My adored William,

Many kilometers keep us apart and yet I cannot stop seeing you in the Parisian scenery. The blue of your eyes in the afternoon sky, the curve of your curls in the Haussmanian railings, the echoes of your laugh on the walls of the cafés. You are a shadow in the corner of my eye. Where are you now? The eternal misanthrope in your tower of solitude, a pack of dogs for only company. You could have been here, by my side, if you had accepted my extended hand. If you had accepted me.

We left each other for what feels like an eternity ago. You left a silence in my conversation, an empty seat at my table. You appear in my dreams, a light forming a golden halo around your head, the feeling of your skin underneath my fingers. An injury each, we are both wounded. This night, my blade left a smile on your stomach, in a last embrace tainted by your scarlet brightness, while you shoved your hand in my ribcage to squeeze my beating heart. Your head on my shoulder, your panting breath against my neck, your shaking hands on my back, the feverish heat of your blood covering my shirt.

I showed you the beauty of this world, I dissected you to expose your true nature. I dug in your innards, pushed off your masks and your costumes. Your soul is linked to mine, I created the man that you are, your birth was between my hands. I hauled you on a throne of corpses adorned by flowers and carmine pomegranates.

You make me feel an affection that hadn't touched me since childhood, an animal hunger gnawing on my thoughts. I find my sister's sweetness on your sleeping face, the insouciance of my youth. A corrupted angel for a corrupted being.

Beloved Will, you are the air in my lungs, the jewel of my crown, a constant presence in the cavity of my torso. I dream of our reunion when I'll take back my rightful place between your arms, victorious Achilles coming back to his Patroclus.

All my love,

Hannibal.