He was alone. He was scared. He didn't know why. Ciel Phantomhive ran through pitch blackness, over a floor so cold it burned. It was like charging through and endless tunnel. He didn't know what was up or down, right or left. Nothing but empty space.

Over the sound of his labored breathing, he suddenly heard screams. He ran faster, and suddenly his pitch black surroundings were changed into that of a burning mansion. He burst into a room, and saw his parents slowly being eaten by flames. His mother had long since stopped moving, but his father was still writhing and screaming. His eyes met his son's, and suddenly he was screaming louder than ever before.

"Ciel!? Ciel, you must get out of here! You need to run. Run as far away as possible. Run!"

the scene around him suddenly changed. The flames started to melt Vincent's body. It morphed and distorted, and then suddenly reshaped itself into the form of Sebastian. The flames vanished, as did the burning building. Ciel was now standing on cold, wet grass and watching helplessly as his butler was attacked. Sebastian looked up and the moonlight reflected the pain in his eyes as he saw his master.

"Ciel, get out of here! Right now! GO!"

The boy turned and ran, but as he did so, his surroundings changed again. Iron bars suddenly formed around him, and he was forced to stoop over as a cage imprisoned him. He looked around as panic set in. He was back in the occult. Trapped. Helpless. Faithless.

He was set on an altar. His aunt, Madame Red, stood over him holding a blade, ready to plunge it down into his heart.

"YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN IN THE FIRST PLACE!" She shrieked.

The knife flew downwards. He closed his eyes, but no pain came. Instead, he heard the whir of a chainsaw, and opened his eyes to see Loss driving the scythe through the red lady's chest. She turned to the boy, scooped him up in her arms the way Sebastian would, and began to run away. The surroundings slowly began to fade away, back into the original pitch blackness.

"Ciel," she whispered, "wake up." She gently shook his shoulders. "You need to wake up, Ciel."

The boy suddenly bolted upright, panting and trembling. He was covered in a sheen of cold sweat. He wildly looked around, trying to identify where he was. He was in a completely unfamiliar place, a cave of some sorts. There was a fire crackling in the center of the cave, warming the entire area. The boy looked down and realized that he had been sleeping on a makeshift bed made of a thin pile of blankets. He looked outside, and calculated that It was around early evening. His eyes suddenly found Loss, who was kneeling over him with concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Ciel hesitated. "What happened?"

Loss stared into his eyes for a moment. Hers were a strange blue-violet color, with a ring of blue-black surrounding the iris.

"You were sleeping and you started tossing and moaning and crying. It worried me, so I woke you up."

Ciel blushed slightly in humiliation. "Don't worry yourself, it was just a bad dream." he nearly snapped. "Where are we anyways?"

"We can't return to the manor," Loss said. "It's been overrun by pure souls. Whoever is controlling them really wants you and Sebastian."

The name Sebastian triggered something in his mind.

"How do you know Sebastian. Or me, for that matter?"

Loss's eyes met the ground. "I met him a long time ago. I doubt he remembers me..."

"How long ago?" Ciel asked.

"A few years." she replied shortly.

Ciel paused, looking for another question to further his interrogation.

"How old are you, then?"

"Twenty" she said a little too quickly.

"You know what, Loss?" Ciel said in an irritated tone. "I think you're lying to me. And I hate liars."

"It doesn't matter what you think," she said tartly, "I don't even have to answer your questions. Now do you want me to help you find your butler or what?"

Ciel snorted. "Fine. How are we gonna find him?"

Loss smirked slightly and pointed to Ciel's marked eye. "With this."

Ciel looked confused. "How?"

Loss rolled her eyes. "You do know why you have that, don't you?"

"Of course," Ciel said, "It lets Sebastian know where I am, and it gives me power over him."

"That's not all," she said. "That seal is his little window into your mind. When you give him a direct order, the mark on his own hand burn slightly. When you are in any physical pain or in danger of death, his seal will feel the exact same pain you are currently feeling. When the contract is completed, the seal will cause him to go nearly insane with hunger. If you die or the contract is otherwise terminated before completion, his seal will bleed and he will feel the most torturous pain imaginable. You don't understand how much power you have over him." She explained.

Ciel stared. "How come he never told me any of this?"

"He's a demon" she replied, "He's manipulative and deceitful. Of course he would never want you to know this. That seal is your protection from other demons. Your soul already belonged to him from the very second you entered into the contract. No other demon can touch your soul as long as you both bear that mark."

Ciel nodded vaguely, waiting for her to continue.

Loss went on, "That seal is a telepathic connection between the two of you. Just like he can find you, you can find him. You can use it to communicate with each other over long distances. Learn how to use the contract, Ciel. Right now it's your most valuable asset."

The boy breathed a long sigh. "Alright, I get the point. Just tell me what to do. How do you know about all this stuff anyways? Are you a demon?"

Loss bit her lip. "Not exactly... but that's not the point here!"

Ciel jumped at the harshness of her reply. "Alright, alright!"

Loss breathed out. "I assume this is the first time you've ever used your mark in such a way. It can be difficult. Humans are not supposed to use their seals in such a way. You'll drain your energy if your not careful."

Ciel let out an irritated tch

"Completely clear your mind. Think only of Sebastian. Concentrate."

Ciel closed his eyes and did as he was told. A hazy image floated into his mind. A dark room lit only with torches. There was a man chained to one of the far walls, writhing and letting out agonized sounds. His upper body was bare and covered with ugly wounds. His ragged black locks hung loose and covered his red eyes. There was a woman in the picture too. She had brown hair and green eyes. She had some sort of sword in one hand, which she would occasionally use to hurt the man. She had a sadistic, pleasured expression on her face.

Ciel clenched his eyes tighter to keep the image intact. His seal had begun to glow with an intense light that could be seen even through his eyelids.

S-Sebastian!?

The demon stopped struggling for a moment. He hung his head, staring at the floor with unfocused eyes.

...Master?

And then suddenly Ciel's whole being was lit with a fiery torture. His concentration broke, and the image distorted and dissolved back into the cave with Loss. He collapsed, twitching, writhing, screaming and lost in pain.

"Ciel!? Ciel! Snap out of it!"

Faintly, he heard Loss screaming at him, desperately trying to calm him. She struck his face multiple times. Slowly, the pain began to fade away, leaving him feeling drained and numb.

"W-what happened!?" Loss yelled.

"I don't know," Ciel murmured. "I saw him. He was in this dark room. Someone was hurting him. He was screaming. I called his name... in my mind, I guess. I think he heard me. He called me, too..." He trailed off.

"Then what?" Loss pressed.

"Then everything started hurting. What does that mean?"

"I told you. The seal allows him to feel any pain you feel. You opened the connection to far, so you felt the pain he was feeling."

Ciel gulped and went pale. Sebastian was in that much trouble!?

"I know where he is. Exactly where he is."

"That's good," Loss said, "Now lead the way."

Ciel stood unsteadily.

"I swear," Ciel started, "That when we find the bastard who did this, I will make them feel that pain. Ten times over that pain. I'll leave them begging for death!"

OMG UPLOAD! Haha, that's right! UPDATE, BITCHEZ! I finally got off my lazy ass and decided to continue this story. I wrote this 1500+ words chapter in a few hours. I know that's not a lot compared to some, but hell, I'm actually somewhat happy with this chapter. WOOT!

Grell:*legasp* LOSS IS A MARY-SUE!
Me: NO SHE'S NOT! YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT HER! SHUT THE HELL UP, GRELL! YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS THAT SHE'S SEEN SEBBY'S D*CK BEFORE! Wait, what?

That was a very subtle spoiler. Make of that what you will.

Oh guys, guess what!? I DREW A PICTURE OF LOSS! lol not that impressive. If you want to see it, go check my deviatart page. The link is my profile ^_^

Alright. I'm going to shamelessly ask you all to read and review my other stories, and to leave your reviews on this story. Hell, leave tons of reviews on this story. I'M A REVIEW WHORE. I NEED REVIEWS TO FUEL MY MESSED UP MIND. This chapter wouldn't have even been written if it wasn't for LovleyLady and Kurai Amechan begging me to continue. Actually, I think they are the same person, BUT WHO CARES!?

Here's another request for you guys: Go to my profile and vote in the poll. PLEASE! IT'S SUPERRR IMPORTANT!

I don't know when this is gonna get updated again, but I'll try to keep it reasonable. Thanks for reading!

BYYYEE! ^_^