Chapter Nine:
Trapped Demon


(Dedications: cherryvampiress, HaruhiandHikaru, ChocolateBunnyChan, UnstableFable, AnimeFreakAmanda, HollowPntSmile, and all of you who have reviewed, alerted, and read The Loveless! Thank you! I sincerely hope that all of you will still be with me until the end!)

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The possessed boy snarled and spat, the chains that held him strained with his extraordinary strength. His legs were both tied to the supports of the chair with chains so he could not move the furniture piece at all. The boy's face was wet with sweat as he snapped his teeth at whatever he could reach. He struggled once more.

"It's different from the last one." Kagome pondered quietly, closing her eyes in thought. She ignored her butler that stood next to her as she pet her Cats absently in her arms. The manservant fled after setting down the hefty piece of furniture. The steward still hadn't returned.

The steward...

Hm, strange.

She needed her butler, as of now. She couldn't possibly send the Queen's mutts after him either-they still were her guests, even out of her own home.

"Missus?" Shippou looked down at her, curiosity shone from his eyes.

She opened her eyes and glanced at him, "I know." Kagome placed the Cats into his hands, pulling out something thin and white. The Lady Exorcist stepped forward and bent down. She started to draw a huge circle around the possessed one on the wooden floor. Under her breath, she chanted a language foreign even to her.

She completed the circle and started to draw a line in it when Ciel and Sebastian appeared. Ciel blinked at her, wondering what in the world she was doing. He coughed a little, earning Kagome's attention, pausing in... whatever she was doing, "Erm, I believe we may have found whatever caused this." He tilted his head toward Lance to show what he meant.

Sebastian showed the Ouija board to her.

Kagome sighed, nodding. She waved it away, allowing Shippou to take it in his hands from the dark-haired butler. She resumed drawing and chanting.

"I f you wish to stay then please step away from the circle." Shippou told them, his eyes never strayed far from his lady.

She completed three lines now. Ciel felt a chill coming up in his spine and into his head as the cold realization dawned on him, "She's...drawing a pentagram?!"

Shippou murmured out an affirmative response, "Well, it is preferred as a pentacle, given it is upside down and into a circle." He mentioned absently.

"Why is she doing that?!" Ciel hissed out, unsure if that is safe. He stepped forward but the red haired man stopped him.

"It's also a way to get rid of the demon that was within the boy. The pentagram, or pentacle as the correct term, can be used for many things, if done properly. She has experiences with it. Don't you fret." There was acknowledgment in his tone; another chill overtook Ciel's body.

His suspicions turned out to be correct- they already knew about his contract with a devil- a devil that was his butler, that he named Sebastian, after his deceased family dog.

Although he was chilled at the idea, he had to force himself not to smile.

Kagome Higurashi, the Lady Exorcist, was a total mystery.

Ciel Phantomhive loved mysteries.

He couldn't wait to unveil that mystery for himself.

For now, he would need to wait. Kagome finally completed the circle and stood up, "Demon of the Unnamed..." A strip of paper appeared within her hand, thick dry ink bled right through to the other side. It boldly stated its' foreignness, "Do you desire to return to your home?"

The possessed boy hissed out. Negative.

Kagome let out a silent sigh, they never made anything easy for her. They never did.

The paper found itself plastered on the demon boy's forehead-it screamed. The dry ink seemed to bleed, trickling over the damp face.

The chains moaned loudly as the bounded hands started to shake against the armrests- the boy's entire body was trembling, "Í͡t̨̧̕h͢ur̵̢͞͡͠t̛́s!͞" Unnatural voice erupted out from the throat.

"Of course it hurts. Sounds like you don't do well against the blessed ink. Mind getting out yet?" The little exorcist asked; her face dangerously close.

"Milady..." Her butler warned, worry painted itself across his expression. The little girl just ignored him, never giving him a single glance.

The demon-in-boy suddenly gashed the unnatural teeth at her so to attempt tearing the flesh off from that porcelain doll-like face. The lady merely pulled her face back, never flinching. "Heh- a stubborn one." Kagome murmured out, her sharp eyes leering.

The ink flowed over its' face like a river and completely blinded him-it. The paper remained surprisingly dry. Kagome pulled off a glove as she stepped toward the roaring demon boy.

It seemed to know.

It started speaking what sounded like a complete gibberish-though the awed Ciel recognized it, "Latin?"

Sebastian nodded mutely. He was irritated by the lack of intelligence of the spirit within the human boy. Nonetheless, it was being rather vulgar towards the youthful exorcist, unhappy of being forced out of what it saw as its home.

A slap on the hard, wet flesh echoed out in the still air. The gibberish reduced to a pathetically weak whimper. The pale, sickly skin trembled underneath the hand, forming a darker bruise upon the forehead, "The one who has no name, I expel you from the living tomb you possess!" Her usual fragile volume increased on every word until she was loud enough to be heard by the hiding staff within the manor at the final word.

The possessed boy screamed inhumanly. The earl watched, while wincing at the high-pierced volume. Kagome stepped away, removing her hand from the person.

Ciel pressed his wounded hand against his mouth as he willed himself not to throw up his early breakfast on the damaged floor. It was disgusting to see yet he could not look away from the gruesome sight. Sebastian narrowed his dark eyes-as if daring something to attack him.

"Don't tempt it, devil of the hell." Kagome cryptically snapped, eyes remaining on the shrieking boy. The ugly dark spirit crawled its way out from the mouth, stretching the jaws apart with its' thorny claws, to escape the pain that the exorcist set upon it. The spirit quivered, the tiniest pores bled out blackly, as the last of the body left the maws of the human boy. The disgusting being stood on the boy's face, trembling, its' gray skin a sickly hue. It glared at the group. The beady eyes burning lavas.

Kagome stepped out of the circle and went to her servant, never removing her eyes off from it.

The creature opened its alligator-like mouth and emitted a growl filled with hot hate. Promptly, it leapt off the unconscious boy, toward the little girl with a dark smile. A veil of light flickered as it rammed into something invisible soundly.

It would be a humorous sight, if it wasn't so hideous to look at. Even so, Sebastian and Shippou stifled a chuckle.

The spirit got up from the wooded floor, blabbing gibberish again, as it looked around on the glowing white pentagram. The long, scaly jowled neck swung all around doltishly as it looked for an exit. There was none. Kagome sighed, "Not very bright, are you?" She shook her head, "Go bye-bye or I'll make you." She was being rather childish, she knew, but she wanted this stupid thing to give her more of a challenge. Ignoring a pointed look from the green-eyed male, she watched the being prodded around the white barrier.

The spirit was pretty stupid- stupid as a rock.

"..." She stared at it hard. Ciel looked at her quizzically, unsure of what she was doing. After several brief minutes of watching the creature trying to figure out what it should do next, Kagome hadn't any more patience.

She kneeled before the circle and muttered something out. The little lady stood up and plucked Lilith from Shippou's arms and kneeled back down. "Lilith." The stuffed white Cat knew and opened the mouth, revealing rows of sharp white triangles. Ciel stepped back, surprised.

He knew for a fact that it wasn't made with teeth. Ciel was there when the maker first made it and wand there when the old coot completed it. There were no dangerous materials whatsoever within the white plush toy. So, how did that happen?

Kagome pricked herself on a finger from touching the needlelike edge. A bead of blood grew. Sebastian eyed her, something heinous sparked within his red, glowing orbs. The beast's flat nose flared.

Roars erupted. Talons raking over starching barrier, its long tongue whipped all over as it tried to go after the source of the bittersweet smell, though it was to no avail. Desires overtook its foul mind. "Hell was the source of blood, wasn't it?" Kagome looked up; the flat line of her lips seemed to curved up enigmatically, as the pricked finger dripped a spot of blood on the chalked line of the circle.

The white of the circle trimmed dark red. The greedy noises turned to a panicked cry as it realized what was going on. It was going home, a home it fled from. A home it didn't want.

Something small opened-a portal perhaps-and what seemed like an inky chain wrapped around a foot like a striking snake and started to pull it into the hole. It slammed a claw into the floor as it attempted to stay. It was crying out for help that wouldn't come. The claw shredded the wood, leaving behind deep marks and splinters, as its body grew smaller and smaller as it was disappearing within the portal of hell. The chains then went to strangle the monstrous being to pull the rest of the body in.

The dark spirit was gone. The redness of the once-glowing circle was departed back to the pure white. The boy remained in the chair in the middle of the circle, still bound with the coiling shackles. His appearance of formerly possessed returned to the norm. The boy, the son of the duke, moaned out tiredly, his eyes fluttering open.

"Shippou, get rid of the chains." She promptly ordered as she pulled on the glove, ignoring the dewing blood staining the cloth. The man obeyed with a cheerful smile, swiftly attending to his lady's command. The young earl and his own butler stood back, awed and speechless at what had just happened. Heavy metal thudded on the floor with a bellowing echo, as Shippou released the boy from the metal bindings. Lance blinked his eyes, panting, as he lifted a heavy hand to wipe the sweat from his brows. He seemed bewildered but utterly exhausted. As his foggy sights cleared, he saw the red-haired man looking down on him, "Who are you?!" He yelped out. His throat was so parched.

Many of the servants of the household were slowly trickling in. All were baffled but still very glad to see their young master back to normal, "Master!" An elderly maid gasped out as she flew to him, pushing Shippou out of the way, to look at him fully, "Master...Are you alright?"

Shippou muttered.

Lance blinked at her, "... I... guess I am? What happened?"

The old maid released a relieved sigh before she straightened up, looking straight in eyes of a manservant, "Go get Master Noel! Now!"

The man yelped out, "Yes, madam!" He bolted up the stairs.

The group of many servants burst in chatter, mostly in admiration of the little girl's skills. Few, though, sounded fearful, unsure, of just who Kagome really was.

"Is that the devil's child I've been hearing about?" A woman told another quietly, her eyes direful. Her friend nodded, trembling.

Kagome shut her eyes, ignoring the talk, even if it was mostly praise. She just needed to stay long enough to speak with Lucas and then she'd leave. Ciel glanced at her, pondering, Devil's child? He too heard those nosy pair. Why call her such a thing?

Kagome Higurashi was just a child! Beautiful and wrapped in mysteries, yes, but she was still a child...Admittedly, he had received some unsavory nicknames himself, due to his time in underworld. Still, they were nothing compared to what she had. Devil's child was a bit too much, even though it didn't seem like it was an awful insult-but words such as those could hurt the self-esteem horribly. He heard more names and had to forced himself not to react.

Only he should have such names. Not the girl-child.

Devil's child! An old crone reminded him in his mind.

She didn't seem to be bother by it, so he'd shrug it off for another day. Still, it seemed that she really did have a reputation in the underworld as well, like she said she did. He'll need to remember to look into it. How was it that he never once heard of her? Granted, Ciel wasn't interested in anything of religious and supernatural nature...

Ciel then looked at Shippou and saw that he had a grimace on his face. Shippou looked as if he was having a hard time controlling himself over those ridiculous rumors. Raising a brow, he looked away as he pondered on this discovery.

It appeared that despite the duties the redhead butler truly did care for his lady, unlike Sebastian to Ciel. He was a little envious of that fact. Ciel was no fool-he knew Sebastian just saw him as his food and merely did what he needed to do to get that meal.

Kagome opened her eyes as the master bellowed out, "Be quiet! Get back to your chores!" The servants scurried away. A few whined a little about wanting to stay so to see what will happen next. Nosy bunch, they were.

Lucas flew down the stairs, though Kagome noticed that the steward still wasn't anywhere nearby.

The large man stopped before his seated son, panting. His eyes were glistening, "My son...?"

Lance looked at him confusedly, "...?"

"Oh!" The duke grabbed him and wrapped his arms around the boy's tiny body. Startled and unsure, the boy weakly returned the hug, still exhausted. He still didn't have a clue why he was so tired.

"My son..." Lucas wept, cradling his son's damp head.

"Father..." Lance frowned when he felt the touch of tears on his damp skin. His stubby fingers tightened around his father's wrinkled clothes as he tried his best to give his father the greatest hug he could possibly give in this state.

After a moment of silence, Lucas released his son and pushed his shoulders back so he could fully look at Lance's face, "Don't you ever do that again!" His tone held a superiority tone.

Lance blinked, "But father, I didn't even know what I did- or what happened even!"

Kagome cleared her throat, grabbing their attentions, "I'll explain." She gestured the dark haired butler to display the Ouija board to the pair, "This is a-" She got interrupted.

"I played with it! A kid came by and gave me that! I talked to my mother with it!" Lance excitedly, or as excited as the exhausted kid could get, told them as he pointed at it. Lucas flinched, unsure if that was the cause for all of the horrible things that happened in his home, to his son.

Kagome shook her head, "More than likely you didn't talk to your mother-you talked to a monster instead- an imposter." She used the term monster mainly to get the clear point across to this dull-brained kid. Lance flinched, fear infecting his face, as the pretty girl continued, "This is an Ouija board, a device to communicate with supernatural forces... Often, it lets loose demons in the house, dark poltergeists so to speak, or possessions by evil spirits, demons, instead. Hardly ever does anyone get to speak with deceased friends and family members."

The Lady Exorcist gave the boy a pointed look, "That was what happened with him-he wished to speak with his mother but instead gotten himself his own body overtaken by a monster."

Lance gave a gulp, "So that's why I couldn't remember anything...Or why I'm so tired and achy." He then gave a long whine as he found himself yawning-the edges of his lips ached horridly. Lucas wanted to punish him for playing with such a strange item, but instead decided that he had been punished enough. Lucas sighed as he pulled him into another hug.

"So the boy that came in...He gave you this, Lance?" The father asked as he rubbed in smoothing circles on his son's back.

Lance nodded numbly, "Hmhmm...He did."

"Do you have his name, Lance?" Ciel asked, his arms crossed.

"No." Lance shook his head then he pleaded with his ample father to pick him up. Lucas complied, picking him up and laid his head on his shoulder-cradling him in his arms.

"Do you remember what he looks like?" Ciel questioned. He was curious.

"Umm...look a lot like the pretty girl. But with brown eyes and a little shorter." Lance muttered out, pointing at Kagome as she was the 'pretty girl'. Kagome and Shippou blinked in surprise before looking at each other in question.

"I...see..." The earl nodded, looking over the older man's shoulder for no particular reason. He let out a yelp and fell on his bottom when he realized what was there.

"I see you saw her." Kagome murmured. She was holding both Lilith and Damien in her arms. Ciel shook his head, shuttering from shock. Sebastian, frowning, helped him up. Shippou was amused.

"...?" Lucas looked back.

"Mommy!" Lance squealed out in delight.

THELOVELESS

A small being frowned, watching from the bush. The pair of tired bright brown eyes observed through the window, calculating. The group within was interacting with a female ghost, the child and the father were crying with her in their arms. "So...the devil's child came after all. I knew it!" The older bearded man cursed out as he watched intently on the duke next to the young boy.

The skinny, small male realized that the steward couldn't see the ghost at all.

He's blinded to everything, but the monsters that lurk in the dark, the young boy sighed, You betrayed your own master for what? Money? Jealousy? Still it was a foolish idea to try and curse your master's son-an innocent-with a weak demon. He frowned at that thought. Mr. Steward-I hope you'll get what you deserve. The boy wanted to glare at him but knew that it wasn't a wise idea to do so-his own master always seemed to know every one of his actions. Maybe the boy's master had spies upon the spy.

The brown-eyed child wouldn't be so surprised to know that his own master didn't trust him all of that much.

"Shit! Shit!" The steward cursed out and the boy flinched at the vulgarity, "What am I supposed to do?! I wanted him to suffer! That brat was supposed to die!" He punched the bark of the tree before wincing at his idiotic action.

Stupid. The boy rolled his eyes, before returning to watch the group he was studying, "If I may ask...Why?"

The steward glared at the envoy, "You little rat, he was the one that killed my love of my life!"

Who?

The steward went back to glowering at the stocky duke from behind the glass, "My Lillian..." He moaned out with sorrow rich within his voice.

Lillian? The fat man's dead wife? Wow, fool. The boy sighed, a hand on the rough bark as he shouldered against it, "Very well, I'll go report this to the Prophet. Take care and good luck next time-if you still wish to take your revenge, please take some time to speak with the Prophet." He told him, not daring to look at him in disgust, and instead keeping his chocolate-hued eyes on the young girl. The exorcist.

I'm so sorry.

The child forced himself to turn away and trekked his way back to an exit the steward uncovered for him. The young boy left without another word to the man, never once saw that the two butlers within the manor had already acknowledged their presences. Their eyes discreetly watched them beyond from their places.

The man, still looking murderous after the heavy duke from the glass, again, was unable to see the ghost of Lillan. The grateful spirit kissed her husband and her son a good bye before she disappeared within thin air…like a fading frosted breath in the winter.

THELOVELESS

Kagome told the duke two things before they left the manor. She told him this, "Your steward...I believe he is not what he seems to be-do not trust him. Look into his records one more time. That is all I can tell you." She then told him to sent rest of the money through the mail. Lucas agreed, thanking her once more as he bid them farewell. He was curious as of why Kagome was wary of his favored manservant. He decided to trust her words and be on guard of the man from now on.

Sebastian opened the door of the carriage for the youngsters. Sebastian leered at the redhead as he allowed the lady's butler to enter before him. The redhead smirked in victory when he took his seat.

The horse carriage creaked for a brief moment before it finally moved; the powerful horses whinnied with determination as they pulled their weight.

Ciel was now unsure of what to say.

Kagome was a real-deal exorcist and knew many things regarding supernatural forces. Her Cats, the ones that he made, were alive... Kagome, and perhaps Shippou, already knew about Sebastian, his unnatural butler. She could both see and speak to ghosts too, after being made clear on that after the interesting interaction with the gentle ghost of Lillian Noel.

Oh and she spoke of something about the eighth one.

"That's right, you won that game, didn't you?" Kagome told him, her eyes watching the city that flew. Ciel looked up, blinking, having totally forgotten about the game and the splinters that were in his hand.

"Your butler..." She bent over to Ciel's ear and whispered something in it. Ciel's eyes grew wide as he absorbed the information in. His butler, while he may not look like it, grew nervous. He glared somewhat at the other male. Shippou snickered quietly once he saw the devil's narrowing eyes. Sebastian cursed him inwardly for not allowing him to hear what the lady was saying.

Ciel numbly straightened up and nodded at her, "I see." He didn't want to look at his servant, even though he was somewhat relieved knowing that he had the best protection possible while he's alive. "Thank you."

Kagome waved it away but she frowned once she saw his hand, "You're hurt. Make sure to see a doctor and have it checked out." She lightly touched the young earl's hand as she looked at it closer. He could barely feel the dampness from a finger, remembering the blood the girl herself drew.

Ciel looked away.

He wondered why her hands felt so rough, even through those silk gloves...


A/N: Yes, few things will be explained later-especially the dolls and Lillian's ghost scene so don't worry about it.

Thanks again for all of your alerts, favorites, and reviews!

I did a fanart (such a loser am I, hahah), I'd link it in my profile but ffnet was screwing around so…here it is:

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I also did an oneshot, a spinoff to this work, called "The Loveless: The Little Black Bird" so if you haven't read it…Well, please read it? It's pretty long though. I 'd appreciate any feedback!

I cannot promise any soon update will be in order due to my school. :c But just remember that it will not be abandoned!

Okay, I'm done rambling, lol. Please do let me know of what you think of this chapter! BP over and out!

(9.18.13, Chapter 1 to 11 were tweaked slightly for better reading.)