Prologue: The Fire
MUSICAL RECOMMENDATION: This story was GREATLY influenced by the music of Imogen Heap, and this chapter particular by the song "The Fire." If you find it somewhere, and receptively play it while reading this chapter, you will not be disappointed :)
WARNING: The story as a whole is generally rated T, but I was inspired to write this project after finding out more about the horrors of modern day human trafficking through my school,so it may get violent...but the rest of the chapters will be better. Please enjoy! This is my first Kuroshitsuji fanfic, so please give me constructive criticism!
-I DO NOT OWN BLACK BUTLER
...Blood splattered across the concrete. The girl heaved a scream of horror as her sister's lifeless body hit the floor.
"Valery!"
The deep sapphire ring Valery had risked everything to reclaim fell from her cold fingers. It rolled and nestled nicely into a puddle of scarlet pooling freshly from the gaping wound in the back of the victim's head.
The poor girl hyperventilated in distress, and instinctively scrambled toward's Valery's body attempting to cradle it…shake it…beg in vain for it to awaken. Unfortunately, the offender thought she was scrambling to retrieve the precious stone, as her sister had tried, so in an instant he overpowered her and threw her to the ground, kicking her violently across the room.
She coughed up mouthfuls of blood in-between weak sobs before he grabbed her by the hair and slammed the back of her head against the basement floor.
Her vision was beginning to blacken and blur, and she felt a warm line of red liquid running down her face as he pinned her on the ground, kneeing her in the side once more for good measure and calling her a whore in his native tongue.
He murmured diabolically to her in that heavy accent, saying that she and her sister were more trouble than they had ever been worth that day.
Her sight was beginning to dull and she started to subconsciously question what exactly he'd meant by "that day", however, she was now being overwhelmed by other senses. Such as the cold metal tip of a gun being shoved into her mouth and the metallic taste of Valery's leftover blood against her tongue.
She saw in-between the waves of darkness passing her sight… that sick smile on his face as he paused,thinking of all the things he would be able to do to her when she couldn't scream anymore.
All her emotions melted together in her disoriented panic.
Fear. Grief. Humiliation. Helplessness.
She was boiling. Her heart was racing. It was over! It was all over!
All those months holding on. Suffering, struggling to keep her sanity. To not just end it herself.
All for nothing, nothing.
Her eyes shifting between her offender's malicious face and her sister's corpse.
Terror. Weakness. Mourning. Mortification.
They all stormed inside her. Consuming her. Drowning her.
And then all at once, they numbed.
Something strange happened as a certain epiphany occurred in her mind.
It was over. He was going to kill her.
He had bought her. Sold her. Beat her. Raped her.
He had shipped her around for months as a product. He had branded her as if she were human cattle.
He had stolen from her.
Stolen everything from her that she could never replace.
Her innocence. Her dignity. Her humanity. Her sister, the only vague illusion of a true family she had ever known…that she'd had left.
And now he was going to kill her.
Now he was going to steal her life because she had nothing left that he could take.
She was helpless. Nameless. Worthless.
She screamed and no one could hear her. No one could help.
Just like every other beaten and broken girl he had consumed and sold and killed.
She hated him. She hated any one ever like him. Any one who could ever profit off this sick, twisted market.
The pimps. The "Johns." That trackers that had shoved her into a cab, never to return. The investors, sitting pretty in custom leather chairs paid for with the tears running from her lifeless eyes.
That fragile string in her mind finally snapped like a worn out rubber band after undergoing so much strain.
In those last seconds, all those drowning and numbing emotions were replaced.
Replaced by a burning rage, igniting like a wild fire.
She hated him. She hated them all.
She developed a sudden intense blood lust.
She wanted to murder them. Dismember them. Torture them. Rape them mind,body, and soul.
Just like they had done to her.
She would give anything, anything-just for the chance to destroy them all.
Suddenly time froze, and everything around her began to consume in flames, until nothing but darkness, her, and the fire remained in her vision.
She assumed he must have pulled the trigger…but was this her last dying illusion? The flames of hell? Did her anger flare so hotly that she had actually manifested them?
The strange thing was, she couldn't feel her skin begin to burn or singe. The flames were just glowing with a beckoning warmth that was almost…soothing…
"How badly do you wish for revenge?"
A smooth voice called strongly through out the burning.
She didn't know what to think. She assumed this must be her brain going into a schizophrenic frenzy before all of its functions shut down, blown to bits by the pull of the trigger.
She might as well respond. What was the harm in that?
" I wan't it more than anything! Than everything…"
"And how would you exact you're revenge?" the voice asked with a certain amused curiosity.
"I give myself a second chance." she said immediately.
Her voice started softly in confusion from the strong presence of the being, as if she were unsure of her wants and her reality after all this time. However, with each word her tone grew into a progressive rant, as if each thought connected perfectly and maddeningly, and it was refreshing and euphoric to have a vessel to vent her frustration on.
"I would find a way to gain everything I've never had. I would gain power so I could have resources. I would use them... to hunt down every bastard whose watched as I've screamed and benefited from it. I'd be their nightmare, back from the grave. I'd be a weapon…I'd be strong! Not just another nameless victim. I'd kill them all! They took everything from me… and any one ever like me…My dignity. My family. My existence! And if there was ever a chance, I'd make sure I was repaid…"
The tone of her voice was so unfamiliar. It sounded like a completely different person- Some one strong, fiery, authoritative, fearless, raging, vengeful... This wasn't….her….was it? Her gentle, submissive, doe-eyed mind had snapped…and it use have released something…some kind of illusion…
The voice hanging on her response chuckled lightly in what seemed to be amusement. Was it mocking her inner uncertainty?
"Well, no wonder your soul has attracted me." it said. "We'll see if that revenge isn't something I can help you with."
"How can my own dying hallucinations help me?" she questioned bitterly, still waiting for her consciousness to disappear. That "new person" still lingering in her tone.
"I am no hallucination." the voice said, more strongly this time. "I am very real, and I am here to offer you a way to achieve everything you desire. For a price."
Suddenly, a sillouhette began to emerge out of the flames, and the girl assumed it was the origin of the mysterious voice. She couldn't quite make it out, because its form was a black mass, but it had a faint canine shape, and burning red eyes.
She merely stared, mesmerized and trembling slightly because of the presence of the spirit ,who she could only guess was dark and demonic in origin. That brave "new person" disappeared instantly, like the tiny flame of a candle trying to best a gust of wind.
"Make a contract with me," the spirit proclaimed, walking straight toward her, its shape becoming more defined with every step. "And I will become the tool of your revenge. I will follow you're every order, without question, with you as my master until you're goal is achieved."
"You could save me from this death? You'd help me re-build myself in the world? You could protect me…from the threats that seem to stand in my way…" she inquired softly, almost humorously, like she still couldn't really believe it.
"Once the contract is in place, it is whatever you wish." the shadow said simply, but the tone of its voice seemed intense and hungry, as if it couldn't be more serious.
She wanted nothing more than a second chance. But was she really going to use the help of this spirit…possibly a demon…just to get revenge? And even if she did, would it be enough to help? Maybe help…some one else just like her? But the demon had mentioned a price…how hight was it?
"What's the cost?" she asked in a careful whisper.
The shadow was now straight in front of the pitifully unstable girl, staring directly into her being with its ruby eyes. She could see it clearly now, and it took the form of a svelte, pitch black dog with its head held highly and its aura burning with dark regality.
"I am mandated to warn you that should you enter this contract, the joys of paradise will be forever lost to you." the shadowy canine cautioned her. "For once you have exacted you're revenge and you're target has fallen, you will repay with your soul, as it will be mine to consume."
The demon hound was millimeters away from her face, but she scoffed without waver or fear. Her cracked mind once again turned from cowering to coy and daring in an instant, something that was still amusing the demon.
A glimmer of hate appeared in the girl's eyes, and a sneer escaped her face at his mention of the word "soul."
"Tch,animals don't have souls." she murmured bitterly. "I'm not even sure I'm human anymore, after what they've done to me. To be quite honest, you might just be cheating yourself."
"We'll see about that." the demon hound said, and the girl could almost feel the smirk contained within its voice. "So do we have a deal?"
The words hung intensely in the air, and the poor girl's mind was spinning in a frenzy trying to comprehend the over all meaning. The Catholic lessons brainwashed into her from childhood slowly began to creep back, reminding her of her two ultimatums. And Valery's face, lively and beautiful echoed in her thoughts as well. Is this what Valery would have wanted from her?
Suddenly the image of her sister's pale corpse bled dry, and the eyes of her tormentor flickered as pictures within the flames surrounding her. Memories of her past misery forced their way into the fires as well, continuously playing like a cinematic roll on the fritz.
These reminders fueled her rage, and the flames of her nonexistent soul began to burn sapphire. Before religious ideals, altruistic intentions, or the faint sound of Valery's voice pleading for her not to go through with it could get to her, every thing was drown out by her wrath, screaming loud and clear in the forefront of her mind.
"Do we have a deal?" the demon repeated again, coldly and impatiently.
"You'll give me everything I want?" she repeated herself, still knowing better than to say yes right away.
"What are your terms for the contract?" the demon merely asked, making her state it herself so she could not go back on her own words.
The girl thought hard , careful to choose what might get her everything.
"You will be the tool of my revenge." she finally answered, eyes flickering with determination. The demon had said those exact words. Why not take it up on that offer?
"If I enter this contract with you, you'll be the tool I need to gain everything." she elaborated in a low, calm tone. "You'll help me build a new persona. A new life. One filled with everything I've been deprived of. You'll be my weapon. I'll search every nook and cranny , and you'll be the one to kill any one who threatens my objectives. I'm never going to be weak and helpless ever again, because you'll be the sword I wield against them all. And you'll also be my shield. Always by me, protecting me no matter what, in whatever way it is you can. But you can never leave my side. You can never leave me exposed. I'll use you and that new life I gain to take the life of the one responsible for all of this. All of my misery. Only if you can agree to those conditions, can you have my soul."
"I agree." the demon said, that smirk still seeming to be contained in its voice. Hunger had been the right word for a description, because it was eyeing her as if she a were a five star meal being prepared right in front of its eyes.
"Shall we seal the contract?" it asked urgently.
"Yes, do it." the girl said in finality, and then all of sudden, she felt a searing pain in the curve of her neck. It was like some one was etching a symbol onto her body with the burning tip of a needle.
She put a hand to her neck, grimacing in pain, and then saw out the corner of her eye a faint violet glow against her skin.
"That mark is proof of our contract. It is proof of my servitude to you, as well as my claim on your soul." the demon hound enlightened, a delighted tone in its voice as it mentioned owning her immortal soul.
The girl sat in silence for a moment, hand held to her neck, comprehending the deed she had just committed. Whether it was right or wrong, now she had done it. She had paid a heavy price, and she was going to make it count.
"Well then, what are your orders?" the demon hound asked impatiently, breaking her from her train of thought.
Regret disappeared too quickly from her mind. All replaced by wrath. Just like everything else in her brain at this moment. Her eyes narrowed to angry slits, and she spoke her first command.
"I want you to kill this bastard who thinks he can get away with putting his hands on me." she ordered darkly. "Then kill the rest of them. Then get me the hell out of here."
The girl stared in curiosity as the demonic canine suddenly kneeled before her on its forelegs and bent its head, its eyes still burning. It seemed as if it were bowing.
"And don't forget the ring." she added with authority, the flames igniting their hottest as an image of the blood covered sapphire ring that had been the cause of her sudden loss, glittered in the fire.
The demon lifted its head sharply, and stared at the image too for a good second, surprise and nostalgia running across its eyes… if that were possible. But then, once again she heard its voice laugh in amusement in her mind and then look straight at her, saying its final piece with a tone that held the most interest she had heard in the entire exchange between them.
"Yes, my lady…" it answered smoothly.
Suddenly, a shadowy crow with familiar burning red eyes flew into the flames, and hovered almost dutifully next to the demon hound. The canine gave the crow a look the bird seemed to understand, and suddenly, an amethyst symbol blazed in its right eye, next to the ruby one. The crow then flew off, a flurry of black feathers trailing behind it.
Just then, all of the fires extinguished as quickly as they had sparked, and the girl was swallowed up in complete darkness, feeling as if she were sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean of slumber.
The faint sounds of mutilation and tortured screams echoed as the last thing she could hear before she lost consciousness. They rang against her ears as almost some kind of sick, soothing lullaby, and it gave her a feeling that everything was going to be just fine….or at least…very different…from now on…