Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Kurositsuji.
The Last Words.
Chapter II.
Balance.
X+X+X+X+X+X
Ciel awoke in a cold sweat in the morning before the sun was up. He panted heavily for a moment before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. A whimper could be heard as the thick furred dog lifted his head, Ciel seemingly waking him.
"Sorry boy," Ciel mumbled, giving the dog a quick reassuring pat and then walked into the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face. He looked in the mirror, his blue eyes looking himself over. He didn't look ill...just tired.
Taking slow steps back into his room, he noted a few rays of morning light were peaking over the hills. Ciel didn't bother changing out of his night clothes just yet. He just sat looking around his room; everything was where it still belonged, as if it had always been there. Maybe it had. A knock on the door brought Ciel out of his thoughts.
"Come in," he called out. His parents walked in the door, followed by a smartly dressed man.
"Ciel, Dr. Lance is here to see you," Vincent told his son. When his parents said first thing in the morning, they meant it. The man walked up to Ciel and offered his hand, introducing himself. Ciel shook the offered hand and nodded.
The doctor asked if he could have a few moments alone with Ciel. His parents agreed and left the doctor and their son alone. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of Ciel, who was sitting on the end of his bed with his legs dangling off the edge. He proceeded to ask Ciel the standard questions about how he was feeling, his sleep patterns, had he been eating normally, etc. Ciel wasn't sure how to answer most of them. How long had normal been normal? A few days ago he could of sworn he lived a completely different life.
The doctor gave him a brief look over, checking his reflexes, heart beat and temperature. Ciel went through the motions without complaint, just a bit of irritation. The shock of the past 24 hours of events had worn down his temper.
"Now Ciel, I can honestly say that there is nothing physically wrong with you," the doctor began, as he took off his glasses. "Are you sure there is nothing else you can tell me?"
Ceil contemplated his question. Was it really worth it to voice his true thoughts to the doctor? They might just say he's crazy, and decide to send him to an asylum, not that Ciel could blame them.
"No, nothing," Ciel answered looking down. The doctor gave him a hard stare before getting up and returning the chair to its spot.
"Well then try and get some bed rest, take it easy for the next few days," the doctor ordered him before ducking out of the room to speak with his parents.
X+X+X+X+X+X
As the days and weeks followed, Ciel followed the same routine quite regularly. He'd spend the early parts of the day with his parents, during the afternoon, his parents normally went out for business. Then in the evening, they ate dinner together or Elizabeth would come over for a visit, until he was left to spend long nights alone and awake. Strange dreams plagued his nights, some dark and terrifying, others more pleasant. Ciel tried ignoring the dreams whenever he could. Yet they never truly left his mind, he just tried enjoying his life, as it was, how it should have been. Here with his parents in his home, just like any other normal family. He had grown content with his days, accepting this reality, until he was shown otherwise that it wasn't real. When the night came was when things were difficult; when he was alone with his thoughts.
Soon, another day was coming to an end. Lizzy had been there for dinner that night and Ciel escorted her out to her carriage. Once back inside, he bid his parents goodnight as they went their separate ways. Ciel entered his room and then went into his private bathroom. A hot bath seemed in order to try and stop his spinning mind. Ciel ran the hot water that started to fill the large tub and started stripping off his clothing. He stepped into the water and sunk down until the water hit his chin. The dreams would be back tonight he was sure; it was rare if they didn't. He closed his eyes and exhaled a breath. Opening the blue orbs again, he looked into the reflection of the still water, suddenly seeing none other than Sebastian staring right back.
"Sebastian!" Ciel exclaimed, half jumping and pulling himself out of the tub to look around the room. He jerked his head from side to side, seeing only the empty room. But he was right there! Ciel saw him in the reflection of the water, clear as day!
Disappointment set in as Ciel sat back in the water.
But he was right there...
Ciel quickly finished his bath, thinking he must be more tired then he thought. Changing into a fresh pair of nightclothes, he crawled into bed and blew out the candles by his bed to let the night sink in around him. Closing his eyes he tried to empty his mind so he could sleep, yet because of what just happened a few minutes ago, sleep was not coming easily.
He rolled on his side and stared out his window, the moon shining back at him. Time was unmeasured as he tried to sleep away the night. Ciel was nearly asleep, his eyes loosing the battle to stay open. Suddenly a tall shadow pooled over his bed and Ciel jerked himself up. After his eyes readjusted, he scanned over every corner of his room.
Nothing. No one.
"Ahh!" Ciel let out an angry cry, violently throwing one of his pillows out in the middle of the floor. He leaned back against his headboard and pulled his knees up to his chest. His angry outburst changed quickly over to hurt.
"I'm not crazy..." He mumbled to himself, looking up at the ceiling. He dug through his mind, pulling memories of how things were before the fire. How he felt knowing his parents were gone. Memories surfaced of the people who had kidnapped him. The torture and humiliation he suffered. He remembered being locked away like an animal ready for slaughter. He remembered Sebastian coming to him and making the contract. Ciel recalled the first few months of terrible night terrors that plagued him and the simple gestures from his butler that caused him to flinch back in fear. He was the only one left of his family. There was so much more...more memories that couldn't be false.
Yet how could he deny the joy he felt over the past few weeks of living a normal life with his parents and those who cared about him? Would he even go back to his old life if it were possible? How could he let them all go again? Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Master Ciel, is everything alright?" the old gray man took a step in the doorway. Tanaka stood, candle in hand, clad in his nightwear. His face looked tired and wise to Ciel, just like the same Tanaka he knew before Sebastian came into his life.
"Everything is fine," Ciel answered letting his legs slide away from his chest so he looked less stressed.
"Would you like a glass of water, or maybe some milk, sir?" Tanaka asked warmly.
Ciel had avoided Tanaka all together really. He wasn't angry at the man or anything, but after being let down by his attempts to see if anyone else remembered his past life, questioning Tanaka didn't seem so promising. He had dropped hints towards Elizabeth, and his Aunt when she came over, everyone really. Yet the conversation normally turned elsewhere and Ciel was shrugged off.
"Tanaka, other then a few weeks ago at the market place in town…" he was referring to the sniper attempt. "…Has anything else been...different? Even before all that?" Ciel asked the old man. What happened the day before he woke up in his room? Did everyone have memory of it aside from him?
"I can't say that there has been anything too much out of the ordinary," Tanaka answered, trying to ponder anything he could give the boy. After a moment, he gave a light shrug. "You've been a bit...off as of late sir, but I assumed you have not been feeling well. Your cheery self has changed, you seem more grown up." Tanaka then gave a small smile. "You are growing up though I suppose, I am a old man and children do grow faster and faster these days it seems. It's only natural for a boy to distance himself from his parents a little as he grows older."
Ciel didn't agree or disagree. Apparently Tanaka didn't remember anything from before either, not that Ciel really expected him to.
"The water, master Ciel?" Tanaka asked once more.
"No, I'm fine," Ciel answered scooting down and turning away from the door, a little defeated.
"Very well, goodnight sir," the old man bowed and left the room, closing the door with a soft click.
When the rays of sunlight hit the floor of Ciel's bedroom, the boy sighed, as he had not been able to close his eyes and rest the whole night.
X+X+X+X+X+X
The morning rays quickly turned into clouds that carried a heavy rainfall and a nasty storm. Thunder boomed the halls of the mansion throughout the day. Ciel kept himself busy with some light reading and playing several rounds of solitaire. After a while, it seemed dull, but what else was there to do? The weather prevented him from going outside, so he headed downstairs.
Vincent sat in the family room reading over the newspaper as Rachel was on the small sofa, sewing. His father slammed the paper down on his desk and leaned back in his chair.
"Damn it all! That's four more this week!" he sighed. Ciel made his way over to his father's desk and peered at the paper he had just thrown down. The headlines on the paper read,
'FOUR MORE FOUND DEAD!'
Ciel cocked his head and scanned down the article. It said that four more had been found lifeless totaling to eleven all together over the past few weeks. Ciel had thought he had overhead his mother and father speaking about it a week or two ago, but he tried to pay little attention to anything dealing with the Queen or cases his father was working on. It only resurfaced more frustrating memories.
"Eleven people have been murdered over the past few weeks? That seems like a lot more than normal," Ciel looked up at his father. "Have you found anything out yet? It says here that the bodies were found completely intact; it almost appears to have no foul play involved. Just a lifeless form."
"Vincent! Don't let him read that!" Rachel scolded her husband.
"Don't worry son, we will stop whoever has done this soon." He gave Ciel's head a light scruff and pulled the paper out of his sight. "It's tough work, trying to dig up the bad guys," Vincent said dodging his son's question.
'You're telling me,' Ciel thought to himself.
Ciel scanned down the list of who went missing when and where. Most people had gone missing at night it seemed. This gave Ciel an idea, a crazy one, but an idea nonetheless.
Ciel left his parents and headed back to his room. He found it very odd that the bodies were found without a scratch on them. Tonight, he would sneak out to pay a certain mortician a visit.
X+X+X+X+X+X
Thanks again for reading. Any as always thank you to my amazing Beta. She tolerates an insane amount of corrections and typos for me =]