Hello guys! First of all, I wish a happy Easter to eveyone! Diets be danmed; I hope you all enjoy lots of chocolate in this holiday. ;)

And, to celebrate Easter, I made a drawing with Eliza, L.L. And Will. It's on my deviantart account: cy5000 .deviantart .com (remove spaces).

There is another one of Elli and Sebastian shaking hands in the frost fair, if anyone is interested. :)

Next, I wish to reinforce my request for feedback about the story and the characters, specially now that I'm officially swimming in cannon waters. XD

If you're not comfortable with writing a review, feel free to PM me.

Guess this is it... So much for a short AN, huh?

Still, hope you enjoy the chapter! :D

Hello you all. Before I tell more of my story, I have something to ask of you: allow me to do things different today, yes?

I know it has been quite sometime since we last talked and that you must be curious as to where I am right now, but today I'm not going to give some senteces and discriptions of my current situation as I normally do. Instead, I'll just go straight to the point I left you last time.

I strongly believe that this will make it easier for me to tell my story and for you to understand it. So, please, bear with me.

That said, let's go back to the moment I left Undertaker in that cold room of his to bake him some cookies.

God... that phrase is just too lame.

After I left that room I felt sick. Really, really sick.

I thought that, just maybe, I had gotten used to being close to people's dead bodies. I mean, come on! I stared at that woman's open corpses for about two minutes and nothing had happened! I had felt just fine!

But then, not three seconds after I closed that room's door, I fell on my knees and vomited on the kitchen floor.

"Bloody hell…" I complained under my breath. "Now I'll have to clean this before starting on the cookies."

I managed to finish the cookies without throwing up again, but the nausea accompanied me through the whole process. The image of that woman's open belly was imprinted in my mind.

"Undertaker…" I called as the mortician left the cold room. "Why do you think the murderer took the woman's womb?"

I swear I could almost feel the mortician's eyes widen beneath his gray hair. "And why do you care~?"

"Just answer the bloody question." I said, narrowing my eyes in annoyance.

"Well, I can't answer a bloody answer can I~?" The crazy mortician asked in an amused, sing-song voice as he reached for one of the ginger cookies.

"God damn it! Und-"

"Calm down, Eli~za. It was just a little joke." He said with a frown on his face. "Now as to your question… There are many reasons for someone to take another's organ-" I honestly could not think of one. "-but, in this case, I think it was some sort of revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Yes~. The cuts, though very precise and well-made, were deep and angry. The murderer must've strongly thought that our little guest deserved lose her precious womb and die. Maybe he didn't think her worthy of being a full woman?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is the beauty of being a woman Eli~za?" Undertaker asked rhetorically. "It's not de delicate curves, the flush lips or the sweet face. It's the ability to bring life to this world~!"

"And what does it have to do with revenge?"

The mortician shrugged his shoulders. "Only~ the murderer can tell you that."

"Do you…" I paused for a second, biting my lower lip. "Do you think he'll strike again?"

"I believe so, yes. The expression 'one of a kind' it's a lie, Eli~za. The murderer killed that prostitute because she did something~ that made her unworthy of being a woman, and I'm certain she wasn't the only one~."

Just as Undertaker had predicted, the next body came. And with it, came an urge to catch that 'Jack the Ripper'; that man who killed women just because he thought it was right. He was just like Chamberlin in a way…

Anyway, I had even started to wander around London at night, but it did me no good; I never found anything that could lead me to the killer.

"Guess I'm not fit to this on my own." I admitted to myself after another night of failure. "I'll have to wait for someone who is to step up then… Bloody hell."

It was a simple afternoon of mid-May when I knew that someone fit had started to look into things.

I was in the front room, sitting on one of Undertaker's coffins, completely absorbed in my new book: 'Pride and Prejudice'. Undertaker was on the back of the place; doing only God knows what in that cold room of his.

Then he stormed out of there in such a hurry that'd put the White Rabbit from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' to shame.

I'll admit that he startled me somewhat, besides confusing me to no end. But, before I had the chance to ask why the rush, the crazy mortician had entered one of his coffins that was standing by the wall.

I blinked once, then twice.

"I truly am doomed to meet only crazy people…" I muttered to myself, returning to my book.

I couldn't read for long though.

Guess who knocked on the mortuary's door a few moments later? Exactly; the Earl Phantomhive himself. I just knew that the young lord's coming was the reason for Undertaker's mad-dash into one of his coffins. Just… how did he know the boy was about to walk in?

Talking about the boy, he was accompanied by his butler, a woman and other two men.

From the strangers (for me at least), the first one I really noticed was the woman, for she was dressed all in a rich scarlet color. But, somehow, it looked elegant on her instead of exaggerated as I believe it would on most people. Then, my eyes drifted to one of the men; his clothes and face were very different - exotic if you will (a foreigner, no doubt). It was kind of charming, really. The other man… Well… he didn't really make an impression; he was just there.

Despite all of their difference, I was sure they all were thinking the same thing: "What are we doing in this bloody place?"

"Good afternoon, Earl Phantomhive and company." I greeted, putting away the book I was reading and raising myself form the coffin. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Hello, Elliot." The Earl said with a nod. "I came to see Undertaker. Is he here?"

Automatically, I turned my head to the coffin inside which Undertaker was, just as the mortician's voice resonated through the place.

"Hi, hi… I knew… that you would come… Wel~come, Earl…"

There was a moment of silence in which we all stared at Undertaker. Personally, I was kind of exasperated with his childish antics. The Earl and his butler seemed to be incredulous. The other three appeared terrified; in different degrees, yes, but terrified nonetheless.

Then the mortician turned to me. "Elli~, would you-"

"Make tea? Sure." I completed, before turning to the visitors with an easy-going smile. "It'll take just a couple of minutes, please sit down."

As I walked to the kitchen, I could feel everyone's eyes staring at me questioningly. I was about to turn and ask if something was wrong, but Undertaker's next words enlightened me as to why they were confused.

"Why not just sit on top?"

I couldn't help but blush at hearing that. WHY DIDN'T WE HAVE CHAIRS? I should've had provided them since Madam Lewis' visit…

This time, the Earl allowed me to stay in the room and listen to their talk. It seemed Undertaker was right; the Queen did put the Earl to investigate the prostitutes' murderer.

I couldn't help but ask myself what the hell was wrong with that woman. I know she was my Queen and all she did was for the best of us, english people, but the Earl was just a kid! What kind of person puts such a burden on a child's shoulder? Even more strange was how everyone else in the room thought it was normal to do so…

"I don't want any of the Queen's money!" Undertaker said to the exotic man in a loud voice, taking me from my thoughts. Apparently, they were discussing the price of Undertaker's help.

Then, the crazy mortician turned to the boy. "Now then, Earl~… I only have one requirement… Show me a 'First rate laugh'. If you do, no matter what~ you want to know, I'll tell you~!"

As if already tasting his precious laugh, the crazy mortician began to droll and dropped his head on the counter in what I can only call a delusional bliss.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, feeling it heat up due to a serious case of secondhand embarrassment.

"Weirdo." I heard the young Earl state.

"You have no idea." I agreed in a low voice.

After the woman and the exotic man had tried and failed to amuse the crazy mortician, the butler decided it was time to take matters in his own hands and all but threw us out of the mortuary.

"You absolutely must not peek inside." The demon said sparing us one last glance.

I don't know what he did, but Undertaker's laughter shook the mortuary to the point of making its banner fall down. Letting out a sigh, I climbed on one of the coffins that was by the door to put the banner back in its place.

Just then, the butler opened the door for us with a welcoming smile on his lips. "Please, come back in. Let's continue our discussion."

After I finished fixing the banner, I followed the other inside. The butler was still holding the door open, but his smile was more victorious and challenging than welcoming then. He was still sour for me making Undertaker laugh.

Talking about the mortician, he was sprawled on his chair, drooling with a demented smile on his face.

"Whatever you want to know is fine~…"

I went back to the kitchen to make more tea. It would be a long conversation.

After Undertaker told the young Earl about the dead and womb-less prostitutes in a very disturbingly descriptive way, the boy left with a promise to solve the case.

I was about to rise from my place beside Undertaker to offer my help in the case, but the crazy mortician kept me from doing so by grabbing my wrist discretely.

When everyone was gone, I asked why he had done that.

"You have to wait the Earl come to you, Elli~." The mortician explained in that condescending voice he loved to use on me whenever he had the chance. "He has to believe that you working for him was his idea all alo~ng. If he even suspects that you were plotting to work under him he will ne~ver trust you to be his employee~."

"And why would he think that I'd offer my help just to be hired?" I asked, turning my head to the side to stare at the mortician sitting besides me.

"Wasn't that what you were about to do just now~?"

"Not really…." I answered truthfully. "I truly want to stop this 'Jack the Ripper'. It's hard to ignore the fact that he is killing women just because he wants to."

"Is that so~?" I nodded my head fiercely. "You really want to catch our Jack, huh?"

"Don't call him our Jack! It seems he is our friend or something like that." I scolded. "But yes, I do want to stop him." That's why I've been wandering around at night.

"Well, even if you really just want to get the killer, the watchdog lives in a world of dark schemes with even darker reasons, Eliza." The mortician explained with a cold smile. "He was trained to see second intentions in just everything, even if they don't exist."

Just then, the Earl's final words before his departure came to mind:

"The world of darkness has the world of darkness' rules. He wouldn't murder random people for no reason. There must be an influence manipulating him from behind. I won't be scared, no matter what tricks the queen's lackeys want to use. I will solve them all."

That boy… something terrible must've happened to him and it seems he just can't let it go.

"I just hope he doesn't drown in that darkness of his." I thought out-loud. If Undertaker heard me, he didn't say a word.

We spent some minutes of silence then. Me, thinking about the young Earl and Undertaker thinking about… something.

Well, sorry, but Undertaker and Darrel are the full-time mind-readers; I just have occasional glimpses of people's thoughts and only when they are very obvious.

"Well, I guess it won't be this time that I'll get to be hired by the Earl. I'm sure he will solve this by tomorrow." I said good-naturedly in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm going to the bookstore now, Undertaker. Is there anything you want me to bring?"

"Not really, no~. Have fun."

You know, I truly believed that the Earl would catch the assassin in just one day… so you can imagine how shocked I was when, a few days after the nobleman's visit to the mortuary, I saw "JACK THE RIPPER RETURNS" on the headline of the newspaper that was laying on the coffee-table of Big Al's living room.

Why I was there? I was waiting for L.L. and Will to dress so we could go to Hyde Park.

"They sure are taking their time in catching this guy, huh?" Big Al began, obviously disapproving of the Scotland Yard. "To catch a thief or two they are as quick as lightening, but when it comes to a serial-killer they move as slow as a crippled slug"

"I don't think it's their fault." I said, though I couldn't help but smile in amusement at the man's words. "This killer seems to be very careful." He has to be, if the Earl and his DEMON butler didn't catch him yet.

"Whatever. Let's not talk about such gloomy subjects." Big Al settled, waving a hand in front of his face dismissively. "Do you have a curfew today or can you stay for dinner? Jackie, Jamie and Harry have been dying to meet Lio and Will's big brother for weeks now but they're never here during the day. And I'm actually cooking tonight."

I smiled brightly at the man, for the first time truly forgetting about Jack the Ripper. "I'd love to stay for dinner."

Dinner was great; the food was nice and the company even better. The other boys were older than L.L. and Will (Jack and James were 14 and Henry was 15), but they could be just as childish as them. I attributed that to living under the same roof as Big Al.

And that nice company made me lose track of time and end up leaving the place after midnight, when the sky was pitch-black. I didn't regret though; the lost hours of sleep were worth it and it's not like I can't take care of myself.

So, there I was, walking back to the mortuary and whistling a merry tune when I heard a terrified, high-pitched scream.

I froze on my tracks for a moment before running to its source. 'Jack the Ripper' came back to my mind, bringing along the image of his very first victim and the urge to stop him.

I didn't waste a second in dashing towards the alleyway from where the scream had come from. I halted before going all the way though; just as soon as I saw that someone else was already there.

"Earl Phantomhive…"

Sure enough the young boy was there, being held protectively by his butler. As the boy began to vomit I turned my gaze to the open door in front of them. From it, stepped out that bland man that had visited the mortuary with the Earl, accompanying the woman in red. And he was covered in blood.

"That was rather over the top. It's all over the floor. 'Jack the Ripper'… No, Grell Sutcliff." Sebastian said.

With a desperate look on his face, he tried to explain himself. "N-No, this is… I heard cries and when I got here, it was already…"

Honestly... even I could see he was the murderer.

"Already, huh? We were always right outside the only road. Just how did you manage to get into the same room as the deceased?" The demon spoke in a smooth and malicious voice. "Do you still plan on pretending in the state you're in? Isn't it enough, Mister Grell? No… Even 'Grell Sutcliff' must be a fake, right? Please stop the act. 'Mister Grell'. I must say this is the first time I've encountered a 'human like you'. Didn't you act so convincingly?"

It seemed that the demon's words were a much extended 'Open Sesame', because they made the once bland man grin maliciously with disturbingly sharp teeth.

"Heh. Is that so~?" He said in a sing-song voice that reminded me of Undertaker. "That's correct! I'm an actress~, and a top-rate one at that!"

Wait, WHAT? ACTRESS?! Could it be that he was a cross-dressing woman like me?!

"But aren't you the same, 'Sebastian'?" H-She continued, as she put on some make-up with such dexterity that confirmed that he was really a she.

As I observed her put the make-up, I noticed that her eyes were of a pretty golden color, just like Undertaker's.

"This is the name young master gave me. I am 'Sebastian'… at the moment."

"Oh, the role of a faithful dog! Even though a handsome man as a loyal dog is rather nice~…Then allow me to reintroduce myself, Sebastian… No. Sebby. I am the butler of the Barnett family, Grell Sutcliff. We're both butlers, so hello~."

With that, she blew Sebastian a kiss, making him shudder in disgust. "It was my first time seeing a demon as a butler, so I was very surprised at first!"

"This… Aren't you the same?" Sebastian asked. "I've lived long enough but I've never heard of 'that kind of person' becoming a butler. You, who should've stayed neutral between God and humans… Death god."

I felt my eyes widen as some puzzle pieces fell into place.

Golden eyes… obsession/passion with death… a very pessimist view of humanity that could've come only from many, many years of observing people's wrong doings… death god…

"What am I then, Elli~?" Undertaker basically demanded with an enormous grin on his face and I could swear I saw his eyes twinkle in anticipation.

"Death." I answered in a whisper.

"Hehehe; not exactly..." He commented. "But close enough. I guess you're not as stupid as I first thought, Elli~."

Undertaker was a death god. It just… It made so much sense! How could I not see this before?!

"I've been captivated by a woman…" Grell's words brought me back to reality.

…WHAT?! SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN?! Is that even legal?! Not to mention that I could swear that she was interested in Sebastian!

The demon didn't seem to be as shocked as me. "That woman is…?"

"You don't really have to ask, do you?"

Steps made me return my gaze to the door, just in time to see the woman in red walking out of it. She was the killer too?! 'Jack the Ripper' was in fact two women?! And me thinking that it was a man all along…

"Sebastian…" The woman in red said with disdain.

It seemed that the young Earl had recovered, for he pushed the butler's hand away from his eye to look intensely at her. "Madam Red."

"My calculations were wrong. Who would've thought that the person to uncover Grell's real identity would be someone by your side, Ciel…?"

"From the beginning, your name was in the list of suspects." Really? He had suspected even of his own aunt? I wouldn't even have considered the possibility of 'Jack the Ripper' being a woman… "However, Madam Red, your alibi was really quite perfect."

"How terrible, Ciel. You would suspect one of your own?"

"As long as there is a possibility, I don't care if that person is a blood relative or a friend."

"He was trained to see second intentions in just everything, even if they don't exist."

Ciel Phantomhive… What happened to make you like this?

"The victims of 'Jack the Ripper', apart from being prostitutes and being left with no ovaries, had other thing in common. They were all your patients at the Central Hospital. All of them underwent a certain surgery." With that, the boy took a sheet of paper from his pocket and raised it for Madam Red to see. "The patient list setting out the order when they'd undergo their operating is here. The order in which the victims died corresponds exactly to the patients on your operation list."

I must say I was simply amazed. The young Earl looked every bit as a grown man now. He didn't assume anything about 'Jack the Ripper', he just investigated the murderer's actions and let them guide him. He didn't discard the possibility of the murderer being a man or a member of his family and he didn't see the victims simply as killed prostitutes; he saw them as women who had lives. And it was looking at their lives that let him predict the murderer next victim and find 'Jack the Ripper'.

"The only name left on this list was Maria Gale. I thought if I waited here she would appear. However I… I could not save her."

"How unfortunate." Madam Red began in a sad voice. "My cute nephew… my… sister's son. If you hadn't discovered this we could've still played chess together. However…"

I saw Madam Red's expression change from sad to angry and my body tensed immediately. It was about to begin.

"I'M NOT GOING EASY ON YOU ANYMORE!"

Right on cue, Grell attacked the Earl with a huge, red chain-saw (…from where had THAT come from?). Before I knew it, I jumped from my hiding spot and grabbed the Earl to take him from that thing's way.

"Mister Hall!" The butler exclaimed in surprise, almost not catching Grell's weapon before it reached his face.

As everyone's eyes turned to me, I pressed the boy protectively to my body. The demon didn't waste a second in pushing the death god away from him and running towards me.

"What are you doing here, Mister Hall?"

"I was returning to the mortuary when I heard a scream." I answered, never removing my narrowed eyes from Grell's figure. "I came to check out what was happening." Then I loosened my grip on the boy, allowing him to take a step back. "Are you alright, Earl Phantomhive?"

The boy looked up at me with an incredulous eye and a slight blush on his cheeks. "Elliot… Y-You're a-"

"Well, it seems I'll have another handsome man to play with tonight~. Am I lucky or what?" Grell said with a sharp grin as she laid the chainsaw over her shoulder.

The Earl's shocked expression disappeared quickly as he glared at the red weapon. "What is that?"

"In order to capture souls, all of the death gods have their own tool. This is the first time I'm seeing this sort of thing. It is a death god's scythe." Sebastian explained. "A death god's scythe really is a troublesome thing."

"It doesn't look like a scythe to me…" I couldn't help but comment.

"Of course not! A regular scythe is so old-fashioned, don't you think? The one I'm using was specially made for me. My death god's scythe will play a duet with the soul's last moment!" Then, she winked at us. "Of course, I guarantee it'll be first rate!"

"This is a tool used by us death gods, able to slice through anything!" Then she changed back to her flirtatious self, even blowing Sebastian a kiss. "I really want to do some vigorous exercise with you~!"

"Can you not say such revolting things?" The demon more demanded than asked. "And I'm working to…"

The demon and the death god (goddess?) started what seemed to be a very disturbing exchange of words, but I didn't pay attention to that since the young Earl had begun to talk to me.

"Elliot. No, Elli, I have an offer to you." The boy began in a serious, business-like voice. And why did he call me Elli? "Your skills are very valuable and I'm willing to reward you to use them in my name."

"Are you offering me a job?" I asked, caught completely off guard. From all the places and contexts, I had never imagined to be hired by the young Earl like this.

"I'm offering you a new life. Being a servant of the Phantomhive household is much more than a mere job; it's part of your identity." The Earl raised his eyes to me with such intensity that I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stood up. "Elli, come to my mansion."

I hesitated. For a few seconds I stood in silence, thinking about everyone I met after Darrel and I had parted ways.

Cathy.

"You are the sweetest boy I've ever met, Elli." Cathy said, giving me a hug. "I hope to see you again."

Madam Lewis.

"H-Hello there." Madam Lewis answered in a weak and pained whisper. "I'm glad you b-both are safe. I-I was worried…"

Big Al.

"Well, don't just stand there smiling like an idiot." Big Al said good-naturedly as he plopped himself on one end of the sofa. "Sit down; Will is very shy so Lio'll take some time to get him to come down! We might as well gossip about him for a bit."

Ted.

"If it isn't my favorite customer!" The bookstore owner exclaimed happily as I walked in.

Will.

"We were worried." Will stated quietly from behind the blonde.

L.L.

"I have no problem with L.L." The boy said quietly with a small smile in his lips. Confused, I gave him an inquisitive look. "Little Lionel is fucking ridiculous." He explained. "But L.L. is nice. As long as I get to call you B.B."

Undertaker.

"Don't worry~; we'll take care of my beautiful coffins later. Now come drink tea before it gets as cold as you~."

"Hahahaha!" The mortician laughed heartedly, petting my head. "You're truly naïve, Elli~! It's so… likeable"

"Hahahahaha~! The look on your face made it more than worth taking this job! Hahahaahaha~!" Undertaker said, petting my head as usual. "Merry Christmas, Eli~za!"

"You are too naïve, Eli~za…" He said, petting my head as usual. "Are you sure you want to involve yourself with that? Your reasons may be innocent, but I assure you that your actions won't be."

Then I thought about the people I met inside the dungeons.

Kent (yes, even him deserves to be mentioned).

"Milord has better things to worry himself about than a mere butler." He said smiling. "And I happen to enjoy our talks about life and, specially, about literature; it is quite hard to find someone who likes to read as much as I do."

Emma.

"Once upon a time…"

"Sweet dreams."

"I love you, dear."

All of the people I let be killed just so I could get away with Darrel.

…Darrel

"No, it's your fucking conscience! Of course someone's here!" The boy shot back. "Ya're a newbie, right? What's your name? Mine is Darrel Basset."

"What ya mean ya don't have dreams? Ya can't live without dreams… we have to think something up to ya pursue."

"Hehehe, I told ya; ya don't know how to hold a grudge, Elli." Darrel said amusedly, returning the hug.

"I guess we gonna go on our separate ways, then." Darrel spoke simply, voice almost as low as a whisper, as if he was talking to himself. "I knew ya didn't want to leave England, but I never considered that ya'd have the balls to deny going with me to America. I always thought that I'd be able to get ya to follow me anywhere…"

"Yeah…" He grabbed my chin softly and tilted my head up a bit so he could look me in the eyes. "Ya take care, ok? I know ya're kinda soft but don't let people walk over ya or anything. And never ever tell someone your real name, ok?"

Suddenly, I felt very nauseous. I didn't want to change my current life, but I owed it to my past one.

With a deep breath to calm myself and keep the feeling of nausea at bay, I dropped to one knee.

"It'll be an honor to go to your mansion, Earl Phantomhive."

At hearing that, a look of triumph crossed the Earl's face and he started to remove his eye-patch.

"In the name of Her Majesty and my own wretched name, I command you! CAPTURE THEM!"

Sebastian and I narrowed our eyes at Grell.

"Yes, my lord."

I had to cut the 'Jack the Ripper' arc in two parts or else it'd get too long.

By the way, the murders of Jack the Ripper happened in August, September and November of 1888, not in May as I put it. Sorry, but this historical imprecision will have to stay.

I hope it wasn't too boring having to re-read the cannon dialogues. I know that everyone knows what happens and what they say, but I found it important to show things of Eliza's point of view. =.=

Talking about Eliza's POV:

Biologicaly, GRELL IS A MAN NOT A WOMAN. Eliza just got confused with him. XP

Also, about that 'Is it even legal?!' comment: I just tried to represent how Elli would think. You know; dfferent times, different values.

Promises of short AN aside, I hope this chapter was good enough.

Please, do tell me what you think. :)