Let me just start by saying this.

I forget my reference.

You see, I have a lot of these chapters pre written, so, I forget what goes where and shit.

But, if you can find the reference, I'll...I'll...

I don't know, I'll find something to do.

But, with that out of the way...

Who's in for a bit of Todd Haberkorn?

I know someone is!

Anyway, with that said, ONWARD!

It was Tuesday now, the climate a bit more sunny than normal, almost uncomfortably warm for this time of year. But other then that, it was just as cold.

When Erin arrived at the mansion, she was surprised to be greeted by Ciel rather then the butler.

Ciel gave her a cold calculating look, as if looking for something on her face that wasn't there, before sighing, "Don't bother changing today, all you have to do is get the ballroom ready for a party."

Erin smirked, before saluting him, "Sir, yes sir."

Ciel moved out of the way as she walked past, waving to Mey Rin, before grabbing a mop.

As nice as it was to have a simple job, Erin couldn't help but sigh. After the past few days, she had expected more out-of-place missions. I mean, she was working for the guard dog of the queen herself, she expected more double-o-seven shit.

But no, here she was, mopping the floor. This was...very tedious and boring. She was hoping for a distraction from her current state of self, but no, here she was. She thought that this would help to take her mind off of the psychopath that was out there, somewhere, hunting her down..

She shook her head, before going back to mopping.

Damn her ADHD mind.

Damn it straight to hell.

She'd just finished mopping the ground, before a loud crash sounded behind her. She jumped, turning around to watch as Mey Rin pulled herself back up, broken dishes all around her.

"Are you alright, Mey Mey?" Erin asked, helping the maid up.

Mey Rin nodded, before looking over the broken plates, "I've gone and broke 'em all, yes I did." She murmured, before breaking, "What do I do now!?"

Erin sighed, "…I'll go get some new dishes You just worry about cleaning this up, kay?"

Mey Rin nodded, "A-Alrighty then, thanks, Erin."

Erin nodded, before heading to the kitchen. She poked her head in, only to find no one inside. Odd, she thought, looking over the dishes that were currently on top of the stoves. Most of the food either looked like it was burning, or it was about to be. Erin had to do a double take at the stack of what looked to be TNT pushed into the corner.

If the kitchen blew up, she'd make Bard pay for the medical bills.

She walked over to the cupboard, getting the wanted dishes, only to hear someone walk in.

Said person stopped, before he murmured, "What are you doing in here? I told Mey Rin to deal with the dishes for the party."

Erin sighed, "Well, if you knew better, Sebs, then you'd know that making the blind maid do something like that wouldn't end well."

Sebastian stayed silent, Erin taking it as a mini victory, before slowly backing out of the kitchen, "My GOD this is heavy. Like, I'm talking 'guilt of your sins' heavy."

Sebastian sighed, before looking Erin over, "Interesting choice of wording there. Not something a normal lady would say, I'm sure."

"Well, better me than some irritating useless London women, if you ask me." Erin grinned, "I mean, for starters, I can take a joke."

Sebastian sighed, only to shake his head, "Well, it may be a good idea…that you're not like these 'irritating useless London women'…"

Erin shot him a look, walking for the door, "And what's that supposed to mean, butler boy?"

Sebastian gave her a look, before slyly sticking his foot out. Erin let out a squeaky scream, before falling over. In her daze, she threw the plates up as she fell towards the ground.

In her surprise, she didn't notice the hand come up to catch her, pulling her close while the other hand held itself out, catching all the plate she'd tossed up, "What the hell was that for!?" Erin shouted angrily, pushing Sebastian away.

"Come now, I thought you could take a joke." Sebastian chuckled.

"Shut the fuck up and tell me what that was for!" Erin growled, ripping the plates out of his grip. Not the smartest idea, being how the sudden weight transfer threw her off, but she held her ground.

Mama didn't raise no bitch.

"Oh," Sebastian said, as Erin walked out, "So, you're allowed to make trouble, have fun and tease, but a lowly butler like I cannot do the same?"

"…I hate you." Erin growled under her breath, to which Sebastian laughed.

"I doubt it, darling." Sebastian said, drawing out that last word in a teasing manner, before looking at his watch, "Pity, it doesn't seem like I have more time to tease you."

Erin growled, before smirking lightly, "Oh well, tough luck." She shrugged, before walking back down to the main hall, the plates clanking against each other a bit.

Sebastian watched for a bit, watching her slowly disappear, before smirking to himself, "This will be a fun game indeed…"

Back in the main hall, Erin watched as the ballroom began to shimmer and glow, as if all of the dirt had been picked up speck by speck. Surrounding the edge of the circular room were tables, most likely for the food that would surely be served.

She placed the plates down, before taking a gander at the place, "You guys clean up well." She murmured, more to herself than anyone, only to hear footsteps coming down.

She turned around to see the young lord Seal himself, descending from heaven in all of his emo-like glory, "Now that the ballroom is finished, you may all go and get ready for the party."

All the other servants nodded, before rushing off with excitement. Erin nodded stiffly, before turning right around, walking for the door, "Well, see you guys tomorrow!"

Ciel's eyebrow rose, "Erin…Where are you going?"

"Home."

"To get ready?"

"Nah, I'm going to sleep for the rest of the damn day."

Ciel's eye narrowed, "Do you not plan to come to the party tonight, Erin?"

"I plan on going to sleep." Erin murmured, walking backwards for the door, "So I'll just-."

"You WILL come to the party, Erin." Ciel said in that ordering tone, "I order you."

"Like that's worked on me before." Erin shot back, snickering, "I don't want to go. I've got other things to do."

"Oh? Like what? Do tell."

"Easy."

"Yes?"

"Sleep."

Ciel growled, rubbing his forehead, "…Erin, we need you at this party. It's to help us find the murderer, and we have an idea of who it may be. We need your help, Erin."

Erin sighed, giving Ciel a look, trying to cover her growing fear, "Why do you need me?"

"Because we need bait."

"…Wow, thanks, buddy. I think highly of you as well."

Ciel let out an exasperated sigh, giving Erin a look, "…I do not like begging, Erin. But we really do need you at this party."

Erin looked at him, then the door, before looking back at him. Finally, she swallowed her pride and fear, before walking out the door, "…I'll be back later." She grumbled, feet feeling heavy as she walked out, knowing she'd have to come back.

Knowing that there was a chance HE could be there.

David sighed, looking out of his window, before sighing, "Hey, Jamie."

"Hmm?" Jamie asked, reading a book, before putting it down, "What is it, David?"

"I've got a question," David murmured, backing away from the window, before giving Jamie a look, "and you're supposed to be the 'smart twin' with all of the answers."

Jamie looked back up at him, his mirror image giving him a look of bitter sadness, "…Well? Go on with it then."

"Do you think that dad will ever come back?"

It was dead silent in the room, the two of them staring at each other, only to have Jamie look away, "You know the answer, David. He's not coming back."

"But what if-."

"Stop." Jamie said, halting David in his tracks, "We both know how this conversation ends, and quite frankly, I don't feel like throwing furniture right now."

David nodded, "...You know, nothing stops us from visiting him."

"Besides the fact that he's a wanted criminal."

"…Besides that."

Just then, a knock came to the window. David nearly jumped, about to scream, only to have Jamie cut in, "The window's open, Erin."

Said girl nodded, before flinging it open, slipping in, before closing it, "Good. Didn't want to have a redo of last time." She said, before catching onto there sulked faces, "Hey, is this a bad time?"

"What? No, nah," David quickly said, "What do you want?"

"What? I can't come here and hang out with you two for fun?" Erin asked.

"You don't do that. Ever."

"...Just a couple questions." Erin said, walking over to the table, before taking a seat, "First question goes to Jamie."

"Here we go again." Jamie murmured, before nodding.

"So," Erin murmured, before sitting down, "Are you guys going to a party tonight, one at the Phantomhive manor, perhaps?"

"We aren't," Jamie murmured, "But, I did overhear mum talking about it."

"Good, good," Erin murmured, "I just got the word of it. Apparently, a murderer will be there."

"We talking about the one in the paper?" David asked.

"Yeh." Erin murmured, pulling her cap off in order to fix her hair, "The Phantomhive kid is trying to lure him out."

Jamie nodded, walking over to his desk to pick up his book, "They're calling him 'Prince death' in the papers; a very compelling case."

Erin nodded, "Which is why you boys shouldn't come. It'll be dangerous-."

"Will father be there?" David cut in.

Erin sighed, before giving him a sad smile, "I highly doubt it. You know how busy he is."

"Too busy for us." David murmured, his face falling into one similar to Jamie's, "I mean, he did promise that he'd come back, one day."

"Well, grown ups lie," Jamie threw in, voice sounding venomous as he flipped a few pages from his book, "It's just part of being an adult."

"He's not wrong." Erin murmured, before looking outside, "Well, I should be off. The party starts soon, and believe it or not, I don't have anything more formal than these rags!"

"Oh, I believe you." Jamie murmured, before shooing her, "Go on then, mother may be up here soon, probably to ask us to watch Alberto."

Erin nodded, doing a salute, before jumping out the window.

David let out one last sigh, before asking, "Jamie; do you ever wish to be free; like Erin?"

"If your definition of free is constantly on the run from the authorities, then no." Jamie said back, not bothering to take his nose out of his book, "To be honest, David, life here isn't so bad."

"But if we were out there, maybe we could see dad."

Jamie sighed, "…David…Just give up already. He's not coming back, and we don't know where he is. He made his choice years ago to leave, and now, he'll have to follow through with it."

David sighed, before nodding, "Yeah…sure…Hey, what's that smell? Smells like…like charred-."

"Must be the new maid's cooking," Jamie said, before groaning, "Mother will be mad for sure."

Erin came back to the manor, a smug smile on her face. Surely, if she wasn't presentable, then Ciel wouldn't want her to say at the party!

Simple as that.

Erin walked into the mansion, up the stairs, before heading to her room. The only reason she bothered to show up before being kicked out was because of the fact that she said she would.

But, what she didn't expect was the long gown waiting for her on her bed.

She was filled with irritation, a bit of distress, but it also brought her inner little girl back out. She looked over the dark red dress, long enough to lick her heels, with nice long sleeves.

She slipped it on, an easy dress without a corset (thank God, she hated those), before looking it over in the mirror. She looked nice, nicer then normal, but it felt weird to wear no hat, no scarf.

Nothing to hide her face behind.

With a sigh, she attempted to make her hair nice, before walking back down. She sighed, wanting to wrangle Ciel's neck for this; he knew all too well that she didn't want to be here!

She arrived at the main room just as people began to flood in. It sickened her, watching as the rich had parties full of food, dancing, and whatever they desire; while the poor had to do what they could for crumbs.

Erin made a face, before walking over to the other four servants. Unlike herself, they were dressed as they were; servants. Mey Rin looked Erin over, "I didn't know that you had such a pretty dress!"

"It's not mine," Erin said, before shooting a look at Ciel, "The young master had me use it."

"Oh," Baldroy murmured, "I never would have guessed that you'd have a dress."

Erin scowled, pulling her dress down a bit more, before sighing, "Well, what are you guys doing for the night?"

"Well, we've still got to work," Mey Rin said, "But the young master said that you'll be considered a guess at the masquerade."

At that, Erin's eyes widened, "A masquerade? I didn't know that I needed a mask!"

"There is no need to worry over that, miss."

Erin groaned at the sudden voice behind her, "You have more for me to wear? Oh, what fun."

Sebastian nodded, before handing her a simple black mask that covered the left side of her face, molded to fit over her face with the eye hole lined with diamonds, "Here; the young master forgot to give this to you."

Erin nodded, before pulling it over her face, "…It's itchy."

"They tend to be."

Erin sighed, before watching as people streamed into the room, "This is going to be a long night." She murmured, before watching as Ciel forced a smile to his face, greeting everyone as they come into the manor.

"Well, it looks like we'll be back to work." Finny said, following the other two to the refreshments; probably to begin serving them.

Once they left, Erin turned to Sebastian, "So...Has Ciel told you what I'm supposed to do here, or…?"

"Don't worry about that right now," Sebastian tsked, before poking her nose, "You're a guest, why don't you go ahead and enjoy yourself?"

"If I really wanted to go and enjoy myself, I wouldn't be here right now." Erin huffed angrily.

"You'll be told what to do when it needs to be done," Sebastian insisted, before pushing her onwards, "No, go on out there and socialize! It'll be hard to blend in if you're among the crowd."

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there!" Erin growled, walking off with a scowl on her face, her heeled feet taking her down to the floor.

Erin sighed, before wandering around. With the mask on, she didn't look anywhere near the same; especially with the dress on. Such a leap from her normal formal attire. Knowing that she was at least anonymous helped her building anxiety, just a bit.

She sighed, keeping an eye on the door. For a masqurade, a lot of people walked in without a mask. Some of these faces she could put names too, like Robert Alderman Kilrain, Theo Sadana, Mary Afleruo, just to name a few.

Erin sighed, so far, so good. HE wasn't here.

But then, someone just as bad walked in.

Or no, I take it back; this man wasn't anywhere as bad as HIM, but he was somewhere up there.

Lord Druitt himself walked into the manor, and for some reason, Ciel held a smirk, "Lord Druitt, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Erin could hear from where she stood, hearing the strain in the boy's voice.

Lord Druitt smiled, before nodding, "If I may, lord Phantomhive; do you have a younger sister or cousin?"

For some reason, Ciel's face lit up red, only to jump back a bit, shaking his head quickly, "I do not, good lord. I apologize, but you must be thinking of someone else."

Before Lord Druitt could question him further, Ciel turned around and left, making up some sort of excuse to leave, before walking away in a great hurry. Lord Druitt, thinking nothing else of it, simple shrugged, before walking on.

Erin watched him, looking just as she'd heard Gold describe him. Pale blond hair and lavender eyes. From what she'd heard, he's nowhere near the top as a good person, but he's always had enough money to get away.

Erin shivered at the slight thought, about to walk away, only to feel a hand on her shoulder, "Well, hello there, little bluebird. What's your name?"

Erin shivered, with only one thing on her mind.

Oh. Fuck.

She laughed lightly, trying not to look to awkward, "Oh, hello there, my Lord Druitt."

"Just Aleistor, my dear."

She tried so hard not to scream and run, forcing herself to stay calm, before flashing him a small smile, "Are you enjoying the party, my lord?" She asked, hands shaking. The usual rage she had skyrocketed, her eyes trained on his hands. God, it would have been so easy to grab it and snap his wrist-No, none of that!

Deep breath in, deep breath out. Control, she needed control right now.

"Oh, it's gotten a lot better, my dear bluebird."

Erin wanted nothing more than to slap the man upside his head, just a quick sharp hit or two might be hard enough to knock him into a coma, "…Is there something that you're waiting for?"

"Besides your address, my bluebird," Lord Druitt said, getting much to close, "I'd like some alone time with you, to get to know you better."

Erin laughed, "Are we not having that now?"

Lord Druitt's eyes got a bit too mischievous, before taking her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it, "Well, it doesn't count if we're not alone now, does it?"

Erin laughed nervously, pulling at the bottom of her dress, "Well…I, umm…"

"Ah, Eris, there you are."

For once in her life, Erin was happy to find the butler behind her. Lord Druitt gave the butler a look, Erin feeling him press against her back in a very weird and unwanted way, "And who are you, sir?"

Sebastian smirked, "I'm her date for the night, my Lord Druitt." He said, twirling Erin into his grasp, Erin too confused and whiplashed to do anything against it.

His lavender eyes narrowed, only to sigh, giving Erin a very perverted look, before nodding, "Until we meet again, my little bluebird."

Erin watch with relief, only to give Sebastian a toothy smile, "Eris?"

"I assumed that you didn't want him to know your name."

"Never thought I'd say this, but thanks, Sebs." Erin said, the words feeling foreign in her mouth.

Sebastian smirked, "No problem."

Erin nodded, about to walk off, only to have Sebastian lightly grab hold of her shoulders, "I don't think so, my dear."

Erin gave him a look, only to have Sebastian slowly pull her towards the dance floor, the sound of light violins in the background, "What are you going for, Sebs?"

Sebastian smiled, before stopping, "Now then, don't you dare look back. Just keep your eyes on me."

"You know, we really don't have to do this." Erin muttered, voice filled with apprehension.

Sebastian shook his head, "But if I were to leave you, what kind of date would I be?"

"Well, you're not my date." Erin growled, only to watch Sebastian smirk.

"Oh, in that case, I'll show you the way back to the Lord Druitt-."

"Fuck no!" Erin growled, only to sigh, placing her hand on his shoulder, the other tightly in his grasp, "…I'll have you know, I don't know how to dance."

Sebastian smiled, placing a hand on her hip, "Just follow my lead."

Erin nodded, trying hard not to step onto Sebastian's feet, only to do so every few seconds, "…Can we stop now?"

"Just bear with me till the end, I don't enjoy this over."

"…Liar." Erin murmured, glaring pointedly at Sebastian's keen face, "You're enjoying this a lot."

Sebastian couldn't help but laugh lightly, "What can I say? It's to much of a good opportunity to tease you back."

Erin sighed, only to grin lightly, "Who said that I'm not enjoying it?"

Sebastian didn't have time to question her, as the song ended. She then leaned up to press a kiss on his cheek, "Thanks…darling." She said, before walking off, laughing lightly.

Erin got as far from Sebastian as possible, a smirk on her face as she chalked it up as a small victory. The smile didn't last for long, her eyes quickly training onto someone walking in, a bright smile on his face, with a butler behind him.

She knew those crazy blue eyes anywhere.

She quickly backed up, before making a mad dash for the stairs, only to be stopped by Ciel's voice, "Alois Trancy. Who invited you here?"

"Myself, of course!" The twenty year old boy said, smiling as he spun, a golden mask over his face. Other then that, he was dressed as he always was, "It's been a long time, Ciel!"

She felt Alois' gaze on her, only to skim over. She sighed, thank God. But, it would seem that a pair of golden eyes had yet to leave her figure.

Sebastian walked over to the two, "Hello there…Claude."

"Michaelis." Claude murmured back, his eyes only then flickering off of Erin, "How…lovely to see you here."

"Why, the feeling is mutual." Sebastian said with a smirk, while Erin continued to back up. She didn't like where she was, the walls seemed to slowly close in on her, as she was so close to the damn staircase.

She didn't like him, for as long as she'd known him, she didn't like him at all.

They had a history that she didn't want to have to dig back up.

It was just too much.

But, due to her clouded mind, she couldn't do much when a hand wrapped around her mouth, a cloth drenched in something over her mouth, as the world slowly began to go black.

She was about to let out a muffled, "Help", before two lavender eyes gazed into her own, a dark smile on his face.

"You're mine now, little bluebird."

DUN DUN DUN!

CLIFFHANGER!

So, with that said...

Like it?

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Got the reference that I forgot? (#I'mAnIdiot)

Don't forget to leave a review, and I'll see you guys later!

Till then, bai bai guys!