The Fire That Lights Itself

Bardroy squinted down at the note, carefully reading the delicately written words. “Am I the only one who thinks Sebastian doesn’t trust us?”
Mey-rin sat up from scrubbing the floor, cleaning it from the earlier kitchen disaster. Her glasses almost fell off, so she had to push them back up with the back of her hand. “What makes you say that?”
“This!” Bardroy waved the note around frantically. “He gave exact, step-by-step directions on how to make dinner for Master Phantomhive. This really makes me feel bad about my cooking skills…”
Mey-rin had just finished, and after washing her hands, walked over to read the note herself. She scanned over it quickly and flashed the cook a cheerful smile. “I’m sure he just wants Master Phantomhive to have a great dinner, is all. You have amazing cooking skills!” The maid patted his back, trying to be re-assuring. “Don’t worry about it and don’t hold back!”
Bardroy scratched the back of his head, seeming to be unsure of her words. He shrugged and started getting some pots and pans out of the cabinet. Suddenly, an important thought popped into his mind. “Where is Sebastian, anyway?”
*****
The butler darted through the dark, murky streets of Victorian London. He had to be stealthy and quick, like a thief breaking into a rich house to steal something of value in the dark of the night, before the owner even woke up. However, he also needed to be gentle and careful with his work, like taking care of a newborn baby. He needed to make sure everything was done precisely as his master had commanded. There was no need to worry, though, about getting the job done. After all, the master’s wish was his command, and he always got the job done without a flaw.
******
“Sophie, come here,” Fredrick said in a stern voice.
Sophie approached with caution, knowing what was coming. “Yes father?” she said quietly.
“Tell me why you would expose our family secret to a complete stranger?” he said, face expressionless.
“I don’t know,” Sophie mumbled, staring at the ground at her feet.
“And did you even stop to think of the consequences? Phantomhive could have turned me in, I would go to jail, and you would be on your own with no one to take care of you. You wouldn’t want that, now would you?” he said.
“No sir,” came Sophie’s fearful reply. In all honesty, she was sure she would get along just fine if he were to end up in prison, but she knew that saying that aloud would get her in even more trouble.
Fredrick let out a sigh, expelling all his frustration. “Come sit, Sophie,” he said, patting his lap. His tone had softened and he was smiling at her.
Sophie knew what ‘come sit’ meant, but there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it so without a word, she sat down on her father’s lap.
As soon as she was settled, Fredrick began to stroke her hair. “You know I love you, don’t you Sophie?”
Sophie didn’t speak, just stared straight ahead as his fingers continued to move through her hair. “You’re normally such a good girl. What’s gotten into you all of the sudden? Is it because you’re becoming a young woman that you’re starting to rebel?” he said. Sophie still stayed silent so Fredrick continued. “You’re growing into such a beautiful young lady. Looking more and more like your mother every day.” His lips were getting horribly close to her ear now; she could feel them against her skin. “You’re even beginning to get a figure now, aren’t you?” he said, one hand moving over her chest, the other pulling her closer. “Young men will start to take notice before too long, but you wouldn’t leave your dear old dad all alone to fend for himself, would you Sophie?”
Sophie stayed silent as the abuse began. Soon the only thing covering her was her father and the blanket on his bed.
Suddenly, Fredrick stopped. "What was that?" he pondered aloud as pulled on his robe and made his way to the window.
Shamefully, Sophie covered herself, listening too. She didn't hear anything.
Fredrick cried out and stumbled back. Now, Sophie saw it. A black shadow in the window pane. Red eyes. She cowered against the pillow, fear gripping her heart.
However, as quickly as the shadow had appeared, it was gone. Fredrick rubbed his eyes, and began to think he had just been seeing things. Of course, he was wrong, because Sophie had seen it as well.
He was just about to wave the thought away and return to pleasing himself when he tripped and fell. No, it was not his feet stumbling over themselves. It was indeed his punisher who had brought the pain upon Fredrick. This man had been judged, and so it was the shadow’s dark job to punish Fredrick for the sins he had committed.
Fredrick was beyond words at this point. The room was dark, and he couldn’t hear Sophie at all. Not a sound from anywhere. And that only made him tense up more. He needed to get out. Now.
After rubbing his head, Fredrick quickly jumped up and sprinted for the stairs. He darted down the steps, almost slipping at one point. In order to save himself, he had to slow down and grip the railing. Out of curiosity, Fredrick stopped and glanced up the stairs to see if the shadow was following him or not. However, that was a mistake on his part.
A glint of something shiny was flying towards him. Like any human would probably do, he squinted to see what it was. Sadly, he never found out. A silver knife had whipped through the air and sent itself straight into Fredrick’s forehead. The man collapsed and his body slid down the rest of the steps, landing at the bottom with a thud. A warm, red liquid oozed out of the indent in his lifeless head.
The shadow grinned, seeming satisfied with his work. He delicately strode down the cold steps and retrieved the knife. After cleaning the blood off, he slithered back to the room that contained Sophie. Once inside, he noticed the girl sitting, cowering on the bed. His scarlet eyes danced in the darkness, like little fires, and he held up a single gloved finger to his lips.
Tears flowed down Sophie's cheeks. She would've screamed if she wasn't so horrified. Finally, she plucked up enough courage to speak, though it didn't sound brave at all with the way her voice cracked when she said, "You -- You killed him... He's dead..."
“Did I now?” Sebastian asked with a hint of humor. He strode out of the room, glanced down the stairs at the corpse, and then returned. “It appears so. But that isn’t bad, if I’m correct?”
Sophie stared at the butler, seeming unsure of how to respond.
“He didn’t act quite fatherly towards you. He seemed to be using you for his own purposes.” Sebastian paced the room. His steps were quiet, and it seemed that his feet barely touched the ground, as if he almost glided across the surface of the floorboard. “Obviously people will find out that this man is dead, but they don’t have to know how.” He winked at Sophie. “I’m sure the press will make up some story all by themselves. However, that does not mean it is safe for such a young lady like you to stay here. You never know what type of men your father may have known.”
At this point, Sebastian had stopped pacing and twirled around to look Sophie in the eye. “Miss Sophie, would you be willing to stay at the Phantomhive mansion with us? At least, until we can get something arranged?” The butler extended a delicate gloved-hand towards the girl, trying to propose an inviting atmosphere.
Everything he had said so far had been nothing but the truth. Still, Sophie didn't dare take his hand. He was a murderer and she was a witness. He was most likely to kill her. But why hadn't he done it already? That was what bothered Sophie the most. Unsure of what to do, she peered silently over the edge of her covers.
“I understand this is all very sudden, Miss Sophie. However, you do not need to be frightened. I have no intention in harming you whatsoever, for you have done nothing wrong.” It almost seemed as if Sebastian had read Sophie’s mind. “However, if you do not simply agree to the offer, this may be more troublesome than it needs to be…” The butler narrowed his eyes as he withdrew his hand. He strolled to the window and opened it just enough for his body to slip through, but oddly enough, he returned to Sophie’s side, closer than before. The cool air slipped into the room and swirled around in the darkness. “And so I’ll ask one more time, will you join us at the Phantomhive mansion?”
He made it perfectly clear she had no choice. ''Can you give me a moment to get dressed?" she said softly, drawing the blankets closer around her body.
Sebastian bowed delicately. “Of course, my lady.” With a dark giggle in his eyes he added, “If I didn’t respect your requests, what kind of a butler would I be?” He strode out of the room and quietly closed the door, allowing Sophie her privacy.
When she was sure he was gone, Sophie picked her dress up off of the floor. She was about to put it on when she noticed that in his haste to get the thing out of his way, Frederick had ripped it. Sophie frowned. That had been her favorite dress, too. Was there anything that she held dear that that man hadn't defiled? She was sort of glad that he was gone. Sophie resented herself as soon as the thought had come into her mind. What kind of a daughter cursed the name of her own father, especially so soon after his death?
With a melancholy sigh, Sophie pulled on another dress, this one forest green and as plain as the last one and gathered her doll, Molly, in her arms. "At least I have you," she said softly, hugging Molly, her only friend, closer. The doll stared at her through blank glassy eyes, expressionless and showing no intent to respond, not that Sophie expected her to anyway.
On her way out, Sophie passed the hand mirror on her bedside table. She picked it up and weighed it in her hand, then stuffed it into the folds of her dress. She hoped she wouldn't need to use it.
As Sophie opened the door to leave, Sebastian slammed his hand against the doorframe to stop her. “Oh no, Miss Sophie. We will be taking a quicker route to the mansion…” He grinned devilishly and made his way towards the window. The breeze flew through his hair as he motioned for Sophie to join him.
Though she approached him cautiously, his movements were quick. The butler had swiftly but delicately scooped the girl up bridal-style and disappeared into the darkness. It was hard to tell exactly what he was doing: running, jumping, simply walking; he was too fast for anyone to catch a glimpse of him. The autumn wind rushed at the two, splashing them with cool air and colourful leaves.
In what seemed like only a few seconds, though it was probably longer, they were standing before the doors of the grand Phantomhive mansion. Sebastian carefully set Sophie back on her feet, and they entered. Light flooded their vision, and they were blinded for a few seconds. However, Sebastian could still hear Ciel Phantomhive’s voice.
“Sebastian, what is the meaning of this?”
“Sir, I have brought none other than Miss Sophie Van Buren. Ah, and the task you requested has been taken care of as seen fit.” Sebastian bowed as his vision was clearing. However, when he raised back up, he almost wished it hadn’t.
“No, I meant that.” Ciel motioned towards someone lying on the couch. “She was here when I came down from my study. When I asked who she was, she said her brother worked here.” Ciel’s voice was stern and exhausted.
The figure lying on the couch smirked. Her blood-coloured eyes seemed amused. “Why, hello there, dearest brother. Long time, no see.” As she stood up, she shook her wild red and black hair.
Ciel sighed as Victoria made her way over to her brother. “Miss Sophie, please come with me, if you would,” he said as he motioned for her to follow him to his study.
After the two had disappeared from sight, Sebastian threw a dirty look at his sister. “What are you doing here, Victoria?”
Victoria giggled devilishly. “What? You’re not happy to see me? Your sister that you haven’t seen for…how long has it been? Thirteen years?”
“And that is perfectly fine with me,” Sebastian replied coldly.
“Harsh, brother…” Victoria started staring dreamily up at the ceiling. “I think I should stay here for awhile. Maybe I could become a maid?”
Sebastian suddenly threw his head in her direction. “Absolutely not! I will not have my whore of a sister corrupting this household!”
Victoria turned her attention back to Sebastian. “Whore? I prefer the term, ‘unfortunate’. Are you worried about me? Come on; Jack the Ripper isn’t going to be cutting this girl up anytime soon,” she said with a wink. “And aren’t you already corrupting it yourself? You just got back from a job, and I can surely assume what it was,” a dark giggle danced in her eyes. “Well, I’m sure we can work out this whole maid idea in the morning. You should get some sleep; you’ve been busy. Goodnight, dearest brother.” She smirked and strode up the stairs, claimed a room as hers, and quietly slipped into it.
Sebastian sighed. “Surely this cannot get any worse…though, I’m very fearful now to find out how dinner went…”
*****
"Have you eaten this evening, Sophie?" Ciel asked as he led her down the hall.
Sophie shook her head in response, not exactly feeling up to the task of speech.
"Excellent. I believe there is a place set for you at the dining table," Ciel said, leading her into an elaborate dining room.
Sophie wasn't hungry, but not wanting to be rude, she sat at her place and accepted the food anyway.
The two of them sat in silence for the longest time, neither touching their food. Finally unable to take it anymore, Sophie ended up being the first to speak. "Why are you doing this?" Though her voice was soft, it carried throughout the dining hall.
"To be honest, I have no answer to your question," Ciel said. His expression and the tone he used betrayed nothing. Did that intense expression ever waver? Sophie found herself avoiding his gaze.
"You kidnapped me and killed my father. I have a right to know why," she said, hoping her voice sounded stronger than she felt.
"I'll let you know when I have an answer," Ciel said, in a voice that was irritatingly calm. Was he mocking her?
Sophie stood. She had had about enough of this kid. Who was he to treat her like someone with inferior intelligence? Was it because of her slightly shy disposition? At any rate, that didn't justify the act of treating her as if she didn't have the capacity to understand his reasons for denying her the truth she felt she deserved. "Then I'll be waiting in my room," she said shortly before heading toward the grand double doors, leading out of the dining hall.
Before she could reach them, however, the boy called out in an annoyingly pompous voice, "You won't be able to find it without assistance."
Sophie knew she had no choice but to wait for the clumsy maid to stumble on ahead of her. Sophie followed wordlessly, seething over the young master's small victory over her. She had a feeling he was the type that always got the last word.
Finally, they reached the room and the maid opened the door with a flourish -- well, it would've been had she not hit her hand on the doorframe. Once she had recovered she said in a welcoming sort of voice, "Well here it is, Miss. I hope you sleep well."
Sophie tried to summon a suitable smile to offer her. "Thank you..." she said, looking to her to fill in the blank.
"Mey-Rin at your service, yes?" she said with a curtsy.
Sophie did a little curtsy in return, though it was a little awkward since one arm was being used to hold Molly. "Thank you Mey-Rin. Have a good night," she said before retiring to her room.
When the door was closed and she was sure Mey-Rin was gone, Sophie allowed herself to cry, with Molly as her only witness.