* Glad it's finally the weekend! Between work and sleep, I haven't had much time to sit down and really work on this. Exciting things are starting to happen though! ALSO, I have been taking notes and writing things here and there for a prequel to this story. It would take place in the time before/during Sebastian's contract with Ciel. Quite a few ideas, and I am trying to decide on the way I am going to tie it into this one.

* TRIGGER WARNING: This is the second half of the flashback from earlier. Please skip the flashback part if reference to suicide will upset you.

Sebastian held Violet in his arms as they lay in bed. She had fallen asleep after their rather passionate activities. He ran his hand up her arm, and the memories flooded through again, like a broken dam.

* Flashback *

"Why, kitten… why would you do this to yourself, because of me…?" Sebastian whispered softly, running his hands over Violet's wounded arms.

The deep cuts that had been there were now gone as he removed his hands from her skin, leaving nothing but very faint scars. He brought his wrist to his mouth and pierced the skin with his fangs, then moved it to Violet's mouth so the blood dripped easily into her throat.

"This will help you recover quickly," he said, knowing she couldn't hear him. Somehow, talking out loud to her still-lifeless body was comforting.

After sealing the puncture marks on his wrist, Sebastian proceeded to carefully wash the dried blood away from her arms with a cloth, observing her pulse slowly getting stronger. Some color started returning to her face, and her breathing became deeper.

He stood up and carried her back out into her bedroom, where Mey-Rin had changed the bedding, and Finny had cleaned up any messes left anywhere around it.

"How is she?" Finny asked.

"She'll make a full recovery, in time. Mey-Rin, will you please put her in a fresh change of clothes? I have to go speak with Leon." Sebastian said, feeling the sadness start creeping over him again as he set the girl down on her bed.

He'll probably banish me forever from this manor, now.

"Yes, sir," Mey-Rin replied.

Finny followed Sebastian out into the hallway, closing the door behind them.

"Mr. Sebastian, Violet needs you here. You've got to make Leon and Carol understand that," Finny pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes. "We've all been so worried about her, and then this happened. They can't send you away again, they just can't!"

Sebastian headed downstairs and down the hall, arriving to the door of the study. The door was open, and Leon sat at his desk, looking remorseful, and Carol sat by the fireplace, staring blankly into the flames. He walked over and stood in front of Leon's desk.

"We thought we would give her time to grieve… figured she would come around eventually. We never thought she would try anything like this." Leon said, not really looking up from his desk. "We made a mistake."

Sebastian stood there, feeling sadness being replaced by anger all over again. "A mistake… a MISTAKE? It took Violet being seconds away from death for you to realize that?!" he growled. "I TOLD YOU she would be in danger!"

"We didn't know she would be a danger to herself," Leon said, remaining unphased by his anger. "I admit it. She does need you, after all. You've been by her side her whole life. It was wrong of us to think we could change that."

Sebastian felt his anger dissipating, at the sound of these words. "What are you saying…?"

Leon finally looked up at him. "We would like for you to come back and return to Violet. If she feels so strongly about you that she tries to take her own life in your absence, we're in no position to change that." When Sebastian said nothing, he spoke again. "Well? Do we have a deal?"

"Of course," Sebastian replied with a bow, hiding a shocked, small, but victorious smirk.

"Sebastian. There's one more thing." Carol suddenly spoke, standing from the chair by the fireplace. "Normally, I would never consider this. But I don't want her to have to carry the burden of these events, in addition to everything else she's been through."

"What are you getting at, woman?" Leon asked from his desk.

"I… I think we should erase the memories of this from her mind before she wakes."

"Are you mad?!" Leon barked.

"I don't want her to remember such pain!" Carol cried. "She has enough to deal with as it is-"

"Please. Spare me your sugar coated concerns. You just don't want her to remember your… what did you call it? Mistake. The only thing you're worried about is that Violet may just hate you both and loathe you for trying to remove me from her life. Understandable. I daresay, having one being in this room that already feels that way is enough." Sebastian said, eyes glowing. "Nonetheless, I will complete your desire, as I myself do not want her to remember the fact that I failed to defy your wishes and return sooner. What kind of demon leaves his young mate to get so close to the edge of death…?" He said the last part more to himself than anyone else, as he shook his head and left the study to go back to Violet.

He found Mey-Rin sitting beside her bed, putting a cool cloth on Violet's forehead.

"Mey-Rin, you are excused. I can take it from here. Thank you," Sebastian said.

"Yessir!" Mey-Rin blushed. She stood and quickly but quietly hurried by Sebastian and out the door, closing it behind her.

Sebastian sat beside Violet and rest his hand on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry you had to go through this. I'm sorry you are unaware of our bond. I'm sorry your aunt and uncle are determined to break it. And I'm sorry for having to do this… but you would be better off not remembering any of this," he spoke softly.

With that, the room filled with darkness as Sebastian started erasing the last couple weeks from her memory.

- The next morning -

Sebastian had stayed by Violet's side all night, in case she woke up. Thankfully, she slept peacefully through the night.

Might as well carry on as usual, as though nothing ever happened, he thought to himself, as the clock showed a little after 8am. He stood and went to pull the curtains back, but caught a glimpse of his reflection in a nearby mirror. His hair was disheveled, tie undone, shirt wrinkled and stained. This will not do at all. I look a disgraceful mess.

After a few swift movements of his hands, he looked back in the mirror. That's better.

Pulling a fresh pair of white gloves from inside his tailcoat and slipping them on, he approached the window, pulled back the curtains, and turned towards the sleeping Violet.

"My lady, it is time to wake up."

Violet groaned, sluggishly rolled over, and sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "I feel like I've been asleep for days."

Sebastian's eyes briefly flashed. You have no idea, kitten.

* End of flashback *

He rest his cheek on the top of Violet's head, inhaling the scent of lilac from her hair and closing his eyes.

I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you, he thought. I imagine the guilt would be several times worse than what I carry around now.

Careful not to wake her, Sebastian got out of bed, got dressed, then opened the window and hopped up onto the ledge.

"I shall return before you wake up, my love," he said quietly before jumping out into the night.

- Next morning -

"I forgot… I got something last night that could possibly help us out," Violet said, picking the bag up from where she'd tossed it last night. She pulled the shorts from it and held them up. Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Shorts?"

"Yes. But I noticed something. Look…" she held them out for him and pointed to an area. "See that tiny blood spot?"

Sebastian looked closer. Sure enough, there was a dot of blood the size of a needle point on the waistband.

"Ah, I see. I'm impressed that you caught that small detail."

In the blink of an eye, he had set up a small work area containing a computer and several devices attached to it.

"Please, allow me to run that sample through the international DNA database to see if it matches any of our missing persons," he said, retrieving the shorts from Violet and setting them on the desk. He took a dropper and dripped some liquid onto the spot, then gathered it back up and dripped it onto a thin film disk before inserting it into one of the devices. The computer screen flashed through several photos and bits of text, as the progress bar slowly filled. After a moment, the "Complete" status flashed, with a "View Results" button below it.

"How do you know how to do this stuff?" Violet asked, recalling some of the TV shows she'd seen about forensics.

He snickered and placed a finger under his eye as he spoke. "Do you forget how long I've been around? One does get bored after a while, when all the chores are done and preparations made… there is so much knowledge to be acquired. Even more so now, than there used to be."

"Yeh, I do tend to forget… how old are you, anyway?"

Her question fell on deaf ears, though, as Sebastian clicked to see the results. As they loaded, he picked up a file folder that sat on a table near the window.

"I paid a late night visit to the queen last night to gather some things that would be more helpful to the case. These are the files and photos of the missing women so far." He stated, handing Violet the folder. "If this sample matches any of them, we'll know we are going in the right direction with the investigation."

Violet opened the folder and thumbed through the files while Sebastian focused on the computer screen, reviewing the results.

"And it looks as though we have a match. Miss Emily Hayes. 23 years old. Reported missing last month by a friend. She has only one surviving relative, a younger sister named… Abigail."

Violet looked up and gasped as she saw the two photos on the screen. One of a woman with straight, shoulder-length blonde hair, and another younger girl with long, wavy brown hair. "Abby?! She never told me her sister was missing… or that she even had one…!" She thumbed through the files faster and removed the one she was looking for. "Why wouldn't she mention that? We tell each other everything."

"Hmm… yes, that is rather suspicious," Sebastian thought aloud, taking the file.

"No, I meant it's weird that it never came up, as much as we've told each other. I mean, you don't honestly think she would have any connection to all of this, do you? That's just too asinine."

"It's too soon to say, but it is a bit too odd to ignore…" Sebastian stood, and with a few swift movements, the equipment disappeared again. "It would make a little more sense, pertaining to the findings of my investigation of the shop last night, though. I snuck in through the loading area we observed yesterday, which leads to a basement. There were several doors chained shut from the outside, so I assume whatever is kept behind those doors is not meant to escape. A single stainless steel table stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by shelves of various medical equipment. My suspicion is that experiments are being performed on the women. What the nature of them are, I haven't figured out yet."

"I have no idea how you could make a connection to Abby with just that. Did you look in the rooms that were chained shut?"

"I don't want to say anything about that until I know for sure. I know she is your friend, after all. Unfortunately, no, I didn't look in the rooms. I figured it was too soon to draw such attention. There were a few men guarding the area, though it seems they were passed out after consuming large amounts of alcohol."

"Well, they sound reliable," Violet muttered. "I guess we should go back tonight."

"Actually, I think it would be best if we go out and try to get some answers from people on the streets, before we go to the shop again." Sebastian said.

"Damn… I was afraid you'd say that."

Once again, Violet was back in her skimpy clothes and walking down an alley towards the block over from the last bar she'd hung around in front of. Sebastian was keeping a close watch from the roofs. Even with that, she felt uneasy, like she was being followed by someone other than him.

There's someone following you. I'll keep an eye on him. You walk faster, there appears to be a few men coming down the block. You should try them.

She jumped, startled, but kept walking and looked up, searching the roof tops. "Ay, you try running in heels like this!" she responded loudly, even though someone was apparently stalking her.

This must have amused him, because she heard a low chuckle in her mind. If you only knew. You'll see soon. Also, don't talk out loud, you'll look a bit odd, being alone. Talk to me through your mind like this.

You should have told me this was even possible, she thought back. What's the status on the creeper following me?

Really now, calling your beloved husband a creeper? I'm just watching out for you, he replied, clearly just messing with her now.

Ugh… the guy you said is following me. She rolled her eyes.

He stopped, he's just standing in the middle of the alley right now.

Heh, that's not shady at all… Violet replied, feeling a chill run through her.

She rounded the corner and almost ran right into a group of three men, who were obviously drunk.

That's them. Talk to them. See if you can get one of them back to the inn, Sebastian instructed her.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Any of you looking for some fun tonight?" she asked, switching to her hooker demeanor.

"Aye, it's my birthday! Do I get a discount?" the guy in the middle asked cheekily.

He's walking slowly towards you now.

Violet cautiously glanced down the alley out of the corner of her eye. There was a dark figure slowly making its way down, as Sebastian said. "I'll do you one better. How about a freebie?"

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" the man said. His buddies clapped him on the back and went into a nearby bar, telling him to meet them there when he was done.

"Great! Come on, let's go." She headed away from the alley and down the road that wound around to the one the inn was on, with the man in tow.

I got him. We're going back to the inn, she thought to Sebastian.

Your creeper must have lost interest, he's going the opposite direction now. I'll meet you there shortly.