Uhhh, so hi. It's me, ya boi.
I'm back from finally. Had to take a little time off cause of college being a life sucking vampire but I'm back with an attempt to throw myself back into these stories. Ya'll still out there? I hope so! So you can come back along with me in this journey. ^^
Morning came slow the next day, with John jerking awake suddenly when the sounds of camp activities filled his ears. He must've over slept and his immediate thought was to check on Arthur who was still out of it but was breathing, shallow just as the night before but there nonetheless. John sighed and said a silent prayer in thanks.
Outside the tent, footsteps approached and then the flap opened as Abigail walked in, bowl in hand. "I thought you might want some breakfast…" She trailed off, looking over to Arthur. "How's he doing…?"
John stared at her for a moment then at him. "He hasn't woken up yet but, he's still breathing so I'm not sure." He tried to hide the concern in his voice.
Abigail walked over to place the bowl on the nightstand, fiddling with the end of her shawl. "John, I'm sorry about last night… I guess I just feel like you're pulling away from us. But I shouldn't have been nasty… Arthur has always been like a brother to you and without him, I might not even have you with us."
John's eyes widened in slight surprise but he just shook his head. "It's fine, Abigail. We're all going through hard times right now… Lately I reckon we've just been trying to survive. Don't think too much about it."
She gave a small smile and a nod. "Well… I'll leave you be." She spoke, making her way out of the tent.
Beside John, Arthur began to stir, faint groan coming from him as he shifted just a bit but John noticed and he turned to face him. "Arthur?"
"Mmm" Arthur slowly opened his eyes, only to hiss at the significant difference of light in his tent. Despite muscles still aching, he brought a hand up over his eyes to shield them. "What time is it?"
"Morning." John answered. "How are you feeling?"
"Like horseshit" Arthur admitted honestly.
"Maybe we should take you to a doctor… Saint Dennis shoul-"Arthur cut John off there. "No. Doctor ain't gonna do shit but take your money…" He trailed off, knowing already there was nothing a doctor could do for him.
John sighed. "I guess…" He fell silent for a moment, before speaking again. "Are you hungry? Abigail brought some breakfast."
Come to think of it, Arthur was, though he couldn't put his finger on the exact craving. "Sure" he answered, slowly sitting up. His eyes were still sensitive to the light but, were slowly adjusting. He chalked it up to morning drowsiness as usual. "What about you?" He asked, as John handed the bowl over to him.
"Oh, I ate already. Don't worry about me." John lied. Arthur quirked a brow in suspicion but took the bowl regardless, shaky hands barely keeping hold of it. He grabbed a spoonful of what seemed to be oatmeal, yet before he even got it halfway to his mouth, he dropped the spoon back into the bowl. "Shit!" He exclaimed.
"Need help?" John offered. With reluctance, Arthur sighed. "Sure…"
John sat at the edge of the bad, taking the bowl again. He took a spoonful of the oatmeal, feeding it to Arthur. "Th-thank you…" Arthur muttered between spoonfuls, though he couldn't find it in himself to look at John.
"Welcome. You'd do the same for me, I reckon." John shrugged. But then again, there were a lot of unresolved issues between them. Their relationship had shifted since John had left for that year. If John would've known what he would've lost, he would take it back. Could they ever get back what they lost?
Arthur remained silent as he finished the rest of the oatmeal, though his mind weighed heavy.
"Feel better?" John asked, wiping away any excess with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Aside from feeling like a helpless child, still hungry…"
"Well, I might be able to talk Pearson into letting me have another bowl. After all, you need your strength." John grinned, standing up. "I'll be back." And with that, he left the tent to go gather another bowl from Pearson.
Later that evening, Arthur found himself still bed ridden and now sick to his stomach, unable to eat supper and even unable to keep water down, leaving John to worry about him all the more.
"John… I'll be fine… Probably just the oatmeal this morning…" Arthur muttered. "Ya know Pearson's meals can be hit or miss sometimes." He tried to joke with a weak smile. Regardless, John still fussed over him. After he rung out a wash cloth and placed it on Arthur's forehead, he finally sat at his bedside.
"If I don't, who will?" John asked, honestly. In truth, did anyone else even give Arthur a second thought right now or were they just waiting for their working horse to be well enough to do their bidding again?
"Is…Isn't this gonna strain things with you and Abigail? The woman needs her husband…" Arthur grumbled.
"Ain't your place to worry about that… You don't gotta fix everyone's problems, you know that, right Arthur?" John asked, looking up at him.
Arthur glanced down at him, swallowing hard. "You have a family though; I just don't want you to take things for granted like so many foolish men do."
John thought for a moment then sighed deeply. "I know…"
"I wish the sun would set already…" Arthur muttered, closing his eyes.
"It will soon." And John already knew that he would be here through the night once again. "Do you want another drink of water?"
"No." Arthur answered, despite his throat feeling dry; he didn't want to hurl his guts out. "I'm going to try and sleep it off…" He pulled the wash cloth down over his eyes.
"Sure, Arthur." John nodded, taking Arthur's hand in his.
That night when Arthur had finally dosed off, he was met with a very vivid dream. The campfire seemed to burn brighter than usual, illuminating the horror around him. Bodies lay lifeless and an intense feeling lingered in the air unlike anything he had felt before. Looking down, he audibly gasped and dropped the body in his own grasp, eyes widening as he took a few steps back.
"A-Abigail…" Arthur muttered; focus on the blood dripping from her neck. Screams echoed around him and yet, it seemed as if they were so far away. Arthur looked around, so rapidly it felt that he couldn't process anything that was going on, yet he knew this wasn't something he wanted. "N…No... This ain't right…" He turned around in haste, only to have his vest grabbed by familiar hands.
"Arthur… Arthur, what the hell is happening?!" Dutch's voice resonated, worried and fearful, something that Arthur hadn't seen from him before.
"I… I didn't want any of this to happen. I… I didn't mean for it to. I…Get away!" Arthur gave a shove to him, in the process stumbling out of his grasp. This was wrong, things weren't supposed to happen like this. Was this the consequences of his actions?
Arthur tried to make his way through the camp, in a means to get away from the scene before him and yet, it seemed the more he walked, the further the tree line became and the louder his name was called.
"Arthur!" The voice called but he tried to ignore it. "Arthur!" It came again and again and again and then… Arthur jerked awake, gasping as he looked around to find himself still tucked away in his tent. Beside him, John sat there staring at him wide eyed with complete concern on his face.
"Arthur, are you alright?! You weren't breathing…"
Arthur ran a hand through his hair, taking in a few more deep breaths before swallowing hard. Once his panic seemed to subside however, his breathing slowed, in fact to a point if he didn't remind himself to take a breath, he didn't. "Ye-yea… Just a nightmare."
John frowned. "Is there anything I can do for you? Get you anything?"
Arthur looked at the ground for a moment, thinking. Then he turned back to John, a part of him almost not wanting to ask but, the need for some kind of comfort outweighed his pride. "Could uh… Could you lay with me?"
The question took John by surprise at first. For one, he and Arthur hadn't shared a moment like that since before he left and it typically wasn't like Arthur to be the asking type but, regardless he gave a nod. "Of course." And John, well he wasn't going to turn the offer down. He missed the closeness they once shared. In a way, John missed it and wanted it back, all of it.
Settling down beside Arthur, John snuggled in close next to him. Arthur snaked an arm around him, pulling him in closer. "I appreciate this…" It was almost a whisper.
John's heart sped up a little. "Anything for you, Arthur…" He was almost even quieter, afraid to put himself out there, afraid to be vulnerable to the one person that could actually hurt him. "Try to get some more rest now."
Arthur didn't reply, merely made himself more comfortable if it were possible and closed his eyes in a means to try and sleep again, all the while John soaked up every minute of this while he had it.
Ah! Here you are. Well, so this dream sequence... how about it, eh? Well, how do I go about this without giving anything away... I guess I really can't but, all I can say is... That little bit may or may not be pertaining to Arthur exactly. Meaning, maybe he's the cause of what happened in his dream or maybe he isn't. We'll see later down the road, yea? So hang tight on this ride with me and we'll get there eventually and find our answers!
Also, ps... no, I'm not really sure how things would play out with Arthur's turning so... I'm doing my best here. I haven't watched a lot of vampire shows/movies (was that stuff even really explained though?) I'm more a werewolf kinda guy.