DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji. Yana Taboso does. If I owned it, Ciel and Lizzie would be genuinely together, and Ciel/Sebby wouldn't exist.
Big BIG thank you to my betas, Td03, for all her help and support (she really worked and helped with this) and blackbutler415 for the support :) Big big thank you as well to my lovely reviewer Kimberly T who helped me tie up a loose end on this chapter.
Lizzie, beautiful, sweet, sweet Lizzie, covered in blood.
Lizzie, his cute, innocent Lizzie, with her dress torn in shreds.
Lizzie, the one light in his dark dismal world, lying on the ground, with her throat and chest torn open, and her dull green eyes, once so bright and joyful, staring aimlessly at the dark grey skies above.
Lizzie, silent.
Dead, pale, silent, and still. All the things his Lizzie wasn't.
The demon's voice, the one sound he hated the most, cut through the air.
"You see it now, don't you, Phantomhive? The Queen's watchdog, so useless in protecting the ones he love."
Ciel shut his eyes against the madness. His heart pounded, threatening to beat out of his ribcage. His whole body felt numb and cold, as if he had been doused in freezing water, and he was unable to move. Images of Lizzie, bright, happy, LIVE Lizzie, flashed through his mind.
The sound of something wet hitting the ground brought Ciel back to his senses. He opened his eyes and stared in horror at Lizzie's lifeless heart lying still on the cold, hard ground. His whole world stopped as bile threatened to creep up his throat.
No. No no no no NO. That cold, limp piece of flesh should be within Lizzie's chest, beating, pumping life into her veins.
Alive. Alive. ALIVE.
That's what Lizzie should be.
Remnants of her scream as the demon tore her chest open rung in Ciel's ears. Her pain, her agony..her love, all poured out into one scream.
Alive. Alive alive ALIVE! Lizzie should be alive!
At that, something snapped inside of Ciel. Alive. That demon had stolen the life out of his Lizzie.
Ciel's eyes snapped open, his own heart pounding loudly, and he lunged at the demon with a scream, until -
"Young master".
Ciel awoke with a start, staring into the face of his loyal butler, Sebastian Michaelis. Flexing his fingers, Ciel released a breath as he looked around, realizing that he was safely in his own room in the Phantomhive manor.
"What is it?", Ciel asked grumpily as he sat up, and was taken aback by the roughness of his voice.
Sebastian gave him an indecipherable look before chuckling quietly.
"You were screaming in your sleep, my lord. Is everything alright? You did mention the Lady Elizabeth's name quite a few times."
"Oh, be quiet, you. I did not.", was the indignant reply.
"If you insist, then, my lord. Must I assume that the nightmares have not yet ceased?"
Ciel groaned as he sat up and stared at the wall in front of him. Images of the various nightmares he had been having flashed before him: Lizzie screaming as she was ripped in half from the skull to the waist; Lizzie tied down, begging for mercy as her green eye was gouged out, the beautiful, precious emerald broken and marred by the ruby that was her blood.
Lizzie as death's bride.
Ever since that fateful day in the back alley, Ciel had been plagued by nightmares which specifically included Lizzie in various states of death, despair, and pain.
It was annoying.
He should have been used to it. He was the Queen's watchdog, for Christ's sake! He had seen death and destruction, he had seen pain and despair.
He saw it everyday, but now, his mind just had to come up with newer, more sadistic things.
And it was always Lizzie. It could have been one of those wretched Grim Reapers, or maybe even one of the many children he had failed to save.
But no, it always had to be Lizzie.
He and Sebastian had been on another mission for the Queen, which involved the kidnapping of multiple noble ladies. Their investigation lead them to a demon named Macbeth who had formed a contract with a homeless beggar who had wished for warmth and comfort. Macbeth had been able to turn the beggar into a respectable and successful businessman who went by the name of Thomas. However, Thomas had grown drunk in his riches and success and wished for more. Unfortunately, Macbeth did not have the power to give in to his contract's every request.
As it turns out, demons can be made more powerful by means of special sacrifices. The purer and nobler the blood of the sacrifice, the more powerful the demon becomes. To this extent, Thomas took it upon himself to kidnap and murder noblewomen to strengthen Macbeth and grant him his wish.
In his zeal and greed, Thomas took more than just a large number of noblewomen: he also took the Queen's attention. Naturally, this case fell into the lap of her watchdog: the Earl Phantomhive.
By following a noblewoman whom they believed was next to be kidnapped, Ciel and Sebastian were able to corner Macbeth and Thomas.
Metal clashed against metal as the two demons fought on the rooftops. Knives against fangs, greed against hatred. On the ground below, the Earl consumed by revenge faced the man consumed by greed.
"I'd wipe that smug smirk off your face if I were you, boy.", Thomas warned.
"Or what? You are in no position to talk.", replied Ciel, pointing a revolver at him.
"Or you may grow to know what true fear is like. True pain. Failure."
"I've known all that and more. There is nothing you can do to stop me." Ciel said as he cocked the revolver.
Thomas merely smiled. "I've heard about you. The Earl Ciel Phantomhive. Your parents were murdered, your manor set ablaze. And yet, you survived. After a month, you came back, with a butler clad in black. As the queen's watchdog, you are meant to guard the Underground, to eradicate all those who disturb the peace. You meddle with darkness and evil, and yet, you are but a boy."
A bullet was released from the revolver and hit Thomas in the shoulder.
"And? It's in my job description. It's in my public record. Age should not be a matter when there are adults such as you. Evil chooses no age." He cocked the revolver. "Now, give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't kill you right here and now."
"Because, little boy, your beloved QUEEN wants me back alive. What for? For questioning, for atonement? You didn't even ask why, did you? Like the good little dog that you are, you merely fetch as you are told."
He took a step towards Ciel, putting his hand over the boy's aiming the revolver directly at his own heart.
"But I know you. And I know what you are. You are a weak little boy who is nothing without your butler. You cannot do anything on your own. You are weak. Useless. A mere trifling."
His eyes glowed red as he looked into Ciel's eye. Ciel caught his gaze, and immediately stiffened.
"You go out in the name of the queen, and protect England from all that harms it. And yet, the poor little watchdog cannot protect his bitch."
Ciel stared at the man indignantly. What was he talking about? How dare he? Ciel had no bitch, unless that was directed towards Sebastian. This man was desperate. He made no sense. If he thought that Ciel, a boy, had qualms about shooting a man, well then, he surely was mistaken.
Ciel made to pull the trigger and found that he was completely unable to move. He felt as though he were bound from head to toe, every organ encased in glass and frozen in time.
"...Ciel?"
Ciel's heart stopped as he heard that voice, and suddenly found, cruelly, that he was now able to move. He made to pull the trigger, and found that the revolver was gone from his hand. He turned around to see a sight both lovely and frightening: Lizzie, decked in white and pink, stepping carefully into the alley, her eyes darting around the dismal area. Ciel opened his mouth to call out to her, but was horrified at what he saw next.
Thomas grabbed Lizzie and held the knife to her throat, locking her delicate body within his brutal arms. Staring into her frightened eyes, Ciel felt the blood freeze in his veins.
Suddenly, as though in a blink of an eye, the entire scene changed. Ciel found himself in front of a large, rusted, metal door with thick stone walls on either side. The ground was damp dirt, and in the distance, he could hear water drops echoing as they hit puddles in the ground. Wind howled as Ciel shivered in the cold. Where was Sebastian? Ciel hugged himself when he realized with a start what he was wearing: a thin white shirt, rough and barely reaching his knees, quite like the one that he had worn in captivity.
A muffled scream suddenly rang out in the silence, followed by the chilling sound of something solid hitting wet flesh, and then maniacal laughter. Ciel froze. He knew that voice! He scrambled to the heavy door and pushed with all his might. The door creaked as it opened, and his heart stopped as he was greeted with the most chilling sight he had ever seen.
Lizzie was handcuffed to the wall across him, her head bowed and her feet dangling in the air. Her bright blonde hair was out of her pigtails, tangled and matted with blood and dirt. Her dress, reduced to shreds, was hardly able to cover her blood-covered body. Over her mouth was tied a bloody rag, which muffled her screams.
Standing in front of her was Thomas, grinning madly with a blood covered whip in his hand. In front of him stood a table on which various torture devices and weapons were laid out. Among them were knives of different shapes and sizes, spiked metal balls on chains, and various contraptions with spikes and blades that Ciel did not recognize. Majority of them were filthy with blood and rust.
Thomas turned to face Ciel, the same maniacal smile still plastered on to his face.
"Glad to see that you were able to join the party, Phantomhive! You missed the good part, however. Yet, it isn't too late, is it, darling?" he grabbed Lizzie's chin roughly and lifted her head to face him.
"Well then, what shall we try next on this pretty lady of yours?" he asked menacingly, as Lizzie's frightened eyes stared into his sinister ones. He ripped off her gag and, to Ciel's horror, kissed her bloodied mouth roughly.
Anger and hatred burned through Ciel, taking over him as though these emotions had personified themselves into another being and had swallowed him whole.
He couldn't understand it. Yes, he did love her, but for both of their sakes, he had pushed her away, forcing himself to see her as nothing more than a necessary nuisance. He had very nearly succeeded. He wasn't supposed to care about her. She was just an annoying little girl arranged to be his doll-wife. A face for society. A pawn. Nothing more.
But somehow, over the years, she had crept up under his skin. She, with her obsession with cute, and her hidden strength. She, worming her way into his heart as a speck of light in his sad world.
She was never supposed to be involved in this. She was never supposed to be just another statistic in his records.
With a scream and a fire that he did not know he had, Ciel lunged at Thomas, intent on destroying him, intent on ripping his damned heart out for every laying hands on his Lizzie.
Just as Ciel was about to reach him, he was stopped by what seemed like an invisible wall separating the two of them. Ciel screamed and pounded uselessly at the unseen barrier, his voice cracking and his fists beginning to bleed as Thomas grinned and considered the weapons on the table.
"You bastard! Give her back! I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU! Sebastian!"
He was interrupted by the piercing voice of Macbeth behind him.
"Your delicious little pet isn't going to save you. He couldn't even save himself."
Ciel turned around and met Sebastian's lifeless eyes, staring up at him from the hand of Macbeth. His head dangled lifelessly from Macbeth's hand, skin paler than usual and mouth open in a silent scream. Dark blood clotted around the base of this throat, and the skin had been peeled away from the front part of his throat, revealing crushed bone. The blood went cold in Ciel's veins. For once in his life, he did not know what to do. An empty, hollow, feeling crept into his chest, and he shook. He was helpless, alone.
"Ciel...please...no! NO! WHY?! CIEL, PLEASE, NO!"
Lizzie's chilling scream pierced Ciel's thoughts. He turned around once more and, frozen in his spot, watched as Thomas morphed his appearance. His round body turned thin and lanky, his brown hair turned black, and his gray eyes turned blue. An eyepatch formed around his left eye, and the maniacal grin was replaced by a serious frown. With horror, Ciel realized that Thomas was replaced by a clone of him.
Still frozen, he watched as "Ciel" selected an ice pick from the table and approached Lizzie, who was still begging weakly for mercy, her cries interjected by sobs and "why"s. "Ciel" then quickly plunged the ice pick into her left eye with a sickening squish, causing blood to draw forth as the pure green of her eye was broken and cracked with red, emitting a loud, agonized scream from theinjured girl.
"You useless girl!", he yelled as he withdrew the ice pick, thick red blood clinging to the metal and flowing down her cheek.
"You are nothing to me! Don't you understand? I don't care about you! You are nothing but a burden to me!"
Tears streamed down Ciel's eyes as he watched in horror. His mouth felt dry and his body was numbed by what he was bearing witness to. "Ciel" continued to plunge the ice pick into her eye repeatedly while Lizzie cried out in pain and apology.
Never in his life had Ciel felt so useless, like such a failure. He wanted to cry out, to scream, to tell Lizzie that she was none of what Thomas accused her to be. He wanted to call out to her, to tell her that she was everything to him, that she was the light in his life, that she was his one joy. That he had only pushed her away to protect her.
But alas, his mouth failed to form words and he was unable to do anything but watch her agony helplessly.
Finally, her eye was nothing more than a liquid, red mess and the last of her cries had been silenced as she lost consciousness from the pain and blood loss. Silent. She was silent.
Ciel snapped out of his horror-stricken trance and, screaming, pounded angrily at the invisible barrier.
"You bastard! Unhand her this instant! Let go of her! LET GO OF HER! Give her back! GIVE HER BACK!"
At this, "Ciel" merely smiled back at him, his features morphing back into Thomas's. He grinned maliciously.
"Unhand her? Let her go? Give her back? Are you sure, Phantomhive?"
With those words, he took an axe from the table and quickly swung it to cut off Lizzie's right hand, causing her arm to drop lifelessly from the chains holding it up. Without a moment's hesitation, he did the same to her other hand. Her body crumpled to the floor, little more than a mass of blood and flesh.
Cackling madly, Thomas picked her lifeless body up by the hair and flung it roughly to the floor near to the barrier.
Ciel, who had been resting his weight on the barrier as he pounded on it, suddenly found himself falling forward as the barrier disappeared. Immediately, he went to Lizzie's side, gathering her broken body in his arms.
Broken. Bloodied. Mutilated. That green eye which had sparkled so often with joy and light was now a broken, bloody, incomprehensible mess. That mouth which had so often smiled and laughed was now bloodied, broken, and violated. That golden hair which had so often gleamed in the sunlight, making heads turn wherever she went, was now dull and matted with blood. Those hands that had tried so desperately to make everything cute, to make him happy, those hands that had so bravely protected him, were now on the other side of the room, still hanging on the wall. He had failed. He had failed his duty. He had failed his promise. He had failed to protect her.
He had failed her.
A hollow feeling filled Ciel, one so complex and incomprehensible that he would not have been able to put it to words. It was a whirlwind of anger, anguish, pain, fear, and the hollow scream of failure. His heart beat wildly, his chest started to heave, and his throat struggled to keep in the sobs threatening to escape. It boiled his blood, pumping fear into his veins.
As he held her broken body, a shrill, earth shattering scream cut through the air. Looking down at Lizzie, he found that her skin had started to crumble away in his arms. Bit by bit, the broken, bloodied skin turned to ash, flying into the wind as her flesh slowly began to liquify, melting away into a dismal gray sludge. Screaming her name, he tried desperately to hold on to the little that he could of her slowly liquefying body as it dripped past his fingers. Looking up hopelessly, he saw cracks slowly forming in everything around him. And then, like shards of a mirror, everything around him broke and he was in the back alley once more.
"Young master. Young master!"
Ciel was motionless and wide-eyed on the ground by the time Sebastian got to him. While battling Macbeth, Sebastian had looked down and found black smoke engulfing Thomas and Ciel. Immediately sensing that his master was in danger, he had managed to throw Macbeth on to the roof of a church, ignoring the demonic shrieks emitted as Macbeth was impaled by the chapel pire. Blood rained down, painting the pire and the chapel roof red. Flecks of burning blood stained Sebastian's jacket as he rushed to his master's aid.
Upon entering the thick black smoke, he had found Ciel crouched down on the ground, still as a statue, staring into the space before him. Thomas's eyes had been glowing red and fire had seemed to emit from his hands. Sneaking up behind him, Sebastian had stabbed Thomas in the neck, causing a fountain of blood to gush out from the wound, painting the area around him a glistening, sickening red. As Thomas fell, the smoke had dispersed, and Ciel had fallen as well.
Ciel himself was completely still, almost like a corpse. If it weren't for the faint smell of his soul, Sebastian could have sworn that Ciel was dead. Giving Ciel's body a few gentle shakes, Sebastian gave up and shook him as hard as he could, shouting Ciel's title as loudly as he could while he did so. Just when Sebastian was ready to think of another, more violent approach to wake him up, Ciel's eyes fluttered and he turned to look at him.
"Sebastian?"
"Yes, my lord?"
Ciel suddenly grabbed Sebastian's shoulders tightly in fear.
"Lizzie?! Where is she?"
"The Lady Elizabeth, master? What do you mean? She isn't here."
"What do you mean she isn't here?! She was just here! I held her! I bloody held her! Where is she?!"
"Young master? What-"
Ciel shakily got to his feet and, like a madman, started running aimlessly while screaming Lizzie's name.
"Lizzie! LIZZIE! LIZZIE! "
"Young master? Young Master!" called Sebastian as Ciel ran further from him, and suddenly vanished in thin air, even if he had not run very far.
"Young Master?"
Meanwhile, as suddenly as he had found himself before the torture chamber door, Ciel found himself back at the Phantomhive manor, watching Lizzie chase his dog, Sebastian.
"Daring nephew, you seem too tense. Don't you think it is time you put a stop to this?"
Ciel's eyes widened when he heard that voice.
"Madam Red?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder from behind him and gently turn him around.
Madam Red's image greeted his vision, and she smiled lovingly at him before looking out at the scenery beyond him.
"This is the life you could have had, Ciel. Peaceful. Happy. Surrounded by love, family, and sunshine."
Ciel was silent as unwanted tears sprung to his eyes. Madam Red gently lifted his chin to have him meet her eyes.
"You could have had all this. You could have been happy. I could have been happy. I could have been alive. But no. You ruined it."
"Ma-madam?"
A large spot of blood began to appear on Madam Red's pristine white underblouse, and began to spread slowly, until it melted in with the red of her dress, until one could no longer tell any visible difference between the red of her blood and the red of her dress. A chainsaw began to whirr, unbidden, in the background.
"You were all I had, Ciel. You were all that was left of my beloved sister. Of Vincent. I loved you. So why? Why?"
"Why? Why? Why? Why?", chanted a multitude of voices around him. Looking around, Ciel was met with the bloodied visages of all those he had killed, or had failed to save.
"Why couldn't you save us, Mr. Watchdog?" cried the children that had been kidnapped by Baron Kelvin, their wide, dead eyes staring him down.
"You were my friend, Smile! I lied for you! I protected you! Why?" cried Doll.
"You were one of us! Why?" cried the rest of the circus troupe.
It was suddenly a maddening whirlwind of color, tears, blood, screams, and cries. Wherever he looked, Ciel found that he had nowhere to run.
"Stop it! Stop it! All of you! Please! Stop it!" he cried.
"Why, Ciel? Why? Why did you let me die?"
"You were the closest thing I had to a son, Ciel, why couldn't you save me?"
"Ciel, help me, please!"
"Go and don't come back."
"Ciel! Ciel! Ciel!"
Ciel hated his name.
With all the commotion, he fell to his knees, covering his ears. The whirlwind grew louder and louder, until Ciel was sure that he had lost his mind. Feeling something wet on his hands, he brought down one hand, only to see it soaked in blood. Bringing down that one hand was all it took for the whirlwind to consume him. He was overcome by the screams, by the smell of blood, of rotting cadavers, by the wetness of tears, and by the cries for help. Overwhelmed, his brain seemed to burst, and his every nerve was on fire. Pain consumed his skull as blood poured out of every possible cavity in his skull. Ciel screamed as the pain agony overtook him, until finally, his vision dimmed until he saw only black.
When Ciel came to, he found himself back in the manor with Sebastian.
"Lizzie?", Ciel asked weakly as he opened his eyes
"She isn't here, my lord. Although, I am not surprised that you ask for her.", replied Sebastian as he helped Ciel sit up and handed him his tea.
"Why do you say so? Where is she?"
"She is safely at the Midford manor, my lord. You need not fear. However, I did find something quite interesting. It seems that all the sacrifices Thomas has been doing did more than just empower Macbeth: it had granted Thomas supernatural gifts as well."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Thomas was granted the ability to cause hallucinations. He can look into one's heart and project their greatest fear in front of them, delivering a hallucination so powerful that it can barely be called an illusion. I assume that your greatest fear involved the Lady Elizabeth, my lord?"
Greatest fear? Since when did Lizzie hold this much power over him?
"Among other things."
"Young master?"
Sebastian's voice brought Ciel back from his musings, his lips curling into a smirk that could only be deciphered as mocking.
"Is there anything I can do to help with your predicament, my lord? Maybe some tea,and a lullaby, perhaps?"
Ciel stared back at Sebastian without amusement.
"Or perhaps a soft kitten would do, young master?", Sebastian offered, pulling a sleek black cat out of nowhere and presenting it to Ciel. "I named her Bastet."
Ciel sneezed.
"That won't help at all, Sebastian. This has to do with the Lady Elizabeth. Not with you, or your horrific lullaby, and definitely not with ANY OF YOUR DUMB CATS!"
"Oh, alright then, my lord." Sebastian sighed as he withdrew the kitten and tucked it somewhere within his overcoat.
"You mentioned the Lady Elizabeth, my lord? My, are you in love?"
"Shut up, Sebastian. This is not the time for joking around. I do not have time for such fleeting, petty things such as love. As a Phantomhive, it is my duty to keep my fiance safe. How would it look if the queen's watchdog is unable to keep his fiance safe from harm? My reputation would be is all a matter of duty. "
"Well then, my lord, what shall we do?"
Ciel was silent for a moment as he considered his options, especially the one that had been bearing on him ever since the day of the attack. Finally, with a sigh and a heavy heart, he made his decision.
"I intend to call off the engagement."
"Call off the engagement? My lord, are you alright?"
"Of course I am. Why would I not be?"
"Excuse me for speaking out of turn, my lord, but I believe that such an action would be very unwise."
"Unwise? Why would you say so?"
"Well, my lord, it is no secret to society and to the underground world that the Lady Elizabeth is your betrothed. They are well aware of your history together. Even if you were to break off your engagement, my lord, she is still family. By simply bearing the Phantomhive name, my lord, she has become a target for criminals and enemies of your family. Breaking the engagement will just bring both of you pain and despair, and not cease the threat against her or her family."
"Well, that's bloody lovely, then. Would you happen to have any ideas, then, Sebastian?
"I believe that it would be to your benefit if you were to take her in, my lord. She is in danger anywhere she goes. By being closer to her, at least, you can keep an eye on her and fulfill your duty to protect her."
At that, Ciel stood up and walked to the window, heaving a heavy sigh. Silence fell for several moments, until finally, Ciel spoke up.
"That makes sense. But the world I am in is too dark, too gray, too dismal for Lizzie. Lizzie is the sun, and I am the night. She does not belong where I do. I do not wish for her to have to see what I do. I do not wish for her to lose her innocence, her radiance. She is too weak, Sebastian, too fragile. She sees only the beauty in the world, and not its filth." Turning back to Sebastian, he added softly, "Taking her in would mean exposing her to the world I live in. I cannot bear to stain her."
"I doubt that she is what you think her to be, my lord. She is a Midford, and a Phantomhive. You did see her on the Campania, did you not? She has seen the darkness that you are trying to protect her from, and fought back. She is a Phantomhive as well. I believe that she is not as fragile as you may think her to be."
Frustrated, Ciel slammed his fist on to the table near him. "Why are you even so concerned about this? What is it to you? Why are you pushing this so hard?"
"It amuses me, my lord. You human beings are such fickle creatures. Seeing one go such lengths for something as fleeting as love has amused demons for centuries."
"So that's it? You want her here, not to protect her or for ANY concern that you may have, but for your own amusement? As a toy?"
"I am a demon, my lord. I do not have the capability to care for someone, unless it is stipulated in the contract. However, there is more to it than that, my lord. I would love to see her influence on your soul"
"What do you mean?"
"Certain emotions and experiences generated in the human soul flavors it accordingly. I'd like to see what she does to you."
"You're saying you want her to suffer, for my soul to be painted with pain and anguish so that you may enjoy it further?"
"Not at all. Certain positive emotions and experiences, like love and fornication, can-"
"What?! I am NOT going to fall in love with her, OR fornicate with her, demon! In case you haven't noticed, I am a busy, serious man who can die at any time!"
"Man, my lord? Do you envision yourself as an adult? I think the term "lady" would be more suitable for you."
"Shut up."
"As I was saying, I'd like to see her influence on you. She is a smart girl, my lord, and I am sure that you will find that there is many that a beautiful lady such as her may do. Why, with her strength, I believe she may even assist you in your duties."
Ciel stared out of the window and said nothing.
"What truly is stopping you, my lord? Do you fear her obsession with cute? I think some color might do you some good. Or is it that you fear that she will burden you?"
"In part, yes. But as I said, I wouldn't want to contaminate her."
"She is already contaminated, my lord."
"You've made that point quite clear!"
Ciel sighed. "Don't we have any other options?"
"None that I can think of, my lord. Besides, she is in even more danger away from you, than she is with you."
"But you forget what happened with Drocell! That was entirely my doing! Drocell was after me, and he used her to get to me!"
"Indeed, it was your fault, young master. Imagine, had you been there when she had gotten kidnapped, you could have prevented her from even getting kidnapped in the first place. If she had been by your side, he wouldn't have used her."
"He could have still hurt her in front of me."
"If you had just given me the order, I could have prevented that from happening."
Ciel heaved another weary sigh.
"You're right." Turning resignedly away from the window, he continued, "We call on the Middlefords tomorrow morning. I think it is time that the watchdog watches over his own kind."
Thank you for reading! Please do leave a review and tell me what you think. This is my first fanfic in a very long time (almost 4 years), so I'd like to know how I'm doing and if you have any suggestions for me. :)
We'll be seeing Lizzie in the next chapter, which is the start of the actual story. Thank you again for your support and I hope you liked it! :)