Love of a Dark Knight

Prologue and Intro

“Run Rachel!” I yelled as I grabbed her hand. We started passing by trees and jumping over bushes. We were starting to run out of breath before we saw a beacon of hope. Someplace to hide and hope no one would find us. A place that would be safe.

The green house!

We ran until we reached the glass building and threw open the door as quietly as we could. We quickly closed it and ran to the back to hide behind some of the trees that were being planted. We tried to slow our breathing down so we wouldn’t give away our spot.

“Do you think he knows where we are?” I asked breathing heavily.

“I don’t-.” she stopped when we heard the door open. Footsteps soon followed at a brisk pace. We held our breaths when the person started talking.

“Come out come out where ever you are. You can’t hide forever.” There was a small almost insane laugh that followed after that.

We waited for a few moments and when we didn’t hear anything we stood up thinking that that person had finally left.

“Gotcha!”

We screamed when a hand shot out and grabbed Rachel’s arm. “Oh man! Bruce how did you know where we were?” Rachel giggled.

An 8 year old Bruce laughed as he let go of Rachel’s arm. He started walking away expecting us to follow without question. I had an idea though.

Bruce turned around just as I finished whispering to Rachel my idea.

“What? Rosemarie? What are you up to now?” Bruce asked looking worried. I was known for being mischievous and sneaky. So for him to be scared was understandable.

“Rachel?” Bruce asked backing up as we advanced on him. I grabbed his arm and pulled him under a table as Rachel put her hand over his mouth.

“Rosemarie? Rachel? Master Bruce?” A woman walked past the windows of the greenhouse. Mrs. Dodson is Rachel’s mother and the house keeper of Wayne Manor.

Bruce pulled Rachel’s hand off of his mouth. “What are you doing?”

“Kidnapping you. Duh! I thought that would be pretty obvious.” I said in a matter of fact tone. “Besides they’d pay a lot for our precious Brucie.”

Bruce looked at me wide eyed. I just smiled and Rachel giggled. He seemed to relax when he realized that we wouldn’t really do anything. He smiled then at us.

“Don’t you dare!” I said as I reached for him but he had already bolted. He sprinted for the back door and Rachel and I tore off after him.

When we got out of the greenhouse though, Bruce was already gone. How did he do that?

I heard a giggle and whipped around to see the well. With the top of Bruce’s head sticking out.

I sighed. “Bruce you know I can see you right?” He chuckled again.

I started walking to the well when I heard a snapping. I froze as I saw Bruce’s head fall down as he yelled out.

“Bruce!” I screamed as I ran and looked down the well. “Bruce? Bruce! Are you ok?” He must have fell about 30 feet. It was kind of dark so I couldn’t see much.

“Mom! Master Alfred!” Rachel was yelling and running to where we last saw her mom walk by. He wasn’t saying anything and I was getting worried that he may have snapped his neck or hit his head and was bleed profusely.

“Bruce hold on, ok? Rachel’s getting help. I’ll see if I can find something to get you out.” I paused. “Bruce, please answer me!”

I heard groaning and sighed in relief. At least he wasn’t dead. I froze when I heard something down there. It was a type of squeaking and fluttering. “Bruce? Is that you?” I leaned down further into the well trying to see if maybe I could get a better view. Bats exploded from the darkness and flew up and out of the well. I screamed and fell backwards towards the ground as they went past my face.

I sat up in bed breathing heavily. My sheets were twisted up around my legs with my pillows on the floor. My body was covered in sweat and I was shivering from my fan blowing.

I put my face in my hands and pulled my legs up to my body. My dream was from 14 years ago back when I was 6. Why am I having dreams about it now?

“Ugh! I cannot be thinking about this! I have to get to work.” I muttered to myself. I didn’t like thinking about that moment in time. I lost two of my best friends that year. My family, who was part of the Wayne Manor staff at that time, decided to move to Virginia a few weeks after that. The night I found out was the day before we moved. I had confessed to Rachel that I had liked Bruce thinking that she would keep it a secret.

Wrong.

I closed my eyes as I recalled everything that had happened that day. It still had to be the worst moment in my life to this day.

The day I was leaving I went to Bruce’s bedroom to give him some flowers since he was bedridden with a broken leg. The door was left open a few inches and I heard talking. It was Rachel talking with Bruce. I was about to open the door when I heard my name being mentioned. I paused and listened to what they were saying.

“Bruce she likes you. Why don’t you say you like her back just to make her feel better?” Rachel said. What? Rachel! How could you?

“Because I don’t like her that way Rachel. She’s not my type.” Bruce answered back sounding bored. I heard shuffling of pages. A book maybe? Bruce liked reading just like I did.

“Why? Because she’s not blonde? Not Skinny? Not pretty enough?” she questioned. She was getting a rise out of this! It sounds like she was being mean to him but you could tell she was enjoying this because she had a certain tone that I knew well.

“No. I don’t care about hair color. Yes because she not totally skinny. She just has a slight chubby problem. And no she’s not pretty. Not to me at least.” He was getting annoyed while I was ripping out my own heart. I wasn’t in love with Bruce, no, but to hear those things? It just made me feel horrible about myself.

I felt the tears on my face and felt ashamed of myself. I shouldn’t be crying. It saved me a cruel moment in the future though. I silently vowed to myself then and there that I wouldn’t cry anymore. First and last time getting my heart broken by men like him.

I threw the flowers on the ground and ripped up the note card. I let go of the paper and watched as the note fluttered down slowly after that. The note that said to get better and with love from his best friend. Excuse me, ex-best friend. I walked away with my head held high as I heard the talking stop and footsteps towards the door.

I was already at the end of the hallway when I heard my name being called.

“Rose? Rosemarie! Wait! Come back!” Rachel was coming after me but I started running for the front door. “Rosie!”

She finally stopped running when I reached the bottom of the stair case and flew out the front door.

And I never looked back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I shook my head trying to get rid of those memories. I was still in Virginia and was a waitress at a little coffee shop on the outskirts of a little town. It wasn’t much but it was better than nothing at all. I wasn’t living with my parents anymore and I had a little apartment that I struggled to pay lease for every month but it was something. Who needs to pay for the extra little things when all you really need was affordable like food, shelter, and clothes?

I glanced at the clock and groaned. I had an hour before I had to get up and go to work. There was no way I could go back to sleep now or I would be late.

I rolled out of bed and padded over to my bathroom. I didn’t really have to do my make up, but my hair was another story. My skin was now natural tan and unblemished except for a freckle here and there and the occasional zit that would pop up out of now where. It was better than my pale and before picture for those acne creams. My hair grew darker over the years and was now a dark chocolate brown with natural highlights just slightly past my shoulders. My eyes had now turned a darker green and my teeth were now straight with the help of braces from decade back. I was still pretty tall at 5’6 but I didn’t have as much of a weight problem as I did back then. Other than that I was still the same old Rosemarie I was before. Strong. Determined. Unfazed. Funny. Smart. Witty. And stubborn as ever.

I pulled my hair back into a pony tail deciding that I’ll do something with it later. I put on a white blouse with a tight fitting red cotton sweater that only went to the elbows. I slipped on a pair black jean shorts and slipped on a pair of thin strap red flip flops. I put a little eyeliner and mascara on and then as a finishing touch, some lip gloss. I grabbed my keys and purse and walked to the door. I stopped about a foot away from the fridge and looked at it. No I’ll eat when I get there. A freshly baked blueberry muffin would do me some good.

When I was about to open my car door my cell phone rang. I looked at the screen confused since I didn’t recognize the number. Oh well they can leave a message. I threw the cell and my purse on the passage seat and closed the door. My car was a white Nessian Armada so it was pretty big for me, but I still liked it. Even though it was really expensive to pay for. Hey it was my parents a few years ago before they pasted it on to me so it wasn’t new in the least. Still gas was a good portion of my weekly pay check.

When I got to the city the traffic was horrible. I had a feeling I was going to be late.

“Chris? Hey it’s Rose. Yeah I know I just hit traffic. Can you tell Kyle I maybe late. Thank you so much, you’re a life saver. Yes you can be the cherry one. Ok bye.” I hung up and sighed. Kyle was my boss and was extremely bipolar. One minute he was happy to see me and giving me hugs, the next he’s yelling at me saying I’m not good enough to be his Employee of the Month. It was a coffee shop and it had that as weird and stupid as it sounded.

Traffic finally lightened up and I actually made it on time with a few minutes to spare. I grabbed my muffin and walked behind the counter. There were only two people here this morning and it was little old Ms. Hastings who came in every morning and Mr. Saunders who only stopped by to get water after his daily jog. More people would come though since more than half the population lives outside the city surprisingly and stop by on their way to work.

“Hey Lisa!” I said as my friend and co-worker walked in.

“Hey Rosie Darling.” She said with a fake British accent. She looked at my hair. “Running late?” I nodded my head as she chuckled.

“Whatever works for you hun.” I smiled as she plopped down behind the counter on a chair and closed her eyes leaning her head up against the wall. Lisa was a great person but a really lazy person too. You had to love her though since she knew how to make everyone laugh.

About 10 minutes into getting a batch of little cakes ready there was a jiggle at the door from the little bell. So the day begins.

“Come in!” I yelled over the radio playing in the corner as the guy who opened the door just stood there looking around. I glanced at him and noticed the he was really cute.

“Hi there. Your new.” I said smiling at him. He blushed a little and nodded. Seeing a cute guy with nice sized muscles blush was just as cute. “What can I do for you-?”

“Oh sorry. I’m Mike. Mike Watson.”

“Hi Mike. So what can I get for you today?”

He seemed unsure for a moment before sighing and was about to tell me something when my phone in my pocket started buzzing again. He stopped as I glanced at it with confusing again. It was that number from before and when it stopped buzzing it just started again. Who needs me this urgently?

I looked at Lisa and indicated for her to take over the guy for me. She nodded and smiled at him before going behind the cash register and telling him what was the special for the day and what was freshly made.

I went towards the back and went into the little alleyway from the back door. My phone was still buzzing without the caller leaving any voice messages. I waited for it to stop when they started calling for a fifth time.

“Who is this? And why are you calling me like the world is going to end if I don’t answer?” I asked in a slightly annoyed tone. When the voice spoke on the other end I vaguely recognized it. I felt like I should but I had a feeling that if I did remember it I would be sorry.

“Rosie?” a woman whispered sounding like she was trying to be professional but was failing because she was upset about something.

“Again I ask, who is this?”

There was a small laugh that sounded strained. “I guess you wouldn’t recognize my voice. It has been a awhile. Just-.” She paused before sighing. “Turn around.”

I felt my face contort in fear for a moment thinking that it was some psycho lady before doing as she said. And there she was. Still gorgeous as ever.

She looked up and slightly smiled before closing her phone. I nearly dropped mine from shock and anger before I just slipped it back in pocket and crossing my arms. What was she doing her anyways?

“You look so-.”

“Save it. What do you want Dodson.” I asked interrupting her. She looked at the concrete floor with a guilty and sad look. “I guess I deserve that.” She whispered.

“Again. Save. It. If you’re here for me to hear out about how sorry you are and all of that crap you can just leave now. I don’t know how you can even come here and face me at all.”

“Rosemarie, what I said was rude, cruel, and uncalled for, in my self defense we were just stupid little kids. But that isn’t the reason why I’m here.”

I was shocked for a split second but I quickly pushed it away so that it wouldn’t show on my face. So then why was she here?

“Ok maybe that too.” She added quickly. Typical.

“Oh this should be good. Go ahead tell me about how you only used me. About how you only used me to make yourself feel better. Making me think that I wasn’t good enough for anyone. And now that I think about it, I realized that you never liked me in the first place!” My voice rose as I got more and more angry. We may have been kids at the time but that really scarred me in ways since after that I always had self esteem issues and never dated anyone because I thought I wasn’t good enough for them. I guess that that rage was just bottled up inside until now when I saw her face after all these years. And I thought I had gotten over it.

“That’s not true Rose.” Rachel was talking as calmly as if we were discussing dinner plans. “I did like you as a friend. And so did Bruce. Which is why I’m here.”

“To become my friend? Well take a number and get in line.” I said as I started for the door. “I have work to do. Bills to pay. And people who actually care for me.”

“Yes you sure have gotten pretty haven’t you.” She looked me up and down as if sizing me like competition.

I turned around and glared. “Are you calling me vain? How dare you-!”

“No I’m not. You were just always the one who want to be noticed. And not for looks alone. I also hear you’re still pretty smart to. That’s a good combo.” She said sounding sincere.

“Thanks. I think.” I was confused still as to why she was still here. Does that also mean she was spying on me? Then again it was Rachel. The girl who looked things up about a person before approaching them.

She must have been reading my mind because she looked sad again. “Rosemarie. It’s Bruce.” I must have had a why should I care about him look on my face because she crossed the alley over to me.

“Rose. I know you don’t like me or him for that matter but this is urgent.”

I was getting annoyed at her. I had my boss coming in about 7 minutes and she won’t get to the point.

“After you left Bruce and I weren’t the same. We got over it and moved on, but nothing was as funny anymore and I was alone when I had no one to talk to about girl things and such. Then the worst thing happened.” She stopped seeming to relive what was going on in her head. “Bruce’s parents were murdered and he wasn’t the boy we grew up with anymore.” I was shocked about hearing the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. They were like my second parents and no one even told me that they had died!

“Get to the point Dodson!” she just lives in terrible news this one.

She nodded and continued. “Well we graduated high school and went to college, but Bruce seemed to go downhill from there. Rosemarie what I’m trying to say is that-.” she breathed in and out looking like she was going to cry.

“Rosie he’s gone. And no one knows where he is.”