*Edit 9/18: Alright, that one review, thank you. It's great to hear thoughtful critique. It's been a while since I've written something that wasn't a report. So that other aspect that's in non-academic writing has been growing a bit rusty in me. It's reviews like that which help me out the most, and puts out better writing from me. With that said, this chapter's been updated, maybe not to the extent that I'd like, but I'll probably need a beta for that. If there's any volunteers, I'd greatly appreciate that.
Dolor
They sounded like wild beasts.
The cackles, thumps and noises coming through the stone walls seemed to echo around him. He'd watched blankly as a group of them in masks dragged two of the children from their cages. One of them, maybe the leader, had turned to him and gave a sickening grin that if he'd had the energy, Ciel would have clawed his functioning eye out.
Listening to the disgusting squelch and crack of tissue and bone from the other room, he was glad that they hadn't taken a couple of the more vocal ones.
He didn't think he could handle their screams on top of everything else.
After countless hours had passed, the door swung itself open. The metallic scent of fresh blood made way for the same man from before, who'd had that glint in his eye. Behind him was one of the children, dragged by the chains around his wrist. Ciel didn't want to think on what happened to the other one. Thrown carelessly back into his cage, he was almost unrecognizable. Covered from head to toe in a mix of blood and other fluids, Ciel felt a spark of something as he saw the awkward angle that his arm and leg were in. Looking over his condition, he could only think one thing.
They didn't choose me...
Suddenly, a small piece of stale bread was thrown at his feet. Looking up at the source of the unexpected food, he found the man crouching in front of his cage.
Has he done that…before…?
"Eat up, my little darling. It's the eve of a special night." With a rub of his hands against his pants, he stood up and made to leave the room.
The words seemingly inconsequential in the light of food, as Ciel scrambled for the bread. Stuffing it into his mouth, he ignored the aftertaste of iron, bitterness, and human salt that was left in his mouth for the night.
Accepting the sweet unconsciousness of sleep, the words that had been whispered to him were buried.
He was jolted from his sleep by the bang of the iron door and the movement of a far larger number of people than he'd seen before.
They seemed to line the pathway from the door to his cage. Recognizing him, Ciel's eye widened as he realized that they were coming for him this night. The bread he'd eaten seemed to turn to lead in his stomach at the realization. Pressing his back against the far wall of his cage, Ciel could only shake his head weakly as they opened the door to his cage.
Ciel's frantic gasps filled the room as he ineffectually tried to hang onto rusty bars as an endless number of hands seemed to grasp at him, tugging and pulling until he was outside. Kicking and thrashing furiously as a hidden well of strength sprung forth, he tried to squirm away from the hands that were on his body, grasping and disrobing him.
Laughs surrounded him as he cried out once, the hands that were restraining him, handling him, fondling him kept him from moving too much. He kicked out viciously, missing his unintentional target and catching the frame of the iron door. A shock of pain accompanied a sharp crack, and even though he couldn't feel it, he knew he'd broken his leg.
Out of desperation, he grabbed for the door frame with his hands and nearly cried as his fingers slipped in blood. Realizing it was his blood, Ciel almost let out a sob.
Moans, yells and cries of revelry were let out by the beasts around him. The low light hurt his eyes as he found himself staring at the wall, chained stomach-down to some sort of altar. The hard stone was covered with something that was like crushed velvet and felt sinful against the bare skin of his belly.
The next few moments blurred, the noises that sounded like words not registering in his mind, when all of a sudden a hot, searing burn ripped its way through Ciel's senses. Opening his mouth wide in a soundless scream, he arched his back, trying to press himself into the stone altar beneath him.
The smell of burnt flesh and the seeming unending pain that centered itself on his back put Ciel into a daze. So much so that he was limp and unresisting as they turned him over onto his back. He arched again, trying to keep his newly branded skin away from the velvet stone beneath him.
New laughter erupted around him.
Look at him…He's offering himself… The little whore, he wants the knife...
As the blade dug its way deep into his shoulder, a scream erupted from his throat. His vocal chords stretched, seeming to bend and break under the force of his pain.
The lights dimmed suddenly at the onset of his scream. The revelers of the sadistic ceremony paused in their actions, looking wildly around.
"What an interesting little offering." As the chill seeped into the room, a deeper cold crept its way over Ciel. If he could describe it, it was rather like that moment right after drowning but right before dying.
The man who'd driven the blade into the boy was suddenly thrown backwards, his hand taking the blade with him and creating a thin arc of blood in the air.
Stumbling, the masked man stuttered, and garbled, confusion apparent as he forced out, "…o-of-ffer-ring?"
A sound of disgust could be heard, seeming everywhere and nowhere. The shadows from the altar seemed to twist and churn, climbing in on itself. Darkness seemed to stand over the boy, the candles flickering and casting ghastly shadows on the walls.
Red eyes took in the boy shackled and delirious from pain. Bending over deeply, he took a deep lick of the blood pooling in the open wound on the boy's shoulder. Almost as though he was gliding over him, he gently cupped the boy's head. With a bright glint of ruby, the room was plunged into darkness.
With his mouth up against Ciel's fragile ear, the demon whispered coyly, as sweet as rotted apples.
"What say you, my tiny master? Shall we show the strength of your conviction tonight?"
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So. Updated.
Gotta love those reviews. Keep 'em comin', yea? Ciel commands it. Seriously.
