The city of London had a grey and gloomy feel about it but the residents of the city had long since grown used to it. Surrounded by other quiet mansions, the Forrest household stood in the shadows, illuminated only by the lamp posts. The noises constantly interrupted the calm and quiet in the night for the period of years the master of the house resided in it. Edward Forrest was the master of the Forrest household at the age of eighteen but had been in charge for ten years. Edward wasn't the kind of person to have his disease hold him back from what he wanted. However, there were some things he couldn't do no matter what, and tonight, going back to sleep was one of them. The constant hacking and coughing echoed throughout the house alerting the servants doing their individual work in the house. The small group of people looked towards the direction of Edward's room with all their faces twisted into disturbed expressions.
The coughs slowly subsided and eventually the only other sound in the house that Edward heard was a series of footsteps climbing the set of stairs to his bedroom. Quietly creaking, the door opened, revealing a tall, slender young woman. Her ice-blue hair color and mostly white clothing made her stand out against the dark room. Even her skin was a pale complexion, which gave her the appearance of a ghost in the darkened room. The clothing she had on that wasn't white was a shade of lavender that matched her eyes. Her eyes against the pitch-black room made it look as though she had two dark holes where her eyes should have been.
The woman looked at the tin bucket in her master's lap that was slowly filling up with blood that his body has been coughing up and forcing out. "Looks like I won't be going back to sleep." Edward muttered, wiping the dark blood from the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. The woman wasn't sure how to interpret his statement, but giggled slightly in response. She looked upon the pale man with pity in her heart. Edward Forrest wanted to be seen as strong but he never could be with his condition. Edward was plagued with tuberculosis which was slowly killing him. The fact that he had lived as long as he had was nothing short of good fortune. Doctors had predicted that Edward wouldn't live past the age of eight but against all odds he had managed to gain an extra decade. Miracles could happen and Edward's survival was one such miracle.
"What's today's schedule, Angela?" Edward asked while attempting to climb out of his bed. Angela rushed over to his side to assist him, wrapping his arm across her neck and her arm around his waist. "You have an appointment with Dr. McCormick at noon to refill your medication. After that you have a meeting with Mr. Vanel to discuss the next move." Edward forced himself to stand up as tall as he could when Mr. Vanel was brought up. Immediately, images of the various deals he had made with the Ferro family came to mind.
Angela assisted Edward in removing his gray pajamas as he stared at himself in the mirror. The first things he noticed were his almost purplish hair color and dark blue eyes that ran in his family. Once the pajamas were removed his pale skeletal body was revealed. His skin almost stretched itself over his ribs. Over where his heart would be is a titanium colored Azazel sigil symbol tattooed on his left pectoral muscle. He recalled when he had first obtained the sign and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief as it once again disappeared behind the cloth of his white dress shirt. Every time he laid his eyes on that symbol it reminded him that he would one day die and no miracle would save him then.
"Ash has the schedules that you asked for, master." Angela said as she straightened his silver colored tie around his neck. "Excellent." Edward said. His voice had a regal tone to it but with the large fit of coughing earlier it sounded raspy and weak. After assisting Edward with his overcoat, Angela placed a mask over his nose and mouth. Grabbing his cane for support, he steadied himself as best he could and followed Angela out of the room.
"Good morning, master." Ash said as Edward climbed down the stairs with the help of his cane and Angela. "Good morning to you too, Ash." Edward said as he made his way towards the living room and Ash followed him. Ash was somewhat taller than Edward and dressed in a white suit with a purple overcoat. In many ways Ash was the male counterpart of Angela. He had white hair and purple eyes much like Angela. In very similar fashion to hers, Ash was bound to nobody but Edward Forrest. He used the absolute fullest of his abilities to ensure that he was protected from what he deemed dangerous and proved himself to be very dangerous himself to those Edward deemed worthy of death.
Edward sat down in a purple colored arm chair in front of the fireplace which had flames roaring in the pile of wood. Edward attentively watched the orange and yellow lights dance about energetically. The flames licked the edge and sides of the fireplace. The once grey bricks were now changing from orange to yellow at a rapid pace alongside the fire and the flares cracked while ash and soot retreated from the burning substance. Edward rested his black cane across his lap and simply sat in front of the flames as he imagined his past going up in the same smoke and flame before him as it did once before.
Well into the afternoon, Dr. McCormick came by as promised with the medications that Edward needed. With one hand he opened his case to reveal a large collection of pill bottles, syringes, scalpels and a bunch of other intimidating looking tools. In his other hand he held a white handkerchief over his mouth and nose. Dr. McCormick was doing the best he could to protect himself from Edward's infection. Edward knew that he only needed the bitter tasting pills, but the sight of the sharp things that had opened up many people before him made him cringe slightly. No words were exchanged between the men, only some currency and pills. Once Dr. McCormick left the premises Edward pulled down his mask and swallowed the pills whole. They had an unpleasant feel going down very much like a lump in his throat being forced down.
In the evening, a knock at the door echoed throughout the house. Edward took great displeasure in this as it interrupted his reading. He sighed behind his surgical mask as he placed the dark red bookmark between the yellow pages of the aged book in his hands. "Master Forrest. Someone is here for you." Ash said as he and Angela walked into his office.
"What do you mean, 'someone'?" Edward asked.
"His name is Chlaus. He says he was sent by Mr. Vanel to discuss everything with you." Angela stated.
The door suddenly burst open and loud bangs were heard in the room. Preceding them were bright flashes of light. Ash and Angela suddenly fell to the floor like sacks full of cement. Edward sat in his chair staring at the four assailants. Chlaus was a middle aged man dressed in the same Italian suits as the other three that stood by his side with pistols in hands. He removed his fedora to reveal brown hair tied neatly back in a ponytail. A sinister grin was plastered on his face with his facial hair seeming to move with it. "I came here to speak with you personally and it was taking too long. Nobody even bothered to offer us a cup of tea or whatever you British people drink." Chlaus had a thick Italian accent that Edward found annoying rather quickly. Edward was greatly unaffected by this statement and, his expression remained unchanged as he witnessed Ash and Angela's murders.
"Then you should have made an appointment." He said, struggling to stand with his cane. "However, I suppose we can make an exception."
"So, you're the one Mr. Vanel sent me to talk to? I wasn't expecting someone with your reputation to be a walking corpse."
"I was expecting someone of the Italian mafia to be more masculine."
This angered Chlaus greatly as he loaded his gun again and pointed the barrel at Edward's forehead. The Italian's three comrades had their guns aimed at him as well. His expression did not change, the mask covering his nose and mouth gave him an excellent poker face. He had a very haunting stare that looked death in the eye and asked it, 'Are you through?' If anything, Edward was displeased with the man's attempt to threaten him. He looked at him as if he were a parent disciplining a petulant child. "You really think you can get out of this one?! Your servants are all dead, have you noticed?" Edward looked behind Chlaus' back and then his cold gaze returned to the Italian mobster, who pointed the gun in his face.
"All of them? Then who are those two?"
Chlaus turned around to see all three of the men who came with him, bloodthirsty and ruthless men lying dead at his feet. Their throats, were not just slit but carved open, and their blood was spilling onto the hardwood floor like dark red waterfalls from the deep gashes of the slowly dying men. Chlaus' horror was interrupted when the arm holding the pistol snapped only a few centimeters below the wrist. He dropped the copper colored gun onto the bloodstained floor as he screamed in agony. His eyes turned from horror to shock as he noticed the hand breaking his limb was wearing a purple overcoat. He looked up further to see the two white haired servants he had shot dead. He then felt a sharp pain as the black stick that was Edward's cane jabbed into his stomach. Standing behind the man dressed in black was the maid in white examining the bloodstain on the once pristine apron over her stomach where the bullet entered.
"Don't move." Edward said, forcing the cane further into the man's stomach. "Just listen and I'll teach you the way of life."
"Brutto bastardo!" Chlaus cursed in Italian pulling out a small knife hidden up his sleeve. He attempted in vain to attack the master of the Forrest household only to have the knife placed at his throat with such speed that no living person could have seen it. The blade dug under his skin, not enough to kill him but certainly enough to go under the tender flesh on his throat.
"Are you two alright?" Edward asked his servants.
"Quite, Master Forrest. We've dealt with worse than this, my lord." Ash said while holding the squirming mobster in place.
"The only damage he had done was to our uniforms. Shame too, this was a perfectly good apron." Angela said.
"Well, I'm glad you're alright. So then, back to the matter at hand." Edward said, removing his cane from Chlaus' stomach. "The one your friend sent you to find, whoever he thought I was, has no interest in your criminal activity unless it benefits him. The fact you're still alive now is because I wish to ask something of you and your friends in the higher places of your organization."
Chlaus stared at Edward in anger as he made his way towards the window of his office. Not much to watch but he had made a habit of it as if there was something behind that thin pane of glass. He suddenly lurched forward placing his gloved hand over his mask where his mouth would be and coughed deafeningly. Angela instinctively rushed to Edward's side in an anxious frenzy. She had long since grown used to his coughing fits and even with the cane he couldn't stand without extra assistance. After a full minute, the coughing started to calm down. Edward removed his hand from the front of his mouth and revealed the blood that was starting to seep through his surgical mask.
"Thank you Angela. I'm fine now." He said while steadying himself. Angela slowly let go of him and backed away. "Apologies for that Mr. Chlaus. Anyway, you are currently doing business with someone who is of particular interest to me. One Ciel Phantomhive of the Funtom Corporation. Now why would an Italian mobster have any use for a confectionery and toy company? You want to take advantage of his naivety for your own profit, am I right?"
"If it's money you want, there is a way out of this situation. You can still profit from the Funtom Corporation." Edward motioned for Angela to open a safe that was hidden behind the portrait of Horatio Nelson he had hanging in his office. Once the safe was opened a fraction of the room was illuminated by a yellow glow. In the safe was a small mountain of gold bars.
"I'll even give you compensation for your efforts. All you have to do is fulfill any objective I ask you to fulfill, on any occasion of my choice." He said as Angela closed the safe and snuffed out the light in the room. "So then, do we have a deal?"