420A/N: Forgot to mention: as of 6/19/2013, I finally graduated high school. c: OKHAY guyz, this chappie is full of plot, so eat it all up. Yum...plot. x3 I wanted to get it right, so I'm using that as an excuse for taking such a long time. T-T I mean, this is a lot of plot. A. Lot. A lot full o' pancakes. *3* Eh, tell me if this chapter sucks, guyz. I feel like everything got messed up since I haven't written in a long while. T-T AND reviews will be at the end of the chappie, since they are some from two chappies and I don't want this chapter to look like a whole bunch of review replies. ^^' OH. OH OH. Did anyone catch the sentence Sebastian said to Ciel in chapter 24, towards the end? He said the exact same thing in one of the first chapters of the prequel. Hooohoo~
Warnings: What's going on here?
Point of View: Third Person (oh snap crackers).
End Note: This takes place a few years in the past. Mhm. ^-^ And I time-skipped a whole bunch so you wouldn't get too bored with this stuffs. Urgh, I hope this clears up some stuffs. Questions? Ask mee~ c:
Chapter XXVI (I need to re-read this again and fix everything. Gah.)
Complete silence fills the entire room as a woman dressed exclusively in red reads a creased letter in her hands. Every word written on the white paper is eaten up by desperate eyes as the woman brings the parchment closer to her and slouches a bit more over the ink. There isn't much light in the room, but she dimmed the lights for a reason—it's less obvious. Her red stained lips curl upwards in a smile as she continues reading.
The paper itself has been unintentionally folded on the top right corner—the cause of a mandatory, split-second decision to hastily stuff the paper in her nightstand drawer, where she also keeps a small box, tucked away. The paper was bent and, therefore, has spent days smashed between two large novels, in a desperate attempt at flattening it. The crease is still there—barely—and the woman frowns at herself every time she sees it. It's a flaw in the perfection she holds in her hands and it glares at her every time she reads the letter.
So she glares right back.
When she continues reading where she left off, she notices the dot over the "i" in "sister" is two or three centimeters left of where the dots usually are. She traces the abnormality with her finger and smiles to herself as she thinks of dark, chocolate brown eyes. The woman in red stops reading after, 'Rachel absolutely loves him to bits and I know Ciel wouldn't change it for the world; the way he holds on to her and never lets go...'
Her heart jumps in her chest and all of her senses are honed in on the soft click of the front door down the hall, opening and closing. With her eyes glued to the door of her bedroom, she quickly, but carefully, folds the paper as it was intended and slips it back inside the original envelope. With practiced movements, she steps off the bed and bends down to retrieve a plastic container from underneath the mattress. Her hearing remains focused on the footsteps heading in her direction as she pops off the lid and places the envelope inside the clear box. Just as she finishes replacing the lid, pushing it under the bed, crawling onto the mattress, and hiding under the covers, the door opens.
She closes her eyes and tries to even her breathing as she hears a quiet sigh from the doorway. The footsteps return and grow in volume as the woman fakes her slumber. Once the person from the door is standing right before her, there is a pause.
"You left the light on again, honey." It's a deep whisper and a small gust of wind hits the lady's face as the man turns and lifts his arm. With a sharp click, the light is turned off and the man heads for the dresser, to ready himself for bed. When he pulls out the clothing from the drawers, he places it on the furniture and brushes his hair out of his tired face. Reaching towards his glasses, he plucks them from his eyes and lets them fall a few inches to the surface of the dresser. Once he changes his clothes, he walks over to the bed and crawls in beside the woman in red. With his eyes now adjusted to the darkness, he can see the woman's red hair and he lifts his hand to slowly pet the licorice locks. Not a strand is tangled and each one is only slightly ruffled by the pillow. 'She couldn't have been asleep for more than five seconds,' he thinks. 'Or been asleep at all.' His hand stops as he comes to a painful conclusion and he understands.
He knows about the letter. Of course he knows about the letter. He has seen it hiding under the bed while he was cleaning the room before. He read it—he knows what it says. He knows who it's from. He knows she reads it often, but he never understood why. Now, as he feels her soft strands of hair and remembers the small box in the nightstand drawer, he realizes why. Retracting his hand, he frowns and ponders quietly to himself. He knew it would come to this sooner or later—it was only a matter of time.
The box in the drawer holds only one item—a flower. A red flower, given to the woman by her sister's husband. It was meant as a friendly compliment, but the gesture was obviously misunderstood. The woman's eyes were wide and hopeful as she took the red flower and ran back home as soon as possible to store it away for safekeeping. The letter was sent to her quite some time later. It was an update on Vincent's life and a few questions about Angelina's. Of course, she replied instantly and has been awaiting a response from Vincent for days.
Angelina rolls over and opens her eyes a bit, to see the one she loves lying right beside her. As she stares into his deep, beautiful, amber eyes, she can't help but wish those eyes were a rich, chocolate brown.
The one she loves isn't lying beside her. She knows she will never be able to be with the one she truly wants, but she hides that knowledge deep within her mind and keeps it locked away. Because she can be with him. It can happen.
And it will.
She knows it.
Grabbing a red, puffy coat, Angelina leaves her house and slides into her vibrant car. She has been looking forward to this day for a while now and must to be on time. Slightly smiling, Angelina pulls out of the driveway and drives her favorite, memorized route. When she eventually parks the car, she spends a few minutes perfecting her appearance in the mirror, before getting out of the car and heading up to the front porch. Her crimson heels clack against the cobblestone walkway and her steps speed up in impatience.
The cold air brushes past in an unpleasant way, which leaves her shivering, even while wearing a winter coat. The barely melted and hardly frozen snow on the ground have long since melded together, leaving Angelina nearly tripping over her own two feet as she steps onto the first step and out of the slush.
Stopping right in front of the wooden door, the woman in red reaches out with her perfectly manicured hand and rings the doorbell. A melodic sound emits from inside the house and Angelina nearly hums along with it—she loves it so much.
More than the usual ten to fifteen second wait passes by and she still stands outside, with no one opening the door. Leaning backwards a bit, she turns her head in the direction of the driveway and sees both Rachel and Vincent's cars in the driveway. Standing up straight, she knocks on the door and her eyes widen when her knuckles push the door open. Hesitating for a second, she grips the handle and steps inside the house, expecting to see a busy family running about. The sudden, drastic change in temperature has goosebumps spread across her skin and she takes another step inside.
All she sees, though, is stillness. Stepping further inside, she spots Rachel reclining on the couch, loosely holding a cup of tea on her lap. Relief washes over her at the sight of her sister and she closes the door behind her as she starts to head over to the living room. An overwhelming stench of something she has never smelled before hits her and her nose scrunches up. 'What is that? It smells terrible.' She hangs up her jacket on the coat rack by the door before continuing and relaxes at the feel of warm air on her skin. "There you are, Rachel." When she turns a corner, she sees Vincent sitting next to Rachel as well, but he's sleeping. "I tried to ring the..."
Stepping closer, Angelina sighs at the sight of both Rachel and Vincent asleep. 'The one day I'm scheduled to visit, they fall asleep,' she thinks with a smile. Walking over to the two of them, intending to wake them up, she stops walking on her third step when she hears a shuffling sound coming from the other room. 'Ciel?' A smile forms on her face as she thinks of how long it's been since she last saw her little niece.
As Angelina nears the kitchen, the smell grows and she catches a sight of a reflection in the refrigerator by the archway that has her blood run cold and adrenaline rush through her body. 'There's a man in there.' Feeling her instincts kick in, she removes her shoes and quietly places one on the floor as she soundlessly tries to compose herself. Turning the corner, Angelina peers into the room and her hands start to shake with what she sees. Her heeled shoe drops to the floor and thumps with a sharp sound that echoes in the tiled room.
"Claude?"
The man turns around and meets her eyes with a glare as he places a large container atop the counter. Claude sighs and re-adjusts his gloves as he prepares himself for Angelina's inevitable questions.
"W-What are you doing here?"
"Me? Why, having a meeting with Mr. Phantomhive." Claude grasps the burgundy container and lifts it off the counter as he elaborates, "We were just discussing this month's sales records." He tilts the strong smelling jug and transparent, brown liquid spills from the top and onto the floor. "Although, what I am most curious about," he turns to fully face Angelina and continues, "is why you are here."
"Is t-that—"
"But we all know why, don't we?" Claude's lips curl downwards as he moves his arm and spreads more of the gasoline on the floor. "It's a shame Rachel's here, though, isn't it?" He narrows his eyes at Angelina's widened ones and takes a step closer to her. "You can't have your craved alone time with Vincent, can you?" The venom drips from each syllable and he scowls at Angelina as he splashes the brown liquid around him.
"What are you talking about, Claude? Stop!" Angelina regains part of her senses and lunges for Claude, in the hopes of taking the gasoline away from him. A smirk forms on his face as Angelina just barely touches the container with her fingertips and is forcefully shoved to the wet ground with a thud. Not just a thud, though, a crack, too. A drawn-out crack is heard as Angelina hits the floor and it's evident that something severely broke. As the last drop of liquid falls into a puddle on the floor, Claude places the container on the counter.
Using her hands to push her to her feet, Angelina winces at the intense, sharp pain in her ankle and wraps her hands around it as she curls into herself. Underneath her palms, she can feel the heat radiating and the skin starting to swell. Sitting on the floor, she tries to calm down as she tightly shuts her eyes and continuously repeats to herself, 'this isn't happening.'
Without saying a word, Claude ignores the obvious pain of Angelina's and reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out a paper. The sound of bending parchment reaches the woman's ears and she opens her eyes slightly to look up at the white paper being held in a gloved hand. In an instant, time freezes and her heart stops when she sees the paper. 'How...'
"You left this letter in the mailbox at home for the postal worker to pick up a while back." Claude's expression is completely blank and his voice is devoid of any emotion as Angelina gapes at her letter. "You realize that is my mailbox as well, don't you?"
"Why...why do you h-have that?"
Claude sighs in an overly-exaggerated manner and uses his free hand to dig into his pocket once more. Retracting his hand, he pulls out a lighter and uses his thumb to light the small fire in his palm. The faint click has Angelina's world spinning and her head starts to feel light as her vision slowly starts to fade. Claude loudly clears his throat as he pulls the paper close to his face and skims it for a moment before saying, "I never knew you were so dedicated to your family, Angelina. From what you wrote, it would seem as if you'd do anything for them."
"I—"
"You also went to great lengths trying convey your devotion to Ciel's happiness, didn't you? Although, you only mentioned his mother once. Here it is—third line from the end, you write, 'If anything were to happen to Rachel, I will always be here for you.' That's a rather odd thing to mention to your healthy sister's husband, isn't it?"
"I didn't—"
The flame in Claude's hand flickers and sways as he grabs the empty container of gasoline. Completely bypassing Angelina on the floor, he takes long strides toward the back door of the house. Before leaving the room, he turns to the woman on the floor and scowls. "Well? Are you just going to sit there?"
"What?"
He sighs at the ridiculous question and sums up his intentions in a few sentences. "I have all the evidence I need to prove your motive and murder of Rachel Phantomhive. She was stopping you from being with Vincent, so you decided to get rid of her. You told Vincent you would be there for him if 'anything were to happen to Rachel.' The fingerprints you placed on the gasoline container are just solid pieces of evidence the court could use against you. Even if you deny ever being here, your coat is still at the door."
Everything in Angelina's world falls apart when Claude stops talking and she can't feel the pain in her ankle anymore. She messed up. She put her fingerprints on the gasoline can. She trusted her letter in the hands of a metal mailbox. She wrote the letter. She let herself fall into denial about Vincent's love for her.
It was never there.
"Come here."
With tears in her eyes, Angelina stands on shaky legs and leans on the wall for support. A thought bubbles to the surface of her mind and her breath hitches when she realizes the gravity of the situation. " 'The murder of Rachel Phantomhive'? You're going to kill my sister? Rachel—y-you're going to kill Rachel? And Vincent? What about Vincent?"
"Angelina, get the fuck over here."
The reality settles more and more and Angelina's mind starts to fog as less and less oxygen reaches her brain. "You can't..." One arm on the wall, she uses her sleeve to wipe the rapidly falling tears on her face.
"Really, I can't?"
Angelina's breath shallows as she notices the gasoline scent more and more and starts to see the room spin. Her senses sharpen and numb all at the same time, making her feel like stone against the wall as she has one last thought. "Ciel, where...is he?" The sound of cloth sliding against wallpaper reaches Angelina's ears as she falls down to the floor and her head bangs into the plaster behind her.
As soon as Angelina passes out, Claude frowns even more and puts the gasoline on the counter again, along with the lighter. Walking over to the pile of red clothing, he picks her up and grabs all of his things, before starting the lighter and throwing it into the house and onto the floor.
The heat is instantaneous and Claude closes the door behind him as he takes Angelina with him back to their house. The answer to Angelina's last question doesn't leave Claude's mind as he stuffs the woman into the car and slides into the driver's seat. 'I don't know where he is.'
Lifting his arm to steer the wheel, the sound of papers crinkling in his jacket has Claude smiling as he sees the red, orange, and yellow flames begin to lick the sides of the Phantomhive house. 'I don't know where Ciel is, but I will find him.'
Chapter 24 Guest Review Replies:
Arisa: I hope this chappie answered some of your questions, since there was a bunch of plot. c:
Emo-Kitty: Yes! Just for you. :3 Awe, isn't the fluff so deliciously fantastical~? *Gasp* o: *Gasp again* you're so nice~! You told peepl about my lil' story~? x3 Oh man. I luv you. Aweee, thank you so much! *Hug*
Abby: Yush, Ciel is very "phluffy." x3 Haha~
Dee: Mhmmm, a purring Ciel is an extremely adorable Ciel~ ^-^ Awe, don't go into a dark corner, there is nothing but a whole bunch of spiders over there. :c And not the good kind, either. *Shivers*
Stoned: Gargh, I feel so bad for all these late updates! My goal for this sequel was to update once a week and I think that went out the window. T-T Awe, well, I think you're quite fabulous yourself. x3 Oh snappers, I want to buy one of those lil' plushies, but I have no money. Because nobody will hire me. Nobody. :c Aweee, you read my author's note~ I lufs you~ :3
Tylostoma: I would never abandon this story! Even if it does take me months on end to write a chapter...*grumbles* Anyway~ ^^ Haha, I love kitties. c: Even if they are distracting. They're such cuties~ :3
Guest: I'm not sure how to reply to that. Haha~ x3
Juliesu: Nooo, I'm not finished with this story just yet! I'm just terrible at updating on time. :c
BooKat: You lost your computer for a while? *-* Yah, sorry, I had to take it for a bit...haha. x3 we shall see just how Ciel is dealing with stuffs soon. Mmmhm.
Chapter 25 Guest Review Replies:
Tylostoma: I love the fluff so much and I love reading all the fluff out there, so it makes me super happy to hear other people like fluff as much as I do~ :3 Plot is being revealed, so don't worry, we'll see all the characters soon. ^-^ And sorry about the late updates recently! :c
Guest: Fluffyfluffy fluff fluff. ^-^ Always fun to read~
Arisa: Yush, one of the questions has been answered. I think. Maybe. I hope you liked this chappie. ^^
Emo-Kitty: Pft, when do you never not need Ciel on catnip? :3 Haha, trick question.
BooKat: Thank yooou~ ^-^ Yush, happy Ciel makes everyone happy. Especially Sebastian. :3
Stoned: Gaaaaargh, I know. I've been gone for so long. And this chapter isn't any earlier! :c BUT. I would never give up this story! The most I would be absent from it is probably a month and a few days or so. ...like this chapter...*cough* Ah, yes, we'll see more of Undertaker, I can say that. As for Hannah and Grell, well. We'll see about what happens with those two. -3- Oh wow, really? That's so awesome! ^-^ Awe, thanks!
Lyssa: Awe, thank you so much, Lyssa~ your review has me smiling like an idiot~ x3 I shall continue with this story!
MeganeMusume: Yush, a healthy Ciel makes my day~ and a nosebleed day makes everyone's day~ :3
Jerren: Awuuh, and I lufs you~ ^^ I'll continue until the story ends! :3
Abby: Yeah, lil' kitty Ciel has to be super adorable and cute. 'Cuz he's just so fluffy~ x3