"He said Malik. Who in the world is Malik?" Alois asked as he watched Claude dust the bookshelves.
"Obviously it is a person" Claude pointed out.
"Ciel's asleep" Sebastian said walking into the room.
"She finally got to sleep after tossing and turning?" Alois asked.
"It seems so. She went and did some boxing down in the gym to let out her frustration" Sebastian replied.
"She must be pretty angry. Her only lead to the head of drug circle is now dead" Alois said.
"Malik is obviously a code for something. Maybe Ciel understands the code" Claude said.
"I do know it" Ciel said from where she was leaning against the doorway.
"Hey, C, did you sleep?" Alois asked.
"Couldn't sleep, had a nightmare" Ciel replied.
She walked into the room and curled up on the couch. Sebastian sat down beside her and took her into his arms.
"So who's Malik?" Alois asked.
"I don't know that but what Tanner said to me, I've heard someone else say it a long time ago" Ciel replied.
"Who? When?" Sebastian asked.
"The night of the fire. I was only ten years old..."
"Ciel, honey, could you get the phone for me? I need to check on the chicken" Terri asked.
"Sure, mum"
Ciel raced out to the hallway and picked up the phone. She held it up to her ear and said hello. There was someone breathing heavily into the phone.
"Hello? Who is this?" Ciel asked.
"Ciel? Who's on the phone?" Terri asked as she poked her head out of the kitchen.
"Malik sends you his greetings and your parents his goodbyes" the call was cut off.
Ciel froze and turned around.
"Mum!"
There was a scream and the kitchen exploded. Ciel ran into the kitchen with her hand covering her mouth and nose to try and find her mother. There was another explosion from upstairs and Ciel glanced up at the ceiling.
"Dad..."
"Ciel, help me!"
Ciel ran towards her mother and pushed the collapsed table off her mother. She grabbed her mother's hand and dragged her out of the kitchen. By the time they got out, the fire had already reached the front parlor.
"Ciel, where's your father?" Terri asked.
"I don't know, mum. Let's just get out of here" Ciel replied.
Just then a support beam cracked and fell right behind Terri.
"Ciel, get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving without you, Mom!"
"I'm right behind you, Ciel. Just run!"
"The fire happened right after I got that call. I never found out who called or where the call came from. It was the same name, Malik. Malik killed my parents. When I heard the name again from Tanner, I felt rage like never before. The lead was right there in front of me and in an instant it was gone" Ciel hugged her knees to her chest.
"We need to find this Malik" Alois said.
"How? It might be a name of person, place or it could even be a fake name" Claude asked.
"If it's used more than twice, it isn't a fake name" Sebastian pointed out.
"Isn't Malik an Arabic name?" Alois asked.
"It means 'king' or 'ruler'" Sebastian replied.
"Just forget it. I don't think we can find this guy" Ciel said.
"We can try" Alois said.
"No we shouldn't. Malik is dangerous. He burnt my house with my parents in it to the ground. He might even be watching us right now" Ciel said.
"Fine, we won't look for him. Because the great Countess Phantomhive is too afraid to look for him" Alois said.
"Alois..." Claude's voice trailed off as Ciel's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes I am afraid of him. Because if he could kill my parents, he could kill you and Luke too. I don't want to lose anyone anymore" Ciel ran out of the room.
"That was uncalled for" Sebastian said to Alois before following Ciel out of the room.
"Arghhhh!" Alois punched the wall with his fist.
"Sometimes, you should not let your anger cloud your judgment" Claude said.
"I know. I should go apologise" Alois said.
"Later. Let her be comforted by Sebastian first" Claude wrapped his arms around Alois.
Ciel curled up under the blankets in her room. She shivered as she remembered the fire and charred bodies of her parents.
"Ciel, are you in here?" Sebastian asked.
"Go away. I don't want to see anyone" Ciel replied and Sebastian ripped the blanket off her.
"Not even me?"
"Fine you can stay. But only because you give great hugs" Ciel replied pouting.
Sebastian chuckled and lifted Ciel into a sitting position like a rag doll. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Ciel sighed and closed her eyes. The front door suddenly burst open and Ciel jumped.
"Who in the world is that?" Sebastian wondered.
Downstairs, the triplets were in their fighting stances ready to defend against this unknown stranger.
"Who is it?" Alois asked walking down the stairs with Claude.
"You? What are you doing here?" Ciel asked from behind Alois.
Angelea sighed. "Believe me, I would be anywhere but here".
"So leave" Alois said.
"I can't. I've been ordered by my boss to join you on missions" Angelea said.
"No way would the Queen allow it. The missions are for us to solve and are completely confidential until Her Majesty releases it to the public" Ciel said.
"I have a letter from my boss confirming this" Angelea said. She shuffled the things in her bag and then handed the letter to Ciel.
"You can stay but I'll need to write to the Queen about this. If she gives the all clear then you can help on missions" Ciel said after reading the letter.
"Right this way, madam" Claude said taking Angelea's bags.
"I suppose chivalry isn't really dead" Angelea said with a wink towards Claude.
"It's not chivalry, it's his job" Alois snapped and Angelea frowned.
"Relax" Ciel placed a hand on Alois's shoulder.
"It's nearly time for dinner. I should go start the preparations" Sebastian walked away.
"Listen, Ciel. I'm sorry for what I said. I know you're scared of Malik. Everyone is afraid of someone. I just... I'm really sorry" Alois bowed his head.
Ciel smiled and hugged Alois. "It's okay, A"
Alois grinned and hugged his best friend. Ciel ruffled the back of his head and they let go of each other.
"Wanna go bug Sebby in the kitchen?" Alois asked and Ciel nodded.
They both raced off to the kitchen where Hannah and Sebastian were hard at work. Ciel snatched one of the freshly baked cookies from the plate and handed it to Alois. Alois broke it in half and handed half to Ciel.
"Naughty teenagers should not be in the kitchens" Hannah said, amused at their antics.
Ciel grabbed another cookie before Hannah could snatch the plate away. She ate it up quickly and then sat down. Alois began chatting away about his group's musical number and Ciel's thoughts turned to Arran. She wondered how his trial would go and her thoughts turned to Malik.
Then an idea struck her. Everyone in the inner circle probably knew who Malik was. All she had to do was find a person who was in the inner circle and she would be able to find who Malik was.
"Stop thinking about it and relax for a bit" Sebastian whispered to Ciel as he passed her.
She nodded and then turned to Alois and Hannah's conversation. Sebastian smiled but then observed Ciel quietly out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't as happy as she normally would be. She was quieter and every now and then she would space out and then shake herself out of the stupor.
Sebastian's fist clenched. He wanted to kill Malik, whoever he was for hurting Ciel this much.
Wherever you are Malik, I hope you die a slow painful death.
I didn't realize that I would get more than 200 reviews for this story. Thank you! I enjoyed the reviews on how readers want Ciel and Sebby to marry and have a kid. I will try to see it happening but right now I'm focusing on the missions and the climax of the story.
Keep reviewing.
Onyxinlife
