Gus Kinney: Hello i told you that me and my beta reader Sebastina Michaelis have chapter 4 here and ready for you guys this chapter is call so much blood

Ciel: already all right lets do this

Sebastian: we are back sooner then i thought i go put on some tea

Train: so much blood lots and lots of blood Hades

chapter 4

he shot dully echoed around the cavernous room, but it was nothing when compared to the deafening pounding of my heart. My hand shook slightly from the guns recoil, but it wasn't anything I hadn't experience before; it had stopped by time the gunpowder settled and there was a eerie silence across the room. The passing seconds felt like hours until the man who had been holding Sven in place slowly slumped to the floor, blood pooling around the wound in his head.

I faintly registered voices somewhere to my left, but didn't think much of it. I couldn't lose focus now and deemed it useless background noise. Taking a deep breath I calmed my slightly shook en nerves and forcibly slowed my racing heart. I can't afford to mess things up now. Quickly making a mental note of the remaining bullets, I carefully took aim at Lau. He didn't seem fazed to have a gun pointed at him, in fact, he was the complete opposite. I daresay he seemed amused with the attempt on his life. He must have been used to it, being a drug dealer and all, but they were usually the first to break and get down on their knees to beg for their worthless life. I was also overcome with the sense of having for gotten something, I just couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be. This is too easy…

As if conjured by thought, Ran-Mau came up behind me, fulfilling her duty as Lau's body guard. Her foot made contact with my back before I was aware of her sudden presence, and the wind was forcibly knocked out of me. Slightly stumbling forward, I refused to make the rookies mistake of letting my gun slip from my hand, and landed on my knees. Irritation seeped into me for having underestimating them, but she didn't prove to be that much of a threat to me. She wasn't trained to kill.

Jumping to my feet, I whipped around to where she had been standing moments before. Damn, where'd she go?

I took a few deep breaths so I wasn't distracted by my pounding heart and waited for her to strike again, not keeping my back turned in any direction for too long; unless I wanted to risk another attack from behind. A shadow fell across me and I quickly darted to the left, narrowly avoiding another attack from Ran-Mao as she dropped out of the rafters. I barely had time to wonder how she had gotten up there so quickly before Lau chuckled. He quietly watched the display unfold before him, obviously finding some part of it amusing. After a few seconds he tried to explain away everything with, "My sister is very protective of me."

Facing Lau, I took aim, but Ran-Mao moved to block my line of sight getting a clean shot. Sebastian had situated himself in front of Ciel and was covering his master's slow and tactful retreat I tried not to let on that was paying attention to them. I still hadn't found any reason, or received reason, to off Ciel. However, I was still watching him and didn't want to call too much attention to myself, the last thing I wanted him to do was remember me. We were likely to cross paths again and I didn't want him to think I would be coming after him next. If anything it looked like I was just here to rescue my partner and Lau and Ran-Mau would just be unfortunate casualties.

I ducked as Ran-Mau came darting towards me again, fully prepared for anything she could throw at me. She was well-versed, I could give her that much, but her attacks were precise, making them predictable after dodging a few of them. She was mostly aiming for my arms or legs, to knock me off balance. She wasn't aiming to kill just yet, Lau hadn't told her too.

Once figuring out her pattern I easily caught her off guard, and threw her backwards. She was up in seconds, leaving me enough time to aim and pull the trigger once again. There was a brief pause before her body fell to the floor to with a thud.

Lau's gray eyes widened but before he could react I pulled the trigger again. Taking a deep breath, I tucked my gun away and crossed to Sven's side before Lau's body even hit the floor. Avoiding the rapidly cooling puddled of blood I watched Sven was struggling with the handcuffs he was in, resuming with his typical carefree nature despite his slightly swollen and bloody face.

I rolled my eyes and went up behind him. Seconds passed before I easily picked the simple lock and dropped the metal cuffs onto the bloody, tiled floor. An impish smirk plastered itself across his face as he stood, "Thanks Train, I owe you one."

Sighing softly, I glanced behind us where Ciel and his butler had been moments before, not surprised they had fled the scene when they had the chance. I wasn't like they would have gone anywhere out of the ordinary, if anything they just went back to the hotel to make a plan of action.

Sven casually draped his arms around my shoulders and led the way out, happily chattering away as if nothing had happened. How does he do it?

"Young Master, it would seem this 'business trip' was just false pretense."

I managed a slight nod, while trying to seem uninterested on the subject. This wouldn't have been the first time something like this had happened, but there wasn't something quite human about this assassin in particular. Human assassins were nothing when compared to him. I just wanted to know why he hadn't killed me when he had the chance. Sebastian would know by now if he was following us, but even if that was the case he had many opportunities to strike already. This was like a game of tag and I refused to wait for my turn to be it.

Just because this particular 'assassin' seemed to be more competent that the rest, it didn't mean I was going to show any signs of backing down. If anything, I was more determined than ever to get him to make a move simply for the purpose of gauging his ability; along with seeing how he holds up against Sebastian. I also wanted to find out just what his motives were and figure out who wanted me dead this time. Before any suspicion could be aroused I wanted to take care of my enemies before they could take care of me. With my luck it's just another power hungry investor looking to make a name for himself.

Sebastian didn't say anything, and there was a long pause. I turned the page of the book I had been staring at, unable to focus on anything the characters were doing or the overwritten plot line. He finally broke the silence and asked, "Is something bothering you?"

Stealing an upward glance to find him staring over at me, I kept my voice flat and tried to seem engaged, "No, why would there be?"

He chuckled softly and asked, "You have taken up reading upside down then?"

Letting out an irritated huff, I tossed the volume aside, "as if it's any of your concern." Sebastian didn't respond and let out a defeated sigh, then returned to gazing out the window. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, staring off in the distance, lost in his own world. I didn't want to ask about it, or really know, but I did want it to stop. Sebastian seemed to be growing more and more human by the day and it scared me. He was supposed to be a ruthless demon not this soul searching being before me. Next thing I knew he would be crying or telling me he loved me or something else preposterous.

"We'll be returning to England tomorrow, make sure everything is in order by for the morning." Standing, I turned back the quilt and climbed into bed again, ready to be done with the day and Sebastian's increasingly strange behavior.

He didn't turn, but I caught his reflection staring back at me while he calmly replied, "Yes, my lord."

With an air of finality, I turned the light of and lay on my side with my back towards him. I heard Sebastian chuckle softly, but pretended I hadn't, not wanting to acknowledge it. Whatever this is, he better get over it quickly. For a few more seconds I could feel his eyes on me, but the feeling quickly faded as I pulled the blankets higher, trying to make it seem like I was just trying to get comfortable.

The nearly scalding water pouring over me slowly returned its natural clear color as the blood from earlier washed off and swirled down the drain. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, enjoying the warmth coming out of the rusty faucet overhead and took a deep breath of humid air before turning off the water and stepping onto the cold bathroom floor. A chill ran down my spine in the seemingly freezing bathroom and I quickly dried off and got dressed.

I reentered the main room to find Sven sprawled out across the bed, snoring lightly, but I couldn't bring myself to move him. Before turning off the light, I put him underneath the blankets and tossed a pillow over to the chair near the window. Peering out the large, picture window I gazed at the streets below. Florescent lighting on various signs and billboards all fought to catch the eye of some passer-by while cars packed the streets from people on their way home. Minutes passed before all the muffled sounds and slightly warm room began to get to me. The walls seemed to be slowly closing in and I felt like I was slowly being suffocating.

Quickly turning away from the window, I drew the mesh curtain back to get rid of some of the incoming light and grabbed my coat on the way into the hallway. I hesitated for a few seconds just outside the door, waiting to see if there would be any signs of movement before navigating my way through the dim hallways to get to the roof.

Perched upon the parapet I stared down at the busy city ones again. The constant hustle and bustle almost made me crave the smaller and slightly calmer towns I was used to. Before having nothing to look at aside from the occasional passer-by or mugger bothered me, but there was just too much. Every passing moment brought on something new and it was all overly stimulating. A gentle wind lightly tousled my hair and I brushed it aside, trading in the sight of the streets below for the sky above. However, bright lights form the city below had blocked out most of the stars; the only thing I really could see was the crescent moon above and a solitary plane silently drifting through the sky. Being outside always seemed to alleviate the occasional feeling on confinement when inside. You could go anywhere without walls and doors barring the way; bodies of water might have proved to be an issue, but there was still a way to get past them.

For once I wasn't wrapped up in trying to make a plan of action, since I was just tailing Ciel, but thoughts of Minou suddenly drifted into my head. A sigh escaped me because once again had found myself struggling to recall just where I had seen him before. Everything about him seemed familiar, but at the same time I just couldn't figure him out. Not knowing was frustrating, and I didn't even have the means to start knowing. He was like a ghost or something, vanishing and appearing out of thin air. Everything was there, lurking just beneath the surface and waiting to come bubbling up from any miniscule crack, it was just a matter of triggering some sort of epiphany. I can't seem to remember anything lately. Memory lapses weren't anything new, but I never met anybody who really triggered them, nightmares were the only things that seemed to get me thinking. I had never met someone who actually seemed to know more about me than I did. The whole situation was excitement and frustration all wrapped up into a convenient, child-sized package.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, before stepping down onto the rooftop and heading back to the room. After everything that had happened today I wanted to make sure I was up and ready before Ciel was. The last thing I needed right now was to miss out on him making a move, especially with Sven out of commission for at least a few days. For a kid he sure knows his way around the block.

"Train, wake up!" Starting awake, the pillow I was using fell to the floor as I groggily sat up, wondering what had gotten Sven so keyed up. What time is it anyway? I ran my fingers through my hair and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the unusual brightness of the room.

Sven threw back the rest of the curtains while I sleepily asked, "What's wrong?" Squinting, I glanced at the clock on the wall, taking a couple seconds to process that I had overslept by a few hours, since it was almost ten. This is just great, just when things are supposed to get easier…

"The kid and his butler just checked out then hitched a cab to the airport."

I nodded slightly, still not processing anything and got dressed. "Wait, what? Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"You were still sleeping and I didn't think that they were going to do anything other than go get breakfast or something."

Sighing, I started packing everything, checking all the drawers to make sure I didn't forget anything. "They went back to England, right?"

"I'm assuming so, yes."

"Right." I paused briefly to fold some things to make sure I had room for everything, trying to figure out the best course of action. It was obvious that I would need to follow him back to England, but it was a matter of finding him and not getting noticed or seeming too suspicious. Sven was better at that stuff than I was, so I could leave the information gathering to him. However, they still had a head start, and since Ciel had his own jet I could expect he'd get back to England at least a day ahead of us with the time it would take to get tickets and get past airport security. Just thinking about it gave me a headache and drained what little energy I had at the present moment. "We'll have to follow them there then, and wait for further instructions."

"OK, I'll go check out and find us some tickets."

"I'll meet you in the lobby." Sven grabbed his metal suitcase and adjusted his hat before sauntering out. Taking a deep breath after the door had closed; I threw a few more things into my bag and cast a final glance around the room. Something compelled me to look out the window, but once I got there, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, not that I had really expected too. Everybody down below was going on about their daily lives unaware of any danger that might come to them.

I jumped when a large raven landed on the windowsill ad pecked at the glass, human-like intelligence reflecting from the depths of its glittering onyx eyes. A chill ran down my spine as it continued to study me from its outside perch. Occasionally it would flutter its wings, or tip its head to the side, but never had I been so unnerved by a bird. I felt my gold eyes narrow slightly before I drew back the curtain to block the bird's view of the room and quickly zipped my bag. Despite the curtain now being drawn I could still feel eyes boring into the back of my head and I didn't like it.

Balancing the bag on one shoulder I grabbed the room key off the nightstand and headed for the door, wanting to be out of here. A shadow passed by seconds after a red envelope slid under the door, and I found myself hesitant to take it. But I did anyway and slipped the letter into my pocket, figuring I could read it later.

Out in the dim hallway once again, I rested my back against the door for a few seconds and glanced in the direction the shadow had passed in, only to find nothing. It hadn't really surprised me, but I was curious to see who the messenger had been.

On the way towards the front lobby, I tried to calm my frayed nerves. All the movement of this big city mixed with having to be hyper aware of just about anything was taking its toll on me. I almost hadn't recognized Sven standing at the front desk waiting for me.

I flinched when he draped his arm around me to steer me in the right direction, and after a few seconds I placed the room key on the desk before ducking under Sven's arm and heading towards the front courtyard. "Train, is something wrong?"

"No."

"You sure, you're a bit…edgy."

I waved him off and slowly blinked, "I'm sure; it's nothing a few more hours of sleep can't cure."

Sven didn't responds as I glanced up at the gray sky, silently hoping it didn't start raining. Climbing in a cab next to him I rested my head against the window and watched the streets pass by. Sven tried to make cheerful conversation with me, but gave up after a few minutes and I halfheartedly thought to myself, England, here we come.

Gus Kinney: so i hope you guys liked it and i will try to come up with chapter 5 soon

Ciel: i didn't like them anyway

Sebastian: lol yes

Train: and so it the cat and mouse game goes to England