Wah! Sorry for not updating and thankyou to those of you who are still with me! My homework pile slightly resembled Liam's! heh. Project my foot, I wish I had a Chain, then I wouldn't*mumble mumble* ...

The point is, chapter 5 is up, so enjoy!

Just so you know:

- all the thoughts belong to Cassidy

- Break has told her everything he knows and suspects of Vincent

- and I do not own Pandora Hearts

An Eye for Colour

Since when did I wear heels…while walking towards a murderer?

She watched as her "friends" moved away from her to their respective positions should anything go wrong. She wasn't sure why Eques was supposed to guard Oz instead of her, but apparently he was still top priority. Of course. Weaving her way between ladies in silk and men with giant moustaches, Cassidy – with dyed black hair and pink frilly dress – approached her target: Vincent Nightray.

The young man was alone, holding a glass of wine. Now or never.

Putting on a well-practiced mildly scared expression and speaking in a quiet and uncertain voice, Cassidy took the first step into the lion's den: 'Excuse me, are you Lord Vincent Nightray?'

Turning, the mismatched eyes met hers. 'Yes I am. May I help you Miss…'

'Isabelle.' The girl paused, suddenly seeing a flaw in the plan. Thinking quickly, she hastily added, 'Isabelle Fracture.'

Okay. I'm dead.

'Fracture? Not meaning to be rude, but that is a rather unusual name.' The Nightray chuckled.

'Uh, yes. People say that a lot, even in my home country. Heh heh.'

'Ah, so you're foreign!'

'Uh, yes. Well, my name is quite unusual…' C'mon, think realistic! What would really happen if your name was "Fracture"? 'I'm a friend of Sharon Rainsworth. Break used to tease me a lot about my name too.'

'Ah, you shouldn't take that man's words seriously.'

'Oh, err…yes…I have learned that by now…' seeing her chance, Cassidy seized it with both hands. 'You're a Contractor too, right, Lord Vincent? I-I wanted to know, from yourself, because Break sort of hinted that-'

Vincent cut her off. 'We mustn't speak of such things in a crowded room such as this, Miss Isabelle. There may be unwanted ears about! Please, come with me…'

Following the blonde man with caution, Cassidy tried her best to remember the route they took to distance themselves from "unwanted ears". All the doors looked the same in the Nightray mansion, which, in proper style of mansions, had many corridors with many, many, doors. Cassidy soon felt as though she was being led into some sort of indoor maze, and the pace Vincent was going at wasn't helping her mental map making either; the speed he was going at suggested that he was trying to find a bathroom – fast – without appearing suspicious.

At last, they approached a door that looked like every other door, and he opened it to reveal an average looking room with a closet, bed, armchair… well, most of the furniture that you would expect to find in a guest room. It looked like it had been prepared for someone, which made Cassidy very wary… and slightly scared…

While Cassidy tried to convince herself that the room had been prepared for someone else, Vincent spoke, 'Now that we are alone, what was it that you wanted talk to me about, Miss Isabelle?'

'I wanted to ask about the, um, Contractors, and the Illegal Contractors, and well, um… I'm not sure if I should be asking about them…'

'Ah, you are going a bit fast for me there! Firstly, about the Contractors…'

They spoke about Contractors and their Chains for a while, and then, as Cassidy had hoped, the conversation went into deeper matters.

'B-Rabbit is the most power Chain? B-But isn't Alice the B-Rabbit? And she looks like a normal girl!'

'Ah yes, well, we don't know that much about the Chains or the Abyss right now, that's mainly what Pandora is for. Don't worry, if B-Rabbit should ever get out of hand, we would easily restrain her.' To Cassidy, Vincent seemed to say the last few words to comfort her rather than to tell the truth. 'Anything else?'

'Oh, yes, that is, if you have the time…' In reality, Cassidy was tired of disguising her voice, and she just wasn't used to her dress. Time to get to the point. If I die here, I blame it on you, Break, for making me do this. 'Alice is connected to this thing called the "Tragedy of Sablier", am I correct? And she's, she's, she's dead, right?'

That seemed to surprise Vincent. 'Ah, I didn't expect them to tell you so much… but it is unknown if this story is true, the Abyss has been known to create illusions…'

Ooh, did I hit a nerve? Cassidy mentally noted Vincent's reaction to that particular statement.

'And such hazy facts are usually kept under lock and key, in fact, my knowledge on this topic isn't very clear at all, especially with Yamane putting me to sleep all the time. I'm afraid that I can't answer questions that I don't have answers for myself!'

Tell it to the judge, you're hiding something, and I don't need my Chain to sniff out what it is. Moving on, I guess.

'I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't supposed to talk about that,' as soon as the words left the girl's mouth, Vincent seemed to relax a bit more. He appeared to be confident on being able to handle the next subject that "Isabelle" questioned him on. Little did he know…

'There are people called the Baskervilles, right?'

That seemed to alert Vincent that perhaps something was up. 'Again, those are delicate matters. Right now, we only know that they are a threat to young Oz Bezarius and also that they are Contractors, and that they were once a duke family as well, before they caused the Tragedy of Sablier. Their motives are not yet known, other than the fact that they are trying to gain something from destroying certain artefacts connected perhaps to the Tragedy.'

Sounds like he's quoting something. Something's up…

Suddenly, Vincent yawned. 'Ah, Yamane seems to be vying for my attention once again. If you do not mind, I must ask you to leave, unless you wish to watch me sleep. Echo here will lead you back to the party.'

The door swung open, revealing a white haired girl in a blue outfit. Quietly, she said, 'Please follow Echo back to the party.'

After closing the door of the room, Echo led Cassidy back to the party. It seemed all the livelier after the tense discussion with the Nightray. As soon as Echo had slipped off into the crowd, Cassidy allowed herself a sigh of relief. She would happily fight through a legion of Trumps – Hollow-Eye provided – that have another conversation with the odd-eyed Contractor. And that silent Echo girl was giving me the creeps too.

After standing alone for a short while, she decided that she wanted some fresh air. There was just something off about the Nightray mansion, at least, while Vincent Nightray still resided within its walls.

Wandering out into the gardens, Cassidy walked among the black roses of the Nightray house. She heard soft mumbling coming from behind another large bush. Going around it, she saw a little girl holding a teddy bear.

'Don't worry Mister Teddy, I have some buttons right here, and they will make really pretty eyes!'

Careful to keep quite, the older girl drew nearer. Unfortunately, she stepped on a twig.

'Eeeek!'

'Don't worry; I'm not here to hurt you.' Cassidy did her best to look harmless. Deciding to speak before she was questioned, Cassidy added, 'What's wrong with your teddy?'

'Oh, it's not mine; I found him under that window, and look!' The girl held up the toy for her to examine. Its face seemed to have been used as a shield from an angry cat attack. So this is what Vincent Nightray is capable of. Well, the least he's capable of, anyway.

'I found some buttons, so I'm going to fix him and give him some new eyes. But I have a little problem.'

Having a little sister herself, Cassidy found herself playing along with the girl and even faking a concerned expression. When the child didn't speak, she asked, 'What's the problem?'

'See, I only found two buttons–' she held up a beautiful ruby button and a golden one. 'And they don't match. But I guess I would be alright for Mister Teddy to have a red eye and a yellow one!'

'No.'

The little girl blinked in confusion at the icy tone that Cassidy had used. Even the orange haired girl was surprised at herself. Wow. Am I going crazy from being in contact with both Break and Vincent Nightray? 'Uh, what I mean is that I don't think it'll be as nice.'

'But then Mister Teddy will only have one eye! That can't be right!'

She didn't know what made her say it, but somehow, she just answered, without thinking, 'I don't think it's wrong to only have one eye. I think the red one will do fine on its own.'

'Um, I guess you're right. He's really going to be a special teddy bear now!' giggling happily, the girl left Cassidy standing in the gardens alone.

I wonder…nah.

Flashback:

'Okay, what's with the hair?'

'It's very stylish, no?'

'Liam was right; no one can talk to you without going insane.'

'Why thank you!'

Well, maybe.

DON'T KILL ME FOR LEAVING BREAK COMPLETELY OUT OF THIS CHAPTER! WAHHH! Oh, and please review! And did you get the flashback? If not, feel free to read the last chapter again. Bye for now!

Oh, and thanks for pointing my little mistake out, Nightray of the Abyss