Inner Fear (Claude Faustus x Alois Trancy)

Safe Haven, Destroyed

Claude got up after a few hours of light, leaving the feverish blonde asleep in the bed. First order of business was simply to clean up any mess that the triplets and Hannah had left behind. He pulled on his black suit jacket and made sure the window was still locked, of course it was. He closed the curtains and left the room, leaving the door slightly open.

He walked down the hall, easily seeing the scuffed wood where the previous evening's fight had occurred. Claude simply went down the stairs into the living room, gazing around. There was, in fact, a shattered window, explaining why it was cold in the manor. Immediately, the demon fixed it, being as quick as he could to light a fire afterwards. He then headed into the kitchen to prepare some tea and fetch Alois some medicine. It was too cold to take Alois to the doctor, so they would make due with the remedies they had around the manor house.

After depositing the tea into a pot to steep for a bit, the spider continued his search by taking over his master's bathroom. He was simply searching for Alois' sleeping medications, as they helped with the boy's night terrors.

Suddenly, there was a few loud coughs and a choking sound, followed by a bit of retching from the attached room. The demon immediately went in to see Alois leaning over the side of the bed, crying and shivering. Likely, this was due to the fact that the boy had been sick. Claude frowned and picked up the blonde, calling for Hannah to come clean up the mess, and then carried Alois to the bathroom, where he ran the bath nice and warm for the boy.

"I-I'm being such a... A bother..." The blonde was choking on his words, sobbing as he sat on the counter.

"You aren't, your highness." Claude said soothingly, undoing Alois' pajamas and placing the boy in the tub, using a washcloth to clean up his face and mouth. Alois just miserably leaned against Claude as the tall male washed his hair and rinsed it clean, finally wrapping Alois in a warm towel and carrying him back to the bedroom. The spider set the blonde on the bed, quickly dressing him in some loose, comfortable flannel clothes and tucking him in securely. Alois then wiggled a bit to get comfortable, soon taking the medicine Claude had given him, and falling asleep in the six minutes after, in which Claude hummed softly to him.

Afterwards, he simply went to the basement and pulled out a small book, black leather on both covers. He then pulled out a pen and began writing.

11-22:

Alois is sick. He doesn't fall ill often, but when he does, it's typically bad. It appears to me that it may be the regular strain of influenza, which is easily treated. Alois is strong, and he will live.

However, someone broke into the manor with malicious intentions toward the aforementioned child. I spent the night in his bed with him, under his previous request. I am now glad that I did, or else I've no idea where he would be. There is not currently much I can write about the matter, but I have my suspicion that Alois is not even safe in his own home. We will have to wait and see.

After writing in the little book, he tucked it away and began cleaning the manor and looking for clues to an intruder. A few odd things had been replaced- an old vase that Alois despised was back out, a couple of 'nasty and ancient' paintings also on display. The demon took them down immediately and hauled them to the attic, where they were shoved in amongst dust and old boxes. These details only helped to confirm his suspicions. Alois wasn't safe in the manor, but was also safer than if he was anywhere else.

How tragic.