Okay, so I'm two days late. But I warned Y'all. But ANYWAY! Please enjoy and btw, your comments, WOLFJADE28, have me actually dead. But please, ENJOY!
Soft opera music played as a woman struggled with tied hands. She whimpered in fear until someone, a man, removed the cloth that gagged her mouth. She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears and fear. The man smirked and bent down.
"Shh."
Outside, the rain slipped down from the sky, and on the cobbled ground of a London alley lay a newspaper. 'Jack The Ripper Strikes.'
~o/0\o~
"Is this really a time for a game of chess?" Ciel asked his aunt as they sat opposite each other. She moved her pawn as an offensive move on Ciel's hand.
"Obsessing about it won't help you solve the case." the woman said. Yuri agreed with her. She wanted this case over and the murder killed as much as Ciel did, but obsessing over it was only going to get her in trouble. The woman leant on her arm. "Why not just leave it all to Sebastian and Yuri, dear?" At this moment, both Sebastian and Yuri stood to the back of the room, analysing files. Sebastian noticed how the girl had deliberately put space between them. He noticed and he was sad to see she'd done that but it was perfectly normal for people to do these things when he revealed himself to them. But, then again, he'd never revealed his true for to a human he was not contracted to.
"Because they are simply my chess pieces. I'm the one who moves them by giving orders." Ciel stated, moving his pieces. Madam Red looked at her nephew sadly. "But Sebastian's no ordinary chess piece. He can move as many squares as he needs. And Yuri, she's unpredictable. She can move whenever and wherever she wants." Ciel moved his king piece, knocking down Madam Red's knight. Her face fell.
"That's against the rules, you know?" She said to her nephew. Ciel leant forward and rested his chin on his knuckles.
"Indeed it would be if this was a real game" Ciel closed his eyes, a smug smile on his face. "But rules such as that have no true meaning in the real world. There are always knights who break the rule and betray. If you left your guard down..." Ciel took his final move. "It's checkmate."
~o/0\o~
Opera music still played in the background as the woman looked at the man fearfully. The man picked up and painting brush and painted a red substance on the woman's lips. Lightning boomed outside, causing the woman to jump, resulting in the red smudging her lips. The man growled, bearing sharp teeth. He took the girls chin and held in tightly in his grasp. The lightning boomed, illuminating a box of tools that sat, clean and sparkling, behind the pair. The light faded and the room was dark.
~o/0\o~
"You must have other options in life besides policing London's underworld? I am sure my sister, your mother, wanted something else for you." Madam Red looked at her nephew, her eyes full of sorrow. "Yet, after their death, you returned to be the Queen's Guard Dog. Is it because you're trying to avenge your parent murders?" Yuri could see the woman was trying. She was trying to help her nephew. Her eyes held that same sadness, that same regret that Yuri always found herself looking into. The doctors and the nurses. The people who tested her when she first came. They all had the same eyes. They all had that same look. Yuri shook her head, stopping her train o thought before she brought herself to tears. She'd done enough crying. She was stronger than this. She had to be.
"The need for revenge is a funny thing." Ciel let his own mind wander.
He stood amongst the rubble, Sebastian behind him.
"It won't brings back the dead, nor with it bring them happiness."
Something glistened among the wreckage of the house.
"To answer you question, I didn't return to the House of Phantomhive for my parents."
Ciel held his family ring in his hands.
His memories stopped and he found himself staring at that same ring that lay on his thumb. He looked up to his aunt.
"I did it for myself." Her eyes were full of sorrow as she looked to her nephew. "I want to find the people responsible for what happened, and I want to make them suffer the same pain and humiliation that I suffered." Madam Red look down at her knees and nodded. A small smile graced her lips.
"I still remember when you were born, though it seems so long ago." the woman rose from her seat before walking over to her nephew. "You were so tiny and fragile. I remember thinking, no matter what, I have to protect him." She placed her hand on his head gently. "You know I was never able to have children of my own. But there was you. And in time, I began to think of you as my own son. Which is why I wish you would quit this." Ciel removed his aunt's hand from his head.
"This is a task I've freely chosen, and it's still my choice to make and no one else's." His icy blue eyes met his aunt's own red eyes. "I don't regret my decision and I won't be coddled." Madam Red's face held pity and sorrow. "By anyone."
Yuri helped Madam Red adjust her coat moments later, Sebastian stood behind her.
"I have it now, thank you." Yuri smiled slightly at the woman.
"My lady." she said.
"Promise me." Her voice was firm. "Promise you'll never leave his side. This is a dangerous world for a boy, make sure he doesn't lose his way." Yuri was silent for a moment before nodding.
"I will be by his side as long as he wants me there," Yuri said, bowing low. "And forever protect him after." Madam Red nodded before turned to Sebastian, waiting for his answer. He bowed low to the woman.
"Fear not, I swear. I shall stay by his side till the very end." The door opened and Grell waited outside with an umbrella. Yuri smiled at the butler and waved but only received a glare in return. Her face fell to a look of confusion as she stood back, slightly hurt.
"I'm here to escort you back home. My Lady."
"Here take another-"
"We'll be fine." Grell cut Yuri off before the two left, closing the door in her face. She stood there, silent for a moment.
"I would be careful around him," Sebastian said to the girl, who had remained quiet. She nodded slightly before turning around.
"It's about that time. Shall we wake him?"
~o/0\o~
Ciel lay asleep until he heard a knock on his door. He opened his eyes slightly and looked around the room. The door opened and Sebastian and Yuri entered.
"Well then?" He asked.
"No matter how I look at it, the result is still the same," Sebastian said, walking to the bed. Yuri chose to stay by the door.
"Yes, the recent murder, the Viscount didn't do it," Ciel said.
"Exactly, none of the people in his mansion could have done it either." He continued.
"Indeed, no person could move that quickly." He reached for his hair. "Anyway, tomorrow, we'll start-" His mind clicked. "Sebastian, you did it!" The demon smirked.
"Of course I didn't, my lord. I told you. I never lie." The demon said. Sebastian explained to the room about alibis and the only human being able to do it being the Viscount Druitt, but at this stage, Yuri had drowned out. She could help but think about how scared her sister's eyes had looked. How much she had tried to crawl away. Yuri could help but close her eyes and force these images from her brain.
"Yuri! Are you even paying attention." Yuri snapped her eyes open at Ciel words.
"Did we ever stop to think about this may have something to do with someone who isn't exactly human?"
~o/0\o~
The three of them stood at the entrance to the alleyway, waiting.
"He'll show if we just wait here." Ciel stood back in thought. "I realised the murder victims all had something in common, besides Khun, other than their profession." As both men drowned on about something, Yuri fund herself looking to the buildings.
"East wing. Left alleyway. The second street." she muttered under her breath. "The area with the lowest interference but the highest volume..." A blood-curdling scream echoed among the alleyway and they all snapped their heads to the door.
"How'd someone get passed us?!" Ciel screamed as the three of them raced into the alleyway. Ciel, who was ahead of the other two, raced up to the door before opening it quickly. A splash of blood landed on his cheek and his eyes widened. The sight of blood caused Yuri to step back ever so slightly, almost tripping herself up. A hand reached out from the blood covered floor. It lay there, lifeless and cold as hair, bloody, tangled around it. A blood covered face and dead blue eyes greeted them as Yuri gagged. Sebastian's gaze flew to her and he knew her mind was on Khun. And he was right. This woman, she had the same dead eyes Khun did and Yuri, who had been refusing to admit to herself hat Khun was dead, finally began to see some real light. Ciel stood, his gaze holding firm on the woman. Yuri raced forward, quicker than Sebastian had ever seen her run, and covered the boy's eyes.
"My Lord, come away." She said softly but firmly. Ciel's hat fell to the ground and Yuri led him backwards. The boy shook in her arms and she pulled off her jacket and secured it around his shoulders. Water gushed from a nearby drainage pipe. Yuri held Ciel close and he did not push her away. In this moment, he needed someone to hold him and Yuri... He didn't view her as just another servant anymore. The clouds were dark and rain fell from the skies. As Yuri held Ciel, a footstep splattered among the blood.
"Well, you've made quite a bloody mess of things in there," Sebastian called to Jack The Ripper. Ciel stayed in Yuri's arms and the girl didn't let him go. "Jack the Ripper, or rather, Grell Sutcliff." Grell stepped out, most of his body covered in blood.
"No... No, you're wrong! I- I heard the scream the scream and rushed to help but-"
"You can drop the act!" Yuri shouted at him. "It's over. We know you killed them." Her voice was forceful but tears clogged her eyes. "I know you killed my sister."
"You know." Sebastian cut in. "This is actually the first time I've met someone like you in the human world. You played the role of helpless butler well. Your act had almost everyone completely fooled."
"You-you think so?" Grell's voice was quiet. What was once a look of reevaluation, now changed to a murderous grin. "How kind." Yuri shivered slightly as the man's eyes took on a murderous look. He pulled the ribbon tying his hair out. "That's great to hear, after all, I am an actress. And quite a good one at that." He pulled a comb from his chest pocket before brushing through his hair. What was once was is straight brown hair now changed to a fiery unkempt red. "Though, you're not really Sebastian, are you?"
"Sebastian is the name my master gave me, so that is who I am. For now." The demon replied. Yuri kept Ciel close but had moved her left hand to the blade at the waistband of her skirt.
"Ah, you're playing the faithful dog. Well, you're handsome enough to get away with it. Anway, here we are, Sebastian." Grell flicked his red hair behind him. "No, I'll call you Bassie. Let me introduce myself, the benite butler, Grell Sutcliff. Let's get along." Grell blew Sebastian a kiss that caused every hair on Sebastian's body to stand. "Ah, it's so good to talk to you in my true form. I will admit, I was surprised when I first met you. I've never seen a demon playing a butler." Sebastian kept his cool, though Yuri was close to running at him with her daggers pointed. The only thing stopping her was the fact that Ciel was still shivering, despite her own coat on top of him.
"I could say the same for you," Sebastian smiled cooly. "I never thought I'd find one of your kind playing a butler either. You're supposed to be a middle man between humans and God. A grim reaper. Why would a divine being like you pretend to be a servant?"
"Why indeed," Grell commented, a deathly grin still on his lips. "For now, let's just say it was out of love for a certain woman." Yuri felt Ciel tense in her arms so she loosened them slightly, knowing he was going to make his move.
"That woman would be?" Sebastian's eyes were dark and his voice was deep.
"You don't really need to ask, do you?" More footsteps were heard from the blood splattered room. Ciel shifted Yuri's arms slight, allowing himself to see the cause of these footsteps.
"Madam Red," he said. She stood at the door frame. She smiled.
"Well, I wasn't counting on this. I didn't think anyone would be able to tell what Grell truly is." She said, shrugging. Yuri stepped back and let the boy go.
"Naturally, you were a suspect all along," Ciel stated, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "But all of your alibies seemed flawless."
"You mean you actually doubted your own aunt?" Madam Red said.
"I was looking for a murderer, the degree of relation to me did not matter," Ciel spoke bravely and Yuri admired him. Yes, this boy was less than three years younger than herself, but as he spoke, she shook slightly in the cold.
"No n of the humans on the suspect list could've been behind the killings," Yuri said coming into the like. "But if the murderer had a non-human companion, well, that would've changed the game entirely. This person had to leave and enter a room without being noticed. Someone who could travel in seconds."
"In the end, you two were the only ones who could be 'Jack The Ripper'." Ciel finished. "You, Madam Red, and Grell Sutcliff. I began to look into what the murdered had in common besides their profession. And then, I noticed they'd all undergone a surgery in the hospital where you work." Ciel reached into his waistcoat and brought out a list of all the victims. "We made a list of all the victims. One, the only one who was still alive was a woman by the name of Mary Kelly. We knew if we'd waited around here, you'd come for her eventually." The images of the mangled corpse appeared to the minds of those who had seen it. "But we were... too late."
"My darling nephew, how unfortunate this turned out to be. If you'd had let it go, we could play chess again. But now-" Madam clenched her hand into a fist. "Now! You've taken everything!" Madam's faced clenched with pure wrath as the sound of a chainsaw reared up. Yuri's eyes widened before setting back to stilts. Wth a brief swish, she had broken the buttons connect her skirt to the waistband and it fell to the floor. She wore dark trousers underneath, and tied to her legs were guns and blades, and a whip tied to her hip. Grell rushed forward and made a move for Ciel, Yuri tried to jump in front but Sebastian was quicker, he blocked both of them from the blade as Yuri pulled Ciel over to a wall. Sebastian pushed the blade away from his face causing Grell to flip back into the hair before landing on his feet again.
"W-what is that!?" Ciel asked, horrified.
"Reapers use tools to harvest souls, that is his death scythe," Sebastian said.
"Oh, don't call it that! It is so much more than that!" Grell whimpered. "This is a scythe of my own design! It can hack anyone to pieces." Grell's gaze swung to Yuri and a murderous look took over his face, one Sebastian was extremely uncomfortable with. Yuri, however, was unfazed.
"You're gonna have to try harder if you want to break me!" She yelled at the reaper. Grell only smirked.
"Oh, I've been getting out of shape, I've been dying to show off my skills. So, Shall. We. Play." Grell said, blowing a kiss to Sebastian.
"Perhaps you could be more considerate of my position, I am on duty after all." The demon said, unamused.
"What a stoic man you are!" Grell stated, waving his scythe up and down. Yuri and Ciel sweat dropped. "That makes you more irresistible." The man stepped forward. "You know, red is my favourite colour." Madam Red looked at the group, her eyes cold and her posture straight. "It perfect for hair, for clothes, for lipstick. So, I painted all those women with pretty, pretty red." He shot a dark glare at Yuri. "Your sister, she looked the most beautiful of all. With those eyes. Oh, they were such a delight to watch the life drain from them." Yuri gritted her teeth. "Do you know you were her last word? You and some Ryu. She said to me as the blood pooled out of her. She said; 'I'm sorry, Yuri, Ryu, I am so-' and then she died. Ah well, she did make a beautiful corpse." Yuri's hands tightened on her blade and she lunged forward.
"DONT YOU DARE TALK ABOUT KHUN YOU FILTHY MURDERER! YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOU ARE DESPICABLE! YOU MONSTER!" She screamed as loud as she could, tears running down her face. Grell smirked and readied his blade. Sebastian caught the girl at the right moment.
"Yuri, please calm down-"
"NO! I WILL NOT BE CALM AS LONG AS THIS FREAK BREATHES!" She screamed at him, struggling to break his grip on her.
"He won't be breathing for long." Sebastian hit her pressure point on her neck lightly and she calmed down. She breathed heavily, tears still running down her face. She stood up slowly before shooting a glare at the Reaper. As reaper and demon exchanged words, Ciel reached up to his eyes patch.
"In my name and that of the Queen's, I order you, Sebastian, kill Jack the Ripper!" Ciel ordered.
"Indeed, my young lord." Sebastian raised his hand pulled off his glove with teeth. His mark glowed and Yuri felt a burning feeling on her chest. She rubbed it soothingly, but nothing help. She down the pain and tried to act casual, but Sebastian had noticed and he was puzzled, but he kept his mind on the battle in front of him.
~o/0\o~
As the two non-humans went at it, Grell seemed overly excited.
"Oh yes! Bassie! We can play tag!" He screamed loudly as Sebastian dodged all the Reaper's attacks. As the butler was backed into a wall, he lunged to the side and scraped along the ground. Grell caught his off guard and came at him from behind. Sebastian's eyes widened and caught the blade in his hands before they were both pushed into a wall. The scythe dug into the wall and Grell pinned it there. "This is what happened when you're not fast enough, you get cut!" Grell moved his scythe and it cut through Sebastian's shoulder. "It's more fun when it hurt a little bit, isn't it?" Yuri shifted her focus back to protecting Ciel from his murderous aunt.
"You're still the Queen's Guard Dog which means that now, I'm your prey." Ciel kept his gaze to the floor. "So if it's hunt or be hunted." She pulled a dagger from her sleeve. "There's only one thing I can do!" Madam Red lunged forward but Yuri was quicker, she moved Ciel out of the way and the dagger caught her arm. She pushed Ciel against the wall as Madam Red's eyes were clouded in anger. Yuri stepped in front of the boy. The woman pounded her dagger repeatedly into the girls back and all she could do was resist herself from coughing blood onto Ciel." She held her hand to her mouth as the metal dug into her back so many times so lost count. Every inch of her body cried out in pain and all Ciel could do was watch. He was so surprised by the girl's actions that he didn't have the chance to react or to even move. She was willing to throw her life away for him...
"Yuri!" Sebastian called out. Yuri could barely move her head but she heard him. And he saw her. He saw as Madam Red threw the girl's body away and how it landed against the wet pavement. He saw how she curled up. And he saw the blood pooling from the girl. And like that, it clicked. A sudden urge to kill both the reaper and Madam Red came to him, stronger than anything he'd ever faced. His eyes glowed dark and he began to fight. To fight for Yuri. Madam Red took her chance. She turned around slowly, out of breath
"You're a doctor! How could you do it?!" Ciel shouted to his aunt. His gaze swung to Yuri, who's eyes were wide.
"You could never understand, even if I told you!" The woman swung around a mad look in her eyes. "You're just a child!" She grabbed her nephew's neck and pinned him against the wall. The boy shivered and struggled against the arm around his neck. Yuri cried out.
"No! Stop! He's your nephew!" She screamed out, she forced her body up and fought the through the pain. "He's your family and in this fucked up reality, Family is all we have!" Her words fell on deaf ears, but she didn't give up. "Please, Madam, don't let your rage and hatred block you! You can-"
"You should never have been born!" Madam Red raised the knife high but Yuri's words were on her mind.
"Master!" Sebastian screamed. Her raced through the reaper's chainsaw and blood got everywhere. He raced over a dark aura around in that moment, she stopped. She dropped the knife as an image of her sister came to mind. "I-I can't... I can't kill my sister's boy..."
"Wait, Sebastian! Don't kill her!" Sebastian stopped at his master's words. And in that moment, she stopped too. She dropped the knife as an image of her sister came to mind. "I-I can't... I can't kill my sister's boy..." Sebastian panted heavily behind her, but Yuri's eyes were on the reaper.
"Really? How sweet you are. Like a prince." The reaper removed his scythe from the wall, smiling like a mad man. "Sacrificing your own poor limb to save that kid. On the other hand, you're a disappointment, Madam." Yuri's good arm through a dagger straight for the Reaper, who dodged easily. "You'll have to do better than that." He stopped hen he saw the girl smirking, despite her blood stained hair and face.
"Oh no, I got where I wanted to hit." She smiled madly. The reaper looked down at his scythe and found the dagger stood in the engine. He attempted to start it but it only resulted in the entire scythe breaking into pieces. "We don't require you, but I can tell that my master isn't going to let you go freely," Sebastian smirked at the girl's quick thinking and intelligence.
"Very well done," he said, walking past her. She only smiled.
"If I couldn't do that, what kind of Phantomhive servant would I be?" He only chuckled darkly at the girl. Her dark gaze flew to the reaper. "Make him feel more pain than any of his victims. Tear him limb from limb." Grell giggled nervously. Yuri tried to move but she winced in pain.
"S-surely you wouldn't hurt a face this pretty?" Yuri's smirk only grew, as did the returning pain. She picked up her sharpest and longest dagger before aiming. She threw. She winced and stumbled slightly but she managed to regain her composure. She watched as the dagger grew closer to its target. A long pair of garden scissors appeared from nowhere, knocking the dagger away. Yuri frowned. She looked up to the darkened sky and saw the outline of a man. Grell looked up and relief flashed over his face.
"William... you came to get me-"
"Shut up. Do you know how much paperwork and overtime you've caused?" William shouted at Grell, adjusting his glasses on his nose. Yuri began to lose her vision as the sharp pains returned in her back.
As William took Grell away, Yuri fell to the floor. Sebastian raced over and check her pulse.
"Weak." He muttered. Her body was limp and he needed to act fast. Placing the girl on his back, he picked up his master before turning to Madam Red. "We'll be in touch."
~o/0\o~
Sebastian lay Yuri on the bed carefully as her pulse only grew weaker. He was surprised by his own actions, but he put that surprise aside as he felt her life force draining away.
"Young master, I may have to ask you to turn around." Ciel, who had never followed an order given to him from a butler, turned. Not for him, but he knew that what Sebastian was about to do was hardly going to be something he wanted to see. Sebastian removed the girl's shirt with one quick motion before untieing the corset, leaving her top half exposed. He placed a towel on her front half before carrying her gently to the bath. he placed her in and her body tensed as she hit the hot water. Sebastian washed her wounds gently as the water began to turn a murky red. Never, in all he could remember, did her ever hate the sight of so much blood. He took the unconscious girl's hand before sighing. "I'm sorry, Yuri. I never wanted you to get hurt like this." He lifted her slowly from the bath before bring her back to the room. Ciel still stood at the dresser, his face to the wall.
"Sebastian. This is an order. Save Yuri." Sebastian nodded and Ciel left. The demon brought his attention back to the girl. He pulled a knife from his pocket slowly before slitting his wrist. He let the blood pool on the girl's back and she whimpered.
"Sh, my dear, it will only sting slightly." He said calmly. The girl continued to wriggle with discomfort before settling down. The blood pooled into the cuts and into her blood stream. They mixed with her own blood and burned her body. Her body began to sweat as the blood began to regrow her skin. It felt as if thousand of tiny needles were sowing up each cut in the most painful wy possible. Sebastian held the girl's hand and tried to distract her. He found no enjoyment of seeing her in so much pain and discomfort. As the last wound slowly closed, Sebastian flipped the girl on her back. He pulled out one of his shirts from a drawer before pulling it onto the girl. As he was pulling it on over her chest, he stopped. An engraving on her chest caused him to stop. He had remembered to had been complaining about a burning feeling on her chest but he had just decided it would be nothing. He traced his ungloved fingers over the marking on her chest as she lay asleep. His mark. He looked at the girl and suddenly her.
This was going to be his Hardest Challenge Yet.