The next few days were spent with Ciel ordering Sebastian to do any kinds of searches he could think of. He wanted this mission to be done as quickly as possible. Now, he had another reason for his need to get it over with other than his pride. Every night he would have the same nightmare. And every time, Sebastian would have to comfort him until he would come back to his senses.
He would either get the same exact nightmare, or different pieces of his haunting memories from a few years ago. Either way, they always left him screaming and waking up in horror. He knew it was the familiarity of the case that had left him so shaken. His only hope of getting rid of the terrifying dreams was solving the case and putting an end to it.
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"You don't look in such high spirits, Young Master," Sebastian noted as they walked along the pavement. Ciel let out a sigh and shook his head slightly, arriving at his destination.
"How could I be?" Ciel muttered, stopping in front of Undertaker's shop. He looked at the big sign above the door dreadfully. He had no choice. To conclude if the killings were in fact works of a cult, he had to check for any kinds of clues or possible symbols hidden on the bodies, and since that was highly unlikely for the Phantomhive to do…
"I'm sure he will cooperate with us, you have nothing to worry about, my Lord," Sebastian said, smiling at the younger man. Ciel held a scowl of disagreement and pushed the door open, walking inside the shop.
The familiar smell of heavy chemicals reached his nose as he stood in the middle of the room. He looked around, half wishing that the man he was looking for was out so he could leave already. But unfortunately that wasn't the case.
"Ciel Phantomhive." A voice appeared out of nowhere, and before Ciel could see, the Undertaker was in front of him with his usual wide grin.
"Undertaker," the Phantomhive greeted, trying to make his voice sound normal. He held back a yelp as the man leaned forward and placed both hands on his shoulders, abnormally long black fingernails of his thumbs resting on his cheeks.
"It's so good to see you again. Oh how much you've grown…" he said, leaning uncomfortably close as he looked at the younger man up and down. Ciel made a small sound of discomfort and knitted his eyebrows together slightly.
"I preferred you when you were a younger boy. Much more innocent and cute," he said, with a small chuckle. Ciel pulled back, glaring a bit.
"You old pervert." He muttered, dusting himself off. Undertaker walked to his desk, ignoring the comment like it had never been said.
"You're here for the nice number of families that have arrived here recently, I'm guessing?" Undertaker asked, placing his elbows on the desk and resting his head on his palms, looking up at the butler and the young Earl.
"That's right, were there any-"
"Aha well you know what to do Young Earl…" he interrupted, his grin growing even wider, head turning towards the butler. Ciel let out a sigh and brought a hand to his knitted eyebrows in frustration.
"Sebastian, could you…" he trailed off, feeling ridiculous.
"Certainly, if you could just step outside," Sebastian said, his face serious. Ciel rolled his eyes and shook his head, walking out of the shop and closing the door. Why on earth would that perverted man want laughs as payment while he already had a wide grin plastered on his face at all times he would never know.
The Phantomhive stood outside, folding his arms across his chest, a sour expression on his face. There was utter silence for a few seconds, only the sound of his foot tapping impatiently on the pavement being heard. He jumped when suddenly an ear piercing laugh was heard from inside the shop and he scowled at himself for not being used to it from the other times that had happened. When the laughter died down, he straightened his hat which had miraculously moved on its own and blinked when Sebastian opened the door.
"You can come in now," he said, moving aside. Ciel knew that he'd get no answer if he asked the demon what he did. What could be so bad that he could never see no matter what?
"Let's get this over with. Did you find anything unusual on the bodies?" the Phantomhive asked as he walked inside, avoiding looking at the ecstatic man whose body was still twitching from his giggling. Ciel took a frustrated breath as he waited and looked at the butler with a raised eyebrow. Sebastian merely gave a small triumph smile and looked back.
"Yes," Undertaker suddenly said, standing up from his desk. Ciel turned his attention from his butler and looked over at the grey haired man.
"What was it?"
"I'm so sad that most of the bodies cannot have open caskets…they were so ruined by the time they got here. But all of them had a symbol carved, young Earl," Undertaker said, grinning and walking over to him. Ciel instantly felt a shudder out of habit and looked at him, intrigued.
"A symbol of what?" the young Earl asked, his fists clenching slightly. It couldn't be the same symbol as the one on his side could it?
"A small cross," he said, grinning and leaning down close to the Phantomhive again. Ciel let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and backed off a step. Of course it wasn't the same mark as the one that they had done on him.
"Ah. Is that so," he said, backing off another step.
"Well then, thank you for your time," he said, walking to the door.
"I'll be waiting for your next visit, Ciel Phantomhive," Undertaker said, and Ciel wasn't sure if the peculiar man meant for the next time he'd visit him alive.
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"Does the cross narrow down the cults?" Ciel said as he started walking back, his butler at his side.
"Yes. Though, I was hoping for something more creative, at least from a human so vicious." Sebastian commented, letting out a small sigh of disappointment. Ciel glared up a bit.
"As long as we find who did it, it doesn't matter. What matters is lifting the weight off Queen's shoulders," he said. Sebastian smirked slightly and looked down at him.
"Only the Queen's shoulders, young Master?" Sebastian questioned, a hint of mockery in his voice. Ciel narrowed his eyes a bit and shook his head.
"Shut up."
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A week later, the Phantomhive was sitting on his office, papers with clues spread out in front of him. His eyebrows were knitted in concentration, his hands folded together. Sebastian was watching silently, observing. He was waiting for a chance to speak, to nudge the Phantomhive in the right direction like he had done many times before.
The young Earl had a hard time finding any clues, not because they were particularly hard to find, but because his personal feelings were getting in the way. The familiarity of the case clouded his Master's thinking.
Not only that, but now the murderer had struck down again, killing a family of two, a mother and a child. The killer had left the exact same note behind, this time carved on one of the two bodies. Ciel hadn't visited the murder scene, with the excuse that there was no need. Of course Sebastian knew that that wasn't the case. His Master couldn't take facing once again something that reminded him of his haunting past so intently.
"So…" Ciel started, closing his eyes for a second. When he opened them he looked at the various information Sebastian had gathered through his searches.
"There are several cults that could be using these murders as some form of sacrifice…" he said, sighing a little.
"None say anything about the note the killer leaves though…" he muttered, the words of the message coming to his mind; 'You will die by my hand.' .He shivered slightly before speaking again.
"Perhaps he is just trying to confuse the police like he has successfully done so far…" he continued pointlessly, in hopes that something new would come to him that would help solve the case.
"If I may, Young Master?" Sebastian spoke up, putting a hand on his chest humbly. Ciel looked at him expectantly.
"While the murderer could have done this thinking that he had the upper hand, perhaps that is his weakness also," Sebastian said, looking at his Master. Ciel made a questioning sound.
"What do you mean?" Ciel asked, sitting up slightly in his office seat.
"The language used is not something an average citizen could possess knowledge of. Even if educated, to know Ancient Greek must mean that the person is more specialized in the area of education." Sebastian said, and though his tone was not absolute, the confidence behind his words was evident. Ciel blinked in realization.
"Professors…"
"It's a high possibility," Sebastian said, looking at his Master with a small smirk. Ciel sighed heavily. How could he not have made that conclusion himself? He needed to pull himself together.
"Make a list of all the professors that could be suspects in the case," Ciel ordered, starting to feel the fog that was covering his thinking being lifted slightly. He took a breath, starting to get more optimistic about the solving of the case.
"Understood," Sebastian said, making a small bow.
"Also, what about the cross? What did you find?" Ciel asked, looking at him. Sebastian walked closer to the desk and reached for one of the many opened books.
"In conclusion, I believe that the cult we are dealing with is this one," Sebastian said as he placed the opened book in front of his Master. Ciel looked at the book filled with information. It fitted perfectly. The cross on each one of the bodies, the number of killings, the way they were killed. With the last murder, the body count was at twelve people. The information on the cult said that to complete the ritual they needed thirteen sacrifices. One more to go.
"It fits…" Ciel said, nodding to himself. There was silence for a minute as he checked out the reports on the murders to make sure he had counted right.
"How is young Master feeling?" Sebastian asked suddenly, looking at him.
"What do you mean? I'm fine." Ciel said, putting the papers down and crossing his arms on his chest.
"You haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. It might affect your health." Sebastian commented. It was true. Due to his nightmares he could barely get one hour of proper sleep every night.
"It's fine. Once the case is closed, everything will go back to normal." Ciel said, shaking his head slightly. Well, if you can call his every day life normal.
"Is that so…" Sebastian trailed off, going around the desk and leaning down, placing a hand on the Phantomhive's cheek. Ciel held his breath, looking at his butler as his eyes examined his tired looking face.
Ciel failed in trying to sustain himself from attempting to kiss him and he leaned forward, stopping an inch from the man's lips. Sebastian stopped examining the young Earl's face and stayed still, their lips barely an inch apart. Ciel could feel his heart beating faster, even though their lips didn't actually touch as he felt Sebastian's breath against his skin. He hadn't properly felt the demon in over two weeks, the touches he had been giving him to calm him down after a nightmare every night being far from enough for him.
"Young Master, you need to focus," Sebastian said, their lips brushing together as he spoke.
"I know," Ciel muttered, finally closing the gap and pressing their lips together fully. He had been out of focus already. Maybe this would help, at least a little. Or at least that's what he told himself as he kissed the demon deeply, his hands reaching up and gripping his suit jacket.
Sebastian raised his free hand and rested on Ciel's other cheek, pressing the young Earl's back against his seat as he kissed him back. Their tongues rubbed against each other and Ciel had to hold back a whimper, his eyebrows knitting together. It felt so good having the demon so close to him like this.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow when Ciel pulled back and looked away, panting quietly, his cheeks flushed from the passion of the kiss.
Ciel knew that he had very important things that had to be done. Now was not the time to start what his whole body was practically begging him to. He leaned back, trying to calm himself down. Sebastian glanced down and made a small smirk, pulling back slightly, his hands still cupping the young Earl's face.
"You are starting to get black circles under your eyes," Sebastian noted as he finished examining his master's face before he was interrupted. Ciel blinked and pulled his hands away from his face, glaring slightly.
"Well then. If you're so concerned about my health, make sure we finish this as quickly as possible." The young Earl said in a hard tone, though his still flushed cheeks were making it hard for him to be taken seriously. Sebastian made a small sigh and stood up straight.
"As you wish, my Lord," he said, making a small bow and leaving the room, going to make the list of suspects as he had been ordered.
After Ciel finally calmed down his craving body, he turned his attention back to the book with information about the specific cult, reading through the pages of text. He didn't know how the demon could get this kind of information. But, since he was one hell of a butler, he justified it simply on that. He continued reading, getting absorbed by the sickening details on how the rituals had to be done.
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"Here is the list Master." Sebastian said once he reentered the room, tray of tea in one hand and a couple of pieces of paper on the other. Ciel looked up from his reading, raising his eyebrow slightly.
"So soon? I'm guessing the suspects are not that many?" Ciel asked while leaning his chin on his palm.
"Yes. There are only three that fit the profile. By leaving that note on each crime scene they dug their own grave. As most humans usually tend to do." Sebastian said, sounding unimpressed.
"How stupid and reckless," Ciel commented before going back to reading. He blinked once reading through a bit of text.
"Full moon. That's tonight," he realized.
"It appears so." Sebastian said as he poured a fresh cup of tea and placed it on the desk.
"If we're right then the last sacrifice will happen tonight in a-"
"Abandoned holy ground," Sebastian finished his sentence without the need to glance at the book his Master was looking at. Ciel bit his lip and felt his heart beating slightly faster.
"Then tonight it's over. We have to catch him tonight before he murders someone else," Ciel said, taking a breath.
"Sebastian, find where it's going to happen," he ordered, looking up at him.
"Already have," Sebastian said simply. Ciel raised his eyebrows and looked at a bit of text. He couldn't help a small smirk.
"Apparently he wants to summon a demon. How about we make his wish come true?" Ciel asked, looking up at his butler. Sebastian made a small laugh.
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"How generous of Young Master," he said, smiling at him.
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Hm…I didn't like this chapter. I think it was boring. Oh well, at least you got some creepy Undertaker for you fans? Reviews for that…? haha
Another new amazing pic of older Ciel with longer hair has been added on my profile. Check it out!
Dear lord…I'm practically dying here hahaha I found some pics of a Kuroshitsuji doujinshi and guess what?! It's Ciel, older AND with longer hair! I searched and searched but I couldn't find it anywhere. I swear, it physically hurts not having the manga pages at my possession ahaha o.o. Seriously.
The doujinshi is called Love Doll, if ANYONE knows where I can find it to read or download it I will love them forever and ever and ever! I-i-it's an older Ciel manga! Things can't get any better than this! Lmfao the pic I found is added on my profile, as said above. If you liked the first pic with older Ciel I showed you, then you're going to LOVE this one!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please review instead of just reading!