Hi! Sorry for not updating yesterday (again…). It's just, school…*frustration*. I've got an idea for a one shot! I don't know if it'll work out, and it's only a small production of my brainwashed mind, but hopefully it'll come together just fine and I'll be able to upload it as soon as possible. It'll more be like a Black Crack thing than a serious story, though.

So, this chapter contains some more Hurt, you have been warned, don't like, don't read. Please give me your opinion after reading this chapter. Enjoy!

Ciel Phantomhive

Chapter 5

Sebastian had been carrying Ciel around all day long. Ciel's ankle had not healed completely yet, and, even without a sprained ankle, Ciel couldn't have possibly kept up with Sebastian. That was the reason why Ciel had had a piggy ride on Sebastian's back almost all day. Nothing special had happened, until now. They were standing in a dark alleyway. Trash was spread over the stones, and a box, that probably belonged to a beggar, because there were a couple of blankets inside, was lying on its side.

Sebastian put him down and peeked around the corner. 'Now, Young Master, I can feel that our culprit is very close,' he whispered almost inaudibly.

'What about Grell?' Ciel asked on the same volume.

'Now charging towards the alleyway. Towards the suspect, to be exactly. We will enter the scene as soon as mister Sutcliff is being…interrupted by the murderer.'

'How do we know when he's…interrupted?'

'I can hear them talk, I know exactly when to pop up.' Of course Sebastian could hear them. A butler who couldn't hear people over such a distance wasn't worth his salt, he'd say.

'And now,' Ciel said, 'we must wait.'

/\/\/\/\

'My, my,' Sebastian said. 'Now it gets interesting.' Ciel, who had been nid-nodding on the pavers, suddenly looked up. He was dressed as a regular citizen, not a nobleman, so getting his clothes dirty wouldn't be a problem. Not that he cared about his clothes, anyway.

'What are they saying?' Ciel asked.

'He is inquiring about madam Red,' Sebastian said. 'Grell pretends like he doesn't know, and…oh!' Sebastian gasped.

'What is it?' Ciel asked. 'It's not a cat, is it? Sebastian! Tell me what's going on!'

'Bocchan, come on, we must hurry!' Sebastian said. He picked Ciel up and ran towards Grell and the murderer. The wind was howling in his ears and Ciel was pressed against Sebastian's chest as Sebastian carried Ciel in his arms while running at top-speed. Within seconds they were standing next to Grell, who was pressing himself against the wall. The man in front of him didn't seem very dangerous. He was about forty-five years old, and wore the clothes of a nobleman. His hair was getting grey and he seemed to be unarmed. But Ciel skipped a heartbeat as he saw two glowing red eyes appear next to him, soon followed by the silhouette of a woman.

'What…' Ciel said, looking at Grell for answers. Grell shrugged.

'Ah,' the male said. His voice was very low and had a kind tone. 'I see you have brought some friends. Let me introduce myself. My name is Rowland Doubleday.' Sebastian put Ciel down. Rowland turned and looked at the silhouette of the woman next to him. 'Come on! Don't be shy! Introduce yourself!' The woman stepped out of the shadows. Wow.

She had gorgeous red hair, lighter than Grell, with a little shade of orange once in a while, like a campfire. It ended just below her shoulder blades and was cut in layers. She was wearing a black dress with a simple design, that reached to just below her knees, tights, black gloves, low-heeled shoes and a…dagger? Ciel was quite sure she was holding a dagger. Her face was beautiful, with a small nose and perfectly shaped lips, her skin was flawless. She wasn't very tall, but still very elegant and slim. Though her eyes revealed the truth. They were red. Just like Sebastian's.

'Amymone Kerrigan,' she said and bowed. Her voice was very clear and full, though quite high.

'May I ask,' Ciel said, 'what you are doing here?'

'Ah,' Rowland said. 'We were just chatting to this lovely lady, Gwen. I believe the two of you have met before, or am I wrong, Earl?' Of course the man would recognize him, all the victims had been to Ciel's mansion. That was the reason why they had been killed.

'You've done all this, haven't you?' Ciel said. 'Warren, Vena, Duncan… Why?'

'Ah,' Amymone said. 'I'm afraid you're forgetting about someone. Am I allowed to explain?' This question was meant for mister Doubleday.

'Do as you please,' he said. 'I might fill you in on some details, though.'

'Well, my master wished to form a contract,' Amymone began. 'He wanted the murderer of Madam Red to be killed and you to suffer the death of someone who is precious to you. You see, my master was a good friend of Madam Red. She had treated him in the hospital and ever since that moment, they were nearly inseparable. Master Doubleday was absolutely crushed by the enormous loss of Angelina. He saw you on the funeral and found you very interesting. So he started to investigate.'

'I used to be a private soldier, just like you,' Rowland said. 'But instead of working for the Queen, I had my own business. People could hire me for cases. One of the cases got me into the hospital, where I met Angelina. I quit that job after that case and started working at a publisher, but I grabbed the opportunity to investigate once more after Angelina's death.'

'My master found out that you had been there that night. The thought drove him crazy. "You were there in her last moments", he often said. "You could have stopped the killer. Why did you survive? Why is she in a coffin and are you still breathing?" were questions he frequently asked himself. It tortured him. He couldn't take it anymore and summoned me. He formed a contract and formulated his wish. "I wish to find Angelina Dalles' killer and I wish for Ciel Phantomhive to suffer the loss I have suffered until we find him!"' Rowland looked at his feet nervously. Apparently he wasn't very comfortable with Amymone giving so many details.

'We decided that the only way to make sure that you would suffer loss was to kill your loved ones. We didn't know who to kill, so we killed them all. My master wanted me to remain strong, so I was allowed consume the souls of the victims. The murders had to be scheduled, though; master Doubleday has to work a lot to be able to live. Working at a publisher isn't a very well-paid job. Though it was a coincidence that all the victims were killed six days after leaving the Phantomhive household. Well, mostly, at least. In the meantime, we investigated at the Dalles' household. We weren't very fortunate, though. We haven't found any clues. But it appears we have found our killer.' Amymone looked at Grell's coat, which had previously been Madam Red's.

A thought struck Ciel's mind. Why was Amymone comfortable with telling them so much? Why had they confessed so easily? They would only do that if they were very certain that they wouldn't tell anyone. And there was only one way to make sure that was the case. He looked at Sebastian. He knew that it must have looked a bit desperate.

'Ah,' Amymone said, 'it looks like we have found someone who is very, very dear to you.' She looked at Sebastian. 'This really is a goldmine.' She smiled, a wonderful and kind smile, far too sweet for the situation. 'The contract will end tonight.'

'Amymone,' Rowland ordered, 'kill the butler and make the Earl suffer. Then kill the murderer.'

'Yes, master,' Amymone said and bowed. She reminded Ciel of Sebastian. Were all demons like this? Ciel untied his eye patch. It fell on the ground.

'Sebastian,' he said. 'Kill Rowland Doubleday and Amymone Kerrigan!'

'Yes, my lord.' Sebastian and Amymone both took off their gloves faster than any human could. Within a second, their eyes were glowing pink and red, and they were engaged in a fierce battle.

/\/\/\/\

Ciel started to worry. Sebastian was losing. Ciel didn't believe this was possible, but Amymone was slowly getting the upper hand. At first, Sebastian had attempted to harm her, but now he had to focus on defending himself. Amymone's incredibly sharp dagger reflected the moonlight as she tried to stab Sebastian again. Sebastian dodged the dagger just in time and deteriorated towards a wall, where he had to bend so that he wouldn't get hit by Amymone's fist, that now punched the wall instead of Sebastian. In the meantime, Grell was fighting mister Rowland, his chainsaw sparkled as he endeavoured a lethal blow. Rowland simply dodged, making the chainsaw hit the wall. Ciel smirked. The normally so murderous and bloodthirsty Shinigami now couldn't even hit the employee of a publisher.

Ciel could feel Sebastian standing behind him. Ciel turned around and saw that Amymone was busy pulling out a piece of silverware that had pinned her dress to the wall, temporarily slowing her down.

'How is this possible, Sebastian?' Ciel yelled at him. 'You're losing!'

'I am terribly sorry, my lord.' Sebastian panted quite heavily. 'She is about as strong as me, but she isn't starving, because she used the souls of her victims to feed herself. I… Watch out, Bocchan!' Sebastian pushed him out of the way as Amymone tried to stab Sebastian again. Her dagger hit the pavers with an impact that would've normally destroyed a dagger. Grell had seen it too and was struck dumb, but in a different way. He stopped attacking Rowland for a moment and yelled: 'How could you rob the office!' and then Ciel realized it wasn't an ordinary dagger. Amymone was wielding a Death Scythe. And she was winning from Sebastian.

'Sebastian!' Ciel said. 'I order you not to die!' He felt that the mark on his eye was getting a little warmer. Ciel was a little bit relieved. Sebastian couldn't ignore such a clear order, could he? Although if he failed…no, that was impossible. He was one hell of a butler.

/\/\/\/\

Then that frightful moment came. Amymone jumped, Sebastian retrograded, but not far enough. The dagger pierced his left knee. Sebastian's scream of pain inflated the night, followed by Ciel's cry of fear. Within a couple of seconds, Sebastian's trouser leg was completely drenched with his blood. Amymone was just standing next to him, drinking it all in with a smile of self-satisfaction on her face. Sebastian clenched his teeth and pulled out the dagger and threw it at her. She elegantly stepped out of the way, but she had not realized she was the only obstacle between Sebastian and mister Doubleday. She turned around as she heard his gasp. The dagger had impaled his chest and blood was drenching his clothes. Almost in slow-motion Rowland fell to his knees. Amymone quickly ran towards him, Ciel followed her.

Amymone was stopped by Grell.

'Sorry, darling,' he said, 'but I can't have you eating his soul right now.' Grell stabbed her torso with his chainsaw. Amymone didn't resist. She fell to the ground. Grell turned around and walked towards mister Doubleday to collect his soul. Amymone muttered something on the ground. Ciel walked towards her and kneeled.

'What an odd world we live in,' Amymone whispered. 'Where the light and the dark live next to each other and cruel fates can be prevented.' Ciel was confused. Why was she dying? Was she even dying? Sebastian had survived this kind of thing. If she happened to be dying, Ciel had to get at least one answer.

'Why have you stolen a Death Scythe?' he asked, shaking her shoulders to prevent her from fainting.

'We did find one clue at the Dalles' household,' she spoke. 'Angelina's house wore the unmistakable smell of death. We knew we could encounter a Reaper. We knew we probably had to kill one.' Amymone coughed. Blood. Her breathing (which wasn't even necessary, she was a demon and couldn't die from a lack of air) was getting more and more laboured every second. Ciel was now pretty sure she was dying. 'We had already killed a Shinigami before stealing this Scythe. That other Reaper escaped. It took a lot of effort to kill one Shinigami, and if they would decide to team up and attack at once, we'd have a problem if we didn't have a Death Scythe. Sadly, Death Scythes lose their power as soon as their owner dies. We had to rob the Shinigami Haken Kyoukai for an extra Death Scythe.' Amymone sighed. 'How odd. We live in a world were an unbreakable contract can be broken by a starving demon, a Shinigami and a little boy. If this is today's reality, then I wonder how useless this life of mine must have been. I do not wish to live in this world any longer,' she said before closing her eyes and exhaling one last time. Before Ciel could ask anything else, she was gone. Grell kneeled next to her, apparently carefully watching her Cinematic Record. After about one and a half minute he stood up, grabbed his notebook and put some kind of seal with a rubber stamp on one of the pages.

'Rowland Doubleday and Amymone Kerrigan completed,' he said, smiling. Ciel had the feeling that his whole being was nothing but pure confusion. What the hell had just happened? What did she just say? Shinigami? But a painful, soft moan behind him made him come to his senses.

Ciel stood up and turned around, slightly limping because his sprained ankle was throbbing again. Sebastian was trying to get up, without any success. Grell was following them from behind.

'Sebastian!' Ciel said concerned. He kneeled next to his butler. Sebastian's face was twisted with pain and he was a little pale, but apart from that, he seemed okay. His eyes were red again. 'Grell, help him!' For once, Grell obeyed.

/\/\/\/\

If Ciel was honest, it was a bit grievous to see his "one hell of a butler", the powerful demon he had summoned, limping and leaning on Grell. They had inspected and patched up his knee as good as possible with a piece of Ciel's blouse. Amymone's dagger had completely gone through his knee. It was damaged pretty badly, but it was nothing lethal. Ciel was carrying the dagger as they made their way back to the carriage. His ankle was throbbing but it was probably nothing compared to the pain Sebastian was going through. Ciel sighed. At least the Phantomhive name wasn't ruined. They had succeeded. When they arrived at the carriage, the driver was nowhere to be seen. The Queen's Watchdog smiled as he entered the carriage. Grell put Sebastian on one of the seats, and about ten seconds later they were on their way to the Phantomhive mansion. Ciel saw that Sebastian closed his eyes halfway the trip, drifting off to his own demon dreamland.

'You did well today, Sebastian,' Ciel whispered.

I know, I'm disappointed, too. I hate it when authors introduce a new villain-character and let him/her die in the exact same chapter. I hope Amymone's death was acceptable, though, like her "choosing to leave this world". I rewrote a bit, because I found it too short at first. A demon wouldn't die that fast from such a blow.

In the end, the Shinigami story was more of a side story about the impact of this case on the other Shinigami, especially William and Ronald. The only connection in the end was that Grell more or less solved the case. Please tell me what you think! There are some more chapters coming up (we're not done yet…haven't had the hurt AND comfort part yet…) and they might clear up some things. I personally quite like them, but I'm slightly prejudiced as the author, aren't I? I'll upload the next chapter as soon as possible! Please review!