((Thanks for the favorites from last chapter, you guys! Sorry again for it not being the longest chapter or being the most descriptive, I'm suffering from really bad writer's block. I hope this chapter is any good!))
Kimberly's full attention was on the location of the scream. She couldn't remember what they were talking about or what she was about to say. Memories of when she was kidnapped right after going towards the scream flooded her mind and she struggled to stand. She leaned against the wall and watched as someone dressed in black ran towards the screaming.
Someone dressed in people who took her were dressed in black. Was the person who just ran past her one of her captors? No. She was sure this man wasn't; though she couldn't remember who he was. She put both hands over her face and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember where she was.
She was in a corridor in her brother's manor. She was at a ball.
She hesitantly pulled her hands away from her face to glance around her to make sure this was true. She was in a dark corridor. Looking one way, she could see nothing else but more darkness that lead down the hall. Looking the other way, she saw light flooding into the entrance to the corridor and figured that the ball must be that way.
She tried to walk down the hallway to the entrance, but found that she was dizzy. She swayed a bit and ended up only getting a few feet away from her original spot. Her head was buzzing. Who was she again? She couldn't remember. She looked down at her own hands and tried to blink away the dizziness. It didn't work so she closed her eyes tightly and tried to remember who she was.
Her name was Kimberly Phantomhive. Her mother and father were both dead, leaving her alone with her younger brother. Who was he again? Ciel. Ciel Phantomhive. She could remember a bit more now. She opened her eyes and tried to look around again and found that her head still spun but she was no longer dizzy. She walked down the corridor towards the entrance, then sped up and ran towards it.
Emerging at once in the large, brightly lit room, the first thing she noticed was the people around her. She didn't recognize anyone until she saw a woman in a blue gown. She had her blonde hair up and her blue eyes looked like everything but concern was held in them. She looked around more and tried to squeeze through the crowd, avoiding elbows and shoulders that jabbed towards her. She made her way to the front of the crowd and gasped at what she saw.
There were a few men in the middle, holding guns. They held harsh expressions on their face. She looked up at the stairs and the balconies and saw that there were more men holding guns, looking ready to shoot at any given moment. Accompanying the men in the middle of the crowd was a tall man in a tailcoat. The name Sebastian Michealis came to mind and she remembered him instantly. He was standing by Ciel's side, more shielding him that anything.
"Move it Buddy!" one of the men with guns said, he had a goatee. He was speaking to Sebastian, glaring at him, "We're here for the twerp!"
Sebastian smiled and placed a hand to his chest. His smile was artificial, but how could he smile genuinely at a time like this? "I apologize, sir, but if I step aside, you are going to shoot my young master. As a Phantomhive butler, I cannot simply allow my young lord or any welcomed into Phantomhive hospitality to get hurt. I do hope you understand my dilemma."
"Enough talking! If you won't move, I will just have to shoot you too!" the man yelled, moving to aim the gun he was holding at Sebastian. He moved his finger to the trigger and squeezed. But to his surprise, the only thing that came from the gun was a clicking sound.
"It seems you have forgotten to add bullets to your gun," Sebastian said with a slight hint of glee in his voice. He was obviously proud of something, and that something was probably disarming the gun.
"W-Wha-?" the man exclaimed in surprise, glaring at the man. He growled and nodded to the man at his side.
The man beside him had a stern look on his face and faced Sebastian, "One move and I will order every man I have to shoot you down in your tracks! Hand over the boy!" he yelled, his voice steady, unwavering.
The room remained silent for many moments. Within those moments, the tension in the room was killing just about every person in the ballroom. Suspense, confusion, fear, it all formed together like one giant emotion. No one in the hall moved, talked, there was absolute silence. You couldn't even hear the people breathing. Half of the probably held their breath.
Kimberly fought a mental battle. Should she get involved? It was her brother, if she didn't get involved he could get seriously hurt. But if she did, she would have no way of explaining anything. She had no plan and normally when that happened, her emotions formed on without her thinking about it. She couldn't just stand here and watch everything go down, either. She loved Sebastian. She loved her brother. She wasn't about to stand here and watch them get hurt or risk their lives; even though Sebastian couldn't exactly die from mere bullets.
She made her decision, she was going to get involved. Even without a plan, she was sure something would come to mind the way it always did. "Sebastian! Get him out of here!" She yelled at him, breaking the long silence. Her voice rung through the room, the surprise that anyone said anything ran through the men. But before they could formulate what to do, Sebastian was already carrying Ciel out of the ballroom and down the nearest corridor. Kimberly ran out of the crowd and into the clearing, meaning to follow Sebastian to help, but something in her mind already knew what was really going to happen. Why she really ran away from the safety of the crowd instead of through it where she could still have some sort of cover.
Everything was a blur. The moment she stepped out of the crowd, guns began to go off. They didn't aim for anyone or anything specific, they just shot anywhere into the crowd, hoping to hit someone or something. She heard screams, many of them. People rushed around, trying to get out of the line of fire, panicking and trying to move towards the nearest exit.
Kimberly kept running, trying to make it to the corridor Sebastian took Ciel to, but she had to push through many people, which resulted in her getting pushed out of the way. She was elbowed randomly, stepped on, pushed down. It was mere luck that she got out of the tangled crowd, but there wasn't much luck in what had happened just after she made it out of the crowd. A sharp sting in her shoulder pushed her back, though she stumbled, she managed not to fall. She lifted a hand to her right shoulder and saw blood covering her fingers when she pulled them away. Her mind began to buzz again, she got dizzy too. She couldn't remember what she was doing or what was going on. Why couldn't she remember anything? She remembered stumbling back more and being pushed back into the crowd where she was pushed around more and finally she was on the ground. Her body felt like led. She remembered she had felt this way before. This feeling was familiar, but where had she felt it before?
When she was shot back when she was being held hostage. She had felt this way then. But she got up that time, why couldn't she do it again this time? She heard shouts and saw blurred people rushing to her. At first they just tried to help her up, but she couldn't will her limbs to move on her command. She felt her body being picked up. She felt the sharp sting of her shoulder being pushed on. But after that, everything dulled. Voices grew quieter, her vision blurred worse, the pain she felt began to numb and she slowly drifted off into the darkness.
'Where am I?' she thought to herself, looking around in the darkness. She was standing, but where she was standing was the big mystery. Everything around her was black - pitch black. Nothing could be seen in any direction.
A large light seemed to be over her, like a stage light. She looked down at herself, looking at her hands. They were pale, trembling. She was wearing a long white gown that went well past her feet. She then realized she wasn't wearing shoes. But even when she looked down, it was like she was hovering in mid-air, because that too was pitch black.
Just then, she looked forward. Another light flicked on and Ciel stood under it. Her heart rate sped up from the surprise and she immediately ran towards him. But just as soon as she was about to reach the light shining over him, she stopped. She had no other choice since a large wall was making a barrier in between them. She waved and trying to slam her fists on the barrier, but nothing worked to get his attention for even a moment. Something else lit up only a few meters away from Ciel. Another light shone over a new figure, this figure was tall with remarkable crimson eyes - Sebastian.
Kimberly ran towards him as well, but was stopped when she noticed the barrier keeping them apart. She once again tried to call out for him. She slammed her fists on the barrier and tried to get his attention just the way she tried to with Ciel. Nothing worked though.
Once again, another figure caught her attention - another tall man. Though this man had more upper body mass than Sebastian. It was obvious he had muscle, but hadn't worked on himself in a while, so he had a small pudge. His smile was wide - warm, welcoming, kind. His eyes, a caramel brown, were warm and filled with happiness. His greying black hair suited him handsomely. Then it hit her. It was her Uncle.
She ran to him, but once more there was a barrier separating her from him. She screamed out in frustration, though there was no sound. She banged on the barrier, crying out his name and trying to get him to notice her. There was no hope; he looked as though there was no one screaming for him, banging on anything, or trying to get him to notice them.
Another light lit up - this one larger than the rest. She didn't want to turn around to see who else wouldn't notice her. But curiosity got too strong and she turned around slowly, her eyes widening for a moment before tears filled them and she had to try and blink them away. Her hands went over her mouth as she saw that before her, her mother and father stood there, under the light. She froze for a moment, not sure if they would hear her if she tried to call out for them. They were talking happily, her mother with her long black hair and her violet eyes smiling merrily in the company of her father. Her father looked just as handsome as ever - his dark hair Ciel had inherited, his brown eyes that welcomed you into his arms.
Slowly, hesitantly, she moved forward. She knew that her parents wouldn't see her. The others didn't. Why would they? She grew closer and she could have sworn she saw her mother glance in her direction. But it must have just been her hopeful imagination. She moved closer and closer slowly. Until she was right in front of the barrier that kept them apart. Tears flooded her eyes and she screamed out in frustration. She cried and slammed her fists on the barrier, trying to break through it desperately. Slowly she fell to her knees, like she couldn't bare to lift her fist again.
"Kimmy. Kimmy, sweetie, don't cry," she heard. That voice though, it was impossible to be heard. She slowly lifted her head up to look at the figure of her mother and father and saw that her father was no longer there. She looked around and saw that everything else was black too. No other bodies or barriers or lights could be seen. She looked back up at her mother and saw that it was indeed her mother who was talking to her, "Sweetie, don't cry. Everything is going to be alright." she said, kneeling down next to her and pulling her into her arms. "Shh, Shh… Mother is here now, don't fret. I won't let anything happen to you," she said in a kind, motherly tone, "I will forever keep you safe from harm."
Kimberly couldn't stop her tears. She clung to the figure of her mother and cried into her shoulder, "Mother!" was all she could say. There was so much she wanted to say to her, but there was no way she could properly formulate a sentence with how much she was crying. As soon as her sobs turned to sniffles, she clung to her and said in a low, almost nonexistent whisper, "Where were you, mum? Mum, I'm so sorry… I didn't keep any of them safe… None of them… I love you mum..."
"I love you too, Sweetie," was all she heard from her mother's voice when everything suddenly disappeared and a bright light shone into her eyes, forcing her eyes open again.
((Hey guys! Sorry for not updating quicker, I won't be able to update this weekend, but I should be able to get a new chapter up by next week! Comment, favorite, whatever you want to do!))