'So quickly his mood changed. I wonder what triggered it.' Mute sighed with her thoughts. She sat on the bed in one of the guest bedrooms in the Trancy Manor.

"Pondering through your thoughts, Milady?" Sebastian asked from the corner of the room. Mute stood up from the bed and faced him. In an instant, he was in front of her with an index finger curled underneath her chin. "What have you been doing this entire time?" He leaned in close to her lips. Mute pulled herself away from his grasp as she replied, 

"It is none of your business. You should be with your Master." 

"He has ordered me to search this mansion from top to bottom, and that is what I am doing. However, I did not expect to run into you here." Sebastian smirked while snaking his arm around her waist. "What a pleasant surprise this is~" He whispered. 

A crimson blush appeared on Mute's cheeks. This time she was strong enough to pull away just as the door to the bedroom they were in had opened, revealing Claude. Mute stared between the two demons as they went into a glaring match. Sebastian kept the smirk on his face while Claude remained poker faced. Just seeing Sebastian with the Fallen Angel was enough to make Claude's blood boil. 

"The design of this mansion is exquisite. It is very admirable." Sebastian commented, breaking the dead silence in the room. "We should be on our way, Milady." Sebastian gently grasped Mute's hand and lead her out the room. Mute turned back at Sebastian before heading down the hall, leaving him with Claude momentarily. 

'Something between those two is unsettling...' Mute found herself in the cellar of the mansion to collect herself. She leaned against the wall and sighed. 

"You look tense." 

"Hmm? Miko?" Mute looked down to see her fox friend in her animalistic form. "What are you doing here?" 

"Somebody has to keep an eye on you... You have been here before, yes?" 

"Only this part of the mansion. This is where Sebastian and Claude had their first battle. I'm only down here for the time being." 

"Until the costume ball has started, I know." Miko walked over, now in her human form followed by a wink.  "So? How did it go meeting the blonde boy again?" 

"Not as good as I hoped. He is quick to change his moods."

"That is what you call bipolar, and that is something creatures like us cannot change on a humans nature."

"I've realized that... What will you do during the event?"

"What I do best. All I can say for you be on your best behavior." Miko teasingly winked.

"Really Miko..." Mute sulked before sighing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ciel! You wear one of these too, okay?" Elizabeth says as she sets a feather into his pirate hat.

"Fine." He nonchalantly agreed. Mute stood beside the two as she wore a Red Riding Hood costume. She eyed every human and demon in the room while listening to the music in the background.

'They all look the same. They're playing their part well without any problems.' Mute watched the triplets, Timber, Thompson, & Canterbury fulfill their duties as the ball proceeded. For a moment, all 3 demons looked directly at Mute before resuming with their work. That was Mute's cue to leave. She swiftly made her way out of the ballroom and outside of the mansion to grab some fresh air. She had walked but a distance from the manor before finding a tree to lean against. Mute sighs to herself before lifting her head up to look up at the starry sky. 'Public crowds were never my thing in the first place.' She wondered to herself. 'Why did those 3 demons look at me that way?' She thought back moments before. 

Mute sighed to herself again before black, shadow tendrils sprawled out from her back. She didn't need to look to know who was stalking her from afar. The tendrils tightly wrapped around the limbs of whoever was watching her and pinned them against the tree. Mute slowly turned to her prey with a vicious glare as her peaceful silence had been ruined. 

'Her senses are a lot sharper than I thought.' Claude thought as he struggled in vain against Mute's bindings. 'Even this close to her, her ray of darkness shines like a blinding light.' He couldn't help but blush at his own thoughts. 'Exquisite~' 

In a flash Claude was in front of Mute as he used his gold silverware to slash through the tendrils. He wrapped his gloved hand around her tiny neck, causing her eyes to go wide with shock. Mute was so too busy glaring at Claude with hatred that just for a moment she had let her guard down. 

"Was that any way to greet somebody? What a naughty little thing." He coed while gripping her throat. Mute clamped her hands around his wrist to try and relieve some of the pressure. Claude stared down at her struggling figure. Already her mind began to race with overwhelming thoughts. "Now, now. Don't struggle. I do not intend to hurt you. I could never..." He whispered the last sentence. 

'Let me go!' She hissed. With the panic coursing through her body, her thoughts were all over the place. Claude dragged her closer to his body. He could smell her sweet, but with a tint of bitterness, scent linger into his nostrils, causing the length in his pants to harden. Mute kept her eyes shut, anticipating his next movements. 

'She is already fatedly marked.' He confirmed. But that didn't stop him from grazing his lips against the flesh of her neck, causing the small creature to whimper through her tightly shut eyes. 

Mute gave up her struggling and glanced up at Claude with soften eyes. Claude leaned back to look at her. The hand around her throat was still firm, yet Mute did not break contact with the demon holding her captive. Claude studied her closely as if she was up to something. Seconds passed before he leaned down, his lips nearly inches away from hers, to kiss her. Just to have a taste of her. 

"Ugh!" Claude grunted; eyes widen with surprised when he felt sharp fangs on the side of his neck. A pink fox was clinging to his shoulders with all claws digging deep into the fabric of his clothing and his skin. 

"Hands off." A vicious growl escaped the fox's throat as its eyes brightened in the color purple. Miko bit down harder on the demon's flesh, causing him to draw back from the creature he had held captive. 

"Don't kill him." Mute ordered, holding her throat. The deadly glare from before had returned on her face. "He's within contract. We can't kill him, Miko." 

Another growl escaped Miko's throat as she glared daggers at Claude once more. Miko is the type of friend who can be your big sister and your strict mother. But the moment you touch anything or anyone who remains dear to her, she becomes feral. Miko's tail wrapped tightly around Claude's waist, squeezing any immortal life he had left in him as she sunk her fangs deeper into the demon's neck. 

"Miko." Mute called out. Miko's feral eyes returned to Mute's glaring ones. In a bolt of lightning Miko was standing beside Mute in human form. Claude dropped to his hands and knees as the severe wounds in his body slowly healed. 

"Very well." Miko finally replied with a huff od frustration. "Let's leave him here then. So he can think about what he's done." She teasingly smirked at the recovering beast. 

"Let's go." Mute turned on her heels and walked off deeper into the forest, Miko following close behind. 

Claude collected himself when Miko and Mute were out of his sight. His wounds had finally healed. He was very surprised by Miko's attack. 'A companion. Even in danger, she has shadows that follow her.' Claude smirked after fixing his glasses. "Oh, I am going to enjoy this~" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Darlings. I know, it has been so long since I last updated this story. I want to wish you all a Happy Holidays and stay wonderful <3