He drifted slowly away from his slumber. The child didn't remember when he had fallen asleep. Ciel stretched his arms and sat on his bed. It should be still nighttime because no light came through the curtain slits. He got up from the bed and left the room in silence. How had he fallen asleep with his little brother in such a bad condition? The little heir scolded himself as he sneaked past the corridor and headed to the other room. Despite the heating system around the house the wooden tables felt rough and cold against his bare feet. He took a deep breath before knocking the door softly. He tried again when he got no response and his thin eyebrows frowned.

"Come in. Earl, he finally- Oh."

The child looked up to find the mortician perched above him. It reminded him of a raven*, or any other black bird with all those dark clothes. His fringe was removed from his face and Ciel realized it was the first time he saw him like that. He had no circles under his eyes but he looked somehow tired. Restraining himself for pointing the scar that crossed his face, the boy gulped at his serious stare. The room behind him was sunk in shadows like the rest of the hall. The only light came from a little candle the mortician was holding in one hand, but the light was so weak and flickering that Ciel was sure it was close to die.

"I want to see him. Is he asleep?"

Undertaker moved to his side to let the child in and closed the door carefully. He heard rushed footsteps towards the bed and turned on his heels.

"Don't wake him up. He needs to rest."

He left the candle on the nightstand near the headboard. Then he went to a comfortable chair located at the right side of the bed and sat there, sprawling in his seat and staring at the other child. He was waiting for Vincent or Rachel to come and check their younger son, not for his older brother to sneak in. A smile crossed his features when he remembered the Countess talking about how much they were like their father. He watched as Ciel got near the bed with his limbs tensed. The child frowned his eyebrows and placed a hand over his brother's arm. He turned to him with his blue eyes filled with worry and a pinch of fear.

"What have you done to him? He's cold."

"He'll be fine in a couple of hours. He's just sleeping, little Earl. Shouldn't you be asleep too? I know you two don't fear the hour of the wolf, yet it's good to rest enough."

The boy huffed and shook his head. How could he sleep being worried? But he wasn't acquainted with Undertaker, it was his brother who, strangely, was talkative towards him. Ciel sat on the bed and drew a hand to cover his mouth when he yawned.

"I couldn't rest. I…" he looked at his bare legs and his voice became a brittle whisper. "Don't want him to die."

"You don't need to worry about that, despite his illness your brother is a healthy child. It's just that sometimes his respiratory system fails. With the right treatment he will be healthy like your mother."

"She falls ill sometimes."

"But not all the time. Now, you shall leave."

Ciel opened his mouth to reply but covered it with one hand. He wouldn't cry in front of a stranger, what kind of noble boy did that? Plus he wasn't a toddler, he was older, and strong. The child hiccuped and tensed when he heard a creak in front of him. Undertaker caressed his hair and knelt to his height on the carpet that covered the sides of the bed.

"I-I dreamt it. If you dream it it becomes true. He was dead."

The funeral director ran his fingers through the child's dark blue hair and spoke with a gentle tone.

"We dream a lot of things that don't become true, or that aren't possible. I'm sure you've dreamt you could fly, and I don't see you growing wings."

Ciel sniffled and shrugged his shoulders. He had a point, but the hollow sensation in the pit of his stomach wouldn't leave. The child took a deep breath and looked to his sleeping brother.

"When he wakes up, he will be fine again?"

"He will be better at least. Now," Undertaker got up and peered at the ill child. His breath seemed stable and some pink had started to flourish on his cheeks. It was relieving to see that it was working. He drifted his eyes back to the child in front of him, who was cleaning his face with the sleeves of his nightgown. "You need to sleep too. Come back in the morning, I promise he will be fine."

The boy nodded in silence and left a dry, silent kiss on his brother's cheek. He rushed to the door, turned his head to them and closed the wooden panel at his back. Alone in the hall, the child stood still a couple of seconds as he tried to catch any sounds. If he was caught out of bed at those hours surely his parents would scold him despite his good intentions. Ciel walked to his room in complete silence. It was dark inside and he missed the dying candle even if he disliked the shadows it casted over his brother's face. He was pale, like in his dream. The little heir climbed to his bed and hid under the sheets trying to calm his mind. His gaze wandered around the room, finding weird shapes in the shadows around him. No matter how hard he tried to convince him that it was his regular room, he couldn't shake the odd sensation nagging at his back. And when he heard a dog howling at the distance; he knew it, because Sebastian never, ever howled -his mother didn't like even when he barked or growled playing-, he covered his head with the heavy duvet. He didn't like omens at all. **

The next morning the state was covered in a light fog that disappeared in a couple of hours and left the gardens covered in morning dew. Rachel got up and stretched her arms careful to not wake her husband. But to her initial surprise, the Earl was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, in the dizziness typical of the first minutes after having waking up, she realized the cause of her husband's absence. Of course, with their son ill, he must be discussing the treatment with Undertaker, or busy with someone else. Her delicate blonde eyebrows curved in a worried expression and she dug her teeth in her lower lip. She sat on the edge of the bed and put on a pair of slippers. Rachel went to the dressing room annexed to the room and picked up a wool dressing gown. She took some minutes to comb her hair fast and tied her blonde locks in a low loose bun with a silk tie. Wrapping the wool cloth around her shoulders, the Countess left the room with a fast pace. She would worry about her husband later, that morning her son was her priority. The hall was bathed in a soft light coming from the windows and the young woman peered outside when she walked past a high picture window. The sky was still clouded but the masses gathered over the state had a light grey tone close to pure white, nothing like the last days. Outside the servants came and went carrying things, while the gardeners were trimming the decorative bushes. She moved away from the windowpane and resumed her walk to her son's room. The typical sounds from the servant's ale barely reached her ears, but she could hear Tanaka dispensing orders around. Like every other Saturday morning. She reached the door to her son's chambers and knocked twice before she placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Can I go in?"

Rachel waited at the door when she heard muffled steps coming to it. To her surprise it wasn't Vincent who opened the door, but Undertaker. The tall mortician looked like he hadn't slept a wink, she thought while she was inspecting him from head to feet. His usual veiled smile was gone and he had a tired posture against the doorway.

"Countess, what a pleasure to see you this morning" he greeted with a singsong tone. He moved from the threshold and closed the door. "The Earl is having a reunion with Diederich and the others. They arrived early in the morning and he wanted to let you rest."

"Shouldn't you be down with them?"

"I have better things to do than hearing them babble" he sentenced with a disdain flourish of his hands. He gestured towards the chair placed between the window and the bed. "But please, have a seat. Did you eat anything?"

"I'll have breakfast later, thank you very much for your concern" Rachel sat and fixed her eyes in the sleeping child. His breath sounded calm and his cheeks had a healthy pink tone on them. "How was it?"

"Well, it wasn't pleasant, but he behaved very well."

"Did he woke up? He's been having trouble sleeping the last month."

"I had to wake him around five in the morning to give him the second dose, and after that he fell asleep like a log."

The woman nodded and placed a hand over her son's arm. The child turned his head to face her and mumbled something under his breath. Rachel got up from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed, her wool dressing gown falling around her like a white cascade. Some locks fell around her face with the sudden movement and she smiled at the little boy who had started to wake up slowly. Behind her, the mortician ran a hand through his hair and sat on the vacant chair with a low sigh.

"Are you alright?"

"Even if I don't sleep too much, I have to admit that I'm tired" he conceded with a polite smile. The boy had murmured in dreams and he had worried about the dose he had given him, but the explanation of his mother soothed his doubts.

"You can retire if you need to, I know you have a business to take care of, sir. I'll tell Tanaka to-" she halted mid-sentence and looked down to her son, whose big blue eyes were fixed on her. "Sweetheart, how are you?"

"If you two excuse me, I shall meet with the Earl and the rest downstairs. Thanks for the tea offering, Countess, I'll tell that lovely butler of yours if I cross him."

With that, Undertaker got up and bowed politely. They needed some intimacy and he was more than willing to give them as much as they needed. He found Rachel to be charming and always enjoyed a good conversation with the young woman, but it was true that Vincent had told him to join them as soon as possible.

"Undertaker."

He turned to the blonde woman with a hand on the door.

"Yes, madam?"

"Thank you. I don't know how to… If there's anything we can do…"

"There's no need of payments, it's always a pleasure to help your family, milady."

The door closed behind him and trapped their muffled words. The hall was flooded with light and Undertaker let out a little groan of disgust because of the contrast with the darkened room. With long and steady steps he walked away, his boots stomping the rich carpet and his arms resting at his sides. If Diederich and the others had come that early, that only meant bad news to come. He lowered his head when he walked past the family portrait in the main hall and kept going downstairs with haste. Maybe for once they would focus on something important.

* This is a little nod to Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven, published in 1845. The stanza is 'But, with mien of lord of lady, perched above my chamber door–– Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door–– Perched, and sat, and nothing more.'

** It was considered a bad omen to hear a dog howling at night when someone was ill in a house. However, it could be reversed searching behind one's own bed and turning over a shoe.