Yay! This is the longest chapter I have written so far! Aren't you guys so happy now? Because instead of a short and crappy chapter, you get a long and crappy chapter! Woohoo! :D
Will lay on his bed, thinking about what he was going to do. He hadn't gotten any more sleep last night after his nightmare and was exhausted. He got up and walked to the door, turning the handle. It was locked. He cursed silently and looked around the room for anything he could use to pick the lock. When he was unable to find anything, he sighed and sat on the bed. He studied the room, remembering how familiar it looked.
He needed to get out of here, but there were no windows for him to climb out of and the door was locked. That was just great. His hand brushed over the brand mark on his upper right arm and brought his thoughts back to the issue of his captors. The only reason Halt hadn't seen the brand mark yet was because his cloak covered it and he made sure it stayed out of sight. It was a skull and crossbones that was on fire. He hated it. Every time he saw it, it reminded him of the problem to which he had no solution...
Flashback
They had been giving him poison for about a week now and he felt like dying. It was another form of torture they used. They would give him the poison and let it run through his system until he was almost dead, then they would give him the antidote. The poison felt like fire as it ran through his veins. He thrashed on the ground, curling in on himself trying to make the pain stop. The man that tortured him was called Tyler. He was the most sick person Will had ever met. He was insane and enjoyed torturing people. He stood, leaning against the wall watching Will as he screamed and cried. He chuckled and kneeled down next to him, whispering in his ear "Will you tell me where the Gathering is now?"
"N-no," Will choked out. He was shaking badly and covered in sweat. Tyler studied him for a moment and seemed to come to a decision. He smiled broadly as he thought of his wonderful idea. Will groaned and looked away from him, knowing when Tyler smiled or was happy, he was about to be the opposite. He pulled out the syringe with the antidote in it and stuck it in his arm, pushing the plunger down. After a few minutes it kicked in and Will layed on the floor panting.
"Okay. I'll make you a deal," He didn't like where this was going... "I will let you go home, but you can't tell anyone what I did to you. And you have a job to do for me." Tyler said happily.
Will thought about this and nervously asked, "What job...?"
Tyler grinned and said, "I'm glad you asked. Your job is to assassinate someone for me. Your target is Halt O'Carrick."
Will looked at him like he was crazy- well he was. "I can't. N-no, I won't!" He yelled angrily.
"Yes you will, because I told you to." Tyler said calmly.
"And what if I don't?"
"I will give you 2 weeks. If you tell anyone about any of this, I will kill Halt myself. I will know if you tell anyone. If he isn't dead in 2 weeks time, I will hunt you down and give you more poison and this time I won't give you the antidote."
Tyler smiled and left him alone to think about what he was going to do.
Will stood up and started pacing. (well more like limping) He had to think of a way to get out of this. Tyler could poison him all he wanted, he wasn't going to kill Halt. The only reason he attacked Halt in the first place was because before Tyler let him go, he drugged him and when he saw Halt he kind of... morphed into Tyler. Will thought he was attacking Tyler when he was really attacking Halt. He couldn't believe he had been blackmailed. Why was it always him that was put in bad situations? He felt someone watching him and knew Tyler was out there somewhere, watching him, just waiting for him to tell someone or try to run.
It was early and Halt and Gilan would be waking up soon. He knew they would question him later, but he would avoid it for as long as possible. He wanted to tell them so badly, but he couldn't. He had to keep Halt safe. That was the problem though. He wanted to keep Halt safe, but he knew that after Tyler killed him with the poison, he would undoubtedly go after Halt when he was dead. No matter what he did, there was a chance that Halt or someone else he loved would get hurt and it scared him. They were the only family he had left and if they were gone, he wouldn't know what to do.
Crowley woke up as the sun rose over the horizon. He had been traveling for 2 days now and should be in Redmont by midday if he hurried. He sat up and groaned, he was getting to old for this. He ate a quick breakfast of dried beef and some bread and packed up camp. As he did his usual morning tasks, he pondered over the events of the past few days. He had received an urgent message from Halt and was very concerned.
Crowely, I found Will but something isn't right. I need you to come help me figure out what's wrong. Please be here as soon as you can and try to keep this quiet if possible.
-Halt
The letter was very direct and to the point, but what scared Crowley was that they had found Will. They should be happy that they finally found him, but something was up. He finished packing up camp and mounted his horse. Cropper nickered happily and shook his mane. Crowley laughed and squeezed his sides slightly, putting them at the ranger forced march. It was going to be a long day in the saddle.
Halt sat up as he heard a slight click. He looked at the door handle of his room and saw it move, Will had woken up. He watched it for a minute, wondering if Will was gonna get out, but he didn't. The handle stopped moving and he heard footsteps coming from his room. He's probably looking for something to pick the lock with, Halt though idly. He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, grabbing the bag of coffee as he went. Soon the heavenly smell of coffee filled the room and Halt set his coffee down on the table and got breakfast started. He cooked bacon and eggs and started dishing out plates. He set two on the table and brought a third towards his room.
He opened the door and walked into the room, quickly shutting it behind him. He looked at Will, who was still pacing and looked stressed.
"I brought you some food." Halt said, gesturing to the plate of bacon and eggs. Will nodded, still deep in thought. Halt set the plate down on the nightstand and left the room, giving Will some space. Walking back into the kitchen, he noticed that Gilan was already up and eating breakfast. He sat down beside him and ate his food.
"Before you ask, no I don't know what's wrong with Will, but Crowley should be here today to help out." Halt stated.
Gilan looked up at him, surprised he knew what he was going to ask before he even asked it. "Oh, okay. Does King Duncan know about this yet?" He asked.
"Yes, I sent him a letter a few days ago, informing him of the situation and asking him to keep this quiet for now. Pretty much the same thing I told Crowley."
Gilan nodded and finished his breakfast, bringing his plate to the sink. He walked to the door and went to do the daily chores.
Several hours later, Will sprawled out on the bed, wondering if Halt was ever going to let him out of his room. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. He was so bored it was driving him insane. There was nothing to do in this room. He still hasn't touched his food and knew Halt wouldn't be happy about that, but he was too stressed out to eat. He wanted to sleep, but after last night's unsuccessful attempt, he was too scared. He didn't like to remember all the things that they did to him in that terrible place. He shuddered just thinking about it and he didn't want to deal with a nightmare right now.
He listened intently, seems on how it was the only thing that was more interesting than staring at the ceiling. He heard the front door open and what sounded like two people walked in.
"It's good to see you Crowley." He heard Halt say, he sounded relieved.
"Nice to see you too, Halt. Got any coffee?"
"Of course I do, if I didn't I wouldn't be here." Halt said sarcastically.
"I'll put the water on to boil." Another voice said - Gilan. He listened as who he assumed was Gilan walked into the kitchen. Halt and Crowley headed towards the room he was in. He could hear them whispering, but couldn't make out what they were saying.
He heard a click as Halt unlocked the door and they both walked in. He continued to lay there and stare at the ceiling, ignoring them completely.
"Hey Will, how are you doing?" Crowley asked.
Will sat up and looked at them. Crowley barely held back a gasp when he saw Will's eyes. There was no life in them, they looked like the eyes of a dead man.
"Fine." Will said quietly. He looked down at the floor, it was a lot harder now not to say anything about Tyler. And what if Crowley got hurt? There was so much that could go wrong and he still hadn't decided what to do. How much time did he have left?
"Halt, how long have I been here?" He asked.
Halt thought about it for a moment and said, " Almost four days, why do you ask?"
"Just curious." Will said. He could see that Halt was getting suspicious.
Will counted how many days he had left in his mind. 10 days. That wasn't much time, but he had to take what he could get. He needed a plan, but couldn't think straight because he was so worried about Halt. Halt's voice tore him from his thoughts.
"Will, why didn't you eat your breakfast?" Halt asked, noticing the still full plate of bacon and eggs sitting on the nightstand.
Will's eyes darted from Halt to the plate of food and back.
"Didn't feel like eating."
"How can you not feel like eating? You haven't eaten in a while, I can tell." Crowley said incredulously.
Will sighed and looked at the two of them, wondering how he was going to explain to them that he was too stressed out to eat or even be hungry without them asking why he was stressed out. Gilan walked in with coffee and handed it out. The smell filled room and lifted his mood a bit.
"Why don't I get any coffee?!" Will huffed when Gilan didn't hand him any.
Gilan looked at him and then at Halt. Halt looked at Will and said, "Because you don't need any."
Will glared at him and said, "And why would that be?"
"You're still healing and therefore you don't need any coffee." Halt said.
"Well if I don't get any could you at least not tease me with it by drinking it in front of me and filling my room with the smell of it?" Will spat.
Halt raised an eyebrow at the tone he was using and said, "Nope."
Will groaned and laid back down on his bed continuing to stare at the ceiling. Halt drank his coffee until it was gone and left the room to get the medical supplies he needed to clean Will's leg. He quickly found it and came back into the room. Will was still laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He walked over to him and set the supplies down on the bed beside his leg. Will jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his hurt leg. He sat up and glanced over at Halt, who was getting supplies ready to clean his wounds. He laid back down and stayed silent as Halt started working on his wounds.
Crowley looked at Will's leg and gasped.
"What happened?" He asked, still staring at the multiple gaping wounds on his leg. Halt realized that he still hadn't asked Will what happened and wondered what did this. He studied the wounds closely and discovered that it looked like someone had used a blunt knife.
"I'm not sure. What happened, Will?" He asked. He put down what he was holding and looked at his face, trying to tell if he was going to lie or not. Will offered nothing for him to go on and continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to think of a reasonable excuse.
They sat there for several minutes in silence. Will could feel everyone's eyes on him and didn't like the attention.
"Ummm..."
"Aren't you going to tell us?" Gilan asked impatiently. Halt shot him a glare and he was quiet.
He turned back to Will and said, "Who did this?"
"I-I can't..." Will stuttered. He knew this would happen but there weren't any animals he could have told them did this. If he told them that Tyler did this, he would probably come and kill Halt or someone else and he couldn't let that happen. He looked back up at the ceiling and stayed silent.
"Why can't you tell us?" Halt asked. He knew they probably wouldn't get anything out of him, but it was worth a try. He was very stubborn and wouldn't say anything if he didn't want to, or in this case, if he couldn't. Will continued to ignore them and didn't say anything. Halt sighed and started on cleaning the wounds again. He might as well finish and head out, he had alot to discuss with Crowley. After a while, he was finished. He, Crowely, and Gilan left the room.