Hello! This is my first multi-chapter fanfic for Kuroshitsuji and I hope you all like it! While it is a multi-chapter fic, it will still be fairly short. I always saw Alois as a very theatrical character, so that's why I made his plan fairly dramatic. Anyways this is set in the anime, just a few days after Ciel and Alois officially meet for the first time. Basically, Ciel declined the invitation that Alois sent him to visit the Trancy manor and the deal between Claude and Sebastian didn't happen, for this story's purposes.

I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its very sexy characters.

The dark streets of London were relatively quiet on this cool evening. Ciel and Sebastian were patrolling the streets as they made their way to the River Thames, looking for a serial killer that had murdered five teenage boys in the span of just a few days. Ciel had just gotten word from the Queen this morning, and he and Sebastian immediately began working on the case. After stopping by the Undertaker's funeral parlor, he learned that each of the victims had a pentagram carved into their chests. The victims' bodies had been found along the river in various places, so Ciel and Sebastian were hoping to catch the killer dumping his next victim. Of course this wasn't ideal, but the victims had all been taken from random places around London. Finding him at the river would be their best chance at catching him. Ciel honestly was enjoying the silence, that is until it was rudely interrupted upon reaching the river.

"Bassy!"

The young earl and his butler were greeted with the sight of a blur of red hurdling its way toward Sebastian, who dodged it with ease.

"Oh great, you again," Ciel mumbled as the grim reaper got up from the ground. "Why is it that you seem so insistent upon assaulting my butler?"

It took Grell a minute to recall that Ciel no longer remembered him. He brushed himself off and approached the two.

"I have just collected a couple of souls from my to-die list and didn't expect to run into you two here," he explained, "I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see my Bassy!"

Sebastian fought the urge to groan. Sometimes he could get very annoyed with the flamboyant reaper, but he could actually be helpful on occasion. He sighed before addressing Grell.

"I am afraid my young master and I are a bit busy at the moment," he replied smoothly.

He turned with Ciel to continue patrolling around the river when Grell's voice caused them to pause.

"I am assuming you both are here about the string of murders occurring over the past couple of days that I heard about?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow at the reaper.

"Would you happen to know anything helpful about that?" he asked.

Grell simply shook his head. Suddenly, Grell had a confused look on his face. Sebastian tensed up next to Ciel, which the young earl immediately noticed.

"Sebastian, what is it?" he asked.

"I am sensing the presence of other demons. From what I can gather, it looks as if Claude Faustus and the triplets have decided to join us."

"From the Trancy manor? They were hardly a match for you."

Sebastian seemed to ignore Ciel's comments and looked to Grell.

"I know you sense it as well. Do you know what it is?"

Grell shook his head again, slightly concerned by the worried expression on Sebastian's face. Much like demons, grim reapers could normally sense when other supernatural beings were nearby. Especially ones of great power. There were some exceptions, but they could usually determine what being it was.

"Sebastian?" Ciel asked, not liking how tense his butler had now become.

"Whatever it is, it's getting closer," Grell commented.

Sebastian needed to act quick. He didn't know what was coming, and he had to protect his young master. He grabbed Ciel's shoulders and guided him over to the grim reaper.

"Grell, I need you to get him away from here. I'll do anything you want if you just take him somewhere safe."

Sebastian knew that he was going to regret that, but he didn't have much of a choice right now. Grell nodded, at a loss for words. He had always seen Sebastian as confident, having full faith in his abilities to follow his master's orders and protect him. This creature that was coming must have him extremely worried if he was willing to trust him with the young earl. Ciel shrugged Sebastian's hand off his shoulders.

"I refuse to go anywhere with him!" Ciel shouted as he pointed at Grell.

Sebastian sighed. He had always known Ciel to be a very stubborn child, but he didn't have time for this.

"Please, my lord. I know I can handle the demons, but there is something else with them. It has a power unlike anything I have come into contact with in centuries. Claude and the triplets can already sense that I am here, so they will follow me if I go with you. My top priority is to protect you, so let me," he said as he knelt down so he was eye-level with Ciel, "Go with Grell, and I will find you two the moment I get the chance."

Ciel could see it in Sebastian's eyes that he was actually scared. He found that fact alone to be unsettling. He nodded, and Sebastian visibly relaxed. He nodded to Grell, who then scooped up the young earl in his arms.

"Sebastian," Ciel said before they took off, "You better come back to me. That is an order."

The demon grinned and bowed.

"Yes, my lord."

Grell jumped and soared through the air until he landed on top of one of the nearby buildings. Once they were out of Sebastian's sight, Ciel squirmed his way out of Grell's arms and ran to the edge of the building. The reaper was immediately at his side.

"I will go with you if the situation escalates, but please let me watch for now."

Not wanting to disobey Sebastian's orders, but also not wanting to bother arguing with the young earl, he simply nodded. Not even a minute later, they saw Sebastian being approached by Claude and the triplets.

Sebastian could sense that Grell was still nearby. Knowing his master, he probably demanded to watch what was going on. At least if it really came down to it, Grell could overpower Ciel with no problem and get him somewhere safe. He didn't move away from the river as Claude and the triplets arrive. He could sense that the unknown creature was nearby. It seemed like Claude didn't want it to show itself quite yet. Despite it getting closer, he still couldn't begin to gauge what it could be, and that absolutely terrified him. However, he didn't let that affect his calm and collected outer appearance. After all, what kind of butler would he be if he allowed himself to show any ounce of fear in front of an enemy?

"No wonder Trancy manor doesn't look as it should. How can it when the servants are not even there?" Sebastian remarked with a smirk.

"Always good to see you, Sebastian," Claude responded dryly, "It was a shame that Earl Phantomhive did not accept my master's invitation."

Sebastian remembered the invitation for him and Ciel to go back to Trancy manor. That had arrived a week ago, and Ciel had decided to decline. After first meeting Alois, Ciel was not exactly ecstatic to meet with the deranged child again anytime soon. Claude continued before Sebastian could even respond.

"I am afraid my master took that quite personally. He ordered us to bring you to the manor."

"How kind of you to offer," Sebastian said with false politeness, "But I will have to decline yet again. You see, my young master and I are currently looking for a murderer here in London. Perhaps we could join you another time."

He could sense the creature creeping even closer to the group of demons. He risked a quick glance around, but saw no sign of it. When he looked back to Claude, he had a smirk on his face.

"I don't think you will have to worry about any more murders."

Sebastian couldn't hide the look of shock that crossed his features. So Claude was behind the murders? That must have been a ploy to lure him and Ciel away from the manor. The smirk on Claude's face grew more sinister.

"And that was not exactly an invitation. We have strict orders to bring you back with us that we plan to fulfill. It would be more convenient if Ciel was here as well. He would have been more than welcome to come with us, but you were the only one we are under orders to take. Ciel will be joining us soon, anyway."

Sebastian stood his ground, his eyes narrowing at the four demons before him. He tried to keep up his aura of confidence, but it was starting to fade as he sensed the powerful being getting closer and closer. Claude seemed to notice.

"I know you sense her, Sebastian."

The Phantomhive butler was angry. It had been hundreds of years since he even remotely felt fear, and now not only was he feeling it, but the other demons could tell. Before any of them could react, he reached into his tailcoat for his knives and flung them at the triplets. Since they were not near as fast as he was, they weren't able to dodge the attack and the knives impaled them to the ground. Claude ran at him for an attack. The Trancy butler tried to punch, kick, and anything else to briefly incapacitate Sebastian, but he was unsuccessful. Sebastian dodged Claude with ease, that is until something tackled him and he was sent flying through the air and he crashed into a nearby building.

Sebastian quickly got to his feet and looked around to see what had collided into him. He nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around and came face to face with a beautiful woman in a white long-sleeved dress with black hair that went down to her waist. Sebastian's eyes widened. It looked as if he'd seen a ghost. The woman smiled when she saw the effect she was having on the demon.

"There is no possible way you can be here," he muttered, backing away from her.

"Sebastian Michaelis, I hear that is what you are going by now. It has been a while," she said seductively.

Two of the triplets had already recovered from Sebastian's attack, each of them grabbing one of his arms. Claude appeared behind him, wrapping an arm around Sebastian's waist and yanking his head back to expose his throat. The woman sauntered up to Sebastian who was putting up a fight with the demons restraining him. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to hold him for long, she exposed her razor sharp teeth and sunk them into his neck. The unexpected action caused Sebastian to cry out in pain, especially when she began to drink his blood greedily. His vision started to blur, and his knees buckled as more blood was forcefully sucked out of him. If it wasn't for the demons holding him up, he would have collapsed to the ground. He let out a groan as he felt consciousness fading, which he knew wasn't good as demons can rarely be rendered unconscious. He barely even registered Claude and the two triplets dropping him. They all loomed over him with satisfied looks on their faces. His eyes fluttered shut, and he was greeted with darkness.

Ciel hated being so far away from his butler. He couldn't tell what Claude or Sebastian were saying. He wasn't surprised when he saw Sebastian quickly incapacitate the triplets and engage in combat with Claude. He was shocked when he saw a woman appear out of nowhere and collide into his butler.

"What are you doing here?" he heard Grell ask someone, but he kept his eyes locked on Sebastian.

As quickly as she showed up, she disappeared. He saw Sebastian looking around, and she appeared behind him. When he didn't immediately start fighting back, Ciel knew that something was wrong. He could only watch in despair as the other demons recovered and restrained his butler. What made his blood run cold was when Sebastian cried out in pain. Ciel was about to call out to him, but a hand clamped over his mouth.

He looked behind him to see Undertaker. He put a black-nailed finger to his lips, a warning to be quiet. Sensing that Ciel wouldn't do anything to attract the attention of the others, Undertaker took his hand away. Ciel watched with wide eyes as Sebastian lay on the ground, unmoving. He saw Claude pick him up and tuck him under his arm, as if he weighed nothing more than a rag doll.

In a flash, they were all gone, and they had taken Sebastian with them. Ciel turned to Undertaker.

"What are you doing here?" Ciel demanded, repeating Grell's question from earlier. "Do you know what the creature was and what she did to my butler?"

"If you were wise, Earl Phantomhive, you two would follow meeeee!" Undertaker said as he jumped off the building they were currently standing on.

Ciel nodded to Grell, who then picked him up and followed Undertaker into the night.

And there's the first chapter! Sorry if Grell seemed a little out of character, but I wanted him to be unsettled and a bit more serious about something that had even a demon like Sebastian scared. Let me know what you all think!