Page 10 of The Haunting of William Thorn

William shook his head, fighting the urge to bite the insides of his cheeks. “What I meant is it’s not a shame for me, but for you.”

Usually, William found his disdain was obvious to the people he came into contact with. Edward, however, seemed shielded from it. In fact, the sly smile lifting his lips suggested he was almost enjoying it.

“Listen, I know we are off to a bad start, but I am really just hoping to see out the storm. I don’t want to burden you.”

“Then you’ll get your sopping wet arse off my porch and leave,” William retorted, wishing he hadn’t left the poker upstairs on the desk.

“Will – William, please.” Edward’s smile faltered for the first time. “I beg you, let me in.”

William paused, internally battling with two sides of his conscience. Before he could make his decision, thunder roared across the sky. Lightning followed, emitting a glow over the stretching maw that was Hanbury’s gardens.

“Please,” Edward said, flinching beneath the glare. “Pretty please with a cherry on top…”

“I don’t know you from Adam.”

“Touché.” Edward pouted like some high-paid model in Vogue. “Would dropping to my knees and begging you help? I get the impression that you would actually rather enjoy that.”

“Go home, Edward,” William said, trying to push the door closed but Edward’s hand was still stopping him.

Edward bristled at William’s comment. Pain lanced through his eyes, catching him by surprise.

There was more thunder and lightning, and then William made yet another mistake.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” William stepped aside, ushering Edward into his safe space with a sweep of his hand. Edward must’ve caught the dramatic roll of William’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything but ‘thank you’ as he brought the rain inside the entrance hall.

“Thank you, seriously,” Edward said, shivering like a dog caught out in a storm. Pretty fitting, William thought, all considering.

“Don’t thank me yet,” William said, amusing himself with Edward’s state. He was completely drenched through. Then William noticed the growing puddle on his not-so-clean floors, and felt the heat of rage simmer in the back of his head.

Edward noticed. “I’ll clean it up. Scouts honour.”

Breathe. Just breathe.

“Yes, you will. I guess the walk back to Stonewell not as enjoyable as you’d hoped?”

“Refreshing would be a word I could use,” Edward said, shaking his hair and splattering water all up his walls. “Enjoyable wouldn’t be a word I picked.”

“Do you mind!” Frustration boiled over, heightened as water splashed across William’s face. He pointed to the doormat Edward was currently standing on. “Don’t move another muscle. There’s already enough damp in this house; I don’t need you making it worse.”

William turned on his heel, putting his back to a potential threat. Yes, he really was a terrible Final Gay.

“Leaving me so soon?” Edward called out.

William didn’t stop moving towards the stairs. “Unless you would prefer to stand there soaking wet and cold, then yes. I’m am. Just do me a favour and don’t leave that bloody doormat.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

As William rounded the corner, he caught Edward smiling to himself, hand raised in salute to his forehead.

His warm laugh followed William all the way to the airing cupboard upstairs, where he fished out a rough cotton towel that was so dry it would scratch layers of skin off. He didn’t go back downstairs until the poker was back in his hand, and his phone, which was halfway charged.

“Here,” William said, thrusting the towel at Edward’s chest. He was surprised by the solid form and unwavering posture, even if William thought the shove was slightly too hard.

“My saviour,” Edward mocked, already bringing the towel to his drenched chestnut-brown hair and rubbing it vigorously, all without taking his gaze off William.

“You won’t be saying that when I send you back out into the storm.” William placed his hands on his hips and bent his left leg to lean on the right. It was a stance Archie used to mock him for, one William never knew he was doing it until he was… well, doing it.

A fork of lightning lit the cloud-infected sky in a cast of silver, followed by an earth-shattering bout of thunder. William couldn’t help but jump at the sound, whereas stoic Edward seemed unfazed.

“You know, I can tell you’re not from around these parts,” Edward said, wagging his finger at William.

“Is that a hidden insult I hear beneath your observation?”

“Not at all.”

“Perhaps you keep those comments to yourself then, yes?” William replied, leaning further onto his right leg. “Instead, tell me how you left Hanbury hours ago, and have somehow found your way back.”

Instead of answering, Edward took his time looking over William. Brow furrowed and lower lip caught between his teeth, he mapped out the new owner of Hanbury Manor in silence.

“What?” William barked.

“The Cotswold air is believed to make a person more… friendlier, but it would seem you’ve not been around long enough to benefit. Yet. Consider this an educated guess, but you’re a city boy right?”

And proud . “Any more insults, Edward? I’ve just let you in my house, so I’d be careful how you respond to that. Oh, emphasis on my in case it slipped your mind from earlier.”

Edward lifted a single dark brow in jest. “Sorry about that, again.”

Both men stood in silence, squaring each other up. William ready to clobber Edward with the poker, and Edward likely preparing another veiled comment.

Thunder rocked the foundations of Hanbury so viciously, the lights flickered out for a moment.

“Seems like the storm is here to stay,” Edward said, followed by a dramatic all-body shiver.

“Shame,” William replied. “I’d offer you an umbrella, but I don’t think I’ve got one.”

I also can’t be bothered to check.

“I take that as that you’re still planning to kick me out… again?”

“Yes, actually I am.” William leaned forward, unable to shake the irritation this man’s presence cursed him to harbour. “Why are you even here, Edward?”

“Truthfully?” he replied.

“No, give me an elaborate lie… of course I mean truthfully.”

Edward’s pause was either from the harsh tone William used or he needed a moment to gather up a well put together answer.

“Well, I got halfway and couldn’t shake the discomfort of knowing you were out here all alone.

A stranger in a strange place. That, and the fact the ford between Hanbury and Stonewell had overflooded by the time I reached it, so I took it as fate telling me to come back and check on you. ”

William didn’t remember passing over a ford on the journey to the house, but whether that was a white lie or not, it wasn’t what made his stomach uneasy.

“You look like you can swim.” William regretted the comment the moment it came out of his mouth. Because saying it proved to Edward that William had been checking him out.

Before Edward could thank William for the compliment, William let his tongue lash out with everything he wanted to say.

“I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. But what you should take from this is I don’t need checking up on like some child left at home for the first time by their overbearing parents. I can manage just fine, storm or no.”

William watched Edward look up towards the flickering bulb hanging just above them. “I can see that.”

“Then you can see yourself out.”

“You really are going to make me beg, aren’t you?”

William blinked. “What are you on about!”

Edward dropped to his knees before William could stop him. He slapped his large hands together in mock prayer, sticking out that lower lip again. The suddenness of it surprised William, who felt almost embarrassed as he stood glowering over Edward.

“Get up,” William hissed, eyes widening a fraction. “Now.”

Edward ignored him. “Please, kind stranger, allow me to stay until the storm passes. And then I promise you will never see, or hear from me, again.”

“Get off the floor,” William protested again. “You look ridiculous.”

“Pretty please. Make it two cherries on top for extra measure–”

“No.” William drew out his mobile, already expecting the ‘no signal’ sign. He could still call the police, he thought, but William had been brought up being told that wasting their time was the greatest crime. His finger hovered over the numbers, but he couldn’t bring himself to type them out.

“What do I need to do to prove I’m not a dangerous murderer?” Edward asked, still kneeling on the goddamn floor.

“Considering that’s exactly what a murderer would say, I think we are far past the point of that now.”

“Coming from the man holding a poker over me.”

A blush crept over William’s cheeks. He looked at his hand, embarrassed that Edward’s suggestion was right. He lowered the poker slightly, to prove him wrong.

“It’s for self-defence,” William added.

“Again, may I remind you I haven’t warranted that?”

“Are you crazy!” Eyes wide, William couldn’t stop himself from shouting. “You literally barged into my home this morning!”

“Actually, I knocked a few times, if you remember.”

“Ugh.” William dropped the poker onto the sideboard and walked three paces away from Edward. “If not breaking and entering, your crime is being the most annoying man I have ever met.”

Edward smiled. “I’ve been called worse.”

William couldn’t believe he was doing this. Then again, he couldn’t believe that he’d considered moving into a run-down manor in the middle of nowhere with little to no idea of the immense work ahead of him, nor the trauma behind him.

This felt like a cruel joke on Archie’s part – leaving such a place to William, knowing the turmoil he would face just to make it liveable.

Then again, mistakes had been made; what was so terrible about making a couple more?

“As soon as I see a slither of blue in the sky,” William said. “Your gone.”

“Sounds fair.” Edward stood, flattened out his trousers with a brush down of his hand and then offered that same hand to William. “I promise I’ll go when the storm lifts. I’m a man of my word.”

William regarded the offering of a hand and ignored it. Surely that had to hurt Edward’s ego.

“I get the impression you don’t like people very much,” Edward said, lowering his arm.

“You’re very wrong,” William replied, unable to shift the irritation this man caused him.

“How so?”

William smiled; this time, it lit his face with honesty. He said the truest thing to come out of his mouth in weeks. “I like people, generally. It’s strange men who I can’t stand.”

“Annoying and strange,” Edward said, tracing his eyes across every inch of William, who suddenly felt very small beneath the man’s glare. “You’re certainly a joy to be around.”

Sarcasm dripped from Edward’s tongue but did little to offend William. After all, the power was in his hands.

“Good. Then you’ll keep your distance from me,” William replied quickly, beckoning Edward to follow him from the doorway. He pointed to the front room that Edward had last barged into. “Go in here. Keep out of my sight. Otherwise, the police will be the ones escorting you out of here.”

“And if I need the toilet?” Edward’s face lifted in a mock grin.

“Your trousers are already wet, I’m sure you won’t notice a difference.”

Edward grimaced. “Thank you so much, William. I really appreciate your warm hospitality.”

There was so much William wanted to say, but he closed the door to the front room with a slam. Unfortunately, there was no lock to keep Edward inside, so instead, William dragged the sideboard over and propped it in front of the door.

Edward knocked on the closed door. “Urm, William. What was that noise?”

“Call it necessary measures,” William shouted back, dusting his hands as he stepped away from the barricaded door.

The brass handle rattled, and the door budged open as much as the barricade allowed. And out the gap in the door, Edward peered at him with wide eyes. “Is there really a need for this?”

It was William’s turn to smile. “I’ve seen enough horror films to know what happens when strange men worm their way into people’s homes. Consider my kindness limited. If you want to stay out of the storm, this is your only option. Or you are welcome to venture back out – the choice is yours.”

Edward’s single eye narrowed, and then the door closed slowly, shutting him from view. “Fine,” came his muffled voice.

“Fine,” William repeated before leaving his captive alone.

William Thorn knew he was making a mistake letting the stranger stay out the storm inside his manor, but something chewed at the back of his brain.

The last time he’d kicked somebody out during a storm, they died. His Archie. One death on his conscience was unbearable, two – stranger or not – would truly destroy him.