"What is the problem now?" Ciel grumbled as he heard his servants running about and shouting at the top of their lungs outside the dining room.
"I shall see to it right away, my lord," Sebastian answered.
The butler and the head maid quickly exited the room to find the other servants running all over the place with various cleaning utensils in hand.
"What on earth are you all doing?" Sebastian asked them.
Two of the three servants halted in their tracks and stood before him.
"We're just tidying up a bit," Finnian told him. "We thought we'd try to do our best to make the young master happy today!"
"Well, as much as I commend your efforts, it appears you are making a bit more of a mess than cleaning things up."
Sebastian eyed the dirt Finnian had tracked into the manor from the gardens and the soap trail left on the carpet from Mey-Rin cleaning the clothes.
He sighed a little as he counted down with his fingers. "Three...two...one..."
Sure enough, an explosion shook the manor that could only have come from one person.
"I've got it!" Baldroy's voice yelled from the kitchen.
"Honestly, I don't understand how you three can be so adept at one thing and so utterly useless at everything else!"
"Ho, ho, ho," Tanaka laughed as he sipped his tea.
"Don't worry, Sebastian!" Mey-Rin said, hoping that he didn't notice her reddening cheeks. "We'll clean this up, and then we'll get right back to cleaning up the manor, yes we will!"
Adalina looked up at Sebastian as Finnian and Mey-Rin took off again.
Sebastian smirked a little. "They mean well, I suppose."
Ciel came out of the dining room. "I'm going up to my study for a bit of quiet before lessons. Adalina, accompany me in case I am in need of anything."
Adalina curtseyed and followed her young master up to where he would retreat to his place of solitude. Like Sebastian, Ciel often enjoyed having Adalina in the room with him because he could work in complete silence yet still feel protected while he worked. Adalina was no Sebastian, but she could certainly defend him and herself well enough for the most part.
Once they reached Ciel's study, Adalina opened the door to allow him to enter first before she followed him inside.
Just as Adalina was going to close the door behind them, she suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, and her vision began to go fuzzy. The last thing she saw was two hands grabbing Ciel and tossing a rag over his mouth.
Adalina could hear her heart pounding in her ears as her senses slowly began to return to her. She forced her eyes open and saw that she was in an unfamiliar room. Her hands were tied behind her, and her feet were bound as well. Recalling the last thing she had seen before she blacked out, she frantically looked around for Ciel. The quick motion made her head start pounding even more.
Her young master was tied up as well not far away from her. He had blood running down his face, and his clothes and hair were in complete disarray.
"Why did you bring her here?!" a familiar voice shouted.
"Sorry, sir!" another answered. "She came in the room with the kid, and we didn't know what else to do with her!"
"You could've just left her there!"
"We were worried she'd wake up too soon and alert the rest of the house before we could get out!"
The first man groaned loudly in annoyance. "Well, maybe this'll bring the butler here sooner. First we'll take care of him, then we'll take care of the little brat and the girl."
As Adalina's vision finally cleared, she glanced over to where she heard the voices coming from. To her surprise, the familiar one belonged to Dumont!
She knew he had been angry about being fired from Funtom, but he really had brought all that on himself. She never expected him to go this far.
"Adalina," Ciel said quietly. "My sincere apologies. You should not have been caught up in all this."
Adalina didn't care about herself. She just wanted to get free so she could protect her young master. She had never felt so utterly useless.
"I see you're finally awake," Dumont sneered at Adalina. "You weren't really part of the plan, but I guess all plans go awry sometimes. No matter. You won't be alive long enough to care."
"Mr. Dumont, I would ask that you not speak to my servant," Ciel said calmly to the man. "Your business is with me."
"Shut it, you brat!" Dumont yelled. "This'll show you for messing with me and costing me everything I've ever worked for! You think you can just fire me and throw away all the work I've done for you?! I put up working for a little brat for too long!"
Dumont began mercilessly kicking and punching the young boy. Adalina turned away, unable to look at her young master being so abused when there was nothing she could do about it. She felt like such an awful servant. Sebastian had hired her to protect Ciel, and yet here she was letting him get beaten up. She wouldn't be surprised if Ciel and Sebastian kicked her out of the manor once this was all over.
Once Dumont finished with Ciel, he came over to Adalina and grasped her face firmly in his hand, his nails digging into her cheeks. She stared up at him with pure malice in her eyes.
"Why don't you and I have a little...fun together? With a body like yours, I'm sure you'll give me lots of pleasure."
Adalina's breathing quickened. This man was sicker than she had thought.
"Sebastian, this is an order," Ciel said firmly. "Come get us right now."
"Your butler isn't even here!" Dumont barked.
No sooner had the words left his lips when there was a calm knock on the door.
"Huh?"
Adalina's eyes widened as none other than Sebastian opened the door and walked into the room. Surely it was just coincidence that Ciel's order had coincided with his entrance.
"Ah, Mr. Dumont, you're the one who has taken my young master and our head maid," Sebastian said with a calm smile. "I believe you've caused us more trouble than you're worth. Perhaps we should've taken care of you when you visited us at the manor."
"I kept my promise, demon. I haven't told anyone the truth about what I saw at the manor that night. But I never said anything about not killing you!"
Adalina flinched as the man pulled out a gun and shot Sebastian several times right in the chest. There was no way he had survived that. He may have been an amazing butler, but no one could survive that many bullet wounds especially at such a close range.
So she was more than shocked when Sebastian simply held up his hands with seven bullets between his fingers.
"Oh, honestly, I would think that after seeing who I really am, you would get more creative in your attempts to end my life. Humans always seem to lack imagination."
Dumont began sweating as his trembling hand aimed the gun at Ciel. "Maybe I can't kill you, but I can kill the one you serve!"
"I would advise against that."
"Well, what about the girl? Surely you care about her as well."
"I would never have hired her if I did not see her worth. However, I do care more about my young master's life. You see, I am indebted to him until he fulfills his part of the contract."
"What if I were to end his life? That would take him away from you, wouldn't it?"
"Oh, on the contrary. He would still be of use to me, but it would so much more unsatisfying and not nearly as filling."
"Whatever it takes to cause you pain."
Dumont fired the gun in Ciel's direction, but nothing happened. To the Frenchman's shock, Sebastian was next to Ciel in the blink of an eye holding another bullet.
"After seeing what happened when you shot me, you still went for it? I don't think I've ever seen such a desperate human."
Dumont began backing away towards the door. However, before he could exit the room, the doors slammed shut behind him. He tried the knob, but the doors would not open for him.
Adalina's heart skipped several beats when she saw Sebastian's eyes begin to glow pink and his face take on a very terrifying demeanor. She had never seen him like this the entire time she had known him. She quickly understood why Ciel's enemies ran screaming away from him.
"Mr. Dumont, I was very gracious to let you leave Phantomhive Manor with your life. But you have proven that your existence is a threat to my young master's safety, and I cannot have such problems interfering in our business. Furthermore, to threaten the life of a mute is rather heartless, wouldn't you agree? Therefore, there is only one solution."
The room began to darken as Dumont's eyes widened in utter fear. Adalina watched in horror as Sebastian began to change. He slowly walked towards the Frenchman, his appearance changing more with every step as black feathers fell from his menacing form.
Before his transformation could complete, she closed her eyes and turned her head as she heard the agonizing screams of Mr. Dumont next to her. She could only listen with terror as the man's life ended.
Moments passed by, but her eyes remained tightly closed, afraid of what she might see if she opened them again.
"Adalina."
Adalina opened her eyes to find Sebastian kneeling down right in front of her. Fearing for her life after what had just occurred, she quickly began backing away from him as fast as she could while she was still bound. When she hit the wall, she realized she could escape from him no further. A small whimper escaped from her lips, and it was one of the rare times she ever made a sound.
"Adalina," Sebastian said gently. "We have worked together for over two years now, and I have never once harmed you, have I?"
Adalina just continued to stare up at him in fear.
"Nothing has changed. Unless my master orders it, I promise I will not ever harm you."
Adalina looked over at a freed Ciel who was just watching the confrontation with mild interest. After a tense minute, Adalina slowly turned around so Sebastian could untie her hands. She tensed up when she felt his hands touch her own as he undid the ropes. Once she was free, she went to work on the ropes tying her feet.
When Sebastian saw her hands trembling fiercely, he reached down to help her. However, the moment his hands touched hers, she quickly jerked them away.
"I only wish to help free you," he told her.
He finished untying her bindings around her ankles before offering her a hand to help her stand up. He wasn't surprised when she didn't take it and stood up on her own.
"There is a carriage awaiting outside, my lord," Sebastian said to Ciel. "It will take you both back to the manor where I will have a lovely dinner and a hot bath prepared."
"That's fine," Ciel said dismissively. "And while you're at it, prepare something sweet. I think I'd fancy something with chocolate."
"Yes, my young lord."
Sebastian led Ciel and Adalina out of the house where they had been held captive and out to the carriage. Adalina sat inside with Ciel while Sebastian drove the carriage along the path.
"Adalina," Ciel said to his head maid. "I would like to apologize again for the grief you have suffered this afternoon. Now that you know Sebastian's true identity, I must ask that you continue to keep it a secret from the other servants. I'm sure you can understand that it's better they be left in the dark."
Adalina nodded, but she knew that nightmares of what she had just witnessed were going to haunt her for days to come.