A/N: So, this chapter is mainly a flashback chapter. I'm cutting the whole flashback into 2 or 3 chapters, depending on length and how much angst I have to pack in. I don't want to overload you too much with angst ^-^ Again, I know how long it's been since I've posted anything. I'm also sorry if this chapter sucks, I'm writing it write before I go to bed, and I go to bed insanley early lately. I'm not sure if I told you, dear readers, but I'm currently in cosmetology school and it's taking up a lot of my time. I also still don't have internet, which really fucking sucks and I hate it. I wish I could update more often, but alas, that is impossible as of right now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and all the angst I'm going to give you. Please be aware of the warnings.

Warnings: Angst, vulgar language, derogative language, homophobic slurs, domestic violence, mentions of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, murder. Trigger Warning: physical, violent abuse.

Act XIII

The world was silent and the streets empty by the time Sebastian finally made it home. Spending upwards of three hours in the emergency room whilst his arm steadily bled out was ridiculous. By the time the doctors had decided to see him, he was terribly pale with a cold sweat breaking out over his skin. It really had only taken them about 30 minutes to stitch up his arm, so he didn't understand why they didn't decide to make him a priority when he was literally bleeding everywhere. The gaping wound in his left shoulder took 15 stitches to close it, quite an amazing feat for someone so tiny wielding such a thin shard of glass. He was both impressed and slightly alarmed, but mostly he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than his bed. That wasn't exactly truthful; what he wanted most was to be curled up in bed with his spitfire of a kitten and forget that any of this had ever happened. Alas, what wishful thinking.

Sebastian unlocked his front door, leaning heavily against the wall as he dragged his feet past the threshold. After shutting and locking the door, he trudged past his living room and headed towards the stairs. As he looked up them, he realised that he hadn't the energy to deal with such a daunting task as climbing up a flight of stairs, and with a sigh he trudged back into the living room, settling in upon the couch. A tinkling bell and the pattering of tiny feet alerted him moments before a ball of black fur hurled itself at him. He chuckled as the tiny cat meowed, nuzzled, and cried at him, running his hand down her slim back.

"Soot, I've been neglecting you, haven't I?" Sebastian cooed at her, scratching behind her ears and giving her all the affection she desired. She huffed at him in agreement before going back to rubbing the side of her face against his jaw. He smiled slightly, taking a gentle hold on her as he twisted his body into a laying position. His head rested against the soft arm of the leather couch, his eyes closing. He felt tiny paws rotating on his chest as Soot got comfortable, before curling up and purring like a chainsaw.

"If you keep up that noise, I won't be able to sleep, Soot," he scolded lightly, though it was entirely a lie. Her purrs always soothed and relaxed him, helping to lull him into unconsciousness.

Though tonight, as exhausted as he was, his mind kept circling back to Ciel and the night's events. He had no idea why Ciel had been avoiding him. The night of the carnival had seemed perfect, almost date-like. And the sex afterward blew his mind. So why...? Was there something wrong with Sebastian? Was Ciel bored of him? Did he find him repulsive and undesirable now? Those negative questions kept dancing around in his head, yet a single thought was nagging in the back of his mind. Thinking those things hurt terribly; if Ciel was through with him, it would devastate him. But... why would it? Sebastian had never felt anything like this before. It was exhilerating and frightening, and he felt as though he kept being drawn to a flame, only to burn himself, over and over again. He just couldn't seem to help himself, nor could he seem to care. All he really cared about was Ciel, and his well-being and happiness. Why? he asked himself for the thousandth time, still not finding the answer.

He must have drifted off without realising it, because he knew he was dreaming when he looked upon his mother's youthful smiling face...

The woman had long, curly black tresses that bounced when she moved. Her laughing eyes were the color of chocolate, and that ever-present smile lit up her whole face. Love was etched in that smile, love for her three year old son alone. He looked like her, she was often told, a statement which made her chest swell with happiness. She would have been the perfect mother...

The lighting in the room changes as a tall, fierce man comes barreling into the room. He has a sharp jawline, his teeth clenched in anger and his garnet eyes flaming. This man was terrifying, and Sebastian could feel himself shrinking back, trying to hide out of the angry man's sight. This man was his "father", though he hadn't truly been one. He would never have been. Sebastian slipped between to chairs, crouching down low to make himself less visible. His mother spun around, shock twisting her expression as a fist slammed hard into her face, and she flew back.

"You stupid fucking cunt! You forgot to get my beer again! How many fucking times do I have to tell you?" He roared as his booted foot swung and slammed into her ribcage. The air flew from her lungs, and she gasped without drawing air for several painful seconds. Large hands tangled in her beautiful hair, yanking her up so he could yell in her face, his spittle flecking her pale skin.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed frantically, but she didn't fight back. She knew that he would soon run out of anger, if only she didn't try to run. "I-I can go back to the store, darling. To make up f-for my mistake, I'll get you two packs, all right?" Her whole body trembled as she tried to make her tone as soothing as possible, trying to diffuse the situation. She felt his fingers relax their grip on her hair before he released her.

"...Fine. But they better be the 24 packs," he grumbled, the anger leaving him in a puff of smoke.

"Of course, love. Of course. Whatever you want," she murmured coaxingly. "Just let me get Sebastian ready, and I'll-"

"No! Go by yourself. If he goes with you, it'll take longer! And you'll end up buying him some bullshit that he doesn't need." His body tensed up, anger beginning to brew once more within him.

"You're absolutely right, darling," she whimpered, her shaky hand moving to rest on his arm. "It was silly of me to think. He's three now, and you're very capable of taking care of him." His mother gave him a sweet smile, leaning close and kissing his cheek. He couldn't see the tears in her eyes; she hated leaving her son with this man. God only knows what he did to him when she wasn't around.

"Damn right. He's a pansy momma's boy. We don't want to encourage that faggot behavior," he growled, smacking her on the ass and causing her to jump. "Now hurry up and get my beer." She left without another word, though her heart ached for Sebastian.

She did hurry, though she almost wasn't fast enough. Sebastian's father was in the bathroom, flying high on heroine, and the tiny child had seen from the crack in the door as his father injected himself with the drug. As he was about to push the door open, he felt warm arms encase him and lift him away, the sweet lilt of his mother's voice whispering in his ear.

"Let's not bother daddy, love. He's in a bad way right now." Sebastian clung tight to his mother, nodding his head, even though he didn't quite understand what she meant. He was always in a bad way.

She cut off her hair; that was his next blurry memory. The long locks that he enjoyed playing with were now nothing but a frizzed out bob. He knew why she did it, though. It made it harder for his father to get a grip on her hair.

"I don't like it, mummy," Sebastian told her dully, a small frown marring his face.

The bruise on her cheek was just beginning to fade, though her ribs seemed to forever ache: one was probably broken.

"You don't like my hair, love?" she asked, faux-hurt coating her tone.

Sebastian shook his head, his fingers pushing strands around and examining it. "Nope. But I love you mummy. So, it's okay."

This got her to smile that bright smile of hers, and he felt warmth spread in his chest. Love? "I'm so happy that I have the most wondrous son in the world," she cooed, her eyes watery with joyful tears.

She wasn't happy for long. She didn't smile anymore. She just sat in a rocking chair, staring out the window with a blank expression on her face, though her eyes were filled with pain. Sebastian knew something was wrong. She had been so happy a few months ago, when she told him her secret. She had whispered in his ear, her smile wider than he could remember seeing it.

"Sebastian, you're going to have a baby brother or sister soon. Isn't that exciting?" He had nodded enthusiastically. He had been happy too.

But he wasn't happy anymore. She never looked at him, never hugged him, or even talked to him. She just sat, staring out at nothing. A few nights ago he had heard screaming. Sebastian had crawled out of bed, sneaking down the hall to peek into his parents' room. His mother was crying and dry heaving as his father repeatedly kicked her in the stomach and called her a dirty whore and a bunch of other names. "We can't afford another one of those brats, you fucking bitch!" Her haunting cries had sent Sebastian flying back to his bedroom, where he hid his head under a pillow and tried to shut out the fight.

"I'm going to work," his father's gruff voice made him jump.

When his heart calmed down, he turned to look at the scary man that was his father, and tried to do how his mother always did: he smiled at him.

"Okay daddy. I'll stay here and take care of mummy. Have a good day at work," he said in his sweetest voice, flinching slightly when a big hand came down on his head and ruffled his hair.

His father walked out the door, and Sebastian turned his gaze back onto his shell of a mother. Her eyes flickered to life as she watched her husband walk down the driveway and get into his car. She waited 20 minutes after he drove away, before she finally moved out of her chair. She dragged her feet as she slowly walked toward the front door, but she stopped when Sebastian called out to her. Finally, she turned and looked at him, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. He ran to her and she kneeled, hugging him tightly before pulling him back and looking at him.

"I'm sorry, love. Mummy has been in a bad way lately. But, I'm going to go out and buy you a present, and your father too, to make it up to you. Doesn't that sound nice?" She smiled at him, though it wavered on her face. "But since it's a present, you can't come with me, because it's a surprise. I'll be back soon, okay? Be a good boy. I love you," she whispered as she leaned in to kiss his cheek, a single tear slipping down her cheek. She left, barefoot and without a coat.

"Don't forget your shoes mummy!" He yelled after her, standing on the front porch as he watched her walk off into the distance, her silhouette slowly fading out of his view.

She didn't come back, and he fell asleep on the porch waiting for her. But his father did come back.

"Wake up, you little shit!" His father screamed in his face as he was shaken awake. "Where is that bitch mother of yours?!"

Sebastian could feel his head snapping back and forth, and he began to cry in fear. "I don't know! She went to get you a present!" He wailed, squirming and trying to get away from the shaking that was making him dizzy and nauseous.

"Bullshit, you fucking liar! You know where she is! Tell me!"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Sebastian whimpered, flailing as his father dragged him in the house and beat the shit out of him for the first time.

They both found out where she went the next day as they watched the news, when her body was found painted on the front of a train. She was almost unrecognizable. His father went into a rage, trashing the house, and he hid under his bed, still black and blue from last night's beating.

A year later and a month after Sebastian's birthday, he killed his father. Every day, his father would come home from work, get drunk, and then kick him around until he passed out from the pain. His body was covered in bruises, and his left eye was swollen shut. IT was his father's nightly ritual to shoot up in the bathroom after tiring himself out from kicking around his four year old son. Sebastian made it a habit to watch his father inject the heroine in his arm, hiding behind the door. He would always run to his room and slip into his bed while he waited for his father to fall asleep, and then he would barricade his door. Every morning he would wake up early and remove the barricade before pretending to be asleep when his father came to check on him, making sure that he hadn't run away like his "whore" mother.

Sebastian knew how she felt, then: worn down, broken, completely unable to take it anymore. But he had a different solution. He had heard about drug overdoses on the news, how too much could kill you. He knew that his father wasn't using a lethal dose, just enough to get him high, which really didn't seem like all that much. So that night, after his father had fallen to sleep on the toilet, he didn't barricade his bedroom; instead, he silently slipped into the hallway and crawled his way to the bathroom. Peeking in, he spotted the needle on the counter. He scooted into the bathroom and stood up, carefully picking up the needle, still filled with the drug his father so loved. He could see the prick of where the needle went in on the crook of his father's arm, and with one calculated movement, he stuck the needle right into the vein. He pushed down on the top of the syringe, sending all of the heroine into his father's bloodstream. After a few moments, he turned and went back to his room, falling fast asleep without a care in the world, leaving the needle sticking out of his arm.

The next morning, he got up and peered into the bathroom, where his father's lifeless husk still sat. Sebastian sat down in the bathroom, thinking of all the horror the scary man had put him through. He thought of his beautiful mother, and how this man had stolen the light right out of her eyes. He hadn't really thought about his mother since she died, and now that he allowed himself to, the tears flowed freely. Sebastian sobbed openly, allowing himself only a moment of true grief, before he ran out his front door and over to his neighbor's house. He pounded on the door, wailing and whimpering, tears still streaming down his face. When the neighbor finally opened the door, looking half-awake and entirely alarmed, he threw his arms around the woman's leg.

"Something's wrong with daddy! He won't wake up!" he cried, sounding utterly heartbroken.

His elderly lady called the police, and they were there within 15 minutes, along with an ambulance. He knew that they had his father in the black bag on the stretcher, and he felt the swell of freedom rise up within him.

He felt free, elated that he had finally escaped from his personal hell. The police took him into custody and doted on him, cooing about how sad it was that he lost both his parents. They thought it was terribly tragic. Truly, the only thing that saddened Sebastian was the loss of his mother, but he contented himself with the memories of the smell of her hair, of the way her smile seemed to light up the world, how warm her hugs were, and the way she smothered him with her love. His father was rotten, always stuck in a bad way, and he had killed him. A secret that he would never tell.

Sebastian's freedom was soon delfated when the police, not knowing what else to do with him, dropped him off at the Catholic orphanage run by nuns. Once again he was caged in by cruel people...

E/N: So, I really don't feel like reading through and revising or changing things up. I'm really quite tired, and I can barely keep my eyes open now. I hope this chapter wasn't too painful to read, referring to shit writing as well as all the violence. This chapter is pretty dark, and the flashback only gets darker from here on out. As I said, I may break this up into one or two more chapters, just because it is so heavy with angst. I don't want to pile it on my dear readers too hard, because I do love you dearly~ All right sweet kittens/little doves, I am done for the night! Please give me delicious reviews, I'd really appreciate it, and you'd make my day(night).

Also, I changed his cat's name to Soot. Why? Because I wanted to (I absolutely adore that name for a black cat).

Kisses, Ritsy