You wake up in an unfamiliar bedroom, and you're wearing unfamiliar clothing. You shot out of bed, trying the door, only to find it locked. What was going on? Trying to calm your frantic breathing, you tried to remember what had happened before you'd been brought to this unfamiliar place.

You were just walking home from the errand you'd done, minding your own business, when you suddenly felt a stare at your back. You turned around, finding no one there. Shrugging and believing you'd imagined it, you continued on your path.

However, the feeling returned a few minutes later, and again, you turned to discover the empty streets.

"Strange," you muttered, continuing to walk, though the sense that someone was keenly observing you did not disappear; in fact, it increased. Eventually, you stopped and asked, "Is anyone there?" As you expected, there was no response. Only silence.

Instead, you saw a black figure on the roof of a nearby building, and you rubbed your eyes, disbelieving. You smiled and shook your head as you saw the figure had disappeared.

"I'm right here," a voice whispered by your ear, and you froze; there was definitely someone behind you.

"Who are you, and why have you been stalking me?" you questioned softly, not daring to turn your head.

"My name is Claude. And I want you." You turned to look at him, but all you saw was a short, black ribbon fastened by what appeared to be a bead before an incredibly sweet scent hit your nose, and you found yourself unconscious.

You leaned your back against the door. Claude? He wanted you? Why? You were bursting with questions and worries when you suddenly felt the door shift.

Quickly, you flattened yourself against the wall and waited for whoever it was to walk in. Once the man with purplish-black hair was inside the room, you darted out of the crevice you were in and started running down the hallway.

"Running away? I can't have that, F/N..." you heard Claude's voice. How did he know your name? You ran into a wall, your eyes landing on the same tie you'd seen before. Frightened, you turned tail, hoping your captor wouldn't catch up to you again. But before you had gotten more than a few feet, you were once again facing Claude's tie.

You felt a gloved hand take your chin and tilt your head up, bringing the black-haired man you had seen before into sight. His skin was pale, and his mouth was set in an unfriendly straight line. But undeniably, he was the most attractive man you'd ever seen. Even though his eyes were sharp and piercing behind his square-framed glasses, they were like pools of molten gold; you could lose yourself in them. But you snapped to your senses.

"What do you want from me? Why am I here?" you questioned fiercely, batting his hand away. Claude stared at you for a few moments.

"I want..." Claude's mouth was open as if he wanted to say more but couldn't. "You're here because I brought you."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," you muttered, making Claude's eyebrow arch. "Try again."

"This is the Trancy Manor, where I work as a butler."

"Annnnd?" you asked, folding your arms.

"I wanted you where I could see you."

"Why?" Claude grabbed your wrist and started dragging you along.

"You are asking too many questions," he said, his voice emotionless as he put you back in the room, shutting the door and locking it.

"Hey!" you yelled, but there was no response. You sat down against the door and hugged your knees. "Stupid Claude," you grumbled like a child. "You want to play that game, then fine."

<><><>

When the door opened again, you stubbornly ignored Claude as he did whatever it was he was doing, waiting for him to leave. He didn't.

"F/N," he spoke, but you ignored him. He called your name twice more, though you still refused to respond to the man who'd abducted you. You defiantly turned your head toward the window when he blocked your view, kneeling. "F/N, I urge you to eat," he said. Was that a hint of worry in his voice? No, you're ignoring him; you can't hear a thing he says. You turned your head away from him again. "F/N, please do stop disregarding me."

"Hmph."

"I will feed you if I must, F/N." You then heard Claude get up, presumably to make you look at him again. You stared up at the ceiling in recalcitrance, thinking he wasn't serious. There was silence for a few more moments before something soft and flaky touched your tongue. You took the small, round thing out of your mouth to discover it was scone, now with a bite taken out of it.

"What the...?" you asked when your stomach uttered a cry more befitting of a lion than of your stomach. Before you'd realized it, you'd already eaten the scone.

"You haven't eaten in over three days, F/N."

"What?" you whispered, just before another scone, this one having some sort of red jam in the middle, was put in your mouth.

"The strands of time itself are bound in spiderwebs," he replied mysteriously. Claude moved in front of you holding what appeared to be a bowl of soup. "Now would you prefer I told you to say 'ah', or would you rather take control from here? I personally would find it degrading for us both, but it is your choice." You harrumphed and took the bowl.

"What do you want from me Claude? I'll eat if you tell me." Who were you kidding? Your stomach was dying. Evidently however, Claude bought your bluff.

"You are... enchanting," he said, and you watched him mess with his hair. So that's how it got so messy. "I want... I want you to smile when you see me. I want you to come to me when you want something. I want you to see me for who I am and not be afraid of it..."

"So... you want my heart?" you questioned softly, staring at the bowl of soup. When he didn't answer, you looked up to see him softly smiling, making you almost drop the bowl. You averted your eyes and drank the broth a little too quickly, forcing you to cough harshly. "Damn," you wheezed as Claude knelt to your level again.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," you said with a shaky breath. Claude suddenly looked towards the door.

"You'll have to forgive me, but my master is calling for me. You will eat like you promised?" You chuckled.

"Sure." Claude made a sound of discontent, but he soon withdrew from the room, leaving you with a tantalizing tray of food sitting on your bedside table.

<><><>

"F/N?" Claude called after he had opened the door.

"I said, 'don't come in'," you mumbled, retreating further into the bubbles of your bath. Following your voice, you saw Claude's polished shoes at the edge of your vision.

"Why not?" he asked confusedly. You wanted to sink lower into the bubbles. Instead, you splashed water towards him.

"For obvious reasons, you idiot!" He didn't move an inch.

"I am a butler, F/N. It is my job to attend to the needs of my master and guests. Although..."

"Although what?" you almost shouted the question, but something told you Claude would punish you for yelling in a roundabout way like he did when you tried to wander around the manor.

"There is something dreadfully tempting about you like this..." Your face heated up, and you splashed him again.

"G-Get out, Claude!"

"Lovely," he whispered, and when you looked at him, he was blushing with a smile.

"I-I will not hesitate to ruin your fancy shoes!" For emphasis, you splashed more water out of your bath, and Claude finally backed away, chuckling to himself.

"So sweet," he murmured as he walked away, and you finally relaxed as you heard the door to your room open and shut.

<><><>

Recently, you've seen Claude being more perverse lately. For example, you caught him trying to peek while you were changing, for which he earned a well-deserved slap. Frankly, you were getting sick of having to make sure he wasn't there.

But this annoying new habit of his stopped after a certain event...

"Claude, I swear to christ—"

"Now, now, no need to swear." You growled at him, though it only made him smile.

"I'll ask again then. What did you do with S/N?" S/N was a spider you'd started talking to at random times, and he (at least you assumed it was a 'he') was always in the same spot.

"I said I am S/N," he whispered next to your ear, his hand tracing along your arm to your shoulder. Just as you were about to tell him to cut the crap, he continued. "Didn't you think it strange how it was always waiting for you at the window next to your bed? And wasn't it always there while I wasn't?" You snorted.

"Yeah right." But your voice wavered, indicating that his words held truth. His hand moved from your shoulder to your back, almost... spider-like. "That isn't possible," you said, pushing him away, only to see his eyes were gleaming red and pink instead of gold. "Wh-What's wrong with your eyes?" Claude licked his lips, not answering you, only coming closer. Very quickly, you were becoming scared of him.

Refusing to be cornered, you began to run when you fell, feeling a sharp sting in your hand, indicating that you'd scraped it.

And the next thing you knew, Claude had taken your hand hostage, his tongue on the fresh wound, making you blush and even more afraid. Was he some sort of vampire?!

But suddenly, his eyes changed back to gold, and he stopped, seeming aghast. He let go of your hand and took off his glasses, covering his eyes.

"I'm sorry, F/N," he murmured. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry." His voice, usually emotionless, contained regret, shocking you.

"Why did you...?" you questioned softly, covering your wounded hand in case the scent of the blood was what did it.

"I'm a demon, F/N. Your soul was making me restless. I've been trying to resist the urge to devour it since I first saw you, but lately, it's been driving me insane with my master's resolve as weak as it's become. Your blood was just a taste."

At first, you were stunned. But you soon realized it wasn't exactly improbable. It certainly explained—well, half-explained—Claude's recent behavior, the unnatural color of his eyes and how long his tongue was. You still couldn't believe he could shapeshift into a spider, but that was different.

"Do you promise to try your best not to eat my soul?" you questioned softly. Claude nodded.

"I will continue trying, yes. I lo— You're special, F/N." Claude fixed his glasses, and you smiled, wrapping your arms around his strong frame.

"Then let's just forget about this, Claude."

<><><>

One day, while you were brushing your hair, you heard a loud bang at the door, making you freeze; Claude didn't knock, nor would he knock that loudly.

"F/N!! We've come to—" you heard nothing more, so you assumed you were just paranoid. But why had that sounded exactly like your father's voice? You thought you had forgotten it. You mentally shrugged as the door opened, revealing Claude.

"Here, freshly picked from the manor gardens," Claude spoke, handing you a bundle of crimson roses.

"Beautiful," you murmured, inhaling the wonderful scent, although it was tinged by something dark you couldn't seem to think of at the moment. Strangely enough, the roses appeared to have a splattering of white where the base of the flowers met the stems, confusing you. Could roses be grown that way?

"You like them?" You nodded with a smile as you noticed a pool of something in the hallway.

"Hey, is that blood in the hallway?" you questioned worriedly, and Claude blocked your view.

"There isn't," he reassured.

"But it's red and a puddle..."

"There isn't," he repeated.

"I didn't know roses could grow like this," you said, changing the subject.

"I assure you, anything is possible for a Trancy butler."