Black Butler: Demons in our Hearts

Chapter 16: Poveglia Island

The atmosphere of the island was still the same as the time her master had brought her here. The moment you set foot on the soil it made your hair stand on end. This was a place of death, truly, in the times of the plague thousands of people had died here, and before that the island served as a bloody site for several other ghastly occurrences.

It’s little wonder why there are spirits here. Kat dodged a piece of think undergrowth and pressed on, towards the vineyards where the tall grass grew. The perfect place to practice unseen movement, even the slightest sway could give away your position.

“Kat are you sure this is sanitary?” The Earl frowned as a spider scurried passed his shoe. He had insisted to come along even after she had warned him of the dangers. If the crumbling buildings they would be sleeping in didn’t crush them there were other dangers, natural and supernatural alike. There was a reason the locals kept their distance from these shores.

“Well, I’m not entirely positive about that. But I can guarantee that once Sebastian is done cleaning that spot I showed you will be satisfactory.” Taking thin wooden poles from her pack she tied a string and a bell to each and set them at different points in the grass, careful to put them in the thinnest spots, where the least amount of grass grew. “There, now we can start.”

“What exactly are you doing?”

Kat back tracked and dropped her pack at the base of the bridge that connected the two parts of the island. “It’s to help with unseen movement. See how short the grass is? I have to move through it without anyone seeing me, steal the bells, and not make a noise or let you see me. Now,” she draped a necklace of bells around her own neck, “we can start.”

“You are quite out of your mind, there is no possible way for you to do that.”

“Maybe.” Kat waded into the thigh high grass, “But this is how I was taught.”

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“What is she doing?” Sebastian looked over the field from the crest of the bridge, watching Kat disappear once more into the grass to try and retrieve the bells without making a sound or alerting them to her presence. He knew what she was doing, but the why was effectively eluding him, at the faintest jingle of a bell, and he could only hear it because of his heightened senses, she would go back and start over.

The Young Master sat in an old iron work chair the butler had found in the rubble during his…remodeling, watching as well with no little interest. He had insisted on following Kat even though this was definitely not a place that Sebastian would recommend for a holiday. There were no people but them, no places to visit and absolutely nothing to do, but explore.

Ciel had wanted to explore, but the butler had refused, he knew how dangerous this place could be for a demon, much less a human.

This is why I am very curious as to why her master would bring her here to train. I wonder what kind of man he was…

There was a faint jingle and a loud curse as Kat restarted. Her legs have to be aching. She moved through the grass fluidly in a half crouch position the bells around her own neck not making a sound. I wonder what she’ll be like once she’s done.

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Kat massaged her aching legs as she sat before the fire out in front of the old chapel building, a small pot of coffee sitting beside her, cooling. The flames sputtered and hissed, crackled and popped, casting shadows over the landscape.

“You should be asleep you know, it’s close to dawn.”

Patting the ground beside her Kat motioned for him to sit down, “I know, but that’s another reason why I chose this island, there’s just something about it that makes me stay on edge. How’s the young master?”