Chapter Thirty
AN: even more violence and death. wah-hey. in which i finally decide upon the layout of the institute right at the end of the story. whoops.
The chair was difficult to manoeuvre without someone's assistance. As strong as his arms had gotten in the years since the slip-up, Doctor still struggled with the uneven tiles of Ward V. Some gone entirely, others cracked beyond repair. The narrow curve of his front wheels too often stuttered over them, threatened to send him spilling from his seat.
Sweat dotted his brow. The door had been damn near impossible to manage alone. A years old argument but Doctor still bristled every time he had to pass through the heavy steel monstrosity. It had been unnecessary the day it had been installed and it was still unnecessary today.
No wonder Doctor's patients were so riled up, having to listen to that vicious slam every time he came to visit them.
'Now, now,' he crooned, rolling himself down the walkway between the containments, 'Settle down.'
V1 launched itself against the plastic wall. Its face crashed into the clear surface, nose flattened with a damp crunch. Blood streaked the plastic. If V1 felt any pain, it gave no indication, rearing back for another charge.
Doctor tutted, moving over to V1's enclosure.
'Look at the mess you've made of yourself,' he scolded lightly.
Unfortunate as it was, there was nothing Doctor could do about it. After Tanaka's meeting, the last place he should have been was among his patients. Regardless of Undertaker's assurances, Doctor knew that Tanaka's sentiment had extended to all patients, not just those dwelling on the upstairs ward. Even if Tanaka had never bothered to check up on Ward V, or even acknowledged its presence within his facility. For the sake of their safety, he knew Tanaka included them in his concerns, but there was no need for such worry.
Doctor would never let them come to harm.
'I can't stay for long, I'm afraid. Everyone's so on edge lately. I'm not even allowed in this building at the moment. Can you believe that? Lord only knows what Mr. Tanaka thinks he's doing. One person can't give all the patients the attention they need.'
Doctor's voice brought the livelier patients to the front of their enclosures. Even the ones who huddled in the corners were watching him with their vacant eyes. V1 continued to fling Itself against the wall.
'Not that he'd come down here anyway,' Doctor continued darkly, usual merriment nowhere to be found. 'I can understand the upstairs patients being a priority, I suppose. Business is politics and they're the poster patients, the ones who the public can aww over. No sympathy for the ugly, hmm?'
Doctor ran his hand absently over V4's enclosure. Although V4 had readily crawled to the front, It cringed away, lips pulling back from Its teeth shakily. If It made a noise, it was lost beneath V3's howl.
'Everyone's got vices but hypocrisy always gets under my skin.'
Doctor's hands clenched around the arms of his chair. Despite the anger in his voice, his eyes were soft as he looked around at his patients.
'Where was the police enquiry when three of my patients went missing last year?' He paused, looking to his captive audience expectantly. 'That Brown fellow. I know it was him. Said as much. Said it 'til I was blue in the face, but what came of it? And Michaelis, well, it was an accident, of course, but no enquiry then either!'
V9 clawed at the ground where the tiles met the plastic wall. Its nails had been torn from the skin weeks ago. All it achieved was making a mess.
'Despicable,' Doctor spat, tapping on V9's enclosure to distract It, '"It sickens me that something like this could happen," as though he thinks the Trancy boy is the first. The first to matter to him, maybe, but far from the first.'
The racket V1 was making had aggravated the others. V3 began to follow suit, launching Itself against Its own enclosure. V2 wailed between them, mouth a toothless maw. V4 rocked back and forth on the floor, curled up as small as It could go. V9 continued to claw at the floor, headbutting the wall. The other three left their corners, pacing their enclosures restlessly.
Doctor watched them fondly, shaking his head.
'Where's the justice?'
The siren screamed.
'What - oh, don't be ridiculous!' Doctor's first thought was that Tanaka had discovered his presence in the main building. Even with the wards on lockdown, triggering the security alarm was just silly, especially when Undertaker had reassured him that Ward V was exempt from said lockdown. However, beneath the wail of the siren, there was the unmistakable beeps of the doors unlocking. When he heard that, Doctor's indignation washed away, stomach sinking. 'What... What's going on?'
The siren only enraged the patients further. The ward being so small, the noise was amplified. V2 covered Its ears fruitlessly. V1 and V3 attempted to outscream the siren. All the attacks to the walls became more frantic.
The doors swung open.
The fondness on Doctor's face had turned to fear, though he wouldn't acknowledge the hollow clench around his heart as such. Slowly, he gripped the push rims of his chair and drew himself back from V9's enclosure. The door had swung open with enough strength to send V9 flying, but It was already struggling back to Its ruined feet, dislocated jaw drooping.
Doctor had never seen any thought behind the Ward V patients' actions before. Mindless rage, mindless apathy, mindless fear. Nothing more. Yet there was intent in each of them now, an awareness of their open doors that he could never have anticipated.
They were coming for him.
The ward door had opened too, that steel monstrosity sending a cloud of plaster into the air as it crashed against the wall. If he could wheel himself down there, push the door shut, then locked or not, they stood no chance of opening it.
V9 burst from Its enclosure clumsily. It couldn't keep Its feet for more than two or three consecutive steps. By the time It reached where Doctor had been, he had already pushed himself out of harm's way. At least, harm from V9.
V5 and V6 moved with much more grace. If Doctor didn't know better, he would have thought they were somehow working together, their movements in a sort of synchronization. One on each side, they reached out for him as he raced past, their broken hands grazing over his shoulders, his throat.
The door was in reach. Just a few more strokes of his wheels.
V1 pounced out of Its enclosure. Face drenched with blood, Its breathing was strained. Even though It was out, It didn't seem to realise. Without the door to beat against, It launched Itself at the opposite enclosure, smashing into that wall.
It didn't even turn to look at Doctor, but the shock of Its appearance made him jerk to a stop. One of his wheels caught in a crack in the tiles, but he kept trying to force the chair on.
He had only a moment to register that it was completely jammed before V2 and V3 were upon him.
His scream was lost to the siren.
Soma trailed his hand along the chipped plaster. The stone steps were cool and gritty beneath his bare feet, his soles already darkening from the muck. He'd fallen a fair distance behind, Freckles in second to last already turning onto the next set of stairs below. They were all so hurried, so frantic.
Soma was finding it difficult to feel anything but distant.
The siren was louder in the stairwell. There was a speaker on every floor and the noise just echoed back upon itself with each static whine. A good fifteen or so minutes since it had began and still no sign of it stopping.
No sign of any people either.
Can they hear it from the other building? The childish part of him, the part that was every bit as scared and desperate as the others, couldn't help but picture Agni bursting through one of the doors. He'd know which floor they needed to go to. He'd know where the exit was. He'd be able to go back and help Tanaka and find Ciel and - They can't hear it.
A child's desperation. It had no place in this situation, Soma knew, and he crushed it down before it made him walk any slower than he already was, almost stopping by each floor's door.
'Soma,' Snake had waited in the middle of the steps, glancing between him and the rest of the patients anxiously, 'You're going to get left behind.'
I wouldn't be the only one.
Soma swallowed thickly, then followed close behind Snake to rejoin the group.
They moved as silent as ghosts. They crept down the stairs, trying to be as small, as immaterial as possible. A tall order for a group of nine. Whenever someone stepped too harshly or knocked into someone else, they all stilled, hearts frozen.
Against their hysteria, Joker's ragged breathing seemed even louder than the siren.
Beast's hand was fisted at the back of his sweat-drenched shirt, arm straining to support his weight. He was trying to move his feet, but his steps were clumsy, dangerous on the stone stairs. More dangerous was the tightness in his jaw, the manic gleam in his eyes.
Soma wondered if it had less to do with his deteriorated health as it did with what he had done.
Jumbo stopped at the front of the group.
'What's wrong?' Dagger asked, peering around him. They'd reached a door, but the stairs kept going down another floor. With no signs or numbers, it was impossible to tell just where in the Institute they were.
'Is the ward on the second or the third floor?' Jumbo seemed to be asking himself more than the others, eyes narrowed at the door.
'Whenever we go to the gardens, we go down... three sets of stairs, isn't it?' Freckles sounded unsure herself. She glanced at the stairs leading further down. 'The exit'll be on the ground floor, right?'
'What about the basement?' Beast grit her teeth, hefting Joker up so his arm was more securely around her shoulders. The longer they stood still, the heavier he became. 'The Room's down in the basement.'
Joker shook his head, wheezed, 'It's a lift to there.'
'I've never been, so I'm not sure... Keep going down,' Jumbo decided, every inch of him hesitant, 'We can just come back up if we're wrong.'
They made me take the stairs, Soma thought, remembering the mirrored walls, how his crawling skin had itched for a wash, there are stairs that lead down there too.
But he didn't speak. Before the words could reach his tongue, Drocell had moved ahead, already pushing through the door on the lowest floor of St. Victoria's.
The door had opened onto a narrow hallway branching off in two directions. Neglected as the rest, the dust sat heavily on their tongues, creeping down their throats with each breath. A dozen more doors lined the walls, all of them open. There were no windows, no indication as to where they should go.
Drocell slowly walked down the left branch, watching the nearest doors warily.
'That one,' he said, nodding to the door at the end of the corridor, 'That one could lead outside.'
'Wait!' Beast called out, still by the stairs, 'We should check the next floor up before we go any deeper down here, shouldn't we?'
'We can come back if we're wrong. Look, it's the only door that's different. Like how emergency exit doors look different,' Drocell reasoned, already half way to it. Snake trailed behind him uncertainly, though not too far from the rest of the group. 'We'll just look in, and if there's no visible exit, we'll go back the way we came.'
Soma couldn't really remember the corridor well. The weeks in The Room eclipsed what came before them. He didn't remember the heavy steel door, couldn't say where it would lead, but he did remember that they had taken him in the opposite direction, down where the corridor branched right.
'We need to go back up,' Soma said, but it was drowned out by Joker.
'No, I have to - let go, I - I was wrong! I have to go back!'
Though his eyes were still glassy and his legs shook beneath him, Joker pushed away from Beast, stumbled beyond Jumbo's reach, to go back to the stairwell. The haunted expression Soma had seen before had changed now to one of steely determination.
'Joker, no.' Beast reached out towards him. 'It's done. He'll be fine -'
'He wants to help us.'
'We can't risk everything on that. We can't.' Joker knocked her hand away, struggling to support himself against the door. She looked to Jumbo, but he seemed just as clueless for what to say.
'Just grab him!' Drocell yelled, 'We haven't got the time for this!'
'Sorry,' Jumbo said, then picked Joker up around the waist, hefting him up over his shoulder. The punches and kicks were feeble at best, only exhausting Joker more. Not enough to fall quiet, however.
'Think about it! Even if we get out, what then? Where are we gonna go? How're we gonna eat and drink and stay warm? We won't be able to get jobs, not with our records, no one'd hire people like us!'
Drocell spun to face the others, eyes blazing.
'Then we'll steal! If we're already criminals, what does it matter? What do you think Tanaka would do for us, Joker? What do you really think he'll do? Let us go?' Drocell gave a snide laugh. 'No. He may change things here, fire some people, change some rules, but he's not going to let us go. He never said he'd let us go!'
Soma frowned, edging to the side of the group. Everyone was screaming at each other now, arguing with Joker, arguing with Drocell, arguing just to get going one way or the other. So focused on each other, Soma was the only one to notice the person wander out of the heavy steel door.
'We need to go,' he said again, but it was too quiet. Choked. His throat had clenched up as he saw the person's face. Ruined as it was, he still recognized them, or at least, who they had been. 'We need to go!'
V9 staggered forward blindly. One eye gone and the other infected, there was little It could see any more, but the patient's shouting coaxed It towards them. One lumbering step after the other, It made a damp gurgling noise, Its broken jaw hanging open limply.
'If he wants to go, let him go!' Drocell exclaimed, patience broken, 'If he can even get back up the stairs on his own!'
'We're not splittin' up!' Dagger stood in the middle, separating them as though the fight were physical. Frustrated tears threatened to fall, his hands trembling. 'We should find the way out then decide what to do. Better than standin' around here shoutin'!'
'Peter?'
Soma didn't realize he'd retreated a few steps until his back hit the wall. He couldn't look away from V9, from Its struggling approach towards them. He couldn't even cry, the shock too absolute.
It wasn't him who had spoken. Even when Soma had tried to shout, his voice had gone unheard. But Wendy's murmur silenced them all.
She stepped forward, eyes wide.
'Peter.'
V9 continued to shamble towards them, a few steps away from Drocell. If It heard Wendy's voice, It gave no indication.
Jumbo lowered Joker slowly to the floor, moving beside Wendy. Joker, oblivious to what the others were seeing, made for the stairwell. Beast swore softly beneath her breath and made after him. The door clanged shut behind them, unnoticed by the others.
'Peter...' Jumbo couldn't seem to decide whether to reach out for V9 or to pull Wendy back. She made the decision for him, passing by Drocell and reaching out for V9. Close now, It heard her voice below the siren, turned Its head in her direction. 'Wha - What've they done to you?'
She took one of Its broken hands in hers, reaching out the other to cup Its cheek.
Then she was on the floor.
'Wendy!'
Her scream was worse than the siren. V9 pounced, gouged with Its nailless fingers, aimed for the throat. Despite Its small body, Jumbo struggled to push It off her, perhaps hesitant to use force against one of their own. That hesitance gave V9 time to scream.
Freckles ran over, Dagger just behind. Between the three of them, they managed to get V9 off of Wendy, and Snake pulled her into his arms. Before he could figure out what to do next, there was an answering scream from beyond the steel door.
V1 flew into the hallway. Once a hulking man, Its wasted muscles still held a spark of strength, and It used every last bit of that when It charged at Jumbo. Catching him right in the chest, the two crashed to the floor.
'Jumbo!' Dagger cried, running over to help, but attracting V1's attention. It looked up from Jumbo, preparing to rise for another attack. Jumbo pushed up off the floor, catching It by surprise.
'Run!' he yelled, gesturing Dagger away. Another two patients came out of Ward V, attracted by the commotion. They were soaked in fresh blood. 'I said run!'
Dagger sobbed but did as he was told. He grabbed Freckles' wrist and made for the stairwell. Snake and Drocell were quick behind, Wendy pale and limp in Snake's arms.
'Where's Joker and Sis?!' Dagger glanced around wildly, as though they were hiding somewhere. He turned to Soma for the answer, but Soma just stared blankly ahead.
V1 lifted Its massive fist, then brought it crashing down on Jumbo's face.
'Jumbo!' Dagger sobbed. He turned to run back, but Drocell caught the collar of his shirt.
'He said to run! Run!'
Run, Soma thought, unable to tear his gaze from V1's bloody fists. More of them were spilling out from the steel door. V9, V4 and V5 were shambling down the corridor towards them, faces contorted.
If Agni hadn't come for me -
You need to run.
If he hadn't gotten me out of The Room -
Run.
Would I be like them?
Run!
Soma took off down the right branch of the corridor. The others called out behind him, confused, frustrated, afraid, but their voices couldn't break through the panic gripping Soma's heart.
There was no logical reason for the certainty that took a hold of him then. He wasn't like Ciel. He couldn't notice the small details and have all the pieces of the puzzle just fall into place. He was probably wrong. He was definitely wrong.
Ciel's in The Room.
Seeing the experimental patients, seeing what had become of them and knowing it would have happened to him, if only Agni hadn't risked more than Soma had known at the time to save him. Even if he was wrong, Soma couldn't take the chance.
He burst through the only door that felt right, opening up onto a draughty hallway. It wasn't familiar, but it didn't feel wrong either, so he continued on.
Footsteps behind him.
He grit his teeth, ran faster.
'W - Wait!'
A hand grabbed his, yanking him around so hard he almost fell. The door they'd come through fell shut, leaving them in complete darkness.
'Freckles?'
'Where are you going?!'
'I've gotta find Ciel, I can't leave without him, he wouldn't leave without me -'
'Wait, what... What are you talking about? Why would he be down here?'
'The Room. It's this way. They took me this way when I got put in there.'
Freckles' hand tightened around Soma's. Her nails bit into the skin of his knuckles.
'You think he's in there?'
'Where else would he be?! You don't think he left us too, do you?'
'Of course I don't, but... Soma, we can't go back that way. They - They killed -'
Soma turned his palm over to squeeze her hand. It wasn't for comfort so much as it was to stop her from talking. Though he had seen it himself, he didn't think he could stand to hear it put in words.
'There's a chance Ciel's in that room,' Soma said slowly, convincing himself to go through with this as much as he was convincing her, 'I can't just leave if there's a chance he's down there.'
Freckles didn't answer for a minute. From the way they came, there was a wild shriek, not a voice either of them recognized. It was more animal than human.
'Let's go,' she said, and pulled Soma on down the pitch black corridor.
A light snow had begun to fall, though the heavy clouds held a promise of more. It was only just dusting the frost-glazed grass that stretched between the two buildings.
Sebastian took small, careful steps. The frozen ground crunched beneath the heel of his boot, too slick to go any faster.
The siren was louder out here. To be able to hear it from the heart of the residential building, he could only imagine the cacophony in the main building. Surely the other staff had heard too, or had perhaps even expected it. Could it be some sort of retaliation against Tanaka, what with the looming threat of the police in the morning?
Sebastian frowned slightly, spinning the scalpel between his bare, bloodied fingers. He hadn't thought to put on his gloves. Even when he'd taken the scalpel, knowing full well what he was going to do with it, he hadn't thought of his gloves. When he found Ciel, he couldn't imagine he'd be too pleased at the sight of him.
Oddly enough, Sebastian was more curious what expression he'd make than worried what Ciel would think. It wasn't a patient's blood, after all, and it had all been in the name of self-defence.
The doors of the building were closed, but when Sebastian pushed against the glass, they opened without resistance.
About twenty minutes since the alarm started. They'll have made a run for it already. Though he knew Ciel wasn't on the ward, his instinct was to check anyway. The chances of him running into the other patients were slim, unless they were too spooked to leave. If it wasn't Claude, best bet would be Angela and Ash. In which case...
Sebastian bypassed the stairs, making his way down the far hallway. When he came to the two doors, he chose the one on the right and came to the lift. That, too, didn't need his keycard. As soon as he pressed the button, it creaked to life, inching slowly down to the basement.
The third time he was making the trip down to Room 1800. The first time he'd felt mistrust, worry and enough curiosity to cancel the others out. The second time, there had only been paranoia, an informed fear. Now, even with the possibility of what he'd find down there, Sebastian was just impatient.
His foot tapped against the metal grating, arms folded across his chest.
Find Ciel. Jump the wall. Head West.
A lot had changed in a day, but the plan remained the same.
The lift doors struggled open, letting in the siren's screech. The air in the basement was as stale as the Underground, yet something altogether more unpleasant was mixed within. Sebastian stopped, inhaling deeply, but couldn't figure out just what that underlying tang was.
He shrugged and moved on.
If there's been a mass breakout then one patient's disappearance won't be looked into any more than another's. The train is an option, as long as we get to it before the police have a chance to spread any photographs.
He stepped out of the lift's alcove, making his way down the narrow corridor. The lights were off here, the few bulbs that hung from the ceilings long overdue for a change. Fortunately, there was only one way to go, and Sebastian made for the door he knew was at the very end of the hall.
We'll get into London and figure the rest out from there. Have to do something about the eye-patch, it's too distinguishing a characteristic, but otherwise, we should blend in without a problem.
Sebastian's eyes soon adjusted to the dark. He slowed, fingering the handle of his scalpel, tucked securely in the belt of his pants. He couldn't see the door, or rather, the door was open. There was the faint outline of its frame, but within, only black. The mirrors had nothing to reflect without the lights, so beyond the door, there appeared to be an endless plunge. No floors, no walls, and certainly no captive.
Sebastian withdrew his scalpel, knuckles white.
Then where?
Behind him, a low rumble broke the monotony of the siren. Like the whirring of an engine, the sound struggled to carry, struggled to continue. The clink of a chain being pulled, then the rumble turned to a roar.
'Harder to work clean-up in the dark,' a voice sighed, the click clack of heels drawing closer, 'But with such an early wake up call, I didn't have time to get myself ready, so it's better if I'm not seen looking like this anyway.'
Sebastian threw himself against the wall as the air was cleaved through by the revolving blade of a chainsaw. Its teeth bit through the concrete floor, sending up a flurry of dust and debris, then it was being swung at Sebastian once more.
His mind went blank, but his body moved regardless. He let his knees buckle, dropping into a crouch, then when the chainsaw crashed into the wall above him, he charged forward. He caught them dead in the chest with his shoulder and they fell back, dragging the chainsaw along the ground with them.
Stunned, they didn't react quick enough to avoid the scalpel slashing across their knuckles. Instinctively, they let go, and the chainsaw dropped to the floor.
Close enough to feel each other's breaths, their eyes met.
Sebastian's stomach dropped.
'Sebby!
Grell beamed, shaking the blood from her injured hand. Contrary to what she'd said, her hair and make-up were already done, and that certainly wasn't the standard uniform. Nor was the pin-thin heel stamped upon Sebastian's toes the standard footwear for Orderlies.
Sebastian cursed beneath his breath, stumbling back a step.
'I didn't realize it was you!' Grell shouted over the siren, picking the chainsaw back up with both hands. Its chain had stopped moving, though it was no less threatening still. 'What're you doing all the way down here? And with just that?'
She nodded towards the scalpel, her look more than a little judgemental. Certainly it was nothing much compared to a chainsaw.
'What are you doing with that?' Sebastian asked, mimicking her expression, 'Not a very lady-like weapon.'
Grell huffed, yanking at the throttle. The chain began to spin again.
'A lady-like weapon is any weapon a lady chooses!'
Grell launched forward again, but Sebastian anticipated the attack and stepped clean out of the way. With the weight of the chainsaw and the dark of the hallway, it would take a minute for her to regain her bearings, giving Sebastian ample opportunity to make a break for it. Against a chainsaw in the dark, he didn't much fancy his chances.
Sebastian ducked then shoved at Grell's stomach to knock her off balance. As he heard her heels totter uncertainly, he ran past her, hand gliding along the left wall in search of the alcove.
Before he reached it, the door at the far end of the corridor opened.
'Hurry!'
'But that noise!'
Soma and Freckles sprinted into the hallway, hand in hand. She tried to pull him back, squinting ahead, and they both froze when they saw Sebastian.
It was too dark to tell, but he got the feeling they weren't glad to see him.
The reunion didn't get a chance to start. Grell had regained her bearings and was coming their way. The chainsaw was held high above her head, face split with a manic grin. Sebastian dove against the opposite wall, but she ran right by him without trying to land a hit.
Her target was clear.
Soma and Freckles dropped each other's hands and threw themselves in opposite directions. It was a narrow miss. The chainsaw clashed against the steel door, sending sparks up in the air.
'Sorry, Sebby! I'll have to play with you later. Work comes first,' Grell said, steadying a foot against the door to pull the saw out from where it had gotten lodged. On either side, Soma and Freckles were staring wide-eyed, seemingly too shocked to take the chance to run.
Charitably, Sebastian asked, 'Work? Chasing people with a chainsaw wasn't in my job description.'
They took the time he was buying them. Freckles first, slipping out from under Grell. She gave Soma a hard boot and he snapped out of it too, scuttering across the floor to find his feet. Of all the ways to go, they came to Sebastian, moving behind him as though he were their shield.
They were a few months too late to expect him to play that role.
'New orders from above,' Grell grunted, finally freeing the chainsaw after a particularly hard tug, 'Clean up the basement, he said. What, were you not told the same, Sebby?'
Oh. Sebastian took another step forward, hand still dragging along the wall. His fingers found the curve of the alcove. Behind him, Freckles and Soma edged close. So I'm certainly not in Undertaker's faction, then.
Ciel's theory couldn't be disputed now. If Undertaker was the one who created Ward V in Tanaka's absence, then it made sense that it was his direct subordinates who would destroy the evidence when the threat of police loomed. Grell, and surely somewhere else in the basement, Will and Ronald were busy at work.
If Undertaker was going to these lengths, things really had gotten out of control.
Sebastian bit back a grin.
'You'll want to head back that way then. I doubt he meant for you to clean up these patients.'
Grell sauntered forward, chainsaw hanging at her side.
'My order was to clean up the basement.' She smirked. 'You're all in the basement.'
Every minute wasted in the basement was a minute Sebastian could have been searching for Ciel. He wasn't in Room 1800, and if he wasn't there, then he likely wasn't in the basement at all.
He'd never forgive you for leaving them.
Trying to fight off a chainsaw with nothing but a scalpel was just asking for a messy death. Though Sebastian found Grell nothing but a nuisance, he didn't particularly want to kill her either, not like he had Faustus.
He doesn't have to know.
The alcove was just to his left. If he waited for Grell to charge again then sprinted for the lift, he could make it while she was distracted with Soma and Freckles. It was their mistake coming down here, after all, and Ciel had been prepared to abandon them to make his own grand escape. What difference did it really make whether they were alive or dead in the Institute if Ciel was never going to see them again?
Freckles tugged at the back of Sebastian's shirt, hand shaking.
'He wasn't in there, was he?'
Grell yanked the throttle and ran towards them.
Knowing Ciel, he'd find out one way or another, and Sebastian's life wouldn't be worth living. With that in mind, Sebastian sighed, then spun around to grab Soma with one arm and Freckles with the other. He crouched, pulling them with him, and the chainsaw crashed into the wall again. As soon as the first burst of dust hit the air, Sebastian rose back up, shouldering Grell into the wall.
Grell didn't drop the chainsaw this time, predicting Sebastian's response. She just laughed, letting herself hit the wall then lashing out with her foot.
It caught Sebastian right in the stomach. The pointed heel sunk into his skin, forcing him to double over. He let go of Soma and Freckles, wheezing for breath, then heard the revving of the chainsaw once more.
'Sebastian!'
'Black!'
The scalpel was cold in Sebastian's palm, but colder still was the bite of the spinning chain. It tore at his shoulder, ripping apart his uniform, then sending a spray of blood across his face.
He couldn't help the scream. It was a pain unlike any he'd felt before. Even V7's fists upon his spine hadn't set his nerves alight, not like this.
Sebastian's fingers went limp, the scalpel falling to the floor.
'You'll look better in red, Sebby,' Grell said, something almost earnest in her voice, but her eyes were bright with mirth.
Until she heard the grinding of her chainsaw's engine. Looking down in confusion, she saw the scalpel, twisted and close to snapping, jammed into the opening where the blade met the engine. Smoke rose as the chain continued trying to spin, but as the scalpel broke, one of the pieces was pulled into the gap and the chainsaw spluttered to a shaky stop.
'No, no, no!' With no consideration, the chainsaw was yanked out of Sebastian's wound, leaving him to collapse to the floor with a strangled yell. Grell barely seemed to notice, more preoccupied with her broken toy.
Soma's hand was still extended, left hovering where he had plunged the scalpel into the weapon.
'Move,' Freckles gasped, breaths coming too quick and too shallow. She had her hands beneath Sebastian's armpits, trying to force him up. 'Move!'
The blood was flowing fast and Sebastian couldn't move his fingers no matter how hard he tried. The pain was already gone, a cold numbness descending. He would have been glad for it, were it not for the trembling all over that belied just how much damage had been done. He tried to get his feet under him, to not lean so heavily on Freckles, but his legs refused to cooperate.
Should have left them, Sebastian thought, keeling over to the wall. The lift was in sight but he was shaking too badly to make a break for it. Won't find him in this state. Won't be any use if I do.
'What are you doing now?!' From beyond the ruined door came an angry voice. Sebastian couldn't find the strength to lift his head and see, but he heard a clashing of metal, the creak of the rusted hinges, Freckles' unsteady breaths. 'We were assigned three targets each! Don't expect me to do your work for you, Sutcliffe.'
'Told you she went this way. Can I go now? I already did mine.'
After some struggling, Will succeeded in forcing his way past the broken door. Ronald followed behind leisurely, stretching his arms in front of him with a wide yawn. Grell barely acknowledged their arrival, grumbling to herself, wrist buried in the gap between the blade and the engine.
Freckles' hands tensed around Sebastian. Soma tugged at the back of her shirt, inching towards the alcove. But still, Sebastian couldn't force himself to stand. His shirt was wet through with blood. The fingers on his right hand wouldn't move.
Grell finally looked up, mouth twisted in a frown.
'They broke it!'
Will eyed the chainsaw with derision.
'Good. Why you would pick something so inefficient, I have no idea.'
'Style over substance, y'know? Not as cool as mine, though. Mine wouldn't break so easy.'
Find Ciel. Jump the wall. Head West. Find Ciel. Jump the wall. Head West. Find Ciel. Jump the wall. Head West. Find Ciel -
Sebastian pulled a breath in through his nose, pressing his good hand down tight over his wounded shoulder. Pain flashed white across his closed eyelids, the siren turning to white noise in his ears. The pain spiked cold, a barbed wake-up call, and when Sebastian opened his eyes again, his vision had cleared.
Find Ciel. Find Ciel. Find Ciel. Find Ciel. Find Ciel.
The rest of the plan didn't matter. Without Ciel, none of it would matter. He had to be somewhere in the Institute. If not the basement, then higher up, in any one of the hundreds of empty rooms in the building. Weaponless, bleeding, Sebastian would check every last one.
'Wait!' Freckles hissed, but Sebastian ignored her, staggering to his feet. They had gone overlooked before but now they had Will and Ronald's attention. One look at the state of Sebastian and Will was all business again.
'They are not your targets. Stop making more work for us and do what you were told to do, not whatever you please!' he chided, the same sort of annoyance one would express with an uncooperative printer in an office.
'Yeah, you're not supposed to go for the upstairs ones,' Ronald agreed, pulling a face, 'Now the ones you were supposed to do have gotten up the stairs though. You're gonna have to go look for them.'
'With what? They broke it!' Grell exclaimed, wriggling her hand about in the chainsaw. She seemed to have gotten a grip on the piece of scalpel, but with her fist clenched, she couldn't fit her hand back through the gap.
'Irrelevant to me,' Will said, turning around. He began to walk back to the door. 'Just get it done.'
'Later!' Ronald grinned, tossing a wave back their way as he followed after Will.
Now! Sebastian pushed off of the wall and made for the alcove. The world wavered beneath his feet, sinking around him like quicksand, but though his knees quaked, he staggered on. Behind him, Freckles and Soma were whispering to each other, frantic little hisses. Then they were on either side, each taking an arm, pulling him along to the mouth of the lift.
Sebastian collapsed to his knees, the lines of the grating pressed into his skin. Was Grell giving chase? The doors of the lift slid shut before he could see.
Everything faded to static.
'Sebastian! What floor? What floor do we go to?!'
'Don't shake him, you'll knock his shoulder!'
He breathed in through his nose, but couldn't quite get enough air. Tried again. Worse, this time. He was shaking all over.
'Sebastian, tell us where to go. Where's the exit?'
Soma sounded serious. That was worrying. Did he look that bad?
'Black, you were lookin' for Smile, right? We'll find him. We gotta get you out first, though. Nod if I say the right one, ok? Is it the first floor?'
He tried to nod his head but just slid down against the wall. When he tried to open his eyes, the dim light of the lift was blinding. Bile flooded his mouth.
'Press first. If we're wrong, we'll just come back.'
'Coz that worked so well last time!'
The second time he opened his eyes, it wasn't as bad. Still too bright, but expected.
Find Ciel.
Those two wouldn't find him. They couldn't even choose a floor to go to without arguing.
Have to find Ciel.
Sebastian let his body fall forward, catching himself on his good arm before his face could hit the grating. The lift was only narrow. He was already in arms reach of the buttons. Soma caught him under the arm and pulled him upright, maybe helping, maybe catching on, Sebastian wasn't sure.
'Which floor?' he said, amber eyes intent.
Sebastian reached out, pressing the button to the highest floor the lift would go.
'Joker, it's already done. Let's go back to the others,' Beast implored, chasing behind him up the stairs. Her hand hovered over his back as he lurched to the side again.
Though his colour had only gotten worse, his determination was overpowering how ill he must have felt. It was with little aid that he reached the third floor, bursting through the stairwell doors.
Tanaka was as they had left him, lying on one of the couches. What little blood there had been was already dry, and as Joker probed at the wound he had given the old man, it was not nearly as bad as he had thought.
Beast stood sentry at the ward door, watching the hall. She shot Joker a fretful look over her shoulder.
'Switch with me,' she said, leaving the doorway, 'You can't carry him.'
Joker nodded, stepping back to give her room. With ease, she lifted Tanaka into her arms, adjusting him until his head was settled against her shoulder. His expression was so serene, he could have just been sleeping. Hardly the boogieman of their nightmares.
'Alright, let's -' Beast turned and knocked right into Joker. She flinched, stepped back, and saw what had made him freeze.
Blocking the doorway was Ash. His hair was sleep-mussed and his feet were bare, a plain white t-shirt and sweatpants taking the place of his usually impeccable uniform. Dressed like that, he could have been one of them. With the wild look in his eyes, he certainly fit the part.
'Where are the others?' His voice was as taut as a wire, straining to be heard over the siren. 'It's past curfew. Why aren't you in your rooms?'
He stepped into the ward, glancing about as though he may have just overlooked the other patients. But no, just Joker and Beast, the unconscious Chairman in her arms.
Ash's fists clenched.
'Return to your rooms immediately!'
Something like this was unprecedented. Security had never failed St. Victoria's before. Ash himself had been able to enter the building even without his keycard. If he could get in then the patients could get out. Perhaps they already had? Only two remained on the ward, outnumbering him.
Order had to be maintained. If patients had deserted the building then he would find them and bring them back. Simply done.
First, these two.
'Put the Chairman down and return to your rooms. As the two of you haven't left the ward, there'll be no punishment for you,' Ash said, a facsimile of calm, 'Close your doors and remain there until the security breach has been resolved. Do you understand me?'
Joker and Beast watched his gradual approach, his words barely seeming to register with them. When he finished speaking, rather than answer, Beast lowered Tanaka to the floor.
'Beast!' Joker looked to her, face falling. 'Don't -'
But she didn't return to her room as instructed. Instead, she unbuckled Tanaka's belt, slipping the thick leather from his pant loops. She slid the buckle around her hand, tightening it so that it was fastened across her knuckles.
She stepped over Tanaka, pushing Joker behind her.
Ash snarled.
'I said return to your rooms! If you continue to disobey me, you will be -'
His head was flung to the side as the leather snapped across his cheek. The blow forced him to one knee, a thick line of red blossoming across his face. Blood budded at the sides, a dull sting.
'You'll have to carry him,' Beast said. Though she reared back for another lashing, nobody looked more astonished by what she'd done than her. 'Don't go as far down as before, okay?'
Joker shook himself out of the shock then did as he was told. It was with much less finesse than Beast that he picked Tanaka up, throwing him over his shoulder with only one arm. The weight unbalanced him and he fell to his knees more than once as he made for the stairwell.
Ash was only caught unawares once. After the first blow, he fell back from the second, and the next, and the next. Beast couldn't land another hit, but nor could Ash pursue her. She backed out of the ward with the belt striking the air before her, repelling any of Ash's attempts to grab her.
When she heard the stairwell door clang open, she turned and ran. Joker had put Tanaka down, reaching out for Beast's hand.
Ash was right behind.
'If you do not return to your rooms, you will be punished! You have no one to blame but yourselves!' he screamed after her, bare feet slapping against the linoleum floor. 'You'll never get better like this!'
Beast flew through the doors and Joker slammed them shut behind her. He grabbed her hand, pulling the belt free, then looped it around the protruding handles. They got the buckle notched tight just as Ash crashed into the doors.
A choked yell, then silence.
They didn't wait around for anything else.
The pipe scratched along the floor, from the wooden boards of Kelvin's den to the sleek lino of the institute. Dots of blood were left like breadcrumbs in Ciel's wake, his feet torn by the glass of the monitors. Down the corridors, down the steps, from one stairwell to the other.
I killed him.
His mind was oddly quiet now. Back in the monitor room, it had been chaos. Too much new information, too much to take in and rationalize and make room for, until he had felt himself splitting at the seams. But with the screens in pieces and Kelvin lying dead, everything had gone blissfully calm in his mind.
I killed him with my own hands.
Ciel had killed before, in a myriad of ways. He had killed his parents by needing their protection. He had killed the people of Renbon by causing the fire. He had killed Alois by failing to see his downward spiral. He had killed the man Sebastian used to be by using him until all the good was wasted away. In the same sense, he had killed anyone Sebastian killed, the proxy not enough to cleanse his hands of the blood.
But this was the first time Ciel had taken a life with his own hands. Not through mistakes or apathy or selfishness, but through a weapon in his grasp and desperation in his heart.
It was an altogether different monster.
Ciel pushed through the doors of the right stairwell, pipe dragging along behind him. The siren had yet to let up, having long become a ringing in his ears. Without making the conscious decision, Ciel found himself on the third floor, making his way to the ward.
There was a dull banging beneath the siren, its source coming into view as Ciel turned the corner.
Ash beat upon the left stairwell doors, alternating between his fists and ramming into them with his shoulder. His face was bloody, a matching stain on the door.
Ciel stopped at a distance.
'Open this door! You must return to your rooms immediately, or there will be consequences!' Ash roared, throwing himself against the door. The doors did give beneath him, a gap appearing between the two, but something was holding them together on the other side. No matter how hard he rammed into them, the makeshift lock wouldn't break. 'Order must ... Must be maintained!'
The pipe scraped against the floor as Ciel shifted from one foot to the other, watching Ash but not really seeing him. Distantly, he knew he should have gone back the way he had come before Ash noticed him, but the fog in his mind didn't allow the thought to become action.
Ash whipped around, spotting him.
'You.' It was little more than a growl. He eyed Ciel with open hostility, lips pulling back from his teeth. He stalked forward, shoulders hunched. 'This was you.'
You need to run.
'It's always you,' Ash snarled, closer and closer, 'Exception to every rule. Thinking yourself above us. Always scheming. Don't you realize what you're doing? Ruining everything! For you, for the other patients, jeopardizing everyone's progress!'
Run. Run, idiot!
Ciel's hand tightened around the pipe, feet rooted to the ground. He wanted to run. He needed to run. But he couldn't convince his legs to cooperate.
'We were helping you people, but you had to ruin it all. Abducting Joker from his treatment, getting rid of the gardener before the experiment could finish, and now you've -'
The fog lifted. Ciel met Ash's eyes.
'The gardener?'
'Don't pretend you don't know! We know it was you!' Ash erupted, bearing down upon Ciel, 'Prying where you had no right to, disrupting the process! It could have helped you all, if you'd just let it. Burying memories deep in the mind, so deep they may as well not have happened, not have existed. Cleansing the mind of the things that made you ill, the things that got you in here. Think of it, a cure! But you ruined it!'
Ash moved to grab Ciel. To Ciel, those hands seemed like claws, as beastly as the rage in Ash's eyes.
'Don't touch me!'
The pipe moved before Ciel realized it, striking at Ash's knees. He wailed, falling to the floor. Again, Ciel's body moved automatically, lifting the pipe high above his head just as he'd done for Kelvin.
No! Ciel dragged in a breath, arms trembling. No.
He ran.
'It's your fault! This is all your fault!' Ash screamed after him, but Ciel didn't look back.
I was going to kill him.
It was self-defence. Only a fool would think that Ash meant anything but harm at this point. With the curtains pulled on St. Victoria's misdeeds and Ash and Angela's careful control pulled from their grasps, there was no safety net beneath Ciel now.
But even in self-defence, he couldn't bring himself to finish Ash with the pipe as he had done Kelvin. It wasn't the same. Ash was a foul person, but the impact he'd had on Ciel's life was far less than the things Kelvin had done. There was no justification to be had in physically beating him to death. Ciel didn't want to watch the light fade from Ash's eyes, to stand over him as he breathed his last.
He won't let me go, Ciel thought as he raced through the door of the main ward, pipe still dragging behind him. Ash had stopped screaming, but his voice was still there, a faint hum beneath the siren. And... another? Two voices. Angela had arrived on the scene from the unblocked stairwell.
They won't let me go. If it's in their power, they'll keep us all. I have to.
But not with the pipe. Not like that. It wasn't how Ciel operated. Such a messy, unrefined way to get things done. Too much evidence left behind. He had to think of the evidence now, because this wasn't the end result. There was tomorrow to think about, and the day after, and the day after.
The days beyond St. Victoria's.
Ciel ran to his room, kicking the door shut behind him. Though it wouldn't lock, it was still a momentary obstacle for the Head Orderlies.
Think.
It was what he did best. What was there at hand that could be used? What would be most effective, most quick, most inconspicuous? He knew his room better than anywhere else, had a mental inventory of all it contained. Nothing. Children's toys, books, furniture. Nothing of use. Nothing deadly.
Think!
There was always something. It was just a matter of application.
Ciel's eyes went to the lamp on his bedside table. He walked towards it, crouching down to run his fingers along the socket. His nail dug into the seam where the plastic met the wall. The plaster chipped beneath the most gentle of touches, dusting his fingertips.
Glancing back towards the door, he rammed the pipe into the wall. The plaster caved easily, crumbling away beneath the blow. A network of wires ran within, spanning like veins beneath the Institute's skin.
This could work. A slow smile curled at Ciel's lips.
Ciel made the hole larger until it touched the carpet. Satisfied, he strode over to the bathroom. First things first, he put the pipe down to grab a towel. Twisting both taps on the sink, he left it there to soak, turning towards the bath. He did the same here, running both taps at full force. The pipes groaned, the water coming slow at first, then flooding out into the tub.
The towel was soaked through. He took it back to the bedroom, setting it carefully upon the hole. Only the very tip was within. It barely touched the wires, and Ciel was quick to drop it just in case.
How much time had passed, he wondered. Did he have enough time left before Ash and Angela came after him?
Ciel rushed back to the bathroom, taking the pipe back in hand. The sink was overflowing, water spilling out onto the floor, but the tub was only half full.
Too slow.
Rearing back on one foot, Ciel swung the pipe as hard as he could into the tubes beneath the sink. One hit wasn't enough to break them, but it was a good start, cracks beginning in the plastic. He planted his right foot firm on the ground, launching forward for another hit. The crack widened, water beginning to spit into the air. The flow from both sets of taps faltered.
Again and again and again. It took more than Ciel had anticipated, time seeming to slow when he knew it was slipping away from him too fast. But after one particularly hard hit that jarred the joint of Ciel's wrist, the pipe gave.
Just in time for Angela's voice to reach Ciel, shouting out across the ward.
Ciel ran with the spreading water. The sink and the bath didn't spill a drop more, all the water intercepted at the broken pipe. The bathroom flooded before Ciel even reached the door and the bedroom was next.
The growing pool reached the towel just in time for Ciel to jump onto his bed, wet foot prints spreading across the duvet cover.
He gripped the neck of the lamp, watching the water spread out across the bedroom. Beyond his bed, beyond the desk. The carpet darkened, the shade leeching outwards. It didn't quite reach the door before it was flung open, hitting the wall with a resounding bang.
'What did you do?' Angela had eyes only for Ciel. If either of them had looked down, things could have ended very differently, but their rage didn't allow them to do that. All they could see was years of their work in ruins and the person they had chosen to blame for that. 'What did you do?!'
She stalked forward, Ash's arm around her shoulders. He limped heavily at her side. Ciel watched their feet rather than their faces. Angela only stopped once she was in the water, looking down at her sodden slippers in confusion.
'What -'
Ciel turned on the lamp.
Sebastian had never been one for teamwork. In none of his jobs had he played a supporting role, took the backseat for someone else, let his good work be attributed to anyone but himself. As it had with everything else, St. Victoria's proved to be the exception.
'Check them,' he instructed through gritted teeth, pushing away from Freckles' shoulder to lean against the wall. They were on the top floor of the institute, surrounded by its open doors and unlit rooms. 'A quick look in each room.'
The nausea had faded and the bleeding all but stopped, yet Sebastian felt far from well. He was cold, wracked with shivers, and his body was taking longer and longer to respond to what was happening. The least to expect when so closely introduced to a chainsaw.
The way Soma and Freckles kept staring at him, Sebastian assumed he looked far worse than he felt. Well then, they could do the legwork. He didn't have the energy to spare, though he had a feeling he'd need what little he had in reserve should they find Ciel.
'Nothing,' Soma said, the first to return. Freckles wasn't far behind, her search just as fruitless.
That ruled out the top floor. The next was just as unsuccessful. Though the rooms were more lived in, there was no sign of anyone having used them in a while, left long enough for dust to settle.
'Next floor down is the ward,' Sebastian said, hand pressed firmly over his ruined shoulder. The pressure eased the pain some, cleared his head enough to refuse Freckles' silent offer of support. 'If he got out of wherever he was, there's a chance he may have gone back there.'
As they entered the right stairwell, the siren choked off abruptly, the silence that followed louder than its screech. They stopped, dazed. Then another sound, a rising whistle. It took a moment for any of them to notice that, in time with the whistle, the bulbs above their heads were growing brighter and brighter. As the whistle reached its highest pitch, the lights died.
'Wha - What's going on?'
Sebastian wasn't sure just which of them asked the question, though it was definitely Soma's hands clinging to the back of his shirt. In the pitch black, the stairwell was an unending plunge below. One wrong step could end with their head split upon the stone.
'Freckles,' Sebastian said, lowering himself slowly to sit upon the stairs. Soma did the same, still holding tight to Sebastian's shirt. 'Feel with your hands for the top step. You'll be able to reach the door from there. Check if the lights are out in the corridor as well.'
In her bare feet, it was hard to hear her move at all, even in the deafening quiet. There was a faint scuffling, hands and feet both feeling their way forward carefully. Then the creak of the door. Sebastian knew the answer even before Freckles spoke.
'They're not on. None of the rooms, either. I can't see a thing.'
Sebastian nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him.
'Close the door and sit down. We'll wait a minute, see if the lights come back on. If not, we carry on anyway.'
Sebastian closed his eyes. There was little difference between what he could see and the backs of his eyelids, anyway.
It's been... about three quarters of an hour at most since the siren began. It wasn't Tanaka's doing, and given the last minute orders to clean up, it likely wasn't Undertaker either. In that case, this could be the staff's damage control.
If they knew the patients were loose in the asylum, and Sebastian had to assume they did by now, then plunging them into darkness was a viable method. The staff had the advantage of knowing the layout of the building, while the patients would be running blind just trying to get out. Even moreso in the dark.
Will and Ronald weren't a concern. Will had made clear before that he wouldn't act beyond the scope of his orders. Ronald seemed just as averse to overtime. With the two of them already done, Sebastian couldn't imagine he'd run into them again. Grell, on the other hand, was definitely still on the prowl. Though the chainsaw was out of commission, Sebastian didn't much fancy running into her again.
The others, too. Ash and Angela knew the building better than any, what with their joint title of Head Orderly. Then there was Grey, Phipps and Brown. Sebastian was still in the dark on them. What faction they belonged to, the extent of their involvement, what they would do now that the Institute was free game. They were a closed book, and in the state he was in, Sebastian didn't want to risk it.
'I can see better now,' Soma whispered, finally letting go of Sebastian.
'Yeah, me too. I don't like just sittin' around. Let's get movin',' Freckles replied, shuffling down the steps on her bottom.
Sebastian opened his eyes, letting them slowly adjust to the black around them. He could just about see the faint outline of the stairs. Enough to make the careful descent.
The lights didn't come back on as they shuffled slowly down the stairs to the third floor. The speakers remained quiet too, only the lingering echo of its siren in their heads. Though they were on edge expecting an attack, nothing came from the shadows. At least until the smell.
'What is that?' Soma noticed it first. He inhaled deeply, but the smell caught at the back of his throat, strong enough to choke. It made his eyes water, an ashen taste on his tongue. 'Is that -'
'Smoke.'
From beneath the third floor doors, a thick cloud of smoke billowed through the gap. It carried ash in the air, and with each inhale the trio took, the ash sat heavily upon their tongues. Distantly, there was a growing rumble. And then a hacking cough.
'Ciel!' The three of them recognized the struggling wheeze at once, familiar with it from one time or another. Soma dove for the door, pulling at the handles, but something was jamming them together. They only opened a little, and all that did was allow more smoke into the narrow stairwell. 'Ciel, is that you? Are you okay?'
'Smile, this door is stuck! Can you go to the other set of stairs?' Freckles yelled, words dissolving into coughs.
Sebastian shoved them both out of the way. He still couldn't move the fingers of his right hand, but with his left, he pulled at the door handles. His fingers quickly found the obstruction, though he couldn't see it clearly through the smoke.
'Get this off,' Sebastian ordered, grabbing blindly for Soma's hand and placing it over the tightened belt. It only took him a moment to realize what it was and he made quick work of the buckle. It fell to the floor with a dull clunk.
The doors needed little help in opening then. They flew into the wall, the smoke swelling into the stairwell. Soma and Freckles crouched, struggling to contain their coughing, but Sebastian had his collar pulled up over his mouth and nose. It did little to stop his eyes from streaming, but he could breathe well enough for now.
'Ciel!' Muffled as it was, his voice didn't carry far. Ciel didn't even look up. He was out of the ward, where the smoke was billowing from, but just barely. Doubled over on the floor, all Sebastian could see was the top of his head, his hair caked with dried blood.
He ran to him, half-crouching, trying to keep below the smoke. The closer he came to Ciel and the ward, the more intense the heat became. It was with little surprise that he saw the fire's origin was Ciel's bedroom. The room was nothing more than an inferno now, its blaze spreading into the leisure room.
Sebastian dropped his collar to pull Ciel against him, holding his breath. He fumbled at Ciel's shirt, tugging it up over his face.
'I can't carry you, you have to stand up,' Sebastian said close to Ciel's ear, pressing his nose against Ciel's hair to try and not breathe in as much smoke.
This close, he could feel the rattle of Ciel's breaths, how too close together they were. His eye was closed, the skin around his nose blackened from inhaling the smoke.
Only one thing for it.
Sebastian tightened his arm around Ciel then heaved him up against his side. Secure there, he got his hand under Ciel's legs. Being moved about brought Ciel back to himself, at least enough to have the sense to loop an arm around Sebastian's shoulder. His hand brushed Sebastian's wound, and he bit back a groan, breaking into a low run for the door.
Soma and Freckles wasted no time in slamming the doors shut after them, the belt tightly secured around the handles.
Wendy was still breathing, but only just. She was heavy as stone in Snake's arms, the blood around her torn throat black. He kept checking, leaning forward to hear that faint gasp. It was a small comfort as the lights went out, the siren going quiet.
'This has to be the right floor, doesn't it?' Drocell was no longer as sure of himself. He had the hem of Snake's shirt pinched between his fingers, letting Dagger lead the way. 'If that was the basement, this must be the right floor.'
'Shut up.' It was the first thing Dagger had said since dragging the others into the stairwell, slamming the door on the experimental patients. On Jumbo and Peter and Soma and Freckles, all scattered or lost. He had led them silently, not stopping even when the hall went dark. 'Just. Shut up.'
For once, Drocell actually did. They continued on in silence, broken only by Wendy's sporadic breaths.
They were closer to the doors than they could have known. If they'd come out of the other stairwell, it would have been right in front of them, the dim light of the moon showing the way. However, they had come out of the left stairwell, leaving a horseshoe hallway between them and freedom.
They were at the midway curve when the ceiling began to groan. They stopped, all looking up at the dark above them. Before they had a chance to speak, dust began to rain down, or was it dust? Drocell brushed some off of his shoulder, rubbing it between his finger and thumb. Thicker than dust. The texture entirely different.
His chest tightened, mouth going dry.
'Move.'
The command was lost to the crash. The ceiling fell down around them, plaster and smoke dropping faster than the debris. Chunks of brick and wood, furniture in charred pieces, and an almighty heat. It piled up, creating a barricade in the middle of the corridor. On one side, Snake and Drocell had fallen back out of harm's way. On the other side, Dagger had thrown himself forward, skidding along the floor to safety.
The dust settled. From the hole above, a massive fire blazed, its heat pulsating through the air as the flames danced. It wasn't just the floor above that had collapsed, but the one above that, where the smoke was the thickest. Judging by the drawn out creaking, the rest of the ceiling didn't have long before it too buckled.
'What do we do?' Snake cradled Wendy against his chest, knuckles blanched. He stared up at the crater in the ceiling, sweat beading at his upper lip.
'I don't...' Drocell struggled to his feet, brushing away the plaster that had coated him. He pulled at Snake's shoulders, helping him rise without disturbing Wendy too much.
'Guys! Are you okay?!'
The barricade between them and Dagger was absolute. If it had just been bricks and broken furniture, that would have been fine, but amid those were the rods of steel that had failed to support the concrete. Rusted rebars lanced through the debris, dangerously sharp. If they tried to climb over those, especially carrying Wendy too, one false step could be their undoing.
'Try an' find the easiest bit to make a hole, okay?! I'll try on this end!' Dagger shouted. A distant scuffling followed, but none of the pile was disturbed on their end, no sign of just where Dagger was trying to burrow through.
'For now, let's put her down,' Drocell said.
Snake looked down at Wendy. Her face was so drained of colour that her veins webbed a stark blue just beneath her skin. His arms tightened around her.
'But... if it falls any more, we won't get to her in time,' Snake objected meekly.
Drocell looked at her, but there was only shame in his eyes.
'It's going to fall. We need to get to the other side if we're going to get out. Put her down.'
Snake pressed his lips together, so tight they lost all colour, then shook his head.
'Snake, we need to dig! She's already -'
Dagger was speaking. His voice reached them softly, the words hard to pick up over the growing roar of the fire above. Moreso because he wasn't shouting in the slightest. Drocell and Snake shared a confused look.
A chair leg topped down from the barricade. Near the middle of the pile, the chunks of plaster and brick began to move. Barely more than a twitch at first, then more debris was pushed free from pile, a hole gradually beginning to form.
Drocell ran over, plunging his hands into the hole. Pushing, pulling, twisting to free the clutter. Someone else's hands brushed against his from the other side, a joint effort.
Further back in the corridor, more of the ceiling broke away, crashing to the floor in a cloud of plaster and smoke. Snake darted closer, shoulders hunched to better shield Wendy.
The hole grew.
'It should be big enough now! Try and climb through, I'll make sure nothing hits you!'
Drocell and Snake froze. The voice that reached them wasn't Dagger's. Deeper, older, no less familiar. When they didn't answer, a face appeared at the hole.
'Hurry, the ceiling won't hold much longer!' Agni said, earnest. His eyes were streaming from the smoke, the longer strands of his hair plastered against his face and neck with sweat. He held out a dust-smeared hand, his fingers bloody from clawing at the wreckage. 'Pass her through first!'
Drocell took a slow step back. He stared at the offered hand as though it were a beast about to pounce. Safer to step back towards the blaze, towards the cracking plaster far from the hole. Intense heat licked at the back of his neck, the skin reddening in an instant. Better that than to take Agni's hand.
'C'mon, hurry up!' Dagger called to them, peering around Agni. He leaned against the Orderly without hesitation, without worry. Out of all of them, he was the one on the wrong side of the barricade.
'Careful,' Snake said low, cradling the back of Wendy's head as he passed her through the hole feet first. He didn't even flinch when Agni's hands knocked against his, and as soon as Wendy was safely through and in Dagger's arms, Snake accepted Agni's hand too.
'No!' Drocell darted forward and pulled at the back of Snake's shirt. Snake's foot slipped on the chunk of brick poking out of the pile. He looked back over his shoulder, hand still in Agni's grip.
'Did you want to go first?' Snake asked in bemusement. He still didn't let go, and when Agni tugged at his hand again, Snake moved to duck through the hole.
'No, Snake!' Only for Drocell to yank him back through, hard enough this time to release him from Agni's grip. Snake stumbled, falling against Drocell's chest. 'Snake, he's one of them, we can't!'
'Don't be stupid!' Dagger yelled, peering through the hole, 'Hurry up and get through, the roof won't hold much longer!'
'I won't hurt you, I swear!' Agni cried, holding out his hand again. 'The exit is only around the corner! The sooner I get you four out, the sooner I can find the others. Please, hurry!'
'He's lying,' Drocell whispered, clinging to Snake. It wasn't just from the smoke that his eyes were watering now. 'They always lie. We can't trust him.'
The ceiling groaned once more. Louder, more drawn out. Cracks splintered the plaster. The smoke spilling from the hole was growing darker, more black than grey.
Snake glanced between Drocell and the hole. More than the heat of the fire, he felt how his shirt had stiffened from Wendy's blood. With difficulty, he pried Drocell's hands off of him.
'There's nowhere else for us to go,' he reasoned, moving back towards the hole. He held out his hand for Drocell to take, hoping it was more promising a prospect than Agni's had been. Behind him, Agni and Dagger were both reaching out blindly. One of them, he wasn't sure which, got a grip on his wrist. 'It's okay. We're almost out. Just a bit more.'
Drocell screwed his eyes shut, bottom lip trembling. The tears didn't spill, but Snake was more than familiar with the way his body shook.
'You don't have to trust him,' Snake implored, one leg hooked through the hole, body bent to fit in the gap. Agni had an arm secured above him, making sure nothing fell down. 'Just me.'
Drocell tore his hand free from Snake, jerking back a few steps. He didn't speak, just shook his head.
'Drocell!' Snake reached after him, watching the ash raining down from the hole above. Then more than ash. More brick, more plaster. The fire was eating away at the floors above, and Drocell had moved right beneath. 'Drocell, come he -'
The roof caved in. Agni wrapped an arm around Snake's waist, pulling him through the hole to safety, but not before he saw Drocell disappear beneath the smoke and debris.
They heard the building's groan from the stairwell. Though smoke filled it to its corners, it was still cool within, the heavy stone untouched by the fire's heat. For now. As they struggled down the stairs in the dark, Ciel on Freckles' back and Sebastian half-dragged by Soma, the crashes of the upper floors caving in was amplified.
When they came to the ground floor, Soma and Freckles paused, looking to each other uncertainly. The metal of the door was warm, a light leeching beneath the crack.
'Sebastian, is this the right floor?' Freckles asked, her throat raw from coughing. One hand behind her to support Ciel, she grabbed the door handle.
Though still conscious, Sebastian looked worse than Ciel. His skin had taken on a sallow tinge and his eyes were glassy. Around his nose and mouth was blackened by smoke. He took a while to answer, and even then, it was simply a nod.
'Let's go.' Soma placed his hand over Freckles', pushing the door for her.
The darkness was chased away by the flickering light of flames. Through the massive craters in the ceiling, the fire burned bright, eating away at the upper floors of St. Victoria's. The corridor was strewn with the wreckage from above, almost completely blocking their way. Midway through the hall, there was a pile that reached the ceiling.
'We can't get through,' Soma said, jaw slack. He inched forward, stepping carefully over the debris. It was simple enough to work their way to the middle of the corridor, but with that massive barricade there to meet them, there was no way to move forward.
Freckles' jumped as a hand appeared in her line of sight. Ciel pointed ahead shakily, breath a rattling wheeze against the crook of her neck. Though he tried to speak, his words were indistinct.
She followed his finger, squinting through the haze of smoke.
Her face brightened.
'There's a hole!'
How out of the three of them, it was Ciel of all people to spot it, Freckles wasn't sure, but there it was. Narrow, and uncomfortably close to the blaze above, but a way out nonetheless.
'Let's go!'
It was hard to resist just running for it. If it weren't for Ciel and Sebastian, they probably would have, the danger the piles of debris posed be damned. They still stumbled several times in their haste, Sebastian almost taking a nasty fall onto a protruding metal rod.
It was easier than it looked to get through it. Freckles went first. When she was safely through, Ciel and Sebastian were helped through the gap, then Soma brought up the rear. The other side of the barricade was in far better condition. Bits of the roof had fallen in on this side too, but the proportion of debris to corridor was much in the latter's favour.
When they turned the corner and saw the open doors leading outside, rather than relief or excitement, another sensation overwhelmed the four of them. What they felt then was a keen sense of foreboding. The hairs on the back of Soma's neck rose. A chill slipped into Freckles' blood, goose-pimples budding across her skin. For Sebastian and Ciel, it was a familiar sensation, a heavy weight dropping in their stomachs.
Ciel opened his eye, searching through the smoke for the source of their unease. The exit was right there, the path and the grass and a softly falling snow, it was right before their eyes. Yet none of them made a move towards it.
Lumbering by the door was V1.
It was as broken as they were. Blood, plaster and ash were layered thickly over Its skin, Its nose twisted unnaturally out of place. There was more confusion in It than rage now. Though It was right by the door, It faced the wall, pushing into it mindlessly.
'Don't move.'
Sebastian alone didn't look at V1 with surprise or fear. There was a recognition in his eyes that told Ciel everything he needed to know about just where this ruined man had come from. The terror Soma and Freckles couldn't hide confirmed it.
'Don't move,' Sebastian repeated softly, though none of them had.
From above, plaster flitted through the air. A crack began to form on the ceiling directly over their heads. That crack was all the warning they got, and they just managed to lunge forwards before it came down.
V1 turned to face them.
'Don't move,' Sebastian said, but he was already pushing away from Soma's shoulder, moving to stand in front of them. Ciel wriggled down from Freckles' back, glancing about for something Sebastian could use.
V1 gave a failing wail. It jerked towards them, one clumsy step after another, with none of the force It had used on Jumbo earlier. It was acting on instinct, unable to do anything more.
Ciel darted forward and V1 made him Its target.
'Smile!'
'What're you doing? Get back!'
Sebastian didn't call out to him. He had seen the glint in Ciel's eye, saw his hands reaching out before him. So instead, Sebastian ran to meet V1 before it could reach Ciel, crashing into it with enough force to send them both to the floor.
'Sebastian!' Ciel yelled, then something came skittering across the floor towards him. One of the rebars, mangled from the ceiling's collapse, as sharp as any knife.
Sebastian took it in hand, looking over to meet Ciel's eye.
'Don't look,' he said, then rose the rod into the air.
Don't look away, Ciel told himself, moving back towards Freckles and Soma. He covered each of their eyes with one hand, but kept his own eye open. Don't look away from what you made him be.
Despite Sebastian's lame shoulder, he found the strength to beat V1 into submission. The rod smashed down upon Its skull until Its fingers gave their last little twitch. Every time Sebastian rose his arm to strike again, Ciel's throat closed up that little bit more, a suffocating pressure sitting heavily on his chest. He took a deep breath in and held it for as long as he could, counting the seconds going by.
By twenty, Sebastian dropped the rod. He looked over his shoulder, a splatter of V1's blood trickling down his cheek. For a long moment, he just stared at Ciel, face vacant. Then he smiled. It was a poorly crafted thing, begging to fall away, not even a shadow of the grin Ciel had come to know.
Ciel's arms dropped away from Soma and Freckles, though they kept their eyes screwed shut for a while longer. Sebastian's arm was coated in blood, fresh and dark, and Ciel wondered if the bite mark he had left there all those months ago still lay beneath it.
Ciel held out his hand, fingers quaking.
After a beat, Sebastian moved towards him. He reached out, his bloodied hand hovering over Ciel's. He made no move to take it, just stared down at Ciel with that dreadful little smile. Daring him to make that final move.
Filthy. A dot of blood dripped down onto Ciel's palm, a stark red against his pale skin. Disgusting. His skin crawled at the cooling wetness, at the thought of how slick Sebastian's hand would be. Beastly. If the scar Ciel gave him was there, it was lost beneath all that blood.
Ciel drew in another breath, then grasped Sebastian's hand. He knotted them together, that awful slide between their fingers making Ciel's heart pound too hard, too fast.
Fingers entwined, they made for the exit.
The snow was falling heavier, streaks of white cutting through the night sky. It should have been dark, no streetlights in miles, but the fire eating away at St. Victoria's lit the sky better than anything man-made could have dreamt of. There wasn't a window not lit with the flames, and it cast a warm glow across the gardens.
The survivors stood, watching their prison burn.
Dagger clung to Beast, his head cradled against her chest, his shoulders heaving. Supported against her leg was Joker, staring blearily up at the building, not really seeing it at all. Tanaka lay unconscious at his side, though his eyelids were beginning to twitch. Beside him was Wendy, Agni bent over her, knotting the torn sleeve of his nightshirt around her throat.
Soma choked back a sob at the sight of him. Without a word, he sprinted across the frozen grass, throwing himself against Agni as the man rose to meet him.
Freckles squeezed Ciel's shoulder then followed after him, a dazed walk at first, then breaking into a run as Beast and Dagger called her name. Even Joker seemed to come back to himself then, struggling to sit up.
Snake stood off to the side, neither with the group or apart from it. He stared up at the building, eyes vacant. It was Dagger who approached him, face stained with tears. Ciel was too far away to hear what he said, but whatever it was, it coaxed Snake to follow him. With a degree of hesitance, he joined the group, pulled down into a one-armed hug by Joker.
'Jumbo and Drocell,' Ciel murmured, unable to find their faces among the gathering.
'I'd have expected more,' Sebastian replied, adding the Ward V patient's to the tally, 'I doubt anyone is getting out of there now.'
A faint crashing sound. Some bricks from up high on the wall began to crumble away.
'Where did you go that night?' Sebastian asked, 'How did the fire even start?'
'I'll tell you later.' Ciel blinked, then a slow smile began to form on his lips. 'Later.'
Sebastian looked up as a window shattered, the flames climbing higher.
'Mm. Later then.'
Their hands were still entwined, the blood drying on their fingers. Sebastian waited for Ciel to pull away, but he didn't.
AN: Just the epilogue to go and then Inertia Creeps is done and dusted! The epilogue is almost finished, just one more scene to write, so hopefully it'll be posted before New Year's day. The questions about Ciel's past and the Third Chairman will be answered then. Hope you guys have a good winter break and the holidays if you celebrate 'em!