Sebastian drew the curtains and looked around. He had spent much time on Earth while contracted but this time had been different. He ran his fingers over the mahogany writing desk. Though this was his room for the time they were in Paris, it had seen little use. Sleeping was more a way to pass the time than a necessity and he wasn't going to sleep until the cult of the noble beast was caught. He didn't know if he would be on Earth when they were caught, as his time had dwindled to less than a month. It was strange to think there was someone he would miss when he had to return to Hell.
Knock, knock.
As if summoned by Sebastian's thoughts, Ciel stood there, nightclothes rumpled and hair mussed. Sebastian couldn't help but smile. "You should be asleep, little lord."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Shall I bring you tea?"
Ciel fingered his eyepatch, looking a bit nervous. "Er, no that's okay. Can I...can I come in?"
"By all means."
Sebastian stood back and watched his young master climb onto the bed that had yet to be slept on. He closed the door and lit a few more candles in the room since Ciel's vision was not as keen as his. Ciel sat up against the pillows, running one hand over the sheets, looking for all the world like he wanted to run back to the safety of his room. Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed and inquired as to what was wrong.
"Even though I wasn't there, I dream every night of watching the orphanage burn, of hearing the children scream. I imagine Mr. Spears and Dr. Sutcliff, and the nurse, the pain they must have felt. All that because someone wanted me."
"You can't blame yourself, my lord. Your parents made a big statement to the papers about adopting you, they were so proud to have a son. Your previous captors learned you were no longer protected by the orphanage and thought they had an opening. You couldn't have known that, let alone prevented their actions."
"If they knew I was adopted why did they burn down the orphanage?"
Sebastian sighed. He didn't want to make bad matters worse, but he was unable to lie to the young man in front of him. "Retaliation for your escape, I should think."
Ciel ran his hands through his hair and dropped his head back against the wall, looking very much like his father for a moment. "Why now? Why not burn it down after I escaped with me still in it?"
"You would not suffer, then."
They sat in silence for awhile. At one point Sebastian thought he had fallen asleep, but then he saw Ciel's eye fixed on the wall. He sighed and moved up next to him. Ciel didn't acknowledge him at first, but after a couple minutes he snapped out of his reverie and curled up against Sebastian's side. He looked as small and childlike as Sebastian had ever seen him. He could understand his young master's turmoil, how it would weigh heavy on his mind to be the reason many of his fellow orphans died, all while being separated from his parents.
Ciel picked up a book from the bedstand. "You're a fan of Poe as well?"
"I suppose I do care for it, yes."
He placed the ragged paperback in Sebastian's hands. "Read it to me?"
Sebastian was surprised by the request but did not show it, lest those mile thick walls come back up around Ciel. He was enjoying being on the other side of those barriers. He turned to the page he had read most often. Ciel's arm came to rest around his waist, his head pillowed on Sebastian's shoulder. Sebastian looked at the page out of habit but read from memory.
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."
He was aware of Ciel looking up at him while he read. Their faces were quite close, and Sebastian had to fight the urge to drop the book and kiss the solemn look right off his face. Instead, he continued, "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—Only this and nothing more."
He continued without interruption for some time. Ciel was alert but quiet, soaking up his words as though they were a tonic to his nerves. "Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!
Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore.'"
He made to conclude the poem when Ciel took the book away and closed it. "That's enough...thank you."
"I was nearly finished."
"My father often reads me poetry until I fall asleep. I have never let him finish reading The Raven. It's such a grave tale yet full of dark hope, I don't wish to know how it ends."
Confused but compliant, Sebastian let Ciel lean over to put the book back on the bedstand. "Very well."
Sebastian wondered if they were still talking about the poem. It seemed destined to end badly, much like Ciel's own circumstances, laced with hope but also with the inevitable knowledge that its ending would not be a happy one. He stroked his young master's hair and closed his eyes. Moments like these deserved to be savored, as he wouldn't get many more of them. He traced the brand on Ciel's ribs, wondering when his own raven would come rapping at his chamber door to signal the end of his story.
Vincent checked his gun. It was fully loaded. He sheathed it under his coat and ascended the stairs to the seemingly abandoned mansion, but he had staked it out enough nights to know this was where the cult was hiding. He couldn't wait for them to come to him. Either they were regrouping once they realized how formidable the Phantomhive servants were or they had realized Ciel was no longer in London, but no matter the reason, Vincent couldn't keep waiting for their next strike. He had to take them down while he still could.
At the door he took a final moment to remember his life. It had been a good one, all things considered. His wife was beautiful and, though they had not been able to have children of their own, Ciel felt like he was made to be part of their family. Vincent smiled. He was glad there would be someone to help Rachel through her grief. Ciel would make a fine successor as the lord of the manor. Likewise he knew if anyone could keep Ciel from retreating back into his shell, it was his endlessly compassionate wife.
He tried the doorknob to find it locked. He took a step back and blew the lock apart. The element of surprise didn't matter now. He kicked the door down and walked into a barrage of bullets, both his own and those of the cult. They seemed to be expecting him. He ducked behind a pillar to reload. It was blown apart right after he dropped to the ground, and his heart raced from the near miss. He had to stay alive long enough to end them.
Splinters of wood and the stuffing from furniture flew into the air as the mansion erupted into gunfire. He ripped his shirt open and felt the familiar tingle of the contract seal under his collarbone. "Sebastian!"
The room got considerably darker. Black feathers rose into the air, and when they settled to the ground a black clad butler stood at their center. Sebastian bowed and looked up with a fully demonized stare. "Yes, my lord."
Together they made their way through the aging mansion. Vincent counted down as they felled cult members. In his time following them, he had learned how many members it had. Nine, he thought as he kicked a man off the stairs and heard the crunch of his bones on the floor below. There was a spray of blood as Sebastian tore a man's throat out. Eight.
By the time they reached the end of the last hallway only two remained. Vincent felt the end pressing down on him. It threatened to suffocate him but he thought of Rachel and Ciel living happily, and found the strength to open the last door. He didn't bother loading his gun when he walked into the vast, empty room. His deadliest weapon stood right next to him.
He stood across the room from the remaining two members. Going by the description Ciel had given the authorities and the sketch in his file, one of them was the leader. Vincent thought of Ciel's marred face and vigilant behavior as though he could be attacked at any time. He wouldn't let himself be a child and this scum was the reason for that. Vincent stored his gun once more.
"Sebastian, this is an order. Kill them...painfully."
Vincent watched, unflinching as the men suffered. He saw Sebastian whisper something in the leader's ear and the man's eyes go wide before Sebastian laid him open with his claws. He stared down at his own intestines spilling out. Sebastian smiled, baring his fangs as he buried a single claw in one of the man's eyes. Vincent's stomach turned but he could see the justice in it. He knew this was more than his orders at work; Sebastian was enjoying this. It wasn't just his beastly demonic side taking over, either. Vincent could see the personal rage Sebastian was bestowing upon the man who he blamed for Ciel's suffering.
He blinked as blood splattered his cheek. Things had not gone as planned, that was for certain. He had made a deal with a devil for his wife to be able to bear a child in exchange for his soul. He contracted for one year, giving him time to be with Rachel through her pregnancy and meet their newborn child before he surrendered his soul to the devil who came to him in his most desperate moment in the form of a crow. Then Rachel's sister tearfully informed them she was too frail to survive childbirth if she was able to carry to term at all. Rachel had always been in poor health but Vincent had never thought the deal would be for nothing.
The last screams were dying away. Sebastian stood up, claws retracting into short, black fingernails. Nothing had gone as planned until a case given to him by the Queen crossed his path with that of Ciel. Rachel was so furious when he told her of the contract with Sebastian that he didn't think their marriage would last long enough to adopt their son, but when they met Ciel everything fell into place. Rachel had someone to give her love to after Vincent was gone, and the Queen's watchdog would be able to solve one last case.
He had some time left but he saw no reason to linger. His goodbyes had been said, in person to Rachel and in a letter to his son. He crossed the room to stand before Sebastian. "I'm ready."
Ciel had been waiting for hours, but Sebastian did not return. He had come looking for the demon in his chambers to find them empty. He now sat on the butler's bed, surrounded by his scent, wondering where he had gone. In his absence there was a deep sense of foreboding. Ciel couldn't explain why but he felt something was terribly wrong.
He picked up the book of poetry and turned to the last thing Sebastian had read him. He pressed his hand to the page, imagining the butler's gloved fingers there instead. In the past week he had spent most of his nights sleeping there. He had discovered Sebastian did not require sleep, but something about Ciel's presence seemed to relax him. He always slept on his side. Every night he would fall asleep without realizing it and, though Ciel was sure Sebastian knew he was doing it, would allow Ciel to remove his gloves and brush his bangs out of his eyes. Ciel had expected him to be still as a corpse when he slept but Sebastian's chest rose and fell like anyone else, exhaling through slightly parted lips. He looked so human and vulnerable.
The Raven was bookmarked with a glossy black feather. Ciel twirled it between his fingers, thinking of the first night he had seen Sebastian's true form show through his mortal exterior. He wondered if he would still be a virgin if Sebastian had not fled. They had done no more than kiss while they were in Paris, presumably because Sebastian could read his feelings on the matter, knowing Ciel felt it would be disrespectful right now. He couldn't imagine partaking in those carnal pleasures while his parents were in danger and his fellow orphans were being buried.
He began to read though his mind was elsewhere. Sitting in Sebastian's bed, thinking of the demon, he couldn't deny he felt more than just attraction for him. It ran deeper than that. The tightness in his chest when they kissed was not only from desire. He stared at the feather, recalling a time not too long ago when he didn't think it was possible for him to ever trust someone enough to love them. Now he had his parents...and, if he could bring himself to admit it, he had Sebastian.
"Where are you?" he murmured before laying the feather down again.
He returned his attention to his book. He could recite The Raven from memory but he still began to read it, with the knot in his stomach constricting ever tighter as he neared the end. Something wasn't right. He had started feeling this way as soon as they arrived in Paris but he had never been more uncertain of what the night would bring. His only certainty was that his world would not be the same when dawn broke.
"Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door," he said. "Quoth the raven 'Nevermore.'"
His heart grew heavier as he read the poem's ending. "And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming..." His hands began to tremble. In his mind he saw Sebastian and his parents, and their faces getting further and further away.
By the time he reached the verse's end, tears had welled in his eye. "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted – nevermore."