(A.N. Sorry I didn't upload anything yesterday, I was kinda busy eating my lunch :3 Thanks to Tea Sutcliff for reviewing. meep)
Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue. Got it?
I got out of the bed and noticed that it wasn't a burnt black husk with dirty pillows and threadbare blankets anymore. The bed was made of rich, mahogany, and it even had drapings of some dark maroon fabric that complimented the darkness of the wood. The rug on the floor was fluffy and appeared to be new, but that couldn't be. This was 2012, not 1888. In the next room I could hear muffled speaking: Sebastian and someone else. Someone much younger. That must be the young earl, I thought to myself. Quietly, I moved to the door and went outside. Instead of being the blackened husk that it had been when I had been in the hallway before, the walls had been hung with an olive green wallpaper complimenting the oak paneling on the lower half of the walls. There was a light tan-ish colored carpet on the floor that was in the same condition as the carpet in the room I had been put into. But how could this be? In a daze, I wandered down the hallway, back to the landing that led to the staircase. It had been burned nearly beyond repair, and I felt certain that it, at least, would be the same. Looking back on it, that was a rather silly thought. The staircase was in perfect condition and the beautiful cherry wood was shining from hours of polish. The floor below, which had been stripped down to floorboards and had been rotting away; as well as the walls which had been warped and ugly, and the roof through which I could see the darkening night sky, were all restored to what must have been their former beauty. I felt the lump again. The Phantomhive manor had been lovely in its former splendor. I knew that this was probably just some hallucination brought on by something that the older sorority members put into my food earlier, but at the same time, I found myself wishing that it was real. It was a shame what vandals and the weather had done to defile the manor over the years. I looked out of the repaired windows (in which most of the panes of glass had been broken before) and out onto the grounds. They had been messy and unkempt for at least 100 years when I last saw them. Now, they looked as healthy and manicured as the old pictures of the manor had shown them to be. "It can't be." I heard myself say aloud. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I heard a discreet cough from behind myself, and I whirled around to see the butler Sebastian with a smirk on his face. "What an interesting guest we have tonight." he said, "Which school is hazing you?" My eyes went wide. So the ghost rumor was true, at least. If I had managed to travel back in time, they probably wouldn't know about more current events, such as hazing from different schools; and from his tone of voice, this had happened many times before. "C-cambridge" I stuttered out. "B-but how are y-you here? You're supposed to be dead!" A creepy smile came onto Sebastian's face. "Am I?" he asked, his eyes now a magenta-ish color that they hadn't been before. And were those slit pupils? Like a snake's? What was up with that? "It wouldn't be the first time I had to fake my death." Now, what I did next, I am somewhat ashamed of. I turned tail and ran away. I just had this feeling that if I didn't run, something bad would happen. It was only when I was down the stairs and almmost to the door that I remmbered my shoes. I had left them in the room. I looked over my shoulder to see that Sebastian had gone, and I gathered up what was left of my courage to go back and get them. Looking back on that, it was quite possibly one of the worst decisions of my life.
(A.N. Ooh, cliffhangers! Well, hope you like it, I know I had a great time writing it!
If you're wondering, Cambridge was the first English college that came to my mind. If you know of a more appropriate college (like if Cambridge is in the north of England and this is set in the outskirts of London), then let me know and I will change it.
Also, when Sebby says it wasn't the first time he had to fake his death, the first would be around chapter 58 in the manga during the murder mystery arc. If you haven't read it, it's really good! I highly recommend reading it if you haven't.)