William Holloway

I'm a devil in disguise

William had always been a soft sort of soul. Never the type to harm others, whether it be people or animals. Once, when William was around twelve, his grandfather had taken him hunting. They'd left the woods with his grandfather fully disappointed in the boy, calling him soft, weak, feminine due to his inability to harm a fly. How his grandfather had tried to coax William to pull the trigger - to bring the animal down. And how embarrassed William had felt when he returned home, his hands empty but the air full of the disappointment from his family. In fact, William had been wholly surprised when the silver, Cavendish dagger had been placed in his hands just a year later. And even then, he would have never used it. Even if he kept it on his person at all times, he knew that it was nothing more than a show piece for him. And, at least when William was wholly human, he'd never harmed anyone. Even when he'd been attacked by that vicious little girl and lain dying upon the London streets, reaching for the dagger had only occurred to him when it was far too late.

But there was another side to William now, and he was sure that the darkness that crept over him now would eventually take away any humanity that he had left. Oh, how he'd used that dagger after that fateful day. He'd wielded its sharp edges and carved the life out of vampire after vampire, taking pleasure in watching the life die out of the very creatures that had stolen everything that he was and everything he had. It had never been the correct vampire, and that had hardly mattered at the time. Their whole species would pay for the pain that had been caused to him. And while those deaths had never, not even once, mattered to the Duke, there were some that weighed heavily on his conscience. He thought about those deaths that he'd inflicted in Whitechapel often, considering the fact that they were innocent (even if a few of them had been supernatural, and thus completely valid in the eyes of the council he so feared). For those women, it wasn't a vampire that had been the cruel monster to take away everything they could have been, it was him.

As William spoke about those deaths that weighed so heavily on his shoulders, he was readily prepared for the disgust that he was sure would follow. What he hadn't expected was a job offer. William thought little about the motivation behind it. He didn't consider that it might be a way to keep William safe and out of the reach of the very types of men who had kept him prisoner for far too long. And William wasted no time in sharing those very concerns. Sebastian must be out of his mind to offer a man like him a job as a b... and why did he even need a body guard? He had just parted his lips to ask that very question when he was presented with Sebastian's own confession of those years after he was turned. It was nothing that surprised the Dark Hunter. Stories like Sebastian's, or William's own, were not uncommon for newly turned supernaturals. To lose control was common, especially in their time. If the lower classes went missing then, it was just another person off the streets. That his own murders had gotten such notoriety was unusual indeed.

"I wouldn't have hunted you" William insisted, though he didn't elaborate nor mention that the only reason he had ceased his quest for revenge on the species that had caused him so much pain was only due to the hunt that had brought him Sebastian. And if it weren't for finding his best friend again, he was sure he would still be doing just that. The simple request not to murder the staff was what brought the first real smile to the boy, that impish grin playing on the corners of his lips. "I make no promises," He teased, and yet William would not do anything of the sort. In fact, William just wanted to lay low and hide where it was safe. And yet, it seemed as though Sebastian had very, very different ideas for the Duke. William voiced that uncertainty of why the job was even necessary, even if he was certain the job itself might just be a formality of keeping William near.

Still, William was wholly patient as Sebastian babbled on his explanation of what exactly a 'fan girl' might be. He even did his best not to wrinkle his nose in confusion, though he certainly felt bafflement of why his Sebastian might receive such attention and of such a rather obsessive nature. In fact, that attention seemed wholly inappropriate. William hardly held onto the mention of the fan girls, instead his line of questioning went elsewhere, to the shift in title that Charles himself had prompted. William's remark of England's own monarchy was said wholly for his own amusement, and Sebastian's reply made William sit up slightly, the wrinkle of a frown crossing across his brow. "Wha-" He began, though he left no indication that he intended to continue that thought. It was the mention of the other European country that prompted any response from the former Duke at all.

At first, William didn't move at all. Instead, he simply stared at his companion for several long moments, certain that, somehow, he had misheard him. And yet, no matter how many times he rearranged the words in his head, they refused to make any other sort of coherent sentence. William sat up all the way, his back remaining completely straight as he stared at his companion. "That isn't funny," He said finally, convinced it was another one of the jokes that Sebastian had made at his expense. After all, Sebastian's lineage had been well known to him. If Sebastian had any sort of link to the Italian monarchy, it would have been well known across England. And yet, the changes he had already observed in Sebastian's home - the extra security, the change in title, the stressed look on his face before he'd laid eyes on William - all made sense in the light of this new information.

But there was another piece of information, one that William had always conveniently tucked away and ignored, that pushed itself to the forefront of his mind now: Sebastian was a taken man. His heart belonged to another. He'd said so himself, even if William had been more than keen to remember that very information if only because it hurt too much to consider. Sebastian had let him ignore it, too, if only so that it would result in the hidden closeness between them that had never been allowed to exist in their human lives. This person, this mystery lover, must be the source of this new title, which meant...

"I..." William said finally, reaching up to run a hand through his wet hair. There was a new sort of sadness in his eyes as he finally looked up at his companion. His mouth felt like cotton, his voice pained and dry as he finally spoke. "You're married?"