Thirteen cases in thirteen weeks. A lawsuit for thirteen hundred pounds. Thirteen broken dishes in my house. Thirteen trees needing replacing in my yard. Thirteen of my best knives and guns missing. Thirteen bars of chocolate left in my office drawer. Why thirteen?

I has solved ten cases so far, and was currently looking onto the eleventh. They were relatively easy compared to my past encounters. These were the young immature offspring of the larger threat. Simple as a slender piece of slick, chocolate-coated chocolate pie. My mouth watered.

The lawsuit to which my Funtom Company was subjected was an easy fix as well. Some half insane toymaker who thought I had stolen the idea for a singing doll from him. Too bad I had Sebastian steal any evidence of that possibly being true from him and burning it. Even if I did, and I know I didn't, it couldn't be chanced having such attention drawn to my name for such a meager case. It was stupid and I needed as much privacy as I could have for my real job. It was terribly difficult being a watchdog after all. Well, for anyone but me.

Work had me stressed and tired. Refusal to sleep because of it was wearing me out. Nightmares waking me from slumber stealing whatever rest I could possibly grasp. I was a simply complicated sixteen-year-old existence with nothing to sustain himself but chocolate, tea, and the affections of a certain blonde. My life was far from "ideal" at this point but considering, when had it ever even been close to? Even with Sebastian at my side the cases were stressful. The growing anticipation of him just waiting for the day he gets to feast... on me. It doesn't help one bit.

This day in particular was going far worse than ideal. I had gotten nowhere with my case and Yard was taking way too long analyzing the lawsuit. Not to mention all the thirteen business in my life was definitely pissing me off.

Little did I know things could get worse.

~ 4hours later; late 5o'clock

Night was quickly approaching and I was still at my desk, no work done, no problems solved. No parents avenged, nothing eaten. Life was basically normal. Not quite. Something loud and bright was missing from this type of day.

"Young master, there's a letter." I hated it when he snuck up like that. I let the grip on the gun under my desk go and looked up, scowling at him. Of course, he simply smiled and walked over. I look the letter off the trey and waved my hand in dismissal.

"You may go." He didn't move. Instead he considered and spoke again, successfully making my mood worse.

"I'm afraid you may want to read that before ordering me out so fast." He smiled again. I got a bad feeling but pushed it aside to make way for my anger.

"When did I need to start listening to you?" I sliced the envelope open and removed its contents. I turned the envelope over. It was from Earl Grey. Wonderful. Another case. At least now there's fourteen. Thank goodness for that.

"Dear Ciel,

Such a joke. I do not find you at all dear, but we simply must keep professional, correct?"

I smiled- for our mutual dislike- and continued.

"Regrettably, the queen has taken ill. A slight cold but even so, she is getting old. Most grudgingly the deed of writing to you was passed along to me. Terrible isn't it? Back on track then.

"It has been brought to our attention, something of quite a disturbing nature. It would seem quite the normal job for you except this one... a bit closer to your heart if you would."

Closer to my heart? As if one exists? Suddenly soft, blonde curls tickled my face and warmth of another embraced my body. Noticing Sebastian watching me, amused, I shook it off and continued.

"Presently, quite a few young, virtuous and potentially wealthy women have been going missing, thirteen to be exact."

Thirteen again. Something is wrong here.

"All very similar in age, features, build, circumstance, everything. Miss Jane Bridges and Miss Rosamund Dire to name a couple. These pretty ladies disappear in the midst of night, a soft white rose to replace them on a perfectly made bed in the morning for all to see. At first we thought it might just be some sort of sick joke. It seems to be more than that now."

Just now? Why am I getting a bad feeling?

"The two most recent cases are the ones that caught our attentions. These spanned an exact four weeks apart, both more disturbing than cases prior. The first was a Miss Victoria Parker. Disappeared the night of the fifteenth of April from her room at the family townhouse in London, same as always, a mint white rose replacing her on a perfectly made bed the next day. The morning of May first the family leaving the house decides to take one last look at her room.

"And there she lies, bloodied and violated on her bed."

I swallowed thickly. My thoughts jumped from the bloodied corpse beside Madame Red to Lizzy for whatever reason. Sebastian only continued to smile at me, making me feel like I needed to puke. I don't even know what could have gotten me so shaken. I continued.

"The next may be a bit hard for you, Phantomhive. Yesterday, night of the thirteenth of May-"

Thirteen. Blasted thirteen. I started to shake, somehow sensing the worst that was still yet to reach my conscious mind, though foreshadowed in all moments before to the subconscious.

"Elizabeth Middleford-"

My eyes widened. I puked, somehow able to reach the floor and missing my clothes and the letter as I keeled over. The worst. I wiped my mouth and continued.

"was found missing from her quarters at the Middleford house. A blood red rose replacing her on a perfectly made bed, her nightdress on the floor in a crumpled heap. Do not stress. Yard is doing everything they can to bring the thirteen-"

Thirteen. Bloody thirteen.

"missing girls back to their homes. Hopefully, your fiancée will be found safe and sound- than is, with your help of course. The queen will be require the assistance of you and that... butler for this."

That butler. Sebastian. Ever smiling as i find my darkest horror realized. He must have known. I jumped up, over my desk- having become quite more fit, strong, and agile after the last four years of training- and grabbed the demon by his collar. Still not as tall as him, I tip-toed, and glared as hard as humanly, or beyond humanly possible.

"You knew you bastard! You fucking knew!" I screamed at him. My nostrils flared, my eyes wide with rage. I knew it pleased him to see me in this state, the bastard. I didn't care. This was Lizzy we were talking about. My Lizzy. And she may be in danger.

"You should finish the letter, young master." He said with a simple smile, removing my hands from his body. I breathed heavily and glanced down to the letter, crumpled in my hand.

"If you could please look into each individual case, backstories, information, and anything else you can get. Figure out who would want these specific girls and why.

Thank you for the assistance,

Sincerely, or less, Earl Grey"

I stared at the note, still not wanting to accept the truth. I had stopped breathing wildly; I was back in my original stone demeanor. I turned to Sebastian.

"Wash me then clean this up. We need to go out. Tell Bard there will be no need for dinner and warn all them we may not return for several days. We'll be taking a trip"

Smiling in return, "very well young master."

I hardened, my muscles tense.

Lizzy, I thought, why you?