Author's note-

This is a Solangelo AU based off Halsey's song, "Haunting". I recommend you listen to the song on repeat while reading this, but you don't have to. It's a good song, though.

This will be about six chapters long, so stay tuned! Hope you enjoy, and please review!

-SOS

One: I Was as Pure as a River

At the age of seventeen, Will Solace was supposed to be doing something productive with his life during the summer, not sitting in an "Expressing Yourself Creatively" class with teenagers his age and younger. His father, who was really into art and music, had forced Will into taking the class in the hopes that he would also love the arts as much as the older man. Needless to say, as Will stared out the window wishing the class would be over, it was not working to his father's wishes.

"William Solace!" the teacher shouted, breaking the boy's longing looks of freedom, and making him turn and look at her instead. "You need to pay attention. We're picking our final projects, and you're the only one left!"

"Sorry, Ms. Dare," Will replied meekly, fiddling with his backpack strap. "I was just… I don't know."

"Well, we have some groups of people made up already," Ms. Dare said excitedly, her red hair bouncing as she spoke. "Kayla, Liam, and Ari are doing a musical project; if you want you can join them?"

"No, I don't really think music is my thing," Will replied. "What else is there?"

"Austin, Victoria, and Michael are doing paintings to express themselves creatively," Ms. Dare explained, smiling at the other students as she pointed at them. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Um… I can do photography?" suggested Will lamely. "I don't know."

"That's a good idea," Ms. Dare encouraged him, patting him on the back. "Now, you'll need to make your choice of subjects or landscapes very special, to express yourself. What do you think you'll do?"

"I'll think about it," Will replied. "Can I sleep on it? I'll come back tomorrow with the decision made."

"Okay," said Ms. Dare, and nodded at him. "I'm very proud of you for agreeing to do this. I know it wasn't your idea to be here, so it's nice that you are deciding to be creative."

"Thanks," Will said, and waited for the class to be dismissed as he went back to his normal routine of staring out of the window.

Finally, he got home, and when he got there, his mom was on the phone as usual. Since he was bored, he actually listened to her conversation as she talked.

"No, I would not consider donating a small amount of money to the fund," she was saying to the person on the other end. After rolling her eyes, she said, "How would fixing up the asylum benefit me in any way?"

Asylum? What asylum? Will was now paying full attention to her as she said, "My family would rather not. I'm sorry, but goodbye." She hung up the phone, leaving Will disappointed not to learn more.

"So, what was that all about?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could. "You looked pretty annoyed."

"Oh, nothing. Just some guy who wanted us to donate money to the half-burned asylum down the road on Raven Hill. They want to fix it up, but I don't see how that will help our life at all," she said, exasperated. But she managed a weak smile anyway. "So, how was your class?"

"Well…" As he racked his brain to find one thing good about the class, an idea blossomed in his head. "We're starting our final projects today. And I'm going to take pictures at the old asylum for my assignment."

And it's not going to be scary at all, he thought to himself nervously.