A/N: I can't thank you guys enough for the supportive reviews! I was thinking about adding some fluff to the story, but I'm not sure, and I wanted to know what you guys think. Oh, and I'm not quite sure how many chapters to make this...so let me know any suggestions and whatnots in a review, if you want to, thank you! :3
Disclaimer: Hmm...do I own Kuroshitsuji? No...no, I don't. If only~ (Sad face)
Warnings: Violence and some mild language
P.S.: Sorry if the characters are too OOC...yeah.
Chapter 4
On the ground floor of the mansion, Sebastian is just finishing up with the dishes in the kitchen, when he hears a loud crash in the entryway. He sighs, putting his gloves back on and straightening out his sleeves, as he walks over to the source of the sound.
Not to his surprise, he sees the maid on the ground, surrounded by broken porcelain. "Mey-Rin, may I ask what you are doing?" It's obvious she has, once again, broken the dishes by reaching too high in the cabinet.
"Oh, S-sebastian! I-I'm so sorry, I am! I w-was just-" But before she can say anything else, Sebastian interrupts her, mid-sentence.
"Just be sure to clean this up when you are done, alright?" His tolerance today is rapidly decreasing, but he smiles, none-the-less. The maid has a blush forming around her cheeks and she quickly tries to explain what happened. Sebastian abruptly interrupts her, however, adding the statement, "Oh, and be sure to let the others know to meet me in the garden in an hour." He then leaves the room and walks into a hallway. 'Let's see...how many times has it been, that the Young Master has been abducted?' His steps slow as he eventually comes to a stop, placing his hand on his chin, in thought. 'Oh, dear. It seems I've lost count.' He continues his walk as a small smile grows upon his face, but quickly fades as he realizes his young master, is missing.
Waking up for the third time today, Ciel slowly blinks and sits up, as if he has just been through a normal night of sleep. "Se...bas..." The blue-haired boy barely mutters, obviously unaware he is not in his manor. When he doesn't hear a reply, he opens his uncovered eye and sits up forcefully as he glances around him, looking for insight. 'Why, today of all days to be kidnapped? Well, Sebastian will have to endure the fact I won't be getting my 'rest'.'
From what Ciel can see, he is in a beige-painted room with a few silver candelabras hanging amongst the walls. The tiled floor is black with a grey tint, almost matching the small, half-opened, window next to him, but not quite. Dirt and dust cover the charcoal frame and glass making it almost, if not, impossible to see through; if it weren't for the opening. There is only one entrance into this room, which is from a wooden door with a bronze doorknob, obviously locked. 'Where am I now?' Upon raising his hand to his head, he finds metal cuffs, connected by chains, on his wrists, binding the two together. It doesn't take long after to realize his ankles are chained in a similar fashion. He sighs and thinks to himself, 'I wonder what Alois could possibly be doing.'
Just as Ciel thinks this, he hears barely audible footsteps outside, approaching the door. As they get louder, the boy just sits and waits for his captor to show himself and explain the situation. Having been in this type of predicament many times prior, Ciel knows there isn't much to be done on his part, other than to sit and wait.
"Where is that butler, anyway?" By this point in time, Alois has decided that Sebastian is withholding information and is simply ignoring the boy. For the past ten minutes, he has been trying to locate the butler. After walking down countless hallways and stumbling through numerous doors, the blonde decides to make a plan. Not a very good one, at that. Finishing up the details in his mind, he sets the plan in action.
"Oh dear, I wonder where Ciel is~," Standing a few inches away from a porcelain vase, filled with yellow roses, Alois puts his finger on the brim and pushes. In almost slow motion, the container topples over the table and plummets downward. Once the vase smashes against the floor, water pools around the shards of material and roses. A vase that massive has the capability to create a sound that can be heard throughout the mansion. The corners of his mouth rise slightly in a smirk as his plan unfolds. "Oops, how clumsy of me."
He stands next to the broken remains and flowers on the floor for a few minutes, waiting for someone to come help, but nobody comes. 'Why is there nobody here? Maybe they didn't hear it. No, it was loud enough to echo across the hallways. Somebody must have heard it, right?' Five more minutes pass of silence, before Alois' brow creases and he closes his fists. "Fine then, I'll just have to resort to plan B, then."
Angrily stomping down the hallway, Alois spots another vase, this time filled with red roses. He walks up to it and carelessly pushes it over, trying to make more noise this time. The roses spill over the floor in along with the water and porcelain, once more. Hoping this crash will alert a member of the household, Alois leans against the wall and waits. Another five minutes pass and not one soul comes to clean it up. "What is wrong with this bloody place!" This time, he walks down the hallways, knocking over anything that he deems breakable. Desperately trying to make as much noise as he can to make himself found, he continues this for seven minutes, until he stops at a staircase. "So, my little plan didn't work out. Time to try something new~."
'I suppose I should try to find someone who knows what that butler is hiding.' He walks down, relieved to be out of that labyrinth of hallways and doors.
Just outside the manor, Sebastian talks to the servants of the household as they stand attentive in a line. "Do you understand my orders as they have been given?" Sebastian stands in front of them, a stern look on his face as he demands their full attention.
In unison, Bard, Finnian, and Mey-Rin all shout, "Yes Sir!" Their usual looks of lackadaisicalness are long gone and are instead completely focused on the situation at hand. On the inside of the mansion, Tanaka watches through a window to the outside with a smile, as he has his orders to remain there.
"Alright then, as Phantomhive servants, I expect you all to complete your tasks without difficulty." As Sebastian looks at all three of them, he adds, "The goal of this mission is to safely return the Young Master, anything less is unacceptable." Soon after, they all follow Sebastian's lead as they head off to locate Ciel.
As soon as they start to leave, Tanaka sighs and walks to the main room, where Sebastian told him to wait for a certain guest. Just as he enters, a flustered blonde boy walks down the stairs with a look in his eyes as if he's going to punch someone in the face. In a polite manner, he asks the boy who Sebastian stated was the guest, Alois Trancy, "Pardon me, Earl Trancy? I'm afraid the Young Master is not able to entertain any guests at the present. Perhaps if you would return again at a later date."
Once Alois steps off of the staircase and stands in front of the man, he gazes up at him with a questionable look and states, "Look, I don't know what the hell is going on in this place, and I don't give a rat's arse. I've been running around this bloody place with no help and I demand answers. Now, where is Ciel?"
Tanaka sighs and keeps a positive grin on his face as he tries to calm the guest. "I am very sorry for your inconvenience. I'll see to it that the Young Master speaks with you upon his return."
"Return...you mean he's not here? Why the hell isn't he here?" Alois doesn't bother waiting for an answer as he walks past the butler, out the front door. As soon as the sunlight hits his face, he sees the three servants and Sebastian, leaving the property. 'Where are they going?' Instantly, he runs after them, trying to catch up as he yells, "Hey, wait!"
As the footsteps outside the door eventually come to a stop, Ciel holds his breath in wait. Noises sound from the opposite side of the door that resemble a key turning in a lock. Soon, the dark-brown door creaks as it opens, breaking the silence. A slight gust of fresh air fills the small room as the door is opened.
An average sized man, in his twenties, enters the room with a sour look on his face, as if he had just eaten a lemon. His hazel eyes are bloodshot and glazed over, along with burgundy hair that looks like someone just soaked it in gel and combed it back. His clothing consists of a black coat, covering a dark, blood-red vest and pants in the same shade of red. His dark-grey shoes almost match his black jacket, but not quite.
Ciel raises his head to look at the man and quite frankly, doesn't know what to think. The man doesn't appear to be angry in any way, or even have a weapon on him. His stance isn't threatening at all and if anything, he looks like he just woke up. Ciel can't help but smirk at this sight. "So, now that I'm here and I obviously can't do much with these restricting cuffs, why am I here?"
"Well, Ciel Phantomhive, quite frankly, your company has bankrupted my entire business and I have run out of options. My company owes money to you and about ten other businesses, which I can't afford to pay back." The man pauses his speech for a moment, then starts to walk closer to Ciel and continues to talk. "A few companies have been chasing after me for that money for almost a month now, and if I don't pay them back soon, it won't end well for me." Once he finishes talking, he stops walking and ends up two feet away from Ciel, which makes the boy uncomfortable. The latter tries to scoot back, but ends up hitting a wall he hadn't seen before.
Ciel regains his composure, to not appear weak in front of the enemy, and states his reply, "You seem to know my name, but I still don't know yours."
"I'm Simon Parnell." His voice doesn't show an ounce of emotion as he utters his name.
"Well, Mr. Parnell. I assume your business has been running for years, otherwise your company wouldn't have so many businesses trusting you with their money. However, I have never heard of you before, so I assume your business took out a loan from the Funtom company quite a while ago. Or, perhaps you have simply inherited this business recently, with many debts accumulated over the years that have yet to be paid? Either way, it is your business and therefore your problem. I suggest you find ways of paying back debts other than kidnapping business owners."
It takes a while for those words to sink into Simon's mind, but as soon as they do, the latter's eyes narrow as a look of anger grows inside them. His foot shoots from the ground and crashes into Ciel's face, making his head tilt back and hit the wall. Even though the pain is unbearable, not a sound can be heard from Ciel as blood drips from his nose and chin.
"You'd better shut up, if you know what's good for you, brat." Simon takes a step closer to Ciel and states to him, "You know, people like you make me sick, always looking out for absolutely no one. But, wait, that's not entirely true, now is it? You people take care of yourselves, and that's it, isn't it? Now, I need some money to pay off my debts. So, you are going to give me that money, and I won't hurt you, alright?"
With his head still facing down, Ciel starts to speak to him, "I'm afraid I've already given you my answer, Mr. Purnell. It's not my problem." Looking up for a moment, Ciel's cerulean eye meets two dark hazel ones. Simon's eyes show a hint of sadness, but that is drowned out by his anger.
The man quickly raises his arm and smashes his fist into Ciel's stomach. Ciel cries out in pain as he coughs up quite a bit of blood. "You think you can just take from us without even thinking twice? I didn't want to use force, but I'm going to get my money, one way or the other." Without saying another word, he stands up and leaves the room, locking the door behind him.