearted and cheery.
Rebecca craned her neck. She saw who it was and gave a grunt."How did you get in?" she mumbled.
"You left the door open," he gestured. Rebecca's heart sank; that was how Scarecrow must have got in.
Rebecca laid her head back onto the floor again, trying to ignore him. She was still peeved that he didn't bother to come back last night. Who knows, maybe Scarecrow wouldn't have came if she had, had company?
"I brought some food," he shook the bag suggestively, but Rebecca didn't even glance at him. "Why are you lying on the floor?"
"Because I'm still drugged up."
He frowned, "what do you mean 'still'?"
Rebecca rolled onto her back so she was facing the ceiling, "When you didn't come back last night, I had a visitor."
"An old friend who wanted to inject you with heroin?"
She grunted, annoyed at his 'playing for a fool' act, "No you stupid…*sighs* It was Scarecrow. He drugged me up and played with me for a bit."
Dr. Crane walked into the room and sat on the bed. Rebecca's eyes snapped to him and she had to regain her gaze on the ceiling to stop herself from unleashing her frustration onto him.
"You still haven't answered me."
"What?"
"Why are you lying on the floor?"
Rebecca paused for a moment. She couldn't place a reason. She just kept running around the room, hunching into corners and screaming at Scarecrow to leave her alone. She didn't remember ever settling herself onto her stomach on the floor. She shrugged, "I don't know."
He faked a gasp, "Wait…he didn't…y'know…" He rolled his eyes awkwardly and she noticed his cheeks flushing slightly. Cleary he wasn't one to talk about intimacy or anything sexual.
"No. Not that I'm aware of," she had thought about it, but there was no pain between her legs. That could however, be due to the drug but she's positive she would remember something in that nature.
"I'm sorry I didn't come back," Rebecca met his gaze, curious at what his excuse would be. "Harvey…didn't quite believe the story so…I got into a bit of a hassle."
She sighed. Who was she to pin anything onto him? It's not like it was his fault that Scarecrow came around. "It's okay."
"Are you going to get up now?"
She smiled to herself, "Yeah…" She swung her arms towards the ceiling to try to give her a boost, but her stomach ached and her legs wouldn't budge. Her head hit the floor pathetically, "I…I…can't."
"Would you like me to help you?" it escaped his mouth before he had thought it through. He hoped she would say-
"Yes please."
Not exactly what he wanted, but he had to comply now since he asked. He suppressed a sigh and reached out for her hand awkwardly. She grasped it tight and he pulled, but she just dragged along the carpet.
"I'm going to need your help with this…" he puffed.
"Oh yeah…sorry…" she balanced herself on her honkers and with the help of Dr. Crane's hand, she was pulled to her feet.
She took hold of his shoulder as she wasn't very steady on her feet. Dr. Crane looked almost awkward, but she didn't notice due to her eyes being closed as she took deep breaths. Smiling she said, "I think it might have worn off now." The air finally felt like air and she breathed in and out appreciatively.
Now that her mind had cleared, she was unwillingly recalling different memories from the previous night.
Rebecca ran straight into the door, which she presumed was open, but turned out to be shut tight. She pounded her fists off the wooden surface and scrabbled at the doorknob, but when feeling something prickly on the back of her neck she screamed and ran in another direction. Feeling a woolen material brush her ankle, she fell onto the floor, her face buried in something suffocating.
Dr. Crane noticed that Rebecca's breathing had quickened. He followed her gaze which landed on the bathrobe which was lying on the floor. She seemed to be staring at it with a lot of concentration. "Uh…are you alright?"
She couldn't breathe. The material seemed to whirl around her head and constrict. The wool forcing itself into her mouth. Scarecrow reached out and grabbed the bathrobe from her and threw it out of her reach. She glanced up with almost no relief as she saw who saved her from the damned woolen robe. Her face was wet with tears.
"Rebecca?" Jonathan raised his voice, "What's wrong?" He touched her hand and she snapped it back, her eyes now boring into his face. Alarmed, he took a step backwards, "Rebecca-"
Scarecrow grabbed her hand tight in his own hairy claws. She started hysterically sobbing as he stroked it in circles. "You have such soft skin," he muttered.
"Let go of me!" she continued to cry. She had no strength left. "Please."
Rebecca pushed Jonathan Crane with all her might and he fell backwards, hitting his head off the floor. "Don't touch me Scarecrow," she hissed.
Dr. Crane was positively terrified. Rebecca was a lot stronger than she looked. "I'm not Scarecrow," he tried to reason with her, "It's me Doctor Jonathan Crane."
"Crane?" she queried.
"Yes…" he stood up and brushed down his clothes with his hand, "It's me Dr. Crane. Your friend." He walked towards her, noticing a change in her expression.
Her face crumpled as she started to cry, "You didn't come back!" She collapsed onto the floor, "you left me alone."
At this point, Jonathan didn't know what to do. It was not in his nature to look after a sobbing maiden, especially one which he had voluntarily upset.
She continued to sob, as he stood watching; completely bewildered. "I'm sorry?" he glanced around the room as if looking for inanimate help.
"Can you make me a cup of tea?" she cried.
"What?" he blinked.
"Make me a cup of tea!" she shrieked at him.
"Oh…well… okay," he edged around her weeping figure and walked briskly out of the room.
*****
With a cup of tea in her shaking hands, Rebecca was finally content enough to leave the bedroom. She found her phone which was lying on the sofa and started flicking through her pictures out of boredom.
"Why have you got your phone?"
Rebecca ignored Dr. Crane's idiotic question. Every single woman in the whole bloody universe needs a mobile phone. Even when they are not using it, feeling it in their trouser pocket is enough to keep them satisfied.
It seemed she was now quite popular. She had three missed calls from Harvey Dent's office, two from her ex-best friend who works in her office and three from her father. Since she couldn't be bothered ringing any of them back, she decided to flick through her texts. There were several from her father: 'I keep getting calls from your office! Why aren't you in work?' 'I've just heard about Alexandra. Are you okay? Can you call round sometime?' 'Why are you ignoring your phone? Are you sick?' 'Hey sweetie, give us a call ASAP.'
She smirked to herself and hit reply, 'Well, well, well. It's been a while since I've seen or heard from you dad. It's a long story. It starts with something along the lines of-'
"Hey give that back!" Rebecca shouted as Jonathan snatched the phone from her hands.
"Sorry, but it's for your own good," he slid her phone shut and turned it off by the power button, "you should know by now that these are easily tracked." He pocketed it.
Rebecca stood up outraged, "Give me my phone back right now!"
"I can't do that."
Her face contorted into a look of anguish, "This is so…" she crossed her arms together and sat back down again, "Fucked."
Jonathan gave a surprised smile, "I don't think I've ever heard you curse before."
"Oh!" she shot off the seat as if it was covered with hot coals, "I'm so sorry Doctor, but I think I've got every right to be cursing right now! You couldn't even begin to comprehend the trauma I was put through last night!"
"Uh…"
"If you're going to complain about my cursing then fuck you!"
"I wasn't complaining…I was just saying…"
"WELL DON'T!" she fumed.
Dr. Crane gave a mocking smirk. Clearly someone's attitude was affected by the drug he used. He expected angst and fear, but not this.
She rolled her eyes, "What are you smirking about?"
"I think you may have bipolar."
"If you don't mind, I'd rather you didn't try to interpret my mood swings with your psychiatric intelligence. At least, just not right now."
"It doesn't take psychiatric intelligence to tell if-" he looked at the glares he was receiving, "okay…point taken."
She sat back down again with a cocky smile playing on her lips, "Besides I'm menstruating."
Jonathan blinked, "What?"
"I have my period Doctor."
He flushed a deep scarlet, "I know what it means."
"So… you can't possibly tell if im bipolar or not at this time of month," she winked at him.
He played with his tie. Was it getting hot in here? "Uh…I've to go back…to…the office and…do…things." He backed towards the door, "I take it…you'd like me to put the key back? So you can lock the door?" He whipped out the key pointedly.
Rebecca patted her pockets. How did he get a hold of the key? "Yeah, but-" The door opened and closed before Rebecca had a chance to blurt out, "Wait!"
She sighed, but couldn't help but laugh. If she ever needed to cheer herself up again, that is what she would do; talk to Jonathan about her 'Lady problem.' That is if he ever came back. He seemed pretty scared of her now. "Ha!" she shouted.
She turned the T.V. on for company and went to see what exactly Dr. Crane had bought in the shops that she could make for lunch and/or dinner.
*****
9.00pm.
Rebecca locked the door, cursing as she noticed there was only one lock. Said lock could be easily broken, but at least she would be able to hear it if Scarecrow tried to.
She practically stuffed her face the moment Dr. Crane left her on her own. She never realized it, but she was starving. After eating a rather yummy chicken curry with boiled rice, she was feeling quite confident. Already the stakes had changed. The door was safely locked, Rebecca's stomach was full and Dr. Crane made no promises of coming back therefore she wouldn't be disappointed. It was an unusual way of putting it, but she was feeling quite optimistic.
'I think I'll get to bed early,' she thought to herself, as she stifled a yawn. Last night long and she was very tired. Her eyeballs were practically hanging out of her head.
Leaving the T.V. on, she made a break for the bathroom so she could brush her teeth, wash her face and use the toilet. She left it on the music channel and turned it up really loud so she could hear from the next room.
It was rap music; a song which she had never heard before. She was very glad too, it sounded rubbish. She started brushing her teeth, the loud rap music irritating her as she did so. Once she had finished the top teeth, she squeezed some more toothpaste onto the toothbrush Dr. Crane has bought for her and brushed her bottom teeth. It may seem odd to brush both the top and bottom rows of teeth with different toothpaste (and then both rows together with more toothpaste), but she was a bit of a hygiene freak.
She was so immersed in scrubbing her teeth, trying to ignore the awful music blaring from the T.V. that she didn't notice said music stopping. While finishing off brushing her teeth she noticed that 'bleep' sound that sometimes affects the ears when it is too quiet. She paused in mid-brush and leaned out of the doorway to see if maybe a quieter song was on, but there was no sound at all. Returning to the sink and spitting out the residue in her mouth, she thought to herself, 'the door is locked remember?'
It wasn't possible for anybody to get in without the key, unless they broke the lock, in which case they were very skilled as it took a while to do so. She should know; she's forgotten to bring her keys to work some days.
Leaving the bathroom light on, she decided to investigate. The red light on the T.V. was still on, meaning it was just on standby. It had probably overheated, but Rebecca couldn't stop the anxiety in her gut so she walked towards the door to inspect the lock.
It seemed untouched and intact. She shrugged it off and returned to the bathroom to turn the light off.
"Just in case," she muttered as she turned the living room light off and the hall light on before making her way to the bedroom.
Rebecca hesitated before going inside the bedroom. She was shivering, but not from the cold. Last night was too terrifying for her to shake the paranoia out of her system. She was trying to kid herself that Scarecrow could not and would not get into the apartment, but it was still entirely possible and probable that he would.
She bit her lip. Perhaps she ought to go get her phone from the sofa in case she needs to ring the police. Wait… She grunted as she remembered that she didn't have a phone; Jonathan had taken it. She stepped into the bedroom and was greeted by the most unexpected voice… "Sorry that Scarecrow couldn't make it tonight…"
Rebecca shrieked and lifted the first object in sight; a hairbrush.
"What exactly are you intending-ah to do with that?" the clown raised his eyebrows.
Rebecca stood stock still with her mouth hanging open. There sitting on her bed was the Joker himself in all his unique clothes. She glanced around the room expecting Scarecrow to jump out at her spraying the drug everywhere, like some sort of sick joke, but other than the crazy man on her bed and herself, there was nobody else present in the room.
She dropped the hairbrush to the floor, "What the hell are you doing here?"
The Joker walked towards her. For a moment, Rebecca thought he was going to hurt her as he leaned in close enough to do so, but he was simply closing the door. "Your pal couldn't make it tonight. He's asked me to babysit."
"Babysit?" she frowned and edged around him towards the bed where she could at least sit down.
The Joker's eyes followed her and watched intently as she shook her shoes off, "Yes. You didn't think that he'd leave you all alone?"
"Why wouldn't he?"
"Well…you might try to escape sweetums. I thought it was evident."
She looked at him wearily, "I hadn't thought of it."
"Why?" the Joker was curious.
She licked her lips anxiously, "I've placed my trust in… a friend."
The Joker approached the bed aswell, "A friend?"
Rebecca watched him cautiously as he made his way closer and closer to where she was sitting. "Yes."
"Is this friend…Dr. Jonathan Crane perhaps? Mmm?" He licked his lips.
She was slightly taken aback. How would this creepy clown know that Dr. Crane was paying her visits? Unless he was watching her, which adds perverted to the list.
Rebecca didn't answer. The Joker sat down beside her and she looked away to find something a bit more…pleasant to concentrate on.
After a few moments of silence there was something cold against her neck. Rebecca flinched and glanced to see that he had his switchblade out on her. She stood up and glared at him, "Don't touch me."
The Joker stood up aswell, "Now…you should know, that the only person you should place trust in…is yourself."
Rebecca's eyes darted to the door, but the Joker saw and blocked it from her sight with his body.
"You're afraid…" he scoffed.
Rebecca gave a slight smirk, "Of you? I don't think so."
The Joker pouted, "Aw…why?"
"I think I can deal with you."
He played with her hair using his knife, "Yeah…if only I had found you sooner…"
Rebecca backed up, "What are you talking about?"
The Joker laughed, "Well if I got to you before Scarecrow did….then you would indeed have to deal with me. I've got my own toy-ah so I'm not going to try anything too big on you. I'm just following Scarecrow's requests." He scowled, obviously not too happy at doing as Scarecrow asks.
"Yeah, you've got my sister," she hissed.
The Joker laughed, stamping his foot off the ground over-emphasizing his joy, "Oh yeah! Nothing personal eh?" He winked.
"So what sick games are you playing on her?" she asked, trying to keep cool the anger inside of her.
"Nothing spectacular yet…I'm taking my time," he glanced around her bedroom, "It smells like her in here…"
Rebecca placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from throwing up. The Joker was just such a creep. "How…how did you get in?" He produced a key. Rebecca gasped, "Where…?"
The Joker tapped his nose and winked. There was a huge lump in her throat now…if that was the key from Alex's hiding place, obviously insinuating that the Joker found it…that meant that Scarecrow could also find it. Looks like she'd need to find a new hiding place.
The Joker amused himself by looking through Alex's drawers. He kept giggling and throwing her garments over his shoulder. "Mmm…kinky…" he held up a pair of handcuffs which were lying at the bottom of the drawer.
Rebecca rolled her eyes and sighed, "When are you leaving?"
"Whenever you fall asleep and morning comes."
"What makes you think I'm going to go to sleep?"
He raised his eyebrows, "Because I'm telling you to."
"Your not in charge of me," she folded her arms.
He growled darkly, "I am at this minute."
"But you just said…"
"I said I'm following Scarecrow's requests. He wants you to sleep, therefore I'm to make sure you do sleep." He cocked an eyebrow, "are you going to get into bed or not?"
"Not with you in the room."
He stared at her with his dark eyes and smiled his signature smile, "Don't make me use these on you…" he held up the handcuffs.
"They have no keys. The policeman she was screwing probably has them," she pointed out.
"Well observed, but they are open."
Rebecca gulped, "You wouldn't leave me cuffed to the bed when you go would you?"
"Wouldn't I?" he waggled his eyebrows.
She stared at him intently for a minute trying to figure out if he was bluffing, but with the Joker there was no possible way of telling. "Fine," she snapped, jumping into bed, "Happy?"
He faked a concerned frown, "You wear your normal clothes in bed?"
"Not usually, but there is no way I'm putting my pyjamas on with you here."
"I could turn my back?" he suggested.
"You'd peek."
The Joker giggled, "Aw…true. Now go to sleep Becca."
"Don't call me Becca."
"I can call you what I like," he smirked, "Now go to sleep."
Rebecca growled with infuriation, "Do you have to be so patronizing?"
"Yes," the Joker switched the light off. The last thing Rebecca saw before complete darkness was the creepy smile on his face.
"I can't see you," she exclaimed, her eyes trying to adjust to the dark.
"That's alright sweetums. I can see you-ah."
That wasn't very comforting for her. How the hell was she supposed to sleep knowing that he could see her and she couldn't see him? Telling herself that he couldn't do anything to her as Scarecrow told him not to, she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. 'This is going to be impossible!' she thought angrily to herself, but with the comforting fact that Scarecrow would not be bothering her tonight, she seemed to forget about the Joker and her tired eyes rolled into the back of her head into a slumber.
*****
Sorry…quite a bit of fluff here . It wasn't really intended, but eh…I couldn't help myself. =D I hope the Joker came as a surprise. Tell me what you thought. Reviews would be much appreciated. Xo
