Chapter Twenty-Nine
Part One: Sebastian
Warnings: Graphic violence and character death (tho you might not mind this one lmao)
AN: i was gonna wait until i had written further ahead with the next two parts but i just watched the first ep of book of circus so fuck it i'm all about the kuro today. THE DOLL/CIEL BIT IN THE ENDING CREDITS COZ MY HEART IS IN PIECES. oh, and sorry if anyone gets two emails for this chapter, something went wonky with the site when i was uploading and the chapter wasn't appearing for me so i deleted it and reuploaded.
Packing his bag for a quick get-away had become second nature to Sebastian. Clothes rolled up to save on space, toiletries double-wrapped in case of spillage, bits and pieces accumulated throughout his stay weighed for their worth. Most found themselves in the bin usually, but this time, all the useless scraps were placed neatly within his bag.
Leaving any trace of himself behind would be a fool's error.
It was hours before the ward's curfew, and so hours before their plan could commence. A day free from his own activities left him little else to do than double and triple check the room.
They were suddenly on a timer, yet it felt to him as though they were standing still. He couldn't relax, but it wasn't from fear or worry. Plain restlessness had him pacing the room, checking the clock, rearranging his clothes inside the bag.
He forced himself to sit down.
Eight o'clock curfew. Leave it at least an hour for things to settle for the night.
My keycard still works on the ward but my name may be on a blacklist. Assume someone is coming as soon as I swipe in.
Take care of anyone on the ward.
Get Ciel, whether his door opens or not.
Run to the gardens.
Jump the wall.
Then don't stop running.
Calling it a plan was a bit generous, but it was the best they had. Then again, none of their past plans had been strokes of genius either. It was a wonder they weren't in a worse situation than they already were.
Another three checks of the room and Sebastian couldn't stand the sight of the peeling wallpaper and bare shelves anymore. Making sure the bag was stashed beneath his bed and the door was locked behind him, he got out of that room before he started climbing the walls.
Truth be told, he'd have rather been working than just twiddling his thumbs like this. At least on Ward V there was a sense of productivity, however shammed.
West from the residential building runs parallel to the only road near here. That would be the best bet.
If they were pursued, and Ciel had once been certain he would be, then the assumption would most likely be that they'd go in the complete opposite direction to the road. That would be where any pursuers would look. The opposite of that, taking the road, would be too on the nose. Even Sebastian wouldn't be so arrogant as to do that. But parallel to the road, far enough across the adjacent field to see but not be seen, would be perfect.
The wall was highest at that point. Not impossible to climb, but Ciel would definitely need a boost. The drop on the other side may be deeper, however, and doing it in the dark would make it difficult to judge.
Sebastian would have to drop first. He would handle an injured foot better than Ciel.
I'll check what I can while it's still light.
It was a typical Winter's day out in the garden; harsh winds, sharp rain and everything touched by a thin layer of frost. Even walking carefully, Sebastian's feet threatened to slip from beneath him every so often. That would worsen through the night.
Running the distance from the building and jumping the wall, he hadn't factored ice into that.
I'll get salt from the kitchen. Salting the soles of our shoes just before we come outside should help.
Were there any other outliers he hadn't considered? If the weather worsened, how would Ciel's health fare? He was hardly robust. The cold could trigger his asthma, too. How much use was left in that inhaler? As far as everyone else knew, he hadn't interacted with Ciel in a good few months. Could Sebastian sneak another one from the infirmary without arousing suspicion?
Sebastian frowned, treading carefully around a half-frozen puddle. The more he thought about it, the more he could find a dozen things they had overlooked. A dozen more things that could go wrong.
Because I'm looking for them.
They would deal with any problems if, or when, they reared their head. If slipping on ice was the worst they encountered then they would be very lucky.
After twenty or so minutes circling the garden, Sebastian had mapped out the best escape route, one that would send them West with the shortest distance between door and wall. Better still, it was tucked in the corner between both buildings, shielding it from the worst of any potential weather problems.
'Ehhhhhhh, who's that, then?' Sebastian stiffened as footsteps crunched across the frozen grass towards him. 'Hope we haven't caught you slacking off.'
It took him a moment to place that voice, it had been so long since he had last heard it.
Putting on his best smile, Sebastian turned around.
'Today's my rest day. What's your excuse?'
Undertaker laughed wheezily. Same unkempt mop of grey hair, same baggy black clothes with want of a needle and thread, same unhinged grin from ear to ear. Near two years since Sebastian had been introduced to the man and he hadn't changed in the sli -
Oh.
'That's ... quite a scratch,' Sebastian observed, eyeing the track of stitches wound around Undertaker's face. Creeping out from under his hair, across his cheek and disappearing again on the other side, the stark black of the stitches left the man looking even paler. Where the thread dipped in and out of his face, the skin was pulled taut, purpling and shiny.
A fresh wound.
The stitches sagged slightly when Undertaker's grin only grew. The wound wept ever so slightly.
'I'm usually quite dexterous,' Undertaker replied, picking at a fraying thread at the bridge of his nose. When he pulled at it, the skin it held together visibly moved. Months ago and the sight would have made Sebastian nauseas. Now, it didn't really rank in his top ten unappealing sights. If anything, it was difficult to look away, in a morbid sense. 'Typical that'd fail me when I was fixing myself up.'
Sebastian echoed Undertaker's laughter, though not nearly as energetic.
'You did those yourself? You're a braver man than me, I'll give you that.' They did look like a DIY job, to be perfectly honest. Still, sharing that fact was a good method to avoid saying what had actually happened, Sebastian noticed. 'Mr. Tanaka, good afternoon.'
'Hello, Mr. Michaelis.' Tanaka smiled pleasantly, tipping his head in greeting. Hands clasped together behind his back, dressed smartly in a semi-casual suit, he was the picture of propriety. A sure contrast to his companion.
Certain he already knew the answer, Sebastian asked, 'So what brings the two of you here? Business or pleasure?'
The three began a slow lap of the garden, despite the bite in the air. He couldn't speak for the others, but Sebastian was certainly feeling the cold, not dressed to be outside. His thoughts strayed to the night again. Sebastian had a coat, but did Ciel? Had he ever needed one here?
'Business,' Tanaka replied, at the same time as Undertaker said, 'Business is pleasure.'
They shared a look that Sebastian couldn't read. Irritation? A shared joke? Impossible for him to tell.
'We've been made aware of an unfortunate incident that has taken place within the facility,' Tanaka stated, looking Sebastian in the eye. Contrary to Undertaker's grotesque stitch-fiddling, this was much more unsettling. 'It's necessary that we investigate the circumstances which allowed for something of this nature to happen. You can understand, a patient coming to harm, self-inflicted or otherwise, cannot go unscrutinized.'
'No, no, of course not,' Sebastian agreed, his frown convincingly confused, 'But this is the first I've heard of it. Has something gone on?'
Tanaka's stare didn't waver, 'A patient has died. We have sufficient reason to believe it was not an accident.'
Sebastian slowed his steps, mouth left slightly open as he struggled for something to say in his pseudo-shock.
'Who?'
It was as dismayed as Sebastian had ever sounded, even before St. Victoria's. For some reason, that made Undertaker chuckle.
'Confidential,' he said, coming to a stop as well, 'At least until tomorrow. We're holding a meeting in the morning, if you're free?'
Something about the way he said that almost made Sebastian's act slip.
'I'll see if I can squeeze it into my busy schedule.' Sebastian grinned. Had that pause been too long, too telling? Or was he reading more into Undertaker's words than there had been, searching for yet more problems that weren't there? 'Though that means I'll have to bump my nine o'clock yoga class.'
'Always preferred pilates, myself,' Undertaker tipped his head to the side, contemplative, 'Though there's nothing to cheer you up on a Monday morning like seeing a beginner try to do the Crane pose, hah.'
'Something like this happening certainly makes you think,' Tanaka continued as though they hadn't spoken, walking on ahead, 'Above all else, the facility should be a safe space for the people we are entrusted with. A scandal like this could cause no end of trouble, and the ones who would truly feel the brunt of that trouble would be the patients. That has to be avoided, for their sake.'
'For their sake, we should consider that this isn't a safe space anymore,' Undertaker took to playing with the stray stitch again, picking at it as he spoke, 'Maybe the stepping stone's usefulness has already expired.'
'Stepping stone?' Sebastian asked. He was losing his footing in this conversation, sensing that it was one the two men had had many times before. There was a tired, almost recited quality to their words.
'Wellllll, that's all St. Victoria's is, Michaelis.' Undertaker shrugged. 'The stepping stone between grief and stability. Being a patient here isn't supposed to be a life sentence. It's about rehabilitation. Fixing what's broken inside their funny little heads so that they can go back to the big bad world.'
'If that's plausible,' Tanaka cut in, 'But the fact of the matter is that, for most of them, it's not. For most of them, a place like this is the only place they can belong for now.'
Undertaker snickered, 'But that's a failure on our part, don't you think? We're supposed to fi -'
'Not everybody can be fixed,' Tanaka said. 'These people are vulnerable. Out there, in the real world, they'd be eaten alive. I've seen that happen far too many times. I won't see it happen again. That's why I founded this place.'
Sebastian didn't have to sham his surprise this time.
'Mr. Tanaka, you founded St. Victoria's?'
Sebastian fell into step beside the older man, watching his face carefully. For all that Tanaka was clearly in his twilight years, he hardly seemed old enough to have founded the institute. St. Victoria's had that feeling to it, of having seen centuries pass by. Tanaka could only have been in his mid-sixties at the latest.
Tanaka smiled absently, a far-away look in his eyes.
'I've always worked with children. My parents owned a care home in central London, you see. When I turned twenty, I was made the Head Manager, as they were expanding the business into other cities across the country. It was a ... hard job. The hours were long, the gratitude minimal. By the time these children came to the home, most had already lost something vital inside of them. No matter how hard I tried to help them, the damage had already been done. Of course there were a handful of successful cases. Children who went on to be happy in their new homes. But they were the minority.'
Tanaka aged with every word. Grief for the children he had failed to save, at least in his eyes, added lines to his face. With that regret, Sebastian had to admit that he looked more than old enough to have founded the institute.
This is honest, Sebastian could see, though hesitant to believe it, no one could fake remorse like this.
'It was that last funeral that did it for me. His name was Derrick Arden. He was a... troubled boy, but then, they all were. He'd grown up having everything, so when he lost it all, he lost himself too. He had only left the home a few months before getting on the wrong side of the wrong people. I never found out the details - I suppose it was cowardice on my part, not wanting to know - but having to bury yet another of the children I was supposed to have helped... I was the only one at the funeral.'
Tanaka's voice shook, his eyes bright.
'I realized that day the reason I was failing them. Why I hadn't been able to save them.' Tanaka turned to Sebastian, unashamed of the emotion he was displaying. 'By the time they were coming to me, it was already too late.'
Undertaker walked backwards ahead of them, swinging his arms exaggeratedly at his sides.
'The child care system is flawed to its core,' Undertaker agreed, looking over his shoulder to make sure he didn't trip, 'They really go through the wringer before they reach the homes, and even then, they're passed through half a dozen of them before - well, if - they're adopted. Hard to be well-adjusted in those situations, don't you think, Michaelis?'
'Certainly. A child needs a stable environment to develop properly,' Sebastian replied, though he couldn't quite see how any of this had led to the creation of a place like St. Victoria's. The patients would have had a better chance on the streets.
'I stopped accepting new children after Derrick's funeral. I focused on the children already there. I managed to find most of them good homes, and those who I couldn't, I helped find affordable housing and jobs when they were of age. Once they had all moved on to their own lives as adults, I closed the home for good. By this point, my own parents had passed away, so I liquidized my assets and invested in this building.'
Tanaka looked up at the institute, the vines climbing up its faded red bricks. There was fondness in his face, not a shadow of guilt at what was transpiring within those walls.
'It had been a boarding school, called Weston if I remember correctly, closed for decades by the time I came to it. I loved the atmosphere it had, the palpable history. The refurbishments took some time, but it was a good opportunity for me to do my research, get the necessary paperwork and licenses, find well-trained staff.
'I'll never forget the first group of children. You think you've seen the worst of the world, but it's always ready to surprise you. Those kids... I'll admit, I was entirely unprepared for what I'd gotten myself into with St. Victoria's. The children at the care homes had suffered, but compared to the children here, there were nights I couldn't sleep thinking of what they'd been through.'
Can you sleep now? Would you be able to sleep if you saw what they did to Joker's arm? Would you ever sleep again if you saw Ward V?
Sebastian's chest was tight. This whole conversation wasn't sitting right with him. He couldn't sense the slightest dishonesty in Tanaka, but he had to be lying. There was no conceivable way he could be oblivious to what was going on in St. Victoria's. So why this display of compassion to Sebastian?
Undertaker rejoined their side, grinning.
'How are they doing these days?' he asked, 'I remember those brothers ended up very well off.'
Tanaka smiled, face brightening entirely at Undertaker's words.
'Edward and Richard, yes, I saw them not too long ago. Doing very well these days. Edward won himself a seat in parliament, and Richard is engaged. They haven't set a date yet but I'll be sure to RSVP when they do.'
Sebastian searched for a tell. A twitch of the mouth, lack of eye contact, fidgeting of any sort. After all this time, after everything that had happened since coming to St. Victoria's, he was confident in his ability to identify a lie.
Yet he could find no dishonesty in Tanaka.
There must be. Patients being released, keeping in contact with him, living their lives in the public eye. It has to be a lie. Sebastian kept the frown from his face, the smile fixed. And if it's not, then how can things here have changed so much without his knowledge?
'I'm a little curious about something, if you don't mind my prying,' Sebastian began, unobtrusive. When Tanaka nodded, he continued, 'It sounds to me like you take a personal interest in the well-being and rehabilitation of the patients. I can only admire that, I find it a bit difficult myself. As you said, some of the cases... Anyway, it sounds like you were the first point of contact for the patients, back in the early days. I was wondering why that isn't the case anymore. This is the first time I've seen you at the institute since my first day here.'
Tanaka slowed down, head hanging slightly.
'I meant no offense,' Sebastian hurried to add, sensing his answer slipping away, 'Running an establishment like this must be a lot of work. Of course you have your own responsibilities to be taking care of-'
'Above all, the patients are my most important responsibility,' Tanaka interrupted firmly. He didn't look or sound angry, but Sebastian sensed an edge to his words. After a taut silence, Tanaka continued, 'But I'm not a young man anymore, Michaelis. The older I get, the larger the distance between myself and the children becomes. There's only so much I can understand of their problems, and even less I alone can do.'
Sebastian puzzled over that answer for a moment, finding little sense in it. Age seemed irrelevant, as far as he was concerned. Fortunately, Undertaker seemed just as unsatisfied with that answer, and offered another.
'Wellllll, you weren't a young man even back then. And a knife to the gut is a bit of an inconvenience no matter what your age.' Undertaker mimed being stabbed, sticking his tongue out theatrically. Tanaka shot him a look and even Sebastian could identify it was displeasure this time. 'Not that it was a proper knife, mind. Though those plastic knives can do just as much damage if you're really trying hard enough, heh.'
'I... see.'
So he was attacked by a patient. As far as Sebastian was concerned, it was probably justified.
'It wasn't her fault. I should have backed off when she warned me to. She never wanted to hurt anybody.' Tanaka absently touched his stomach, knowing the location of the scar by heart. 'But my health wasn't at its best before that, so the incident had a lasting effect. The reason I'm an absentee Chairman is for health reasons. Besides, the admin became too much to juggle, so during my bedrest, I took over it entirely and set up an office in London. But I didn't just leave my post, Michaelis. I ensured there was a suitable replacement in my absence.'
'Hellooooo.' Undertaker waved his sleeve. 'When such a valued customer asked for a favour, how could I refuse?'
'In most cases with the children from the home, I was the only one they had to ... claim them. Well, frequenting his parlour so often, we came to know each other fairly well,' Tanaka explained.
'All those young lives. I hate to see such waste.' There was something off about Undertaker's smile there.
'It was important to me that whoever took over my position shared my views on that. Although an unusual career move, Undertaker agreed to take over for me, though of course I didn't ask him to abandon his own business.'
'I multi-task.' Undertaker shrugged. 'If you ever need a coffin, Michaelis, I've got you covered.'
The smile then was definitely off. Sebastian decided to ignore it. He had no plans on needing a coffin any time soon.
'But clearly this place needs more than what I've given it,' Tanaka continued morosely. 'With Undertaker and myself in London for much of the time, I was sure they would be able to handle the running of institute. But the death of a patient, right under their nose... clearly St. Victoria's needs more than one Chairman on the premises.'
They? Sebastian didn't need it to be said to understand. The Third Chairman.
'They're certainly very absent,' Sebastian agreed seamlessly, 'I've never even seen them around the building.'
Tanaka frowned, 'Not even on the ward?'
Undertaker didn't seem nearly as surprised, nothing sincere in his half-hearted, 'Oh dear.'
'I'm afraid not. Surely they'll be at the meeting tomorrow?' Though Sebastian had no intention of being there himself, he was curious to know just what, or rather who, he'd be missing.
'If they're not, there'll be trouble~" Undertaker snickered, 'But Michaelis, what do you think? The death of a patient under our very noses. Suspected foul play. On the ward, no less, supposed to be their safe haven. Do you think this is still the safest place for the patients to be?'
Effortlessly, Undertaker drove the conversation back to the earlier debate, steering away from the subject of the Third Chairman entirely. With no subtle way to move the topic back to it, Sebastian reluctantly let it slip away, though with the knowledge that the Third Chairman was definitely more than a figment of Finny's imagination.
What's the right answer? Because there was certainly a right and wrong answer. It wasn't an objective opinion they were looking for, couldn't have been. Between Tanaka's certainty and Undertaker playing devil's advocate, there was only one right answer to be given. Not as Sebastian Michaelis, but as an Orderly of St. Victoria's.
Joining his hands behind his back, Sebastian mirrored Tanaka's pose.
'It's difficult to consider generalizing the patients. They're all here for different reasons, are at different stages in their rehabilitation. But in my opinion, none of them are yet equipped - mentally or otherwise - to handle being reintroduced to society,' Sebastian said, 'Especially with the gang mentality they've developed here. The degree of co-dependence I've seen in them would only spell trouble were it disturbed, even if that disturbance was something as positive as being discharged from the facility.'
Sebastian's reply was met with silence, the three men continuing their walk through the frozen garden. That silence should have been worrying. The Sebastian from before would have panicked at it, would have repeated what he'd said over and over and over, double-thinking every syllable.
Not now.
That had been the right answer.
That was the answer Tanaka had wanted, and in that moment, it was Tanaka who needed to be sided with. Sebastian wasn't sure where that certainty came from, but he had bet whatever was at stake from the little test they were giving him on it.
After a while, they had looped back to where their walk had started. No more had been said for the remainder of the walk, but as they came to a stop and Tanaka turned to him with a pleasant smile, Sebastian knew he had chosen correctly.
'Well, we have to be meeting with the Head Orderlies now. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Michaelis.' Tanaka shook his hand with a firm grip. 'The meeting tomorrow will be at nine o'clock. We'll be issuing a memo, but please inform your co-workers, should you cross paths.'
'I'll be sure to, sir.' Sebastian returned the shake, ensuring his grip was slightly slacker than Tanaka's. He offered his hand to Undertaker too, but he ended up shaking his overly long sleeve instead.
Tanaka was already half-way to the door before Undertaker turned to leave.
'Oh myyyyy, would you look at that?' His foot shot out from beneath the sweeping black of his clothes, kicking the wall. In its wake, the brick crumbled, leaving an obvious dent. 'I've been saying we needed the walls rebricked for years.'
Sebastian eyed the brick dust, the crumbled bits on the ground.
'I ... didn't realize the wall had eroded so badly,' he said, more impartial than he felt, 'What is it, sandstone?'
'Yep. Told them it wasn't a wise choice, but hey, who am I to argue against the price tag?' Undertaker grinned. 'Still, it's a good thing I noticed. If it falls in, somebody could get hurt. I'll have to push those twins to find some money in the budget for this, haha. They'll love that.'
'No doubt.' Sebastian returned the grin. 'We wouldn't want anyone getting hurt, after all.'
Undertaker finally left then, waving his sleeve above his head as he went. When Sebastian was certain the two were gone, he turned to look closer at the damage Undertaker had done. He hadn't kicked the wall particularly hard. If anything, it was more of a tap, hardly any force behind it. Yet the brick had crumbled away regardless.
A poorly chosen building material coupled with the typical English weather meant a wall on the verge of collapse.
'...a meeting in the morning, if you're free?'
It was no coincidence that Undertaker saw fit to show him the state of the wall. Their timely visit to the Institute, questioning his view of the patients and their stability, and now this?
It was as clear as day. Somehow, Undertaker knew.
Eight o'clock came and went. The sky had long since turned to black, and with it, the temperature plummeted. Even within the building, it was inching closer and closer to unbearable.
Sebastian sat on the edge of his bed, packed bag at his feet, estimating the time in his head. Beneath two layers, goosepimples rose on his arms. The knowledge that he'd soon be giving up one of those layers to Ciel was far from appealing.
Ten-ish. Must be.
Sebastian grabbed the bag strap and tossed it over his shoulder, barely feeling the weight at all. If nothing else, Ward V was more effective than a gym.
Got the salt. Got the bandages. Got the inhaler. Luck had been on his side for once, leaving the Infirmary completely empty that afternoon. A part of him had wanted to take more than just the bandages and inhaler, but common sense prevailed, knowing the more he took, the more that would be missed. Still, he had seen fit to take one more thing, tucked safely within his sock.
Hopefully, he wouldn't have to use it, but after meeting the Chairmen, he sincerely doubted that the night would go smoothly.
Sebastian left his bedroom, locking the door behind him. Past his colleague's rooms, through the communal bathrooms and shared living area, down numerous flights of stairs. He left the residential building, hoping that would be the last he would see of it.
The weather truly had worsened as the day went on. The rain that had threatened at the dark, murky clouds all day finally broke around dinner time and left a nice wet layer for the night's cold to freeze over. Even after dampening the soles of his shoes to make the salt stick, Sebastian struggled to keep his balance as he went. If he was having trouble staying upright, Ciel didn't stand a chance.
He managed to make it to the main building without a cracked skull, though his knee was sure to bruise in the morning, and had no problem swiping himself inside.
Assume they know.
As soon as his keycard touched the pad, Sebastian prepared himself for the worst. Every use of the keycards were logged. In the past, his abuse of the card was never called out, solely because his abuse of the card was in response to worse abuse from the staff. This time, however, there was no cause and effect, no justification.
This time, when they knew, they would come.
The door to the main building swung open and Sebastian stepped inside.
The main building of St. Victoria's Institute was an entirely different beast at night. The sun went down and its claws came out, or so you would believe from the way people spoke about the place. During the search for Finny, Sebastian had been of a mind to believe them, finding nothing but fear in the stretching hallways and echoing stairwells.
Now he was more inclined to think that even Meirin, unsuited to her cleaning role as she had been, couldn't have made the place any worse than it had become. Thanks to the damp salt, the muck lining the floors was sticking to his shoes. His every step clung.
It wasn't so much gothic horror as it was derelict chic. Sebastian hadn't noticed as much during the day, but by the struggling light of the eco-bulbs, the griminess seemed doubled.
He kept a steady pace. The keycard was gripped tight, ready to swipe in without delay. In the brief time it took the door to open, whoever was inside would be alerted to his arrival, by the beeping of the panel if nothing else. A quick attack was a must.
Sebastian slipped out of the stairwell to the second floor.
At the end of the hall, the door to the ward stood. No sooner had he taken a step towards it did the lights go out.
It wasn't the flicker of a dying bulb. The static buzz the lights always emitted faded away as every light lining the ceilings shut off as one.
A switch had been flicked. Darkness fell.
Well, shit.
Sebastian noted his own calm as slightly worrisome. Screwing his eyes shut for a few moments, he focused on listening, waiting for the slightest pin drop. Nothing. When he opened his eyes, they had adjusted to the dark enough to not send him flying as he continued towards the ward.
Half-expecting something to leap out from one of the closed doors along the way, Sebastian lay his bag down on the floor and swiped his keycard over the panel in one swift motion.
The panel gave its usual three bleeps.
The door did not open.
They know.
Sebastian had suspected as much, that meeting with the Chairmen far too deliberate, but this made him certain. Somehow, despite the visiting room being empty and security cameras having no presence in the building, the Chairmen had found out about his and Ciel's break-out plan. They had found out and they had sabotaged them.
Even beyond the glass of the ward's door, Sebastian could see only darkness. Trying to unlock it again would be fruitless, he knew, and there was only so much brute force could do against steel.
Sorry, Ciel, Sebastian spun around to grab his bag, striding near-blind back to the stairwell, looks like I'll be making the morning meeting after all.
Sebastian slept surprisingly well that night for someone half-expecting to wake up with a bag over their head and their balls in a vice. Granted, the knocking on the door was far from a gentle awakening, but finding himself in one piece under the warm duvet more than made up for that.
'Coming,' he called to the knocker, sliding out from under the sheets. He was still fully dressed, though the extra layers had been sleepily abandoned at various stages of the night. Hand-combing his hair, he kicked his filthy shoes under the bed and answered the door.
'Morning.' Agni smiled. It was less forced than it had been recently. 'Wasn't sure if you'd heard about the meeting? It's starting in half an hour. Mandatory attendance.'
'Right,' Sebastian hid a yawn behind his hand, 'thanks.'
'Thought I'd come see if you wanted to grab some breakfast first? We can probably scrounge something together in the kitchen. Put those old Chef days of yours to good use.'
Did Agni think enough time had passed for Sebastian to have cooled down over the whole I may have used you as a sacrificial lamb to save my sort of boyfriend's skin thing, or did he just think that doing Sebastian the favour of sneaking a meeting with Ciel under everyone's noses gave him a get out of jail free card?
Well, points for effort, Sebastian supposed. That anger did feel a very long way away now. An anger so fierce he had tried to take a wrench to Agni's face, that now he couldn't honestly say he felt as his at all.
'Sure.' Sebastian smiled pleasantly. 'Just give me a minute to freshen up.'
Agni had barely agreed before the door swung shut in his face.
Unpacking was a simpler task than packing had been. Within minutes, everything was back in its original place, no clues left behind that anything had been disturbed. Sebastian traded his casual clothes for his uniform, taking an extra few seconds to try and smooth the creases out. The now empty bag was stashed back under the bed indefinitely and all was well in the room once more.
Well, almost.
'Just need to pop to the bathroom, won't be a minute,' Sebastian said as he slipped barefoot out of his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Agni eyed the mud-caked shoes in his hands uneasily.
'Went for a walk yesterday afternoon,' Sebastian readily explained, 'The rain didn't half do a number on the gardens. If this winter gets any worse, we might have to start worrying about flooding.'
Agni could have pointed out that the rain hadn't started until yesterday evening, that the afternoon, although cold and overcast, had been entirely dry. He could have also pointed out, if he were looking for threads to pull loose, that there were no mud tracks anywhere around Sebastian's room, and why would he have taken his shoes off to avoid those mud tracks if it had just been an innocent afternoon stroll?
Agni could have pointed these things out, but instead, he just smiled again and recommended using a key to get the tougher dirt off the shoes.
Perhaps something of their friendship could be salvaged after all.
A good going over in the sink, a bit of scratching with his bedroom key, and the shoes were clean enough to eat off of, if you were unfamiliar with the concept of plates. With that, Sebastian had dealt with the last of the evidence that he could.
'How do you like your eggs?' he asked Agni as they made their way down to the kitchen.
A good breakfast, utilizing those old Chef's skills of his, before the meeting. Chances were high that it would be the last breakfast he would be making for himself.
The neglected meeting room had more people in it that day than it had in a good number of years. Everything about the room spoke of its age, from the dulled floral wallpaper to the creaky wooden chairs, and Sebastian could taste the dust on the air.
The chairs had been set up in two stretching columns like a school assembly. There was room for far more people than necessary and everyone was a distance away from their neighbours outside of the little groups that had formed.
Seeing the groups, Sebastian wondered whether Ciel's faction theory held some weight.
Will, Grell and Ronald were in the front row on the left side. Although sat together, Will was studiously ignoring them, facing the front with his leg's neatly crossed and his hands folded in his lap. Grell inched closer to him by the second, the sole splash of colour in the room. Unlike Will, she was actually paying attention to Ronald, but only to argue with him as he chattered away.
In the middle of the room, Grey, Phipps and Charles Brown were congregated. Grey was in the row in front of them, sitting with his chest against the back of the chair. They were muttering amongst themselves, none looking particularly enthused. Sebastian couldn't tell from where he was but he suspected they were still in their pyjamas. Early mornings didn't agree with the therapists, clearly.
At the back of the room, one of the triplets moved a seat to make room for Doctor's wheelchair, and the four infirmary workers settled there.
Doctor gave Sebastian a little wave as he passed, face brightening.
Agni walked a little faster.
Ash and Angela were unsurprisingly together, on the front row, so Sebastian and Agni hung back a few rows from them. Not long after they'd sat down, Claude appeared. For some reason, he saw fit to sit beside Sebastian.
Sebastian nodded hello but Claude didn't seem to notice.
Sebastian frowned, eyeing the man next to him. Something was off. Claude seemed out of breath, just noticeably so, and his hair was sticking to his forehead from sweat. He wasn't wearing his glasses, staring vacantly ahead. His fist was closed around something, knuckles a bloodless white.
'Something the matter?' Sebastian muttered, leaning over slightly. It was unsettling to see Claude so ... unsettled. Coming to the meeting about Alois in such a visible unease, it was as good as a written confession.
Claude looked over at him, mouth tight. Just as he began to say something, the static shriek of an aged microphone pierced through the room.
Undertaker tapped the microphone with an overly long nail, blowing up a small cloud of dust as he greeted them all.
'Apologies for the early morning call,' he said, looking over his shoulder at Tanaka, seated at the edge of the small platform, 'We considered doing a little buffet sort of thing, buuuuut considering the subject matter, that may have veered into rewarding bad behaviour. So let's make this nice and quick.'
Even from halfway across the room, Sebastian could see how inflamed Undertaker's injury was. Every word he said stretched at his stitches, yet it didn't seem to be bothering him at all. It almost made Sebastian's own skin tingle in sympathy.
'Not sure if the gossip mill has gotten a hold of this one yet. I'd be surprised if it hadn't. Any ideas?' he posed his audience the question, head cocked to the side slightly. With his fringe so long, it was hard to tell, but he seemed to be looking at everyone individually. Naturally, no one answered. He sighed, disappointed. 'Really?'
Tanaka began tapping his foot impatiently. It just made Undertaker grin.
'I think we've got some fibbers in our midst, but okay, so no one knows?'
Claude shifted in his seat. It wasn't too obvious, but sat next to him, Sebastian noticed. This visible discomfort was too much, too out of character. Surely Claude had to have expected a situation like this when he did whatever it was he had done? To be so unprepared for it, so openly suspicious.
If Sebastian were in Claude's shoes, he was certain he'd be much more subtle, if nothing else.
Tanaka had grown impatient enough to step up to the microphone himself, addressing his employees in a much more sombre manner than Undertaker had done.
'Yesterday morning, Alois Trancy was found dead in his bedroom.' A pause, letting the information sink in. Sebastian glanced around the room and found no surprised faces. 'Although we have yet to perform an autopsy, cause of death is thought to be an overdose. However, there was no way in which Alois could have done this to himself within his bedroom. He had no access to medication, and although there's a track mark on his arm, no syringe was found within his room. As such, we must assume that the lethal dose was injected off the ward. As the only members of staff who have access to the medication would never make such a careless mistake, we are viewing this as a deliberate act against Alois.'
The gravity with which it was said stole the air from the room. Even Sebastian, who had suspected Tanaka's response would be this serious after speaking to him yesterday, found himself surprised. There are going to be consequences. And judging by the expressions on some of his co-workers' faces, they had realized it too.
'It sickens me that something like this could have happened.' Tanaka paused, hands clenched around the edge of the podium. Before yesterday and Sebastian would have commended him for the nice artistic touch. Now he knew that anger to be genuine. Tanaka felt the loss of any under his care bone-deep. 'Clearly there needs to be some changes made here, to ensure something like this never happens again.'
A deep breath, too loud through the microphone, and Tanaka raised his head to look them in the eyes.
'An enquiry will begin into the circumstances surrounding Alois' death. I will be contacting the police to help me get to the bottom of what has happened here. As such, all staff are forbidden to leave the premises until they have been interviewed by the police and myself. Any attempts to do so will be seen as a confession of guilt.'
Dissent in the audience. Angela leapt to her feet, her chair teetering on its back legs.
'You can't be serious! How can you expect the institute to continue to run if you won't allow us to do our jobs? As Head Orderly, it is imperative that I have the freedom to -!'
Sebastian couldn't help but smile when Tanaka held up his hand, silencing Angela without even looking at her. It was probably more surprise than anything else that had shut Angela up, but even so, there was a perverse sort of pleasure to seeing her stopped in her tracks so dismissively.
'Do I take this to mean that you're volunteering to be the first interviewed, Ms. Landers?' Tanaka asked, looking over to her impassively. 'Co-operation will be greatly appreciated. The sooner we're done with the interviews, the sooner we can look into just why, with not one but two Head Orderlies, a patient was still murdered right under their noses.'
Angela's nostrils flared, but there was little more she could do than take her seat.
Tanaka was growing on Sebastian by the second.
'As I was saying, all staff are required to stay on the premises until they have been interviewed by the police. To ensure this, the front gates will remain locked and your keycards will no longer be usable on any door in the main building. If an emergency situation arises and you must leave St. Victoria's, come see me and I will organize a police escort for you, to ensure no unnecessary suspicion is placed on you.
'Furthermore, from this morning until the situation is resolved, the ward is now on complete lock-down. Until I am certain of the safety of the patients, only I will have contact with them. I will arrange their meals, group sessions and activities, so as to keep the interruption of their day-to-day life as minimal as possible. Any objections to this?'
Sebastian could see more than a few objections. Angela and Ash both were flushed an outraged red, muttering between themselves. Grey had lost his usual carefree expression, chewing on his thumbnail and glancing at his two companions. Most noticeably, Doctor in the back row was stricken, looking to the rest of the staff in a panic.
Now that was an interesting question. Through all of this, Tanaka spoke of a single ward. Even the day before, he made no mention of more than one group of patients. If the main ward was on lock-down, what did that mean for Ward V?
Did Tanaka even know about Ward V?
'Until the situation has been resolved and justice for Alois found, this will be the way St. Victoria's is run. If you would all return to your rooms for the time being, I've been told that the police will arrive tomorrow morning. I apologize to those of you who have done nothing more than your jobs, and to those of you who ensure the comfort and safety of the patients. Let's hope this can be dealt with swiftly and normality resumed as quickly as possible. Thank you.'
Tanaka finished, oddly formal, and stepped down from the podium.
'Almost too good to believe, isn't it?' Agni whispered.
On Sebastian's other side, Claude left swiftly, one of the first out of the doors. Sebastian stared after him, unable to align Claude's usual persona with what he was seeing today.
'Definitely,' Sebastian replied, walking with Agni out of the hall.
They were one of the last to leave, trailing behind Ronald and Grell. Tanaka was long gone, no doubt a thousand and one things that needed to be done if he were single-handedly running the ward. Undertaker, however, was still in the hall, talking to one of its last inhabitants.
Doctor was flapping his hands emphatically, looking even more distressed than he had before. Whatever he was saying, Undertaker was half-heartedly attempting to calm him down, patting him on the shoulder with a shrug.
'Sebastian?' Agni asked when he noticed how much Sebastian had slowed down.
'Shhh.' Sebastian kept looking ahead, hands in his pockets, but as they slowly passed by Doctor and Undertaker, all his attention was on hearing what the duo were saying.
'-ey need me, you can't just -'
'You really do stress yourself out. Relax. You've got nothing to be worrying over.'
'But he said that -'
'That doesn't apply to you -'
Was as much as Sebastian could catch before he had to move on, or risk being caught eavesdropping. Agni looked confused at what he had heard of the exchange, but to Sebastian, it was crystal clear.
Doctor had nothing to worry about. Ward V wasn't on lock-down, because Ward V wasn't under Tanaka's jurisdiction.
Above all else, Sebastian needed to meet with Ciel again. Without a doubt, Ciel had a back-up plan for their failed escape attempt last night, but more importantly, Sebastian had discovered a wealth of knowledge in their time apart that could be crucial to said plan.
Meeting Ciel just became all the more difficult, however.
Already, their time together was next to none. Since Sebastian's move from the main ward to Ward V and the patient's resulting mistrust, they could barely steal a few minutes at a time, far too many prying eyes. But now, with Tanaka's ward lock-down, it would be completely impossible to speak with Ciel. His keycard didn't work and stealing someone else's would be pointless, only one keycard now having the power to open the ward door.
Where will he be?
Subtlety was seeming less and less a viable option as the day went on. All their master plans and grand schemes had resulted in nothing but more obstacles. Sometimes, simplicity really was key.
The problem will be the police.
Tanaka would be easily dealt with. A frail old man hardly stood a chance against Sebastian. A careful hit to the head and the Chairman would be down for the count. After that, it would be child's play to get on the ward, free Ciel and make their escape. The rest of the staff would be in the residential building, after all. No witnesses to pull the alarm too soon.
By the time Tanaka awoke and alerted anyone to what had happened, Sebastian fancied that he'd have gotten a good few hours head start before the police would be on his and Ciel's tail.
Hours of countryside before we'd get anywhere near a train station, Sebastian calculated in his head, trying to remember the car ride with Hannah back then, they'll have alerted any local areas to be looking out for us long before we'd even get there.
There was no optimistic outlook. Even if they somehow evaded the police Tanaka would send after them, what then? No money, no friends or family they could depend upon, the shadow of St. Victoria's always creeping at their heels. Sebastian's passport would be red-marked, Ciel probably didn't even have one, so leaving the country was a no go.
But it's the best chance we have.
It had been a few hours now since the meeting and Sebastian had spent most of it in contemplation. The outcome of the meeting was far different than he could have anticipated, though considering what he had discovered of Tanaka's history yesterday, perhaps it shouldn't have been. Still, regardless of the extent to which he believed Tanaka's sincerity, he couldn't trust that things would all work out, tied up neatly with a bow.
Unable to enter the main building, Sebastian prowled the garden again, always keeping his eye on the doors. If Tanaka was really performing all the tasks to ensure the ward was kept running then he would need to go back and forth between the two buildings at least once that day.
He wouldn't do it in the garden, however. Too open, too risky. He would follow Tanaka wherever he was going and take care of him there.
It was a shame, but the only viable option. After all, if the police really did expose what had been going on at St. Victoria's, Sebastian's hands were far from clean.
'Would you like some help?' Sebastian asked with a placid smile.
Tanaka looked up from the pan, steam billowing about his face as he lifted the lid. The kitchen Sebastian had come to think of as his own was in a shambles, the cupboards raided, utensils littering the countertops, mismatched ingredients in various states of preparation.
Seeing the state Tanaka had made of Sebastian's carefully ordered kitchen was making him less apologetic about the impending blow to the head he was planning.
'Michaelis, hello,' Tanaka sounded flustered, his manners battling with common sense as he both tried to make eye contact with Sebastian but also not burn himself as he stirred whatever was in the pan, 'The supplies in the other kitchen were appalling. I can't imagine what sort of meals the patients have been getting. Where's the cook? I'd like to have a word.'
'The cook?' Sebastian's smile became slightly more genuine, 'On holiday, I think.'
'Holiday?' Tanaka shot him a look of disbelief, 'I didn't receive any requests for time off.'
Sebastian just shrugged, going over to the table to try and rescue some of the vegetables. Tanaka hadn't been dicing them so much as butchering them.
'That's really not necessary.' Tanaka took the pan off the hob, waving Sebastian away with a harried smile. 'As I said this morning, I will be taking care of all the patients' needs myself. I mean no offence, but until we get to the bottom of what happened here, I think it's for the best.'
Sebastian held up his hands, letting the knife droop from one harmlessly.
'I'm just cutting some carrots, sir. You can search me for poison if you like.'
Tanaka shook his head, rueful.
'No, no.' He returned to the pot, stirring the contents again. From what Sebastian could tell, it was some sort of stew. 'Sorry, I just... I'm a little on edge today, what with everything. Meeting the current patients has been very... eye-opening.'
Sebastian paused, knife hovering over the chopping board.
'Oh?'
Tanaka didn't turn to meet his eyes.
'Michaelis, what happened... to that boy's arm?'
It didn't take a genius to figure out just who Tanaka was referring to.
'Joker?' Sebastian tread carefully, unsure how much to reveal, how much to admit he knew. 'When I first arrived, it was fine, but a few weeks later... I can't say I know what happened. Whatever it was, it must have been treated well enough. The wound has never become infected. Still, I imagine it hurts.'
'Something,' Tanaka swallowed audibly, hands still on the table, 'Something of that degree should have been reported. I have nothing but respect for Doctor's abilities, but we don't have the resources here to treat an injury of that degree... It should have been reported to me.'
'I always assumed it was, sir,' Sebastian feigned confusion, 'Surely Angela or Ash contacted you?'
Tanaka's face darkened.
'Not a word.'
Sebastian hummed thoughtfully, going back to cutting the vegetables. He could feel Tanaka's anger filling the room and relished in the atmosphere around him. The angrier Tanaka was, the more careless he would be, and the easier that would make it for Sebastian to strike. He would wait a while longer, eyeing his target surreptitiously to see where he kept his keycard. The less time between attack and escape, the better.
'Michaelis, would you help me carry these up to the ward? Not on the ward, of course,' Tanaka was quick to add.
'Of course,' Sebastian replied, accepting a dish he was passed and filling it with the stew. That worked even better. If he struck Tanaka right outside of the ward then it would be hours at least before anyone came to check, before anyone would know what happened.
Sebastian paused.
'Sir, are you sure you counted these plates out correctly?'
Loading the full dishes onto the trolley, Sebastian quickly recounted the amount and found it one plate short, even accounting for the lack of Alois. He looked up when Tanaka didn't answer.
It wasn't anger on Tanaka's face anymore.
Dread settled in Sebastian's stomach.
'Sir?' he prompted, calmer than he felt. 'Why are we one meal short?'
Tanaka finally met his eyes, a blankness there that rivalled even the patients.
'I may have been... less than honest at the meeting this morning, Michaelis. The reason for the ward lock-down isn't because of what happened to Alois. It's because of what happened last night.'
'What happened last night?'
Somehow, Sebastian knew this wasn't about his attempt to break Ciel free.
Tanaka closed his eyes, shame-faced.
'Last night, a patient went missing from the ward.'
'Which patient?'
If Tanaka found something odd in Sebastian's intensity, he didn't voice it. He seemed too lost in his own guilt to question much of anything.
'Patient D18,' Tanaka answered, 'The Phantomhive boy.'
Him.
There was no more said between Tanaka and Sebastian after that. In frigid silence, they took the meals to the main building, Sebastian transporting the plates by hand when they came to the stairs. Several trips later and the task was done.
He left Tanaka to the patients, unharmed. There was no point to an attack now.
It's him.
As soon as Tanaka said Ciel's name, only one face came to Sebastian's mind. The restlessness that morning, the visible unease that had nothing to do with guilt, the quick getaway.
Sebastian gave no thought to the police coming in the morning. No up cry from his conscience, if he still had one. Distantly, he recognized this was anger, perhaps even fear. But he couldn't say he was honestly feeling either of those things. Not when he had made his decision. Not when he had a task to complete.
Sebastian returned to the residential building. He had no idea where Claude would be yet his feet carried him on anyway. He needed to be moving, to be doing something. Every second he was still was a second further from Ciel.
Ciel would be safe, he knew. After all these years, Ciel knew how to play Claude. But even though he knew that, Sebastian still felt his pulse quickening. Joker's words came back to him.
"Smile knows. Smile ignores it. Smile plays on it when it suits him. I think he's more scared of it than he'd ever admit."
Ciel would be safe, Sebastian knew, yet he broke into a run to find Claude.
The bedrooms. The bathrooms. The kitchen. The lounge. The storerooms. Sebastian found every person but the one he wanted. With every failed search, he felt the anger and fear stronger. It had been so long since he had felt emotions like this as his own, not as something disconnected, something he consciously shed for survival's sake.
They were making him foolish. Running around the building like a madman, openly hunting someone. There was nothing subtle about that. No plausible deniability for the police in the morning. Even as he tried to cut the feelings away, shelf them like he had done with his morals, they spread their roots deeper within him until he had no choice but to embrace them.
If he couldn't shed them, he'd just have to use them.
'Michaelis!'
The cry stopped him dead.
Turning, Sebastian saw Claude's slow approach.
The mud-crusted soles of his shoes dragged along the floor, Claude walking heavier on the one leg. There was blood too, just a little, just enough to notice. His hands were scraped raw.
What had happened to him?
Claude slowed to a stop a few steps away, cringing as he put too much pressure on his injured foot. Closer and there was still more wrong with him. His glasses were missing, the knees of his pants torn. His breaths hitched slightly, rattling when he exhaled.
For all that Sebastian had intended to ask no questions and attack on sight, the state Claude was in gave him pause. Something wasn't right here. This didn't add up.
'What...' Claude wheezed. Even Sebastian had to wince, the breathing sounding too painful. 'Have you done?'
Sebastian considered his answer for a moment, but instead, asked his own question.
'What's in your hand?'
Just like in the morning meeting, Claude was holding something. His fist was clenched so tightly around it, his knuckles blanched. Whatever it was, it was small, and more important to Claude than his own body.
At the question, Claude's mouth twitched. Usually he was the master of himself, only showing what he intended to show. Now, however, he couldn't stop his face from twisting into a snarl.
'What have you done?!' Claude staggered forward, his lame leg dragged along behind him. The foot was wrenched to the side, facing the wrong direction to where he was walking. It must have been in agony. 'I know it was you!'
Sebastian let Claude approach, standing his ground. That anger far surpassed what Sebastian had felt. Claude's fear was palpable, his eyes wild.
It isn't him,Sebastian realized with dawning calm, he doesn't know where Ciel is.
That should have been more frightening than anything. The not knowing, the vast possibilities now that there was no certain answer, it should have made Sebastian's heart beat twice as fast as it had before. Yet calm washed over him as he met Claude's wide-eyed stare.
Because the threat was now unknown.
Because Sebastian could think clearly now.
Because this was a fight he was going to win.
'How did you find out?' Sebastian asked, truly curious, 'I heard from Tanaka. I can't imagine he's just telling anybody -'
'Don't play innocent!' Claude lunged forward, crashing into Sebastian's chest with enough force to send them both to the floor. Anger may have made him stronger, but Sebastian was quicker, easily pinning Claude on his back.
'Rude,' Sebastian scolded, a twitch of his mouth betraying his desire to grin, 'I wasn't finished talking.'
Carefully, he felt around with his foot until he found Claude's own. Bent at the angle that it was, it was all the easier to press his heel against Claude's protruding ankle bone, grinding his shoe down, hard and slow. Claude's eyes bulged, what little colour the anger had given him now draining from his face. He fought to not make a sound, but Sebastian took it as a challenge, shifting his weight until he was entirely balanced on that foot. Through gritted teeth, Claude groaned, the sound becoming higher the more Sebastian pressed down.
And before long, whatever limit Claude had was breached. He bucked up from the ground, the groan becoming enraged. Sebastian managed to keep one of his arms pinned but the other broke free and came flying at his face.
Sebastian blocked the attack, but only just. He struggled to recapture Claude's arm, and while he was focusing on that, Claude got his good leg free. Kicking against the floor, Sebastian was dislodged.
Acting quick, he immediately rolled across the floor, putting distance between himself and Claude. A good thing too, as Claude had wasted no time, driving his fist into the space where Sebastian should have been. Instead, he found only concrete.
A resounding crack as his knuckles gave from the force.
Claude cried out in pain, entirely his own doing this time.
The ruined hand opened limply and what Claude had been holding rolled across the floor with a dull clink.
Somehow, Sebastian wasn't even surprised.
'You tried to get into the main building, didn't you?' Despite the fight, Sebastian sounded calm. He wasn't even short of breath. He sat up from his crouch slowly, eyeing Claude with disdain. Collapsed on the floor with his broken ankle and cradling his broken hand, Sebastian couldn't scrounge up the slightest shred of fear. 'What did you do, scale the goddamn wall? Probably an open window somewhere high up, but it's a long drop if you lose your footing.'
Claude wheezed, his ribs no doubt matching the state of his foot and hand. His palms were scraped raw, his clothes equal parts muddy and dusty. Sebastian could picture the entire scenario. Finding an open window up above, desperately trying to find a grip on the aging bricks, the plummet when those tired bricks gave in under his weight. What he couldn't picture was himself doing that. As desperate as he himself had been to meet with Ciel only hours ago, he wouldn't have done something like that.
'What is it about him, Faustus?' Sebastian asked, nothing mocking about it. He really wanted to know. 'He has a certain charm, I'll admit that. Obviously it worked on me. But what did he do to get you so... consumed?'
It was pure hate in Claude's eyes then. His lips drew back into a snarl. There was not a ghost of the calm, composed doctor left in him.
'Charm? You think this has anything to do with charm?' Claude laughed derisively, a hollow wet sound. 'You don't know what you've done. He needs me, Michaelis. I'm the only one who can help him. He was finally getting better, then you showed up. You ruined everything. You ruined him!'
Sebastian thought of Alois then. How broken down he had been, how utterly dependent upon Claude he had become, desperate for even the slightest recognition. Was that what Claude considered a job well done? Is that how he liked his patients? Someone like Ciel, so self-assured and determinedly independent, it would be the prize in Claude's trophy case to turn him into the lapdog Alois had become by the end.
Isolating Ciel by giving him a degree of freedom none of the other patients had, something to resent or suspect him for. Coaxing some semblance of trust with gifts, toys and books, things he knew Ciel would like despite himself. Giving him hope, and being the one to control that hope, with promises of going to Ann's wedding, going beyond the walls of St. Victoria's. And all those private sessions, those intense one-to-one meetings where Claude could toe the line of decency, of professionalism.
All because Ciel was the ultimate goal of Claude's fantasy now. Alois had been broken, and once he was, all interest had disappeared for Claude. Alois had been tossed aside, left to fester, until he proved too much of a risk to Claude's new prey.
What consumed Claude was not any affection for Ciel. Attraction, perhaps, but more than anything, it was the challenge Ciel presented. Alois had been too easy, no doubt other patients before them too, but Ciel had remained impenetrable for almost eight years. And with those eight years, Claude's determination grew.
A determination that became an obsession.
A power play.
Sebastian felt himself begin to grin.
How disgusting.
'It must have been quite a ... shock, to see that he'd given that to me,' Sebastian said, eyeing the ring between them, 'I was surprised too. It's the only thing he has left of his parents, it must mean so much to him. To be trusted with something so important, by someone so untrusting -'
With every word, Claude's face twisted more and more, rage taking over. Sebastian watched him carefully as he spoke, seeing the way his muscles began to tense, his position began to shift. When Claude finally did lunge at him, Sebastian was more than ready.
Sebastian let Claude force him to the floor. He allowed one punch, and another, and another. Even as white burst behind his closed eyelids and his cheek tore beneath Claude's fist, Sebastian remained still, only raising his leg slowly enough to not be noticed. Even as it lifted Claude slightly too, he was too lost in his anger to notice, and so he didn't see Sebastian slowly reaching out towards his ankle.
Sebastian waited a second longer, until he tasted blood in his mouth, before pulling the scalpel from his sock.
If he was going to claim self-defence then he was going to need more than a few bruises to be believed.
With the scalpel in one hand, Sebastian tangled his other hand in Claude's hair and drew his head down, until his lips were beside Claude's ear. The sudden movement shocked Claude still, long enough for Sebastian to whisper to him.
'I didn't ruin Ciel,' he raised the scalpel to Claude's neck, 'He ruined me.'
And in one swift motion, Sebastian flipped Claude onto his back, plunging the scalpel into his throat. He kept pushing it deeper, even as Claude struggled, until there was barely a handle to hold. A spray of blood caught his clothes, but otherwise, this kill was much cleaner than V7's.
As the life faded from Claude's eyes, the lights in the hallway died.
For a moment, Sebastian had the ridiculous certainty that the two were linked. He looked around the hallway wildly, expecting a sea of spectators, but there was only him and the body. Then faintly, he heard a noise. It was too quiet to be within the building, but from the sound alone, he knew it was coming from the main building.
A siren.
It could only mean one thing; the security in the wards had been breached.
AN: Sebastian is clearly that fucker in a fight who goes straight for the hair extensions. Anyway, chapter 29 is in three parts, and the events in all three parts are happening at the same time. So this is the first part, Sebastian's. The next will be the patients on the main ward. And then finally we'll get to Ciel and everything will make sense. Hopefully. It makes sense to me, anyway.
Rest in fucking pieces, Faustus.