Chapter Six
"Sister, sister, he's finally awake! Come, fetch him some porridge, he must be starving. Now, now, Ciel, there's no need to worry, you're safe with us. Your family's here for you."
Said boy blinked through the haze. His mother hovered over him, her big blue eyes shining with worry and relief, a kind smile stretching her face. "Moth-"
"Shh, Ciel. Aunt Angelina's coming with something warm for you to eat," his mother said, placing a delicate finger over his lips in order to silence him. "Here, I'll help you sit up."
Obliging, Ciel sat up in the cocoon of blankets he was swathed in. He felt warm and safe, his mother's reassuring and familiar touch relaxing him.
The door to his bedroom opened, and his aunt entered with a full tray. She smiled at him as she closed the door with her foot. "I'm glad you're finally awake, nephew. You had us all worried for quite some time."
Ciel wanted to comment, to ask a question, but his mother's sudden hug kept his lips sealed. "You've no idea how much we prayed for your safe return and good health, Ciel." She kissed his temple lovingly and pulled away with a watery smile. His aunt drew nearer to the bed; the aroma of cinnamon porridge made his empty stomach grumble.
Taking the tray from her sister, his mother set it on his lap. He missed their exchanged glances, his mind and stomach too preoccupied with the food before him. "Dig right in Ciel…oh it's so good you've finally come back to us."
Although being doted on wasn't his favorite thing in the world, Ciel smiled at the familiar, kind faces before him. "I missed you, too," he said quietly before digging into the warm meal. It was when the bowl was half empty that he started to feel that something was wrong.
"Ciel, are you alright?" his mother asked with furrowed brows, her hand moving to rest against his forehead. "You don't look well. Ann, would you be a dear and fetch a bucket and wet cloth, please?"
The room abruptly felt many degrees hotter. Ciel peeled the blankets from his body, only to find himself in nothing but a long shirt. However, he didn't feel any cooler. His stomach lurched and cramped and he grabbed at his middle as if it would make it stop. "Mother…?"
"Hush, child," his mother whispered, stroking his hair back, her hands catching the sweat from his brow. She pushed him back gently to lie down against the mattress, her expression one of relaxed pleasure, not disquiet as he would have expected, and Ciel had the strange inkling to avoid her touch.
"You're not…my mother," he rasped out, the temperature continuing to rise. His room was starting to take on a melting effect, and everything appeared distorted. Through his cloudy vision, he could see that his mother wasn't sitting beside him anymore. In her place was something completely different.
Ruffled dark brown hair cascaded down her slender yet heavily marred naked back. Full breasts were stamped with scars and tattoos of peculiar symbols that crept down her surprisingly supple body. Her ears were pointed and decorated with trinkets, her red eyes sharp and severe. Jagged teeth teasingly poked out between her plump lips.
The door to the rapidly dissipating room slammed open this time, revealing a similar creature. "Sister, I've got what ye requested. 'Ow is the poor dear?" It was no longer his Aunt Angelina, but a double of the horrid creature before him.
"Everythin's workin' as it should," the creature spoke, her gnarled fingers lightly touching his neck, slipping under his shirt to caress his chest. Ciel's breath hitched as the simple contact caused his skin to burn. He realized that the creatures were still speaking with his mother's and aunt's voices.
He closed his eyes, feeling unbearably drowsy and unable to move. "Don't-t…" he managed, his throat suddenly engulfed in a fiery inflammation. He could feel his shirt being pushed up and over his head and he flushed with embarrassment as their gazes and curious hands roved across his drugged and naked body.
"Ah, but Ciel-darlin', we be riddin' ye of all that foul 'pire blood ye've drunk. Doesn't that make ye happy? Ye'll be ye again."
Biting his bottom lip, Ciel shuddered as their hands tickled his sides. The creatures cackled here and there, something he couldn't see amusing them greatly. Another ripple of scorching heat surged through his body, leaving Ciel in a growing puddle of his own sweat.
Their malformed hands continued to slither across his body as if endeavoring to soothe his pain. Ciel could see that the moon was overhead now, as well as that they were in the heart of an ancient home with crumbled walls laced with ivy. "Sister," the one with his aunt's voice inquired, heaving the bucket between them, "'ow much longer?"
The other looked to the sky inquisitively and then at Ciel. "We can start now, e's ready. 'Ave ye gotten the fire ready?"
"I 'ave."
"Good, then go fetch sum of the coals; make sure they be from the center, they ought to be hot."
Ciel could feel his body starting to cool, and his innards didn't seem as distressed. His throat unclamped. "What are you-?"
"Shh, Ciel," the creature said again, putting a hand across his mouth this time. "Yer goin' to be a good lad fer us and keep quiet no matter the pain, alright? There's a lot on the line for me sister and meself, and if we don't do this purification properly 'cause ye be hollerin' too much…well, I'm sure ye catch me drift."
The other creature returned before Ciel could even comprehend what he was just told. He tried to turn away, to stand up, to curl into himself, but whatever that porridge had done, it had rendered him as helpless as a ragdoll.
Both the creatures moved, preparing whatever ritual they planned to carry out on him. Ciel attempted not to watch them as they unsheathed knives that glinted in the moonbeam, or as they murmured in another language with trinkets clasped between their hands, but it was a losing battle. Some of the scalding coals were tossed into the bucket of water. They hissed with shrill screams, going out with puffs of smoke. Ciel wondered whether or not he'd share a similar fate.
When he thought they were going to turn their attention back to him, Ciel prayed for his family. He prayed for rescue. He prayed for Sebastian's arrival without realizing it.
"Alright, Ciel-darlin', are ye ready? This'll be done an' over-wit before ye realize it," his mother's now skewed voice said almost cheerily. The creature held a sharp knife in one hand, a hot coal in the other. The creature behind her held unusual looking herbs.
Kneeling beside him, the creature set the coal down and ran her warm hand up his body gingerly, starting at his knee. Her slow touch made him writhe weakly, and he wanted to tell her to stop. However, only the whites of her eyes were visible, her mouth slightly parted as she appeared to be searching for something.
Respiring heavily, her dark eyes reappeared. Her hand compressed just above his right breastbone. "There be a large c'lection of venom 'ere, sister," she said, pressing down until it hurt.
"Anywhere else?"
The hand slid across his body again, seeking whatever "venom" that was inside him. Ciel tried to block out the touching and prodding. He jerked as his waist was poked. "'Ere's another pocket, sister. 'At's all there is."
They both gave identical grunts, and Ciel squeezed his eyes shut as the knife came back into clear view, its metal gleaming threateningly. The hand over his breastplate shifted away, and he tensed in terrible anticipation as he realized that they intended to cut him. He gasped with a small cry as his skin was sliced open, but he hardly expected to start screaming as the hot coal was viciously shoved against the bleeding wound. The herbs were then hastily thrust in with bloodied fingers, his broken skin then crudely sewn up. The sisters then softly placed one of their charms over their crude handiwork and murmured a chant.
By the time they started the painful process on his waist, Ciel had blacked out as a chilly glow gently swept through his veins.
Ciel didn't know how many days – or could it have only been hours? – had passed since he'd taken company with the two creatures. Other than their bizarre ritual and sticking him in a cage, they had treated him nicely, cooing at him as if he were their child. He was given odd bits of food – mostly apples and bread – but he never once thanked them. A couple times he questioned what they planned to do with him.
"My sister and me 'ave been deemed special on 'count of our 'bilities to properly prepare things tha' are ta go to the markets," the leader of the two explained to him.
"What markets?"
She merely stroked his cheek lovingly, running her fingers through his hair; Ciel resisted the urge to bite at them. "Aw, aren't ye an adorable thing?" That was always her response, and it made Ciel feel terrible every time she or her sister said it.
It was when Ciel was starting to nod off when the duo came and took him out of his cage. His hands were bound, and he used them to hide himself since his only shirt had been soiled by blood, and therefore discarded. He asked where they were going, too weak to even think about running off, but their only reply had been to knock him out.
Someone was chanting when he woke next. A nauseating smell filled his nostrils and his stomach churned uncomfortably. He was in yet another locked cage. But the sisters were nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a large and curious crowd of appalling sights.
Upturned noses littered with scars and long yellowed fangs, smoke-black fingernails and bloody goop filled his vision on the other side of the bars. A couple cackles and jeers were directed at him in an unknown language. He was still naked, he noticed, and attempted to hide himself.
Where in the world…?
Surveying to his left and right, Ciel noticed other things housed in cages. Some appeared to be human like him, others had fair skin with pointed ears, and some were stout and unattractive. Ciel glanced away with shame when he realized that they were all just as bare as he was.
Suddenly the horde grew to a volume that was thunderous. There were shouts and creatures shoved ferociously at one another. Some knocked into his cage, causing Ciel to instinctively curl into a ball in order to protect himself. The commotion, however, only got louder and the elbowing grew even rougher with each passing second. Then there was an obvious break in the hectic pattern as a high pitched squeal ripped through the air.
Unclamping his eyes, Ciel quickly understood the cause of the ruckus as a girl with pointed ears and pale features was forcibly yanked out of her small prison. A ghastly and utterly disgusting pig of a monster grabbed at her roughly, throwing coins behind him.
They had been betting for her.
Slapping his hands over his ears and burying his face into his knees, Ciel tried with all his might to block out the girl's cries as the beast ripped her to shreds with his claws and rotten teeth. Squelching sounds he didn't wish to identify passed through his hands unbidden as frightened tears built up behind his eyes.
So this was his fate. To be bought and eaten in the most dismaying and humiliating of ways.
Ciel didn't understand why he even bothered to care, but he supposed Sebastian just thought of him as a missed meal. There was hardly a reason to search; another dinner would show up sooner or later. Ciel could feel his gut sink to its lowest point at the thought; all he could think about was how much time he had left.
"'Ey, 'ow much fer the white rat?" a coarse voice called out over the now calmed crowd. Hundreds of eyes seemed to swivel to Ciel's cage, and his whole body tensed to the point of pain. No one came forward, and Ciel's eyes darted this way and that, trying to locate the monster who'd taken interest in him.
"'Our hundred," another gruff voice called out, presumably the master of the market.
"I can do tha'," the first bellowed back. The mob murmured expectantly. There was a pregnant pause.
"Anybody else wish ta bet on this scra' o' meat?" the dealer offered, opening the stakes.
The noise was deafening. The mass started thrashing and crying out numbers, some tried to reach and grab at Ciel in his cage. There were gurgling roars and a spray of blood hit the side of his prison, wetting his arm and thigh. Ciel thought they all could go on forever.
"Four thousand!" a voice cried out above all the rest. Unknown objects fell to the ground with a heavy clatter, and many if not all the creatures emitted low, murder-laced growls.
"Sold! Yer a lucky 'un!" the market master declared. The gathering of monsters started to disperse, but no one immediately came to his cage. An unconscious shiver of hope sparked in Ciel as he thought of the possibility of not ending up like the girl.
Trembling, Ciel finally was able to see who had bought him. His face was obscured and he was covered in black from head to toe. Beside him walked a portly creature bedecked with warts and slime. Keys jingled in his fat hand.
Scooting back until the bars started digging into his flesh painfully, Ciel winced as his cage was unlocked with an ear-piercing creak. Sausage fingers greasy with grime reached for him, grasping his blood-stained arm. Ciel was simply wrenched out of the rusting metal box without too much thought.
Somehow he managed to stand on his feet. His ankle was badly swollen by now, but he didn't pay much mind to it. The chain and shackle were still bound to him, oddly enough. His hands immediately shot down to cover himself as he was presented to his purchaser, and thankfully the creature before him didn't appear to care. The market master moved away when the creature granted him a large purse of coinage.
A gloved hand reached out; fingers curled under Ciel's chin, lifting his head and turning it side to side. Ciel kept his eyes glued to the ground, able to feel the creature's scrutinizing gaze even through the black mask he wore. His heart thudded, expecting with every fiber in his being to be pounced upon and eaten in the most gruesome way possible.
But the hand merely slipped away for a moment, and Ciel couldn't resist looking to see what he was rifling for in a bag over his shoulder. His breath caught in his throat when the creature drew out a crude looking collar. He was about to click it around Ciel's neck when an enraged shout echoed from behind.
Ciel would never admit it, but his heart leapt. It soared from the most hellish place within his entire being with such energy that he fell to his knees. He gave a choked sob.
With a rage that would put the Devil himself to shame, Sebastian strode up to the hidden creature, his red eyes aflame, and his fangs out at their fullest and sharpest. His fingers twitched in angry anticipation of tearing something apart in the most violent of ways. Claude and a frightened Alois trailed some ways behind him, and the crowd became curious at the sudden commotion and formed a lose circle around them.
Giving a heated hiss at the silent creature, Sebastian's voice was low and serious, "Can you not tell that he is clearly marked?" Ciel quaked in fear of the deadly note lacing it.
The creature in black stood with his back to his newest purchase, blocking Ciel from Sebastian's view. He held his hands out and spoke in another language, sounding as if he were calmly negotiating.
However, Ciel could tell that Sebastian would have lunged at him right then and there if it weren't for Claude placing a hand on his shoulder. Nevertheless, Sebastian managed to catch a fistful of the creature's cloak and pull him close.
"I don't give a fucking care how you bought him. He is mine, and he was stolen from me," the vampire jeered with a deadly edge. He shoved the creature back with disgust. "And if you're smart, you'll avoid a fight with me, understood?"
The hidden creature said nothing, but by his stance, Ciel had the inkling that he was now just as enraged as Sebastian. However, he stepped down after a few tense moments.
With a warning snarl to the creature and the rest of the gathering against anything funny, Sebastian moved to Ciel. He swung his own cloak from his shoulder and draped it over Ciel in order to warm his barren body. Sebastian then gathered him in his arms, and Ciel unconsciously rested his head against the vampire's shoulder, feeling exhausted now that he knew he was securely out of harm's way.
Without a backward glance to the enraptured mass, Sebastian turned briskly on his heel, intent on returning home.
A/N: As weird as this may sound, I absolutely adore this chapter. Love me some Ciel hurt/comfort, I do. :3 Though, I was surprised by how many of you thought I'd kill Ciel off...have some cookies, sorry I worried you all x3 Anyways, thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave a comment~!
