Gus Kinney: hello chapter 2 is called the death and deal

Vincent tore through the back streets of London, following the general direction he thought his mother had gone. Upon finding the house empty, confusion washed over him. She had been the one nagging him not to stay out so late with a killer on the loose, so why was she out roaming this late? Was she trying to get herself killed? He still couldn't make sense of it.

A crossroad loomed ahead of him and Vincent came to a stop. Puffs of smoke billowed around him with each ragged breath. Minuscule droplets of water drifted through the air, signalling an impending storm. There hadn't been a soul around for blocks, and the only distinct sound around was the rats shuffling around in the darkness. Try as he might, Vincent couldn't hear anything that gave him a sign for where to go next. Taking a shot in the dark, he took a left and headed further into the unknown.

He drew closer to an alleyway, and heard several voices, accompanied by a strange, and grating mechanical whirring. Vincent ducked into the shadows provided by a nearby building and slunk along the uneven brick wall. The voices grew louder, and easier to hear, but when Vincent peeked around the edge of the building he found himself unable to place most of them. For the time being, it was a good thing he didn't recognize Ciel and Sebastian standing there. He was more focused on his mother standing in front of them, next to a strange man. The man had long. bright red hair and unnaturally sharp teeth. With his current smirk, he much resembled the cat that ate the canary.

A metallic clattering broke the tense silence as Madam red dropped the dagger she had and sobbed, "I won't!"

The man's smile quickly disappeared and his stance changed as he lurched forward. Droplets of blood smeared on the sides of his face as his saw ripped its way through flesh and bone as if it was no more than a piece of paper.

Vincent fell back against the fall and covered his mouth with his hand as if it could erase the horrors he had just seen.

Silence rang through my ears as I fell to the ground. She's dead. My… mother is… A cold numbness spread through me while I hugged my knees to my chest. This isn't real… it can't be. Icy droplets of water soaking through my coat dragged me back to reality, if only for a moment, and I forced myself to stand on leaden feet. Everything was blurred, whether it was from the rain or shock it was too soon to tell.

Whatever direction I took seemed pointless. Why should I go home? Nobody was going to be there...well nobody I wanted to see. Maybe I hadn't been the fondest of my mother, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I hated her or ever wished harm to her. I would have liked it if she had paid a little more attention to me when I was home but other than that I felt she did her best. Maybe if I hadn't been so standoffish with her she wouldn't have…

Droplets of water flew out of my hair when I shook my head, and forced my thoughts elsewhere. This couldn't have possibly been my fault. I was home a whole hour before the time she set for me. She probably would have still would have left if I hadn't gone out at all. She always had these weird clubs she was in or secret parties that I wanted no part of. I never really thought much of her coming and goings until now. Normally if she told me not to do something she wouldn't go and do it herself. Nothing about this feels right. What was she doing?

Turning up the collar of my coat, I took a deep breath and wiped my face on the damp fabric. Even after reaching the center of the city there wasn't a soul around. With this 'Jack the Ripper' running around and the sudden rain I couldn't really be surprised, but it was still early. For me at least.

Was that what I saw? In all the reports Jack the Ripper had a surgical precision, I highly doubted they'd be carrying about something as destructive as that. It's just some strange coincidence. A long sigh escaped me as I slicked back my hair. I could practically hear Ciel telling me there was no such thing. For such a half-pint he certainly was a smart ass. He better be in bed by now. The only person allowed to lecture me is… "I hope you don't plan on tracking water all over my clean house."

I blinked a few times the peered into the darkness where Sebastian was standing. The door clicked shut behind me as I rested my weight against it, my eyes never leaving his. "Good evening to you to. I hope I didn't wake you."

His red eyes narrowed slightly as I dropped my soaked coat on the floor, and pulled off my muddy boots. "Did you have a nice walk?"

I caught a small smile on his face as I pulled off my wet shirt and took a step forward. "Quite nice." I could feel his eyes on me as I gathered my things and started towards the stairs. Each drop of water that fell onto the floor in my wake was a personal victory. "Is my mother back yet? She had the nerve to tell me to come home early, so I trust she did the same herself."

"She had not. The Madam seemed to have some very urgent business to attend to."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to think too much about the reality of the situation. This felt like some sort of sick game I had thrown myself into without wanting to play in the first place. What am I doing? It feels like he knows something. He probably wants me to play with him. "Pity, I'll have to give her an earful on the ride home. If you're done, I'm retiring for the evening."

Sebastian waited until I was earshot before walking away, probably to get a towel for all the water on the tiled floor. With a bit of luck, I made it too my room and fumbled around in the dim light for a few moments while I took off the rest of my wet clothes and laid them on a nearby chair to dry. I could almost hear my mother telling me I would get sick if I went to bed now, but it didn't seem to matter as I curled up underneath the blankets. Feeling gradually returned to my numb limbs, but as tired as I was sleep wouldn't come. When I closed my eyes all I could see was my mothers blood spraying everywhere and the sound…

My body shook uncontrollably and I buried my face in a pillow, longing to forget, even if it was just for a minute. It's not fair, what did I do to deserve this?

"Master Vincent get up! You have company and it's almost noon." I peeked out from underneath the blankets, only to be blinded by the light coming in through the open curtains and burying my face in the closest pillow. I could hear my heart beating in my chest and just wanted it all to stop. My head was throbbing and in the fleetingly brief moment of silence my ears were ringing. Why now? Who the hell is visiting me?

"Later."

Myra pulled back the covers and stood in front of me, thankfully blocking the harsh afternoon sun. "Now. What would your mother think? If you keep drinking like you did last night you're going to ruin your liver."

I groaned softly and placed a pillow over my head. "I'm already dying."

She pulled it off of me and smacked me with it, jarring my entire body. "You're not dying, you're hungover. You'll not get anything from me until you march your backside downstairs and deal with what needs to be dealt with."

Sighing I summoned the strength to stand. The spinning room quickly deterred me and I slumped to the floor. "I'll pass. It's quite nice down here."

I shivered at a sudden draft and Myra took a step back, folding her arms over her chest. "You're not going to get any better lying around. Now march."

Flopping sideways I closed my eyes again. "Why are you being so mean to me?"

"I'm not being mean, you're being stubborn. This isn't going to help anything. Now go out there and greet your guest while I make you some coffee."

Opening one eye, I peered up at her from my place on the floor and struggled to a sitting position again. "Can I have a sandwich too?"

"If you get off the floor you can have whatever you like." I reluctantly slipped my hand into hers and pulled myself up again, toddling along after her as I tried to keep my bearings in this spinning and duplicated world. I'm never drinking that much again, this is horrible. "Aren't you at least going to put a shirt on?"

I shook my head and followed her out on the hallway, relying on the wall to keep my balance. The frustratingly bright foyer sent pain spearing through my frontal lobe. For a brief moment, I thought I might have ended up blacking out.

The descent down the stairs felt like miles, and at the bottom I had to keep my back pressed against the banister. Squinting in the bright light, I managed, "what do you want?"

His eyes widened slightly, but he quickly recovered and pulled his hat off, dipping his head in greeting before speaking. With how much I had been following Ciel around the past couple weeks I'm surprised he hadn't figured out who I was then. Unless he mistook me for one of my mother's man servants. "On behalf of the department I offer my sincerest-

"Cut to the chase. I've gotten enough flowers from all the empty condolences from my mother's various friends to fill the sun room thrice over. Your words mean nothing to me."

Randall cleared his throat and redirected into what he needed to say. "I have been told that your presence is unaccounted for during the time of Madam Dur-

"Red."

"Madam Red's time of death and-

"I was out with some girls I met during a parted ways around eight, after all I wouldn't want to put them in harms way with this 'Jack the Ripper' running about. I wasn't ready to go home so I took a walk and came home around ten. But my cousin seemed to have a late night as well and you can't seriously be suspecting me in killing my own mother?"

There was a long silence that answered my question, but he still felt the need to try to lie to me. "Of course not, but we must leave no stone unturned. It's just protocol."

"This 'protocol' better not become a habit with you. I could find who killed her in half the time you could. Deductive skills seem to run in the family, and I've got my mother's brains." I took a step forward and looked down at him. "That is, if he doesn't come for you before I do."

Randall paled and he took a step back. He pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose and calmly explained, "I do not feel threatened by a man who hides behind words written on a piece of paper."

"Pity. After all, the pen is mightier than a sword and if you string enough words along together you can absolutely destroy someone."

"Is that a threat?"

I shrugged, taking another step forward. "I don't know, is it?"

Randall huffed, his face turning red from anger as he studied me. It's way to easy to ruffle his feathers. How the hell did he manage to get himself all the way up to commissioner? "I shall stop by if I have any further questions. Have a good day." He dipped his head again then turned sharply his heel. His footsteps echoed around the enclosed space, followed by the door opening and closing again before I was graced with silence again. If only I could do something about all this light now.

The stairs loomed behind me, and I decided against going back to my room. If I closed all the curtains the drawing room would have been dark enough. Nodding to myself, I wandered into one of the side rooms and flopped onto one of the couches. When was the phantom supposed to meet with him anyway? I rubbed my face with my hands, wondering how I was supposed to pull this off now. Nobody would have noticed if I didn't bother. Randall might have spent his days being overly paranoid but I was willing to accept that. It was obvious the man didn't like me. This was the only thing she's ever asked me to do. I feel like I owe her at least this.

"Vincent?" Myra dragged me out of my thoughts for time being as she brought a tray in for me. "There you are. Now don't drink the whole pot or you'll be bouncing off the walls all afternoon. And make sure you don't sleep the rest of the day away. Get your blood flowing."

I nodded weakly and momentarily picked my head up. "Thank you."

"I mean it. If I catch you sleeping some ice water will be the first thing you get from me."

I nodded again, struggling into a sitting position. "I will...later. When the sun isn't out."

She ruffled my hair on the way out and left me to nurse my headache in peace...for the time being at least. I guess I have no choice...I do have to get out of the house after all.

This was so much easier during the day. At least then I could see where I was going. After nearly slipping off yet another roof, I reached my destination, an wiggled the window open from the outside. The breaking was a lot easier than the sneaking around part. Unceremoniously toppling into the small room, I looked around. Everything here was just as disorganized as his office at the precinct.

The door was thrown open as I folded myself into Randall's desk chair and got settled. He looked from me to the open window a few times before asking the obvious, "Who are you?"

"Did that boy not deliver my note? I'm the Phantom, and I've come for you."

Randall took a step forward, before whipping my hood off. His face turned red again and he exclaimed, "I knew it was you!" I probably should have wearied the mask too...then again, it would have just wasted time.

"Congratulations, you've got me. Now I have something to ask, and keep your voice down. I'd really like to not give my position away."

He folded his arms over his chest and loomed over me, once again trying to be intimidating and failing. "Why in God's name would I do anything for you? You've threatened me and now you've broken into my home. I should arrest you."

"My mother wrote the note actually. My handwriting is crap. And this was her idea. But you aren't going to arrest me because, being a British aristocrat of a well bred family, i am above the law." His brow furrowed and I quickly added, "don't give me that! I could buy this entire building and fund you lot for the next twenty years if I wished. Which I don't. You have more holes in your structure than a siv."

Randall didn't even bother to deny it. He must have come to terms with it a long time ago. Right now it was just a matter of plugging up the holes, but he couldn't do it himself. I also wanted access to the police files Ciel hadn't taken to find who had killed my mother. If I had half the brains my mother thought I had this should have been a piece of cake. "I won't deny that, but why on earth would I accept your help? For all I know your reporting back to Phantomhive."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "As if. We don't get along. Think of it as a sibling rivalry, oil and water and all that. He expects nothing from me so in return I give him nothing. It's a wonderful relationship and I hope he doesn't sit near me at the funeral. I might be tempted to hit him. I wouldn't be surprised if this whole thing is his fault. If he even shows up at all because-

I stopped myself short and forced out a small smile, "But I digress. It's me or waiting around for Ciel to take the rest of your cases." Noting his need to feel in control of things I added, "Maybe then the Queen will put him out of commission for good and Scotland Yard will be returned to it's former glory."

Randall watched as I stood, doing nothing to indicate his train of thought. I doubted he would actually say no, but other than rage it was hard to read him. "Fine. But I will not have you running around causing any more chaos in my city. Am I clear? You follow what I say. You are not a vigilante."

I nodded in agreement, trying to sound sincere when I replied, "Of course. I would never want to do something that would reflect badly on you. I simply want to find out what happened to my mother. Just keep in mind our meetings need to remain a secret."

"Of course."

Climbing onto the desk again, I perched on the windowsill and pulled my hood back up. "I'll be in touch." The light from the window gradually faded as I crept along the roofs again. Randall slamming his window shut officially ended our discussion. For now at least.

Gus Kinney: so here is chapter 2 i would like to here what you guys think so far