The Tales of Robin Hood

Chapter Eleven - Robin

I awoke in darkness, but it wasn't as scary as before.  William was right next to me, and Nick's body right in front of us.  I looked down at his lifeless figure, unable to tear my gaze away, until I could no longer bear it.  I shifted my weight to my good leg, and then looked up at William, a tear escaping me and running down my cheek.

"Is he really—dead?" I asked, not wanting any of it to be true.

"He is," he whispered. "And it's all my fault."

"No," I choked out. "It's all mine."

He opened his mouth to contradict me when we both noticed someone coming towards us, walking slowly out of the dimness.  At first his face was shadowed by the darkness, but then I could make him out.

It was Nick.

I gasped and took a step back, he wasn't alive.  How could he be up and walking?  There was blood streaming out of a cut on his throat, but he didn't seem to care.  It just kept coming nonstop out of the wound, down the front of his shirt and arms, flooding out around us.  It came to the middle of my forearm in mere seconds, filling everything in like an ocean of blood.

By the time it reached William's shoulders, I was swimming in place, trying in vain to keep my head above the blood.  It got thicker and thicker as I struggled to stay afloat, making it harder and harder to resist.  My head soon went under and I tried my best to hold my breath, but something hit my stomach hard and all the air left me.  Blood flooded into my mouth, filing me with its awful taste and being.  I tried not to let it in me, but it kept coming, refusing to leave but instead pile up in my stomach and lungs.

Then it all disappeared.

I fell for what seemed like forever, then hit the ground hard on my back.  I took one breath, then felt the blood start to come up, so I pushed myself onto my side with what strength I had left and let it all come gushing out.  My stomach hurt and my throat and mouth burned by the time it all came out, and I felt a hand on my arm.  I flinched, afraid that it was Nick coming for revenge, and looked to see it was William.  A sob escaped my lips and he helped me to sit up, hugging me as I buried my head in his shoulder.  We sat there for a few moments in silence, and then suddenly he disappeared.

I fell sideways, just barely catching myself before I could hit the ground.  I looked around and felt fear creep its way into my heart.  A figure appeared out of the darkness, heading my way, and I prayed that it would be William, Crystal, Ross, anyone but Nick.

And, of course, it was just who I feared.

The cut on his throat was gone, and he looked as alive as I had seen him before getting kidnapped.  I swallowed and watched, frozen in fear, as he walked up to me, stopping just over a foot away.

"Your fault," he said, his voice sounding distant and ghostly.

"I—I'm sorry," I choked out, the taste of his blood stinging my mouth.

"Your fault!" he repeated, louder than before.

"I couldn't stop it!" I exclaimed, sitting all the way up even though the cut in my thigh was screaming at me not to. "I wasn't even awake!"

"Your fault!" he screamed, his voice booming around me.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"

We have to wake her up!

"What?"

She can hear us, we're close.  Do something!

"Who's there?" I asked, but even Nick had disappeared, leaving me alone to the nothingness.

Wake up, Robin!  You need to wake up!