"Young Master, these are the letters we received today." Sebastian said as he dropped a big pile of letters and invitations on his master's desk. The said young master sighed, looking fed up, disgusted and bored.
"Well, it is the social season again. They spend the whole day and a lot of money on useless, meaningless and boring balls; courting, and dancing. I don't get why they don't ever get tired of doing the same thing over and over." Bluntly, Amelia stated—no—ranted, seeming to be very negative about it.
"London's lifestyle is so dull." Sebastian added, which they all kind of agreed to. Ciel started tossing away letters not really important for him and dictated the senders, "The Earl of Warwick, the Baron of Bath, the Countess of Cardolan…" Amelia picked up the letters on the floor as Sebastian jotted down those names in the 'Rejected List'.
Then after Ciel stated names in a very monotonous tone, of some nobles that Amelia could somehow recognize, Ciel stopped upon seeing a certain letter.
Thus, they were now off to go see and stay in London for the duration of another special case.
Sebastian opened the carriage door, "Young Master, it has been a while since you last went out, is it not?" the question was left unanswered for a moment when both cousins got out of the carriage and now stood in front of the Phantomhive townhouse.
"Ah, I've been to this place a few times before, same reason, because of London's 'dull lifestyle'." Amelia mentioned and made air quotations to put emphasis on the last two words then chuckled.
"I couldn't care less as to who sent that letter. I hate going to crowded places. But I guess it's different for you Mia." Ciel said as they walked towards the door.
"I used to like crowds and places, since I got used to it. But ever since I ran away from home, I believed that there's more to life than dancing, dresses and make-up." She shrugged as she finished.
"But maybe being away from the mansion is okay too, for a change. Isn't it much more peaceful without those four by your side?" she chuckled. But then again, it wasn't only her who was afraid that they might not be able to come home to a mansion.
Sebastian opened a door and then a certain someone's voice was heard.
"I can't find them either." Said a man, Chinese at that, as he looked inside a jar. "My goodness, where do they put the tea leaves in this house?" said a woman clad in red; well everything about her was red. She was standing next to a cabinet, looking for the said tea leaves.
Seeing her, Amelia thought about it and realized it was her aunt. She gasped and unconsciously muttered, "Madame Red…!"
Amelia looked at Ciel and Sebastian, who seemed to be annoyed and surprised at the same time.
"Madame Red!? Lau!? Why are you here!?" Ciel shouted in anger, since the two people didn't seem to notice their presence. "Ah, he arrived so suddenly." The redhead stated simply. The trio also just noticed that there was another man with the two noble intruders, having long black hair bound by a huge red ribbon.
'Must be her butler…' the housekeeper thought.
"Oh, hey Earl. I've heard that many interesting things happen here." Lau said. "Since my cute little nephew is in London, how could I not visit you while I'm here?" Madame Red reasoned after him.
Smiling, the brunette thought in her head, 'Aw, but your niece is here too. Only she has grown and is currently working for her cousin. But sadly, you also won't recognize me.'
"We had no idea guests were coming. I apologize for not accommodating you earlier. We'll go prepare tea for you immediately." the butler cut in before anything else could be said.
Following behind Sebastian, Amelia heard Ciel mumble something like, "Of the people I didn't want to see, all of them came." she stifled a laugh, thinking he was really that much of an anti-social.
It was around ten-thirty when tea was finally served. "Today's tea is Jackson's 'Earl Grey'." Sebastian said as he put down the food and all the other snacks. "It's the same kind of tea and yet the way you make it makes such a difference~" Madame Red commented.
"Grell, you should follow his example!" the said butler agreed shyly. He was a bespectacled man, and didn't have the aura likened to a butler, seeing how he's not as confident as the demon one Ciel has.
"Anyways, no matter what, every time I see you, you're still so handsome. Why don't you simply quit working for Ciel and come serve me?" The Madame was rubbing Sebastian's buttocks.
Ciel's and Amelia's eyes widened at this. The latter wanted to roll on the floor right then and there so that she could laugh to her heart's content. Seeing a perfect butler flinching from the sudden attack was a rare sight to see, indeed. But instead, she just snickered.
Ciel faked a cough, catching his aunt's attention. "Ah, I'm sorry." She didn't look or sound sorry at all. Then, her eyes caught Amelia's and she blinked.
"And who might you be, young lady?"
"Pardon me for the late introduction. My name is Mia, the recently hired Phantomhive housekeeper." She bowed after saying so. Madame Red nodded and narrowed her eyes slightly, "Have we met before? You look… familiar."
The girl shook her head, lying. She wondered how she's getting better and getting used to doing it.
"Ah, I thought so. But you really look like someone."
Once again, Ciel faked a cough and had to drink tea because he wasn't actually sick. "Let's talk seriously now. I've heard the case about prostitutes being murdered on the streets lately."
Amelia frowned, 'So that's the reason why we had to go to London. What a Queen, having a child to deal with such cases? Then again, this is what Phantomhives do.'
"You mean, what's on the news nonstop lately? I know of it." Madame Red said. "However, what are you planning?" added Lau, placing his teacup on its saucer. Ciel rubs a thumb on his cup and replies with a stern voice. "This isn't just some ordinary case. The killer's ways are very special—no—I should say abnormal. That's why She is so concerned about it."
"The murdered prostitute was named Mary Ann Nichols. The wounds looked like they were from some kind of sharp tool, using quick cuts which leads to a much painful death." Sebastian had added.
"Ah, you mean 'Jack the Ripper'." Amelia assumed and she received nodding heads to confirm her statement.
"I just wanted to know the circumstances sooner, so I rushed to London too." Ciel replied, after sipping his tea and taking a bite from his cake. "The Queen's Watchdogs have already been dispatched. But I'm not interested. However…" Lau pauses and leans in slightly, trying to build tension around him.
"Do you have the guts to go to the crime scene?" he continued, trying to scare the young lad.
"…What do you mean?"
Lau tilted his head, smiling all the time and never opening his eyes.
"I smelled a wild beast at the crime scene. This murderer is definitely an abnormal madman." He stands and slowly made his way towards Ciel, the others around him waiting for what else he has to say. Amelia's sister instinct slightly kicked in and made her inch closer to her cousin's seat.
"Will you… be afraid? Earl of Phantomhive," Lau by now, reached out to touch the said earl's precious face. Meanwhile, Sebastian only looked at his master, quite stern, also as if expecting a certain reaction from him.
"I came because I was worried about my fiancée. I don't have to answer your pointless questions."
Lau stood straight, removing his hand on Ciel's face. "Not bad. That look in your eyes is good." Amelia smirked quite a bit, feeling proud of her young cousin, though still, she worries for him.
Unexpectedly, Lau grabbed Ciel's hand, suddenly looking happy as if nothing he had said was something to be taken with seriousness, "Then come, take a stroll with me!"
Amelia's eyes went wide in surprise, and controlled her self to not gawk at the Chinese man for too long, since she was a servant and that would be utterly disrespectful.
"Wait a minute! Seriously! I rarely ever get the chance to have some afternoon tea with the Earl, but I can't even enjoy it in peace? I want to go too! Lau, where is this crime scene?" Madame Red demanded with Grell trying to calm her down.
"Don't you know, Madame?"
There was a brief pause.
"Well, don't ask me. I don't know the way either."
The master-butler duo seemed annoyed yet the housekeeper's shocked face turned to look amused, finding the two other nobles somehow, comical.
Madame Red replied, yelling, "You talk so arrogantly, yet you don't even know where it is!?"
Ciel began grumbling. "Calm down, I know there has to be at least one person that's been to the crime scene."
"It's bothersome to meddle in this case, but I can find someone who specializes in these types of things." He continued and the three nobles and three servants were now in a carriage, and off to some place that the majority of them don't really know.
"So… what is this place?" Lau said while Madame Red questioned her butler Grell. "Why are you familiar with this kind of place?!" the questioned butler raised his hands in a surrendering kind of way.
Well, 'Undertaker' was written on the signboard. The outside looked old and creepy, with coffins, skulls and basically, the place smelled of death; it was the 'death shop' starter pack. The brunette never thought Ciel would know someone like an Undertaker.
They entered the said 'shop' with Ciel going in first and Amelia going in last. "Are you there, Undertaker?" the Phantomhive earl stated as the others looked around the place. It has this kind of eerie feeling that sends shivers down one's spine.
Then, a weird cackle filled the place.
"Hi-hi-hi~… I knew that you would come~…" then a creaking noise followed and there he was.
The Undertaker: a man with long gray hair, a scar across his face and his bangs too long for everyone to see his eyes; he was coming out from inside one of his many coffins.
"Welcome, Earl~ Do you want to see how it feels like to sleep in my custom-made coffin?~" he stepped out and the other three—Lau, Madame Red and Grell—all had their jaws down. Especially Grell, though it was a bit exaggerated that he literally fell on his butt.
And Ciel maintained his cool saying, "I didn't come here to play today," the other man gently touched Ciel's face with his extremely long black nails, stroking the kid's skin before saying, "You don't need to tell me~ I know why you came~ With just one look, I can tell what's on your mind~"
"You know something?" Ciel asked.
"Please take a seat first~ I'll go make tea~"
There weren't any seats inside the shop so they all resorted to sitting on top the coffins. A few minutes later he returned with beakers filled with 'tea' and a jar with dog treats.
"You wanted to know about Jack the Ripper?~ Everyone's been scared because of the disturbance~ But this isn't the first time I've handled this kind of thing~"
"So there was something like this, even before?" Amelia mumbled a little too loudly, causing Undertaker to look at her direction.
"My, my~ you have another interesting pet young earl~ Hi-hi-hi~" he walked towards her.
"What's your name?~" she answered of course, as his long nails caressed her face as well and his other hand patting her head.
Sebastian cleared his throat, "You were saying, Undertaker?" the said creepy man looked at him with a knowing smirk while the butler just glared at him. Undertaker then went to grab a cookie and started munching on it.
"It's happened before~ a case where prostitutes were killed~" he offered some cookies to Ciel in which the latter refused. "In fact, the way they were killed was very similar too~ All the murdered prostitutes had something in common~" now this finally caught their attention.
"Something in common?"
Undertaker hugged the jar and closed it. "Well~ Now I wonder what it is indeed~ is it bothering you?~"
Lau spoke, "I see, so that's how it is. How much money do you want for this information?" he asked Undertaker in which the said guy vigorously answered back.
"How much money?! I don't want any of the Queen's money!"
His head spun around and his eyes—even if they didn't see it—implied that it fell on Ciel. "Now then, Earl~ I have one requirement~" he then started cackling… and drooling.
"Show me a 'first rate laugh'~ If you do, no matter what you want to know I'll tell you!~"
"What a… crazy man." Amelia managed to say, not even caring even if he heard her.
Ciel couldn't deny it either since he followed up one word to completely describe him, "Weirdo."
A/N: And I am baaaack! [insert sniffs and sobs here] Yeah, I re-watched the ending of KuroII. Then I listened to Bird (by Yuya Matsushita ;D) and I ended up crying. I'm so sorry I had to share that. I feel emotional nowadays. Tee-hee! About this chapter… Is it annoying that I put too much emphasis on Undertaker's lines? Well, I just wanted to add that 'spooky' feel to it. [insert Undertaker laugh here] Gotta admit, I felt excited when I was writing this chapter. And also the ones after it. Wheeeee! few more days 'til Christmas!
Catovia - Aw, glad that you like it. Haha, same here. Though I bully my sister sometimes...but if it's some other jerk, they'll have to face me. I'll be waiting then. :)
Vidgealz C Valvatore - Um, if you check my profile I already said there that I don't do scheduling updates kind of things. If I want to update, I'll update. If not, then I'll find time for it. Sorry to disappoint you, though.
Anyway, I'm still waiting for yer questions… me-he-he-he-he. .
