The Ripper

William Jack Holloway

In the days since coming to Sacrosanct, Will had grown almost exclusively nocturnal. He'd always been somewhat of a night person, he supposed. After all, the royal courts of England were notorious for hosting lavish parties that would last almost until the sun would rise over the London skyline. Will's royal status had meant that he was in attendance of nearly all of these parties. And there he would be, dancing and laughing with the lovely debutantes until his feet ached and he - or more often than not, Sebastian - could find some way to excuse himself. In the later years of his life - those dark Hunter years - those nocturnal tendencies had come out in full force with that vicious desire to ride the world of the very creatures that had forced this lifestyle upon him. The night was the only time he would have access to the vampires, and he lavished in the opportunity to cut the life from those vile vampires.

Now that he was in Sacrosanct, however, his nightly activities were less murderous. Since his discovery that his best friend was very much alive - or at least as alive as one could be considering his vampiric state - the urge to murder vampires had been sedated. He couldn't bring himself to kill the creatures anymore. Not when he had seen Sebastian be so alive and have that same heart that he'd known so well upon those English streets. For the first time in his long immortality, he looked at a vampire and saw a person. He couldn't bring himself to kill them. So now, most nights were spent in adventures with Sebastian not unlike the ones they'd relished in in their mortality.

And the nights that weren't were spent getting to know the peculiar city he'd found himself in. It was, after all, to become his home, was it not? It was such an odd thing to refer to a place as his home for the man. Years, decades, nearly two centuries had passed since he'd last felt at home. It had been back in those London streets with Sebastian. In the centuries that had followed, he'd considered so many times that perhaps home wasn't a place, but it was a person. For years, he'd thought that his own home was lost to death. But then he'd come across him in that dark alleyway and it was as though he'd been home for the first time. Now, being with Sebastian was the only place that felt right. The Hunter couldn't help the way his thoughts seemed to have swirled towards the vampiric man that had turned his entire existence on edge. It was remarkable how much the man seemed to be able to pull every aspect of his thoughts towards him, and how Will had found himself smiling and laughing for the first time in... God, he'd forgotten how long.

And in turn, for the first time, he'd walked down a street with his guard down. By the time he felt that familiar prickle that slid up his spine and into the back of his neck, the figure was already entirely too close. He let that prickle continue, his mind focusing. A witch, then. Exhaling, William let himself relax. Vampires had a way of getting under that carefully composed skin of his, but witches were fine. Witches, he didn't care about. Or at least, he didn't until the flash of that white hair caught his eye, and he looked at the stealthily clad young woman in that alleyway. It was hard to see in the dark, and yet he was certain that her eyes were trained on him. He moved swiftly then, moving to in the general direction of the woman, his eyes still focused ahead of him as though he hadn't seen her at all. Still, his mind latched onto the appearance of the girl. She was an assassin, much like what William was supposed to be. And truly, it wasn't unlike the Council to use whatever they could get, and he was on the Council's Most Wanted, wasn't he?

He moved abruptly when he was close to the girl, his arm reaching out to grab ahold of the tiny thing. He spun then, moving to shove the girl up against the brick of the building. It had been a swift motion, one that would not have given away the flash of the silver dagger until it was pressed against the skin at her throat. His smile was nearly wicked as he shifted his weight to hold her tight. "Hello, princess," His voice was low, nearly a purr as his gaze met on her. "Care to tell me why you're following me?"

But darling -- it's only human nature.