Will's Curse
He was sitting in a dark- lit tavern on a cold and windy evening. His hair was plastered to his face under his top hat from the heavy down pour outside. His tweed woven suit had begun to stick to him, making him feel slightly heavier, although it could have been his heart. Inside the tavern, many men were gathered amongst themselves, drinking and dancing away any sorrows that had begotten them in the recent past. However, William Herondale sat alone, holding a pitcher of beer in his shaking hand.
He was thinking back to the last few hours of his life, and how horrible things had gotten in those few precious moments. Just when everything seemed to fall into place, with Tessa, his life, everything. Why had he said what he said to her? The words played over and over, frivolously through his boggled mind.
"There is no life for a warlock and a shadowhunter."
He hadn't meant any of it, yet he could not prevent himself from uttering the words. After all, he was what he was, and giving Tessa any hope that their love may advance into something more only would put her in danger, and he could not bear the thought of that.
As he was in the midst of his thoughts, a woman came up to him. She had long dark hair which cascaded down her torso, and an unusually slim figure. She sat down next to him, her gray eyes set fiercely upon his blue ones. For a heart stopping moment, Will had thought that it had been Tessa, but Tessa's face, despite having similar features, was differently structured. This woman's cheek bones were higher, and her nose slightly sharper, longer. She wasn't exactly beautiful, either. Will continued to stare at her, until the woman startled him with her speech.
"Hello, William Herondale." She said, continuing to stare at his eyes in an almost disturbing fashion. Will, brought out of his state of shock, responded, ever so slowly.
"How do know my name?" At this remark, a smirk began to form around the corners of her mouth. With a look of slight arrogance, as if she possessed some sort of information that Will had yet to come by, she turned to her side, pulling out a small piece of parchment from her gown pocket. She handed the parchment to him, the arrogant smile still upon her face, possibly growing larger. He took it, reluctantly, wondering what in the Angel's name the parchment could have read. As he began to read, his face turned from distrust to utter shock and despair. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Suddenly fierce with rage, he leapt up from his chair, knocking it with a thud to the ground. He pointed a threatening finger at the woman, who, despite herself, looked overwhelmed with joy.
"HOW DARE YOU! WHAT LIES HAVE YOU BEEN SPREADING?! WHO SENT YOU TO BRING THIS TO ME?! "
The woman opened her mouth to respond, but Will did not wish to here the response. In a fit of rage, he threw up his hand, and brought it back down, slicing through the smoky air until it connected with the woman's face, sending her back against the wall, screaming. Will, feeling suddenly awful about himself, put his head in his hands, as if to calm his rage. Despite his efforts to calm himself, it was too late. The woman laid dead, blood pouring from the fresh gash in her temple. Will was astounded. He had no idea what to do. He had just received some very upsetting news, and now he had killed someone. At this point, many of the men and women had stirred from their drunken stupors and had realized what was happening around them. One man looked from the dead woman to Will's grief-stricken face, and started blaring out a million curses at him. One woman was yelling at him in what seemed to be a heavy Irish accent, saying that he'll be 'hung by his neck' for what he had done.
He couldn't take any more of the stares. He couldn't respond to a single person in the room, let alone face them. He grabbed his top hat from the table where he had laid it down at his arrival and bolted from the Devil's Tavern.
Will ran through the pouring rain, not stopping to look and see if anyone was following him. He had a million thoughts running through his head at once. What if the police found him? What would happen? Would he be hanged? He was too young to die, a mere boy of seventeen, he thought. He also thought about the strange letter and the woman who sent it. How did she know? How could anyone in all of England know? Now he was being blackmailed. He thought of Tessa, how things would now change, whether he could help it or not, now. As he continued on, and the thoughts pouring from his mind, he had forgotten to watch where he was going.
In the mix of his adrenaline, he knocked right into someone. This was a young man, tall and slender, wearing a light grey suit and a top hat to match. He also had light grey hair. It was odd, Will thought, for someone so young to have grey hair. Then he stopped. He knew who it was. Why, however, he was out of bed this late, he had no idea. It was James Carstairs, or Jem, as he was often called by his friends.
Jem, always calm and collected, had not been startled by Will's collision into him. He simply smiled at him and said, "It's a lovely evening tonight, William, don't you agree?"
Will looked at Jem, flabbergasted.
"Jem, you must help me. I-I was at Devil's Tavern, trying to forget about what happened earlier and-"He was cut off by Jem.
"Yes, I know. Will, I always know where you retreat to when you make mistakes in your life. I must say, though, I think you really did hurt her. Maybe you should, instead of running off with women of loose morals, try to have a relationship with one who actually has some." Will was stunned. Jem, although always very kind-hearted in his advice, seemed to sound rather annoyed at the moment. Will thought maybe it had to do with the large amounts of rain being fiercely driven onto his shoulders.
"Jem, I know I wasn't acting towards Tessa in a very respectable manner, but something, actually, two things- very very bad things have occurred. " Jem, suddenly looking concerned, put a hand on Will's shoulder.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm your Parabatai." Will took in a deep, shuddering breath, probably having somewhat to do with the downpour of rain stinging his face and eyes. He told Jem about the woman and the letter, and how he had killed her in a rage. Jem stood there, processing the information Will had just relinquished. As Will spoke, Jem's facial expression changed from calm to suddenly distraught in the blink of an eye.
"Will, we need to get you back to the institute right away." He exclaimed urgently. "Tell Charlotte and Henry, they'll know what to do. " Will, becoming desperate, sank down onto his knees, and began to weep in a fierce manner.
"You don't understand!" He sounded a mixture of angry, hurt and confused.
"I can never go back! I killed a person! And-and that letter! That letter is going to bring a lot of attention on not just myself, but all of you, and I'll probably have to leave London because of it. I don't understand how they could have found this out, but they have! And it's something that I have told no one! No one! Not even you!" Jem had never seen Will with this much tension before. He tried to calm him by grabbing at his collar, trying to ease him.
"Will, what did the letter say?" He asked calmly. Will stared at him, helplessly. He knew once this secret got out, nobody, not even his parabatai, could ever love or trust him again. Then he realized, if he was going to die, going to be hanged, he wanted nobody else on Earth to know what that letter said, a part from Jem. He took a deep breath, ready to reveal the information that would bind him to an eternal sentence of solitude.
"Jem, the letter that the woman gave me was from an unknown source, although it was probably from a demon. This demon cursed me long ago, and now he is probably trying to make a mockery of me. But the words were clear. I am cursed. I didn't want anyone to find out, especially Tessa. This was because, it is a very peculiar curse in the way it works."
"Why do you say it is peculiar?"
"Because, who ever decides to love or care for me….will die."