Chapter Four: Rain
Ciel was sitting in his study, his homework sprawled out in front of him, messy and uncared for. He had his chair turned away from his desk and he was facing the window. Lightning flashed suddenly, flooding his study with light and illuminating off of his pale skin. His eyes seemed to flash with the lightning.
It was raining again. The sound of the rain calmed him. To him it was the opposite of fire… And fire to Ciel was…
"Young Master," came a quiet knock at the door.
Ciel sat still for a moment, gazing out of the window. Reluctantly, he turned around in his chair and leaned onto his desk. "What is it?"
"I just wanted to check on you to see how you are doing. You've been in there for quite awhile."
"I'm fine," Ciel's answer came out a little harsher than he had originally intended. "You can get back to work."
"I'm finished for the moment, sir."
"Well, stop bothering me. I have homework I have to finish."
"My Lord, I have something you may want to read-"
Just then the phone rang. Ciel looked at it for a moment and then decided against answering. "Sebastian," he called.
The doors to the study opened and Sebastian walked to the desk, picking up the phone.
As Sebastian greeted the person on the other line, Ciel grabbed his pen and began reading the first question. It was boring, like the class. He didn't have to think twice about it before planting the answer onto the page.
"Oh?" Ciel looked up at the tone in Sebastian's voice. Sebastian's eyes met Ciel's. The devilish glint behind them was not a good sign.
"I can assure you, I will speak with him. Do not worry, it won't happen again."
Ciel groaned inwardly. Ms. Hana. If only he had done his homework on time. He sighed, awaiting the mocking that was sure to come.
"Yes, thank you for calling. I very much appreciate it. You too. Good-bye." Sebastian placed the phone back on the receiver. His eyes slid up to Ciel, who was suddenly very focused on his homework. "That was your teacher." He waited. Ciel didn't move. Sebastian smiled patiently and cleared his throat.
Ciel banged his fists on the table and looked up. "Yes?"
The smile spread. "You didn't do your homework."
That tone was a killer… Ciel's anger flared, "I'm doing it right now."
"As I can see. However, I was just informed that it was due…" He checked the calendar on Ciel's desk and placed his finger on the date smoothly, "Ah, two days ago."
Ciel seethed, grinding his teeth.
"I reminded you several times, and yet it seems my reminders fell on deaf ears. What a pity…"
"Cut it out!" Ciel growled. "I'm not going to this school to learn. I just want to find out what's wrong and get out as quickly as possible." Ciel looked back down at his paper and started scribbling answers down. "I never thought I'd have to stay this long."
"Tsk, tsk," Sebastian snatched the paper from Ciel. He gazed at the answers with a critical eye. "Such messy scrawl. How will your teacher ever take you seriously?"
Ciel stood up and ripped the paper out of Sebastian's hand. "I order you to get out of this room this instant!"
Sebastian's smile reached his eyes. He bowed and walked out of the room, but he stopped at the door. "Young Master, all joking aside, it would be catastrophic if you got kicked out of this school. Especially for such a silly reason like being unable to complete such elementary homework. What would you tell the Queen?"
"Get out!" Ciel yelled, and the door closed. He was breathing hard, his fists curled up tightly. He hated this. He hated having to do this commoner work. He shouldn't have to do this. He was Ciel Phantomhive.
His eyes slid over to the mail he had received recently. The pile was getting larger by the day. Official business. That stuff had to be put off, for this. This stupid homework. He fell back into his seat, massaging his temples.
"This is so stupid. When will this be over?"
When Sebastian came back to check on Ciel, he found the young boy fast asleep on his homework. He hadn't done a single problem since Sebastian had left.
Sebastian laughed silently and picked Ciel up into his arms, holding him closely so that he could cushion him from movement as he walked to the bedroom.
"Sebastian?" Ciel murmured, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Shh," Sebastian hushed, placing him on his bed. "You still have a cold. You should get to sleep now. Tomorrow you have to wake up early for school."
"Yeah," Ciel agreed sleepily as he helped Sebastian put his pajamas on. "I didn't finish my homework, though…"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Ciel tried to raise his eyebrows, but sleep defeated him.
Sebastian smiled and pulled the sheets over him. "Goodnight, Young Master. I'll wake you in the morning."
"Goodnight…Sebastian…"
The night was dark and stormy, but it was warm inside, and comfortable. Ciel slept easily that night, unaware of the events that would take place the following day.
"Goooood moooorniiiiiiiiiiiiing!" A chipper voice came from behind Ciel.
"Goodmorning, Freckles," Ciel replied. He looked up and noticed Joker, too. "Hello, Joker."
"Hey, Smile." Joker looked up toward the clouds and whistled. "Some weather, huh? I had to borrow Beast's car today; I heard it was going to rain pretty badly so I didn't want to take a chance."
"I hate driving in cars," Freckles moaned. And then under his breath, he muttered, "Especially when Joker is driving."
"Hey, I heard that." Joker laughed and ruffled Freckles' hair.
"Beast couldn't drive you?" Ciel asked.
"Ah, no," Joker answered. "She had things to do today."
Ciel's eyes darkened but he remained quiet.
"Did you do your homework for today?" Freckles asked.
"I did," Ciel replied, remembering how Sebastian had said that he would take care of the unfinished part of his homework. He hoped that Sebastian didn't pull anything funny; Ciel had forgotten to check it this morning.
"It was so hard! I spent hours on it last night. I couldn't figure out the last few questions; what did you get for them?"
"Oh, um, I don't remember. I worked on it pretty late last night; I was pretty tired."
"Yeah…" Freckles mused, rubbing his head. "For the last one, I was going to put Arabia, but then I erased it and put South America. But I don't think either of those are right… I asked Wendy and Peter, but they just laughed at me…" He thought for a moment and then said, "Oh, yeah. Wendy and Peter live with Joker and me and Beast."
"Huh," Ciel tried to keep curiosity out of his expression. "Are you all family or friends?"
"Oh, well, we're all just friends, technically. But we're basically family. We've all known each other since forever. Us, and there are others, as well. Like-"
"Yeah," Joker interrupted. "But we don't usually talk about it with others." Joker looked down at Freckles disapprovingly, his eyes sharp. Freckles looked down at the ground like a puppy.
Ciel caught the exchange of looks between them and the tone in Joker's voice. "I won't tell a soul," he promised, looking up with wide, innocent eyes. "I'm sorry for the trouble. I won't mention it to anyone."
Joker looked at Ciel for a moment, and then his face relaxed. "It's alright, Smile. It's not a big deal. We've just had a difficult past. It's better left covered up."
"I understand," Ciel replied. And from the tone in Ciel's voice, Joker believed that the young boy really did understand.
"Well, we've got to get to class, Joker. See you at lunch." Freckles waved, and then dragged Ciel to class. "So," Freckles said, sitting in his seat. He took his homework out from his backpack and browsed through the answers. "Can we compare before class starts? I don't think any of these are right."
"Sure," Ciel dug through his bag and found a folder with his work in it. He flipped the page and scanned to the bottom. Sure enough, Sebastian had finished what Ciel had not. No one would ever be able to tell the difference; Sebastian had copied Ciel's writing perfectly. Ciel handed the papers over to Freckles.
"Whoa, Smile. These answers are intense. You must've gone to a pretty fancy school before this one."
Ciel rested his head on his hand. "I had tutors come to my manor to teach me. I have never gone to a school before this one."
Freckles pursed his lips, "You must've been awfully lonely in that big mansion all by yourself…"
Ciel shook his head wearily, "I've been perfectly fine. Like I've said before, I have my butler and my servants."
Freckles stared hard at Ciel, trying to find something in his features. Ciel frowned slightly and was about to object, when the teacher began to speak, breaking Freckles' concentration. Freckles hastily handed Ciel's homework back to him, hoping that Ms. Hana didn't notice. She continued speaking as usual.
Lunch came not a moment too soon. In the cafeteria, Joker was sitting at a table by himself, staring intently at a paper on the table, a pen in between his teeth. There was a crease forming at the top of his forehead and his mouth was turned downwards. When he noticed Freckles and Ciel, he folded the paper up and put it and the pen into his jacket pocket. "Hey, guys."
"What're you doing, Joker? Homework?" Freckles asked, taking his place next to Joker.
"Yep. Just trying to finish it." When he looked up at Freckles, there was meaning behind his glance. Ciel took note in his mind, but continued to take out his lunch from his bag, hoping to still remain innocent in both of their eyes.
"Hey, Smile," Freckles said, looking at Ciel. "You know how you were asking me about strange things happening around our school recently? Well, Joker found something out for you. He reads the paper."
Joker took over. "Apparently, a student from here went missing yesterday afternoon. Witnesses claimed that they saw him leave the campus, but he never made it home. His family and friends are all in hysterics. I guess he had a lot of buddies. A lot of them didn't come to school today; they're all searching for him."
"And guess what?" Freckles added, his eyes wide with drama. "It was the same kid who beat you up the first day of school. Weird, right? Kinda scary."
Ciel clasped his hands together and put them up to his mouth. He thought back to the morning, after Sebastian had woken him.
"I think there's something you might want to see." Sebastian held out a newspaper for Ciel.
Ciel frowned and grabbed it, reading the front cover. "Missing?" He questioned, looking at the picture of the boy who had caused trouble the other day. The boy's information was listed underneath the photo of his smiling face.
"It seems his friends last heard that he was going to go eat at some fast food restaurant in the poor side of town. There's a lot of crime there, and it's widely known to stay away from that neighborhood. But it seems oddly coincidental. You arrive the same week that a boy from your school disappears. I wonder if this is related to the Queen's request."
Ciel bit his thumb. "It has to be." He threw the paper down on his bed. "I hope no one thinks that I did it. He didjust beat me up at school for no apparent reason."
Sebastian chuckled, "I doubt anyone thinks that it was you who kidnapped him, Young Master."
"Funny, Sebastian. Not me, personally. But now Freckles knows I have enough money to hire as many assassins as I want."
"Freckles isn't very intelligent, Young Master. There's no need to worry. For now, focus on finding clues. Be careful, though. We don't want you to go disappearing. Who knows who could be behind it…"
Ciel sighed and sat back in his seat. "I wonder what happened to him."
Freckles shook his head and shrugged. "Poor guy. He may have been a bully, but he's probably scared out of his wits right now…wherever he is."
Just then, someone walked behind Ciel, elbowing him painfully in the back. The unexpectedness of it and the power behind it sent Ciel's face slamming harshly into the table. Disorientated, but furious, Ciel flew up from his seat and looked for the offender. The boy was a few feet away, walking to a table as if nothing had happened.
"Hey!" Ciel yelled, ignoring the throbbing in his forehead. "What's your problem?!"
The boy turned around slowly, as if Ciel had initiated a fight with him. His voice was deep and slow, as if it was painful to speak. "You killed my friend! You killed him!"
"What?!" Freckles stood beside Ciel, fury written clearly on his features. "Smile did no such thing!"
"I know you did it!" The boy continued as if Freckles had never said anything; he stared hatefully at Ciel. "You wanted revenge for how he humiliated you the other day! And now he's gone!"
"I would not kill a person over something as childish as that! I don't know where your friend is, or what happened to him, but I had nothing to do with it," Ciel declared. People from all over cafeteria were staring. It angered Ciel even more to see their pig-like eyes looking up at him. There's the weird rich kid, their glances said. He could tell they didn't trust him. Who wouldn't want revenge? Rich kids were no different, no matter how much they thought they were. But they didn't understand…
"Don't you lie to me!" The boy blubbered, throwing his tray of food on the table and stepping towards Ciel. "I can sense the truth!" With each, heavy step he took, his face became more and more contorted with uncontrollable rage and sadness.
Freckles stepped in front of Ciel and threw his arm out protectively, "Stop! You have no proof! Leave Ciel alone!"
The boy couldn't stop even if he had wanted to, he had gained too much momentum. He yelled in anger. He pulled his fist back and flung it towards Ciel, power surging through his being.
The entire cafeteria went silent. Ciel could almost swear that everyone had stopped breathing. No one moved. No one sniffled. Everyone just stared.
Joker was in front of Freckles, the boy's fist caught neatly in his hand. Joker stared darkly at the boy; his composure eerily calm. The boy's eyes were wide, and his breaths were coming fast. He looked up at Joker in fear. Slowly, he lowered his arm.
Joker's menacing gaze did not waver. "Smile is innocent. You must not harm those who have not been proven guilty. If you touch Smile, you will have to answer to me."
The boy grunted and his lip curled back. "You freak," he spat. He snatched his tray from the table and walked away.
The noise in the cafeteria gradually resumed, but several sets of eyes still remained on Ciel, Freckles, and Joker. Joker didn't seem to notice. He turned around and looked at both Freckles and Ciel. "Are you two okay?" he asked. His voice was a little darker than usual, but it was absent of any malice.
"Mm-hm," Freckles nodded and turned to Ciel, pushing the bangs back and looking at Ciel's forehead. Ciel winced slightly. Not from the pain, but from the physical contact, but Freckles took it as a sign of being hurt. "Oh no," he hummed sympathetically. "Your head has been taking such a beating recently." Ciel remembered falling off of the bed after the initial incident. Indeed, his head had taken quite the beating this week.
"It's fine." Ciel pushed Freckles' hand away. "Thank you both for sticking up for me. I appreciate it."
Joker shook his head, looking troubled. "Idiots like that shouldn't be allowed in school. The staff didn't even notice that he was about to pummel you; especially for something you didn't do. It's horrible."
"Yeah," Freckles was still looking closely at Ciel's face, watching out for signs of pain. "It's really no problem, Smile. We've got your back. I mean it."
Ciel nodded, trying to comprehend the kindness of both of them. He simply couldn't understand it. "Thank you. Both of you."
"No problem," Freckles and Joker replied in unison.
Freckles picked up an apple from Ciel's lunch and held it out to him. "You need to eat! It's good for you! Especially since P.E. is next, you'll need your energy."
Ciel grabbed the apple from Freckles' hands. "Thanks," he said, while sitting back down. Lunch ended shortly afterward, leaving Ciel little time to finish his lunch.
"Hurry up!" Freckles shouted, grabbing Ciel's hand and dragging him through the crowds to the locker room. Ciel's stomach stirred, leaving him feeling slightly nauseous.
"Urgh," Ciel groaned. "Freckles, why are you in such a hurry? Shouldn't we save the energy for P.E.?"
Freckles laughed, waving goodbye to Joker as he did. "You take forever to get dressed. You can't be late today. It's Friday!"
"And what's Friday?"
Freckles smiled happily. "We get to run!"
Ciel's stomach dropped. "Run?"
"Yes, don't you love it?"
Ciel sighed. He hated running.
Freckles let go of Ciel's arm and nudged him towards his locker. "Now, hurry up. Meet me in the gym. Quickly, now!" He bounded out of the room happily.
Ciel shook his head and opened his locker, collecting his clothes. As he turned the corner, he collided with a person and bounced off their stomach, nearly falling over.
"Sorry-" Ciel began, but then he looked up and realized who it was. It was the boy from lunch. "Oh…" Ciel murmured, not feeling sorry anymore. Ciel brushed his shirt off and stepped to the side.
The boy just glared at him, but he continued walking down the hall.
Ciel narrowed his eyes, following the boy with his sight. He abandoned his watch and found his way to an empty stall. The nervous boy who had tried to befriend Ciel the first day was washing his hands in the bathroom. He looked over his shoulder at Ciel's arrival and looked split between saying something and darting out of the room. He ended up doing neither. He just continued awkwardly washing his hands.
After dressing, Ciel went into the gym.
"There you are," Freckles whined. "I told you to hurry."
"Sorry," Ciel replied, but not a single sliver of remorse entered his tone.
"Yeah, yeah," Freckles waved Ciel off. "So, ready to run?"
Ciel frowned, "I don't want to disappoint you, but I really cannot run. Especially with my cold right now, it's really not a good idea."
"Ah, that's what you were saying yesterday about badminton."
"I had never played badminton before, so I didn't know. I have, however, tried to run before. And I'm really not good at it."
Freckles rolled his eyes, but dropped it. "Fine, fine. But I'm always first to finish…" he trailed off as if he didn't know whether he should wait for Ciel or just run his regular speed.
Ciel was about to make up Freckles' mind for him when the teacher blew his whistle.
"Okay, kids," he shouted. "I know the weather outside is ridiculous, but we're going to be running through the trees, so the trees will protect us."
Everyone groaned, and several students asked to stay inside and play badminton.
"No, no. We need to get a good run in at least once a week. Today's a Friday and it's the last period before you get to go home, so it's perfect. You can go home and take a nice shower directly afterwards."
Ciel bit his lip. He really shouldn't be running at all, being sick. But to make matters worse, the weather outside wasn't good. He didn't have a note from a guardian, so there was really nothing that he could do about it…
"You okay, Smile?" Freckles was looking at Ciel's face curiously.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ciel looked up at the clock. They had an hour outside in the rain. Maybe if he ran really fast and finished quickly he could go inside faster. But he hated running… And he didn't want to mess up his cold. He sighed. What was the P.E. teacher thinking?
The P.E. teacher opened the doors to outside. He pointed in the distance, "The trail starts over there, in the forest. Be careful not to go off track, the forest is huge. If you get lost, it could take ages for us to find you. So I repeat: Do not step off of the track. Not even a single foot leaves the track, you hear?"
Freckles leaned down and murmured to Ciel, "He's right, you know. Joker and I went to explore the forest one time, and the trees go on forever. They all look the same, too. We got lost for hours. A lot of kids think it's funny to test out what the teacher says and go exploring off-track, but… I wouldn't suggest it. Especially today in this weather."
"I really don't intend to," Ciel replied. "I just want to get back inside as soon as possible."
Freckles' lips twitched into a half-smile. He sighed and giggled, "Where's your sense of adventure, Smile?"
Ciel shrugged and looked outside as the students began to run out of the gym. His jaw almost dropped as he saw the weather conditions. "We're going out in that?" He nearly shouted.
The teacher heard Ciel and walked over, "Got a problem, Phantomhive?"
"Well, sir… It's raining really hard outside. I've been sick for the past few days…"
The teacher waved his hand in front of his face as if he were warding off flies, causing students to give him weird looks as they walked by. "Phantomhive, if humans weren't made to go out in the rain, there wouldn't be no rain. See what I mean?"
"I know, sir. Normally, I wouldn't mind. But I really don't want to get pneumonia. Could I perhaps-"
"No, no, no," the teacher said, waving his hand again. "I can't give just one student special treatment. That'd cause problems. Now get out there, Phantomhive. It looks like you've never run in your life. Get some muscle."
Ciel frowned, but made his way out into the rain. Freckles laughed, and started to skip joyously. "I love the rain, Smile. I don't see why it's got you so down."
Ciel seethed. Pneumonia, for one, he thought. But he didn't say anything in case it ruined Freckles happiness.
"Come on," Freckles jumped and waved his arms around like mad. "Let's go! I'll show you the route."
Running was definitely not Ciel's favorite thing to do. He jogged alongside Freckles for awhile, but the rain was making him seriously angry. Students ran past them, splattering mud all over Ciel and Freckles. Freckles loved it. Ciel hated it.
"This is why we change clothes," Freckles giggled. "Could you imagine going home to your Sebastian guy in those muddy clothes? I could just see the look on his face. Ha-ha!"
Ciel could picture it too. An amused smile. Mocking eyes. Sebastian really loved Ciel's discomfort.
The made it underneath the cover of the trees, but, of course, the rain still got through. It was quieter underneath the tree's protection, though. And the rain was less intense. Ciel could tell that Freckles was getting impatient. He kept scratching his head and looking like he was going to say something, but then he'd stop and continue jogging.
Jogging wasn't as vigorous as running, but Ciel still couldn't keep this pace for much longer. He slowed down, holding his side. "Freckles, go on without me. It's fine, really. I'll just meet you in the gym when I'm finished."
Freckles stopped running and looked down at Ciel. "You sure? I can stay."
Ciel nodded and attempted a smile. "I'll get there eventually."
Freckles laughed and then looked the other way, deliberating. Then he looked back and smiled radiantly. "Alrighty! Don't forget to stay on the path! We're almost halfway through, so we're pretty far into the forest already."
"I won't step off of the track," Ciel promised, holding up his hand.
Freckles gave him a thumbs up, and then started running in the other direction. His energy was limitless.
Ciel laughed slightly, but his laughter turned into a cough. "Ugh," Ciel breathed, trying to return his breathing to normal. He inhaled deeply, and then pushed the hair out of his eye. "Okay." He tried to be optimistic about running, but he failed at it. He settled for a quick walk.
The occasional student would run past. Sometimes two at a time. Some of them had gotten a late start, others were going around for their second time. But nearly all of them had an easy time passing Ciel by.
"I hate this," Ciel grumbled, coughing again. "My sickness is going to get worse for sure."
"What's that, freak?" A voice said behind him. It wa painfully familiar.
Ciel turned around wearily and then sighed heavily at the sight he saw. Could his luck be any worse?
It was the boy from lunchtime. He had a friend with him this time. "Answer me," the boy spat. His dumb voice automatically angered Ciel.
"I wasn't saying anything," Ciel sighed. "I'm just trying to finish this run."
"Wouldn't you like to finish this run?" The boy crossed his arms, his fat cheeks turning red and angry. "But I'm not going to let you. And neither is my friend, here."
The other boy's voice was as dull as the first one's. "You killed our friend. I don't care about the consequences, but you're not going to get away with that!"
Ciel stepped back, more exasperated than anything. "I did not do anything with your friend. The last that anyone heard, he was in a bad part of town. He might even be safe, for all we know. Maybe he's back home this moment?"
"Liar," the fat boy said. "If you didn't do it, how'd you kow he was in the bad part of town. You must've kidnapped him with your money and done something horrible to him!"
"What are you talking about?" Ciel growled, slapping his forehead with his hand. The rain made the sound of it shatter through the air. "Like I'd use money to kidnap your stupid friend!"
That was one step too far. The two boys dived for Ciel like animals. The fat one twisted Ciel's arms tightly behind his back, tying them up with rope as roughly as he could.
"You idiot!" Ciel yelled. "Unhand me, right now!"
The other boy came up behind Ciel and gagged him, cutting off his words. Ciel struggled as much as he could, but he was so small and these two boys were strong and stupid. The fat boy grabbed Ciel by the collar of his shirt and dragged him through the mud, going off the trail.
Ugh, Sebastian! Ciel yelled in his mind, but nothing responded. He kicked and thrashed around as much as he could, trying to make it as difficult as possible for the two boys, but nothing seemed to slow them down. You said you'd know when I was in danger, Ciel screamed in rage. Lightning flashed through the sky and the rain poured down even harder.
Where are they going? Ciel thought desperately, trying to remember his way through the woods so he could make it back to the trail. But they kept turning and it seemed like they were dragging him for hours. The mud caking his back was painfully turning into a burn, and the occasional rock would scrape against Ciel's delicate skin. Stop it! Ciel shrieked in his mind, but there was nothing he could do anymore. His struggling became less and less energetic, and he had forgotten his way back. Even if they let him go now, he would surely be lost.
Sebastian, Ciel tried again. But his pleas were still answered by silence.
The fat boy let go of Ciel's collar, causing Ciel's head hit the floor, splattering mud on his face.
"Ouch," the other boy said, kicking Ciel on the arm. "That was quite a journey for you, wasn't it?"
"Stop playing around," the boy glared. He looked down at Ciel and crossed his arms. Ciel noticed the bottom of the boy's pants were covered in mud. "You can be thankful that we're not going to kill you like you did our friend. We don't want to stoop down to your level."
Ciel tried to yell at the idiots, but the gag proved the task impossible.
"Now try to finish your run now." The boy walked past Ciel, and the other one followed. They both disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Great. Ciel's back was on fire. He most likely had cuts that were sure to get infected caked with all this unsanitary mud. The rain was pouring harder than ever. And there was a puddle on the ground, threatening to rise up and swallow Ciel. "Nngh." Ciel grunted as he tried to sit up using the support of the tree beside him. It took some effort, and his aching back certainly did not aid to this task, but after a few moments he was sitting up.
Okay, he tried to think of what he could do next. He struggled against the ropes that tied his wrists together, but they were tied too tightly. His hands ached more with each passing second, and Ciel could feel them swelling up uncomfortably like balloons. The ropes cut painfully into his wrists, and the more he struggled against them, the more pain he felt in his wrists and hands.
Instead, Ciel turned his focus to the cloth that gagged him. He scraped the cloth against the tree, trying to roll it down his face. The rough tree bark scratched and irritated the side of Ciel's face, but he continued working at it, trying to make the cloth budge. That also, was tied too tightly.
"Aogdarget!" Ciel grunted into the cloth. This is ridiculous, Ciel thought in his mind. How was he supposed to get out of this? Sebastian was nowhere to be found, and it didn't seem like Freckles was going to come to his rescue this time. Although, surely they would realize that he was missing by now, right? But Ciel couldn't rely on them to find him. The teacher's warning rang clearly in his ears, "It could take ages for us to find you"…
Ciel struggled to his feet; his last resort. He didn't exactly want to have someone find him bound and gagged, but there wasn't much he could do with his hands bound too. He wasn't sure if trying to find his way out of the forest was a good idea or not, but he had to do something. The pain in his hands needed a distraction.
He looked along the floor for some sort of trail. Perhaps his dragged body had left a trail that he could follow, or the foot steps made by those two stupid kids. But the rain was pounding down too hard, and the mud was too watery.
Damn it all! Ciel kicked a bush in his anger. The action vibrated into his lungs, causing him to cough violently. This is perfect! he wheezed, falling to his knees. He continued coughing for a few minutes, trying his hardest to suppress them. The gag made matters worse. His coughs were violent enough, but then they were added onto his nausea, which put Ciel's body through even more distress.
I will not throw up, Ciel willed himself, horrified at the thought. Eventually, his coughing subsided. He rested against the tree for awhile, trying to catch up on his breathing. He was beginning to get lightheaded. He needed to get home soon, or he was going to be seriously ill. Sebastian… Ciel thought feebly. Sebastian wasn't coming. Freckles wasn't coming. He had to get home by himself.
He stood up, trying to find every ounce of determination that he could within his body. He let the feeling flow to his limbs, pushing himself forward through the mud and the rain. The rain was deafening against the tops of the trees. Earlier, it had seemed to quieten as he made his way into the protection of the forest. Now, the sound pierced through his skull and scrambled his brain. The pain of it was excruciating.
No, Ciel thought. I have to block it out. I have to keep going. He walked through the trees. They seemed neverending. And each one seemed to be exactly the same as the one before it. The sight of it was discouraging.
A few more minutes passed, and there was still no sign of the trail. Whose idea was it to have all these students running through a forest anyways? Especially when it's such a huge forest… Ciel thought, almost drunkenly. He was past the point of exhaustian. The pain in his body was the only thing keeping him conscious.
It was just a small tickle in his throat, but the fit of coughing that followed was terrifying. He could barely get any air into his lungs in between coughs. He was choking and sputtering and wheezing. Lightheadedness seeped into his mind, dulling his senses. The pain in his lungs felt like he was being stabbed with a knife every time he breathed in and out. But there was nothing he could do - he had to breathe to live. But the pain of it was killing him.
"Ugh!" He fell to his knees, still coughing violently. He was bent over, trying not to fall over. If he fell over, he wouldn't be able to catch himself with his hands, and the rain was forming massive puddles. Soon, he might not be able to have any air to cough with. He tried to lean into a tree for support, but his coughing was too violent for him to lean against anything.
His cough was horrible. Once he started, it was almost impossible to stop. His lungs felt like they were being ripped to shreds with each and every cough. That feeling just induced more coughing.
SEBASTIAN! he called one last time in his desperate struggle. He could feel his mind shutting down - he didn't have enough air to sustain his body. He felt his face hit the muddy water, and he felt the painful stinging of his lungs.
The last thing he saw before darkness took him was a tall black figure. He breathed out. Familiar, his mind whispered softly. His consciousness drifted off gently like feathers.