Chapter two: That butler; Is investigating, part 1
This chapter became too long xD so I have divided it into two parts :] (We decided it was easiest if the chapters were like days.)
Black endless darkness became illuminated as a red glowing symbol came closer. Hands held down a frightened Ciel as an intense pain burned a mark on his left side.
Hate. Horror. Fear.
Ciel screamed of agony. The hands had owners wearing smiling masks; they threw the boy in a cage. He was stripped from clothes.
Freezing. Hurting.
How did it become like this? What wrong had the young innocent boy done? Ciel screamed again, the mark still burned on his body. He had crawled into fatal position, tears quickly moved from his eyes. Opening his eyes and saw only darkness again, the angst rose. The hands had left him to care for himself.
Anger.
Who could help him when no one was left? The people dearest to Ciel had already passed; they existed only as ashes from corpses. He could remember their faces clearly as the day, but they seemed to vanish before him each time he thought about them. His heartbeat raced when he felt a present entered the room and stood before him. The eyes were familiar. Red-brown eyes, similar to a cat. Ciel gasped for air, he had forgotten to breath while he stared up at those beautiful eyes.
"Sebastian!" Ciel cried out and crawled closer to the owner of the eyes.
Ciel opened his eyes for real and found himself in the familiar bedroom. He was soaking with sweat and his breath was uncontrolled. His hands clinched around his chest.
"Calm down, it was just a dream..." He told himself in between his breath. The eyes closed again and he leaned forward. "... but it was just as real as that memory."
"Young master," Sebastian stood in the door, he had heard his master scream and had headed over to his room. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
His face and eyes was illuminated up by a candle he was holding in his left hand. Sebastian took one step closer the young boy. 'Something must really have scared him.' Ciel's eyes opened and shifted towards Sebastian's voice. 'He always sees me at the worst times.' Ciel thought and took a deep breath. With Sebastian there, he seemed to become calmer.
"Would you sit with me?" The Earl asked humble.
Sebastian nodded. He walked over to the bed where his master sat; he placed the candle on the night table.
"Something that bothers you, my lord?" He asked and sat down on the edge of the bed.
His dark eyes where almost shining in the dark, peering right through Ciel. Sometimes you would wonder if those eyes saw right into your soul, your thoughts and mind. Like you could not hide anything from them.
"Bad dream." Ciel said, looking up at Sebastian's eyes. He was not sure how to explain it in other words. 'He must think I look like the most pathetic human in the world. Right now I probably am.' He thought harshly to himself. Unintentionally he leaned closer to Sebastian and rested his head on Sebastian's chest. "You saved me though."
Sebastian was surprised by the boy's action. He had not foreseen this.
"Yes, it is my job to watch over you, so it is only naturally that I save you if something happened." He said, his voice was low, like a breath of wind. He lifted a hand and placed it on the smaller boys head, letting his finger run through his dark silky locks.
Ciel closed his eyes and let Sebastian do what he did without any protests. For his surprise it was extremely comfortable to be this close to Sebastian, his protector.
"Stay with me until morning... I do not want that dream to replay in my head again." Ciel said sleepy.
"Yes, my lord." Sebastian whispered, smiling down at the boy. 'You do have a soft side, a very soft side' He lifted the boy up and placed him on his lap, holding him tight. 'If it is protection you want, that is what I will give.' He started to run his fingers through the earl's hair again.
Ciel said nothing more that night, the dream never replayed either. He had quickly fallen asleep in Sebastian's secure arms. When the morning came and the sun shined through the windows, Ciel woke up, seeing that he was still in the arms of his butler. His cheeks became pink. 'What on earth have I been doing?' He thought and freaked inside. Although he still felt the same he had before, he just could not forgive himself for letting his guard down that easily, especially around Sebastian.
"Good morning, my lord," Sebastian smiled. "I am sorry I have not been able to make you breakfast yet." He lifted Ciel of his lap and placed him on the bed. He rose and went to get some clothes for Ciel. This time he chose a dark green suit.
"That is okay..." Ciel said while his eyes followed Sebastian. He let Sebastian dress him up like always, but could not help wondering what that tingling feeling in his stomach he got each time Sebastian came within a 1 meter radius meant.
"I will go and prepare your breakfast." He said and went out of the room, and rushed down to the kitchen.
'People look like they are even more scared today, than yesterday.' Sebastian thought, he and Ciel had went to the town after breakfast, to find some clues about this Candyman who was terrorizing this part of London.
"Young master." Sebastian pointed at some policeman who was blockading a little house that had not been used for ages.
Ciel nodded, he had the feeling that one of Candyman's victims had been discovered. When they arrived at the scene they were met with Fred Abberline, one of the many officers from Scotland Yard. Fred had a sad and disgusted face on today.
"Ah... Mr. Phantomhive, what brings you here?" Fred asked, while he looked through some papers. "No silly question. It is quite obvious you are here because of that boy." Fred pointed towards a dead body that some men were standing around. They placed him in a black bag and sent him off to the morgue. But before that happened, Ciel got a good look at that young boys innocent face, he felt sick inside. Sebastian placed a hand on Ciel shoulder. The victim was a noble boy, at Ciel age. His face was frozen in a scream, he looked terrified. His stomach was cut open, and his intestines were all over the floor, and the smell was horrible. 'What a cruel faith that boy suffered.' Around the place where the body of the boy had been laid, some Phantomhive candy and the boy's clothes had been ripped in pieces.
"We need to find out where Candyman gets the candy from... If he steels it or buys it. And... the hard part is finding all the other clues. He must be a really mad man. Why does he take boys and not girls?" Ciel said and took a hand over his nose and mouth to cover the smell.
"Yes, my lord," Sebastian said. "Do you want me to go and find out more about this case?" He asked. "To see if I can find some clues."
"Hey, little boy. If you are not careful you might be that mad man's next victim!" A young man shouted to Ciel. The man was one of the poor people; he was probably just trying to scare Ciel since he was one of the noble.
Ciel eyed the poor man. 'Like that would ever happen.' He thought angered.
"Yes, figure out as much as you can. Let us solve this case quickly." Ciel said to Sebastian. "This place gives me the creeps." He said mostly to himself.
"Yes, my lord." And before anyone could say his name, he was gone.
"You sure you should walk around without Sebastian, without any protection? This loony is even kidnapping kids in the middle of the day." A policeman said.
"I will be just fine." Ciel said certain.
He stepped outside and inhaled fresh air, the grim smell disappeared as he walked away from the house. The Undertaker's place was not far from this place, so he decided to pay him a visit. Hopefully the Undertaker had some useful information from the underworld of London.
"Hello?" Ciel said after entering the building. Dim lights, coffins, strange things, it was just way too creepy to be inside.
A low laughter could be heard; a second after the Undertaker appeared.
"Well, well, what are you doing here Earl, alone, in such a dangerous time?" He asked. "Boys are getting raped and killed you know, and people sure are slow. That man has been running around here for a week, and the police did not notice it before a few days ago."
"I am here investigating that matter actually. Undertaker, do you have any information from the underworld worth hearing?" Ciel asked, looking directly at the Undertaker with an emotionless expression.
Undertaker laughed again.
"Don't ask me, ask him." He said and pointed at something in one of the dark corners. And out of the corners came... Grell Sutcliffe.
"Ask me about what?" Grell asked the Undertaker, before he looked over at Ciel. Now he was smiling. If Ciel was here, then Sebastian had to be here too. "Where is Sebas-chan?" He asked, with a voice sweet as sugar.
"Grell?" Ciel said surprised. He had not expected the Death God to appear here again, not after the Jack the Ripper case. "I take it is not you who are killing this time..."
Ciel's aunt, Madam Red, was the reason Jack the Ripper had existed and this man, Grell, had seen her and helped her. He assumed Grell was not into young boys... if he was he probably did not lure them with candy.
"Killing? What?" It looked like he did not understand what Ciel was talking about. He turned around to shout at the Undertaker, but he was gone. "Humph." He said and turned back to face Ciel.
"Where is Sebas-chan?" He asked again. It looked like he did not care about anything else.
"Are you a complete idiot?" Ciel asked annoyed. He sighed before he spoke again. "Sebastian is not here... He is out somewhere doing research. Do you know something about Candyman? I am sure Sebastian would be happy if you had some valuable info." It was not that hard to negotiate with Grell as long Sebastian was in the picture.
"If I tell you, will you let me kiss Sebastian then?" Grell asked, smiling like mad. "Well, this Candyman is quite a crazy one. I find the case rather interesting, so I will not give you all the information; it's so much more when you have to use your own brain."
Grell paused to let his word sink in.
"The Candyman looks, and act like a normal man, so he will be hard to find. He is not so stupid either. I have met him. I followed his last victim to its death. Soooo, I know how the act happens and all the details. It's the boys who are walking alone, or just looks good, who are the victims," Grell said and stroke a finger over Ciel's cheek, still smiling so his sharp teeth shined in the weak light. "He has no pattern he follows, which makes this case even harder. Everything started this week, and the victim they found for about an hour ago was his victim number 14," Grell looked like he was enjoying this. "He hides his victim, or what is rest of them." Grell turned around and walked away from Ciel. "I will return, this case is so full of beautiful red blood." And with that he was gone.
Ciel went over what Grell had told him.
"14 victims in just one week." He repeated to himself. "Psychopathic pedophile." He whispered before he left.
Outside the sun had become hidden behind gray threatening clouds. He could not help but to wonder where Sebastian was right now. The slim, small feet moved in a normal speed towards the Phantomhive manor. All of a sudden, a hand was placed on Ciel's shoulder. Ciel felt fear trembling through him. His eyes went wide and he quickly turned and faced Sebastian.
"Young master," The soft voice said. Sebastian smiled down at the young boy. "It looks like it is going to rain," He looked up in the sky, it was gray and heavy. "I have to prepare dinner when we get home."
The fear disappeared and Ciel nodded in unison after Sebastian had spoken.
"What a disturbing day this has been." He said looking up at the sky. "Did you find anything?"
"Yes," Sebastian smiled. "We have 42 suspects. The man we are looking for is either one of those men who are working or have worked, at an orphanage. Or he is or has been, a teacher. The man we are looking for has worked or are working with children." Sebastian looked through some notes he had made. "I have the name of all the suspects, they were not easy to find. Tomorrow I will find out more about each person, so that it would be easier for us to find the right guy."
"Good work. At least we are getting closer. But are you certain he works as one of those two occupations?" Ciel asked looking at Sebastian's face while they walked.
The clouds made Sebastian look paler than his usual Caucasian skin did, like it reflected its light onto him. But his captivating face did not lose its beauty. 'What am I thinking?' Ciel thought after he caught himself off guard again. His own face blushed in a pretty pink colour, to avoid letting Sebastian see him uncontrolled, he turned his head quickly. 'My behaviour is not proper at all!' He yelled in his mind.
"Yes, my lord," Sebastian worked extremely fast, and he was unbelievable effective. No one knows what or who his sources were; he just found the right information. "Something wrong, young master?" he asked when Ciel turned away from him. They were almost home now.
"No, I am perfectly fine." Ciel lied and threw on a fake smile again; his voice was a bit off, which caused him to blush more. And the smile was not much of a smile either.
'This thinking better stop soon or I am going to end up crazy.' The earl thought forsaken. He shook his head fast a few times, trying to get his head straight again. Without realizing it, he had completely forgotten where he placed his feet and ended up tripping sideways towards Sebastian. The arms moved by instinct and took a hold around Sebastian's waist. Now Ciel was blushing like mad and buried his face against Sebastian. He would not allow Sebastian to see how embarrassed and ashamed his master was. Sebastian looked surprised at the boy.
"Young... master?" He stood still; he had no idea of what he should do. 'You are hiding something from me.' He thought. "We should hurry back home, it will start to rain soon." He placed a soft smile on his lips, not letting his real reaction and surprise let through.
Ciel did not dare to show his face just yet. So he nodded with his eyes shut. His arms slowly let go of Sebastian, the feet acted as well, they were starting to support themselves again.
"Sorry, I fell." Ciel mumbled before he took the courage to step away.
Sebastian just kept smiling like always. A butler had to look friendly, and Sebastian was doing a very good job at that point.
They walked in silence. Words were not needed. When they entered the house, the first raindrops had already started to fall.
