( chapter twenty-six ! )

"I don't see him, do you?"

Still in search of Ciel, both Leah and Elizabeth are having no luck. They hadn't anticipated him to disappear without even a hint as to where he had gone. Surely the wait to fetch the cake wasn't that boring? It caught them both off guard. He has never done this before, at least not that Leah can remember.

The pair begin to look as though they are lost, with their heads looking every which way, and wandering aimlessly in a circle isn't helping. Snake, standing beside them silently, was beginning to irritate Barrett. 'He was with them. Is he covering for them, or is he also clueless?' she casts an askew glance but doesn't bother in an attempt to pressure him.

"It is a bit rude of him to leave us without a word," she speaks to Elizabeth instead, toying with a ribbon on her dress.

A pout crosses Elizabeth's lips. "It is.." she shifts her weight onto one foot. "Shall we venture out to look for him?"

"I suppose," Leah shrugs at the suggestion. "I just hope we don't get lost."

She begrudgingly hands off her half-eaten cake to Snake with a quiet "Here." The likelihood of finding Anna before it became dry was low, might as well let someone enjoy it. Even if that someone is a person she would rather not be around.

Taking her acceptance as a go, Elizabeth grabs ahold of Leah's wrist and starts to tug her along in a random direction. Neither have a clue as to where they are going, this being their first time truly exploring the ship. It's not the ideal night for Leah, far from it, but it's much more interesting than what was initially planned.

After about fifteen minutes of pure wandering, the girls reach a lone, dark stairwell. It's unsettlingly quiet and sends a shiver down Leah's spine, but she pushes through nonetheless. This time around, the Barrett is the one leading the pair, Elizabeth following closely behind her with a gentle hand atop her shoulder.

Each step they take has an echo that only soothes Leah in one way—being able to tell that it is only the two of them inside. It's hard to see, and all of her moves are hesitant, trying not to bump into anything or misplace her foot and take a tumble.

Eventually, they reached another one of the landings on the stairs. Neither Leah nor Elizabeth got to take another step, though, as the terrible sight was before them.

A gun pointed between Leah's eyes.

"Aaaah!"

With a scream, her breath quickens, and her pupils dilate, pushing Elizabeth further behind her without hesitation. But, before she can even blink, the gun is lowered to reveal Ciel is standing in front of her with the weapon now at his side.

"Leah?!" asks Ciel loudly, his eyes wide.

Elizabeth, looking unserious with the plate of cake in her hand, looks on with an underlying distaste. "Are you planning on shooting your fiancé?!" she furrows her brows.

"What is wrong with you?!" Leah's voice overlaps with Elizabeth's, and she places a hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Ignoring the questions, Ciel shakes his head and glances around. "What are you doing here anyway?" his voice is louder than he intends it to be.

Elizabeth takes another few steps to plant herself beside Leah, holding up the piece of cake for Ciel to see. It is covered in edible, decorative pieces that appeal to the eye, but Ciel doesn't appear impressed.

"We noticed that you had run off, so we tried to follow you!" chirps Elizabeth, though her tone quickly drops. "Even though I told you to wait, you just disappeared.. We were looking for you!" she glances down at the cake in her hand, "Oh! This is your ca—"

Her voice becomes muffled when a hand suddenly covers her mouth. Standing closer than before is Ciel, staring down in annoyance.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be fussed with you right now," Ciel lowered his voice, gun held toward his mouth that was a bit too close to his cousin's face.

Leah slapped the gun away from Elizabeth's face with a gloved hand, sending Ciel a glare. 'That is far too dangerous..' She can't help but feel a slight discontent with how reckless her fiancé can be at times. Typically, he can hold it together, but it seems he falls apart in the worst moments to her.

Stepping away, Ciel doesn't give either girl a chance to respond before he starts to walk off. "It's dangerous, so go back upstairs!"

They are left in the silence that ensues once the sound of Ciel's footsteps fade, neither making a sound. For a moment, the pair stand there and stare off into the dark distance.

"Don't just leave us here!"

"Ciel!"

When they are given no response, Leah and Elizabeth share a glance. Going back upstairs doesn't seem appealing, at least not to Leah. She can sense that Elizabeth feels similarly, so without a word, she leads her friend deeper in to find Ciel once more.

Their footsteps are light and quiet. Somehow, Elizabeth isn't chatting Leah's ears off. 'Is she getting tired?' the Barrett wonders to herself. 'That is not possible.. She holds too much energy to be tired just yet.'

Regardless of Elizabeth's silence, it doesn't last long as the two quickly find themselves standing behind Ciel again. 'He hadn't wandered as far as I thought.' Ciel stands quietly, talking to a dark figure that Leah can't make out. He hardly notices the girls until Elizabeth takes a loud step forward.

"Leah?!" Ciel exclaims before his eyes notice Elizabeth beside her. "Lizzy?!"

"Come on! Don't leave us!" Elizabeth whines, holding up the piece of uneaten cake in her hand.

Ciel's eyes go wide, mostly in irritation, as he raises his voice. "I told you two to go back up!" he yells.

Shaking her head in exasperation of the cousins, Leah catches the eye of Snake just behind Ciel. They share a look of disinterest as Elizabeth goes on about the cake, and Ciel complains about them not leaving like he said.

It's always the same between the two. Though, Leah can't deny that a lot of her interactions with Elizabeth feel the same. She wonders if either of them notice. Knowing them, probably not.

"But I wanted you to eat the cake.. It's the cake with strawberries you like so much. I even got the biggest piece for you," Elizabeth lowers her hand to hold out the plate for display. "See!"

Unfortunately, the plate is bare when Elizabeth tries to show it off. Both Leah and Elizabeth stare in confusion at the missing dessert, not noticing a figure approaching them from behind in the darkness. It isn't noticeable until the faint shadow falls before their feet, causing them to look back.

Behind them stood a mangled-looking man, ominously quiet and unmoving. Leah can see uneaten cake in his mouth, the culprit of the missing sweet. But she also sees his wide and open mouth that wants to take a bite out of Elizabeth.

Without a second thought, the Barrett grabbed Elizabeth's arm and roughly pulled her in her direction, closing her eyes in preparation for a blow. It sent Elizabeth past Leah's body and into a wall, safe despite the small ache that will follow in her back. Leah's eyes don't open until she herself is yanked and pulled into the arms of Ciel as they crash into a crate.

Leah can feel Ciel's arm wrapped around her, but that doesn't stop the air from being knocked out of her. In turn, the flashlight Ciel was holding flew out of his hand, rolling onto the floor and stopping in front of the unknown creature. Its moans and groans filled the room, making Leah squeeze her eyes shut in discomfort.

"Ryan brought another revived corpse?"

Hearing Ciel speak to himself, Leah slowly peels herself away from him and turns her head back to look at the monster that stands before them. 'What is he talking about?' Her eyes can't stay on the monster for long, causing her too much discomfort as she focuses back on Ciel's tie.

"Snake!" Ciel calls out. "I'll do something about him so you take care of Leah and Lizzy!"

'I don't want to go with him..' thinks Leah as she tries to gather herself to go check on Elizabeth.

When Ciel doesn't get a response, he turns his head and repeats Snake's name, only to see him ominously pouting at something in the distance. His snakes wrap around his shoulder and follow the direction, sending a shiver down Leah's spine.

"That bird mark.. There's a lot more over there. Says Oscar," Snake's change in voice makes Leah raise a brow in question, but she can't find it in her to ask at the moment.

Shifting her eyes over, Leah notices the mass amounts of coffins that line the walls. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes the implication, noticing the rattle that they give off. Almost all color drains from the group's face, taking only a split second to begin running.

Their footsteps pound against the ground to try and make a quick escape. Unfortunately, the effort is in vain as they meet another group just in front of them. Surrounded on all sides, it's a struggle to come up with a solution.

"They're in front of the exit too.."

Another creature manages to come up from behind Leah and Elizabeth in an attempt to bite a chunk out of the blonde. Leah, startled by the sudden presence once more, lets out a scream and ducks her head. Her elbow collides with the monster's chest, effectively knocking it back, which allows Ciel to have a clear shot, barely missing Leah's head in the process.

"Would you not shoot that thing so close to me?!" Leah yells in aggravation, both pissed about the near-death encounters and the small pain in her ear that returns every time the gun goes off.

Her aggravation only grows when Ciel ignores her protests, his head moving every which way as he tries to find a way to safety. When his eyes fall upon the tall crates just behind them, he holds up his gun and nods towards Snake.

"Snake, take them to the top of the luggage!" commands Ciel. "Quick!"

Leah, being stubborn, allows Elizabeth to take Snake's help first. She still doesn't trust Snake enough to let him touch her, so she settles on climbing up by herself. The lack of strength in her arms doesn't help, but her height makes up for it.

'I can never get a break, can I?' Leah's hand nearly slips off of the rope due to her silk gloves. 'Peaceful night.. Noooo. Let us make my life more miserable.' She rolls her eyes. 'What sins could I have possibly committed to deserve this?' Unwillingly reminded of the murders she's unknowingly committed, her brain goes silent.

"Shit!" Ciel mutters, though loud enough to earn a look from Leah. "There's too many.."

He holds his gun up, making no move to aim. Ciel realizes that they are severely outnumbered. The gun can only hold them off for so long, and ammo has practically run out already.

Taking a second to glance down amidst her climbing, Elizabeth's eyes go wide in horror when one of the corpses sneaks up from behind the boy. "Ciel! Behind you!" she yells.

Elizabeth's cries capture Leah's attention enough to make her gaze lower, seeing the creature just beneath her. She can notice her fiancé bracing himself to take a blow, but she swiftly lowers herself so that one of her legs dangles, using the appendage to roughly kick the monster in its head. The heel of her shoe threatened to puncture skin and bone.

Paired with her kick, Snake's snakes wrap themselves up around the creatures. It prevents the ones closest to them from moving, buying Ciel the chance to reach someplace safe.

"Smile!" shouts Snake, extending his arm down. "Come quickly while we're restraining them! Says Oscar."

Both Leah and Ciel give Snake an odd look at his monologuing with the reptilian's voices. "..Yeah!" says Ciel as he takes ahold of Snake's hand, allowing himself to be lifted to the top of the crates.

Ciel takes a moment to catch his breath before peering over the edge of the crate, observing the corpses as they fail to climb the ropes. "Seems like they can't climb up here."

Nodding with content, Leah moves over to Elizabeth, her eyes dragging over her form to check for injuries. When she sees nothing out of the ordinary, her attention turns towards their surroundings as she tries to come up with a plan for a way out. They can't stay up there forever.

"What are they?" Snake's voice cut through the silence, though it is him putting on the voice of a snake again. "Aside from our poison not affecting them, they have a horrible smell. Says Webster."

Leah's brow raises, and her eyes squint, trying to decipher the man. 'Do the snakes genuinely speak to him, or is he ill?' she wonders. When she sees not even a hint of amusement, she internally nods. 'He is ill.'

Ciel shakes his head in thought, stumped by Snake's question. "I don't know the details, but for some reason, these corpses began moving about," his voice sounds grave.

"Corpses?!" Elizabeth shrieks in fear.

"Doesn't that only happen in those far-fetched stories?" asks Leah. She can recall the few times Daniel would read them to her as a child in the hopes of frightening her. It worked the first couple of times, but it slowly lost its effect when she began to find it repetitive and fake.

"They don't seem to have any intelligence anyway," Ciel shrugs his shoulders, observing the corpses below them and the way they act. "Nor any sense of sight or pain."

Snake titled his head. "How do you know? Says Oscar."

"They didn't react to the snakes at all. If they could see or feel pain, they would try to shake the snakes off first. Also," eyes drifting towards a distant staircase, Ciel's facial expression has a hardly noticeable drop. "If they had intelligence, they would leave us and head upstairs, right? They would find a lot more food that way."

"F—Food, you say?!" Elizabeth's body shakes in fear, earning a look of concern from her cousin.

Although she doesn't want to admit it, Leah is realizing how real this is becoming. A shudder runs down her spine. She is no longer a little girl being frightened by her older brother and running into the arms of the nearest adult. Now, the supposed monsters that lurked are really there, and she has no one to hug her and tell her that it is all fake.

Ciel clears his throat. "The only thing left is their hearing. If they rely on their ears, we might be able to get away by distracting them with some kind of sound," he suggests.

One of Snake's snakes bumps their nose against the plate in his hand, reminding him of its existence. "How about we try throwing this? Says Emily," he asks while holding up the plate.

With Ciel's go-ahead, Snake launches the plate past the corpses. They all watch it shatter to no avail as the monsters continue trying to reach them.

The failed attempt is almost worthy of a sigh, only fueling the idea that any more tries to escape are futile. If they weren't surrounded by so many, it could be much easier on all of them, but it appears luck isn't on their side tonight.

Their luck only seems to get worse when the crates beneath them begin to move and shake, threatening to throw them off.

Sounds of surprise are pulled out of them.

"Eek!"

"What's going on?!"

"Oh!"

Brave enough to look down, Ciel's eyes widen in horror. "With their teeth and nails?!" he shouts in question to no one in particular. "Snake, can't you stop them with the snakes?" his tone is full of desperation, trying to exhaust their last few options.

Snake shares Ciel's feelings, shaking as he tries to steady himself. "Of course not with this many! Says Oscar."

The ex-circus member's constant changes in tone would be making Leah laugh if it wasn't for the situation they are in. A smile is hard to find, though.

Leah can't help her mind racing at miles a second, running through sentences, memories, and ideas so fast that she can hardly keep up. 'If I could find a way to kill myself now, would it be less painful?' She knows how wrong of a thought it is. She should know better by now, according to Anna and Thomas. Yet, she can't keep herself from always finding herself circling back to the idea time and time again. 'If I had succeeded all those years ago, I wouldn't even have to be going through this.'

Her eyes squeeze tightly shut when she feels Ciel's arms wrap around her, the feeling unconsciously working to pull herself away from the painful memories. In turn, her arms have a firm hold on Elizabeth, her gloved hands tangled in the blonde curls.

Tears stream down Elizabeth's face as she clutched the front of Leah's dress, nearly ripping a ribbon off. "L—Leah!"

"It's ok," whispers Leah in a halfhearted attempt to comfort her friend, "just close your eyes.."

Ciel can't help but hold back some tears as well, holding onto Leah as tightly as he can. "I'll definitely protect you, at least! No matter what happens!" he yells, pressing his cheek against hers. The lack of openly displayed fear from his fiancé feels odd to him, and he tries to compensate, thinking she may just be trying to be strong. And, although he won't admit it just yet, he wants her to know he cares.

'I want Anna..' Leah closes her eyes tight, trying to think of her dear maid.

"How admirable, Young Master."

At the best time imaginable, the corpses are stopped when flying utensils—knives in particular—puncture their heads. On the stairs is Sebastian, coming to their rescue with his signature smirk.

"That is how an English gentleman is supposed to be," his voice is full of mock praise.

Brows furrowing in a sudden change of annoyance, Ciel sends his butler a glare. "Sebastian! Don't stand about, clean them up already!" he orders sharply.

In the blink of an eye, the demon is running through the hoard and crushing their heads with his gloved hands. He is so swift and effortless that a shiver runs down Leah's spine, only seeming to worsen when she can see a hint of the unhinged expression on his face.

The Barrett's attention isn't on Sebastian for long, though, as the uncomfortably tight grip that now has ahold of her shoulder sends a pain through her arm. She gasps in discomfort, trying to move away and failing. When she turns her head and realizes her betrothed is the culprit, she yells.

"Ciel!" she doesn't wait for a response before she harshly elbows him away, cradling the sore spot with her free hand that isn't holding Elizabeth. "Don't grab me like that!"

Heavy breaths can be made out amongst the dying sounds of the corpses, originating from Ciel himself. His eyes are uncomfortably wide, and sweat runs down his face, making Leah's eyes fill with worry.

"Le..ah?"

Neither says another word, simply staring into each other's eyes. They don't reflect any emotion, but Ciel isn't a stranger to Leah's tense body language. He doesn't have a chance to speak when Sebastian calls out from below them.

"I am done, Young Master," Sebastian announces, standing surrounded by the bodies of the corpses. His smile is oddly bright, considering what he just did, with blood staining his face and clothes as well.

No one moves when he holds out his hands in an attempt to beckon them to come down with his blood-soaked gloves. Leah, in particular, almost backs away. She would if she wasn't still holding onto Elizabeth.

Thankfully, Sebastian changes into a pair of clean gloves he just so happened to have, and one by one, the group drops down. Leah, last in line, stares down at Sebastian in discomfort. The flashing imagery of his dead body runs rampant through her mind. She will never be able to shake the feeling of seeing him leave the coffin. It's too much.

"Do not touch me," Leah's voice is quiet, a light order with no bark to it.

Sebastian's eyes widen in surprise. "Please, My Lady. Allow me," he reaches out a hand to try and help once again, only succeeding in brushing his gloved fingers on her arm and waist.

Throwing her body backward, Leah almost trips over her own feet just to put distance between her and the butler. "I said don't touch me!" she shouts, her voice breaking.

Everyone looks back in shock at the sound, watching Leah put herself through the tedious effort to graciously lower herself rather than accept Sebastian's help. Her long legs come in handy once more, making the drop easier to accomplish, though it has no security in keeping her ankles and part of her calves hidden.

Blood splatters around her feet when she finally manages to drop onto the floor, treading carefully so as to not ruin her shoes in the pool of blood. She walks away with a clear of her throat, keeping a small distance between herself and the rest of the group. Her outburst feels a bit embarrassing, but admitting that out loud is something she will never do. Tuning into the conversation, she tries to distract herself.

"Why are there so many on this ship?" Ciel asks Sebastian, hoping for an answer.

"I think," suddenly throwing another batch of knives to his right, Sebastian eyes up the man standing at another pile of crates, "it would be good to ask him."

"Ryan Stoker?!"

Everyone, save for Ciel and Sebastian, tilt their heads in confusion, not caught up with the situation at hand.

"I—It's not like that! That was an incomplete complete salvation and.." Stoker tries and fails to defend himself. "I didn't plan on reviving them in his unhealthy state. Please listen to me! I'm in a hurry and—" his words are cut off by a cry of pain.

Behind him, Sebastian pins the man's arms behind his back roughly. "No need to be hasty. There is plenty of time until we reach New York, so we'll listen to your story leisurely."

Tuning the words out, Leah tries to piece together what she's already heard. Ryan being the mastermind of this all, or one of many is obvious. But what exactly are they dealing with here, and what has he done?

"What is he talking about..?" she whispers to no one in particular.

Beside her, Elizabeth glances up and can only offer a shrug. "I don't know.." a pout spreads across her face.

When Leah finally turns her attention back to the conversation, most of the information she would have appreciated hearing has already been said.

"There are two freight storages," Stoker emphasizes his words.

Ciel shakes his head and shouts. "What?!"

"And in the front freight storage, we have stored.. ten times as many samples as there were here," eyes wide and brows furrowed, Stoker looks uncomfortable and full of fear.

The room goes uncomfortably silent before Ciel loses it. "Ten times as many?!" he shouts. His voice carries throughout the room and echoes off of the walls, accompanied by the chill in the air that causes shivers.

It all adds up for Leah, much to her dismay, and her face darkens. An inaudible sigh escapes her lips as she prepares to accept her inevitable death. She knows that most would be apprehensive to hear it, but she can't help herself from letting her thoughts freely follow out of her mouth.

"Well, it was nice knowing you all."