Chapter Three

Linger

Flaming red was all he could see. Heat licked at his face, burning it, crisping it. Yet he wasn't on fire like he thought. His legs were petrified to the spot on the freezing grass, his widened blue eyes hopelessly transfixed on the burning estate.

Shrills of all kinds rang in his ears, sounding much like the unsettling sound of nails on a chalkboard. His hands were frozen too, forcing him to listen to the horror before him. He watched as windows shattered. His focus was directed to the ground as something brushed against his leg. Glancing down, the earl was met with the curious yellow gaze of a black cat.

"Ciel…Ciel-!"

Suddenly whoever had cried out was suffocating him in a tight embrace, looking for his protection. Ciel instantly realized it was Elizabeth. He made a move to hold her, to comfort her, but his arms remained frozen.

"I-it's alright, Lizzy," he tried to comfort, not even caring about the fact that she was never present when this, this…happened. "I've got you."

"Ah-! Ciel!" Elizabeth shrieked as she was abruptly pulled closer to him. With perfect clarity, Ciel could see the tears of fear run down her face as a pistol was positioned at her temple, a finger on the trigger.

His heart clenched by a fist of panic, Ciel cried out, trying with all his might to move. Elizabeth cried harder as he did nothing. "Please, Ciel, do something-!" An ear piercing shot ran out. Ciel screamed as warmth hit his face. Elizabeth slumped to the burning ground.

Standing there as the flames started to lick up his own legs, Ciel found that he still couldn't move as his eyes transfixed on the gun that was clutched in his frozen hand, dirtied with more than just blood.

The cat swept against his leg again, and tearing his gaze from the horror in front of him, the earl sank down with a choked gasp as he gathered and cradled the tiny feline in his arms.

The daemon was hovering over him when Ciel woke the following morning. A large smile was plastered to his pale lips as matching red eyes watched the boy plunge head first into awareness.

Ciel turned his back on the creature. "Go away," he said into the sheets.

"But are you not hungry?"

Ciel scoffed. "What are you, my butler?" He could smell a delicious aroma of food and he ignored it regardless of his stomach's protests. "Leave me."

The covers were suddenly ripped from his body and Ciel curled into himself as the room's coolness stabbed him. He held in a whimper as the daemon pulled him onto his back by the shoulder, instantly getting in his face. "Leave you to do what? Perish?" Sebastian ridiculed with a leer, and Ciel held his tongue.

Pulling back, the creature left Ciel to sit up by himself as he went to the small table by the windows. Pushing himself against the headboard until he was relatively comfy, Ciel curiously watched as Sebastian brought a small tray of food to the bedside. The smell was tantalizing and the earl's mouth watered.

"While you were recovering from your injuries, I took the time to learn a few things," Sebastian explained nonchalantly, as if he hadn't been the one to cause Ciel's injuries. He took a plate full of warm sausage, biscuits, and a small bowl of oatmeal and offered them to the boy. A single blue eye glared at him hatefully.

"Go rot in hell."

Sebastian chuckled. "I've spent plenty time doing that, thank you." He held out the food for a moment longer, and when Ciel didn't accept it he sighed, his humor all but lost. Placing the plate back on the side table he admitted quietly, "I know you wish to live, little earl."

Ignoring the fact that the daemon knew his true title, Ciel averted his gaze. A thousand questions were on the tip of his tongue, all pressing to slip between his teeth. But he held them back with a biting force. "Get out," he merely repeated.

Sebastian was fast. Ciel gagged, his head hitting the headboard as a hand crushed into his chest. The daemon half straddled him, his cerise eyes glowing with an unspoken threat that had Ciel's heart pumping. Yet with a twitch of his face, he set his expression to what he hoped would be void of emotion.

"I wonder if this stubbornness was reserved for me," the daemon spoke, "or have you carried this mannerism all your life?" He searched Ciel's face for an answer, but he was simply awarded a remnant of determination. Sebastian smirked, moving off the bed and getting the food. "Now eat…you have much work to do, little dove."

Reluctantly, Ciel took the offered plate.

There was no denying Sebastian was smart. It was obvious that Ciel wouldn't be able to outwit him in leaving or anything else for that matter. The daemon was sharp, having somehow blended in with the current society in which Ciel lived. He prepared the right food, provided proper behavior and perfect treatment. If Ciel were one for denial, he may as well call Sebastian the new family butler.

Yet that wasn't the case. Ciel wouldn't become delusional because he understood – if not wholly accepted – this new and sudden reality. A daemon of hell had taken residence in his home. He had killed the entire household save the master. His intentions were unclear.

Very unclear.

Why leave him alive? To learn human ways and take full responsibility of him as if he were a child again…it was absurdly puzzling. Ciel wouldn't admit it, but he couldn't even begin to wrap his mind around a shred of what the daemon was planning. Was it a sign that the world was to end soon? Or had hell simply become boring? Such endless possibilities…

Ciel glowered at the shipping parchment before him. To make the situation even worse, Sebastian had given him his company work. There was a mention of keeping up appearances, but Ciel didn't understand why.

"For the past week, I have taken the liberty to inform all your guests that you are unavailable due to a severe illness you've been recovering from. As for the daily chores, I have also taken the responsibility upon myself to upkeep your most lovely home in order to evade further suspicion from those you're acquainted with."

So the daemon said, so the daemon did.

Why…why…why!?

His pen's tip snapped and Ciel sighed with frustration. Despite Sebastian miraculously bringing his physical health back up to shape, his mind was constantly churning. The mourning of his staff was devastatingly fresh. The thought of Elizabeth, his wife, his cousin, his friend, was earth-shattering. He didn't want to accept what had happened, much like the similar past events. Such devastation rearing its ugly head in his life twice was too much to bear, but Ciel knew he couldn't buckle under the pressure.

He had to stay strong, he had to figure a way out, and he had to –

"Mreow~"

Ciel flinched at the noise, his gaze spastically searching the room until he caught the sight of a familiar black cat. Where he'd seen it, Ciel couldn't recall. The small animal was on the floor before it jumped effortlessly onto his desk, purring. The earl's nose tickled instantly, and he pushed back. Yet the feline advanced, hopping onto his lap. Ciel was about to shove it off with a sneeze, but something else caught his eye.

The walls were oozing blood. Slowly the thick substance dripped, staining the walls and carpet. There was no noise as Ciel stared, constantly blinking his eye as if it would make the image go away. When it didn't, he scooted his chair back further to the windows, unconsciously seizing the cat in his arms, his allergies all but gone.

A moaning noise followed by light scratches on the door caused his heart to beat faster. Ciel eyed his desk drawer with the thought of a pistol on hand, but remembered that it wasn't there anymore. Loud bangs boomed on the door now, and the blood was dripping faster, Ciel's breath keeping tempo. The cat mewled in his lap and licked his hand as if to reassure him.

As he expected, the door banged open a few moments later and a sea of red liquid gushed into his office, the stream carrying in it sickening objects that made Ciel's stomach churn with disgust. He raised his feet up to his chair so he sat like a sad child, his only means of escape gone; he couldn't yell for anyone. The moaning continued, but now Ciel couldn't pinpoint its source. But then he noticed something underneath the rising blood.

His pulse pounded loudly in his ears and Ciel clutched the cat tighter, fearing what was inevitably coming for him. The feline hissed at the thing in the liquid below, swiping at the air as it drew closer. Ciel thought of hopping to his desk and wading through the stream as a last ditch effort but the dark figure was starting to surface. Ciel froze in horror.

Rising from the sea of blood was his mother and father, sewn together. Their mismatched eyes stared blankly at him as their hands reached out to grasp him. It was then that Ciel noticed other figures under the stream coming towards him, and he recoiled as far back into the chair as he could.

His staff was also melded together as they broke the surface. His aunt and wife were put together, and as one, all the creatures wailed terribly, reaching out with crippled fingers, eventually touching his face, his arms, his hair. Ciel curled in with a whimper with the cat. He was hallucinating, none of it was real.

One of the creatures caught his ankle and Ciel tried to wrench it away. The cat hissed at them with a snarl, but it was ignored. Instead the mass of disfigured relatives turned to clawing at Ciel, reaching for his legs and arms, clearly trying to get him off the large chair and in the nasty liquid with them. Ciel wordlessly protested as he attempted to fight them off, but they proved to be stronger. Once his shoes dipped into the stream, knocking against torn body parts, the rest of his body followed and Ciel screamed as he went under. Hands were over him, tearing the cat he found so suddenly precious away from him. They kept him down, sunken in the sea of blood until he coughed, the thick liquid spilling into his lungs with a painful snap.

…

Ciel blinked with a startled gasp and the redness disappeared. He sat in his chair behind his desk in a cold sweat, his breath ragged. The cat was nowhere to be found, and the mansion was silent. Running a hand through his hair Ciel trembled. He closed his eye and attempted to soothe himself, but his meditation was short lived.

A knock on the door surprised him and Ciel pulled himself to his desk as if to appear engrossed in his work. Taking a deep breath, the earl became determined not to show that Sebastian's twisted game had affected him.

The daemon let himself in without an invitation and Ciel didn't say anything. The creature sidled up to his desk, as if lazily checking his handiwork. Red eyes burned a hole through his being, but Ciel refused to look up just yet, still shaking off the remnants of the hellish hallucination. When he felt that he had composed himself enough, the earl glared at the other.

"What do you want now?"

Sebastian smirked with a shrug. "There was a phone call for you."

"From whom?"

"Scotland Yard, I believe."

Ciel stood abruptly. "What? When?" The phones had been kept away from him on purpose, why would Sebastian venture to tell him who had called? "What did they have to say?"

The daemon's smug expression clearly wasn't about to give any direct answers. "A little while ago, I told them you were unavailable, like everyone else."

His hands had clenched into frustrated fists. "Then why are you bothering to tell me such things?" he spat. "I understand the situation you've put me in."

Sebastian looked surprised, but Ciel knew it was a farce. "Really now?"

"Yes, really." Pushing off his desk, Ciel rounded to the front until he stood before the daemon. His eye narrowed dangerously as he watched that smile slip right back into place. "And if you think any of this is going to break me down, you've got another thing coming, you despicable monster." With his chin held defiantly high, Ciel turned on his heel, intent on leaving.

A large hand caught his upper arm, dragging him back. Ciel held in a whimper of pain and surprise as Sebastian tugged him forward, and he in turn dug his heels into the carpet. The daemon snarled lightly as he slammed the earl into the edge of the desk, his warm breath swirling against Ciel's neck.

"My little dove…" Sebastian whispered lowly as he cradled the side of the boy's head, and Ciel gave into impulse and spat in his face. The daemon merely laughed, wiping the spittle away before crashing his lips into Ciel's. "Your beak is so sharp," he murmured before forcing his tongue between guarded lips and teeth.

Ciel grunted and struggled for all he was worth, but Sebastian held his hands down by his sides and pressed the small of his back further into the blunt wood. The daemon kissed him hard and Ciel whined in protest, his teeth attempting to bite down on the foreign tongue that roamed his orifice shamelessly, but to no avail. He squeezed his eye shut tightly, trying to negate the unpleasant feeling, but it snapped right back open as a sliver of pleasure shot through his body without his consent as the tip of Sebastian's tongue traced the upper ridges of his mouth to the front of his teeth. He couldn't help the moan that slipped from his lips, and as if on cue, Sebastian released him. Completely breathless, Ciel dropped to his knees.

The daemon licked his lips much like a cat as he observed his victim with a look Ciel couldn't decipher before falling to one knee and delicately tilting the boy's head up. Red eyes pierced through him before Sebastian claimed his lips again, but a little more gently this time. Ciel wriggled against the unwanted contact, but stopped completely as a curious heat spread through his mouth and down his throat. It tasted of nothing and it left a content feeling in the earl. His eyelid drooping, Ciel allowed Sebastian to continue whatever it was that he was doing as his body sagged against his desk.

"Wha…what are you – ah!" Ciel started to question when the daemon broke away, but he was stopped as an intense coldness shook his body a moment later. He curled into himself, feeling weak and tired, his whole body freezing from the inside out. He slumped to his side as the chill swirled with the warmth.

As he blinked through the haze he found that the cat from earlier was nuzzling his face and licking his nose, trying its best to comfort him.

Sebastian sighed as he watched sleet fall from the grey sky once more. His fingers tapped impatiently against his trousers, willing the day to start. The sun had yet to rise behind the low clouds and banish the cold weather away, but Sebastian supposed the cool temperatures would stay in any case. His red eyes surveyed the bland garden as he sat on the settee by the window, as Ciel slept comfortably.

The grandfather clock in the corner ticked evenly, but it never sped up like the daemon wanted it to. Time was far from his control, Sebastian knew, but even he could dream.

Ciel turned under the covers with a small rustle, nothing more. Sebastian had exhausted the boy's dreams for tonight…for the past week. The day promised much more for his little dove, and the daemon couldn't wait.

It would be such a splendid day for both of them.

"What's this?" Ciel questioned wide-eyed as he stared at himself in the mirror. The bandages around his head and right eye had finally been clipped away, and the sight before him wasn't one he was familiar with. Miraculously his plucked eye had fully healed – control and all – and didn't even hurt anymore. But this wasn't what Ciel was concerning himself with. "What's this mark?" He turned to the daemon standing behind him. "Explain yourself!"

Sebastian gazed at him as if admiring him and Ciel's fury blazed yet he said nothing. "It's exactly as you suspect, little dove." He lightly spun the boy around so he refaced the mirror, his long fingers gently pulling at the skin underneath Ciel's eye. "Isn't it beautiful?"

With a growl Ciel slapped the daemon's hand away. He watched Sebastian's reflection in the looking glass. "It's disgusting. Get rid of it."

Red eyes blazed like fire. "I can't."

"What the bloody hell do you mean, 'I can't'?!" Ciel exclaimed, his hands balling into fists, the urge to lash out very tempting. "I demand you to take it off!" For emphasis and partly because he relinquished his self-control, Ciel spun on his heel. A patch of red brightened across Sebastian's pale complexion and a swell of triumph rose in the boy.

Yet when it became apparent that Sebastian was not amused, Ciel's stomach dropped. The daemon pressed him back against the mirror, a hand snaking threateningly around his thin neck. He expected Sebastian to yell, but a calm, deep tone whispered into his ear.

"My little dove's been refining his beak and ruffling his feathers, hasn't he?" When Ciel gave no response, he continued. "As much as I enjoy your spirit, it would be quite a pity to clip your wings." Ciel caught his breath as Sebastian squeezed in warning, before stepping away altogether. A sudden smile graced the daemon's lips. "Now, let us finish getting you dressed; there's much to do today."

Curling his lip and glaring daggers at the other, Ciel said nothing as Sebastian went to gather his clothes like a house servant. His right eye throbbed a little, but not painfully. Turning back to the mirror, he silently examined the odd mark, noting its pentagram shape and violet hue. "This isn't a contract, is it?" he questioned lowly as the daemon returned, clothes folded over his arm.

Sebastian's head tilted, that carefree smile still in place, but Ciel could see the cruelty underneath the façade. "Of course not," he replied with a chuckle, "your consent would be needed for something of that sort, naturally."

For the rest of the morning Ciel had been forcibly confined to his office. Sebastian had drawn the curtains which overlooked the front driveway and had lightheartedly suggested that the boy do his company work. Knowing that he wasn't about to be given the option of escape, Ciel begrudgingly did as he was told, just knowing that the daemon was planning something foul.

Would it be another hallucination combining the recent events and long ago past? Would he conjure something so unfathomable that it would truly scare him witless? Or was the daemon playing the punishing game that allowed Ciel to summon his own nightmares without any outside help other than his imagination? Either route wasn't one Ciel looked forward to, and he felt constantly on edge as the clock continued to tick.

By noon the earl sat exasperated in his large chair. The paperwork was all but forgotten, speckled across his desk messily. He took to thinking of the mark present in his eye, eventually concluding that it was probably something the equivalent of a tracking device should he ever get loose. At the mere thought, Ciel growled; how dare that creature treat him like some wild animal!

Ready to set off in an angry tangent, Ciel's attention was abruptly drawn to the closed off windows when he heard a familiar yet frightening sound. Horse hooves stamping at the gravel path and the creaking of a carriage met his ears. Low and undistinguishable voices could be heard and Ciel frantically counted the days that had passed in his head as he marched to his desk, pushing the numerous documents away as he searched for his agenda, eventually finding it tucked in its usual spot.

With shaking fingers Ciel pinpointed the correct date. He felt sick as he read his own handwriting and he quickly slapped the datebook close, trying to will the words he had seen away. His eye landed on the door, and without a second thought, Ciel darted to the windows, split the curtains apart, his hands fumbling for the latch –

A hand over his mouth drew him back, the other clasping his own away from the untouched window. Yet Sebastian didn't pull the curtains together, allowing him to watch the footman hop down and walk to the carriage door. His heart beat sluggishly, the daemon's warmth against his back unsettling.

"They mean so much to you, don't they, little dove?" Sebastian murmured to him, casually watching the four occupants exit the compartment. The horses below whinnied without obvious cause, kicking up dust with their hooves as the footman went to calm them. "It would be most improper for you not to greet them, wouldn't it?"

The curtains swished against his face like silk and before Ciel could utter a single objection, Sebastian was already directing him through the hall and to the staircase. He was properly led down the carpeted steps and left at the bottom like a dog told to heel. Standing there dumbfounded, Ciel's head began to spin as everything once again started to move too fast and spiral out of his control. He watched helplessly as the daemon moved to the entrance, stepping outside for a moment to greet his guests before leading them inside. He could hear familiar voices questioning the odd situation, and in turn, Ciel felt even more frozen to the spot. Finally, after what seemed to be many hours of waiting for Sebastian's return, the double doors reopened, bright afternoon sunshine spilling into the large foyer.

His mansion felt extremely hollow and the earl felt awfully tiny in comparison. He stood in the appropriate attire for the occasion of seeing his family, all neat and tidy. Yet he felt anything but. Ciel wanted to move forward, but knew he couldn't. Instead, his relatives came to him, surrounded him, questioned him. The daemon remained by the leisurely closing doors.

Tearing his gaze away from the vanishing sunlight, Ciel felt his throat tighten as his four guests all wore faces of deep concern, already certain that something was terribly askew. Frances, ditching her petty strictness quickly interrogated in an inconspicuous voice, "Where is my daughter? And what's with this eye patch; what happened, Ciel?"

Alexis asked similar questions, while Edward and his wife stared at him with unease, all of them appearing uncomfortable as Ciel remained mute, absorbing their pointless inquiries.

"Where's Elizabeth, where's Tanaka?"

"Has something happened, where are your servants?"

"Please, cousin, tell us."

"Answer us right now, Ciel Phantomhive, God so help me!" Frances hissed at him, her voice breaking as she boldly grabbed at his jacket, fury burning in her desperate eyes. Ciel couldn't help but shudder in her grasp as a cool wave of air washed over all of them.

'What are you waiting for?' he thought hopelessly, feeling despicable for thinking such a thing, but he wasn't about to deny what was obvious going to happen. His relatives' voices escalated past mere whispers as they continued to interrogate him, begging him for a response. The atmosphere grew darker and darker around them, and they all sensed it.

Frances seized his hand. "Come, Ciel. We're leaving," she said, her voice a mix of frustration and endless distress as her heart sunk in realization. Her skin was bristled; something terrible had become of her daughter, and her nephew was too shocked to say anything. But she had to stay strong, what else could she do? Pulling the boy forward with hardly any effort, she nodded to her husband, and he in turn placed a cautious hand over his fencing blade he'd brought for the meant-to-be-happy occasion.

Bunched together for safety, the family moved quickly to the doors, only to find that they were locked. "Butler!" Alexis called out as strongly as he could, his hand fully grasping the hilt of his sword. Frances pushed Ciel back to stand by Edward's frightened wife as she and her son moved to stand by the eldest man, defending her nephew and daughter-in-law.

An unnervingly hollow echo responded and the group tensed, expecting some kind of strike. Ciel's back pressed against the doors, his heart thumping slowly in his stomach as he waited for the inevitable. He watched as his aunt, uncle and cousin moved forward, keeping him and Edward's wife out of harm's way, and he wanted to warn them to stay close, but his lips were frozen.

It was Edward's wife who screamed first, a fresh spray of blood flicking onto him, yet Ciel didn't flinch. Hearing her distressed shriek, Edward was the first to respond, only to end in a similar fate that was twice as gruesome the second he turned. The earl sunk to the floor slowly, his eye wide and his chest tight. Crying out as their only son fell, Frances and Alexis immediately forgot their posts and ran to the remains with choked sobs. The lone blade was dropped unintentionally out of shock.

'Don't turn your-!' An instant later, his uncle and aunt perished, bowed over their dear, disfigured son. Ciel lowered his gaze to the freshly stained floor, his home silent once again save his fluttering heart. He didn't look up when a pair of shoes came into his line of sight.

"My little dove didn't even bat an eye," the daemon remarked, stooping to his level and lifting his chin to gaze into his dull stare. A smile twisted on Sebastian's face. "What a pity, I was hoping for a reaction. You did not love them, did you?"

Ciel remained silent on the outside, but he was screaming like a madman in the inside. Anger burned like the fires of hell, twisting and turning, growing every moment he stared at the creature before him. What had broken inside was festering badly and Ciel didn't know what to do, how to properly vent.

Everything was gone now. Everything he held dear.

Everything.

A hand was smoothing across his face, gently tugging away the temporary eye patch that had been given to him, and the daemon admired it for some time before scooping him up into his arms like a little child. Ciel heard him coo into his ear words of fake endearment, and he continued his quietism as the daemon carried him upstairs and to the washroom. There he was undressed and touched indecently while Sebastian wiped the blood away, but the boy said nothing, did nothing, allowing himself to become a doll.

Yet his mind's wheels continuously churned; thinking, wondering, and reasoning, but never giving in to what had happened. He would never give in, no matter the circumstances. He would continue living as long as Sebastian allowed him; he would fight until the end.

"What is it that you want?" he finally mumbled as Sebastian laid him down on the comfy mattress, pulling up the blankets. Ciel sighed into the pillows, not caring that it was only mid-afternoon as the daemon went to close the curtains, darkening the room. "Tell me."

He'd been expecting some kind of smirk, but Sebastian presented him with a frown, if not an annoyed look. The daemon didn't appear willing to answer his simple and fair question, but he sat on the edge of the bed anyway, leaning over the earl, hot breath swirling through his hair as he whispered with a kiss, "When they find me, I shall tell all."

A/N: So here's the third chapter, hope you enjoyed! Please review, feedback is always appreciated :D Next chapter will be out on Jan. 13th!