"Miss?" Someone nudged me. My eyes snapped open and I looked up from the bench I was laying on. A blanket had been placed on me. "Are you alright?" I recognized this person...but who was it? And, why was I out the night before? Who was I looking for? Maybe Alois would know-wait! Alois...Oh-h-h-h that's right! I was looking for Alois, Sebastian, and Claude. And Claude was the man standing before me(I have blonde moments, okay?!).
"C-Claude!" I burst into tears and leaped into his arms. He looked confused, but I kept on. "I lost you and Sebastian and Alois. And Ciel came and said that everything wasn't real...and...oh Claude...please, you've got to remember! You've got to!"
"I beg your pardon? What in God's name are you talking about...what do I have to remember?" He asked quietly.
"You have to remember me. When I met you. Our conversation on that plane. I know you, Claude. You are a demon and you don't show emotion. Ever. Except for when you're around Alois. You're in love with her. A-And you're Sebastian's friend. And I love Sebastian. And Sebastian loves me. Plea-a-ase remember." I said suddenly and then everything was dead quiet. The only thing I heard was my own heartbeat.
"Ciel Phantomhive...we need to talk." Claude picked me up and carried me across the street. He placed me into the back of his taxi cab.
We'd driven at least five miles out of the town when Claude pulled to the side of the road. He turned around and hopped into the backseat with me. "Now...I'm going to explain this once and only once. Sebastian and Alois are testing you. I was going to pull through with it, but I just couldn't. I just couldn't see you broken like that."
"What are they supposed to be testing?" I asked, my eyes widening.
"They want to see if you are capable to survive without them."
"Well, that's stupid. They already know I can't." I said.
"They want you to prove them wrong. Therefore, Alois is going to school tomorrow and so are you. Just show them that you can survive. Show them that you're strong." Claude said shortly.
He drove me home and gave me a hug. I said my goodbyes and went in the house. The environment was different...calmer. It wasn't nerve rattling like before.
"Glad you're back." I looked over to see Layla laying on my couch reading the newspaper.
"How in the hell did you get in here?!" I asked.
"I'm good with picking locks. Ready to get some violin in?" When she said that, I remembered her saying that Sebastian and Alois didn't know me. I wasn't going to say anything though. It was probably best not to let any of them that I knew.
"Yeah, sure." I grabbed my violin, which I had laid against the side of the armchair.
Layla and I spent the next few hours playing little nursery tunes. She'd taught me some theory and rhythms, so I thought my brain was about to explode. I have to admit, the violin is very pretty-sounding. It has a ring that is like a guitar and a vibraphone mixed together. And the chill that the vibration sends you is amazing.
"Alright...we can quit for today. I can't come back for about two weeks. So...keep calm and stay strong. Stay gold, too. You're beautiful. Bye!" Layla said joyfully and then walked out the front door.
I looked at the clock. Ten o'clock. "I should be getting to bed." I said to myself. "Sheeba!" I yelled to the dog, wanting to take her out one last time. She came jogging into the room with her nose held high. Silly dog.
I let her out in the backyard and opened up her doggy-door and headed for my bathroom. As I walked down the narrow upstairs hallway, I noticed every little thing. Alois' room was dark and unwelcoming. Her bed was made up neat, as if it had never been touched. Oh, wait...that's right...'it never was touched.' I smiled at my own sarcasm.
After taking a long, hot shower, I climbed into my bed and clapped off the light. I was nearly asleep when Sebastian's face popped into my mind. Silent tears ran down my face as I thought about not having him there to hold me. I didn't have his love anymore...just because he wanted to 'test' me. And, I can say, that test...well...it was worse than finals. And finals were pretty bad for me.
"I'll always be there for you..." Sebastian's words fluttered into my mind. He'd said it to me when we were at a café once. He was making a statement to me of his love.
"He'll always be there for me. What a pitiful lie." I muttered sourly.
Sebastian had lied to me. 'I'll always be there for you' was a lie. It was a lie that I believed. Why couldn't I have been someone else. Anyone else. Someone who didn't have to deal with stupid lies from a demon. Someone whose ancestor did make a contract with Satan himself. Someone who didn't fall in love with a person who was only going to hurt them.
That's right...I fell in love with someone who was only bound to hurt me. Maybe he didn't mean to, but he did. And, even with him being a thousand years old, he still didn't know how long a couple words could stay in a girl's mind. He didn't understand me. He was acting just like everyone else. For example, he was like someone telling a cutter to stop cutting, or an anorexic to eat a cake, or a homeless person to get a room. He was saying stuff that he didn't mean...that he didn't understand. And, truthfully, that pissed me off. Big time.
My eyes dried and I summoned all my inner hatred. All the hatred I'd bundled up over the years was finally going to come out. But, I was going to try to make it come out in my sleep. So, I fell asleep, right then and there, awaiting the nightmares that beckoned me.