Chapter 24
Estella on the bed groaned groggily, quickly rolling towards the other side of the bed to get herself as far away from the glaring rays of the afternoon sun. A knock of her head against the bedside table the moment she got there, her eyes snapped open to the throbbing pain at the side of her head.
She scowled at the clock on the wall across. "Afternoon already…?" She sat up and leaned back on the headboard of the bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "No one woke me up?" She glanced at the door in confusion. With a shrug, she settled into staring at the wall across, instantly reminded of her dream.
With the reminder of the dream, flashes of it started coming back to her.
It was a very strange dream of her going around London really late in the night, leaping and running stealthily over rooftops which were definitely not possible for humans or at least for her. And…there were fire outbreaks here and there. The part of her dream which she could remember the most clearly was the Big Ben.
What crept her out was about the dream was that it felt really real, like she really did all those.
The thought of her doing all those instantly had her snorting incredulously at herself.
Yeah right. I will probably just fall flat on the ground and die a pathetic death trying to balance on a rooftop, dumbass!
Shaking her head, she heaved a sigh before swinging herself off the bed and making her way to the bathroom.
…..
Ciel heaved a sigh. He tapped his fingers against the newspaper in a rhythmic manner as he drifted into thoughts.
Sebastian studied the article his master was reading through narrowed eyes. His eyes lingered on its eye-catching headline.
"THREE MYSTERIOUS FIRE OUTBREAKS IN ONE NIGHT"
"… badly burnt…all dead…didn't know how the fire started…neighbors worried…police baffled…"
"Sebastian," Ciel finally spoke up," Any letters from the Queen?" He asked, massaging his temples wearily.
"So far, we haven't received any." Sebastian glanced down at the news article and back to Ciel with a knowing look. "Soon."
"Then we shall prepare for this investigation."Ciel announced, folding the newspaper neatly before placing it at the far end corner of his desk. His eyes widened at a remembrance at that moment. "Speaking of investigation, I feel that there might be a connection between the investigation I did last night and this. Like I told you, last night's incident was by a fire. Same goes for this case." His eyes narrowed. "This doesn't seem like a coincidence, don't you agree Sebastian?" He eyed his butler intently.
"I must agree." Sebastian nodded. "I'll investigate further on last night's."
"Good," Ciel took a sip from his cup. He moved the cup away from his lips to reveal a dead serious look. "Tonight we are heading for the Black Market. And Sebastian…" He scowled in distaste at a certain thought and heaved a resigned sigh."…I want you to get Grell to come with us."
When silence was all he was met with, Ciel glanced over to Sebastian with a raised eyebrow. The butler had a stun look on his face but it was replaced with a strained smile upon seeing Ciel's raised eyebrow. "Why…May I ask…is he coming?"
"Just in case."Ciel shrugged. A tiny smirk grew across his face, "I'm sure it would be absolutely easy for you to convince him to come." He mused, folding his arms behind his head.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at him before letting out a sigh. "Yes, my lord," he bowed to Ciel with a hand on his chest, inwardly dreading to invite the shinigami.
"Good," Ciel said, pleased with himself. He glanced over at the clock,"Blancbaston still not awake? She better know that tonight we are heading for the Black Market."
"Are you going to ask her about last night's incident?" Sebastian inquired.
He nodded. "Of course."
"Ask who?"
They turned to the door to see Estella strolling in.
"You." Ciel eyed her with a meaningful look, "Took you long to wake up, Blancbaston," he jutted his chin at the clock.
"Well, nobody bothered to wake me up." Estella shot back irritably, folding her arms across her chest.
He rolled his eyes. "Sit down."
Estella heaved a sigh, marching forward. "Ask me what?" She sat down across him before turning to Sebastian to greet him with a crooked smile.
She glanced down on the newspaper next to her and was instantly caught on by its headline.
Fire outbreaks?
She frowned.
Strange, it was what I dreamt of last night. Such coincidence…
With a shrug, her head swiveled back to Ciel,"So yeah? What questions?"
Ciel glanced up at her. "What happened last night?" He asked lazily.
She tilted her head in puzzlement. "Last night?" A sudden memory of kissing Brandon flashing across her mind had her blushing and squeezing her eyes close in embarrassment. Her eyes snapped open. "Wha-What do you mean by what happened last night?"
"We found you unconscious outside with two badly burnt corpses." Ciel stated matter-of-factly.
"Corpses?" Her eyes widened in surprise,"why were there corpses?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out from you," Ciel frowned at her, "What happened when you were outside?"
"I was...I was attacked by two men. They mentioned something about their...boss," she shrugged, "Everything happened so quickly. They were charging at me. As I'm about to kick their stupid asses, I just... fainted." She frowned in confusion, "There was a voice back then..."
"What voice?" Ciel leaned forward with a frown, resting his arms on the desk.
"It sounded female and was definitely evil-sounding. Telling me that it will 'take over' and that was all I heard before I fainted." Estella shuddered at the thought of the voice.
"Where did you hear it from?"
Her eyebrow rose. "Inside here…?" She tapped onto her forehead lightly.
Ciel eyed her forehead before giving her an incredulous stare. "You mean your head..?"
"I know what you're thinking…" Her eyes narrowed dangerously at his incredulous stare. "I'm not crazy, okay!" She snarled, glaring heatedly at him.
"Did I say that you're crazy…?" He said dryly, shooting her an unimpressed look.
"You're thinking that."
He eyed her lazily. "Whatever, we're wasting time." Ciel waved dismissively at her. He turned solemn. "I believe that they were SIGMA's…"
Estella glanced up with a frown, "…I think so too."
"Speaking of them, we're heading for the Black Market tonight," his eye glittering expressively at her, "Be prepared, Blancbaston."
"What? Tonight?"
He merely nodded.
"Tonight…" Her eyes darkened with a war of emotions passing across her features. She heaved a sigh. "Alright."
"Sebastian," Ciel turned to his butler, "We're leaving in the evening. Tell Grell to meet us there."
Sebastian nodded in return.
"What?" Estella glanced at them in bewilderment. "You mean that annoying red thing is coming too?"
Sebastian smiled amusingly and said in a smooth voice, "Sadly, yes."
…..
Winter held firmly to its icy grip on London as snow fell upon the streets of the city. The wind seemed to stand still, and the evening sun was the thing that kept the temperatures from hitting a chilling low. Amidst a particularly impoverished district in the town, a nobleman's carriage trudged across the cobblestone.
"He better be there already," Estella glanced over at her master's murmur before turning back to the pistol clutched tightly in her hands.
The weight in her gloved hands was not enough to comfort her, only enough to stop her hands from trembling too much. She has to admit…She was afraid of what lies ahead, very afraid. And that was one thing she was getting frustrated about, she was acting like a freaking coward!
"Blancbaston," A harsh whisper had her turning to Ciel to find that he has already draped his head with the hood of his cloak, "We're here! I do not want any trouble."
Snapping her head over to the window, her eyes widened to see dangerous-looking men checking out the carriage in front. "Shit!" She cursed, yanking her hood over her head.
His words came back to her from earlier.
"When we're there, hoods on. Understood? I don't want us to be recognized. Me as the Queen's guard dog and if a SIGMA member who happens to be there recognizes you. I want a smooth and successful mission."
Fear and dread fluttered in her stomach at that.
Sneaking a peek at Ciel to see him watching the men cautiously, her hands flew and clamped over her mouth at the feel of rising bile.
"Don't you dare vomit here," Ciel warned sternly.
She glanced over at Ciel from the side of her eyes and quickly nodded, struggling against and finally successfully swallowed the bile back down.
She heaved a heavy sigh, shakily bringing hands back down. "Sor-Sorry…Too nervous," She took deep breaths to calm herself.
Ciel was no idiot. "You're scared," he stated matter-of-factly.
"I am not," She jutted her chin stubbornly.
"You are."
A jerk of the carriage instantly silenced them and made them glanced out.
"…Phantomhive?" Estella whispered worriedly upon seeing the approaching men.
"Don't worry, Sebastian will handle this. Just act normal," he muttered calmly.
Estella stared at him, amazed. How could he not feel scared at all? Those men looked ready to kill. Plus, they're entering the Black Market.
A shrug, she glanced over to her window and nearly screamed, but thank god she was fast enough to stop herself. A man was looking in through narrowed eyes, examining them with a spine-chilling gaze.
Her eyes bored into the seat across, not daring to breathe. Her hand was roaming desperately across the seat for something to grab on.
Ciel winced at a pain at his hand and glanced down to find a hand squeezing his. He glanced up, wincing, "Oi, Blancbaston."
She hesitantly glanced over to him," Wha-what do you want?" She asked shakily in hushed voice.
Ciel raised a brow at her. "You're holding my hand," he glanced down at his hand and back to her with a pointed look.
"What…"Her eyes widened in surprise to see it was true. "Oh," she quickly took It back, "Sorry."
Ciel watched her glanced away with a curious look before glancing down at his own.
With the feeling of the carriage moving under them, he peered out to find them moving in. He blew out a relieved sigh.
"This is the worst mission. Ever." Estella finally spoke up, glancing over to him with a glare. Her eyes narrowed, "I'm going to kill you, Phantomhive."
He merely rolled his eyes to that.
….
"SEBAS-CHAN~" Sebastian dodged the incoming shinigami, letting him crash into the wall behind.
Estella gave the butler a sympathetic look as she watched him heaved an irritated sigh.
Grell quickly recovered, leaping up with a pout. "Sebas-chan! The Black Market is purrrr~fect for our date!" The shinigami batted his eyelashes at him in delight, "You're the best! EVER!" He once again went forward with wide-opened arms but ended up missing Sebastian again.
Estella eyed Grell with raised eyebrows. "Hey, hey…Spare Sebastian, will you?" She drawled, folding her arms behind her head.
As if she hadn't spoke, Grell turned to Sebastian with a pout, "Sebas-chaaaaan, why are these two here on our date?"
Sebastian had an irk look on his face.
"This is not a date, shinigami," Ciel spoke up with an irritated look, "We're here for business and you're part of it. SIGMA…Have you heard of them?"
"Well, of course!" Grell flipped his red long hair over his shoulder haughtily, "If this is not a date, then I'm out!"
Ciel eyed the shinigami thoughtfully. A mischievous smirk broke across his face, "You know your reward for this is… a kiss from Sebastian."
"Young master…" Sebastian muttered in horror.
At that, Estella glanced over sympathetically at the butler who had a betrayed look on his face.
The shark-like grin on the shinigami had Ciel's smirk growing wider, "So, what do you say?"
Grell narrowed his eyes skeptically, "Really…?"
Ciel nodded, "Yes."
The shinigami edged towards him with an excited look, "With tongueeee…?"
"Definitely," Ciel smirked, pleased with himself.
"Okay, I'm IN!" Grell cheered, doing a ballerina twirl. "Sebas-chan…I'll be waiting~" He threw the butler a seductive wink and blew air kisses.
Estella shook her head at Grell before turning to Ciel with a dry look, "You like torturing Sebastian, don't you?" she stated in a matter-of-factly tone.
Ciel had a subtle smile on his face, "Not really."
…..
Ciel sighed.
Behind a bush was definitely not the most comfortable place to hide. With three other people, life was hard. If not for the store that was right across them, he would have deemed this bush out of question.
"The person is late," he commented with a scowl.
"And I'm bored…" Estella added lazily.
Grell beside her nodded in agreement. "C'mon, Sebas-chan. Entertain me!"He eyed at the butler at the other end. "If you get what I mean..." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively, completely ignoring the irk look from Estella who was watching the whole thing.
Sebastian, however, paid no attention to the shinigami. His red eyes were fixed on a distant figure, watching it walk towards the store across them.
"Young Master," he whispered, "he's here."
Ciel glanced over to Sebastian what was looking at, to recognize their target.
A man with a mock of brunette hair marched towards the store with a silver rectangular suitcase hugged to his chest. His eyes never left the store, only a few glances for incoming carriages whenever he crosses over to the next pavement.
"Shut up, you two," Ciel snapped his head over to the redheads with a sharp look. "Our target is here."
"Where is the…Is that him?" Estella whispered, elbow nudging him excitedly.
"Yes, and stop doing that," he scowled irritably at her, grabbing onto her elbow to stop her nudging.
She tucked in her arms and they lapsed into silence.
The man set down the suitcase on the counter before the dealer. A whisper from the man had the dealer nodding at him before disappearing behind the curtains beside the counter.
"What did he say to the dealer, Sebastian?" Ciel whispered.
"SIGMA," Sebastian's eyes moved to Ciel, "That was all."
Ciel nodded, eyes following the movement of the dealer who emerged from the curtains with four black square boxes. The man locked the boxes into the suitcase the moment they reached the counter. A mumble of words to the dealer, the man took off in the direction of where he came from.
"He must be heading back to SIGMA."
Estella glanced over at Ciel with wide eyes. "Don't tell me we are going to follow him…." She shook her head vigorously at that thought.
To her horror, he nodded. "Well, of course."
….
Fear gripped her the instant she caught sight of the huge SIGMA symbol on the giant gates ahead.
Estella swallowed the lump in her throat, eying nervously at those gates. The only thing separating her and that place was the bush in front of her.
"Phantomhive," she turned to Ciel, "if we manage to make it out of that place alive, I'm gonna kill you for putting me through this."