Chapter 10 is here at last! Sorry it took so long, I wasn't sure how to finish off the chapter, you know how it is I'm sure. Also I think I feel the story coming to a close, I probably took my time because subconsciously I didn't want it to finish or something. Anyway enjoy and as always crits and reviews are welcome. I do not own Merlin no matter how much I wish I did.
Morgana and Gwen left Arthur to rest and Gwen cleaned the floor of blood, biting her lip as she did so,
"I don't know Gwen," Morgana said pacing up and down by the front door, "Merlin wasn't himself…" Gwen looked over at the ward,
"I know…" she replied sitting down and averting her gaze to the floor, "I told Gaius…I told him Merlin wasn't himself… that he might do something like that again…" Morgana bit her lip to prevent herself from crying as the image of Gaius as a weak old man flooded her vision, "My lady?" The ward shook the image from her head,
"I'm sorry Gwen…" she said quietly, "it's just…" she trailed off and shook her head,
"What, my lady? What is it?" the handmaid stood up and walked over to Morgana, "You can tell me." but the ward remained silent. Gwen stared as it sank in, "Gaius was…" Morgana nodded solemnly, "Is he okay!?"
"Yes… it could have been worse…" the ward murmured quietly, "but he looked so afraid and weak Gwen… it scared me…" the handmaid put her arms around Morgana,
"It's going to be okay." she said, not quite believing herself. The ward let the tears roll down her face,
"Look what happened the last time you said that…" she whispered, "It's not going to be okay. Not now, not ever." Gwen bit her lip, perhaps Morgana was right, but she didn't know what to believe anymore. Morgana pulled herself back and looked around herself suddenly,
"My lady?" Gwen asked worriedly. The ward backed into the centre of the house,
"Someone is watching us. I can feel it." she answered, her eyes flicking to and fro. Outside the house Merlin smiled.
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Merlin opened the door and entered the house without so much as a knock. The darkness of the night sky tried to pick its way into the room, stopped only by the light of the flickering candles inside. Gwen recoiled instinctively as the manservant stepped towards her and Morgana, the ward, however swallowed her fear and looked into Merlin's eyes, keenly determining their colour. Merlin smiled darkly and the candles flames flickered, throwing skewed shadows onto the walls. Morgana span to face the candles, watching the tiny flames as they jittered under the manservant's gaze. Before she could turn to face Merlin again a hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck, taking her completely off-guard. Morgana struggled against the grip as it tightened slowly, panic beginning to settle in. Gwen didn't know what to do and stood, helpless and panic-stricken as the ward squirmed in Merlin's grasp,
"Stop Merlin!" the handmaid shouted, tears rolling down her face, "Please, stop!" Behind them Arthur stirred, Gwen's screeching waking him. He looked up wearily, the wound on his back still throbbing painfully. The Prince's eyes widened upon seeing Morgana struggling, her own eyes wide with fear,
"Merlin!" he shouted, forcing himself to stand up, "Merlin, you have to stop this, you have to fight it!" A look of recognition flitted across the manservant's eyes and he loosed his grip a little,
"Morgana…" he murmured as the ward took deep breaths, "Morgana, I'm so sorry…" Merlin opened his hand out completely, allowing the ward a means of escape, "Please… get out of the way of me quickly…" Arthur noticed the weariness of Merlin's voice and felt a pang of pity, fighting against the power trying to hold him had taken its toll.
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Merlin fought to hold the darkness back, but it was getting harder. He knew he had to, and that just made the idea of losing to the nothingness all the worse. He was barely aware of the things around him anymore, they were flickers in the distance, all of them. Arthur, Gwen and Morgana's voices were whispers from afar, he could barely hear them. Merlin felt a hand touch his shoulder and in that moment of surprise the darkness saw its opportunity and grabbed it greedily. He could feel it as it coarsed through his veins, suffocating the light as it spread through his body and he felt that pain again, the searing pain which engulfed his body causing him to double over and grit his teeth in an attempt to stop himself screaming. Suddenly Merlin could feel the pain dissipating and he opened his eyes. A film of grey-black covered his vision but he could see what was going on. He glared up at Arthur, whose hand was on his shoulder and pushed the hand away violently, grinning manically as he did so,
"Stop!" Merlin called to the darkness, and was surprised to find the words actually leave his mouth.
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A look of confusion spread across Arthur's face,
"Stop? What do you mean stop?" he asked Merlin uncertainly. The manservant did not reply, he too seemed shocked by the word leaving his mouth. Silence descended upon the house, Morgana and Gwen were now against the back wall of the house, fearful of what the manservant might do next and Arthur remained where he was, watching Merlin in bewilderment. The silence remained unbroken for what seemed like an age. Then, almost as suddenly as the silence had descended, it was broken,
"Stop?" Merlin scoffed laughing cruelly, "I will not stop, Merlin, until Camelot is mine." Morgana and Gwen exchanged a puzzled glance,
"Camelot will never belong to you!" Merlin replied to himself, "I won't let you take it!" Morgana and Gwen continued to look from each other to the manservant disconcertedly, Arthur however, had begun to realise what was happening and he wasn't sure he liked it,
"Merlin?" he asked cautiously. The manservant didn't reply, and for a horrible moment the Prince thought he had been consumed by the darkness. Then, silently Merlin made his way over to the door, "Merlin?" Arthur asked again, this time there was a quiet reply,
"I can't stay here Arthur. If I do I might hurt one of you. Or worse." he murmured, "Look what I've done to you already. I'm dangerous." and with that Merlin left the house, leaving the three inside dumbstruck.
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"How touching. You're trying to keep them out of danger." Merlin grimaced. It felt so horrible to be speaking to himself and he could feel the darkness trying to take over again every time it used his body to speak to him, "Oh, I'm sorry," the darkness continued, "did I upset you?" The manservant remained silent, "Did your parents not teach you manners!? Speak when you are spoken to!" A sharp stabbing pain knifed through Merlin's head and he clutched it desperate for the pain to stop. But the manservant did not beg, he didn't so much as utter a word. Instead he willed the pain to go away, concentrated on trying to rid his body of the darkness which was trying, equally as hard, to consume him. The pain slowly became more of a searing sensation, and all to quickly it began to course through his body. Merlin felt as though he were being burned from the inside out,
"You still do not answer!?" Cornelius Sigan was beginning to anger and Merlin managed a smug smirk, just the opportunity he was looking for.
Hope you enjoyed Chapter 10, I'll try to get Chapter 11 up soon. Also thankyou again to all of you for reading and reviewing The Darkness Inside, you have no idea how happy it makes me to read your comments. Until next time~