Chapter 3: The Chase

"You're saying that you randomly met an ice elf coming out of the flower shop and she just told you who she was without even being the least bit cautious around you?" Ciel asked, the bewilderment clear in his voice. Alexandra nodded once and the earl was left to absorb the new information that she had given him. It seemed so random to him, but then again, one met a lot of people by just bumping into them accidentally on the street. He looked up at her again and noticed the slight anxiety in her expression. He stood up from his chair and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up at him and he noticed how blue her eyes actually were. He was still surprised that she was born with blue eyes instead of crimson. However, this was cleared up by an explanation on Azaja's part. He told him that his mother had blue eyes and that was just the gene that was chosen when Alexandra was first conceived. He pushed the thought back and stared at Alexandra.

"We're not mad at you. We're just...confused, that's all."

"I know. I just feel foolish for telling her my profession as a part-time detective and that she wants to help us with the case-"

"Wait a minute. This person that you barely even know wants to help us solve a case?" Sebastian now spoke up. Ciel could hear the slight strain in his voice. He ignored it and stared at Alexandra.

"Well, yes, she does. I tried to convince her not to, since I don't want her getting hurt. But she insisted and..."

"You gave in." Ciel said calmly.

"Yes. She also said that she was good at snooping around and getting information." Sebastian walked over to where Ciel and Alexandra were and ruffled his daughter's hair slightly. Ciel watched it in complete silence. Alexandra turned her head to look at the butler, a baffled expression on her features.

"If she says that she's good at snooping around, which you've already stated, then we'll have to incorporate her into the investigation."

"But we'll have to be extra cautious, now that we have two young women working with us." Azaja's voice echoed through the dining room. Everyone turned to stare in his direction and Alexandra couldn't help but smile. He came over to the table and placed both hands on the edge of it. His eyes glanced over toward Sebastian and Ciel, waiting for them to say something. The two turned to one another, trying to come up with an answer. Then they turned back and nodded simultaneously.

"Yes, we'll need to be a bit more cautious with the case." Ciel said. Azaja nodded once and removed his hands from the table, shoving them into the trench coat's pockets.

"Do we have new information yet?" Azaja asked.

"Not much. Although we did find something else out." Ciel replied.

"Hm?"

"We finally figured out the name of Lawrence's rival. Their name is Katelyn Wolf."

"A woman, eh?" Now Azaja sounded interested. Ciel could see the small flame beginning to burn within his eyes and, he had to admit, he liked it a bit. He smiled himself and nodded.

"Yes. We're going to talk to her tomorrow and we'll need to bring Alexandra with us. It may be easier for this rival to talk to a female rather than a male."

"But if something goes wrong..."

"Sebastian will handle it."

"I'll just stand outside the place just in case he can't handle it by himself."

"Your choice, my friend." Azaja nodded once, turned on his heels, and walked out of the room. Ciel took his hand off of Alexandra's shoulder, but he could still see the slight tension in her. He poked Sebastian's shoulder and motioned toward her. He nodded once and Ciel made his way out of the room. Sebastian sat down next to Alexandra and placed a hand over hers.

"Alexandra, it's alright. You can tell me anything. What's wrong?"

"I just don't want to place her in harm's way."

"Who? Your new friend?"

"Yes, her. I don't know if she'll be able to handle what we're dealing with. I don't think she's ever been in this kind of situation before."

"Well, you know that your father and I are going to be there, along with my master, in case something goes wrong. Don't worry about it too much. If she was telling the truth, she'll be able to handle this."

"If you say so."

"Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep? Take your mind off of this for a little while. It'll help clear your head."

"Okay." The two of them stood up at the same time, pushed the chairs in, and headed out of the room. They went their separate ways when they reached the stairs and Alexandra went to her room while Sebastian went to the supplies closet to reorganize it a bit.

Alexandra went inside of her room and shut the door behind her and locked it after a few seconds of hesitation. She then walked over to her bed, took off the dress, corset, and the dress underneath, laid them on the back of a chair, and changed into her night clothes, which consisted of her dark gray tank top and the black short-shorts. She went over to her desk, sat down in the chair, opened her journal to a new page, took the quill out of its ink vial and removing any excess ink, and began to write.

Date: March 22, 1906

Time: 11: 45 p.m.

Dear Journal,

Today was probably one of the strangest days I have ever encountered. It started off normal, meeting up with the Scotland Yard chief and talking about the case back at the mansion. It was when I went for a walk into the city that the awkwardness began. I bumped into an ice elf named Ivy Manchester at the flower shop and, I have to say, I've never heard anyone as peppy or whose voice can go up that high than hers. She told me a bit about herself and told me that her dream was either to become an ice sculptor or a detective. I then told her about myself, being a part-time detective, and she wanted in on whatever case I was working. So I told her and she still wanted in. I tried to convince her not to, but I guess my words didn't quite penetrate her. I still worry for her and what's going to happen tomorrow. We are going to meet with Lawrence's rival, Katelyn Wolf. I don't even know if Ivy's going to be there. I don't even know where she lives. How am I going to involve her when I don't want her involved in this? I'll figure something out by tomorrow.

Alexandra Michaelis

Alexandra closed the journal and just sat there at her desk, staring out the window. What was she going to do? She placed her face in her hands and groaned in slight frustration. She forced herself to breathe deeply. She needed to be rational about this. She couldn't afford to make a mistake now. It could be disastrous if she made the wrong decision. She took her face out from her hands and stood up from her chair, walking over to the window. She grabbed a garnet-colored silk robe from the coat hanger in between the desk and the window and slipped it on, tying the belt into a tight knot. She leaned forward slightly, placing her hands on the windowsill. Her blue eyes scanned the front yard, looking for anything unusual. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. However, this was contradicted by a tiny patch of white moving toward the mansion at a considerable speed. What is that? She peered closer, hoping that would help her distinguish what it was. It didn't do her much good, but she wasn't about to give up. As the white patch became larger and larger, she began to recognize what it was. Why is she here?! I didn't even tell her where I lived! She stood straight up, looking down into the front yard with a horror-stricken face. Suddenly, the patch jumped up and at her window, causing Alexandra to panic. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?! Aaagh! She ran backward into her room, tripping and falling onto her bed. A person landed on the windowsill and stared at Alexandra with sparkling eyes.

"W-w-w-what are y-y-you doing here, Ivy? I didn't even tell you where I resided!" Alexandra spoke, horror and shock in her voice.

"Well, after I got back home, I asked my mom where Ciel Phantomhive lived and told me that he resided in a mansion just outside of London. And since you said that you were working with him on the case, I assumed that you would be here, too." Ivy answered happily.

"You're definitely more than meets the eye."

"Right you are!" Ivy leapt into her room and walked over to Alexandra's bed, a hand outstretched to her.

"Here, let's get you up." Alexandra was too stunned to speak at this point. She shakily lifted a hand and placed it in Ivy's. She noticed that her skin was cool like the time when she laid a hand on her shoulder, but it was also smooth to the touch, almost like glass. She gripped her hand and Ivy pulled her up, steadying her so she could stand on her own. They let go and looked at each other.

"You said that you want to help us with the case, right?"

"I sure do!"

"Well, I'll tell you what I know so far. The victim was a tailor named Lawrence Manchester. He has a rival named Katelyn Wolf, and his boss said that things between them has been tense between them as of late. We suspect that she killed him, but we're not too sure. We're going to meet her tomorrow and find out what she knows about our victim. That's all I know right now."

"That sounds pretty intense. You're going, too, I assume."

"Yes. Ciel thinks that me being there will make it somewhat easier to talk to this person."

"Sounds reasonable to me." Alexandra was somewhat surprised by Ivy's response. But then again, it made perfect sense to her as well. She straightened out the robe a bit and looked at her new friend again. She noticed the sparkle in her eyes and wanted to groan out loud and tell her that she didn't need to put herself needlessly in harm's way. However, the words seemed to die in her throat. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at the floor, letting out a soft sigh.

"Is something up, Alexandra?" Ivy asked in a worried voice, having heard the sigh. Alexandra shook her head and lifted it, giving Ivy a small smile.

"No. I just hope we don't screw up tomorrow. I'll go tell Ciel that you'll be accompanying me on tomorrow's trip."

"Yay!" Ivy wrapped her arms around the young fire demon, squeezing her tight. Alexandra couldn't breathe that well, but she just didn't have the heart to say so. She wasn't about to make a friend feel bad, now was she?

Morning had come around sooner than Alexandra had intended, and she did not feel prepared to face the trial she was about to undergo. However, she had the support of Ciel, Sebastian, Azaja, and her new friend Ivy. She was somewhat comforted by that, but still had butterflies in her stomach. She had put on a dark purple dress with frills lining the bottom of it, her black one-inch high heels, and her snow white gloves. She had gone downstairs and discovered that everyone else was already waiting for her, including Ivy in a bright pink dress. Alexandra met up with them and the five of them reviewed what they were going to do once they got to Katelyn Wolf's shop; Azaja was to stand guard at the entrance, Ciel, Sebastian, and Alexandra would go inside and question her based on the case, and Ivy was supposed to keep a lookout from inside the carriage.

Now, they were headed back into London to confront this so-called rival and Alexandra was feeling the heat. She had never done something like this before. She was used to watching Sebastian and Ciel confront culprits, expose them, and send them to jail with the help of the Scotland Yard. She was now being asked to join them in an interrogation of a suspect. Her grip tightened on the fabric of the dress and, unbeknownst to her, Ciel had caught this. Azaja was looking out the opposite window and Ivy was up front with Sebastian, possibly chatting away with him on something. Ciel sighed and stared out the window opposite of Azaja's. Maybe I shouldn't have asked her to do this. He thought absently.

The carriage came to a stop almost an hour later and Ciel got out of it, followed by Alexandra and Azaja. Ivy immediately ran over to the young fire demon's side and Ciel stood in front of Sebastian, Azaja beside him.

"Everyone knows what they're supposed to do?" He asked, his voice full of seriousness and authority. He looked around at them and saw them all nod their heads. He nodded once himself and motioned for Azaja to take his place as guard at the front door. Ivy crept away from Alexandra and slipped into the carriage, shutting the door behind her without getting her dress stuck in it. Sebastian, Ciel, and Alexandra headed for the store front. Sebastian grabbed the door handle and pulled back, letting the two of them in. Once they were inside, he crept in and scanned the area for any signs of life.

"Katelyn Wolf? Are you there?" He called out. No answer. This struck him as odd. Why wouldn't she have heard them, but have left the door unlocked? He began to ponder this as the three of them scoured the store, trying to find any sign of the woman. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain, even after searching it from top to bottom (which took almost half an hour). The three of them met up at the front of the store, Ciel being severely annoyed, Alexandra being confused as all hell, and Sebastian still pondering the thought in his head. Ciel sighed and led them outside, where Azaja waited.

"So, how did it go?" He asked as soon as Ciel came out of the shop. The earl sighed in annoyance and shook his head.

"I'm guessing we didn't get any information out of her."

"Yeah, we didn't because she wasn't there."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she was not in the shop."

"We'll have to search London for her."

"This is going to take hours to do."

"I know. We'll have to split up from here and scour what we can before sundown. We'll regroup in front of here and conclude what we have or have not found."

"Sounds as good as any other plan we could've come up with." Azaja smiled a bit, annoying the earl a bit more. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed somewhat loudly. Sebastian could see the tension in his master. He then spoke up,

"Who is going to be on what teams?"

"They will be three separate teams. Alexandra and Ivy search the east part of London. You and Sebastian search west. I'll search north. If anyone is done checking their part of the city before sundown, they can search south. Any questions?" Azaja replied. No one spoke up about anything. He nodded and motioned for them to proceed with their missions. Ciel and Sebastian went their way, Azaja went his way, and Alexandra was left to get Ivy so they could do their part. She knocked on the carriage door and a few seconds later it opened, revealing Ivy with a pair of binoculars.

"Ivy, we need to search the east end of town."

"Why's that?"

"The suspect isn't in their tailor shop. We need to find her before it's too late."

"Okay!" Ivy jumped out of the carriage, making Alexandra leap backwards in fright. After she recovered from the shock of almost being hit straight in the head and possibly knocked out cold, the carriage door was closed and the girls finally began their search for the suspect.

It had been almost three hours since they started their search, and the two young women were not having any leads. Alexandra was growing slightly frustrated at the situation, while Ivy was getting tired of walking around. Alexandra just didn't know what else to do but keep searching for the suspect. Where the hell is she? She better pop up soon or I'm going to punch a wall and leave a huge ol' dent in it. The two turned a corner onto another street. People were buzzing around, doing their business, just like any other day. But there was still no sign of her. How could she be so elusive? The fire demon began to think about this. Ivy watched her friend as she pondered this particular thought. She glanced toward someone coming toward them and poked Alexandra a couple times on the shoulder.

"What?"

"See that pink-haired girl coming toward us? Maybe she can help us out. "

"How do you know that?"

"What other choice do we have right now?"

"Hmm. You have a point. Let's go ask her." The two of them headed for the pink-haired woman at a casual pace, not wanting to look suspicious to anyone else. They stopped walking suddenly when the woman stopped in front of them, a slightly confused look on her face.

"Uumm, do you need any help? You look lost." The woman said.

"No, we're not lost. Okay, technically, we're lost. But not in the way that you're thinking of." Alexandra answered.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, we're looking for a person named Katelyn Wolf."

"Why do you need to find her?"

"She might be involved with a case of ours. We're detectives, and we were wondering whether or not you know where she is. Can you help us find her?"

"Sure! I'd love to!"

"By the way, we'll need to know your name, in case we need to contact you again."

"Annabelle Jobson be my name!"

"Okay...I'm Alexandra Michaelis, and this is my partner, Ivy Manchester." Ivy beamed when she was mentioned. She actually called me her partner! Can this day get any better?! Her mind squealed in delight. She glanced over to her friend, seeing what she would do next.

"Do you want to help us track this person?" Alexandra asked.

"Sure! I've always wanted to have an adventure like this!" Alexandra was about to tell her that the case wasn't exactly an exciting adventure like the ones people read in novels, but then thought better of it. She instead nodded, turned around swiftly on her heels, and began to walk away. Annabelle and Ivy noticed this and began to follow her. The three of them began to search again. Alexandra, as she was checking shops and talking to people, was being bugged by three things. One: why was this person called Annabelle being so cooperative with them? Two: who or what was she? From her training with Azaja, she could sense someone's power level through their aura (although she wasn't an expert on it yet). It seemed, what she could conclude from what she felt, the woman was definitely not human. Could she be a demon, or possibly an angel? She just couldn't tell. And three: why did the suspect ditch their shop before they even got there? Was she leading them on a wild goose chase? It was true that Ciel's cases were well-known in London, since he was the Queen's Watchdog. Could it be possible that she was trying to not get caught by him? She just didn't know this. Her attention was diverted from her thoughts when Ivy suddenly yelled,

"I spotted her!" She pointed to where the suspect went; down an alley.

"After her!" The three of them ran in the direction where the suspect went. They ran through the street, through several alleyways, and in and out of shops. Somehow, no damage was being done to any of the property in the stores. As they were on the chase, Alexandra began to realize something. She was beginning to recognize the route that they were being led on. After a few more minutes of chasing the woman, it hit her like a punch to the face; she's leading us straight back to her shop! She sped up, the realization welling up in her. Ivy and Annabelle noticed this and picked up their own speed. Before they knew it, they were back on the street that the suspect's shop was on. Alexandra was beginning to grow concerned and slightly frightened by it. The suspect then did something that shocked the entire group; she got up on the front of the carriage the Phantomhive estate owned and snapped the reins, causing the horses to whinny loudly and take off. Alexandra bit her lip so hard it drew a bit of blood. Suddenly, she just had an urge to scream and could not contain it.

"CRAP!" She then went speeding off in the direction the carriage went in, leaving Ivy and Annabelle to watch in horror as their new friend chased it down...

Oh, I love good chase scenes! Will Alexandra catch up to the carriage, and if she does, what will she do to the suspect? Hmm...