Disclaimer: Please see chapter one, because typing it over and over tires me =)

AN: For each stage, there will be a chapter for Ciel's point of view, and one for Sebastian's. A total of eleven chapters. I hope you will look forward to it!

There's a new ache eating away at my heart.

But it doesn't hurt.

Because it isn't real.

Can't be.

"Sebastian!"

My body twists, squirming, protesting against the calloused hands that are pressing my naked flesh against the unforgiving chill of a bed of stone.

The people above me are mere shadows, faces obscured by long hoods, bodies hidden by cloth that brushes against my struggling. The material of their cloaks is soft, but each time it comes close, it feels as though I'm being pricked.

"Sebastian!"

They hiss, voices discernable, inhuman, and one hand above me holds a shining silver dagger that gleams with the promise of my sacrifice. They're going to kill me.

These monsters- because the human shapes they hold are irrelevant- are going to end my life, and all I can do is continue this futile resistance, chanting that name all the while.

His name. Because he's supposed to come and save me. The only one who can keep me alive, if only for the sake of bringing about my death with his own hands.

"Sebastian!"

My throat is raw. So raw. But I never stop screaming. Won't stop calling to him. There is a pounding against my temple as my voice fills the room, drowning out the noises the fiends above me are making. My vision is blurred with hot tears.

Where is he?

"Sebastian!"

Why won't he come for me?

"Sebastian!"

The hand that holds the dagger takes its aim, plunges, and it is over in a mere moment.

There is a flame burning into my center, cutting deep into my flesh, past skin, muscle, and organ alike. A shriek of sheer agony erupts from my heaving lungs. The hissing above me is satisfied, excited, at the sight of the blood that pours from the wound. Blazing trails of sanguine staining everything.

I'm dying.

The shadows surrounding me are melding together. The smell of the laceration, raw and pungent, fills my nostrils as I gasp loudly. Still screaming. Crying. For him.

Save me.

"SEBASTIAN!"

"Young Master!"

My eyes snap open, and it has disappeared.

The pain. The monsters. The darkness. My past. Everything.

I realize that I'm buried headfirst into the crook of someone's neck. That my body is shaking uncontrollably. That my hands are pressing into the curve of someone's back. That I'm still sobbing his name.

"Se-Sebas… tian…"

"Shhh. It was a dream, Young Master. Or a nightmare, rather."

It's his voice. That irresistible timbre, crawling along my skin, a rich and decadent sound.

I pull myself away to look into his face. The familiar blood red of his irises appraises me, brows furrowed with perplexity. His hands are on my back, and damn him for touching me, when I've told him not to without permission; not ever! Damn him for disobeying! Damn him for laying hands on me, and not bothering to hold tightly enough!

But, oh.

He's here.

Right in front of me.

Real and alive, and it's enough to make send me into a fit of hysteria.

"Sebastian!"

I'm thrown against him again, his name the only thing I can bring myself to utter.

"Young Master. Hush now." His hands are rubbing my back. "I can only imagine what images plagued your sleep, but it is over. You are awake, and perfectly safe."

But I can't stop crying. I shiver from the fear that lingers in me, and the anger that begins to grow alongside it.

He isn't supposed to leave my side. Ever.
He's suppose to come to me. Always.

Because that is what our contract entails.
Because that is what I demand of him.
Because-

I can't finish the thought. There's an ache in my heart, all of the sudden.

I detach myself from his body, and look him in the eyes. Stare long and hard. He seems to be reading me. Attempting to predict what I might do next. I wipe at the tears that have finally stopped falling.

"Sebastian. What do you do if I call for you?"

My voice is a bit hoarse, but the tone has sunken into the usual coldness I use when addressing him.

"Why come, of course, Young Master."

"And if I tell you to stay by my side?"

A smirk is twitching on his lips. "Then by your side I shall remain, until the day you cease to exist."

The answers he gives are the very same ones that I expect. Because Sebastian can do only what I command him to. Only that, and nothing more, because I have never given him the option. I've known that from the moment we were both branded by the pentacle of this twisted covenant.

This is how our fates have been sealed, I tell myself.
It cannot change. It won't ever change. Never.

"I'm tired. I want to go back to sleep."

Sebastian's reaction is immediate. He nestles me against a sanctum of pillows, dragging the covers over my body and tucking me into a cocoon of fabric. He does not say a word. Doesn't ask questions, because he knows I won't answer.

My eyes are swollen, head hurts, and limbs feel far too heavy to move. I press a damp cheek against the coolness of a pillow, and black creeps along the edges of my vision. The orange glow of the lit candles Sebastian is holding in one hand seems to be fading away. I hear the creak of a doorknob, and know that he is about to leave me again.

But I won't allow it.

"Stay until I fall asleep. It's an order."

I don't need him to. But I want him to. I don't know why.
The pain from before becomes more pronounced. My heart squeezes, thumping an answer that I don't understand.

"Yes, Young Master." He doesn't reply with any teasing or sarcasm, and it surprises my hazy mind.

Knowing that my slumber will be guarded by this demon, Sebastian, fills me with an unexpected tranquility. I know he is standing statue-still by the door, a shadow against firelight whose ruby gaze will not falter until sleep is within reach. The distance between us, a gap of a mere few feet, appears too large to me now.

I quickly bury that notion.

Why in the name of the Queen would I find that he is too far away?

He isn't!
In fact, he isn't far enough!

My eyelids grow heavy as I wage this mental duel with myself, and I know I am very close to being enveloped by unconsciousness once more. Sebastian speaks suddenly, lulling me:

"Pleasant dreams, Young Master," he says with an unusual softness in his voice.

He has never wished that upon me before...

I want to tell him that I don't need him to express such childish phrases to me, but I don't.
I don't, because my heart feels a little more warm, my pulse now a thrilled and steady thrum.

Still. It isn't because of him, I'm sure.

It never has been before.

When I awaken, much earlier than anticipated, Sebastian is gone.

The ache in my chest returns.

But it doesn't hurt.

Because it isn't real.

Because... I dont...

I can't.

AN: This got erased THREE TIMES while in the process of being finished, so it took even longer than I'd hoped. And now I'm a bit dissatisfied with it, too...

I happen to love it when Ciel loses his composure and clings to Sebastian for dear life (especially in the manga). It's adorable, if not a little heart-wrenching. Too bad he lets go. Cling to him forever, Ciel! I would. XD

Hope you enjoyed ;)