Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji by Yana Toboso or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
A/N: Ah, this chapter was so much fun to write even if it did take me much longer than I had intended. Alois' story, in my opinion, is becoming rather grotesque now and the line between what he is dreaming and what is real is beginning to blur. I do not reccomend reading this at night because this story tends to freak out my editors more if they read it at say, midnight! Ciel Phantomhive makes his debut here and from now on he will be present in various chapters.
Spoiler: None really, but it would be advisable to at least watch the first episode of Kuroshitsuji season 2. Other than that the spoilers are gradual and if you have never watched Kuroshitsuji season 2, there will be very many surprises for you to discover along the way.
Warning: A pedophile demon, opium, hookahs, brief oral sex, violence, attempted rape, murder, and Alois Trancy himself
Note: After already having a few of my beloved editors look this over I've come to realize how very confusing this chapter can be if you have never read "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". As I said at the end of the previous chapter, there will be no more direct links to Alice's Wonderland and Alois'; remember, Alice's Wonderland is a confusing yet pleasant dream, Alois' Wonderland is a nightmare that is destroying his grip on reality. If you have not read Lewis Carroll's Wonderland than I highly suggest you do so or at least know what the true chapters are about before reading mine. I don't want to give Mr. Carroll a bad name because I've been told that my story is getting really scary! Of course, I am still happy to help with any questions.
Works used for influence: Narcissus, The Masque of the Red Death, Doctor Faustus, The Golden Key, Phaedrus, The Prince, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Imp of the Perverse, Death in Venice, The Symposium, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, The Tell Tale Heart, Phaedo, and many poems and quotes by Edgar Allan Poe, quotes by Lord Byron, Plato, Pliny the Elder, and Edward Fitzgerald.
Chapter III
A Cathouse
It was at the Trancy masquerade ball, that a maid with twin tails of long, golden hair and a glass of red wine in her delicate hand, made her way across the ballroom floor. She was a pretty thing, with her china-doll blue eyes and porcelain skin; if only the noble men courting the other ladies had taken the time to notice her beneath the garb of a servant's dress – she would have been a far greater prize. Yet, it could be said that if any of the silly nobles who flitted about like useless butterflies, had stopped to notice her at all in their flight, they would notice that something was not quite right about this girl. She was a lovely maid yes, a little clumsy perhaps, but her apologies were so sweet, and trembled with such innocence that it was easy to smile and forget her – but not her eyes. They remained strange and unfocused, as if in a trance. Those blue eyes were fogged over with such knowing and purpose that if any man had caught her just for a moment, he would understand that there was no innocence to be found in that maid. The guise of that pretty young girl could never overshadow that unmistakable look of lust in those eyes.
The maid's full lips curled in disgust at the crowd of the too many painted faces that she crossed on the dancing floor. It reminded her of another class of people who caked their skin with layers of rouge and powder to seduce the spoiled aristocrats into unwinding their corsets and suits for a night of pleasure. That had once been a job of hers too, to entertain and amuse special guests with her body; before she became a maid – it was so disgraceful. Then again, no one would ever dare question her history if they knew that she was a he and he was a noble. And so it was – Alois Trancy himself, Earl and host of this little masquerade ball.
Alois Trancy, dressed as his own maid, was currently in search of his prey – Ciel Phantomhive. He was very sure that no one would delay his plans (for who ever looked upon a maid?) to seduce the Earl, and he had his own trusted to butler to make sure that no sort of disruptions would befall him, namely Sebastian Michaelis. And with his flawless plan of seduction and the absence of that demon, little Ciel, the object of all his misfortune and grief, would be his…
Just a little farther, beyond the mass of princes and pirates, and – ah, there he was, against the wall, all alone…
He acted quickly, thrusting out the drink onto Ciel's costume while he was looking elsewhere, then stepped back to admire his handy work.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he breathed.
"It's nothing. Don't mind it." Ciel waived him away with a swish of his feathered pirate tricorne. (How cute…)
"N-no it might get stained." And now he looked up, batting his long dark lashes, his lips slightly parted. Ciel blushed.
"Please follow me," he whispered, smiling sweetly.
And so Alois Trancy led Ciel Phantomhive through the halls of his spider manor; to reap the damage which had been done so very long ago…
The pile of dresses that Alois had dismissed for his costume ball had all been hastily shoved into his closet; his satin sheets carelessly smoothed, and his rose shaded curtains hastily drawn back with unflattering loose bows. Alois had acted alone, not daring to trust Hannah for the preparation of enticing his room for his Ciel Phantomhive; and so his room really did appear to be just an elegant spare for a special guest. The only care Alois had tended to in his room was the delicately scattered Sterling Roses that he had woven around his walls and frames, so that, with the rich colors of his chamber, the flowers gave off an ethereal glow that shone even more brightly than the candles. They were Ciel's favorite and Alois knew this. But it would be the little glass box that was neatly tucked away behind the glass table, which would be Alois' greatest weapon for the night…
"Please, sit," he breathed against the shell of Ciel's ear, leading him to the bed; "I will only be a moment."
Alois watched Ciel has he pretended to clean the stain. The Earl's deep blue eyes flickered around his room, his eyebrows raised in mild curiosity. Alois was also pleased to note that Ciel's chest was rising heavily now and then and his weary eyes were drooping – he was inhaling the Sterling Roses – he was falling to seduction.
Alois hummed a little in satisfaction and turned to Ciel; "I'm done,"
Ciel frowned, "Hey-"
Alois discarded the stained coat, and took Ciel's hand in his own; his fingers were so small, so delicate. He patted Ciel's ring, the same color as his exquisite azure eyes. "What a lovely blue! I wonder if the souls of the dead are in this color…"
"What," Ciel looked weary but he had not yet moved – a good sign.
Their eyes met; Alois' bore with longing into Ciel's. "It's the same color…" He reached out to stroke Ciel's soft cheeks, his expression masked sweeter by the hazy shadows. "The same color as your ring."
Ciel gaped. What are you talking about?" He faltered. Yet he still had not run away! Oh, could it be that he felt it too…
Alois could not help himself; he trailed his fingers and cupped the back of Ciel's head, massaging and pulling at his dark locks. "Could I be the same blue…If I became one with you?" He pulled Ciel close, despite his protests, and ran his hot tongue up the shell of Ciel's ear; Alois giggled.
"Enough of this, girl," Ciel stepped away from Alois and placed a hand over his ear. "Give me my coat; I will be taking my leave, now."
Alois bowed in apology; "Forgive me, Earl, my actions were indecent. Don't go; let me show you something first." His voice was breathy and he rung his hands together, feigning nervousness.
Ciel hesitated, poised ready at the door. "What is it, then?"
Alois smiled sweetly. "Close your eyes."
Ciel detected a faint click as his eyes fluttered closed and then the girl's soft footsteps drawing closer. Alois lifted a pastry to Ciel's full lips and pressed it close. "There,"
Ciel's eyes widened as the little sweet melted against his mouth. Then Alois sealed the distance between them, and his lips touched Ciel's. "How lovely," he murmured against Ciel's lips; the Earl opened his mouth to protest and Alois slid his tongue inside. "You taste like a tart, Ciel Phantomhive" he breathed.
Ciel drew back, looking aghast. "Alois Trancy,"
Alois giggled; "Stop pretending you didn't know, little Earl. It was never the disguise that you were seduced by, it was me. After all, we really are just the same." He tugged off the wig and shook out his golden locks. "If the dress still bothers you, I could take off that too…"
Alois pulled his dress down just a little to reveal his shoulders; and then Ciel was on him, pushing him against the wall. Alois' arms were pinned to his sides by Ciel so instead he thrust his hips a little to meet Ciel's. "Ooh, I never knew you were one to take your men rough, Earl Phantomhive."
"Trancy," Ciel hissed, "What do you want with me? I will not participate in your childish games, so go find another toy."
"No,"
And now Alois was in control. He kissed Ciel, nearly suffocating him, and pushed him towards his bed. They fell, collapsing upon each other and painting for air. Ciel struggled to break from Alois' hold but he was too weak, and Alois too quick. Ciel gasped when Alois suddenly latched onto his exposed neck and began sucking and biting at it enthusiastically, but he was stopped short when a pair of thin hands wrapped around his neck and began to squeeze. Alois lurched back and acted very quickly: he unwound the ribbon around his dress and entwined it around Ciel's wrists to the bed posts, tying it in a bow.
"Oh, I do detest," Alois sang out as he tied, "everything which is not perfectly mutual." (1) Alois sat up to admire his handiwork, ignoring Ciel's protests. "You're like a present, wrapped up just for me."
Ciel stared up at Alois. "You're mad." Ciel was no longer struggling and seemed to be giving in to defeat. "But why won't he call his butler?" Alois thought; he didn't want it like this.
"But why will you say that I am mad?" (2) Alois taunted. He let himself fall back against Ciel's chest and he buried his face into Ciel's neck, inhaling deeply. "Ciel, just give yourself to me, everything would be, so much lovelier that way. You belong to me…"
Ciel sighed. "Trancy, I will never be yours," but Alois was no longer listening.
"You smell, like a rose…" Alois breathed. His tongue flicked out and he lapped at the soft milky skin, earning a small moan from the Earl. "Ah," Alois sighed, "You are mine…"
Alois Trancy had never had the extensive pleasure of sleeping with many boys; it was always men. Men were nice, and they were experienced, which was nice too, but sometimes Alois craved for the opportunity to make love to a boy. Boys were soft, and innocent. With boys, Alois could entirely entwine their bodies together until they were one; and it made sex all the more wonderful, to be able to touch each other like that. Some would cry a little if it hurt too much, but then Alois would speak to them of sweet nothings and comfort and they were grateful. Boys were always curiously surprised too, at new sensations, and then they were always delighted with them, as if they had never felt anything better (which was very likely true). It was better than being praised by most men – when one was pleasing a boy…
Ciel would be like that, Alois was sure of this. He would learn to love Alois through pleasure and pain, and then he would discard the demon Sebastian Michaelis, like a useless memory. Alois could think of no greater pain than to have the one you love, stolen away.
He would win, that much was clear; because the little noises Ciel kept making as Alois continued to suck away at his skin were proof enough. It was highly amusing to Alois, to watch and listen to the boy who had such a noble pride, continue to moan and writhe underneath him with abandon. Ciel's breath hitched as Alois' tongue traced down to his collar bone, and he instinctively raised his chest to meet Alois' mouth.
"Ah, ah – Alois!" Ciel cried; an electric shock of pleasure ran through Alois' body and he shivered; Ciel had never called his name before, and now to hear him cry it like this…An animalistic feeling rose in Alois' chest to dominate and control the little Earl; to string him up in spider's silk and make him jerk like a broken puppet caught in a web. Alois sat back, twitching with fixed anticipation, to admire his prey:
Alois leaned down to Ciel, "You said my name, Ciel…How very interesting; is this what it takes for you to drop the formalities? If I crawl in bed with you I'll be your equal? What a noble slut you are."
Alois slapped Ciel across the face and he let out a whimper. "Answer me, Ciel."
Ciel turned his face away from his captor, his lower lip set in resistance.
Alois scoffed, and leaning forward, latched onto Ciel's lip and bit: licking away the sweet tang of Ciel's blood, he squeezed Ciel's cheeks together and watched as the blood poured freely from his mouth; it dripped down his chin and onto his neck and into the folds of his clothes like a wet flower.
Alois snickered, fascinated by the crimson red staining Ciel's face and neck. He wiped some of the blood in Ciel's hair and caressed it gently like a lover. "Poor thing," Alois cooed. "Sticky blood can be quite unpleasant, we best get these clothes off."
The Earl groaned in response and closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the nauseating copper scent of his own blood. Alois smile was soft and reassuring, and then…And then quite suddenly he grabbed the front of Ciel's vest and pulled, ignoring the creek and straining of the bed to which Ciel's wrists were tied. "I want you to beg me to take them off," Alois said, his voice low and menacing.
"Never," Ciel panted.
"Do it," Alois hissed; he began lapping away the blood clinging to Ciel's neck, his tongue swirling and pushing against Ciel's pulse.
"A-Alois," Ciel whined, tears welled up in his pretty eyes and Alois licked away at these too; "Alois, please!"
Yes…
Alois Trancy pounced on Ciel Phantomhive and his limbs and fingers pressed everywhere like a spider impatient with the death of its prey. He sunk his teeth unmercifully into Ciel's sweating neck and felt Ciel's gasp shutter against his own mouth. Then his nails found purchase in the Earl's clothes and he tore – with his teeth and his fingers until the elegant costume became a flurry of tattered cloth that hung in loose strips against Ciel's skin. Alois pressed his flushed and wanton body to Ciel's and buried his face in his heaving chest. Ciel's soft legs wound themselves around Alois' back and rubbed, he whimpered; "please" and his tied hands jerked against their bonds.
Alois' lips found Ciel's and he kissed him deeply, their tongues melting. "Will you, call your butler?" He whispered, his forehead pressed against Ciel's.
"No," Ciel moaned.
Alois' fingers crept under the ribbons around Ciel's wrists. "Will you, run?"
"No,"
Blue eyes searched each other for a moment, daring the other to betray any lies and then-
-Ciel was in Alois' arms and everything was a blur of sweat and mouths. Their bodies entwined and fought to press even closer and Alois' heart sang and burst against Ciel's chest because they were almost one now and the boy would be his and not his servant's and oh-
-Ciel was kissing him back. It was wonderful to feel those hot little lips on his face like a butterflies', touching everywhere at once and it felt like fire to his skin. Ciel's delicate fingers curled into Alois' locks and tugged and he gasped but it wasn't from the pain, no – to Alois it felt like an elegant comb was being brushed through his hair, preparing him for bed, the way he had always hoped a lover would after love making but never had, and Alois sobbed and went limp in Ciel's arms…
But the Earl Phantomhive wouldn't have this; if Alois had wanted to own him so badly then Ciel would comply with that illusion, if only just for a little while. One of his knees slid underneath Alois' dress and pushed against his clothed erection, and in all of the heat and the haze he watched as Alois' pale blue eyes burst open in a shock that rippled through his whole body.
"A-ah, Ciel," Alois grabbed Ciel's arms and wrapped them around his neck and pushed his hips back into Ciel's. The dress was thin enough that it caused pleasant friction as Alois thrust effortlessly against Ciel. The Earl's eyes closed and he moaned, bucking his hips into Alois. A feral sound ripped through Alois and he growled, controlling himself not to break Ciel too soon; he pulled Ciel into another searing kiss, and Ciel moaned sweetly. Alois swallowed this whole and let it burn through his body which was already twitching with restrained lust.
"Ah, I see," Alois breathed hotly as he continued to thrust. "You won't call your – ah, butler because then all of this will end. You wish it were him, b-but you're desperate."
Ciel groaned in response and tried to silence Alois with another kiss but cruelty was getting the best of Alois. "You're weak, Phantomhive." He leered; his grin was crooked and full of malice.
Alois was once more a blur across Ciel's vision and then his arms were jerked backward and his wrists were tied again to the bed with the ribbon. "W-what are you doing?" Ciel hissed.
His voice faltered as Alois' face loomed over him. It was terrifying and full of the Trancy insanity that often overcame even the sweetest of his moments. "I have something for you, Ciel," He giggled breathily. He held out the little glass box of tarts. "Would you like one?" His eyes pulsed with electricity; Ciel shivered.
Alois opened the box and delicately plucked out a beautifully decorated sweet which topped with cream and blueberries. He placed it to Ciel's trembling lips. "Tell me what it says."
"Kiss me," Ciel murmured.
"Very well," Alois did kiss him; slowly at first, so as to let the sweet melt between their lips, and then when their mouths were molded together, Alois slid his tongue inside to taste the tart. His hot little tongue glided over Ciel's teeth and up to the roof of his mouth before it knotted around Ciel's tongue, forcing it into his own mouth. The breath between them was heavy and sickly sweet as they sucked it into their lungs, and just when Ciel felt like he was about to pass out from the lack of air, Alois pulled back smacking his lips in satisfaction. "You taste like a sin," he purred.
Swooning a little, Alois reached inside the box and held out another tart which was full of raspberries and lemon meringue for Ciel. "What does this one say?"
"D-drink me,"
"Ah, what a curious choice of words," Alois laughed. He nuzzled down to Ciel's chest and listened to his heartbeat which sounded dull with defeat in Alois' ear. "Come, we can't have that," Alois purred. "I want your heart to rip through your body from the pleasure I give you." He began running his tongue along Ciel's lips, then along his jaw (he felt the muscles in Ciel's jaw twitching from anticipation), and then down to his neck, where he began licking and biting at his pulse. His mouth expertly sucked at Ciel's flesh before he bit; drawing forth pricks of fresh blood that he lapped away greedily. Noises of wet slurping and lust filled moans swelled in the room and rang in Ciel's ears; his body ached with longing and he desperately wished that Alois' mouth would travel lower...
"AH!"
Ciel shrieked with delight as Alois latched onto one of his nipples and was suckling it enthusiastically as it hardened in his mouth. Ciel's chest rose and he pushed it further into the hot cavern of Alois' mouth and a sigh bubbled from his lips. Alois began swirling his tongue around the unattended bud but Ciel's body was jerking so violently that he had to stop to let Ciel catch his breath. "Naughty Ciel," he panted. "You haven't even eaten your third tart yet and you're already so greedy."
Alois dipped lower and he plunged his tongue into Ciel's navel suggestively. Ciel wailed and buried his face in his hands but Alois was quick to pry them away. "No Phantomhive," Alois hissed. "In exchange of your pleasure I want to hear every sinful sound that escapes your lips."
He hovered over the Earl, surveying his prey: Ciel was a mess. His dark locks clung to his sweating forehead and his eyes were lidded with desire – the contracted eye was pulsing faintly. His chest was rising and falling sporadically and it glistened with sweat and patches of dried blood. Ciel's mouth was swollen from kissing like a red rose and it was in the shape of a small "o" the way in which it was sucking in little gasps of air. His entire body was flushed and it made Alois crazed with lust just to look at him. His eyes raked down Ciel's lithe body before they settled between his legs…
"Here's your last sweet," He breathed; he pressed it to Ciel's lips. This tart was entirely red with jam and strawberries. (3) "What does it say?"
Ciel gasped.
"What was that?"
"E-eat me…"
"If you insist,"
"N-no, wait!" Ciel cried; his eyes were wide and beseeching.
Alois stopped; he was impatient but curios too as to what the little Earl could possibly want at a time like this. "Yes?
"B-before we continue any further, I-I want to know why…"
"Why?"
"Why we're so alike. I want to know more about you, Alois." He whispered his eyes downcast. "I've heard rumors about you, Alois, and I want to know if they are true."
Alois smiled; "Ah, I see…Very well little Ciel Phantomhive, I will tell you, how like you, I became Earl at so very a young age. I will tell you how I killed my father…"
"It was here in this very Manor that at a night much like tonight, a masquerade ball was being held. I was young, no more than twelve years old I believe, and I was bored. Parties will enervate you like this; they are frivolous and petty; an exhausting means for the host to flaunt their wealth, brandishing it under the noses of their subjects, enticing them with treats of food and drink like pigs – much like my father.
"But masquerades are special. They are a trick of fashion, a guise for the imperative character. A fine gentleman of great pomp and circumstance can simply fix a mask to his handsome face and instantly he transforms from a figure of influence by the crowd who admires him, to a no-man. Within the confines of the security of the masque halls, he is free to explore every perverse desire in the darkest folds of his heart that he has been forced to conceal from prying eyes, now at a mere impulse.
"So I was not by any means bored with the circumstance of the party itself – no, I was bored with impatience. My heart, which was concealed beneath the layers of my own grand costume, expanded within my chest, crushing it and leaving me short of breath, every time I heard the pendulum of the gigantic clock of ebony swing itself back and forth, back and forth... At every exact hour that the minute hand instructed, there came forth a note that struck silence around the celebration. The musicians ceased their play and the waltzers paused in step of their dance, to harken to the musical sound which paled their faces so. This passed for an entire minute before the clanging ceased and a ripple of relief swept through the still crowd; they laughed and shook their heads at the notion of a clock captivating their emotions and resumed their merriment; all that remained of the clock's effect was the quivering chandelier above…(4)
"As the masquerade ball resumed so too did my heart and my anticipation. I entertained the guests for my father while he was off in the secrecy of his halls, preying on some poor boy. You see why I hated my father; when I was brought back to him I had no memory of our family or a happy infancy. My father had lost himself in his old years, clouding his mind with gluttony and lust. So was I, a young boy who had been kidnapped and forced to live among the filthy commoners, supposed to love this senile, mad-man? The only purpose the Earl Trancy saw useful in me was to use my fine looks to seduce the other men who vied for his attention whilst he was off feasting on children.
"The men I did not of course mind. My charms rewarded me with many a beautiful man who came crawling to my bed – Pleasure I was willing to give and take when I wanted, but to be used like a prostitute? So I killed my father, yes; but, I suppose you think the murder was all on impulse, don't you, Ciel?
"It's impossible that any deed could have been wrought with a more thorough deliberation. For weeks, for months, I pondered upon the means of the murder. I rejected a thousand schemes, because their accomplishment involved a chance of detection. (5) I knew that at the stroke of midnight my father would retire to bed with a few boys. At this time, it was my job to distract a few of my own to keep Mr. Trancy's little secret at bay, so when the grand clock began its eerie chime and everyone was in a daze, I found him. He was very pretty, just like you, Ciel; fair skin like a sterling rose, and hair as soft and as black as a raven's feather. Only your eyes are lovelier, his were just…brown.
"He was alone among the waltzers, just a wallflower in a sea of feathers and glitter, but I seduced him. I wooed him with sweet nothings and led him through our halls to the chamber shrouded in black velvet tapestries with the scarlet paned windows. He was frightened; the candelabras that peaked through the stained glass, cast ghostly shadows on the velvet pools of curtains, but I kissed him and told him it was beautiful. We made love till my father came. He scolded me; I was not supposed to bring guests to these chambers, and so he took the boy for himself as punishment – hah.
"I had, after seducing the boy, procured a hand crafted candle that when lit, would secrete such a delicious and overwhelming perfume, that the user would fall victim to a raging lust before their lungs were slowly consumed by the aroma. (6) My father noticed the candle after catching me, and though it remained unlit, he was controlled by his greed and took it. Ah, but it was a shame that the boy had to die too; he was so pretty Ciel, you would have liked him. The next morning my father and four other boys were discovered dead in his bed, and the coroner's verdict was – "'Death by visitation of God.'" (7)
"But God had no part in that death and neither of course, did I...
Alois took something from the inside of his dress and held it up to Ciel: it was the poisoned candle from the story. "Look Ciel, recognize this? I was thinking, perhaps we can light it to…stimulate the mood a bit. It wouldn't be for very long of course, not enough to kill us. But, just enough to drown us in the throes of ecstasy…"
Ciel knocked the candle away from Alois' hand. "You're mad, Trancy."
Alois watched the candle as it rolled away until it was out of sight. He turned to Ciel, there was an evil, taunting grin plastered across his face. "No, I'd like to think that I'm just more audacious than other; passionate, if you will – I always get what I want."
"That's because you're a brat." Ciel hissed.
Alois pounced on Ciel, locking his hands around the Earl's slim writs and digging his nails into the soft skin. He brought those arms behind Ciel's head and pulled till Ciel let out a cry of pain. "I think you're the brat, Phantomhive. Always taunting me with that face and body of yours, always, always, and always! And after what your demon did…" Alois brought up his knee to press underneath Ciel's rib cage. He could feel Ciel's chest trying to expand beneath him like a dying bird. It only gave Alois pleasure.
"Y-you're a monster!" Ciel gasped. "What did Sebastian ever do to you?"
Yes, I like that, Alois thought, pressing harder his knee digging against bone, scream for me, my pretty Ciel.
Alois slapped Ciel's face. "Liar, you know, and so you know that I deserve to have you, not him! Now. Hold. Still!"
"NO!" With his remaining strength, Ciel tore away from Alois' grip and kicked out, connecting directly with Alois' mouth. Not bothering to grab his clothes, Ciel Phantomhive fled past Alois and out of his bedroom.
Alois got to his feet, panting. He wiped away a trickle of blood from his split lip; "Ah, so this is all just a game to you, Phantomhive? Alright, I am willing – to play…"
Down, down, down again; Ciel weaved this way and that, in and out of corridors, Alois Trancy close at his heels. Then a sickly sweet sensation as well as darkness, overpowered both their senses – at last.
Alois tiptoed slowly down the banister to the Cellars. He saw Ciel there, crouched against the sea of shelves and clutching his head. It seemed the memories of that night were returning to him without mercy.
"Ah, Phantomhive, fancy meeting you here," Alois taunted; he tapped his fingers against the banister, all the way down the stairs, till he came to where Ciel was. With the tip of his shoe, he raised Ciel's chin. The Earl's pained deep blue eyes met with Alois' which were icy with indifference. His eyes closed again and his head lolled against Alois' foot.
"What's wrong, Ciel, unpleasant memories?" Alois guided the tip of his foot up to Ciel's neck; he pushed. "I asked you a question."
"Ugh! Sebas-"
Alois lunged forward and silenced Ciel from calling out to his butler with a harsh kiss. "No," he hissed. "No, you are mine now, leave that wretched demon be."
Ciel's screams were muffled but still they continued – why was this going so wrong? Alois bit down on Ciel's lower lip, the metallic taste of blood oozed into open mouth.
"SEBASTIA-"
"No," Alois moaned, pushing his forehead against Ciel's sweating brow as he continued to bite at his lips and jaw. "Why him, Ciel? Why that demon? I-I could give you so much more than he ever could. He will take your soul and leave you with nothing, nothing, and nothing!"
Ciel struggled again and bit back at Alois' lips, drawing blood.
Alois reeled back, tasting pain. He was lost in a frenzy of anger and confusion, and love and hatred for the boy who had already stolen so much from him – Ciel Phantomhive.
Alois wailed, "WHY MUST YOU FORCE ME TO HURT YOU?" He began clawing at Ciel's skin; it came away like gauze in his sharpened fingernails. Ciel screams reverberated around the cellar's walls, as the cans of black tea crashed about them. He shook Ciel back and forth.
Everything was spiraling from his control. The beautiful boy in his fingers was not so beautiful anymore, his skin bloodied and ragged, his glowing eye pulsing from pain; and still Alois tore, bit, scratched, kissed, and licked, his emotions fluctuating up and down, up and down…
The heat of blood filled his senses – nauseating him, as his own vision pulsed red. He reeled back and an unconscious Ciel swam before his eyes, a bit of blood gurgled down his slack jaw. "Oh Ciel," he cried, terror rising in his lungs, "Look at what you've made me done!" Then he too, succumbed to darkness…
Alois Trancy sank beneath the sea of Ciel Phantomhive's blood. He opened his mouth to scream but his lungs were consumed with a thick wave of the nauseatingly sweet blood; to Alois it tasted like a rotten, sticky cake was being forced down his throat. He choked, and the blood plunged him deeper…
Ciel Phantomhive had bested him yet again with his noble blood.
Dawn warmed the back of the boy in the tattered clothes, who lay still on the shore, nudging him to wake. Alois Trancy refused; he would not be forced to wake by his butler at such an ungodly mourning's hour after the repercussion of last night's little costume party.
But when a particularly fast rush of icy water drove him all the way to the grassy bank, he awoke, dazed and spluttering, to the sight of the sea. Alois had never been to the sea; though he had been told rather dazzling tales about it by the too many men who had hoped to impress him.
However Alois did not realize that the Manor to which he was confined, was taking such a dragging toll on him that he hardly knew what to do with himself in all the open air. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes, inhaling the salt, and stared sleepily at the glittering ocean; with the reflection of the sun it was as blue as Ciel Phantomhive's eyes…
Ciel Phantomhive…
"CIEL PHANTOMHIVE!" At once, Alois sprang to his feet, and began searching for the body. He remembered, as he dug through the cool sand, his hands aching, that he had seduced the Earl, but Ciel had struggled and Alois did not like that, so he had torn him to pieces…
"Oh Ciel, Ciel – CIEL," Alois sobbed. He had never meant to hurt that lovely boy; to claw at his beautiful face like that! But Ciel Phantomhive was no more. Alois wailed in despair and buried his fingers further into the sand, but there was something very wrong. Alois could see through his blurry tears that as he dug, the sand that he cast aside simply threw itself back in place!
Alois hurled the sand away but again it leapt back in place. So the whole world really was bent on never giving him his Ciel Phantomhive…This lasted for quite some time, before Alois patted the ground in frustration, but to his surprise – it sank. He pushed a little more until he let out a gasp – "oh!" and there was the glass box, buried right in the middle of the sand. Alois opened the box, and out came his…blue dress…
So this was a dream. Then perhaps Ciel was not….?
"Well there's no use thinking about it now," He advised himself wearily. He stripped off his tattered disguise (which was curiously dry) and cast it into the sea. The sea…Alois supposed that this really was a dream after all, since there was no pool of blood, "but then had his blood been a nightmare too?" Alois fretted about this for a moment but he was determined to go on exploring. If this was his wonderland, something interesting was bound to happen sooner or later. Perhaps he would even meet Ciel here, and he would never even know of all the horrid things Alois had done to him, because this was a dream.
But Alois was tired, and after stumbling about what seemed to be an endless plain of sea and grass (the terrain just simply remained the same wherever he went – it was like walking in place!), he wished to sleep. There was a Lime Blossom Tree just a little ways off, and as Alois came closer, the sweet white blossoms (8) flowering the tree, trembled in the wind and greeted him with a pleasant sigh. It was so tempting…
Alois rested his back against the trunk and closed his eyes, preparing for sleep to take him. "It won't hurt, you know," he mumbled to himself, "If I close my eyes for just a bit. It's not as if…These nightmares could get any worse…"
"Why little boy, what are you doing here?"
Alois opened his eyes at once, and to his alarm saw a woman gliding towards him. It was quite rude enough to be asked such an impertinent question, by a woman. But no, this wasn't a woman! She was a doll, dressed like his whore of a maid; but she should have been led by strings, for her figure was like that of an empty cloth doll. She grabbed him by the hem of his dress and shook him roughly with her fraying clothed arms.
Alois slapped her arms away; "enough, woman, I am not your little boy, how dare you touch me!"
"Oh but you must be, the dogs miss you so!" The ragdoll cried, not at all deterred by Alois' refusal.
Alois now pushed her roughly away; "Dogs? What nonsense; this is why women should neither be seen nor heard."
The maid let out a tinkling little laugh. She spread her mouth wide till her stiches began to snap, and out popped an enormous vile. The bottle was so large that Alois' supposed that this was what was supporting her form; for as soon as the thing was out, the ragdoll crumpled completely like a cloth. The maid slithered her way up Alois' legs and brandished the vile in her feeble arm, singling all the while:–
"Little boys who play with their toys,
Little kittens who tease the smitten,
Surely will not please the dogs;
So we the maids
Must be their cades,
And send them off to bed."
Then there was a chorus in which the Lime Blossoms joined:–
"Bow wow, wow!" (9)
It wasn't a nice song, and the rhythm was atrocious, for it only made Alois struggle harder; but somewhere in the fight between Alois and the Ragdoll Maid, the blossoms had flown from their perches in the tree and began pelting Alois with their petals. This wasn't so much as painful for Alois (after all the blossoms, were as heavy as feathers) as it was annoying. But when the blossoms began sticking themselves to his face, he lost sight of the slithering ragdoll until he felt a warm liquid rush through his lips, and a singsong voice cry: "there we go!"
Before Alois Trancy's mind went low, he was able to make out the end of the song:–
"Little boys in dresses,
Who refuse their men's caresses,
Will never be hedonic
If they forget to take their tonic;
So we the maids must be their slaves,
And prepare them to be laid…" (10)
The tonic most assuredly, had been some sort of sugary aphrodisiac. Alois Trancy was panting and shivering in the arms of the Ragdoll Maid as she carried him through a winding dark hall. She pinched Alois as she held him, and shook him now and then like a fussy baby, and Alois would whimper in confusion from the pain mixing with the drugs (which was very understandable, as pinching was a characteristic found in nannies, not maids), but his mind was still slipping.
If this was a punishment for committing sin against an Earl, Alois whished it to end; it wasn't nice to be brought back to this state, and neither was it very pleasant, having molasses running through his veins where blood ought to be; or the feel of his organs twisting and slithering up his throat, choking him. Alois saw stars and tarts as his heart made a leap for his slack mouth, and he gasped – "oh," and the maid, tittering, pinched him again good naturedly. Alois writhed in frustration as his mind momentarily slid back in place.
"I command that you put me down at once, woman." Alois slurred. He heard dogs barking in the distance as they continued to glide through the halls, and they sounded quite mad.
The ragdoll began to hum her song again in time to the echoing howls, so that combined with the sharp barks and the soft voice of the doll, it sounded like the words Alois had heard before:
"Little boys in dresses,
Who refuse their men's caresses,
"Put me down, put me down!" (These were Alois' protests; he had had just about enough of this nightmare.)
Will never be-
"-Put me down, oh god put me-"
-Hedonic, if they refuse to take their tonic,
"-down!"
So we the maids must be their slaves,
"OH GOD, PLEASE!"
And prepare them to be laid."
"PUT ME DOWN, NOOOW!"
Poor Alois Trancy lay quiet on a bed of stray feathers and old wine, quite forgetting how he had even managed to wind up there at all. "Oh, it must have been – that whore of a maid!" Alois coughed. "She gave me something odd to drink!-" And he wretched again in a pool of a white sticky substance between his bare legs. "What…What happened to my dress?" Alois looked about, suddenly noticing how very little clothes he had on.
"Mind the sick!" A voice barked, directly in Alois' head (this is a very curious concept to describe, and Alois had a great deal of trouble trying to explain all of this to Claude later on).
"The sick…" Alois looked up into the face of an extraordinarily hairy man. His teeth were bared and pointed in manor that suggested that he would give Alois a good scare if it came to that, but that he was still rather more concerned with the condition of his toy than anything else. The man whined a little and pushed Alois' legs further apart to inspect if his plaything was damaged anywhere else. Alois lay still, waiting for the man to finish pawing at him. He eyes fluttered open and then closed in rhythm to the touch of the man's hand. His sharp nails pricked at Alois' soft inner thighs now and then; this was a dream – this was just another job, this was just a dream – it was a job too, it was a nightmare…
But it must have been a trick of the light, for although his head had nearly stopped spinning, Alois couldn't make out the face of the man at all; every which way he turned and squinted, the man's face was still blurred like a smudge on a two way looking-glass. It was frightening. Alois knew that even the most feral of his men were still human because he could still understand the expressions in their faces, and the emotion in their eyes; it reassured him that yes, those men did have souls, tainted and filthy as they were, they were there, and he was safe.
Here Alois was not safe, but he had his pride – because this man, he was like a dog! And Alois hated dogs.
The Dog-man bent lower till his breath fell like sweat on Alois' cock. He moaned and bucked his hips against the man's snout. Alois liked to think that all of this sudden pleasure was due to the aphrodisiac; but, it had been such a very long time since he had had sex, that Alois wasn't sure – he didn't care. Alois wrapped his smooth legs around its neck as the Dog-man engulfed him in the hot cavern of its mouth. He tugged at its hairy locks encouragingly and moaned again, closing his eyes. It didn't matter that he couldn't see this man – this thing; all that was important was that this was sex and Alois didn't have to do any of the work. He didn't feel like a whore, he felt like royalty. It was true then, what they said about dogs; that they would give, and give to their masters, until the day they died...
Then Alois remembered that he already had a servant who would give and give to his master until the day he died. Alois suddenly felt very guilty – he wished this dream to end. "But one can never kick a dog into obedience like a servant," Alois thought. "One must make them want obedience." Alois knew just what to do:
"Stupid mutts," (Alois tried not to let his breath hitch but it was very hard with that incredibly long tongue) "deserve to sleep on the floor, n-nowhere near the beds of their precious w-whores." Alois sang out, trying his best to sound sweet. The Dog-Man didn't stop but cocked his head to one side. "T-time's – uh, up, g-go find another treat," Alois commanded, pointing to the door.
"But you are my treat…" The Dog-Man whined, sending lovely vibrations up Alois' swollen length that felt like needles on account of all the sharp teeth. Alois squirmed and nearly spilled over into the Dog-man's mouth, but he wasn't just about to give this mutt that sort of satisfaction, thank you very much. There was only one man who would ever be rewarded with that sort of special pleasure now.
Alois pulled himself out of the Dog-man's mouth, and scooted to the far end of the bed. "Not anymore, now be a dear and fetch me my dress." Alois reached up to pat the Dog-Man's head that had followed him in bewilderment and longing, but-
"OH, YOU FILTHY MONGREL, YOU BIT ME!"
And like that, Alois and his dress were falling through the floor boards of the Cathouse.
Alois Trancy fled through the halls of the Cathouse; he dogged the broken bottles of wine that splashed on his dress and the dishes that were hurled at him from the opening doors as he ran. He was sure that the house couldn't go on forever, and as the air was becoming less thick with smoke and the floor less caked with grime, Alois knew he was close to escaping.
Alas, Alois' Wonderland wasn't known for being kind; and since the little blue dress and pinafore never came with any shoes, Alois was without his dashing high heeled boots and only his stockings, and he found himself slipping and sliding all over the Cathouse floor, until – whoosh!
He skittered right onto the tail of some hanging draperies and went sailing through the air – only to land right into a pile of, dogs. And Alois was lost in the heap of fluff, fur, and too many mouths and cold noses; all of which were emitting sharp barks of excitement upon finding a new toy. "Well these-ugh, things seem to be just ordinary dogs, not dog-men," Alois thought as he struggled to push away a hundred of wet snouts and teeth that kept diving under his dress. "If I can train a dog-man to behave, then I bet it won't be much harder to train a pack of mutts."
Alois stamped his foot for attention: "Alright you lot, if I can train men to come when I call, then you dogs won't be a problem, so sit!" The dogs sat, waging their tails patiently; Alois was ready to cry from relief at the profusion of obedience. He clapped his hands together in encouragement: "Good! Now might any of you tell me where I can find an exit? My shift appears to over, and I do rather wish to attend to some important business that I…" Alois' voice faltered. The content faces of the panting dogs vanished, their tails ceased to wag. A low sound of growls rippled through Alois' audience of hounding beasts.
The dogs leaped upon him again; only this time a hundred mouths latched on to the hem of his dress and began pulling him towards a stage that Alois had not noticed before. "Stop that! Oh stop that this instance!" Alois shrieked, digging his nails into the floor boards. Blood was beginning to well up underneath his fingers and it stained the floor in streaks like paint. Alois screamed and kicked, sending a hundred dogs flying.
Suddenly there was a lot of shouting over the barking and Alois was grabbed by a thousand pair of hands. These hands all most certainly belonged to men; they snaked around his middle and squeezed with their fingers, choking him. They carried him to the ever looming stage and threw him upon it. Alois clutched his head and began to shake with sobs; he tried to crawl behind one of the violently red curtains but a dish whizzed past his face and he ducked. He couldn't see past his tears and he couldn't think – his dream was spinning too fast. Stumbling, Alois got to his feet and looked past the stage, the cathouse was in chaos:
Alois saw more fancily dressed Dog-men clad in red suits and top hats. Some of them were seated around tables covered with piles of meat and bones, and chipped glasses of spilt wine. In their laps were – cats. No, they were boys. Alois could not tell. The Cat-boys were all very young, and though Alois was unable to make out their faces, he was sure that they were all masks of feigned pleasure or grief; it wasn't hard to imagine, it was more of a memory – one that Alois wished to forget.
They hissed as their little cat ears were stroked or pulled by the Dog-men whose long tails thumped with delight. Others were tugging more cat-boys by the tails into the dark halls or up the rickety stairs to the rooms beyond. A few were even attempting to devour their boys right there in the performance hall, and Alois had to cover his ears at the random emits of horrific yowls. There were more Rag-doll maids too, and they were all bustling around in their poorly stitched outfits, and clumsily passing out dishes of food and drink to the Dog-men, or else shoving bottles of aphrodisiac down the throats of some of the more stubborn Cat-boys.
But all eyes were on Alois as he stood on the stage. For a moment there was silence, but then a chorus of barks, yowls, and song broke out:
"Sing for us! Dance for us! Act for us! Strip for us!"
"No!" Alois cried, stamping foot, and acting much braver than he really felt. "I am not your whore, you cannot control me!"
The requests only grew louder:
"SING FOR US! DANCE FOR US! ACT FOR US! STRIP FOR US!"
And as the Cat-boys hissed for the attention to be diverted from them, and the Dog-men howled for a performance, they really began turning into cats and dogs! Alois shrieked and fell backwards, as the ferocious looking dogs of all shape and size began bouncing in their seats for their treat and the cats began spitting angrily and swiping at the dogs' snouts, their fur standing on end. They really all looked quite mad.
"STRIP FOR US – NOW!"
"I-I will not!" Alois squeaked covering his face as the growls and cries became more strangled and deranged.
Then to his horror, the maids promptly began handing out glass dishes to the audience to which the dogs snapped up in their foaming jaws and began hurling them at Alois. Broken glass shattered everywhere as Alois danced around the stage to avoid being cut to pieces. But the dishes were coming faster and faster at Alois who barely had time to move before he was hit squarely in the face by a saucer.
In a daze, Alois fell back and could do nothing but curl into a little ball as the dishes continued to rain down upon him. "C-claude," Alois wept. "Save me! Save me from this madness!"
Claude Faustus descended the stairs to the cellars of the Trancy manor; he was in search of his master, who had not been seen for quite some time since he had last given the order to guard the Michaelis demon. He had said, that it was of the utmost importance to keep Ciel Phantomhive's butler at bay so that there would be no interruptions whilst he was seducing the boy. Of course, Claude had tried his very best to follow those trivial orders, but at one time or another, Sebastian Michaelis had escaped just like the meaningless prey of a spider, and Claude Faustus had grown tired of his master's games.
The butler neatly plucked away a frayed spider's web from his path and carefully set the tired looking spider on his shoulder for safe keeping. The corners of his thin mouth twitched a little at the sight before him:
Alois Trancy lay crumpled against one of the darker shelves lining the cellar walls; spilt bottles of wine and spice littered the ground around him in heaps of broken glass, which, marred with the pools of blood that were trickling from various slashes on his master's body, resembled something like glittering jewels. The master did not appear to be either asleep or awake. Judging from the curious and intricately painted, discarded object that was steadily puffing wisps of smoke into the air (Claude recognized it from his travels to India), and Alois' flushed face and slack mouth, his master was quite smashed…
The intoxicated Alois lifted himself up a bit and let out a dry slurring noise: "Claude, you came, I'm so happy..."
Claude Faustus appraised his master with a look of contempt. Alois' pretty blue eyes were glassy and unfocused, and his heavy lashes were creating such dark shadows underneath his eyes that he appeared to be on the verge of death.
"Master," Claude sighed; he pushed away the glass with his polished black shoes, and knelt besides Alois. "What are you smoking?"
"Don't know – the pretty Indian prince gave it to me; called it a hookah, hah, what a funny name!" (11)
Claude Faustus tipped his master's chip up delicately with his gloved fingers and leaned in to smell, their noses almost touching; "I smell opium…"
"Oooh is that what's in here? Claude, you should try some, it feels wonderful." Alois giggled and reeled backward again into the shelves, the remaining stored objects shook, threatening to fall.
The golden eyes behind Claude's glasses flashed. "Forgive me master, but I highly doubt Prince Soma gave this to you."
"He did," Alois insisted, gripping on to the front of Claude's suit. "All it took was a little – seduction; just one kiss and I was his," Alois breathed the sickly sweet smell of opium against his butler's lips. "I could be yours too, Claude..."
"Master…"
"Claude…"
"Enough of these games, Your Highness, Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis have already gone; let us too depart from this place."
"This place; this place is neither here nor there, Claude. I think these dreams are becoming more real than here. I am so tired, but the dreams, this time I was being ravished by dogs till you came – I do not wish to sleep!"
"What dreams, Your Highness?"
"My dreams – of Wonderland…"
Claude Faustus laid a gentle hand on Alois' cheek and closed his master's eyes. "Sleep, the dreams will not come, I promise."
"You lie," Alois moaned.
"I never lie," Claude murmured, extracting a little vile from his waistcoat and lifting it to Alois' parted lips. "Illusions will never befall you whilst I'm here, Your Highness."
(1) Quote by Lord Byron
(2) Direct quote from the "Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
(3) The "Eat Me" Tart is the only one with any real symbolism since it is covered in strawberries which represent sensuality and sexual pleasure. Towards the end of "Death in Venice" Aschenbach buys some over-ripe strawberries after losing sight of Tadzio.
(4) This is not giving anything away, but I just want to make it clear that Alois' story is almost entirely made up. I intended to make the masquerade scene exactly like "The Masque of the Red Death" because Alois has read it and he knows that like any educated noble, Ciel has too. So basically his story is a giant "F-You" to Ciel because Alois doesn't want to tell him what really happened. I call this an elegant form of verbal sparring.
(5) Direct quote from the "Imp of the Perverse" by Edgar Allan Poe
(6) In the "Imp of the Perverse" the narrator read a French memoir about a nearly fatal illness to a woman who was accidentally poisoned by her candle. Alois read about this too since Poe's works were popular in England, but he spiced it up a bit by adding ecstacy to the candle
(7)Direct quote from the "Imp of the Perverse" by Edgar Allan Poe
(8) Lime Blossoms represent fornication
(9) The cook and the Duchess' baby sing a similar line to this in the "Pig and Pepper" chapter of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
(10) This is NOT a real poem/song - I wrote it!
(11) Alois does not know if Prince Soma gave him a hookah. He might have, or he might have just stole it from him while he was in the maid dress. The opium inside of the hookah probably came from Lau however, since most hookahs are filled with narghile or shisha (tobacco). It is highly possible that Alois prepared himself in the dress to seduce Ciel but caught sight of the pretty and exotic looking prince at the masquerade ball and persuaded him into giving him a hookah full of opium which was generously supplied by Lau. Alois then wandered down to the cellars to smoke, quite forgetting his mission, and was later found by Claude. Then again, none of this could be true, even I do not know.
The Effects of Opium: Smoking opium through say, a hookah, works faster because the opiate chemicals pass into lungs where they are quickly absorbed by blood vessels and then sent on to the brain. The user experiences a rush of pleasure followed by an extended period of relaxation, freedom from anxiety, and the relief of physcial pain. Opium produces a higher state of pleasure than the body can produce on its own. The effects of opium can include hallucinations, uncontrolable coughing, and a dry mouth. A dose of opium can last for about four hours. All of this explains Alois behavior from the time when he was pleasuring Ciel to his dream of Wonderland, which for the first time included a desperate need for sex.
Fun Fact: A "Cathouse" is another name for a brothel. Dogs can symbolize desire and cats can symbolize sensuality. I absolutely adore when my writing ties together like this! Like chapter four of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" where Alice ventures inside the White Rabbit's house, I wanted Alois to do the same. Originally I had planned for him to come across the brothel that he had grown up in but then I remembered my hatred of Hannah and everything slowly came together. Once I discovered that cathouses really did exist, I decided that it would be run by maids like Hannah who would be ragdolls since Alois treats her like one. I also wanted to get across what a horrific time Alois had growing up in a brothel and how he views men (this is one of the reasons why Alois feels safer sleeping with boys and has convinced himself that it is better to pleasure rather than to be pleased), so I had the men take on the role of dogs. Since Alois would undoubtly be disturbed by his fellow prostitutes as well, I decided to make them cats because cats can be just as dangerous as dogs sometimes. Once I was encouraged by the fact of everything I incorporated in the cathouse had symbolic meanings, I felt confident enough to go ahead with this chapter.
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