Snared By The Web

Moving on.

xxx

How long has he been made to wait inside of that crate? It was nowhere near on hour. That's for sure. Still, time seemed slowly to a torturous halt the longer he waited. Waited in the small, dark, cramped space in a most uncomfortable position. Muffled noises outside his one solace to prevent his mind from succumbing to madness.

I've felt this before...Ciel began to recall. Like a memory from a dream he's often had. In another dark place much like where he is, he was in a similar state. I was trapped somewhere like this for a very long time. A small box of tea confining him to a particular place of importance. I know I've forgotten something. But I can't figure out what. Ciel chastised himself. The darkness brewing what troubles he had unconsciously sealed to the back of his mind. The notion their is a loop being drawn, and constantly he is pushed outside the boundaries. Whatever it is...Alois, Sebastian...and even Alliahnna know. I'm sure of it! He snarled. His arms tightened to his knees to his chest. I'm the only one who DOESN'T know! Overwhelming rage boiled within him. His butler, HIS SISTER, and his mortal enemy - he's being played for a fool. But for what reason? Just what is it he's forgotten.

"London Bridge is falling down! Falling down! Falling down!" The age old English nursery rhyme sent a jolt striking in a thunderstorm to Ciel's mind. A song he hasn't heard since he was a child sending eerie chills to his neck. "London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady." Ciel smashed a palm to his covered eye. Unimaginable pain split his skull down the middle. Flashes of images flickered relentlessly through his mind.

'The fire...a woman with wings...Vincent Phantomhive's dead patchwork face.' "London Bridge is falling down! Falling down! Falling down!" 'A man with silver hair thrust a rapier. Sebastian meeting him with an assortment of knives.' "London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady." 'A person cloaked in black soaring to the sky, revealed to be an adolescent girl with tears streaming down her cheeks.'

Tricks! They must be tricks! Illusions of a mind he knows is fractured. Dreams he may have had. Ciel sat their in abject shock and horror, watching these familiar, gruesome images flash across his mind. 'Alliahnna charging with a sharpened pipe, scaring the face of an angel...the angel swatting her like a bug...Ciel jumping in the way of the Angel driving a pipe through her chest.' He doesn't understand. What are these images he sees? When did any of this happen?

Alois' voice mocked him, 'Can't you see that we're basically the same?' He cackled.

"SOD OFF! I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU, YOU VILE PIECE OF FILTH!" The pain pounded away at his skull.

'You mustn't set a foot outside this box. Please, Lord.' Sebastian implored him, sealing him within a trunk.

"BLOODY SOD OFF!"

'Don't move, Ciel...' Alliahnna lied across the trunk, hugging the boy nesting inside, 'I'll be right back.'

"STOP YOUR LIES!" He bared his teeth. "DAMN YOU BOTH! I AM THE ONE WHO GIVES ORDERS!" Ciel broke free of his crate, and began his rampage across London. Bringing Alliahnna to discover him gone.

xxx

One stitch at a time, Claude fashioned his marvelous creation. His own virtuous webbing, adorned by leaves of various shapes. The spider's thread twines around a snow white soul one stitch at a time. Row by row. Until the web is complete. Spirals of thorny vines spreading along with the knotted linkings. At the center was a sphere. The embodiment and symbol of the soul he seeks to acquire, trapped within the inner workings of his web. Once the web has reached glorious fruition, and the snow white soul is fully entwined, Around that sphere were shard pieces of another soul, just out of reach of the trapped soul, it will ensnare and trap the the pieces of the cloud white soul seeking to liberate its brother from the vices. Claude rose from his place, displaying his wondrous knitting and marveling at what he had created. Effectively entangling both pure white souls within the snares of my web. Ripe for the devouring.

Claude swung the doyley around his shoulders, wearing it as his crowning cape of glory. He licked his lips hungrily. The delectable tastes of Ciel and Alliahnna teasing his tongue. How he longed to run his tongue over them both. To have them squirm under him as her slurps up every last bit of their precious souls. Even if Alliahnna's soul cannot be touched, he will savor having her in his mouth. To see the look on Sebastian's face as he defiles her. The pure enjoyment was enough to send him spiraling.

"Ciel Phantomhive. Alliahnna Phantomhive. I will ensnare you both. Pierce you with my teeth." Claude declared seductively. Movement below him interceded with his monologue. The rampant feet of the mice he coveted scampering about the small village. At the peak of their speeds they searched for one another. The dangerous predators lurking to gobble them up. Meanwhile the bird that so diligently safeguarded them was off in another direction. "And while you writhe beneath me, I will make you, Alliahnna Phantomhive, watch as I suck Ciel's delectable soul dry."

xxx

Alliahnna surmised Ciel wouldn't get very far without a horse or Sebastian. Although, admittedly, her time as a demon has created an arrogant doubt toward the speed of humans. In shorter terms, she'd forgotten Ciel can break into a mad dash at the drop of his hat. When he was ten, these kids stole his cane and got a good distance on him. Alliahnna blinked wanting to chase them down for him. He was already gone and had the kids. Virtually, by now, Ciel could be anywhere within a one mile radius. She has to find him. SHE NEEDS TO FIND HIM! Before whatever scheme Claude has set in motion with the reapers comes full circle.

"I'm coming, Ciel! I'm coming!"

xxx

Ciel's tired lungs burned with a vengeance as he sprinted in a maddening marathon throughout the village. He scoured every market place, backwater alley, and street he came upon. Not for a second did his pace slow. The sweat beading down his brow made his eyepatch itch, and stung his one free eye. His heart was on the verge of giving out. Ciel's legs weighed heavier than anvils. His throbbing muscles no more merciless than a hammer pounding away at his bones. The stitchings in his side dug relentlessly, begging him to stop and grant his body air. He wouldn't hear of it. He wouldn't stop. HE WON'T STOP! Not until he finds Sebastian and Alliahnna, and claws the answers straight from their bodies.

Where are you?! Sebastian! Alliahnna! He snarled murderously. They think they can hide from him. They think they can mock him and leave him to quiver whilst they plot behind his back! NO CHANCE IN HELL! I will find you! I will learn your secrets! "ALLIAHNNA!"

Ciel darted into an alleyway. A figure passed in a window's reflection. It was a glimpse, but Ciel knew the figure. "Alois?" Then again, his mind might be as weary as his body. Movement to his right revealed a tuft of blond hair, and a purple coat jumping over a wall. He wasn't crazy. That was Alois. "WAIT!" Ciel inched forward. A barrel fell behind him. There was Alois again, disappearing around a corner. THERE'S NO END TO HIS MOCKERY!

"COME BACK!" He's lost all patience for the boy. He sprinted after him, cornering him at a tall wall. Alois stared at the wall, idling as the Phantomhive boy caught up to him. "A dead end! That's as far as you go!" Ciel declared his victory. At last, answers and revenge were his.

"ALOIS TRANCY!"

"THERE HE IS!" Men bellowed from a carriage. The two raced into the alleyway.

Ciel hissed through gritted teeth. Figures the proper authorities would arrive after he's done all the real work. "You're from Scotland Yard, yes?" Obviously, by their ever so punctual response time. At least they'll be able to put Alois where he can later question him. "Well, go after him! He's escaping!"

"ALRIGHT, TRANCY!" Both men tackled to Ciel instead, lifting him off ground by the arms. "Don't try to fight us!" A third man appeared to lend extra assistance if Alois tired anything.

"WHAT? Wait! Do you think I'm Alois?" He's never been so insulted. "Get your facts straight! He's right over th-" No one was there. Alois was gone.

The circus was over. Time to deal with the issue. "Let's take him in." The third man declared.

"WAIT! LET ME GO THIS INSTANT!" Ciel struggled in their grip. It wasn't a demon's, but boy was it close. "Who do you bloody people think you are?" Ciel's tirade died on his lips by the arrival of two more people. An older gentleman - the man in charge by the air around him - and Hannah. "It's the maid from the Trancy Manor." Ciel was overcome by relief. Finally, someone to clear up this mess.

"Look closely…" The older man urged Hannah. "Are you certain?"

"Yes. That is my master. Earl Alois Trancy." Ciel was horrified by her outlandish lie.

xxx

"ALLIAHNNA!"

Alliahnna landed on a roof ledge. The shriek carried on the wind to her ear. "CIEL!" That was his voice. He's in danger. "I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

A hailstorm of golden knives shrieked from the sky. Alliahnna sensed them at her back. She pivoted left, sprinting along the side of a housing complex. The knives trailed inches at her feet. Another flew for her skull. Alliahnna grabbed hold of a protruding pole and pulled up. The knife left a gaping hole just beneath the pole. Alliahnna launched off, flipping to a landing on a chimney. She managed to breathe.

"A fair morning to you, Lady Alliahnna." Alliahnna growled venomously, glaring at the spectacled butler across the way from her. "Might I occupy your time?"

"Claude!"

xxx

Ciel was locked in a spiral of angered disbelief. That wretched maid, Hannah is her name, just lied through her teeth directly to his face. "ARE YOU MAD?!" Ciel shrieked.

"Forgive me for saying so…" The older gentleman ignored Ciel's outburst, "But he seems to be an extremely troubled youth."

Hannah turned away with her own mask of false sorrow. "It's a tragic tale. My poor young Lord was subjected to repeated abuse by his late father." She closed her eye with remorse. Though an outright lie, Ciel was taken aback by the sincerity in her voice. Was Alois abused? Was this woman trying to make him understand? Or is this all a game she is creating. "The abuse took a toll on him. I'm sorry to say, it has affected his mind. He despises the mark carved into his eye by the previous Earl Trancy." Ciel was self conscious of his covered eye, able to feel the seal pulsing. "Anytime he sees a boy who resembles his younger self, that hatred manifests itself like some monster. It whispers, take out their eyes…" Ciel can hardly stomach it. These men can't possibly be buying into this load of hogwash! Yet there they stood, soaking up her every last word like sponges. Hannah further laid claim to their support by placing a hand to her bandaged eye, "He took mine as well. That is why I wear this."

"HOW DARE YOU, VILE WITCH!" Ciel snarled.

"His eye is the best proof of his identity." Hannah reassured them.

"Remove the patch!" The older gentleman ordered.

"No! Stop this!" Ciel's struggling was useless. One of the men tore the patch off. Horror was shared at the mark on his eye. "No...you're wrong…" He whimpered. "It's a sign of my contract…"

The argument was over. Ciel can no longer offer a fight at the evidence against him. "My Master is also a victim in all this." Hannah laid claim. "Please, I beg you to show whatever mercy you can."

"TAKE HIM IN!" The older man has heard and seen enough.

Mania claimed Ciel's mind. He thrashed wildly. "LET ME GO! STOP THIS!" The men's grip wouldn't waver. They dragged him to the carriage. "Alliahnna…" He sniveled. "SEEBBAASSTIAN…"

xxx

Sebastian. Sebastian. Where on earth had Sebastian gone? He left Alliahnna and Ciel alone a good while ago to investigate the strange attack on their person. He made them swear not to move, that he would return quite soon. All the while chasing down the elusive attacker, coming under the thrall of blind and obstructive demolition, he had come to grips with what the intent behind The Queen's Orders truly was. Luring him and his masters into the open with orders from the Queen, then allowing Grim Reapers to arrive and either quell them, or eliminate them.

Claude was a masterful tactician. Under different circumstances, Sebastian would have enjoyed engaging him in battles of the mind. Unfortunately, that will never be the case. Not that he will shed a tear over it. Especially not when a young reaper by the name of Ronald Knox has chosen to enact one of Grell's teachings. Who in their right state of mind would let that ginger haired moron teach the new generation? Someone with no real regard for the future, that's who. At least this new reaper has an easy death scythe to deal with. A lawn mower isn't the best choice of weapon. A couple of knives and it was jammed.

As he attempted to deal with the young reaper, Will Spears himself arrived to intercept Sebastian. Naturally he blamed Sebastian for Alois's soul being unrecoverable. Then again, he'd blame warm weather across the world on Sebastian as well.

"You should pay better attention." Sebastian sprang back off his hands. shears broke the roofing at his feet. As Sebastian somersaulted to a landing, Will kicked off of a chimney stack, drawing his death scythe back. "Just where is that head of yours?" He swung with all his strength. The sheer cut the air down the middle. Sebastian bent all the way back, losing a couple strands of his bangs.

Where is my mind, he asks. Sebastian inwardly mocked himself for being transparent. On his Master and Lady who he can sense are in danger. There are disturbances blossoming from every direction. The mania leading Alliahnna and Ciel like dogs on leashes was tying a noose to his neck as well.

Will took advantage of Sebastian's wandering mind. He unleashed his shears again. Sebastian took him aback by weaving his arms to the extending pole. He lifted and catapulted Will into the air, sending him flipping uncontrollably. He launched into the sky after him. Will recovered his shears, crossing them at his chest, intercepting a punch by Sebastian. The shock afflicted a glancing blow to his person, enough to stunt his breath. Will brought a foot up, kicking Sebastian away from him, and then he launched the shears for another strike. Sebastian managed to weave his body up, narrowly dodging. He grasped to the scythe, pulling himself in close to Will, impeding his space for a counter offensive.

"What a bother this is turning out to be!" Will groaned, adjusting his glasses. He clutch a handful of Sebastian's hair. He pushed down, flipped around behind him and sent Sebastian hurtling to the rooftops. "Working overtime yet again! All thanks to Grell!" Will thrust his death scythe. Sebastian saved himself on the landing by just the skin of his teeth. Instantly afterward he leaned sideways, feeling a breeze of the missing shears. He skipped away from the piercing strikes, evading the holes they were leaving in the rooftops.

Will just confirmed what Sebastian has been doubting. Alois Trancy is truly dead. And Claude is undoubtedly holding on to his soul. For what purpose? One mystery at a time. The ultimate goal was his master. There is no mistake about that. Even so, no matter what anyone does, Ciel belongs only to him. HIS SOUL belongs only to him.

"That Stray of yours didn't make my job any less tedious!"

Sebastian froze at Alliahnna's mentioning. Will's shears grazed his shoulder. He latched a hand to the scythe, holding it firmly in place. Will had to admit, he was caught off guard by the action. He was certain Sebastian would skip around to buy time. "What do you mean?!" He snarled hatefully. "What have you done to Alliahnna?!" His grip threatened to crush the shears.

"Even your concern for the stray is vile!" Will hissed. "I did not dirty my scythe with her blood! I left her to her own devices and came to quell you." As relieved as Sebastian is to hear him say so, that doesn't erase the fret over them being in danger. The longer he takes to deal with the reapers, the more likely it is Claude's web is closing around them. "I swear, whenever you and that Stray get involved, you create a mess of work for me!"

"I sincerely apologize. We've tried to be as sensitive to you work as we can." Sebastian crooned. A menacing smirk split his cheeks, "Then again, sensitivity was never our strong suit." At least not in this circumstance.

Meanwhile, as Will and Sebastian tore London apart, Ronald finally managed to get his lawn mower working again. "ALRIGHT!" It was purring like a kitten in the middle of bathing in the sun. Just in the nick of time. Old Will was being given the what for down below. Will and Sebastian dragged their fight to the ground after a while. A reaper's pristine death scythe being repelled by a twig of a clothesline. "Right! Let's get this show over with! You can bet your ass I'm not working overtime!"

Sebastian and Will danced about one another, evading and repelling unyielding strikes from every direction. Although, Sebastian needed a new strategy fast. The stick he found wasn't going to last much longer. As he started to overwhelm Will, Ronald came howling from the rooftops, riding his lawnmower into the heated fray. Will and Sebastian both narrowly escaped with their lives. Ronald practically made a crater where they would have been.

Sebastian took to the skies again, striving to stay out of Will's reach, and the reach of that insolent new reaper. "Against two Reapers…" He growled, "Even I am at a disadvantage."

"Blundering little fool!" Will scolded the overzealous reaper. "I don't suppose it's your intent to fell me with your death scythe as well?" Because that is what very damn well near happened.

"Oh...did I take it too far?" He bashfully rubbed the back of his head. The hole in the ground was proof of that. "Right. My mistake. I am at that mischievous age, you know." Not a real excuse for his actions. At least not for Will.

"A Grim Reaper must always take care to judge every situation swiftly and ACCURATELY!" Accuracy is what separates them from the demons. "Are those spectacles just for show?"

The spectacles! Sebastian sent a knife flying, knocking Will's glasses off without so much as scratching his face. That should keep him busy for a while. There is another matter he must attend to. He is dreadfully behind schedule because of them. "Just another moment longer, Master. My Lady." He muttered, racing in the direction of a sanitorium. "I will return to you."

xxx

BOOM! A cloud of dust coasted on the air a distance behind Claude. He was impassive to the disruption. A smile smile on his lips. Alliahnna stared in dismay. The crash was strong enough to cause a minor vibration at her feet. She knew who caused it. Beyond Claude was the general direction Will went in to assist a reaper named Ronald. Or so she assumed. She can't think of anyone else who would cause that kind of commotion. Besides Grell. But he hasn't made a grand entrance in some time. That can only mean Will and that prepubescent reaper Ronald were fighting against Sebastian.

Two reapers at once...Alliahnna doesn't like the odds. The smallest graze from either of their death scythes can leave a demon mortally wounded. She doesn't like to doubt him. Sebastian's one of the most skilled demons she knows. But even he's going to have trouble. Not that she is one to chastise staggering odds. Claude isn't going to simply step aside and let her race to his aid. Guess I'll have to deal with him.

"You'll have to pardon my abrupt entry." Claude removed his glasses, cleaning specks of dirt from the lens. "I had to ensure I received your full attention."

"Consider your mission a success!" Alliahnna barked. Those knives he threw left knicks in her boot heels. "Then again, if you wanted my attention so badly, a letter would have been just as effective." She scoffed, folding her arms.

"Ah yes. But letters are easy to disregard and toss." He twirled his glasses between his fingers, gracefully re-placing them to the bridge of his nose. "Weak, flimsy constructs of tree and water. So easy to tear, and dispose of without a second thought."

Alliahnna read his true intent between the lines of the mockery. He wasn't talking about paper. "You mean like how you disposed of Alois?" She knit her brow. Claude didn't bother hiding his lascivious smirk. He lapped his tongue hungrily, able to still taste the life leaving the lolita boy. The gleam in his golden eyes sickened her. So you did kill him! She shouldn't be surprised. Jasper and Zanosuke told her of Alois death, and that Claude was the executioner. Still, even though she heard it, a piece of her wanted to hear it straight from the spider's mouth. Now that she has, she can't help but feel abject contempt. "A butler killing his Master! How despicable!" She growled rabidly.

Claude was lavishing in her swelling rage. "The boy committed a most disgusting of acts of Master and Servant." He elucidated. His smile never fading. "He professed an undying love for his butler. A soul like that is distasteful to the palate." Alliahnna felt the stab that was meant at her and her love for Sebastian. Calling her soul disgusting because she fell in love with her butler. Does that mean...Sebastian thought my soul was disgusting? She shut her eyes, shoving those thoughts to the back of her mind. Personal relationships were irrelevant at the moment. She can't afford to have doubts. Not now.

"Losing interest in a soul. Guess that's another possibility for a demon servant." Alliahnna caught Claude off guard when she jumped the gap to his side. She landed on her tiptoes to a triangular roofing. She tilted her glare to the demon atop the roof's pagoda. "Somehow...I never saw it coming. But, in a way, it all makes sense." Claude turned to fully face her, placing an inquisitive hand to his hip. "Alois's orders for you were to take Ciel from Sebastian. That much you followed until we took him back. In spite of that, for the sake of your master, you tried to capture him again." The common contingency that can infringe upon a demon butler's duties. Orders are orders. Followed to the letter without hesitation. Those orders, however, do not stem to third party interlopers. "However, you lost interest in Alois the moment you decided to duel over Ciel's soul. Devouring Alois would have just been a plus." Claude found himself entertained by her perceptive deductions. She's summarizing past events to fit theories she's formed over time. He was impressed by how spot on she was. "Regardless of you dirtying your hands, the boy was meant to die. His soul nothing more than a treat for the hungry. Him confessing his love was just your justification."

"Very astute observation, Young Lady." Claude sardonically applauded her. He quite enjoyed that little distraction. What I don't understand, though, is what you've done with Alois' soul. Alliahnna furrowed her brow. Doubtful Claude will tell her. "Knowing all this, why seek to spare him?" It was engraved in his mind. Alliahnna whisking to Alois' protection, defying her brother and his lust for revenge. "Why throw yourself into the crosshairs of Ciel's long coveted revenge?"

Alliahnna's head lowered with shame. She balled her fingers into trembling fists. "Because I knew what it would mean if he died." She can stand there and claim her one sole reason was to preserve Ciel's hands. To keep him from knowing what it means to play god with another's life. That...is partially a lie. "One of you - Sebastian - would take Ciel from me." A duel among demons would ensue. Her brother plucked from her reach for the eternity she will live. The solitude will hold her hand once more. "I couldn't bear that."

"You are a demon now." Claude remarked with notable disdain for her selfish interference. The overcast gleam obscured his sweltering disgust. "What you can or cannot bear is of no consequence any longer. Surely you know that."

"I do." She touched her chest, caressing her seal. "One day, as the decades roll on and my form remains as it is," Elizabeth, Soma, Agni, Mey-Rin, Phoebus - the countless friends she's made on her journey, "Everyone I know will become dust before my eyes." The world aging as she seemingly stays the same in physical form. "The world will continue to turn...and I will have to watch it do so." She balled a fist, clenching the fate her seal has brought upon her.

"Then why stop what you know is inevitable?" Claude pressed with his interrogation.

"Because I have a duty as an elder sister to protect him!" The fact that he can ask her that with such a straight face was deplorable. "Duty as a demon comes second until the day he passes on."

Claude threw his head back and laughed at her decree. "An elder sister?" He spat. "My Dear, Naive Alliahnna, the elder sister to Ciel Phantomhive perished over a year ago."

"What did you say?" She growled.

"Come now! Alliahnna Phantomhive was a human child! Even with the powers of a demon at her disposal, she was nothing more than a little girl who longed for her brother!" Alliahnna stared in dismay. Claude leaned forward, proceeding to laugh at her indignant folly. "She, along with her waning humanity, perished the moment she chose to become a full fledged demon!" Alliahnna's breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes glossed with fright. Her body was shaking. That can't be true...I'm still...Her hair masked her wavering resolve as she lowered her head. I'm a demon...but I'm also still... "Hard to accept. I know. But deep down you know it to be true." He chortled. Alliahnna's fangs punctured her lip. "The Alliahnna Phantomhive Ciel and Sebastian know and love," Every word enunciated by his moving lips made her blood boil, "Is nothing but a memory."

"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!" Alliahnna stomped a foot forward. Air kicked up as she launched into a mad charge for the smirking spider butler. She jumped to the sky. Claude's glasses accentuating the studious revel in her agility. She flipped herself about, putting weight into her legs, and bringing a devastating heel down. The pagoda's pillar crippled in an instant. The awning and stage reduced to rubble, scattering across the roof and gardens below. Alliahnna hissed through gritted teeth. Nothing but the wind and dust. She searched heatedly for the elusive demon. Claude appeared behind her, quite pleased by the reaction he solicited. "I don't care what you think about me! But I refuse to stand here and let you disparage what you've never had!" Those words snatched the victorious glint from Claude. His brow knit with discontent. He reached inside his coat, fanning golden knives and forks. Alliahnna shifted into her stance, ready for whatever he has to throw at her. She made a move to charge. She stopped, spying Sebastian leaping across the rooftops in the opposite direction of her. "Sebastian?" Seeing him made her shoulders lift with relief. Will and Ronald hadn't overcome him. But where was he going? Perhaps he was looking for Ciel as well. Ciel...please be alright!

xxx

The storm brewing over England wasn't prepared to spare the countryside. The majestic, grassy hills, and foggy bottomless canyons hued by the thickest of the gray clouds. The rolled thunder as frightening as the eerie silence cascading the land.

Winches lowered a set of twin drawbridges across a gorge. The carriage in which Ciel was detained crossed over, climbing the winding path to Asylum nestled at the top of a hill.

There was no need to drag Ciel kicking and screaming. Nor was their call for the chains or a straightjacket offered by processing. Ciel, at the reluctance of his capture, had resolved within himself to be a model prisoner for the time being. This change in attitude curried the small favor of free roaming. Guards on either arm, as per protocol, of course.

Screaming at them for the first hour of the trip though he did, howling like a madman would only provoke retaliation. And possibly worsen his chances of release. That woman Hannah has already laid the basis for his alleged insanity. Adding or acting on it will land him in a room with no windows or light. Until he has established rapport with the Doctors of this asylum, he won't tread to far into dangerous waters.

Ciel was escorted to the Lead Doctor's Quarters. A rather dark and dingy room lit by one lone candle. A dramatic effect for his own personal posturing, no doubt. The water in the bowl on the room's installed sink was a prop as well. A symbol for sterility, or something to wash his hand in. It doesn't matter. Ciel wasn't impressed one lick by him. Anyone in a white coat can be imposing. Bardroy! Soma! Even Elizabeth. This old man in his over priced garb.

"Why don't you start by telling me your name?" The Doctor insisted. Ciel can admire him for his dislike of pleasantries. Right to the point. Good. He may escape this madhouse yet.

"My NAME is CIEL PHANTOMHIVE!" He stressed, boring hateful holes in the doctor. The entire trip he was referred to as Alois Trancy. The more he protested, the more adamant the officers were about restraining him. "Really! Treating a Nobleman like a common criminal! What gives you the right to do such a thing?!" The Doctor touched his chin, humming incredulously of Ciel's claims. Ciel was growing tired of this. "The Queen! Contact Her Majesty! You can even contact Sir Arthur if you have to!" There is a long list of people who know Ciel. Whether they like him or not is irrelevant. They can verify his identity. "Even ask my sister, Alliahnna! She'll corroborate-" One of the guards rammed their fists between his ribs. He collapsed to the floor, falling to the brink of unconsciousness.

"The poor lad's quite far gone indeed." The Doctor declared. "Administer the special treatment." He authorized.

Please...help...me…

The two men carted him off. The Doctor prepared a vaccination to aid in the progression of the treatment. Ciel's world blurred in and out. The hollow shuffling of his buckled shoes dragging on the wooden boards reverberating his ears. The fight howling in the back of his mind not feeding to the limp noodles that were his limbs. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say, to escape the horrible fate awaiting him in the asylum.

Alliahnna...where are you?

xxx

Claude flipped high to the overcast sky, fanning his arms like wings. Volleys of golden knives and fork rained in waves. Alliahnna charged through the silverware onslaught, narrowly evading the ones severing strands of hair. She somersaulted past the handful piercing where her feet would land. She increased her speed, gradually coming beneath the hovering demon. Claude unleashed yet another wave of silverware. The forks and knives, unable to match her speed, impaled the tiles, breaking holes in the roof in her wake. Alliahnna stopped on a dime. Claude was directly above her. She ruptured the roof rocketing up. Claude's hand darted in a blur, hurtling knives like darts. Aliahnna flourished her sword from its sheath, cutting the knives in half, swatting them like flies. Claude grit his teeth. He threw himself backwards. Alliahnna wrenched her sword up. The tip was but a hair off as it traveled Up Claude's curving body. In slow motion the tip barely brushed the tip of his nose. The bridge of his glasses was touched, nudging them loose. Claude completely flipped backwards into a dive while Alliahnna continued to ascend. She spun around, throwing her sword. Claude whipped his feet like propellers, knocking the sword off course. It pierced a stone in a courtyard. Alliahnna flicked her hands out, drawing her spare daggers from her sleeves. She swerved into a headlong dive, crossing her wrists before her sharply glaring eyes. Claude stuck his landing without so much as a sound. He thrust a hand up, catching both her wrists in a vice grip. Alliahnna hissing a curse, bracing herself. Claude whipped her over his head. The roof threatened to cave as she was slammed on her back. Blood and air exploded from her throat. The blood splashed to Claude's cheek. He loomed over her, holding her wrists above her head, watching her choke to breathe again.

"You fight so hard. Why?" He brought his face within inches of hers. Alliahnna's whole back felt like a noodle. She couldn't move. "To whom are you trying to prove yourself? Sebastian? Or ciel?"

"I don't have to prove myself to anyone!" Alliahnna coughed on an itch in her throat.

"I respectfully disagree." Claude chortled. "Jasper and Zanosuke. You cannot tell me they accepted you at first glance." Alliahnna hissed disgruntled, glancing to the side. Those are meetings she would prefer to forget. The ending results are what she cherishes. "They tested you, didn't they? They wished to see if Sebastian chose wisely." "Since then, you do nothing but try to win their favor. To prove that you have grown, but are still the same, helpless little girl."

"SHUT UP!" She moved up. Claude tightened his grip, planting her back. "You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"In the end, do you think all of your struggles will have been worth it?"

"What are you babbling about?"

Claude lapped up her blood on his cheek. Her stomach curdled. He nearly lost himself in ecstasy of her taste, close to losing his grip on her. Sublime...delicious...BLISSFUL! She tastes as delicious as her brother. Possibly even more so. "Stop SMILING...YOU PERVERT!" Alliahnna curled in. Her boot connected with Claude's nose. He grunted in pain, holding the bleeding nose. Alliahnna rolled onto her hands and bucked her feet like a bronco into Claude's chest, knocking him flat on his back. Alliahnna pressed with her attack, back springing and plowing both feet to Claude's stomach. Blood erupted from his throat, staining to her uniform. She knelt down, yanking his collar and propping him at the waste. "Now answer me! What did you mean by my struggles not being worth it?"

"You displayed such perception earlier. Surely you can surmise my meaning." He taunted her. Alliahnna moved her hand from his collar to his neck, curling her fingers to dig in the bones. Claude was immune to the bold move. Equally so to her raised fist. She's so serious. He'll humor her. "Sebastian's one true goal was the devouring of Ciel. Now he has wagered that boy simply because he owns him." Alliahnna disliked what she was hearing, but failed to see the point. Claude snickered at her confusion, offering her a bit of fruit for her exploring thoughts. "How often, I wonder, does he toy with those he believes to be his? How sweetly does he whisper in YOUR ear to make you both bend to his will."

"Sebastian has never done that! EVER!" He's never manipulated her! Or Ciel! The current subterfuge continuing with Ciel notwithstanding.

"Oh no?" Claude's hands clamped on her head and he bashed his forehead to hers. Shocks sent a ringing shooting out of her ears. A disorienting numbness hammered her skull. Claude propelled his legs, swinging to his feet, and then backflipped behind her. He twisted on arm behind her back, clamping his free hand to her neck. He lifted her off the ground. Alliahnna wheezed for air, clawing at the gloved hand. An iron grip doesn't begin to describe his hold. "Tell me," Hot breath whispered into her ear, "Did you agree to Sebastian's contract before or after you learned Ciel had survived?" Alliahnna was paralyzed. No one else besides Jasper and Zanosuke knew about that. Who told him? How does he- "Oh, I know all about it. How Ciel was presumably killed, but was in fact very much alive on Demon Island." Alive and unconscious for five years. Just wasting away on an island that cannot be found unless you are guided by a demon. A secret Alliahnna wasn't privy to until very recently. "Sebastian never told you. You had to force it out of him." Alliahnna fought to stay silent, clenching her teeth she she wouldn't scream. Then again, he silence served as her double edge sword. Protests of falsehood would only prompt him to go on. But her silence didn't necessarily stop him either. Claude pushed her arm up her back. He savored her pained expression. Her shoulder ready to pop from the socket. "Did you also twist his arm about the contingency of your substitution? About how your humanity was being devoured?"

"Shut up…" She frothed at the mouth.

"Your soul and humanity would have been worthless if you turned into a full demon right then and there." He proceeded to taunt her. She was trembling like a leaf. "Then you would have truly been worthless to him."

"I said shut up!" You're wrong! You're wrong! Tears glossed her eyes. Sebastian...he loves me! He does! He would never cast me aside!

"Sebastian always spoke of love, and consummated it." He traced fingers from her lower stomach, moving to her chest. "All the while securing favor to win Ciel's soul."

"SHUT UP!"

Alliahnna spun free of his hold, twisting a punch in his cheek. Claude's head turned to an angle. He himself didn't move an inch. He stared at her from the corner of his eye. He gaped in awe of her. Her deep sapphire eyes radiated with a dagger's gleam, cutting his insides to ribbon. The fire flamboyantly flaring around her was intense enough to melt his skin from his bones. A desire to tear Claude to the tiniest pieces was hungered by her most feral of desires. And yet, in spite of her thirst for blood intensified by a murderer's impulse, there was a emanating from within her. Her soul, though it cannot be touched, remained free of her carnal desires.

So...pure...

Alliahnna refused to believe. Refused to listen to the rambling of her family's hated enemy. He's just trying to trip her up. Make her faith in herself and Sebastian waver so he may triumph in his grand scheme. It won't work. She removed her fist, took a step back, then spun with a flying kick. Claude escaped his daze in time to effortlessly weave to the side. I have to...keep fighting. Her foot touched down, then she followed with a punch. Claude stepped sideways, taking a step back. I have to...grow stronger! Alliahnna chased after him, throwing punches and kicks from all directions. Claude raised not a single hand to counter her. Instead he strafed backwards, ogling her with deadpan eyes. I can't rely on him! Sebastian. He's always arriving to save her. Always there for when there is an enemy she is too weak to face. I can't keep relying on him! He heel came down, shattering the tiles. Claude had jumped out of the way. He spread his arms in a mocking welcome for her to try again. I have to keep him safe. Alliahnna thrust into a charge, dragging her palms at the sides. I must...protect...my brother!" Hot pink glazed her eyes. Her demonic aura outlined her body. She pushed off, throwing another punch to knock that smug smirk off his face.

Claude clapped both hands to her first, stopping her in mid air. He laughed at her pitiful attack. Then he gaped in shock. Glancing at his feet, he was nudged a couple of inches. She was moving him. Impossible! "I don't care how powerful you are! I don't don't even care about that pact you made with Sebastian!" Using his grip, Alliahnna planted her feet to his chest and kicked back. She flipped both legs, knocking Claude in the chin. She landed to a crouch, bearing rabid fangs. "I won't let you lay so much as a finger on him!" Alliahnna's no match for him. He knows it and she knows it. But she won't let that stop her. She wasn't deterred when facing Ash or Angela. This third rate demon wasn't about to discourage her. "I won't let anyone take him from me!" Human! Demon! I don't care what I am called. "I won't let you use him to break Sebastian!"

"Now, now, My Lady." Claude's lecherously gleaming eyes resounded with his twisted smirk. "Who says Young Ciel is all I want my hands on."

"What?" Her demon essence was snuffed like a small flame.

"As you recall, My Late Master's orders were to acquire Ciel and to make Sebastian suffer an agony worse than death." Claude slowly removed his glasses, licking the rim as he tucked them into his pocket. "Now what do you suppose would cause him the worst pain? Perhaps losing the woman he loves?"

Alliahnna froze in place. Horror gripped her. Her shaking legs staggered back a step. Her mind shrieked with self loathing curses. HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID? The orders from the Queen, the spiderweb Ciel drew, and then the Grim Reaper Ronald, and others appearing. This is no mere coincidence. No. NOT ONCE has there ever been a coincidence whenever Claude chose to dirty his hands. This was his plan. To lure Ciel, Sebastian, and Alliahnna out into the open with orders from the Queen. The Grim Reapers would be forced to intervene due to their being oddities with soul collecting. Alois' soul being the abnormality, and then whoever is stealing eyes from the young boys. And then Claude...he would appear when all is going caddywumpus. This was part of his trap as well. To divide and conquer. And she and Sebastian walked right into it. Now he's going to pick them off one by one. If he hasn't started to do so already.

Claude savored her expression, and decided to entice another. "My Lady! Do pardon me!" Alliahnna turned to him with pitiful dismay sweating her brow. "I'm curious! If you're here with me, and Sebastian if off who knows where…" His crooning ushered a terrifying realization in Alliahnna. It only made Claude's grin widen, "Then who is protecting the Young Lord?"

"DAMMIT!" Another one of his traps. While he's baiting her, Ciel is slipping further into danger. She has to find him. Claude can come later. Then she's getting Sebastian. "CIEL!" Alliahnna spun, then was stopped by hot splintering pain in her chest. The wind expunged from her throat, spattering blood to the angled arm holding a fist to her chest. The bones caved toward her heart. Tension squeezing unbearable tight. Her vision blurred. The triumphant smirk of Claude the last thing she sees before all is consumed in black.

xxx

Alliahnna awoke with a start. Sweat beading down her brow. She panted heavily, her mind racked with disarray. Her stomach, back, and head needled with discomfort. Plush cushioning at her hands and legs freed her from her stupor. Blankets covering her lower body baffled her fiercely. She was in a bed. Looking around, Alliahnna found herself in an extravagant room. Her bedroom.

"I'm...I'm back home?" How on earth did she get there? She was in London not even five minutes ago. She ran her hands on the silken sheets. Those are her sheets. That's her bed. An that's her pillow with an embroidery of an oasis. She wasn't imagining it. Or was she?

It was still the middle of the day. The clouds were thick across the sky. Rolling thunder prompted the arrival of heavy rains. Her clothes weren't dirtied. They were as immaculate as if they came from the wash. There aren't any bruises on her either. Demon skin or not, Claude can leave nasty marks if he wants to. Nothing about the time of day or her person suggests she ever left the house. Let alone was in a fight.

Was the day a dream? If so, why does her body hurt so badly? "I couldn't have been dreaming. That's not possible. But still..." She swung her legs to the edge. She slipped her feet into slippers. The slippers were too comfortable to be an illusion.

Entering the hallway, she was surprised by the uncharacteristic silence. No Finnian causing wanton demolition. Bardroy hasn't crippled the manor's integrity with an explosion. As for Mey-Rin, she's normally stumbling with laundry or something she can hardly carry. Stranger still, Sebastian wasn't at her door wondering why she's slept in. In spite of knowing he's the reason she sleeps in.

"Mey-Rin?!" She called, opening a door to a room. No one was there. "Bard?" She checked the next room. Empty as well. "Finny? Mr. Tanaka?" The results were the same. "Where is everybody?" She itched her head. This was growing more curious by the second. It's possible everyone's out. But they wouldn't leave Alliahnna alone if she was injured. "I wonder if-huh?" There was a strange smell in the air. Something being cooked. "That smells good." She doesn't recognize the aroma. Must be a new recipe by Sebastian. He always gets creative when it suits him. "I am a little hungry. I'm sure you are too." She rubbed her stomach lovingly. She laughed giddily at talking to the baby. While she may be questioning how she's been returned home, she won't pass an opportunity for food. Least of all when she's got two stomachs to feed. Still, she wants to figure out if she was dreaming...or if Claude left her lying in the street for Sebastian to pick up. Obviously Claude didn't abduct her. Otherwise she'd be in a room in the Trancy Manor.

"Hold on…" Alliahnna came to a halt at the stairs. Outside the window. It was night time. The moon high in the sky. That wasn't right. "Wasn't it just daylight a second ago?"

"HHEELLPP..."

"WHAT?!" Chills shot up her spine.

"HELP US!"

That voice. She knew that voice. She practically jumped down the flight of stairs to the second floor. She planted her feet, darting left to right searching for who screamed. Where? Where are you? She knows she heard someone. That wasn't part of the delusion she thought was in play. But where-

"ALLIAHNNA!" Ice encased her spine."ALLIAHNNA, HELP US!" It was coming from down the hallway. Alliahnna chased after the despaired scream. She noticed a thin layer of black smoke traveling the ceiling the closer she drew. The smell from before curdled to a charred, burn scent. She knows that smell. It's haunted her for years.

"A fire?!" Alliahnna arrived to the foyer, throwing herself to the railing. "NO!" She gasped in horror. A thick cloud of smoke was seeping from the crack under the foyer door. "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" She screamed at the top of her lungs. More importantly, where's the person she heard screaming?

"WE'RE IN HERE!" Hammering battered the door. "HELP US, ALLIAHNNA!"

Voices screamed from the parlor door. Pleas for salvation howled desperately. Alliahnna raced to the parlor. She twisted the knobs. Searing heat stung her hands. They were stuck in place. She rammed her shoulder in center. The locks shattered, and the doors broke open. Alliahnna toppled in a searing oven of fiery smoke and crumbling debris. She coughed on the smoldering air. Invisible waves of heat baked her eyes. Her demon powers weren't coming to her aid. The harder she focused to marshall them Flames like this will cook her from the inside out. She can already feel the merciless fumes blistering her skin. Her air waves became blocked with smoke. She fumbled wildly to escape the way she came. The door was gone. A solid wall met her hands.

"Where?! The door! It was…" She punched, clawed, and kicked. Her mind went frantic, wanting any sort of exit. Her lungs were burning for fresh air. She has to get out! She has to get out! She has...to find…

"Alli...ahnna…" She stopped. Ice replaced her blood in full. "Alliahnna…" She swallowed a massive lump in her throat. The pit prickled her heart, exploding in her stomach. "Help...us…" She slowly turned. Her mind screaming for not to look, stiffening her spine. Her heart pleading for her to being hearing things out of delusion. Shakily the rest of the burning parlor came into view. Three figures made Alliahnna's heart stop.

The smoke gradually dissipated from around the body lying limply in the arm chair. It was...a man. Frozen open dead eyes. Blood trickling down the side of the gaping mouth. A hand plunged into the chest. "F...Father?" Vincent Phantomhive...was dead in the chair.

"Alli...ahnna…" Came the woman's voice. Alliahnna felt her nerves and muscle turn to stone. Her knees knocked weakly together. Feet dangling several feet off the ground, arms swaying lifelessly, a woman was suspended in the air with a hand piercing from her back out of her chest. Her still beating heart pulsing in the grip of her killer. "Alliahnna...please...help us…" The woman begged with blood dripping from her jaw.

"Mother…" Alliahnna meekly squeaked. It was impossible. Her parents...died...years ago. Yet...here they are. It wasn't impossible. It IS impossible. Still her feet tromped forward. Her hands reaching for the dying couple. The dead eyes of her father moved to acknowledge her. "Father…" Tears spilled down her cheeks. She was so close. She can save them. This time...she will-

The hand in Vincent's chest ripped his heart out, breaking the thin ventricles. Vincent gagged on blood exploding from his throat. Alliahnna was petrified in place. The mysterious attacker crushed Vincent's heart without a second of hesitation. "Al...na…" He slumped like a ragdoll, mouth hung open with a final breath.

"FATHER!" Alliahnna shrieked.

"HELP ME!" Rachael screamed. The assailant lifted her higher. "ALLI-" The hand crushed her heart as well. The shock made her spasm, then her limbs went limp.

"NOO! MOTHER!" The assailant threw rachael's corpse to the flames, cackling as they devoured her. Piercing purple eyes radiated within the flames. A toothy grin lapped by a tongue hungering for more of her despair. She failed...again! She failed to save them. TO SAVE CIEL! And HE'S the one that did it! "You…" Alliahnna growled animally. She grabbed the nearest weapon on hand, a fireplace pick, and held it at the ready. "I'll kill you!" She vowed, marching for the figure engulfed in shadows. Feathery wings flared open. She launched into a charge, drawing the pick back. "I'LL KILL YOU, ASH-"

The flames and smoke parted like the seas. The purple eyes changed to crimson red. The wings attached black as night. Alliahnna stumbled on the charge. Her attack falling low. In that moment, a white gloved hand plunged a sword into her stomach. Dry, raspy breaths escaped her throat. She spat blood to the black sleeve of the arm lifting her off the ground. She grasped to the arm. Her muscles trembled. Her were dried by the fumes, blurring in and out as they traveled to the face of her attacker.

"W...hy…?"

Fangs protruding from a toothy grin. Long locks of black hair brushing pale cheeks. Crimson eyes she comes to melt in turning her to stone.

"Se...bas...tian…"

To be continued.