Chapter Two now.
Will takes the woman into the infirmary on unhallowed grounds and begins to treat her.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own character.
Light was a funny little thing. The way it bent around objects and somehow did not. The way it could both capture and hide things - why, Henry had invented an object that could cause light rays to be bent around the body, cloaking the wearer. But then the council had deduced it was worthless due to the fact that shadowhunters could put up glamours to hide and otherwise disguise themselves from mundanes.
Will exhaled heavily; he never thought he'd talk about Henry in such a manner, but frankly poor Henry hardly ever got a break and Charlotte was driven thin because of it.
He loved the two shadowhunters, loved them as if they were his own parents and flesh and blood. Charlotte, forever there for him. Charlotte, the one who had been forced to turn away his parents and had hardly asked a question to the boy who sat with his fingers jammed into his ears. Henry, who had explained everything he invented, who had shown him how to do all manner of marvelous things.
A part of Will regretted all the terrible things he had done to his parents and to Charlotte and Henry. He regretted what he had done to everyone; he had shunned society and in his cause to save everyone's lives had broken others. Like Gabriel's younger sister for example.
The slightest little smirk crossed his face at that moment - there was one thing that he had enjoyed a little, even if he had been swept up with the most tiny amount of remorse afterwards. But frankly, Gabriel made such an overly dramatic fuss about it that it would seem that Will had announced his intentions and then promptly bedded her, before sweeping off into the night and abandoning her to deal with both her brothers and the aftermath.
The girl stirred in his arms, and he pushed open one of the infirmary doors with a foot - or perhaps 'pushed' was not the right word. His foot collided with the door, which then flew open and rebounded against the wall behind the door, managing to smack Will hard in the shoulder as he passed by it. He let out a low growl, like a wounded beast as he nudged it open with that same shoulder.
He slid her onto one of the beds, eyes running critically over the assortment of wounds that dappled her figure. There was something glinting within her arm; almost the shape of a slightly thick bullet. Will whipped out a bone handled knife with a wickedly curved blade, approaching her arm before merely cutting off her sleeve at the shoulder, making sure to avoid the bare flesh more out of social decency than anything else.
A man should never make contact with a woman whom he did not know unless it were the hands or the cheeks - a kiss of the cheek could occasionally be acceptable but anywhere else except from the back of the palm - why, it was practically taboo.
Will paused for a moment, sliding out of the room before returning with one of those hospital gurneys - he had a scalpel, a needle and thread and some tweezers, along with a good measure of gauze and bandages. He should have waited for Sophie or Charlotte to return - the horror if he saw something he was not meant to - but unless he stitched her up at least partially, they were going to have a woman who had bled to death on their hands, and that was hardly something that could be easily disguised.
Perhaps it would enforce the rumors that the place was haunted.
He stared at the dress for a moment, before gripping each side of the bodice and tearing it down lengthways, revealing the white fabric of her petticoat and corset. Stupid things, those corsets. Why would one lace up their ribs so tightly that they couldn't breath? Another wicked glint of the knife and the corset was undone, leaving her merely in a white fabric petticoat.
If only Charlotte, Jem or Tess would've seen him now.
They would have preached on at him with the high morals of society today and how it was socially unacceptable to see a woman in this state of undress. Will let out a bitter and almost cold laugh, before returning to the task at hand.
He slid the remnants of the dress from her body, careful not to damage further the slices and cuts she had laced across her frame. He gripped onto the tweezers, plucking out what could now be seen as a metal capsule. He dropped it to the table slowly, and it opened with the hiss one would associate a snake with making. A tiny scrap of paper rolled out, and still using the tweezers Will unfolded it.
Dear B,
Sorry that the experiment failed, I thought I'd send her over to you however.
Be warned, she's a fiesty little thing but easily broken - just make some reference including her uncles demise and she'll dissolve into a sobbing wreck.
I have the substance you asked for.
M.
The last letter 'M' was embossed in a great swirling print, and just below that was the sign of the snake eating it's tail - Ouroboros. Will's heart skipped a beat - finally, a clue towards discovering perhaps the Magisters location. Either that or it was a cleverly held trick planted by the Magister.
He returned his attention to the girl - he stitched up her wounds slowly, almost gently as he brushed back dark locks from his eyes. She had know Tess too - the first thing she'd asked for was Tess.
Her red hair ran like flames down her shoulders, and he pushed those stray locks up, tucking them back behind her head and onto the pillow as he continued that intent work. It's then when he came upon a pattern on her skin - tiny white scars that almost mixed with her complexion. And so strangely familiar. He rolled up a sleeve, set his arm down next to hers, comparing the forearms.
Hers was slender, pale and oh so feminine, whereas his was larger, thickened with muscles. The veins were partially apparent beneath his skin; they roll over the muscle. One of the most concerning similarities were the matching scars. A line there perfectly reflected a line against his own skin.
Will paused, reaching for her other hand. It was like sifting through papers to find a document - although he had been raised among glamours all of his life it could still be bothersome. But then he found it, drew it to the surface with his mind until he dropped her hand and took a step back, his heart loud in his own chest.
Shadowhunter.
The discovery shouldn't have fazed him so much, and he pulled down the neckline of her undergarment a little, revealing another rune that was clearer, although whereas his were etched in glowing black, hers were a fluid red gold that shone like fire.
It would be then of course, that Charlotte, Sophie and Jem should walk in, with Will crouched over the girl, his hand on the corner of the neckline to her dress where he had partially pulled it down to see the rune. He looked up at them, then back to the girl.
By the angel.
Chapter two up - as for the bone handled knife well, Jace had to get it from somewhere now, didn't he?
Chapter three will be up soon.