A/N Hey ya'll, how ya doing? Here is Chapter 10, now I said last time that there would be disagreeible things in this chapter but I decided to split the chapter because it was getting to long. That being said there is still some NSFW stuff at the very end it is marked and should only be read at your own discretion however it has some information in it that is improtant to the rest of the story. I will be taking a break from WaP to write some of my other stuff so be on the look out for that if you are interested. Please RR and tell me if you enjoyed the chapter or not.

Storm

Chapter 10

December 14, 1885

Angelina sat quietly as her carriage carried her closer to her sister's home. It had been two months since her accident and while her body had healed well from it, her mind had not. She kept replaying the events over in her head; each moment passing slowly in front of her eyes even though at the time it had happened in a blink. The shock, fear and pain in those blue eyes as they lay huddled in the broken wreckage of their carriage. The copper tang of blood on her tongue as she tried to keep the hot fluid from leaking out of his side. Gregory's sad, knowing smile as he looked up at her, his life slipping from his grasp even as pain coursed through her belly.

Something had changed in Angelina that day, the darkness that she had suffocated since her attack had bloomed in the dark shambles of her heart as she mourned the death of her husband and their unborn child who never got to take a breath. As she had lain in the hospital, the head doctor explaining that she had severe bleeding as well and that it had been necessary to take both child and uterus from her to save her life, the redhead had felt almost numb. She had wanted a child since before Hadrian was born, and as if by some cruel twist she lost any chance of ever having one because of some fool.

Angelina took some deep breaths, trying desperately to calm the furious thoughts racing through her head as their… her new coach drove through the outskirts of London. The beautiful scenery all but lost on her, they had just crested the hill that overlooked the Phantomhive manor when she heard the driver give a startled yell. Puzzled she peeked out the window to ask him what was wrong only to feel her breath leaving her. The manor was on fire. The driver flicked the horses, and the coach sped toward the engulfed house.

She bounded from the conveyance as soon as it came to a stop and was dismayed at the scene before her. Angelina could see servants milling around; some, those who were injured , were clustered together as far from the inferno as possible while others tried to keep it from spreading. However she could not see any blue-black or strawberry-blonde hair mixed into the masses. While she watched, ignored but not unnoticed, a small group of people came flying from the mouth of the house. She recognized the house steward immediately and, being careful of her still healing wounds, she hurried over to the group.

The crowding servants parted to allow her through but did not say a word as she passed. Reaching the side of Tanaka, who was laid out on the ground, she noticed that the man had been injured and she started assessing him. He had a definite head wound and smoke in his lungs no doubt, as while as a long deep slice in his side. The white haired man would not have made it to medical help, but she had brought her work bag just as a precaution. Angelina ordered her driver to grab her bag and gently eased herself to the ground by the man's head just as his eyes opened.

"Lady Angelina," the man rasped up at her as he blinked several times.

"Mister Tanaka, what happened here?" She asked quietly, her hands already dealing with his wounds. She saw the moment he remembered what was happening because his brown eyes widened and he tried to sit bolt upright. Two of the other servants held him down as the driver returned with her bag. He started screaming as his hands dug frantically at the ground and the red head was worried she would have to drug him to calm him, but after a minute the man fell to soft sobs.

"May God have mercy on them." The haunting words fell from the man's lip like stones on her fragile heart.

"What do you mean?" Her lips trembled but her hands remained firm as she patched his wounded side.

"Master Vincent is dead," Angelina felt her mind break just a little more and she held her breath, waiting for news of her sister and nephew's deaths as well. The man looked deeply into her eyes, forcing her to still her hands as they worked, and seemed to freeze the world. "The young masters have been taken."

Her heart skipped a beat, she was not ignorant of her brother-in-law's 'duties'; Vincent had told her one night about the danger that could follow her because she was now related to him and she could only guess at the risk to his heirs. But that also meant that the boys were still alive. She frantically finished wrapping the steward's chest before rising, far too quickly given the pain in her stomach. Angelina stared at the burning structure as the beams started to fall before turning sharply to the driver. She had work to do; she had lost her husband, baby, love and sister but she was determined not to lose either of her nephews.

~0~

There was no slow waking period for Hadrian, instead the world came quickly into focus as adrenaline coursed through his body. He was on his feet in an instant, green eyes scanning the candle lit room, and he grasped for the magic that remained just out of his reach. Despair filled his chest as he stared at the thick steel bars that towered over his head, because without his magic he might as well be a normal child, his knowledge of rebirth be damned.

A sound in the corner of his cell had him spinning towards the noise, fingers curled into dagger like claws; he might be just a child but he would not go down so easily again. Only he found the source of the sound he had heard was a huddled figure laid out in the cage with him, a figure with short blue-black hair perched upon it's head. Hadrian felt his heart break at the small sob that came from his brother, what it must be like for the boy.

The green eyed boy could not even fathom the pain that Ciel must be in. Afterall, he had never known his first parents, and while he had cared for Vincent it was true that he had buried many beloved people in his heart. The Earl was just another tally in his soul and his death, while painful, would lessen with time, only with his passing that left the title to his oldest son. Earl Hadrian Phantomhive held a hollow ring to it, and as he watched Ciel sob quietly in a room of caged children, it was meaningless.

"Ciel," He called quietly as he edged closer to his brother. The boy turned damp blue eyes on him before rushing at him. Hadrian opened his arms as he had so often done for him in the past, and he held tight when the body he held shook violently. A tear slipped from his own eye and fell into the other's blue-black locks. He squeezed Ciel as close to him as possible as he tried to block out the sounds of hundreds of feet heading their way. "I can not say that everything will be alright. We are in a desperate situation brother. I want you to know that if anything happens to me that I have cared for you deeply and nothing that has happened has been your fault."

"But…" The boy started, only to stop when a hundred or more masked people came pouring out of a set of giant doors set into one side of the amphitheatre-like room they were being held in. Hadrian felt rage fill him, because leading the group was a single unmasked figure. Henry, Duke of Norfolk, had a gloating smile on his face as he almost glided to the center of the circle of cages near to a ritual altar. He waited for the others to seat themselves before stamping his cane on the ground, the sound of which rang through the room.

"Welcome brothers and sisters," He said in true showman style, arms thrown out wide as he turned in a slow circle. The masked men and women waited with bated breaths and Henry seemed to eat up their attention. "Now that all of our Guests have arrived the party you have all been waiting so long for can commence!"

The figures began cheering and jeering at the caged children, seeming more animal than human, and Henry just smiled wider and allowed his eyes to travel across the cages. When their eyes met, Hadrian could not help but feel sickened by the fact that their great-uncle was part of the plot that had lead them to being in that prison. He clutched at Ciel for dear life, refusing to allow the boy to look at the devil who claimed family blood. Henry tipped an imaginary hat his way and turned his back on him. Hadrian could not hold his tongue.

"I know you, Henry of Norfolk!" He shouted above the cheering. The room fell silent in an instant as every masked figure waited to see what their leader would do or say, but Hadrian was not finished. "I know you for what you are, and I curse the blood that flows through my veins for the taint you put upon it."

"How dare you!" The man exclaimed in a rage as he turned toward the two of them again. Henry stalked to their cage and leaned in close to the bars, his milky eyes staring at them in blind fury. "If not for me, boy, you would have long been dead."

"Better dead than at your mercy," hissed Hadrian; he pushed Ciel behind him and prawled closer to the bars. However, it seemed the old man remembered himself before the boy could catch him unaware, because he took several steps out of range of grasping hands.

"Careful boy, that can be arranged," Henry finally replied through a menacing smile as his eyes trailed over to the defenceless Ciel, and Hadrian finally noticed that the boy was standing far too close to the door of their cell. It happened in a blink; the door was thrown open and the younger boy was snatch from the cage before the portal closed. He plowed into the steel bars, one arm stretched out to the screaming child.

"Ciel!!" He screamed; the boy struggled desperately, clawing and biting at his captors.

"Now be careful boys; you do not want to damage our special guest too much." Henry shouted playfully at the men who held the ten year old. Someone's hand slipped and Ciel managed to escape for all of a moment before he was caught again and thrown to the floor. Hadrian sunk to his knees in despair as some masked female pulled a white hot brand from a torch bucket. Ciel was held down as his shirt was torn aside; he screamed loudly as the brand touched the skin of his side. The men laughed as they held onto the bucking, sobbing child. Henry just smiled.

All of the other children in the room were silent as they huddled into the farthest corner of their cages. Hadrian reached for his magic again but could no more touch the energy then he could Ciel. The sickly sweet smell of human tissue burning was chased by the ringing laughter of the rest of the throng that awaited on the benches. The thugs dragged the no longer moving boy back to Hadrian's cage and with a lightning quickness tossed him back inside, completely uncaring of the wound they had caused.

~0~

Hadrian did not know how long they had been captives; the candle lit room had no windows, and the poor food came at very inconsistent times. It was more than likely a very effective strategy to keep them weak and disoriented, and it was working. All of the children, even Ciel, were very close to losing hope, but he was determined to get his brother out safely. So he waited with bated breath for the men to bring their food once again.

When they did appear, he sat laying close to the door, hoping they would think he was sleeping and he could surprise them. Only they grabbed him by the arms before he could even move from his spot, and dragged him across the floor. Henry was waiting in the middle of the room, just shy of the altar, and Hadrian was forced to his knees. The two men holding him pulled his arms roughly behind him.

"Oh Hadrian, so beautiful," The old man said softly as he took a firm hold of Hadrian's chin and lifted his head until they were face to face. The boy struggled against his captors, bucking and twisting his arms as he tried to shake off his great uncle's foul hand. Henry leaned forward and ran his tongue across the blue-black haired boy's scowling lips. The boy wrenched one of his arms free and dragged the sharp, uncut nails of his left hand across the Duke's cheek. The man jerked back with a pained sound and touched his cheek gingerly. "You little beast."

"Fuck you," Hadrian snarled, but he could see the dark thoughts forming in the man's eyes as clearly as if he was using magic.

"Bring him." Henry barked and the two men dragged the boy over to the altar and with great strength started to tie him to it. The old man waited until the boy was strapped down before pulling a bottle from his pocket; he held it up to the candlelight and watched as the liquid sloshed around. "Now nephew, I was hoping not to have to use this on you, but it would seem that your father filled your head with all kinds of naughty things. So really the only one you have to blame for this is him."

Hadrian did not dare say anything, instead he kept his mouth as tightly closed as he could but he knew from experience that it was only a matter of time before he ingested the bottle of fluid. Henry seemed to know that fact as well because he simply stoppered the boy's nose and waited until Hadrian could no longer hold his breath. When he finally opened his mouth to gasp for breath the Duke shoved the bottle between his lips and let the thick liquid flow into the boy's mouth.

Hadrian tried to spit and force the sweetness from his mouth but the man simple used his other hand to covered the twelve year old's lips. The boy knew it was a losing battle but he still fought until finally all he could do was swallow. The feeling of cold fire burned his throat and his eyes drooped until finally, he succumbed to darkness.

~0~

?????????????????? NSFW

Ciel watched as his brother was dragged from their cage with scared, teary eyes from his corner. He wanted to help but his side burned sharply whenever he moved reminding him that the people holding them were not above hurting them. Hadrian was restrained in front of the man his brother had called Henry of Norfolk. The boy could not hear them, but he saw the moment his brother's arm came loose and it flashed across the man's face.

Ciel did not dare move as his brother was tied down and drugged, far too afraid of more pain to even think of going to his brother's aid, even if he could. The room was slowly filling up with the masked people, and that always was a bad sign. Besides his branding, the two Phantomhives had been pretty much left alone in the games the men and women played with the other captives, but with an unresponsive Hadrian tied to the altar it was no doubt who their next victim would be. He watched as Henry called down one of the men and handed him a wickedly looking knife.

"My friends," Henry cried out. He pointed to Hadrian whose green eyes were closed. "This creature has sinned against us, so we must then teach him the consequences of striking his betters."

The crowd cheered and clapped, baying like children at the fair, and the man with the knife stepped forward and with sure, practiced movements placed the blade to Hadrian's left shoulder. Ciel felt his breath leave him as the metal cut deep into his brother with barely any movement from the older boy. He had an idea of what they were planning and he grasped the bars with his trembling hands. They gave ever so slightly under his hold as he watched the man slowly cut away at the flesh of his brother's arm.

"Stop!" Ciel screamed over the laughter, but no one listened. He screamed again and again as the arm was cut off at the shoulder with surgical precision. When the arm was finally lifted away from the unconscious bleeding boy both Ciel and the crowd fell silent. The boy felt the bars give a little more but paid it no attention as the Duke grabbed one of the candles near him and touched it to the wound. Hadrian's scream echoed through the chamber, the feeling of his flesh burning no match for whatever drug the man had forced down his throat even though he had barely flinched at his arm being taken.

When Henry was finished with cauterizing the wound he placed the candle down and leaned over Hadrian whispering something into the sobbing boy's ear. The one armed child was released from the bloody altar and dragged back to the cage that Ciel was in. After being placed back in the cell Hadrian crawled as far from the door as he could and the younger brother placed himself near him. Ciel could barely stand to see the black and red mess that had been his beloved brother's arm but he forced himself to engrain it in his mind. The keystone of darkness in his heart teetered.