Second story - part one

I am sorry for my long absence. Can you forgive me?

But I have to you my second story - part one of three.This is masked ball but in Will's POV. I hope you will enjoy it. :)

Immediately after the conversation with Tessa, Will went to his room. He walked past piles of books and smiled to himself. Sophie always was nervous when she was coming there. He opened a large three-door wardrobe to find his evening dress. He found it at the bottom of it. In less than twenty minutes, already dressed, he walked over to the mirror. He always wondered how other people see him, especially Tessa, but he did not want to think about her. Will was similar  to mom and dad. After his mother he inherited the black, curly hair, which had ink gloss, blue - violet eyes and the shape of the cheekbones. Dad's genes revealed in the shape of the chin and the construction of the body, although the boy was not as broad - shouldered as his father. After dad, he also inherited character, although his mother also used the cut comebacks and sarcastic remarks. Will sometimes wondered if he could take girls’ fancy. He did not want someone to fall in love with him, but he couldn’t stop thinking, whether is he in the type of representatives of the fair sex, and especially one of them. Sometimes, though he terribly hated himself for it, he envied Jem that he could speak aloud what he want and be who he wants. Will looked at the clock. Not good. He was standing before the mirror for ten minutes. He had to hurry up. He grabbed a black mask from commode and ran out of the room.

He found Cyril in the stables while he was brushing horses.

“Good evening, sir. What brings you here so late?”

“I want you to prepare horses and drove me and Jessamine to the Lightwoods’ country house in Cheswick.”

“Why so late?”

“To Mr. Lightwood arrived her close relative. He's been there for a week, and he is leaving early tomorrow morning. Jessamine learned that only now, so she said that, she must visit him. He is very rich” Will said in a conspiratorial whisper “and she want him to rewrote her some money.

“I understand sir”.

Five minutes later, Will was standing in the courtyard of the Institute, waiting for Tessa. After a moment in the doorway appeared low, female figure. As always, the boy was very impressed by the skills of his friend. But he could not see Jessamine clearly as if his mind knew it was not she. He could see Tessa’s outline, as if she were a ghost. The girl was wearing a white dress, and her hair pinned many clips. Face hid gold mask.

“Ah” Will said when she went down the stairs. He felt her body undergoes a slight shudder. Is she reacts on me? he thought. It’s impossible. Certainly she's cold, she is only wrapped in a scarf.  “I see now why your brother quoted that execrable poetry. You are meant to be Maud, aren’t you?” 

“You know. I don’t care for that poem either.” she said when he helped her came into the carriage.

He jumped into the carriage and sat down in front of her. Suddenly he found himself on the fact that he thought about very inappropriate in the current situation. Namely, that he will never be as long alone with Tessa.

“Jessamine adores it.”

“I am not Jessamine .” She always surprised Will with her firmness and he liked it very much.

“No. No, even though you are the perfect picture of Jessamine, I can see Tessa through it somehow – as if, if I were to scrape away a layer of paint, there would be my Tessa underneath.”

“I am not your Tessa either.”

He felt disappointed. He knew that he should enjoy her reaction, but unfortunately he could not. Maybe if it wasn’t Tessa. But it was none other. He decided to change the topic of conversation.

“Fair enough. I suppose you are not. What is like, being Jessamine, then? Can you sense her thoughts? Read what she feels?”

“I tried. Upstairs in her bedroom. But there’s something wrong. I – I couldn’t feel anything from her.”

“Well, I suppose it’s hard to meddle in someone’s brains if they’ve got no brains to start with.”

“Be flippant about it if you like, but there is something wrong with Jessamine. Trying to touch her mind is like trying to touch – a nest of snakes, or a poisonous cloud. I can feel a little of her emotions. A great deal of rage, and longing, and bitterness. But I cannot pick out the individual thoughts among them. It is like trying to hold water.”

“That’s curious. Have you ever come across anything like it before?”

“No. It concerns me. I am afraid Nate will expect me to know something and I will not know it or have the right answer.”

Will noticed that Tessa was looking at his curly hair, flowing down over his eyes .

“You are a good actress, and you know your brother. I have every confidence in you.”

“You do?”

“And” he continued, ignoring her question “in the event  that something goes awry, I will be there. Even if you don’t see me, Tess, I’ll be there. Remember that.”

“All right.”She cocked her head. The boy had known her long enough that he knew girl wanted to ask him important personal question. “Will?”

“Yes?”

“There was a third reason why you didn’t want to wake up Charlotte and tell her what we were doing, wasn’t there?”

Will felt as if he were standing very close to the precipice, leading into the darkness.

“And what’s that?”

“Because you do not yet know if this is simply a foolish flirtation on Jessamine’s part, or something deeper and darker. A true connection to my brother and to Mortmain. And you know that if it is the second, it will break Charlotte’s heart.”

How she figured it? He thought scared a little.

“And what do I care if it does? If she is foolish enough to attach herself to Jessamine - ”

“You care. You are no inhuman block of ice, Will. I have seen you with Jem – I saw you when you looked at Cecily. And you had another sister, didn’t you?”

Why did she has to ask that? How am I supposed to answer since I do not want to respond?

“What makes you think I had – I have – more than one sister?”

“Jem said she thought your sister was dead. And you said, ‘My sister is dead.’ But Cecily is clearly very much alive. Which made me think you had a sister who had died. One that wasn’t Cecily.”

Will felt as if he slipped and fell into the abyss.

“You're clever.”

“But am I clever and right, or clever and wrong?”

Will was glad to have a mask because he had some privacy .

“Ella. Two years older than me. And Cecily, three years younger. My sisters.”

“And Ella ...”

Will couldn’t withstand Tessa’s sight on himself, so he quickly looked away. Suddenly in front of him stood the scene in Ella’s bedroom, in which his sister was dead.

“What she was like? Ella? And Cecily, what kind of girl is she?”

The boy was surprised and relieved at the same time. Yet no one, neither James nor Charlotte asked about the nature of his sisters. Jem didn’t want to be nosy, but if he wanted to know about the various details that he would know more.

Eyes of imagine he moved to Wales, to the years when he could be himself and he saw his parents, including on the veranda, he saw himself, twelve years old, running, laughing behind his beloved sisters. Their black hair were blowing in the wind.

“Ella was protective. Like a mother . She would have done anything for me . And Cecily was a little mad creature. She was only nine when I left. I can’t say if she’s still the same, but she was – like Cathy in Wuthering Heights. She was afraid of nothing and demanded everything. She could fight like a devil and swear like a Billngsgate fishwife.”

“If I might ask - ,”

“You know you’ll ask whether I say it’s all right or not.”

“You have a younger sister of your own, so what exactly did you to Gabriel’s sister to make him hate you so?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I am forced to spend a great deal of time with Lightwoods, and Gabriel clearly despises you. And you did break his arm. It would ease my mind if I knew why.”

For Christ's sake. Another question is worse than the first one. I wonder what will be next.

“ Dear God. Their sister – her name is Tatiana, by the way; she was named after her mother’s dear friend, who was Russian -  was twelve years old, I think.”

“Twelve? “Tessa asked, horrified . She created cool version of the story. Does she think I'm a seducer? That's right or wrong? He sighed .

“I see you have already decided for yourself what happened. Would it ease your mind further to know that I myself was twelve? Tatiana, she… fancied herself in love with me. In the way little girls do. She would follow me around and giggle and duck behind pillars to stare at me.”                            “One does silly things when one is twelve.”Tessa said with a smile.

“It was the first Christmas party at the Institute that I attended… .”

He told her how he read a few pages of Tatiana 's diary in front of an audience, and Gabriel Lightwood tried to strangle him, but Will had broken his arm .

He closed the curtain and the coach got dark. He was feeling very calm, while he was hearing her rapid breathing.

“Will.”

“The lady has another question. I can hear it in her tone. Will you never have done asking questions, Tess?”

“Not until I get all the answers I want. Will, if warlocks are made by having one demon parent and one human parent, what happens if one of those parents is a Shadowhunter?”

This question very surprised boy. He hadn’t expected this question . But after all, he wasn't astonished at Tessa. If he were in her place, he would like to know who he is, too. Unfortunately, he could not show what he really thinks , so he decided to become unpleasant.

“I am not the one who has no heart.”Tessa said .

Will felt in the heart of grief to his companion, because in spite of all her inquisitive nature, she didn't try to break through his protective wall. He felt that his face was turning red. But before he could answer, he felt that the horses abruptly stopped. They arrived.

I'm sorry about the errors, if they are in the story. :(
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