Warning: Some disturbing content of varying levels. Violence is not too graphic, but yet it has its moments. It also has several references of profanity /b lasphemy, which were already alluded to in the previous chapter, starting by the whole case beginning at the date of December 24.
The trivia bit about the First-Foot and New Year stuff is something I quickly read on Victorian Era festivities. It's about the first person that crosses a house's threshold after midnight bringing a present and giving good luck to the family. It was best to be a man with dark hair, whereas a blond haired male would bring bad luck. Apparently, a woman would signify the same thing. Women should be home before midnight, and what you were doing at the strike of midnight would apparently foretell what you would do the next year.
This chapter is long. I mean long. The longest chapter of every fanfic I've ever written. I'm sorry for that.
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December 30th, late night
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Claudia was restless by his side. She had refused to travel inside the carriage, and instead sat with him as he guided the horses to their destination.
Her words did not reach him. His mind was caged in that dinner room, its destruction. The blood and gore that were not quite as unsettling as the chilling sense of unease, unease he hadn't quite been able to pinpoint at the time.
The unexplainable, raw angst that the panic etched into the walls had made him feel.
"How?" Eventually, the single word managed to pierce through his haze. He did not reply.
The only other words Undertaker heard were when he stopped the carriage in front of the familiar summer house.
"Don't even think about it," Claudia barked, seeing clearly what his intention was. Again, Undertaker was silent. He stepped off his seat, but Claudia shut a gloved fist over his sleeve. "You will not dump me here as some sort of unseemly luggage."
"You can be rest assured, the case will be resolved," Undertaker insisted, freeing himself from her grip and walking to the door. Claudia jumped from her seat and followed after him, catching up and forcing him stop.
"I am not a child, Undertaker. You will work with me, and you will start by telling me how we catch them."
"I will."
"Great. Then start-"
"No. I will catch them. Please stay here."
Her expression was as unyielding as his tone.
"This is my case. There are people dying, and I will catch the culprits as per the orders I was given."
"I will."
"I may not be like you, Undertaker, but I am not a child. I have seen a lot of darkness. You are utterly disrespecting me by brushing me aside like this."
"I am keeping you from harm."
"You're acting like I'm an incompetent nuisance. If what I know about them isn't enough, then you will teach me what you know about demons. And that's that."
Claudia had read his expression before, when his own realization had dawned at him. That final, almost redundant confirmation - the babbled words the paver's wife had told Claudia - were just a catalyst. Like himself, the pieces fell into place in Claudia's mind. It had taken her a moment to fully accept, the surprise clear, but when she acknowledged it, she did so with simplicity. The case had found decive proof, the culprits had been identified - all she had to do was catch them.
As if it would be that simple.
"Do they have a weak spot? Do they act solely upon command? Books don't dwell much on these."
"I told you once, it's-"
"Rather than pester me, you ought to teach me instead," Claudia interrupted him sharply.
"You cannot fight one of them. I can't make this any more blatant."
"No. I am the Queen's Watchdog. This is my case."
A soft rustle of the curtains by the window behind them caught his attention. Their voices might have been slightly too loud and traveled inside the summer house. Instinctively, he knew it wasn't Tanaka. Undertaker felt who it was right before the front door opened, and Claudia turned expecting to notify her butler of her business that night and instead found Cedric standing at the threshold.
"What are you doing here?" Claudia's eyebrows arched.
"Claudia," he greeted her, the smile wavering too fast at confirming the tones he overheard were indeed sign of something being wrong. "How is the case going?"
"What are you doing here?" she repeated. "Where's Tanaka? Why aren't you at the mansion?"
"Tanaka is here. I mean, not here now. He went to retrieve information on my behalf."
"Information? What about Vincent and Francis?"
"I left the servants in charge. Everything is all right."
"Good of you to have come, Lord Cedric," Undertaker greeted, the smile fluttering to his face by reflex. "If you please, take Claudia inside. We have been working hardously as of late."
"You stop this immediately, I am not being left behind" Claudia snapped, turning to the both of them in a jolt. "I've had a major breach on the case, Cedric. Inform Tanaka when he returns."
"That's what-"
"Claudia should rest," Undertaker said instead, just as Claudia turned on her heels and started walking down to the carriage again. "As expected, she is not taking my current advice."
The man eyed the both of them, confusion splattered on his face. Undertaker prepared to go after Claudia. If need be, they would wait for Tanaka to return. Her husband and her butler would have better chances at persuading her.
"No."
Undertaker turned back to Cedric instead, and so did Claudia. Cedric wasn't facing Claudia however, he was facing Undertaker. The man was holding his ground just like he did when he was younger, arguably more determined now.
"Claudia won't stay here if she doesn't want to."
Amusing as it might be, now was not really the best of times for Cedric to play the part of loving husband. Not quite like that.
"I wasn't really suggesting it, Lord Cedric."
"Neither am I. Claudia said she has a breach on the case. Why wouldn't she persue it?"
"Because she's forgetting the importance of things that cannot be recovered."
"'The importance of things that cannot be recovered'?" Just as Claudia was about to address Cedric, Undertaker's choice of words made her snap at him once more. "That again? We're talking about a case, murders, and catching the ones responsible. Not your bloody metaphors, for God's sake!"
"You seem to be unable to understand my direct statements, so I tried a metaphor. I will not let you put yourself in this danger."
"Claudia's life has always been in danger," Cedric retorted. Undertaker couldn't help but roll his eyes, which none of them could see. He would much prefer that Cedric refrained from talking altogether. Why was he at the summer house, again?
"So what are you afraid of? That I will harm innocents again? Is that what we're talking about now?"
"I am-"
"The importance of things that cannot be recovered. You've told me that when I chose to kill that man, that 'innocent' years ago. What now, is Sarah Delane the poor innocent soul I'll forget about when I shoot her dead?"
"It was a warning."
"Be as it may, who am I forgetting now?"
"Yourself."
Claudia snorted in annoyance. "Oh but of course."
"You need to step back to yourself, not the servant for a Queen who throws you into darkness pits to do her bidding. This is not about your reputation - you will resolve the case. You will simply let me do it."
"My husband has said the words you seem to fail to understand. If you're worried about my life, well, then you must have always been, for it has always been at risk. I can die by breathing, you see, that's the one aspect of life we have always discussed about. And you also fail to understand something even greater. I am the Queen's Watchdog. That is what and who I am. I am not sacrificing any part of me by acting or thinking under the Queen's orders. This is me. Clearly you fail to see there is no difference."
"Now that that's settled," Cedric proceded, not understanding there hadn't been anything 'settled' for him to continue. Even so, he ignored Undertaker and spoke to Claudia. "Tanaka has informed me of the case and victims. I knew Lord Tarl, and I want to help."
"The latest victim. Yes, I knew him as well."
"His wife and Sarah Delane, your suspect, were acquaintances."
"And you know this because?"
"Lord Tarl has... had much lower alcohol tolerance than he'd like to brag about. He shared his ailments with his wife more often than not, mentioned some of her social gatherings and friends. Tanaka described the information you have of Sarah Delane, and it seems to match with one of those friends."
"And?"
"That link with Lady Tarl may be helpful. The family has several estates within London. If they were friends, maybe Lady Tarl told Sarah Delane of some of them. She could be hiding in one of them."
"I see," Claudia's serious expression from before eased into accomplishment. "The murder happened yesterday and the deaths had been so scattered in social standard, and with the other cases, I confess I neglected questioning Lady Tarl immediately. It would have been wise to confirm that connection between the two women. So, Tanaka went to investigate the estates' locations."
Cedric nodded and suggested: "You will resolve this case, but it would be best to wait for Tanaka's return and his information will close the deal. You can rest while we wait. It pains me that this will likely extend to the New Year's Eve, but it can't be helped. If possible, come back home before midnight and you will still be able to attend to our guests."
"I'll likely be the First-Foot," Claudia scoffed instead. "Dark haired but a woman. Not too much luck."
"God knows I wouldn't bring too much luck either," Cedric smiled, waving his hand to his blond locks, this jolly casual festival exchange blending into the conversation as if it was the most banal thing in the world. Maybe it ought to be, this wonderful ability Claudia and her family had to join the macabre with the mundane.
He had been left effectively ignored during the whole conversation, looking at them and their ignorance of the depths of this case. His previous conversation with Claudia didn't seem finished, but it was something that clearly was set to wait, by Claudia's demand.
"Perhaps it'll be best if you rest here as well," Cedric addressed him again, as in a peace offering. Claudia's eyes also glared at him, albeit visibly calmer with her husband's intervention. "You will you both rest and decide your plan of action in the morning."
"I don't think I've made myself clear enough."
"You have. And for that reason, I know you will do what you have always done," Cedric finished. "You will keep her safe."
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December 31st
At least, Cedric's sudden setting of a backbone didn't include some ludicrous heroic idea of joining them in their task or anything of the sort. Tanaka did offer himself to give them assistance, but Claudia instructed him otherwise.
"Undertaker is with me."
A reassurance, something that should apeace the minds of everyone involved.
Claudia turned and stared at him, into the eyes he was hiding beneath his hair.
"Shall we?"
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Tanaka had interrogated Lady Tarl and procedeed to provide them with the addresses of the three estates she had inherited from her late husband. They were scattered throughout the layout of the city, and the safest way to exclude them would be to verify themselves.
The first two locations turned out to have servants looking after them, and none of the servants had seen a couple, or did not know they were harbouring them.
They were told the third estate was debilitated and the family intented to sell it.
.
There was always the chance they could be wrong. This lead wasn't a guarantee they would find Sarah Delane. She could have found a different shelter. Or she could be hiding there, but they could find the place empty. The past three murders had a two day gap between each; it would make sense if another happened today. Without a lead on whom the next target might be, this was definitely the strongest one they could follow, but wasn't certain.
Claudia seemed convinced, however. Despite the danger, Undertaker could feel her breathing and heartbeat hastening, not from fear as much from excitement.
"You won't attack first," Undertaker said under his breath as he stepped off the carriage. He tried helping Claudia, but she averted from him and immediately started to cover the rows of streets leading up to the address.
"That's the right approach in every situation. Are you telling me to give them a chance to shoot first?"
"I'm saying if one of us attacks, it's me."
"You're not carrying a weapon, Undertaker."
"You used to have more faith in me."
"You used to trust me more."
Undertaker fell silent, deciding this would fast turn into a conversation of toddlers. The streets around them were busier than usual, with the New Year's Eve fast approaching. The socializing tradition of the date was clear, and as night started to fall it seemed to only increase the crowds. Orphans ran past couples on the road, holding prized coins they had managed to snatch or to earn, hoping against hope it would bring them much needed wealth luck for the next year. A butler followed a nobleman, carrying a wrapped present the man hoped to offer to his family or friend as the First Foot. No one paid much attention to Claudia or Undertaker. The street lamps were lit as they passed by them, the workers not paying them much attention either. Although they had started their investigation at early afternoon, the time had dragged at the other two locations. Night was set when they reached the right street.
Claudia looked up at the estates and quickly found the one they were looking for.
"There's no servants in this one. That maid told me."
"It's best if we go around the back."
"I agree."
Against his request, Claudia kept walking ahead of him, just like when she was a child solving mysteries of her own. The image of her small frame in tattered clothes and disguise came uninvited to his mind. Undertaker brushed it aside.
"They are likely to be together, aren't they?" She asked before turning the corner of the street. The light from the street lamp dimmed, slowly leaving them behind.
"Yes."
"It will be hard to attack Sarah, then, I imagine?"
"They tend to protect their contractor, but it's a means to an end. I don't know what their contract specifies."
"So, it can neglect the fact the demon should protect her?"
Undertaker mused for a second. "Demons are deceivers. It could have tricked her. If she died, it would get what it wants. But the conditions of the contract need to have been met. Therefore, it's an unlikely scenario. She's not the dangerous of the two."
"Killing her would be ideal then, as there's the chance of disposing of the demon. It gets what it wants and goes away, right?"
A heartbeat of silence. He did not look at Claudia.
"It's a small possibility. The chance is not..."
"Good. I like small chances." Claudia confirmed if her hair was appropriately tied up and cleared her eyesight, reajusting the holster by her thigh. She stepped forward through the street, her voice dropping in tone but hardening in resolve. "It'll save both of us the trouble. Killing two birds with one stone."
Undertaker wanted to tell her again; hoped the warning would at last sink in. However, the other reason of the warning, the one important thing that he feared most she would forget and never be replaced, resonated in his mind. And for that reason, Sarah Delane's fate was undoubtably complex.
The chances of the woman surviving the night were extremely slim. If Claudia shot her mercilessly, then the woman's record was already settled and a Grim Reaper was bound to appear soon. There's only so much one could hope on the scenario of a fellow Grim Reaper walking into a fight with a demon, and how slim the chances of his real nature to continue undetected by supernatural beings. A Shinigami, a deserter, a demon and Claudia. Not a pleasant scenario. And then of course, was the demon itself. It had a contract. Its scavanging nature would be triggered by having a rightful, willing meal snatched under its claws. And if it succeeded, the woman would still die, horribly.
If she survived this night, a whole other matter would emerge. She knew too much, and would be put in a position of access for powerful third parties to question her and the nature of the crimes she perpetrated.
And Claudia had a role to play in the outcome. If she killed Sarah Delane, then it was one nail deeper into that coffin she was crafting for herself. But if she didn't, then someone else would have to kill the woman; otherwise, the nail would strike deeper and more dangerously.
The whole situation was an impending doom, and every cold shiver that etched into his bones only emphased it, since the moment he knew a demon had elapsed near Claudia.
Disgusting creatures. They corrupted everything around them by their very presence.
They were close to turning the next corner when they heard them: muffled, repressed groans and whimpers of pain, turned into sounds of indistinguishable words.
Claudia exchanged looks with Undertaker, finger over her lips. Her other hand was hovering on the gun. The pained cries continued, carrying from what appeared to be nearby; just around the corner, perhaps a few meters ahead. It had been roughly clear at first, but by each slow and careful step they took, it became certain the voice was female.
"...happening?"
"Perhaps it's enough, wouldn't you say?"
The second voice made both of them halt their careful approach. In contrast to the laboured woman's voice, the male tone was calm, borderlining boredom.
"Your body will keep rejecting it. I may not know much about it, but I do know you will keep experiencing pain for the next hours. It might be best if we ended it now. You have already got what you wanted, have you not? All those lewd, horrible men. You can rest better now."
"I said end. The year hasn't ended yet, has it?" The woman's attempted protest was shattered under the audible groan. "Oh God, what's happening?"
"We both agreed you wouldn't last much longer either way, didn't we? Not in that state, without medical care. But why bother anyway? The end of the year is a poetic, symbolic time. And we are so close to it. A pleasant night, pleasant time, pleasant killings. All is all right."
"I said no! I have one more. I can kill one more and then..." her voice broke under a renewed pained whimper.
Undertaker had to make the decision now. Would he take Claudia's faith in that slim chance of dispelling the demon by killing its contractor, or risk enraging it? He couldn't hope to kill a demon with a single strike; he knew better than that. So in a preemptive attack, which target would be the most successful one?
Claudia decided the matter for him. The gun flew to her hand and she turned the corner, aiming it straight ahead and holding the grip tightly as she fired.
There was a scream of shock. All Undertaker could do was witness what had enlapsed from it.
The woman was laying against the wall, bent over herself in clear distress. Her features were blurred through his weakened vision, and yet he could tell the weariness of her face, her eyes wide from shock but the physical pain preventing her from straightening back up or run. The dark stains on her dress, enlarged by the shadows of the distant and weak street lamp, were bloodied remnants of her husband's obliterated body and of the ones that followed. Against the dark outline of the night, her thin shape, tattered and dirtied pearl dress chosen for the Christmas festivities, almost reminded him of a rag doll that had lost its filling and was slouching over herself.
Then there was the thing. It looked like a young man, roughly - purposefully - around the woman's age. The clothes weren't anything near embellished or regal, on the contrary. Its face would be just as plain, which would be uncommon for their first choice - then again, it served its purpose just as perfectly as everything else. Sarah Delane was a noblewoman wanting to run from all things noble, familiar and abusive. Its shape served that desire and the purpose of their contract.
And clearly, that purpose included not letting its contractor die.
"Oh my. That was rash," it said, raised arm slowly falling back to its side. The bullet hole was neatly carved into the fabric, skin and bone beneath it. "We seem to have a new development, Sarah."
Undertaker stood right beside Claudia, assessing the scene as cold blooded as he could - as he would be. The first thing he could see was that, once again, the supernatural creature couldn't tell Undertaker's nature right away, just like his fellow Grim Reaper hadn't some years ago on the top of the factory facility.
"Sarah Delane," Claudia started, gun still raised. "You are responsable for the death of six men."
"You seem to have been discovered," the thing dragged, turning its head in an awkward angle to take in the details of the both of them. "They do make odd police officers in this age."
"Kill them," the woman hissed, trying and visibly failing to stand up straight. The demon blinked, hazed, head turning lazily back to her.
"I see only one male," it said sluggishly. "And even that seems questionable."
"How many times do I have to tell you?!" the woman screamed, her cringed teeth equal parts anger and pain. "You have to do as I tell you! Kill them both!"
"As you wish..." it sighed as if it was infinitely bored, but the grin that expanded like a disease on its features told otherwise. Its eyes fell over Claudia first, taking in the details of her shape in a way that made every fiber of Undertaker's being shiver in repulsion. "Turns out you'll be second in line, my dear Sarah. I do miss the nice warm taste of a woman. Two within the hour is wonderful."
Claudia wasted no time and fired the gun, bullet piercing through the thing's right temple this time. While the woman startled up at the sound and impact, screaming again as her eyes darted to the thing by her side in shock, the demon didn't so much as move. Its head jerked however slightly backwards, but it might have been as if an insect had clumsily bashed against its skin. Blood turned dark by the shadows and night hoozed out, dripping over its features.
Even though she knew the thing wasn't human, Claudia had never seen one in person. Undertaker could feel the chilling dread that came from her at the sight of the thing spreading its arms, the gun in her hand betraying how shaky her grip had turned.
"Oh my dear," it sang amusingly. "You cannot kill me. I'm the worst monster you feared as a little child."
Claudia didn't lower the shaking gun even after proven useless, twice. Her step didn't so much as stagger in an unconscious reaction, but it was taking her more effort than she would ever admit.
"All the monsters I know are human," she replied instead, facing the creature right in its eyes.
The thing chuckled, apparently not expecting her to engage it with no clear fear in her voice. But it could feel the one emanating from her, just like Undertaker could.
"I love the ones that try to be strong. All the more wonderful."
"What are you doing?! Kill them already!" the woman bellowed from behind it. She was still bent over herself, like she was covering or holding something on her body.
"It might be more advisable if you continued to embrance that dead piece of meat in your belly." All the amusement of but a second ago vanished in a terryfing blink of an eye. "I say, I am overlooking a breach in contract. You might not want to insist much on it."
The woman quivered, not out of pain this time.
Neither Claudia, the woman nor the demon had paid him attention. Undertaker remained still, watching the exchanges unfold. All of his real emotions, dread and disgust kept away from the mask of his face and away from his mind. The demon thrived on the feeling it was building around itself, stepping slowly and emphantically forward.
It was right on its previous words. The end of the year was a poetic, symbolic time.
One.
The end of something past and the continuation to something new.
Two.
Somehow, even amongst the darkness and the blood, he managed to think about that.
And that the best approach wasn't a preemptive strike, but rather one at the right time.
Undertaker pulled Claudia behind him as the demon darted forward, his hat falling and the lockets clunking as he threw his arm back. The Death Scythe appeared in his hand and ripped through the air in a single vicious strike that slashed deep through the demon's chest.
Sarah Delane screamed again, barely managing to hold herself up against the wall. The demon was thrown against the wall on the other side of the street, blood splattering on its trail, bones cracking under the impact.
Behind him, Claudia's breathing had been caught on her throat, eyes wide and mouth gapping, gun uselessly hanging from her fingers. Undertaker pulled his scythe back, the familar, wonderful grip of it having the same feel as before. The drops of blood echoed as they glided on the blade and dripped to the cobbled stones. He brushed the white bangs off his face; if this was to be familiar, then this detail should be as well.
Claudia stepped behind him. He raised his arm, and she stopped immediately.
He knew better than thinking he could kill one of them with a single strike.
"I haven't seen one of you for some time now," the demon growled, twisting itself on the ground and lifting its shape back up like a puppet pulled by invisible strings. A nightmare. The blood catching up to its mouth was spit towards Undertaker. "I do miss it. I shoved his pretty glasses deep into his squishy bright eyes and teared off his head last time. Was it the time before that one?"
Undertaker teased the clasping of the chain lockets around his waist. The clanking from before had been almost painful to his ears. He would damage them. As they were freed, his outer robe hanged open and grey cloth slided off his shoulder, unrestricting his moviments.
"Please, hold them for me," he asked Claudia, extending his arm back again but this time gently. He didn't remove his eyes from the creature as Claudia shut her fist tightly around the locket chain.
"You don't have your neaty glasses now do you? I've heard about you deserters," the thing hissed. "You are pretty neatly scarred too. Ooooh, this will be delightful. You must believe you are so used to pain already."
Sarah Delane had started to drag herself back the street, fighting against her body to try to run. The street would be the safest route to escape, but there was so much wishing could do. She fell over the steps of the back door of the estate and pushed herself inside. Claudia reacted behind him, but could not step forward or aim her gun, not from her position and with the two in front of her.
"And the tasteful, delicious pain of loss," the demon continued, taking one step forward. It's body twisted disturbingly, bones cracking off its joints and back again, a play to enhance its frightening aura. "Oh, was that what killed you? Loss hurts infinitily more than a cut to the skin. Let me wonder~ a family? A sweet, delightful and loving wife and a little horde of children, was it? Or just the one, a little fragile bird you saw starving to death and couldn't even save the smallest memento of? And through it all, you were the one surviving, witnessing it all and being left behind alone. How painful it must have been. Hmmmm~?"
The demon cackled and its eyes rolled to Claudia.
"Oh, my goodness. How I love to rip loved ones apart limb by limb."
Claudia tried to fire, but wasn't fast enough. The demon pulled out a dagger off its clothes and threw it through the air, darting after it immediately. As it expected, Undertaker glided to Claudia, the dagger sinking into his chest in a burning pinch. The instant he slouched over, the demon was over him. Gritting his teeth, the scythe arched upwards and missed, but the demon was forced back, hopping on its feet playfully. The smirk was monstrous.
"My oh my. That must hurt."
"Not as much as yours," Undertaker granted him the reply. He effectively blocked Claudia's emotions in that moment; he would be moved by her concern later.
The focus now had to be on how close Claudia still was to the demon, dangerously within reach. He hated the idea of being separated, but it would at least prevent her from harm and witnessing the end of this. The demon wouldn't be bothered to carry many weapons, when he was intended to kill men by oblitering them from within. The dagger was but a whim; and now one less mean for it to attack. It was reduced to close range strikes now.
Or maybe not.
"That is one delicious little mynx right there," the demon resumed its teasing. "Is she your new wife or your daughter? Maybe both, is it? Have you been trying to play house with that little human? Must have warmed your cold dead heart to see such a beautiful living doll. I can bet it would just kill you to see her die. Can a dead person die twice, I wonder?"
Undertaker darted to the demon, scythe cutting through the air and Claudia took the cue, charging down the street to the door of the estate. The scythe almost cut through it, but the demon vanished and the blade obliterated the wall behind it instead.
Undertaker stopped breathing. The dim light on the street quivered and vanished as shadows enlaced the very air, rasping strings of it surrounding Claudia. She staggered, caught in the fluttering darkness.
"Is this supposed to scare me?" she shot at the air, fists shut tight around the grip of the gun and the chain of the lockets. Undertaker spinned on his heels, oxygen stopping him from thinking. His fists shut around the snath and charged forward to her.
The laughter resonated into their very bones.
"It's not you I'm after, dear."
Claudia turned around swiftly, gun raised again. Undertaker saw her and stopped his attack, breathing failing him once more before the pain and fire ripped through his back, forcing a groan out of his lips and throwing him to his knees. Claudia's scream was worse - so much worse - as she fired the gun and the bullet hit bone harsh. The demon staggered back this time, but the unhuman growl was not of defeat. All Undertaker could do was grab a hold of the Death Scythe falling by his side and arch it forward.
He caught the demon through the ribs as it launched over to Claudia. The demon fell to the ground, blood pouring in a flow out from the open wound, sinking in the trails between the stones. The growl was of pain now, a threat drowned as the blood fell from its mouth. Gritted teeth were drenched, making it look like a dying, dangerous animal, its eyes glowing a hellish red and squinting at Claudia.
"Fucking whore. Smart one, huh."
Undertaker grit his own teeth, the throbbing pain threatening to pull him down but his body forcing himself to stand up again. The demon eyed the both of them now. Its chest was jerking out of pace, clothes weighting and pulling him down as well, soaking in too much blood.
It wasn't trying to grin again. Its features were transformed and disfigured to a glimpse of what it really looked like.
"I don't need to waste my time with you or your little human whore," the demon spat at Undertaker, "I can always come for her later, when she tries to slit her wrists to join you in your afterlife. I don't need her. I have my dinner ready and served."
Undertaker didn't lower his guard down a second time. But when the thing disappeared, the very air was suddenly easier to breathe. The street lamp gleamed with a renewed light.
Claudia barely had time to process the disappearance and how she could let her repressed shock unbound. She ran to Undertaker, the chain clanking following her every step and bashing against his arm as she held on to him, trying to help but still unsure of how.
"Don't," she tried when Undertaker moved a hand to his chest. The dagger was still carved into his flesh. The blade ripped itself out and took the air from his lungs with it. He couldn't held back the groan of pain, and his body wavered against his control towards Claudia, who held on to his weight with all her strength. "It's all right. You are all right."
Before she could speak further, the scream brought back the horror.
"NO!"
Claudia's head jerked up. Undertaked moved his eyes to the window of the estate, and regretted it.
Sarah Delane had thrown the window open and herself out of it. Her body didn't even fall one meter before she was caught in the air - stopped in the air by the same darkness that had drown out the light before. The street lamp died out precisely when the darkness ripped through the woman's flesh, blood raining down to the street from the hooks. Her screams pierced through the night as she was shoved back by it with a strength that could not be real, carrying on as her body and bones crashed through the glass of the window and she disappeared into the estate.
Something wet, heavy and dreadful smothered the screaming for good.
.
The minutes could have been hours or the hours could have been minutes. Undertaker only realized he had fallen to his knees when the cold managed to throb louder than the stabs on his chest and back. Claudia was standing up next to him, walking towards the door. Her hair was untied, strings of it fell ruffled from their previous binding.
The demon was gone. It had been too weakened to dare return, even if it knew Undertaker had been injured. Even so, even knowing that, they needed to get away from there. Claudia needed to get away from it.
He needed to stay. His regaining consciousness brought with it the one thought he couldn't let go - he had to destroy that estate and whatever had been left inside.
And instead, Claudia was walking towards it.
She ignored his plea. His lungs protested and his muscles screamed but he had to force them to work, to pull himself back up again. The Death Scythe disappeared from his grasp, leaving him suddenly unbalanced, but he soon recovered and did his best to follow Claudia, catch up to her before she could continue.
He did when she was already on the second floor.
There was blood deliberately splattered on the wall, not quite like the murder scenes it created the past days, yet unequivocally and chillingly reminiscent. It had formed shapes and lines into a grotesque and dramatic lettering. The blood trailed down in thick bold lines, lines his weakened eyes could read.
I reaped hers out for you.
Always the clever ones, the disgusting creatures.
Right below the message was the body. This time it had left a body. It had also left the one rotting inside, now ripped out of the womb and laying mashed over bloodied fingers.
Claudia was standing so still she could have stopped breathing. Her gaze had descended along the dripping lines to the carcass tossed at the floor against the wall.
Undertaker exhaled a slow, controlled and deep breath that sunk a sharp stab on his ribs. He could feel the heartwretching, dreadful array of confused emotions emanating from Claudia, made so much more intense by the touch of her freezing hand she placed over the sleeve on his arm. Her fingers clasped tightly around him, the locket chain hanging from his arm.
.
He had to summon the Death Scythe again. His shoulder quivered at the stretched injured skin of his chest, but he insisted. A single trace of rage lined his strike.
The neighbours could have somehow mistaken the previous screaming as festivity clatter, but not an entire building collapsing over itself.
.
When dawn broke, spilling bruise colored hues over the black of night, turning blood red to orange and so quickly clearing them to white and blue over the sky, it felt wrong. The morning rose just like any other day, washing away the darkness and horror like it never happened.
It felt wrong something like that could have happened when a dawn rised like that.
But it had, and it could never be cleansed away.
.
Claudia was silent by his side for the whole of the journey back to his parlour. She should be home by now, Tanaka and Cedric should have been warned, but neither of them seemed able to be parted just yet, the horrors of the night binding them for a few more minutes, a few more hours, perhaps as if that would help both of them apeace their own respective fears. No one else could quite share what they did.
The funeral parlour welcomed them in the darkness that was sudddenly foreign, cold and mistrustful, even in this one place that had always been comfort and shelter from the outside. Claudia tried to stop him, but Undertaker clearly stated he wouldn't yield, and so she waited by the door, that darkness lingering all around until Undertaker sparked the first match and set the candlewick alight. The warmth was immediate, and yet, it still didn't feel enough. Undertaker finished lightening the second candle and placed it down on the iron candelabra, slowly moving about the ones to follow.
She helped him through his bandanging, even though it was clear she didn't fully know what she was doing and how she could help. Undertaker appreciated the effort, as he did her cold fingers carefully brushing his skin as she cleaned the wounds before she helped him with the bandages. They remained silent for the whole time. Claudia's eyes fell over the scars on his chest, arms, the exposed one on his neck, more than once. He dressed up again, walking slowly to his desk. Claudia followed him and sat over one of the coffins on the ground. The candles' flickering light carved shadows over her face, aging her deeply.
"How did it happen?"
The first words in hours.
"How did what happen, Claudia?" A whole too much had happened in a single night.
"The demon. How did Sarah Delane called... summoned him?"
"It's not relevant."
"How... why... Why would someone call something of this nature?"
"It's irrelevent, seeing the ending is the same."
"But..."
Undertaker lifted his eyes to her as Claudia tried to look for words.
"Wouldn't it change anything, knowing what happened, how it happened? How did this woman and that monster cross paths, and she pledged such a vow to such a creature?"
"You are trying to find reasons to justify this end. You can't humanize her death, Claudia, because what killed her wasn't human. That's why demons are monsters not to play with. For you, knowing how it all began would bring you compassion for the woman, and only bring more unsettlement for how she met her death. But it is all irrelevant for the demon, and irrelevant for you moving forward."
"But why would such a creature serve a human, why would such a thing care to play dress-up? Why not just kill her right away when she summoned him? What made him decide at that moment he was going to kill her, and hadn't done it before?"
He knew it would upset her. Claudia was too rational. Demons were beyond rationalizing.
"They play with human lives."
"That's it? He spoke of a contract. A Faustian contract. They can break them as they please?"
Undertaker breathed out laboursly. "No. They can't."
"Then the contract ended? Was it bound to end before we intervined, or did she breach the contract because of us? And he just played a role before that to... what? Is the process before it just seasoning? They are just making the meal more tasteful?"
The silent answer didn't work to apeace her lingering shock. Worst, it only fueled her further, against Undertaker's wishes, against his rational fear rooted in irrational panic.
"How can it not be relevent?"
Undertaker could feel how the pause of seconds of silence was rooting her troubled thoughts deep in her mind, sinking in and never again letting her go.
"Regardless of the book in question, all tomes I've read mentioned a toll; something to 'pay the passage' of the demon. Whenever I thought about the subject, I couldn't understand whether this toll was the person's own soul, or if it was another's, a sacrifice. The information was contradictory, as were the very requirements of the summon-"
"Claudia..."
"Sarah Delane didn't prepare any ritual. Nothing close to any of the ceremonies I've read about in those books, describing a sacrifice before the demon could come, and even then, it wasn't garanteed. It was like she could summon him out of sheer will, like a prayer-"
He didn't try to interrupt her this time. Claudia's words were suddenly cut as the madness started to shape and order to her.
"It's not a prayer to God, it's against Him. Isn't it?" Her piercing eyes turned to him. All he wanted was to keep her away from such darkness. Like a nameless and irrational fear, it had always been too much for him to imagine how it would affect her, how it would make her react, how that incomprehensible loyalty to that woman ruling over her would make her react. "He got a sacrifice. That was what the demon meant. That's how it happened."
Undertaker wanted to hide his eyes; useless. He would be able to feel the expression in Claudia's face and the emotion pulsing in her veins, and she would be able to tell exactly the dread he wanted to hide.
"She lost the baby. In an argument. Her husband..." 'No more'. Emphantic words. "The violence was a constant, it didn't cease even under a pregnancy. On Christmas Eve, that woman, Sarah, was forlorned by God that was never there to begin with. How could He, if He let her be abused like that constantly and let an innocent die in her mother's womb? She cursed Him. And that, somehow, is enough...? Too much emotion, pain and hatred. And a sacrifice. All offered to the one that was listening to her prayers."
She paused. Her own eyes darkened, hid behind the stray strings of hair and shadows.
"How could it be summoned with the sacrifice of a child, an unborn baby?"
One thing it had said had indeed been true. They were monsters.
"How could something like this happen?"
The silence that followed was, somehow, the heaviest and most painful of the entirety of that endless night.
Then her eyes unveiled from behind her hair. The wrinkles on her face were even deeper, if that was possible.
"How are you alive?"
A simple question Undertaker knew where emerged from. Claudia had always known what he was - her own notion of it, a definition she didn't bother to put out in words and likely didn't bother to fully describe in her mind either. Claudia didn't need to label him as something other than the person she had known all her life. She knew he wasn't human, and her view of him as Death had adapted through the years. She knew, and at the same time didn't.
He didn't answer, more due to not knowing where to begin rather than relunctance to reply. Claudia could have taken the renewed silence as her answer, but she didn't falter. She waited, the moments dragged into minutes. Finally she gave in.
"Forgive me. You are hurt. This conversation can wait."
No. If it was to happen, it better happen now. Undertaker breathed in slowly.
"I was punished."
"Punished?"
Out of everything that night, this should be the easiest part to talk about, with Claudia of all people. He wondered, seldom, how or if he should someday bring the subject up. Their conversation years prior about suicide could have been the best oportunity, but now here they were.
"I was so tired. All my family..." He inhaled again, breathing out next. The demon had done its game of guessing to tease open wounds, but human beings were painfully obvious sometimes. "I couldn't stand suffering anymore. No more. I couldn't live anymore, I couldn't stand that the people responsible just..."
The throbbing at his chest cut his words. He let himself believe that, as he made himself believe his eyes grew weaker out of tiredness and not from the tear that fell from them.
"I tried to end it the only way I could think of. It shouldn't have been hard, but I failed the first time, and it only brought me more pain. It was overwhelming. It wasn't a second chance at living, it was punishment. The second time, I didn't fail. I had to make sure I didn't."
Claudia nodded however slightly.
"So your punishment..."
Against everything he felt, Undertaker couldn't help but smile. It only made a second tear follow suit and the weariness on Claudia's face increase.
"I was punished again. I couldn't kill myself, you see. That is a crime. It's not a crime to see your family slowly wasting and dying in front you without anyone caring, but it's a crime to free yourself from it."
"Who punished you? The same God that forlorned Sarah Delane?" Claudia's voice was laced with rage that faltered the candle light beside her.
"It's the hypocracy that stood with me, without me exactly knowing how to point my finger at it," Undertaker continued. "The hypocracy is that we who wanted to die are forced to live in that hopeless hope we will atone, and then we have to see everyone else die, everyone else who deserved to be alive. It's a penance. It's a rather endless existence, really. So I left."
"Left what? What did you desert?"
"The Grim Reapers' society. I broke the rules. In the punishment for my crime, I commited another." The smile turned into a chuckle that made his lung burn and shook another tear off the corner of his eye. "I guess I'm unredeemable, huh~ It's so funny now that I think of it. Honestly, it's hysterical. I hadn't thought about how many times I've been punished."
"What did you do?"
"We can't tamper with human lives. I didn't think that way. It's funny how our lives were tampered with but we could not. That's why I always told you my questions were rooted in selfish reasons." Why was he still smiling? "They always have been. 'What if the ending had a continuation?' My ending had one. Why can't I give it to people that deserve it? Why shouldn't I try to prevent the people I care about from dying? I didn't decide to continue living. Why can't I decide who should?"
The expression on Claudia's eyes was one he could feel, not one he could see. Inevitably, the thought crossed her mind. In this endless night, it was useless to pretend it wasn't there and to leave it unanswered.
"My grandmother... She killed herself."
"I know, child."
"Did she... did you take her?"
The child who smiled at Death. It was how this all began. That one child that made him smile and nurished the questions wavering at the back of his mind then.
"She made sure you were all right before she took the morphine. It's a rather redundant yet soothing thought, to know your loved ones are taken care of even if you are just about to leave them. That's why you were in the room with her."
"She's..." Claudia's voice got caught in a lump. Instead, one more inevitable question whispered out. "What's your name?"
Again, he smiled.
"I'm Undertaker now. That's the only name that matters to me."
This late at night (no, it wasn't night anymore. Dawn was breaking outside. It was another day already), she should be resting by now. He should take her to the summer house; Tanaka and Cedric would be there. No, no, it was the New Year. They were at the mansion. Or maybe Cedric was. Tanaka wouldn't leave his lady behind. He could knock at the parlour at any minute, a increasingly fearing concern about his lady's whereabouts. Yes, that was probably the right thing to do; wait for Tanaka to come get her and take her home to her husband and her children.
But this endless night didn't end.
"I cannot let this happen."
Undertaker blinked, his head fighting to rise to Claudia. The words didn't make sense. Claudia's face was still hauntingly pale.
"There are people calling these monsters. I can't let this continue to happen."
Any other time, he might have smiled, made some snarky ironic comment. There was no such feeling now. "You can't erradicate every demon."
"I can't, but I can let the Queen know and-"
And once more, his heart forgot its beat and stabbed through his wound.
No.
"No."
Claudia turned to him, apparently expecting him to continue as she had none reservation on her previous statement. Her face was so disturbingly pale it hindered his breathing, suddenly awakening every fiber of him and driving the exhaustion away.
"You can't."
"I can't what?"
"You can't tell your Queen. She wouldn't understand." Claudia huffed, humourlessly. Undertaker tried to stand up. "You can't, Claudia."
"I do not feel she would doubt me, as unrealistic as it-"
"She won't doubt you."
"And besides-"
"She won't doubt you. Not coming from you. Not when she's heard or had some prior contact with what those creatures can do."
"So she already knows, you're saying," Claudia raised her arms. His blood that had stained her clothes should have dried, and yet a drop fell from her sleeves as she did so. "Are you telling me to blatantly lie? To the Queen of England?"
Exasperation seemed to flood and drown his voice.
"If she knew about demons for certainity, I garantee you you would have realized it by now. Why do you think I destroyed that estate? Can you honestly not understand my point?" Could she not understand what his fear had always been, how the dark waters Claudia had always known how to sail through simply had too many terrifying depths that would forever change her?
That already had?
"Rulers in every single age and era, past present and future, will always, always corrupt power if they are given too much."
"You are borderline paranoid, Undertaker. I cannot-"
"Either due to time, or to their own core nature, either due to the paranoia you just bestowed unto me, no human being can hold that much power in their hands without bending it to their own goals. Then the means to achieve these goals will change, the goals themselves will change, all due to the intoxication of it all, and in the process chaos takes over. It only brings suffering and pain - decisions are made that cannot be undone."
"How awfully poetic of you." The sharpness of her tone remained, and yet there was a new edge to Claudia's voice now. All her worry from before seemed gone. "'When you become too powerful, you fail to understand the importance of things that cannot be recovered'."
Undertaker fell silent.
"It's just like this. I myself have started to get too much power, established myself too deeply in my own role of the Watchdog and seen too much of its darkness. Lost focus of what's important: the value of human lives. Intoxicated by more and more power, of demons and unexisting Gods, and sacrificing others more and more until inevitably it will hurt those I love the most. A complete corruption of the person I started as. An inevitable end that destroys everything around me. This is what scares you."
"That's-"
"This is what scares you. You and your bloody metaphor. It's not just with Her Majesty; your strife with her has more than one reason. You loathe her because you fear that thirst for power and control will make her harm innocents unscathedly. And you fear that will have a bigger consequence: you fear I will be seduced by all that and act just as unscathedly by her biding, that I will lose my essence you are so unconditionally and unrealistically protective of."
Undertaker was silent. Claudia had smothered his voice away from him.
"You are saying I'm like that. That I've already fallen to that place. That's where your warning comes from? I've become like one of the rulers you are so disgusted by."
"No. You're not." The words were choked, strained, hurt.
Claudia kept ignoring him, pouring out her own words.
"We shall see then, shan't we? Which one of your fears will come to light."
"Claudia..."
"Be seeing you, Undertaker."
"Please, Claudia. You can't-"
"I will do what I feel I must do. Instead of hiding behind your fears, you should start to have more faith in the ones around you."
"That's precisely why I warned you. I'm trying to help you."
Claudia opened the door of the funeral parlour. The sound and light from the world outside broke in, as if shattering the suspended reality they had been emerged in for the past endless hours. Pale early morning light pierced through the door in hazed raylights, fresh air chilling the atmosphere. The dragged raspy sound of brushed cobbled stones when someone cleared some of the new year celebrations. The tapping of steps of workers as they started their new day. The lazy distant mumble of a couple of voices.
That invisible notion of end and continuation of life. The end of something past and the continuation to something new.
"Claudia..."
"Let us have a good year." Normally, Claudia would have scoffed, smirking at her own foolish words. Now, her face darkened, her features heavy with exhaustion and anger. "Huh. What a wonderful start it has been, wouldn't you say?"
She stepped out without looking back at him, closing the door behind her and drawing out all the sound and light again.
And so began the year of 1866.
.
to be continued
.
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Author's Note: Written to every single version and cover of Mein Herz Brennt by Rammstein I could find, live and aggressive versions for the fight and piano and violin ones to the final part.
There's a parallel between Undertaker and the demon's fight and Undertaker and Sebastian's at Campania - Undertaker is tricked by the demon with the same method he used there against Sebastian, using Ciel as bait to lower his guard; and Undertaker is stabbed from the back like Sebastian is.
Thank you for reading.