HIATUS OVER! Sup guys, I am back. I am so happy to be continuing this story, and after those wonderful reviews..I am even happier. I apologize deeply for the long wait, I have an ending for this story and I intend on finishing it.

I'll be honest, I had gotten zero sleep last night. But when the sun did rise, and its rays gave light to the room, I found myself staring at Natalie's orange hair. It was flared out and she was cuddled against a pillow. Thirteen she said she was? Frankly, I had a hard time believing it. I rolled over and took this silence to think.

That's what I was good for, it was all that kept me sane..thinking. My visioned dulled as I reminisced the conversation between me, Ciel and Natalie. This Kenny person said he had a boss to go to. A boss for her to meet. There was more to it; who goes to a random girl and invites her to meet his boss? And why wasn't he there when we discovered Natalie?

The sweet smell of pastries filled the air and it was enough to distract my thoughts. With sluggish movements I got up from the bed and walked slowly over to my closed door. Then I remembered; I couldn't walk out in my attire. As a female stuck in 1881, nightclothes were as close as being naked.

After changing into a simple blue dress (may I add I was beginning become annoyed of dresses), I walked out and entered the common area. Ciel was there eating and Sebastian was nowhere to be found.

"Good morning Lady Rayne, your breakfast is ready." Sebastian greeted from behind me. His unexpected greeting left shudders and I jumped away in fright. The butler's crimson eyes glared down at me, then he shut them in a smile and gestured to my plate.

"That girl is she-"

"Her name is Natalie, and yes, she is asleep." I cut Ciel off as I tore a piece off of my danish.

"Someone is in an irritable mood. Why didn't you get any sleep?" He asked suddenly as my eyes met his. "Huh? I, I couldn't"

"Rubbish." Ciel took a small sip of his tea. "Seems to me the only way you can sleep is in my bed."

My face heated, my eyes widened and my lips dropped. He left me stumped and seemed to take joy in it. After I didn't reply, he chuckled. "Humph. I'm kidding."

No he wasn't, the slick look in his eyes told me so. Still, I ignored him and looked away. "Jerk."

"What was that?"

"You are a cruel person Ciel." I sputtered as he sighed. His legs crossed and he went on to massaging his temple. "Oh? Am I really? Perhaps you're just a bit...soft."

I stood up and placed the plate down on the table, then I stomped over to Ciel with clenched teeth. His eyes were still closed so I took this moment to raise my hand. Just as my palm was coming down to meet his face my wrist was grabbed and the motion stopped short. So short that the sound of a palm hitting skin echoed into the air. The breeze had shifted Ciel's bangs, his eye was held a piercong gaze with smile to match.

He had caught my hand and dear I say it: it was damn annoying. "Sebastian, is there a reason why I had to be the one to block her attack?"

"My apologies master, still, I knew you'd defend yourself just fine."

My eyes were ablaze as Ciel sighed, "Rayne."

"Phantomhive Ciel, you have no right to mess with me! I'm tired of it!" I tried to tug my wrist from his grip.

"Hn. You have no right to allow yourself to be messed with it. "

He talked to me as if I were a child. I pitiful soft child to which he looked down on. I had to prove him wrong.

"I believe Natalie is now awake." Sebastian interrupted us with careless expression. "One of you should talk to her."

Ciel forced me back roughly, "You do it! Get as much information out of her as possible. "

I stumbled, "Me? Why me?"

"Because you are like her." Ciel stuffed a bite size pasty in his mouth and frowned. His face was tense, but I saw it. I saw the rose tint in his cheeks. My hands went to my hips as I shrugged, "We are not alike."

"You're both girls, talk to her about boys or something!"

"And bring her a plate of pastries while you're at it." Sebastian gave another creepy grin and I sighed. "Fine. But don't expect good results."

If Ciel didn't want to deal with her then that was understandable. She was an odd girl who clearly only took interest in me. Despite her flirting with Ciel. I looked back at the boy, a silver plate now in my hands. I watched as he bit into another sweet treat and picked up a newspaper. He was such an old man sometimes.

I entered my room to see Natalie sitting on the floor. Her back was to me but she seemed occupied in something. I approached her slowly, kneeling down and holding out the plate. "Breakfast?"

"Good morning Rayne." Her eyes stayed on the window.

I nodded and set the plate down. "Uhm, so, how was your first night?"

"Warm." She replied. Her small hand moving to pick up a pastry. She brought it close to her face and examined it. "It's food. It's edible." I comforted and she gave me a look. "You're too easily convinced." Natalie's blue eyes were on me and I stopped short.

"Uh. Uhm. What do you mean by warm?" I had decided to move on. But my head tilted in the end. Natalie smirked and bit the pastrie. "It's warm here. Just here. Everywhere else is cold. They are cold." She gave me short answers and continued to stuff her face.

I blinked and glanced down. "They? As in Ciel and Sebastian?" I tried to act on her level, but I had no idea what she was talking about. Natalie's eyes flicketed left then she shook her head.

She lied. But I moved on and sighed, "Tell me about Ciel." She said.

"Huh?" I looked up to see her eyes on the window again. With my own irises blinking, I answered her question. "He's..a jerk. He's stoic. Irritable and arrogant. Yet he's so smart at the same time! It just makes you-"

"You like him?" Natalie was grinning and it caught me off guard. I blinked at her, my face heating. "No!" I answered too quickly.

"So you hate him?"

"No." I replied slowly, raising an eyebrow at her. Natalie's palm pressed against the window. "You either like or hate someone Raynie."

Raynie? "Uh. No. Hating is so..so far off. I mean, I could never hate."

"Anyone could hate anyone. You could hate me." Natalie's palm was pressing further into the window. So finally, I took her hand and removed it. "I would never..hate you." She was kid. A lost kid and I needed to comfort her.

I also needed to return to Ciel with information. "This. Kenny. Who was he to you? Did you know him before..you know."

"Yes."

"Well?"

"He was close."

"Close?"

"Hn."

I sat back and shrugged, then decided to throw another question at her. "Why were you in the park? That day."

"He took me."

"Why?"

"To meet his boss."

"Why?"

Natalie's eyes became plain and she stuttered. "T-to..uhm. Get it done. To..to, finish it."

Finish it? Finish what?

I blinked, my hand still grasping hers. My thumb even massaged the top of her hand, slowly, I sighed. "Who's the boss. Have you met him?"

"I knew him."

"Who is he?"

"Natalie-" SMACK. My body fell sideways. The pain was quick, but the throbbing carried over and made it worse. The moment her hand made contact with my face in such the harsh way, tears left my eyes.

"STOP!" Natalie stood up and stumbled back. She ran to the bed and crawled in it. But she wasn't crying, she was just..silent. I sat up and rubbed my face. I went too far. And though I got answers, it took me virtually nowehere. So I sat up and looked left towards the window. I took noticed on a symbol engraved in condensation on the corner of it. The place Natalie's hand had covered. And there I saw a lower case 't' with spikes around it. A 't'? Spikes? Burning cross. I looked back to Natalie who was still in the bed.

"Natalie. I'm sorry. I won't do that to you again. I promise."

When I returned to Ciel, I had told him everything. He sat in his office, staring me down and massaging his ring.

"That's all?"

"Did I not mention she slapped me? I wasn't continuing."

"But the symbol. On the window?"

"It went away. She just made it from condensation." I said. My head had turned to stare at a nearby book shelf. "She is with them."

"Them?"

"She isn't like you Rayne. She isn't a victim."

He was right; it was scary to know but he was right. There is more to Natalie. And the answer is bigger than us.

I felt someone close and turned to see Ciel standing before me. His hand raised to touch my cheek and I flinched.

"Still hurts?" He asked and I nodded. "I really freaked her out."

Ciel smirked and blinked his eye. "You have useless interrogation skills. But at least I don't have to punish you. She seemed to have gotten that one covered."

My eyes glared and I scoffed. "Punish!? You are not my master Ciel. You can't punish me."

His face leaned closer, a bit too close, didn't he have personal space issues? "I can't?"

I was almost about to speak. Almost. It would've been something combative until I realised something. This was Ciel Phantomhive. He is irritable, short tempered and old spirited. But comepletely opposite when he was pulling the strings.

That's right. Pulling the strings, controlling the pieces, of his game. I was tired of falling for this, of him toying with my feelings yet never giving anything. It was my turn now.

"No. Because even if you were to punish me. You wouldn't." I stepped half an inch closer and already the color in his eye changed. "What?"

"You couldn't . You're too weak to. You wouldn't have the heart to." I was trying to hit his ego. I was trying to pose a challenge Ciel narrowed his eye. "Heart?"

"You're too soft."

"Soft? Why who do you think-"

"I told you Ciel. I'm tired of you messing with me. Either start being honest with your feelings or-"

"Or what?" Ciel took the challenge and smirked. "This has nothing to do with feelings. See that's the thing with you." He turned around and went to sit in his chair. "You're emotions cloud your decisions. You make it too easy for me. Whether you truly like me or not. You're too horny for this."

"Wha. Wha. Ciel! You..I-"

"See? Point proven. You allow me to do this to you Rayne." He had debunked me. He completely twisted this around and I felt deflated. "So you're saying. It's me? Not you. Tch. Jerk."

Ciel began spinning in his chair. "I know. But take this is as a learning curve. " he stopped with his back to me. "You can't outsmart someone who knows his stuff. Particularly the Queen's watchdog."

"So what? I have to take 'watchdog interrogation' classes now?" I asked spitefully as he shrugged. "No. You just have to keep from fawning over me."

"I don't. I do not fawn over you Ciel. Unlike what you claim this is really your doing. Typical, arrogant, rich boy. You enjoy this so much because you need it. You use someone else's feelings not only for amusement, but to comfort you. You are cruel."

"I don't need comfort."

"You're actions say otherwise. I think, with all the teasing you do. I think, you actually like me! You are a typical boy. You abuse my feelings to hide your own. Bcause you like me! And you can't stand it."

When I turned around my head had just barely missed a flying object. It skimmed my cheek and crashed into the wall with a bang. I watched as the book flopped to the ground, a tear split the middle. He threw a book at me? "You threw a book at me!" I whipped around to see his arm still outstretched, and he was breathing heavily.

"You annoy me with your rubbish. Like bloody hell I have feelings for you girl. I mess with you for my own amusement. "

"Why?"

"Because I need a game to play. And you make it easy."

I picked up the book and threw it back at him. His eye opened in a gasp as it bounced off his chair. "Tell the truth!" I demanded.

Ciel glared at me. His navy eye grew dark, it matched the dark aura that surrounded him. "Truth? Fine. You are a pitfiul, rude girl who tries to hard to act above everyone else. You're useless beyond imagine and frankly not that smart. A person like me can never like a person like you." At the end of his explanation he picked up the book and threw it back.

I was so shocked that I forgot to dodge, no, I didn't want to dodge. The end of the book crashed into my left eye and I was left crumbling to the ground in a cry. My hands grasped my face as I felt nothing but internal pain. My heart, literally hurt. Ciel gasped and he scrambled to the floor. He crawled over to me and took a hold of my shoulder.

"Rayne. Rayne! Are you okay? Rayne!"

I didn't answer, I just shook violently in his hold. My eye, specifically the area surrounding, began to pulse, and I knew it had wepted up..or worse, blackened. "Rayne I didn't mean-."

"Children what is going on?" Sebastian entered the room and I swiftly kicked Ciel away and crawled over to Sebastian. "My eye."

I kept my face down as Sebastian went to pick me up. Ciel stood as well, his face paling. "I will check it out. C'mon Lady Rayne." Sebastian said, setting me down and leaving the room. I followed after him quickly, still holding my face and walking bent over.

Ciel Phantomhive. I...

I wish I could hate you for this.

Ta Da! Long chapter for ya! I hope it was worth the wait I tried to include more Ciel and Rayne and give insight to Natalie without spoiling too much. But I hope it was enough to keep you reading! And for anyone who is still with this thing..you do not know how thankful I am for it. I deeply appreciate it.