8. I am the swift uplifting rush
"You knew this would happen eventually," Ciel said, flatly, unimpressed by the man's pleading.
"Yes, but… it's hardly been a year," Edwin said, still in a state of shock and disbelief that had not yet progressed to fear.
"You have envy, power, money, and a otherworldly, beautiful wife," Ciel said, "everything you asked for. Now the payment is due… and," he felt his teeth sharpen and his eyes flash, and caught at last the sour scent of fear from his prey, "I am exceedingly hungry."
"But… Margaret, please, just give me more time, I can do whatever you want,"
"More time?" Ciel asked, striding forward to run a black-nailed finger down Edwin's face; he could feel arousal battling against the self-preservation instinct as he leaned down to straddle the man's legs, giving him a sweet smile.
"Is this your wife you're asking for more time?" Ciel said, softly, almost fond.
Edwin grabbed onto that change of tone. "Yes, yes it is," he breathed. "Maggie, dearest…" he pressed his face forward, tangling his fingers in long red hair, leaning into rounded breasts, and Ciel pressed long, slim-fingered arms, milky-pale and bruisingly strong, into his shoulders, making him gasp in half-pain.
"Well…" Ciel said, teasingly, "perhaps Margaret could be persuaded…" then his face dropped into a blank, the care turned off like a light. "But that's no longer my name," he said, his eyes, once more glowing, now lifted up to meet Edwin's above, his face upturned and tilted mockingly, with a flat, dark smile at Edwin's gasp.
"What's wrong?" he asked, coal black hair framing a round boy's face, a black suit with its skull-pinned collar glancing dimly as he leaned across the man's lap, his stockinged feet not even reaching the floor. "I thought you might appreciate a little honesty at the moment of your death. I certainly would."
"What—but you—who are you?"
"I'm exactly who I always was, who you contracted with," Ciel said. "Don't you recognize me?"
At last, a dim memory seemed to float across Edwin's face—the very first human form the demon had showed him had been of an arrogant, aristocratic boy-child, this very same figure.
"You're sick," he snarled, in sudden anger, trying to push Ciel away; but his weak human strength was no match for the power Ciel applied in keeping him pinned and helpless. "Do you think this illusion will ruin me?" he laughed, almost hysterically. "You're wrong," he spat.
"Illusion?" Ciel asked, and his blue-dark eyes were far away. "Perhaps." He reached up to still Edwin's shaking head and leaned his own face close, breathing in the tantalizing scent of his soul through his sour breath. "You're lucky, don't you understand," he said, softly kissing that struggling mouth. "You get to die. You don't know how much I'd pay to be in your place—how much I have paid." Edwin was gasping now, frightened tears slipping from his wild, rolling eyes; he reached out, clutching for purchase at Ciel's dark sleeve. The soul slid out easily, belying his outward struggle; it knew where it belonged, the weight of the promise it had made, the unbreakable chain that bound it. Like a glowing candy, it fizzed gently on Ciel's tongue, and he sighed in sudden pleasure at the sweetness. He leaned back, licking his tongue at the edges of his own lips as he swallowed, feeling a slow tingling warmth that strung itself down every limb, filling his belly and casting firework-sparks across every nerve.
"Ahhh…" he breathed.
"Enjoying yourself?" Sebastian asked, standing close in the shadows.
"Yes," Ciel said. He looked over, too content to feel his usual uncomfortable anger at the sight of his butler's blank face and empty eyes. "I'm sorry you didn't get this from me," he said, impulsively.
"Too much food has loosened your tongue," Sebastian answered. "You would not say such a thing at another time."
Wouldn't I? Ciel thought. He slipped, slowly, from the body, there with its head hanging limp, its awful limbs extended, and his feet reached down to catch the floor. He swayed for a moment, almost unable to hold himself. But the power in his veins urged him to fly, to run streaming into the air. He looked away from Sebastian and the body, climbed carefully down the stairs and pushed open the door into an endless summer morning.
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After this story is done, I will post a short (2 chapter) companion story: "The Contract", either separately or at the end of this story. It will take place between chapters 7 and 8 and focus more on Ciel's first contract.
