The thunder roared and the rain pounded harshly against the building. Evian Michaelis pulled his cover close around him. A bolt of lightning flashed illuminating the room briefly, a small whimper of fear escaped him as a light tapping came from his window. He gasped, closing his eyes tight and wishing his mother and father were with him.
He glanced around the room trembling, strange shadows appeared in the bright flash.
"It will be okay, mama and dad are home, they would not let anything hurt me." The child whispered wiping away the tears in his eyes. Another loud boom sent Evian running from his room and down the long hallway, his little heart racing.
He shouted for his parents as he ran.
"M-mama, Daddy!" He screamed but received no answer. Evian didn't understand why they weren't coming and yelled as loud as he could.
"Mama!" The frightened sound reached Ciel's ears at last, it took a moment to shake the memory the sound triggered from his mind before he rushed from his bedroom into the hall.
"Evian!" He called back as the sobbing child ran into him nearly knocking him over. Two small arms wrapped tightly around Ciel and the former Earl wasted no time in embracing his child.
"M-Mama, I called you and called you but you did not come, I thought you went away!"
"No Evian, I'm right here. What's wrong?"
"Someone is hitting my window and there are things in my room and the loud-"
"Evian, listen to me, It's only a storm, no one is outside, you're on the second floor of a castle unless someone climbed the tree in our courtyard It's impossible. I promise there's no one there, they would have had to get past Finny, Mey-Rin, Cynna and your father and believe me, nothing gets past him. If somehow they found a way, I'm here and when it comes to protecting my little ones, I can be a lot worse than your father."
"I'm a-afraid Mama!" Ciel stroked his son's black hair affectionately.
"You're safe Evian, I promise nothing will ever happen to you while I'm here." Another clap of thunder caused the child to tighten his grip.
"Mama, mama!" He cried, again Ciel was sent back to the terrible night years ago. When he himself ran through the halls, frantically calling for his own mother and father, who would never call back, never tell him not to be afraid, never walk him back to his room and explain that perhaps it was all just a terrible nightmare or that the sounds he heard were only a storm raging outside. Evian's deep sob pulled him from his memory, he decided immediately that he could no longer hold onto that terrible night, he was the mother now and he was capable of being there to comfort his child, that was his priority.
"Come on Evian, let's go look, I'll show you everything's alright."
"No Mama, the monsters will take you!" Ciel knelt down in front of him.
"Nothing could ever take me from you, there's nothing a hundred monsters or more could ever do to separate me from you or your siblings, do you understand?" The child nodded as Ciel took his hand and led him back to his bedroom. Evian held tight to his mother's hand.
"Promise nothing will get us?" He sniffed.
"I would never, ever let anything get you. Let's have a look around. Ciel lit a candle and proceeded to look around the room, toys were scattered around the floor, in the corner of the room, an antique rocking chair sat with a small pile of toys and a jacket, with a flash of lightning, the objects cast an eerie shadow on the wall, Evian gasped.
Ciel raised the candle close to the chair, allowing his son to see the shadow for what it was.
"Does that look like a monster?" Evian shook his head.
The tapping sound returned and the wind howled.
"Mama, outside!" Evian screamed. "The hand!"
"My little one, It's only a branch from the tree. The wind makes it move,it's close to the window so the branch makes the tapping sound. "
"I saw it Mama, I did." Ciel sighed.
"Stay right here. " Ciel moved to the window and to Evian's horror, he opened it, rain hit the stone floor as Evian heard a sharp snap. A second later, Ciel was back with his son and holding something in his hand.
The tapping sound was gone.
"Evian, look what I have." Ciel said gently holding out a long stick. Evian seemed confused.
"This is what was hitting your window.
"But mama, it is not a hand."
"That's right, it never was. It's only a storm, the thunder is only a sound, lightning is outside but you're safe inside, and you know rain won't hurt you."
"Mama, I want it to go away forever!"
"Evian, one day you'll understand that nature is just that way, I know it can seem scary but rain is part of life, it makes the world outside beautiful. All the grass and flowers you see out there couldn't live without it. There's nothing here to hurt you." Ciel lifted the child in his arms and grabbed the blanket from the bed before clearing off the old rocking chair. He wrapped his son in the blanket and sat down, rocking softly and holding him close. Evian rested his head on his mother's chest.
"It's late Evian, time to go to sleep."
"But mama, I don't want you to go!"
"Shh, I'll hold you until you fall asleep."
"How can you know all this?" Evian said now calming down in his mother's arms.
"I had time to learn, one day you will too."
"You are not afraid of it."
"Not anymore, but when I was small like you, I was afraid too."
"How did you stop being afraid?" Evian whimpered.
"My mother and father would hear me calling and come to my room, then my mother would tell me that there's nothing to be afraid of and that she and my father would protect me, then she gave me a goodnight kiss and told me funny stories until I went to sleep. "
"Do you know any funny stories?"
"Not many."
"Will yoi tell me about when you were a baby?" Ciel smiled.
"I don't remember when I was a baby but when I was about three years old, I tried to ride our dog as if it were a horse."
"Did it bite you mama?"
"No. Sebastian was very gentle." Evian giggled.
"Mama, that is daddy's name!'
"Yes, but it was also the name of a dog I used to have. We had him for a very long time."
"Can we have one?"
"Maybe someday."
"Can we call it puppy?" Ciel laughed.
"A dog named puppy, well,I suppose if It's our dog we could name it anything we wanted." The child yawned.
"Mama?"
"What?"
"I love you very much, you are the best mama ever, even if we do not ever get a dog, I will love you anyway."
"Thank you, I love you too my little one. You and your brother and sister fill my heart with such joy and love."
"I am happy that you and daddy are my mama and daddy.I would be so sad without you."
"Well, you'll never, ever have to feel that sad because you'll always have us. We're very happy that you're our baby. We would be heart broken if you weren't." Ciel confessed."
"Do not worry mama, I will never leave you either." Evian said before falling asleep. Ciel rose from the chair slowly and laid the sleeping child on the bed, he leaned down and kissed his head softly.
"Goodnight my precious Evian, I love you more than you will ever know." He whispered before exiting the room and going back to his room to lie down.
"Well done my love." Sebastian murmured beside him.
"He called you too, why didn't you go to him?"
"It brought out that memory again to hear him calling so frantically and to see him run through the halls, just as you did. Since you have been bothered by it quite often recently, I thought perhaps it would be beneficial to you to face it. You didn't allow it to hold you this time, you were not trapped in the thought, Evian was more important, it was my hope that the nightmare would no longer haunt you. Forgive me."
"It wasn't about me our son needed us and you- I can't talk to you right now."
"Fair enough, I shall go help Cynna with the chores then."
"I don't care what you do,, just go." Sebastian stood up and smirked as he began walking away from the bed he stopped and turned back.
"Ciel?" He called.
"What now?" Sebastian bent down in a quick motion and pressed his lips to his mate's whispering the words.
"You're one hell of a mother" Ciel sat up and grabbed the book from the bedside table and threw it at Sebastian as he quickly dodged the object and made his way into the hall.
"Damn Demon!" Ciel shouted.
"Call me what you will, if you sleep well tonight without that particular dream, and you feel better in the morning, it will be worth it." Sebastian called back. Ciel growled in frustration, how could Sebastian do that to his son? Ciel drifted off after an hour or so of silently cursing his mate. That night, for the first time in many months, Ciel Michaelis slept peacefully.