Page 26 of The Haunting of William Thorn

He nodded, shooting a cautious glance to the stairs behind him. “Shall we take this conversation somewhere else?”

Such casual words for such a chaotic time.

“I’d like that,” William replied, because all he wanted to do was put as much distance between himself and the attic as possible. Hell, the entire manor if that was possible. “If my ankle isn’t ruined!”

“Steady then, lean on me for support and let me take your weight, okay? I’ll check on it when we get you onto the sofa.”

William sniffled softly. “Okay.”

Edward attempted to get William off the floor, but William winced as he put weight on his left ankle.

He hissed in pain, slumping against Edward’s shoulder for support.

He had, William noticed, a very strong shoulder built from that type of surprising muscle that one wouldn’t notice when a person was clothed. William was glad for the support.

“Lucky for you, I’ve got a level two first-aid certification under my belt,” Edward said, offering his sarcasm as an attempt to give him comfort. “Although it was given at Scouts, maybe over twenty years ago now, I’m still the most qualified person here to have a look at it.”

William’s sarcasm came thick and fast. “What would I do without you?”

“That’s a very good question,” Edward replied, taking the brunt of William’s weight as they made it down the final staircase to the bottom floor. “I think you’d have sleepwalked all the way back to London on your first night, so maybe this would’ve never happened.”

“Maybe.”

William couldn’t hold back the laugh even if he wanted to.

As the final dregs of adrenaline faded away like smoke on the wind, he found his emotions conflicting and confusing.

He was frightened, scared to fucking shit actually, but also hysterical from what he’d just been through.

Not matter how he wanted it to be otherwise, he couldn’t ignore just how calm Edward’s presence made him.

Just how much he needed it… that was the most shocking revelation of all.

Not the potential of ghosts, but the idea that William had softened enough to let someone else in.

As they made it into the back living room, the one William had found Robert’s journal in, he noticed a pile of objects dropped haphazardly on the hallway floor.

Edward had clearly got back to Hanbury just in the nick of time.

All of his belongings waited in a haphazard pile, completely forgotten by Edward, who didn’t even spare it a glance as they passed.

William had noticed. There was something strange upon the mound which caught his eye.

It was a board. Similar to a gameboard he’d have found buried in the family cabinet back at home.

Except the markings on Edward’s board were like nothing William had seen before.

He caught the warped words of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in bold swirling writing at the top before he rounded into the living room, and the view was taken from him.

Odd, William thought. Why would Edward bring a game to Hanbury if he thought he was going to be alone?

“Luckily for you, your ankle isn’t broken or sprained.

I think it’s just some surface-level bruising.

At most it will hurt for a few days, but nothing that’ll put you out for too long,” Edward said, patting William’s foot on an elevated pillow between them.

“You’ll need to be careful on it. No more falling downstairs, preferably. ”

“Aye, aye, Doctor.”

“Well,” Edward straightened, unable to hide the blush from his cheeks. “I could get used to that title. Add that to the list you were gathering.”

“Already done.” William’s relief from the pain was short lived as he shuffled on the sofa, trying to reposition himself in the sinking material. “Consider it placed to the top of that list.”

The corner of Edward’s lip quirked up, highlighted by the glow of the fire he’d just lit across the room.

The tongue of orange-red flame toyed with the sharp planes of his jaw and high cheekbones.

He was, for all intents and purposes, a very handsome man.

Which in itself was an impressive conclusion considering William hadn’t thought of another man like that in a long time.

“Silver linings and all, but maybe this will stop the sleepwalking,” Edward said, eyes roaming over William in search of more wounds. If he lifted Edward’s shirt, he’d find the side of his body bruised black and blue. However, William wasn’t about to undress for him.

“As I’ve already told you, sleepwalking is not a common occurrence in my life,” William said, his arse growing numb from sitting in the same position for so long. “But I hope you’re right.”

“Shall we unpack that… talk about what the possible cause of your new behaviour is…”

William recognised that Edward had just opened the door to the conversation with his question. So, since there was nothing else to do, he walked straight into it. There was no point pretending everything was fine now, not after what they’d both experienced.

“A therapist too? You really are rather impressive, Edward.”

He smiled so wide that his beautiful eyes narrowed, flashing pearl-white teeth. “I live to please, and please to impress. So go on, what do you think is the reason for the sleepwalking?”

“I want to blame Hanbury Manor, I think.” Just admitting it made William feel a little better.

It was early evening now, and the blanket of night settled proudly over the manor.

A chill crept in through the old, damp walls, battered away by the fire Edward had lit.

And yet there was a callous chill which settled so far into William’s marrow that no fire could rid him of it.

“The stress of moving to a new house, or…”

“Both. The move, the potential that it promises… but also the issues that have arisen since coming here.” William took a deep breath in, aching from the multitude of bruises across his body.

It was on the tip of his tongue to bring up what he’d seen again, but hesitation stopped him. “Are we really going to talk about it?”

Turned out Edward didn’t need further explanation as to what William was thinking. “Only if you want to.”

“I don’t think I have a choice anymore,” William replied. “Besides the serious words I’ll be having with the solicitors tomorrow, I think some compensation is owed from them since I, William Thorn, now own a haunted fucking house.”

It felt like one last laugh from Archie beyond the grave.

Your decisions killed me, so this is your punishment, my love.

“You love that word, don’t you?”

William shot Edward a look. “What word?”

“ Fucking ,” Edward said, his teeth catching his lower lip. “You swear a lot.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You absolutely do,” Edward said, nudging William’s knee with his own.

“I fucking don’t…” William caught himself whilst Edward’s brow peeked upwards. “I’m just passionate, all right?”

“Is this where you tell me you’re Italian and swearing is simply part of your vocabulary?”

“Greek, actually. Half. Mother’s side. And yes, we’re passionate. Not to mention I’m a Gemini.”

“Wow, double whammy. Pick a struggle,” Edward laughed.

The lightness and ease to how Edward replied only made William laugh back. “If I’d take a guess, I’d think you’re trying to divert the conversation away from the fact I just admitted that I own a haunted house.”

“Correction, haunted manor .”

“Semantics,” William replied.

“You argue like my ex,” Edward said, narrowing eyes, although enjoying every moment of the interaction, clear from his never-ending grin. “Never could be wrong, always wanted the last word. They were a Gemini too… makes sense.”

“She must’ve been amazing too, then,” William added. “What a catch.”

“Actually, he was actually an arsehole, but I don’t think that is a comparable fact between you both. Perhaps the most noticeable difference.”

Heat rose in William’s cheeks. He wasn’t one to guess a person’s sexuality; it wasn’t any of his business. He certainly didn’t appreciate it when people did it to him – even if those days were long gone.

“ He sounds like a challenge,” William said, hoping Edward didn’t notice the blush that crept up his neck. “But can we maybe move the topic of conversation back to ghosts… Oh, my God, that sounds so fucking stupid saying it out loud.”

“Oh, there’s that Greek-Gemini passion again,” Edward said with a wink. He pushed himself to standing, and William had to fight the urge to ask where he was going. “You also have an uncanny ability to change the subject, did you know that?”

“That’s pretty rich coming from you.” William worried his lower lip between his teeth. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Edward that he was wrong – but that would’ve been a lie. “I don’t really know what else to say.”

“You heard something that wasn’t there, and then you saw something that wasn’t there.” Edward popped a hip. “Adding two and two together, I’d say that actually something must’ve been there. How does that sound? Am I right?”

“Yes, because it was there. I saw it.” William wiggled his leg and instantly regretted it as an ache formed across his sprained ankle. “Believe it or not, I don’t make a habit of falling down the stairs for no reason.”

“I did say I believed you,” Edward said, suddenly serious. His sun-kissed skin paled before William’s eyes. “Actually, I think I’ve said that a couple of times now. So, just to be clear, I, Edward, solemnly swear that I believe every word that comes out of your mouth.”

“Every word? About the falling, or the seeing something?”

Edward rolled his eyes as he moved towards the door. “Both.”

William leaned up as Edward briefly left the room. Around the doorframe, William heard rustling, and then Edward returned with something in his hands. It was the board William noticed before they entered the room – the one with the strange markings.

“What’s that?” William asked as Edward unfolded the board. “Hopefully not Monopoly, I’m really not in the mood.”

“Oh, it’s certainly not that game.”