William Holloway

I'm a devil in disguise

William remained entirely unaware of what he looked like as he stood before the fae guards. He didn't realize the disheveled way his hair must have been - when was the last time they'd let him shower? - or notice the way his clothes felt too big on him. And even though he perhaps should have, he didn't even consider that the blood of the Hunters' whose lives he'd taken just hours ago might still be soaking his clothes. No, William's only train of thought was a continuous need to get to Sebastian. Sure, the foolish Hunters who guarded him had let it slip that the vampire wasn't actually being held there, and Will's own investigation of that prison had revealed no evidence that his best friend had been there, but until the Hunter saw the vampire alive and well with his own eyes, he would not rest. As such, the man simply stood outside those guarded gates crafting various streams of words that might gain him access to his best friend. At one point in his life, Will's own title would have been enough prestige, and yet now the mention of his companion's titles prompted an actual laugh from the guards. How Will had fallen in the past two hundred years from the firstborn son of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire to the man that stood in front of the estate who had shed his family name out of humiliation and grief for all that had happened to him. It was the mention of Charles, of all people, that seemed to bring any real reaction from the stoic fae men. "Yes," William grumbled after that assurance that they would 'check' - which he was sure they were just doing to humor him. "You do that. I can assure you that Lord Ellington will want to see me."

William was well aware of the way that the guards held themselves now, those hands on their weapons as if he was a threat. And perhaps if he was aware what he looked like, he might have at least attempted some level of reassurance that he was hardly a danger to the man they protected. The Duke would never hurt Sebastian and, given the last several years of his life, would do anything to insure no one else did, either. But instead William simply eyed the guards back. If he needed to attack, he doubted they'd even get their own weapons unsheathed before Will could do damage on them. But he wouldn't harm the fae, not as long as he could see Sebastian. If he couldn't... Will's anxiety would likely take hold. Still, William watched those doors intently as Charles was brought to the doors. The hunter offered the manservant the smallest of smiles, aware entirely of the surprise shown on his features. William wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since he'd been home, but he couldn't doubt that the occupants of the home might consider him long gone.

There was a smug look upon the Duke's face as those guards stepped aside and allowed him access to the estate. That smugness only grew ever so slightly as Charles addressed him. It had been so long since he regularly had been spoken to with such social graces, and yet Sebastian had seen to it that his staff had afforded the Duke what he had thought so lost. "I..." William began, though his mouth pressed closed almost immediately after. Though he certainly liked and respected Charles, the man chose to refrain from any explanations of his previous whereabouts until he had seen - and explained - to Sebastian himself. Again, William remained oblivious to his state of dress, instead choosing to focus on Charles' odd titling for his friend. An Earl hardly held the title of 'His Highness' and yet that had been exactly what Charles had said. Unless... Unless Sebastian no longer lived here and that was why he had not been allowed admittance. For a moment, as William followed Charles up those familiar stairs, the hunter found himself stricken with anxiety. What if Sebastian had been taken? What if he was hurt? What if...

Fortunately, Charles cut him off of that particularly dark line of thinking. William paused where he'd been told to wait, his eyes trained entirely on the manservant. The Duke reached down then, his fingertips rubbing lightly on the dark bruises that lined his wrists, a result of his hands being incapacitated nearly constantly during his captivity. William's hands were shaky, as they often were these days. It was strange to be back here, in a place he'd called home. In some ways, William felt that that graceful Duke he'd been upon the streets of London was but a ghost. He'd been replaced by this shaky, anxiety-ridden monster. And yet, when Charles so opened that heavy wooden door, those anxious feelings dissolved at the sound of the voice on the other side of that door hit William. Sebastian. The man couldn't make out what his friend was saying, but his voice was enough to replicate those feelings he'd felt so freely when he was truly alive. Sebastian had always brought him comfort and relief. "He's okay," William told himself under his breath, doing his best to hold his feet planted to the spot Charles had left him and not burst into the room. And for a second when that manservant announced him, asking if Sebastian should want to see him, William's anxiety gripped at his chest that perhaps the man wouldn't want to see him. But that was hardly the case, Charles moving to usher him into the room.

If anyone else had been within that room, William would have hated the way that Charles shut the door behind him. After all, how many times in his absence had he been trapped behind doors without a hope of escape in the hopes that he might find some sort of masterful command of his power? But as it was, it was Sebastian in the flesh and as a result, William stood stupefied in front of him. William had certainly thought about what he would say to Sebastian in all those days of captivity, but now that he was standing in front of him, the man was eerily quiet. That tremor in his hand seemed to return worse now, and William's hand reached up to once again rub his sore wrists as he eyed the other man. Where William was certainly a mess of what he was accustomed to being, Sebastian looked better than ever. That pressed button down shirt and dress slacks seemed tailored to the vampire's body. William had spent months imagining the torture that they must have been putting him through. And even more time that he hadn't had to imagine. Those guards, in an attempt to force that use of his power, would often describe their handling of Sebastian, which always managed an eruption from the Hunter.

It was that question that lingered on Sebastian's lips that prompted some sort of response from the shellshocked man. Was he... okay? There were a million words in William's head to describe how he felt right now, and yet 'okay' was not in there. "No," William said after a moment. "No, I'm really not... okay." The Duke sank then into one of Sebastian's chairs, still not aware of the blood that soaked him or that he might dirty up the man's otherwise pristine office. William dropped his head into his hands as if it might slow his racing thoughts, but all it did was escalate that tremor that existed within his hands. "I... They told me... They told me that they had you." It was hardly an explanation for where he had been, and yet William found he had very little composure after seeing that his best friend was alive and perfectly healthy. What had Sebastian thought about William in all this time if he hadn't been taken by the Hunters? Upon their previous reunion, William had sworn that he would stay at Sebastian's side as long as the vampire wanted him there. It had been his goal in his human life, and he was happy for it to be his goal in this life as well. To have the man vanish one day without a trace... what had Sebastian thought?

He would have explained where he had been if he had the words, and yet words failed the Duke. He merely sat there, silent as he struggled to compose himself. He couldn't bare the thought that Sebastian might think that he had left him willingly. No, he had been drugged and taken and he'd only complied to their requests because he'd thought it meant saving Sebastian. "They finally caught up to me," William said after several minutes of that silence that fell between them. "They've had me since. They said..." He paused then, that overwhelming anxiety and madness so threatening to overtake him. He looked up then, his breathing slowing ever so slightly at the sight of his friend. "They told me they had you. Would kill you if I didn't obey." He said finally. William reached up and ran a hand through those disheveled locks of his hair. When he pulled his hand back, it was streaked with dark blood. "I found out they didn't have you and I killed them all." The Duke rose then, stepping a few feet closer to Sebastian. "I didn't leave you, Seb. Not willingly. I swore I wouldn't, and I won't. I'm so sorry." Though leaving had not been his choice, William wouldn't deny the guilt that he felt at the mere idea of Sebastian thinking he had simply abandoned him.