In the town of Brookehaven everything seems to be done the old fashioned way. Residents lived in old manors, hosted galas and even had butlers. Jasmin suspects something dark happening with one of the families her father has made a business deal with. Then she meets their new butler; a man with golden eyes. She feels drawn in yet repelled by the sight of the man at the same time.

But she doesn't know the spider's secret.


Claude Faustas (c) Yana Toboso

Jasmin, the Danworth's, etc are product of my own imagination


I gulped. Why did he have to be so intimidating?

"Good evening, Madam Danworth." My father greeted the lady in blue.

"Oh, hello, Lord Knox." Marianne returned.

Madam, Lord, I thought. Somebody save me now. They shook hands briefly, and I watched blankly. My father nodded to Arnold- excuse me, Lord Arnold- and then to Mistress Kathryn. How I hated titles.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Arnold clapped his hands together with a cheerful smile and sat on the fountain's edge. "So I was thinking..."

My mind almost immediately tuned out conversation. Business deals aren't my thing. I tapped my foot to the music in the baground. Ten minutes passed, and I decided that I'd hear of the outcome the next day anyway. Silently, I crept off into the maze of a garden.

Soon, the sounds of music and chatter died away, and I was encased in foliage. As I walked, the noise of the gala faded to nothing, except for the clicking of my heels.

I took a turn and came face-to-face with a marble statue of a horse.

"Where am I?" I whispered.

I whipped around, but there was nothingness; only hedges taller than me.

Fantastic, I thought sarcastically. I'm lost.

Indeed I was. The more desperate I became, the faster I ran to find the exit. But that only twisted me deeper into the maze, or the spider's web, whichever you prefer. Panting with exhaustion, I collapsed onto the rough stone.

A gash tore open my silk glove and straight through to my hand, and crimson liquid poured from it. Damn. Could things get any worse?

"Miss Knox, it appears that you are lost." A British voice crooned.

I looked up apprehensively. It was that same butler. "I-I'm not lost." I stammered.

God, why was he so attractive?

He reached down and took my hand softly in his. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. But then my senses were overwhelmed by pain. I whimpered and pulled my hand away, but his golden eyes demanded that I follow him. I reluctantly placed my uninjurred hand in his.

"Let us go back to the party." It sounded more like an order than a suggestion. That shocked me.

"You..don't see that I'm bleeding?" I asked in pure astonishment. The butler glanced at me and he led me through the garden.

"Oh, I noticed, and it smells appetizing."

I almost stopped in my tracks. My blood smelled...appetizing? There was something about his voice, too. Cold, seductive, sexy. I felt chills dance up my spine. After that, neither of us said anything. I was too afraid to.

We returned to the gala just as guests had begun to dance.

"Jasmin! You're back!" My father mused. "You were really lost in that garden, weren't you?"

The corners of my mouth twitched. He talked to me as though I was a helpless child.

"Shut up." I grumbled.

Ignoring my rude comment, my father turned to the butler. "Thank you, Claude."

"Anything for a friend of my master."

He dropped my hand and left. His warmth exited my body, and to be frank, I was disappionted. No matter how frightening he was, I was still drawn to him.

The elegant melodies swarmed my ears in the ballroom. I wanted to plug my ears, or maybe put some headphones on and get back to the twenty-first century. Honestly, it was like I was in London. Okay, so that might be the point of the party, but I didn't like it.

At my type of social events, I tend to be the center of everything. At the Gray's gala, I stood to the side, pretending to debate on what food I wanted from the display in front of me. Unimpressed, I watched the dancers. They proved to be much more interesting than stationary foods.

"Jasmin." My father approached.

"What?"

"Dance with Claude."

"What?" I repeated, surprised.

"I said-"

"Oh," I inturrupted. "I heard you loud and clear, but why?"

"As a thank you for finding you." he reasoned.

"But since when has a girl asked a guy to dance?" I tried in every way possible to get out of dancing with a creepy butler.

My father smiled mischieviously. "It's the twenty-first century, remember?" He winked.

"Dad!" I groaned. "I seriously hate you!"

He shrugged defensively. "I'm only making you eat your own words.

I sighed and agreed to dance with him. Butterflies jumped around in my stomach as I got closer to Claude. I took a deep, reassuring breath. "Keep calm, keep calm." I mumbled.

Claude's eyes bore into me as I inched closer and closer. I could feel those beautiful golden eyes judging my soul.

"Hello, Miss Jasmin. May I have this dance?"

Claude beat me to the punch. Translation: I was screwed.