SNAKES AND LADDERS

"Hop on."

"I'm not going," Ciel had said. In fact, he had said it a great number of times. "I'm not going."

So, could someone please explain what exactly he was doing walking up to Adrian Crevan's front door?

"Ooh. I can't believe we're actually here!" Mey-rin squeaked. Her and Alois were, in fact, too excited for this party. They were both showing far more skin than could ever be considered decent. Bard had already lit a cigarette and was blowing out smoke to soothe his growing irritation. The street had been so busy that they had to wait half an hour to even find a parking spot. Unfortunately, the spot they saw was stolen from them which caused almost twenty more minutes of waiting. Throughout the whole time, Alois and Mey-rin were going on and on about how excited they were to see Claude, Sebastian and possibly Aria. Needless to say, Elizabeth was also extremely annoyed. Finny and Soma had tagged along as well, though both of them being socialites, they were more excited for the actual party itself.

The only people missing were Agni - because he had to work - and the triplets - because being around too many people made them sick.

"Still, this house is… a little…" Elizabeth began, trailing off as she tilted her head back. The Victorian mansion that they were standing outside of was more Gothic than traditional. The white brick had turned grey with age and the roof had been redone in black and dark grey. The front door was a blood red color and the whole scene was completely opposite of the newer modern houses in the area.

"Well, it's not cute at all!"

To make the scene creepier, not a single soul was loitering about outside the house and there was no loud booming music to be heard.

"So...which one of us is going to knock?" Mey-rin asked excitedly. She had put on her glasses, claiming that she would need them to see Sebastian as best as she could and they were getting foggy from her flushed cheeks.

"I'm not going to," Ciel proclaimed. He was standing at the back of the group afterall.

"Bard! You're the closest! You knock!" Alois demanded, pushing Bard closer to the door. The movement came as a surprise to Bard and his cigarette almost fell out of his mouth as a result.

"Hey! Watch it! You tryin' to light the place on fire before we even go in?!" Bard snapped, taking the cigarette out himself and smothering it under his shoe.

"My bad! Now hurry up and-"

"Alright! I'll fuckin' knock, okay?" he huffed, irritation mounting. He was all for a good party, but this was just starting to be ridiculous.

He rapped his knuckles against the bright red wood.

...

The door creaked open slowly after a few seconds, and as it opened, bright light and loud music poured out. A figure stood in the doorway, clad in a black hoodie, black pants, and black boots.

"Hihihihihi~…" The figure giggled under his hood. "What a pleasant surprise… I didn't know that the darling Aria Tamburlaine in the flesh would be showing up to a party hosted by little ol' me," he grinned.

I had met the Undertaker quite a few times before. He and my brothers often spoke together. He was a very strange man but eccentric at best.

I tried to push down my irritation to greet him properly. "Hello, it's nice to see you again, Undertaker."

He smirked and dropping his hood, pushed up his bangs with his hand, revealing the startlingly inhuman green of his eyes and the full stretch of the scar that ran across his face. "Hihi~… Please, call me Adrian, won't you? No need to be so formal." He lifted an arm hidden under baggy sleeves and tucked a lock of my hair that had escaped my bun behind my ear. His hand gently ran down my jaw and his long, black nails softly grazed against my skin.

"Adrian, it's nice to see you." Sebastian spoke up from beside me and I could practically feel the tension radiating from him. The Undertaker's gaze shifted over to him and then to Claude behind me.

"Hihi~… Indeed, it is nice to see you two as well, Michaelis, Faustus." He nodded to them both, respectively. "Well, I suppose we have some things to talk about. Come, come."

The front hallway of Adrian's house was blocked off from the rest of the house with a door and textured glass on the top half of the walls, so I could see people moving around in the next room. He held the front door open as we walked in and gestured with a hand covered in the overly long sleeve of his hoodie to the staircase.

Claude and Sebastian began to walk up first but as I took a step onto the stairs they both turned around to look at me.

"Oh. Sorry, Aria, we have to talk about some important things, so stay down here," Sebastian announced. The anger that had been mounting increased tenfold.

"What?" I snapped. "You dragged me along to this party and now you're just going to leave me down here?"

"You're a big girl, you'll be fine," Sebastian jested which only served to piss me off even more.

A hand touched my shoulder gently. "All of my guests are very nice. I'm sure they'll all behave themselves hihi…" Adrian giggled, squeezing past me on the steps. I stood in the entrance frowning at them as they disappeared upstairs. Seriously, what was the point in forcing me to come along?

Suddenly, a wild laugh boomed down from upstairs surprising me.

I eyed the door behind me, wondering if they would realize if I simply walked back home. But, even if I did manage, I'd probably end up pissing Claude off again and he was only just recently back to relative normalcy. I sighed in frustration. They didn't even say if they were coming back down.

As I continued to debate whether or not I should go into the main room or not, the sound of a fist on wood rang out. I rolled my eyes.

Great. Am I supposed to be a greeter now?

With a huff, I walked towards the door and swung it open.

"Aria!" Freckles squealed in surprise.

"What are you- why are you the one answering the door?" she asked, pinching her eyebrows together in confusion.

What were the odds of running into her?

"Under-Adrian had something he had to go do. Although, I don't intend to-" I stopped as I realized that Freckles eyes had gone wide as saucers once again.

"You- You're friends with him?" she gasped. Behind her, a figure squeezed into the doorframe, an irritated look on his face from being unable to enter for the last few minutes.

"Who are you talking to- oh." Aleistor's eyes brightened as he saw me and a smirk tugged at his lips. "Fancy meeting you here. Friends with whom?" he asked instead.

"I'm not friends with him," I answered, ignoring Aleistor completely.

"Adrian Crevan!" Freckles squealed, whipping around to Aleistor and then back to me so fast I wondered how she didn't get whiplash.

"I don't even know why you're just assuming that," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. I expected them to take my answer and move on, but after a long silence stretched and they stood staring at me with expectant looks on their faces, I realized they were waiting for a more in depth explanation.

I sighed. "Well, first of all, I don't see what my friendship with anyone has to do with either of you. But if you must know, it's something I'm sure you've heard about. Sebastian and Claude talk to him a lot and I've met him a few times. That's it."

Aleistor looked skeptical but Freckles perked up. "Does that mean the three of them are talking right now?" I struggled to not glance at the steps behind me as I cursed the three of them for leaving me without clear instructions. I didn't know if it was okay for me to tell people that they were together or where they were, so to be on the safe side, I huffed and threw open the door to the main space.

"I don't where they ran off to. Sebastian and Claude just left after dragging me all the way here. Let's stop standing here before someone else knocks."

...

Bardroy knocked again only to receive no response once again.

"Aye, are we s'posed to be knockin'? This is a party isn't it? Couldn't we just go on in?" he asked, turning back to his group of friends.

Alois frowned. "No, I heard from someone that you are absolutely not allowed to enter unless you knock and Adrian lets you in."

"So, what happens if you do?" Finny asked, his eyes widening in fear. Adrian Crevan was the type of man to have so many wild rumors about him that they almost seemed like a legend and the man himself a phantom. The house alone was already giving off weird vibes.

"I don't know," Alois snapped, growing more irritated by the second. He would not miss out on the most legendary party of his social career. "Nobody ever has. "

"So, what are we supposed to do? Wait out here all night?" Elizabeth asked, rubbing her bare arms with her hands. "It's cold out here." Finnian, ever the gentleman, quickly took off his jean jacket and wrapped it around Elizabeth's shoulders. "Oh, thank you."

Ciel watched the display and had to force himself to not scoff out loud.

"For the love of-" He muttered under his breath and stomped over to the front door. He turned the handle and was surprised to feel that it was unlocked.

"Ciel!"

"Hey!"

He pulled the handle and the door swung open, revealing a pale yellow light and low thumping music. He peeked inside and was relieved to see that the creep was nowhere to be seen.

"There's nobody here. Come on."

He walked inside, not bothering to wait and see if his friends were following him. You'd think they'd be happier that they could get into the party, so why was Ciel the one who was fearlessly walking in first?

"Ugh, Jesus, Ciel," Alois groaned, but Ciel could tell he still eagerly walked into the house. "If we get yelled at, I'm blaming it entirely on you. Maybe he'll actually put you in a coffin."

"I agree!" Meyrin piped up, walking into the house. "The blaming part, not the coffin part."

"That's so distasteful, Alois," Elizabeth mumbled angrily.

"If you're so unhappy, why don't you just go home, Elizabeth? Last time I checked, nobody invited you to tag along anyways." Elizabeth huffed and Finny patted her shoulder and walked into the house around her. After a few seconds, they were all gathered in the foyer of Adrian Crevan's house. Ciel surely was not going to be the first of his friends to enter the actual party if he could help it.

"I wonder if he's upstairs?" Soma said suddenly, attracting everyone's attention. They hadn't even noticed the dark staircase to their left.

"Should we try calling him?" Finny asked.

"You call him, Ciel," Alois instructed.

"What?!" Ciel snapped.

"He knows you and like I said, he likes you. Just-call him," Alois snapped, growing impatient.

"Why did I even agree to go with you guys? I've never been more annoyed in my life," Ciel muttered under his breath.

Sighing, he walked over to the stairs and looked up them. It was pitch black up there and the landing looked like it led to an abyss.

"Adrian?" Ciel called. Why was he actually doing this?

He turned towards his friends and shrugged.

"Call louder, Ciel. How on earth is he supposed to hear you if he is actually up there?" Alois snapped in exasperation. He was so close to being in the party, he was tempted to just walk through the doors and pay whatever consequence later.

Ciel huffed. "Adrian?!" he yelled. "Are you up there?!"

Nothing.

"Let's just go in. I don't think he's up there," Ciel sighed, turning around.

"Hihihi~~ if it isn't my favorite little earl." A voice whispered behind him. Ciel felt chills run up his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

Ciel turned back around slowly.

"Adrian," he acknowledged.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Adrian asked, grinning in the pitch black darkness. Ciel literally could not see anything besides the whites of his eyes and his teeth as he grinned. It was as if the Chesire Cat was floating in front of him rather than a flesh and bone man.

"My friends were looking forward to your party but since the host wasn't around…" Ciel trailed off, letting the silence speak for him.

"I see. My apologies, I have some business to take care of. Quite urgent business, I'm afraid. You'll have to introduce me to the little Earl's friends at a later date." Ciel saw movement in the pitch blackness.

"Please, enjoy your time."

And then he disappeared without a sound.

Ciel ignored the chills that ran down his entire body. He swore he'd never met anyone more creepy in his lifetime than Adrian Crevan.

"Woo! Way to go Ciel!" Meyrin cheered, wasting no time in wrapping her arm around Bard's wrist and dragging him inside the party. Alois went in after them, cheering as well. Hannah soundlessly walked in after them. To be honest, Ciel had forgotten she had even come along.

"Much thanks, Ciel" Soma said, then he too entered the party.

"He's so creepy," Elizabeth stated, disgust in her tone. For once, Ciel had to agree completely.

"Come on, Ciel. Let's go in," Finny said.

Oh, how he wanted nothing more than to go back through the front door and go home. But at this point, his sacrifices would mean absolutely nothing if he didn't at least go inside. So, he begrudgingly walked down the steps and entered the main room behind Elizabeth and Finny.

…

Two hours into the party, Alois finally set his eyes on his prize. He was surprised; he honestly hadn't thought she would be here.

But there she was, Aria Tamburlaine, talking to that boyish looking girl again and of all people, Aleistor Chamber.

He searched the room for his competition. Ciel.

He was still in the front room conversing with someone they used to have a class with and Elizabeth was hanging around him. For the moment, anyways. Good. She would keep him distracted.

Oh.

Wait...

The girl and Aleistor walked away and Aria was suddenly alone.

Alois glanced over at Ciel again to make sure he was preoccupied.

Now was his chance.

…

"I still can't believe Claude of all people would force his little sister to come to a party. Weren't you just telling me that he's the one who's against parties?"

"Well, believe it because it's the truth," I snapped.

"She didn't want to come, remember, Aleistor?" Freckles argued on my behalf.

"I know that. But I'm saying is it really just for punishment? I thought you said he was really pissed off with you and I mean he seemed really angry the other day. He completely ignored me! And he lets you off with just dragging you to a party you don't want to be at? And then he's not even down here?"

"Aleistor," I snapped.

"What?"

"Shut up. I'm still pissed off with you in case you hadn't noticed. And in case it still hasn't gotten through your head, I don't want to be here and you're pissing me off even more. Go do something and get away from me."

"Ouch," Aleistor winced, holding a hand up to his heart. "Extra poisonous today. Let's leave the princess alone for a bit, Freckles. I'll introduce you to some people."

"Okay… Aria, are you gonna be okay alone?" Freckles asked. Her concern was strange.

"I'll be just peachy. Go with him." She looked hesitant. Don't tell me she was still worried about the two of us dating? She probably made up some theory that I was secretly angry that I had Aleistor come to the party with her instead of myself.

"But-" she tried.

"Go." I smiled, a dangerous "you're getting on my last nerve" smile, to get my point across.

She still looked hesitant and chewed on her lip as she walked away, glancing at me once again before she rounded the corner and left my sight.

I should have left when I had a chance. Maybe I could still go before Claude and Sebastian got down here. It wasn't a half bad idea.

Just as I pushed off the counter behind me, a hand reached out and grasped my arm. I turned, my mouth ready to hurl insults, but as a name registered in my mind, I found myself frowning instead.

"Hey," Alois smirked, tottering in his place. Was he drunk? It wasn't like The Undertaker was purposefully serving alcohol to a bunch of minors. Naturally, it was a big party and I've seen at least 5 people with drinks in their hands but even so, how could he have had enough to be drunk already?

"What do you want?" I snapped, wrenching my arm out of his grasp.

"Ehh… I don't know, your brother maybe?"

Suddenly irritated beyond belief, I turned away and was about to start walking when his hand reached out again.

"Listen, I don't want anything to do with you. If you want Claude, get him yourself," I seethed.

"You really can't take a joke, wow," he muttered. His hand pulled me towards him and I planted my feet firmly into the ground to keep from moving.

"I want you, idiot. I thought I made that clear." His eyes were glossy and glazed over, I searched the room quickly to make sure my brothers weren't around and that there weren't too many people looking at us for when I decked him. Though, when I turned back towards him, he was significantly closer.

"Damn, you're hot."

Before I could even react, his lips were on mine and my sense of being dissolved into pitch black want. My mind wasn't even able registered that I was being kissed completely without consent. It was only when a hand pulled my head closer and a tongue poked at my lips that I snapped to my senses.

I shoved the hand off of me and met eyes with his. His cheeks were flushed and though his eyes were foggy, they were open wide in surprise and I suddenly realized that my eyes were burning.

I broke eye contact quickly and not knowing what else to do that wouldn't cause a scene, rushed to the front door and back into the chilly night.

...

Ciel may have been imagining things, but as he pretended to be interested in the conversation he was having about Mr. Randall's incredibly difficult advanced physics pop quizzes by a ridiculously nervous partygoer, he swore he saw Aria Tamburlaine practically run out of the house.

He mumbled something in response to the ceaseless rambling of the nervous and rushed outside.

"Ciel? Where are you going?!" He just barely heard Elizabeth call after him before the front doors closed behind him.

Much to his surprise and great joy, he saw a figure that looked incredibly similar to her walking at an alarmingly fast pace down the street. He quickly jogged to catch up.

However, as he got within a few feet of her, he realized he hadn't thought at all about what to say.

"Um… Hey!" Aria whipped around and glared at him. Ciel was shocked.

It could have just been a trick of the dark lighting... but Ciel could have sworn he saw her eyes-

Before he could dwell on it, she turned around once again and continued her fast pace.

"Oh, it's just you," she muttered under her breath.

Ciel snapped out of his shock and quickened his pace. "Uh… yeah. Sorry again about that. I really should have been paying more attention to where I was going. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You already apologized," she huffed.

Ciel quickly racked his brain for something else to say. "Are you walking home?" She was still walking a good few steps ahead of him, increasing her pace whenever he increased his. He settled for staying behind her; he didn't want her to start running and cause the situation to become something it wasn't.

"Yes. What are you doing? Why are you following me?"

"I… well, I thought that might be what you were doing. You really shouldn't be walking this late at night alone."

"And you're going to protect me?" she asked sarcastically.

She glanced at him with an eyebrow raised to prove her point. It was true that he wasn't very muscular and wouldn't last two seconds in a physical fight, but he could be tall enough to serve as a deterrent at the very least.

"Well, if they can be distracted enough with beating me to a pulp while you get away… then yes."

"Chivalry," she stated sardonically.

Finally, she stopped walking and turned around.

"Did Sebastian talk to you?" Ciel stopped as well.

"Um… yeah," he answered, surprised by the sudden subject change.

"He has no tact, so I apologize. Those rumors about what happened got to my brothers before I did, so Claude's been upset lately. Sebastian's point was to let you know that they aren't angry with you...If you were worried about it," she added after a pause.

"Oh, was that what he was talking about? It wasn't clear at all. Alois gave me such a hard time about it." Ciel instantly regretted the name that slipped out of his mouth. The relatively decent mood that they had created was immediately wiped away and Aria frowned.

"Alois? You… know him?" she asked, her eyebrows lowering even lower.

It was too late for Ciel to take back what he had said.

"Yeah. We're friends, I guess. The first time you met us was in front of your locker that time. I'm sorry about that too, by the way." They were silent for a long moment. The chatter of the crickets creating an awkward air.

"Your friend's a real piece of work," Aria said finally, turning back around and speed walking once again.

"Can't really argue with that," Ciel quipped and Aria made a grunting noise but didn't say anything else. As they walked, he noticed that although she wouldn't let him catch up to her, she wasn't walking nearly as quickly as she had before; although that did nothing for the strange silence that pressed on between them.

Ciel found it hard to change the subject as it had changed to Alois and they could both only insult him which wasn't his intention at all. He was finding it incredibly difficult to talk to her and he was beginning to seriously understand why most never tried. Although, that new girl was still sitting with her at lunch and she always seemed to be talking normally. And of course, Aleistor was able to talk to her normally as well. He couldn't really fault her. Anyways, it was him who was forcing his presence on to her after she was obviously trying to get away from something. He was extremely curious as to why she had nearly run out of the house but feared that she might actually start running if he asked.

Frustrated, he wracked his brain for something else to say.

"Do you live nearby?"

"I live about ten miles or so from here."

"Ten-!" Ciel couldn't help the burst of surprise that flew from his mouth. He heard something like a snort and wondered if Aria had laughed at him.

"You don't have to follow me, you know."

Ciel's face reddened in his embarrassment. Ten miles was at least a two hour walk. On top of the fact that he would have to walk ten miles, he would also have to struggle to make conversation for all of that time.

But, he had already committed to it.

"Hey, what time is it?" Aria asked suddenly. Ciel was surprised for a second and fumbled to take his phone out of his pocket.

"It's um… 12:16."

"Good. I didn't miss it." Aria mumbled, jogging to the corner of the street and turning. Ciel was a bit behind and by the time he had rounded the corner, Aria plopped down onto a dark purple bench.

"What are you doing?" Ciel asked, completely confused.

"It wasn't actually my plan to walk ten miles home." Aria answered, not bothering to explain further.

"So…. you're…?" Ciel repeated, his confusion mounting.

"Taking the bus. Last one for the next two hours runs at 12:25."

Ciel hesitantly sat down on the bench. He had never ridden a bus in his entire life and he found it ridiculously out of character for Aria to be so familiar with them that she memorized the bus routes.

"How do you know that?" he asked, still shocked by the new found information.

"Gotta get around somehow now that I don't have a car."

"But couldn't your-"

Suddenly something started vibrating, the sound coming out louder against the metal of the bench.

"Fuck. Already? Hold on," Aria mumbled, leaning forward on the bench and pulling out her phone. She sighed and swiped across the screen, holding the phone to her ear.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Ciel could hear the booming voice from his spot on the bench and frowned. It was obviously Sebastian.

"Stop yelling in my ear, you idiot. Look, I even answered my phone aren't you proud of me?"

"Aria," the voice warned.

Ciel felt like he was witnessing a scene he wasn't supposed to see or hear. He had no idea that her brothers were so strict with her. He had thought that the rumors about them were just exaggeration but that obviously wasn't the case with how angry the voice sounded over the phone.

"Alright," Aria snapped. "Someone was bothering me, so I left. I'm on the way home right now."

"You could have just come upstairs if someone was bothering you. Who was it? Aleistor?"

Upstairs? Ciel wondered. Were her brothers the urgent business Adrian had to take care of?

"No it was-" Aria stopped and glanced over at Ciel as if she had forgotten he was there. "Nobody, it doesn't matter."

Ciel wondered why she looked at him; it wasn't like it was him who made her leave.

"Aria," Sebastian warned.

"It was nobody! Anyways, I'll see you at home. It's your fault anyways that you just abandoned me down there."

"Claude's gonna be pissed."

Ciel's gaze shifted from the concrete below him as he struggled to not blatantly observe their conversation to the street as he heard a bus approach.

Aria looked up as well and stood when she saw the bus.

"Claude's always pissed. You're a big boy, you can handle it," she replied and quickly hung up the phone before Sebastian could say otherwise.

"He's such an idiot," she mumbled stepping up to the curb.

The bus put on its hazard lights and pulled slowly in front of the two.

"Where do you live?"

"Upper end, west side," Ciel rattled off.

Aria raised an eyebrow at him. "Fancy." She turned back around and placed a bill in the waiting bus driver's hand.

"Hop on."

Nearly forgot that I was meant to update today! Whoops! The long awaited party- woo! On a side note, I actually went to a surprise birthday party last night and realized that I am so not cut out for parties. Totally sympathizing with Aria, here. Anyways, thank you for your continued love and support, please keep it coming! It's so heartwarming to see so many people enjoying my writing! Ah, and to those of you who don't know "Adrian Crevan" is not Undertaker's real name it's a fan given name- we still haven't been told his true name in the manga. I'm simply using it because I want there to be a clear difference between those who call him "Adrian" and those who call him "The Undertaker" but more about him later. May or may not be 2 chapters this month, I've got a few others projects I need to work on and I'm not sure if I'll have time for everything. I guess you'll find out! And for those wondering- I try to update every 14 days, always on Sundays. And if I update once- it'll be 28 days.