Chapter 13: Warmth.
The sky was painted ebony, lighting up brightly every so often with a crack of thunder following behind it.
Sebastian, sitting in the parlor, noticed the rumbling coming from outside. He tried to ignore it, still a bit tense from the meeting he and his young master had with Mordecai Harvey.
And that was when it hit him.
The demon quickly got up and made his way out of the manor, heading towards the mansion deep in the woods, east from where he currently was.
Once he had made it to the manor, his heart had skipped a beat. The entrance to the building was open, and he could not sense Cassie's presence anywhere.
He rushed into the mansion and swiftly walked up the stairs and down the hall towards the girl's room, only to find that she wasn't there. "Damn." He cursed under his breath as he went back outside and headed deeper into the forest, following the girl's scent.
After several minutes of wandering around the forest, Sebastian finally came to a stop. He stared in awe at the sight in front of him.
It was not Cassie that was in front of him, but rather, it was a trail of blood. Cassie's blood.
"Young Mistress... What happened to you?" His voice was silent, and he began to follow the path the blood made. At first, he was walking. Then he began jogging. Then he started running, full speed, following the trail of blood.
His heart was racing in his chest as he ran faster and faster, wanting to find Cassie as soon as possible and make sure she was alright. "Cassie!" He called out, swiftly dashing past all of the trees.
If he didn't get to her soon, then surely her condition would only worsen. He had to stop the bleeding, otherwise she would lose too much blood and... No. Death was not an option.
At that moment, he saw her. She was lying underneath a tree, breathing heavily and whimpering. Her small body trembled immensely and she wouldn't dare open her eyes. Her hands covered her ears, and what seemed to be a large bite wound was bleeding on her left leg.
Sebastian quickly made his way to her side as he then pulled her into his warm embrace. He stroked her wet cerulean hair as he spoke in a low, soft voice. "Everything's going to be just fine, Young Mistress. I promise." He then lifted her up into his arms as he raced back towards the Phantomhive estate.
Sebastian had just finished tending to Cassie's wound, and she was now lying unconscious in bed.
She seemed to have fallen asleep in the demon's arms on the way to the manor. Not that he could really blame her, she must have been exhausted. Her fear of thunder must've had her restless, not to mention the fact that she was running through the woods for god-knows how long.
It appeared that someone had broken into the mansion and attacked Cassie, resulting in her running outside and further into the woods. As to if the person responsible was a werewolf or not is something only Cassie can answer, because the wound on her leg was definitely a wolf bite.
She could have received the bite whilst running away from whoever entered the mansion, whether it be an actual wolf, or a werewolf. But as previously stated, he would have to wait for her to wake up to get an answer.
Ciel stood tiredly beside Sebastian as he looked down at the sleeping girl. "So, why does she have to sleep in my bed? Couldn't you just put her in one of the guest bedrooms?"
The butler gazed over at the boy with a closed-eye smile. "Because she's your sister, Young Master. Don't you think it would make her feel better faster if she shared the bed with her sibling?"
The young earl furrowed his brows as he spoke. "You don't expect me to sleep in the same bed as her, do you?!"
Sebastian feigned innocence as he opened his eyes to look at his master. "There's nothing wrong with two siblings sleeping in the same bed. That is, unless you don't think of Miss Cassie as a sibling..?"
A rose pink blush spread across Ciel's cheeks as he shot his head in the other direction in attempt to hide his face. "O-Of course I think of her as a sibling! It's just- Wouldn't she get mad if she woke up and I was there? She doesn't actually know that we're siblings, so..." He trailed off as he looked back over to the girl.
The raven butler shook his head, "I don't think Miss Cassie would mind. In fact, I think she would actually enjoy seeing your face when she wakes up."
"Fine." The boy mumbled, walking to the other side of the bed.
Sebastian chuckled lightly as he put the covers over the boy and exited the room.
Although it was true that Sebastian wanted to share the bed with his beloved Cassie, he wanted her and his young master to make up. They both need somebody who can make them happy and take away all their sorrows, and that someone was not a demon.
It was the middle of the night, and Ciel was awoken by an unfamiliar weight on top of him.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Cassie lying half on, half off of his body. Her arms were wrapped around his waist, and her head rested atop his chest. She had her right leg overlapping Ciel's and the injured one curled up underneath her.
Ciel held in a laugh as he began stroking the girl's long navy hair. "I've missed you, Cassie..."
The girl groaned as her eyes fluttered open. "Hm..?" The moment she looked up, her and Ciel's eyes met. They both remained silent for a minute until Cassie reached one of her arms up to her face and rubbed her eye, "Am I dreaming?"
Ciel gazed at the girl worriedly, "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine." She mumbled as she scooted over to her side of the bed, resting her head on the pillow so she could still stare at the boy. "What am I doing here..?"
"You lost a lot of blood from a wolf bite you got on your leg, so Sebastian brought you here to wrap it up." He spoke softly, rolling over on his side so he was in the same position as the girl.
She looked into his bicolored orbs as she reached her hand out to touch his face. "Your eye... So you really did form a contract with Sebastian that day..."
He lowered his gaze shamefully as he faintly nodded his head. "Yes, I did... I'm sorry, Cassie... I wanted to protect you, but I just-"
"It's alright." She spoke in a quiet, soothing tone as a small smile claimed her lips. "I know that your intentions were pure. There's no need for you to apologize."
Tears had formed in his large bicolored eyes and he reached out to put his arm around her delicate frame. "I'm so glad that you're okay."
"It's late. We should get back to sleep." She then pulled herself closer to him, their faces merely inches apart. She closed her eyes as she once again wrapped her arms around him. "Goodnight... I love you."
Warmth filled the earl's heart and for the first time in a really long while, he smiled.
"I love you too." He whispered as he shut his eyes, lulling off to a peaceful slumber by the sound of Cassie's breathing.