Days had went by, and Great Britain was unusually quiet in the crime system for a while.
Except for one chilly night.
The shoppes where closing and families were retiring in the night, returning to their homes to sleep. The cobblestone streets were cleared and the lights were dimmed.
A shadow remained.
This dark figure swept from brick building to brick building, store to store. It swiftly entered the locked doors and pried open windows. In and out.
In and out.
The only alarms that went off were the soft chime of shoppe bells. The figure carried a bag as it went, a large burlap sac. You would think, it would be like a Santa Claus. However, the figure was taking, not giving. It stole precious items and stuffed them in the sac. No one would be disturbed in the night by this figure.
It was in the morning that they were outraged to find their belongings missing.
"One hundred and twenty thousand stolen artifacts and belongings stolen in the greater London area in a single night!" Ciel Phantomhive slammed the newspaper on the table.
"I've never heard of such a thing." The boy sat back down in his chair and scowled.
"Anything is possible, my lord. Do not seem so mind boggled over it." Sebastian replied, bending over to pour the boy a steaming cup of tea.
Ciel rolled his eyes. "Yes I know. It's just the fact that a–" he quickly glanced down at the text again on the front page of the newspaper, "four year old's stuffed bunny was also stolen in the mix of gold coins and priceless heirlooms."
"The Thief might have an interest in children's trinkets, young earl." Spoke a man who was sitting at the far end of the dinner table, clad in a silky blue, magenta and green Chinese kimono. He had slightly tanned skin but otherwise it was on the pale side. His hair was short and a dark brown.
"Lau." Ciel sighed and glanced up at the President of the British Branch of the Chinese trading company Kong-Rong, "It's obviously more than that."
The Chinese man shrugged. "Never tend to over think things, right Ran-Mao?" He tipped his head in the direction of the young woman sitting next to him, practically on his lap.
She was a quiet one, and simply nodded.
Ciel rolled his eyes and took a long drink of his tea. "Is the Yard involved or do I have to solve this?" The boy asked his butler.
Sebastian reached into his tailcoat and pulled out a wax sealed envelope. "I am afraid we will be solving this one, young master."
An envelope.
A sign of Her Majesty's interest.
Ciel scowled as he opened the envelope and looked at the letter. He was not interested in this case.
Of course, it was an odd one, but it was simple. Just a crazed man who stole a bunch of worthy and unworthy kick-knacks. It has nothing to do with England's underworld, so it has nothing to do with the Phantomhive name.
At least, that's what Ciel was thinking.
As he read the letter, it became quite clear this wasn't just some crazed man stealing to steal.
My Dear Boy, it read, Do not be blinded by the strange thievery. I would like you to dig deeper into this recent case. I have high hopes that you will end it as swiftly as it began. -Victoria
"Is the Queen's Guard Dog now interested?" Lau smirked.
"Shut up." The boy snapped and handed the letter back to Sebastian for him to read as well. Then Ciel said, "Sebastian, I want you to–"
Suddenly, a short red headed woman with glasses stumbled in with a silver plate of smoked salmon atop of herb cream cheese and French bread.
The maid, Mei-Rin, shook violently as her glasses causes her to see the wrong distances and illusions. The poor maid ended up tripping on the carpet, allowing the food to spill forward.
However, as if time stopped momentarily, Sebastian instantaneously reached out and swiftly collected each piece of food, placed it back together on the silver platter and caught it mid air perfectly, as well as catching Mei-Rin by the waist before she fell all the way.
"Goodness. Mei-Rin, try to be more careful next time we have guests." Sebastian scolded gently, allowing her back on her feet.
The maid turned red in blush. "T-Thank you Mister Sebastian!" She exclaimed loudly in a quite discombobulated fashion before running off to do another duty next on the list.
"You're abilities never cease to amaze, for being just a butler." Lau smirked.
Ciel simply rolled his eyes.
Sebastian bowed in respect at the Chinese nobleman. "I am simply doing my duties to the best of my ability. What type of butler would I be if I could not manage that?"
What type of butler would I be?
Sebastian stole a quick glance at his young master as he recalled the events a few days ago.
This is what it would be like. Just breathing in. Devouring. So simple, so delicate. He could easily do it right now if he wanted.
"Sebastian...what are you doing...?" Ciel's little hands scrambled up to push against the butler's chest, to push him away. Sebastian's eyes lit up, glowing crimson, and pinned Ciel's arms down above his head with one gloved hand.
The other hand, was still bare and showed the emblem. Sebastian placed it on the side of Ciel's face, caressing him softly.
He leaned back down and breathed against the boy's lips. "It would be this easy." He whispered in a hypnotizing tone.
Was he truly that hungry?
Was he that far into starvation that he would allow a slip up like that?
To allow this boy to effect him so much...?
The butler tried not to allow his mind to wander further as he stood there, awaiting the boy's orders.
Ciel let out a breath before gesturing to Sebastian. "I want you to find out as much as you can about the case right now before we do any actual research. Gather newspaper clippings of the robberies and compare them. That's an order."
The demon smiled innocently and bowed with his hand placed over his heart. "Yes, my lord."
When Sebastian came back from traveling around the common providence, collecting newspapers and articles at lightning speed and read them over, he found his young master playing a game of chess with Mister Lau, who was still hanging around.
"Young master," he intervened, "I have gathered as much information as I could. London, along with Bristol and Nottingham have named the case the Thief of the Night. It seems the crime begun in London and stretched to Southampton. Which strikes me as multiple fugitives involved. Lastly, there was a killing. In Borehamwood, 12.7 miles distanced from London on the trail of the robberies. Some are uncertain if it connects with the Thief of the Night however."
Ciel glanced up at Sebastian. "Now this is a better game. It seems that we shall take an unfortunate trip to see /him/, Sebastian. Get the carriage ready."
"Certainly." He bowed and exited once more.
Ciel smirked.
He knocked over Lau's black chess piece in a Check Mate.
"That's it Grell! Harder!"
"I-I'm trying! You're just so stiff!"
"Just a little more Grell! Oh-Oh right there! HA!"
Undertaker strolled forward with his hands on the bridge of his back and he arched backwards the best he could do when there was suddenly a POP!
Undertaker let out a long breath before turning back to the red head. "Thank you for loosening it up~"
Grell Sutcliff smiled with a shrug. "No problem! I'll give you more massages if you need them...I think it's those coffins that you sleep in that are messing up your back! I mean, you have a perfectly good bed and you don't even use it!"
Undertaker pouted before saying. "I used it last night just for–."
Suddenly the bells of the front shoppe door jingled. Which meant costumers.
Undertaker instantly shoved Grell into the bedroom and shut the door before creeping out into the dark front, lit by candles only.
"Undertaker. Come out." Ciel Phantomhive spoke, standing at a proud 152 centimeters, adored with his hat and cane. Sebastian was standing quietly behind him like a dark shadow.
They could only hear the giggle of the mortician echo through the darkness.
"Welcome back 'me Lord."