In This Hell ( V i o l e t ) [Kuroshitsuji 2] {Completed}

Chapter XII : A Reliable Companion

I took the slim object from him and began to pass it through bloodless skin, attempting to make the little lines as neat and straight as possible.

"That's right - oops, that one is a little crooked. No matter, just keep the rest of them -- like that! Well done!" He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Then you wipe this with sterilizing fluid, to make sure that rot doesn't get in through the wounds, and start on the next slit. Can you do that the same way? You have to start off with a Y stitch -"

He continued to explain what he needed me to do. I tried to follow the instructions as best I could, but my clumsy, clay like fingers made the work that much more difficult. It took quite some time for me to repair the next gash on the man; and by this time, Undertaker had already started work on his counterpart, an old woman that had died of the same flu as her husband.

Undertaker had started to talk to me again as he worked, his gentle voice seeming to almost fill up the dark room.

"I really am so sorry, my dear. Have your throat ripped open must be so incredibly traumatic. I wish I could have done this some other way, but the most sensible idea is to practice on fresh bodies, is it not? And you are so much like her - you're so delicate, so beautiful. The same height and build, the same blood type. All the women had to be similar to her. Although I must say, you are one of the finest specimens yet." His voice took on a teasing tone. "How troublesome that Violet should have his eye on you first!"

Something told me that I should have laughed, but I didn't remember how to. "Is Violet my husband?"

"No, my dear, but I think he would like to be. He really is quite infatuated with you. Very worried for your well being."

"And he likes me?"

"Yes, he does. He is in love with you." Undertaker snipped the end of a thread, tying a small knot, before shaking the grey locks from his vision. "I think he loves you almost as much as I love Charlotte. And it's wonderful that he got the chance to tell you before you passed. I never once told Charlotte. That is probably what I regret the most - maybe that is why I want to put things right."

A pause.

"She was pregnant. And she contracted the flu. I've not heard of a human ever able to carry the young of a shinigami. Of course, if she hadn't been so stupid, so careless... she used to work for me. Obsessed with death, she was, she found a rare sort of beauty in it." Undertaker's voice had become fond. "She was able to find the beauty in the ugliest of things. After all, she loved me."

I was silent, trying to think of something to say. It was hard. Did he want comfort?

"You are not ugly," I tried. "You're a very attractive man. I know what it is, to be sexually attracted to a person. I remember that."

He started to laugh, and the sound was crazed. "Oh, really, my dear? With all of my pretty scars? Ah, but that's the thing. I am quite the monster. She knew of my past, and she accepted it. But I haven't changed. Look at the amount I'm putting you poor creatures through. Gregory has gone half mad with it all - he simply can't handle it."

"Violet." The same tight feeling was back in my throat. It was a pain. That was strange, I wasn't used to pain. "He's upset because of me. That is bad. Can I help?"

"He's upset because of what he did to you." He shook his head, tutting. "Unfortunately, Grace, you are both a victim of circumstance. He didn't even kill that Arden boy, and he was still roped into the whole mess."

"Who is Arden? I do not know him."

"Ah, Derrick Arden was such a naughty, naughty boy." Undertaker cackled again. "He cheated on his testies, and he beated up his friendsies, and Herman Greenhill found out and bashed in his skullsies. The other three prefects decided that the best course of action would be to hide the body; however, they knew it would only be a matter of time before it was discovered that Arden was missing. So they called upon my services, thinking that I could bring him back. Which I did, mind you - I just didn't do as good a job as I did with you. However, part of the deal was that they signed their souls over to me. And that, dear lady, is where you entered our loathsome story."