Two figures crept slowly down a long hallway. The two moved as quietly as they could, not daring to make a single sound. With the curtains drawn over the windows, the hallway was pitch-black. The darkness, while it concealed them nicely, also had its disadvantages, which the taller of the two figured out the hard way. The figure caught his foot on a nearby bench and nearly crashed to the floor. A variety of curse words fell from the stranger's mouth, only to be cut off by a hand covering its mouth. The other figure hushed the first and sent a glare. The first stranger moved away from the hand before smiling sheepishly. After walking a few more feet, they came to a large double door. They looked at each other before slowly opening it. They tiptoed inside and shut the door softly. They then proceeded to make their way over to a sleeping form. In the bed was a small boy with blue-gray hair, wrapped up in an oversized blanket. The nodded to each other before taking a deep breath and shouting…

"Happy Birthday, Ciel!"

The little boy bolted upright and gave a small shout of surprise. He looked in shock at the two people in his room before a bright smile appeared on his face. "Mother! Father!" He cried. The said Father reached down and scooped up the birthday boy, who let out a squeal of joy and wrapped his arms around the man's neck.

"So, how old is my baby boy today?" Ciel's mother Rachel asked.

Ciel stuck out both hands facing up, fingers spread apart. "Ten!" He replied proudly.

"My goodness, he sure is growing up fast, isn't he Vincent."

"He sure is," Vincent smiled. The little family stayed like that for several minutes before Vincent broke the silence. "Why don't you get dressed and then come down stairs. We will have breakfast, and then we have a surprise for you."

"Okay!" Ciel cheered.

After breakfast Ciel's parents told him about the surprise. After his father got back from work, they were going to have a small party (small because Ciel didn't like big parties), then his father was going to give him a present, and lastly he was going to be able to sleep in his parent's bed for the night. The rest of the day, Ciel was having difficulty keeping his excitement contained. He tried to find things to do, but nothing kept his attention for long. His mother spent time playing with him, but she too had things that needed to be done. At one point Ciel went to the kitchen where the cook was making dinner. Ciel loved to watch the cook work. Especially when it came to him making sweets. Occasionally the cook would let the curious boy help make things.

After bugging the cook for a while, Ciel made his way up to his room and decided to play with his toys. He wasn't up there very long when an explosion shook the mansion. Ciel ran to his door and flung it open, only to see a thick cloud of black smoke rocketing towards him. He quickly slammed the door shut and ran into the corner of his room. He sunk down to a sitting position and curled his knees to his chest. He watched, terrified as the smoke seeped through the cracks in the door. The smoke inched its way towards him like a deadly snake. All Ciel could think to do was curl into himself even more.

A voice made its way to Ciel's ears. "Ciel! Ciel where are you?" The voice called.

"I am in here!" Ciel cried.

The door slammed open and Ciel's mother rushed in. Grabbing his hand she pulled him to his feet and said urgently. "Sweetie, we need to get out of here!" Ciel could only nod and follow after his mother.

The two ran though the burning house, smoke filling their lungs and stinging their eyes. They had to dodge falling debris as it broke loose from the flames. Ciel was feeling the effects of the smoke and running, slowing him down considerably. His breath came in ragged gasps and he felt his limbs begin to fail him; he was having another asthma attack. Rachel turned and picked up the struggling boy, holding him tightly to her chest.

She was almost at the front door; she could see the wide double doors that were once golden, but were now blackened by soot. Hope filled her heart as she doubled her efforts to reach her goal. However, fate would not be so kind to the young mother. A loud snap echoed though the room and she had just enough time push her son out of harm's way, before an overhead plank came crashing down upon her.

Ciel cried out as he was forcefully shoved from his mother's arms. He landed with a hash thump, crying out as his body was jarred. Ciel let out a cough before rolling over to find his mother. "Mo-"he stopped as his eyes rested upon his fallen mother. She was trapped underneath the fiery beam, completely still and unmoving. He scrambled to his feet and ran over to her. Tears poured from his eyes as grabbed his mother's arm and began pulling. "Come on mommy, we need to go!" Ciel begged desperately. "Please mother, wake up! PLEASE!" Giving up on freeing his mother that way, Ciel turned his attention to the plank. He reached his hands out, only to pull his hands back with a cry of pain from the scorching heat of the fire.

Ciel looked around for something, anything that could get his mother out, but his vision was becoming too bleary from the smoke and the lack of air reaching his lungs. All he could do was fall down to his knees, tug on his mother's hand, and pray for her to wake up.

The grieving boy let out a squeak of surprise when two hands grabbed him and he was lifted into the air. Ciel looked up to see the worried face of his father. The next instant, they were outside and semi-fresh air-filled his lungs. Ciel began to cough violently and Vincent picked up his pace, desperate to get his son somewhere safe.

"Wait!" Ciel chocked out. "Mother is still back there!" Vincent gazed sadly at him. When Vincent had come home, he did not expect to find his mansion ablaze. When he didn't see his family outside he threw caution to the wind and ran inside. What greeted him broke his heart. His son was tugging on the arm of his fallen mother, crying desperately for her to get up. He knew that his beloved wife was gone with just one look at her. Her chest wasn't moving and her body was slowly burning. Even though it hurt him to leave his lover, he knew that he could not save her, so he grabbed his son and ran.

He knew he had to get his son to the healers, his asthma was killing him. The only problem was that his mansion was out in the country, far from any healer. Also, all of his horses had run away from the fire, so he had no transportation. Still not giving up, he found the main road and continued running. After running for several minutes the sound of hoofs reached Vincent's ears. He slowed down and listened, praying that it was someone who would help. He was in luck. When the driver of the horse-drawn cart, filled with all kinds of fruit and vegetables, saw them he brought his horse to a halt and asked them if they needed help. Vincent smiled gratefully and told him that they needed to go the healers as fast as they could; that his son needed medical attention. The driver told them to hop on and they sped off.

The days following the death of Rachel were hard on the broken family. Vincent took several days off of work to comfort his son as well as deal with his own grief. Ciel spent his days locked up in his room of the town house they stayed in. Whenever someone would try and talk to him, Ciel would look of blankly off into the distance. Vincent tried to council his son but it ended up being fruitless. Nightmares plagued the young boy's dreams and he often woke up screaming. He father was always there for him when woke up from a nightmare, holding him in his arms and whispering comforting words. One night, after a partially terrifying dream, Vincent found out that Ciel blamed himself for the death of Rachel. Vincent had been rather shocked to hear that. He did not blame his son for the death of his wife. The fire was not his fault, nor was the fallen plank. Still, Ciel believed that she died because he failed to free her. Vincent tried his best to reassure Ciel that he was not to blame. No matter what he said though, doubt still lingered in Ciel's mind.

A few months after the fire, things were starting to settle down. Vincent was doing his best to return their life to normal. He resumed his position at the Funtom Toy Company and started rebuilding the mansion. Ciel, noticing that his father was trying, did his best to follow in his father's footsteps. He came out of his room more and started acting like his old self. Though he still grieved over the loss of his mother, he made a vow to at least try and live his life to the fullest. He knew his mother would have wanted it that way.

Vincent still felt like something was missing; that he could be doing something more to help his son. His answer came in the form of a lady. Rachel's sister to be more precise. Her name was Angelina Durless, though everyone just called her Madam Red. She got the nickname from the fact that she was always seen wearing nothing but red. From her hair to her shoes, she was red…minus her skin. She currently worked at the local healer's station as a nurse in London.

Madam Red had always had a love for Vincent, but her sister had been chosen to be his bride. Though heartbroken, Angelina found love from another man, and they were soon married. Everything seemed perfect until she found out that she could not bear any children. Not being able to stand his wife so crestfallen, he suggested adopting. Soon, the two of them had their little boy, Alois. They had lived happily together until her husband died from being trampled by a rampaging horse.

When Vincent had brought Ciel to the healers, Madam Red was the one who treated him. She had been shocked and devastated at the news of her sister's death. Though she had always been jealous of her sister, she could not bring herself to hate her. The two decided to stay in touch and she visited Vincent several times a week. Before Rachel's death, the two families had not been able to spend much time together. Between Angelina's working schedule and finding time to spend with her son, she rarely made it over to see her sister. Ciel and Alois had only met each other a handful of times. When Angelina had adopted Alois, he was already five years old. Ciel was just turning four.

One day when Madam Red decided to visit, Vincent admitted to her that he felt like he wasn't giving Ciel everything he needed. He felt like Ciel needed a mother. Angelina also confessed that she too felt the same for Alois: that he needed a father. Only six months after Rachel's death, a wedding was planned for the union of Vincent Phantomhive and Angelina Durless.

Ciel wasn't thrilled about accepting another woman into his life, even if it was his Aunt, but he could see that it was making his father happy. He did his best to put on a smile at the wedding and keep it there. Soon after the wedding, the mansion was fully rebuilt and the new family moved back in. Seeing the house for the first time brought sorrow back to Ciel. Vincent had a feeling that it would happen so he spent the next few days with Ciel, just trying to get a smile back on his face. His plan worked and soon Ciel had his bright smile back.

Ciel decided to try and give his new mother and brother a chance, so he started trying to talk to them more. It was not received well. Madam Red acted very cold to Ciel, most of the time ignoring him unless Vincent was around. As for Alois, he liked to tease Ciel, and not a playful teasing either. The constant teasing was getting on Ciel's nerves, so he asked Madam Red to talk to Alois. She had dismissed it with a wave of her hand saying that he needed to grow up and stop being so sensitive. He found that nothing he did was making a difference and he wanted to tell his father but something stopped him. His father seemed calmer and less stressed than he had in months. He just couldn't bring himself to ruin that peace. So, he just gridded his teeth and put up with it.

Vincent was not totally blind to the tension between Ciel and Madam Red, so he decided to talk to her about it. "I've noticed you and Ciel are having a little trouble getting close to each other," he said to her calmly.

"I don't know why," Madam Red pouted. "He just doesn't seem to want to open up to me."

"Maybe it's because you haven't been spending enough time with him."

"I spend time with him!" She snapped before retorting. "What about you? Have you been trying to spend time with Alois?"

Vincent paused before answering. "Why don't we each take one of the boys out for the day tomorrow? I will take Alois and you take Ciel. We can have a day with them to get to know them better."

Inside Madam Red was scowling at the idea, but put on a smile and nodded her head. "I think that is a wonderful idea."

"Great!" Vincent smiled. "I will go tell the kids."

The next day the two groups left the mansion. Alois was ecstatic and was blabbering on and on about things that Vincent and he could do. Ciel on the other hand was a bit apprehensive about the situation. He wanted to spend time with his step mother; however, with the way things were going he wasn't so sure how the day was going to turn out. He had a feeling that they were not going to do something Ciel would consider fun.

After getting in the carriage Ciel's suspicions were conformed. "Look you little brat," Madam Red growled. "I have a party to go to. You are to just sit and stay quiet. Got it?"

Ciel just sighed and replied, "Yes, Madam Red."

All throughout the party Ciel sat in the corner, board as could be. The party was just a bunch of ladies sitting around and talking to each other. The music in the room was soft, classical music that was putting Ciel to sleep. At times a few of the women would approach Ciel and comment on how well behaved he acted. He would just smile and thank them. He personally hated being surrounded by tons of people and being without his father made the situation even worse. After what seemed like hours, Ciel looked up at the clock and groaned in frustration, as only an half an hour had passed. He still had five and a half hours to go.

By the end of the day Ciel was mentally exhausted from being bored out of his mind. As they headed home Madam Red said to the sulking boy. "You will tell your father that we had a great time."

"What am I suppose to tell him that we did?" Ciel asked, scowling at her.

"Make something up."

Ciel turned his attention out the window, contemplating if he should really tell his father what happened. When they pulled up to the mansion, Vincent and Alois were already waiting outside. The couple shared a quick kiss before Madam Red turned to Alois. "So, how was your day?"

Alois' face lit up and he started explaining his day in detail. From their trip though town to the ice cream they ate. No detail was spared. Ciel ended up tuning out his step brother, preferring not to hear how great his day was. When Alois was done talking, Vincent turned to Ciel and asked. "What about you Ciel? How was your day?"

Ciel turned towards his father and hesitated for a moment. He was about to tell the truth, but a glare sent his way by Madam Red made him stop. "It was…nice." Ciel mumbled.

"What did you do?"

"We…went to the park and got ice cream from that sweet shop in town."

"Do you remember what time you went to the shop?" Vincent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I think it was around one." Madam Red cut in. "Yeah, it was at one."

Vincent frowned but quickly replaced it with a smile and asked. "Well, we should go inside and get washed up for dinner, no?" Everyone nodded and headed inside.

After dinner Ciel excused himself and went to his room. Vincent followed him up a short time later only to find him fast asleep. Vincent knelt down next to his son's bed and looked at him, reaching a hand out to stroke his blue-gray hair. He knew that Ciel had been lying about what he and Madam Red had done that day. Alois and he had been at the ice cream shop at the supposed time they had been there. Plus, Ciel had never been very good at lying to him. He wanted Ciel to have a mother, but it seemed that he wasn't getting one. Madam Red had shown interest in Ciel and told him that she would treat him the same as Alois. Apparently she was not true on her word. He, however, didn't want to put Ciel though the trauma of a divorce so soon. It was clear that Ciel was doing his best to make peace with his new family members. Maybe, he hoped, she would come around.

Months past and things did not seem to change. Madam Red was colder to Ciel than ever, Alois continued to taunt the poor boy and on occasions hut him, and Ciel continued to lie about it. Even worse, Vincent had fallen ill. The healers came and told them that it was a deadly infection in his lungs that couldn't be cured. And so here we find Ciel, on the night of his eleventh birthday, sitting at his father's bedside with tears in his eyes.

Vincent wearily reached out and took his son's hand into his. "Ciel," Vincent rasped.

Ciel leaned forward and answered. "Yes father."

"I know what has been going on between you and Madam Red," he said before falling into a fit of coughing. After regaining his breath he asked. "That day when Madam Red took you out to spend some time with you, what did you two really do?"

Ciel looked away shamefully. "We…" he trailed off.

"Please don't lie to me Ciel. There is no need."

The frightened boy turned his gaze back to his father and said softly. "We went to a party of hers. I just sat in the corner."

Vincent nodded. "I figured as much." Another coughing fit shook his body for several minutes he fell back onto his bed. Ciel tried to offer some water to him but he swiftly declined. "Please listen to me, Ciel. When I married Angelina I never excepted this to happen. I married her because I thought you needed a mother. I believed that she would be a great one and would take care of you. I was wrong and I am sorry. "

Ciel just smiled and gave his father's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I know. It's alright father."

"I need you to promise me that no matter what she does, no matter what she puts you though, that you will remain strong and never give up hope. Do you promise?"

I-I promise," Ciel swore, tears flowing freely from his eyes now.

Vincent smiled and motioned for Ciel to lean down. He gave his son a kiss on the forehead before whispering to him three last words. "I love you."

Ciel pulled back and looked at his father though tear filled eyes. His chest had stopped moving and his hand that was still around Ciel's had gone limp. Ciel sat there, sobbing. His father was gone…he just couldn't believe it. After a few minutes, Ciel got to his feet and put a hand on his father's cheek. He slowly dragged his hand to his father's eyelids and pushed them closed. "I love you too," Ciel whispered. He then turned around a walked out the door, tears still slipping down his cheeks.

Out in the hallway were Madam Red and Alois. Madam Red's eyes were as red as her clothing from crying while Alois just looked board. When Ciel exited the room she ran up to him and asked frantically what happened. She had been asked to leave the room while Ciel and he talked.

Ciel looked at the woman before him and answered sadly. "He…he is gone…"

Madam Red looked at him in shock before rushing into the room. Ciel just stood where he was, staring blankly at the wall. When Madam Red walked out of the room, she was sobbing.

After the Undertaker was fetched and the body was taken away, Madam Red forced Ciel to pack up his things and moved him to the attic. The attic was small compared to his room. There was not much furniture besides a small cot in the corner of the room and a tiny dresser. It was a bit dusty but other than that it was pretty clean…almost as if someone had set all it up a few days prior.

Before Ciel even had a chance to settle in, Madam Red burst into his "room" and started going though what little he brought up with him. She grabbed all of his nice clothes and threw it into a pile. In another pile she dropped some plain dress shirts and pants. His blankets were grabbed off his bed and thrown into the pile with his best clothes. The stuffed animal that Ciel's father had given to him after the fire was also thrown into the same pile. When all that was done, Madam Red picked up the pile and stormed out, Ciel on her heals.

She made her way to the living room and walked over to a lit fireplace. To Ciel's horror she began throwing his things in the fire place, burning all of it. All Ciel could do was watch helplessly as his stuff was set on fire. A laugh sounded behind Ciel and he turned to see Alois laughing at him, a wide smirk planted on his face. Ciel turned his attention back to fire and looked just in time to see her grab his little stuffed rabbit. A wicked grin made its way onto her face before she dropped the rabbit. Ciel couldn't take it anymore and ran to his new room. He threw himself upon his bed and began to sob. He looked at the small pile that was left of his belongings. In that pile were two white dress shirts, a pair of blue pants, and a pair of brown pants.

Ciel turned his head and buried it into his pillow. He started whispering for his father to come back to him. He needed his father to hug him and tell him everything was going to be alright. He wanted to feel his warm embrace. But instead, all he felt was the cold night air nipping at him harshly.

He curled into a ball and chanted his father's name over and over till it lulled him to sleep.

Father…

Father…

Father…

Please, don't leave me alone…

Okay, sorry it has been a while since I have updated. I've been really busy and sick. Anyway, I know what you are thinking: I made Madam Red a complete bitch. I am sorry, but she just works with the story. Don't get me wrong, I love her but...yeah. As for Alois...well...I needed a step brother and I didn't want to come up with an OC character. Plus, Alois just fits the evil step brother, don't you think? He also plays an important part later on that I felt only Alois could do. So...don't hate me! Lastly, Ciel is a bit OOC here. I figured he would be a little more emotional as a kid. Don't worry, he will get back to his usual self soon.

Also, I am going to start trying to update a least twice a week. :D

Thank you for reading!