Eric kept running. Running away from his memories, running from the Phantomhive Manor, and even running away from his precious Alan. That damn demon had created a gash across his chest and allowed Alan to see his true intentions through his cinematic record. So what if Eric was killing people to save Alan? The blonde thought his friend was worth it. "I just gotta get my mind focused again," Eric said to himself as he took to the rooftops of London.
Meanwhile, down in the street, a teenager named Fangurl walked down the street after just finishing another shift at work. While most of her friends were out enjoying life, Fangurl had to work to make money so she'd have a place to stay for the night.
Fangurl had witnessed her parents' death at a young age and had been on the streets since, finding work wherever she could so she could buy food and shelter for another day. She missed her family dearly, but she had no one else to go to.
After she finished working, Fangurl always walked through the park to get to her apartment building. As Fangurl walked, she couldn't help but feel like she was being followed. The girl stopped and turned and saw a man wearing a tan colored trench coat standing behind her.
From the rooftops, Eric Slingby observed the scene before him. He saw the look of fear on this girl's face, and it caused something inside him to stop. The Shinigami watched as the man reached inside his trench coat and pulled out a handkerchief.
He waved it in front of Fangurl's face and watched as she closed her eyes and fell. Eric watched the man catch her and carry her away. Looking at the girl, Eric couldn't help feel that he knew who she was, but couldn't quite figure it out. Something inside his mind told Eric to follow them, so he climbed down from the rooftops and began to follow the kidnapper and the teenage girl.
When Fangurl awoke she was tied to a pole by her wrists inside of what appeared to be a basement. Looking around, she saw a few other girls tied to poles too, but they looked older than her; probably mid to late twenties. "What happened?" Fangurl asked when she found her voice again.
"You were kidnapped like we were," one of the others informed.
"Kidnapped?" Fangurl repeated.
"Yes, by the Viscount," another added.
"What does this Viscount want with us?" Fangurl wondered.
"He's making a new collection that he wants us to be a part of," girl one said.
Fangurl observed the girls that she was in the room with. They almost looked like ballet dancers, very graceful and fragile looking figures. And then there was her, a simple teenager who wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep for the night.
The girls heard the basement door open and watched as the man walked downstairs. She took in how he was dressed; very strange looking, almost as though his outfit was from another era. "Hello ladies, I am back," he said with a high pitched voice to the ballet girls. "Have my birdies missed me?" He touched each of their cheeks gently.
Fangurl saw the girls quiver and reply in unison "Yes Viscount."
Almost immediately after the words left their mouths did the Viscount snap a whip. "That's not how birdies sound!" he screamed as he snapped the whip again and again.
The girls cried out before replying "Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep."
"That's better," the Viscount said as he regained his posture.
He then put down the whip and walked over to Fangurl. "Ah yes, my latest addition; hello my little one." The Viscount ran the back of his hand down Fangurl's face.
"Don't touch me," Fangurl ordered as she immediately pulled her face away from him.
Viscount grabbed her throat and pulled her to his face. "My pets don't talk to me like that, do they girls?" he asked the other two.
"Cheep, cheep," they replied.
"I'm not your pet," Fangurl stated. "I want to leave."
"You aren't going anywhere anytime soon," the Viscount informed as he tied the whip around her throat and started to choke her.
"Well isn't this just a pathetic sight?" a voice from the doorway said. "I can't believe men like you still exist."
The Viscount didn't fully release Fangurl's throat, but he did ease up some, causing the girl less pain. He looked up to see who possibly could be invading his private property and saw Eric standing there displaying his death scythe. "Who the hell are you?" the Viscount demanded.
"Help us, please help us!" the ballet girls pleaded when they saw Eric.
The blonde calmly slashed his death scythe and released their bonds, but then quietly stated "You're souls are quite beautiful." Then he quickly took their lives and souls. Fangurl gasped when she saw the girls fall down dead.
She then watched as Eric stood there and looked down at her. He looked emotionally hurt and this caused Fangurl to grow curious. The Viscount stood up and ran over to his now dead 'birdies' as Eric went over to Fangurl.
Silently, Eric knelt down in front of her and untied her hands as he quietly whispered "I won't harm you." He still had questions for her that he needed answered. Fangurl didn't question when Eric picked her up and began to carry her out of the Viscount's basement; she simply kept her arms wrapped around him and stayed silent.
The Viscount tried to follow Eric, but the Shinigami pointed his death scythe at him. "Do not follow us," he simply said. The man stood there dumbfounded and also scared, but he didn't follow Eric and Fangurl.
Eric carried Fangurl out of the Viscount's house and down the street. The girl laid her head against Eric's chest and looked up at the Shinigami. He still had the same emotionally hurt look on his face as he did earlier. Neither one of them said a word to one another until Eric brought her to a park bench and sat her down gently.
"Why did you spare me but kill those other two girls?" Fangurl questioned.
"Because you are different from the others; I feel as though I've met you before," Eric said.
"Different how?" Fangurl wondered.
"Did anyone close to you pass away recently?" Eric asked careful not to sound offensive.
"My parents died when I was seven years old," Fangurl stated.
Memories began to race through Eric's mind. "Did you witness your parents' death?" he wondered.
"Yes I did. They had heart attacks while we were eating breakfast and I saw them fall down and take their last breaths," Fangurl explained.
The memories narrowed down in Eric's mind. Then he remembered reaping a couple who had heart attacks and he saw a child quivering in the corner because she was scared. Eric remembered picking her up and promising her that everything would be okay.
"Do you remember me? I was the man who came and took your parents' souls away, and then calmed you down because you were scared," Eric explained. He knew Fangurl had looked familiar. Fangurl closed her eyes and tried to remember that day.
*flashback*
Seven year old Fangurl curled up in the corner and looked over at her parents shaking and dying on the floor. She started crying as she screamed "Help! Someone help my mommy and daddy!"
Suddenly, Eric appeared before her. He took out his death scythe and made the scene quieter as he took Fangurl's parents' souls. Eric turned to her and saw the little girl crying and quivering.
The blonde Shinigami felt sympathy for the poor girl and walked over to her. She tried to scoot away from him, but Eric reached out and calmly touched her face before whispering "It's okay now. They're better now."
Without another thought, Fangurl opened her arms and clung to Eric. The Shinigami hugged her tightly until she stopped crying. "Don't worry, everything will be alright, you'll see."
*end flashback*
Opening her eyes wide, Fangurl looked over at Eric. "It was you," she stated.
Eric nodded before replying "Has life been okay for you since your parents died?"
"No, all I want is to be with them again, because without them, I feel so abandoned and alone," Fangurl confessed.
The Shinigami touched her face gently and thought about his precious Alan. Her soul would be the 1000th soul he needed to save Alan. But he looked into her eyes and saw all the pain that Fangurl had endured over the years. It hurt him, but Eric couldn't bring himself to use her soul for his own personal gain. So he said to her "I can reunite you with your parents and make you happy if you choose."
"Yes, I wish to do anything to see my family again," Fangurl stated.
Eric stood up and took his death scythe and said as tears formed in his eyes, "I'm so sorry about this."
Fangurl stopped him. "There's no need to be sorry. If this is my fate then there is no need to shed tears."
The blonde slashed her body with his death scythe but allowed her soul to be sent straight up to heaven where she was reunited with her parents. Eric took the teenage girl's dead body and whispered "Let me kiss your cold lips if only once." So Eric then lightly kissed Fangurl's lips one time before laying her body down. "Be united with the ones you love, because I one day will be too."