Sebastian and Alex are working again at the photo shoot for "Fascination" however the models aren't doing what she imagined, so she makes a few adjustments. She get's the job done however the results are far from what would expect from a no name graphic designer. It becomes clear why Sebastian hired her.

Grell and William have gone to see the mortician at the Yard, a rather unusual fellow who simply desires the Prim Laugh. Well he receives it however Grell spares no details of a blushing Sebastian as he attempts to understand why Sebastian didn't give him his cell number. One can only wonder what on earth Grell did to make Sebastian blush.

Claude finally decides it's time to get warrants for at least the accounts. Hannah does as he asks however she leaves an envelope on his desk, what's in it and where is Ronald?

I hope you enjoy,

~The Dark Ringmaster

I do not own Kuroshitsuji.

Chapter 14: Temptation

There was a bright flash and the sound of a shutter closing, Alex stood behind the camera man. Her eyes were locked on the models and she called, and commented, "Sinful yet divine, is what I'm looking for." The photographer paused and asked, "what how is that possible?" Alex looked at him and walked onto the shoot. She gently extended her hand and said, "I'm going to position you, bear with it." The models looked confused as she moved them gently, her fingers wrapping around their wrists and the photographer stared. She was lost in concentration as she created the poses, it was as if she was a puppet master. He was fascinated by her movements and noticed how intently her boss watched her. Those red eyes locked on her every movement as though she was all he saw. The models were hesitant at first however they found themselves doing as she asked. There was something which drew them to do what ever she asked. She finished positioning the one man and slipped two fingers under his chin. "Look at me," she whispered. He did so and the camera man unconsciously took a shot. "You are a demon of the night and she is the one thing you can't have," she whispered. The model's heart beat quickened as he listened to her speak. "She isn't enchanting you, she fascinates you," Alex continued. The photographer watched the model's expression change from it's bright smile to a dark expression, it looked as though he was hungry. Alex leaned over and he smelt her shampoo as she whispered into his ear, "Tempt me." The model's gaze was locked on her as she turned her attention to the other man.

Her fingers wrapped around his wrists once again as she positioned him. He complied without a second through, her fingers glided over the suite and his hands. The model shivered and the photographer unconsciously shot another picture. Alex slipped her hands down his legs as she adjusted his feet, Sebastian smirked as he watched her gently move his chin to the desired angle. "Enchant me," she whispered to him and his gaze changed, it was hungry and the photographer shivered. Everyone on the set stared as she turned her attention to the woman. "May I?" Alex asked and the woman nodded curiously. Her fingers trailed down her arms as she extended the woman's hands to each man on either side. "Tease them, Intrigue them," she whispered as she finished the pose. The woman's gaze changed to a teasing flirtatious one, "Fascinate them," she whispered as she smiled. She smiled and tapped her chin with the pen, "Now take the shots," she said. The photographer took each shot and watched as each position changed slightly. Alex crossed her arms and watched as what she saw in the picture transformed. Sterling walked in and stared as the three moved elegantly. He had never seen those expressions on those models before. His mouth fell open as the woman sat on one of their knees lifted the man on the right's chin as she extended a hand to the one on the right.

Their expressions simply screamed, "Come on closer." Alex was pleased with the results of her minor adjustments and looked at the photographer; he was snapping as many shots as he could. "Whoa," whispered Sterling, he was standing next to Sebastian, who was watching the models move. They reminded him of demons in hell, "My god what are they imitating," asked Sterling. Sebastian smirked and looked at him, "Not god, I can assure you," responded Sebastian before he walked over to Alex. Sterling watched as he moved and stood beside her. Sterling grit his teeth and whispered, "She won't be yours much longer."

Grell and William opened the doors to the morgue at the yard. Standing over a dead body was a long gray haired man with sliver glasses on his nose and stitches running across his face. His long bangs covered his glasses but his long hair was tied back. He stood in a white lab coat and gave a massive grin. "Grell, William," he chimed, "How nice to see you." He took off his green gloves and looked at them. He had gotten out of the mortuary business and decided it was more enjoyable to aid in solving crimes. That and the corpses were more mutilated which gave him a bigger challenge of stitching them back together. "Well what can I do for you today?" he asked. William placed the glass jar on the table and pulled the cloth which he had wrapped it in off. "Oh my," he said. "Undertaker, what can you tell us?" asked William. The Undertaker looked up at him and commented, "Many things," and then walked away. This always annoyed William he knew what was coming next, however Grell always seemed to fall for it. "What?" asked Grell in confusion and the Undertaker smiled. "I'll have to call Sebastian won't I?" asked William. The Undertaker bounced and replied, "You have his cell number?" William nodded and whipped out his phone, "Aw why didn't he give it to me?" asked Grell as the Undertaker added it to his contacts list. They both looked up and responded, "Think about it." Grell began to ponder the reason.

"Could it be because I find his figure to be attractive?" he asked seriously. He then spun on his heel and muttered, "I mean he does have a wonderful waist, and those red eyes. Oh I would love to kindle the fire in them." He because more enthusiastic, "His commanding voice and those sweet words of confidence he gives," Grell sang and the Undertaker attempted to suppress his laughter. Sebastian was known for flinging insults at Grell for instance he asked Grell to commit suicide outside, so he wouldn't have to try to get the blood out of the carpet. "Maybe it's the time I took a picture of him doing it with Claude as a side dish?" he mused. The Undertaker was turning red and William shook his head, "I mean he seemed insecure, so I was going to assure him that even I did it but he didn't seem to want to listen," said Grell. The Undertaker lost it and began laughing hysterically, "I even tried giving him tips about how to make it more enjoyable," said Grell. William shook his head and the Undertaker was almost to the point of tears. The image of a flustered, embarrassed Sebastian, getting pointers from the red head was far too much. "You probably offered a photo of yourself as a side dish for him," said the Undertaker as he laughed. Grell sighed and responded, "No, it wasn't just one, it was multiple I have all of them too!" Grell whipped out his phone and began to show William, who naturally hit Grell with the book again. "That's just rich!" cried the Undertaker; he was on the floor and nearly in tears.

William cringed and asked, "Will that suffice for you comedic relief?" the Undertaker rose, there was a line of drool which emanated from the corner of his mouth down his chin as he said, "I believe so." Grell was completely confused as the Undertaker looked at the hand, "It's been well preserved, someone took great care to make sure that it would stay in prime condition," said the Undertaker. He looked at the hand and then to where the wrist would be. "I would have to open it to see what weapon was used, however I can tell you now, this isn't a decaying soul, well not only that is," he stated. William looked at him in confusion, Sebastian had been right there was something more to the stench which hung in the air. "From the looks of it it's cursed and has been used multiple times to find someone," said the Undertaker. Grell was confused and asked, "What?" The Undertaker nodded and responded, "Yup, who ever they were looking for was related by blood, they tried multiple times too to find them. That's what the stench is, it's the ruminants of a Shadow Summons." William adjusted his glasses, he remembered hearing about Shadow Summons, it was where a demon or sorcerer could conger the shadows of a person's past and use them to find a given person as long as they were related. In order for the summons to work, the item used to summon the shadows had to be connected to the person you were searching for through the strongest possible bond. Blood was the strongest of the bonds, very few could possibly trump it. "How long?" asked William and Undertaker shrugged. "I can't say precisely but years, there is a ton of residue on this thing, who ever it is they want to find this person really bad and I doubt it's good," said the Undertaker.

The afternoon was packed as Claude looked through the files, there had to be someway for him to get his hands on the account numbers and be able to use them in court. Baxton was beyond innocent, at this point that wasn't what really bothered him. Who ever was playing this game knew what they were doing, using a missing person's account to do this only raised more questions. "Even if I get the account they have been transferring the funds into after Baxton's it would point to the Campbells which would only cause problems, after all the account holders had been missing for the past 26 years and haven't shown their faces once," said Claude. This case seemed to get more ambiguous the more he learned. What little Hannah had found turned out to be useless after all, "Hannah," he called. She entered quietly and he looked up at her, "I need you to get your hands on several warrents requesting account information for the Baxton case," he said. He was about to take a sip of coffee when he realized it was cold. He sighed and got up, "If there is anyway we can prove he is innocent it's through those accounts," he continued as he poured another cup. Hannah nodded and asked, "I understand but why more than the one?" Claude turned to her, he couldn't tell her about the phone call, "A hunch," he replied. Hannah looked confused however she nodded and disappeared. He closed his eyes and was about to take a sip when he smelt it. His eyes narrowed as he placed the mug on the desk, that sickening scent from the rose had returned. It curdled his stomach to the point he didn't want the coffee. "What the?" he asked in confusion. He noticed a package which hadn't been there before and he called, "Hannah what's this?" She responded, "That was delivered for you while you were at lunch."

Claude picked the package up and slowly pulled his letter opener from the desk drawer. He hesitated and realized that he needed to put on gloves. In moments he had a pair of surgical gloves on and was sliding the letter opener across the edge. The smell filled the room and he nearly gagged, it was overwhelming. He tilted the envelope and watched shriveled rose petals roll out and bloody nails fall on the desk, along with a black jewelry box. He slowly opened it to find a pair of blue eyes looking at him. They were fresh and had been removed with precision. Claude picked up the phone and quickly called Ronald. He was supposed to be tracking the stench why didn't he warn him what was coming. He held the phone up to his ear and listened to it ring before it was cut off. Something was wrong, Ronald didn't answer. "Where are you?" asked Claude in frustration as he called him again. Something was defiantly wrong.

There was a faint tap as water hit the concrete floor, it was cold and smelled of mold. "Ngh," uttered Ronald as he opened his eyes. He had no issues seeing in the dark, however there was an issue, his glasses were gone. "Crap father is going to kill me if I have to ask for another pair," he muttered. His head was throbbing and he realized he had been tied to a column. "What is going on here?" he asked in confusion. He had been bound by thick ropes and heard the distant click of heels in the background. "My my, looks like he's awake," said a voice. Ronald's eyes widened and he began wishing he didn't decide to track the scent on his own. "Who are you?" he asked, there was silence fallowed by laughter from more than just one person. He asked again and the laughter continued. He closed his eyes and shouted, "Enough!"