Without even entering the room Sebastian knew exactly what had happened behind those doors last night. Well, besides the fact that he had heard the whole thing, of course. Not having to sleep led to some particularly interesting nights. But other than that, the door to Ms. Astrid's room reeked of sex.

He knocked on it, entering to wake her up. He half expected to find the Reaper in bed with her, but was surprised to see her alone. That was interesting. If he wasn't here then he had left. It was the only place in the manor that held his scent.

Astrid stirred and squeezed her eyes, stretching out her arms before fully waking up. She yawned and blinked, letting out a soft gasp as she saw Sebastian. "Oh!" She held the covers around herself, but then realized she was wearing a nightgown. When had that happened? She looked around, finding Adrian to be nowhere in sight. Where had he gone? But at least the room looked orderly enough. However, the sex that hung in the air was something she knew Sebastian could smell just as well as she. She cringed, clearing her throat. "Good morning, Sebastian."

"You'll be needing a bath." He said casually, a knowing smile on his face.

Her face went red. "Yes." She said awkwardly.

Sebastian sighed. "You've ruined the Master's furniture."

"W-What?"

He walked up to the end of the bed, scanning the bedpost. "There are claw marks all over the fine wood." Sebastian looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "An exciting night, Miss Astrid?"

She didn't know how she'd ever be able to look at Sebastian again. "I'll pay to have the furniture fixed," she blurted quickly, "And I'll be taking my bath now, so I'll meet you downstairs just as soon as I'm dressed."

Her face was burning, and her heart was beating furiously.

Sebastian replied with a curt nod. "You best hurry. We have a lot to do today."

"Yes, of course." She agreed, clearing her throat once again. Suddenly becoming very aware of how sore her body was.

"Oh, and," he turned around just as he was heading out the door, "you should know your Reaper is no longer here."

"O-Ok." She said.

As soon as he closed the door she let out a long sigh. That had been the most torturous three minutes of her life. She got out of bed, cringing as she noticed the claw marks on the post of the bed. She'd never be able to look Sebastian in the eyes ever again. She sighed, rubbing her head, making her way into the bath. She fixed herself quickly, adjusting her hair in her signature braid. She took a deep breath, eyeing herself in the mirror. She inhaled again, taking in every single scent around her. It was strange, and she still wasn't used to it. The ability to smell…everything. After a quick bath she got dressed. She dusted her dress off, freeing it of any stray wrinkles, and made her way downstairs to meet with Sebastian.

...

"Focus! Is this some sort of game to you?"

Astrid could only pant in reply. "It's not easy! You try doing all that in a dress!"

Sebastian only sighed. "A true demoness would be able to do it all no matter what her attire."

"Well I'm not a true demoness." She snapped rudely, nearly reaching her limit of Sebastian's rigorous training. They had been practicing honing her skills all morning. Everything from shooting guns, to hand to hand combat, to even tree climbing she had done. Anything anyone could think of, Sebastian had made Astrid do, and she was exhausted.

Sebastian sighed once more, putting his fingers to his forehead before walking over to her. He kneeled down to her ankles, and tore at the fabric. Astrid shrieked, but he just rolled his eyes as he stood back up to face her. "There, that should fix it." Astrid's face burned as she tried to hold the fabric across her exposed legs. Sebastian looked at her with a blank expression. "You should be free to move now. Please hurry, we must prepare the Master's dinner soon and we haven't even addressed your feline capacity."

"Yes but this is…" she struggled, the fabric doing very little to cover her thighs. Sebastian sighed once again. "I have no interest in you. Sexual or otherwise. Therefore there's no need to be embarrassed."

"I know that!" she blurted quickly, although it struck her as an odd sort of thing. She wondered if demons could be sexually attracted to anyone at all. Or maybe full demons were only attracted to full demons. And suddenly she found herself wondering if Sebastian had anyone in his life. No, she thought, probably not.

Astrid cleared her throat and readied her stance, jumping up and clinging onto a branch. "Remind me why we're doing this again?" she said through clenched teeth, trying her best to climb the large tree.

"Strength and agility," he replied simply, "You have nails. Use them to dig into the bark."

She did as she was told, finding it much easier once she began using her nails to her advantage. She kept going up and up and up, and before she knew it, she had reached the top. Her heart pounded against her chest. She had done it, and she was proud, but how was she supposed to get down?

"Jump." Sebastian called from down below.

"Are you crazy?" she shouted, "I'll break my legs!"

"Don't worry," with her improved vision she could see the wry smile that played on his lips, "Cats always land on their feet." She groaned, making sure she did so loud enough for him to hear, and closed her eyes as she jumped. When she hit the ground, her knees gave, and she tumbled forward, running head first into Sebastian's knees. He hardly even flinched. Again he rose his fingers to his temple. "Your human tendencies are beginning to irritate me."

"Well I'm still half human, how do you expect me to-"

"Yes. But you're also half demon."

She crossed her arms, getting rather annoyed herself.

Sebastian checked his pocket watch and quickly closed it, adjusting his vest. "That's enough for today. Tomorrow you will work on your shooting with Baldroy."

"Why not MeyRin?"

"I don't want her wasting time with an amateur like you."

She glared at him but conceded. "Fine. What about the whole…cat…thing."

He blinked. "That is entirely up to you. Nothing I say or do will help you hone that skill. That is, if you even have it to begin with."

Astrid nodded, feeling tired and somewhat inferior. To turn herself into a cat…what would that take, exactly? She shifted awkwardly in place, losing herself in thought.

"Astrid."

Her head snapped up, locking with Sebastian's burgundy eyes. "You should change. It would not be appropriate to have the master see you so disheveled."

Her cheeks burned. "No, of course not."

She headed towards her room and Sebastian said he would meet her in the kitchen. She needed to hurry so that she could help prepare dinner. As she climbed down the stairs to the servant's quarters, she realized that since her transformation, she hadn't gotten a minute to slow down or really think about what had happened. She opened the door to her room absent mindedly, letting it click closed behind her.

Isaac had…stabbed her. Not only that but he had shot her. He had tried to kill her. He would have succeeded…if not for…

Why? She couldn't piece it all together. Not so much the why, but the how. She had known him since birth. They had grown up together. They had even been in love, years ago. So much so that they were going to elope. He was going to leave everything…for her.

Had he never let it go? Perhaps he had just drowned himself in the past and was never able to let go of that initial childish love.

Love.

Could it be called that? To go to such extremes for love…

She shook her head. No. He had truly slipped into madness. Love didn't make you do things like that, did it? If he truly loved her, he wouldn't have tried to kill her. Or was it because he loved her so much, he rather see her dead than with someone else? Her stomach lurched. She felt sick. And she got the sudden need to have Adrian embrace her. She wondered where he had left to, so early in the morning. He hadn't woken her up to say goodbye. Perhaps he didn't want to disturb her sleep. She was pretty tired, after all.

As she slipped into a new dress she realized she hadn't even bothered to ask about Raquelle. How was she handling all of this? To find out your husband is a murderer, and then to find out he is dead…

Astrid began to feel terribly guilty. Not only was she the cause of ruin in Isaac's life, but in doing so she had ruined Raquelle's life as well. Even if the eloping had worked, she still would have ruined Raquelle's life. It seemed as though she was always only thinking of herself. She tried to steady her thoughts as she quickly redid her braid and rushed into the kitchen. Right now, her main focus was being the best maid the Phantomhive Manor had ever had. That was all she had to worry about. If she could just zone in on that one thing, then everything would be okay.

She entered the kitchen, and Sebastian instructed her to begin chopping vegetables.

No, things wouldn't be ok. She wasn't just a maid anymore. She was a half-demon. Her lover was a former Grim Reaper. She was living with a Demon, and her master would lose his soul once his contract with said demon was complete, whatever that might be. There was even the slim chance that she could turn into a cat, for God sakes.

No. Nothing was normal. Nothing would be ok.

"You're breathing quite rapidly." Sebastian noticed, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Oh," she laughed, waving it off, "It helps me think better."

Worst of all was the rising dread of guilt that she felt. There had to be some way to fix it. She needed to go talk to Raquelle. To apologize. She didn't think they would walk away friends, not even close, but she wanted to express her condolences. To apologize. To lose someone in so violent a manner…she couldn't even begin to imagine what that poor woman was going through. She didn't want to know.

And then there was Isaac. He was…he had been a large part of her life. He had always been, though she didn't want to dwell on it too much. Yes, he had done horrible things, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that the man who shot her, and the one she had grown up with were the same person. Wouldn't believe it. He had lost himself in madness.

She decided she would visit his grave. To say her final goodbyes. That is…if he had a grave to begin with. What had they done with the body?

The thought alone made her nauseated, and she tried not to think about it anymore. But the question kept nagging at her, and finally she put her knife down.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes?" he said, plating the Master's dinner.

"Isaac…what happened to him…after…" her voice trailed off, and she was unable to finish her question.

"Scotland Yard took care of the body. I believe they held a small funeral for him. The wife didn't want any more scandal."

"That's understandable…" she said absent mindedly, nodding.

After finishing her nightly rounds of the mansion, and pecking at her own dinner, Astrid retired to bed.

She sat on her bed, slowly undoing her braid, combing her fingers through her hair, still lost completely in thought. She needed to focus. She had almost spilled water on her master at dinner. But her dizzying thoughts wouldn't stop. She exhaled shakily. She shook her hair, letting the curls from her braid fall over her shoulders. This was her favorite part of the day. The hard work was finally over and she could relax, loosening her hair. It felt…free.

She stared down at her hands, her nails as black as night. She mind wandered back to her transformation. To all the strange animals. When she became the cat it was a similar feeling, being that free. What would it take, she wondered. It hadn't taken very much at all the first time. Maybe she just had to think like a cat.

Think…like…a cat.

She shook her head. This was stupid. How the hell did a cat think, anyway?

That is entirely up to you.

Ok, she thought. It was sort of embarrassing, considering she didn't know if this sort of configuration was even possible, but she was alone in her room right now, so the only one who would know would be her.

She stood up with a deep inhale, and smacked her hands together. She closed her eyes, and tried to remember that feeling, to encompass it. The free-ness of it all. She breathed in deeply through her nose and exhaled shakily through her mouth. It had been tingly, hadn't it? For a brief moment. And it was a sort of woosh type of thing, the way her body had compressed in such a way. She opened her eyes, finding herself still human.

She chastised herself. Focus.

She blocked out all else. She had to. There could be nothing more. She lost herself in the feel of it all, her body tingling more and more as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her hair began sticking to her neck, as though she were shrouded in sweat. It felt as though someone were squeezing her bones, and it was not as painless as she remembered. She was shaking, throbbing with pain, but she refused to open her eyes. What would she see when she opened them?

Finally, she realized she was on her hands and feet. Well, on all four paws. Slowly, she opened her eyes and screamed, seeing her furry paws in front of her. Only, of course, her scream came out as a mewl. She shook her head, scratching her ears with her paws. They were black. Ok, so she was a black cat. She could live with that. She felt something behind her flick and realized that it was her tail. She had never had a tail before.

Of course you haven't, idiot. Focus. She tried to tell herself.

It was a rather long tail, and she took pleasure in curling and uncurling it, swaying it around as she pleased. She inwardly giggled, turning her head so that she could look at it. Only, her tail was white. So, a black and white cat? She wondered what she looked like. She'd have to open her wardrobe to access her mirror. But she simply couldn't accomplish that in her current state. No matter, she thought. She could save that for a later time. She sat down, looking from the floor to her bed. Could she jump that high? Probably, right? She flicked her tail around some more, getting comfortable with this new form. She stood on all fours, crouching a bit before giving herself a small running start. And then, she leapt.

Oh, it was a glorious feeling. Almost equivalent to what flying must feel like. She did it multiple times, jumping from the bed to the floor and from the floor to the bed. She laughed again, feeling incredibly wonderful. But suddenly, she needed more.

She jumped back down, heading for her door. She nudged it with her head and it opened easily, since she hadn't closed it all the way before. He padded paws allowed her to quietly prowl through the manor, the carpeted floors feeling oh-so-soft between her claws.

She ran down the halls, enjoying how quickly she was able to bolt through the house. Though it was dark, she could see the clear outlines of nearly everything, and not once did she run into anything. It was unbelievable. Although she wasn't sure if her eyesight was attributed to her new demon talent or her cat-like abilities.

So strange, she thought as she ran, a demon cat.

Finally, she reached the main staircase, and her heart pumped with new excitement. She stopped dead center, sitting down and looking at how long the steps extended downwards. She was perfectly stretched as her eyes darted, her tail curling around her paws. She jumped once more, taking three steps at a time, reaching the bottom of the stairs faster than she had ever managed to accomplish as a human. She panted upon reaching the bottom, wishing she could have a glass of water. For a brief moment, she thought she could stay like this forever, and never be human again. But just then her heart began to pound, and she realized that that could never be. She'd miss Adrian too much.

She felt really tired suddenly, and her bones began to get heavy. She was breathing heavily, and realized that the cold floor was touching her skin. She had returned to being human. She lay there for a while, staring up at the ceiling, feeling too heavy to move. What if she fell asleep right here? She almost laughed. What would the others say, when they found her? It'd be an amusing sight, so early in the morning. With a fuzzy head, she sat up slowly, feeling incredibly thirsty, and trudged back to her room, her limbs feeling lanky and unbalanced.

Her stomach was uneasy, so she held onto it as she descended down the stairs that led to her room. Changing into a cat was easy, but returning to her human form was sort of unpleasant. She shut her door, collapsing onto bed, and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would be a long day, so she needed her rest. Shooting guns with Baldroy would be…interesting. She hoped they wouldn't destroy the Manor. Master Ciel would be most displeased. Her stomach lurched. She'd need to ask him for a temporary leave. So that she could visit his grave and pay her condolences to his wife. She wasn't sure how Ciel would feel about that. He had given her enough leniency as is. Nonetheless, she had to try. She reached over to her nightstand, and took a few sips of water. It was a welcomed reward, the water soothing her burning throat. After a few more sips, she curled up in bed, hugging the covers.

She was slowly slipping into sleep, but suddenly her hairs stood on end. She wasn't alone in the room. Could Sebastian be testing her again? But it didn't smell like Sebastian. If anything, it smelled like…but no, that was impossible. She had to be imagining—

"Adrian!"

His strong arms wrapped around her small frame. His lips brushed over her hair and he murmured in a low voice she had never heard before. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"I was just dozing off." She wrapped her hand around his and brought it to her lips, "What are you doing here?"

"Was it not you who asked me to spend every night with you?"

Her heart fluttered against her chest, and she held his arm all the tighter. Indeed she had asked him, but she had meant it sort of figuratively. She was glad, though, of course.

"Adrian," she tried to turn around so that she could face him, but he held her in place.

"Shh. Sleep, woman."

She smiled into her pillow and did as she was told, the scent of the man she loved coating her like a warm blanket. She wanted to tell him everything that had happened that day. That she really could turn into a cat and that she loved the feeling. That Sebastian was strict with training but she was progressing steadily. That she was so happy that he was here, because she was just starting to miss him. That she loved him. She wasn't quite sure if he was really there or not, since her mind was clouded with sleep, but his scent most definitely was. And that was something she would never complain about.

When she woke up that next morning, she was still in Adrian's arms. She yawned, stretching out her legs a bit, and he pulled her all the closer.

"You're so warm." He murmured.

She giggled. "How did you get in?" she asked, turning around so that she could finally see his face. It was covered by his hair, as usual, both nothing could hide the lopsided grin that spread across his lips. "The door, of course."

"But what about Sebastian? Nothing gets past him."

"Heehee," he poked her cheek with his nail, "We have a certain agreement, him and I."

She brushed his bangs out of his face. "An agreement?"

He kissed her, "Nothing for you to worry about dearie, hehe." He smiled.

She shook the thought away and clenched the front of his shirt, stealing another kiss from her lips. "I have so much to tell you."

He traced her lips with his tongue. "Tell me, then."

"I did it. I turned into a cat."

"Heehee. What an amusing thing that will be…" he dragged out, seemingly lost in thought.

"Also I…" she looked down, biting her lip. "I've decided I want to go pay my respects to both Isaac and Raquelle."

Adrian's strong hold on her dropped, and she felt her heart sink. His lips were a thin line, and his eyes weren't shining as they normally did.

"You want to see the grave of that despicable excuse for a human life?"

"Adrian. He was my friend."

"He tried to kill you. You'd be dead if-"

"I know," she breathed, "But that wasn't the same boy I grew up with. He was sick."

She had never seen such a disgusted expression on her lover's face. Her stomach lurched uncomfortably. She didn't want him to be angry with her, but this was something she had to do.

"Adrian-"

"I'm going with you."

She shook her head. "This is something I have to do on my own."

Adrian clenched his jaw. "Do you honestly think I'm going to let you go on your own? You almost died the last time you went into that house."

"Adrian-"

There was a knock at the door, and Sebastian entered. "I thought I smelled something utterly disgusting." He said, a pleasant smile on his face.

"Get out, Demon." Adrian ordered.

"I don't believe you have the authority to tell me so. Miss Astrid must get ready quickly. We have much to accomplish today."

Astrid sat up, "Yes of course."

Adrian grabbed her arm. "Don't do anything stupid. I'm not letting you go."

"Adrian," she tried to shake him off, embarrassed that Sebastian had to witness such a thing. Not to mention he had never used such a strict tone with her before. "There's no danger anymore," she insisted, "it will be fine. I just want-"

"No."

"Reaper," Sebastian stepped in, "She's a demon now. The lady can handle herself."

She didn't know how Sebastian always seemed to know what was going on. But it was a scary sort of skill, how omniscient he could be.

"Stay out of it, Demon." Adrian snapped, "She can still die. Don't act like you know the situation."

Sebastian scoffed bitterly. "Sign the contract then."

Both men turned to look at Astrid. She shifted uncomfortably in her spot. "R-Right now?"

Adrian tucked some hair behind her ear a bit sadly, standing up and walking past Sebastian.

"She's not ready yet." He said lowly.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, he and Adrian exchanging looks that made Astrid feel uncomfortable.

"I-I'm ready." She blurted, looking at the two men.

They exchanged glances and looked at her.

"Don't do anything you don't want to." Adrian said gravely.

"It will be an eternal contract." Sebastian added.

She nodded slowly. "I know. I want to."

Sebastian sighed. "Please hurry up Miss Astrid. Our Earl will be waking up soon." he said, ignoring her comment completely. Then turning to Adrian, said, "Reaper, kindly exit the premises so that my master does not have to accommodate an unsightly figure such as yourself."

Adrian glared at Sebastian but nodded. "Tonight then. I'll be back, Astrid."

She exhaled shakily, and managed to give him a weak smile. He walked over to her, his heavy boots clanking against the wooden floor. He bent over to kiss her cheek, and then excused himself. Sebastian bowed before leaving the room, closing the door to let Astrid get ready.

A/N: It feels so good to write again. Hope you all enjoy the update. I'll be trying to update this story sooner and more regularly from now on ^^ Thank you all so much for the favorites and follows! Please don't forget to review, so that I know what you think :) Happy Holidays, and happy reading!