Chapter 11: Blood is the New Black

''Wait,'' I said once we were out in the hall, ''I should be the one to tell Ciel was happened. I wasn't just having a discussion with Alois, he-''

''My young master already knows what happened.'' Sebastian said to me.

''Then…what does he want to talk about with Alois?''

Sebastian smiled. ''I'm sure whatever it is, you don't have to worry about. If I were you, I'd be concerned with other things right now.'' At first I wasn't sure what Sebastian was talking about, but then I looked down at my arm. My cut was still bleeding, and the blood had trickled down all the way down to my hand. ''Would you like if I tended to that?'' Sebastian asked as he pulled out a cloth from his pocket.

I was about to say yes, when I remembered the stained cloth I had seen in his pocket from the other day. ''Um, no thanks,'' I said, taking the cloth from Sebastian. ''I've got this one myself.''

As I started wiping off the blood, I noticed that Claude was facing the wall, his back towards us. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but he seemed to be fixated with something on his hand. Sebastian seemed to take notice of Claude's behavior too, as he turned to glance at him.

''So Sebastian,'' I said, breaking silence that had formed between us, ''where did you and Ciel go anyway? I could have really used your help in there.''

Sebastian shifted his gaze away from Claude and said, ''Let's just say the young master and I had a meeting of our own to attend too.''

I was about to ask what Sebastian meant when I saw Alois' servants walk by us. All four of them looked very disheveled, and their clothes were torn up. Something told me the meeting Sebastian and Ciel had must have taken taken place with them. For whatever reason though, I was unsure of.

I finished wiping off the blood on my arm and tied the cloth around my wound. ''Actually, I have some business to attend to as well.'' I still didn't have my necklace, and I wanted it back. I walked towards Claude, balling my fists.

"Claude, I want my necklace back." But Claude didn't move or respond. I tried again. "Please, it's really special to me. Give it back!" Once again, Claude didn't move. Why isn't he answering me? I thought. Suddenly I felt a gentle tug on my shoulder.

''My lady,'' Sebastian said urgency in his voice, ''perhaps you should come with me. I think it would be best to leave Claude alone.''

''But he has my necklace.'' I said to Sebastian. ''It's really important to me, and I need to get it back.'' Suddenly, Claude turned towards me and Sebastian. He wore a devilish grin on his face, which surprised me since he was usually very monotone.

''Please, come with me," I heard Sebastian utter again. But I didn't move. Something is off with Claude. My eyes drifted towards his hand, and I saw there was blood on his glove. Fear rushed though me. That's my blood. He started licking his lips, his smirk not wavering.

''Michaelis,'' Claude began, ''that girl is not from this world. Her blood…is different. I never tasted anything like that before. Perhaps if you leave her here with me, we could work out an arrangement so she can get her necklace back.'' Then Claude pulled out three golden knives from his suit and held them in the air.

Sebastian smiled and slid in front of me. ''Actually Claude, Lady Cynthia and I have a dance to get to. After all, she came here to enjoy the ball.'' Claude threw the knives at Sebastian, but before they could hit him, he scooped me up, and started charging to the ballroom.

As soon as we got there, Sebastian placed me down and escorted me onto the dance floor.

''Stay close to me my lady, and I can assure that you will be safe.'' he said. Normally I wouldn't have had any problems following those orders, but memories of the cloth with the blood stains on it came to mind. What if Sebastian had tasted my blood too? But I knew I couldn't do anything about it at that moment.

The music began and Sebastian pulled me closer to him. Despite my worries, I felt myself getting into the dance. At that point I wasn't sure which was louder, the music or my heartbeat.

''You dance quite well for someone who only had their first ball dancing lesson yesterday.'' Sebastian commented as we came out of a turn.

''Thanks,'' I responded, gracefully gliding into next side step. Before I knew it, I was not only getting absorbed into the dance, but into my dance partner as well. He looks so nice up close, I thought.Just looks at his gorgeous hair, and his eyes…

Then I looked away. No. Don't start falling for him now. As I stepping to the side in unison with my partner, I took in a deep breath. I knew what I needed to do. ''Sebastian,'' I began, ''Claude tasted my blood…right?''

''I'm afraid so, my lady.'' Sebastian replied.

''What about you?" I continued. "Yesterday I saw you had that cloth in your pocket…the one with my blood stains on it. That made me wonder…did you taste my blood too?''

Sebastian sighed and said, ''Yes. I did as well."

That's when everything around me suddenly felt like it was going to cave in. Two demons had gotten a taste of my blood. And there wasn't anything I could do about it.