Chapter Text
Quiet rustling of pages reveals a story written in the ink. Among the warmth of fireplace, one could tell a fable to guide children into a tranquil sleep.
[Once upon a time, a little bird was born into this cruel and beautiful world.
It shares nests with other fledglings. Common birds that share the same feathers. Hunger for the same food. Need for simpler times and future ahead when they take flight.
The little bird takes her share with the other birds, only wanting to live by that same dream and future. Its body, although small, are strong enough to fly with the other birds she grew besides with.
Then, as if fate smiled upon, the little bird found its mate. A happily ever after, like their elders told it. A bell toll for life.
“This is happiness.” It thought, as it accepted the wreath of its mate offered. It must be since other birds built that happiness upon the same. Surviving until they laid eggs and continue the lines for the future.
Right…
This is happiness…
A happiness that wouldn’t last.]
Fires burn the parchment into ashes. The tale stops along with the deceased life of the one who keep them. Two bodies intertwined among the fiery hell in a pool of blood.
How romantic.
To not die alone in your final moments. It was simply a dream to be as long as there are no worries.
…No worries.
Whistles of the train cuts off her daze as she sits up in surprise. Harsh tug of silks bound her hands, making her stumble from her seating.
“Something’s wrong, Avis?” The boy curiously regards her from the box of letters and trinkets, one eye narrows at her behavior while the other hidden behind an eyepatch and silver-grey bangs. His ever-vigilant butler is there as always: Curious, amused, yet apathetic to her plight.
Huffing, Avis upright herself with her elbows. “Nothing.” Short and curt, she has to keep it in line with this boy, especially with his butler.
She doesn’t trust him.
Green open plains that she used to know are long gone from the window. Heading to the road everyone knows as London. A place she shouldn’t be and avoid no matter what.
It will be her death as they feast on her carcass. Anything goes for wealth and power in nobility. And…
…it was her home.
Glancing to the boy again, pale blues meets lone sapphire. He never takes her eyes of off her. She, in turn, wonders how deep had this boy ventured to bore such gaze. It reminds her too much of the fierceness of underworld.
Desperation and deceit running through the veins of those people, and so does the perverseness of humanity. How she loathes he has borne the latter in his impression. The thought of what made him do such a thing makes her heart aches and avert her gaze.
And he will do more by the time they arrive to his home.
Despite her urge to scream and cry, she swallows her tears inside. She can’t in front of him, when her instinct screams there’s something very wrong with that butler. Those red eyes raking over her with curious gleam. She noticed the hunger it has when looking at the boy. An anticipation of a predator ready to strike.
It was already suspicious when she was captured. When she pushed that butler inside that cramped carriage… when he went in to seduce her voice out of her in front of that boy. His posture was poised and firm. It never went awkward despite the limited space that would be impossible to support the stance he had from her push and shove.
“Thinking of something, milady?”
Speak of the devil.
“Nothing.”
Smooth velvet laugh fills the compartment. “My, my, no need to be so cold.” He puts a hand on his chest with that oh-so-charming killer smile that would make any lady swoon. Not her, she hates men with loose morals. “Whatever I did to you, it was per the young master’s order.”
The boy clicks his tongue from the letters and maps he reads. “I didn’t tell you to have your hands wander around her.”
“My apologies, young master. My hands slipped.”
She clicks her tongue too, finding his act distasteful for someone highly skilled. It’s always people in power who had the means to an end. Just like this boy, Ciel Phantomhive.
Hopefully, he didn’t pay too much of a steep price.
[2,5 Years Ago….]
She lost her.
She sobs into her hand. The other holds the telephone handle loosely with no one on the other side answering her.
No confirmation, no answer, no pleas nor prayers to the wind. Yet she knows…
She lost her.
“Rachel…”
This is the fourth time she dialed the Phantomhive manor in the same first night she dared to call. Someone named Tanaka should’ve pick it up long but…
Nobody is there.