Chapter Thirty-six

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While Hannah didn't have the best idea of how the fight would play out, she knew that she had a job to do while Sebastian took care of his orders. She had a Borrower and her own Master to save. One was bleeding profusely, pale, with ragged breathing that could barely be heard. The other limp in Ciel Phantomhive's palms, her red hair matted, her dress soaked in the blood of the Lord Trancy. 

"Will at least one of them live?" Ciel asked bluntly from where he stood in the room, his fingers lifted to shield Kadence from the maid's view. Despite his direct words and straight face, his eyes showed it all. His worry, his fear. Even the way that the young Earl held the Borrower showed he was concerned for her wellbeing. 

The platinum-lavender haired maid smiled faintly, closing her eyes and removing the white bandage from her face. Her eye, of course, was healed from Alois's...harsh treatment. "I'll do my best to ensure they both do, Lord Phantomhive. I care for them both dearly."

"I want her to live. For...for Sebastian," he muttered, eyes drifting off to the window, longing to be out there to see his butler kill the monster he set him against. 

"For Sebastian, my Lord?" Hannah found herself surprised at his words. "My, isn't he just a mere butler to you? A dog, on your commanding leash?"

"Don't mock me, Miss Annafellows. You have not been there to witness the change. I watched him with her constantly. He insists he cannot love. But then I do not know what I should call his actions towards her. And you were also not there when your Master took her from him. Never has my butler faltered in his duties, never has he been late to prepare a meal or deliver tea. Without her, I watched a rabid Doberman turn into a cowering puppy." Ciel's gaze once again shifted to Kadence, and one of his thin fingers pushed her hair out of her face. "He needs her, as I need him."

If anything, he expected to be mocked once more, laughed at, sneered at or scorned. Instead, Hannah walked over to him and placed her hand gently against his cheek and pressed her lips to his forehead. "There is no shame in admitting you need someone, my Lord."

Gazing at her with a wide blue eye, he blinked, unable to hide the complete shock on his face. He would have questioned her, had the tiny girl in his hands not begun to twitch. "What's happening to her?" He asked quickly, the two of them watching Kadence's form twitch and jerk, her brows furrowed even in her unconscious state. 

"It would appear that her mind is not at rest. She is knocked out cold, and yet she still dreams," Hannah sounded just as confused and worried at Ciel now, taking the tiny girl in her tan hands. "A nightmare we cannot wake her from."

"A nightmare we can't...surely there's something we can do, anything at all!" Ciel stood abruptly, balling his bloodied hands into tight fists. "Do something!"

"It is not in my power. Her body is weak, fighting to keep her alive. For now, all we can do is let her rest and hope her mind releases her soon enough." Hannah kept a calm and gentle voice despite how Ciel suddenly spoke to her and laid the Borrower out on a plush pillow before returning to tend to Alois's wounds.

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Kadence screamed as glass shattered, dodging bits that flew her way. Her bare feet slapped the wooden floor as she ran, his black shoes clicking slowly after her. Of course Claude didn't have to run, he was a demon. He could catch her easily, he's done it before.

For what's felt like hours, the tiny girl has been running from the demon. He caught her once, toyed with her a little before letting her escape just to chase her down again. It was the most terrifying game of cat and mouse.

She hated that golden-eyed man more than anything. 

The Borrower ducked into one of the spare bedrooms of the mansion, her heart pounding roughly against her chest as hot tears poured down her face. She had to get out of here, she had to find a way to get out.

What did she do? Why did the butler hate her so much? Why did he want her dead? She sobbed harder than before as she started to make a run for the bed to hide underneath. Before she could even make it very far, a gloved hand slammed down in front of her. A hand that was curled tightly into a fist. 

Another scream passed her lips, and she fell onto her hands and knees, breathing heavily and shakily. "P-Please, I'm sorry, I-I don't know what I did."

The demon above her chuckled darkly, his black shoes walking around to stand in front of her. She watched as the immense figure crouched down, a gloved finger roughly lifting her head up, forcing her to meet a harsh pair of...crimson eyes?

"S-Sebastian? B-But...C-Claude, h-he was just here, y-you were just him! Oh, Gods, Sebastian!" She reached out to grab hold of his finger, longing for his warmth and comfort but the hand ripped away from her before she could.

"You are utterly worthless," his deep voice rumbled above her as he stood back up, once again towering over her. She hasn't felt his presence this menacing since they had first met. His shadow cast over her like storm clouds, blocking any light from the windows. 

His words struck her harder than they would of if they had truly been from Claude. No, surely she misheard him. "S-Sebastian?" She muttered his name in a questioning tone, gazing up at him.

He said nothing, his hands folded neatly behind his back. One of his black shoes raised and pressed down upon her back. It was just hard enough that she had to use all her might to keep the large shoe from crushing her into nothing. "S-Sebastian, stop!"

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Ciel stood beside the bed as Kadence twitched and shook, tiny beads of sweat covering her face. It concerned him seeing her like that, and was glad Sebastian was not yet inside to see the condition she was in. If Claude wasn't yet dead, if his butler saw the way she is now, he'd tear Claude into more pieces than glass if it was to shatter.

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Claude was in fact, not dead yet. Sebastian had been using Laevateinn to toy with the other demon. He was furious. He was letting his emotions control his actions, just to put Claude through more suffering but it still didn't feel like enough. 

Claude used a gloved hand stained with blood to wipe a trail of red liquid from his nose. "Demons cannot love. So what has you so attached to the one you are not in contract with?" He sneered, throwing a set of golden knives at the other demon.

Sebastian easily dodged the cutlery and sighed heavily. That was a question he had no answer to. Perhaps it truly was more of an obsession, an addiction. Choosing simply not to respond to the other, he raised the green weapon and smirked. "I think I'm done playing games with you."

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