William stirred from his bed late into the morning. He sat up ins his bed, and for a moment, he didn't think about what had happened the night before. Then it all came back to him instantly. He remembered the looks of fear on their faces as William had taken their lives as he looked at his hands. They looked normal to him, and then he looked again, and they were covered in blood. He stopped himself from yelling as his hands were clean again.

What's happening to me. I feel like I'm losing myself.

He attempted to hop off his bed as he stumbled to the ground. His body felt weak and sluggish as he attempted to get back up. He spotted Divinity Eater wrapped in cloth beneath his bed, a further reminder of what was going on. He crawled over to his satchel that was lying on the floor and dug in it until he pulled out another vial of Valerie's blood, its crimson color calling out to him.

I feel pathetic. My bodies becoming more and more dependent on Valerie. Sooner or later, I'll have to do everything she says without any argument.

William sighed as he opened up the vial with his teeth and felt the liquid rush through him. His body pulsated as the blood entered him. He began to feel his strength rapidly recover. Then he pushed himself back up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror leading him to take a closer look. He was by no means small in stature or weak-looking before, but he could tell he had definitely grown taller. He looked over the rest of his body and found definition in his muscles that weren't there before.

"Amazing, my body looks fantastic on the outside, but it is slowly dying on the inside." William laughed as he jokingly flexed in front of the mirror. William sighed and went to put on his tunic; as he pulled it down, he realized that it didn't fully cover his midriff.

I really am changing, and I fear it's for the worse. I hope Sam wasn't conscious of anything that happened last night. I don't know what I would do if I lost his friendship or if he thought I was a monster. I'll go to him tonight.

William decided that he would spend the day at home. He figured it would be the safest thing for him to do now, as people would surely notice today that eight boys were missing. He again opened up his satchel to check how many blood vials he had left, counting three in total. Inside he also found the ripped nightgown and took that out.

Maybe we can fix this up today as a little project. Sewing this back together might provide enough distraction for the day that I won't keep going back to last night.

William walked down the staircase to find Hannah waiting at the bottom with a tiny bag in her hands.

I forgot that I promised to take her to pick flowers today.

"Good morning, little princess!" William picked her up and twirled around with her as she giggled. Trying his best to maintain his upbeat personality.

"We are going to go pick flowers today, right, big brother?" She smiled as she spoke.

"How about this? I'll spend the entire day with you; if it's okay, we go pick flowers tomorrow. I'm not feeling well today." William said softly while holding her.

"If your sick, you don't have to spend time with me. It's okay." Hannah said quietly, trying to hide the fact she still wanted to spend time with William.

"No, I'm okay enough to play with you. I actually need your help today!" He smiled down at her.

"You need my help?" She looked at him with awe.

"Yep!" He showed her the ripped nightgown. "This belongs to one of my friends, and it was broken shortly after they got it. I could use an extra set of hands."

Hannah nodded and agreed to help him, which would involve William teaching her how to sew throughout most of the process. They laughed together as they fixed the nightgown and played with the other kids in the orphanage. William even helped Charlie prepare dinner that night, fearing that it could be one of the last days to make fond memories like this with his family.

Valerie had stopped scrying on William when they had begun to prepare their dinner. She originally had only intended to check on him in the morning to see how he was after the display from the night before. But she had ended up watching him play with the children and sew the nightgown with the young girl. The interactions between him and the other orphans had reminded her of her mother and a younger brother who were still on Maldrossan when she had left with her father in their campaign against the Omnituens.

"He's good with children; I didn't expect that," She thought. "I wonder if he's the type that wants to have a big family." Valerie shook her head after realizing the thoughts going on in her head. She rationalized that the only reason she was even having these thoughts was that William had accidentally taken her first kiss. Still, on this night, she felt especially lonely. "I wonder if he's going to come to see me tonight" She sighed.