Page 66 of The Haunting of William Thorn

Edward managed a smile, and this one shone through his eyes. “I’m just being honest.”

William sat down beside Edward, took his hand, and gently laid it upon his thigh. They both looked at Mike, whose skin was paling, his eyes barely opened.

“What do we do now?” William asked.

“Call the… police,” Edward said.

“May I remind you that you’ve just stabbed the police.”

“Call them… tell them everything. Andrew Dean… killed Teddy. More bodies.” Edward was slipping in and out of consciousness. “The well–”

William clutched for Edward’s face, stopping it from falling to the side. His weak breath came out beyond a slack mouth. His skin was cold. Too cold. “You need to stay awake, just a little longer, okay?”

William had to leave Edward’s side, fetch his phone, and make the call.

But he couldn’t leave his side, not for a minute, knowing that he couldn’t stay alert.

After all, Mike was still alive. There was a small bit of a relief at that.

At least, if this was over, Mike would get the chance to explain himself.

“Are you back… already?” Edward asked, lips curling upwards.

“I never left,” William said, knowing he was losing time as quickly as time was losing Edward.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Tell me about what happens now,” William rushed for something to keep Edward’s mind occupied. “I need to hear you say it.”

“That’s up to you.” Edward turned, boring eyes through William’s profile. “I’ll do… whatever it is you ask of me. Leave, never look back…”

“And if I want you to stay?” William couldn’t hide the hope from his voice. “Would you do that?”

“At Hanbury?”

William swallowed hard. “Yes, at Hanbury. You can have it. Your family have more ties here than I do. I’ll… change the deeds. I’ll give it to you–”

Edward squeezed at William’s hand, offering him some comfort when it was Edward who needed it more. His skin was still pale, the bruises and shadows across his face worse than they had been. He looked tired, so much so that even talking was a strain.

“You’re wrong, William.”

“Back to full names, are we?”

Edward used the little strength he had left and pressed his lips to the back of William’s hand. The gentle kiss warmed him and sharpened his focus. “Hanbury is your future. I’ll do… everything in my power to secure it for you. I already told you that.”

Mike Dean was proof of that.

“Perhaps no more stabbing though?”

Mike groaned, his eyes fluttering into the back of his head.

“Perhaps not,” Edward struggled to right himself, the effort alone causing him pain. “Although that very much depends on if the rest of Stonewell’s occupants show up to try and keep these secrets buried.”

Edward was right. He’d heard Mike on the phone and knew others were involved. The sheer number of people included in the Jones’s murder was evident from the number of names etched beneath portraits or inked on dismissal letters.

“Will you be okay for a moment if I leave you?” William asked, knowing he needed to phone someone before it was too late for Mike or Edward. “I need to make the call.”

“Yes. No… yes. Would you do something for me,” Edward said, gaining some strength to prove how serious he was. “Just one thing before… we get the services involved?”

William couldn’t take his eyes off Edward, who watched on with a sense of seriousness. It drew at the lines beside his eyes and smoothed the smile lines beside his full lips. “That depends on what you’re asking of me.”

Edward looked to the open door, gaze landing on the overturned box and the bones spilling out.

Mike’s puddle of blood nearly reached it, threatening to spoil them.

“Take Robert’s remains, and bury them in Teddy’s grave.

Reunite them first, complete their story.

If you don’t do it before the authorities arrive, you’ll never get the chance. ”

Hanbury Manor came alive the moment Edward finished his request. Doors creaked, walls groaned and the floors vibrated as if the energy left here had wanted this all along.

“I can’t–”

Edward snapped forward. A last bout of adrenaline flooded through him, because Edward came alive with energy, fuelled by his desperate need.

“Please, Will. If the police get here… they might take Robert’s bones as evidence.

I can’t even imagine… just please. Teddy and Robert shouldn’t be separated for more unnecessary means.

It’s time… time they are both laid to rest. Together. ”

William couldn’t refuse Edward, at least not aloud.

But he knew that Edward was right. Everything that had happened, all the signs, had pointed to this.

And even William knew that, given the chance, he’d want to be with his love.

Teddy and Robert had been separated in life, and in death – it was time they were reunited, so one story had its happily-ever-after.

William and Archie were beyond that.

Perhaps William and Edward were on the cusp of beginning.

But it was only fair that the two men who started this finally closed their chapter, so William agreed.

“Okay,” William lied, a tear slipping down his cheek. “I’ll do it.”

It would take time for an ambulance to reach Hanbury. Enough to deal with the burial of Robert’s bones.

Edward sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “Thank you.”

Hanbury Manor shifted on its foundations, doors slamming closed in the distance, others opening. Before he left to collect the bones, William pressed his mouth to Edward’s forehead, letting his lips linger there momentarily. Edward’s eyes were open when he drew back, and his smile returned.

“When one chapter ends, another begins.”

William returned the smile, letting the spark of hope kindle in his chest. “That’s how the old saying goes, I hear.”

He drew back but stopped when Edward reached for his hand and took it. “I’m rather looking forwards to seeing how the next one begins.”

“As am I,” William replied. “As am I.”