Chapter 12

"A Newfound Hatred"

Song: Carousel, AHS Freak Show Soundtrack "Chasing after you is like a fairy tale, but I feel like I'm glued on tight to this carousel"

Naomi let out a huge sigh of relief when she found the "apartment" house Ciel had rented for the time they were staying in Death City. All the lights in the house were off, so she hoped that he was already in bed, and Sebastian hadn't found her missing. She tied back her red hair with a hair tie she had on her wrist, and moved around to the back of the building. She had left her bedroom window unlocked so she could pry it open from outside, and luckily nobody had noticed it. She quietly creaked open the window and crawled in, landing softly on the carpet. She quickly brushed her clothes back into a natural position and tip-toed to her suitcase, and picked out her pajamas. She was just about to change when the light in her room popped on, and made her jump.

Turning around to face the door she saw a very angry Ciel backed by a smirking butler named Sebastian. She bit the inside of her lip as she placed the pajamas down on her bed, and she folded her arms. Ciel's blue eye seemed to blaze. "What were you doing?"

Naomi glared at him. "It doesn't matter, I came back."

Ciel took a few steps towards her, so that he was a foot away from her. "I said, what were you doing?"

Naomi huffed. "None of your business."

Ciel yelled, a pointed finger shoved into her face. "You are MY business. You are MINE. You belong to ME and should act as such. You are not a wild cat to go roaming as you please. You are a dog, on a chain, and you do as I command you to do!" He raised his hand, and Naomi's eyes went wide as his palm came down hard on her left cheek. It stung like a million bees. Her eyes teared up and her head screamed for her to hit him back, but with Sebastian grinning down on her, she couldn't.

"I told you not to go searching for your past, but I don't care anymore. Do what you want. However, when the time comes for us to go back to my mansion, you will be confined to your quarters for the rest of your life. So enjoy the time you have, Miss Naomi."

Tears streamed down her face as she packed her suitcase back up, zipped it shut, and threw it out the window. She calmly slipped herself back out the way she came, and glared at Ciel. "I really hope you didn't mean that. I was hoping we could be equals. Otherwise you'll never be seeing me again."

Ciel glared as the girl grabbed her suitcase and vanished out of sight. Sebastian smiled behind him. "What are you going to do next, sir?" He turned around and retreated back to his own quarters, and slipped himself back into bed. Sebastian just stood in the doorway of Naomi's room, and couldn't stop smiling.

"It seems the master may get rid of her all on his own. At least I won't have to get my hands dirty."

Meanwhile, Naomi ran blindly through the streets. It was 10pm, and she couldn't go back to Kashi's yet. Well, Kidd's, technically. She wiped away the tears and saw a community center building, almost like a shed, open in a park. She trailed her sadness there, and sat down on one of the picnic benches that were located under the roof. A cool breeze blew and chilled her, but she didn't care. She stared at that eastern horizon, and cried. Waiting for the sun to come up before going back to see Kashi. The place was huge, and he had offered her to stay overnight.

"Maybe he will let me live there for a few days, too."

She knocked on the door. She took a deep breath, happy to have made it to her destination. It took her the better part of two hours, but she made it. The sun had just peeked over the nearby buildings. It was probably around eight in the morning. Her hair was greasier than she would like it to be, but she spent the night in a park, so nobody can really blame her. She knocked again, and before she could finish the door opened a smidge, and a tired Liz sighed. "You again? Naomi, right? Come on in, I'll see if I can't drag Kashi out of bed."

She nodded in thanks, and entered the big building once more. Liz didn't question why she had a bag, and she was greatful. It would be hard enough to tell the story to Kashi, who didn't like Ciel in the first place. This would just give her a reason to hate him even more. Even though I want to hate him, and what he said and did is unnecessary, I see a kind man inside of him.

Kashi came slogging down the stairs, but when she opened her eyes and saw the suitcase, she slid down the railing and ran to the red-head. Tears started pouring out of Naomi's eyes without warning, and she tackled Kashi in a hug. Her friend tensed, but Naomi didn't care. Kashi pat her on the back, and after a minute she pulled her friend away from her to look her in her crying blue eyes. "What happened?"

Naomi gasped from the lump in her throat. "He hit me. The bastard hit me." She choked out in a sob, and could barely see Kashi's face turn red with anger. Kashi bit her cheek and pulled on Naomi's arm, which she followed with her suitcase in hand. The two stopped by the end of the stairs and Kashi let go of her friend's arm. "You stay here. I'm going to ask Kidd if you can stay for a while, okay?" Naomi could only nod, and Kashi ran back up the stairs. She stood, trembling. First I lose my memory, then I find out I kill plants, and now I'm being abused for trying to make a friend? Why is this happening to me…

She heard a feminine voice that didn't belong to her call out from the back of her mind. "Stay strong…" it said. It was the same voice from her dreams before. She shook her head, and Kidd came down the stairs with Kashi following close behind, and he gave an empathetic smile. "You can stay for as long as you'd like. I'll put you next to Liz and Patty's rooms, so you can ask them if you need anything. I'm sure Kashi will show you around."

Naomi nodded and squeaked out a pathetic "thanks" before Kidd led them to her new room on the ground floor. Naomi sighed. "Thank you, very much. I think… I think I'm going to get some sleep." Kashi nodded, and Kidd stayed back, just watching to make sure she was okay. Naomi was about to shut the door behind her, when Kashi stopped her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Naomi nodded, wiping tears off her face. "Yeah. I will be." Kashi was hesitant to let her friend be alone at a time like this, but her eyes were red from crying and lack of sleep, and Kidd tapped Kashi's shoulder and tilted his head in the direction of the living room. That was her queue to leave. Kashi let Naomi go, and she followed Kidd back into the living room.

Kashi was fuming with anger. "I swear I'm going to kill him. I knew I hated him."

Kidd guestured with his hands for Kashi to calm down. "We can't do anything about what happened. All we can do is offer her a place to stay until she figures out what she's going to do about it."

Kashi nodded in silence, and watched as Kidd disappeared into the kitchen to make breakfast, but she wasn't happy about it. She felt a pit of despair brewing in her stomach. She knew this guy wasn't good. And that's not just it, either. If Naomi could only remember Natsu, then she would feel the need owe her life to Ciel, because she would remember that she had already fallen for Natsu.

She rubbed her temples. "I need to make her remember…"