Chapter 22

"Want to take a break?" Brandon asked, spinning her around.

Estella heaved a sigh of relief when she managed to complete the twirl, a little unsteady, but this time, without nearly falling. She offhandedly placed a hand on the male's chest to steady herself before glancing up.

"Sure," she said breathlessly, pink dusted her cheeks when she realized what it was on. She hastily placed it back onto his shoulder. Being so close to Brandon made her nervous. "I'm thirsty anyway," she smiled shyly at him.

"Let's go get you a drink," her heart skipped a beat at how his amethyst eyes glittered with tenderness at her.

Brandon led her through the dance floor, his big hand gripping gently and the same time, firmly onto her hand as he walked them out of the dancing group, entering the sides where other party guests were aimlessly standing around the refreshment tables.

Chatters and the soft metallic sound from the utensils greeted them as soon as they joined the rest.

It took her a while to realize that people were staring at them. No, she realized, him, not them.

Her eyes swiveled to the leading male in front.

There was something about the way Brandon Christensen walked that made heads of females and males turn. His stride was stable and graceful. An air of charisma radiated from him as he led them over to the refreshment tables.

"Do you think he'll dance with me?" Estella turned to that voice to realize it came from a female adolescent who was nudging at another female beside her excitedly.

His good looks too, she realized.

Her eyes swiveled back to Brandon, feeling a little uncomfortable from all the attention they were getting.

"For two, thank you," Brandon said to the person handling the punch.

Heat crept up her face when she realized that the person was Bard.

"Let's go out into the balcony over there after we drink, shall we?" Brandon turned to her, failing to see how Bard wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her with a wide grin.

Her eyes instantly flicked away from the grinning male to Brandon. "Alright," she said with a smile.

The grin and wagging eyebrows instantly fell into an impassive face the moment Brandon turned back, Bard quickly scooped up the pink liquid from the punch bowl and filled two glasses. "Here you go, sir," he passed them over to Brandon who uttered a 'thank you' in return.

"Thanks," Estella accepted a glass from him and drank, liking how the cool liquid was flowing down her throat. The dance with him sure made her thirsty.

Brandon was already returning the glass when she was finished with the punch.

"Thirsty," he shrugged with a smile when she shot him a raised eyebrow. The male reached for her hand and pulled them away from the table after her glass was returned.

Estella glanced down at their hands and yanked her hand out of his when she realized that they looked like a couple.

"Sorry, it's not very appropriate of a servant to be behaving like this in her master's party," she said with an apologetic look when Brandon glanced over in surprise at her action.

"Alright," he nodded at her understandingly, letting his arm drop to his side. "Come on," he walked in front to lead the way.

Estella stared at his back.

Why was she feeling disappointed that they were no longer holding hands? She know she don't like like him. But if so, why did she felt so pulled to him? Why did she like it when he was so close, yet, at the same time, didn't when he was? She could still remember feeling the very faint displeasure in her when they were dancing; especially when he was holding her tightly against him. It was a mixture of emotion she just couldn't place a finger on.

Fits of laughter loud enough to penetrate through the music, brought her out from her inner turmoil and had her turning to it to find Finny and Meirin dancing clumsily at the dance floor.

She smiled them, amused at their antics.

A shake of head at the duo, she turned back to the front to find that they were entering the balcony, failing to notice that they were watched by a certain male.

...

The music from inside gradually faded off as they strolled further away from the door, up to the edge of the balcony. They leaned onto the railing the moment they reached, they gazed out in silence.

Estella let out a sigh, eyes roaming the compound in front of them.

Tonight was beautiful.

Two seas of snow which were supposedly the lawns looked magnificent under the moon. The driveway was decorated with hanging red and green bulbs, flashing brilliantly in the night; the strings of red and green light ended at the porch below. Even though it was not really Christmas right now, it still felt like it.

Goosebumps rose at an instant to the touch of the icy wind that blew past.

Beautiful night but freaking cold.

She shuddered, cursing at her sleeveless dress that was completely useless against the wind. She continued cursing, this time, at the wind that kept coming.

"Here," Brandon slipped off his coat and went on to drape it over her shoulders despite seeing that she was about to protest. "Your lips are turning blue…" He turned to face her, frowning at her trembling lips.

"It-It's fine. Your coat is enough warm me up, thanks," she gave him a grateful smile.

He nodded mechanically. "No problem."

She turned back to the front, trying to reign over her shivers but it was not going very well. However, for one thing she did not fail in was that she could sense Brandon's stare burning down on her and it was getting rather uncomfortable.

Estella turned to the male and was taken back by how intently he was staring at her.

Particularly her lips, she realized, not her.

She frowned in concern at him. "What is it, Brandon? If there is something on my lips-"

The male suddenly tilting her head upwards had her stopping in mid-sentence. She had a puzzled look on her face.

Her eyes widened when she saw that he was leaning forward. Her heartbeat quickened at a realization. Those amethyst eyes of his were hazy with lust. That look was making her heart race. "What-What are you-"

"I...I think I know how to fix the problem…" He whispered against her lips.

"Hu-Huh? What problem..." Her heart sped up. How his lips were hovering dangerously close to them made her heart speed up even more, her heart was slamming against her ribcage like it has gone insane.

"Why...why do I feel so attracted to you...?" His voice cracked. He could hold no longer.

That was all before his lips met hers.

Her eyes widened at that contact. She stiffened, too stun to respond.

His lips pressed lightly against her unmoving ones, nudging for a respond. It took awhile before her lips started to respond to his, pressing back. Her eyes fluttered close to the feel of his lips as a sigh escaped from her lips.

The attraction she had for him drove her to accept this kiss, she couldn't control herself. Oh god, what was this?

Her arms, like they have minds of their own, traveled up to toy with his hair. Placing a hand on her cheek and the other on her lower back, he pressed his lips harder onto hers, eliciting a small gasp from her. He took this opportunity to glide his tongue pass her lips. He started to explore her mouth thoroughly, causing her to emit a moan. Her fists tightly clenched onto his button-down shirt, her body arched toward his in respond to the soft tingles of pleasure traipsing up and down her spine.

He felt so good.

But for unknown reason, she was starting to feel guilty. She flitted between pleasure and the guilt, too much to make sense of the situation. Why the guilt? This is her life; she got the right to kiss anyone she likes. But why was guilt coming like a bitch at a sudden image of Ciel Phantomhive?

The attraction just seemed to cease while guilt was becoming overwhelming.

It was too much.

She suddenly pulled away from his firm hold on her, breaking the kiss. The warmth on her lips gone, the touch of coldness once again had her jolting upright. She found herself breathless, panting away. Heat creeping up her face at what they'd just done.

"You okay…?" Brandon asked breathlessly, concern marred his handsome face. The widened eyes and pink on his cheeks, he was panting too.

"Yes-Yes…" she replied, refusing to meet his eyes. "Sorry, Brandon, I'm going in…" she spun on her heels, walking as fast as possible towards the door, ignoring his calls.

Slowing down when she was at the door, she reached up to her trembling lips. They were still tingling, reminding her of what just happened

A shake of head, she entered the manor.

….

The party was too noisy for her to sort out and make sense of everything that happened. Outside seemed to be best place for her to be in, even though it was cold.

Estella slipped out of the huge doors and shut them back closed. She turned to the front to see the scene she saw on the balcony except it was snowing now.

She watched little white bits falling down on her. A frown appeared on her face when she felt no touch of coldness like she expected to feel.

She glanced down and found Brandon's coat instead of her skin. Letting out a heavy sigh, she realized that things were too awkward for her to head back and return it to Brandon.

Another sigh, she lumbered forward and started down the stairs. Pulling the coat tighter around her when a harsh wind blew past, she reached the last step and landed on the driveway.

Brandon…

She froze at that thought. Something akin to fear fluttered in her stomach. She slowly turned, her eyes swiveling to the balcony above…to find nobody there. A breath she didn't know she was holding blew out at that. It would have been awkward if Brandon was still there.

A thought of him seeing her here when he comes back had her hurrying to the side where the forest stood surrounding the manor.

Hunching over to catch her breath, she glanced over to see that she was further enough not to be spotted. Over her shoulders, she quietly admired how majestic the manor looked with the golden light shining through its windows from the inside.

"Where do ya think ya going, gurl?"

A snark had her turning back to the front.

Her breath hitched.

"Finally, we got you. Boss will be pleased."

Another voice came, but, this time, from the direction she was looking at seconds ago.

She grew rigid. Fear fluttered in her stomach, similar to the fear she felt earlier but ten times stronger.

She was surrounded.

….

First, he saw them went out into the balcony. About ten minutes later, he witnessed Estella coming back in alone, looking shaken. Minutes later, it was that Brandon guy.

Ciel's eye narrowed.

Did something happen?

"Ciel!" He jolted out of his thoughts, vision focusing on Elizabeth in his arms once again. "What is it?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She had a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," he nodded.

Elizabeth frowned. Her fiance had his attention on her with his eye fixed on her, but the faraway look in it told her otherwise. Thrice he glanced over at a certain direction, and off he went, deep in thoughts. Thinking about what?

"Are you okay?" Ciel asked.

The frown fell instantly; a smile broke across her face. She nodded cheerfully. "Why, of course!"

Ciel had never seen her frown like that before. She looked…scared. Scared of what?

"Oh my god, did you see them? Estella and Brandon looked so cute together!" Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly. This had Ciel letting go of the unspoken question when he saw that she was staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to agree.

Despite the little voice of disagreement which he couldn't figure the reason for it, he nodded impassively.

"They sure are," he said quietly.

He said no more, spinning Elizabeth around.

….

The situation now had her wishing she was up there kissing Brandon than being out alone with the two men. Maybe if they continued the kiss, she wouldn't have got herself into this kind of situation.

"Go. Away." Her eyes flashed dangerously, snapping her head to the man in front again. She quickly stepped to the side, to get two men within her field of vision. The second man who was behind when she was between them, strolled over to join the other.

She had a look at the both. Both looked like they were in their forties. The first was a balding fat man who had a huge scar on the side of his face while the other had a little more hair than the first. Their eyes held dangerous glints.

"Ya do not order us, gurl,"the first chuckled. "We do dat. Ya will go with us."

"No way in hell, bastards!" She yelled with a nasty glare shot at them.

"Stubborn one." She heard the second muttered to the first.

Estella swallowed the lump in her throat, racking her brain for a solution. Run? She studied her surrounding. Difficult. Fight? Possible with what Sebastian taught her. Alright.

She slid into a stance with hands raised up in front of her and her legs spread out. "Okay, you two!" Her eyes glittered fiercely at them. It was this or nothing. "Get lost or feel the hurt!"

None of the men did anything; they stood there, exchanging looks of amusement. They turned back to her simultaneously.

A shadow of anger crossed her face at the looks of condescension on their faces. "Don't underestimate me! I'm warning you…! I'm a bodyguard, highly skilled in martial arts!"

"Funny," both slid into fighting stances. "So are we!"

They charged without warning.

She tensed, remembering every moves Sebastian taught her. Her eyes never left the incoming men.

A feminine-sounding dark chuckle out of nowhere broke into her focus. She scowled. There's another?

"I'm here, stupid."

"Huh?" Estella glanced around wildly to locate the voice. She turned back to the front when she found no one. "What the-"She panicked when she realized that the two men were nearing.

"Forget it,"a sigh again came out of nowhere.

Estella blinked at the sound. Why was she hearing-

Then the world suddenly spun. Her vision was blurred, starting to fade off; sound around her was starting to fade too. Her legs beneath her started to tremble and that was all before her knees buckled. She could feel herself falling forward, she wanted to stop the fall but her legs just wouldn't obey. She could hardly feel the impact or the coldness when she landed face-down on the snow, everything was going numb. She was desperately trying hold onto consciousness; it was difficult as she could feel herself slipping. What's happening to her? She struggled to keep herself from slipping but it was useless.

"I'm taking over."

That was the last thing she heard before she lost grip of her consciousness. Everything went black.

…..

Yassen and Ian skidded to a stop when their target who was in a fighting stance, suddenly slackened and fell unconscious on the ground.

"Fainted." Yassen commented matter-of-factly, eying the girl with a mocking lopsided smirk.

His partner chuckled. "Too scared that she fainted, I guess."

"This gurl sure talks big. Stupid!" He burst out laughing, his belly shaking to it.

Movement caught through the side of his eyes, Ian turned. Shock was his instant reaction.

Yassen stopped laughing, and turned to see what his partner was gaping at. He had the same reaction.

Their target that was supposedly lying on the ground unconscious rose to a squat. Her legs were spread wide apart- thank god for her long dress. Her hands were on the ground between her wide-spread legs, clenched up in a claw-like manner. It was a strange form of squatting. Resembled an animal or to be more specific, a four-legged animal.

Her strange stance somehow managed to instil fear into the men. Her head was down; the once nicely-made hair hung over it, messy and had bits of snow on them. They were silently glad they couldn't see her face.

The two stiffened when she suddenly gave out a chuckle. It sounded more mature than the voice they heard before she fainted. "I'm out. Finally out." A delighted sigh came from her. Her head was still down. "And what a luck, two souls to quench my hunger."

Ian and Yassen backed away fearfully at that. Whimpering as she slowly raised her head, they stopped breathing at what they saw.

Instead of those ice-blue eyes, red eyes stood in their places.

Those demonic and hunger-filled eyes bored hungrily into the trembling men. "Yummy," She licked her lower lips.

Their eyes widened in fear at that, their legs were shaking beneath them.

Her tongue drawn back into her mouth, she leaped forward.

They screamed.