His Butler, Hunting:
When Alois called Claude, he spirited the boy away from that old man's vile bed of abuse he found him in to a lush field outside the manor. The grass and wild flowers glittered as if it were a fantasy. The demon gallantly knelt down before him, his hand over his heart. The blonde boy stared down at him in wonder, his ice blue eyes wide as he asked him what his name was.
"Faustus… Claude Faustus," he answered, a clever smile ghosting across his handsome face.
"What is your first order, your highness?"
"Kill that vile old man!" Alois commanded, referring to the lecherous Lord Trancy.
The demon answered with a simple nod before he flew towards the manor once more. Alois watched with glee as his butler nimbly jumped through the window of the master bedroom.
Landing inside, Claude looked over at the bed, at the disgusting naked form of Lord Trancy, fast asleep in his rumpled bed. It didn't take long before he realized that something didn't feel right. He couldn't sense the old man's soul at all- and he was certain to have a vile stench about him. Approaching the bed Claude checked for a pulse and found that Lord Trancy was dead. Someone had already killed him! But who and how?
Claude eyed the far corner of the room where a tea tray was left abandoned by its deliverer. The newly minted butler frowned at its suspicious presence. A servant should have removed this tray long ago. Turning from the bed to investigate, the toe of his black wingtips knocked into something, eliciting a light clinking sound. Looking down, he saw a bone china teacup, the drags of which were lying cold in the side of the cup. Kneeling down, he picked up the delicate piece of china and sniffed its contents. The Demon's golden eyes widened as he detected deadly amounts of laudanum and arsenic lacing the tea.
Closing his eyes, he searched out for any human souls still left on the property. He first sensed his new master's and then the faint tingling of another. Someone else was hiding in the manor and whoever they were; they were guaranteed to be the old man's killer.
Claude flew through the mansion, using his hunter's senses to guide him. The smell of fear and sin still hung heavily in the air. It was simply tantalizing… life here may not be as tedious as previous contracts. Eventually, he came upon a set of stairs leading to the attic. Gazing up at the small door at the top, he soundlessly ascended the stairs.
The attic was dark and filled with what once were opulent things that were now carelessly put away and left to rot. Among the clutter, he passed by an old chandelier, several renaissance era paintings, and a pile of silk Turkish rugs. There was definitely someone there and he was getting closer to them. He could hear their breathing, almost feel their shaking. Coming to a Louis XVI style desk, he stopped. The culprit was hiding beneath it.
Claude tightly grabbed hold of the petite being by the arm and yanked them out into the light. Suddenly he was face to face with a young woman with terror-filled eyes. His golden gaze widened in surprise, not expecting to have pulled such a beautiful creature from such a dusty, dark place. This was the murderer?
AN Review, follow, favor! Hope you all enjoyed this! Usually I don't go in for the Trancy's but I woke up with an interesting idea one morning and couldn't let it go to waste. Actually, I'm having quite a bit of fun with it!