Child, Don't Follow Me (a Kuroshitsuji Fanfiction) by Seth's Kiss:
A/N: Hi there! I'm Seth's Kiss and I've been writing here for more than a year now. Two things that you probably ought to know about me. I adore Manga and Anime series more than life itself, hence most of my writings are about them; and most (not all, but most) of my fics are of a dark nature, because it's a lot easier for me than writing anything too soppy, but I do have my moments. Anything else you wish to know about me, dear ladies, gents and everyone else, just go ahead and check out my profile. Or PM me. Feel free either way.
Warnings: This fanfiction will be rated M, just because all of my writing is. I would really feel terrible if anyone too young or faint-hearted were to stumble on my other stories. But seriously, in this fic there are insinuations and moments of Paedophilia, Non-con M/M (Yaoi), Blood and Violence (in later chapters, not here, fortunately enough for me).
Another thing, the 'young boy' is ten years old, only here, in the prologue/flashback, whatever we want to call this pilot chapter. The next chapters will be set seven years later, when the young boy turns seventeen.
In addition to that, I believe it fair to caution that, as I am up to date with the manga, a good part of what's in this fic could be viewed as spoiler-y...if that's even a word. As a bonus warning, because I do believe that this counts as one, I'm not a Sebastian fan. There. Don't blame me or claim I didn't mention it whenever that demon undergoes the wrath of writing...
Also, I'm usually not too fond of writing with cuss words yet do expect to find one or two, here and there within my fics.
Once again, if these themes or anything else doesn't appeal to you, either because it offends you or you are still underage: Please, do NOT read it... Thank you for your consideration.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters (they belong to the amazingly talented Toboso Yana). I do own everything else however (which is just the ideas and plot in truth). It all comes from my eccentric imagination (I wish there was a pause button to it somewhere). I'd like to apologize beforehand however if the characters are in any way O.O.C, so let me know when you believe they are. I mean, I try as hard as I can to keep them in character (as we all try to do as fanfic writers), but I really tend to let my writing take over my imagination at times.
Official Summary: Pilot Prologue: A young boy, lost, wanders into a forest, where a demon lurks, waiting. Inspired by the song 'Innocence' by Halestorm. AU, but contains spoilers from latest chapters. Rated M due to it being a dark fic. Full warnings inside. Happy Halloween everyone.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a PILOT prologue. Meaning, I'm throwing it out here, for you guys to take a look and tell me whether you want to see what happens next or whether the plot is just simply...dull. The thing is, I am writing the fic and I will eventually post it, but I want to know if the effort is worth it, or if I should postpone this fic for a more important one. So basically, the number of views, reviews and feedback given are what shall determine this story's permanence or not. I hope to hear from a lot of you. Thank you for your consideration.
Another note: Though it'll seem obvious to you who the demon and the young boy are, neither will be having the names they are known by in the original series. It'll become clear why later.
Prologue (Raw Version):
It was the middle of the night. And under the pale moonlight, a young boy was running for his dear life. Running and running, on and on, like flames of a bitter hellfire were right behind him.
Though he ached and gasped, with his limbs and lungs threatening to collapse at any moment, the boy didn't dare stop.
He couldn't, his small bare feet thudding away down a path he was barely paying attention to, barely seeing, an onslaught of tears clouding his vision.
And so, he ran on, ran until he eventually dropped, the effort, the exhaustion, the emotions, all too much to carry on any further.
On his trembling knees with his forehead grazing the soil and dirt, the boy shook, his painfully throbbing heart as tight as his ragged, wheezy breath.
Slamming his eyes shut, he desperately tried to calm himself down, but found it to be intensely difficult.
He just couldn't. Not when he had just been through an unbearably agonizing nightmare. One he dearly wished to have not been real, despite having no idea...that it had yet to end.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Large eyes hazily pried long, thick lashes open, blinking before looking around, disorientated.
The young boy didn't even remember falling asleep.
And it only came to his attention now how utterly unsafe it was doing so, out in the middle of nowhere and in the dark of such a cold night.
But then again, with what had happened back home - slowly, but steadily, coming back to him in brutal segments - his life had stopped being safe and normal ever since that very moment.
Tears threatened to attack his eyes again, but he hastily chased them away.
He could cry later. Right now, he needed to figure out if he had run far enough, where he was now, and, of course, how to get out.
Shakily getting to his tired, sore feet, the young boy slowly, carefully began to meander, eyes squinted to see, but utterly unable to adjust to the dark, despite the dim, faint moonlight present.
After what seemed to be ages, the young boy halted uneasily, realizing that the more he walked, the deeper he seemed to be losing himself in the shadows cast by the trees towering over him.
...Was there truly no way out? Would he be lost here forever?
Goosebumps suddenly trailed the long of his skin as the young boy shivered, wrapping his arms around himself.
It wasn't just the chill of the cold air.
He had this strong, sudden feeling, as though someone...No. Something was watching him...
It took no particular or extreme cleverness to figure out where he had unfortunately ended up.
There was only one forest near the village the boy once lived in.
And everybody spoke ill of it. It, that went by so many names. The Cursed Forest. The Witch's Forest. The Demons' Forest. The Devil's Forest...
Everyone would whisper that the place was cursed, damned, whether at night or during the day.
Only, his family had never been as superstitious as the other villagers, hence they didn't really believe in those stories. So neither did he.
Even so, the boy had never really been fond of the dark. There was something...dangerous about not being able to discern or just simply see what was around you.
Humans were visual creatures. Leave them in complete or partial darkness...and they'll panic, not able to pinpoint what they were hearing, what they were smelling, what they were feeling.
And the young boy was not crazy. There was a presence, somewhere out there beyond the trees.
He was sure of it.
"...Hello?!" he called out tentatively, naively trying to sound bold with his soft, childish voice "Is there anyone here?! HELLOOO?!"
"Why, hello there."
With a loud gasp, the young boy jumped out of skin, wide eyes darting around wildly to locate the source of the deep, velvety voice that had suddenly addressed him.
And then he saw it, stilling as he did, whereas he tried to understand what he was really seeing.
Amidst the darkness the boy could make out, was a rather distinctive shadow, darker and thicker than the rest, a mist...that kept moving, undulating on itself, with a pair of eyes in its centre. Cold, unfeeling eyes that were ever-changing. They were like a rainbow, which only had the colour red, in all its hues.
One minute, they were of a dark red blood, and then next, they were bright glittering rubies. And they were focused solely on the boy standing stock still before them.
"H-Hello, sir," finally managed to reply the young boy, unable to take his eyes off that...being.
"My, a polite tongue. Just when I thought you had lost it," chuckled the shadow with a timbre to its tone that the boy decided was most definitely male "And what is a little child such yourself doing all alone in a place like this, hm?"
A gentle voice in the young boy's mind whispered to him to be wary, to not talk to strangers, to beware this...creature in the dark.
But for some reason, those warnings seemed so, so far away, and he could barely hear them...
"I- I'm lost."
"Lost? Oh my. That simply will not do," uttered the dark mist smoothly with a gentle tut as it shifted yet again, gradually morphing into a somewhat humanoid form, with two long, lean leather-clad legs emerging from the darkness, touching down in perfect synch.
The young boy blinked, frowning faintly as he tilted his head.
The mist that began gradually making its way towards him sounded like a man. So, why did he have such high heels? They were really high, like...wow.
And they also made a rather odd and loud intimidating sound as the mist moved, each step it took sounding like metal clanging firmly against metal...although the shadow was walking on forest ground.
But that wasn't the only thing that had the child stare on in intrigued fascination, only he was unable to tell what it was as the shadow eventually became a tall, indistinct figure now looming over him, standing there majestically with a cloak of thick rippling tendrils trailing behind it.
The young boy just couldn't look away, completely and utterly spellbound: "...What are you?"
Out of nothing, a broad Cheshire-like smirk appeared all of a sudden underneath those amused red eyes: "Ho? What, and not who? Hm. Clever boy. Well, I am nothing, dear child. And I can become anything."
"...Anything?" repeated the child, large eyes wide and twinkling with awe "Can you turn into a dog? No, no. A bird? No, wait! A dragon?!"
A beat of awkward silence and then the boy was laughing, heartily, over the ridiculousness of this conversation, his situation and what his life had become in such a short amount of time.
Here he was, lost and all alone in the Devil's Forest, talking to a shadow.
Maybe he had lost his mind. Maybe this all was dream. Or a nightmare.
...Maybe he had actually died back home too.
Half-entertained, half-aggravated, the shadow merely watched on for a moment as the boy had unstoppable hysterics, before it questioned the child lightly: "...Do you find this amusing?"
"Yes, very!" breathed out the young boy between laughs, tears at the corners of his eyes, before he stilled and let out a gasp as the majorly formless figure sharply thrust its 'face' down to his, eyes glittering again.
"And do you not fear me, little one?"
The child actually had to think about that before replying.
He supposed he did - who in their right mind wouldn't? - but for some unfathomable reason, that fear didn't seem relevant to him, didn't seem important, necessary.
...He wondered why.
"Um...No. I don't."
The shadow smoothly smirked that inhumanly wide smile of his again: "Well, at least you have no trouble uttering the truth. Where do you live, child?"
Despite not expecting the unpredicted change of subject, the boy replied anyway: "In a house."
Although he couldn't make out the mist's features at all, the child had the feeling that it had just arched its eyebrow at his response: "Which is where, dear?"
"...I dunno. Out there. ...Somewhere."
"How wonderfully vague," uttered the shadow as it straightened up again with an exasperated sigh, before it slowly began moving away "Come. I will lead you out of this place. Then, you will simply wait until someone finds you to take you home-"
"I don't wanna!" cried out the boy sharply, shaking his head in fear and taking a few steps back.
The creature paused in its step, before glancing over its shoulder: "...You do not want to what?"
"I don't wanna go back!"
"Why ever not?" demanded the shadowy figure, incredulity to its tone as it stared at the other.
"...Because," mumbled the young boy, a slight tremble to his frame as his gaze became distant.
The mist's ever-changing eyes narrowed in faint annoyance. Could this child not speak clearly? Despite its many talents and abilities, it was not a mind-reader.
"That is not an answer, child. Formulate a sentence."
The young boy hesitated a little, an unbearable sadness to his features, before he gazed up into the mist's cold red eyes: "I don't wanna go...because I can't go back."
Here, the dark mist was genuinely puzzled. And rather intrigued, under the impression that the boy would rather remain here than go back to wherever he had come from.
Not that the being didn't really have anything to do with that, in truth, but normally, it was in any human's natural instinct to eventually sense the danger it was and pull away from it, to run and flee from it - a chase it quite cruelly enjoyed.
Even so, regardless of its imposing influence, the child honestly seemed to have no motivation to return home at all.
"Why? Surely you would not want to remain here? In the dark?"
If it wasn't mistaken, humans, children in particular, were afraid of darkness, weren't they?
"N-No!" panicked the child, endorsing the shadow's thoughts, before the boy bit his lip "But..."
"But?" it pushed in a light tone, despite growing a little impatient "Talk to me, child. I do not have all night. Speak, or I will leave."
That had the child look up in complete and utter alarm, like he had just been told that the whole world was going to end: "No! Please, don't leave me here alone, I-! ...I have nowhere to go."
"What of your home?" the creature insisted yet again, now truly unable to comprehend why the young boy refused to go back to the haven of his household.
But then, on second thought, the boy's current state must have clues to whatever reason there was.
Without taking into account that he was all pale and scrawny, as if he was sickly and underfed, the child was hardly dressed, wearing a pair of tight dark shorts which was barely seen under the oversized and messily buttoned-up shirt, which once appeared to be white.
It was now stained with blood, ash, soot and dirt. But the blood on it wasn't his.
It didn't match the scent of the one seeping from the various, but small scrapes, bruises, burns and cuts garnishing the child's lower legs, forearms - out in the open due to rolled-up sleeves - and face, which was also littered with filth.
...What on earth happened to this young boy?
The shadow being didn't have to wonder long, as it was soon given the answer to that question.
"My home, it... It's full of fire. Oh. And smoke too."
It was true. The creature could sense the presence of a raging fire in the distance. It was massive, leading the formless figure to wonder how the boy survived it.
"...Your parents?"
Again, sadness beautifully filled the young boy's large pretty eyes: "They've been made dead."
...Ah. So this darling boy had been made an orphan too.
"We say 'they have been killed'," corrected the mist with a ticked off tone, entirely insensitive to the child's anguish and more bothered by his way of talking, unable to tolerate hearing such errors "What the devil is wrong with your speech, child? ...Did you never study grammar?"
Shaking his head, the boy blinked up at the mist adorably: "My parents never sent me to school."
"Clearly," it scoffed scathingly, before continuing with its inquiries "Any brothers? Sisters?"
"...I have- had a brother. A big twin brother. Ciel. He is- was really amazing. Nothing like me."
Oh? So the child had low esteem? Evidently he had no idea of his worth, how priceless he was.
"And do you have...Aunts? Uncles? Grandparents? Cousins? ...Anyone at all?"
"Everyone has been made dead, sir," whispered the boy miserably with lowered eyes, uttering in his grief the same mistake as before, and yet the creature gallantly didn't point it out this time "The whole village. I've lost everybody. ...In the fire."
The shadow perked up at that last bit, lips splitting into a wide grin, amused beyond measure. That last bit uttered by the child, had been a half-lie.
"So," voiced the creature gently, its tone not at all matching the sudden look of utter glee in its now glowing eyes, something that the child missed with his downcast gaze "You have no one to look after you?"
"...Nope."
Oh my...This was almost too good to be true.
Initially approaching the child out of utter boredom and with the intention to have him walk out of its domain, the mist instead found itself drawn to this young boy, intrigued by his singularity. And it no longer wanted to let him leave.
Hence, imagine its luck, that not only had the boy ventured into its territory, all on his own, utterly powerless and defenceless against it, but he also had no one left, no one that would care or search for him...when he disappeared.
The shadow slowly ran its eerily long tongue across its lips, its eyes turning ravenous, predatory. Terrifying.
It could just about devour the child, right here, right now.
And no one would ever know.
Just as the monster in the dark got ready to lunge for the child, all set for the feast before it, the latter sniffed and glanced up at the shadow, with those large credulous and gullible eyes of his.
"Unless..." the boy then voiced tentatively with an air of shyness, causing the shadow being to pause long enough, much too long, for the little human to utter words that sent the creature's entire existence over the edge "You take care of me, sir?"
Now this, the frozen and wide-eyed creature did not expect. Nor understand. At all.
It was one thing to be completely caught in the trance it could induce, the feeling of fear towards it turned numb. But it was totally another story to be so absolutely...blind to the fact that this creature was not a being to have any faith in. No matter how naïve.
...What are truly bizarre little human had wandered into its domain.
"The nerve of you, child," voiced the dark mist after a moment with a hearty, mocking laugh "Do I look like the babysitting kind to you?"
Despite being briefly unsettled by its laugh, the young boy was actually more bothered by the deriding jibe in its words: "Hey! I don't need a babysitter! I'm ten!"
Positively amused by the little human's harmless indignation, it smirked condescendingly with a dark chuckle: "Wonderful. You are old enough to take care of yourself then, child. Farewell."
"Wait! WAIT!"
As he called out in panic and hurriedly chased after the disappearing darkness, the young boy was half-expecting to run through the shadow and fall face first to the ground.
Instead, he found that he collided with a sort of solid matter, which still managed to feel like a murky-like mist at the touch. Regardless, the little human, not hesitating, was able to wrap his tiny arms around it and hold on to what felt like one of the legs of the figure, which stilled entirely before stiffening at the sudden contact.
"Unhand me, child," it gritted out slowly, not even bothering casting the young boy a glance whilst letting out a low, terrifying guttural sound, that was halfway between a hiss and a growl.
But that didn't deter the child in the least, who downright refused to be left alone out here. And even less out there, where he had seen real monsters
"D- Don't leave me alone. I'm scared. Please."
"Then let me lead you out of this forest and over to the main road-" it began, before sighing in utter frustration when it felt the boy shake his head furiously "Why must you be so stubborn?"
"Because I don't trust people anymore! ...Not with what they've done to my family. To my friends. To all those I've ever loved. To me," blurted out the young boy, tears that he had wanted to stow away, cascading down his cheeks uncontrollably, before he then spoke with a venomous voice no child should ever have "I hate people. All and every one of them."
Heavy silence briskly fell down on the moment, with the little human, his face buried in the mist's cloak, letting out soft, sobbing sounds as the shadowy being silently looked on down at him out of the corner of its eye.
Ten years old, he had said he was? At certain given moments, the creature had to wonder.
One instant, the child was the most clueless, foolish human it had ever encountered. The next, he was all riddles and lies, sole survivor of a mysterious tragedy that had robbed him of ever believing in mankind again...
"And you would rather trust me?" inquired the shadow, sheer incredulity back within its tone "Do you have the slightest idea of what I am?"
The formless, faceless figure thought that the boy might have caught on to what it really was, or at least close enough to that, but it was as if he actually didn't care-
"I don't care!" he cried, trembling horribly as he held on tight to the figure's formless form, his watery voice a beseeching whisper "I promise, I won't be trouble for you. You won't even notice me! ...Please. Just, please, don't leave me here alone. ...Take me with you. Please."
For once, the monster in the dark was at lost for words, its silver tongue failing it at the moment.
...A child's heartache and innocence combined, was truly, most definitely a frightening thing.
"You do not know what you are asking, little one," murmured the mist, too softly to be heard.
You see it from the outside
You're running toward the wall
Swinging from your blind side
But you don't know me at all
Not notice him, the child had just said? Preposterous.
Ever since this young boy had set foot in his forest, the dark shadow had eyes only for him. At such a young age, the boy's heart had already been torn, tainted black, and despite that...he still remained so attractively innocent, so pure.
A fascinating and riveting paradox, one the creature of the dark couldn't even begin to explain.
It should be impossible. Yet...here the boy stood.
And as such, with the rarity of this particular prey in all his anguish, hate and naivety, it wanted the young boy for itself. To make him its possession. To corrupt him, mind, body and soul.
A pathological and totally irrational impulse - which its kind would indulge in every now and then on a mere whim - yet one it was courteously and considerately attempting to push away. But the boy was not helping in the least.
...Oh well. It did try after all, didn't it?
"Alright then," it eventually conceded, smoothly lowering itself to kneel down beside the still sobbing boy "I will look after you. Since you are begging for it so nicely. But, I warn you, child. There is a price."
Blinking away his tears as a dim glimmer of hope and relief touched his aching soul, the young boy looked at the other and wrinkled his nose cutely in sincere confusion at the shadow's words.
"A price? ...Do you want money?" he asked, before hastily reaching into one of his pockets and producing a couple of coins with a confident smile, genuinely proud of himself for getting it "Is this enough?"
Oh how utterly precious.
"Do not misunderstand me, child," drawled the shadow softly with sinister derision to its tone "My generosity does not come free. If you want me to take you in, I will. However, you will have to do something for me in turn."
"Ok. Like what?"
"Without even an ounce of hesitation," murmured the being with a sigh of feigned contrite, before it chuckled darkly, eyes glimmering "What a naïve boy you are. No fool such as yourself has ever willingly thrown themselves in my clutches. Do you even fully realize what you are agreeing to?"
"Yep," nodded the child enthusiastically, seeing nothing but salvation in the dark mist before him "If I want you to really take care of me, I'm gonna have to give you something. To pay the price. Did I get it right?"
"Oh my. You are too innocent, it is almost painful. But oh-so so delectable," it mentioned with a sinister shine to its eyes as it slowly held a hand, newly formed from its mist, letting its clawed fingers halt a breadth away from the boy's cheek "Last chance, little one. You either leave now. Or you will never be able to."
"I stay with you," the child accepted unhesitatingly, with it never once crossing his mind that he might very well regret this decision for the rest of his life.
"...Very well then. Do me a favour, child. Never forget that this, was your choice," pointed out the monster in the dark, as it gently but firmly wrapped its hand around the little human's neck, its Cheshire grin returning, even wider in size, whilst its entire form began to undulate violently.
Only now, did the 'trance' break, the dark mist clearing and finally allowing the child to fully see the creature in front of him.
And, only now, did the young boy, white as death, let out a silent scream. But it was too late...
Child, don't follow me home
You're just too perfect for my hands to hold
If you choose to stay, you'll throw it all away
And I just want to take...
A/N: So,I really, really wanted to post something for Halloween (though I'm a few days late), but there was no way I would have been able to finish any of the updates to my ongoing fics in such a short time, despite the contents being ghastly and horrific enough for this particular day of the year.
Anyways, this is actually an idea I had for a while back, but I never got to flesh it out into a fic, even though this is a raw version of the actual thing.
In all honesty, it's the song that inspired this fic. So, this is basically a Song-fic...Sort of. As you'll see, the fic has snippets of the lyrics to fit the plot, not the whole song. Even so, I REALLY recommend listening to it. It's truly wicked...if you're a fan of the rock genre, that is.
When I first heard the lyrics, I instantly associated them to Kuroshitsuji from some reason. And given that I despise that damn demon (sorry about that, Undertaker fan here, in addition to me wanting 'Ciel' to freaking live, ok?), I push at every occasion I have to speak ill of him or portray him negatively. I really don't like him. He creeps me out, gives me nightmares. ...Don't judge me.
Anyhow, please feel free to check out my other fics (if you dare or if you can bear them). Again, my writing is mostly dark, but you might find a few light-hearted fics (I mean, we kind of do need a break every now and then, right?).
Furthermore, please do not hesitate to send PMs to forward me any questions you might have. I may write dark, but I don't bite. I promise.
Thank you for giving this fic a little of your time.
Bye! And Happy Halloween to all of you!