Alois tilted his head, as if he didn't understand what I had just said, "What do you mean? I just let her graze like you said. Then she started to pull on me, so I let go of the loopy leather things. Why? Should I not have done that?"

If I could, I would've blown up on the spot. "Y-you LOST THE HORSE!?"

Alois, who looked terrified, cowered at me as if I was Claude, about to tear his little blonde soul apart. "I watched her gallop away! She went that way!" He started running the way Juni had gone.

"She was galloping?! We'll never catch her on foot!" Fear replaced my anger, and my teeth chattered in the cold wind. "Oh, Claude's gonna kill me…"

"That horse was a gift from my cousin, Viscount Druitt! Do you know how many pounds the stupid thing cost?" Al kicked some dirt on the ground, mumbling things in Latin, which were no doubt curses, and turned to me. "Lots! You girls are so annoying!"

That was uncalled for. "I wasn't the one who let it go after I specially said to NOT!

Alois then decided to release his inner jerk. "MY FAULT!? I'm not the one who wanted to ride the bloody thing in the first place! We could've just walked to Claude's Web, but you HAD to ride the horse! That's what I get for listening to an ugly girl!"

I couldn't but help but cringe. Ugly. Alois had called me ugly. I clenched my fist, tempted to yell at him for being so bipolar and annoying, but I held it in. If I did, he'd send me away, and everything would be for nothing. Before I had come here, I had looked up Al's bipolar level online. It was the highest, and also the most dangerous.

The older boy's icy eyes were burning with hatred. There was only thing I could do to not make him blind me with his own two fingers.

"I'm sorry, Al." I didn't mean it though.

"Don't call me that. It's Alois." He said, turning away from me. "Since your now technically my servant, I would prefer Master from you. But since you're my age and new, I'll let it slide for a few days." He motioned for me to follow him. "Come on. We have to catch that horse-" Alois did a little spin and clapped, like our argument had never happened. "-and find some fairies!

Master, my butt. I'm more like his babysitter.

…An hour or so later…

"Hey Nichole, I found a fairy!"

I turned around to see Alois holding a lighting bug (barely alive I might add), and shoving it in my face.

"See? Is it one of your friends?"

You think a kid that spent almost 5 years living as a wild boy would know what a stupid firefly was.

"Alois, that's a firefly, not a fairy. Fairies look like people, only with wings. Not bugs."

Giving a pouty face, Alois set the bug down on the ground. "Well where are they? I haven't seen them yet! Plus, we are very close to Claude's Web, where people say lots of fairies are found."

I sighed and rubbed my face. "We are searching for your horse, not fairies." I cupped my hands around my mouth, trying to make my yell louder. "JUNIPER! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Putting his hands in his purple jacket, Alois walked over to a tree and leaned against it. "She's gone."

I gave him an annoyed look. "Yes, but we will find her! Claude will torture me if we come back without her! We can't go back without her!"

A gust of wind blew hard, causing me to shiver badly. The clouds had settled in, threatening to rain on us. If I didn't return with Juniper, that black butler would kill me on the spot. He was plotting to kill me, that I knew, but I needed to save his (and now my) master. Juniper was somewhere enjoying her freedom, while I worried for my very life.

"Yes we can. Claude will find her, if I order him to. Now sit with me." Alois sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged. He patted the dirt next to him, like I was a dog, and he was calling me.

Reluctantly, I sat next to him. I pulled my knees close to me, and shook badly from the chill of November.

Alois watched me, his eyes focused. "You look cold," No, duh Sherlock. "I really must say though, you aren't like many girls around here. Most of them would have just stood there and refused to sit on the ground without a blanket or something. Let alone sit like that."

"It seems like I'm the opposite of most women around here huh?" I said, rubbing my hands together. "I'd rather be in jeans than this dress right now."

looked over at him, and stared at his eyes. Those eyes. I couldn't help it. They were light blue, like the color of beach water. Almost gray, but at the same time not.

Noticing I was staring, Alois turned away from me, looking straight ahead at nothing. "Don't do that. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

Well that was embarrassing. "Sorry. Your eyes are just pretty." I felt awkward saying that. I'm also pretty sure my cheeks became red after I said that.

"No, they aren't." he said, using a very stern voice I'd never heard him use. "Father said so. He was the only one who ever cared for me or made me feel like I mattered. But my eyes… he said they looked awful and hit me whenever I looked at him. With his cane or whip usually. Whatever was handy at the time. I hated him until the day he died, but at the same time, I loved him."

"That's awful." I said, shivering. I was cold to the point I didn't even feel like talking. Even if it was to Alois.

Alois looked at me through the corner of his eye. Silently, he removed his signature purple coat and laid it over us, like some sort of blanket. He didn't acknowledge me as I said thank you.

My eyes were tired from watching YouTube dancing videos for so long last night. I was tempted to place my head on Alois's shoulder, and just sink into sleep. If I did that, I'd probably wake up with no eyes or tongue. But I was just so tired.

Without caring about how he'd react or my probable demise, I leaned against him and closed my eyes. I felt Alois shift, as if he didn't know what to do with me. He kept muttering things in Latin too. The things he said were in a singsong way, almost as if he was singing a lullaby.

"…Hoheo Taralna, Rondero Tarel…"

After a while, he settled down too. I guess we both needed a cat nap. It was barely a minute after Alois fell asleep that I did too.

….…

"GGGYYYYOOOOAAAA!"

"WHAT!?" I screamed, standing abruptly up. Alois's coat fell to ground as I did. That feminine scream belonged to him. I turned back to see that Alois was gone.

He was gone. And he screamed. Claude.

Quickly, I picked his plum-colored jacket up and put it on. "ALOIS!" I yelled, scared that Claude had him in his grip, and was about to break his neck.

Still half delusional, I stumbled to where I heard the direction of the boy's scream of terror. The sun had completed disappeared behind clouds, making it dark. I strained my ears, wanting, trying, to hear Alois.

"Nichole! Help!" His voice was distinct now. I soon saw him too.

Alois Trancy lay sprawled on the ground, crying and yelling. He was holding his hand, which was bright red and swelling. A dead black spider lied next to him. A Black Widow.

I sank to my knees and helped him to at least be off the ground. He was shaking as bad as when he was on the horse, only this time out of the pain of the poison circulating in his blood. He was an absolute mess, and biting his tongue.

"How'd this happen?" I said, as I tried to remember how long it took for a Black Widow's venom to kill someone. An hour or so? Even less?

"I was trying to f-find fairies." The older boy said, hysterically crying it was almost too hard to understand what he was saying. "I found that spider, and i-it bit me! I didn't w-want to wake you before, so I left you there leaning on the tree. I'm so sorry!"

"We are getting you out of here." I said, putting my arm around his back, getting ready to try to lift him, "You're not dying here! I'll get you home, and we'll both be alright."

I vainly put my hands under his knees and tried to lift the tall boy. I got off the cold dirt, but his long legs dragged on the ground and tripped me. I began to get up again, but my knees gave out and I nearly dropped Alois.

"Stop…I'll be fine Nichole. Claude's coming." Alois said, his voice getting weak. "He's coming, I know it." He gave a big sigh and closed his eyes. "Claude, this is an order. Save me."

As soon as he said that, Claude came jumping out of the nearest tree, like a 19th century Spider-Man. "I'll be taking him." He said in his monotone voice. The butler, without looking at me, took Alois from me.

"Have you been here the whole time?!" I asked as Alois's breathing became shallow in Claude's arms.

"Maybe." And with that, he ran like the demon he is to the estate, leaving me behind.

I hate him. So much.

Rubbing my eyes, I followed him at my own pace. Even after my nap, the complete chaos that had just happened had tired me out. Alois was bitten by a spider that could possible kill him in a few minutes. Claude was secretly Spider-Man, and I still had Alois's coat on. It smelled of wine, grass, and what I think is mascara...

I saw the mansion in the distance, and couldn't wait to get there. Alois and Claude were already inside, for I saw the mansion's door close from far away. I hoped to get there before the clouds let it rain. I needed a bath.