At Your Service Mister Pendragon~

Part 3: Chapter 28

Merlin nodded to the guards and said, "Open the gate." He then looked at his list to see what else he had to pick up and remembered that he needed a few items from the grocery store.

He got in his car and drove to the store, parking before heading inside to grab a few things on the list.

~~

With his groceries placed in the backseat, Merlin walked around the car to get into the driver's seat.

However, just as he was about to get into his seat, he was suddenly pulled away and dragged into an alley behind the store.

A hand was quickly placed over his mouth to muffle his screams so as not to alert any bystanders. It was clear that Merlin was struggling and trying to fight back but to no avail.

Merlin was thrown against the wall and looked up to see two men with something covering their faces.

One of the men began to tie his hands together tightly and as he struggled to free himself, he cried out, "Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?!"

The other man swiftly landed a kick to Merlin's side to shut him up and prevent him from screaming for help.

The pain was intense as he gasped for breath and tried to fight back but he felt he was powerless against them.

The men grasped Merlin's throat and wrists tightly.

"Give us the fucking money!" One demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Merlin replied, gritting his teeth and trying to remain steady as tears welled up in his eyes.

The men tightened their grip and one of the men slammed a fist into Merlin's face, striking him so hard that his nose began to bleed.

Merlin looked down at the ground as blood ran down his nose and began dripping on the ground from the steady flow coming from his nose.

One of the men grasped him by his hair, pulling his head back to face him, and held a fist ready to strike him once again if he didn't do as he was told.

The men turned and looked at Merlin's face more closely than they had before and noticed something familiar.

One man turned to look at the other man and spoke, asking, "Isn't this the kid who works for the Pendragons?"

The other man nodded his head in response and then turned back to look again at Merlin, his expression changing from anger to confusion.

The man took a knife out and pressed it against a vein in Merlin's arm, ready to strike, while the other man stepped in and stopped him.

"Hey, hey, don't you see it's him? That's the kid who works for the Pendragon, Arthur's personal assistant."

The man who had picked up the knife said, "Well we can't just let him go!" but his partner disagreed.

"Are you stupid or something? If we harm the boy, just imagine what'll happen to us!"

As his partner tried to convince him to let Merlin go, the man holding the knife just mumbled under his breath and continued to ignore his partner's suggestions.

He then picked the knife up again and held it at an arm's length from Merlin, clearly debating whether or not to use it.

The man pointed the knife at Merlin's vein again and Merlin, desperate to avoid any further harm, shook his head vigorously.

"Just let me go! Please!"

The man slapped Merlin across the face with his free hand and cut just above Merlin's wrist.

Merlin cried out, the searing pain pushing his adrenaline levels high as blood trickled down his wrist and hand.

The man threw the knife into the trash bins, realizing that he had probably taken this too far, and his partner slapped him on the back of the head in an effort to get him to leave with him.

"You idiot! Let's get out of here before he finds out what you did!"

They ran out of the alley way as quickly as they could, leaving Merlin behind.

He was injured and bleeding but grateful to be alive.

Merlin quickly ripped off a piece of his shirt with his teeth and hand, exposing the big bruise on his side.

He quickly pressed it against the injury as tightly as he could to try and stop the bleeding.

He felt the pain radiating from his side but knew that he needed to keep applying pressure to stop the flow of blood.

Merlin got to his feet, but as he did, he stumbled slightly from the pain he was feeling. He tried to keep himself from crying as a few tears ran down his cheeks.

Even as he felt the warm blood through his cloth, he knew he had to get back to the mansion as quickly as possible.

Once in his car and back at the gate, he yelled at the guards to open up for him, his voice a little raspy from the pain.

Merlin was losing strength as he staggered up the stairs to the front door and knocked hard on it using his good hand.

Just as he did, he saw the blood running down his arm under the cloth.

It was more than he had initially realized, and he felt himself beginning to sway as he waited for someone to answer the door.

Arthur had just opened the door when he froze in place as he saw Merlin's condition.

He quickly grabbed him and dragged him inside and let the door slam shut.

He yelled out, calling for Morgana and Gaius, his concern for Merlin apparent as he frantically tried to get someone to come and help his condition.

Arthur kneeling down to get at eye level with Merlin as he sat him down.

"I-I'm sorry.." He said as tears ran down his face but Arthur cut him off before he could say anything else.

"Shh... Why are you apologizing? It's okay... We just need to get you some help."