The Dare That Led to the Devil (Black Butler Fanfic)

Ch 12- Joining Harmoniously in the Dark

Katerina slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times before gradually sitting up and looking around.

She was in a canopy style king size bed with red curtains, a black comforter with white embroidery, and red, black, and white pillows. A large book shelf loaded with books of every kind and a black sofa with a coffee table across from it sat in either corner of the room. On one side of the bed was a night stand with a candelabra on it and on the other side was an antique yet comfortable looking arm chair fit for a king. Floor to ceiling windows with thick curtains were also on either side of the bed on the walls.

The room looked expensive, to say the least. She was almost afraid to touch anything.

She felt much better than she had when she went to sleep. At least she could move with feeling like she was being sawed in half and about to throw up. She looked down and pulled the front of the shirt up, noticing she was wearing a white one rather than black, and saw her torso was well bandaged.

She turned to the door as she heard the knob turn. Her entire body went tense before Sebastian pushed the door open and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Sebastian looked at her in surprise before a smile spread across his face as he walked into the room carrying a tray of medical supplies and a glass of tea. "Thank goodness you are awake. I was getting worried."

"Why?" she asked, her voice scratchy and sounding horribly underused. "How long was I asleep?"

"Three days," Sebastian explained as he sat the tray down on the nightstand.

"Three days!?" she asked in alarm before she started coughing uncontrollably.

Sebastian placed his hand on her back and lightly rubbed it up and down until she stopped. "Calm down. Even if your condition is better, there is still the slight risk of further infection. You will need to take it easy for a little while."

"After everything that has happened, easy sounds good right now," she sighed.

"Here," Sebastian handed her the glass of tea. She drank it down as fast as she could, her dry throat feeling better immediately. "I know I said I would not force you to tell me, but... What happened to the baby?"

She paused before lowering the empty cup from her mouth and looking away as she swallowed the last mouthful of tea. "They... um..." She felt tears prickling her eyes. "They cut him out of me..." The tears slid down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. "He took a breath... And almost started crying... But then he went still... And he... They said he was dead." She looked back at Sebastian to see his expression completely crestfallen.

"Oh, Kat," Sebastian whispered as he sank to his knees in front of her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and gently pressed his lips over her stomach right where the baby's heartbeat would have been. He placed his forehead against her rib cage and hid his face in her shirt as tears slid down his own face. "I am so sorry... I should never have sent you home... I should have been there for you... I should have protected you... Both of you..."

"You did not know," she whispered as she entangled her fingers in his hair and leaned over him so they were wrapped around each other. "I should have told you as soon as I found out. A part of me already knew. I was just scared to accept it. I should never have done what I did... Then this would not have happened. He would have lived. You would not have suffered. Claude would not have hated you. I tried to stop you and Claude from hating each other... but my actions caused all of this... It is all my fault." She buried her face into his back as more tears began to fall.

"No," Sebastian shook his head. "No, love. This is not your fault." He sat up and pulled her into his lap. His hand went to the back of her head and ran his fingers through her hair as her body was wracked with tremors. She gripped the front of his shirt as hard as she could, her fingers digging into the fabric. "None of this is your fault."