William Holloway

I'm a devil in disguise

William was hardly thrilled to be in the dance club. After all, the strobing lights and bass-heavy, pulsating music were akin to an attack on his finely attuned senses. How much he wanted to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the blue and purple assault on his irises, and yet his gaze remained steadfast on his companion. Even if this Northern dance club was rather akin to Hell itself for the Englishman, the Duke was duty bound to follow the Italian Prince wherever he went. And through the crowd of the bloody club he went. William's protests were either unheard or ignored by the vampire, and as he wormed his way through the crowd, the Hunter was beginning to suspect the latter. Even as every strand of William's sanity protested that none of this was a good idea - not the seeking out the young, human girl for a meal, not the crowd, and certainly not finding another girl to 'entertain' himself with - he couldn't deny that his eyes were drawn to the brunette at the bar that Sebastian had so kindly brought his attention to. William's heart certainly still ached over his encounter with the white haired witch, and yet this woman... there was something about her that was appealing to the Duke, something about her that motivated him to make his way not just after Sebastian, but towards her, as well.

Briefly, as the two men approached the young woman, William considered the martini glass resting in those delicate fingers and the way it seemed perched against her cheek. With the pulsating lights, the redness upon her pale skin seemed like a trick of the light, and yet William's concern flashed briefly across his features nonetheless. Had someone struck her? Surely no one would have hit a woman, at least no one honorable! Even with the concern, that line of thinking was entirely fleeting as, instead, he watched both women's attention become ensnared by a simple sentence from Sebastian. Jealousy flared within the Hunter's chest at the sound of Sebastian's flirtatious words, directed once more on someone other than him for the thousandth time. But what shocked him even more was the other, lesser jealousy that blossomed within him. Jealousy that her eyes were directed at Sebastian. What did he care for the object of her attention? And yet that jealousy remained all the same.

William was grateful for the blonde woman then and the way she leapt to Sebastian's invitation quite like a cat in heat. Truthfully, beyond a bit of distaste for her being thought of as a mere 'meal', William gave her little attention at all. Instead, he focused on the brunette beside her, stepping in closer in an attempt to be able to hear her better over the music. A quick gesture to the bartender was all it took to insure that another drink would be delivered to the young girl, the Hunter himself deciding to stay entirely sober tonight. After all, he'd had enough madness for a lifetime. William's smile was genuine as he spoke to her, introducing himself. That act alone was unfamiliar to the Duke, especially with Sebastian at his side. How used he had grown to having crowds simply know who he was, often before he even entered a room. And yet, after the past four years, William couldn't deny the relief he felt out from sheer anonymity. William's own smile only grew at the sight of hers, the man quickly enjoying the way the gesture made those emerald eyes of hers sparkle. She was utterly gorgeous, now that he was really looking at her, and really he simply wanted to be near her.

"Emerance," William repeated, the syllables of her name falling from his lips in that British lilt of his. The Dark Hunter hardly considered that Sebastian's magic might be influencing his decisions, instead he allowed himself to enjoy the warmth of this feeling, the ability to shamelessly smile and flirt with this girl without the fear of society or expectations getting in the way. "Should I dare ask wha-" The end of William's sentence was lost as the crowd seemed to surge then, pressing so close that it knocked Emerance off of her barstool and into his arms. William found his arms snaking around her, far past the acceptable suggestion that he was merely catching her. William's right hand rested on the small of her back, his left hand gently reaching up to brush a fallen lock of her hair behind her ear. This close, William could fully see that that redness upon her cheek was hardly a trick of the light, and he certainly felt the urge to obliterate anyone who had dared to touch her. "I... you have nothing to apologize for," William promised as he stared, once more, into those green eyes of hers.

Her words, just barely audible over the sound of the music and the crowd, caused the corner of William's mouth to twitch up into a smirk. "I know," He replied easily with a confidence that he hadn't exuded in well over two centuries. But in that moment he felt all the confidence of the Duke he had been, the man who could bring halt to a ballroom with his mere entrance. Without questioning himself or without thinking of the appropriateness or consequences of his actions, William's hand on her back pressed her in and he leaned down to press his lips against hers. The kiss hardly lasted a second before he felt a shove against both their bodies, the crowd seeming as if it would tear them apart. "Oi, watch it!" William snapped to no one in particular, the action seeming to jolt his senses. What the hell was going on? He kept Emerance in his arms, if only for her own protection, as he brought his attention back to his charge, to Sebastian. Fuck, why had he gotten so distracted?

Thankful, at the very least, that Sebastian was still only inches away from him, William turned. His right hand remained on Emerance, suddenly fearful that if he let go of her the crowd would swallow her whole. But all those hands reaching for Sebastian snapped William's focus towards his best friend once more, his stomach twisting as he realized just how entrapped they all were. The crowd had the four of them pressed against the wooden bar counter, William's own body the only thing half-shielding Sebastian from the crowd. William's free hand shot out as another hand came dangerously close to Sebastian, the Hunter's fingers snaking around the wrist of the offending creature, the swift movement that followed resulting in a sickening crack as the Duke's strength easily snapped the man's bone. "Get off him," William snarled, though once again the crowd did very little to back off in the face of William's words. "We have to go!" William shouted over the crowd to Sebastian.

William turned then, grabbing Emerance and hoisting her on top of the bar, hoping she'd get the hint to get behind what little protection the counter might temporarily offer them. The blonde beside them followed in a similar gesture before the Englishman finally worked to push Sebastian in the same manner. The simple act of placing Sebastian further away from their reach caused a roar in the crowd, those hands near threatening to tear William himself apart for daring to remove the object of the crowd's collective obsession from their touch. In one swift motion, William drew a dagger from his belt, holding it in front of him as he scrambled backwards over the counter himself. "Sebastian, what the hell is going on?!" He called out as his feet hit the tile behind the bar. The respite from the crowd was brief, the clubgoers already beginning their own climb over the wooden top.

The Hunter turned then, just in time to see the bartender lunge at Sebastian. The motion threw Emerance aside, and William was filled with an entirely different rage to both see her fall to the ground and to see hands very nearly fall upon Sebastian. William grabbed at the bartender, using his full strength to throw the offender against the back wall. The glittering liquor bottles overhead shook with the force, the glass shelves cracking and the force of the motion sending them raining down over the fallen bartender. For a moment, William paused, stunned by his own actions, and yet that was brief as more bodies threatened to move in on them. Ignoring the, now unconscious, bartender, William pushed the three of them through the door to the back room, the man only hoping that there was some sort of exit and that they weren't all trapped once more. He pushed the door shut, scrambling to push a nearby shelf in front of it before he turned to the other three.

"Look for a way out. We have to go, now," He commanded to the blonde girl before his gaze went to Sebastian, a look of exasperation on his features. "What is happening to them? Are you doing something? They seem like they're in a trance?" He asked quickly as he stepped beside Emerance, his fingers lightly brushing on her arm in an almost protective gesture, as if to see if she was alright. His gaze flitted between both the young woman and the Italian Prince, relieved to se that they both seemed unharmed, if not a little shaken. "Are you both alright?"