Chapter Seven
Merrymaking
The voices of Ciel's servants as they sang in the carriage behind them was making Alibaster furious. He tried his hardest to ignore them but it just wasn't working as they repeated themselves over and over again. Even Victor was starting to get annoyed; and he had it worst due to his as the one driving their carriage. Alibaster and Aurora sat with Ciel in the carriage Sebastian had control of. Aurora, as normal, had her nose in her book, ignoring everything around them; or trying to. He took notice of the several ill looks she shot the carriage behind them. It made him smile.
"Do you hear how happy they are?" Sebastian asked over his shoulder. "They're very grateful to you. Such a kind, young master."
"I don't know about kind," Alibaster replied, taking a sip from the bottle in his hand. "I say he was more afraid of coming home to find destruction. Those four morons could barely stay at the house for a few days without you or Ciel there, Bassy, let alone a whole week."
The butler shivered. "Please, do not call me that."
Alibaster laughed. "Ahh, not too nice to be reminded of Grell, eh? I wonder…just how he fares with that companion of his."
"Oh, I'm sure he got what he deserved," Aurora didn't glance up from her book. "William T. Spears isn't one to play with fools like that foul creature."
"Speaking of which," Alibaster looked at the woman. "How do you know that reaper, Spears? An old acquaintance?"
"Something like that." Aurora replied.
"Well, come on. Details."
"Curiosity kills the Cat, you know." Aurora told him, glancing from her book.
"But you're the Cat, Aurora."
The smile that she sent him told Alibaster that that was the point.
Glancing over his shoulder, Alibaster frowned as they arrived at Houndsworth village. The bones of animals were all over the ground beneath a tree with collars hanging from it. His face ran white as the servants screamed behind him.
"Where in the hell are we?" He asked Aurora.
The woman wore a frown as she gazed over the village herself. "A hell for dogs, it seems."
By the command of Queen Victoria, Ciel was to secure Houndsworth and create some type of resort. The village was controlled by a nobleman named Henry Barrymore.
"I fear that I am not going to like this, Aunt Aurora."
"You are not the only one, Ali," Aurora narrowed her eyes before closing her eyes. "After all, humans are more of the foulest beings."
"Is that why you hate us so much, Aurora?" Alibaster asked her.
A despising frown crossed the woman's face. "You could say that."
The entire village was gray and the sounds of barking dogs covered them. Lifeless trees were everywhere; a pitiful place indeed.
Alibaster gave a chuckle at Aurora. "You're going to hate this place, aren't you. The dogs are going to be able to know right off the back that you're a cat, aren't they?"
"Perhaps. If they're smart enough."
"Don't worry, my lady," Sebastian smiled at her over his shoulder. "I'm here."
They moved past the village and up to a large manor on the hill in the back. It looked as bad as the rest of the lace. A maid moved out to greet them.
"Is this the Earl of Phantomhive?" She asked in a soft voice.
"Yes," Sebastian answered her.
She bowed. "Welcome to Barrymore castle. My master awaits your arrival."
"This is a castle?" Alibaster stared up at it. "My stepfather's place was huge compared to this."
"Be nice, Ali." Aurora told him.
The maid led the four of them through the castle and the others were given their own way. They ended up in a room with animal heads. Aurora frowned, trying her hardest not to make a remark. The thoughts of animals being hunted for fun made her sick. She was not going to be very friendly to these people at all. Alibaster wasn't, either.
The crack of a whip caught their attention and they lowered their gaze to find a large man hitting the maid with a whip.
"Who the hell is this Chihuahua? I told you to bring me the Queen's guard dog when he arrives! Don't you do anything right?"
"Chihuahua?" Sebastian asked with a frown.
Alibaster moved forward with a snarl on his face, ripping the whip from that man's hand before whacking him with his head as Aurora knelt down beside the maid to take care of her.
"What that hell is this?" Alibaster growled at the man. "What is wrong with you, man?"
Aurora didn't care to hear the conversation that next transpired between the four men of the room. She lifted the maid to her feet. "Are you all right?"
The maid nodded her head, wiping the tears from her face. "Y-yes. I thank you."
"Maid or not," Aurora told her. "You shouldn't be treated like that. If you wish revenge while I am here, you only need to ask." The maid gave a chuckle, thinking that it was just a joke.
Ciel and Alibaster sat at the table with Henry as the maid brought forth some tea. Sebastian joined her in serving it and Aurora stayed off to the side, just watching in silence. The maid's hands were still shaking so Sebastian took care of serving the tea. Henry slapped the papers on the table.
"There's nothing to discuss. Under no circumstances will I give Barrymore castle to anybody."
"Why is that?" Ciel asked.
"Because of the curse."
"Oh? What curse?"
"This village and its dogs have existed for centuries. Anyone who interferes with us will be cursed in a most horrible way. Even the Queen cannot lift the curse! Your mission is pointless. Anyone who acts against the wishes of the Barrymore family is destined to witness a very terrible end."
"Is that a threat?" Alibaster asked.
"How interesting," Ciel agreed.
"What?" The man didn't seem to understand.
"You've piqued my curiosity." Ciel told him. "I'd like to see this dreadful curse of yours, Lord Henry."
The elder man looked like he was about to pop a vein.
"There is something quite strange going on around here," Victor decided to talk to Alibaster and Aurora that next morning. "I heard from Sebastian earlier that they tried to convince Ciel to leave."
"Is that right?" Alibaster flipped a coin in his hands. "Around the time of the appearance of the demon hound, right?"
"Yes. It seems that it's truly haunted then, hmm?" Aurora raised a brow at Victor's comment.
"No, it's not. We're being played here like some set of fools." Aurora told them. She thought of the man that had been killed by the dog the evening before. The chant the villagers had performed for them made her veins run cold. She would have loved to knock some sense into these fools but had kept silent and returned to the room she had been given.
They were all now at the lake, enjoying their 'vacation'. The servants were all swimming, Ciel sitting in his chair a few feet away as Sebastian stood beside him. Aurora and the two men were standing further down the bank, talking quietly to themselves as they kept an eye open on the others.
"This demon hound is no dog," Alibaster replied. "There's something going on here, I'm afraid."
"Of course there is. Something is always going on with foolish events like this."
"Aurora," They turned to find Sebastian standing behind them with a smile on his face. "Would you care to join me? We can leave the others here for a time, I believe."
The woman smiled. "I don't see any harm in that." She followed him, leaving Alibaster and Victor to themselves.
"The two of them have quite a thing. I wonder what happened before I met them," Victor smiled. "They knew eachother before the events with your mother. What brought them together, I wonder."
"That's another tale of itself, Victor. And one I'm sure no one will ever know."
Their attention was caught by villagers running around behind them crying about catching the 'bad dog'. They followed everyone. A look of utter horror crossed Alibaster's face at the sight of the 'punishment' set upon the poor creature.
"This is madness!" Victor cried. He went to run forward to stop this but two bodies shot past him first. He was shocked to find it to be Finny and Alibaster. Alibaster fell back as Finny used a beam to knock the dogs away before bending down to check on the poor victim.
(I freakin' hate this episode! I would have killed the entire village!)
As Ciel and the others ran up behind them, the villagers stepped forward with weapons, talking about punishing them for interrupting.
"What the hell is wrong with you fools?" Victor demanded.
Alibaster lifted the poor creature in his arms and turned to face the villagers. His dark eyes were full of hatred as he glared at them. "Aurora." His voice was firm.
Ciel glanced at the man for a moment, wondering. The hounds were set upon them like they had been the unfortunate dog now in the man's arms but they never reached them.
"You called?" Aurora stood there in front of them now, a large grin on her face. The dogs with the villagers began to growl and bark at her; like they would a cat. She gave them a swift glare.
"Kill them." Alibaster's cold voice shocked everyone. "All of them. Every last one of them!"
"Now just a minute my Lord Alibaster," Sebastian's voice turned Aurora to the butler that now stood there with them.
"You dare to interfere?" Henry demanded.
"Well, you didn't possibly see something else happening, did you?" Aurora gave him a small smile. "You dare lay a hand on those important to me and I'll make sure you never see the light of day again." She told him that in a light, airy tone but the feeling struck them all hard. The dogs began to growl at her again.
"Shameful," Sebastian glared at the dogs. "What coarse, noisy growling they have. One of the reasons I despise these creatures." Aurora watched as his eyes glowed and the dogs sat down, wagging their tails at them. She frowned. Why hadn't she thought of that? "Because you are a cat," Sebastian replied to her unspoken comment. "And you were standing on edge."
"Was not," She replied with a small grin.
The Villagers were shocked.
"Your pitiful farce ends here, Barrymore!" Ciel cried out now. "There is no demon hound! It's all a lie! There's just him; an old man obsessed with power! Determined to keep it no matter what."
"I take it that you found something?" Victor asked Aurora.
"Of course. Did you expect little less of us?" She replied.
"What?" Henry cried out. "What evidence do you have?"
"There's this," Sebastian answered him. He pulled out a dog skull. "We've confirmed that these teeth marks match the markings of the bites on the man from last night." He then stood and pointed up to the sky. "Do you see it now?" There was the projection of a dog on the dark clouds above them. "The truth behind the demon hound. It's shadow is nothing but a projection, just a transparent trick. The glowing is prosperous dust, sprinkled on a normal dog." Sebastian grabbed a bottle from his coat and dumped the green dust on the ground at his feet.
"It is merely an illusion. A story made up by an evil man." Ciel told the villagers. "The man you let rule your village. This man, Henry Barrymore!"
"No!" Henry cried out. "It's all nonsense! You can't fool them! Where's your evidence?"
Not wanting to hear any more of this foolish game, Aurora turned to Alibaster as he still held that dog in his hands. "Are you all right, Alibaster?"
"These people," He began. "They sicken me."
"Indeed, they all sicken me." Aurora turned her attention to the dog and pulled the strip of cloth from its mouth. "Here, Sebastian." The butler gave a smile before returning to the villagers. "Would you like to retire from this absurd moment?"
"I think a bath and some warm tea can help with this." Victor joined in as Henry was turned on by his villagers and carried off.
Their thoughts were cut off as Finny came over and hugged the dog Alibaster still held, tears crawling down his face as he told him he was a good boy.
"There you go, just another reason that I hate dogs." Sebastian sighed lowly.
Aurora gave him a soft punch in the arm. He glanced down at her with a smile.
