#William Gracey x reader

[seriously-nobody]

The Ghost In My Heart

Pt.3

Warnings: romance, grief, drug induced sleepy time, self-deprecation, mention of murder, a bit of betrayal, and a few time skips

Preface: I really enjoyed writing this one. I think it's much more complex than the other parts, with a lot more happening all in one part. I don't have much more to say other than I really do hope you enjoy it. :)

It had been 6 months since Madame Leota moved into the mansion and held a seance every night. And every night, with every seance, the ghosts chose you to be their mouth piece. You were exhausted after being used night after night, feeling so much death, but as long as you felt you were helping, you were happy to be there. There was one particularly rough seance with the ghost of a black widow bride making you see and feel like your head was being cut off, Madame Leota had to intervene. She couldn’t get rid of the ghost but made them fairly docile with some sage. “I’m going to have some tea before I turn in to calm my nerves, would either of you like to join me?” Madame Leota asked, picking up her cane. “Tea sounds lovely.” William said standing. You said nothing, just looked at the corner of the room where only you saw the captain. He stared at you with his arms folded and his head turned up at you. “Are you alright?” William put his hand on your shoulder. You shake your head out of it, “Yes, fine.” you say shortly. “Will you be joining us for tea?” he asks again. “Not tonight, thank you.” you say. “Well alright, we’ll be in the living room if you need us.” Madame Leota said and they both walked out, William shutting the door behind him.

You get up abruptly and turn to the journal and thrust it open to a new page. “Why are you haunting me captain?!” you say angrily into the corner where he stood a moment ago. But the pen doesn’t move. Then suddenly the sound of the ship’s bell rings out and you cover your ears to try to block it out but it doesn’t work, it only grows louder. “You know why I’m here!” a gruff voice shouts at you and wind suddenly starts blowing in the room almost knocking you down. “Stop it. Stop it.” You grunt back at it, screwing your eyes shut. “You suffer!” the voice retorts and rain starts pouring down on you. “I can’t tell him, you know I can’t” You shout into the storm. The bell rings so loud in your head it vibrates your skull and you drop to your knees on the floor, which is now ankle deep in sea water. “It will break his trust in me if I bow out! I must hold on and stay by his side!” you yell in desperation but the torrent only grows stronger. “Even at your own expense?!” the voice roars like thunder at you. “At any cost! I cannot waiver! Or this is all for not!” you practically scream. “Then you are lost!” the captain’s voice blares. “I may be! But at least I am lost with him!” you yell but the deluge holds strong around you. “I know I have lost my way but I don’t have any other path but this one now! I’ve made my fate and I will live or die with the consequences!” You sob. And finally the storm calms to nothing but the water pooled around you. “You will not change. I will not leave.” The captain says and everything around you dries and watery foot prints stomp out of the seance room.

3 months pass after that, but everything remains the same. So many seances and equally as many ghosts, they get blurred together in your memory. Names get to be a bit fuzzy at times, especially after rough seances that wear down your mind. William however seems less optimistic as he was in the beginning. It’s almost coming up on a year now and still, Eleanor has not shown up. “May I confide in you something?” William asks you one morning while having morning tea in the garden. Madame Leota was inside talking with the spirits. “Of course you can. What is it?” you say, only a little bit concerned. “It’s been 9 months we’ve been trying to contact her. And I grow more and more worried. What if she doesn’t want to make contact with us? With me? Or what if she’s not here? What if she’s-” William says with each question he becomes more frantic, so you put your hand on his arm to calm and quiet him. “We will reach Eleanor, William. I promise you, on my life, I will help you find her.” You say with utter devotion. “You are such a good friend to me, y/n. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve such a companion.” he smiles brightly at you and it warms your heart. “You needn’t do anything.” you say bumping his shoulder with yours and you both giggle and continue enjoying the pleasant morning.

Finally the day had come, the first year anniversary of it all. The day goes on as usual and then the night begins in the seance room. “Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat; call in the spirits, wherever they’re at.” Madame Leota says and the seance begins. the crystal ball glows and levitates. You feel like someone or something is trying to say something to you but it all just comes out in jumbled hushed whispers. “Anything yet?” William asks. “Not really. It sounds like they’re trying but can’t quite find the words?” You say tilting your head. “Hmm. Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell, give us a hint, by ringing a bell!” Madame Leota gestures to a brass bell on the table, but again nothing happens. “Wrap on a table, it's time to respond! Send us a message from somewhere beyond!” shouted Madame Leota, slamming her hand down on the table. And finally you saw him. Only his head showed through the crystal ball. His face burned into your memory. His wicked grin and his crazed eyes. His eyes darted over to you and noticed the terrified look on your face. “You.” he says and tilts his head down at you. Suddenly you felt his soul, his aura, his overpowering madness and insatiable bloodlust overwhelmed you. Your face went pale as a sheet. “Y/n? What is it? What’s happening.” William asked concerned. You were scared speechless, it felt like all the air had been taken out of the room and you couldn’t breathe. The head laughed maniacally and you saw all his murders flash by your eyes in an instant, and you saw them as if looking through his eyes. Then his head vanished from the ball and you frantically looked around the room. You peek behind your chair to find him standing there, hunched over with a cane in one hand and a glowing hatbox in the other. His head, now inside the hatbox, illuminates the corner of the room. “Boo!” he says and chuckles at you when you jump. “No no no! Shut it down! Shut it down!” You practically scream to Madame Leota. While keeping eye contact with the hatbox ghost. He takes a menacing step towards you, scraping his other foot across the floor. “You can’t banish me, foolish mortal.” he cackles out. Madame Leota lights the sage and waves it around the space to get him to leave but he stands unwavering. “Aww, that won’t hurt me. You know better than that.” he scoffs and continues towards you. William grabs the bell and starts ringing in the direction where you’re looking. “Ugh! Such noise!” The ghost says and dematerializes. You turn around to see if the crystal ball had stopped glowing and it did. So you slump back down in your chair knowing the portal had closed.

Your heart racing in your chest, you pant, gripping the arms of the chair to stop yourself from quaking. “Is everyone alright?” you pant out. “Yes.” Madame Leota says calming down. “Yes, but are you alright?” William says concerned. “For now. Though, we need to banish that ghost back to the region beyond. I don’t know who or what that ghost is, but he'a evil and maddening.” You say darkly. His face flashes in your memory, it’s all you see behind your eyelids when you so much as blink, it sends a shiver down your spine. “I’ll see what I can do to find a banishment.” Madame Leota says opening her book, William still looks concerned at you but says nothing. “I’m going to go for a brandy.” You say trying desperately to stand while your legs quake against your will. William gets up and helps you stand. “I’ll come with you.” He says, holding your arm. “Oh, no, it’s alright.” You say trying to wave him off as you walk slowly out of his hold. William gives you those sad kicked puppy eyes. “Listen, I'm alright, really.” You say and hobble up the stairs to the living room.

You call a servant for a cherry brandy and sit down on a sofa. You sigh and put your elbows on your knees to cradle your head. You close your eyes only for a moment and see his face again. “Your brandy?” a servant says, making your heart leap out of your chest and you fall back onto the sofa. “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you.” the servant says. “No, no, it's alright.” you say taking the brandy and down half of it. “Rough night?” the servant says observing you. “Extremely.” you say running your hand down your face. “Penny for your thoughts?” the servant asks, looking down at your trembling figure. “Not a chance. Not tonight.” you say downing the rest of the brandy. “Oh, not even the slightest detail?” the servant says, but the voice isn’t the one you heard before, it was his. Your eyes go wide and you look up at the servant, their nose is bleeding and their eyes have dark circles under them. “You fiend!” you shoot up and grab the servant by the collar. “I-I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to-” the servant pleads. You drag the servant by the collar to the seance room. “Y/n?! What in the world are you doing?!” William says, and Madame Leota looks up from her book and gasps. “He’s using this servant as a puppet!” You say to them confidently. William and Madame Leota look at you puzzled. “Look he has blood-” and as you look over, the servant looks right as rain, just as they appeared before. Your face falls. “But he was just- Their nose was bleeding, and their eyes-” you say, studying the servant's face. “Dear… maybe you should get some rest.” Madame Leota suggests gently as to not stir you. “No please, you must believe me.” You plead, looking back at them. “William?” You look at William. He opens his mouth then closes it and takes a moment to think and dismay dawns on his face. “No, no please, William.” You say. “Maybe you do need some rest. After the events of the night.” He looks up at you while hanging his head. You look back at the servant who is still fearfully looking at you. You retract your hand from their collar and it trembles terribly as you do so, so you cover it with your other hand to stop it from shaking so much. You look skittishly back at them now questioning your own sanity in the matter. William tries to say something and reach out to you, but you run out of the seance room to your guest bedroom.

You run in and shut the door, leaning on it as soon as you shut it. You cover your face, and tears burn your eyes. You crumple in on yourself and slide down the door until you sit on the floor. You hold your head and sob into your knees. Hot tears sizzle down your cheeks, and your nose gets stuffy, so you start to sniffle. You sit there in choked sobs for a while until a soft knock is heard on the door. “Yes?” You choke out. “Hello, I know you may not want to hear from me right now, but Master Gracey sent another brandy to you.” it was the servant from earlier that you had hallucinated to be the hatbox ghost. You stand up, wiping your tears and open the door to see the servant. “Don’t shoot the messenger.” The servant puts their hand up in surrender. You walk over and sit down in a chair by your vanity, motioning for the servant to come in. “Ah, I’m glad to see we’re on good terms then.” they say cheerfully. They walk in and set your brandy down on the vanity, and you immediately pick it up and down it all. “Is there anything else you’ll be needing tonight?” the servant asks with a grin, and suddenly your head starts to spin, and you look back at the servant to see their nose bleeding again and the dark circles returned to under their eyes. “What did you do to me, demon?” You say through gritted teeth while trying to get up. He giggles through the servant’s mouth and pushes you back down. “Don’t want you falling.” He says and throws a gesture in the air, and the door to your room closes quietly. “Oh nothing, just a bit of brandy and a bit of laudanum.” he says in his voice while making the servant tilt their head side to side with each ingredient. Your vision starts to blur around the edges, but you try desperately to hang on. “You… fiend…” you slur out and sway. He walks the servant over to your bed and makes them pick up a pillow. He makes them dust it off and place it in front of you on the vanity. “Can’t have you splitting that head of yours, now can we? Sleep tight.” He laughs maniacally, your head falls to the pillow, and everything fades to black.

Pt.5: https://www.tumblr.com/seriously-nobody/728906187359338496/the-ghost-in-my-heart?source=share

[seriously-nobody]

The Ghost In My Heart

Pt.4

Warnings: romance, angst, death, canon character death, suicide, grief, and sad vibes again, sorry broskis

Preface: I'm sure you know what's about to go down, I just hope you're prepared for it. At the end of this part there are 2 links, 1 to a good ending that messes with the canon timeline, and 1 to a bad ending that keeps up the canon timeline, but at a cost. So choose as you wish, and I hope you enjoy part 5 and the end of The Ghost In My Heart.

You sleep dreamlessly all through the night. Until dawn breaks and your eyelids are greeted by the morning sun. You open your eyes and pick your head up off the pillow, your neck and back ache from the position you slept in. As the events of the night come rushing back to you, your head throbs with the pain of the after effects of the laudanum and you hold your head and try to stand. You rush out into the hall, “William! Madame Leota!” you yell down the hallway, but no one answers, and the servants and maids are nowhere to be found. Fearing for the worst you sprint as fast your legs can take you down the stairs and into the foyer. “William!” you shout into the foyer, still begging, hoping, pleading, for an answer. “Y/n? What is it? What are you shouting about?” You hear William say stepping out of the living room. “Oh William, I'm so glad to see you.” You say relieved, walking over to him. “Are you alright, my dear?” He says, concerned. William hadn’t called anyone a pet name since Eleanor, so you became suspicious of him. “I am for now. Where is Madame Leota?” you ask. “She’s in the garden, why?” He questions back. “Oh nothing, just a bad dream I suppose.” You say. “Well I’m glad to see you’re back in good health, darling.” He beams like you haven’t seen him do in a while and he hooks his arm under yours and guides you down the hall. “In a merry mood today, William?” You ask, still keeping up a smiling facade. “Why of course! Why wouldn’t I be? I’m with my love!” He says cheerily looking down at you. You stop dead in your tracks and you drop your facade. “I knew it.” you pull away and glare daggers at him. “Y/n? What’s wrong?” He says tilting his head. You pull out your safety dagger from your boot and point it right between his eyes. “Get. Out. Now.” You demand. The fake William laughs maniacally, his voice down pitches and becomes a mist. You hold your dagger true as the hatbox ghost materializes out of the mist, clapping. “My what a performance from both the lead and love interest. What gave it away? Oh, I know what it was, it’s that William never loved you.” He taunts. “What did you do to William and Madame Leota?” you demand. “Nothing they didn’t ask for.” He scoffs. “Where are they?” you keep your sternness. “Well where did you last leave them?” He questions back. You think for a moment and realize he’s too stubborn to tell you directly. So you start with his clue and head for the seance room. “Call for me when you need me.” He says, dematerializing.

You open the portrait to the seance room and see no one there but Madame Leota’s crystal ball, but it’s all clouded over. You hope that she got out like it seems the maids and servants did. You walked out to the living room, but no one was there. Getting frustrated, you walk to the dining room. Low and behold, on the floor, there William lays. “No, no, no, William.” You begin to cry, rushing to his side. You see the arsenic bottle on the floor and then pick up the letter that was beside him. It reads that he spoke with Eleanor and that they’ll be reunited in death if they could not be in life. “Aww what a sad sight to behold.” You hear the hatbox ghost’s voice sound beside you. You look over and whip out your dagger again at him. “I don’t think that dagger can help you now.” He says bemused. Your arm goes limp, and you cry over William’s body. “You know, I could help you.” He says, stepping closer to you. “How?” You sniffle. “I can trade your souls. He gets to come back to life, and you get to die knowing he’s alive again.” He says cunningly. You think about it for a moment. “You could really do that?” You ask. “Well of course. Quite simple, really. Maybe he’ll finally realize you loved him.” He says, trying to sweeten the deal. “Then I’ll do it. Not for my own sake. But so that he can live and have a happy life. It doesn’t matter if he knows I loved him. I would do anything for him so that he may be happy.” You say gently, running a hand over his arm. "It's quite a dangerous process I must warn." He says. "Danger has never stopped me before, and it won't be stopping me now." You say still watching over William's lifeless body in your arms. “Then I just need one thing from you.” the ghost says, and you look over to him. “Drink the arsenic, and once you have crossed over, I can put his soul back in his body. I'll be waiting for you on the other side.” He says confidently and dematerializes. You reach for the arsenic, looking down at William’s body once more. “I hope you can live to see better days than I could have ever hoped to make for you. But for me, it's on to the next great adventure. In the great beyond. ” You say shedding one final tear and downing the rest of the arsenic. You lay down beside William and fall asleep, letting the arsenic take hold of your mortality.

For Better: https://www.tumblr.com/seriously-nobody/728906125773307904/for-better?source=share

Or

For Worse: https://www.tumblr.com/seriously-nobody/728906131563479040/for-worse?source=share

[seriously-nobody]

The Ghost In My Heart

Warnings: romance and impending doom

Preface: Welcome foolish mortals to part 1 of The Ghost In My Heart. I hope you enjoy your night with the Graceys as much as I enjoyed writing it.

You were fairly new to New Orleans when you got a letter one morning, inviting you to a housewarming party for that evening. The address was about an hour's ride northwest of your chateau. As you arrive that night, you take in the beautiful view of Gracey Manor, handing off your horse to a stable boy and walking through the doors.

Your ears are greeted with banter and laughter, with music drifting through the air. There to greet you as well is a tall man with dark hair and quite the mustache wearing a red vest and a tan overcoat with a white cravat. Next to him stands a woman in a long plum colored silk dress with a pair of black gloves, her hair done up in a curly bun with 2 locks in front of her ears. “Good evening and welcome to Gracey Manor! We’re so glad you could make it. This is my husband William Gracey and I’m Eleanor Gracey,” she puts her hand out. “I’m y/n l/n.” you gently accept her welcome. “Ah I hear you’re also new to the area. How has the bayou treated you so far?” William inquires. “Well it has been quite the adventure I must say. The untamed wilderness here is remarkable.” “And remarkably dangerous.” William says. “Indeed it is, but it’s all in the name of exploring the unknown and the heart of adventure.” he sighs with a smile and nods his head. “You simply must tell us more about your daring adventures here, I’m sure you have some stories to tell so far.” Eleanor remarks while guiding you into the living room and taking 2 cherry brandies from a servant’s tray and handing one over to you. “Well I suppose I do,” You tell the Graceys about your journey from your place of origin to New Orleans and your few but exciting adventures while living there.

The night continued on pleasantly getting to know the Graceys and some of the other local aristocrats. Not that many of them interest you that much, they all seem to be the same, stuck in their class, aristocrats you saw back home. The Graceys were different though, they had a feel of genuine care to them than the others didn't and it was a much appreciated breath of fresh air that you needed from high society.

As you finish off your brandy the song that was playing ends and another more upbeat song begins. Eleanor gasps and takes you and William by the hand. “Oh, I love this song, we must dance!” Eleanor exclaims. “Surely you know how to dance.” William says “Of course. I was a fine dancer back home.” you reply, and she whisks you and Wiliam to the dance floor. Everyone on the dance floor forms a circle and begins to trade places with their dance partners and then eventually trading dance partners. When the song is nearing its end and you feel you are about to drop, you trade dance partners one final time and come face to face with William. He beams at seeing you again, you do the same, and you both skip to the music and time seems to slow. You feel his soft hand in yours and your pulse matches the tempo of the song. You feel this moment could last forever. Then the music stops, pulling you back down to reality. You both bow and the audience applauds. Eleanor returns to William’s side and is practically glowing. You giggle at her appearance. "My it looks like you had a wonderful time." “I love that song and dance, it’s one of my favorites.” she smiles back at you. “It was quite fun indeed.” you reply.

The night winds down for the evening so you step outside onto the front porch with your last brandy, taking in the cool autumn night air as you watch the waxing moon illuminate the landscape before you. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” William’s voice sounded behind you. “Very much so.” you reply. “This house, this land, I’ve traveled to many places and seen so many estates, but none I’ve wanted to settle more than here.” “I couldn’t agree more.” You both stood comfortably in silence for a minute just looking out into the night. “I’d like to say I greatly enjoyed your company tonight. I hope you can return soon. Maybe for a picnic sometime. I’m sure Eleanor would agree.” William asked gently. “I’ll be away for some time, I have some business to attend to in Kentucky, but I’ll return in 3 weeks' time.” “Then I shall see you then.” William smiles warmly at you and walks back inside. You take a breath and summon the stable boy for your horse. You mount your steed and head back to your chateau, your path lit by the milk-light of the moon.

Pt.2: https://www.tumblr.com/seriously-nobody/728234645121024000/the-ghost-in-my-heart?source=share

[seriously-nobody]

For Better

The Good Ending

Warnings: romance, canon timeline divergence, hurt/comfort

You feel your mortality slip away and your ghost enters the boundless realm of the supernatural. You awaken in the dining room but everything above you looks different. Everything is a dark blue hue with the fire in the fireplace burning bright purple. You sit up and look down at your hands that are now slightly translucent like you're fading in and out between worlds. "Y/n…" you hear a familiar voice say beside you. You look over to see William holding up a lantern, overjoyed you get up and rush over to him. "William! You get to go back!" You say excitedly. "No… he tricked you…" he says, welling up. Your face falls and you feel your knees go weak with dread. "N-no, he said he'd trade my life for yours." You say. "He can't do that. He lied to you. I'm so sorry." He says. "No. I refuse. I'm going to go find him and beat his a-" You say beginning to storm out but William catches your arm.

You look back at him confused. "You really tried to trade your life for mine?" He asks. "Of course. You deserve to live out the rest of your life, in hopes of better days." You say. His eyes welled up with tears. "A-All you said to him. How much you care for me. I never knew. I never thought-" He chokes out between sobs. "Oh William, please don't cry." You gently bring him into an embrace, smoothing circles over his back. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" He sniffles still embraced. "I didn't want to ruin what we had just for my own gain. You loved Eleanor and I respected that, so I stayed silent. I did what little things I could to try to make you happy." You say skittishly. "I never knew, yet it was right before my very eyes all this time. You were there for me and for Eleanor when she passed, you nursed me back to health after her passing, and you even tried to bring her back to me." He realizes and steps back from the embrace. "I never intended this to happen," You say now choking up. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I wish I had seen the signs before. But now you're dead, and it's all my fault." You say, now fully crying and bowing your head away from William's gaze.

He reaches down cupping your cheek and tilts your head up to him. "I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. You only wanted the best for me, I know that now. Besides, it isn't just me who is dead. At least we have each other in this life hereafter." He says gazing into your now glassy eyes. You sniffle and smile, putting your hand over his, on your cheek. "I love you, y/n." He says, and your face falls. "A-are you quite sure? What about Eleanor?" You ask worriedly. "I've grieved Eleanor for long enough, it's time I let her go. She wouldn't have wanted me to grieve for her for so long. She would've wanted me to remember who I have." He says and leans his head down and kisses you square on the lips. "So, yes." He says. You look at him in shock for a moment, taking in what just happened. "I love you too William." You beam at him. Then you embrace him once more and he embraces you back, both of you crying, happily this time. He leans his head up and you do the same, you lean in to kiss him and he accepts. He leans his forehead on yours and you both stay like that for a while. Sitting comfortably, in the silence.

Then you hear the organ begin to play, and you look to the end of the room to find a ghost playing the pipe organ. William gives you a mischievous smirk. "Would you care to dance?" He asks. "I would love to." You say. He holds your hand, and you begin to waltz to the song. As the song goes on, more ghost couples begin to do the same around you. You hold William close and hope the song never ends.

Return

[seriously-nobody]

For Worse

The Bad Ending

Warnings: romance, very depressing vibes, angst, hurt no comfort, ghost dementia

You awaken in a strange but familiar scene. You're in the dining room, but everything seems a little different. You feel different too, your body glows light blue and you can see your heart through your ribcage, it glows a pinkish red and the sound of each beat fills the room. You get up off the floor and look around the room. You don't remember why you’re here but you feel like it has something to do with someone named William. You grab a lit candle stick from a candelabra to light your way through the strange and the dark. "William?" You call out into the empty room and start to walk out into the hall. You pass by portraits that change and morph before your very eyes, but you keep walking, trying desperately to find him. "William?" You call out again, still nowhere to be found. Ghosts floats by, looking at you sadly, knowing your fate. You keep walking until you find you're back in the dining room, but there are more ghosts here than last time. But still no William. You lean back against the wall near the organ and a flapper ghost looks at your sorrowful expression and gives you a knowing look. "Don't remember why you’re here right?" She asks. "No, but I know it has something to do with William." You say. "Doubt you'll find him here. But you might try looking up there." She says pointing to the catwalk above.

You heed her advice and go upstairs, it feels like you walk through endless hallways until you find a familiar door. It has an odd looking animal head carved into the center of the door and the handle bared much resemblance to a serpent of sorts. You open it and it all feels very familiar but you don't know why. The ruffled red curtains were drawn open but no light shown through. You try so hard to remember why this room is so familiar but your mind doesn't let you. You hear the door creak behind and you turn around to a familiar apparition holding a bright lantern. There to greet you is a tall man with dark hair and a well kept mustache. He's wearing a gray vest and a black overcoat with a black bow tie. "Hello, who are you?" You ask. "I'm Master Gracey. Who are you?" He responded but it didn't ring any bells. "I'm y/n l/n. I was looking for William but I can't seem to find him." You say and he doesn't seem to recognize your name either. "I'm looking for Eleanor. Have you seen her?" He asks. "No, I don't think so. But if I find her I'll tell her you're looking for her." You say. "That would be very helpful. If I find William I'll do the same." He says. "Thank you." You say and he walks through the wall to your right, still looking for Eleanor. You look back at the bed and remember you're looking for someone. Someone named William. You go back out into the hall, "William?" You call out into the hall, but no one answers. You and William wander the mansion for years, every so often running into each other and feeling a sense of familiarity but you both don't know how and the interaction is forgotten immediately after, every single time.

Return

[seriously-nobody]

The Ghost In My Heart

Pt.2

Warnings: romance, grief and grieving, depression

Preface: This one is a little less heavy than the last one, but it deals with the fallout. So, there's much dealing with grief and depression, but I tried to keep it light between the dark moments. I do recommend sticking around though because pt. 4 was particularly enjoyable to write ;^)

It’d been almost 8 months since Eleanor’s passing and you had spent most of your days tending to William in the mansion. Though your efforts to sooth him always seemed to be thwarted by his deep grief. At this point it was worsening more than anything, most days he’d stay in the master bedroom and lay in bed all day, and even some days he would refuse to eat anything the maids or servants would bring him.

“William? May I come in?” You say at the door with a tray of lunch. “Yes.” he muffles out. You open the door and bring the tray to him, there was barely any light in the room since he’d drawn the curtains. “I brought you some lunch, would you please eat?” William scrunches his face at the food but begrudgingly takes a bite. “There, see? That should make you feel a little better.” He sighs and a small smirk creeps across his face and it makes you beam in turn. "I am glad to have such a good friend by my side in these dark times.” he rasps out having not spoken in a while. “I’m happy to be here for you William.” you rub his shoulder. He glances down and the dark shadow of grief returns to his face. “I just wish I could see her again. Talk to her again. Some days I wake up thinking I'll find her by my side like always and it all would have just been a horrible nightmare." This sentiment sparked an idea in your head. What if you could reach Eleanor from beyond the grave. It was a dark thought and a dangerous one at that, but who are you if not enticed by a little danger. As soon as William was finished eating you told him you needed to run an errand that the servants couldn’t, and you’d be away for a while. You water the flowers you got for him every week and left him with his favorite book to read and went down to talk with the maids and servants. “I’ll be away from here for 6 days, can I trust you will take care of him, feed him, and bring him small joys while I’m away?” they nod, and you go fetch your horse and head to the city of New Orleans to look for some kind of answer.

You go club to club, pool room to pool room, and lounge to lounge, when finally you get yourself in the right circle and hear of a well renowned medium by the name of Madame Leota who can speak with and summon the dead through seances. She came at a high price but you would pay it 3 times over if it meant it would help William be himself again. So you start your journey back to Gracey Manor the following morning.

You arrive back just when you said you would and go up to talk to William. You knock on the door in a cheery melody. “William? I’m back, do you mind if I come in?” a shuffle is heard on the other side of the door and then it cracks open and William peaks through. “You were gone for so long. I thought you had left me.” he says monotonically but does not open the door for you. "I'm sorry I was away, truly it was for you.” you say looking at the floor. “Ah, so you lied to me. Not just some errand then?” William says scornfully. “Yes, but only because I was searching for something that I didn’t know was possible at the time. But now I know it's real and I want to help you… please, William, believe me.” you beg him. “What impossible thing are you speaking of?” He asks only slightly curiously. “You might be able to speak with Eleanor again.” “How.” he squints at you. “I learned about a medium, her name is Madame Leota, and she can summon the deceased through seances.” a moment passes in silence as William thinks things over. “I’ll pay for all of it. I can write her a letter today and she can be here by next month.” you say sweetening the deal. “Good.” he returns back to his sorrowful tone rather than anger at you for leaving him alone. “I am truly sorry that I left you here alone for so long, William. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?” you plead. “I’ve been missing the flowers you bring me.” he says. “Then I shall bring you a full bouquet.” you smile at him and leave to get the flowers from the garden and write the letter to Madame Leota.

The rest of the month goes by and before you know it Madame Leota is on the doorstep looking even more radiant than you had imagined. “Madame Leota, how wonderful it is to see you.” you say walking into the foyer to greet her with Gracey to your side. You helped clean him up as much as you could and you were glad it showed, he looks the best he has in weeks. She walks through the double doors and the doormen close it behind her. “I’m y/n l/n, and this is William Gracey.” you say and she looks over to William for a moment and he shifts his eyes to the floor. “I see. And I assume you have my payment?” she looks at you. “Ah, yes, of course.” you hand over an envelope and she looks in it to make sure it’s all there. She looks up to William, “Perfect, and have you prepared a seance room?” William looks over at you with pleading eyes and you nod to him to respond. “Y-yes, it’s just this way.” he says skittishly and walks up to a portrait on the landing of the stairs.

He puts his fingers in the eyes of the portrait and unlocks the mechanism that makes the portrait swing out like a door. “Interesting.” Madame Leota approves with a smirk and walks into the seance room as you follow suit. The room is already lit when you enter, by a circle of oil that runs around the edge of the room. In the center of the room lies a table and a few different chairs. “I’ll be needing my effects before we begin.” she says to you. “Oh, yes.” you say and motion for one of the servants to bring in her luggage. Out of a large red and gold bag she pulls out a crystal ball with a small metal stand for it and places it in the center of the table. Out of the same bag she pulls out 3 candles, a bundle of sage, a tarot deck, a pendulum, a leather-bound journal, an ink well, a feather pen, and a large book. “First I’ll cleanse the room and then we may begin.” she says, lighting the sage. After she smudges the room, she sets up her things and everyone takes their sets.

“Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat; call in the spirits, wherever they’re at.” Madame Leota says almost as if casting a spell. “Now, who are we making contact with?” She looks at William. “My late wife, Eleanor Gracey.” He says and hangs his head. “Ah, My condolences. May I ask how she passed?” she asks gently. “It was yellow fever.” He says welling up. And just as he says this the crystal ball in the center of the table begins to glow and levitate. “Someone is reaching out.” She says. “Eleanor?” William says with hope in his eyes. “Maybe, I’m not sure. Your grief caused them to reach out.” she replies. In the distance you hear the ringing of a ship’s bell, seagulls, and what sounds like waves crashing on rocks. “Is anyone else hearing that?” you say to the group. “No, what is it?” Madame Leota asks, intrigued. “I hear a ship’s bell and the ocean.” you say looking confusedly between Leota and William. “Extraordinary. The spirit has chosen you.” Madame Leota says. “Why would the spirit choose me? I’m only here to observe.” You ask. “Spirits don’t always want to talk through mediums, they choose who they like, and I can interpret their ways of reaching out. You said you hear sounds of the sea, did Eleanor like the ocean, sailing, or traveling by water?” she asks William. “Not particularly, but she did like they’re stories of travel.” William says. “Ah, so that’s why the spirit chose you.” Madame Leota says. “Maybe they can find Eleanor.” You propose. “Good thinking.” Madame Leota says dipping the feather pen in the inkwell and opening the leather-bound journal to a blank page. “What is your name, spirit? And do you know Eleanor Gracey? You may write your answer here.” Madame Leota says gesturing to the journal. Splashing watery footsteps walk around from your left side to where the journal is laid, then the feather pen rises up out of the inkwell and starts scratching on the paper. The first line reads as follows: “I Am Captain - -'' and 2 drops of water fall onto the paper smudging out the name. The second line reads: “I Do Not Know An Eleanor.” And the pen is placed back in the inkwell. Madame Leota hums thinking for a second. “Well, I suppose that is all you can do for us, thank you Captain.” Madame Leota sighs and the crystal ball floats back down to where it was and stops glowing. But the footprints don’t disappear, they just walk back over to your left side. “Madame Leota, I don’t think they’ve left.” You say staring down at the watery footprints on the floor. “Do you want them gone?” Madame Leota asks. You think for a minute. “I suppose not if they don’t want to leave.” You say to the left of you.

“That is all I have the energy for tonight. I assume you want to schedule another appointment?” Madame Leota asks. “We should keep trying until we find Eleanor.” William says, looking to you. “If you are that determined, then I can do one seance a night.” She says ambitiously. “Yes, I can provide you with a room and service. So that you may stay here instead of having to travel so far, every day.” William agrees. Everything feels very sudden with Madame Leota moving into the mansion and then the sound of the crashing waves gets louder in your ears. You screw your eyes shut and plead in your head for the sounds to quiet. “What’s wrong, dear?” Madame Leota asks. “N-nothing. Just the ghost having a bit of a jest I suppose.” You say nervously and the sounds quiet down. “I can try to send them away if they’re bothering you.” Madame Leota says. “No, no, it’s alright.” you say. “Alright then.” She says, concerned. “I’ll show you to your room.” William says standing up from the table. “That would be lovely.” Madame Leota replies. You stand, follow them out, and go to your guest bedroom you had been staying in for the past few months. As soon as you enter you shut the door and sigh, slumping down onto the edge of the bed. With your head in your hands, all your emotions crashing down on you like the waves of the ocean, with the events of the night weighing heavy on your mind. You feel the bed shift a bit and you whip your head around to find nothing but an indentation on the bed and then you feel a cold, watery hand gently lay on your shoulder. “Thank you.” you mutter out.

Pt.4: https://www.tumblr.com/seriously-nobody/728815545008488448/the-ghost-in-my-heart?source=share

[seriously-nobody]

The Ghost In My Heart

Pt.1

Warnings: romance, illness, death, canon character death, grief, overall really sad.

Preface: Listen we all know what happens between the Graceys getting the mansion and William bringing in Madame Leota so if you aren’t up for it feel free to wait for pt.3 to drop, if not then please proceed with caution.

After your long business trip in Kentucky, you finally arrived back at your Chateau. You drag your tired body to your bedroom and flop down on your bed, and before you know it you're asleep. You wake up at dawn, the morning rays dancing on your eyelids. Then you hear a loud and somewhat urgent sounding knock at the front door. You rise not so gracefully and head to the door. You open the door and see that it's William looking like he hasn't slept in days. "Y/n, you're back oh thank goodness." He sighs "William? What's wrong? I only got home last night." He gives you a sorrowful look, "It's Eleanor, she has yellow fever…" he chokes. "Oh no William." You gently put your hand on his shoulder. "She doesn't have much time left. But she requested your company. As one of her final wishes." "Then I shall be there for her." You get ready and ride over to Gracey Manor. 

Meeting William at the door. “She’s just this way,”  he guides you up the stairs and to a door with an odd looking animal head carved into the center of the door and the handle bared much resemblance to a serpent of sorts. William rapped on the door just enough for it to be audible on the other side and opened the door slowly. “Darling, y/n is here to see you.” William spoke softly into the room. You followed William closely behind. You look around the room noticing it’s not the master bedroom but a guest bedroom. The ruffled red curtains were drawn open to let the midmorning light into the room. Your eyes then find Eleanor’s sickly frame lay on a single bed. Your heart breaks in your chest at the sight of her. Eleanor opens her eyes and meets your gaze. “Oh how wonderful it is to see you again.” Eleanor says with a raspy voice. “I wish it were under better circumstances than this.” you say sorrowfully. “Oh goodness please do not mourn me now. For does my heart still not beat? Am I still not alive with you?” She retorts and you chuckle grimly and move to her bedside. “Indeed you are.” you reply. “Enough fuss, tell me, what grand adventure did you have that took you so long to return.” Eleanor teased. You recount to her your journey by carriage to Louisville, Kentucky, and that you met with the owners and fellow shareholders of a company that had designed and developed a new engine that runs on steam. You tell her how magnificent it was to be one of the first to travel from Louisville to Brownsville by the brilliant new invention. Eleanor seems enthralled by your retelling all the way through. “There's even talk about that very steamboat making a voyage to New Orleans." You tell her. "My, that would be wonderful to see." She says wistfully and looks out the window. 

None of you had noticed that time had passed so quickly, it was already afternoon. "William," she puts a hand out to him. He steps forward, takes her hand, and kneels at her bedside. "Yes? What is it?" He says, concerned. Eleanor looks over to you as well. "Will you help me to the balcony, my lovelies?" She asks. "Of course." You both responded almost in sync with each other. You help her out of bed and out to the balcony into a wicker chair that faces west. The sun shines on her face, warming her skin, almost making her look like her old self again. William went back inside and grabbed a blanket for her. "There. Is that all darling?" William asked. She smiled and closed her eyes but didn’t answer. William then looked at you. "Is there anything else I can do for you Eleanor?" You inquire. She sighs still smiling in the light. "Just sit here with me and we will enjoy the last light of this day together." She said contently. So you and William pull up chairs on either side of her. She reaches out and grasps both your and William’s hand. And you all sat comfortably in the silence just watching the horizon. 

You listen tentatively to her breathing for an hour, maybe more, until it stops. You wait for a few minutes and know that she’s gone. “William…” you say softly, still looking out at the sunset. “I know.” he chokes out. “I’ll call upon the maids and servants.” You say quietly. “Yes, they’ll know what to do.” William says, holding back tears. You rise and head inside and see one of the maids folding linens in the hall. They meet your gaze and nod knowingly. “I’ll go get the others.” they say and head downstairs.

The next thing you know, you’re watching Eleanor be entombed in her mausoleum at the new Gracey family cemetery. You watched on, standing beside William, until the maids and servants had gone. He reaches out his hand to you, still watching over her, and you take his hand in kind. As soon as a beat has gone and passed, he starts quietly crying and gasping. “Oh William.” You say and let go of his hand in favor of holding him in an embrace. He openly weeps into your shoulder and then to the crook of your neck. You both stay like that for a while and you just hold him, rubbing his back, and petting his head. He grasps onto you for dear life the whole time, as if you would leave him just as Eleanor did. It takes some time, but he calms down a bit. “Come, let’s go inside and I’ll make you some tea alright?” he sniffs and nods. You guide him inside, make him some earl grey tea, and just sit with him.

Pt.3: https://www.tumblr.com/seriously-nobody/728468626379784192/the-ghost-in-my-heart?source=share

[seriously-nobody]

The Ghost In My Heart

Pt. 2 will drop mid to late next week.

[seriously-nobody]

I'm so glad The Ghost In My Heart is completed so I can finally clown on my writing and how I wrote the mc. Spoilers below the cut

Rest in peace y/n, u would've loved the S.E.A

[seriously-nobody]

I'll try finishing pt.4 of The Ghost In My Heart soon so I can drop pt.3 and y'all don't have to sit with pt. 2 very long

[seriously-nobody]

Love's Dark Afflictions

Chapter 1

Warnings: Romance

Preface: I'm so sorry this is being posted so late here, I recently took a trip to Disney World and I didn't take my laptop with me so I couldn't post this. But without further ado, plz enjoy chapter 2.

You sleep heavily all through the night, not disturbed by a single thing. Until dawn breaks and the morning rays burn your eyelids awake. You slowly stretch in place and sit up. Your eyes falling on the fist sized hole in the wall and the events of last night come rushing back to you and you groan at your poor decisions. “Good morning~” Alistair says, materializing in the corner of your room. “Alistair…” You blush and glare at him with sleepy eyes, you could tell your saying his name gave him a bit of joy as well. “Aww, unhappy to see me? Your bright red ears tell a different story.” He taunts. “What did you do to William and Madame Leota while I was asleep.” You confront him. “Nothing at all. I was here the whole night.” He says. You raise a brow, not quite believing him. “You were in my room the whole night? Just watching me sleep?” You say, suspicious of him. “Merely watching over you. So no one would disturb your slumber.” He says and for some reason you trust him. "What did you do to me while I slept?" You ask, almost afraid of the answer. "Nothing but watching your breathing." He says. You rub the sleep from your eyes and sigh. "Ugh, why haven't you just killed me already?" You ask, dragging your hand down your face. "If you would really like to know, I think killing you would be such a waste of your potential. Not to mention I like you." He says smirking at you and leaning on his cane nonchalantly. Your heart skipped a beat at his admission, but you tried to hide it as best you could. You slide out of bed and walk over to your closet to change. “Don’t even think about it.” You say to Alistair from behind a privacy screen. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He says, rolling his eyes. While undressing you find the blood-stained handkerchief in your waist coat, and it sends a chill up your spine to remember what you had done. Unsure of what to do with it, you open your undergarment drawer and pull up the false bottom where you store your double-barreled flintlock pistol and its effects. You set it gently next to it and put the false bottom back in place, ruffling the clothes around to hide it again. After you’re done dressing you walk out and over to the door, but before you open it you remember you have a particularly dangerous ghost following you around at the moment. You turn to him and look him up and down. “If you are going to be following me around all day, do you at least mind dematerializing, so the others don’t become… suspicious?” You ask. “Alright, if you insist.” He says and vanishes. You sigh a breath of relief and open the door and walk out into the hall. 

You walk down to the dining room for breakfast. William and Madame Leota are already there sipping tea. William is the first to notice you had entered the room. "Good morning y/n… are you feeling better this morning?” William asks gently as you sit down with your tea. “Alright I suppose.” You say rubbing one of your eyes. You pick up your cup and hear his laugh. Your eyes dart to William and Madame Leota but it doesn’t seem like they heard it and you continue drinking your tea. “Your little incident with the servant last night got them thinking.” He cackles in your ear. William looks over to Madame Leota. “We’re worried about you, dear.” Madame Leota says putting down her cup of tea. “Whatever for?” You inquire, tilting your head. “Your… outburst, last night, with the servant.” William said, looking down into his cup on the table. “I only needed some sleep, that’s all. I promise I feel much better.” You reassure them. “We… We would like for you to sit out on the seance tonight.” William says, wincing, waiting for your response. “Oh, that must hurt. It seems they’re kicking you out.” Alistair says to you. “You want me to sit out of a seance?” You ask. “Just this once, is all we ask. We want you to rest is all. A seance a night is not for the faint of heart.” Madame Leota says. “Faint of heart? What excuse is that to make? They don’t trust you. And how could they not trust you? After all you’ve done for them?” Alistair says, purposefully jostling you. “I’m not faint of heart; I can take it. You just don’t trust me.” You say through gritted teeth, making Alistair giggle. “We trust you; we do. However, I think under certain circumstances, our minds can… falter.” Madame Leota tries to put it gently. “My, they’ve gone so far to even call you insane.” Alistair points out. Anger and frustration building in you. “Fine. I’ll sit out tonight.” You say standing and walking to the door. “Don’t expect me for dinner either, I’ll be bedridden with melancholia.” You say, throwing a wave over your shoulder and walk out to the foyer. 

In the foyer is a maid replacing some flowers in a vase. "Oh! Good morning y/n, are you alright this morning?" They ask politely. "Quite alright. Why is there something wrong?" You ask. "You look possessed." Alistair laughs at you. "Oh nothing. Just looks like you could use a cuppa." They say. "Ugh, we should kill them, they annoy me." Alistair groans and it sparks an idea in you. You had also remembered you only had a few sips of your tea before storming out of the dining room. "I could actually go for a coffee and toast if you don't mind. Need something a little stronger to wake me up. I'll be in the garden." You say walking away. "Alright, I'll be there in a tick." The maid says heading for the kitchen. "That was odd… what are you scheming?" Alistair asks intrigued. You wait a moment until you're outside to answer.

"You'll just have to wait and see." You say under your breath. Alistair gasps "Are you really going to kill them?" He asks enthusiastically. "I don't know yet. William and Madame Leota think I'm insane, and why shouldn't I be. With all their seances night after night. Who wouldn't lose their head after a year of dealing with so many ghosts." You say in a hoarse whisper, shifting your eyes to see if anyone's watching and sit down at the table. "Ah, now things are getting interesting." Alistair says. You hear the double doors open and close and you sit up straight. "Your coffee." The maid says setting it down on the table. "Thank you. I'm sorry what was your name again." You ask with a sickly sweet, fake smile on your face. "Florence, Florence Huet." They say back to you with the most adorable smile. "Well, thank you Florence. Do you mind joining me for a moment." You ask. "I don't mind at all." They say and sit down across from you. “Say, Florence, do you prefer to travel by horse or carriage?” you say and take a sip of your coffee. They think about it for a moment, folding their hands in their lap. “Hmm, I’d have to say by horse is the best for short distances, but by carriage for longer distances.” they answer looking over to you for approval and you grant them the kindness of a smile, albeit a fake one. You take a bite of your toast and it gives you the worst idea. “I have to agree. Do you know the grist mill bakery on the river about a few hours' ride east from here?” You ask curiously. “Yes, that’s Mrs. Moonie’s bakery. Did Master Gracey need some of those pastries he likes?” They ask, going perfectly along with your half baked plan. “Yes, just the usual order if you could," you say, and remember the time. "And we need them by tomorrow morning.” You say picking up your coffee and shifting your eyes over to them. “Oh goodness. Was the inventory that low already? I suppose I forgot to check. I’ll have to start out now to get back in time tonight. You’ll have to excuse me.” they say and stand up. “Oh, of course darling. I just thought you knew already, I’m sorry. But please, go ahead.” You say dismissing them and they briskly rush back inside. “My, you are good at this!” Alistair says. You smile devilishly and hold your cup of coffee up to your mouth so no one sees you speaking to yourself. “They call me untrustworthy and insane. Then I’ll give them what they want.” You say into your cup. "My how I love this new side of you.” he says and you feel his finger drag up your spine and you jump and shiver almost spilling your coffee. He laughs infectiously at your reaction. “Not. Now. Alistair.” You grit your teeth trying not to smile. “Aww, let me have a bit of fun won’t you.” he pouts. “You’ll have fun later. Now I must get ready to follow that maid.” You say drinking down the rest of your coffee and finishing your toast. You walk back inside and find the maid reading down her list of pastries in the foyer. “Ah, Florence, just who I wanted to see.” You say walking up to them. They look from their list at you. “Oh hello again.” They respond. “I’ll be riding out with you. I’ve heard some terrible stories of highway robbery recently. Strength in numbers and all that. Since you’re riding out this late you’ll be riding back in the dark as well, making it even more dangerous.” You say. “Oh how kind of you to protect me.” They say oh so sweetly. “Of course.” You say and go to your room to get your things. 

As soon as you shut the door Alistair materializes while your back is turned to shut the door. As soon as you turn around his face is mere inches away from yours. “Damn it Alistair.” you gasp and fall back against the door. You can’t help but begin to blush bright red at his closeness. He brings his hand up to your face and brushes the back of his hand down your cheek. “You are a sight to behold, my dear.” He says. “C-can I get my things please.” You say looking away. “You said I could have fun later.” He says keeping his hand on your cheek. “I don’t have much time, Alistair please.” You say squirming against the door at your back. “Fine.” Alistair huffs and lets you go. You move over to your closet and open some drawers. You take out the false bottom of your undergarment drawer and pull out your double barreled flintlock pistol, the powder flask, and the lead shot. From another drawer you take a sheathed dagger, an oil flask, a pocket lighter, and a large leather bag. You walk out from behind the privacy screen, arms full of the items. “You had those dangerous things in here all this time?” Alistair questions. “I lost my chateau after paying Madame Leota her dues. I had to move the majority of my belongings here.” You say loading the bag with the weapons. “Now all I need is a rope. I can get that from the stable boy. Say it’s to tie this bag to the sattle.” You think aloud. Then you go over to your closet to get some clothes you don’t mind tossing out once the deed is done. You find just what you need and a black cloak you never liked very much because of its weight and you never really used it for anything anyway. You stuffed it in the bag and put the sheathed dagger in your boot and attached your spurs with haste, and moved toward the door. "You are allowed to follow me, but you can't materialize until I say so, is that clear?" You say sternly at Alistair, who had busied himself with looking at the books on your bookshelf. “As crystal, darling.” He says, studying your collection. “What’s caught your eye?” You ask curiously. “You have an interesting collection, that's all.” He says, still scanning the spines. You walk up behind him to look over his shoulder at what he’s looking at and he seems to be looking at a particular section of books, they were the books you found when looking for different ways of summoning ghosts. “Those probably aren’t of any interest to you.” You say looking up at an upper shelf. “Books and reading bore me anyway. I find people who read to be either a bore or conniving, and neither should be trusted. It was just the subject matter that piqued my interest.” he says, leaning against you, putting his head on your shoulder. “I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader, but I wouldn’t call myself a bore either.” You say, trying not to seem flustered and taking a book from a higher shelf, the cover was a deep red with the title painted in gold, the title read “Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus”. You put it in your bag with the rest of your belongings. “You’re taking a book to kill someone?” He questions picking his head up. “It’s a long trip and it may take a while for the sun to go down before I may proceed.” You say, closing up the bag and gently nudging him off you, and walking back to the door. “Suit yourself, bookworm.” He says, shrugging his shoulders and dematerializing. You step out into the hallway and walk downstairs.

 You make your way down to the foyer and call a servant for your hunting shotgun. You then walk out to the courtyard where the stable boy is preparing your horse. “Stable boy, where would I find a length of rope?” you ask, walking down the steps of the mansion. “Just in the stables. I could get some if you’d like.” they say tightening the saddle. “It’s quite alright, thank you.” You say, giving a wave and heading into the stables. In the stables you find just the length of rope you need, and lying in the hay beside it is a beautiful hatchet, just the size that would fit in your bag. “Now that’s just too tempting.” Alistair says in your ear. You look between the hatchet and your back. “Hell, why not.” You say under your breath with a wicked grin, and place the hatchet in your bag. You walk back out to the courtyard with the rope on your arm and tie your bag to the saddle next to a lantern the stable boy tied on for your ride back. Florence checks for anything out of place. “Everything in order?” You ask. “Seems everything is here. Except, did you forget your riding hat?” they ask. “Afraid to get a little blood on you?” Alistair giggles. “Oh, I suppose I did, but it’s alright, I’ll be fine without it.” You say. “I suppose we’re off then.” They say and you spur your horse onward.

Chapter 3

[seriously-nobody]

Love's Dark Afflictions

Chapter 3

Warnings: Romance, blood, mention of death, mention of murder, optional smut

Preface: Ready for your performance? Hope you can keep it together...

You ride back to the mansion as quickly as possible, to not lose too much blood on your ride back. You gallop through the gates at full speed, preparing for your performance in your mind. You quickly think of something sad like a puppy getting run down by a carriage so that tears stream down your face. You approach the front doors of the mansion, where the stable boy stands on the porch, and you skid to a halt. Gripping your bad leg with burning tears in your eyes you swing your leg over and cry out. Your leg, from your hip to your knee, is now soaked in your blood… mostly. "Get William and Madame Leota!" You shout to the stable boy, who takes one look at your leg and turns pale. "Yes, right away." They say, opening the doors to the mansion and telling a servant to fetch them. You slide down gently off your horse and grit your teeth in pain as your weight shifts onto your wounded leg. The stable boy helps you limp into the foyer where William and Madame Leota meet you.

"Oh my!" Madame Leota gasps at your wounds. "What happened to you? Where's the maid that went with you?" William rushes to your side to hold you up. "Highway robbers stopped us and took us off the north east road." You squeak out. "Florence and I tried to stop them when they advised us not to fight back, but they took my shotgun before I could reach it." You think back to your cuts and Florence’s wounds. "They tried to cut my throat to stop me from calling for help but I fought back as much as I could. They stabbed my leg and watched me bleed with their piercing green eyes. I told Florence to run while they had the chance." You well up for effect. "But, they- they shot them. They shot them in the legs so they couldn't escape. I had the chance to while they were down-" You break your voice and break down into sobs. Madame Leota covers her mouth in shock and William holds you closer to him. "I'm a coward for running. I should've stayed. I could've saved them." You cry, tucking your head into William's shoulder. "You did what you could." Madame Leota says sorrowfully. "I'm glad you're alive." William says and pets your head. You remember your injury and groan in pain. "You need medical treatment for a wound like that." Madame Leota points out. "It's alright, I can bandage it here." You say wincing. "We can alert the authorities in the morning." William says, and you try hiding your fear with another sound of agony. "I can help clean and bind the wound," A deep voice says. A tall, lanky servant with an odd eye and long, thin, blonde hair, wearing a dark green overcoat with red cuffs steps forward. "If I may?" He asks, looking at you. "Yes, that'll be alright." You say, inhaling sharply as you stumble toward the servant, out of William’s arms. "Take care of them, please." William says to the servant as you limp, with his assistance, to the living room.

He helps you rest your tired body onto an ornate red fainting couch with gold framing. "I'll be back with a wash basin, a few towels, and some bandages. Do you think any wounds need stitching up?" He asks, and you remember how deep Alistair buried the dagger in your thigh. "I think it might need a few." You say looking down at your bloody leg. "May I take a look?" He asks and you nod, finally uncovering the wound from the handkerchief you had over it. "Yes, this definitely needs it. I'll fetch the sewing kit as well." He says and walks out to grab the supplies. You breathe a sigh of relief as soon as the double doors are closed behind him. Then, from behind you, you hear an applause. "You held quite the act. Your performance was remarkable really." Alistair says materializing behind your head. You tilt your head back against the arm of the chair and give him a sly smile. "Why thank you, Alistair." You say tilting your head slightly. He glides around to your side and looks at your bloody thigh. "Does it still hurt?" He asks curiously. "Not as much as I'm playing it up to be." You say truthfully. "May I?" He asks, reaching down to touch it and you nod. He lightly grazes his fingertips over the blood stained and torn fabric of your clothing. "Admiring your work?" You ask. "Just making sure I hit the right target." He says and you scrunch your nose. "You weren't sure before?" You slightly raise your voice. "For the most part." He says to get a rise out of you. "Why you-"

Optional smut scene

But you were cut off by the sound of a knock on the doors to the living room. Panic set in as your head whipped over to the door. "Y/n? I hope I didn't take too long," the servant says, opening the doors, giving Alistair a moment to quickly dematerialize before the servant could see. “We should kill him for this interruption.” Alistair hisses. You shiver at the thought of having even more blood on your hands, but you don't give in to your fantasies. "There's no alibi." You say under your breath enough for the servant not to hear from across the room. "Curse an alibi! I know you would love to just strangle that twig of a neck!” He says, the image tempts your mind with desire, but you must remember your situation.

Optional smut dialog ^same link, one box down^

“I don’t need to look any more suspicious or mad than I already do.” You say still under your breath. Alistair remained silent in frustration at your stubbornness. The servant pulls the cart full of supplies around once inside and pushes it over to you. "How are you feeling?" The servant asks, dipping a cloth into the water basin. "It still hurts quite a lot; I feel like I've lost a lot of blood." You whimper. The servant brings the cloth close to your face and you instinctively grab his wrist before he can touch you. You clear your throat and release your grip. "I'll clean the small cuts." You say and the servant frowns. "They really did a number on you." He gives you a concerned look. He moves down to your leg and looks to you for consent before touching you. You nod and let him dab away the blood that had caked around the wound. "I'm going to need a better look at the wound…" He trails off while still dabbing away. "You may cut around the fabric, I'll have it patched." You say and he gives you a nod.

After cleaning most of the blood from around the wound he pulls out the sewing kit. He pulls out a small pair of scissors and begins cutting the clothing around the wound. "Now that I can see it properly, this wound looks quite deep." He says wincing at it as if just looking at it pains him. "Yes the blade was buried to the hilt." You say, remembering the moment clearly in your mind. "I'm going to begin stitching you up, is that alright?" He asks, looking at you. "Yes." You say taking a deep breath, awaiting the pain to come. He turns back to the sewing kit pulling out a hooked needle and thread. You grit your teeth and watch as he punctures your irritated, torn skin and pulls the thread through. The servant notices you staring, "You don't have to watch if you don't want to." He says and you remember your facade. "I'm just making sure it's going well." You wince in pain. "Alright… Do you mind if I take your mind off it?" You give him a confused look. "We could talk about something else. It might help with the pain if you focus on other things." He reassures. You take a moment, then nod in response, and he smiles. "How was Mrs. Moonie? I haven't seen her in quite a while." He asks pleasantly. "She was well. She was very nice." You say, still too focused on the wound. The servant picks up on your tension and his shoulders slump a bit.

"Would you recount to me how the highway robbers stopped you and Florence? I know it may be painful to recount, but you might focus more on it than your wound." He says and you nod. "We left Mrs. Moonie's at sundown and after a while we got lost. We took a wrong turn somewhere, we went north east instead of east…" You trail off trying to remember the stunt you pulled. The servant looks up at you and notices your slip up but stays quiet. "Do you know who robbed you?" He asks. "No, they had coverings around their faces. The one that stabbed me had brown hair and blue eyes, but the rest were unrecognizable in the dark." You say confidently. You hadn't noticed that the servant had been done with your stitches for a little while now. He had kept you talking after your slip up to see if your alibi still held up. "Do you know where Florence's horse went?" He asks, still keeping your attention. "They dragged them down off the horse and let the horse go." You say. "And why did your horse stay?" He says, bringing you back. "My horse is very well trained and is desensitized to any disruptions." You say and look down at your leg. "If you could please finish bandaging this so that I may finally rest tonight, it would be much appreciated." You say letting your niceness fall away for a moment. The servant frowns in concern and wraps a bandage around the wound while you take a small damp cloth and clean the blood from your cuts that Alistair so lovingly gave you. "Thank you." You say and attempt to stand but you falter and the servant catches you. "I think you are going to need help getting back to your room." He says holding you up. "No. Please. This will help me regain my strength." You grunt. "Then I bid you goodnight." The servant says letting you limp your way out of the living room. His demeanor was still suspicious as he cleaned the blood soaked towels in the wash basin. Though you were none the wiser as you exited the room.

Chapter 5

[seriously-nobody]

Love's Dark Afflictions

Chapter 5

Warnings: Romance, fluff, mention of murder, 2 old timey swears

Preface: I do hate to leave you on this cruel cliffhanger, but I wanted to split this chapter up because of how lengthy it was getting. I hope you can forgive me. I'll be posting chapter 7 as soon as it's done so y'all don't have to hang on any longer.

You wake at the feeling of Alistair petting your head. “Y/n? Are you awake?” He coos softly. “No. Not yet.” You nuzzle your head into him and keep your eyes closed. “They’re looking for you, you know.” He keeps his soft tone. “Who is?” You ask looking up at him. “The maids and servants. They’ve been worried about you all morning.” Alistair says. “How do you know?” You ask curiously. “My servants have been relaying information to me.” He says. “Are they here now?” You glance around the room. “No, and you needn’t worry about them. They know to stay away from you. You are mine after all.” He says kissing your head. You notice the sun is high in the sky outside your window. “What time is it?” You ask. “Just struck noon.” He says, making your face fall. “Oh no. They probably talked to the police already.” You groan. “They did, yes. But we only have a problem with one of them.” He says nonchalantly. “Who?” you furrow your brows. “The blonde twig.” He says sweetly. Your mind races with ideas of how to end him quickly but sleep still clouds your mind. “I’ll worry about him later.” You give up and snuggle back up to Alistair, still thinking of your day ahead. 

A knock sounds on your bedroom door making you jolt up. “Mx. /Mr./ Ms. L/n?” A maid asks through the door. “Yes?!” You shout to the maid. “Are you alright?” You hear the maid begin to open the door and you look at Alistair pleading with him to dematerialize. He gives a huff and dematerializes before the maid has the door open. “Is there something wrong?” You get up quickly while the maid closes the door behind them. “Well, it’s just that it’s noon and-” The maid says as you rush, limping, behind your privacy screen. "My injury made it difficult to sleep last night, so I didn’t get much rest.” You say, tugging on new clothes for the day. “A-alright. Is there… anything you would like to have for- for lunch?” The maid stutters with fear in their voice. You peak out behind the screen to see them staring at your bookcase. The books are flying off the shelfs and onto the floor. Your palm lands on your forehead. “Yes, I’ll have a coffee and some of that lovely quiche that Julia makes if she doesn’t mind.” You say, trying to ignore Alistair’s nonsense. You duck back in and find an old crutch to help you walk. “They just made some this morning.” The maid says, staring at the bookcase as the glass doors swing open and closed. “Perfect!” You say hobbling out in your new attire. “Thank you so much for checking on me dear.” You walk over to the door, opening it and rushing the maid out of your room. You close the door and turn to the bookcase. “Alistair!” You say in a harsh whisper in case the maid is still listening. You hear a faint echoing laugh as a book goes flying past your head. You flinch out of the way and pinch the bridge of your nose. “I’m going downstairs. Are you going to join me or not?” You ask tiredly. “Ugh I suppose.” Alistair says with a huff. “Thank you.” You sigh. You feel his arm snake around your waist, and he pecks your cheek with a smile. "You're welcome." You open the door and prepare yourself for the day.

You walk out into the hallway and smooth down your clothes, trying to appear as normal as possible. You dodder down the stairs carefully and finally make it to the dining room. “Y/n! Are you feeling alright?” William worries, setting down his book and cup of tea and beginning to stand up to help you to your seat. “As well as I can be, given the circumstances.” You gesture to your leg. He holds you up and pulls out your chair for you. “Thank you, William.” you pat his arm with a warm smile. “Is there anything I can do for you?” He asks. “No, no it’s alright. I should have a coffee and a bit of quiche here in a moment.” You say, and as if on cue, a servant brings out your lunch. “Here we are, thank you.” You say and the servant sets down your tray. “Where is Madame Leota?” You ask, taking a sip of your black, swirling, coffee. “She’s in the seance room. She said she was cleansing it from last night’s seance.” He says. “And how did it go?” You ask. “It went well.” he looks away. “Meaning?” You ask, still curious. “We summoned a ghost by the name of Erasmus Pickwick. I believe he’s taken a liking to swinging on the chandelier.” He points up and you see the chandelier swaying back and forth. “I suppose as long as he doesn’t cause it to come crashing down,” You say in a loud enough voice for Pickwick to hear and the chandelier momentarily halts its swaying. “Then it should be alright.”  You raise a brow and it swings again but only a little. “Anyway, how was the meeting with the police? Do they know who stopped us?” You ask curiously. “Yes, they said they found Florence’s horse a few miles from the scene on the same road. Its saddle had the initials of highway robber in it that’s been wreaking havoc on this area recently. His name is John Alexander.” William says. “Never heard of him. I’m glad they found out who did it. I hope they catch that bastard.” You say, gritting your teeth. “Me too.” William rests his hand on yours. 

The doors to the dining room open and you retract your hand. Madame Leota walks in gracefully. “Ah y/n. Just the person I wanted to see.” She says. She smells of burning sage as she passes by you to take a seat. “Nasty stuff.” Alistair coughs, but you quite like the smell. “I assume William informed you about our meeting with the authorities.” She says, and you nod, drinking down your coffee. “Good. How is your injury?” She asks. “Healing I hope.” You pick at your quiche. “I would like to join back in on the seances.” You say experimentally. “I don’t know if you’re ready for that yet.” Madame Leota looks at you sadly. “You’ve been under a lot of stress lately.” William looks at you concerned. “So that makes me incapable?” You retort. “No, quite the opposite. I think the spirits may take advantage of you and your grief.” Madame Leota says, grabbing your attention. “I just want things to go back to the way they were.” You say. “We just want you to rest.” William pleads. “One more night is all we ask.” Madame Leota says softly. “Fine.” You huff, cutting into your quiche. You finish half your quiche and excuse yourself. You didn’t feel like eating anyway. It just felt like a mundane task, and it bored you even though you were still hungry. 

You wander back to your room and begin cleaning up the books Alistair knocked over. You put them back in the bookcase and pick out the book you took to kill Florence, “Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus”. Leaving your crutch by the door you walk over to your sofa by the window and lay down on it, feeling relief. “You mortals get worn out so easily.” Alistair mocks you, materializing beside you. “Well, if someone hadn’t buried a dagger so far into my leg, it might’ve been different.” You jab, tilting your head to look at him. “You asked me to stab you-” He gets cut off by you pulling his jaw down to meet you in a kiss. “Just shut up and hold me.” You say. He shrugs and climbs on top of you, being careful not to hit your leg. He rests his head on your chest and wraps his arms around you. “Better?” He asks, kissing over your heart. “Much.” You say leaning your head back and opening your book above you. “Oh no. You’re reading.” Alistair groans. “Yes, I am.” You say. “Why?” He asks, almost disgusted. “Because it’s a good story.” You say, trying to stay focused. “Oh, really? Why is it so good?” He questions. “It’s about a scientist that brings life to a gargantuan, sewn together, corpse.” You say looking down at Alistair, and to your surprise he looks interested. “Hmm. Fine. That does sound… interesting.” He mutters. “Would you like me to read it to you?” You ask and it takes Alistair a second to process. “Yes…” he says cautiously. “Letter one, to Mrs. Saville, England. St. Petersburgh, December 11th, 17. You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” You began. You read to Alistair until the sun was nearly set on the horizon. “We returned to our college on a Sunday afternoon: the peasants were dancing, and every one we met appeared gay and happy. My own spirits were high, and I bounded along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity.” You read aloud. “I think we must stop here for today. It’s almost time for the seance.” You say, closing the book. “And it was just getting intriguing.” He sighs, floating off of you. "We'll finish it later." You say, getting up and hobbling over to your crutch. "Madame Leota will most likely be smudging so you might want to keep at a distance." You tell Alistair as he glides over to you. "Ugh, I hate that hag and her damned sage." He grovels, dematerializing. You walk out the door and back down to the foyer where Madame Leota is smudging William. 

"Ah perfect timing as usual." Madame Leota says, turning her attention to you. "I'd like to cleanse you before this seance just in case a bad ghost gets out." She says. "Oh? Alright." You say and walk up to her. She waves the smoke of the burning sage over you and you hear Alistair coughing from the ceiling. "Now, William, let's begin." She says and turns back and enters the seance room, with William following. The portrait door shuts and you're left in the foyer. "Care for a gin?" A familiar deep voice sounds behind you. "How did you know?" You ask, turning around to see the servant that sewed up your wound last night. "Snap the twig's neck!" Alistair shouts in a raspy voice from coughing. You clear your throat, "I'll take a glass in the living room if you don't mind." You say heading into the living room. "He knows you did it. You mucked up your alibi, he knows!" Alistair warns as you take a seat. "Here you are." The servant says, handing you glass. "Thank you." You take it. The servant begins walking back but stops. "You know," he closes the doors to the living room. "I did have a few questions for you about last night." He says, and you hear a lock. 

Panic turning in your stomach you drink down your gin. "Oh? Do tell." You say, trying to cover the shake in your voice. "What did you say the eye color of the person who robbed you was?" He asks. You think back. "They were bright blue." You say. The servant clicks his tongue and walks back over to you. "That's not what you told me." He says. "My head wasn't exactly in the best place at the time." You retort. "Alright then, let's try another one. What happened to the rope you used to tie your bag to the saddle of your horse?" He asks. "The robbers used it to tie up Florence's arms." You say coldly. "Hmm. And the hatchet?" He asks and your blood runs cold. "What hatchet?" You ask, you wouldn't know anything about a hatchet. "The one that mysteriously disappeared from the stables?" He says and you look at him, clueless. "Oh, come now. The authorities told me that Florence was found decapitated by a hatchet. A hatchet went missing from the stables after you left. And it's not a tool a highwayman would use even in a dire situation." He says finishing. Your facade falls and you laugh. "Suppose I did, didn't I." You giggle, standing up. 

"So why didn't you tell the police I did it?" You ask curiously. "Y-you killed Florence…" The servant steps back, running a hand through his hair in disbelief. "Yes, we've gone over this." You say taking a menacing step towards him. "But- I knew that there was something wrong but… I just wanted to know the truth. I-I never thought that you- you actually-" he stutters as you cut him off. "Yes, you figured it out, now I can't risk you going to the police about this." You tap your chin looking around the room for any possible murder weapons. "I- I won't go to the police. I promise!" He pleads with you. "Well, I know that." You say, seeing a rope on a curtain behind him. "You won't live to get the chance.” You say and walk over to the curtain. The servant flinches as you pass by him. “Alistair, is there anything you can do to keep him from running away?" You ask, fiddling with the rope to get it down. "I think I have something in mind." He says and suddenly all the windows and doors have disappeared from the room. "Ah, perfect." You say, finally yanking down the rope. You turn back to the servant, twisting the rope around your palms. Alistair materializes, beside you. "Thank you, dear." You peck his cheek. "A pleasure as always." He says smiling at you. You turn your attention back to the soon to be dead man. “Right, time to tie up some loose ends.” You say, snapping the rope taut between your hands.

Chapter 7

[seriously-nobody]

Love's Dark Afflictions

Chapter 2

Warnings: romance, murder, death, gore, blood, optional smut not depicted but there is a link if ur interested

Preface: No spoiling this one, just remember to check the warnings.

You and Florence start out at high noon, and ride in silence until you reach the river. The sun shines through the old oak trees and illuminates the leaves and Spanish moss in mid-afternoon orange. A cool breeze wafts delicious scents of pastries, breads, cakes, and pies, to your nose, telling you that you’re close. “Ah I always love the smells when coming here.” Florence says wistfully. “It is quite delightful.” You say smiling. Then just as you round a corner, you see the grist mill bakery, with its water wheel turning in the river beside it. You tie up your horses on a pair of unique looking hitching posts that have the head of a white stallion with a bit in its mouth as the hitch. You open the door for Florence and the doorbell rings as you open it and walk inside. “A customer!” A voice says from above you, and footsteps are heard walking over to a small spiral staircase. A smaller statured woman with ginger hair wearing a tattered old shirt and apron covered in flour, descends down the steps. “Ah, Florence, how nice to see you again. Oh, and who’s this looker?” She asks, looking at you. “Y/n L/n,” You say, taking their hand. “A pleasure to meet you.” You kiss the back of their hand with a smile. “Show off.” Alistair huffs at you with intense jealousy. “Oh my, well what can I do for you.” she says bashfully. “Just here for the usual order of pastries is all.” You say releasing her hand and leaning against the counter. Florence hands over the list to Mrs. Moonie and she reads it over. “I can get those out for you in just a moment.” She says with a wink and walks back to a large pie cabinet in the corner. “You didn’t tell me you were such a charmer.” Florence nudges you. “It’s a fine tool and I only use it when necessary.” You say looking at Florence through your eyelashes, making them blush and turn away for a moment. You giggle at their shyness and walk over to look at a bread rack. “Remember what you’re here for.” Alistair says. “The theatrics are for a reason, Alistair. If I charm them enough, they’ll bend to my every will.” You say under your breath, but you feel Alistair’s disbelief. “It would make it easier to kill them if they trusted me when I told them to pull off the road, would it not?” you whisper. “Ugh, I suppose it would.” Alistair huffs in defeat. “I understand your jealousy but I promised you would have fun later, did I not? By these means, you shall have it, just allow me to work.” you reassure him. “Fine.” He sighs. “Order’s all ready.” Mrs. Moonie says placing a wicker basket with a hinged top on the counter. “Ah, perfect.” Florence says, taking the basket. “I put an extra scone in there for the charmer.” She says giving you a wink. “Aww, you didn’t have to.” You say. “Don’t worry, I baked a few extra this batch anyway. But do come back when you can, I’d love to chat with you anytime.” She says. “Then expect me soon.” You say, opening the door for Florence. “Good evening Mrs. Moonie.” Florence says with a wave, walking out the door. “I’ll be seeing you, Florence.” she says and you close the door behind you. 

Florence ties the basket to the horse’s saddle while you untie your horses. The sun is almost upon the horizon when you get back on your respective horses and start out on the road again. “I suppose I lost track of the time, we should hurry back.” Florence worries. “Afraid of the dark? Don’t worry, the stable boy gave me a lantern.” You reassure them. The ride goes smoothly as the sun sets and you light a lantern for the path ahead. After quite a while, you come to a crossroads and stop the horses. “What is it?” Florence asks. “Which direction did we come from again? Was it North East or East?” You ask, pretending like you can’t remember the directions. “It was North East I believe.” Florence says. “Are you quite sure?” You ask, making her question her judgment. “Oh, now that’s clever.” Alistair says. “I- Well… I’m unsure.” She says. “I say we go east and if we find we don’t recognize the road, then we head back here and go north east.” You say. “A-alright.” Florence says, becoming more confused. You turn your horses in to the East and ride for about 30 minutes out until Florence breaks the silence. “I don’t think I recognize this road, I think we should turn back.” They say stopping their horse. “Hmm, I don’t recognize it either, but we aren’t turning back.” You say dismounting your horse and keep the reins in hand. “What are you doing?” Florence asks. “I hate to ruin your trust in me, but I’m the highway robber,” You say, taking out your black cloak and bowing with a flourish. “Well, not a robber, per say. All that I’m stealing is your soul.” You finish, taking your dagger out of your boot. Florence just looks at you dumbfounded and you take the reins of the horse so they can’t flee. “Get off the horse.” You demand in a tone you have never used or even heard before. “Oh, now this is what you were made for.” Alistair says. They dismount and begin to cry. “Ugh, stop your crying. It’s pathetic. And don’t make any attempts at running, I shoot to cripple, not to kill.” You say finally showing your true colors. You take the basket of pastries and toss it onto the ground so they spray out onto the road. With your dagger you carve the initials of a highwayman you heard about in the papers, JA for John Alexander, into the leather of the saddle on Florence’s horse and then let go of the reins. You slapped it and it reared back, neighing, then galloped off into the dark beyond. “W- What are you going to do to m- me?” Florence stuttered out between sobs. “Well whatever I do, you definitely aren’t coming back from it I can assure you that.” You say in a sort of reassuring way. You untie the rope from your bag and tie Florence’s arms together with it. “Alistair you may materialize now, if you’d like.” You say with a firm grip on Florence’s restraints. He materializes next to you from the top hat down. “You brought me such a cute little gift.” He says and you smile at him while Florence stares gaping at him, so you take a handkerchief out of your waist coat and tie it around their mouth while they have it open to keep them muffled. “I know no one would hear you this far out, but I don’t want any ringing in my ears when this is over. Now where should we start?” You ask, toying with the dagger in your hand. 

“How about the legs. Tougher to run while injured.” Alistair suggests. “Hmm. Very sensible.” You say, and almost in an instant you pull out your already loaded flintlock, cocking it, and shoot a hole through their left ankle. They scream in agony at the sudden searing pain and fall to the ground. They almost take you with them, but you let go of their restraints before they can. “Mmm,” Alistair hums beside you, “how I missed the screams.” Florence writhes on the ground in pain, face soaked from sobbing, and ankle at an unnatural angle now covered in fresh red blood. “They can still limp if they really want to escape.” You say displeased. “Let’s try the other one then, shall we.” Alistair suggests. You reload your flintlock with haste. “No, please, just kill me.” You kick their legs apart so you can get a good aim, “That would be a kindness.” You say and blow another hole, this time through their right knee and blood gushed out onto their clothes and the dirt. Florence cries again but then they grow quiet. “Sounds like they’re slipping away.” Alistair points out. “Oh no, you’re not leaving us just yet.” You say hoisting them up under their arms, making sure to only get blood on your cloak. You drag them to the side of the road, laying them against the base of a tree. They look at you through hazy and lidded eyes, like they’re about to faint from the pain and blood loss. “How should we finish this then? It’s not fun when they aren’t screaming and begging.” You say, mulling over all your options. “How about, the hatchet?” Alistair asks, and your ears perk up. “Well how was it for you?” You ask, intrigued. “It did take a few chops, my staff had terrible aim. But I’m sure you have a much better swing than those goons.” He says. “Might as well try.” You say and take a good swing at their throat and blood sprays everywhere, while making perfect contact with their jugular. It cuts clean through, just as Alistair said, and their head rolls off the end of the hatchet to the ground, and settles between their bloody legs. The rest of their body slumps back against the tree as the hatchet stays fully embedded in the tree. 

You breathe heavily as your heart races in your chest from the adrenaline, your eyes are wide, and your pupils dilated. You watch as a steady flowing cascade of blood gushes out from their neck and drenching the rest of their body below. Alistair stares at your face as you’re entranced by the sight of your crimes. “What?” You pant, feeling his eyes on you, but keeping yours on the corpse… the fresh one that is. But he doesn’t answer. He reaches out and turns your chin to him and his features portray a deep adoration. Slowly, he steps in close, cups your blood splattered cheek, pulls his arm around to the small of your back. “I love you more than murder, my dear.” He whispers and kisses you deeply. You take a moment to process but then close your eyes and lean into the kiss, finally openly accepting your love for him and not shying away from it. You coil your arms around his waist as he moves his hand from your cheek to the back of your head, smearing streaks of blood across your face as he does. It feels like he begins to levitate. With his cloak billowing in a ghostly wind, he dips you perfectly and it feels like the world falls away and you could live or die in this moment forever with him. He parts from you, and you gaze into his glittering golden eyes for just a moment more while he slowly floats back down. "You are more than I could've ever wanted out of life. It's just unfortunate it had to be after my demise." Alistair says, holding you close to him. 

Optional smut scene: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50721625/chapters/128128714

"We need to clean this up. Before a real highway robber finds us." You say, going back to your bag and grabbing the oil flask and lighter. You walk back to the decapitated cadaver of Florence Huet, take off your cloak, and lay it over their head. You pour out the flask over it, dropping the flask on it when it's drained. You grab your lighter but remember a very crucial detail. You turn to Alistair and take the dagger from your boot, "Stab me." You say handing the hilt to Alistair. "I beg your pardon?" He looks at you confused but intrigued at you. "I need to look like I've been a victim of highway robbery. Don't pierce anywhere vital though, I still need to ride back to the mansion." You say, and Alistair takes your dagger in hand with a mischievous grin. "Ah, understood." He says, and swiftly slices a thin but noticeable cut across your cheek. You hiss and hold your hand up to the cut. "I said stab me, not give me cuts!" You exclaim. "There needs to be signs of struggle." He says, and before you can retort he swipes your forearm. You thrash your head back. "Stop it." You grit your teeth. "If it doesn't look like you fought back then they won't believe that you got out alive." He says smiling wider and slices the back of your hand. "Enough!" You yell and try to get the dagger from Alistair. But as you step forward to take it, he buries the blade in your thigh. You still from the sudden stinging pain and your anger fizzles away into shock. "Don't worry, it only looks bad." He says, watching your face as he twists the blade so enough blood seeps out to soak your clothes. You cry out and grasp his shoulder to keep upright. He grins at the pained expression on your face and seems satisfied for now. "There, all bloodied up just as you wished. Unless you believe this isn't enough?" He asks, still keeping pressure on the dagger. "I think anymore, and William would faint." You whimper. Alistair pulls out the dagger swiftly and you wretch in pain. "Keep pressure on it so you don't bleed anymore, or you'll be the one fainting." He says, and you take a spare handkerchief and cup your hand over the wound. 

You turn back to your handy work with your lighter, spark it, and set the oil covered cadaver aflame. You limp back to your horse and struggle to mount your steed. "Need a hand?" Alistair asks mischievously. "If I can't mount my horse, they won't believe that I got away on my own." You say, and finally get atop your saddle. "There, now I need you to be completely dematerialized until I'm fully alone again." You say keeping pressure on your still gushing wound in your leg. "Yes, yes, I know." He huffs and dematerializes. You spur your horse into a full gallop with your good leg. For the rest of the ride, you think about how your performance will play out with William and Madame Leota as your audience. 

Optional smut internal dialog sequence: ^same link as above, just the next scene down^

Chapter 4

[seriously-nobody]

Love's Dark Afflictions

Till Death Do Us Part

Warnings: Romance, major character death, murder, blood, gore, depressing vibes

Preface: This is one of the sadder endings, so plz read the warnings.

You find yourself at the other end of the hallway that leads to the hatch to the attic. You stay hidden from the servant while formulating a plan. ‘The hallway is a dead end, there's nowhere to run but towards us.’ Alistair reminds you. ‘Yes, but they must have a weapon, but what could it be?’ You think. You slowly and cautiously peak around the corner. ‘Ah.’ You both think. The servant seems to be holding William's hunting shotgun. He had gotten one to mount on the wall as a conversation piece, but he never uses it. ‘I'm almost glad it's getting some use.’ You think. Alistair slowly pulls out your flintlock and cocks it as quietly as he can.

BANG!

A bullet whizzes past you, near inches from your ear. You crouch down and Alistair aims at the servant's left knee while they reload. You fire and it lands perfectly. They cry out and crumple to the floor, still cradling the cocked shotgun. You stand but stay hidden behind the wall for protection. ‘They have to fire and reload to give us a chance.’ You think. ‘I have an idea, though it may be the oldest trick in the book.’ He says, biting off one of the buttons on your waistcoat. He tosses it onto the floor in front of the hallway.

BANG!

You watch the bullet ricochet off the floor and stick in the ceiling. You round the corner and aim perfectly at the servant’s head. Alistair fires and it makes contact, killing the servant instantly. “Another rat bites the dust.” You blow the smoke from your flintlock. You walk over and look up at the closed attic hatch thinking of how you're to get up there. “You might find what you're looking for, over here.” Alistair says, and turns your head to the left. Mounted on the wall is a decorative halberd. “Ah, why thank you.” You say, taking it off the wall. You lift it up, unlatching the hatch and the stairs unfold in front of you. You climb up the stairs, dread and sadness taking over you.

You scan the attic but you don't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. You close your eyes and listen very carefully. ‘There it is.’ Alistair says. Then you hear it. William's racing heartbeat. “William,” You sigh. “Come out. I know you're here.” You say. Nothing happens but a skip in his heartbeat. “We can hear your heartbeat.” Alistair laughs. William slowly stands from behind a large portrait.

Strange, the portrait looks familiar but you're not sure where you’ve seen it before. In it is a tall pale man with long ginger hair, bushy eyebrows and a beard. He wears a black coat with gold lining and red cuffs while holding a decorative sword. Next to the man sits a pale woman with dark hair and pearls hung around her neck. She wears a purple dress and holds a black fan. How peculiar. I wonder where it came from. Or how it got here. ‘Now's not the time for that.’ Alistair reminds you. ‘Right.’ You bring your eyes back to William.

He holds his hands up in surrender and gives you his best pleading look. "Please, y/n. You don’t have to do this." William pleads with you. You soften a little from your sadness. "I don’t want to kill you William.” You sigh and hang your head. “But I must. I can’t have you running to the police about any of this.” You say. “No! I would never-” William protests. Lightning strikes behind the window, lighting up the room. “Lier!” Alistair barks. Thunder claps and rattles the floorboards of the attic. “William, please don’t lie to me. This is already hard enough as it is.” You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “I’m not! I promise I’ll be quiet! I won’t say a word to anyone! Just please don’t kill me.” William cries. “You certainly won’t be saying anything to anyone after this.” Alistair hisses.

“Look, William, I like you, really. You’re sweet and you’ve been good to me.” You say, taking out your flintlock. “So I’ll grant you this mercy.” You say, aiming at William. “No, no-” William gasps and steps back a pace. “It’s alright. Just a quick shot to the head and its lights out. You won’t feel a thing… You won’t have to suffer like the others did.” You reassure him. “No, no, no, please y/n. I’m begging you.” William begins to cry "William just hold still.” You choke, taking a step towards him and he takes a step back. “I just need a good aim at your head, please William.” You plead with him as tears begin stinging your cheeks. “No! I don’t want to die!” William sobs. “I’m sorry it has to be this way William." You sniffle. William's ankles hit the back of the windowsill and he stumbles back. “William!” You cry, dropping your flintlock. You run after him. “No! It's too late!” Alistair catches you before you can follow after him. You hear tree branches snapping and you crawl to the edge of the window. Lighting illuminates the gorey scene and rolling thunder soon follows. The site before you makes you break down.

Poor, dear William. Impaled on an oak tree. A large branch sticking out of his chest. His limbs tangled in the branches. He chokes and sputters on his blood, reaching out his hand toward you. You reach out to him, unable to stop what is inevitable. His body goes limps and the light in his eyes dims, then darkens. The rain soaks his clothes and his hair. His blood drips from the branches and spanish moss onto the earth below. His eyes, dark and empty as the last tears he'll ever shed fall from his eyes.

You sob, cradling your head in your hands. This would've never happened if you hadn't done what Alistair had told you to. You clench your fists in rage, regret sinking in your stomach. Why did you blindly follow him? Why did you never ask if it was right? You never wanted it to be this way. You only wanted to be happy. But you chose your path, and now you have to deal with it. Your nose begins to bleed profusely and your vision blurs at the edges with a profound headache pressing against your temples. “Y/n, please, your emotions, they're too strong.” Alistair says, battling the torrent within you. Lightning strikes outside the window “GET. OUT!” You below, and thunder claps, combing with your voice. His soul tumbles back, out of your body at the sheer force of your soul.

A moment passes as you weep kneeling on the floor. “Darling,” Alistair says gently, placing a hand on your shoulder. You shrug off his touch. “Please, we have to get this cleaned up while the blood is still wet. It's easier to clean that way. You can grieve him later.” He tells you. You want to run. You want to run away from everything you have done but you can't, because Alistair will be right there beside you, reminding you of every horrid thing you have done. You think for a moment. “No…” You say. You know what you have to do. “No?” Alistair asks, taken aback by your disobedience. You have to get rid of it. You have to destroy it. “No.” You say, dead seriously and get up. You have to burn it. To sever your connection to him. You walk back to the floor hatch and descend the ladder. “Where are you going?” Alistair asks in disbelief.

You storm off down the hall, to your room, not saying a word to Alistair. You turn on the gas lamps and walk purposefully behind your privacy screen. “Is now really the time for a change of attire? You still have much blood to clean.” Alistair folds his arms impatiently. You open your cabinet drawer and riffle through it, taking out the false bottom. There it is. In all its cursed glory. The thing that started all of this. The wretched bloody bone bundle. You snatch it out of the drawer and leave the cabinet in disarray. You stomp out from behind the privacy screen but Alistair stands in your way. “What are you planning?” Alistair confronts you. “Get out of my way.” You look at him with seething rage. “Why are you trying to get rid of me? After all we've been through together?” He says with genuine hurt. “What we've been through?” You scoff. “What /you/ put me through.” You growl. “You did all of this, everything, from start to finish, yourself! On your own free will!” Alistair shouts. “You started me down this path so that I would be like you.” You spit. “Wrong, again. I showed you what you could be and you chose your fate. I showed you the darkness within you, like a crystal clear mirror and you /liked it./” He barks. You side step him and breeze through the door. You head down the stairs quickly so that Alistair can't stop you.

“Stop this! Whatever you're about to do, don't. That is your only warning.” Alistair says, chasing you down the hall to the living room. You run to the fireplace and toss the bone bundle to the fire. But it stops midair. No. A shadow of a hand is cast around it and It levitates up away from the flames, into Alistair’s open palm. “You really thought you could get rid of me that easily?” He says, clasping his hand around the bone bundle. It disappears into nothing but a black wisp at the corners of his hand. “What did you do with it?” You demand. “Somewhere you will never be able to reach, my dear.” He smirks smugly at you. “Now, about the mess.” He drums his fingers on his cane, impatiently.

You make a break for the door, peeling out into the hallway and bursting through the door. But Alistair makes no attempt to catch up with you. You run as fast as your legs can take you, wiping tears from your eyes. You bold through the courtyard. The wet ground making it difficult not to slip, thought you trip over a few stones. You make it to the gate, still no sign of Alistair. You open the gate and try to make a run for it but as soon as your foot steps outside the gate, a small purple ghost like string materializes, snapping tought and making you fall to the ground. The world spins for a moment as you regain your bearings. You sit up, holding your head, looking down at where you felt the attachment. The string appears to be attached to somewhere inside you, maybe your soul. It leads back to somewhere inside the mansion. You try to fight it but nothing helps. You begin to cry and in desperation you take out your dagger from your boot. You try to cut the string, but as you might’ve guessed, it doesn't work.

Alistair phases through the front doors of the mansion strolling through the courtyard at a leisurely pace. “Are you quite finished?” He asks. “Let me go, you miserable piece of shit!” You shout. “Enough!” He slams down his cane on the brick. “You are not leaving my sights, much less this mansion, ever again! You may try to run but you obviously won't get far!” He yells angrily. “Now,” He sighs. “Would you kindly come back inside? Your /friends/ are beginning to reek.” He says, annoyed with you. You glare up at him through your eyelashes as tears streak your cheeks. There's nothing you can do. You can't run. You can't hide. You will never get away. You have to obey him or suffer the consequences. You get up from the ground slowly and look out through the open gateway. “Close the gates.” Alistair tells you patiently. You do as he says, letting the last bit of hope inside you die and fade away. “Alright, now I suggest you begin with the witch's body in the seance room since she's been dead the longest.” He continues talking but his voice is fuzzy and distant in your mind. All you can think of is being bound to the mansion forever. You clean up the blood, gore, and general damage in a hazed state. You bury their broken bodies in the cemetery in silence, Alistair watching over you the entire time.

Life thereafter was never considered normal. He attempted to poison your gin only a few days after that night. He wanted you to join him on the other side but you needed to be willing for him to have your soul. You declined the arsenic cocktail and told him you never join him. He kept down his rage and said, “You will join me when your time comes.” You survived off the food in the pantry for a couple weeks until you needed more. You pleaded with Alistair to go into the city to get food and after much fuss he allowed it but he followed close behind you, making sure you didn't get any ideas. Alistair demanded you hire new staff while you were there so that if you needed anything from outside the mansion you didn't need to. You hired a servant, a maid, and a cook. Just the bare essentials.

After many years had passed and you had grown old, you lost your mind. You paced the many halls and rooms of the mansion, getting lost at times. Then you would call for Alistair to take you back to your room. The mansion was kept up by the maid, the servant ran errands outside the mansion for you, and the cook made you halfway decent meals.

What more could you possibly want?

Return

[seriously-nobody]

Love's Dark Afflictions

Warnings: Romance, a bit of blood, mention of grief, mention of murder, canon divergence

Preface: You already know this story, so I’ll make it easy on you and summarize. The first paragraph summarizes parts 1 through 3 and most of part 4 from The Ghost In My Heart and details small changes of events. Then it picks back up, but things feel a little different than before.

You were fairly new to New Orleans when you got an invitation to a party at Gracey Manor. The party went swimmingly, even getting a second invitation by Master William Gracey for a picnic, but it wasn’t meant to be, since you had to go on a 3 week trip out of state. When you returned, William Gracey informed you that Eleanor Gracey had fallen ill with yellow fever and died before you had gotten back, making your return a sour one. 3 months later you hear from other socialites that William Gracey hasn’t been seen since Eleanor died so you go to check on him and he is a mess so you take pity on him and take care of him. You do this for a month until you get impatient and start researching ways to communicate with the dead. You find just the right books that tell you it’s possible through seances, of course you are going to need a medium. So you used your status to find one. Her name was Madame Leota, and she came at a very high price, but you haggled it down to $3. In the first seance, the ghost chose to speak through Madame Leota, but it wasn’t Eleanor, so you had to try again the next night, and you kept trying each midnight. Eventually you get impatient yet again, but this time for good reason, after so many seances costing you more and more each night, you could no longer afford to keep up your chateau so William offered you a room in the Mansion to stay in. So this time, instead of looking in books, you go into the heart of New Orleans looking for more ways to summon her. You found your way into backrooms, cellars, dark alleyways, and even some sideshow tents. You heard about so many different ways of contacting the dead, but one that stuck out to you the most was a sort of occult ritual that required blood sacrifice. You were curious about it and became fascinated by it, but never acted on your interest. You never told William or Madame Leota of your fascination with it because you knew they wouldn’t approve, of course who would. You kept your fascination a secret and your thoughts silent.

Finally, the day had come, the first year anniversary of it all. This time, you felt something needed to be different. Something had to change, so you take matters into your own hands. You remembered something about the cult ritual you witnessed a few months ago. You saw them using animal blood and bones, this gave you an idea. So you go out hunting in the morning with a few servants and down a few small games, saying it was for the kitchen to prepare for dinner that night in celebration of the anniversary. When they were picking them clean of meat, you told them to keep some of the bones for broth. When they had finished, you snuck into the kitchen and took a handful of small, unbroken, clean, and dry bones, just as the ritual specified. Then you let some of the game's blood from the chopping block drip onto a handkerchief. You wrap the bones in the handkerchief and bind it with twine and hide it in your waist coat before anyone can see and sneak back out.

Before you knew it was time for the seance again, though this time you were a little more confident in summoning Eleanor. "In a merry mood today, y/n?" Madame Leota asks at the smirk on your face when you sit in your usual place in the seance room, but with a smile on your face. "Well, of course, it's the 1st anniversary, a thing to celebrate, is it not?" You say. "I suppose it is." She says, smiling. She clears her throat and begins as usual. “Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat; call in the spirits, wherever they’re at.” Madame Leota says, and the seance begins. the crystal ball glows and levitates. You feel like someone or something is trying to say something to you, but it all just comes out in jumbled hushed whispers. “Anything yet?” William asks Madame Leota. “No, nothing.” she says, concentrating. “I hear something. It sounds like they’re trying but can’t quite find the words?” You say tilting your head. “Hmm. They chose you? That’s odd. Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell, give us a hint by ringing a bell!” Madame Leota gestures to a brass bell on the table, but again, nothing happens. “Wrap on a table. It's time to respond! Send us a message from somewhere beyond!” shouted Madame Leota, slamming her hand down on the table. And finally you saw him. Only his head showed through the crystal ball. His face burned into your memory. His wicked grin and his crazed eyes. His eyes darted over to you and noticed the entranced look on your face. “You.” he says and tilts his head down at you. Suddenly, you felt his soul, his aura, his overpowering madness, and insatiable bloodlust overwhelmed you. The darkness you thought you had silenced reawakened in you. Your face blushed a vibrant red hue. “Y/n? What is it? What’s happening.” William asked concerned. You were speechless. It felt like he had taken the air right out of your lungs. You couldn’t breathe. The head grinned from ear to ear at your reaction, and then suddenly you saw all his murders flash by your eyes in an instant, and you saw them as if looking through his eyes. You felt his fiendish glee as blood sprinkled his face like beautiful crimson freckles. He never so much as blinked away from the gruesome display. You felt your heart skip a beat, and it scared you more than what you had just witnessed. Then his head vanished from the ball, and you frantically looked around the room. You peek behind your chair to find him standing there, hunched over with a cane in one hand and a glowing hatbox in the other. His head, now inside the hatbox, illuminates the corner of the room in a bright yellow light. “Boo!” he says and chuckles at you when you jump. “No no no! Shut it down! Shut it down!” You practically scream to Madame Leota. While keeping eye contact with the hatbox ghost. He takes a menacing step towards you, scraping his other foot across the floor. “You can’t banish me, foolish mortal.” he cackles out. Madame Leota lights the sage and waves it around the space to get him to leave, but he stands unwavering. “Aww, that won’t hurt me. You know better than that.” he scoffs and continues towards you. William grabs the bell and starts ringing in the direction where you’re looking. “Ugh! Such noise!” The ghost says and dematerializes. You turned around to see if the crystal ball had stopped glowing, and it did. So you slump back down in your chair, knowing the portal had closed.

Your heart racing in your chest, you pant, gripping the arms of the chair to stop yourself from quaking. “Is everyone alright?” you pant out. “Yes.” Madame Leota says calming down. “Yes, but are you alright?” William says concerned. “For now. Though, we need to banish that ghost back to the region beyond. I don’t know who or what that ghost is, but it’s evil and maddening.” You say darkly. His face flashes in your memory, it’s all you see behind your eyelids when you so much as blink, it makes your heart skip even though you try to suppress it. “I’ll see what I can do to find a banishment.” Madame Leota says opening her book, William still looks concerned at you but says nothing. “I’m going to go for a gin.” You say trying desperately to stand while your legs quake against your will. “Would you like to borrow my cane?” Madame Leota says, seeing you struggle. “Yes, thank you.” You say, accepting her cane and then hobble up the stairs to the living room.

You call a servant for a gin and sit down on a sofa. You sigh and put your elbows on your knees to cradle your head. You close your eyes only for a moment and see his face again. “Your gin?” the servant says, making your heart leap out of your chest, and you fall back onto the sofa. “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you.” the servant says. “No, no, it's alright.” You say, taking the gin and downing half of it. “Rough night?” the servant says observing you. “Extremely.” You say running your hand down your face. “Penny for your thoughts?” the servant asks, looking down at your trembling figure. “Not a chance. Not tonight.” You say downing the rest of the gin. “Oh not even the slightest detail?” the servant says, but the voice isn’t the one you heard before. It was his. Your eyes go wide, and you look up at the servant. Their nose is bleeding, and their eyes have dark circles under them. “You!” You shoot up and grab the servant by the collar. “I-I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to-” the servant pleads. You drag the servant by the collar to the seance room. “Y/n?! What in the world are you doing?!” William says, and Madame Leota looks up from her book and gasps. “He’s using this servant as a puppet!” You say to them confidently. William and Madame Leota look at you puzzled. “Look they have blood-” and as you look over, the servant looks right as rain, just as they appeared before. Your face falls. “But they were just - Their nose was bleeding, and their eyes-” you say, studying the servant's face. “Dear… maybe you should get some rest.” Madame Leota suggests gently as to not stir you. “No please, you must believe me.” You plead, looking back at them. “William?” You look at William. He opens his mouth, then closes it and takes a moment to think and dismay dawns on his face. “Maybe you do need some rest. After the events of the night.” He looks up at you while hanging his head. You look back at the servant, who is still fearfully looking at you. You retract your hand from their collar, and it trembles terribly as you do so, so you cover it with your other hand to stop it from shaking so much. You look skittishly back at them now, questioning your own sanity in the matter. William tries to say something and reach out to you, but you run out of the seance room to your guest bedroom.

You run in and shut the door, leaning on it as soon as you shut it. You cover your face, and tears burn your eyes. You crumple in on yourself and slide down the door until you sit on the floor. Why did you have to go and ruin things like this? You knew you summoned the hatbox ghost. It was all your fault. What were you thinking? Mucking about with cult ritual practices. Now Madame Leota and William think you've gone insane. They'll never trust you again. You sit there in choked sobs with your thoughts, poisoning your mind for a while until a soft knock is heard on the door. “Yes?” You choke out. “Hello, I know you may not want to hear from me right now, but Master Gracey sent another gin to you.” it was the servant from earlier that you had hallucinated to be the hatbox ghost. You stand up, wiping your tears and open the door to see the servant. “Don’t shoot the messenger.” The servant puts their hand up in surrender. You walk over and sit down on a bench at your vanity, motioning for the servant to come in. “Ah, I’m glad to see we’re on good terms then.” they say cheerfully.

They walk in and set your gin down on the vanity, and you immediately pick it up and down it all. “Is there anything else you’ll be needing tonight?” the servant says, but this time again it’s him. You whip your head up at the servant to see their nose bleeding again, and the dark circles had returned to under their eyes. “Demon! Leave before I demolish you, you wretched fiend.” You say through gritted teeth and stand up slowly. “Oh, what a tease with such threats. They do not match your pristine looks, so I doubt they’re anything but empty.” He taunts through the servant’s mouth and throws a gesture in the air, and the door to your room closes quietly. You grab the servant by the shoulder and throw them against the wall. “Ah, now that’s surprising. Not so empty after all. But do remember the precious servant’s body. I'm only borrowing it after all.” He says, trying to remind you that you can’t hurt him while he uses the servant. “Then let him go. I want to see your face.” You said sternly, still gripping the servant’s shoulder against the wall. The ghost laughs, “Alright, if you insist.” “NO. Not here, out in the hall.” You demand pointing at the door. The ghost scoffs and walks the servant out and closes the door.

A moment passes, and you hear the servant walk away. “There, never say I didn’t help your reputation.” He says from somewhere in the room. “Materialize. I demand it.” you say. “Already done, my dear.” he says right behind you. You spin around and again pin him against the wall. “Ugh with this again?” He says frustrated. “Who are you, and why are you here?” you demand. “Well, I’m Alistair Crump, and you and your medium friend summoned me, obviously. I doubt if the tragic and pathetic looking man had anything to do with it.” he says smugly. “No, why have you come to haunt me. Alistair.” You say more directly, using his name now to make a point. The ghost splits a smile at this. “By the rosieness of your cheeks, I would say you know.” he says, raising a brow. You blush even more under his gaze. “Nevermind that.” You say and pinch the bridge of your nose. “I’m here to see why you took such an interest in me.” he said, finally answering the question. “Who says I took interest in you?” You say, and the ghost scoffs and gestures to your current position. You step back and fold your arms. “Is that truly why you’re here? To torment me?” you say, glaring at him. “I saw something in you when we connected-” He reaches out to you, but you grab his wrist midair. “May I?” he says, raising a brow. And you look at his hand then at his face. He doesn’t seem to have a weapon either, so you release his wrist cautiously. “Thank you.” he says and slowly, gently cups your cheek, and your heart pounds out of your chest, making him giggle at your reddening face. “I saw it in you.” he says, studying your features. “Saw what?” you ask suspiciously. “That darkness. The bloodlust. And moreover, a morbid curiosity.” He says, smoothing his thumb over your cheek. You let him stay there even though you’re incredibly vulnerable. “I never thought another could feel the way I do.” He hums and lets his hand fall away from your face. You miss his touch but only for a moment when you remember who he is and what he’s done.

“I… I don’t want to feel this way. It’s… wrong.” You say, and he lets out a giggle. “Wrong?” He questions. “You killed dozens of innocent people, Alistair!” You confront him. “Yes, but you know how it felt. I felt your pretty little heart racing in your chest when I showed you my sins. You enjoyed it, and you weren’t even the one committing them!” he retorts, leaving you flustered. “You crave it now, I just know it.” He says. “No, I don’t!” You demand and take a step towards him, and he takes a step back. “I know you do! I can feel it in you!” He says. “You’re evil!” You say, and take another step, and he takes another step back. “Maybe, but I know you can be so much worse than I ever was!” He says, hitting his back against the wall unexpectedly. “I am not a murderer!” you say and punch the wall near an inch away from his head, leaving a sizable hole in it. The ghost bursts out laughing in your face. You pull your fist out of the wall and look at your bloodied knuckles in horror at what you’d just done. You take a stumble taking a step back, still staring at your fist in terror. Alistair steps up to you, not even the slightest bit afraid. He puts his hand under your fist and unravels your fingers in his palm. He brushes the debris off your bloody knuckles and brings it up to his lips, and gently kisses the back of your hand. You feel yourself melt into his touch and choose not to resist your feelings. “You caused such beautiful destruction, my dear. It’s quite the step in the right direction.” He says, holding your hand in his. You drop to your knees, still keeping your hand in his. So in love with this corpse of a man and so overwhelmed with emotion, you felt your internal battle shift for the worst.

“What darker side of me does this reveal? “What will become of me?” You say, now shaking and beginning to cry again. “Oh dear, don’t cry.” He says, taking his other hand and picking up your chin to look up at him. “Don’t you see? This is merely the dawn of you. You can do so much more than just this.” He says, gesturing to the wall. He notices how tired you look and how your eyes are dilated and red from all your crying. “But for now, I know mortals need their beauty rest, so I suggest you get some sleep before you look as ghoulish as some of your ghostly residents.” He says, helping you up. He guides you over to your bed and pulls up the covers for you. You climb in, and Alistair dims the lights in the room, your eyes already half lidded. “Now sleep tight.” he says and dematerializes. You let your exhausted body finally relax, and sleep comes easy to you.

Chapter 2