Author's Note: I'm happy that everyone is excited about all the updates. I had lost a few the first time around because of space between updates and, thankfully, this time I only need to edit before posting. I'm thinking of doing a mass update since I stayed up all night and edited almost to the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of it's characters. I only claim Serena, as well as the demons and descendants that I introduce.
A Demon's Mate
Chapter Thirty Four
The manor house rose from the ground just as Serena remembered it. Like the townhouse, the landscaping and drive were different, tweaked just a little in the last century, but the building was just the same. Even knowing that Ciel and the others were long dead, she couldn't help the feeling of coming home that filled her as she stared at the house from the bottom of the stairway.
A man dressed in uniform opened the car door and pulled the red head out of her thoughts. He held out a hand and Serena smiled before taking it to step out of the car. She tried to stop the panic that was almost overwhelming, feeling like the first day of school, when the man slid into the driver's seat and started to drive away.
The feeling disappeared when she looked up at the house again and the two people that stood at the top of the steps. A smiling, blonde woman, who looked to be in her late thirties, held the hand of a little boy that looked so much like a younger Ciel, it was frightening. The white linen pantsuit and diamonds she was wearing practically screamed Lady of the House and she knew that this was the current Countess. As Serena climbed the stairs, she tried to squash the wish that she had worn something nicer than jeans and a tank top.
"Serena Walton?"
The red head almost tripped on the stairs. "How did you know my name?"
"We've waited a long time for you to show up." The woman smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Malory Carthridge."
Malory pulled the little boy that was hiding behind her leg forward. "And this is Alexander. Say hello, Alex."
The boy kept a tight hold on his mother's hand even as he took a step and bowed. "It is nice to meet you Miss Walton. I am Alexander Carthridge." As soon as he was done, Alex shot back behind his mother.
Serena giggled and peeked around Malory. "It's nice to meet you too."
"Why don't you come inside? We have much to talk about." The blonde waved Serena ahead of her, through the double doors and into the house.
No one saw the two men on the ridge overlooking the manor. Lucien and Edwin cursed when they tried to step forward but couldn't get any further onto the property. Feeling like they were being watched, both looked around until they saw the man on the roof of the manor. The glare that he shot them made both demons back up a step.
"Well," Lucien put a hand to his throat and swallowed hard. "The Elder knows that we lost her now."
*********************A Demon's Mate********************
Ciel looked to the door as a creak came from the hallway. Moving as quietly as possible, the Earl went to his desk and pulled his gun from the drawer. He made sure that it was loaded before going to the door and turning the knob slowly. He kept the solid wood in front of himself as he opened the door. Cursing softly, he realized that the light from the fire spilled into the hallway and alerted anyone out there that there was someone in the office.
"Ciel?"
"Aunt?" He slid the gun into his pocket and let out the breath that he had been holding. "What are you doing?"
"Why are you still in the office at this time of night?"
Ciel instantly pokered up at her tone. "Why are you wondering around the manor at this hour?"
"My lord, Lady Francis? Is there something wrong?" Tanaka appeared at the end of the hallway with a single candle.
Frances looked away before answering. "I couldn't sleep."
"Seems to be a theme around here." Ciel opened the door wider and went back to his chair. His aunt followed, as he knew that she would. Tanaka paused in the doorway.
"Would you care for some tea, my lord?"
The Earl shook his head and went to the sideboard that held the same scotch that he had shared with Serena. Pouring a glass, he looked to his aunt and held it out. Frances glared.
"Ladies do not drink scotch."
Even so, she came forward and took the glass from his hand.
"Nights like this, I think that ladies would make an exception." Ciel took a deep drink from his own glass before going back to his seat. "There is something that I would like to discuss since you're here."
Frances looked up and he could see the faint flash of fear in her green eyes.
**********************A Demon's Mate********************
Instead of directing her to the salon, Malory had led Serena up the stairs and into the sitting room that was connected to the Countess Suite. The antiques that Serena had seen along the way were in keeping with the house, but lighter than the dark colors and heavy woods that Ciel had favored. All together the house was brighter, as though some curse had been lifted over the last century.
She watched as Malory had given Alex's hand to one of the maids when they entered the house and he had waved at Serena before going upstairs and down a different hallway. The red head had smiled even though she was sad to see the mini Ciel walk away.
"I'm glad that you're here." Malory said as she handed her guest a cup of tea. "Now, my husband can stop thinking that I'm insane."
"What do you mean?"
She stood and went to the table in the corner. The blonde picked up the fireproof lockbox from the center before coming back to the table. Opening it, she smiled as she handed over the framed sketch that Serena had given Ciel for Christmas, over a hundred years ago. "There is an old story in my family that was passed down with each generation. It tells of a girl that came to this house in the 1800s. She was only here a few weeks before her tragic death, but she became quite close to my ancestor. The story tells that she was actually from the future and would show up again in the summer of 2012."
"I can't believe that this is still here." Serena ran her fingers lightly over the glass that protected the aged and yellowed paper.
Malory pulled something else from the box and held it out.
"My phone!" Serena grabbed for the device and took in the aged appearance. "I wonder if I charged the battery, would it still work?"
"It does. We invested heavily in certain technologies, including the iPhone as soon as the idea was introduced, based on that. When the iPhone 4 came out, I tried to charge it. Hit the button."
The opening jingle came from the phone and Serena let out a little scream. "Over a hundred years and this thing still works." She thought for a second. "What does that say for what we're putting in landfills?"
"Very disturbing, however, that one has been highly protected."
A knock at the door called both of their attentions as a teenage girl with her mother's blonde curls but the same deep, blue eyes of her brother, stuck her head in the door.
"We're home, Mother." The girl noticed Serena and smiled. "I'm sorry to interrupt."
"Its fine, come in." Malory stood and pulled the teen as well as another girl with dark hair into the room. "There is someone that I want you to meet."
Serena stood as they came closer.
"I would like you to meet my daughters. This is Claire and Anabelle."
Both girls looked at Serena. The eldest gasped and looked between the red head and her mother.
"Is this...is she...?" Malory nodded and both girls let out a scream before pouncing on Serena.
The red head couldn't keep up with the mile a minute pace they both spoke at as they peppered her with questions about herself and the past. Both girls pushed and pulled her between them as they spoke. Serena couldn't help but laugh at their enthusiasm.
"Girls." Malory waited for her daughters to stop jumping around and yanking on Serena. "Why don't you go change and finish the homework that I know is in those bags? During that time, I'm sure you will get your questions in some semblance of order, instead of doing your homework, and you can talk to Serena at dinner, that I'm sure she is staying for?"
"Sure." Serena forced a smile. "Thank you."
The girls stared at their mother in disbelief as she merely raised an eyebrow. Finally, the eldest huffed and pushed her sister out of the room.
"I'm sorry. I knew that they would be excited, but I wasn't expecting that."
"Well, now I'm certain that Ciel married Elizabeth." Serena shook her head to clear it from the screaming girls.
"Actually, he didn't."
"What? Then how do you look so much like her and they look like her and act like her."
"It has to do with how we became the Carthridge family instead of the Phantomhives." She waved for them to sit again. "The Phantomhive name has been buried and after Black Butler came out, we were thankful that it was."
"I was wondering about that."
"Ciel Phantomhive died before he married. The title was returned to the crown as well as the entailed property and the crown started looking for another family member that could take over. It turns out that Vincent had a brother." Malory smirked a little. "A half brother, actually."
"I thought that legitemecy was a big deal when it came to titles and all that."
"Normally, it is. However, there is nothing about our family that is normal. As I am sure that you have noticed."
"It had occurred to me." Serena laughed as she ran a finger around the edge of the teacup.
"Anyway, it was found that Vincent had known about his brother and the estate actually paid his family an annual income. He was close to his brother, even though their connection couldn't be made public. The Phantomhives were good at keeping secrets. The Carthridge family had the intelligence of the Phantomhives but not the bloodline. Somewhere along the way, the records were altered and Vincent's nephew, Arthur, became the next earl. In fact, the Phantomhive family completely disappeared. Only the member that takes over the title knows. Which is how we are able to live after that manga and anime came out. I told my children since you were supposed to appear during their lifetime. Even so, I didn't tell them everything."
Serena looked at the woman strangely. "You're not just talking about the Earldom, are you? An exception was made for the Carthridge family because of the guard dog title."
Malory smiled but didn't deny or accept her theory.
"So, Lizzy married Arthur instead?"
"That is correct."
"But, she was so in love in Ciel."
"We don't know why she decided to marry Arthur, it was never part of the story. The records of the family seem to show that they were happy and that is all that we know. Arthur was given the title of the guard dog and it passed down from there."*
"Why do you look so much like Lizzy?"
"Ah, I am actually the Carthridge. My parents only had one child and instead of the title passing to the nearest male relative, a special circumstance was made. My husband Henry married into my family instead of the other way around. He runs the family businesses."
"He's the Earl, but you're the guard dog."
Malory smiled over the rim of her teacup, the blue diamond ring that Serena hadn't noticed before winking with the gleam in her eye.
********************A Demon's Mate*******************
Frances drew herself up, preparing for a conversation that she wasn't certain that she wanted to have as Ciel stared into the flames of the fireplace. Tanaka had been sent to bed as there was nothing more that they needed.
"I wanted to ask you about my parents. Before they married."
"I really don't know much about the time before Vincent married Rachel. To be honest, I never even knew that my brother was considering marriage. I hounded him enough about it, but he always ignored me. It wasn't until the day before the announcement went to the papers that Vincent called me here to introduce me to Rachel." Frances stared into the glass in her hand. "I had met Rachel and Angelina before at parties hosted by other nobles. Angelina was very quiet and Rachel was anything but. She was, bright, and she made everything around her bright as well."
Ciel picked up the book from the ottoman and ran his finger down the cover. "There was someone else that was courting my mother at the same time. Tanaka's journal talks about my father and this other man constantly one upping each other with gifts and things like that."
"The contract between my father and Lord Durless was for an arranged marriage consisting of the next Earl of Phantomhive and a daughter of Durless. There was never any name specified in the contract. If Rachel wanted to entertain offers from others, she was more than welcome too."
"Because Madame Red was still there."
"That is right."
"She was looked at as a fallback." Ciel tried not to think about how his beloved aunt would have felt about that.
"No." Frances took a drink of her scotch. "We all thought that Angelina and Vincent got along better than he would with Rachel. Angelina had many of the same interests that my brother did. She would have fit well as the wife of the Queen's Guard Dog."
"You didn't want him to marry my mother."
"I admit that I didn't think that they suited as well. Rachel was beautiful and always smiling," She looked up at her nephew. "And painfully oblivious when she wanted to be. Angelina never would have been. Even if she had never been told about the other parts of being the Earl of Phantomhive, she would have figured it out. Vincent didn't want that."
"What do you mean?"
Frances sighed and took another drink from the heavy glass. "My brother hated being the Queen's Guard Dog. He absolutely hated it. He wasn't much older than you are now when my father died and it was passed to him. Vincent had the drive and the intelligence that all the earls had, but not the desire to do the job. With Rachel, he could pretend, while at home, that he was a normal nobleman."
"Is that why he didn't have much security around the manor?"
"Vincent never thought that anyone would attack his family, just him." She took a deep pull from the glass to mirror Ciel's. "Why are you so interested, Ciel? It was a long time ago."
"I found who killed them."
Frances stood to pace in front of the fireplace. She turned to speak a few times but would go back to pacing without saying a word. The Earl stood as it finally hit him, horror written over his face.
"You know. You've known the whole time."
**********************A Demon's Mate********************
Malory had called for her maid before dinner and between the two of them, they had found a dress that Serena could change into. Although polite about it, the blonde had informed Serena that her jeans would not be welcome at the table. She stood in front of the mirror in the guest room and tried to poke and prod the pretty blue satin into being comfortable.
"Damn that butler and all his rich food." Serena twisted again but stopped when she felt the fabric tighten at the seams. "I was hoping that it was just my clothes but I've actually gained weight."
"You're right." Malory laughed from the chair she occupied. "You're a blimp."
"Hey, don't tease an American girl about her weight. It's not funny." The red glared at her from the mirror's reflection.
A knock preceded the girls, out of their uniforms and now in pretty dresses of their own.
"Can we come in now?" Claire pouted.
"Yes, as long as you're not going accost our guest."
"Great!" Both girls bounced into the room, all pouting forgotten. Claire looked at the dress that Serena was wearing. "Isn't that a little tight?"
"See, I told you." She looked down at the dress and mumbled under her breath. "It's all Ciel's fault. All those courses and all that sugar."
"So did he really have a sweet tooth, like the anime and manga said?"
Serena laughed. "Yes. You wouldn't believe it. Sweet scones with clotted cream at breakfast, little cakes with tea, cookies with lunch, parfaits as a snack, and then whatever sugary confection that Sebastian came up with for dessert with dinner. Oh, and don't forget the tea before bed that had to have little sweets with it."
"Wow," Anabelle sat on the arm of her mother's chair.
"Yeah, and not an ounce of fat on him." Serena shook her head as she remembered.
"That's just not fair," Claire took a seat on the ottoman. "If I ate like that, I'd be three hundred pounds."
"Well, you see what happens when someone normal eats like that." Serena groaned as she looked in the mirror again. "I never gain weight."
Malory looked at her daughters and noticed the paper that Anabelle was holding. "I assume that you neglected your homework like I thought and worked on your questions?"
"Yup!" Claire nudged her sister and they both took up space on the ottoman. "First, which is closer, anime or the manga?"
"I would say the manga. Both had problems but the manga was closer."
"How close was it?"
"Very close. The manga's problems were mostly with timing. The anime had different characters and went off in a completely different direction. Not to mention that when I was there, Ciel was seventeen and the anime had him dying at thirteen."
"Which leads to my question." Malory interrupted. "Was it true? Did he really sell his soul to a demon to get revenge?"
Serena looked at the older woman in the mirror and finally saw that it was a question that she wanted the answer to, but didn't at the same time. She didn't want to hear that her ancestor had really made a deal with a demon.
"Yes." She answered slowly. "However, I learned recently that Sebastian broke their contract before its end."
Malory nodded as the air in the room shifted, grew stifling. "Girls, why don't you go get your brother?"
"Why don't we leave so that the adults can talk?" Claire grabbed her sister's arm and pulled the younger girl out the door with her.
"I was hoping that you would deny it." Malory said after she was sure that her daughters weren't listening at the door.
"Did you really want to hear a lie?"
"No, I suppose not."
The red head felt that it was time to ask the question that she didn't want the answer to. "How did Ciel die?"
The blonde stood and came to fuss with Serena's dress. "The family records say that he died of an asthma attack."
Serena laughed shortly. "I never thought that it would be something so simple."
"Well, records also show that my father died of a heart attack when he was actually shot on a case."
"So basically, no one knows." She whispered.
Malory shook her head. "No. My family is a little too good at keeping secrets. That's why we really know nothing about Ciel. It's almost like anything connected to him was purposely destroyed. There are no portraits, no letters, no journals. The only thing that proves that he actually existed is the grave in the family cemetery and the story that is passed through the family."
"Ciel would never have sat for a portrait anyway. He was far too busy." Serena laughed.
"Mum!" Claire stuck her head back into the room. "Father's home."
"Oh, I can't wait to see his face." Malory grabbed Serena's hand and the sketch that was laying on the bed. She drug the younger girl through the house as the red head tried to keep up with her longer legs in a dress that was restricting her movement.
A man came to the head of the stairs and Malory's smile grew wider. He was surprisingly normal to be dragged into this family. Chestnut hair was already graying at his temples and hazel eyes warmed when he saw his wife coming. His tall frame was clothed in an immaculate three-piece suit but, there was an air around him that Serena could easily see him in local pub having a pint with friends instead of the house of an earl. She was reminded that he married into this family and wondered if he had known the craziness that he had signed himself up for when he did.**
"Malory, I didn't know that we were having a guest for dinner this evening." He smiled as he held a hand out.
"Oh, never mind that." She stuck the sketch in his hands and Serena tried not to laugh as he sighed.
"This again."
The red head was pulled forward and almost tripped over her own feet. Henry stared at her and then back to the thing in his hands, then back to her. Malory just crossed her arms over her chest with a superior look on her face.
"This isn't...this doesn't prove...no, it's not possible..." He looked back to his wife, who only nodded.
*********************A Demon's Mate********************
Lizzy looked back as she climbed into the Midford carriage the next morning. During breakfast Ciel had insisted that he would take care of the interviews for a new butler and that they go home. She knew that something had happened between her mother and fiancé but neither seemed willing to talk about it, let alone try to fix it. As she settled in her seat, Frances and Ciel were whispering outside the vehicle.
"Ciel, let it go. Being the Earl of Phantomhive is dangerous enough without inviting more trouble." She put an unusually gentle hand on his cheek. "Blood will not wash the nightmares away."
She watched as his eyes softened for a split second before the icy coolness that had enveloped her nephew since his parents death came back, colder than ever.
"Goodbye, Lady Frances. I hope that you have a safe journey."
Frances sighed and nodded. "So be it. Goodbye, Lord Phantomhive."
Lizzy watched as her mother settled into her seat. The older woman looked back to the Earl before he shut the door.
"Mother?"
"It's nothing, Elizabeth."
The horses started forward and the carriage jerked to follow. Something made her want to jump back out. Something that had passed between her mother and Ciel as he had shut the door to the carriage himself. A goodbye that had seemed final.
"Mother..."
"You will stay away from the Phantomhive house for the time being."
"What?"
"I will inform all the servants that they are not to help you come here from now on."
"What's going on? You know something."
"Just do what I say, Elizabeth." Her voice was harsh, nothing like the controlled lady that Lizzy had grown up with. The only time her mother had used that tone was when she had told her daughter that the Phantomhive family had been murdered. "For once in your life, do what I tell you to."
Frances looked out the window as they rounded the bend that would take the carriage to the end of the drive. Through the trees she caught a glimpse of another carriage being brought to the front of the house and stopping in front of her nephew.
'Goodbye, Ciel.'
*******************A Demon's Mate*******************
Serena settled into the bed of the guest room that she had been given and tried to sleep. After telling most of the story of her trip to the past, her hosts wouldn't hear of her going back to town tonight. Even Henry had been insistent, although he was clearly thrown by her presence in his home. The man had barely spoken during the meal. After dinner, the family had gathered in the salon, something that she had been told was normal and Malory had assured her that Henry just needed time to process. She said that he was the logical one of all of them and had never believed the story to be more than nonsense.
There was something off about the house. All through the evening, Serena had tried to put her finger on exactly what it was but came up empty. The family was happy and as normal as they could be, for Phantomhive descendants. The house itself wasn't it either. There wasn't a thing out of the ordinary.
'Maybe it's me? I don't belong here. As much as I would love to stay, they are a family and there is no place for me here anymore. My family here died a long time ago.'
The realization brought a coldness to her body and made her rethink her plans. Through Undertaker, she knew that Sebastian wasn't here and Malory had already told her that she didn't know what really happened to everyone. History only remembered the sugar-coated version of the past, making sure that she would get no answers here either. But, where else was she supposed to go?
Serena shivered but, whether because of exhaustion or depression, had no energy to pull the blankets closer. Deciding to leave in the morning, she felt her eyes finally drift closed and welcomed sleep. The blankets shifted, slowly moving to cover the rest of her body. Her eyes shot open in time to see black tipped fingers pulling away from her.
She burst up from the bed and searched the darkness of the room. There was no one there, but she knew that they had been. The door across the room was open a crack and Serena threw the covers off to run out of the room. The hallway was just as empty, lit by soft scones every few feet. One of the double doors at the end of the hallway opened and Henry stepped out, followed by Malory.
"Serena? What's going on?" Malory stepped from behind her husband to put a hand on the younger girl's arm.
"There was someone in my room."
"You were probably just dreaming," Henry said softly to the spooked girl.
"No, I couldn't sleep. I saw someone."
"Dad doesn't believe that the house is haunted." Claire's voice came from the room next to Serena's, her door open a crack to let her lean out.
"Claire."
"Oh, come on. Do you honestly think that with this house's history that it's not a ghost or two wandering around here?" The teen rolled her eyes. "We've all seen it. You just refuse to."
"That's right, because it's ridiculous."
Malory raised her hands to stop the two. "You both can have your paranormal discussion again later. Right now, we should worry about if there is or is not someone in the house."
"It's the man from the garden."
Everyone turned to see Alex come out of his parent's bedroom.
"What do you mean?" Serena asked.
"There's a man in the garden, sometimes he comes into the house too."
"See, he's seen him too." Claire glared at her father.
"Were you the one that put this idea in his head?"
Serena ignored the argument that Malory was trying to referee and held out a hand to Alex. When he came to her she sunk down to sit on the floor.
"What does he look like, Alex?"
"He's tall, as tall as Daddy. But his hair is black and longer than Daddy's." The child seemed to think for a minute and didn't notice that Serena was having a hard time breathing. "And he paints his fingernails."
"Black?"
Alex nodded and she forced herself to smile at the boy.
"Does he ever talk to you?"
"He tells me stories sometimes, about the house and another little boy that looked just like me."
"Did he tell you his name?"
"No. He never talks about himself. But, he knows me and everybody else in the house." The boy waved her closer. "He doesn't like that Claire wears so much makeup. He says that she looks like a prostitute. Whatever that is. Mother won't tell me."
"Hey!" Claire's indignant shout proved that Alex hadn't been quiet enough.
Serena snickered and they both realized that they were being watched.
"Are you going to keep this ridiculous story going, as well?" Henry crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the red head.
"I don't think that it is ridiculous at all."
"You know who it is, don't you?" Malory asked.
"I think its Sebastian."
******************A Demon's Mate*****************
Ciel looked out the carriage window as it pulled into the drive of another's house. The sprawling mansion rose from the earth and reached for the sky in elegant white stone. At the sight of the living that his enemy enjoyed, the Earl felt another wave of bitterness.
The carriage stopped at the foot of the large staircase that led to the massive double doors of the house and he waited for Tanaka to open the door. His hand went to the gun in his pocket. There was no more time, he knew that the servants had barely had any sleep as the alarms around the estate kept going off in the night. It was only a matter of time before a mistake was made. Humans could only go without sleep for so long.
He wouldn't die before this.
The doors opened as he climbed the stairs and Ciel felt his heart beat speed even more. The words that he found in the margin next to his enemy's name came back to him.
'Human's are rather simple creatures, aren't they Master?'
'Yes, Sebastian. Yes, we are.'
* I know why Lizzy married Arthur... and it's a teaser for the sequel!
**I pictured Henry as kind of a Colin Firth character.
Author's Note: I actually thought, for a second, of having Lady Frances and her husband be the ones that killed Ciel's family. I could have come up with a reason. That would have been some shit, huh? But on a more serious note, I'm not sure whether I should accuse someone that we already know, through either the anime or the manga, or introduce another person?