Sebastian left to pick up the younger Mackens from Kristopherson's house, where they were being babysat by the Miles along with Travis. He would have to apologise for the absence of Ciel and Alois, but the two masters of the house were still in a fragile state. Neither of them moved in ages.

While Alois actually slept for several hours, the bluenette just laid on the sofa in the office and remained miserable. He would waste away if he could get away with it. While he never was one to give up under any circumstances, his spirit had been crushed.

He had been lulled into a state where his body was completely numb and still. Yet his eye was still open, staring blankly ahead. It would have been very easy to mistake him for being dead. He was so emotionally drained that hardly anything mattered to him, anyway. All he could think about was how he wanted his spouse back, and how impossible that seemed.

Light returned to his eye suddenly as he regained a bit of conscious awareness. Tiredly, he sighed. Ciel slowly sat up and dug his phone out of his pocket, turning it on and hovering over his spouses name in his contacts. For a moment, he hesitated, but knew it was something that he had to do. Quickly, he typed up a message and bit the bullet, pressing "send."

His muscles ached as his emotions essentially tried to shut his body down. It was like fighting rigor mortis. He felt cold. He felt stiff. He didn't feel like doing anything. Yet, he flexed his fingers, prompting diabolic threads to loosen in his hand and in a burst of black flame, his gun appeared in his grip. Staring at the cold metal, he was reluctant in what came next.

BANG!

Alois woke in a jolt at the sound, his eyes snapping open at the familiar sound of a gunshot. Quickly, he crawled over on his stomach to the side of the bed in order to reach his phone on the nightstand and check the time. He could see that it was still daylight, but he didn't know much else. When he picked up the device, however, he rolled his eyes at seeing that there was a message from the bluenette. While he was hesitant in opening it, he knew it would eat at him if he didn't, but ultimately, he was glad he did even though his stomach dropped at the words written there.

"Intruders outside. Back of the mansion. Spare gun in the library if you need it. Hidden in the book on calligraphy on the third row up on the shelf by the door."

"Fuck's sake!" the blonde hissed, practically throwing the device down. Now that he was awake and abruptly shaken from his grogginess, he could indeed sense some figures outside. If a ball of black fire, one of the menace's guns appeared in his right hand as he leaped out of bed and crouched by the window, just hidden from view.

He sensed about seven people. All of them were vampires, despite it being broad daylight. From this, Alois decided that they must be using shade gel. Splashing them with a bucket of water would probably take care of that, but he hadn't anything of the sort. Thus, a few well-placed bullets would have to suffice.

Carefully, he looked up and peeked out the window. He could see that the intruders were focused on only one spot. It was the office window, and several of them were trying to climb through. Even though the blonde wasn't entirely keen when it came to the bluenette, he still couldn't just sit idly while his home was under attack. Thus, he opened the window and took aim.

Perfect headshot with the first squeeze of the trigger he made. It was the vampire at the top of the ladder, who fell back once their blood and brain matter fell into the bushes below. Alois managed to hit another and take them out as well before the rest of them scattered, taking cover behind trees, stone bird baths and such, or if they weren't especially bright, bushes in the garden.

Shutting the window, Alois locked it before leaving the room entirely to change positions. Swiftly, he made his way down the hallway to find another room with a window, only to pass by the office on the way. He stopped, only to decipher that there was only one person in the room with the Watchdog, and that Ciel was still alive. Nodding, he decided that Ciel could handle himself and carried on, leaving the bluenette alone.

Ciel could sense him from within the room, but decided that Alois was most likely concerned with the others outside, which suited him just fine. Meanwhile, the Watchdog's primary concern was the man in front of him, both of them with a gun trained on the other. While sitting on his sofa, he was facing both a broken window, a dead body staining his carpet, and Thaddeus Wakefield, staring right back at him.

"Hello, Phantomhive." greeted the vampire, slowly taking a seat while keeping his eyes and his gun on his foe. "You disappeared last night. I hoped we could have talked more."

"So sorry about that." Ciel replied. "A personal emergency came up."

"I understand. Though, I'm not very keen on the fact that you led H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. to my home. That wasn't very sporting of you."

"My apologies. My job is to follow orders and uphold the laws of the supernatural. You simply were unfortunate enough to break them. It's nothing personal, I assure you."

"Is it?" questioned the vampire. "On your end, it might not be, perhaps."

"Do you quarrel with me, sir?"

"No, sir. All I wanted was to play a game with you, sir." Wakefield stated. "I wanted to know just how good the legendary Ciel Phantomhive is."

"Most who attack my house do." the bluenette stated. "But I would appreciate it if you would refrain. You have already escaped H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. once. It was a very unwise decision to come here."

"And why is that?"

"Few who attack my home make it out alive." Pausing, the bluenette said: "Well, one did. But She died soon after."

"Oh, my..." said the vampire with an amused grin. "How scary… But, I've invested a lot of time and effort and this, so I'm afraid there's no backing down on this. Most hunts are very time consuming. Some prey takes months. Usually it's the most dangerous kind, and you are no exception."

"How flattering."

"Others have died along the way. That instructor at my school and that old woman… They were killed for bait, although I admit to eating a bit of the first."

"Understandable. You shouldn't kill what you don't intend to eat."

"Another thing you have in common." Wakefield said, gesturing with his free hand. "I can't remember the last time I tasted blue blood. It's a rare breed that I'm hunting."

"Blood is blood. Surely there's no difference."

"Wrong! It's very difference. Blood type and a person's health are factor in taste. Even the slightest difference in iron levels can make all of the difference! Now, the purer the blood, the purer the taste."

"So wealthy people who kept it in the family are your ideals?" questioned the bluenette with blatant skepticism. Honestly, I don't understand wine tasting, either. It sounds like a pretentious hobby."

"You should feel honoured. You're perhaps the finest specimen I have ever seen!" the vampire praised. "The only level above yours is drinking the blood of the royal family."

"So wealthy people who've kept it in the family."

"There's no need to be rude..."

"You've broken in my house, smashed my window, stained my carpet, and are pointing a gun in my face. That is hardly 'polite', I must say. Do forgive me if I am reluctant to be hospitable." scoffed the Phantomhive, crossing one leg over the over and resting his free arm over the back of the sofa. "You seem to think you're some sophisticated huntsman or some nonsense."

"Oh, but I am. I've hunted many people." stated Wakefield. "I've hunted beasts, commonfolk, nobles, and even my own family. Game is game, especially when it benefits me. How do you think I, a middle child, was able to secure my place as heir?"

"Again, any idiot can kill someone, especially in the 1800s. Most serial killers have below average intellect, and I see that you're no different."

"I was able to best you." declared Thaddeus. "I was able to conspire against you without you even knowing!"

"Oh?" Tilting his head, Ciel carefully watched the other, although with the interest with what he had to say of someone mildly entertained my some village idiot.

"I had to kill the old woman for a reason." informed the vampire. "I had to make sure she didn't talk. She hated you. She hated that you married that commoner. The only difference is that she hated it because of who you are. I hated it because you seemed to throw away the traditions of your ancestors and of our world."

Blinking, the Phantomhive furrowed his brow, now piecing things together. Before he could, however, Wakefield interrupted him. The vampire's lips pulled back, baring his teeth in a menacing smile.

"Don't you understand?" he asked. "How was she able to make a spell so specifically targeted? Who had to gain from you getting emotional in the event that you would make mistakes? All it took was one stray hair plucked from your jacket."

Taking a deep breath, the Phantomhive's eye widened as everything pieced together. The day that Alois was struck, he was at Wakefield's home for the case at Warwick. Ciel was stopped before he could leave, as there was a hair on his jacket. The person who pointed it out and removed it was Leslie Thaddeus Wakefield.

"Now you get it." cackled the intruder, pleased at his own cleverness. "It's written all over your face! Now you know how great of a hunter I a-"

He could not continue his thought as a strong hand grabbed hold of his skull, gripping it tightly as it blocked his view. The next thing that Thaddeus was aware of was being airbourne, followed by hard ground and cold air.

Stumbling to his feet, the man rubbed his aching head with one hand while gripping deadened grass with the other. Opening his eyes, he could see that he was outside in the Phantomhive garden. Quickly, he turned around to look back at the Phantomhive, only to see him staring down with a cold expression, followed by there being harsh heel crashing down on his ribs.

"Guh!" The air from Thaddeus' lungs was completely gone as sharp pain consumed him. He knew that Ciel was a demon. He knew perfectly well. Never did he expect, however, just how fast he was. In an instant, he had gone form the second floor of the building to right on top of the vampire.

Thinking quickly, Thaddeus reached for his gun and aimed it, only for the bluenette to reach down and grab his wrist, pointing the weapon away from himself as he snapped Wakefield's arm. Taking the gun from him, Ciel took it in hand, causing Thaddeus' eyes to widen. For a moment, he thought it was over right then and there- that the demon was going to shoot him, killing him instantly. No. Ciel crushed the metal instrument in his grip, finding it unnecessary to his intentions.

That was almost scarier to Thaddeus than actually being shot at. If Ciel could crush a gun with no effort at all, then he could do the same to Wakefield's head! That is exactly what the demon intended to do. Ciel expression was cold, but his eyes boiled, flaming crimson as he stared down at his foe.

"You have ruined your chances of a swift death." Ciel said to the man beneath his heel. "No, you've sealed your fate. There is no hope for you now. You will die here. It will not be swift. It will not be painless. You will writhe in agony until your last, miserable breath. That is a sincere promise."


A/N: Hello, hello.

Interestingly, Wakefield likens himself to the character Zaroff, who is the antagonist of The Most Dangerous Game. Toward the end, he claims that the "winner" will sleep in his bed, while the "loser" will be fed to dogs.

Isn't that interesting?

I didn't intend that. I actually found that out when looking for a reference to name this chapter after. In the end, I went with tennis, for some reason...

I wanted to be clever, but in the end, it sounded kind of lame.

It is what it is.

Either way, yer in for it now, Leslie.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!