A/N: Heeey, so i'm back after so long, sorry bout that I had a few things going on that stressed me out way too much to do anything really, but here it is, chapter 10, sorry if this seems a little rushed or anything. but anyway, enjoy :3
Chapter 10: Glare
I awoke to a bright light shining on my eyes, as the sleep left my body I noticed Hannah over by the windows, tying back the curtains.
"Good morning Hannah." I stated groggily before stretching up and yawning.
"Good morning Anna, breakfast will be ready soon so why don't I help you get dressed." She suggested and I gave a small nod of appreciation. Slowly I stood from my plush bed and made my way to the dresser and proceeded with my morning routine of getting dressed. Today's dress was a stunning turquoise with brown lace adorning the collar, sleeves and hem.
I stared blandly into the vanity mirror as Hannah added the finishing touches to my hair which she had curled and was now placed over one shoulder. I let my eyes wander around the room and they landed upon a certain item of clothing that was hung over my dresser, it took me a minute to realise what it was and who it belonged to and as I figured it out a small blush crept onto my face.
"All done." Hannah remarked cheerfully, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Thank you." I replied before standing from the seat I was on. She must have noticed that I was still staring at Claude's coat as she once again offered to take it for me instead. However, I waved my hand in dismissal.
"No its fine I really don't mind." I answered as I went over and grabbed the coat, surprisingly it was pretty heavy. Without another word I left the room and headed down the hall, coat in hand, thinking where Claude might be when I spotted him just leaving Alois' room.
"Claude!" I called to him; he stopped and turned around to face me, his usual expression plastered on his face.
"My lady, please keep your voice down." He stated blandly, I stopped as I reached him and gave him an apologetic look.
"Is there something you need?" he questioned and I held out his coat to him.
"I forgot to give this back yesterday, sorry about that." I said as he took the coat from me and turned to walk back down the hall without so much as a thanks. I stood there for a moment, thinking. He seemed to be acting a little differently today but I brushed it off and headed down to breakfast.
Breakfast went as usual, some light conversation and then silence that started to become awkward after a while, however once all the plates had been taken away Alois struck up conversation again, this time it wasn't with me.
"Claude I want to go into town this morning, I have a few things I need to do." He stated to his butler who simply nodded and disappeared to go call for a carriage.
"Anna, in light of what happened last time I won't force you to come with me." Alois commented as he stood from his seat.
"No it's fine, actually I wouldn't mind going out and getting some fresh air, if that's alright with you." I replied as I too got up from my seat, I know I was all against going out not too long ago but after being stuck in bed for a month I was looking forward to getting out of the house.
"Well alright then." He smiled as he wandered off into the hallway, I followed behind him and we waited for Claude. Moments later said butler appeared as well as Hannah, who helped me into a coat before returning to her duties. We then proceeded outside where the carriage was ready and waiting for us, Claude held the door open, Alois climbed in first then I followed after him. I glanced back at Claude though, he averted his gaze.
The journey was a boring one and for most part I stared absentmindedly out of the window, watching the people walk about the streets, going from shop to shop, as we finally reached town.
As I exited the carriage I realised that Claude hadn't offered to help me down which seemed a little unusual and I was starting to think that something was a little off about him, but once again I didn't mention it, maybe he was just in a mood or something.
"Alright Anna, Claude and I have business not far from here so we will be back soon, don't wander off too far." Alois stated as he began to drag Claude off into the crowds of people, I didn't question him and instead I began to look around to see if any shops took my fancy. There was one shop in particular that caught my eye; it was a cute little sweet shop. I turned to look into the crowd that Alois had disappeared into, I'm sure he wouldn't mind me looking around and so I decided to go into the shop.
The inside of the shop was very organised and there were shelves stacked with many jars filled to the brim with various different sweets, seeing them made me feel like a child again and I just wished that I could have them all. I stepped further into the shop and began examining one of the shelves, trying to decide which sweets I would buy, emphasise on the 'trying to'. It was very quiet in the shop and it was then that I realised there was only two other people and myself in there, not including the shop keeper. The silence made it easy to hear the conversation that was going on behind me, it wasn't like I was trying to eavesdrop it just sort of happened.
"Young master, if you eat that now, your supper…" one of them began, however he was cut off by someone else, presumably his 'Young master'.
"I'm doing market research." The boy stated that had to be one of the best excuses to eat sweets I had ever heard. The conversation was entertaining to me and I had to stifle a laugh however, I failed miserably and a slight giggle escaped my lips causing me to turn around to see if they had heard me or not. They had.
"I-I'm sorry." I stated as I looked at the two people. One was a rather tall man in a long black coat; his hair was equally as black and had a few flicks sticking out to the side, as well as a strand that lay across his face. His eyes were a strange shade of reddish brown, and his face seemed absolutely flawless, all in all he was quite handsome. The other was a young boy around thirteen, he had dark greyish blue hair and navy blue eyes, but what stood out the most about this boy was the eye patch over his right eye. I wondered how he could have got it. There was something else about the young boy, he seemed somewhat familiar to me, like I had met him once before. Then it hit me.
"Wait, aren't you Ciel Phantomhive?" I questioned the boy; he didn't look very surprised that I knew his name.
"Yes, do I know you?" he questioned back boredly.
"I was friends with your mother, and I met you a few times when you were nine, though you probably don't remember that." I answered; he seemed to be in thought for a moment, probably trying to see if he remembered me.
"Yes I remember you, the girl with the purple eyes." He stated, to which I blushed, at least my eyes were memorable.
"Annabelle Hamilton correct?" he questioned again.
"Yes that's correct." I smiled I guess he remembered my name too.
"This is Sebastian, my butler." He continued, I looked to the taller man who seemed to be glaring at me, it made me feel a little uncomfortable.
"Um...hello." I said trying my best to give him a convincing smile. There was just something about him that I didn't like but that also reminded me of another butler I knew.
I spent a few more minutes chatting with Ciel about how things were with him, now that he had inherited his families company, under not so pleasant circumstances. It was mostly just idle chitchat. However I decided I didn't want to keep him any longer.
"Well it was nice seeing you again." I stated cheerfully.
"Mm yes." He agreed briefly before his butler spoke.
"Well we must be going we have many things to attend to today." He said with a slight bow, I watched as a devious smirk spread across his lips and he took my hand and kissed the back of it. It wasn't that unusual of a gesture but it felt like it had some ulterior motive behind it.
"It was nice to meet you my lady." He said once more and I gave him a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. After that they headed for the door, Ciel saying something about having to do an inspection or something. I stood thinking about the conversation that had just happened and about that strange butler before I decided I should hurry up and buy something and get back to the carriage before Alois wonders where I got to.
Quickly I looked around and found a few sweets that I wanted; taking out my purse I paid for them as quickly as possible before I headed for the door. Saying one last 'thank you' to the shop keeper before I left.
Once back out onto the street I headed straight for the carriage and found Alois and Claude already there waiting so I apologised for making them wait for me, however Alois simply waved it off and we got back into the carriage, not before I noticed the rather heated glare that Claude was sending my way, it felt like if we had been alone he would have murdered me. What was it with butlers and glaring at me today?
In the carriage I sat back by the window and once again watched as the world seemed to fly past, again I could feel Claude's eyes on me and on occasion I would turn my head slightly to look at him. This went on for a few minutes before Alois spoke.
"So Anna where did you go today?" he questioned, I averted my gaze so I was now looking at him.
"I just went to a sweet shop and bought some sweets, which reminds me…" I started as I took out the bag of sweets and held them out in front of him.
"Would you like one?" I finished. He smiled brightly at me before putting his hand into the bag and pulling out two sweets.
"Hey!" I laughed as I watched him eat them both.
Once we arrived back at the manor I was told that I had a piano lesson so once Hannah had helped me out of my coat I went and put my sweets in my room before I headed to the music room. To no surprise Claude was already there and waiting for me.
I entered the room and took my usual seat at the piano and waited for Claude to begin instructing me. I noticed that due to lack of playing I had become a little rusty but soon I was back to how I used to be, moderately good. "You missed a note." Claude stated as he pointed out which one I had skipped.
"Oh, sorry." I said as I began to play that section again, this time I didn't skip it.
Unfortunately the lesson seemed to be dragging on much longer than I would have liked and all throughout I could see from the corner of my eye the glares I was getting. Honestly I didn't understand what was wrong but I was becoming highly uncomfortable in the situation and couldn't wait to get out of there.
"Claude." I said as I stopped playing.
"Yes?" he questioned abruptly. Taken aback a little I blinked a few times as I regained composure.
"Is something wrong, you seem a little different today?" I pointed out as I turned to face him.
"Nothing is wrong my lady, now please let us continue the lesson." He stated flatly. Something had to be wrong for him to act like this, I mean I know that he has never been the most talkative person or the friendliest for that matter but he seemed more standoffish today than any other day. The only thing I could think of was perhaps the events of yesterday evening had upset or rather angered him maybe, if that was the case then I was a little offended.
"Listen if it's about yesterday then that's Alois' fault not mine, he was the one who deliberately placed mistletoe everywhere…and you're just acting childish." I mentioned, a slight blush tinting my cheeks as I thought about it. He shook his head at my words but didn't give me a verbal answer. But if it wasn't due to the mistletoe then why on earth was he being so rude all of a sudden. I guessed he hadn't changed after all, that or he was fed up of me already even though it had only been a day. I looked at him again and saw that his glare had turned into a somewhat look of disgust.
"You know what." I hissed, furrowing my brows.
"If you're just going to act like how you did all those months ago then…then fine, here you can have this back." I glared as I unclasped my bracelet and took the charm he gave me off before I stood up and threw it at him, sadly he caught it with ease which just made me roll my eyes before I began to storm out of the room.
However, before I knew it he was also standing and had grabbed a hold of my wrists and within seconds I found myself pushed against a wall, this situation felt oddly familiar, and not in a good way.
"Now who's being childish?" He growled. His eyes turned to the menacing shade of pink that I had seen only a few times before and I gasped at the sight. No humans eyes could do that, not that I knew of anyway, which only added to my suspicions but now wasn't the times to say anything about that.
We stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, the look of detest on his face had stunned me into silence. I was only pulled out of silence when his grip on my wrists tightened and I let out a small yelp of pain. The look in his eyes and the way he was towering over me was starting to scare me, I knew I had angered him once before but this was something completely new, and I had no idea what I had done in the first place.
"C-Claude please let g-go, you're hurting me." I pleaded, thankfully he decided to let go, and I also noticed his expression softened up a little bit. Once he had let go I moved my eyes to my wrists and brought them closer to myself before rubbing them, his grip had turned them red and I was sure they would most likely bruise.
I stood still waiting for him to say something or just leave but he did neither, instead this time he gently took hold of the wrist with the bracelet on it and slid the charm back onto it before he left me. Again I was stunned into silence, how could he have gone from being so angry and aggressive to so calm and gentle.
As I was lost in thought I didn't notice Hannah walk in, she must have seen Claude leave in a rather annoyed mood as she quickly rushed up to me and began to ask if I was fine.
"Hannah it's okay, I'm fine, really." I said, but then she spotted my wrist and a dangerous look washed onto her face.
"Here, I'll treat them, we don't want the master to see." She said as she proceeded to drag me off to the nearest bathroom where she placed my wrists in a sink full of cold water, before she too left me alone, but I didn't question where she was going as that dangerous look was still present on her face.
3rd Pov:
"Why would you do that!" the maid yelled in a hushed tone to the now composed butler.
"That is none of your concern." He almost hissed in reply.
"That's not a good enough reason for you to harm her, you know what Alois would do if he found out, why are you being so territorial anyway, was it because you could sense the other demon on her? She's not yours, you don't own her so why do you care?" She stated, she seemed much calmer now however her face still held a scowl as she glared daggers at the other.
"That has nothing to do with you, as for the young master, he can't do anything." He retorted. For a moment they both stood glaring at each other, not a word was said.
"Fine, but I hope you realise how scared she is of you now." She sighed as she shook her head before leaving to return to the woman whom they were talking about. As she turned away from him she caught a glimpse of his slightly shocked expression before it returned to the indifferent one once again.
Anna's Pov:
Once Hannah had returned she took me back to my room to calm down a little and to rest before dinner.
I sat on the edge of my bed, staring aimlessly at the charm Claude had given me, brushing my thumb over the cold metal. He used to seem to resent me so much, but then for the past two days he had changed, like he was starting to trust me more. So why had he reverted back to how he used to be all of a sudden, did I do something wrong. I paused a moment, staring into the spider charms eyes, even they seemed to glare at me. Then I recalled what my sub conscious had said…about how I had certain feeling for the man in question. A furious blush spread across my face. No, I refused to have such feelings, especially for such a temperamental man, how could I? He seemed to hate me anyway so such feelings would be meaningless.
"I should just forget about them completely." I sighed as I released the charm from my grasp and let it hang freely from my bracelet again.
Yes, that's what I planned to do, forget, it couldn't be that hard could it.
I was interrupted by Hannah entering the room to bring me down to dinner, great I would have to see Claude, but then, what did I care, I thought.
Down at dinner I remained silent, making sure I never made eye contact with anyone, sadly Alois picked up on my unusual amount of silence, I could feel his stare, but I refused to look up.
"A-Anna, what happened to your wrists!?" he suddenly questioned, my eyes widened as I realised that my sleeves were no longer covering them. I tried to come up with some kind of convincing lie but before I could say anything he was already glaring daggers at Claude, who merely ignored him.
Thankfully dinner didn't last long and soon enough Hannah was escorting me back to my room.
"Will you be alright?" she questioned me, concern laced throughout her voice.
"Yes, I'm sure I will be." I stated weakly as I stared at the door. Not making any effort to help her undress me.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I did warn you." She stated, and she was right, but had I listened, no.
"Well, you don't have to worry anymore, all feelings for him are gone." I mumbled, well at least I hoped they were anyway. She looked at me for a moment, as if scanning my face for something that would say otherwise, but when she realised I was telling the truth a small smile spread across her lips.
"Good, now I must leave, sleep well." She replied before leaving the room.
Slowly I slid under the warm blankets on my bed, slowly drifting off into sleep, however it was not a very peaceful one.
A/N: sorry if there are any spelling mistakes its like 1 in the morning and I've ben writing all day, anyway hope you liked this, I do not apologise for anything that happened in this chapter, it is all a part of my plan XD fav, follow, review and goodnight...or good morning either way I'm tired and going to bed now so bye~