Chapter 1

"I'll always be by your side, Gil!"

"Come on, Gil! Don't be such a cry baby!"

"I'm you're master, so it's my job to protect you."

"O-Oz…"

Gilbert Nightray tossed and turned in his sleep. It had been two years since his Young Master had disappeared, but even now, he missed him dearly. Oz had meant everything to him, and now that he was gone, Gilbert felt empty inside.

He cracked his eyes open. His eye lids felt heavy from lack of sleep, his muscles ached from tension. Gilbert had found his family, found out where he actually belonged... That does not mean he was particularly happy about it. Vincent may have been his younger brother, but his obsession with cutting part stuffed animals with scissors was slightly unnerving. Also, he had just recently joined Pandora. At the age of 16, Gilbert was learning how to fight, how to kill. He feared what he was becoming.

Gilbert hated the Nightray household. He missed his fun-loving and beloved friend and master Oz, his little sister, Oscar, and even the other servants. Ada still sent him letters every once and a while, but it was never the same.

His mind flashed back to that night, when Oz had been torn from his side to be thrown down into Abyss. Hands clenched onto the front of his night shirt and gritted his teeth.

The scare.

The scare was the only physical thing left of Oz's existence that Gilbert had possession of, and he clung to it for the sake of his sanity. It made him believe that he would one day be reunited with Oz; that his blond-haired, green-eyed master was not just a figure of his imagination.

"Gilbert…"

Suddenly, Gilbert sat up in bed and grabbed his gun from the bedside table. His hands were still the hands of a teenager, and even though he was learning how to use the weapon, they shook slightly from holding the object that could take away people's life with just a pull of a trigger. Gilbert's breathe quickened, and his heart began to race. He knew that there had been someone in the room just then. He could feel it.

A cool breeze washed over him, soothing him for just a moment.

A breeze?

When had the window been opened? It was a cold night, and due to that and paranoia issues, Gilbert had made sure all the windows in his room were locked tight before he went to bed. The light from the moon washed into the room, casting spooky shadows over the faded wallpaper. The dark-haired teenager relaxed his grip on the gun and lowered it so that is was now resting in his lap. He looked curiously out the open window. The wind whistled past again, causing the curtains to flutter as if they was alive, and another cold breeze swept into the room. He blinked, and rubbing the sand and dried tears from his eyes. Gilbert tried ignored the goose-bumps that formed up and down his slim arms, but ended up shivering and wrapping his arms tightly around himself.

A sudden possibility struck him, and he scowled.

"Break?" He asked, thinking that maybe, just maybe, it was the older silver-haired man who tended to play tricks on him. This would not be the first time that Break had sneaked into the house and tried to scare him out of his wits.

"Break, is that you?" But Gilbert knew that for once, Break had nothing to do with this.

When his gaze went towards the window again, his body went ridged with fright.

A raven.

A raven was sitting on his windowsill, looking straight at him. Gilbert clambered backward, and as he did so he fell head first off the side of the bed. He let out a chocked cry of fear mixed with pain. The teen sat himself so that he had his back pressed against the bed, panting heavily and eyes wide with fear. He reached for his gun, which had fallen off the bed with him and had landed just a few feet away. When his fingers closing around the cold metal once more, his entire body shaking in fright, Gilbert peered over the edge of his bed, trying to see if the raven was still there, but only the sight of an empty windowsill greeted him. His knuckle-whitening grip on the gun loosened slightly.

"Eh?"

What the…

Still breathing hard, Gilbert turned himself around so that he was sitting on his knees so that he could get a better look. The bird was definitely gone, and only another old, icy breeze blasted him in the face, ruffling his already tousled hair.

Laughing nervously, Gilbert stood up; crossing the room to close the window and draw the curtains before he climbed back into bed, crawled under the covers and pulling them all the way up over his head.

"I-It was just a bird." He muttered to himself, trying to calm down.

That was definitely not just a bird.

Gilbert's innocence was draining away slowly as he got older and wiser, and he could sense that there was something ominous about what he had just seen.

There was a knock at the door, and Gilbert buried himself deeper in the sheets when he heard the door creak open. "Gilbert?" Padding footsteps. Gilbert tried his best to pretend he was asleep as Vincent came over next to the bed. He heard the kid laugh quietly to himself. "Silly, nii-sama. I told you you would get scared if we slept in separate rooms." He felt Vincent's thin, boney arms wrap themselves around him. Gilbert almost gave himself away by letting out a sigh of relief as his brother left the room, closing the door behind him.

The youth could not help himself but mutter "Crazy little..."

Gilbert was alone in his room again... Or was he?

He couldn't prove it, but he knew someone had been in his room that night, watching him, and that bird had something to do with it. Gilbert wrapped his arms around his head, trying to shut off all sound as he closed his eyes tightly.

Somehow he had managed to drift off in an uneasy sleep.

A tall man that was cloaked entirely in shadow strode towards him. The only thing Gilbert could see were the man's eyes that were flickering bright red, like a living flame. As the man came closer, he could only watch in fear as the man smiled, revealing pointed white fangs. It felt as though heavy chains were binding him to the spot. Gilbert could not move away, he could not scream. His chest was feeling like it was being crushed. He cold only watch as the figure came closer and closer still, smiling wider and whispering words Gilbert felt rather than heard. Finally, Gilbert let out a strangled, half hearted cry and-

He shot up in bed, covered in cold sweat, breathing rapidly.

The same dream.

A year had passed since that frightening encounter. Gilbert had woken up from the same dream every night, feeling like there was someone else in the room. No matter how many times the dream played like a film in his mind, it chilled him to the bone. they always got worse and worse. Sometimes, Gilbert could even feel the touch of the man in his dreams if he did not wake up soon enough. He was constantly afraid, and more jumpy than usual. He never went anywhere without his gun strapped to his belt. Gilbert even slept with the gun under his pillow at night.

This time though, something was definitely different.

Gilbert's back went ridged, and all color drained from his face as his breath caught in his throat.

"Heheh.."

Someone, probably the same someone who was haunting him, had laughed; a deep, rich, almost seductive sound that made Gilbert shiver. He didn't dare make any movement; not even to reach for his gun. Only his eyes darted about the room, mind going completely blank with fear.

"W-Who are you?!" Gilbert managed to shout, not caring if he woke anyone up. There. There! He had heard it again, this time he knew it for sure. The same laugh that he had heard before echoed throughout the room. Then it was gone, faded out into nothing but silence. Gilbert waited a few more minutes, shaking slightly, but whoever it was had left.

Maybe it's a Chain… He thought as he sat still, ignoring his cramping muscles.

A Chain that haunts people… Some monster from Abyss.

Gilbert's breathing slowed, and he brought his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead against them, wrapping his arms around his head in protection.

"Oz…" His voice shook as he cried silently, tears streaming down his face.

"Oz… Young Master… You made a promise to me. You said you'd protect me…"

No. Gilbert's breath hitched in his throat.

No. Whatever this thing is, Oz has nothing to do with it. He's not here, and there is no telling when or if I will ever see him again.

Gilbert gritted his teeth as he kicked the covers away and made a grab for his gun. The metal glinted in the dim light of the newly approaching morning. Gilbert ran his fingers along his, turning it from side to side in his hands.

"I… I need to protect myself." He whispered. Gilbert leaned over and opened the bedside drawer, pulling out a few bullets and loaded and cocked the gun with surprisingly steady hands. Gilbert stared down at it for a few more seconds before raising it to eye level so that he could examine it closer.

"I will protect myself." Gilbert said his voice stronger now. He raised his head glare at the ceiling.

"Whoever or whatever you are, I am not afraid of you. I will kill you next time we meet."

His voice was steady, stronger than before. He may have been alone inside, but outside looking in, Gilbert swore that he could feel eyes on him. He could almost feel them watching his every move. This time he did not look towards the window to see if anyone was there. Gilbert knew that his stalker was clever, but he also did not want to give whoever it was the pleasure of seeming him paranoid.

Gilbert was now looking straight ahead at the opposite wall, but not really seeing it. Whoever had been playing games with him for a year now, he would not submit. He would not submit to the fear that clenched his heart even now and he would not submit himself to the thing that was toying with him.

Outside the window the man looked into the others room, an amused expression on his hansom face. The man opened his mouth in a gleeful smile when he heard those words spill from Gilbert's lips. Half of his face was cast in shadow.

Little do you know, Gilbert Nightray…

He thought. The man's eyes sparkled in the light of dawn.

The man raised his hand and pressed it gently against the window, tracing with his long, black nails Gilbert's outline.

"You are mine." He whispered. Then leaped down to the ground and was gone from sight.