Nightmares in Camelot/Living Nightmares

Chapter 2: A Promise Broken

Hey guys, this story is starting to get a tad popular :D which makes me happy. Sorry it's a tad late but I have lots of homework now so here we go!

MERLIN

Merlin was in agony. His back screamed with pain. The worst part was that he couldn't fall unconscious. He wanted to fall asleep, get out of the endless pain, his body pleaded for it, but his mind wouldn't let him. He was terrified. Merlin had never felt so helpless in his entire life.

Gaius had bandaged his full back up and it restricted his movements. He could barely breathe; he was lying on his front in a very uncomfortable position and the pain was shooting through his back. He was fatigued, too exhausted and his eyes began to droop. He forced himself to stay awake. He had to stay awake; he would not let that monster hurt him again.

Gaius had gone to do is rounds somewhere around mid-morning, leaving the injured man lying awake on his own. Arthur had reluctantly left sometime during the night, thinking that Merlin had fallen back to sleep. How wrong he was. So that left Merlin to endure the silence of the infirmary, and that scared him too. Would the man with the metal fingers come after him when he was awake? Just thinking about it sent the injured man's mind whirling, blurring his vision with fear, darkness creeping in at the edges. Then the door squeaked open.

Merlin's head snapped up harsher than he had intended to. A strangled cry of agony escaped his lips and his back arched, reopening scabbing wounds. He shook in fear, the thought of the man coming back to him, to harm him more. Merlin didn't want that, and now he was alone, unprotected. He closed his eyes and hid his face, tensing for the pain to come…

"Merlin, it's only me, you girl." The prince's soft, insult-free words rushed through his head. Merlin's body relaxed ever so slightly. The pain flared up and he cried out again, his hands clutching the bed sheets as he tried to calm down.

"It's alright, it will pass." Arthur said, crouching down to see his face. Merlin kept still, he didn't move away from the prince, he didn't even turn his head. He didn't lift an arm in acknowledgement; he just stared at his friend.

When the pain died to as painless as his back could get, Merlin relaxed fully, his eyes drooped, but he made sure he kept them open.

"How long have you been awake for?" Arthur asked, sitting on the floor when his knees began to protest.

"'Since I woke up last night." Merlin's hoarse voice was barely audible.

"When, after I had left the room?" Arthur asked.

"No, when I woke up, after my back ended up like it is now." Merlin grimaced.

"So you have never slept once?" Arthur asked, clearly vexed, now fully noticing the blue-black rimmed eyes and the pale face of his servant.

"C-Can't." Merlin stammered his voice breaking. Arthur could not tell if the boy was in pain or if he was scared, and by the look of it, he looked both.

"Merlin, you are tired and you need to sleep to get strength." Arthur cried out. Merlin looked at him with angry, tired eyes.

"I can't sleep!" The boy cried out, his voice laced in pain. "He's there Arthur, haunting my dreams, turning them into nightmares. I can't sleep. It hurts, he hurts me. A-Arthur, I'm scared! I've never been so helpless before." Merlin cried out, tears flooding down his pale cheeks.

Arthur studied his friend's face, looking for any sign that didn't say he was scared, or hurt. Seeing none, his gaze softened more and his voice was quieter when he spoke.

"Who, who did this?" Arthur asked, carefully playing with the servant's raven hair.

"I don't know." Merlin whispered, fighting the wave of tiredness.

"What did he look like?" Arthur tried again. "If we know what he looks like, we can stop him." Arthur explained, inwardly rejoicing when he saw some relief flood into his servant's face.

"H-He wore a stripy, coloured shirt and a weird hat. H-His face was menacing, burnt and scarred. A-Arthur his h-hand…his fingers…blades…sharp blades, his hands were-were blades." Merlin stammered, tears strolling down his cheeks again. Arthur didn't know what to think. Was his servant making things up? Was he hallucinating?

"Are you sure, Merlin? Was it not just a dream?" Arthur asked gently.

"NO! He was there. He hurt me." Merlin whimpered.

"Okay, okay, Merlin, listen to me. It was a dream. Whoever done this was a sorcerer. They done this without even coming here, that is how you got your wounds. The sorcerer has made it look like a dream. No one, no one human will look like that." Arthur said, looking the boy in the eye.

"S-so it was just a dream?" Merlin asked, still unsure.

"Of course it was Merlin. It was all a dream." Arthur said, smiling in reassurance. Merlin nodded wearily and sighed, his eyelids drooping.

"Sleep Merlin, you need it." Arthur said, patting the boy's head before standing up and sitting on a chair. Merlin looked around wearily again, still uncertain. "Look, I promise you that nothing will happen. Now, go to sleep and that is an order." Arthur said, stressing out the last word in a soft tone. "I'm not going anywhere, so if anyone comes in, I'll get them." The prince said, putting his feet up and folding his arms. Merlin reluctantly nodded and closed his eyes.

"Thank you Arthur." The servant mumbled, drifting off into oblivion.

Arthur sighed and ran a hand over his face in relief. He couldn't believe his friend was going through this type of torture. The prince felt sorry for him, Merlin was starting to lose trust in anything, and right now all Merlin needed was a friend to help him keep part of that trust. Arthur would be there for him, he would protect him. No one deserved this. Not even Merlin, his bumbling, idiotic servant.

Quite suddenly, Merlin began to thrash lightly, soft mummers of pain coming from his mouth.

Then he screamed.

Arthur quite visibly paled at the sight when the bandages on the servant's back tore open, revealing the opening wounds again. Blood had coated Merlin's back, but that blood was old. Arthur's eyes were drawn to Merlin's shoulders. Small but deep punctures were appearing out of the blue, blood already running down the boy's shoulder, chest and back. The prince was sure he could hear something like a blade was being sharpened…like a blade slicing flesh.

Arthur thought he was going to be sick. Merlin had trusted him enough to let him go to sleep, to make sure he would be protected and no harm would come to him. Arthur made that promise to Merlin, and now, he just watched as their enemy broke it.