Julia and the Lost Vampire

The celebration was a success. It had turned out better than planned, what with people dancing and laughing, the ball room looking completely decorated with ribbons hanging on the walls, a large table covered over with a white cloth as a supplement and hundreds of silverware aligned for the guests, and of course, Mr. Mayor was happy.

Mr. Mayor was having a great time dancing, talking, and now he was telling a story to the Hartwell family about the his first toy company's big opening. He loved that story, and much more telling it. Julia was the other end of the table, enjoying a nice conversation with the youngest daughter of Sir Johnson. Her name was Jane, and she was nice to talk to, but there was one slight problem. She wouldn't stop clinging to Ciel, smiling at him everytime he dared to look at the girl squeezing his arm, uncomfortably.

Julia's eyebrow arched up, in annoyance. "So, Jane, how goes your father's research?" Julia asked.

"Oh, it's fine," she answered, indifferently. Giggling, she tightened her grip on his arm and rested her head against him.

Completely annoyed, Julia unconsciously stood up from her seat, and realizing that they were both looking at her, she excused herself from the table. "I'll excuse myself, if you don't mind." She turned and then simply left. Ciel stared at her, concerned, as she entered outside to the balcony.

"Wow," Jane laughed. "What a temper!"

Temper? Ciel thought to himself. "Excuse me, I have to go somewhere," he said.

Jane's mouth fell open, in insult, as Ciel walked away toward the balcony. She had never felt so insulted in all of her life. Now, she blamed it all on Julia. Ciel slowly entered the balcony to where Julia was, staring at the night sky. The cold breeze brushed through her hair, making her turn in the opposite direction, to realize Ciel was there with her. She looked down to her feet, clenching her fists against her dress. Before she could hear any sound coming from her mouth, Ciel spoke.

"Did she bother you?" he asked, his expression unreadable. "Because it seems to me, there is something else bothering you."

Julia turned around to face the night sky, appearing closer than it actually was. "There is nothing bothering me," she told him. She looked to her right to see Ciel resting his head on the railing.

"How nice of you to be honest," he remarked sarcastically. Julia was suddenly surprised to see him smiling. That smile, she thought. It's that same smile. She was referring to that same wicked and clever smile of his that was so different than any other....because there was also sadness within it. Deep and sorrowful sadness.

"Ciel," she began. "I want to be honest...with you. I'm just scared you'll see me differently." Ciel straightened up to look straight into her eyes. She repeated herself. "Very different."

"Julia," he said. "I believe that during all this time we've been together as...what you call, a family, I've found that there's a lot more to your appearance. You're far..."-he struggled with words-"...more special."

Special? she thought. He thinks I'm special? Her heart thumped inside her chest. In all of her life, she had never felt so relieved since her mother died. How can such a small boy, though powerful and much older than he seemed, make her feel so relieved? So special?

"Thank you," she smiled. "Thank you for being my precious family."

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