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The Dark Path	By : zoni Category: > Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji ???) Views: 3462 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters, and do not make any money from my fan fiction.

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The Dark Path

Chapter One

by Zoni

Blood. Everywhere and slowly dripping off the edges of a black velvet cloth. Roughly hewn rope cut deep into Ciel's wrists as it held him down to the top of the charred table. Unable to move, he watched as flashing silver knives cut deep into his forearms. The edges of his skin peeled back, revealing the muscles and veins beneath the surface. He tried to scream but no sound would come out. His entire body felt like it was on fire, but he was drowning. An indistinct face loomed over him in the darkness and laughed at him. He was surrounded by a sea of blood. That face, with eyes like coals, watched him and enjoyed what it saw. Its disembodied voice whispered roughly against his ear, "Everything for him and everything for myself."

   The last bit of the air was sucked away just as a dagger shot down out of the darkness and pierced his heart. Ciel could feel the tip of it, searing hot against his flesh as it pushed deeper into his body. Finally finding his voice, Ciel screamed.

   "Young master," Sebastian's voice was at his master's side in an instant. Ciel's eyes fluttered open and he looked at the butler. It was only a nightmare. Sweat dripped from his skin and hair as he looked around, taking in his surroundings. His heart was still beating a mile a minute. Sebastian's voice was soft as he asked, "Are you all right, young master?"

   "I'm fine," Ciel sighed and looked around. He was in bed and it was morning. Light filtered dimly through his window. Most of his covers had been thrown off while he slept. His legs were cold. Strangely, though, his arms and chest did not feel cold at all. Then, he realized exactly how he was positioned. Sebastian was bent over his bed and Ciel had his arms wrapped around his neck. One of Sebastian's hands reached down and rubbed Ciel's back in a soothing gesture.

   Jumping back, Ciel flushed. Had he really been hugging Sebastian? The demon must have come in to wake him up and found him in the middle of the dream. In his sleep, Ciel had grabbed hold of the closest source of comfort to him; the butler. Sebastian's hand was still on his back. The demon pulled it away when Ciel glared at him. Straightening himself, Sebastian asked, "Are you certain? You look quite pale."

   "I said I was fine," Ciel huffed. "It was just a dream."

   "Very well," Sebastian said. One of his eyebrows raised skeptically but he said nothing else to indicate that he doubted his master. "I have brought you breakfast. This morning I have prepared raspberry scones and Queen Anne tea. I thought that you might prefer to have breakfast in your chambers this morning, so I have brought both of these with me."

   Ciel nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Very well."

   Sebastian wheeled the small tea tray around to the side of the bed and began to set out the tea service and the small tray of pastries. "There is one other matter, young master."

   "What is it?"

   "We have received a letter from Her Majesty."

   "This early in the morning?" Ciel raised an eyebrow and looked up from the cup of tea that Sebastian handed him. Orders from the Queen usually came mid-day at the earliest due to the time it took to travel from London. When orders arrived unusually late or early in the day, it was usually something particularly important. However, important was often a matter of perspective. "What does it say?"

   Sebastian pulled the letter out of his pocket and read it over. He then summarized. "Her Majesty requests your presence at Tonbridge School, approximately sixty kilometers south of London. In the past month, there have been six murders. All of the bodies were been drained of blood. They appear to have been killed in a ritualistic manner with precise, though amateurish, cuts made to drain the body of its fluids. Many of the victims reported finding the bodies of dead animals in their belongings before they were killed."

   Ciel set his cup of tea down. "The local authorities will take care of a matter such as that. I expect the school officials have already acted. Why does it concern the Queen?"

   "The Queen is most anxious to see this matter resolved because all but one of the deaths involved have been children," Sebastian said as he poured more tea for Ciel. "In addition to this, it would appear that the most recent victim was a young man of some relation to Her Majesty. Therefore, the matter is of personal interest to her. She has made arrangements for you to have a place at the school until the matter has been resolved."

   "Under what name?" Ciel nibbled on one of the scones.

   "Your own."

   Pausing, Ciel looked up at him. "Isn't it unwise to use my own name?"

   Sebastian smiled as he began to set out Ciel's clothing for the day. "I believe you will be perfectly fine, young master. The Phantomhive name is well known in the London social circles and aristocracy, but outside of the immediate area you are unlikely to be recognized. I have taken the liberty of looking into the students and teachers at the school. Most are from the northern part of the country and none originate from London."

   "I assume that I will be attending as a student," Ciel said as he pushed the covers of his bed back and swung his legs over the edge. "What will you do?"

   "As always, I shall accompany you on your journey," Sebastian cleared the plates and cup away as Ciel stood and stretched. "I will be posing as your private tutor."    "A tutor?"

   "Of course," Sebastian said. "It would be suspicious for a new instructor and a student to arrive at the same time, so this is a much more logical cover. In addition to that, this will be part of your story for arriving so late in the academic year. You are being introduced to Tonbridge School after problems with your academic performance at another establishment."

   Ciel glared at Sebastian. He suspected the butler might have come up with that back story on the spot. He was probably right. Sebastian smiled at him serenely as if enjoying a private joke. Ciel sighed in annoyance. "Fine. We will leave tomorrow."

   Tonbridge School was an imposing sight against the dying sunset. The dark roof contrasted with the tawny color of the stones and bricks that it was made of. Every one of the lead lined windows looked like a pair of eyes staring out at them. The trip by carriage had taken them several hours and they had arrived much later than anticipated. Ciel and Sebastian disembarked from their carriage before paying the driver. They collected their things and made their way to the entrance hall. At the door, they were greeted by an elderly man who informed them that he was an instructor. Sebastian was given directions on how to get to his own quarters before the instructor turned to lead Ciel towards the boys' dorms. The silence inside the school was deafening. Every step they took made a sound.

   "Isn't it unusual for the school to house tutors as well as students?" Ciel asked, walking quickly to keep up with the elderly man in front of him. He was carrying a few of his belongings in a satchel. It would seem unusual to not have a trunk of belongings, but he would simply tell anyone who asked that his things had not yet arrived.

   "Perhaps a bit," the instructor admitted. "We used to require that all private instructors and tutors maintain their own premises off the school grounds."

   Ciel raised an eyebrow. "I am glad that my tutor is able to remain at the school. However, I am curious. Why was the policy changed?"

   "We have had some recent disturbances," came the reply. "The headmaster felt that it might help students to feel more secure at the school."

   "Disturbances?"

   "Never you mind, Master Phantomhive. This is your room." The instructor knocked once on a large, wooden door and then pushed it open. The interior of the room was not cramped, but it was a close fit. Four wooden beds outlined the walls. Solitary wooden desks were set up on either end of the room so that the students could do work in their room. Around each of the beds, the other boys had trunks and personal belongings neatly organized. Ciel walked into the room and wondered if it might be worth the effort to actually have the trunk brought in, if only to look like he had some intention of staying. They had transported a trunk from the manor house, but he had sent it with Sebastian.

   The three other boys in the room turned to look at Ciel with interest as the instructor stepped into the room behind him. "Boys, this is Ciel Phantomhive. He will be your new dorm mate. I expect that you will all treat him well and welcome him to the school."

   Ciel looked around and nodded at the three other boys that were in the room. The trio looked back at him sullenly as they were introduced. "This is Andrew Evans," the instructor gestured to a beefy blond boy, followed by two skinny identical redheads that were sitting on a bed and looking at a book, "and Marcus and Henry Engles. We place a very high value on studying here at Tonbridge, Master Phantomhive. I expect that you will understand that after your previous experiences at other schools. Dinner is in a quarter of an hour. I am certain your new friends won't mind showing you to the dining hall."

   The instructor closed the door behind him and left Ciel alone with the other boys. They did not look like they thought he'd be a great new friend. If anything, they looked as if they did not like being interrupted by a newcomer.

   Andrew Evans was the first to speak. "What school were you at before this one?"

   Ciel took his small traveling case and deposited it at the foot of the unoccupied bed. "Why does it matter? I am here now." The other boys in the room regarded him dubiously. He looked up at them. "What is it?"

   "What happened to your eye?"

   Ciel blinked. He was so used to wearing the eye patch that he no longer thought about it. Adults rarely mentioned it. He had not considered that the students at the school might find it curious. "There was an accident a couple of years ago. It's nothing."

   "Rough," said one of the twins.

   The other twin scooted to the edge of the bed that they were sitting on. "Is it completely gone? Like, is it completely empty? Can you see your own skull?"

   "I would prefer not to talk about it," Ciel said.

   Evans looked at him. "Why not?"

   "I just wouldn't." Ciel moved toward the door. "Where is the dining hall?"

   "Follow us," Evans said.

   Together, the four of them walked down several long hallways. The hallways were completely identical with wood lining the walls. The only sound that met Ciel's ears were the sounds of their footsteps on the floors. He could not even hear any other students. He asked, "Is it always this quiet?"

   "Not usually," one of the twins said.

   The other one added, "It was louder before."

   "Before what?"

   The three in front of him exchanged looks. Evans spoke up. "Nothing."

   Ciel looked at them. That had been less than subtle. While not suspicious, the quiet was definitely unusual. He had never attended an institution like this but he had been inside of them before. Ciel knew that most boys his age made noise. A lot of it. Even with a very attentive staff and strict rules, it was difficult to keep the sound to a dull roar in most places. The silence was unnerving.

   The feeling of unease lessened as they approached the dining hall. The hallway widened just before it opened into a much larger chamber. The walls expanded to reveal four rows of long, wooden tables. Benches on either side of the tables provided a place to sit. A table had been set aside for instructors on one side of the room. Several of them were already sitting at it but the majority of the seats were empty. Following the examples of the boys who were in his room with him, he collected his food and sat down at one of the four tables in the center of the room.

   All around him, other students sat and ate their meal while they conversed quietly. Classes, teachers and pranks seemed to make up the majority of the conversation. No one was mentioning anything about a murder. No matter how much he glanced around the room, Ciel could not see anyone that stood out. Most of the students had brown hair, which was invariably kept short. They all wore the same dull suits in similar shades of brown or blue. They were even spaced out evenly along the benches. There was not a single person who stood apart from the others. His sense of unease about the school was quickly returning. The school was quiet and inoffensive. It was so quiet that it was unnatural. It was almost as if no one wanted to be noticed. The entire atmosphere was incredibly bland, rather like the soup they were eating.

   As he finished his meal, Ciel followed the examples of the others and disposed of his dish. When he stood up, so did both of the Engles twins. With the three of them heading back to the dorm at the same time, Ciel memorized the way so that he could traverse it on his own next time. The twins lead the way and Ciel soon found himself next to his clothing trunk. It wasn't any later than eight in the evening but the twins were already pulling on their pajamas.

   One of the twins reclined on his bed and gave Ciel a cat-like grin. "We're going to sneak out later."

   "You should come along," said the other, sitting at one of the desks.

   Ciel raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do?"

   "Oh, this and that," the one on the bed said. "We always sneak out."

   "Do you ever get caught?" Ciel asked.

   "Not very often," the twin sitting at the desk hopped up and sat next to his brother. "The last time we did, Henry had to recite lines two hundred times, though."

   "What did you do?"

   The twins looked at one another and fell silent. Ciel eyed them for a moment, but decided not to pursue the inquiry any further. Instead, he looked down at his clothing trunk. Dressing in front of them would be a challenge. If they asked questions about his eye then they would definitely notice the brand on his back. He would make note of what they had said about getting in trouble. Sebastian might have more information for him the next time that he saw him. Perhaps he could use Sebastian's own room as a place to change. He gathered his nightclothes and dressing gown and walked toward the door.

   "Where are you going?" the twin that wasn't Henry asked.

   Ciel turned slightly to look at him. "I need to see my tutor."

   "At this time of night? The teachers won't like it."

   "Weren't you the one who was just talking about sneaking out later?" Ciel opened the door and walked out. "It doesn't matter."



   Even though Ciel had no idea where the tutors were housed, his lack of information didn't matter. Fifteen feet from his door, Sebastian was walking towards him. The butler stopped when he saw Ciel emerge from the dorm room. "Good evening, young master."

   "Sebastian," Ciel said. "I assume you learned something."

   "A little, yes. However, perhaps you would like to discuss that as you get changed for bed?"

   Ciel looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering how Sebastian had deduced his intentions. Sebastian gestured towards Ciel's arms. "You are carrying your change of clothing, young master. With so many others in your room, I wondered if you might run into a situation like this. Are you enjoying your new friends?"

   "I don't have friends," Ciel huffed. "Where is your room?"

   "Right this way," Sebastian said. He turned and headed back down the hallway that he had come from.

   Sebastian's room was neither as large nor as nicely furnished as the dorm that Ciel was situated in. Barely more than a closet, it housed minimal furnishings. Aside from a small bed, there was a wooden chair and a stand that held a basin and pitcher as well as an oil lamp. Off to one side, a small chest of drawers provided room for clothing. The walls were a dingy off-white. A tiny mirror hung forlornly over the basin. The only good thing about the room was that it was the only doorway in the corridor. The reason for the obscure location was fairly obvious. Though it was a bedroom at the current moment, it still smelled strongly of lye soap. It had been previously used as a storage closet. Leading the way into the room, Sebastian held the door open for Ciel to enter. "I believe that several of the closets and storage rooms were turned into living quarters for tutors and the like shortly after the murders began. The headmaster felt that having more adults on the grounds might help the students to feel safe," Sebastian said as Ciel wrinkled his nose slightly at the smell.

   "I didn't overhear any of the students talking about the murders at dinner," Ciel said as Sebastian closed the door and began to help him undress for bed. "I find that odd."

   "It is not as unusual as you may think, young master," Sebastian said. "The instructors and tutors have been asked not to inform the students of the incidents."

   Ciel raised an eyebrow. That explained why none of the students were talking about it, but whoever had given that direction was clearly delusional. The instant a student received a letter from their parents asking about it or picked up a newspaper then they would certainly find out. It was bizarre that the silence had been maintained for an entire month. "None of the students have realized that six of their instructors and classmates have gone missing?"

   Sebastian shuffled Ciel's nightshirt down his body and began to fasten the buttons. "If any of the students ask or are told about the incidents by outside sources, they are told that the students have simply decided to attend another institution. I was told of this while I was investigating the students and staff this evening."

   "What else did you find out?"

   "In the past month since the murders have begun, there have been six students who have been repeatedly reprimanded for unseemly behavior. There is one staff member who had ties with an occult group, however it would seem that he has not been affiliated with them for nearly three decades."

   "Only six? Who are they and why were they disciplined?" Ciel raised his arms up as Sebastian finished buttoning his nightshirt and slid the dressing gown over his arms, tying it at his waist. Sebastian stood up and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

   "There were only six who had been disciplined more than once, yes. It's a small number for a school this size, but not entirely out of the ordinary," Sebastian said. His eyes drifted down to the piece of paper and he began to read off the names. "Benjamin Langley, who was disciplined for setting fires. Andrew Evans, who was disciplined for theft and cruelty toward other students. Thomas Fairway, who repeatedly engaged in criminal mischief. Edward Crowley, disciplined for lascivious behavior and cruelty toward other students. Adam O'Neil, who apparently left the school grounds during lessons and vandalized the headmaster's office. And lastly, John Meriwether, who has repeatedly destroyed school property."

   "Andrew Evans is in the room that I am staying in," Ciel said. "We will need to keep an eye on the students that are on the list while we investigate. What is the name of the instructor who was involved in the occult?"

   "Miles Castile. There is one other thing that you may find interesting."

   Ciel looked at Sebastian. "What is that?"

   "Benjamin Langley and Adam O'Neil were two of the murder victims."

   Ciel frowned. "I was under the impression that the victims that had been found at the school had primarily been adults. Instructors."

   "I do not remember saying that, young master," Sebastian said. "All but one of the victims have been students of the school."

   "Who was the one?"

   "A tutor that was here with one of the students. The tutor's name was Charles Clifford. He was the tutor for Frank Oswald, one of the older students at the school."

   "Do any of the victims have any other ties?"

   Sebastian picked up Ciel's clothing from the day and carefully folded it. "None that I have been able to find."

   "Very well," Ciel sighed. "There isn't anything else to be done tonight. I'm going back to my room."

   "As you wish."

   Ciel turned the door nob and stepped out of the room. Sebastian followed him to the doorway. "Young master?"

   "What is it?" Ciel turned to look at Sebastian.

   Sebastian smiled at him. "Rest well."

   Memories from that morning flooded into Ciel's mind. He felt himself blush as he remembered waking up with his arms around Sebastian's neck. Unable to formulate a response, he nodded to Sebastian and then turned to head back towards his dorm.

   The next week passed completely uneventfully. Ciel's classes were not all that different from his normal sessions with a tutor, aside from the fact that there were more students. During his time outside of the classroom he spent every moment observing the other students and looking for information. Aside from what Sebastian had discovered on the first day, though, neither the butler nor his master were able to find any new information. The students who had been previously disciplined had acted no differently from any of the other students, at least the ones that Ciel had seen.

   Ciel was not satisfied with what he had observed of them. After all, he only ran into two of them throughout the course of most days. One of the boys hadn't been in class for the entire week. Sebastian had already looked into the families and histories of the surviving four troublemakers. Only two had anything unusual in their families and in both cases it was a dead parent. The suspicious instructor with cult ties seemed harmless enough and had an alibi for all of the murders. There was nothing to be learned from the locations where the bodies had been discovered, either. It was simply the middle of the school's lawn. The only remarkable part about the dumped bodies was the fact that someone had managed to place a corpse out in the open on the grounds without being seen.

   The hopes that Ciel had about being able to resolve the matter quickly by being at the school were falling. Being closer to the crime scene, and therefore the murderer, should have allowed him to find the culprit quickly and dispose of the person or persons. With Sebastian's help, things like this typically only took a day or two at most. Information was rarely this difficult to come by. The number of students added to the difficulties. Even the local constabulary seemed to know nothing more than the basics of the situation. All that they were finding were dead ends that lead to more dead ends.

   On the eighth day of his stay, Ciel dressed himself and headed towards his history lesson. He had learned to wake up earlier than the other boys in his room to avoid having the brand on his back seen. It was easier to do than to hunt Sebastian down every morning. Though, grudgingly, he still wished Sebastian would have helped him. Somehow, it seemed to take much longer to get everything buttoned and smoothed out on his own.

   The hallways were always unnaturally empty, filling only when classes were scheduled. Occasionally he would pass a group of two or three students that were headed in the other direction but he never seemed to see any heading towards the same part of the school. This morning was no exception. His footfalls seemed to echo off the walls as he paced down the corridors. When he reached the classroom, however, another student and a man were standing in front of the door. The boy turned to look at him as he approached. Clearing his throat, the boy said, "The class has been canceled. It will resume tomorrow. Simmons has fallen ill."

   "Ah," Ciel said, looking back at him. Several inches taller than Ciel, the boy had a chubby face and dark eyes. While most of the students dressed well, this young man wore an exceptionally nice brown suit. His crisp white suit shirt was fastened very close to his neck with a black tie. Ciel had never seen him before. "Are you in this class? We haven't met."

   "Oh, only sometimes," The boy smiled. "Today, I just needed to speak with Simmons. I'm Edward, by the way. Edward Crowley."

   "Ciel Phantomhive," Ciel accepted a handshake that was offered. Edward Crowley was one of the students that had been on the list that Sebastian had given him. He had not run into him because of differing schedules, or so he had assumed. Ciel looked at the reedy, nervous looking man that stood behind Edward and arched an eyebrow. "And this is...?"

   "Oh, how rude of me. Please excuse my manners. This is my tutor, Basil Rosier." Edward stepped out of the way and Rosier inclined his head slightly towards Ciel. Ciel nodded politely in return. When Sebastian had drawn up personal histories and family information on the troublesome students, he hadn't mentioned anything about one of them having a private tutor. Perhaps Rosier was recently hired. Edward straightened his tie and looked over at his tutor. "Well, we had better be going, Basil. I'll see you later, Phantomhive."

   "Wait," Ciel said quickly before Edward could walk away. He needed to find out why this was the first time he was meeting Edward Crowley, if they were in the same class. That fact stood out in his mind. After all, Edward was the last person on the list that he hadn't met until now. Why had Edward been out of class for an entire week? "Were you just needing the book that we are studying from in class?"

   "Oh, no. Nothing like that. Thank you, though. I was pulled out of class as a punishment." Edward turned and grinned at Ciel.

   Quirking an eyebrow, Ciel asked, "Punishment? What did you do?"

   "A little of this and a little of that. The headmaster thinks I'm a bad influence." Edward smiled and waved at Ciel. "I'll leave you to your own business."

   With a slight gesture of his hand, Edward turned and walked quickly down the hallway, followed by his tutor. Ciel's eyes followed him. Edward Crowley was a suspicious person, both for his absences and because of his previously unknown tutor. When he had the chance, Ciel knew he would need to ask Sebastian to look into the matter.

   Ciel walked toward the door of the classroom. As promised, it was empty. A small note on the door indicated that classes would resume as normal the following day. Ciel turned and began to walk back to his dorm. The meeting with Edward Crowley had been the only truly unusual thing that had happened in the past week. If the rest of what he had found here hadn't been so incredibly bland, even that wouldn't have stood out as much as it had. He would have to resolve the matter to the Queen's satisfaction before he could return home. At this rate, that was going to take another murder before he would be able to learn anything. That would not be ideal in any way, shape or form.

   Pushing open the door to his room, Ciel sighed. It was incredibly dark. The heavy curtains were still pulled over the windows and preventing daylight from entering. That meant that one of the other boys was probably still asleep. He would have to light a lamp. Ciel walked over to his bed and set his bag of books down. He paused when his hand touched the comforter. It was damp. Leaving his books, he walked to one of the desks and lit a lamp. Holding it with one hand, he came back over to the bed and pressed his hand against the material. The dark fabric was definitely wet. He lifted his fingers and rubbed them together, examining them in the light. His eyebrows shot up into his hair as he reached down and pulled back the covers on the bed.

   There was blood everywhere. A pile of viscera and gore littered the bed clothes and trailed down the side of the mattress. Behind him, he heard someone scream. There was a dead rabbit in his bed. It's head had been completely severed and now sat on his pillow, staring lifelessly at him. Beside it lay a note. On the paper, in clear red letters, it asked:

Do you want to play?

To be continued...
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The Dark Path