Chapter 12: Houndsworth

Rei opened her eyes feeling herself bounce. She jolted upright and looked around. She was in a wooden carriage, an open one.

"Good your awake," the calm voice said to her right.

She turned her head and looked at Sebastian as he smiled. Her back hurt but she ignored it for the time being.

"How…how long have I been out," Rei asked holding her head feeling a headache forming.

Sebastian thought for a second most likely to annoy her and smirked.

"About five days."

Rei blanched.

"F-five days?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" She snapped at him standing up.

She regretted it instantly because the carriage hit a rock and she lost her balance falling backwards. There was a loud thud and Rei's eyes became swirls.

"Hnnn…," she whimpered seeing stars.

Sebastian chuckled, "That's why you don't get up in a moving carriage."

She turned her head and weakly glared at him.

"Shut up…," she hissed.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk that's unladylike," Sebastian scolded.

"I don't care!" Rei answered angrily.

"Shut up both of you, you sound like a married couple…," Ciel cut in unhappily.

Rei frowned and crossed her arms.

"He started it."

Ciel sighed, "I don't care who started it stop it."

Rei scuffed in anger and turned her back to the two of them as Sebastian just sighed and continued driving.

"Vacation! Vacation! We're going on Vacation!" The servants in the carriage behind them chanted.

Tanaka was driving. Rei watched them carry on and on about this 'vacation' they were supposedly going on. Rei could care less about it.

"Tanaka! Pull over!" Finny cut through her thoughts and she turned her head to see what the fuss was about.

He jumped out of the carriage and ran over to an old lady. She was holding onto a stroller. Finny picked up the stroller and blanched quickly setting it back down and shouting out apologizes. Mey-rin gasped.

"Is the baby all right?!"

They got out and went over the stroller to find a skull where the baby was supposed to be. All of them paled. The old lady stared almost sadly at the stroller.

"There is no baby…there is no baby…it was eaten…," she then pushed it away and down the road leaving the servants freaking out.

"A good dog is a white dog, good dog good. A black dog is a bad dog a bad dog bad. He'll swallow you up and eat your flesh, down to the bone." She started chanting.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Rei frowned listening to the chant until the lady had disappeared.

"She's gone!" Bard paled.

Ciel smirked smugly. "There has been other issues here the queen would like to put to rest. Something has been terrorizing the villagers and it breaks the queen's heart."

"Something…?" Rei whispered to herself.

After everyone had settled in they had started moving again. As they went downhill a town came into view. It was next to sparkling water. The servants cheered happily. Only a few minutes later they were riding into town. The buildings were run down and old. Dogs barked or growled everywhere. Rei mentally shivered.

"God I hate dogs," she snapped.

Sebastian sent a grumble of agreement. Rei looked around at all the buildings feeling uneasy. Something was off with this bunch of people. They all were glaring at them. The dogs snarled at Sebastian and Rei causing the latter to flinch back in fear.

Flashback:

Rei walked up to a small cage. She had been sent on her sixth mission; take the cinematic records from the people in a laboratory testing on animals. They were going to die soon and the reapers had made her go take care of it seeing as she was human born and with little experience. She had been out rarely from her room at the library. She looked around hearing nothing.

"This is so stupid…why do they treat me like dirt…," she murmured kicking at invisible sand.

Her ears picked up on something causing her to turn halfway. A young man stood there behind her. Rei stared at the man curiously. He began to pull something out of his pocket and put it to his mouth. Rei turned around fully just as he blew into a whistle of some sorts. Rei let out a cry of pain covering her ears as the sound traveled through her head. There was a growl then a bark. Rei let out a shriek as something shark sunk into her leg. She looked down.

"A-A dog…no…that can't be a dog!" She whispered looking at it.

Even if the technology had just started to develop the humans still did horrible things to animals. The dog had matted brown fur and in some placing it was showing skin. It stopped biting her before it leapt onto her chest bringing her down. Rei scrambled trying to get it off. There was a chuckle in the man's direction. He was staring down at her with something weird glowing in his eyes. Rei gulped.

"Don't hurt me…," she begged.

"To late," he said gruffly.

He called off the dog and bent down picking her up by her hair. Rei lashed out clawing at his face. He let out a cry of pain and dropped her. She quickly collected herself and ran. She jumped over a desk and then turned kicking it at the man. She quickly called forth her scythe and with one swipe of it the room was cut in half and she had all the cinematic records she needed. She got outside and burned the place to the ground hearing dogs howling. She shivered in fear looking at her injured leg.

"Never…again…," she hissed to herself limping off.

End Flashback:

"My lady we are here…are you alright?" Sebastian cut into her thoughts.

"Y-yah just thinking of why I hate dogs…," she replied softly.

He looked at her long and hard before frowning and placing his hand on her head. Rei sighed and reached up grasping a hold of it. She felt drained. She glanced at Sebastian before looking toward the mansion that stood next to them. Sebastian helped her down and walked her inside. Rei heard the sound of a whip. An old man was beating a lady with white hair and purple eyes. He was shouting about her letting in a Chihuahua and not the queen's guard dog.

"Sebastian!" Ciel snapped after he got over the shock of being Chihuahua.

Rei beat him too it though and grabbed the man's wrist. He turned and glared at her.

"Let me go you Finnish Spitz! Has no one trained you!?" He spat at her.

Sebastian was quick to step in as Rei began to seethe.

"You don't like small breeds Barrymore?" Ciel smirked smugly setting down his cane on the table and then sitting in a chair. "I see you got my letter."

Barrymore scuffed Sebastian and Rei as he turned to Ciel.

"You can't have my village you toy poodle!" He snapped.

Ciel didn't seem fazed. Rei on the other hand stormed out of the room and the walls cracked slightly under the pressure of her rage. Sebastian watched her leave before turning back towards the conversation. He made a mental note to see if she was alright. He noted that she had been acting strangely since that dream.

Rei walked through the halls deep in thought. Her mind kept wandering to what had happened recently. She looked up hearing voices that were similar to her mom and dad's. She ran towards the source.

"Sweetie its okay it's just a minor cold. Nothing to get worked up about," An image of her mother and father sitting in one of the rooms came into view.

Rei paused looking back at her playing memory. She saw her one year old self in bed in the next room.

"She's ill…how can I not be worked up! She's only one! She could die!" Her father replied.

Her mom sighed and stood up walking over to the other room to check on her. Rei grabbed her head as the world began to spin. She started coughing up blood and fell forward. She saw the lady from before looking down at her. It was a look that scared Rei. Rei's eyes slipped closed as he breathing evened out.

"How unclean," the feminine voice whispered in her ear.

Sebastian was walking through the halls looking for Rei. He couldn't sense her through the mark he had placed on her neck. Something was blocking it.

"Rei where are you?" He asked himself.

He looked into a random room and went to another seeing it was empty. He stopped at the door and slowly opened it. Rei was out cold on the bed. Sebastian walked over to her starting to gently shaking her.

"W-where am I…S-Sebastian?" Rei murmured opening her eyes and taking in the room.

"You're in one of the guest rooms," he replied softly. "Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded looking exhausted. She felt her forehead with a sigh.

"My head hurts…," she whimpered.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and felt her forehead. She was burning up. Rei looked at him with clouded eyes. She smiled tiredly at him. He shook his head picking her up. Rei gasped.

"What are you doing?!" She asked nervously.

"What does it look like my lady? I'm moving you," he chuckled.

Rei whined and hid her face in his chest. Sebastian sighed.

"Really my lady you are death how does this make you nervous…?" He mused.

Rei lifted her head and glared at him blushing.

"J-just shut up!" She grumbled angrily.

"My, my, temper, temper," Sebastian scolded.

"I don't care," came the short snippy response.

She let out a yelp as he suddenly dropped her. She turned to glare at him.

"What was that for!?"

"You were being very rude," he stated dully looking down at her.

Half his face was covered in shadows and Rei shivered.

"I-I'm not afraid of you!" She yelled at him instantly regretting it.

He loomed over her glaring at her as his eyes glowed there pinkish color. Rei met his gaze with a scared look. Sebastian smirked menacingly. Rei backed up.

"Where are you going Death? Are you afraid?" His demonic tone freaked her out more and she turned and was about to leave when he grabbed the color of her dress.

Rei turned her head looking at him fearful. Sebastian's eyes went back to normal when he chuckled. He knelt down.

"As you are now you have no power to go against me," he stated amused.

Rei paled and backed up more hitting the wall. Her eyes widened as he leaned in capturing her lips with his. Rei's mind went blank as he began to pull away. He straightened and looked at her cowering form smirking to himself.

"Now then…are you going to behave?" He asked.

Rei nodded rapidly.

"Good."

He knelt down and picked her up bridal style. Rei let out a sigh of relief as he gently pulled her against his chest affectionately. She snuggled closer feeling sleepy now that the fear was over. Rei closed her eyes and fell back asleep. Sebastian kissed her forehead and nuzzled her cheek. He walked by the servants and glanced at them. Bard blinked in surprise and watched him go by as Mey-rin got a nose bleed and turned around holding it. Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her quizzically but shook his head.

"What a strange human. I'm simply holding her," he sighed.

He gently placed Rei on his bed that Angela had prepared for him. He glanced at her and moved some hair out of her face. He leaned in closer, but stopped himself.

"No…I have to go check on young master…," he told himself straightening.

He turned and leaved but not before placing something on the table in the room. It was a small black box with a red ribbon. The door clicked shut signaling that he had left. Rei stirred and turned on her side staying asleep.