Something was wrong. That much was obvious. He felt it each night when the house was completely silent. The seal on his hand would burn, warning of some threat to his master.

Little did he know, the threat was his master himself.

For the life of him, Sebastian couldn't grasp what was going on. His master's behavior since the death of Madame Red and Abberline had been troubling him deeply.

The boy just seemed... detached. The pride and maturity he once carried himself with seemed to have vanished without a trace. It's like he didn't even care anymore. He always wore this sad frown wherever he went. He rarely spoke, and only gave short replies if he was spoken to.

Nothing seemed to cheer him. Lady Elizabeth would often visit to see if she could improve her fiance's mood, to no avail. He barely even acknowledged her presence. Sebastian had taken to decorating nearly the entire manor with white roses, hoping the bright flowers would help coax the boy out of his depression. Yet for some strange reason, the flowers seemed to only worsen his mood.

"What is with you and those disgusting flowers?" he had asked once.

Sebastian looked up from the pristine white petals he had been arranging moments before.

"Are these not to your liking?" he questioned quietly.

Ciel made a disgusted face. "No." he said simply. "I want them out of my sight by the day's end."

He had lost a considerable amount of weight, as he would hardly ever eat the meals brought to him by his butler. His appetite seemed had vanished as well, and he would eat only when his butler practically forced the food down his throat. Sebastian had long since stopped trying to tempt the boy with sweets or pastries. The treats and tea the boy once adored were now ignored and forgotten, sentenced to the trash.

More often than not, the boy could be seen sitting as his desk, gazing ahead of him or outside the window with a faraway look in his eye, lost in some ocean of thoughts. The intelligent, determined spark of light had long since faded from his eyes, leaving nothing but a dull blue color behind. His neglected paperwork would pile ever higher besides him. Once or twice Sebastian thought he had seen his master struggling to blink away tears.

Now, the boy rarely wanted to get out of bed, though he rarely ever slept. He would remain awake most of the night, tossing and turning. When he did manage to fall asleep, it was plagued with nightmares and he always woke up feeling more tired than when he went to sleep. His butler had spent hours on end having to soothe the poor child. The young earl would wake up all out of sorts, and sometimes all it would take to calm him were a few simple words and a comforting gesture. Other times the nightmares would be worse. At those times Sebastian would be found holding the pitiful child to his chest, rocking back and forth, maybe even humming a lullaby or two. He would continue to cradle his master long after he returned to sleep, most of the time for the rest of the night.

He had ever seen this side of the boy before, and he had to admit, seeing his master in such distress frightened him.

Then came the time when the boy refused his butler's help with bathing and dressing. He flinched every time someone even tried to touch him, and he never took off the coat he wore, whether he was inside or outside. Even on the hottest days, he was never seen without that jacket.

He remembered a time once where he had gone to his master's study to offer him lunch. He had found the boy coiled on the ground in the far corner of the room, pulling his hair and weeping silently. Sebastian had rushed to his master's side, prepared to offer him any comfort he could, but he was met instead with a completely unresponsive child. The boy had done nothing but stare blankly ahead, eyes dilated so that only the thinnest ring of blue eclipsed the deep pool of black. He was trembling, seemingly oblivious to his butler's efforts to reach him. After spending a hour in vain, he threw his arms up in frustration and left his master alone in his study.

A couple of nights after, when everyone was asleep, Sebastian had been absorbed in his chores. He didn't even notice Ciel sneak out of the manor. Hours past before Sebastian discovered his master in the woods, much in the same state he had been found in days before. Like the loyal servant he was, Sebastian had carried his master back to his bedroom and returned him to bed.

The boy had refused to talk about the incident since.

Sebastian was suspicious, but he was truly blind to the situation.

It wasn't until the day of his thirteenth birthday did the butler understand, but by then, it was far too late.

Sebastian had managed to convince the earl to get out of bed and go through with the day's plan, which consisted of a visit from Lady Elizabeth, who was bent on throwing a party for him. Sebastian had woken Ciel up, and as usual the first thing the boy did was quickly pull on his jacket.

But he wasn't fast enough, because Sebastian saw it, was sickened by it. He had never loathed his master more, because his master was a weakling, and he was a slave to that weakling.

Pale scars snaked up the boy's wrists and forearms, faint lines too symmetrical to be from any accident. Most of them were thin and faded, but some of them were an angry red color, as if they had been inflicted recently. One or two of them were still open.

Ciel had noticed Sebastian's staring. He was confused for a moment, before he realized his butler was staring directly at his wrist. They boy felt his eyes widen, first in fear, then in anger.

"Get out," he said plainly.

"Master?" a bored reply, "Are you alright? Is something wr-"

The anger, the frustration, the hurt and hatred and confusion. Every emotion he had been struggling to keep trapped inside had finally reached the boiling point. He couldn't take it anymore. It felt as if he would go insane if he had to put up with it all for any longer. All these feelings spilled out of him in a sudden storm of fury.

"GET OUT!" Ciel shouted.

In his rage he grabbed the first thing he saw, the small box that held his rings, and threw it at Sebastian. The butler quickly ducked his head, and the box shattered against the wall behind him. The two rings flew across the room and rolled to a stop in front of Ciel, who was breathing heavier than usual, trying to reel in the emotions he had so carelessly let loose. He could tell by the stinging in his eyes that he was crying, but at this point he didn't care anymore.

Ciel and Sebastian stared at each other for some time. Master and Servant. King and Knight.

Then, Sebastian broke the tension. He put his hand over his heart and bowed slightly, not bothering to conceal the amused smirk that was stretching across he face.

"Yes, my lord," with that signature phrase, he left the room.

He couldn't help but release a cruel chuckle when he heard the boy completely break down behind the door.

The day's events seemed to be going by painfully slow. It was something of a torture to Ciel. Once again, he found himself having to force a smile, to laugh and play along as if he was having a good time. Really, all he wanted was to be alone. Every once in a while, he would catch Sebastian's eye from a across the table. The disgusted sneers the butler gave him felt like a brutal knife in the back.

Sebastian had become a father to him.

Sebastian was one of the few people he loved.

Sebastian was the only one he thought would understand.

But Sebastian had betrayed that trust...

And he hated him for it.

After Elizabeth's tearful farewell, Ciel retreated to his room. The door had been locked behind him. Any knocks or calls were ignored.

It was the dead of night, and Sebastian in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed The space was almost unfamiliar to him as he rarely went in there, but he simply didn't want to do chores. His mind was focused on Ciel. He closed his eyes, feeling slightly guilty for the way he had treated his master.

Just then, a savage, blinding pain burned in his left hand, and with it came a wave of panic for his master. This was such a pain that he had never felt before. Leaping into a standing position, he quickly looked at his hand. Small beads of blood were coming up along the pattern of his seal. Thinking only of his master, he rushed to Ciel's bedroom. He pounded on the door, and all but screamed for the boy. The pain in his hand was rapidly growing worse, yet he was only met with silence from the other end of the door. Seeing no other choice, he kicked it down.

Once the dust had cleared, Sebastian was finally able to know what had caused him such pain.

His master was hanging by his neck from the frame of his bed's canopy.

The pain in his hand forgotten, Sebastian quickly darted over to Ciel and gently pulled him down. To his surprise, he felt the boy stir in his arms. Ciel turned his head slightly and barely opened his eyes. Staring directly at Sebastian, he let out a long, strangled sigh. A glazed look slid over his tear-soaked eyes, and Sebastian could feel a shudder run through the small body, before it went entirely limp.

Ciel Phantomhive was dead.

Sebastian carefully laid the boy down on his bed. He noticed there was a crumpled piece of paper balled in his hands. Sebastian pried it, with some difficulty, from the boy's lifeless hands. He unfolded the scrap and read what had been the boy's sloppily written last words.

Up to this point, I've lived these past two years standing on the ashes of all I've ever loved. The only thing I still have, the only thing I haven't lost, is my Revenge. But what is the point now? Enough is enough, and I can't take anymore. I've fallen too far, and this time, there is no spider's thread to hold onto.

I'm not sorry.

He threw the paper away as felt himself growing angry. Two years, two fucking years he had spent as a slave to that brat. Now for what? To watch his hard-earned meal dangle tantalizingly in front of him, only to have it pulled away from him when at last he was so close to having it? That wasn't the deal!

In his anger, he could feel his aura spilling out billowing around him. Unable to control himself, he threw the body of his former-master against the wall. The impact sounded with a bone shattering crack, before landing on the ground with a muted thud. Blood began to quietly seep from some unknown wound, but it wasn't as if Sebastian cared anymore.

"You pathetic weakling!" he screamed violently. "You are the saddest excuse of a master I have ever had the displeasure of serving."

He landed a harsh kick to the boy's side. "You were nothing but a fool." he hissed.

There was nothing left for the demon here, so why should he bother staying? He turned and kicked a window open, spilling broken glass glinting into the night outside. Just when he was about to jump through, he turned to take one last look at the boy. His nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Damn brat..."

He leaped through the window and began striding away into the night in search of a new meal. He never wanted to set eyes on that mansion again.

One would have thought Ciel's death would have had a greater effect on him, that he would have felt some sort of grief or sorrow, considering how closed they had seemed.

He didn't

He never would.

Because there is no place for sorrow inside a demon.

One-shot request for 'The Waderer'. I hope you enjoy it, since I spent a lot of time writing it. I tried to make the character's as realistic as possible, so If you tell me how I did in the reviews.

I am once again accepting one-shot requests, so If you liked this story and want me to write another for you, make sure you let me know, because I would be more than happy too!