Sorry it took a while, it wasn't that easy to get this bit done...
"Why me?" Arthur asked the question out loud this time, after asking himself, just in his head, for about a million times. When they arrived at the prison it was early morning, and thankfully no prisoners were moving around the yard. Uther took the lead again, and he had, for some reason, employed Leon to drive them.
Arthur felt exhausted from the drive. Uther hadn't wanted to waste time, so he had insisted on an early start. There was a possibility that they could find this boy alive, if they managed to get enough information out of Cenred. Arthur tried not to freak out at the responsibility. He was good at what he did, but he was used to taking months in dealing with people's problems, building up a rapport with them, helping them along. The people he treated were usually willing, wanting to help themselves. This was an entirely different scenario. It was an interrogation not a therapy session. Arthur didn't think he was really ready for it, but on the flip side, he had just a strong a feeling that he couldn't refuse to do it. If he was the only person that Cenred would talk to then he had to be the one that did it.
There was something of an obligation in it. Especially as there was someone missing, a boy that Merlin had identified, and whose life was in danger. That was the reason Merlin had drawn it. To tell Arthur what he needed to know. Arthur's mind calculated if this scenario was also something to do with Merlin's recovery. He knew this person, Merlin had to have encountered them, he was the longest incarcerated with Cenred, and when he had been rescued he had been attached to someone who had been murdered, and more than likely that had occurred while the two boys had been tethered together.
Arthur couldn't even begin to imagine the type of person that could do that. Cenred had not killed the boys, Arthur was certain about that, but he knew who had. The man talked carefully, easing round a subject, giving hints to the truth, diverting the conversation and sliding reality in around whatever fantasy he had built. Arthur had to brace himself to hear the details about what had been done. He might have been able to cope with it, if it was nothing more than theory to him, facts on paper. But it no longer was, now there was Merlin occupying a room in the hospital, to be assessed by him, needing care and protection. If it hadn't been for all of this; Merlin's desperate attempt to communicate, the sudden twist in a case that seemed to be solved, Arthur would have been of the opinion that Merlin was lost to the world, and would need to be cared for permanently. Arthur couldn't put it aside now, his opinion was that Merlin was entirely conscious of what was going on around him, but more than that. Arthur got the feeling that if this other person was found then Merlin could somehow get out of his nightmare. Arthur had tried to get Merlin to draw a likeness of this person but all his patient drew was dark shadowing.
It bothered him, but he knew it couldn't be so simple as Merlin giving them the answers. There was no way to really find out what was happening in Merlin's head. Arthur remained convinced that Merlin was desperately trying to help them. What had been done to him was limiting him. Arthur had been debating it since he had woken up, there wasn't much else to do on the drive but think. Leon had done nothing more than concentrate on the road and Uther had slept or read the paper. Arthur had just sat watching the countryside pass by and thought, or rather he let the thoughts drift through his mind, without much direction, until they slowly started to come together.
"Leon?" Arthur murmured, as they waited to pass through into the secure unit. Leon was staying behind, and waiting in a visiting room.
"What?"
"While you're sat here, could you go through some of the reports, on the boys, see if there is any mention of them being… intuitive, or instinctive."
"How do you mean?" Leon said, looking and sounding confused. Arthur gritted his teeth.
"Similar to Merlin," Arthur said, not wanting to be too obvious with the prison guards getting ready to escort them in. Leon's frown deepened and Arthur raised his eyebrows. Understanding slowly started to dawn on Leon's face, and his jaw dropped a fraction.
"Oh, oh, I see," Leon said.
"Good, just look for any comment in passing, or not in passing, just anything. Even just a hint."
"Right okay," Leon said.
"Arthur," Uther called him to attention as the guards opened the door and they entered the room that they had been in last time. The main table had two chairs, sitting on opposite sides. And the smaller table that Arthur had occupied last time was set up for Uther. Arthur eyed the table nervously, it was all that was between him and the man who had tortured at least six youths, and gave enough hints as to more.
Slowly Arthur took his place at the main table and put his writing pad and sketch pad out and had a pen and pencil on the table. At the far right side Arthur put down the fat file that his father had given him, with all the information he might need to refer to, including some pictures to show Cenred. It took a huge amount of effort not to fidget, play with the pen, or sketch something. He was almost turning to a default, he wanted to draw Merlin and if his moral conscience got to him in time he sketched Kilgharrah. Arthur exhaled gently and turned to look at his father. Uther met his eyes, there was nothing on the table in front of him. All the senior Pendragon wanted to do was keep an eye on his son, he wanted to protect him from this.
"You're such a hypocrite," Arthur said.
"In what way?" Uther rumbled.
"You want to protect me from all this, and you wanted it to be my career, to follow in your footsteps."
"And you don't think that sometimes I feel grateful that you didn't."
"I don't know, you'd never tell me."
"You've never asked."
"Dad, that is just childish," Arthur said.
"You started it," Uther informed him. Arthur rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the smile that was forming. Uther smiled back, the odd, almost baffled, affectionate smile that Uther sometimes bestowed on his son. Despite Uther's attachment to many of the younger members of his police team, Arthur knew he was the only recipient of that smile. Not even his mother ever received that look.
They both stopped smiling and tensed as the door on the far side of the room gave a heavy click, the sound echoing heavily as the lock on the metal door was turned. Another one followed, sounding heavy. Arthur sat back and took a deep breath, looking at the equipment he had laid out in front of him and he wondered it if was over the top. Uther would have just had the file, trying to threaten and intimidate to get the answers. Arthur just couldn't work like that, he was rubbish at that sort of thing, he was used to lists and methodical working. He was the one that had been bullied at school, not that Uther knew anything about it, even though he was the cause. Being the son of a high ranking policeman did not make for the easiest of lives.
Arthur's eyes fixed on the door as it opened and Cenred was led in. Two guards accompanied him, one ahead and one behind him. The one that led escorted Cenred to the table, while the other lingered by the door. Again Cenred was handcuffed, his clothes dark as was the stubble around his jaw and his hair trailed into his face, all of it looking very carefully arranged. He said nothing as the guard put him into the chair, but he kept his eyes on Arthur, the gaze steady and intense. Arthur met it, but then Cenred's gaze moved, looking Arthur up and down and it took a good deal of effort for Arthur to not squirm.
He guessed that he wasn't exactly being mentally undressed as Cenred's eyes assessed him. Arthur's spine tingled as he realised that Cenred was imagining what Arthur had looked like as a teenager, which would lead Cenred's mind on further. Arthur clenched his jaw and waited until Cenred's eyes finally levelled on his again, filled with sparks of lust. His stomach churned as he saw the glitter in the other man's eyes and Arthur knew he wasn't wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and it took all of his self control to keep himself still and purvey some level of confidence. He was out of his depth, this was not his area of expertise and Arthur got the feeling that it was eventually going to show. Cenred probably already knew it. This was just another part to his game, the only reason he wanted Arthur was because he was a lead to Merlin.
What did Merlin have that Cenred wanted, aside from the obvious? What did the other person want that warranted Merlin's survival? Arthur had never seen it like that until that moment. They could be looking at this situation in the wrong way. Cenred smirked as he looked at Arthur, who wasn't hiding his discomfort as much as he thought he was. It was clear to everyone in the room that Arthur wasn't happy with the situation. Arthur eventually pulled himself together, shifted his pads about and moved the file to a more prominent position on the table. Cenred just watched him, a smug smirk on his face. Arthur felt the heat run to his cheeks and he glared at the other man.
"What did you want to see me about?" Arthur snapped at him, realising it wasn't the best of starts.
"I didn't," Cenred drawled. Arthur scowled further.
"That's what I got told."
"Actually," Cenred said, relaxing back in his chair, eyes still assessing Arthur intensely. "I got told the police wanted to talk to me, I said I only would if it was you."
"I'm not the police."
"Almost, exactly," Cenred said. His eyes flickering to Uther. Arthur didn't turn round, he let his eyes drift a little, but then Cenred shifted, quite abruptly, and Arthur got the hint. As he turned back he watched the scowl flicker across Cenred's face. Arthur hadn't jumped, he hadn't reacted to the implied threat. Despite the uneasy ripples running up and down his spine, and his clear discomfort, he wasn't going to give Cenred that type of satisfaction. Arthur fiddled around with his pad, opening it up and writing the date and time at the top, noting the initial opening with Cenred. Cenred peered at the pad, and frowned as he leant forward to try and read Arthur's writing.
"It's shorthand," Arthur explained as Cenred's frown deepened. "I have never liked it when clients try and read what I am writing, parts of it anyway. My mother taught me."
Cenred snorted, Arthur stopped writing. That was the good thing about it, he could make it look like he was making copious notes, and unless whoever it was understood shorthand they had no idea. He could be writing his shopping list and most people would be none the wiser. Generally he didn't, he actually wrote what he was meant to be writing but the principle was there. It put a small chink into Cenred's armour.
"What's wrong with using a tape recorder?" Cenred asked. Arthur shrugged.
"Just never have, I've never really thought about it."
Cenred rolled his eyes.
"Mind you," Arthur said causally. "You're into technology aren't you? You did a lot of computer work? Online stuff. That was your line of work wasn't it? Do you have access to a computer now?"
Arthur knew the answer. Uther had made sure to check that.
"No, not that is connected to the outside world anyway," Cenred said.
"That makes it a little pointless doesn't it?" Arthur asked. "You ran a company that produced websites, what can you do on a computer if you can't access the internet."
"Write my memoires," Cenred said. Arthur raised his eyebrows and jotted in shorthand, 'you have got to be kidding me'.
"Really," he said out loud. "I can't imagine many people wanting to know about you and what you did."
Cenred raised his eyebrows and smirked at Arthur. "Oh, you'd be surprised. Most people are too timid to give into their most basic desires, and it's what a lot of people want to do. They casually say they could kill someone for something, and to be honest," Cenred paused and leant forward, as if he was about to impart a great secret.
"Most people probably would commit murder, if they could get away with it. They'd like to hurt someone, and find out how it feels to force that girl they see into an act that is considered despicable."
"So, you think you are helping people live out their fantasies?" Arthur asked. Cenred laughed.
"No, just my own."
"And you think people are really going to want to read about that, your selfish desire to hurt people. Are you trying to give it meaning?"
"You're the psychiatrist," Cenred said, still sounding amused. "It's your type that try to look for meaning in things. Are you going to ask me about my parents?"
"No, the last thing I want to do is get into a conversation with you, and I certainly don't want to know anything about you. The police wanted to talk to you, you said you'd only talk to me, so I got stuck having to drive up here at some bloody awful time in the morning, to ask you what the police want to ask you. It's as simple as that."
Cenred tilted his head to the side, Arthur scrawled a note in shorthand telling himself to shut up and stop talking, he needed to get Cenred talking. What he had to try and do was stop the man carefully talking his way around a subject, making it sound like he was telling them something, when in actual fact he wasn't.
"Don't you want to know?"
"Not particularly," Arthur informed him flatly.
"Not even about Merlin."
"Most especially about Merlin, my job is to help and support him. I don't want to know your version of events, so you can give yourself another hard on."
"Don't you want to understand him?"
"I do, I just don't need you to do that, and I have no desire to understand you. Now does this alleged partner of yours, who apparently killed all these boys, actually exist?"
"What do you think?"
"I'll take that as a yes. You have constantly maintained that you didn't kill any of the boys, although, all things considered, you didn't keep them far from that state. None of them just went by accident, did they?"
"Not a one," Cenred said with confidence. His smirk gave the sentence meaning. More than six, most definitely; there had been more than six.
"So killing them was their fantasy, this other person's. You enjoyed the torture and they enjoyed the killing."
"If you like," Cenred said. Arthur paused, and made a few notes. He had to try and get his head around this, he needed the notes because he was starting to think that he wouldn't get any insight now, he would need to look at the thoughts later.
"Why were you keeping them? How the hell do you get into an arrangement like that?"
Cenred just smirked and shrugged. Arthur shifted uncomfortably. This wasn't getting him anywhere. Instead he opened the file and brought out the picture of the boy who was currently missing. He was beaming at the camera, looking bright and happy. Arthur turned it, trying not to really look at the picture, while he turned it and placed it in front of Cenred, who kept his eyes on Arthur for a moment before looking down at the snapshot.
"This boy is missing as well, with a good indication that it might be happening again."
"Lots of teenagers go missing, why would you assume it relates to me?" Cenred asked, he stared at Arthur, who met the gaze, eyeing Cenred carefully. There was something quite smug about Cenred's expression, he wasn't going to say anything further to Arthur. Instead he was pulling Arthur in, and Arthur knew that Cenred knew what Merlin was doing. He couldn't know the exact nature of it. No one had been told about Merlin's ability, that had been kept firmly between certain staff at the hospital and of the police only Uther, Morgana, Gwaine and Leon were privy to the information. Arthur was going to have to be blatantly honest with this man, or try a different approach. They were at an impasse, which was the moment, oddly, that the door behind them unlocked. Cenred lifted his head, a flicker of irritation appearing across his carefully schooled features. Arthur turned, Uther looked almost as irritated as Cenred, when Leon came through the door.
"Sorry Sir; Arthur?"
Arthur got up, taking his pad with him, scribbling a note for Uther. He put the pad and pen down on the desk so his father could read it, and write a reply if he needed to. Leon and Arthur huddled together, close enough to Uther so that he could hear the information.
"You were right, or at least two of them are the same, Sam the first one entered the school talent show, a few weeks before his disappearance, as a mind reader, and from what I can gather he was really good. There were assumptions that it was set up somehow, but by the sound of it, it's entirely possible he could be capable of it. We've got solid enough proof that it can happen."
Arthur shrugged.
"And the other?"
"Jason had something similar, just a magic act but a few of his illusions were good, and his ability with cards quite interesting. He got suspended from school a couple of times for gambling, playing poker and winning… a lot, like he knew the cards really well."
"So possibly a similar thing. They all had some level of talent. Maybe some didn't even know it. We've got that to possibly connect why it was those boys."
"Possibly," Leon said. He glanced at Uther. But Uther wasn't answering him. He was jotting something down on the pad, in shorthand. He also had found some benefit in having his wife teach him, if nothing else, it had been a fun way to pass notes when they were dating. Arthur didn't try to read it now, instead he turned back to Leon as he added.
"And I did a bit more research, on supernatural info, apparently puberty is a sort of time that this sort of thing manifests. Things like poltergeists manifesting around teenagers."
"When everything chemically inside them is sort of having a riot, and the situation that Cenred put them through, that would cause huge emotion," Arthur said. "Surely that would trigger it, but Merlin was older, unless he developed later."
Arthur jumped as Uther tapped his arm with the pad handing it back to him. Turning it Arthur read the last comment Uther had written at the bottom of the page.
'Or Merlin is stronger than the rest.'
Arthur glanced at Uther, then at Leon.
"Thanks," Arthur said before turning round and heading back to the table. He put the pad down, glancing at the notes his father had written. It left him with some idea of how to carry on. Cenred was glared at him as he returned to the seat, his eyes darkening with fury. Arthur had already tipped the balance, thanks to Leon's intervention. Leon could have walked in and said anything, it was just the movement, that Arthur might know something else. Another thought occurred to him, which he jotted down, to remind himself to find out. It was a long shot but if any of the other boys had been for a brain scan, then the pattern could be mapped out further.
"Were the boys your choice? Or your friend's?"
"I didn't mind any of them," Cenred said.
"But you kidnapped them, you stalked them, just picking them off when you could."
"It's not that difficult."
"And you enjoyed it," Arthur said, not making that a question. "Have you ever been in any sort of normal relationship?"
"What do you define as normal?"
"I hardly think kidnapping people, raping and abusing them can be considered normal."
"So instead you mean dating, buying furniture, and having an equal say."
"Something like that," Arthur said.
"It's not equal, you might not see it clearly all the time, but there is always one who remains dominant. There's abuse in every relationship, I just happened to be honest about it."
"You saw yourself as in a relationship?" Arthur tried not to sound utterly incredulous. Cenred looked at him carefully, assessing him again. Arthur tried not to think about the implications of that look.
"There is interaction, a balance of power, like most partnerships."
"None of the boys had any power," Arthur countered. Cenred raised his eyebrows.
"Don't be sure of that."
Arthur narrowed his eyes and Cenred's mouth tweaked with a smile.
"Did you like them?" Arthur asked. "The boys, did you like them?"
"Each one had a different type of appeal," Cenred said.
Arthur could see the challenge in the man's eyes. Cenred was almost daring Arthur to make the conversation personal, to ask about the boys, one in particular. Arthur glanced at his pad and made another note, reading one his father had written. 'Talk about Merlin, you are going to have to be specific.'
Unfortunately, Arthur was starting to agree with that. He didn't really want to get into a deep involved conversation, but he was hedging and Cenred wasn't letting him get anywhere because of it. Arthur was going to have to force his way deeper, and Merlin was the obvious way in. Arthur knew him, Arthur had been dealing with him and Cenred knew that. More than likely Cenred had received some of that information from his lawyer, but there lay a possibility that Cenred had found out another way.
"What was it about Merlin?"
The question caused Cenred to smirk. "Oh, now you want to talk about Merlin."
"Yes, I do, it could be any of them, I suppose, but Merlin is the one that survived. There was something that kept him alive, did you like him better than the others."
"He was purer. I told you that. He was shy, very insecure, didn't have many friends. There is something about him, isn't there Arthur?" Cenred drawled. Arthur glared at him, feeling a light trace of heat rushing to his cheeks. He carefully schooled his features so he gave as little away as possible.
"I don't know, you're the one that chose him. What was it about Merlin that you liked?"
"Merlin," Cenred drawled, as if he was carefully tasting the word. It sent a shiver through Arthur, and he wondered if Cenred had ever addressed Merlin like that. If he had it had probably terrified Merlin.
"Merlin was like a virgin sacrifice. He was chained to Jason on the first night. Although Jason didn't even look at him, he kept his face hidden. He knew what was going to happen. Merlin was so tight when I took him, and I enjoyed the screaming."
"I know all this, you're not going to tell me anything new," Arthur sighed.
"You haven't asked me anything new."
"There is nothing you can tell me, you were used as well, at least that sick little part of you was. All you were needed for was to keep the poor kids alive, and drive their emotions higher. That was it, wasn't it?"
Cenred's face changed. Then he looked around as the guards unlocked the door and they disappeared. Arthur turned to look at his father, who shrugged. Arthur glanced down at the notes his father had written. 'Two minutes', one of them said. That was as long as Arthur had, taking the conversation off the radar. Arthur fiddled with the file and pulled out the copy of Merlin's drawing.
"At four in the morning, Merlin starts screaming the place down and this is the picture he drew me. The boy that was being murdered. Sam and Jason were also both thought to have some level of ability, even though it hadn't been narrowed down quite like that. Merlin gave us a lead on this boy as well." Arthur produced the other drawing Merlin had done. "We will find him."
The muscles in Cenred's jaw moved, glaring at Arthur. Arthur looked back steadily.
"It won't be alive, that will be a quick fix," Cenred said.
"That's what they are going for, without you to sustain the boy's terror, that's all they can get. Tracking down anyone with a mild ability."
Cenred sniggered. "Everyone has an ability, it's just a question of finding it. Merlin was a good little find, but there's a bigger score coming, and you'll never see it. This is an appetiser. The main meal is on the way."
"You want to bet," Arthur said. "And they won't get their grubby little hands on Merlin again."
Cenred grinned. "If you say so. Time's up Pendragon."
And the guards came back. Arthur didn't try for anything else. All that could be said, probably had been spoken.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Arthur had to endure the catcalls all the way out, but he hardly noticed them. He walked past without even realising half of the men were there. All he could think about was Merlin, poor Merlin, trapped in a situation he couldn't escape from. Arthur couldn't imagine how it felt, to have roused from unconsciousness to find himself trapped in a cellar with another captive and a man that took advantage of him.
He had, during his time at the hospital, been called in to council rape victims. Most of them male, Nimueh had often dealt with the females. It depended. Sometimes a few of them had wanted him, if nothing else to vent their feelings. Arthur knew the basic mechanics of it, and he used his detachment to it to try and ease people through their trauma. But he had never been though anything that terrifying. His life had been safe, almost sheltered to some extent.
They paused in the car park, standing by Leon's car, by the bonnet, where he had carefully reversed it into the space, like he always did.
"Did that even tell us anything?" Uther asked as he perched himself on the right wing. Leon looked pained by that, but said nothing, he wouldn't.
"Yes, it did," Arthur said. "And don't sit on the car."
"Exactly what?" Uther asked, standing up, glaring at Leon briefly before turning back to Arthur.
"What Cenred says openly, and what he means are very well connected. He's made it quite clear that there are more victims that have been killed, and no doubt more victims to come. And that they have another target equal to Merlin."
"How the hell do we find them?" Uther asked.
"Merlin would be the obvious way, surely," Leon said. Arthur shook his head.
"Merlin is only seeing what is going on. We are assuming that his catatonic stupor is though trauma. But we are clearly learning that Merlin's mind is beyond anything that can be understood. He was put through the scans because of his head trauma. Did any of the other victims ever go for any sort of brain scan?"
"You think you might find a connection?" Uther asked.
"Maybe, possibly not. People have intuition all the time, even just day to day, you do something and have no idea why, you know who it is when the phone rings. You don't know why but it happens. Co-incidences, seeing someone you were just thinking about. It's all there if you look at it right."
"Well, yeah, I know it's a flaky sort of thing to consider but Merlin is making us do that. He's seeing what is happening, as it happens, which would suggest, he is still connected to this person. It sounds from what you're saying, that they might be feeding on this," Leon said.
"Like a vampire," Uther said, raising his hands as Arthur glared. "I'm not being sarcastic, it just seems like the simplest description. I got that hint from the conversation."
"I suppose it fits," Arthur conceded. There was a short pause. "We didn't get much did we?"
"He's not going to be that willing to give anything away," Uther said. "He knows he's never getting out. Despite everything I made sure enough was going to stick, even if the murder charges are overturned there is too much else. In fact that could result in him being shipped off to a secure psychiatric unit."
"Does he want that?" Leon asked.
"God alone knows," Arthur said. "I don't think I'd get far even if I took him permanently on as a patient, which I do not want to do. I think the only reason he asked for me was because I'd be hopeless in dealing with him."
"I wouldn't say you were that, but it seems to me that asking for you has an ulterior motive."
"That could just be because he's the closest person to Merlin. If nothing else, he's probably eyeing you up as competition," Leon said.
"He was certainly eyeing me up for something," Arthur said. "So what the hell do we do now? He said this other boy was a quick fix, which means we are not going to have much time to save him."
"If any, I'm afraid. I don't think we'll find that boy alive," Uther said flatly. Arthur glared at him.
"That's all you can say."
"I have to be realistic about this Arthur, the only reason we know this boy is even remotely connected is because Merlin clearly witnessed something. It was the same with the other boy. Hopefully the lab will get back to me soon to see if the DNA traces we found are relating to any from the previous murders. And we had an unidentified partial print from the farmhouse. If we can connect anything it will be a miracle."
"Something is bringing this situation to a head. If they need something long term, then maybe they still need Merlin," Leon said.
Arthur clenched his jaw, voicing something he was not very happy about.
"Maybe they still have him."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Percival ambled along the corridor heading towards Merlin's room. He had been rather confused by the job when he had been called in by Uther but Percival reflected that it had been something of a relaxing time. He was getting used to the small, quiet hospital, and understood why it worked so well for people needing therapy. Not that he thought that he was someone who needed it, but he had to admit over the last day or so he was feeling very relaxed.
The work was somewhat undemanding. He had scouted the grounds, looking over any vulnerable areas. There were plenty to be found, people could sneak in, but he had secured what he could, walking the perimeter twice a day, spending some time with Merlin and now and again tailing the very pretty Elena. Percival wondered if she was single; although she had hinted at it he hadn't got a clear answer.
He ambled into Merlin's room and paused, looking around. Not five minutes ago he had told Lancelot he would go and get Merlin and take him down to watch television. Lancelot had shrugged and carried on sorting through the bed sheets. None of them really liked leaving Merlin alone, although he didn't openly register their presence. It seemed almost cruel to Percival to leave him sitting there, so that was why he sometimes took him down to sit in the lounge area, with the television chatting away at them so there wasn't any sort of silence between them. Percival commented on the programmes as they rolled over the screen. He wasn't sure if Merlin was watching, or liked, anything they watched, but it felt to Percival like he was making an effort with the job he was given.
Now he stared at the empty room. Lancelot was the nurse on duty, and he hadn't said that Merlin had been moved. Backing up two steps Percival went out into the corridor and looked around, listening. It was quiet this time of day. A couple of the residents were in their rooms, but that usually meant they wanted peace and quiet. He glanced towards Vivian's door. She was another one who had taken up looking after Merlin, but her door was shut, she was meant to be out with her father this afternoon.
Glancing back he saw Kilgharrah on the window ledge, balanced in a fairly precarious manner. He was tucked into the bay window, looking as though he was staring out of the window. There was no possible way Merlin would have wanted him left there, and no one would have abandoned him to such a place. With a frown Percival strode across the room to retrieve him and find out what was going on.
When he did he got the shock of his life.
He had just picked up the toy when he glanced out of the window and saw a figure stood on the edge of the lawn, just by the hedge. Percival stared, thinking it odd that someone would be lingering there. Then his eyes widened as he recognised the dark hair and slim build.
Merlin was stood on the lawn. For the few seconds that Percival regarded him in shock Merlin stayed quite still, as if he was entirely in his catatonic state. Glancing around Percival couldn't see anyone close to him, and he couldn't understand who would have left Merlin there alone anyway. None of the staff would have dreamt of it. Backing up he put Kilgharrah down on the end of the bed and ran out of the room, he almost ran to the main area, to find someone. Then changed his mind and ran the other way, towards the stairs at the far end that led to the fire door. It would be the quickest way to get to Merlin, which probably came as first priority.
He crashed through the door shoulder first and went down the stairs, jumping down at few at a time to speed up his run. As he landed by the door he winced as he felt his ankle turn, clicking loudly and causing him to swear.
"Percy?" Gwen's voice made him turn. He slammed the door open, causing the alarms that Elyan had fitted to start pinging. They were not brilliant but they could draw attention. He paused, backing up through the door as he gasped.
"Merlin's outside!"
"What?" Gwen asked, running after him.
"Get Lancelot! I saw Merlin outside, on the lawn, alone!" Percival gave her the information as succinctly as possible before running around the corner towards the spot where he had seen Merlin. He slowed to a jog and looked around. The area was open, he had a clear view of the grounds and Merlin was nowhere in sight. He turned a circle and saw Gwen, with Lancelot running out towards him. Percival looked up at the window, it was in clear sight. He was not mistaken. It had been Merlin.
"Gwen said Merlin was out here!" Lancelot shouted. Percival looked around.
"He was; I swear I saw him. I went into his room and looked out of the window. He was here! It took me a minute to get down here, if that!"
"Gwen, check the building and alert the rest of the staff!" Lancelot shouted, and then he turned to Percival. "We'll search the grounds, he can't have gone far."
Percival started looking, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he did so. He had to tell DCI Pendragon, and sooner rather than later. And it was a good idea.
Merlin, it seemed, had vanished into thin air.