The Last Song [Black Butler] [Kuroshitsuji]

CHAPTER X

My lungs shriveled and I felt my pulse bound.

Holding my breath, I stared at the mangled room. I felt my face flush and the corners of my vision began to fade into black.

Breathe, Daisy, breathe!

Gasping, my hands flew to my throat as the suffocating hands of fear dissappeared and my windpipe opened up.

Heaving in breaths, I opened my eyes and looked at the dismantled room.

The thin protective sheets resting on the furniture now displayed large slashes, the fabric waving in the form of primitive tongues with wisps of thread fanning out of each tear.

The mattress was upturned, but, unlike the sheets, stabbed not slashed; tufts of cotton littered the bed frame and floor underneath it.

It was all wrong. The dust on the floor was a mess of frenzied patterns; a collage of swirls and twists - as if someone had been dancing across the room.

Legs shaking, I slowly lowered myself into a sitting position. I tried my utmost hardest not to stare at the state of the bedroom and focused on my breathing.

Inhale, exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

When I opened my eyes I was dizzy and my legs were numb.

The cogs in my head began to turn.

Between my phone call to the Earl and right now, someone came here and did this. That's a time span of about a week.

They must have been checking on me regularly.

My chest siezed.

The first thing that came to mind was to tell the Earl, but I froze just as quickly.

I had just asked - no, insisted on coming here and, lo and behold, evidence. Tampering. Exactly word for bloody word of what he said. If I tell him, it's only natural for him to assume that I did this.

I took a breath. Stared at the dismantled room. Stood up.

Did someone have a fit or am I being framed?

♤ • ♡ • ◇ • ♧

Where is the Earl?

I have been looking all over the first floor and haven't seen hide nor hair of either him or Sebastian.

Just when I made up my mind to march back upstairs, my eye caught on something outside of the window.

The glass panes were tickled in dust, slightly distorting the sunlight beaming into the room, and framed with curling wisps of ivy, but there was no mistaking it.

A smudge, maybe?

I carefully padded my way closer to the window, stepping over debris and loose furniture, and squinted at the dark splotch.

Butler?

Frowning, I leaned in closer and instantaneously froze. My limbs locked up and I felt my tongue go thick and heavy.

It wasn't the butler, but a shorter person. Hooded and cloaked in black velvet, it simply slinked carefully through the outgrown weeds.

The veiled head turned, towards the carriage parked outside, and began to leisurely amble towards it.

I closed my eyes.

Don't be ridiculous, I mentally scolded myself, nobody's lived here for two years. Two years, Daisy!