DISCLAIMER: The authors of this fanfiction do not profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator.
FORBIDDEN LOVE: The Tragedy of Four Lovers from Gone With The Wind.
BY: Drunken Drunk
Melanie sat in her boudoir, pinning her braids. She was surprised to find that her face in the mirror had a wistful look on it. She tried to push away the thought of Rhett Butler's dark, calm, handsome face in her mind, but she knew that her wistfulness was due to a longing to know him better—he was such a mysterious, charming man!
She caught herself and bit her lip--how could she think this way?--her, Melanie Hamilton Wilkes, a woman with a loving husband! She stared into her own dark eyes. A shadowy figure appeared off to one side. She swung her head towards the figure and screamed and nearly fainted! It was the object of her thoughts approaching her with a sheepish look on his face. The smell of vodka drifted from his luscious mouth. Melanie's eyes widened in fear.
"Oh Captain Butler! How nice it is to see you here!" cried Melanie, even though she shook from agitation.
Her lips turned pale. She quivered. Suddenly the room seemed too small, too tight, too constricting. Melanie longed to jump into Rhett's strong arms. She longed to be held!
"Why, Miss Melly!" he exclaimed, "I must have given you a fright. I'm sorry for intruding so, but--" Captain Butler sounded like he was blushing, Melanie thought, because she couldn't bring herself to look into his face. "You see, I was looking for Scarlett and mistook your room for hers..." He staggered towards her a little.
"Captain Butler! Are you quite sure you're quite all right? You must be ill!" Melly fluttered around him, stroking his arm with great abandon. The firmness of his arm sent chills up her spine.
"I--I--I'm fine!" he said tersely, and barged past a stricken-looking Melly to the doorway, only to run into Scarlett, who had flown into Melanie's room at the noise.
"Why, Rhett!" shrieked Scarlett. "Where have you been these past two days?!" The fire in her emerald eyes glared. She shook with anger and pushed Melanie away. Melanie was whimpering. "You've been consorting with that Watling woman again, haven't you?!" Scarlett seethed, "So drunk you can't even tell my room from Melly's, you cad?"
Rhett stumbled. "My de-dear w-w-wife..."
Scarlett's mouth was an O; she exclaimed, "Wife?! Is this a promotion, Captain Butler?!" Melanie, however, gasped and quivered as she realized that Rhett could not love her if he already loved Scarlett!
Melly dropped to the floor. Rhett spun around at the thud of her body. He turned and slapped Scarlett and then knelt down by the frail, unconscious woman.
"Oh Rhett, oh, I'm so sorry, darling, I didn't mean to greet you angrily when you came to me," cried Scarlett, trying to wrap her arms around his waist even as he shook the unconscious Mrs. Wilkes and yelled drunkenly, "Wake up, woman!"
Melly flopped like a broken doll. Scarlett fumed in anger and tried to kick Rhett away.
"I'll help her, you oaf!" She succeeded in sending Rhett rolling across the floor to hit the wall, and knelt beside Melly. "Girl, wake up! Yo, girl!" she said sharply, and slapped Melanie's face back and forth with both hands.
Rhett scrambled to his feet, ran across the room, and punched Scarlett. He reeled and stepped on Melly's chest, giving her a rude awakening.
"Wh-what...what is going on?" gasped Melanie, "Where am I? O Lord! Captain Butler! And Scarlett, darling!"
Scarlett had crashed backwards, her head breaking the mirror that Melanie had been using only minutes ago. She lay pale as ash in the shards of broken glass. "Oh, Captain Butler, please be careful; I think you've had a bit too much to drink," Melanie simpered as she crawled towards him, trying to catch hold of her love's precious shoes. But Rhett had no eyes for her.
Slavering at the mouth, he pushed Melanie away and crawled to where Scarlett lay. He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. "Oh, sweet Jesus, what have I done? What have I done?!"
At seeing his internal and external turmoil, Melanie burst into tears and threw herself onto her bed, knowing her eternal admiration for this man was hopeless. She just wished that her own Ashley's devotion to her was a fraction of Rhett's devotion to Scarlett. He was probably consorting with those foul, nasty Yankee sluts in jail right now, that man-whore! Hadn't she seen the attention he gave to Scarlett's Prissy and the gentleness in his eyes? That incorrigible Ashley could love anyone without a trace of shame! Melanie choked and heaved. Her face, stained with tears, was pitiful to look at. How lonely she was, how forgotten, how utterly ignored! "Oh, why do I drag on my life? To what end? No man loves me, and no woman either! That I could die!"
Suddenly, the doorbell rang! This startling noise made Rhett and Melanie stop weeping, and they raised their heads, then bolted down the stairs to the front door. Melanie flung the door open. There, standing under the shadow of the porch, was her husband, thin and gloomy. His eyes were empty. Melanie cried, "Ashley! My Ashley, you're home at last! Oh, I was so, so worried! I thought you would never return! Oh, ohhh--Ashley? Look at me!"
But Ashley was not looking at his wife. He was staring over her shoulder at Rhett. She turned confusedly, then quickly said, "Oh, it's all right, Ashley, Captain Butler was just here visiting Scarlett!" She felt her face grow hot.
She then looked over at Rhett, who was gazing intently at Ashley. Under his vodka-scented breath he muttered, "Welcome home, Mr. Wilkes." There was an unsettling glimmer in his dark eyes.
Ashley cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from Rhett. He barely glanced down at Melanie as he muttered a terse "Thank you," then pushed past both of them and stalked into the house with his minimal luggage. Rhett cursed under his breath, then followed him in quick strides, leaving Melanie gaping at the open doorway.
Rhett grabbed Ashley's shoulder and shoved him into the library. He slammed the door.
"You deserter!" Rhett screamed. "A model Confederate!" He snatched Ashley's luggage case and threw it into one of the bookshelves, and novels came tumbling down.
"You're one to talk," sneered Ashley. "You've got no shame. You never even went off to the war with me, Rhett. Do you know how much I missed--I mean, you are a fine hypocrite, Rhett Butler!" Then Ashley looked down bashfully and sighed. "Never mind my honor. I'm no Confederate."
Rhett scoffed and wiped his damp mouth. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Ashley! The thing is…what do I do about that woman Scarlett? That stupid fat cow has been chasing after me since you left and--" He couldn't bring himself to tell his Ashley that Scarlett had stolen some of his heart away.
"Oh, poor Rhett, darling," said Ashley, terribly red in the face. He was aware of Rhett's disheveled state. "Darling, don't let that high-strung wimp bother you. We'll find a way to be rid of her. Come to Ashley, dear. I've come back to you! I've come home to you, Rhett!"
They embraced. Ashley sobbed happily onto his shoulder and moaned, "Oh, how I've missed you!"
Rhett drooled onto Ashley's shoulder as he aimed his lolling head for a kiss and missed. The strains of being constantly drunk at Belle's because of his heartsickness, having to sneak into Scarlett's bedroom to curb his passions meant for Ashley, and Ashley's own homecoming had been too much on him, so he promptly fainted in Ashley's arms.
Ashley stroked his hair. "Don't worry, I'm here. I'll take care of you! I'll make it all right again--"
There was a sound at the door.
"Dear Ashley, my beloved Ashley! And my beloved Cap--I mean, and Captain Butler! Please let's stop your talk of war and come out to have some tea," called Melanie from the doorway.
"Leave us!" Ashley screamed at the door. He was clutching Rhett.
Melanie timidly opened the door and gasped. "H-How? I must be dreaming! Oh, Melly, what are you seeing? You poor soul--what have you gotten into? You knew your husband had been unfaithful all along, but this--!" Melanie put her hands over her face.
"No, no, nothing happened, my wife! Rhett just--I mean, Captain Butler and I just got into a heated argument about my desertion and I didn't mean to but I struck him too hard and--"
"Desertion?! Ashley Wilkes, how could you?!" Melly clutched her chest. She stood completely still for a moment with her eyes shut tight, then ran upstairs. Ashley dropped Rhett onto the carpet and chased her. "Melly!" he cried, "Stop! I can explain! Stop!" But Melly had no ears for him. She leapt out the window. Ashley shut his eyes and fell back against the wall.
Outside, the neighbors on Peachtree Street who happened to be taking a walk saw Melanie Wilkes fly out her boudoir window like a dove and land with a sickening crack of her neck on the street. Her head was twisted in an unnatural angle and she did not stir. They ran to help. One man delicately bent back her head and gasped, "It's Mrs. Wilkes!" A woman was crying. "An angel! Oh, heavens, what is the world coming to?"
Ashley looked out the window and nearly vomited. He was shaking. He started stumbling out of the room, but he stepped on the face of none other than Scarlett O' Hara Hamilton! He hadn't seen the broken mirror on the floor while chasing his wife. "Good Lord!" he cried, at the same time that Scarlett awoke and yelped, "Oh, Ashley, is it really you?!"
Ashley lurched backward in terror to trip and land on Melanie's bed. Scarlett jumped up and ran to him. "I must've been dreaming," she cried happily, "I must have been dreaming! You've returned and you're unharmed!" She rubbed her face where Ashley had left a smudge with his boot, and with arms outstretched she came towards Ashley.
"Dear God, no," muttered Ashley, and he shoved her away from the bed. "Good Lord!" At this moment, an extremely disheveled and drunk Rhett Butler burst into the room, shoving both Ashley and Scarlett onto the bed, tangled together.
"Ah took summa dat whiskey in da lahbree bookshaf an Ah feels mush bettah now!" declared Rhett. He took a step backward for balance. Scarlett and Ashley lay tangled together, both not in their right senses. Ashley looked flustered. Dare he have been looking at Scarlett too amorously? And what was that gleam doing in Scarlett's bright green eyes?
However, Scarlett was still unaware of Rhett's presence. Conveniently finding herself in a compromising position on the bed with her beloved, she continued uttering endearing sentiments to Ashley as he turned back and forth to stare, open-mouthed and horrified, at the both of them.
Rhett was a man possessed. He gaped openmouthed for words he could not find. His eyes burned in their sockets--Scarlett and Ashley, what fitting recompense could there be?! He suddenly found his voice again as he flew at them in an unseeing rage: "You filthy little cheaters!"
Now there was no choice left--no forgiveness, no human understanding--nothing! Now it made no difference--no difference at all--whether he lived or died. He had to end the terrible, burning, hellish pain that crawled out from under his skin and constricted his throat. He could feel his hands turn to fists as the blood screamed...
He let loose an inhuman howl and drunkenly charged toward the both of them, leaping onto them and beating them senseless. He picked up Scarlett as lightly as he would a feather and dumped her out the window. "Ashley!" he screamed, shaking him furiously, "What have you done?!" He felt his hands grip Ashley's neck without knowing it.
After a few minutes of this strangling and shaking and screaming at the one who used to be the one and only love of his life, Rhett suddenly stopped and stared at the lifeless doll of a man around whose tender neck his hands were tightened. He gasped and stuttered in horror, spittle flying out of his mouth and landing on Ashley's pale, unmoving face. He asked himself, "What have I done?" but knew it all too well. He drew in quick, gasping breaths, and drooling, clambered off the bed and kicked Ashley's body underneath it.
Rhett stopped. He wiped the sweat off his brow and knelt down, groping for Ashley's pistol hanging from his belt. It was too late for redemption. Rhett sobbed and indulged in his misery--the last he would ever feel as he shivered, putting the pistol to his head. "Forgive me, forgive me!" he moaned. A second later, onlookers on the street tending to both Melanie's and Scarlett's bodies heard a gunshot. They were stricken to silence.
EPILOGUE
A few years later, in the Atlanta Hospital, Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton wandered around the halls clad only in a wet, torn nightgown in the dead of night. The nurses who lingered in the shadows paid no heed but only clucked their tongues and shook their heads in pity. The once infamous, beautiful, charming Scarlett O' Hara Hamilton had been reduced to a cluttering kleptomaniac.
She held in her hands a well-worn Bible. Her eyes were home to a bright new gleam--"Jesus," she cried, "Jesus, where are you?"
"Oh, the poor wretch," whispered one nurse to another, "After that ghastly incident involving the Wilkes' and Captain Butler's mysterious deaths, the poor thing hasn't been the same. They managed to revive her next to her dead sister! She survived, you see, but she's lost her mind, I'm afraid."
The other nurses sighed sadly and shook their heads. "The poor tragic beauty. But she's in God's hands now--she's found the love she never had!"
Scarlett glided down the hallway, leaving a trail of water droplets behind her. Her sweet voice rang out and echoed down the dark hallways:
Amazing Graace, how sweeeeeet the soouuund!
That saaaaved a wretch like meeeeeeeeee...!
I once was lost, but now am found...
Was blind...but noooow I seeeeeeeeee...!
AUTHORS' NOTE: We wrote this in a chat messenger by taking turns writing a few lines each, so we didnt know how it would turn out, then edited it later. And of course, everyone was intentionally written to act out of character.