((Sorry about the last chapter being so dramatic, a friend suggested to me to make it more dramatic and leave more cliffhangers, so I tried it. Not sure if I'm very good at it though.))
"Mother!" she cried, sitting straight up in bed with unfallen tears slipping silently down her cheeks. She glanced around the room, her breathing a bit irregular. She was in her room, the light flooding in from the bits of her curtain that hadn't been drawn. Her room was in semi-darkness, she couldn't think properly. That was when the pain kicked in and she groaned. Why was there so much pain? Wasn't the wound supposed to heal by now? It was obviously the next day, right?
She slowly laid herself back down, but as soon as her head hit her pillow, her door slammed open and her eyes widened a bit from the temporary shock of the noise. Mey-Rin, Bardroy, and Finnian - the three loyal servants of the Phantomhive household - burst into the room, Mey-Rin and Finnian near to tears and Bardroy looking only mildly worried. Kimberly looked over at them and sighed a bit. Mey-Rin went to her side immediately.
"My lady, are you alright?" she asked, her eyes wide and full of concern. She turned to the other two, "go tell Mister Sebastian!" she yelled at them, which made Finnian take off quickly and Bardroy announce he was going to go make her something to eat.
Kimberly nodded slowly, "Mey-Rin… how long have I been out?" she asked, feeling weak all of a sudden, her throat so dry that she could hardly talk. She already knew she wasn't going to like the answer, but she had to know. There was no time for saying she was alright when she knew she wasn't.
"Well, my lady, you were seriously hurt," she started, smiling nervously before finally saying, "You have been in bed for over a month…" she said, trying to smile so that Kimberly wouldn't freak out so bad.
However, the gesture was useless. Kimberly's eyes widened and she looked down at her hands. In a coma for over a month? How was that possible? Sebastian entered the room and shood Mey-Rin out, telling her to go clean something while he saw to her. Kimberly hardly noticed the change though. The faint click of her door being shut brought her back and she looked up at Sebastian with a helpless look.
"Sebastian… was I really asleep for that long?" she asked, unsure whether or not she could fully believe what Mey-Rin had told her.
She saw Sebastian's eyes look into hers for a while, before he slowly nodded. Her heart raced, how could she have been asleep for so long? What even happened? Was Ciel alright? She whimpered at the thought and felt her head beginning to pound. She looked down at her blanket-covered lap and frowned a bit. She winced at the still in her shoulder and her hand went slowly to her shoulder and immediately the question came to her. Why was she still in pain if she had been asleep for a month?
"Sebastian? Why does my shoulder hurt?" she asked, not looking up at him. Her tone didn't seem to change either, which she found odd. She simply wasn't acting the way she normally would.
Even though she didn't look directly at him, she could see out of her peripheral vision that Sebastian became rigid. Taking this as a sign for bad news, she braced herself quickly, "I am not sure, my lady. However, it seems the demonic side of you has retreated. Moving back into your innermost side of your subconscious. What happened at the ball, or whatever you saw while asleep must have forced it to leave you not only helpless against wounds, but also seemed to have unmasked your soul," he explained.
Kimberly had a hard time following the explanation and frowned, looking up at him, "So what that means is… I'm just a human? But Sebastian, how is that possible? I was born half demon!" she said, forcing herself to keep her voice down in case of eavesdropping.
Sebastian simply shook his head, "That is what I'm not sure of. It doesn't make sense, but it does seem to be our only guess," he said, placing a hand over hers gently. She looked up at him and smiled softly, taking her free hand and placing it on his cheek, leaning up and kissing him gently.
She smiled at the warm feeling that spread through her body, as if someone just broke an egg over her head - only instead of a cold feeling it felt almost hot. She shuddered slightly from it and smiled a little more, kissing him deeper. Eventually, though, she pulled away from the kiss - with good timing too. Ciel walked into the room just as she had pulled her hand away and before she even knew what was going on, Sebastian's hand was over her forehead.
"Hmm," he hummed, smiling reassuringly at her, "Your fever seems to have gone down considerably, my lady," he said with a smile. He straightened himself and bowed towards her, then towards Ciel, "My lord, I apologize for not collecting you personally." he apologized, somehow forcing a sincerely guilty look.
However, Ciel didn't bother to pay attention to how sincere it looked. He knew he was a demon and that he couldn't trust him. He turned to Kimberly and sighed, "You will need to catch up on many things that seemed to have happened within the time you have not been with us. Once you have made yourself more suitable, meet me in my study," he said, not even bothering to waste any breath on asking whether or not she was okay. She watched him turn around and leave and frowned slightly, unsure of what to think about the way he was suddenly alright with everything that had just happened. Hadn't she been asleep for over a month? Had he been ok with it all from the beginning? She just didn't understand her brother sometimes.
As soon as the door shut, Kimberly let a breath she didn't know she was holding out. She looked up at Sebastian, "has he been this cranky the whole time?" she asked, biting her bottom lip and sighed when she saw Sebastian nod a yes. She ran a hand through her hair, cringing at how greasy it had gotten.
"Sebastian, do you mind sending for mey-Rin? I have a feeling Ciel might get even more upset if I don't hurry," she said, looking up at him and into her eyes and wished she didn't have to hurry. She wished she could simply take her time and stay with Sebastian for as long as she wanted, but she knew that wasn't likely. To add to that, she would never be able to spend so much time with Sebastian and keep their relationship a secret too.
Sebastian nodded and smiled at her, "Of course, my lady," he teased, smiling more and kissed her forehead before straightening up and leaving the room, Kimberly watching him the whole way. She let out a small laugh at how girlish she acted around him. It was almost sickening. As much as she loved him, she still didn't want to be seen as weak, so she knew she would have to act much more independant. She pulled her covers off of her legs and maneuvered them to the side of the bed. She decided to at least try and do something on her own before her maid arrived to help her. However, her plan seemed to go wrong before she could even walk. When she went to stand up, her knees buckled under her and she collapsed on the floor. She gasped sharply as she fell on her shoulder and whimpered a bit. She definitely was not used to this kind of pain. However, the pain wasn't too sharp. It was more stiff and hard to move than it was if she had an open wound. But if she was healing like a human, there was no way a shot wound could have healed in a month. Finding this fishy, she tried to push herself up off the ground and only managed to stand when Mey-Rin entered the room and rushed over to help her.
Now she was sitting in a tub full of hot, soapy water and getting her scalp massaged. The feeling of her hair being washed felt like heaven to her, she loved it and couldn't get enough. But soon enough, she found herself being dried off and helped to walk around a bit before she was being put into a new gown. She hadn't worn it before, but it was a nice color. It was a lavender color with a corset, only the corset hooked instead of tied in the back, so it was much easier to breath in. She looked at herself in the mirror, she looked hollow. Her cheeks looked hollow, her eyes looked hollow, she could see her bones and she looked highly unhealthy. However, she was alive, so she was thankful for that. The dress she wore made her look as though she still had curves, when really her body was so bony, she looked like a skeleton trying on skin. She bit her bottom lip and looked over the design. There were vertical, thin, black strips of lace going up the skirt of the gown and moving into the corset, which looked the same, but instead of being lavender, it was black with lavender lace. She liked the way it looked on her. By the time her hair and makeup had been finished, her cheeks no longer looked hollow, but instead looked full and rosy, her eye color popped and she looked more healthy than she felt.
"Thank you, Mey-Rin," she thanked the maid, smiling at her. She was glad that the servants at least would try to help her. However, she seemed to have a more womanly look to her instead of the childish look she used to have before everything went black.
Mey-Rin smiled and bowed at her, then lead her to Ciel's study, making sure she didn't fall or stumble down the stairs. Upon entering the room, however, Kimberly felt her stomach drop. The atmosphere of the room was so different from the last time she was in the room. She walked over to Ciel's desk and noticed how much older he looked. His jaw line had elongated, his eyes seemed to have more wisdom in them, he was taller and looked more like his father than Kimberly thought possible for his age. She bit her lip and glanced over him for a few more minutes before speaking up.
"Ciel? You wanted to speak to me, right?" she asked, looking at him with a small smile on her face. She didn't feel like smiling, but figured the kind gesture was appropriate with the way he was acting. He seemed to be so much colder than before, but it also was like he was missing a large portion of himself.
"Yes, I did. I wanted to make sure you understood everything that has happened while you were unable to be with us," he said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Kimberly took a seat and listened to him as he explained things she was sure she had already known. Nevertheless she listened to him. Nodding in understanding to show him she was still listening. However, she couldn't help but to allow her mind to wander and to wonder what it was she felt he was missing. She just couldn't place the feeling, though. It was something in his eye, it was like he had lost something, but what it was couldn't be pinpointed.
"Kimberly! Are you even listening?" he asked impatiently, frowning at her. Quickly she nodded and began to listen to him more intently, though the question remained in the back of her mind, "Now, the Earl Trancy is going to be visiting the manor today, so he should be arriving any moment now," he finished up his explanation.
Wait. Who was the Earl Trancy? Oh well, probably just some sort of business partner Ciel met while she was out of it. She'd have to ask Sebastian about it later. Though, there wasn't much time to ask him as a knock came from the door and a nervous Mey-Rin poked her head into the room and announced the arrival of Earl Alois Trancy.
Ciel stood up to leave, Kimberly following his lead. However, it seems that Mr. Trancy didn't want to stay where he was told to be and burst into the study. For a moment, Kimberly was sure Elizabeth had cut her hair short and her voice grew slightly deeper, because a blur of blonde and purple ran past her and leaned over the desk excitedly.
"Why hello there, Ciel~!" called a rather excited young man. He seemed to be around Ciel's age and was only slightly taller than him, though she was sure this was only because of the heeled boots he was wearing. He seemed to have completely blocked out the fact that Kimberly was in the room with them, that is until Ciel cleared his throat to greet the young blonde boy.
The boy turned a bit and saw Kimberly and his face brightened, a wide grin spreading across his face. He looked up at Kimberly, though he could have easily reached the middle of her forearm. Grabbing her hand, he kissed her knuckles, still smiling, "Why hello there," he greeted her as Kimberly retracted her hand from his, "I believe we have yet to meet. I am the Earl Alois Trancy. You are?" he asked, his bright blue eyes sparkling in well-concealed interest.
Alois Trancy? But this boy was so young! "Her name is Kimberly Phantomhive. She is my older sister, Mr. Trancy," Ciel said for her. He moved from behind his desk and to Kimberly's side, looking at Alois and trying not to let the height difference bug him.
Kimberly got the hint and knew that Ciel would rather keep her out of the conversations with Alois, "Ciel," she said, turning to her brother, "It seems I will be late for my lesson if I don't hurry. I apologize sincerely to leave after just meeting, Sir Trancy," she said, nodding towards Aois, "but I really must hurry," she finished and turned on her heel and allowed Sebastian to hold the door open for her and follow her out of the room. Though she was sure she felt Alois' butler watching her, which led her to be sure she saw Sebastian shoot a small glare at him before leaving the room.
Kimberly lowered her voice and turned around to face Sebastian, "Sebastian, you have some explaining to do…" she said, frowning slightly, seeing the unease on his face, "What's wrong?" she asked, unsure of why he looked that way. He hardly ever let anything worry him.
Instead of answering her, he looked at her sternly and said, "Listen to me carefully. You need to stay as far away from Alois Trancy and his butler, Claude Faustus, as you can. If either of them develops an interest in you, it will most definitely not be very pretty," he practically ordered her, looking at her seriously.
Kimberly didn't even know what to say, so she simply nodded slowly, "If you say so, Sebastian…" she said, unsure of what harm could come from the innocent seeming young boy and his butler. However, she didn't press any further into the matter.
That was her first big mistake in the matter.
((Hey guys! I finally finished this one and I think it is pretty good. Tell me what you think in the comment section, thanks so much for your support!))