The Reaper

He followed along behind her, Will hoping all the while that she’d try to pull him into her room, so she could discover what was oh-so-wrong. Instead, the two beings in the body were both surprised when they found themselves in an embrace. For Yanluo, it was nothing but uncomfortable, but he reciprocated, figuring it best for the time being to do so.

"I love you too," he said as she turned, knowing it would not fall on deaf ears. If she did love Will, as she’d just stated, then those words would have some effect, at least. “We should meet in front of the library tomorrow morning. How does eleven o’clock sound to you?” He was speaking to her back, yes, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hear him.

Her hand had latched onto the rusty door knob when Will said he loved her, too. She smiled to herself at those four words. The last time he's said that to her, it was yearstoo long. And truth be told, she missed how the way it sounded coming from him.

Breathing in, she took a slight peek behind her shoulder and nodded in agreement to hhis suggested arrangement. Shewould've invited him now to her room, to settle things, but clearly, Tessa felt obliged to honor her role as being Jem's wife. She might've loved Will before, and although she still does, her heart and loyalty lies with Jem at the moment.

"Let's have breakfast together before that," she suggested another option. Coffee with Will seems like a splendid idea, even. "We could head for the library afterwards, before everything would drastically change between us, a cup of coffee would always lighten the mood."

"i was happy for the two of you, before you and I made our vows together,” he stated, copying her monotonous mannerisms as he spoke. Everything was going as planned, and it was perfect - until Tessa acted so human, so simple, that he nearly wanted to vomit.

Why did she have to forgive him so easily? Within, Will breathed a sigh of relief, but Yanluo’s anger quickly gave way as he devised a method to use this to his advantage. He’d driven her away too quickly for it to stick, but now, he had a second chance. The demon could drag her heart through the mud, and he planned to do so.

He let her grasp his hand, giving hers a light squeeze. “I . . overreacted as well. Go to bed if that’s what you want, Tessa; we can do this another time. If you want to continue talking about this tomorrow, that’s fine with me.” His voice sounded oddly calm then, the falsified emotions he’d been showing before falling away as though he was simply exhausted as well. “Do you want me to walk you back to your room?”

Nodding almost shyly, Tessa walked ahead, not letting go of his hand. But she remained quiet, she dared not speak anything until the she was standing on her door, once again caught in a bubble of awkwardness and confusion. She licked her dry lips subtly before pulling Will in for a hug.

A hug she's missed for almost a century. But there was different in the hug, almost distant like the way she tried reaching out for his hand awhile ago, distant and far. Maybe being dead felt different, Tessa wondered idly. After letting go, she squeezed his hand one more time, hoping to find the familiar closeness she's been looking for. 

"Will, I do love you," she said, even though she knew somehow Will twist it back to Jem. So, before he could speak anything else. She reached for her door and turned her back on him.

"Oh hush, Tessa if you’re old then what about me," Clarissa chuckled, before raising her eyebrows at the fellow warlock. "Stressful and busy? I feel for you, my dear."

"Life has never been harder. And I haven't seen my husband anywhere. Which makes matters more worst, since Will's come back from the dead. But what matters of the heart isn't difficult, right?" she gave in for a small laugh, "Aside from that, training the young ones have also taken up my plate."

"Yes, that one. It was eventful but apart from that it’s been quiet and dull."

"Better quiet and dull than war, I suppose."

The slap had been unexpected, and it truly did sting, but he ignored it. What was the point of contemplating it? It just told him that Tessa was upset, which was what he wanted, and what Will had been dreading.

"All I’ve been able to do while was dead was think. What else would I doing but dreading this? I didn’t know I’d come back, but someday you and him would come join me, and I thought we’d all be together again. Look at this - you’re upset, and so am I. Where’s your happiness now, Tessa?” he hissed.

All he needed now was the Carstairs boy, and then he could watch him suffer before he killed him. It would be sweet, and while the demon wouldn’t be happy, he’d definitely be pleased.

She wanted to run, to run away from the situation, to run away from him. But she was stuck here, having to agonize herself from Will and his sudden change of heart. He was never like this. Yes, they've had their fights, and petty arguments, but this one--they were standing on thin ice, and Tessa's had her entire body submerged onto the water, and Will wasn't even trying to haul her up.

"My happiness was when you were happy for me and my choices," she snapped at the same ferocity has he did. "Remember that? When you were happy for me and Jem? Perhaps that was all a fake, wasn't it?" Tessa stated in morbid monotone. She reached for the apple of her cheeks and wiped the tears with her fingers. 

This irrational jealousy on Will's behalf was nothing, and Tessa wasn't being understanding. The lad had just come back and from the dead, and of couse surely he would've expected nothing more than Tesa to be solely devoted to him. How selfish of her to think only of herself and call Will selfish? He was probably at war with his emotions and only Tessa cared about was how she felt.

"I'm sorry," she reached for his hand, which felt very far and distant suddenly. "We got off on the wrong foot. I'm tired, can we just talk about this tomorrow?" she asked gently, hoping not to upset Will any further. 

"Ah, I see. I imagine that it’s much difference to this Institute. Oh not much, there was an attack, I suppose you heard while you were in the London Institute about that."

"Is that the one wherein the infamous Jonathan Morgernstern came? That was quite the news."

"It’s been an awfully long time. I’m perfectly well as ever, thank you for asking. What about you? I’ve heard that you’ve been quite the eventful couple of years."

"That's good. I wished my life was as perfectly well as yours. Spared me the risk of getting old faster," she joked. "As eventful as it sounds, it's only been stressful and busy, really."

"Well, I have a vocabulary of over a thousand years and a handful couple of languages, so you’re going to have to keep trying," Caleb chuckled as he shrugged. "Where did you go off to?"

"I went for a visit at the London Institute. I've been missing the atmosphere there, so I thought I'd stay there for awhile. How has things been here?"

Thanks.

How have you even managed to get yourself into that situation?

"I’ve had nearly a century to think about it," he stated. "You might have loved me, but you’ve always loved him too, haven’t you? He proposed to you before I did, and you said yes - and when I told you I loved you, you told me you were engaged to him. When you thought he was dead, then you agreed to marry me.”

Deep within, Will was struggling valiantly against Yanluo, but to no avail - the demon was enjoying himself too much to let the Nephilim ruin the moment. He wished he could tell Tessa everything that had happened, or at least the little he knew for sure, but not a single word he tried to say emerged. No matter what, he wouldn’t give up, but for all he knew, it could be years before he was able to speak to someone as himself again.

Tessa could've sighted a thousand ways this conversation would've gone better than it was, but she couldn't as the echoing sound of a slap echoed in the silent hallway. Her hand was itching from the sudden impact on his left cheek, she could already see the welt starting to form as a shape of a hand. It took her more than a few seconds to register what she'd just done. any chances of fixing the situation went right through the window.

The damage has been done, however. She cradled her hand to herself and let go of the the tears that threatened to escape from her eyes. His words offensed her in ways she didn't even know could affect her. She was almost desperate enough to say 'take them back', but she couldn't take back the slap now, can she? Instead, she just looked him and let herself be vulnerable and open to her pent up, unresolved emotions.

"How dare you?" her voice shook. "I thought you knew more than this? How can you be so insensitive and selfish? I've bore you children, I have took care of you all your life, I have loved you, and perhaps maybe I still do because a part of me will always belong to you. It was all for you, not for Jem, Will. Don't you get that? Am I not allowed to have a little happiness in my life since you've passed away?" she breathed in through the harsh tears.

"Don’t worry; I understand." The way he spoke made it sound as though he truly understood her logic - at least, until he continued. "You married me because Jem was dying, and the moment I was gone, you ran back to him." He released her hand, his arm falling back to his side.

"I was your distraction, until you could have him again." Those words were too bitter to have been spoken by the real Will - while that was exactly how he felt, he would never have said it, because he knew (or at least hoped) that Tessa would never do that. Whatever they’d had, for those fifty-nine years together, had told him that.

She frowned at him at his sudden accusation. She would've been fine dealing the issue between just the two of them, but she couldn't accept him talking about Jem like that. For some odd reason, she was beginning to think that being necromanced back to life had a way of messing with one's brain. Will was never like this, he was always kind to her, never one to point and judge her.

Once his hands had released hers, she folded them tightly across her chest. When Will had been alived, never had they fought about Jem, fought about this.  "I didn't marry you because Jem was dying. I married you because I loved you, Will," she said fiercely and whole-heartedly.  "But at least now I know how what you've been thinking all these years. Has this been on your mind when we were married, Will? Has me leaving you for Jem the only thing in your mind when we were together?" she demanded.

"—Oh." The one who spoke then was the real Will, that one syllable full of surprise, sorrow, and pain. Finding himself in control for just a moment, he went to say more - he wanted to warn her, to keep her safe - but Yanluo stole his voice again. “You’re happy with him, then?” the demon said, the words now stiff, as though he was hiding his emotions.

Within, the Nephilim was happy for Jem and Tessa, that they’d found happiness after his passing, but he was also terribly sad, for he figured this meant he’d never get her back. After all, Will would never divide his parabatai from their shared love - but the demon that possessed him had different ideas, and no morals to speak of. Yanluo would do as was necessary for the Morgenstern boy to succeed, even if it meant playing both sides of this horribly broken love triangle.

The girls tried forcing a smile on her face, but it came out as a horrible grimace, instead. She bit her bottom lip inhaled a huge amount of air. Everything was going wrong, Tessa thought. She only wanted to feel happiness when Will had died, and it had took her a long number years to finally find that. And she was lucky enough to have found Jem, willing to come back to her life.

Her heart was hammering on her chest, desperate to find for answers, appropriate answers, to say to Will. "I've always been happy with him, Will. I've always been happy with you, too... And seeing you right now, trust me, it's doing things to my heart you can't simply imagine. Having Jem in my life right now is the comfort that I needed when you were gone." she said almost somberly, and yet hopefully.

"I was dying, yes,” he said, placing the emphasis on a different word than she had. “I’m fine now. I’m here.” His fingers trailed down her forearm, travelling from her elbow to her hand, which he took in his own. “I got here a week before you returned … There have been rumors flying about, and I wanted to confirm them with you … “

He paused as though composing himself, pretending as though the question was difficult to ask. “People —” by which he meant himself, although he’d never tell her “— said that you ran off with Jem . . that the two of you are engaged, or something of the sort. Is it true?”

She almost felt her knees go weak when his hand trailed down to her hands, feeling the familiar sensation he's given her before. Her hands felt small an soft against him. Oh, how she missed holding his hands, feeling the calloused texture and warmth of it.

Her grip faltered at the mention of Jem, however. True, sit's been almost a century, and although Will had a part of her forever, she had Jem now. To make matters more dire, Jem and Tessa were now married. Now, with Will back, she's never felt more confused in her entire life.

"I--" she swallowed hard. "Jem and I--we got married, Will."

"How nice to see you too Tessa."

"Clarissa, it's been a long time, yes? How are you?"

"It’s not my fault your terrible at Scrabble Miss Gray."

"I've been practicing for months when I wasn't here, and yet you still manage to defeat me in one game I'm quite sure I'm good at."

His hand dropped to his side when she disappeared into some adjoining room. Was she not coming? He thought he’d copied William to a tee, but perhaps not. Yanluo was reassured when Tessa emerged again, but he didn’t reach to take her hand again, instead stepping back to give her the space required to exit her room.

"Yes, necromancy. Before you ask, I don’t know who performed it, but I’ve been asking around." He extended his hand to catch her by the elbow in an attempt to get her to stop, stepping around in front of her. "I thought you’d be happier to see me, Tessa. It’s been ninety-three years, has it not?"

She had her mind focused on the fact that Will, breathing and alive, was just a few centimeters away from her. Just then, he reached out for her, his touch sent shivers to her spine, making her breath hitch. She pursed her lips and looked at the familiar features of his face, his angel-carved jaw, his nose, which she always liked tweaking for fun, his eyes, his lashes, the curve of his lips... It was all him.

"I am..." she rolled her tongue swiftly on her lips, "I am, Will." She breathed out and shook her head before smiling at him. A genuine smile, yet somehow sad. "But nine-three years... It's a lot to take in. The last I saw you, you were dying," she added, her voice quiet and small, but strong enough not to break down in tears.

I don’t really know how it happened, either.

Here, let me help. Tessa reached out a hand to the girl.