Back at the Phantomhive manor...
Sebastian knocked lightly on the grand oakwood doors - a subtle barrier between his young master's spacious office and the rest of the manor.
He heard Ciel's steady voice call out. "Come in."
The fancy, steel handle turned, and Sebastian walked in, holding a circular silver tray where five different types of cake rested - Buccellato, Croquembouche, Dacquoise, Panettone and Lemon cake - in one hand and a tea set in the other. His master was busy at work, his blue eye moving quickly across the sentences on the newspaper as the frown plastered across his face grew deeper. He didn't look up as Sebastian set the tray on the desk and proceeded to pour the steaming tea. A long pause passed and then Ciel let out a sigh, raising his hand to his face. He spoke.
"Sebastian, look at this." Ciel handed the newspaper he had been reading to his butler and leant back, fingers drumming absently on the edge of the desk. He waited expectantly as Sebastian scanned the article nonchalantly and raised his head.
"This is...?" Sebastian asked, putting on a show of profound puzzlement as his face lifted in a smile. Ciel scowled and shook his head.That demon...
"You have your own ideas and assumptions about this, don't you?" Ciel asked, as the butler used a knife and fork to cut and move a piece of perfectly made lemon cake onto a shining silver platter, and set it down in front of Ciel with a quiet clatter.
"Hm, first, please say what you need to say, young master." Sebastian handed Ciel the dainty teacup, set aside to cool, and he held the teacup tightly.
Ciel's hand reached for the newspaper, and waved it around, and the big, black heading stood out, demanding urgent attention -Barbaric Fiend Kills. He voiced the disapproving words that had played around in his mind over and over again as he read the article.
"It seems like another serial killer is on the loose, and I cannot confirm that the killer is wholly human either."
Sebastian nodded and smiled. "I am almost 100% sure that this is not a human's doing, master. From what I infer from that article, it seems like something with powers far greater than a human's may be the culprit. After all, the victims have been rendered almost unrecognizable, and more than fifteen dead bodies appear around the town every night - and all at different locations. However, there is one similarity for all the victims. The fact that all four limbs, as well as the head, have been brutally ripped off leaving only the torso, needs to be thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, it says that there is a strange imprint on every body, but different every time. The humans are too shallow to understand this, but being a demon, I can only assume that these imprints are marks left over from some kind of appliance that absorbs soul particles by attaching to the outer aura. Should I investigate further into this matter?"
Momentarily, Ciel didn't reply, thinking it over as his face returned to its serious, but somehow emotionless, position. His sharp ears did not miss the hopeful hint the Sebastian's question. He moved his spoon in a repeated, circular motion in his tea, watching the liquid twirl around and around. Finally, he lifted his face, and Sebastian could see that familiar look again - the look that meant his young master was about to order him to do something. But it was okay. This time, he could have some fun.
"Sebastian, this is an order. Do not take matters into your own hands, and we will wait until further information arrives." He turned away. "That is all."
Ciel could see Sebastian's fleeting look of surprise, but the butler quickly recomposed himself. Sinking down onto one knee, Sebastian bowed his head and said, "Yes, my lord."
In a dark alleyway, little past midnight...
The woman ran. She ran for her life, and she ran to get away from the thing that was chasing after her. She should never have stayed out after dark. It was foolish. Why had she not believed the newspapers? 'Nothing like that would happen to me.' She had thought that, and now, she was about to suffer the consequence. A painful stitch, the result of the fact that she had been running for more than twenty minutes, prevented her from running any further, and she clutched her side as she collapsed onto the ground. She heard the heavy steps approaching closer, and she risked a look over her shoulder. And screamed. She dragged herself into a grimy corner, and hoped that the monster would pass, but to her horror, it stopped and swung its giant, warty head her way, eyelids flicking up to reveal blood-red eyes that glowed and conveyed one word -madness. It approached and stood towering above her.
The monstrous shape, dark and malicious, overshadowed the flinching woman who was scratched and bloodied. Its jaws opened, unsheathing saliva-strewn teeth, sharp as a knife. The woman tried to scream, but found that she could only let out a terrified, choked wail. Glinting metal claws slashed out at her exposed throat and the wail was reduced to a pained gurgle. The sound of blood dripping into a larger puddle of blood echoed, bouncing across the narrow space of the inky passageway. The thing growled, breath huffing out in a foggy cloud from a dripping snout, of which slanted red eyes rested upon. The sound of ripping and clicking from bone being pulled away from bone erupted, but this only lasted for a while. All was quiet at last, and all that was left of the woman was her sad, unrecognisable torso. It gathered the limbs and head together, and threw them into an already blood-soaked sack hanging over its back.
It pulled out a long, rod-shaped tool, too dainty for its physical features, and pressed the jutting tip into the woman's skin, so hard that the skin parted and enclosed it into its fleshy depths. It squatted on its rump as golden yellow light flowed from the woman's body and up the rod. It waited, and finally, it was finished. The final trickle, like water from a limited tap, ran shakily up the tool and the thing pulled the rod out. Letting out a throaty laugh, it rose, and a heavy black cloud wisped around its quickly fading form. When the dark mist parted and dispersed into nothingness, there was no trace of the hideous monster.
It had disappeared.
The jagged opening on the skin trembled, as if it was alive, and slowly, the skin curled and mended together. A smoky substance, black as night itself, wafted up from the rapidly closing hole, and when it vanished, it left behind a mark, shaped like a skull. It rippled, and then was still.
A splash of red flashed by and the silvery light of the moon reflected off the elongated oval blade of a chainsaw.
The hunt has begun.