"The stars can influence the devils themselves . . . Certain men who are called lunatics are molested by devils more at one time than at another; and the devils . . . would rather molest them at all times, unless they themselves were deeply affected by certain phases of the moon." - Malleus Maleficarum

Ciel had given up on trying to get to sleep. Ever since Tanaka had gotten him settled into bed, he had been sitting there against his pillows clutching the pistol he'd taken from Sebastian's room with his eyes locked on the door. He was nervous, unable to get the image of those burning eyes out of his head. He remembered the note that had been left under the gun, and as he glanced out of his bedroom window he could see the moon glowing bright red, and the shade of it seemed to grow darker as time passed.

None of Ciel's questions had been answered, making him that much more nervous. On top of that, new questions were beginning to surface. Why had Sebastian's cats been so scared? What exactly darted under the butler's bed when he had turned around? Who or what did those pair of eyes belong to? Most importantly, where was Sebastian?

Ciel knew that Tanaka's statement, that the butler was still doing his nightly rounds, was a blatant lie. If that had been the case, he would have at least seen or heard him walking around. If that had been the case, that gun and the note underneath it wouldn't have been there. If that were the case, it would have been Sebastian that would have found him and brought him back to his chambers. If that had been the case . . .

If that had been the case, Tanaka wouldn't have locked his door again just before he left.

Something was going on with Sebastian. Something that would put Ciel's life in immediate danger if he left his room. Tanaka hadn't asked him to leave behind the peculiar pistol. That had to mean that Ciel was meant to find it. He was meant to find the note, and Tanaka was meant to bring the earl back to his bed chambers once he had.

Ciel moved to tuck the pistol underneath his pillow when something caught his attention. It was the sound of footsteps approaching his bedroom door, yet the earl couldn't identify who they belonged to. Sebastian's gate was very prominent; a loud but steady tapping sound that shoes often made against hardwood floors, like those of the hallway outside. Tanaka's footsteps were nearly silent when he wasn't in his able servant form, and when he was they sounded similar to Sebastian's, but just a touch quieter. They were not the uncoordinated clicks of Mey-Rin's shoes, nor were they the thunderous stomps from Bard. They weren't Finny's or Pluto's . . . so whose were they?

The closer the footsteps got, the more Ciel began to realize that they sounded less like those of a human, and more like those of a wounded animal; an uneasy shuffling sound that was just trying to hurry along its way. They were two doors down from his room . . . then one door . . . then they were right outside . . .

And then, silence . . .

Ciel waited and listened. He could have sworn he could hear something breathing just on the other side of the door. It was as if whatever was out there knew Ciel was in there, and was just waiting for him to unlock the door. He clutched the pistol close to him once more as his eyes locked onto it. He saw the handle jiggle a few times, creating a sudden metallic rattling sound that made him jump. When whoever or whatever was outside realized that the door was locked, a persistent scratching started up. It was the kind of scratching sound a dog's paws produced when it was separated from it's owner. However, the only dog in the Phantomhive family was the demon hound Pluto, and Pluto had been taught well that scratching on doors in a desperate plea for attention warranted him a ruthless beating from Sebastian. On top of that, Sebastian always made Pluto sleep outside. It couldn't have been him.

After a few minutes of this, the pacing of the scratching changed; less animal-like, and more . . . human. Fingers with prominent nails dug deep into the wood of the door, sending an unpleasant grinding sound throughout the room. Ciel's heart raced as he worked up the nerve to climb out of bed and approach his door. His pistol was in front of him, finger over the trigger and ready to shoot. It seemed to be his only protection against what was trying to get in.

Ciel pressed himself against the door knob and waited, giving his racing heart time to slow down a bit and for the hand that clutched the gun to stop shaking. Slowly, he bent over and peered into the hallway through the keyhole in his door.

What he saw made him jump back and gasp in terror.

On the other side of the door, a large burning red eye gazed back at him. This time, though, he managed to get a good look at it. The eye was cat-like in appearance with a slitted pupil and a broad iris. The red it gave off appeared to be an aura; one that he was all too familiar with . . .

Whatever was sitting outside his door . . . whatever was grinding its nails against it to get in . . . whatever that thing was, it had to be Sebastian.

Ciel glanced out of his bedroom window once more. The Blood Moon was burning brighter than ever and was as red as freshly spilled blood. The shade of red must have held some influence on Sebastian's behavior, because as the shade of red deepened the demon's behavior became more aggressive. Now, it sounded like he was throwing himself against the door. Not as if he were trying to break it down. No, if that were the case, Sebastian could have easily torn the wooden oak door to splinters with his bare hands.

Sebastian wasn't trying to get in . . .

He was trying to scare Ciel out. He wanted the earl to be paralyzed with fear - unable to move or escape capture - or perhaps he was trying to get him to escape through the window, possibly resulting in an injury that could significantly slow him down. That would give Sebastian more than enough time to make his way out of the mansion and attack.

Ciel was no longer Sebastian's master. In the demon's eyes, he was prey . . .

. . . but he was prey that could also fight back, and the key to the door lay just under his right foot . . .

In one swift motion, Ciel stooped down and picked it up. He struggled once more to unlock the door, the constant banging making him jump and miss the specific position it took to fit the key into the keyhole. He found it just before the creature outside his door could throw itself into it again, and Ciel pulled it open quickly. He hid behind it as if it were a shield. In the moment where the creature's body should have impact with the door, he heard . . .

Nothing.

Everything went still; eerily so. There was no breathing, no rattling, no scratching, only silence. Ciel quickly moved out from behind the door and aimed the pistol into the doorway. The hallway outside was dark and empty. He stepped out of his room, pointing the gun left, right, up, and behind, and he still saw nothing. It was almost as if the past few minutes had all just been a dream. The only thing there was to prove it hadn't been was when he looked down and saw a multitude of jet black feathers scattered in front of the door. He pushed the door shut slightly to inspect the front of it, and saw long gouge marks carved into the wood. They moved in rows of five; five fingers, five very sharp claws, but whatever had made those marks, whatever owned the burning red eye he saw through the keyhole, was now gone.

Relaxing slightly, Ciel went back into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He went to climb back into bed, only to freeze when something brushed against one of his exposed ankles. A hot breath of air . . . the same one he had felt brush against his knee when he was in Sebastian's room. His heart started to race once more.

It was inside his bedroom.

Carefully, Ciel brought his leg up onto the bed and peered over the edge. The pistol was in front of him again, aimed at the floor where he had felt the breath come from.

"Quit messing around down there!" he ordered, "Come out here right now, Sebastian!"

The young earl half expected the butler's head to pop out from under his bed and turn to smile up at him with that cheeky grin of his. He'd expect him to say something like, "You caught me, Young Master!" or something else that would dismiss this whole night as Sebastian's sick idea of a joke. Sure, Ciel would have been annoyed if that were the case, but it was a much more pleasant of a thought than if he had a demon hunting him.

Ciel waited for what felt like hours before he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. As he turned his head around to look, he saw the shape of a feather gently floating down onto his bed. Another followed, then another, then two more. A minute later it was as if the feathers were raining down from the ceiling.

Ciel glanced up to find the source, only to be frozen in place once more with terror.

It wasn't the eyes that caught him off guard this time. It wasn't the dead gnarled hair, the deathly pale skin, or the clawed bony hands that were only inches away from being able to touch him. It was the set of yellow pointed teeth that were exposed by an eager devilish grin. It was the smell of death and disease that leaked out of him with each heaving breath. It was the slimy tongue that lolled out of his mouth and licked the corners of his deathly blue lips. It was the things Ciel had never, ever seen of Sebastian's demon form; his true form.

Ciel couldn't stop himself from letting out a horrified scream. He bolted from his bed and sprinted towards the door. Behind him, he heard the demon pounce on his bed and emit an enraged snarl. Ciel turned around and fired two shots him with the pistol. At first he thought the gun had been filled with nothing but blanks as he heard the gun go off, but felt no recoil and saw no flash from the bullet being shot out of the barrel. However, despite that, Sebastian's horrifying shape still writhed in agony as two bullet wounds appeared; one digging into his left shoulder, and the other one punching a hole into his abdomen.

The injuries bought Ciel enough time to get the door open and take off in a dead sprint down the hallway. He forced himself to move faster as he heard thunderous footsteps behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see Sebastian sprinting after him, and gaining ground fast.

As Ciel rounded a corner, something grabbed him and pulled him through a door. He found himself in the drawing room with Tanaka standing over him. The elderly servant stood over him with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you hurt, my young lord?" he asked, clutching the earl's shoulders.

Ciel shook his head, "Tanaka, what's going on? What's happening to Sebastian?"

Tanaka quickly moved towards the door and locked it.

"You read the note, didn't you?" The elderly servant asked, "The one you found with that pistol."

Ciel's eyes narrowed, "You know, don't you? You know about Sebastian."

Tanaka gave a small nod.

"For how long?"

"Ever since I came back to the estate, my lord. I know everything; about you summoning him, and about your contract."

Ciel's mind was racing. Sure, Tanaka simply sat around drinking tea most of the time. In fact, he was more of a mascot for the manor than a servant, really. Somehow he knew, even when Sebastian always seemed to be careful not to drop his human facade around the other servants.

"I've known from the moment the two of us met," Tanaka continued, "In fact, I suspected it from the moment I first laid eyes on him. I was a bit surprised when I first confronted him about it, but he assured me that he would bring no harm to you or to the other servants in the house. He was there to fulfill your contract; nothing more, and nothing less. I don't know how smart it is to take the word of a demon, but my own instincts told me that I could trust him."

Tanaka paused and glanced at Ciel, who seemed to be listening with intense interest, before he continued.

"It was a few nights ago when he first approached me about the Blood Moon, and I suppose that was the first time within these past two years that I genuinely feared for your safety because of him . . ."