Hello, everyone~
Everyone really seemed to like the last chapter. That makes me really happy… seeing as I was kind of freaked out that the hunting part sucked. I hope everyone likes this one too :D
JellyMazzy: Yes, her eyes do change color like our Dear ol' Sebby's :) I explain it a bit more in this chapter
Onward, Sebby!
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Sam blinked. Sebastian smirked. The man continued to wail.
The strawberry blonde leaned closer to the man and he whimpered, swinging the gun in a wild arc so that it was pointed directly at her forehead.
"I'm a God fearin' man! Don't touch me! Don't come near me!" he shrieked. The man glanced up at her and shuddered. "Stop looking at me with those Goddamn eyes!"
Sam blinked again, more owlishly this time.
"My eyes?" she murmured, glancing at Sebastian. He smiled down at her.
"I must say, they look lovely. Red truly suits you."
"Are they another part of the transformation?" she asked curiously. "Will they be like your eyes? You know, only changing during certain times? I think my mom would have a heart attack if she saw me with glowing red eyes…"
"Yes, they are like my own eyes in a way. The color change was triggered by the hunt… which I believe we should return to," he smirked. He glanced down at the cowering human, cruel grin spreading across his lips. "I pity you a bit... Even if you came far too close to my mate… A first hunt is always sloppy and fairly painful for the prey… particularly if the hunter hasn't fully grown into their demonic genes. I wonder what will happen… Will your limbs be severed when the process begins, or shall your insides be the first to go?"
The man blanched in terror, eyes widening even more as he continued to shudder and sweat.
"P-Please! Have mercy on me!"
"So sorry, but someone has to feed her," Sebastian smiled. He turned to Sam who looked absolutely sick and gently nudging her forward before taking a step back. "Follow your instincts and it should be fairly simple. Try not to make too much of a mess."
Sam nodded shakily and slowly leaned in.
Instincts? She thought sourly. What instincts? I'm not a demon, even if I am becoming one like Sebastian said… Maybe if I just… Her eyes focused on the man more intently. She swallowed heavily. Damn it all… There's no way that I can do this. Just look at the guy! Sure, he's a total sexist, pig, but he's still a living, breathing, human with a family and future. He's terrified out of his mind and…
Her thoughts trailed off as her eyes caught sight of a tiny flicker of brilliant emerald green glimmering just beneath the man's murky grey irises.
That's… pretty…
Sam focused on the bright light and it began to increase in size. Within moments, the man's face had been swallowed up by a large, floating orb of sparkling, green, flames.
Sam leaned forward, closer to the fire. It smelled like food- like roasting hot peppers, fine meat, and sharp cheese. Her mouth watered.
I wonder what it tastes like…
She opened her mouth and inhaled. The flames rushed down her awaiting throat and Sam smiled, inner turmoil long forgotten. All she could think of was the brilliant, flickering, green flames. It tastes just as good as it smells. Maybe this is what Sebastian meant about different types of people having different flavors of souls.
Too quickly, the fire grew smaller and smaller until the brilliant emerald flames had vanished. The strawberry blonde licked her lips with a contented sigh, feeling fuller and more refreshed than she had for a long time. I guess eating a full soul isn't all that bad… I'm glad I listened to Sebastian.
She blinked slowly and shook her head in an attempt to clear the fog from her mind. Everything was blurred, the colors around her running together into one, monochromatic blob. She blinked again and her vision cleared.
Sam gagged and her mouth fell open, eyes wide in disbelief as they focused on the horrendous, gory mess around her. Blood was splattered in large, oddly shaped arcs across the brick walls and all over the ground. The man's corpse was mangled beyond recognition and lay scattered around the alley in bloody chunks. She took a step backwards and the ground squished beneath her. Sam paled, falling shakily to her knees.
"My, my. You've made quite a mess of your food, Sam," Sebastian chuckled.
"W-What happened?" She choked. "I-I didn't do this, did I? I couldn't have! All I did was-"
"-suck his soul from his body," Sebastian filled in. "It's fine though. A first time meal is always sloppy. You would have no prior knowledge of how to properly extract a soul, so it simply all flew out of his body at once when you began to eat it." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, bemused. "Though you must have been far more ravenous than I'd thought. The poor fellow practically imploded from the inside out."
Sam gagged.
Sebastian sighed and placed an arm around her waist, helping her to her feet.
"Perhaps we should return to the hotel room so that you can lie down."
Sam nodded shakily and raised a hand to her forehead.
"I feel… light headed… nauseous…" She glanced back over at the man's remains and her face went green. "I think I'm gonna' be sick…"
"It's to be expected. A first, complete, soul is a hefty load for the stomach to take in… not to mention how fast you gobbled it down. I wouldn't be surprised if you became stomach sick later on tonight. You need to learn to eat slowly," he sighed, chastising her lightly.
That's not why I'm going to lose my breakfast… She blanched, trying to ignore the coppery scent all around her.
"Will do…" Sam muttered, gazing down at her blood stained clothing. She took a step forward and her knees buckled. She looked back up at Sebastian. "Will you carry me? …please? I don't think I can make it…"
Sebastian nodded with an amused smirk and hoisted the strawberry blonde into his arms.
"Thank you," she murmured, burrowing her face into his trench coat.
"It's not a problem, I assure you."
"Good," Sam whispered, black swimming around the edges of her vision, "because I think I'm about to pass out…"
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Sam sighed as she eased herself into the hot bath water, closing her eyes. She counted to fifteen slowly in her head, and sure enough, the bathroom door slid upon with a barely audible 'click.' The strawberry blonde sank further into the warn water with a light blush, thankful that the hotel's bubble bath created a layer of white, foamy, bubbles so thick that there was no way Sebastian could see anything underneath it.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like crap," she grumbled, clutching at her rebelling stomach underneath the water. "I'm never eating another soul again."
"Nonsense. You don't want to starve, do you?" Sebastian asked. "This sickness is only temporary. You're stomach will become used to your new diet in time."
Sam opened her eyes to peer at the demon through her lashes.
"Yeah, but how much time?"
"Patience, Sam."
"Damn it… that usually means a long, long, long time," she groaned, letting her head fall back against the edge of the tub.
"You must learn to eat slowly," Sebastian sighed, pulling off his gloves and rolling up his sleeves. "Even for a human, eating too quickly can upset the stomach."
Sam nodded half heartedly and closed her eyes again. She sighed contently when Sebastian began rubbing shampoo into her hair. His fingers massaged her scalp and Sam smiled.
"I'm glad you were a butler."
"Oh, why's that?"
"Because now you know how to take care of a person perfectly. It may sound a bit weird- if not selfish- but it's nice to take advantage of that and be pampered… especially when you feel like something a cat just hacked up."
Sebastian chuckled.
"It's strange…" Sam mumbled. "A week ago I wouldn't dare let you in here with me… Does becoming a demon really change a person that much?"
Sebastian shrugged, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.
"Not necessarily. The demon part of you is simply more comfortable around me than your corresponding human part was." Sebastian reached over, grabbing a bar of soap off of the counter. "May I see your arm?"
Sam nodded, lifting her arm from underneath the wall of suds. Sebastian began working on removing one of the numerous blotches of dried blood from her skin.
"I wasn't comfortable around you?" she asked, trying to restart the conversation and not focus on the red hue slowly diffusing through the bath water.
"It was perfectly natural of your human nature. Many humans cannot feel completely comfortable around a demon no matter how close he or she is to that demon. It is a… a gut instinct, if you will. A gut feeling instilled into their consciousness by God that we are not to be interacted with."
Sam nodded.
"I see… But then why do so most people-well… females- fawn over you so much? If they feel repelled, why does that happen? …And I don't think that I've ever felt uncomfortable around you in situations that weren't, you know, intimate. Mey-Rin and the other two didn't seem like they did either."
Sebastian frowned lightly in thought, moving onto her other arm.
"How to explain… It's more of a light warning. For you, it was your wish to not interact with me sexually," Sam blushed, sinking further into the bubbles, "because your conscious considered it a sin. Many other females, I assume your cousins would be a prime example from how you described them, ignore that feeling that they are committing a sin. They know they are wrong and revel in that fact."
"Oh, okay," Sam sighed, letting her arm fall back into the water. "I guess that makes a sense… a little bit."
"Lean forward."
The strawberry blonde nodded and leaned over, allowing Sebastian to wash stray bits of blood off her back. His hands paused at her lower back and Sam shivered, feeling his fingers trace lightly over the skin there.
"W-What is it?"
Even though she couldn't see the demon, the smug aura he exuded was enough to let her know that a wide smirk was spread over his lips. She felt his chin move to rest lightly on her shoulder.
"It's nice to see my mark on you. I don't believe that I have ever had the chance to see you this exposed, so I've unfortunately never been able to view it for myself."
Sam paused, brow furrowing in thought.
Mark? What mark…? Oh! That's right! I forgot all about that! She blinked, thoughts trailing back to the abbey and Sarah.
"It must have been there for a while," Sam commented. "My sister pointed it out to me when I had to be cleansed for that stupid abbey… Now when I think back on it, it was a really good thing I made her send the other nuns out of the bathroom. They probably would have flipped out if they saw it."
"How did your sister react?"
Sam shrugged.
"Like Sarah always acts- factual and indifferent… Well, not so much indifferent as curious about it but not actually, you know, worried about my wellbeing."
Sebastian chuckled.
"I see. I suppose that it only reinforced her hatred of me."
"At the time it probably did… but Sarah kind of, in a very not direct way, implied that she approved of you."
Sebastian nodded slightly and stepped back, drying his hands and sliding them back into his gloves. Sam glanced over at him.
"I just noticed something... That weird symbol thing on your hand is gone," she commented absentmindedly.
"That was the sign of the Faustian contract between myself and Ciel Phantomhive. Now that the contract is no longer in effect, it has faded."
"I see…"
Sebastian grabbed a fluffy, white towel from the neat stack on the counter and offered it to her. The strawberry blonde arched an eyebrow at him. When she didn't take it, the demon frowned.
"What is it?"
"If you expect me to climb out of the tub butt naked while you're standing not even three feet away from me, you are sorely mistaken."
Sebastian sighed.
"I'll close me eyes."
"Ha, ha. Ha, ha. Sure you will."
"Sam, I thought we just had a nice conversation the other day on how much of a 'prude' you were and how you promised to 'work on it.'"
The strawberry blonde flushed.
"That was yesterday! And if I must say, I've made some monumental improvements since then! …But I will not, I repeat- will NOT, lose all my dignity over the course of twenty four hours!"
"Lose your dignity?" Sebastian repeated.
"Yes! Jumping out of a tub in the nude in front of another person- someone of the opposite gender no less- is not exactly dignified," Sam spat, cheeks a deep shade of ruby red.
Sebastian sighed before a light smirk spread across his lips.
"Do husbands and wives not act in the same way?"
Sam frowned in confusion as Sebastian moved closer to her, again resting his chin on her shoulder.
"What?"
"I'm fairly certain that human couples have no qualms about being around one other without clothing. Why should we be any different? You are my mate after all… though not quite in the literal sense yet…" he grinned, burying his nose into her neck. "I suppose I'll have to fix that soon…"
Sam spluttered, face hotter than she could ever remember it being. We are not talking about this right now! Not when I'm naked in the bath tub!
…So you'd consider talking about it another time, her thoughts mocked her.
No…! Well… maybe… GAH! He's warping my mind!
No, that's not it. It's simply the fact that you're a girl who happens to be in love with a really, really, handsome guy… who probably has a really good idea of what he's doing.
SHUT IT, BRAIN!
"What are you thinking about?"
"N-Nothing…"
"Oh, really?" Sebastian smirked. "Would you care if I pushed you on that?"
Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.
Sam squeaked when she felt Sebastian's lips on her neck. She shuddered, clenching her eyes shut.
Do something, self! You're not going to be able to fight off your stupid hormones much longer!
Sam's eyes flickered around the room in panic and focused on the discarded towel a few feet away from Sebastian's feet. Judging by the fact that she could feel Sebastian smirking against her neck, he wouldn't expect her to try anything. To him, she must have looked as good as trapped. Could she make it to the towel in time without being seen? No way. But it was worth a shot.
The strawberry blonde took a deep breath before surging forward and out of the tub. She snagged the towel and wrapped it quickly around herself, fumbling to keep it from falling. She turned back to Sebastian with a prideful grin after the piece of fabric was firmly secured around her chest. He looked absolutely shocked.
Sam burst out laughing. Sebastian didn't move, only to continued to stare straight ahead with wide eyes.
"That brief flash was completely worth the look on your face!" she cackled, sprinting out of the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her, doing a small victory dance. "FREEDOM!"
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Sam flipped through the worn pages of her book absentmindedly, eyes scanning the words briefly without really focusing on what the actual plot was. Sebastian sat across from her, shuffling through a pile of papers that Claude had left on the table for him. Sam glanced up at him for a second before returning to flipping pages.
The demon had been almost completely mute since his strawberry blonde companion had made her daring bathroom escape. Sam had held the peaceful silence, choosing instead to flip through a worn copy of Frankenstein she'd found on the hotel room's bookshelf. She didn't like Victor that much. Even though he could act brave and unbeatable, he ultimately seemed like a coward to her; however, she wasn't sure if she really sympathized with the monster either.
Sam put the book down with a sigh and uncurled her legs, stretching leisurely.
"What did Claude leave for you?"
"It's basically a list," Sebastian answered, red-brown eyes continuing to rove over the page. "It's all the things we still have to do before going to Hell."
Sam blanched.
"That's four pages long!"
Sebastian arched an eyebrow at her.
"And?"
"How the heck did Claude think we'd be on our way to Hell in three days?" Sam frowned.
"Two more days actually if you choose not to count today."
"Okay, two days," she corrected herself, rolling her eyes. She moved to look over his shoulder. "How could we possibly get through that whole list in forty-eight hours?"
"You've already completed a good portion of it," Sebastian replied, pointing out all the things he'd crossed off. "All together, there's a good four of five things that had to be done. The bulk of this list are the small things that build up to each of those five big things. For example, the hunt is one. Some requirements from that are to find your prey, to lure it in, to eat the soul, etcetera. Each of those things is on the list. Plus, half of the things have to be taken care of by the representatives."
Sam nodded, looking over the list.
"What's 'deconform?'" she asked.
"You were baptized as a child, correct?"
She nodded.
"My parents are Catholic."
" 'Deconform' is basically the process of un-baptizing you. It's a process that's been happening slowly for a while now. It will be completed in about forty-two hours… when Claude said you can officially enter Hell."
"Is there anything else that I have to do?"
Sebastian nodded and flipped to the last paper.
"You'll have to get approval from other demons living in the fifth layer. All young demons must gain approval from them if they are to be allowed past the fifth layer."
"Didn't you tell me that your family lives in that layer?" Sam asked. "I think you said the fifth layer and the… eighth layer. Right?"
"Correct."
"When can I meet them?"
Sebastian sighed, placing the papers back on the table. He stood, facing her with a closed-eyed smile.
"It's fairly late. We should go to sleep."
Sam frowned but climbed into bed. She stayed silent as Sebastian got comfortable under the covers before rolling over onto her side to face him.
"Why are you so adamant about me not meeting your family?" she asked. "Do you not like them…? Did you have a fight with them or something?"
"I care for my family and we have no long-lasting disagreements..."
"Then what's the problem?" Sam scowled. Her glare slowly softened and disappeared when she noticed Sebastian's firm gaze. "Me?" she whispered hoarsely. "I'm the problem?"
He smiled sadly at her.
"I have no problem with the fact that you were born a human, Sam; however, my parents…"
"They don't like humans," she surmised.
"We are what you'd consider a 'noble' family, I suppose. Our destined mates have always been a demon of equal status. They don't know that I've found my soul mate, but if they found out they would to try and find me again."
"And when they do…"
"You'll be with me."
"Ah…" Sam frowned, wringing the sheets nervously between her hands. "And that's bad…"
"Yes."
She sighed, rolling onto her stomach.
"Great. My family loves you to death and your family would want to put me to death."
"I suppose."
Sam frowned, curling into Sebastian's side.
"This is so stupid. They shouldn't give a damn about who I am as long as your happy," she seethed. "That's how a family is supposed to treat each other. I'd gladly kick some sense into them. You shouldn't have to be ashamed that your soul mate was a human."
He sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"I know."
Sam stayed silent for a moment, thinking.
"What's the worst they could do to me… your family I mean. If we ever met, what's the worst that could happen?"
"I'm not quite sure… I would protect you."
Sam smiled, burying her face into Sebastian's chest.
"Thank you…" She trailed off, continuing to ponder. "So… Theoretically, I could meet them and survive? Do you think I'd be able to cause a little chaos?"
Sebastian frowned.
"Sam-"
"Theoretically," she emphasized. "I just want to know."
"I suppose… Yes, you would most likely survive."
Sam grinned.
Then bring it on.
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Ah, Sam. She's getting herself in wayyyy over her head. Some parts of this chapter I liked and some parts I just didn't at ALL :P I hope you guys liked it though ^^
Until next week~
