There will be an explanation and a flashback here...

I know I haven't updated for a long time. But it's not like anyone reads this, right?

Here's the fourth Chapter. Hope you find it decent.

I do not own Kuroshitsuji or the characters

Chapter 4: Remembering Who You Are

"H...How can this be?" Alois Trancy's voice trembled, full of doubt, the words coming out of his lips shaking and unsteady. Every single inch of his room was same as ever, restored to the state it was before it burned down. It was as if the fire never happened at all. Not a trace of ash, no remembrance of the earlier disaster. Not a single speck of dirt or dust was in the carpeted purple floor. The walls were as warm to the eye as always, Alois' bed made and in perfect condition. The chandeliers were shining, the early dawn light streaming in from the flawless window making each individual crystal produce rainbow rays.

"This is...impossible.."

Nothing is impossible for the Trancy butler, Master, Alois received the mental telegram. That better be the truth, Claude, he returned coldly and his sapphire eyes froze into a chilly snowstorm. Hannah swore the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees in the room. She remembered that when someone could overpower him, or was simply better than him, he couldn't stand it. Not even when it was Claude. No matter how much time has passed, Alois still resented the fact that Claude followed every single one of his orders with the utmost reverence and eagerness. Even when Alois tested him and gave some details amiss, the butler could still read his true feelings no matter what. Hannah knew that the boy sensed that something wasn't right with Claude - that there was a kind of unrealness whenever he did as Alois wished. According to Alois, it was...deceptive.

But that didn't matter to the boy right now. All that mattered was that the fire was long gone and the room was restored. All that mattered was that Alois wouldn't have to see another fire in front of his eyes again...for now.

The blonde boy of ten was so paralyzed in fear that he couldn't even find the energy to tug at the silk spider's threads that restrained him. The bonds were so light and soft and delicate, yet it held him, their diamond whiteness shining against the pitch-black darkness of who-knows-where. The blonde boy lay confused and petrified, not knowing what he should do. Suddenly, a fuzzy image of a giant spider manifested beside him, its head just inches above his blonde locks. Finally, Alois was shaken out of his immobility and shivered as the spider began to talk to him. Wait, was it even a spider? The boy felt as if a bunch of invisible...things were choking him. Beads of cold sweat flooded down his head as he felt himself dying of fear and terror. His consciousness and awareness were pitifully slipping away. He felt his soul being forcibly sucked out of his body, slowly and painfully, fading into the pitch-black darkness of death. The blonde boy's body became limp and listless, and not even a finger could be lifted.

"What is your wish?" its voice was deep...diabolic...inhuman...frozen...as if it desired nothing but to kill the poor boy. Dominant and immovable. Alois felt all his remaining energy painfully draining away. The heaviness of the spider's dissatisfaction and judgment were weighing down on his shoulders, as if it were tangible.

"W-w-ish?" Alois managed to get the words out of his throat. He was still frozen but the new confusion gave him some life. "Wh-what are y-you say-saying? Do I need a wish?"

The spider's cold voice became even more darker. Alois' mouth closed, and remained frozen as he started to think about what the spider really meant.

"You mean you called me without a wish?" it said, voice sharper than a knife and colder than ice. Alois felt a new pang of fear electrocute his already petrified body. "Then I see you have no business with me." Some threads began to loosen and Alois felt as if he was falling down from the sky. He felt like he was dropping and dropping, as if the sharp fall was going to kill him, yet it was only darkness he saw. Alois observed no changes in the horrible scenery that made his heart feel as if they were pushed through funnels. No distance was being covered, yet he knew he was falling and he had to do something to stop it before he falls to his death. The obfuscating darkness filled his eyes, and he knew he was no different from a blind person. He gasped for breath as he tried to regain his composure. This couldn't scare him! At least he will survive this! He would never see the day to read the words, "Alois Trancy, fell into an unknown darkness, in an unknown world because he was careless" in his obituary.

Sucking in a breath, the unpleasant motion he was experiencing stopped abruptly when the spider heard his unspoken plea. Gathering the courage to speak up once again, he yelled as loudly as he could manage, "I do have a wish. I have lots of them. But I haven't...I don't know...what I really want."
Alois shivered, and his body tensed up. What if the spider didn't hear him, or what if the spider was no longer interested in him? What if the spider drops him, letting him fall into the darkness? Will he kill Alois?

Much to the blonde boy's surprise, the formerly-broken threads connecting him to life were rejoined. The spider sounded pleased and there was a new tone in his voice as he spoke. Was it...obedience? Acceptance? Alois felt the threads loosen, but he didn't fall. He felt more comfortable, more safe...as if he could trust the giant spider. The beads of sweat finally froze away. The spider's presence, which was, seconds ago, made him feel near-death, was now very...calm and comfy, and for a second there, Alois felt dominant.

"Understood. Until the day you find one, I'll be waiting, then." And that was when Alois burst.

"Why? Why will you wait for me? Who am I to you? You barely know me! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME! Who gave you the right to boss me around?! Who...WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO-"

"Why, you ask? Weren't you the one who came here to me, begging?" The demon didn't know yet - it wasn't the right thing to say.

"I wasn't begging! That wasn't begging! I would NEVER beg!"

"But minutes ago you were begging for your life when I was about to let you fall to your death."

Alois calmed down in a nanosecond. "No...it's not that. Hear me out. I'm more than you think, spider." The giant spider was slightly amused by the boy's moodiness.

"How can you prove that?"

"One of the boys said that there was a fairy that would grant you any wish. I wanted to see if he was telling the truth or if he was just telling a stupid lie."

"No...I'm not a fairy. I am...a demon," the spider intoned in a solemn voice, making no effect on the blonde boy.

"A demon?" Alois nearly spat, his voice mocking and incredulous.

"I can do anything for you. Anything. Because I am a demon."

"Oh, really?" Alois let out a dry, dark laugh that was clearly forced out. "How do I know that?" The boy sounded disgusted.

"I can do anything for you..anything you want..on one condition."

The boy was still incredulous, and with a sarcastic effort, pretended to be interested. "Which is?"

"I take your soul after I fulfill your wish. Once you take the contract with me, remember that your path to Heaven or Hell is then nonexistent."

"A demon who takes your soul?" The words started to make sense for him.

"Yes. We eat souls in order to live."

Alois decided to test the credibility of the spider's words. What if they were all lies? What if this was just a dream? What if this was just set-up? "What kinds of things can you do?"

"Anything. Everything."

Is the playing games on him? "Are you immortal? Can you die? Can you revive a dead person?"

"There is only one way a demon can die, Jim McCain. But I live forever as long as I avoid that. And as for dead people...I'm afraid not."

All interest burned out of Alois' hard-to-please attention. Alois' voice darkened and he put his chin up stubbornly."Then forget it. I don't have any business with you either." But deep inside, he was threatening to burst again. Not burst in anger. Burst...to tears.

"Don't you wish...don't you wish to get out of this hellhole? Don't you wish to...live a life where you are treated as a human? Don't you wish to...live? Don't you...want someone to be with? Don't you...want to be happy?"

His throat ached so much, as tears threatened to fall. Alois' eyes flared with hatred, his lower lip already beginning to tremble. "I do, demon."

"Then make a contract with me."

"But why should I? Not even in dreams have I seen a twist of events as bizarre as this. Never have I thought that I would sink this low. Why should I beg for the help of someone else? Why should I ask for help from somebody when I know I can do everything myself?"

"My..aren't you an interesting fellow." The voice was genuine.

"Interesting or not, I DO NOT CARE, DEMON! ALL YOU WANT IS TO EAT A SOUL, NOTHING ELSE!" The tears fell from his sculpture-like face, his voice shaky and unsteady as he began sobbing.

"But I cannot take it unless there's a contract, Jim McCain."

"And that's the sad part of it, demon. Even if you fulfill every single wish I have till the day I die of old age, it won't matter in the end. Shower me with riches, give me a position in society that even the Queen would envy, give me millions of servants...no. I don't need that. I don't need a fairy-godmother to make my fantasies real. You can't give me what I really want, deep inside, no matter what you do. I don't need you."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"DON'T MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF!"

"Understood. But remember...if you call me again...I will definitely come."

"Whatever."

"Claude," Alois began sharply, in his acrimonious tone that meant business, "I have a plan...to make Ciel Phantomhive mine."

The spider butler's eyes bore a slight flame of interest, but the next nanosecond, they were as oblivious as ever. "And what is it?"

"Let's hold a costume ball, Claude. We'll invite him, along with many other nobles like him to make it look less suspicious. Since it's the Season, it will look as plain as day. Though I know it's just formalities and that kid already has an idea of what we really want...and especially Sebastian...he already knows what we want...unless he's stupid, of course." The tone of his voice changed again, this time, becoming more dominant and determined, much more dark and heavy. He turned to Hannah. "Begin the preparations at once. Send the invitations. Make sure the weather will be good on that day and no major occasions will coincide so that Phantomhive will have no excuse not to go. And...make sure to invite his fiancee as well. The cute blonde girl."

A twisted smirk found its way onto the boy's deceptively-angelic face. His eyes glowed once again with that same insane fire.

Hannah slightly shivered.

"...Ciel Phantomhive.." the boy began ranting, "I would love to see the look on your face when I've stolen all that you have..~"

Wall through wall, the boy's twisted, malicious, and naughty laugh echoed all throughout the Trancy manor.