Well, sorry it took a couple days but I was super busy this weekend! I hope you love it though and that you will consider checking out some of my other stories.
He had closed his eyes. Closed his eyes and allowed his mind to go blank. His breathing slowed as his heartbeat relaxed. He felt the softness of the straw-filled mattress beneath his back and heard the soft snores of the girl who lay there at his feet. She had once again stubbornly refused to let him take his place upon the floor and so he had been given the bed once again. Guy would have lied if he had said that he was still angry that he had returned with Valeria. Truth was, it felt good to be back within the hut in front of a fire, protected from the elements as he allowed himself to drift to sleep. However, he was far from contentment.
He still wondered why he had been given a second chance. Thoughts continued to plague him. Thoughts of Valeria and what it would feel like to have her lips against his. These thoughts continued to rage within him, twisting and tearing at his heart as he fell into a chasm of awaiting sleep.
Guy's sleep was peaceful and quiet as it had been for several night. But then beneath the closed eyelids, he saw an approaching shadow, a familiar phantom, a wispy puff of smoke that curled just outside of his reach. He tried to bat it away and shove it into the dark, abandoned recesses of his mind but to no avail. Marian's pale, dead face still appeared. Her bloodshot eyes stared at him in mixed emotion, her withered hand reached out to him. But before he could grab it, a vision flashed before his mind and he saw himself running his blade through her stomach. He rushed to take her up in his arms but the moment he touched her, her figure disappeared into a thick smoke which the wind blew away.
Guy's eyes darted back and forth beneath his closed eyelids. His heart beat had again picked up speed and he longed desperately to wake but his body would not allow him. He was forcefully subjected to all of the painful memories. The smell of rotting flesh, the screams of women as he forced them to lose their virginity to him, the wails of infants as he mercilessly cut their families down.
His mind turned in fast-forward to all the crimes he had done. How he had gone to the Holy Land to kill the King. And then his worst nightmare, the one he feared the most, the one that rarely came had now appeared in the forefront of his sleep. He saw a field, a field and the grass was painted red with blood. Upon the grass lay hundreds of men, women, and children, the faces of all he had ever killed. He still remembered each and every kill and in this dream they all came together to haunt him. There lay his mother, his father, both killed in the raging tumult of flame he had set upon the house. He saw Marian, his darling Marian, the woman he had loved. He saw the blacksmith, the tax collector, the miner. He saw the face of Annie, the poor serving girl he had seduced. But she was not dead. Instead she lay over a small child, holding him tight, crying amidst the stench of battle.
He remembered the pitiful face of his son as he had left him in the forest. He had chanced one last look at the babe as he lay there in the grass and for one moment, Guy had considered taking the babe to Kirklees as he had promised, but his iron resolve and pride had won out and he had left his own offspring, the child he had helped make, to die in the harsh elements of the forest.
Guy saw a young boy approaching him, he must have been no older than five. His dark black curls framed his pale face, his once blue eyes were now bloodshot just as Marian's had been. The boy ran to embrace the fabric of Guy's mind but before he did, his gaze turned to stone as his voice echoed in the recesses of Guy's mind. "Why, daddy? Why did you leave me? Do you not love me? Why? Why? Why-"
"Gahhhhhh!" Guy screamed as he shot straight up in his bed, his eyes darting wildly throughout the room. His whole body was wet with sweat, his hair matted to his forehead, as his heart beat rapidly and he trembled. He saw a gleaming light through the film of growing tears. He blinked the fresh tears away and saw that Valeria had awoken and had lit a small candle. She looked at him with concern, no shawl covered her body and Guy could not help but stare at her as he saw that she was in nothing but a slim-fitting shift. Her hair lay disheveled and her eyes were tired but she still looked beautiful in the regal glow of the candle light. And yet Guy could not find it in him to dwell on those matters or on how her cool hand felt on his shoulders as she walked towards him.
She cocked her eyebrow and held concern in her eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair. She seemed to be trying to comfort him without the use of words. Guy let himself succumb to the reveling sensation for a split second but as he closed his eyes again, the face of a dead man shot across his conscience at lightening speed and he shirked from her touch.
"NO!" His voice thundered as he backed away out of the bed and as far from her as possible. Her fingers curled back in surprise as she saw him looking like a tortured beast, his eyes flashed with anger and his teeth bared. She felt fear rise up in her chest but she swallowed and began to silently approach him. She reached out a hand to stroke his arm but he batted her away and took another step back.
"Get away from me!" He bellowed as he began to pace throughout the room, seemingly running like a caged animal unable to escape. He looked at her the whole time and saw that she seemed to be asking what was wrong with him.
"You want to know what is wrong with me?" His voice was still loud and with every word her shoulders began to involuntarily shake. "What is wrong with me is that I gave way to false hope! I believed I had changed but I see now that I have not! I am still the same Guy of Gisborne, the same killer, liar, adulterer! And I will never change." He clenched his fist and banged hard on the table, the candle bounced a bit as he bit a scream.
"These dreams still return and I have no rest! Will I ever find peace?" Guy walked up to her took her by the shoulders. He began to shake her as he still shouted, growing angrier by the moment. Valeria was now starting to believe that he had truly gone mad. He shook her hard and Valeria bit her tongue. She tasted blood. "I will never find peace! That is why I tried to kill myself, to take my life! To end these nightmares and all my past sins! I could have been free!" Guy looked at her and felt her tremble and then he released her. He still looked upon her in fury.
"And you took that away from me!" He walked back to the table and hit it hard again. "You took away what was meant to be mine. Sleep in death, freedom from my torturous deeds and thoughts!" He shook his fist at her.
"Why did you do it?!" He howled at her and Valeria backed farther away from him until her back hit the wall. "You ruined everything! I wish you had never saved me! I wish- I wish-" His thoughts became scattered as he sought to collect them. Finally he looked back up at her and scowled like a wild lion. "Damn youuuuu!" He cursed as he latched one hand under the table and flipped it over with one swipe. The wood crashed to pieces on the floor and before Guy could recognize the foolishness of his actions, the candle's flame spread across the floor, lighting up the front of the room faster than Guy had ever seen fire travel. His eyes widened in fearful frenzy as he stood there, as if he was frozen to his place.
He saw Valeria dash by him and take her shawl, trying to beat out the flames, but it was to no avail. The fire was spreading quickly and and the door was already engulfed by flames.
It seemed there would be no escape. Guy smirked. So, he would have death, and this time it would not be taken from him. He crossed his arms and inhaled the smoky smell of the burning inferno. But then he heard a crack from above and he knew in that moment that the ceiling was about to cave in. He saw Valeria as she looked back at him. There was no anger, only fear as she also heard the crack. And in that moment, Guy knew that he had to save her, to rescue her. Her good soul did not deserve to die like this. But he was too late as he sought to push her out of the way of her impending doom. She barely missed the crashing beam, but she hit her head hard upon the leg of the broken table. Guy rushed to her through the flames which were crawling dangerously close to her unconscious form.
"Valeria!" He shouted at her but she did not wake. He lifted her up in his arms and his hand brushed past her temple. He felt the familiar oily feel of blood and he smelled it, mixed together with the scent of the fire. That reminded him; he had to find a way to get her out. He looked to the door but saw that it was completely covered in flames. Nevertheless, it was the one chance to getting out alive. He cradled Valeria closer to him, seeking to use his own body as a shield for her. He rushed towards the door, never once realizing that he wore nothing but a thin black shirt. He dashed through the doorway, the scathing feel of fire on his bare arms made him wince but he did not cry out. As he felt the icy chill of the fall night before him and all around him, he breathed a sigh of slight relief. But this relief was short-lived as he looked behind him to see the young girl's home almost completely destroyed by flame. And Guy knew that it was his fault.
He forced himself to turn away from the sight and run deep into the forest, caring only to get as far from the hut as possible. It would surely be a beacon to all in Nottingham and they would most certainly come to see. And he could not have them recognizing him. So Guy shouldered the girl upon his back and took off in a brisk trot through the dark, nearly impenetrable blackness of Sherwood Forest until he collapsed in absolute exhaustion.
Rate and Review! I swear it makes me upload faster.