This is a story that came to me pretty much all at once and I'm excited to share it with you all. It'll be shorter chapter wise, but the chapters will be longer so that should even things out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

1.

A soft breeze blew in from the ocean, bringing with it the smells of salt and seaweed. The last rays of sunlight were slowly dipping beyond the horizon, reflecting on the water with a burning orange glow.

Ciel was sitting on the widow's walk of the lighthouse, his back against the glass windows and legs dangling out through the railings over the ground below. He was lost in a book, his mind a million miles away, struggling to crank out a few more pages in the rapidly fading light.

He paused, shielding his eyes as he gazed out across the ocean, wishing for the millionth time that he could wear sunglasses but refusing to do so since he looked weird enough with his eye patch. He didn't want to add something else to make him stand out.

The eye patch was honestly the least of his troubles but it was related to the one that had started them all. Three years before, when he was fourteen, his parents had been in a terrible car accident. Their car had skidded off the road and crashed into a tree where it had caught fire. Both of them were killed instantly and Ciel had suffered some injuries, the most serious of which was to his right eye. Glass from the windshield had flown into it when the vehicle had hit the tree trunk and scraped the surface, causing permanent damage to the cornea and leaving him with almost complete loss of sight.

Ciel didn't remember too much of the incident. If he concentrated the memories were extremely jumbled. He could hear his parents screaming something but the words were always too hard to make out anything clear. Maybe they hadn't even been speaking coherently as they realized that they were about to die. It was a bit of miracle that he hadn't passed on as well. But he'd managed to force open his door and crawl across the muddy ground a few feet before the car exploded. He remembered lying there in the muddy leaves, wondering if he were dreaming. It had felt like it.

Only he'd woken up in the hospital, half his vision blurry and obscured behind a wad of bandages. He'd asked for his parents and the nurses had averted their eyes, and he knew. He knew what had happened wasn't a dream, but a nightmare, and that nightmare was real. He was living it. Alone. Ciel didn't have many living relatives.

Ciel sighed softly as the memories washed over him and marked his page in his book. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he startled slightly. Undertaker stood behind him, his bright green eyes dancing with amusement.

"Sorry to scare you," The older man said. He grinned and Ciel smiled back. "I just was coming to check on you. You know—you can always stay here, if you want."

Ciel hummed. He did want that. There was nothing that he would rather do than stay at the lighthouse with Undertaker. This was a last connection to his family, to his parents, a good one. All he had to look forward to at home was…him.

"No," Ciel shook his head. "I shouldn't. He'll—."

"He can't hold you forever, Ciel," Undertaker broke in. The laughter in his eyes had died, replaced with a sudden sorrow. The younger forced himself to look away. "You only have one more year, less than that, really."

"I know," Ciel said. He pushed himself to his feet. He'd been sitting on the widow's walk for too long and he cracked his back, sighing as it popped pleasantly. "But I have to go, he'll get mad. I'll come back tomorrow."

He ignored the tingling feeling in his legs, as well as Undertaker's disappointed expression, making his way into the lantern room. As always he couldn't help but gaze at the great reflective beacon in the center of the chamber. It wasn't currently lit but it was dazzling when it was, helping provide any nearby ships with safe passage, letting them see any dangerous outcroppings of rocks close to shore invisible on the pitch black ocean.

Ciel began to descend the seemingly endless spiral staircase. Every time he made this journey the last year; it felt as though he were plunging down into the depths of something terrible. In a way, he supposed he was. Because on days when he visited Undertaker, he would stay in the lighthouse for hours, and eventually the time would come for him to have to hurry back to the house he lived in.

He knew Undertaker through his paternal grandmother, Cloudia Phantomhive. She had been a dear friend of the man because that was the job he had held before he managed the lighthouse. He'd worked for many years in a funeral parlor preparing the bodies and making burial arrangements. Though it was clear the two were fond of one another, they never married. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if they had.

When his grandmother had died, Undertaker made her funeral his final one and retired from the business. He'd bought the lighthouse and tended to it ever since. The job seemed to bring him peace. He claimed it was because he was using it to bring people safely out of the darkness instead of sending them into it as he had before.

His bike was propped against the side of the lighthouse and he walked it to the gravel path leading away from the building before hopping on and peddling like mad. The wind whipped past his face and for a moment he imagined he was flying. Flying away from his horrible situation, away from this town.

The residence was fairly close to the lighthouse and at the speed he was traveling he reached it in no time. He parked his bike near the garage and went to open the front door. Apprehension twisted his insides. He knew that he'd stayed out for perhaps a little longer than he should have, but maybe it wouldn't be a big deal.

Ciel's father had been a top scientist at the laboratory in town and Claude had been an intern there during his junior year of college. Vincent had often invited Claude around the house for dinner, letting the other pick his brain and help him with projects. Later, he'd vouched for Claude and helped secure him a job in his department, though Claude probably could have done it on his own. He was crazy smart and had proved to be something of a genius.

When he'd first met him, Ciel had really enjoyed the older boy. He was fun, he snuck Ciel sweets, and he was always telling him interesting stories about goings-on at the lab even though he wasn't technically supposed to.

Ciel had looked up to him, as he had his own father, and he'd quickly agreed to move in with Claude when the chance presented itself a year later. Initially, he'd been staying with his mother's sister, Angelina, but she was a serial dater and often not home. In fact, a month after Ciel vacated her apartment, she packed up and moved to England with her newest suitor. He'd barely heard from her since.

Though he hadn't anticipated anything actually happening, what started out, as a friendship grew steadily closer until the previous year, when Claude had confessed having feelings for Ciel. The younger boy was surprised, but he had felt the same way as well. They'd begun dating and Ciel had to admit it was rather nice. He'd liked going out and doing things with Claude. Kissing him.

Things had been good for a few months and then Claude had changed. He was no longer as friendly as he had been and Ciel found their relationship wasn't as smooth anymore. Claude had turned controlling for lack of a better word. He would let Ciel go out, see friends etc. It wasn't as though he kept him shut in the house chained to the bed. However, Ciel always had to be home by a certain time and Claude liked to know where he was and whom he was with.

He closed the door quietly behind him and the lock slid into place with a muffled snap. Kicking off his shoes, he made his way toward the kitchen, stomach growling. Claude seemed to materialize out of the shadows, his fingers closing around Ciel's upper arm, squeezing slightly. Ciel resisted the urge to twist out of the grip, knowing if he did then Claude would get even angrier.

"You're late," Claude said. His voice was velvety soft, but his golden eyes flashed.

"Sorry," Ciel said.

"Where were you?" Claude asked. "Hopefully not with that weird old man I hope."

Ciel averted his gaze. "He's not weird."

This wasn't entirely true. Undertaker was weird, starting of course with the fact that his name was Undertaker, but that didn't mean Ciel didn't enjoy the man. He was one of the last connections to his life before his parents had died. A good one, compared to how Claude had turned out.

"He is weird," Claude said. "But enough about that. Did you forget what today was?"

Ciel wracked his brain, trying to come to a rapid answer. Claude never asked him the date, so it obviously had be something important. He tried to remember if Claude had said something to him that morning, but he was coming up empty, although—his eyes flicked to the small calendar on the fridge. There written in blue dry-erase maker was his own neat handwriting, spelling out what made the day special.

Claude's birthday.

Ciel felt his stomach drop. How could he have forgotten that?

He knew exactly when Claude's birthday was, had known it for years. In fact, just the previous year he'd organized a surprise party at the house for him and baked a cake from scratch. It hadn't turned out as well as he had hoped, Claude was much better in the kitchen, but he'd wanted to do it. This year, he'd felt anything but joy being around Claude for the last few months, so he supposed it had somehow slipped his mind.

"No?" Ciel said, hating how it came out sounding like a question.

"I think you did," Claude said. "Otherwise you would have been here when I got home."

Ciel didn't know what to say. Claude's hand around his arm was becoming increasingly painful, practically cutting off the circulation. He sighed heavily, knowing that there was no way he was going to get out of this one unscathed. Maybe on any other day, but it had been a while since he'd committed such a heinous act like forgetting his boyfriend's birthday.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow that would inevitably come. He could sense that Claude was seething and the only thing that happened when he was angry was violence. He'd never seriously injured Ciel, but he had been responsible for various bumps and bruises that the younger boy had to do his best to hide.

Instead, Claude released his arm and reached out a hand, stroking a hand down the side of his face. Ciel steeled himself to accept the touch, letting Claude caress his cheek, fingers coming to rest under his chin, tilting his head up. His blue eye found Claude's golden ones, noting that some of the fire in them had died.

Claude's lips pressed against his, tongue roughly forcing its way into his mouth. Ciel wanted to pull away, but the older's hand cupped the back of his head, keeping him in place. He could feel Claude's other hand coming to rest on his hip, remaining there for a few moments before moving on, fingers dipping below the waistband of his jeans.

Ciel wondered if Claude would try to get something sexual out of him. After all, it was his birthday and Ciel had sinned by forgetting it. They'd had relations before, but that was when Claude was nice. Now the thought of getting into bed with him made Ciel nauseous. He waited for the moment to pass, hoping he was wrong.

Claude drew back, taking his fingers with him. Ciel almost breathed a sigh of relief, but caught himself in time. He waited, wondering what Claude was going to do next.

"I'm going out," Claude announced, straightening his glasses. "Some of my associates have decided to invite me to dinner. I waited home for you because I was going to decline. However, since you apparently can't remember important dates, I have decided to take them up on the offer. I'll be back later. Don't leave the house. Maybe I'll forgive you when I return."

"I'm sorry," Ciel said again.

"Just don't let it happen again, or I may be forced to take drastic action," Claude snorted. "Maybe I'll break up with you, then who would you have?"

Ciel stared at the floor. He knew that things could definitely be worse. In retrospect he was getting off fairly light. However, he was sure that Claude would probably throw one last barb before he departed for the evening.

"You're damaged, little Ciel," He said softly. He bought up his hand again, the pad of his thumb stroking over the silken fabric of the eye patch. "No one else is going to want you."

Ciel kept his expression impassive, but the statement shredded his insides. It wasn't as though this wasn't something that hadn't crossed his mind. The other students at school had seemed to distance themselves after the death of his parents and no one had expressed interest in him. Of course, that also might have had something to do with him being with Claude.

Claude strode from the room. Ciel heard the front door open and close. He remained standing in the kitchen for a few minutes longer, vaguely aware that he was shaking. No longer feeling hungry, he went upstairs and showered. When he emerged, toweling off his hair, he felt a bit better.

He wiped the steam off the bathroom mirror, staring at his expression. He didn't wear the patch in the shower, so his eye was fully exposed in all its ruined glory. He examined it, knowing nothing had changed, just as it hadn't for the past three years. At the beginning, he'd often hoped that one day he'd wake up and it would have healed itself sometime during the night. Now he didn't think that as much.

Ciel went to his room and stretched out on the bed. He had no desire to go out, so Claude's order was unnecessary. He wondered when his boyfriend would be back, guessing that it wouldn't be until much later. Claude liked his coworkers and he always enjoyed a good party, especially if there was alcohol involved and someone else was buying.

He picked up his book again and started to read from where he'd left off. At least he had the house to himself and everything was quiet. He always felt apprehensive whenever Claude was there, never knowing what might set the other off. He sighed heavily and turned a page. At least he could escape in books, even if he couldn't in reality.

•••

Later that night Ciel sat in the bay window in his room, staring out at the darkness. He'd turned all the lights off and drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He watched the tiny pinpricks of light from boats drifting in the black water beyond the houses. To the right, the lighthouse was emitting its bright glow as it rotated.

Ciel checked his phone. It was now two-thirty a.m. according to the home screen. He sighed, wondering when Claude would be home. He knew that he didn't have to wait up for him, but he couldn't sleep knowing that Claude was upset at him. He actually did feel bad at having forgot the other's birthday, even if he weren't as fond of Claude as he once had been.

He rested his chin on his knees with a sigh. Truthfully he was glad school would be starting again in a couple of days. He was over summer. At least when school was in session he had something to do during the day, and homework and extra curricular activities kept him busy. He needed to keep up his grades if he wanted to get into a good college, preferably one in a far away state.

All at once, everything went dark. Ciel's head jerked up, wondering if he had gone completely blind. He couldn't see the streetlights or anything in the other houses along the street, though he knew their neighbor across the street had been watching The Food Network for the last three hours. The ships on the water weren't visible either; the thing he found most alarming was the lighthouse was no longer rotating its beam out across the harbor.

He strained his eyes, staring into the darkness, wondering what was going on. Perhaps the town had suffered a severe power outage. Even so, that wouldn't affect the boats, or anything that wasn't connected to a power source. Leaning forward, he scanned the blackness outside, wondering what had happened. It occurred to him that there were no cars moving either, headlights casting pale cones of light along the streets. He couldn't see anything; it was as though the world had been turned off.

Then, the sky lit up. At first he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was as though a ball of fire had appeared in the sky. Maybe it was a comet. His father had been big on outer space and had taught him all the different types of sky phenomena. However, this one didn't match the description he was familiar with.

For one thing the object was red in color, which wasn't possible since the gases that comets released were shades of blue and green. But this one was bright red and orange; it was almost more like a fireball. Ciel watched it with interest as it fell through the sky, blazing along and illuminating everything in its path with a radiant glow.

The object plummeted toward the ground at rapid speed. He watched as it drew nearer and nearer to the water, wondering what was going to happen if it hit the ocean. He leaned closer, clutching his phone, holding it up to the window to take several photos. It was amazing.

He watched the comet, or whatever it was, seem to slow down and even out before it streaked toward a strand of trees to the left. Ciel knew it was the forest preserve. He hadn't been there in a long time either; it held painful memories as well. He'd often taken long walks there with his parents and their lab, Sebastian. The dog had perished in the accident as well.

Somehow Ciel started moving and didn't even register he had until he was downstairs pulling on the sneakers he'd discarded in the foyer. He grabbed a flashlight out of the hall closet and paused at the front door, remembering Claude's warning, knowing he would most likely pay dearly if he disobeyed. However, he wanted to know what the strange item had been. And besides, Claude probably wasn't going to be coming home anytime soon.

He retrieved his bike and set off down the street, noting as he did so that the power slowly came back on. The streetlights blipped back into life and he caught site of the Christmas lights strung around the trellis in the side yard of the ranch house on the corner.

Ciel reached the forest more quickly than he had anticipated. He knew he couldn't have been the only one who had witnessed what had occurred and that it would only be a matter of time before the police or other curious bystanders would show up. He had to be quick. He dropped his bike in the underbrush, knowing that it would be unwise to pedal blindly over the uneven forest terrain. With his luck, he would end up careening down a ravine and breaking something, or worse getting killed.

He set off in the most likely direction where he figured the object could have landed, picking his way quickly over the logs and stones, through the trees, panning his flashlight through the darkness. He hoped that he wouldn't have to search too long, and questioning whether the result would actually be worth Claude's wrath if he happened to make it home before Ciel.

The trees thinned as he drew closer to the coastline. He could see the ocean through the trees, hear the water lapping against the rocky shore far below. He veered left, towards where the campgrounds were, anticipation prickling his skin. He didn't know why, but he felt excited, as though he were on the verge of some great discovery. He wondered if this was how his father had felt at work.

Ciel crested over a small hill and stopped short, his breath catching in his chest. He stared at the scene before him in shock for a couple seconds, then, coming to his senses, ducked behind the nearest tree trunk. His heart was thundering in his chest and he gripped the flashlight for dear life, shutting it off and cutting off the bright beam of light, hoping he hadn't been spotted. Because what was on the other side of that tree…it was impossible.

He waited a few moments, letting his breathing even out again, and peered around the trunk. Yes, it was still there. He had thought perhaps he was seeing things, and he was, but what he was seeing was real.

There was a spaceship in the clearing. It appeared to have crashed, as the front half of it was firmly lodged in the soft ground, dirt and leaves clustering around the smooth silver structure. He could see spider web cracks spreading across a couple of the obsidian windows. The ground around it was singed; some of the leaves were still smoking, their edges glowing.

Ciel wondered if there was anyone inside. He assumed that there had to be. Perhaps they were hurt, and that was why they had crashed. Though once again, through Vincent, he was familiar with all sorts of space vehicles and he'd never seen one like this before, at least not in any credible sources. It was more akin to the line of Unidentified Flying Objects. UFOs. He knew people believed in those, but he wasn't one of them. Only…

There was a soft whirring noise that drew him from his thoughts. It appeared that a small hatch was opening on the top of the craft. He watched with fascination as a figure emerged, his form shrouded in billowing black robes.

For a moment, Ciel was strongly reminded of Professor Snape from Harry Potter, before the figure turned to the side, throwing back his hood, and he felt his breath catch in his throat. The figure appeared human, but he knew that couldn't be correct. Humans didn't have transportation like this, at least not yet. Maybe someday, but he could already tell that this was well beyond the current advancement of civilization.

Ciel wondered who the man was, though it was quite obvious what he was. Undertaker was fond of science fiction stories, something that he and Vincent had argued good-humoredly about when Ciel was young. Undertaker was a firm believer in aliens, and Vincent had entertained the possibility but said that he'd yet to see any concrete evidence to support the theory.

If only you were here now, dad, Ciel thought.

Now that he had made this discovery, he wondered what he should do about it. The obvious choice was to alert the authorities, which may already be on their way as he stood there. After all, all the power had shut off in the entire town. For some reason though, he didn't want to. He wanted to keep it to himself for just a while longer. Gripping his phone, he inched out from behind the tree, opening the camera feature and snapping a few covert shots of the figure standing on the structure.

He knew he couldn't stay outside all night. Claude would definitely know he'd not adhered to the rules. Still, it wasn't every day that one discovered an alien in the forest near their house. With a soft sigh, he took another peek.

The figure was still standing on his ship, seeming to be surveying the area around. There seemed to be a slight glow about him, as though he were illuminated from the inside. He bent to run his hand over the smooth silver surface of the craft, assessing the damage.

Ciel watched him intently. Flames seemed to spill from the alien's fingers, slithering across the smooth surface of the ship. He watched as the fire covered the structure, somehow not burning the man who stood on top of it, until they cleared and the vessel was gone, and a large boulder in its place. The alien still perched atop the now cleverly disguised craft, robes rippling slightly in the wind.

Ciel wanted to get a closer look, but he didn't want to be discovered. Still, the pull proved to be too much to resist and he inched out from the tree, and took a step forward. This proved to be a mistake. He stumbled, and felt his foot come down hard. A twig snapped under his shoe, as he landed on the ground, sounding as loud as a gunshot in the complete stillness of the clearing.

The alien froze, his head snapped up and around and Ciel felt his heart stop as glowing crimson eyes locked with his. Ciel didn't waste another second he scrambled to his feet and ran. He didn't have any idea what he had been thinking when he'd gone to move forward. He supposed maybe he'd deemed it was fine as long as the other being didn't know he was there. However, now that it was clear that he was on the creature's radar, he didn't want to be anywhere near it.

He had heard the stories, courtesy of Undertaker, and his own curiosity on the matter. He knew what happened to people who claimed to have had contact with the so-called "third kind". They abducted you, ran experiments, probed. They turned cows inside out. He was not about to deal with any of that.

Ciel had barely gotten five steps before something rushed past him, whipping the dead underbrush into frenzy. He thought of the feeling when a train went by, and the wind that would swirl around, smacking you in the face with more force than air should. He skidded to a halt, as the alien swept in front of him, his heart in his throat, hoping to god he wouldn't piss his pants. He was that terrified.

The being leaned toward him. He was quite a bit taller than Ciel and very foreboding in his robes. He stretched a pale hand from within them, long slender fingers reaching for the boy who shrank back on instinct. His eyes continued to glow and Ciel noticed at this proximity, that his pupils were slitted, like a cat.

Ciel tried to say something, but all that came out was a strangled squeak. The alien cocked his head, a small smirk playing on his lips. The younger fought to keep his face impassive, refusing to show any fear, though he was sure he was failing miserably. He wondered if he were going to be eaten, guessing that it might not be too bad, considering the direction his life was going.

However, the alien continued to stand there and stare at him. His eyes burned much like the fire that he'd lit up the sky with, and Ciel found himself wanting to continue to stare at them. He was still shaking slightly, partly from fear, but mostly from the sudden chill that had suddenly gripped his body.

"Uh—hi," Ciel said, finally managing to find his voice. "Do you come in peace?"