"Don't look at me like that," he snarled at Timber who had found silent residence at the end of the hallway. He had locked a bitter gaze upon him for the time it took a gold set of eyes to interrupt.

"What is all this noise for, master?" Claude.

"Claude..." Alois wasn't tardy and soon he came to cleave to the butler. "She shut me out, Claude!" There was little in the demons response other than a lowering gaze in recognition of his master's displeasure.

"Perhaps the countess needs some time." Claude made care to remind him of Elizabeth's social worth; she wasn't another child in the sandpit.

"Time...?" He looked again at the door locked to prohibit his access to her.

"Yes, time," Claude repeated in monotone. Alois looked up in frustration at the demon hiding behind a butler's masque. Through the doors he could hear Elizabeth sniffling, but she was no longer bawling like she had been moments before. What the hell was wrong with her? He hadn't said anything remotely upsetting. In fact he was trying to be as pleasant as possible. He sighed aggressively.

"Perhaps I should retire then, Claude?" He questioned the tall figure that filled his view.

Poe-faced was he as he had admitted defeat with the impossible girl and Alois had bothered off down the corridor to make do with the spare room; he didn't want to deal with an indifferent girl and an apathetic butler, not now. He had thought that they understood each other; he thought that by now the two weren't so segregated. Apparently, that was not the case. Dull, heavy, slumber came slowly and Alois was a slave to his panic, his neurosis of losing. And when finally he drifted off, for a small moment, nothing seemed to matter.

Just like the arrogant boy Trancy, Elizabeth was fast asleep in her own world. This world, for once, was filled with happy memories without Ciel, without Alois, without any confusion or corruption. It was just herself playing outside in the garden, talking to the birds that would land nearby or the butterflies that flew around her bustled head.

Butterflies- like the ones her and Alois chased after that afternoon.

There were red ones and blue ones, purple ones and yellow ones, all different colors of the rainbow- except one. A white butterfly sat perfectly on a red rose, fluttering its wings ever so slightly. When she walked over to it curiously, she let it crawl into her hand at its own will, but the moment she felt its tiny feet on her, she gasped, wide-eyed as the butterfly wobbled unbalanced by its missing wing.

There was a face that dug its way into the boy's conscience. There was a face that lurked burnt into his memory and relapsed itself in short little gasps. There was a face above him, and a face that he recalled as clear as day. The bogus Earl sat restlessly in the basin. It couldn't be any later than two in the morning and there he sat scrubbing his skin compulsively. He'd check himself every now and then to see if there were any bruises he could wash away.

But there weren't any. He still felt unclean.

He scrubbed himself with the bristles until flesh was red and he made himself sob almost with the burning contrast of the water. But no matter what he did, the pictures of his dreams didn't wash away.

The horror and despair that faced Elizabeth with this disabled creature made her begin to sob and she awoke moments later. She found herself uncovered like before but on the opposite side of the bed, now facing a closet door rather than the window that was no longer allowing the intruding nature of the storm. She breathed a deep sigh and sat up, wiping her teary eyes. She probably had not been asleep that long, seeing as the sun was still covered.

She proceeded by removing the bow from her hair that she had failed to take off before during her break-down and the moment she did, she could hear quiet sobbing coming from the end of the hallway. She turned her head and walked over to the doors, which she then unlocked and peeked out of. Candle light could be seen flickering underneath a door just down the corridor near the spare room. The sobbing was louder now that the wooden blocks no longer clouded her hearing. There was another sound. Water? The constant stirring and splashing of water seemed to grow louder and more aggressive as she trailed along the darkened hallway.

He couldn't be safe. No where. He was surrounded by a haunting nightmare. For the first time in a very long time he felt lonely, and now that silence formed a figure of someone he never wanted to see again. When the Earl was alive, when he wasn't being maltreated as much by him, Alois admitted that he became somewhat fond of the man and fond of being wanted. But the novelty soon wore off. No, Alois didn't want to be wanted in those ways. Now he lived a lie. He wanted to be liberated. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

His scrubbing had ceased, and he sat hunched over in the tepid water, a palm pressed to the hollow of his eyes and the shallow lurches of his shoulders were translucent sobs.

Wouldn't anyone ever love him?

The now anxious Elizabeth stepped to the very edge of the door, not in any line of sight from the person in the bathroom. The sobbing grew quieter and more concealed. With a quick breath of courage, she darted to the visible entrance of the room where she saw a blond boy, covered in marks of red, scratches and bumps curled up along the side of the inner part of the tub. She immediately felt her heart sink and her hand raised to her mouth covering the gaping hole that stood in its place. "Alois?" She whispered, tears forming in her eyes and a croaking in her throat. Seeing the confident and highly statured Earl Trancy in such a vulnerable state was horrifying and almost made the young lady fall to her knees.

A voice interrupted his woe and he lifted a heavy head to glance lazily behind his shoulder. He needed to. Alois couldn't put a face to that sound, not in his state. Her hair was down, uncurled; comfortable. Goosebumps prickled his flesh in the cold air but he didn't really care- about anything, not right now. His forehead returned to the beds of his palms, fingers gripping onto his wet bangs. He swallows a lump and he sniffles. "Piss... off..."

Elizabeth, still in complete awe by Alois' state, snapped out of it at his crude words. Her mouth closed, her hands became fists and her brows furrowed deeper. "Alois Trancy, you are going to answer me." Her voice cracked and her ability to remain firm slowly dwindled out like the candles around her. She let out a painful sigh and walked closer to the unveiled boy marred with red blotches. The closer she got the heavier her breathing grew and the boy did not look at her. His head remained positioned to the tops of his knees, his hand hanging just slightly over the edge of the tub. He was shaking as she reached down to grasp the hand that had attempted an escape.

Teeth gritted in disgust, he snapped his head away to not look at her. The hand at his was something to hold onto in his turmoil and as she captured it he didn't hesitate to grip onto her. A sharp whistle of hair pushed between his teeth, Alois had sank into the crook of his arm by now, hunched over.

Elizabeth was warmer than he was, probably from her slumber. As for Alois, he hadn't had that luxury tonight.

"I'm no good, Lizzy." Quiet, distant. And then he peered up at her, becoming unsettled. "I'm no good!"

With her arms now wrapped around the bare shoulders of the boy, she could feel him trembling beneath her. The water that had been scrubbed along his skin soaked lightly into her nightgown. As she looked into the pain-ridden eyes of her Alois she couldn't help but begin to cry. Salty tears fell down her flushed cheeks. "That's not true. Why would you say that?" She caressed his head along her collar and stroked the hair from his face.

She was smothering him; he took in a deep, shaky breath and outstretched himself with some liberation. Alois didn't really know why he kept fighting her. The embrace is made for good will but the contact hurt his raw flesh.

"Lizzy... Lizzy, please..."

Another series of sobs came involuntarily and he had buried himself into her now, he didn't care if it hurt.

"What are you doing?" Quiet, weak. "What are you doing?!" Not so much, a scream now.

He didn't ask her why she had hugged him or even awoken. He wanted to know why she hadn't just washed her hands with him. He was a brute, sullied, a wreck.

With the sudden outburst there was a new presence now; a dark figure that lurked in the threshold, an empty glare - always so empty. And he couldn't escape it, not now.

"Claude... Get out!" Hysteria, paranoia, he thrashed from Elizabeth's chest. "Get out! You're no better! You're exactly like him! Get out, don't look at me!"

"Alois, Alois please calm down!" Elizabeth tried to stop his erratic thrashing. She quickly looked up at the curious butler with pleading eyes. She had no sense of what was going on or why the appearance of Claude had set Alois on a hormonal rampage. She grasped onto Alois' arms yet again as her blonde hair found a resting place on his shoulders, covering him just for a moment before he tried to retract from her.

"Claude..." Elizabeth whispered, looking up again searching desperately for the dark figure but there was none to be found. She backed away slightly from the boy who was now on the other side of the tub, breathing heavily, wide-eyed like a scared deer. "Alois..." she reached out for him cautiously. "Tell me what's wrong," she cried hopelessly. "Please!"

No, Elizabeth. Don't move away from me. Don't do that.

Claude had retreated; he could see that there wasn't much to be done other than let the boy scream himself out, it wasn't as though there was anybody else awake who needed any sleep. And in truth, Claude really didn't care. So the children were isolated now, and Alois grabbed out for his companion.

"Elizabeth!" When her body is returned he doesn't hold back any, he was quick to fly into her and wrap flimsy limbs around her shoulders.

"Lizzy... I'm... I'm no good!"

Terrified to make any sudden movements, she slowly wraps her arms around him, hushing him, nurturing him. "Shh, stop that," her high-pitched voice seemed to bring a more lightened tone to the break-down that had just transgressed. "I don't understand, Alois," she continued. "What has gotten into you?" His heart-beat was apparent. The raw flesh that clung to her flinched every few moments and with each time she held him closer. She wasn't going to leave him so vulnerable.

Breathing begins to become slow and deep. He had reached some degree of containment now and Alois became silent, just sobbing softly into her collarbones. They sat for a long moment in the silence of the bathroom, the sounds of the water resonating to space with little movements. He hadn't answered her yet, he could not find the words.

Alois released her slowly now, his face fallen with the exhaustion of his uproar. He was tired, he wanted to sleep. He wanted to forget.

"I want to get out."

She unlatched her arms from behind him and looked down into his soft oceanic eyes. "Let me help you," she stood holding his hands. He paused for a moment watching her, tilted his head down and then stood in the tub. She braced him so that he would not fall and helped him step one foot at a time onto the cold wooden floor. "Where is your robe?" She was surprised that he had not attempted to cover himself once he got out. He just stared at the floor, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked-weak, tired and Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to make him comfortable again.

"I don't know." He mumbled in reply. He didn't really prepare for his little episode. All that really mattered at the time was cleaning himself. "I don't know." He repeated as though to prove himself, to clarify. But he had an idea as of where to find it and a set of fatigued eyes found the back of the door where a fluffy, white gown hung. "There..."

Hands rose to rub his eyes, and he wondered why she wasn't bothered any by his being bare. But then again, who doesn't mind looking at him? Now he looked at her in subtle disgust.

Elizabeth wasn't any different, either.

She saw Alois eyeing the robe across the room. But instead of going to retrieve it, she just looked at him, watching his face for any sudden change in emotion. She contemplated moving closer to him, but decided not to and turned to grab the long robe of fluffy white material and brought it over to him. His arms remained crossed and so she took one arm and slid it carefully through a sleeve and did the same with the other. She closed the robe in front of him, tying it loosely around his waist. "There," she smiled as she brushed the boy's hair from his eyes.

He watched as she arranged his tresses astray and the robe clung to his wet body in discomfort. He was adorned, and warily he had leant the weight of his forehead against hers.

"Lizzy...Why did you do that?" Why did you dress me? He had been wrong. Maybe she wasn't as heartless as he previously accused. She was of no disservice to him but he still became irate. "I want to go to bed!"

She smiled calmly, her nose breathing down the front of his neck while their foreheads remain in contact. "What do you mean, silly? You had to get dressed." She giggled hoping to make him grin if not smile at most. "If you want to go back to bed you can take the other room." She pulled away looking at him. "I'm sorry for locking you out..." she trailed off.

Unresponsive to her advance he simply sighed in small relief. "I want to sleep with you." He needed a distraction from the loneliness - from the face.

A little taken aback by his request, she wasn't going to just dash him aside considering what had just occurred. "Come on," she said almost as a whisper, taking his hand and pulling him along the lengthy corridor. When they had finally entered the room, Elizabeth released his hand and went to latch the windows closed. She turned towards the bed thinking Alois would have found his way, but when she looked, the bed was empty except for the mess of pillows and downy sheets. "Huh?" Her bell-type voice echoed. She looked back towards the double doors only to see Alois standing there, arms dangling solemnly by his side.

He didn't want to go into the dark space but he was still so tired now. Conflicted, a daze, he existed in that moment but he wasn't living. The girl stood before a tempest of sorts, the weather didn't look that inviting. But it wasn't the outside that discouraged him, moreover, the room itself. No, not... This room. Not the master bedroom. Not that bed he knew too well.

"No... another room..."

"What?" She was now utterly confused. Even though she was trying to sound serious, her childish facade and voice did not help her. Her bare feet tramped over the wooden floor to the Earl's side. "Why not this room? The bed is perfectly fine...I mean, you can be in here alone if you'd like," she continued trying to reassure him that she would do anything necessary to give him comfort.

"No, a... nother room!" He didn't understand why he was being interrogated as of why he didn't want to be here. "I want to sleep with you - elsewhere." He hadn't thought of that before, but in that bed... What better did that make him?

"Alright," she sighed in defeat. "Where would you rather go?" She walked through the doors and searched down the hallway. The spare room? She thought to herself. Maybe...but, that is where he had just come from. Obviously something there was bothering him, so that might not be the best idea. "Uhmm.." her voice squeaked. She most definitely did not want to walk by the bathroom again, as she saw the dark shadow of a butler standing- looking inside. "Are you sure?" She anxiously watched Alois, but there was no changing his mind.

A stubborn nod.

None of that fazed him, not in comparison.

The room was as he had left it, the bed sheets crinkled and pillows all disarranged in his battle for peace.

He climbed into the bed again, shedding the gown and letting it fall to the ground before sinking into the mattress. He felt better now inside, but his flesh was still tender.

When Elizabeth joined him beneath the duvet, Alois rolled into her and curled up.

He's so strange; Alois Trancy. Acting this way is not normal. Maybe it was just a nightmare. Of course! It had to be. Right? But, then again, he was awake when he was scrubbing himself. And these marks- She stroked Alois' arm that had blotches beginning to fade ever so slightly. He had hurt himself. It was strange for her to be sleeping next to the Earl while we was not clothed and she lay silent in her nightgown pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary- for his sake.

He didn't say much more but simply laid in silence, comfortable now at the warmth of her breast. His eyes had fallen shut but he doesn't fall asleep. He was still too unsettled for that.

All she wanted was some truth from him. That's all she ever wanted. Alois had always been so coy and playful but never fully open with her. That's what unsettled her. That is what made the young lady so desperate to ask him again about his episode- but she didn't want to upset him. She couldn't just lie around not knowing either. "Alois…" she whispered, hoping he was asleep so that she wouldn't have to ask him a third time.

He hoped she wasn't going to ask him questions right then, he was too lazy to really put any explanation to his turmoil so he breathed in a flutter of frustration just to buy him some time so he could conduct what he wanted to say.

"...What?"

Unfortunately, Elizabeth had to finish her thought, else it would bother Alois. "What did-" she began to say. How was she going to word this? "Why..." She opened her eyes to see Alois staring annoyingly at her. "Why did you do it?" It was an awkward way to phrase the question, but she knew the boy would understand.

The tightness of his frustration lingered before coming flaccid again with a sigh. He rolled onto his back and dragged a limb lazily to his forehead in some discreet attempt to cover himself from her, though there wasn't much point now.

"I don't know." He grumbled with his brows elevating in his struggle for words."It's... nothing... I just, I thought you were going to leave me. And I don't want to be by myself with Claude. I don't want to be by myself in this house." He took a breath and held it, pausing for a moment. Somewhere within that silence Lizzy had found his hand and he is brought back to the present. "When I'm with you I feel like a child again. And I don't want to give that up yet."

She listened intently, still not sure that what he was saying was the honest truth. It could not have just been her overreaction at dinner that made him act so strangely. There had to be something else there, but she did not have the persistence to strangle it out of him. "You are still a child, Alois," she said into his turf of blond hair. "We both are. You needn't grow up so quickly anyway. You should have fun."

She knew that Alois had no real family to go to. He was the only one left and that he had to take responsibility of the Trancy manor and name. But Alois- he was still just a boy. He was still learning and maturing.

"Why did you do that to yourself?" She whispered tracing a blotch along his upper arm.

"I'm dirty." He whispered a reply, eyes closing to crinkle. It was strange, this outburst. Like emotion from inside that had been collected, concealed, now thinned out by the water and swelled to flow out. Her finger irritated his broken flesh. For some reason whenever he thought of the Earl he needed to bathe himself, to scrub himself without mercy. He needed to get rid of the memory like he needed a new body. It was involuntary. He couldn't stop, he couldn't hold it now. Broken flesh wasn't all he had to nurse. "I'm all dirty, Lizzy. And you're so clean." His words remained whispers, but they broke into a scratchy sound.

In her naivety she burst out saying, "Well, we were playing outside in the woods all day," she said rationally. "The dirt shouldn't have gotten you that dirty." She saw Alois flinch underneath her finger's light touch so she retracted it and placed it along the underside of her pillow. "Surely you didn't have to scrub so hard."

Oh, Elizabeth.

She had no idea on how great of a response it was when Alois had told her of her cleanliness. She was innocent and pure. She had no experience with anything of the sorts that Alois Trancy had in his past. She could not read past his inference.

As much as she wanted to respect Alois' personal life, Elizabeth was desperate to find out the real story behind the Earl. "Tell me something?" Her eyes peeked out to look over at the warm boy lying next to her. He gave a sigh of agitation but she continued anyway. "What happened to you to make you so...unsure of everything?" No. That's not what she wanted to ask. What she really wanted to ask was, "Why do you shut people out when all they want is the best for you?"

There it was; the inevitable. Will what he tell her scare her away? "Because people who claim they want the best of me only mean that in one way, Lizzy. Nobody cares about me unless they get something out of it. It has always been that way with people like me, that's what happens to the proletariat."

"I don't understand. What would they want out of it? I don't see anyone taking you for granted, Alois." She stroked the blond hair from his face as he shuffled away, turning his body away from her.

Rejection.

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to understand. I've tried so hard on my own, but I can't do it. Why can't you trust me?" Her whispers were now insistent, loud tones of a child desperate for an answer.

A limb had wrapped around his chest as though there was something that needed to be nurtured or concealed from being ensnarled- something that was his. He was like a child, stubborn, curled up, vulnerable.

"The man... The man took me... He took everything."

To Alois, to whom he referred to didn't matter.

They were both the same.

It had been so nice at the time to be wanted for something and have a purpose; to be treated differently, to be adored, but that was a lie. Not much had changed.

"That's why you're so important." His whispers were barely audible and he imagined that they didn't make much sense to her given his bemusement. But he didn't care.

He just didn't care.