Hospital For Souls (M i c h a e l i s) [Kuroshitsuji 3]{Completed}

Chapter III : One Unwilling Houseguest

"I..." I glanced up at him. "This sounds ridiculous."

"Please, I am sure that it does not. Do continue."

"I am a very foolish woman, My Lord. Dorian came to me in a period of weakness - unbeknownst to myself, I had summoned him. My brother and I - we were young, and starving to death. And not like those urchins on the streets - we were only a day from death's door, in the workhouse. Edward had tuberculosis. He was going to die. We needed help.

He gave us a home, Ciel - um. He gave us stability. A background. Money - oh, God, there was so much money - and Edward and I grew up in a paradise that we had never known. So many years. Dorian was originally a... a brother figure. But as I grew... my shape changed, I matured, and I began.... He was also -" I shut my mouth.

"I understand," Ciel replied, leaning forward and jumping on the trail that I left. "You were in a desperate position, and this demon offered you his service, his protection, and a mysterious 'inheritance', am I correct?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "He invented stories - and no one questioned anything, as long as we had the money. And when Dorian was taken away, so was that. Thus, my fall from grace."

"That explains why you are so well spoken for a woman of your class."

I was gearing myself up to be offended; however, I reminded myself that he was only stating the obvious. "Well, yes, you could say that."

"Moving onwards. What do you know of Undertaker? This man -"

"His true name is Adrian. Crevan, I believe." I paused. "My apologies for interrupting."

"Do continue."

"Adrian Crevan. And he did not wish to avail of my usual services - he just wanted to draw me, actually." I blinked, staring down at my hands. "And he had questions for me. He said he was interested in the occult. He knew of my past - he swore to speak of Dorian to no one. And I desperately needed the money, my Lord. I had no idea that it would lead to... murder."

"Oh, don't worry about that," he said cheerfully as he leaned back in his chair again; there was a short knock at the door. "The women whose deaths we are investigating were dispatched to the afterlife long before Undertaker had anything to do with you. So, he drew you without any clothes on?"

"Yes. And he asked me questions about Dorian, and my contract seal - along with the nature of my contract."

"I see. Sebastian, come in."

The man in black entered the room - I turned, craning my neck to peer at him. Sebastian held a tray laden with cakes and crockery, along with a steaming pot of hot water; the scent of everything together was intoxicating. I could feel my mouth watering just at the thought.

"Leave the tray on my desk and stand to one side. Don't bother serving anything."

"Yes, my Lord."

As he disappeared almost completely into the shadows of the bookcase, Ciel leaned forward, wrapping his fingers around the handle of the pot; he wore many rings, and his fingernails were painted glossy black.

"I believe," he said, speaking to us both now, "That I have deduced the reason of Celeste's involvement in this mess."

"And what is that?" Sebastian enquired smoothly, why I gracefully spat out "Why?"

"Undertaker - he wished to study the effect a Faustian Bargain has on its human host. I believe that he was not sketching you, but rather your seal, yes? Providing where that is requires your unrobing. The questions that he asked you, I imagine, would be of the relationship between the human host and the demon. He was looking for loopholes that he could exploit. Preparing for the eventuality that we would be assigned to this case." He appeared to be mildly impressed. "Clever."