Blank Canvas

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji

Special thanks to my amazing beta reader

It was a crisp autumn day at the Trancy estate. An icy wind blew gently through the trees; the bitter kiss of the breeze caused the timber to shudder, resulting in a loss of some precious leaves. The crimson and gold foloile softly fluttered to the ground, dying as they made contact.

They were not abandoned, though, for the wind danced with the fallen ambers and oranges in a soft of waltz-sweeping this way and that across the cool, cobble walkway. The loving golden gaze of the sun gently looked upon the garden's flowers, enveloping them in a radiant glow.

Hannah stood in the tranquil garden, with scissors in one hand and a deep red rose in the other. The only disturbance from the tranquil atmosphere was the harsh sound of the scissors snipping at the thorns on the stem of the rose. It was a waste if you asked her; roses were meant to be beautiful yet deadly, however her master, Alois, thought not.

A sudden gust of wind blew in Hannah's direction, gently moving her maid uniform and softly caressing her hair. It was a nice feeling as the bitterness of the wind lightly traced her features.

Positioning her hand further down the stem of the rose, she snipped another thorn. As she moved along clipping the thorns dawning the stem, Hannah jumped, startled by the noise of the manor door opening. Her head snapped in the direction, revealing to be her master and his butler, Claude, coming outside for their afternoon tea. She watched as Alois sat down, and Claude proceeded to push in his seat and pour a cup of tea which her master held expectantly.

Why her master was so obsessed with Claude, she would never know. Maybe it was human curiosity, or maybe something else. Whatever it was, Claude couldn't be trusted; he was deceitful and manipulative, and he wasn't fit to be at Alois' side. The only person that was fit to be in that place was Luka.

The sound of something peculiar snapped her out of her thoughts. It was the sound of a small cry; it was so quiet that without her acute hearing, she probably would not have heard anything. Was she imagining things now, she wondered as she clipped another imperfection from the stem.

Snipping another, the crying sounded again; she was sure she couldn't have been imagining it. She placed the scissors in her apron pocket- a handy weapon to be used if she needed to fight against any intruders- and she waited for the sound again.

Sure enough, it didn't stop. Had Claude noticed that there was someone else here, too? She questioned, and hoped not, wanting to impress Alois by identifying the culprit to execute them herself.

Slowly, she started to walk in the direction of the noise, careful not to step on the crisped leaves. The last thing she wanted to do was give her position away to the intruder or make Claude suspicious of what she was doing.

How did the intruder manage to get into the estate without anyone noticing? Hannah shook her head; right now that did not matter, because as soon as she found the intruder, she was going to dispose of them.

She stopped suddenly at the rose bush, hearing that this was where the sound was coming from. With nowhere plausible to hide, she wondered what was making this sound? Hannah crouched down, taking the scissors out of her pocket realizing there was only one place that the infiltrator could hide.

A gasp escaped Hannah's purple lips. Sure enough, something was there, but it wasn't what she had been expecting.

It was a baby girl.

The baby was wrapped in a white towel, which was now stained with patches of dirt and mud, and it's fine brown hair was covered with forgotten leaves. Hannah took the baby into her arms, sweeping the brittle leaves from her head. Chocolate brown eyes looked into her own curiously, questioning who the woman whose arms she lay in was.

What was a baby doing in the Trancy garden? More importantly, why didn't anyone notice? Millions of questions bombarded Hannah's head, all without an answer, but the most important thing she asked was what was she going to do now?

From observing human behavior over the centuries, Hannah knew that babies were loud creatures. Such a being couldn't survive a day with her master's short temper; she knew that her master would probably order Claude to kill the child, and the butler would obey.

With no possible way for the child to survive, not even for a day, perhaps the kindest thing to do was to end its life before Claude got the chance. She held the scissors in her hand to the baby's throat, positioning the sharp blade against the smooth skin. She frowned, realizing that Claude would be able to smell the blood.

Putting the scissors back in her maid's pocket, she placed her cold hand over the baby's mouth. Believing this was the only future that the child held, she pressed down slowly over its lips, and was surprised that the infant showed no sign of struggling or even attempted to scream; she simply looked at her, as if waiting for the maid's next move.

"What a curious creature," Hannah spoke her thought aloud, "even though you're going to die, you show no sign of fear." An amused grin formed on her thin lips. She's so much like Luka.

Slowly, Hannah removed her hand from the baby's mouth; perhaps this child could be of use to her. With Claude constantly at her master's side, it was unlikely that she would devour her master's soul to reunite Alois with Luka.

The baby stretched her arms out, trying to grasp a bit of Hannah's silvery hair. Finally grabbing a hold of a few strands, she tugged on them, causing the maid to wince in pain and a smile slowly crept onto her lips. This child would do perfectly; she could easily mold the child's soul to taste the incredibly flavourful. And, once the child's soul was ready- she would devour it.

Hannah's mouth watered at the thought of devouring such a pure and innocent soul, but a frown quickly formed on her delicate face. Her master and Claude would never allow her to keep such a fragile thing. They would kill it the first minute upon first sight, and she could not allow her prey to be murdered just yet.

So what was she going to do?

Perhaps if she just explained the situation and agreed to keep the child quiet and out of sight, her master just might allow it. It was a slim chance, but she didn't know what else to do.

The baby tried to cuddle into her more, as though attempting to get some body heat from her.

"I am sorry little one, but you will get no body heat from me. My heart doesn't beat," she spoke softly, placing her finger in the baby's tiny grasp.

Tucking the baby more into her chest, she turned around and headed to where Claude was serving Alois scones. I wonder if this will work.