"Insane Asylum"

Chapter 10

+++Insanity+++

AN: So, you guys, this is the first chapter that underwent the amazing and very helpful editing of our lovely new Beta: Vivacia18!

You should all praise and thank her. She makes me sound less awkward.

+++Insanity+++

Ciel Phantomhive sat comfortably on the chair at one end of the round table outside of the M.I., a small lunch plate set in front of him. The platter was decorated with some sort of spiced pig, but he was unable to eat; at the rate his heart was pacing, he feared a heart attack if he dared to try. Instead, he watched Maylene take it away.

The same clothes Ciel had arrived in were on, royal blue and elegant looking, the child of a very wealthy man in England. The rips, tatters, and stains were all removed, making this mere thirteen year old look like the powerful Earl – indeed, half of him still felt like he held the title.

Sebastian was sitting close by, far enough to appear as if he weren't prying, though close enough to hear everything. The air around them crackled like the still air of a thunder storm.

Another doctor was nearby, Ciel could only assume it was Claude – then again William was around here somewhere as well. The identity was confirmed as the latter as he caught the figure of bright red wrap his arms around the doctor.

Feeling his stomach flip, Ciel grabbed the cool glass of water and took sips to ease his fried nerves.

Finally, four figures from the driveway drew closer, and Ciel felt himself growing dizzy with disgust. Royal purple coat, annoyingly cropped shorts, tall boots, green vest and shining blonde hair… the older boy's tongue flicked out and Ciel swore he caught a glimpse of orange.

"It's good to see you again, dear brother." Ciel stood, fake familiarity and false comfort showing in through a soft voice.

"Ciel." The taller one smiled, voice hardly showing a bit of care. In a second, his face was distorted into a disapproving sneer. "Nice to see you I guess. Oh, do sit, you look ill on your feet!"

'I'm not a child!' he thought. Still, he sat across from his half brother, looking over at the three men who stayed standing at a distance. There was a pang in his heart that he couldn't stop from showing as his eyes skimmed over one figure in particular.

"… Timber?" the young man looked up at the familiar voice; Ciel didn't realize how heartbroken he sounded.

"Young Master Ciel…" Timber… Timber had been his butler… Thompson had been Luca's favorite. Canterbury had always looked like he hated his job of watching over Alois…

*Yes… That's right, then we grew up with different butlers, and Tanaka had served both of our parents…*

"Oh please." Alois' eyes rolled as he interrupted. "Ciel, down to business. Really, how are you coping… well, here?" The taunt was cunningly laced into his words.

"Actually, I'm fine." Ciel beamed innocently like a child. Seeing the deadpan look on the blondes face, he leaned forward.

"Soon," he whispered, "I'll be well enough to get out, maybe stand trial and get you into a cell of your own."

"Jail dear brother?" Alois jeered in a loud voice, throwing him off guard. "Whatever do you mean? To threaten me? How cruel!"

Deep sapphire eyes wandered to where Sebastian sat, and noticed his amber orbs flicker past the three waiting butlers. Ciel tried to follow the look. He hadn't noticed the woman standing there, her eyes narrowed at him.

Looking back at his half brother, he retorted "Threaten you? After what you've done? Mother, father, brother… and now me? Why would you want to get rid of your own family? I mean, you're obviously mental. Jail wouldn't do you any good. Maybe there's a doctor here who may manage to work wonders on your head." He resolutely kept eye contact, and tried not to sound scared. "I know you started that fire… I know what you did to me, you… you occult freak. When I get out, I'll do whatever I can to put you away for a long time."

Alois' eyes were wide at first, surprised as he looked over his younger brother. Then they narrowed as he leaned forward slightly.

"… How could you possibly remember?" his voice was hardly more than a breath, a whisper. "Nobody is going to believe someone who was taken away in a straight jacket."

"I'll find the proof."

"You won't." There was that smirk, and Ciel had to bite his lip so he wouldn't lunge across the table. Why was he so upset? This wasn't even his battle! This wasn't his world, he wasn't this Ciel!

But he felt him… 'this Ciel' and his anger, his hate, his broken heart… What if this had been his situation, how would he handle it?

'You're not strong enough. You're weak from him. I will fix this for you.' he told himself – or was it this other Ciel he was trying to reassure?

"I have ways. You know, since you've been in this crap hole with the bloody lunatics, I've been able to get some… insurance so that you're not going to get out of here any time soon, and if you're trapped here, there will be no one who will believe you have any right to leave." The blonde sat back, continuing his monologue. "Work as hard as you want, darling brother, but you're not getting out. I'll gladly send someone to collect your pathetic body from your straight jacket, and I'll bury you next to your ugly father and our whore mother. How does that sound?"

"Don't you talk about her like that!" the dark haired boy stood in a rush, glaring down at the blonde. Seeing the smug look on his face, he glanced past him to the woman who had been watching. Her long pale hair was up in a bun, sharp cold eyes focused on the paper she was writing on… Who was she? A lawyer?

That thought send a shiver up his spine, and he forced himself to sit down, forced himself to be calm.

'You can't freak out right now. He wants that. He needs that.' Maybe he was crazy; who did he think he was talking to?

"My goodness, you really should work on anger management in that therapy of yours." Alois chuckled. "Ah, you see her then? You know, the last time we were here, you called her a demon and said one day her eye would be gouged out. You said I was going to do it! Isn't that funny? Where would you get that idea?"

Ciel couldn't suppress the shiver that came over him as he felt his brother's hand cup his cheek, on the blind side too…

"Certainly not from me, would you? After all, you did this to yourself… I don't know where you're getting these ideas, but they're hurtful. Your aunt is Jack the Ripper? Your doctor is a demon? You think I'm the one who caused the fire? I'm the one who killed our family?" the hand on his cheek slid up, touching the eyepatch. "I did that to your eye? Really now, how are you possibly going to find proof?"

*Oh no… he's right… I did it… I killed them…!* he could feel the tears starting to fight their way through. *I hurt myself, I killed my family… I'm a murderer! I belong here!*

Ciel took a deep breath, catching himself before he started to go into a panic attack.

'Stop it! Stop it right now, it's not your fault!'

"It's not my fault…" he spoke up, brushing the blondes hand off of him. "Why would I? I loved my family…"

"You're going to make this complicated, aren't you?" Alois huffed, looking bored. "Oh well, I've got all the time and resources in the world. You, brother," so much disgust in one word… "Only have a few more months before the court will think you're hopeless. Oh well, you can't win everything. At least you'll have your loving doctor." Alois stood, leaning close to the shorter boy.

"If you keep up this fight, Ciel… I'll just have to keep spending on my little ally here… You're just going to be sent to Hell with those disgusting people you called parents… Ah, poor Luca didn't deserve that death. That really was your fault. You shouldn't have let him sleep in your bed for comfort. He was my brother. If only you hadn't gone to see Timber; you could have died together at least. Now, he's alone… You sick prick."

Alois moved to pull back, his expression knit into one of pure hatred. Ciel moved quickly, grabbing onto the older boys shirt and keeping him close.

"…Did you murder our family?" he tried, quietly, seeing Timber look up at Ciel's movements from his spot a few feet away. He still cared… it touched his heart for just a moment.

"No." it sounded so honest… Was it really Ciel's fault…? "I destroyedyours."

The Phantomhive was left shocked, watching Alois pull back with a satisfied grin. All Ciel could do was stare, his heart shattered.

*My brother, I loved you… Luca loved you, mother loved you, even father loved you! Why would you get rid of us?* A part of him was ready to let himself die. He could feel the depression seep in, then in a flash it was gone.

"MURDERER!"

He didn't even realize it was him until he heard the shout of surprise. Hands gripped tightly into fists as the first punch was thrown – his knees in pain as they made rough contact with the cement ground.

"Ciel, no!" Timber? Or was that Sebastian?

There was another sound of a strong blow – coughing and writhing, then the struggle to land a blow. Then there it was, the strike to his own head, dizziness…

"Stop, it's okay!"

"Ciel! What have you done?"

'Why so worried?'

*You've done it now… You've done it now… You've done it now….. Thanks a lot.*

'…You're welcome…..'

+++T+++

When Ciel woke up, he wasn't in the warm, large bed in his manor. His butler was nowhere to be seen. No, there was no sanctuary this time. Just white.

He could see Sebastian – no, not his butler, just Sebastian. Sebastian, his doctor. Yes, there he was, feeling his forehead. His mouth was moving, but Ciel couldn't process what he was saying for the life of him. He could only think of what had happened.

He had jumped Alois. He got two punches to the blonds face before he hit him back… He ruined it… right in front of the older boys lawyer… in front of the doctors… in front of Sebastian…

When Ciel didn't answer, he saw the face of disappointment, worry…

*Worry, worry… that's all he's done since you've shown up!*

'Why are you blaming me?' he didn't ask to be a part of this world, a part of this life.

He saw the needle, and he didn't even flinch as he felt the sedative being injected into him. It slithered through his bloodstream, making its way around his body until it was all black again.

+++T+++

Out. Black. Wasn't that what sedatives did? Then why did he feel so restless?

Ciel tried to look around him, tried to move and wiggle, but he couldn't. There simply wasn't enough room! It felt like he was suffocating! What, was he wrapped in a cocoon?

'Sebastian…?' he tried to call out, searching for the warmth he could feel was nearby. Come closer!

'Sebastian… I don't want to be alone!' he wanted to cry. His chest tightened. He tried to claw, bite, anything to get whatever was wrapped around him away!

Still… He couldn't get it to move. It was like he was in a coffin… a thick casing… close to his body though, tight.

"Now now, my Lord, you are not ready yet. Just rest… Rest a bit longer."

'Sebastian? Sebastian! Get me out! I'm … I need you!'

There was a chuckle from outside the casing, and he could feel the warmth envelope him.

"Just rest…. Soon. Soon."

His body shivered in the tight casing, feeling the warmth, the familiarity… then it was gone. Completely.

+++T+++

Two blue eyes opened slightly. The darkness and dull light of the nightlight told him that, again, he was denied his sanctuary. Again, he was lying in the cot of the medical bed in the insane asylum.

He moved his limbs a bit to find that no, he was not tied down. Slowly, Ciel inched to the edge of the bed and slipped off onto the cold floor. His muscles, his entire body, felt weak and stiff, like he hadn't moved in ages.

The door opened with a creak, but it was left unlocked.

He started down the hall, looking for his doctor's room, only to run into someone he'd never seen before. Literally, he hit the man's chest before he noticed he was there.

"Whoa, careful there kid…" Ciel squinted his eyes in the dull light. The man was tall; he had a small beard, and odd wild blonde and dark hair. Tinted glasses hid this man's eye color. He tried to look for a nametag, but only saw a 'Visitors Pass' around the mans neck. "Hey, you need help?"

"…I…" his voice sounded so rough and unused. How long had he been out? "….I need to find… Find…" his mind felt so sluggish. Who was he looking for?

"You're the Phantomhive kid, right?"

"…" Phantomhive? Oh! "Yes!"

"Whoa, hey, got it. No need to yell. C'mon, I'll get you to Alan."

Alan? That wasn't a familiar name. No, he wasn't looking for this 'Alan'!

"No… No no no no nonono…"

"Hey, it's okay." The man tried to rub the boys back as he led him down the hall. "He's been looking forward to seeing you up and about."

This stranger… this man… he knocked on a door that was not the one Ciel had been looking for. Yet… at the same time, it was like he knew this was where he was supposed to go.

The door opened and a shorter man than the one leading him – brunette, green eyes, glasses, kind face – looked out, surprised by the wild blond haired man.

"Eric? I thought you were- oh my goodness! Ciel?" he looked away from the man to the boy, kneeling down next to him. "Ciel, are you alright?"

This was Alan? He wasn't impressed. No, this man felt familiar, like he had seen him in a crowd, but he wasn't the person he had been looking for.

"…Where… is…. Where is he?"

"Ciel, are you alright?"

"…where…?"

"Eric, please help me get him back to his room?"

"WHERE IS HE!"

+++End Chapter Ten+++

Confused? Sorry darlings, but it was time for another threat that was not just Alois. Now, Ciel has himself, and… where is Sebastian?

Alan Humphries and Eric Slingby are these people by the way.

They were in the second musical, and showed up in the background in the anime, and I hope they show up in the manga sometimes. I really want to cosplay Eric…

I'm still looking for a beta by the way.

Any, I'm holding chapters hostage for now on.

Leave a review. I'll start writing the next chapter when the first review's made, and I'll post the chapter after a few more are made. I've seen how many views this gets, I see how many alerts and favorites there are. Are you guys afraid of me or something?

Well, I'll force you out of your shell. If I don't get a few more reviews, I will not be putting up the new chapter anywhere.