Red Racketeer {Black Butler}

Circus's Nightmare

I do not own Black Butler! :3

- Karin Kuromu

* * *

"Alice, why are you here?" Ciel asks.

Alice ignores him and snaps her fingers and flames are lit on the candles in the room. Puppets of children are hanging on the ceilings or laying down on the floor. She opens the door leading to the dinner room. Joker leads them down the hall. Sebastian gives Alice a slight glance.

They walk to a table were a man in bandages. "It must be a dream!" He smiles sweetly.

"Are you Baron Kelvin." Ciel stated.

"Come, come, we have dinner prepared." Baron opens his arms wide as two children open the curtains revealing a huge dinner table. "And entertainment!"

"Welcome to the Circus!" Joker announces and points out each entertainment.

Alice watch as children in a charm kill themselves as they were doing acts. She hated it.

Alice watches as Ciel twitches at every death. He zones out, until..."Baron Kelvin...was disposed of by me, the watch dog!"

Ciel takes out a gun. Joker takes out his sword cane, Sebastian takes out a dagger, and Alice takes out her rapier. Ciel points his gun at Baron, Joker's sword at Ciel's neck, Sebastian's dagger at Joker, and Alice's rapier at Sebastian's back.

Sebastian smirks down at her. "We both know you're not going to kill me."

Alice glares at him, "Well then, take you're dagger away from Joker."

"Joker! What are you and Alice doing?! Don't hurt Phantomhive!" Baron yells. Both of them took their weapons away. "Where are the kidnapped children?" Ciel asks Baron.

They all then were led down the stairs, while Sebastian holds Joker with a dagger at his neck making sure that Joker doesn't hurt his master. Alice stops him. "Let my master go."

"Then he would attack my master." Sebastian.

"Well," Alice moves his dagger away from Joker's neck and points it at her neck. "Then you'll have to kill me first before you kill Joker."

"Alice-"

Alice stops Joker with a finger on his lips and then moves it to hers. "Our last kiss." She smiles and moves to Sebastian. He holds her arms with one hand and the other with a dagger at her throat. They catch up with Baron and Ciel down the stairs.

In the middle was a marble table stands in a middle of a familiar pentagram and children in black box cages.

* * *

Hikallia sighs, taking a small bite out of an apple that she swiped from a vendor.

They had been staking out the circus for at least a day and a half and not a single child had entered that did not come back out. 

A few times, Undertaker had left to check his shop for guests, but no one in the area had died lately. It just wasn't making sense. If the children weren't being kept here, and they weren't dieing, where were they disappearing to? 

"Taker..." Hikallia said, glancing over her shoulder at the gray haired mortician, "Why can't I figure this out?" 

They were sitting on the rooftop again, letting the clouds loom overhead to keep them cool. He smirked down at her, "Because you are going about this the way a demon would... But not the way a Reaper would..." He chuckled to punctuate his words. 

"What do you mean?" She stood, glancing down at him before doing a headcount of a small group of young boys that ran into the circus grounds. One, two, three, four. 

"Hika, dear... How do Reapers keep track of a mortal?" He was offering a hint, but Hikallia still didn't understand. 

"Well... I suppose they check the mortal's on-file records..." Then it hit her. All she needed was a name. "But, I'm not allowed to go to the Library without a certified elder... Undertaker..." She stared at him for a moment. "Will you take me?" 

Undertaker stood and grinned his wicked smile, "I thought you'd never ask..." 

Before they left the grounds, Hika saw the group of boys exit the circus. One, two, three, four...

* * * * *

Ciel gasps at the sight of his horrible past. Baron explains about always wanting to be in the same ranks to be near Ciel. "How I envy them!"

Baron raised his arms. "Please! Let me join their ranks!"

"I've got everything ready! The venue for the ritual. The lambs. And last but not least...You my dear Earl!."

Ciel shoots and the bullet hits Baron's chest. Baron falls onto the ground and Ciel breaths heavily from anger.

"Father!" Joker yells and takes out a dagger out of his bone arm. Sebastian pushes Alice away and attacks Joker, but Alice stands in his way. He slashes her chest.

Alice falls to the ground coughing up blood. Joker still goes after Ciel. Sebastian quickly grabs Joker's good arm and cuts it off. "Would you be so kind not to interfere with my master's work?"

"Gahhhhh!" Joker falls on the ground holding his injured arm. He looks over to see Alice breathing heavily. "Alice!"

He crawls over to her and looks at her face covered in her splattered blood. "Don't ye dare leave."

"I'm sorry, but it looks like today is the day you wanted..." Alice whispers and smiles.

Joker shakes his head in anger. "What are ye talking 'bout? Father is dieing!"

"Yes," Her wound slowly closes up. "And so will everyone you care about. Everyone will finally be a family..."

Sebastian offers her a hand. Alice takes it and stands up, her wound on her chest was gone. "In the after life..."

"What?!" Joker yells.He glares at Sebastian. "You were with them?!"

"From the beginning." Sebastian answers and licks Alice's blood on her face.

"Any last words, as I take you and your so called 'family's future?" Ciel asks.

Joker shakes off the shock from Alice's betrayal and laughs. He lays down on the ground. "Ye said it!"

"But ye see... Ye'll also lose something preciouse tonight!" Joker gives a sicking look at Ciel. "My troupe is at your mansion right now!"