Oh, oh, oh. I am a bad BAD BAD author. I am so sorry for the late update, my life has just been SO hectic lately. Please, please, please forgive me and I hope the smut from last chapter can work as a leftover apology cake! I love you guys (I'm so ashamed…) REVIEW! Bye :|
Also please excuse my grammar mistakes. I did NOT check it. I am human and make mistakes. Please don't hate me!
Eugene felt as though he was at a dead end. And maybe it was because he was, well, at a dead end.
Seven days had gone by since she'd been taken. Seven whole entire days had begun and ended and begun and ended since Rapunzel had been placed in the hands of the Stabbington Brothers by his own mistake of expecting anything more of them than their naturally conniving ways. And yet in those seemingly length days, Eugene Fitzherbert had gotten nowhere fast, not even able to stumble upon a clue that might lead him to her.
He could make no sense of it. From birth, he'd been graced with an eye keen at detecting secrets and deceits – whether it had been from a simple white lie to a hidden knife to a buried body. This special gift of his had proven useful ample times, getting him as far as he could get on the negative spectrum of people and things. And, when immersed in the world of thieves and thugs, it didn't exactly hinder him from making any positive – at the time – advances. Hence, how he ended up with the Stabbington brothers. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't exactly averse to their offered employment but they'd sought him out. They were an exclusive group from the start, a literal in-the-family enterprise and when they heard of his astute awareness to the faults in plans and people, they wanted him. He possessed a unique trait that they lacked and, for their own personal achievements, they bent their rules of exclusivity.
Left with little choice, and little reluctance, Eugene – on the terms of vast wealth – became seduced by their offerings and accepted their proposal. From that day on, he'd been their magnifying glass in detection. If they needed someone, they found them. If they needed the truth from someone, they had it. And it was all thanks to Eugene.
That was why he was so perplexed as to why he couldn't find any trace of them. Over the time they'd spent together, he had caught onto their mistakes, learned their tells (the few that they had), and knew what messes they'd inevitably leave behind for him to discover and clean up. For seven days he had scoured the woods and for seven days he'd been unable to even catch a glimpse of their presence, not even so much as a crumpled bush to guide him on his way.
It was suffocating. Knowing that somewhere not too far from him, she was being tortured in unthinkable ways and he couldn't even find a trace of the barbaric and clumsy fools keeping her drove him mad. Eugene, dipping his hands into the stream in front of him, splashed some water on his face, wiping it with his sleeves and hands as if he could refresh his mind and rub the answer into his brain. For a moment, he just kept his hands over his eyes and sighed deeply into his palms, feeling his body become overwhelmed with exasperation and fury. The physical toll it took on Eugene to look without finding plus the added pressure of what might happen if he didn't find anything was outstanding. The weight on his shoulders had become literal and weighed him down to a hunching form. It didn't help either that daylight was his only means of searching and it seemed, as of late, that the sun was not in his favor.
At his shoulder, recovering very nicely, Pascal chirped into Eugene's ear. Eugene, disconnecting his hands from his face and dropping them into his lap, sent over a hopeless look at Pascal. The green chameleon frowned at him, his body turning the same solemn shade of blue as Eugene's vest.
"I know buddy, I know. But I'm going to find her." He reassuringly patted Pascal with his index finger, putting under the chameleon's head and forcing his chin up. With much more passion, he added, "We're going to find her."
As if forced, the chameleon chirped up a half-way optimistic response and Eugene returned it with his own second-lasting smile. Releasing another sigh, Eugene gazed away at the sky, noting the already darkening blue above him. Today he didn't mind as much that daylight wore out seemingly quicker than usual. The exhaustion was unbearable and with a quick scoop up of water into his wine sack, Eugene stood and turned in direction of a place suitable for spending the night.
After a couple of minutes of meandering around the woods he'd gotten to know so well while resisting arrest, Eugene recognized an area that he'd used several times, blockaded well by a cluster of trees. It provided cover and simultaneous comfort by the convenient slope of the trees and the perfect opportunity to lay back and protect the few things he'd taken from Rapunzel's tower to survive. Although a tavern would have been the preferred option, the closest one was nearly a day's walk away and Eugene was not ignorant enough to be unaware of the price over his head. That place was not only a place filled with thugs, whores, and drunkards but every single one of them had a problem with Eugene. He and the Brothers had duped them all at least once and the only thing that saved his sorry ass against the well-built men was the horrendous size and reputation the Stabbington brothers' had. Not even retarded fools dared to spill a drop of their drink on the brothers' clothes and that was because they were terrifying.
Now, having betrayed the brothers', lost all forms of protection, and living with at least a hundred vendettas for his head, Eugene could not risk being anywhere near those people. A moment after stepping into that building and Eugene would be either decapitated or burning in the woods before the whorehouse. The mental image of that happening to him made him shudder and nearly immediately, he thrust the thoughts away into a dark corner of his mind. In no way was that aiding him in his mission to relax.
Reclining his body against the tree, Eugene placed the black sack at his side and shut his eyes, attempting at sleep. It did not come easily. The images of Rapunzel's face kept playing in his head over and over, forming stressful kinks in his neck. All he could see was her beautiful face, optimistic smile, sun-kissed golden hair and he was lost in a world of guilt. Behind the black of his eyelids, Eugene could see nothing but her. It tore him apart to wonder what she might look like then. No doubts they'd hurt her. He had already seen her blood spilt and Pascal confirmed that her fiery and independent spirit would not be simply forced into a position of submission. So what was happening?
When he'd succumbed to his dreams, Eugene did not know. All he could tell was that suddenly he was consumed by the same world that had invaded his mind for the past few days. Perhaps it was the guilt of losing Rapunzel and this dream was meant to invigorate him and refresh his zeal to find her. But he couldn't be, in any way, sure. Oddly enough the dream was always the same, beginning and ending on the same scenes, his awareness equally as ignorant. But this time when he woke up, he knew without doubt that he was dreaming. The way it began triggered the memory and the fear of the unknown scurried away with the blooming of the flower around him.
It took a while, as always, but when the seamless edges of the petals pulled away from each other, he felt no need to wait before he left. Eugene rose to his feet and stepped away from the glowing, golden world and entered the much less desirable one of rotting trees and dark woods. Why he would choose to conjure up such a terrible place when he should be relaxed and having happy dreams, Eugene was clueless. But once again, maybe it was his guilt taking a stab at him.
"What am I doing here?" he thought aloud as he examined his surroundings. There was no light to be found and yet it did not resemble nighttime. The place was filled with various forms of life but without fail, each plant and tree was entirely black, rotting, or dead. It was like a wasteland of death and with a quick glance downwards, his solemn blue vest suddenly looked alive, optimistic, and out of place in these woods. "What is going on?"
Taking a cautious step forward, Eugene's foot cracked over the numerous dead leaves and sticks beneath his feet. It was eerie in the menacing silence and that was when Eugene noticed, not even the sound of wind blowing through the leaves could be heard. Not that that would make this place any better but still, it would just aid this world in appearing slightly more normal.
The urge to call out for someone rose. It was what always happened around that time. No one ever really answered, but he always yelled out for someone to hear. For someone to perhaps answer back.
Hesitating before he resumed the nearly ritualistic pattern of his dream, Eugene ended the battle within him and succumbed to the routine. What harm could it do? "Hello?" He paused for a few moments and then repeated again, "Hello?"
In the sinister silence, Eugene felt as though yelling was out of place. It was too quiet to yell. Talking seemed like it would suffice in alarming someone a mile away of his presence. It was like yelling in the middle of the night while alone. Although nobody can hear and no one will wake, it still appears as if someone is waking up and someone is being disturbed. Like the night, this place naturally assumed a quiet role. In light of this, Eugene wondered if that was why it was so quiet there. Perhaps people were there but they, like he, felt the tense silence that ominously hung over their shoulders.
"Hello!"
Patiently, he waited. This dream could potentially reveal something beneficial to him. While in the real world, Eugene had been exhausted and possibly missed something detrimental to his quest to find his love. On the other hand, while in this world, things his eyes had registered and his mind had not could be revealed. All his problems could disappear. It had happened before, so why couldn't it happen again? At least that's what Eugene thought of it.
A piercing scream split the silence. It was bloodcurdling in and of itself, sending Eugene into terrified shudders. If not for the fact that it sounded threatening, this scream had been a perfect revival of the memories of his former coworkers' fearsome escapades. Thousands of women screaming as they were pillaged and plundered, wives crying out as their husbands were humiliated and mutilated before their very own eyes, daughters screaming just before they burned to death or were bled by a tear to their delicate throats. The resuscitation of his past instigated a battle to commence between the two halves of himself. His selfish half knew the only safe way was to let this roll over and off his shoulders as he had done countless times before, but his selfless half argued that that was exactly what got them into this mess.
What a fine argument his selfless half had because by only a flicker of Rapunzel's face in his mind did Eugene unhesitatingly decide. Unexpectedly, he felt a surge of courage consume his being and send him dashing forward like a hero to the rescue. The trees blurred by, his hands grabbing at those closest to him as if they would propel him forward faster and farther than his legs could. He didn't know where to go or why he chose to be the knight now. Maybe it was some half-assed guilt attempt to atone for his sins. But either way he had set out on his mission to save this person from whatever peril they faced, no matter how treacherous. Only when he arrived at his destination, shock bursting through him with enough intensity to immediately set him on freeze, did he comprehend the very danger he'd be facing. And when the long golden tresses spilt out onto the dirty and dead soil, he could feel nothing save the sharp pang of remorse and agony pierce his being.
Time froze for him. He watched her, at the edge, get thrown down and covered by the Brothers. He watched her, without true understanding, get beaten and stripped while she cried out and wept in despair. He watched her and did nothing else because the surprise threw him and nothing, but the air in his lungs and the blood in his veins, moved enough for him to spare her from fate.
"HELP! Please, please, please. Don't touch me! You don't want me! You don't want this, please! LET ME GO!"
Her eyes were swollen, her body fighting vehemently against the Brothers, continuing without noticeably delay even as they transformed into one disheveled black-haired man.
"Monster!" she screamed, "MONSTER!" His hands grasped at her breasts, his lips carving a red and swollen trail down her throat. The reluctance was so apparent in her that her body convulsed with a noticeable gag, her face turning away so that she wasn't facing the man's. Unintentionally, her face turned to Eugene's. Although her eyes were shut, and although she wasn't real, Eugene felt an undoubtedly horrendous thud beat where his heart was. It was painful, like being driven through by a dull-edged sword. The emotions flooded him. Countless ones attacked him and he could almost feel his soul writhing against his body as if it were trying to break free and escape the terrible tortures it suffered inside its shell. When her teary green eyes opened, her face crumpled and everything he felt, pardon his guilt, spread across her face. Anger, resentment, sorrow, suffering. "Eugene," she brokenly whispered, her hand weakly reaching out to him.
"Rapunzel," he murmured, hot tears flowing down his cheeks. His attempt to suppress them burned at his throat, making it near impossible to speak. Eugene, unable to stand the terror of her suffering any longer, reached out and took a step forward. "Rapunzel!"
Without warning, the world began to dissolve into thick flames before him, burning from the edges of his vision as fire consumed a piece of parchment. Her startled face was the last thing to vanish, enabling it to scorch into his mind, creating a new pain to live with. It would unquestionably remain with him to the day he died, even if he managed to somehow find and save Rapunzel before then.
The campfire, somehow managing to maintain its ferocious life, was the first thing he saw when he woke. Its flamed licked up and inward in perfect correlation to the ones that stole him from his dream. Their similarity was of no surprise to Eugene. He'd thought the devil himself had raised hell through those flames and stole his way into Eugene's mind, creating that horrendous nightmare.
It was so powerful – waking from such a vision – that Eugene had to steady his breathing, and calm his fast beating heart. To his surprise, it returned to its constant beating quickly despite being so utterly broken. Just the image of her lying there, submitted to the atrocities that she was undeniably facing under the care of the Brothers, was enough to shatter Eugene's soul into irreparably fragments. As in the dream, he could feel it writhe and press against him. Despite being outwardly immobile, Eugene was suffering trials worse than the executions of hell within. And his soul, unable to bare the misery of it, kicked and bounced against his chest and skin, desperately fighting for a release it would not obtain. Although its prayers to rid his shell of the vague amount of pure life left in him were tempting, Eugene would not abandon Rapunzel to such a ghastly fate. If he must suffer for her smile's return, he would. For what he had done, not only to Rapunzel, but to all of the victims he'd ignored, he deserved it. God was punishing him for his sins and he would strive hard to work through it, maintaining only to earn salvation and love from his beloved.
While Eugene lay there, breathing in the dense smoke and simultaneously cool night air, he relaxed his rigid muscles and went to lie on his side. No intentions were going to be made at sleep because, frankly, Eugene had had enough of that, but he would attempt to achieve some semblance of harmony. The fire served as a point of interest to him in that. It mesmerized him and the familiar noise of thousands of comfortable nights and gatherings (such as the one with Rapunzel) helped ease the pain of his current predicament. It drew him away, it let him breathe, it –
A noise jolted Eugene away. It was faint, a snap of twig far too unnatural to not be heeded and just loud enough that it could only be a human who braved nearing such a ferocious fire. Animals were smart with that, and fire oft functioned as ward against them. Unsheathing his knife and charging up to his knees with the speed of lightning, Eugene eyes' caught sight of a woman, snatching up his supplies and dashing away.
"Fuck!" he grumbled and hurriedly got to his fast, pursuing her and leaving a grumpily woken Pascal behind. "Hey," he called; his voice too loud for the still night. "Hey!" Eugene growled.
She whimpered audibly in fear, her pale form betraying her in the dark of the night. Inexperienced, far too thin, and plainly weak, the woman was no match for a driven Eugene. He easily caught her and, with a little fight, had her pinned to the ground beneath him, sniveling and sobbing like child. Moments passed of her wrestling beneath him, arms weakling shoving at his shoulders in a vain hope that they'd budge, before Eugene realized the woman was stark naked.
"Please," she begged, "please, please don't hurt me!"
Grimacing, he climbed off of her and snatched the bag away, watched her scurry back against a tree and curl into a ball, hiding her body.
"Please, I beg you, don't hurt me! I couldn't, I couldn't…" her muffled voice trailed off into hysterical tears and Eugene felt almost obliged to do something. Something had obviously happened to her. What that was, one could only leave to his imagination.
First, he scoured the contents of his bag, assured himself that everything was still there, then he turned an eye at the woman who remained curled into herself, her face and shoulders masked by her frizzed, brown hair. Cautiously, he approached her, hand extended and head courteously turned so he would witness anything inappropriate.
Softly, he spoke, "hey…" She cringed. "Hey," he backed away and removed his vest. "I won't hurt you, I promise." Shrugging off the blue cloth from his arms and tossing it to the ground just before her feet, he attempted to once again reassure her. "See? There. That's something you can cover yourself up with…" Head still turned, he waited for a sound. "Look, I swear I won't hurt you, I just want to help."
Some strange conviction had overcome Eugene. It was an inclination to do right for someone, in some way. That dream had opened his eyes. He needed to redeem himself of his past peccadillos. If helping strangers was his only current option, then so be it. Anyways, he'd be working to get back on God's side and progress was all that mattered. Obtaining one way or the other didn't matter.
The woman, having seemed to obtain some trust for the complete stranger he was, timidly reached out and plucked up the vest, closing it over a good portion of her body. With her petite size, it was not surprising and finally, understanding that it was safe to look, Eugene hesitantly glanced over his shoulder before completely turning his body and offering her some of his clothing and food back at his campfire.
Initially, she was quiet and withdrawn, hardly making eye contact with Eugene. But eventually, she came to walk a good ten feet behind him when he explained sincerely that he was alone and would not hurt her in any way. Not even a minute had passed before they reached the fire. The walk was so tense with unfamiliarity that he moved with a swift stride towards his camp, trying frantically to make it end as soon as possible. It was his makeshift solution for the moment. Quite frankly, he had no idea how to approach the situation.
An angry Pascal greeted them when they returned. Furiously he chirped, pacing back and forth over a raised tree root, gesturing wildly to the half-naked woman. "I know, I know, I'm sorry," Eugene said, dropping his hand so that Pascal could climb up onto it. The chameleon dashed up to his shoulder, resting in the usual spot, just beneath his ear. "I should've told you that I was going somewhere, but I didn't exactly have a choice."
Furthering deeper into his explanation to the animal as to why he didn't enlighten or carry him before abruptly speeding away after the supposed thief, Eugene failed to notice the look of peculiarity swelling over the woman's face. She, mixed between the feelings of utter devastation and complete confusion, could not understand the situation unfolding before her. Not only was he having an intricate conversation with an animal but he was so deeply immersed in convincing the tiny lizard that he – she was betting – would not notice whether she had slipped away or not.
Overwhelmed by the past few days occurrence, terrified out of her wits, and starving so badly that it felt like she'd caught an illness, the girl burst out into loud and uncontrollable sobs. Eugene, having been just recently caught within a nightmare tormented with the dreadful sound, immediately had his attention captured by her. Partially because they were strangers, and partially because Eugene had never developed an actual skill in the act, Eugene did not know how to console the girl. Obviously she had been swindled in some manner. Roaming in thug-infested woods naked didn't exactly seem to be her choice and it wouldn't be a smart one if it was. So he attempted to do as he thought Rapunzel would have done. He stayed where he was and asked her what was wrong.
Ten minutes must've passed before she answered. In the time, Eugene and Pascal patiently waited for her response, half full of doubt that she'd even heard them. When she spoke, the words barely came out but Eugene felt rude, especially considering that whatever it was that happened, it must have been awful, and so he strained his ears to hear. And, in a bittersweet moment of discovery, Eugene found that his prayers and fears had been answered. She'd just finished the surface-skimming description about how she'd been beat, raped, and then stripped of all her belongings when she described the two, fair and red-haired men who did it. Initially, Eugene had thought it was a bizarre coincidence, and tried to brush off his shoulders that he could have missed something and that it may actually be them. But then, when she proceeded into the fear she had for the beautiful and horrified young woman traveling with them, Eugene lost all control and froze fully. He had found the missing piece in his quest for Rapunzel.
