Another update! Third of the day - jeez! I've finally found my niche. :)

Window to the Soul

Years passed. Gill Gray remained shockingly young and vibrant while his peers began to age. Some talked of his strange habits. How he went to places in town those in high society never dared speak of. How he associated with less worthy sorts. Then scandal.

Gill Gray seemed to be everywhere at once, living life how he chose and never caring for the path of destruction that always followed him. Of course, people began to question his movements, but there was nothing doing. He just looked too pure and innocent.

Unbeknownst to those on the outside, Gill was slowly recoiling in on himself. His beliefs were being torn from him as the portrait haunted his mind. He was obsessed with it. The power he had taken advantage of. How it looked. Hanging in his attic. But he never looked past the curtain. He would spend his time in the attic staring at the sheet as if he would suddenly spring up and rip it down. Yet he never did. Though he was consumed by the portrait, he was also paranoid and was terrified of it. He could not bring himself to stare into the face he deserved to have with his life of corruption.

Lord Wotton started to bother him. Though Julius hadn't seemed to change in anyone else's eyes, Gill couldn't help but feel less enamored with him. His words didn't hold the same magic they used to, but he still listened to them anyways. Gill didn't understand what kept him so connected to Lord Julius Wotton, but he couldn't find it in himself to break away.

For awhile, Gill believed it had something to do with the portrait. He knew Julius knew about it. He feared Toby had nearly guessed it that day of his visit after the death of Selena. And Julius Wotton was always of a better mind than Toby Hallward. Gill was paranoid of the day the lord would ask to see it himself. Yet it was all madness. There was no way that Julius could know… And yet…

There was a look in his eyes. A knowing look. Like he knew all the answers. He knew why Gill wasn't aging like everyone else. Though he was nearing his thirties, Gill looked as fresh and young as the day he posed for Toby. He was nearly a boy then, just out of school. And though Gill Gray couldn't explain it, there was a semblance in the eyes of Lord Julius that threatened him. But would he keep his secret?

Gill didn't know how long the secret could last. How long he could stretch out his lifestyle. When would he break? Try to repent? Could he turn back? It seemed impossible. But it was what he wished for. Gill had wanted this exchange – openly asked for it. Why turn back? The consequences of such a wish haunted his every thought of every day though he never showed it. The perfect visage cracking from the inside out. The window to his very soul was painted upon an immortal canvas.

Gill Gray would live forever.