Thanks for reading! I don't own any of Black Butler! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates weekly!
—
Hannah dodged Sebastian's attack just in time, ducking away as his blade slid through the air.
"Killing me won't earn her love." Hannah said calmly while Sebastian pursued her around the kitchen.
"True." Sebastian said prudently, managing to catch Hannah by the throat.
Hannah gasped for breath while Sebastian started to squeeze the air from her lungs.
Sebastian's eyes were intense as he looked into Hannah's, listening to her struggle while he spoke, "But it is not my duty to earn my master's love, it is only my duty to serve and protect her. Any that interfere with that must be eliminated~."
"Stop!" A voice called out.
Sebastian blinked and looked over.
There, in the doorway, stood Lucas, looking at the scene with widened eyes.
"Stop hurting Miss Hannah!" Lucas demanded of Sebastian. The innocent little boy bounded over, "Miss Hannah!"
Of course Lucas was very fond of Alois's maid.
Hannah treated Lucas like he was a king, catering to him, babying him…..
Lucas was as close to Alois as Hannah had gotten over the last eight years, and she cherished the little boy dearly.
"Stay back, young master." Sebastian wanted Lucas in his deep, low voice.
Lucas was not Sebastian's favorite, but Sebastian wouldn't dare harm Ciel's child.
"No!" Lucas insisted, trying his best to push Sebastian off of Hannah.
Footsteps in the hallway stopped at the kitchen door….
"What on earth is going on?" Alois asked.
The blonde had heard the commotion in the kitchen while he had been searching for Hannah.
Earl Trancy certainly did not expect to see Sebastian strangling the maid while Lucas tried in vain to push the butler away, fighting to defend her.
Sebastian quickly released his grip on Hannah and gave Alois one of his signature, polite smiles while Hannah crumpled to the floor.
"Do forgive me, Earl Trancy, you see, Hannah and I were just settling a small matter." Sebastian explained.
Alois glanced at Lucas and nodded to his terrified son, silently asking him to leave the room.
Lucas frowned and pouted at his father but regretfully did as he was told.
Alois closed the kitchen door behind Lucas to insure that the smallest Trancy wouldn't try to peek in.
What was about to happen was for adults only…..
"Tell me," Alois asked with a sweet smile, a smile so sweet it turned into a deadly scowl while Alois inquired. "Was that 'small matter' involving Charlotte and Isabel?"
"I'm afraid so." Sebastian confirmed while Hannah held her throat and choked, trying to breathe again.
While Hannah tried to recover, Alois and Sebastian exchanged ominous, threatening stares.
They'll never love you.
Perhaps, but at least now they know the truth.
The truth is of little importance here.
Those statements were not spoken out loud, not yet, Alois and Sebastian both had more pressing matters at hand.
"I myself was actually looking for Hannah too." Alois finally declared, breaking the silence.
"Master, please….." Hannah pleaded as Alois stepped towards her.
The blonde ignored Sebastian as he leaned down and grabbed Hannah roughly by the ear.
"Master!" Hannah cried as Alois pulled her so close that they were eye to eye.
"Don't you realize, after all these years of service, that a maid should hold her tongue?! How dare you ruin my princesses' birthday! Now Charlotte's run off somewhere! She could be cold and hungry! What kind of father does that make me?!" Alois roared, slinging Hannah backwards.
Hannah caught herself before she fell.
As much as Hannah would have liked to declare her love for Alois in that volatile moment, Hannah suddenly thought of a better idea….
A sneaky, underhanded idea~.
Hannah could have murdered Sebastian and taken Alois out of the manor, running far away.
Possibly, anyway…..
But Hannah decided to play her docile, timid role just a while longer.
"What can I do to be of assistance, master?" Hannah asked Alois quietly.
"I don't know!" Alois snapped. "Watch over Lucas, I have a daughter to fetch!"
And with that, Alois stormed out of the room.
The blonde was too angry and upset to consider his decisions carefully.
Alois quickly had Timber prepare a carriage, which the blonde then boarded, departing for London.
Alois had to find Charlotte before she got into trouble.
But in the kitchen, once Alois left, Sebastian and Hannah smirked at each other.
Isabel had gone to bed and was sleeping in her room. The smallest twin was so upset that she didn't even mind being alone.
Alone.
Unprotected.
Lucas was unprotected.
Ciel was unprotected.
Alois was no longer there to watch over them.
Hannah grinned at Sebastian.
Sebastian smirked in return.
"l'll take mine." Hannah said quietly.
Sebastian nodded silently.
"And you take yours." Hannah finished.
Wordlessly, the maid and the butler left the kitchen and descended upon the household.
—
"But Miss Hannah, I don't understand." Lucas said in confusion. "Where are we going?" The little boy blinked innocently.
Hannah smiled at the child.
Alois's child.
The child whom Hannah had spent years wishing was her own….
"We're going somewhere very special, but just for awhile. There's no need to worry, young master." Hannah said, reaching her hand out which Lucas took, blissfully unaware of the evil plots that were being launched against his family.
"Are mother and Father coming too? Is that where Charlotte went?" Lucas asked.
Hannah walked Lucas out of his room and down the stairs.
Hannah purposely ignored Lucas's question about Ciel and his sister.
Instead, Hannah looked down at Lucas with a loving smile and assured the small boy, "Your father will be with us very soon."
Lucas looked a bit apprehensive, but he trusted Hannah.
Lucas trusted Hannah, the woman that had daydreamed about killing his mother for years.
Lucas trusted Hannah as she led him out the front door and into a carriage.
Lucas trusted Hannah but he did not realize that Hannah had no intentions of ever returning him to his home or his mother…..
Ever again.
—
While Hannah absconded with Lucas, Sebastian was careful to lock Isabel in her room and then he proceeded to find Ciel.
The bluenette's eyes were still red from her tears of anguish when Sebastian appeared in her doorway.
"What do you want?" Ciel hissed.
"The same thing I've always wanted, young master~." Sebastian said simply. "To remain at your side until the very end."
Ciel didn't like the grin that Sebastian wore as he gazed over at her.
It was a malicious, greedy grin.
A grin that made Ciel shiver.
"Where has Alois gone?" Ciel asked Sebastian.
The bluenette has seen her husband's carriage leave the manor earlier.
"Why, young master, who could possibly say?" Sebastian asked while he stalked closer to Ciel.
Ciel felt her pace quicken with anxiety but she didn't understand why.
She was not afraid of Sebastian!
Although, during the eight years that Sebastian had been reinstated, Ciel had also never been alone in the house with him either….
—
While the rest of his family was falling into the evil clutches of the maid and butler, Alois finally arrived in London and was desperately scanning the streets, searching for his daughter.
Where would Charlotte have possibly gone in such a short time?
Alois looked everywhere.
He searched the center of town, he searched the finest, most luxurious neighborhoods.
No trace of Charlotte at all.
Alois questioned passers by, trying in vain to get some sort of a clue as to where the eldest twin might have run.
There was nothing, no tips from anyone.
Alois's heart sank as he eventually made his way to the dangerous, dodgy parts of the city.
Filthy, impoverished, struggling, deadly….
Alois's handsome face twisted into a scowl of sadness and disgust as he rode past the unfortunate individuals who lived in those terrible conditions.
Alois sighed, remembering all too well that he had been one of those people not that long ago.
Still, even in the sleazy section of London, there was no trace of Charlotte.
Alois was just about at his wit's end when his carriage wheel hit a large, sharp rock in the street and fractured, causing the horses to rear and neigh and the blonde to be thrown to the sidewalk.
Alois huffed in irritation and stood, dusting himself off.
Lovely.
Just lovely!
His darling Charlotte was still lost and now he was stranded here of all places!
Alois looked around himself.
It was a rather dark street, mostly made up of crowded, dilapidated apartment buildings and a few supply shops.
There was one rather controversial establishment just across the street, full of patrons laughing and dancing inside.
Alois knew it was a brothel just by looking at it, and although he certainly did not want to go inside, he needed to find someone who could at least put a new wheel on his carriage.
Hesitantly, Alois walked across the street and entered the seedy place with a frown.
Alois smelled like lavender and warm embers.
He had a lean physique and a handsome face that were complemented by feathery blonde hair and bright, ocean-blue eyes.
Alois was also clean.
Collectively, that all made him a very sought after client by the employees of the brothel and the blonde was overwhelmed by young women only a second after he stepped through the door.
"Good evenin' mister! Care for a tumble?"
"Oi, Love! I'll make it a night you won't forget!
Alois smiled nervously and held up a hand, "Please…..Ah, no thank you. Please, I'm just here to—"
The women did not listen but they did begin to get competitive over who was going to get to service the blonde and to his horror, Alois found that they started to grab him by his clothes and pull him back and forth in a tug of war.
"He's mine, he is!"
"Back off, you tart!"
"Me, the tart?! Go take a look in the mirror, you!"
Alois thought he was going to have to resort to his old ways and be less polite when a voice called out.
"Daddy?"
The women all stopped and turned to look.
Alois looked too, but his eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw.
The blonde's mouth fell open as he gasped in shock, "Charlotte?!"