Chapter 2

"Vincent Michaelis!?" Ciel looked at him with pure shock on his eye. "Sebastian! Do you know this guy?" He looked at his butler, who was now facing the Gremory butler.

"Vincent!? I thought you were not supposed to be here!?" Sebastian yelled while accusingly pointing at Vincent. The said butler smirked at their responses while his mistress snickered.

"I know that brother, but it's not my fault that I'm here." He said. "It's Young Mistress fault. She summoned me while I'm in the dungeon."

"Dungeon?" Ciel asked. Sebastian gnashed his teeth as he scowled at his younger brother.

"Now…Now…Since your reunion is finished. Why don't we go look for the culprit?" Valeris beamed at them as she stood up and paced towards the door. She stopped for a moment and looked towards her shoulder as she tilted her head for Vincent to follow. Vincent smirked and grabbed a black cloak in the couch; where Valeris seated a while ago.

"Master Ciel, please this way." He confronted them and grinned as he showed them the way out. "Young Mistress is not a very tolerance person you know."

They started to trail him as they walked across a large portrait in the hall. The portrait is consists of a young woman sitting in a chair and a man on her side and a young girl on the woman's lap. Ciel stopped walking and decide to observe the portrait. The young woman has a shoulder-length topaz like hair and green eyes, while the man has green hair and turquoise eyes. The girl resembles Valeris a lot except for her eyes. It was filled with innocent and purity but the Valeris he know now has her eyes filled with anger, hatred, and vengeance.

"Young Master?" Ciel's thought broke to find the two butlers staring at him.

"I-It's nothing." Then again, they started too walked down the hall and passed some rooms. They finally arrived at the entrance door. They marched out to see Valeris waiting for them and a carriage. Sebastian also found 4 servants.

"You're late." Valeris said as she frowned at them. Vincent sighed and walked towards his mistress and covered her body with the black cloak, he was holding into, Valeris huffed as she started to introduce Ciel with the other servants.

"You previously encountered her, this is Adela." Adela's square-fringe hairstyle is adorned by a lacy frill. Her pink hair is tied in braids. She possesses green eyes, curtsied. Adela sports a typical maid's outfit: a black dress with matching buttons, and white pinafore with ruffles around the shoulders. Additionally, she wears brown, knee-high boots, and long, black stockings that are held up by a garter belt. "She had a problem with her throat so she can't speak, but she knows sign language."

"This is our gardener, Nathaniel." Nathaniel is a young boy with large, hazel eyes and pale skin. He has short, messy, caramel hair. Nathaniel usually wears a plain top with green piping around the collar, checkered pants, along with black knee-high boots and a straw hat. "Nice to meet you!"

"Our cook, Elijah." Elijah is an American with purple hair and lavender eyes. He wears a customary chef's outfit, including a long white apron. "He is the polite one in the manor." "Good afternoon."

"Our house steward, Isaiah." Isaiah is an elderly man with grey hair and a mustache. He wears a monocle, a clean suit, and white gloves. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Earl Phantomhive."

Ciel looked at the servants and whispered at Sebastian. "Don't they kind of resemble our servants?" Sebastian nodded and whispered back. "Unfortunately."

"Now then, you four are going to watch the manor while we're gone." Vincent ordered them and shooed them away. The four bowed and left.

Valeris started too hiked inside the carriage followed by Ciel and the two butlers. When the contraption started to move, Vincent grabbed a file under his trench coat and gave it to his mistress and Ciel. Both nobles seated beside each other as the brother's also.

"The last culprit was Edema Simons, a beautiful actress who lived in the White Chapel. She is 36 years old but her face look 20's. It seems she's been drinking some anti-aging medicine to look younger. Her body was found in a dark alley. The Yard found her face being chopped or you can say being hollowed like a loaf of bread." Vincent explained.

"A what?" Ciel queried.

"For example, You want to make your high tea sandwiches and make it unique. You can hollowed out the loaf and make sandwiches from that part and then put them back inside like a basket." Sebastian clarified.

"The killer hollowed their face only to leave a big hole on their face. But the question is; why would he/she only target their faces especially the good-looking ones?" Valeris put her fingers on her chin and started to think.

"But…how can we see the victim's body if many people gathered to see what was going on. It's too troublesome for me to ask the yard." Valeris asked.

"Hmm…I know there has to be at least one person that's been to the crime scene, then probably we'll ask him." Ciel paled as he thought of that. He looked at Sebastian and nodded. Valeris saw their glancing conversation and questioned. "Him?"

"We were acquaintance somehow. His name is Undertaker, he owned a funeral parlor. We always questioned him about the corpse in our cases." Ciel said.

"You mean he is a Funeral director?" Vincent asked.

"Yes."

"Acquaintance? This is our first time asking questions with someone since we only solved the cases on our own. This will be fun!" Valeris grinned as closed her eyes. "How about some game of chess when we finish reconnoitering this case and if I win, I'll have Sebastian as my butler for a week and you can have mine."

Ciel looked at her, shocked, and then smirked. "If I win, I'll have you to tell me the truth about you and your butler." Valeris opened her eyes to reveal a serious amnesty eyes and looked at Ciel. "Deal."

"Young Master! /Young Mistress!" Two butlers scolded their masters. "You hurt my feelings, Young Master/ Young Mistress." They looked at their masters as they act like a thrown out puppy.

"Feelings? Should a demon have feelings? " Ciel raised his eyebrows as he looked at the two.

"You will find out later on, Young Master." Sebastian smirked.

The carriage stopped and the two butlers went out first then their masters. They found themselves in a tall building with a rectangular-shaped sign on its front, which reads "Undertaker". The purple sign is embellished with a yellow lining and a skull. Cobwebs are shown on the projecting corner of the building. Along the front of the funeral parlor, there lies a coffin, a flag and tombs.

"I like this place already." Valeris said as she watched Sebastian opened the door for them and went inside. The interior of the funeral parlor consists of a decent-sized room cluttered with coffins, often used as seats. Shelves that hold various assortments line the inside walls.

"Are you there, Undertaker?" Ciel questioned as he let his navy eye roamed the room to find the man he called Undertaker. They waited for a while then they heard a creepy giggles.

"…Hi Hi…I knew that you would come." Beside Valeris is a coffin, it opened to reveal a lean man with long gray hair with a single braid, which is worn so as to hide his eyes. He has extensive black fingernails and a noticeable scar across his face, neck, and left pinky finger. His robe is predominantly black; additionally, his attire includes an incredibly lengthy top hat, and a gray scarf strapped across his chest and knotted by the hips. He wears an emerald ring on his left index finger. "Welcome, Earl…Do you want to see how it feels to sleep in my custom-made coffin? Guhehe."

"I didn't come here to play today…" Ciel was cut off by Undertaker's finger on his lips.

"You don't need to tell me. I know why you came. With just one look~ I can tell what's on your mind." Undertaker creepily giggled, he paused for a moment to see Valeris and Vincent at the doorway. "Oya? Are these your friends, Earl? Hehehe"

"My name is Valeris Gremory and this is my butler, Vincent Michaelis." Valeris started at the man in front of him suspiciously. 'I can feel I know him before but where and when?' "Nice to meet you, Undertaker."

"Guhehe…She has the same butler as you do, Earl. Hehehe" He chuckled. "Since the Earl went out his way to visit me. I'll certainly do everything I can to help." He chortled creepily

"Well…take a seat. I'll go make tea." He started to walk towards a counter and grabbed some two beakers filled with tea. The two butlers accepted the beakers and gave it to their masters. Valeris looked at it for a moment then started to sip some.

"Now then, you wanted to know about The Slasher?" Undertaker said as he grabbed a white jar with a cross symbol on it. "Everyone's been scared because of this disturbance…but this isn't the first time I've handled this kind of thing." He opened the lid and grabbed some biscuits shaped into bone and ate it.

"Isn't this the first time? What do you mean?" Valeris questioned.

"It's happened before; case where beautiful women were killed." He said as his gave his cookie bone to Ciel but Ciel refuses and gave it to Valeris; who unexpectedly accepted it. Ciel looked at her with strange glances.

"In fact, the way they were killed was very similar too. But in the beginning, the police didn't think much of these cases. Though murdered women all had something in common." He said.

"Something in common?" Ciel questioned.

"…What is it?" The two butlers asked.

"Well now, I wonder what, I wonder what it is indeed." He said as he closed the lid of his 'cookie jar.' "Is it bothering you?"

"I see, so that's how it is. You're very good at doing business, Undertaker." Valeris complimented him while Ciel looked at him with his bothered face.

"How much money do you want for this information?" Vincent asked him, he didn't saw Undertaker stiffened at the word 'money.'

"How much money!?" Undertaker roared as he vigorously walked in front of Vincent. "I don't want any of the queen's money!" He then turned at Ciel and grasped his face while drooling. "Now then, Earl…I only have one requirement…" Valeris looked at him oddly as he started to drool and hugged himself.

"Show me a 'First Rate Laugh.' If you do, no matter what you want to know, I'll tell you…!" He started to fantasize as he keeps drooling and giggling. "I've helped you many times in the past…can't you be nice to me just this once?"

"Damn…" Ciel cursed as he was about to say something, he saw Valeris walked in front of Undertaker.

"It can't be helped." She smirked.

"Valeris/Lady Valeris/Young Mistress?" The other male audience said as they looked at the girl who is now fixing her clothes.

"Oh…It's the girl's turn now?" Undertaker said as he titled his head still smiling.

"Everyone. Please step outside for a moment." She turned towards the three and gave her 'Best smile.' "You absolutely must not peek inside…"

The three then started too walked out. They waited for 30 seconds and heard Undertaker's laugh.

"BWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The door opened to reveal Valeris smiling at them. "Please come back in. Let's continue our discussion."

They walked inside only to see Undertaker in his usual spot but were now shaking non-stop. "Come…continue, Gu Fu…whatever you want to know is fine…" He said but his still drooling and giggling.

"Actually…I've always thought. That there weren't enough…'guests.' gu fu."

"…not enough?" Sebastian questioned.

"Yes, not enough." He grabbed something behind him and faced us, holding a anatomy doll. "Internal organs, of course."

The people in the room froze as they heard Undertaker said.

"But the killer only stole the faces of the women's." Valeris said.

"Don't you think that the eternally sleeping 'guests' that lay in the coffins are so cute?" He said as he wiped his sleeves on the doll. "My hobby is to take out the organs for research."

Valeris stared at the beaker she was holding and finally sets it aside.

"This could have stored a kidney before, right?" Vincent said. "A criminal could've given it to a loan shark…"

"It also could've come from the slums of china. The beautiful woman isn't a complete woman anymore." Undertaker said as he lifts the doll up. "Because her heart is gone."

Both noble's looked at him, shocked and alert.

"Recently, these kind of 'guests' have been rapidly increasing. Their whole bodies dripping with blood, it's made me very busy." He said.

"Let's just say that there aren't very many people out on the streets late at night, but accurately cutting out specific organs couldn't be done by a regular person, right?" Sebastian believed.

"The butler understands well, I too feel this way." Undertaker grinned as he walked in front of Valeris. "If he/she had to act within such a short time, he/she should slit the throat first and proceed to hollow the face and proceed to struck his/her arm out inside the hollowed face and grabbed its heart. It's easier to succeed this way and make the yard reported that he/she only hollowed their faces. " He explained as he demonstrates it using Valeris as the victim.

"From the looks of the culprit's work, that cruel accuracy definitely wasn't carried out by a normal civilian. It had to have been someone experienced. You should've been able to figure that out, Earl." He said as he poked his long black fingernail on Valeris' cheek.

The Undertaker cackled. He turned towards Ciel. "And that is why I knew you would come here my lord. If there were a possibility that the killer belonged to the 'underworld' I expected you would be summoned here without fail. Heed my words, another will die."

Valeris nodded. "Undertaker's right. They're gonna keep dying unless someone stops the killer."

The Undertaker grinned, looking at Ciel. "Can you stop the killer...'Aristocrat of Evil' Earl Phantomhive?"

Ciel stood up which was Valeris cue to do the same. Sebastian was already placing on his young master's coat. "The underworld has its own rules. Its residents do not kill those on the other side without reason and they do not invade polite society using the powers of the underworld."

Vincent also placed Valeris cloak and led her towards the door, Ciel and Sebastian taking the lead. "By our family coat of arms, I vow to eliminate, without exception, all who defile the gardens of the queen... by any means necessary." He turned his head to look back. "Excuse our intrusion, Undertaker."

Valeris slightly curtsied at him and left.

Author's Note

This is my first time writing a fanfic. This story followed the manga series and it will start on Chapter 14, where Elizabeth's mom will visit the manor.

Hope you like my story!

~AkaneSabaku18