Chapter 13: Opening Pandora's Box
Save for the dim light of a candle, the room was dark and forbidding covered in decades old dust and nasty cobwebs. Shadows casted on the walls danced like ballerinas in the stormy night, and the twigs from the trees scrapped against the windows as if desperately clawing at them for warmth.
Summer nights in this country were so troublesome…in fact weather in this country was quite troublesome as well unpredictable. The man preferred cold nights, cold days, and cold afternoons. He positively hated the heat and rain…
Heat can just make a good body go bad…
His glazy eyes lustfully observed the tanned body lying on the white operating table…such exotic beauty was beyond his imagination. The women of England were so boring, so foolish and ignorant of the world that was outside their finery and fancy houses. He hated those women…those white women who hid their bodies from him. Yet…several thousand miles away…not even a month's journey there was a land…full of men and women who had no shame of what they were made with…the human body was certainly a great thing…he loved great things…
Slipping on gloves and smiling with the anticipation of a young child he took the scalpel from the surgical tray and softly, glided the silver utensil across the dark skin of the native girl. With these experiments he could soon create a whole new race…of humans and demons…
"Helen…you'll get her for me? That young women you were speaking of…the complete opposite of the Earl Phantomhive, won't you?" A figure stepped from out of the darkness, a grim smile across her twisted features. Grossly licking her fingers, she pulled a picture out of her pocket and tossed it to the man.
"You promise…you will not harm her? She is my prey. Lady Elizabeth's soul belongs to me."
"Yes, yes whatever. You've hunted her for years…and finally when you had the chance it was ruined by that demon butler…"
"Don't remind me! I was caught off guard…even now as we speak he is continually looking for a time I lower my guard…his sense of smell is superb…he is a damned nuisance." The man glanced at the picture and smiled. Sounds of movement came from the surgical table. Leaning over the prone figure, he waited until other signs of life came from the body. Slowly, the eyes of the young woman opened and almost immediately she jerked and tried to scream, only to be muffled by the cloth tied around her mouth.
"You know this young woman?" He held up the picture before the young woman's eyes…they slowly widened with recognition. She frantically began struggling against the leather belts that bound her, but her efforts were in vain.
"So…you do know her? Do you think she'll save you…if I lay a path of bread crumbs for her to follow?"
Ciel leaned against the red velvet chair, slowly looking over morgue pictures of the men who Lau had…'persuaded' at the dock near Heaven's Host tavern. He sighed, thoroughly irritated at the smiling Chinese man across from him. He had repeatedly reminded Lau that every time he 'persuaded' someone that person ended up being sent in a body bag to the Undertaker, or to the Royal London Hospital which meant that Scotland Yard had another minial case on their hands.
And that means I am stuck making up excuses…
"Ne…is you upset with me Earl?" Lau questioned, playfully. Ciel rubbed the side of his head and leaned against the arm rest, clearly losing patience with his Chinese guest.
"You make me grow gray hairs by night, Lau…clean up your messes and do not leave me to pick up the pieces. I have my own work to do." Lau shrugged and smiled.
"Sorry Earl. The mice were on my turf…I had to do something, eh?" Ciel shook his head, knowing trying to reason with the silly man was going to do nothing but irritate him more.
"What of this information you said you had? Hurry now, for it is almost eleven and I've a dinner party tomorrow." Lau nodded and leaned back, breathing in deeply.
"There's some heavy black market slave trafficking going on down at the dock Earl…loads and loads of red skins being unloaded from the dock. Most of them are children…young ones." Ciel tightened his grip on the arm rest.
No…
"Ran Mao and I managed to tackle one of the leaders…he had a brand on his lower back like this…" Lau took a piece of paper and pen and began drawing on it. He held it up for Ciel to see. Ciel's face turned to disgust as he mumbled curses beneath his breath at the drawing.
"I know that brand…" Lau frowned and crumbled the paper up.
"Do you now, Earl? Every single one of those children…had this same brand burned somewhere on their bodies. They also appeared to have been drugged."
"What of the man you caught?" Lau leaned closer, his eyes slightly opened. His face bestowed a look of morbid interest and delight.
"He says that an army of humans are going to be created. Some type of special experiments is going on and some noble with too much time and money on his hands is funding the research. What do you make of that Earl?" The room was silent and the clock struck twelve in morning. Ciel listened to the clicking of the clock as his mind ran through the things Lau had revealed to him. He had a good idea of what was happening…but how to deal with it he knew not.
But why Elizabeth? Was it just a personal vendetta against me? A challenge? Elizabeth was clearly the men's targets that night…its good she doesn't remember anything. The pill must have worked when Sebastian slipped it in her tea the following morning. I would not want her to relive that night…if I can help it.
"So it seems there is a circle." Ciel expressed.
"The same men who attacked the main house are connected with the trafficking..."
Ciel sighed deeply…this was one thing he could not share with Elizabeth under any circumstance. Rubbing his forehead, Ciel waved his hand and motioned for someone to step into the dim light.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"We've a busy day tomorrow, Sebastian. We're looking for a nobleman who has spent significant amount of money on medical equipment. I need a list of doctors names as well. Lau, I suppose you can look into shipments of the past two weeks? Alert me if something comes up."
"Anything for the Queen's Earl." Lau stood from his seat and bowed slightly. Ciel watched him as he walked out the room.
"Sebastian..."
"Yes my Lord?"
"We're going out."
The street lights of London dimly lit the pathways of the large city, casting every shadow and causing every small movement to see larger than reality. A soft, yet thick mist crowded the docks where the boats and ships were anchored. Ciel grunted silently as he swung his legs over the cargo trying desperately not fall and cause the four men near the dock to be alarmed to his whereabouts. Finally gaining a foothold, he swung down from the top of the cargo, setting his feet on the cobblestone pavement. Leaning against some old barrels, Ciel lighted a cigar.
"Young Master, have I not counseled you in the knowledge that smoking is bad for your health? It is very distasteful." Ciel shrugged, motioning for Sebastian to come closer. He pointed to two ships, chained together a couple of yards down the dock.
"Those are the ships Lau mentioned. Sure enough, it seems there are slaves boarded."
"Yes, Young Master. Each ship holds more than the legal amount of slaves. Over 300." Ciel felt his gut tighten at the mention of the people living so closing together. He recalled a previous situation in his early days as the Queen's Earl, where men, women and children all cramped together in small places. Sharing whatever little food and water they had, urine covering the floor and the smell of putrid rotting flesh of the dead along with human feces. Feeling himself about to vomit, Ciel quickly covered his mouth, trying not to puke at the memories. Suddenly, the sound of men speaking came to his ear, next to the ships. He motioned for Sebastian to come closer.
"There are four ladies here tonight willing to give a pretty penny for these natives tonight. Also some gentlemen here are looking for a good time!" Crude laughter sounded across the dock as the rough men exchanged jokes, drinking their kegs of beer.
One man, his face covered in soot from railroad work leaned against his friend, grinning wide as he pointed to a nearby inn.
"Did'cha hear? Them crazy scientist are conducting some type of experiments tonight…they aint' got no name for it…they just call it "the treatment"."
"Treatment?" Another man nodded vigorously.
"Two or three of them Indians had it…I heard that got as strong as ten men!"
"That's ridiculous! Ten men you say?"
"Those are just rumors…"
Ciel stepped from behind the crates, he had hear enough. They jumped up in surprise.
"Oh, sirs. We had no idea two gentleman like yourselves was gonna join tonight."
"Well now you do. Speak up and tell me what it is your whispering among yourselves."
The men looked at each other, anxiously licking their lips.
"Well now sirs…you can't expect us to give ya something for nothing?" Ciel sighed and pulled out a half silver dollar, tossing it towards the men. Scrambling for the money, two of the men butted heads loudly, cursing their displeasure at the pain. One man caught the coin, grinning smugly.
"I'll tell you what I can for what you gave me. They say there's this treatment…that makes a man like me become stronger than ten men." The man's voice lowered so that Ciel could barely hear him. He beckoned Ciel and Sebastian to come closer pointing to a tavern across the road.
"If you two gents' would like to follow me, we'll have more privacy there than out in this open space."
Laughing, drinking, philandering, smoking all consumed the young man as he sat at the tavern, watching the men and women douse their woes away with a mug of moonshine and smokes. The place had not even grown quite when Ciel in all his fashion stepped into the tavern, these people were used to seeing London's finest slip away from the social stigma and into their own world.
It doesn't surprise me either…a place of filth is a place for filth.
"They say there's this treatment…a treatment that will make a man ten times stronger than before." The street urchin chugged his beer before going on, wiping the small droplets of alcohol from his mouth with a dirty sleeve.
"I know a couple of blokes who had it, came to me the next day boasting about how they had been made like a god. Sounded like a bunch of tomfoolery to me, so I's tested them. Hella strong they were!"
"Tested?" Ciel nudged. The man nodded.
"One of them's names were Jake. He was a down right fool, and I always could beat in boxing. So I took to it…he beat me down he did."
"How long ago was this fight?" Sebastian asked. The man tugged on his greasy hair, leaning to the side of his chair in deep thought.
"It wasn't but several weeks ago possibly." Ciel's eyes narrowed, this man called Jake could only be the same one who tried to abduct Elizabeth.
"What did Jake look like?"
"Uh…he had tattoos. God he had lots of them tattoos! Had them on his face he did. Looked like a damn performer! He was an Indian too...there...was something weird about his eyes...they sorta glowed..."
"Ciel…Ciel is something wrong?" Elizabeth asked clearly concerned. She frowned slightly as he blinked once, and appeared to come back to reality. He rubbed his forehead with both his hands as if he suffered from a horrible headache or loss of sleep. Elizabeth noticed Ciel had not quite been himself today…he was quiet…much more quiet than usual and he hardly spoken a word to her since yesterday. He had fallen asleep on the carriage ride her...that was also not like him.
Walking along side together through the paths of Hyde Park, the sounds of people and their summer outings and comings certainly were distractions. At least, that is what Elizabeth reasoned.
Perhaps he and Lau got into a disagreement last night…that could be the reason why Ciel is so cross this morning.
At breakfast, Elizabeth had resisted the urge to ask what Lau had talked to him about. She could plainly see that something was bothering her dear cousin and that he was not willing to speak about it.
"I'm fine, Elizabeth."
"You don't look fine…"
"I said I am fine." Elizabeth bit her lip in frustration. How she wanted to spend time with him, and how she wanted to truly speak with him but the walls he placed around himself kept her from doing that.
Why…why do you always build walls instead of bridges? Elizabeth thought to herself.
The couple came to rest under a large weeping willow tree, shielding them from the bright and warm sun. Together, they had walked through the upper level of the park and through the flower gardens. Much to Elizabeth's delight, the gardener had allowed her to pluck a few yellow carnations and place them tightly in her belt. She had blushed madly when Ciel complimented how well they fit her pink taffeta dress.
Elizabeth sat on the stone bench, watching Ciel gaze off into the sky, his eyes almost held a starry look. He leaned against his wooden cane, and reached into his pocket pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She turned her nose up at him and he rolled his eyes at her, grinning.
"Those are bad for you, you know. Henry says that they take away years off your life." Elizabeth said, still frowning greatly. Ciel shrugged and placed one in his mouth anyway.
"So will my line of work." Ciel flicked on the lighter and took a long drag. He puffed the smoke towards the young blonde woman.
"Ciel! How rude!" Elizabeth shouted. She abruptly rose from the seat and threw a handful of grass at him, landing it clean in his face. Ciel coughed violently, causing the cigarette to drop from his mouth.
"Woman!"I kno
"I have a name, Earl Phantomhive." Elizabeth said sharply. She turned away from Ciel, looking out over the small pond and the people in the park. Elizabeth could feel a tinge of anger rising in her chest. She was beyond frustrated! Elizabeth wanted to know what was troubling him so much...she wanted to know that he could share his burdens with her. Surely all her attempts were not in vain? Had he only brought her out to trouble her?
"I care about you, Ciel. I'm worried about you…" Elizabeth tried to even out her voice, but even she could hear the underlying resentment in her speech.
"I want to know why you are so upset…I want to help you."
"I know Elizabeth-" Ciel stood beside her, casually placing his hand on her shoulder.
"If you know then why do you continually push me away?"
"Elizabeth its not that-"
"Then what is it? Just what on God's green earth am I to you?" She screamed. Several people stopped and stared at the couple, their faces in slight interest in the drama that was going on. Ciel grabbed Elizabeth's hand and quickly walked through the park. He did not have time for such things!
"Ciel! Ciel where are we going?"
"Back to the estate!"
"We need to talk!"
"There is nothing to talk about!"
"Let go of me!" Elizabeth yelled. She tried wringing her hand free of his grip, but Ciel only tightened it. She gasped as he pulled her through the park, he was hurting her wrist!
"Stop! you're hurting me! Stop!" The sound of a loud slap resonated through the park and rung in Ciel's ears...the sharp pang of a hit on his cheek. He stared at Elizabeth, sobbing uncontrollably and her face tear stained. For the first time...Ciel...saw fear in her eyes...fear of him. She held her hand, and stepped away from him her eyes full of anger and spite...he had never seen such a emotion in Elizabeth before. It seemed that time stopped but the sting of the hit continued on not only through his body but also through the depths of his heart. Then Ciel watched her...he watched the one person whom he would ever love run away...
Wow...I'm so sorry this chapter is short! I can't say much but planning for a wedding is extremely time consuming! My fiancee and I finally got serious about planning for it (we're looking at Sept. 8th) so that means I've been writing very little. Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter! Thank you for reviewing and I hope you all had a great holiday season!