Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[42] Her Butler, Torn

The rain certainly did its heavy duty to practically blind me as I sprinted out into the muddy front lawn, plunging my body heat downwards. Thankfully, Sebastian had already cleared a route for me to follow in the sludge since I would have certainly slipped and fallen if he hadn't. There were too many mud ditches and puddles already making themselves rather difficult obstacles to overcome, forcing me to twist and turn here and there as I continued running, practically out of breath. I could feel my chest already begin to tighten, but I would not stop until I caught whomever I had seen through the window.

At the moment, that was the best I could give her right now.

The water poured down mercilessly on my shivering self, causing my clothes to stick unpleasantly and my hair to weigh my head down, worsening my vision by the second. It felt like ages as I followed Sebastian's trail, until finally, I skidded to a stop at the edge of the woods that enveloped the manor's perimeter.

He had left his tailcoat at the trunk of a nearby tree, neatly folded and unsurprisingly dry. I slipped it over my head hastily and continued on.

The branches above created a type of canopy over the forest floor, which was a rather satisfying difference between the forest and outer environment.

Against the freezing air, my shallow pants and quick breaths were visible in small white puffs which gave a clear giveaway to my location, but I was too enveloped in my determination to care.

Sebastian had to be nearby with the culprit. I was sure of it.

Clumsily, I rubbed the water out of my eyes and began to look around for any hints as to where they may be, becoming slightly impatient the more and more I was met with nothing.

No more than a few minutes later, however, I finally heard what I was searching for.

"You don't know what you've just stepped into," It warned furiously against the strong current of the wind and rain, clear enough to be understood but too muffled to be identified.

Ironically enough, my shoes had stepped in and wedged themselves in the growing mud as I trudged over to wherever the sound had come from, hoping that whatever direction I turned led me to my destination.

My heart was pounding loudly in my ears despite nature's immense roars and I couldn't quite tell if the water on my hands was from the rain or perspiration. I supposed this case was more intimate than the others I've working on, explaining my humane reactions I thought I had long ago buried.

Today was quite the day for the rising of once thought to be dead emotions.

I blindly continued forward, shoving back down my thoughts of another trifle. This had to be fixed first and foremost, whatever the cost may be.

Or, at least, that had been my decision before walking into the small opening of the woods and coming face to face with the man Sebastian and I had been chasing.

Now, I was robbed of words.

The man writhing and twisting about on the wet floor, wrists and ankles bound with wires, mouth gagged and eyes blindfolded, did not shock me much at all. In all actuality, it was the only relieving and slightly understandable sight in view. Why he was bound as such, was what I did not know, however. I could only painfully look up from the ground and dare myself to ask Salvador why he had done it.

"You should have stayed and danced longer with la Condesa," he muttered to me, his usual lively dark eyes now dull and void of the usual happiness I could find there.

I curled my fingers at the mention of Adelina and my thoughts began to race at the realization that I would have to tell her who had been murdering her family. She would not take it well, I had to think this through.