Part Eleven – Dying and Damned

The door was locked. Jergens was outside, leaning against it. His body felt numb. He winced every time he heard yet another scream from the infirmary. It hurt him. It physically hurt him to hear Faith in such pain. Someone had to stand outside though, to be sure that no one would come near. Jergens was drafted for the role. Several butlers and maids passed him, eying him with even more hatred than usual. It unsettled him, it all unsettled him.

He had never felt so terrified in his entire life.

He was glad he was at the end of the hall, the glares and sneers weren’t as bad from such a distance, but he could still see them. The corridor was as dark as usual, save for the small, single window beside him. He refused to look outside it; there was nothing out there that would lighten his spirits.

Tap…

A sharp sound came from it, as if someone was getting his attention from outside. Slowly, he turned his head and flinched in surprise.

It was his old friend, Irene Whittington.

She smiled when he saw her, and tapped the window once more, gesturing with her hands for him to open it. He walked over and unlocked it, smoothly pulling it up. “Irene?” his voice was near robotic, un-feeling. She smiled and extended her arms to him. “Yeah, boy. Ya really remember lil’ old me? Nice to see that ya respect yer elders. Now come on and help an old woman in. It was hard enough sneaking past everyone.” She chuckled coldly and held on him as he lifted her. To Jergens, she was quite light, and he easily plopped her back to the ground. “Irene, I-…” she quickly held up a wrinkled hand, silencing him.

“Listen, boy. I didn’t come here to visit with ya and rattle my head off.” She looked at him seriously for once. “I came here to tell ya about the town.” She glanced out the window, making sure nobody would see her, and pulled him over next to it, hiding them from view. She took his thin arms and pulled him forward, letting her mouth lightly brush against his ear as she whispered,

“The community is planning a riot on the mansion tonight, boy. That bastard Charles Lawson is telling everyone that Bartleby tried to kill him with his bare hands. Of course, I know that ain’t true. He may be an asshole, but that boy ain’t no murderer. It dosen't help that there's a new rumor goin' roud that says you and him are lovers, and ya know how this town feels bout' queers.” She pulled back and looked him in the eyes, noting how empty his face seemed. “You listenin’, boy? The entire community is gonna stop at nothing to make sure that ya both die tonight.” His face didn’t change. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him as hard as she could.

“BOY, YA BETTER LISTEN TO ME!!! THIS AIN’T NO GAME! YA WANNA DIE?! HELL, DO YA WANNA SEE BARTLEBY DIE?!” she screamed, her eyes blazing in anger. She calmed herself, sliding her hands down his arms. “Boy, I know ya been through a lot now. But ya need to get out of here, now. The town is even asking forest deer to help them. And ya know what? The mayor ain’t doing a damn thing about it. In fact, I think the sorry bastard might approve of it all.” She hissed at him, a bit ashamed that she had yelled.

Jergens just stared at her. This had to be a dream. Nothing like this could be happening to them. He would wake up soon, and he would cry, but at least he would wake up. He heard a sudden wail of pain echo from the infirmary. And then he knew. This wasn’t a dream, and he would not wake up.

He trembled under Irene’s hard grasp and began to sob, flinging his arms around her. She blinked in surprised. “Now boy…” she gently wrapped her arms around him and stroked his back. “…Don’t cry on me. I know it hurts. Come on… It’s alright…” she ran her fingers through his short curly red hair, liking the feel of it. Jergens said nothing, but gave a small, choked sob in reply. “I’m going to help ya.” She murmured to him. “I’m gonna get ya and the Master, and we’re going to The Endless Forest.” He held on to her tighter, as if for dear life. She continued to talk to him, hoping that it would sooth him. “Now, don’t tell me that humans ain’t allowed in that forest, cause I know that more than anyone. But it’ll at least get the community off our tails for a while. All we’ll have to worry about then is the deer.” she managed to pull herself away and face him once more. “We’re going to get through this.” She stated simply, with no doubt, and because of this, Jergens believed her.

The door to the infirmary suddenly opened, revealing a rather tired stag. He raised an eyebrow at Irene, but soon quickly turned his attention to Jergens. “I’d like to talk with you.” He said. Jergens knew what was coming. Reluctantly, he left Irene and followed Malware a bit further up the hall.

“Jergens… I don’t know how to tell you this…” the stag’s pictogram was a dull yellow. Sadness. Jergens looked from it to the ground. “Just get it over with…” he muttered. The stag nodded promptly, he knew that Jergens wanted the truth. He wasn’t the type to like sugar-coating.
“Jergens, it’s unlikely that the Master is going to survive the night. If his leg hadn’t broken, I think he would have pulled through it alright, but the shock that his body suffered has been too much.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry… I can’t do anything else. Deer were never meant to heal humans in the first place.” He muttered. Jergens nodded dully and looked up at his pictogram, his true name and said. “Go talk to that woman there, I think ya need to hear what she has to say.” And with that he pushed the stag’s massive body lightly away and walked to the door.

He closed it behind him and was greeted to yet another depressing sight. Faith was sobbing, clutching at the freshly blood stained sheets. “Faith…” he mumbled, stumbling over and gently taking the other’s ashen grey hand. Bartleby’s light, bright green eyes had never looked so dull and tired when looked up at him. “Jergens… It’s all over, isn’t it? I’m so sorry…” he gave Jergens’s hand a light, pitiful squeeze. “It hurts… I don’t want to take it anymore…” he mumbled sadly. Jergens said nothing, but leaned over and gently brushed his lips against Bartleby’s. “Shut up.” He mumbled, lightly petting his hair. “Look, I need to tell you something.”

Jergens told him of everything that was to come that night, he hid nothing from him. Bartleby silently listened through it all, letting Jergens hold him as he did so. When Jergens had finished, the blonde boy looked up at him. “You should go. I’ll only slow you down.” he simply said. Jergens shook his head. “No. I’m not going without you. If you stay here and get yourself killed, then I’ll get killed with you.” He was being stubborn. How could he not? Bartleby sighed. “You heard Malware. What’s the point of taking me if I’m just going to die along the way?” He looked up at him. “You should just go.”

In terms of logic, it was the best choice. Bartleby was right. He couldn’t even walk let alone flee to the forest with him. If he wasn’t going to survive the night, why take him? Jergens knew this, but it was still too difficult to bear with. He kissed his forehead, letting his actions speak for themselves. If Bartleby was not going to leave, then he was going to stay.

“Please don’t…” Bartleby didn’t feel like arguing. He didn’t even feel like speaking. He wanted to sleep, but what if he didn’t wake up? He forced himself to stay awake. He knew that if he closed his eyes now, they wouldn’t open again. “Why Jergens? I don’t want you to…” he was cut off when Jergens kissed him.

“You can be really stupid sometimes. I’m staying because I love you.”

And stay they did. I cannot tell you, my dear children, if the outcome would have been different if Jergens had left. Perhaps only Bartleby would have fallen, leaving Jergens to live the rest of his days in misery. I can, however, tell you that either way; our story will end in tragedy. I’ve told you all that many times now. You wish it would not end this way? You say you want me to change it? Tut tut, child!

I never lie.

----
No, this is not the end. I had to split the finale into two parts because of length. So, the next part will be the finale.
Sorry for the annoyance this has most likely caused xD
I'm really glad that I got to bring in Irene Whittington again. I love her so much... Perhaps I should make an official character.