A/N: It's been awhile but I'm back at it again. So here's another chapter. Like always, italics are thoughts (usually Alex's).
THE CASE lll
Alex was awakened by the sound of Ciel shouting his frustrations at the top of his lungs. He grumbled in annoyance and tried to cover his ears with his pillow but, unfortunately, the young earl didn't seem too keen on quieting down. After the fourth loud remark, Alex gave up on trying to go back to sleep and decided to get up to face the morning in all its wretchedness.
'My god, how can such a tiny creature be so loud?' Alex thought, annoyed. 'He really gonna wake up the whole damn neighborhood, Jesus Christ.'
Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He instantly grimaced at how oily it felt. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he showered. He had taken one before he went into his coma-dream-stage thing and if this was all in his head then he probably didn't need one.
'I feel so gross though…maybe they have a bath or something I could use.'
Alex spotted some slippers underneath the bed and made a grab for them. They weren't his fuzzy slippers from home but they were alright. Now that he was ready to brave the cold wooden floors, Alex left the bedroom and followed the chatter.
The voices were coming from the study. Ciel was glaring at a newspaper as if it would suddenly catch fire if he did. Madam Red sat across from Ciel and Lau was leaned up against a bookcase, smoking a pipe.
They all had such serious faces on that Alex was hesitant to walk into the room. If his memory was correct, then Ciel found out that the Viscount Druitt wasn't the Ripper after all.
Alex hovered uneasily behind the study door, trying to work up the courage to go in. He had just taken a deep breath, courage flowing through him, when a sudden voice behind him addressed him.
"Did you need something, Alex?"
"Holy freckled jesus!" Alex shouted.
Grasping at his chest, Alex turned around to yell at the person who nearly gave him a heart attack. Staring back at him was a horrified Grell, trembling a bit at the sudden loudness. Alex felt a bit bad but then he remembered that this was the person who killed several women so they could probably handle a bit of a scare.
"M-my deepest apologies Alex, I h-had no intention of giving you such a fright!" Grell stuttered, dipping her head down in remorse.
Alex waved his hand in dismissal. "Uh..no it's fine really-"
"What is going on here?"
The question wasn't worded or said angrily yet Alex still felt a chill run up his spine. By the door of the study, where Alex had been peering into mere moments ago, a peeved Sebastian stood. He was glaring down at both Alex and Grell with such an intensity that Alex was sure both of them were going to catch fire. Funnily enough, the butler looked like a scolding mother, arms crossed, and an eyebrow raised, but the aura he gave off wasn't at all humorous. Not wanting to be on the demon's bad side, Alex held up his hands, as if surrendering, and slowly began to back away.
"Sorry Sebastian, it was completely my fault. I just got startled, is all. I'll be going now…" Alex was about to make a run for it before a gloved hand came down on his head, holding him in place. He shivered in fear as he felt the irritated aura the butler was giving off in full force. He wondered how Mey-rin, Bard and Finny survived this long.
"I must ask why you are not dressed and ready to serve your master? I understand the ordeal you went through last night was rather tiresome on the body, so your tardiness is excusable. However, lack of preparation is unbecoming of a butler." Sebastian scolded.
Alex scowled. Getting lectured in the morning wasn't what he was aiming for. All he wanted was a shower so his hair didn't look like someone dumped an entire bottle of vegetable oil on it. That incident had been Caz's fault for sure.
"S-sorry about that. I just wanted to know if there was someplace I could take a sh-bath?" For a second there, Alex almost forgot showers weren't common in this current time. He wasn't fond of baths though. The least he could hope for was hot water.
Sebastian brought a gloved hand to his forehead and briskly began to walk down the hallway that Alex had previously come down from. Not wanting to be left behind, he quickly followed the flapping black tailcoat and gave Grell a curt wave in goodbye. They didn't have to walk far to end up back where Alex started. He didn't see a bath in there so he wondered why Sebastian would take him back here.
'No good. I can only think of Sebastian eating my soul and tossing my corpse out the window.', Alex thought.
The butler opened the door to the room Alex had woken up in, everything neat and tidy except the comforter, which he hadn't fixed when he had gotten up, and walked over to the nightstand. A white, ceramic pitcher and matching bowl sat on top of it with a fluffy towel folded neatly by the bowls side. Sebastian tipped the pitcher and once the water filled the bowl halfway, he gestured for Alex to come over. A bit hesitant, he walked up to the demon butler slowly and he didn't miss the small smirk that formed on Sebastian's face. Sometimes Alex wondered if the demon could read minds.
"All you must do is fold the towel, dip a part of it into the water and run it over the part you wish to cleanse." Alex watched as Sebastian did the motions as he explained the process.
"So...no soap? What about my hair?" Alex questioned.
"Beg your pardon?"
Alex cringed. He suddenly came to the frightening realization that asking for a bath, with actual soap, was off the table.
"Noble's typically have their own baths and may wish to use it as often as they like." Sebastian explained. "Servants must make do with this. Is this not how they do it in America?"
'Like hell they do. I would even take that 3 in 1 shampoo at this point.', Alex thought sadly.
"Uh...yeah things are a little different back home but it-it's fine." Alex assured, a strained smile on his face as the butler nodded and proceeded to walk out of the room.
'Great. I'ma be smelling like two-week old milk'
Alex sighed. He quickly sniffed himself and shrugged.
"Maybe one-week old milk."
"I don't mean to be rude...but why am I here exactly?" Alex whispered harshly.
He was currently being subjugated to stand outside with Sebastian and Ciel in the middle of some dark street, peering into an even darker alley way at some lady's apartment door. Three people had passed by them a while ago and had given them disturbed looks. It really was only a matter of time before someone called the cops on them.
"Well," Sebastian began. "Lau decided to volunteer you, just in case I need something to throw while I escape with the young master."
Alex glared as the demon gave him a full-blown smirk, canines and all, and nearly punched his arm until he realized that Sebastian could punch him into a wall. So, he just settled by glaring at the butler. Secretly, once he had turned around, Alex flipped him the bird and began mumbling several obscenities that would surely get him scolded by his brother.
"Quiet you two." Ciel snapped, narrowing his eye at the two beside him. Alex noticed the earl was trembling and he sighed. Taking off his rather warm coat, he draped it over the child's shoulders.
"I don't need your charity!" Ciel angrily sputtered. He reached to take off the coat, but Alex held it down firmly on his shoulders.
"My lord, if you catch a cold, you'll be making more work for everyone. Keep it on." Alex said, as nicely as possible mind you, this child could have his head.
Ciel stared at him before huffing but held the coat a little closer to himself, no longer trembling. Alex smiled slightly then gave a little huff of his own and put his hands on his hips.
"The real question is why Sebastian didn't give you his coat earlier. Sebastian! Why am I doing your job--seriously!?" Alex grit his teeth as he saw the demonic butler playing with a cat.
'Damn, he had the right idea', Alex thought, a bit jealous.
Ciel seemed to have reached the limit of his patience and yelled at his butler to put the cat down.
Alex shook his head in exasperation but then looked down at the ground, feeling a bit empty. Recently, it felt like things were becoming fuzzier and fuzzier. Sometimes he would find himself forgetting his true goal in all this. He wondered if it was because of all the troublesome situations he was getting into lately. Not only were things getting more complicated, but he felt like he was forgetting something important. A dream? No. Or--no, he wasn't sure. At times like this, he missed his older brother.
A sharp scream in the air tore Alex from his thoughts.
"What!?" Ciel shouted in surprise. "No one entered the room! Let's go!"
Quickly, they all ran up to the door. Seeing that Ciel was going to open the door, Alex swiftly cut in front of him and grabbed the doorknob.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" The earl shouted.
Ignoring him, Alex slowly opened the door, making sure he blocked the view from Ciel. The mangled body of a woman welcomed his vision. Blood stained the ground and pooled around her abdomen, where organs spilled and were strewed around her. Bits of her spine had been taken out and the bones stuck out sharply from the blood covered fleshy organs. It was truly a horrific sight and the smell nearly made him gag. The coppery smell was overwhelming, it made his eyes water.
"Don't look. Cover your eyes." Alex demanded.
Ciel grimaced. "I can handle myself!"
Alex rolled his eyes, turned away from the morbid scene in front of him, shoved his hand over Ciel's eyes and held the struggling, cursing earl closer to him. Sebastian looked faintly amused by the entire ordeal. He raised a brow at the demonic butler and gave a quick jerk of his head, hoping he would get along with it.
"You have made quite a mess "Jack the Ripper", "Sebastian called out mockingly into the darkness. And from that darkness, a bloodied figure walked out, the shadows of the alley curling around the individual, making it all the more eerie. "or should I say Grell Sutcliff?"
Alex sighed as Grell tried to deny the statements and, at one point, Grell even looked over at him, as if he would support her. He just shook his head at her and gave a helpless shrug. Now, don't get him wrong, Grell had her moments. This wasn't one of them though. In fact, she looked a bit foolish, standing there while Sebastian--as if he were some detective--exposed all the secrets of the butler of the Burnett House. The crazed grin was something Alex could have gone without though. Grell's teeth were sharper in real life than they were in the show or manga, it was actually quite terrifying. But it was cool to see her transformation. He had to admit, Grell's bright red hair was on point.
"I am so glad I got to show you my true colors! It was mortifying to be seen in front of a handsome individual such as yourself without makeup on!" Grell swooned and blushed as she smiled at a very disturbed looking Sebastian.
"You know who did this...don't you?" Alex murmured, looking down at the child he held in his arms.
Ciel had been quiet this whole time and Alex wondered if he already knew or was still putting the pieces together. The earl didn't answer for a moment, but Alex knew. Grell's statements thus far have only confirmed the suspicions. Her being a grim reaper, posing as a butler because she fell "head over heels for a woman" made it all too clear and hard to miss.
As if on cue, the faint 'click clack' of heels and lo' and behold, the familiar face of Madam Red appeared. Looking very fabulous but still guilty of murder.
"Even without Grell telling...you must have figured out who it was, right Sebastian?"
"Madam Red…" Ciel said, pushing away Alex's hand from his eyes.
"Ah shit, it's raining…"
Everyone looked over at Alex, who had a hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. Now, everyone was giving him a look.
"Uh...please continue…"
Madam Red cleared her throat and raised her head a little higher, as if to look down at them all.
"I never imagined," She said. " that someone would be able to see through Grell's disguise...a small miscalculation."
"You were on our first list of suspects, but your alibi was flawless." Ciel stated and, for a brief moment, Madam Red looked a little shocked before she smiled.
"How could you, my dear Ciel? Going as far to doubt me, your aunt?" She asked, a bit tauntingly.
"It does not matter whether you are kin or not," Ciel explained. "if the possibility was there, then one must investigate. No human on the list could commit all the murders unless they had a reaper as an accomplice, such was your case. He entered Mary Kelly's room without anyone noticing, that suggests he has means of instantly transporting himself over a lengthy distance. And, as a servant, if he were to disappear from a party for a short while, no one would pay heed. That meant only the two of you could be Jack the Ripper."
Alex nearly clapped at the explanation but groaned quietly as the earl explained even more of the case to the two perpetrators. Really, was this necessary to do in the rain? Explaining that Madam Red had taken on all these women as patients could wait when they were down at the station or whatever it is they called it in 1880's London. The Yard?
The roaring of a chainsaw pulled Alex from his thoughts. He looked up, only to see Sebastian holding the whirling blade in his hands, shielding Ciel.
"Holy shit…" Alex muttered.
"Watch your language in front of the young master, Alex." Sebastian called out, never once looking away from the spinning chains near his face.
"What is that!?" Ciel shouted, a bit in awe at the powerful tool.
"All reapers possess a tool for hunting, " Sebastian explained, pushing Grell away from him. "It is known as the--"
"It's a chainsaw."
Grell looked over at Alex with a raised brow.
"I was thinking of calling it that. How on earth did you know?" She asked.
'I should really learn to shut up…', Alex thought.
"...It's known as a death scythe." Sebastian finished.
Alex shivered at the small glare the demonic butler gave him.
'Okay, I get it...ruined your moment. Calm down you scary ass bi--'
"Oh lord, what is she doing with her face…" Alex watched as Grell started cooing and making that duck face people did in selfie's, thinking it made them look better. Sebastian, at this point, looked ready to jump or throw someone off a cliff.
Alex sighed as the rain began to pour down even harder. God surely didn't the pull the stops on this one did he. Suddenly, a thought came to him. He had never found the time to bring in his clothes from before he had entered this bizarre dream. He had hidden his phone there. It was currently raining…
"I suddenly remembered that I promised Master Lau I would...pick up some...stuff for him...go ahead and continue on without me. SEBASTIAN PLEASE COVER ME!" Alex shouted before running as fast as he could (he thanked track field for that) out of the alley.
"Come back--ohh you handsome devil~"
"Please please please--thank you Jesus!"
His phone was a little damp, but his sweater had absorbed most of the water. Really, he didn't know why he felt such a need to get his phone, this wasn't real after all. But that feeling of panic had settled in his chest and he felt nothing else but to run like his life depended on it. Besides, he already saw a dead body today, he didn't need to see another one.
'Sorry, Madam Red'
The bright light of the screen blinded him for a moment but the beautiful face of one Yosano Akiko from Bungou Stray Dogs soon came into focus.
"At least it still--what the hell?"
Alex nearly dropped his phone at the sight. He wondered if he should be shouting for joy or crying in disbelief.
Because he had just gotten a new voicemail from his brother...
A/N: Honestly, I got lazy halfway writing this and that's why it sucks. Also, I'm sure y'all noticed Ciel and Sebastian referring to Grell as a guy and that's because that's what they do in the anime and manga. Although I'm unsure if I should keep it like that or change it...comment about it? Anyone?...Bueller?