Another chapter! With this one, the case reaches its conclusion. Then, more introductive chapters are coming! :D
This is also the first chapter featuring the point of view of Cloudia and Cedric! And more will come!
I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! And hopefully, things aren't happening too fast!
Chapter Six:
The Countess, Frightening
"The rest consisted of mocking others."
London, England, United Kingdom ‒ January 1847
~Cloudia~
My new investigative partner, Cedric K. Rossdale or "Kristopher Underwood" when he was with me in public –, and I had found the suspect, Dempsey Morton, the sixth Duke of Maverick, in Baron Milton Salisbury's villa during one of the latter's parties. With him was Flavian Hunt, who was most likely Dempsey's employer, and not only his accomplice like Cedric and I had believed.
But before I could have made any move, the earth had suddenly started to shake.
The ground was shaking underneath their feet. The chandelier was swinging dangerously. A bit of the grout from the ceiling was crumbling upon them.
Dempsey Morton was laughing hysterically.
"It took me a while to arrange these special bombs, but BAM! Here I go! Now hand me the drug, Hunt!"
"Morton, you idiot!" Flavian Hunt yelled at him, while another bomb exploded and he fell to the ground as the tremor was increased. "You incompetent fool! I told you to murder the attendees of this party, and not to blow up the entire villa!"
"But that's exactly what I'm doing, Mr Hunt! You ordered me to dispose of Salisbury and the others – and what's the easiest way in doing so? Blowing up ev'rything and ev'ryone!"
I got tired of them. I should quickly kill Flavian and Dempsey, and get rid of the bombs.
Cloudia aimed at Dempsey Morton's head, but before she could pull the trigger, another explosion occurred. It let the villa shake so much that the grand chandelier, which hung from the ceiling, got loose and fell down. Glass fragments flew through the air, and the ground shook even more due to the fall. Cloudia stumbled backwards, lifting her arms to protect her face. Her back collided with the window, and shivers of the chandelier would have drilled themselves into her arms if...
"My, my, Countess, can't I leave you alone for a minute?" A chuckle.
Cloudia opened her eyes and put down her arms. Cedric stood in front of her. He had pulled out his gigantic scythe and used it as a shield to protect them from the splinters.
"You shouldn't protect me. I can do it on my own," Cloudia replied.
"You're my partner. I am bound to our deal. Also, I can protect you as long as it isn't on the day you die." He tapped on the Death Book. "According to this excellent piece of literature, you won't die today."
"At least something." Cloudia put away her gun and brushed the dirt from her clothes. "Still – didn't I tell you to cover the door?"
She looked over the remains of the chandelier. "Dempsey and Flavian seem to have escaped by now. What a mess." She sighed. "I thought after the case with Parrish, I could go home and enjoy the silence and order of my private chambers in the manor – far away from any people. Whatever."
Cloudia tried to open the window, but it somehow stuck, so she picked up a piece from the chandelier and smashed it through the window.
"Undertaker," she addressed Cedric. "Please be so nice to go and get out Cathleen, August and Milton. Even Milton's butler. I don't think the poor boy can live without Wentworth. Our two madmen are after Milton, so I won't let them get the satisfaction of killing him. Also, my aunt would be devastated if I let Cathleen and August die."
Cedric giggled behind his hand. "You are worried about your aunt?"
She glared at him. "I won't allow members of my family to get killed because of my work."
Cloudia pulled out a flare gun, leaned out of the window and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew up the air in a beam of light. She put back the gun and turned towards Cedric.
"Newman and the officers of Scotland Yard will arrive soon. I want to have this case closed by then. Now go and collect Cathleen, August, Milton and Wentworth. I will go after Dempsey and Flavian. We will meet outside of the villa."
Another explosion occurred. Cedric steadied Cloudia so that she wouldn't fall down.
"What time is it, Undertaker?"
He took a glimpse at his pocket watch. "23.34."
"In ten minutes, Flavian Hunt will die. And in twenty-two minutes, Dempsey Morton will follow his example. Concentrate on getting my cousin and the others out. I will meet up with you at midnight. You can collect the souls then. And don't forget your orders. You don't have to protect me in any way. As you have said, I will not die today."
She walked around the remains of the chandelier and towards the door.
"So don't waste a thought on me and do as I have said. My order is your priority; do you understand?"
Cedric chuckled. "I am not your servant, but you're the professional, so..." He bowed slightly. "As you say, Countess."
Cloudia left the room while he started to laugh hysterically.
I walked down the corridor. The stairway and the floors looked horrible. Milton's beautiful flower arrangements were either scattered on the floor or squashed under debris.
I saw a thankfully unharmed long case clock in a corridor. 23.37. In seven minutes, Flavian Hunt would die. I took out my gun and began to hurry. On my way, I saw a white lily under pieces of glass.
Cloudia reached the area right above the feast hall at 23.39. She glimpsed down and saw the room in ruins. Another explosion occurred, and she had to focus not to lose balance. She heard screams. The party guests still weren't completely evacuated. They ran around like scared mice, not knowing what to do. Not knowing where to go.
Apparently, Dempsey had positioned bombs at the entrances, locking them up in the villa.
I didn't think that Dempsey Morton would be intelligent enough for such a move.
Cloudia turned around and saw Flavian Hunt running towards the stairs which led to the hall. She sprinted to him, kneed him in the guts and held her gun against his left temple. His back was pressed against the balustrade and his eyes stared at her in absolute horror.
She grinned. "Now, Mr Hunt, I think it's time for you tell me why you want to see Milton Salisbury dead. And why you have helped Dempsey Morton to escape from the hospital."
Flavian cleared his throat. "As I would tell you that, you fu..."
She hit him with the handle of her gun, silencing him. "I don't have much time left for that, do you know that? I am the Countess of Phantomhive. I have far more important things to do than to interrogate a piece of scum."
Cloudia drilled the gun into his temple. "Now – speak! That's an order!"
"I... I..." Flavian stuttered, and she kneed him again.
"No stuttering! I know that you can articulate properly, so talk like a man, you coward!" Her grin widened. "After all, you're peeing yourself because you're scared of a mere little girl."
"You... you..."
She leaned closer to him. "I listen, Mr Hunt?"
Flavian Hunt's body shivered when he spoke. "Salisbury's company has grown to a stunning size over the last year, dethroning... dethroning a lot of other businesses who are way older than his. In... Including mine. Dempsey Morton, who is a drug addict for decades and who was recently hospitalised, seemed to be the right person to employ to kill Salisbury. I got him out of the hospital after he was sent there by his family because he took too much of the drug and was nearly killed because of it. His old butler had died due to a heart attack a bit earlier. If his niece hadn't found him, Morton would be dead by now. I promised him drugs in exchange of executing Salisbury's murder. After all, it would seem suspicious if Salisbury was assassinated after my company had lost against his. Scotland Yard would have suspected me first! Therefore, I ordered Morton to murder people in Inner London, where Salisbury lives, to let it appear that Milton Salisbury is only the victim of a serial murder."
Cloudia chuckled when he was finished. "You're really pathetic, aren't you, Flavian Hunt? Because you were jealous of Milton's skills as a businessman, you teamed up with a madman, and let many, many people be slaughtered."
She brought her face very close to Flavian's. "You're a real piece of scum, Fl..."
Before she could finish or pull the trigger, another bomb went off, damaging the prop of the platform where they stood, letting it tilt. Cloudia let go of Flavian, who fell over the balustrade and right into his death as it was now 23.44, and stepped back.
Cloudia lost her gun as the ground was pulled out from under her feet, and she fell down, sliding towards the balustrade to face the same fate as Flavian Hunt. But in the last second, she managed to hold onto the balustrade, before she fell down and landed on top of Flavian Hunt's twisted corpse. Dust and grout flew onto her face, and the earth stopped shaking. Smoke was everywhere, and she had to cough.
Pull yourself up and find Dempsey. You only have twelve minutes left, I told myself.
And when I find him, I will kill him by myself. This time, no explosion will come between him and me.
"Mylady!"
Cloudia, who had just pulled herself up a bit, looked up, seeing Alfred Newman run towards her through the ruins. He managed quite well to walk gracefully on this inclined platform.
Newman arrived next to her and helped her to get up. He lifted her up like she was made of paper, and carried her downstairs to the feast hall. The officers and Cedric seemed to have already brought the civilians out of this chaos and into safety. However, Cloudia could still see a few corpses here and there. But nowhere did she see Cathleen's head with the long dark brown hair, a piece of the suit August Milne was wearing today, protruding underneath debris; or Milton whose cheerful smile had been burned into his unmoving body.
Newman let Cloudia down and quickly cleaned her up from the dust.
"Shall we return to the townhouse now, Lady Cloudia?" he asked her calmly.
She shook her head. "I need to find Dempsey Morton first. You know, the Duke of Maverick. I guess, the police didn't arrest him while I was after Flavian Hunt?"
"No, Mylady. Scotland Yard didn't arrest anyone." Newman didn't ask why she was speaking of Flavian Hunt. He had already figured out that Flavian must have been Dempsey's accomplice or employer.
"Newman, I have a task for you."
"Anything you wish, Lady Cloudia."
"Find my gun. Unfortunately, I dropped it when the prop broke. I don't want anyone to find it. I lost a nice dress a few days ago – and today too. I won't lose a well-working gun. Please find it, and then, wait for me in front of the building. I will meet up with you and Kristopher Underwood at midnight, okay? I have already instructed him."
Newman bowed in front of her. "Yes, Mylady."
I loved Newman's loyalty towards me. He would never question me. There were only a few truly fantastic things in this world, and Newman was one of them.
I was glad that I hadn't arrested him prematurely back then.
Cloudia and Newman both turned around at the same time but headed off to different directions.
I preferred to fight alone.
This was another reason why I didn't let Newman follow me everywhere. While I appreciated his loyalty, it could also drive him to interfere with my duty if he thought that I needed help.
The job as the Queen's Watchdog was mine – and mine alone.
Apart from my gun, I had only the dagger with me today. I had around eight minutes left until Dempsey Morton would breathe for the last time in his miserable life. The dagger was more than enough to kill him.
I increased my pace and ran through the remains of the villa. Police officers surrounded the entire building. Newman had told me that they had not arrested Dempsey, which meant that he still had to be here somewhere.
Before I murdered Flavian Hunt, he had tried running downstairs. Not only because he had wanted to flee from me and the destruction caused by the explosions, but also because he had wanted to run after Dempsey. Therefore, it wasn't necessary to search for him in the upper floors.
At least, this restricted the area I had to examine.
The ground floor didn't possess many rooms, so I was able to run through them quickly. And if Dempsey wasn't in one of the upper floors or the ground floor, he could only be in the basement. I allowed myself to grin while I stepped down the stairs to the cellar area, and pulled out the dagger from one of my boots. You wouldn't wear boots as a lady when you attended a party, but I had not come to dance – I had come to fulfil my duty. Thus, I could wear boots. Also, they had been covered by my long skirt until I removed it.
The basement was dark and dusty. Somewhere in one of the higher levels, a bomb exploded, letting the earth shake and grout crumble down the ground and onto Cloudia's carefully coiffed hair.
After Cloudia had finished stepping down the stairs, she heard an eerie giggle coming from a corner of the basement – automatically, she thought of Cedric.
Cloudia sneaked up to the source of laughter. She walked for a while until she saw a light illuminating the darkness in a corner of the basement. Someone whistled joyfully.
She moved forward as silently as a feather until she could make out a silhouette, and until the shape turned into Dempsey Morton, the sixth Duke of Maverick.
Now, being so close to him that she could even smell his nauseous breath, she saw what he was doing down here.
Apparently, Dempsey had managed to steal his beloved drugs from Flavian Hunt before running down to the basement.
Cloudia stopped moving, the light entangling itself in her long lashes and brushing over her ivory skin. Dempsey looked up and smiled, showing his disgusting yellow teeth. He was terribly ugly with his square shaped head, his slightly pointed long nose, the mismatched eyes – one in dirty blue, the other in a horrible brown tone. She was disgusted by him. It was good to know that he would die very soon.
"Oh, Lady Phantomhive!" He giggled gutturally. "Pardon, dearie – Countess of Phantomhive!"
Dempsey rose up from the ground, canting over the petrol lamp.
"What... what a beautiful young girl you are, Countess!" He giggled again in his fairly displeasing way. "A damsel like you! Watchdog! What a pity! How about..."
Before his dirty fingers could touch her clothes – the mere thought of him touching her made her shiver, and she almost, only almost, became hysterical –, Cloudia struck out and cut through his throat in one, flowing move. His eyes stared at her as blood ran down his wound, and he fell down to his knees, slipping on the pile of blood and landing on his face.
Dempsey Morton, the sixth Duke of Maverick, died of blood loss on January 21, 1847, at 23.56 before his ugly face touched the ground.
Cloudia cleaned up the dagger, put it back in her boots, and turned around to get out of the building. Some people were awaiting her.
She did not even reach the stairs when the last of Dempsey Morton's bombs was set off and damaged the basement.
~Cedric~
Alfred Newman had come out of the Salisbury Villa right before another bomb went off.
Like Cloudia had wanted him to, Cedric Rossdale had evacuated Cathleen and August Milne, Milton Salisbury, and Abraham Wentworth. Police officers gathered around the villa, trying to comfort the panicking, scared, and bewildered survivors of Milton's party and to get testimonies from them.
Cedric stood apart from the crowd and watched the villa crumble. No one else paid attention to what had once been a wonderful villa. Therefore, Cedric was the only one seeing Newman come out.
Cloudia Phantomhive attached importance to her elaborate plans. And if it was part of her plan to meet Newman and him, Cedric, at midnight, she wouldn't allow anything to come between her and the perfect execution of her plan.
However, when Newman approached Cedric as he had apparently been instructed by Cloudia, it was already one minute past midnight.
Something had gone wrong in one of Cloudia Phantomhive's beloved plans.
Newman bowed in front of him. He was taller, broader, and more muscular than Cedric and wore the tailcoat of a butler which looked silly on him. "Lady Cloudia ordered me to meet you here, Duke Underwood," he said in a whisper.
"Excuse me, Butler," Cedric said, "but when did you see the Countess for the last time?"
Newman straightened up. "At exactly 23.48, Your Grace."
Cedric needed to make an effort not to laugh at the address.
"The lovely Cloudia Phantomhive" – he wanted to call her "Countess" and to leave out the "lovely," but he didn't want to sound rude in front of Cloudia's loyal giant –, "told you to meet me, and wait with me for her until midnight, right?"
He lowered his head. "It is exactly as you have said, Your Grace."
"It's already past midnight, and I hope that you agree that our Countess would never come late. I will go and see what is hindering her, while you stay and watch over the crowd, Newman."
Newman bowed again. "As you wish, Your Grace."
I had to admit that it was quite amusing to give out orders.
Cedric left Newman alone and headed towards the ruined villa. He took out his Death Book and went through the list once again to make sure that Cloudia truly didn't die on January 21. She wasn't among the names for that day, and not among the names for tomorrow.
Therefore, the Countess still had to be alive.
Cedric entered the Salisbury Villa and searched for her. Surely, Cloudia would get angry at him, because he had ignored her orders and went to search her. However, Cedric didn't want their deal to end so soon. Even though Cloudia currently wasn't listed in the Death Book, it could still be that she had been heavily injured at some point, or even disabled, which could endanger her position as the Queen's Watchdog. And, of course, the stability of their deal.
Cedric K. Rossdale had a reason to agree on this deal, and this reason let him refuse to leave Cloudia to her fate and endanger the future of said deal.
After Cedric had finished examining the upper floors, he wanted to head for the ground floor and the basement when the building suddenly caught fire. For a few seconds, he stared into the dancing crimson flames before turning around and going downstairs.
Apparently, the last bomb had caused far more damage than anticipated.
On the ground floor, Cedric found Flavian Hunt's corpse underneath a piece of ceiling. He took out his Death Scythe and collected his soul, initiating the Cinematic Record.
Flavian Hunt, born on August 31, 1800. Death by falling accident on January 21, 1847.
No special remarks.
The Cinematic Record ended, and Cedric put his scythe back. Flavian's Record had been utterly boring. The only truly interesting part was when he had been interrogated by Cloudia in the final moments of his life.
"No stuttering! I know that you can articulate properly, so talk like a man, you coward! After all, you're peeing yourself because you're scared of a mere little girl."
Cedric smiled. He was still stunned by the fact that Cloudia could curse so wonderfully. How she had humbled Flavian, had been brilliant in his eyes.
"After all, you're peeing yourself because you're scared of a mere little girl."
He chuckled at Flavian's memory. He had never believed that the Watchdog of the Queen would be so funny.
But when Cloudia had been with Flavian the moment the platform tilted, and Flavian fell down – couldn't it be possible that she had fallen down too? However, she was nowhere to be seen.
Cedric flipped over other parts of the ceiling, revealing one corpse after the other. He reaped their souls and went on until he had found every dead body. But he still hadn't found Cloudia.
The Grim Reaper went straight to the basement. The fire was growing and capturing the Salisbury Villa more and more. The smoke would not kill him, but he still didn't want to stay here longer than necessary.
To make the situation even worse, an image, which he had tried to forget for so long now, sneaked into his mind, but he was able to push it back successfully.
I needed to find her as soon as possible.
A huge piece of ceiling and, or wall was blockading the entrance to the basement. Cedric sliced it into tiny pieces with his Death Scythe and kicked the pieces away. When he was done, he opened the door to the cellar and walked downstairs.
Almost the whole cellar area had collapsed.
Cedric walked around and found Dempsey Morton among the debris. He reaped his soul and prepared himself for another utterly boring Cinematic Record. Again, only the last part, when Cloudia had cut through Dempsey's throat with her dagger without batting an eye, was genuinely amusing. After finishing up, Cedric continued searching for Cloudia.
Ultimately, he found her unconscious under a piece of debris which jammed her legs. She was covered in dust and grout and looked horrible.
But according to the Death Book, she was not dead.
Cedric pushed away the piece of debris and cleaned her up a bit before he checked if her legs or any other part of her body was broken. Then, he started trying to wake her up.
"Hey, Countess, it's time to wake up," he said, snapping against her cheek. However, it didn't work. Cedric sighed and picked her up. Cloudia didn't weigh much and felt like a feather in his arms. Her long lashes rested gently on the upper part of her cheeks. Despite the fact, that she was unconscious because something had fallen onto her, and that she wasn't looking as fine as usual, Cloudia Phantomhive was still adorable when she was asleep.
When people were around, she was too lovely and too fairy-like. And when no one was around, she was too stern and too grumpy.
Asleep, however, Cloudia was absolutely wonderful. He could look at her forever.
The flames destroyed Milton's flowers and ate through the walls like termites when Cedric left the villa with Cloudia in his arms. He carried her to Newman who relieved him of her and carefully placed Cloudia into the carriage. Cedric entered it, closed the door and the evening was finally over.
~Cloudia~
Cloudia woke up with a start. Her heart was beating too fast in her chest, and her entire body felt like she had been driven over by a carriage with a million horses.
"My, my, you're quite a long sleeper, Countess."
Instinctively, Cloudia put one hand under her pillow, grabbed the gun beneath, and whirled towards the speaker in a few seconds. When she realised that it was only Cedric, who was sitting on a chair next to her bed, she sighed deeply and put the gun away.
Cedric started to laugh. "Did I startle you, Countess?"
She scowled at him. "I am always a bit oversensitive after waking up."
He chuckled. "If you say so, Countess." Cedric leaned back. "Didn't know you're keeping a gun underneath your pillow."
"That's what most Watchdogs do. My father did it too. We live dangerously after all."
"Earl Simon Phantomhive, right? Did anybody tell you about this habit of his?"
Cloudia shook her head. "No. I had once found the gun when I was still a little child. My mother wasn't very happy about it."
"Hihi. But weren't you still a baby when your father died?"
She glared at him. "Four. I was four years old when my father died."
He shrugged. "Whatever. I guess you want to know what happened after practically the whole building crashed on top of you.
"It's very simple: You passed out and didn't arrive on time, so I disobeyed you and went back to the villa. I searched for you, collected the souls of the dead, and found you in the basement in the end. You seem to possess an enormous amount of luck to have survived this without any serious injuries, Countess."
"Sounds like you are disappointed that I didn't die."
Cedric chuckled. "Of course, I'm not! Fun time has just started, Countess. I wouldn't want to let it end so soon."
Cloudia sighed. "Are you done yet? My head hurts and I don't want to sleep with you around."
"But you've slept through the last couple of days with me watching you most of the time," he replied playfully serious.
Her eyes widened. "I was asleep for how long did you say?"
He bubbled over with laughter. "Three days! By the way, Countess, you're surprisingly cute when you're fast asleep. Not saying anything! Not torturing anyone! Not killing anyone!"
She threw a pillow at him. "Be glad that I can't stand up."
"Hihi. I was just kidding, Countess! With who else could I talk if not with you?"
Cloudia raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have any friends to annoy?"
"In the Grim Reaper Dispatch?" Cedric fell off the chair due to a ridiculous amount of laughter. "That's why I wanted you to wake up finally, Countess! You're truly hilarious!"
Cloudia sighed. "Be quiet. Lisa and, or Newman, or someone else could hear you."
He wiped away some tears of laughter. "Okay, okay, Countess. I will stop."
"Finally." She leaned back into the remaining big pillow and closed her eyes. Her headache was starting to make her feel dizzy. "Did you save Cathleen and the others, Undertaker?"
"Just as you've ordered me to, Countess."
"Good."
Cedric frowned. "You look pained. Is anything wrong, Countess?" he asked worriedly.
"I just have a headache, Undertaker. It's nothing unusual," Cloudia replied.
He shrugged. "Well... practically a whole building fell onto you after all. Also, you're way calmer than usual when you have a headache, Countess."
She didn't say anything.
"Come to think of it..." Cedric started, rapidly changing the topic. "I have never seen you with undone hair before. You always wear your hair in this stern wreath-hair-do after all."
Cloudia opened her eyes again and turned her head towards him. "Is there any problem with it?"
"No. I just think that you look better with undone hair. It's also really long, did anybody tell you that before?"
Cloudia smirked weakly. "No. But you shouldn't be the one to tell me such a thing."
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Your hair is probably even longer than mine. And you're a man. A male homo sapiens sapiens. Even though you are everything but wise."
"We have talked about that, Countess. I like my hair that way. Also, it doesn't change the fact that yours is also really, really long."
The headache had invaded her whole head now. Cloudia could feel how she wasn't able to keep her eyes open anymore.
"Are you okay, Countess?"
Cedric sounded worried.
She nodded absently. "Yes, yes. I am... just... tired."
With these words, Cloudia fell fast asleep.
Puh. I remember the time when I actually wanted to spend only ONE chapter on this case... What an awful time it had been.
I hope you liked this chapter! Until next week!