Alois Trancy sat alone on his soft, white bed, fiddling with the smooth material. Claude had been acting strangely at dinner. As a result, Alois told him to go to his quarters and rest there. Alois had instantly regretted it. Claude was his only entertainment. The Triplets were foul-mouthed brats and Hannah was a weak, silly woman; their company was out the question.
As Alois sat contemplating ideas for fun, he heard heavy footsteps making their way down the hall. As he listened, they grew louder. Louder. Louder.
Then it went silent. They had stopped at the door of his bedroom. Alois, frightened, silently snuck behind the bed and peeked up from behind the covers. The door knob began to turn.
As the door opened, an extremely tired and gross looking Claude appeared. He had small blood splatters down the front of his white shirt and a sheen of sweat was covering his pale face as he stumbled into the room. The usually graceful butler was swaying as he stood before his master.
"Claude?!" Alois ran over to the demon. Claude was tripping on his own feet. "Claude, what's wrong?"
Surely he couldn't be ill... He has never been before.
"I believe I am quite ill, your highness." Claude wheezed. He even sounded awful.
"You're a demon! How did you get ill?" Alois asked as he sat Claude down on the bed.
"When I checked up on the Phantomhive Manor yesterday like you asked," Claude began, "a fight ensued between Sebastian and I... I believe he used some form of poison on his blade."
"A poison." Alois mused, "One that affects demons, I assume?"
"Yes, master."
Alois told Claude to lie down on his bed. He turned to get a cup of water from his desk for Claude. "What is the blood from? Claude?"
The demon gave no sign that he'd heard him. Claude lay breathing heavily staring at the white ceiling. "Master, I know of a cure. I've heard other demons from my home talk of it." Claude blurted.
"Well? Aren't you going to tell me?" Alois pressed.
"I need to get to the kitchen. Then I'll tell you." Alois helped Claude down to the kitchen in the servants area of the house. He opened to large double doors and led Claude to the table in the centre. Claude walked around, gathering different apparatus and setting it on the table. As he leant down to get a wooden spoon, his face paled even more and he made a gurgling sound.
"Claude?!" Alois jumped off the bench he had been perched on and ran to his butler's side. Claude heaved twice. A deep red coloured liquid spurted out of his mouth and onto the floor. The demon doubled over and heaved three more times, each time producing more blood.
"H-Hann" Claude rasped. "H-Hannah. Get her. She'll figure so-something out."
Claude's Point of View.
I need Hannah. Master will get her and it'll be all right.
Claude held both arms around himself - a futile attempt at dulling the piercing pain shooting through his stomach as dark blotches tainted his vision and eventually consumed his view.
Shit.