William Holloway

I'm a devil in disguise

William could have so easily stayed within the relative safety of that bathroom. After all, it was the first place in an eternity that he had any sort of luxury, even if it was simply the pleasure of hot water and silken soaps. But, even as much as he wanted to stay in the safety that Sebastian's bathroom provided, he knew it was a temporary place of comfort. He needed other things. A shower was only the first step in a series of things that might make him feel human again. Plus, even though his stomach had twisted into knots at the idea, he owed an explanation to his companion. After his vow to never leave Sebastian's side, he couldn't avoid explaining his absence forever. William's fingers acted almost automatically to close the buttons on the crisp button down, his mind mostly elsewhere as he dressed. Still, William didn't hesitate as he stepped out of the bathroom. It was only Sebastian's distraction with the cell phone in his fingers that made William pause, watching as the vampire typed out whatever it was he was working on before the cell phone was placed upon the nightstand and Sebastian's attention was wholly on the Dark Hunter settling onto the bed beside him.

A world ago, William might have hesitated to be so close to Sebastian. He might have held back his physical affections or kept proper spacing and distance between them. But now, William did not hesitate to place his head upon the vampire's thigh. God, how such a simple gesture was enough to bring William a sense of calm that had been wholly absent for the majority of his immortal life. But that moment was entirely fleeting with the quiet muttering from William that Sebastian could ask him anything he desired. William was hardly naive. He fully expected the question that escaped the Englishman's lips, but that anticipation hardly stopped the visible wince so evident on his features. This topic was one shrouded in secrecy - especially from his best friend. William didn't think he could bear it if Sebastian cast him aside as the monster William so feared that he was. Still, William had offered Sebastian the chance to ask him anything, and the Hunter quietly began to speak.

The story was one William was intimately familiar with - after all, he had replayed those events over and over within his mind in the past two centuries - and yet he had never spoken of the horrors to anyone else. Vhalla had gotten the story to some extent, though even she had been kept from the entirety of it. He could have handled if she had hated him, but Sebastian? If Sebastian hated him there would be no recovering for the Duke. William was fully aware of the entirely still way that Sebastian remained lounged upon the bed, though he didn't dare look back at him lest he lose all the nerve he had summoned. He was unaware if Sebastian's face showed any reaction to his words, only aware of the words that tumbled from his lips. How the past tore at William's heart - at his very sanity. How he had spent so much time alone. Alone because he missed Sebastian with every bit of his being. Alone because of what the knowledge of his family's deaths had caused him to do. Alone because he was terrified of the Counsel.

William fell silent as he finished speaking, his shoulders entirely tense as he awaited the reaction that was sure to come from Sebastian. Where would he go when his only friend cast him aside? What kind of person would he become? While he had glanced at Sebastian, William didn't dare speak as he waited for the vampire to respond. If he was disgusted by William, Sebastian didn't show it. William looked up when he spoke, the Earl's voice capturing his attention, though he couldn't stop the way his brow furrowed at the man's words. His thought - at least the first part of it - seemed entirely sensible. Sebastian was prepared to try to fix the danger that William had been in, but the other things, the horrors he'd done, seemed entirely brushed over. William merely stared at Sebastian, his lips parted slightly as he tried to understand Sebastian's reaction to William's most closely guarded secret.

"I...I g...guess?" William stammered out, clearly puzzled by the reaction he'd been presented with. It was as if William had told him a mundane fact about himself. As if William had informed him that the sky was, in fact, blue or that William thought he should adopt a ferret. The reaction was certainly not what the Duke had anticipated, and as a result, he felt entirely baffled in the moment. "I don't... Sebastian... I tell you I'm Jack the Ripper and you don't react at all? Bloody hell, Seb." William reached up, running a hand through his damp hair to ground himself once more. He couldn't tell if it was relief or something else entirely that plagued him now, but somehow the Hunter felt more on edge than he had before he'd started to speak. He'd expected to be outcast, thrown out, not to be offered a job as a-

"A bodyguard?" William said finally, turning his body to face Sebastian, though he didn't reclaim his place in his companion's lap. It was almost laughable, really. To tell his best friend that he was one of the most notorious serial killers of the 19th century and be offered a job as a bodyguard? "Sebastian, what in the bloody hell do you need a bodyguard for? And what the hell is a fangirl?" His dark eyes focused on the man across from him, the memory of his encounter with Charles entirely fresh upon his mind. "Charles referred to you as 'His Highness'," William's tone was quiet, almost accusatory. "I know I've been away for awhile, but I don't think the social graces have changed that much in the past millennium. 'Your Highness' is how I would address a prince." At that, William merely stared at his companion. "What is going on, Sebastian? Did the entire English nobility fall while I was away, are you suddenly the heir to the throne of England?"