Comforting Darkness

Chapter 12: The Tutor, Tea Party of the Dead

"Headmaster! Why not ask for the Yard's assistance in getting to the bottom of this?" Ciel asked the shady man with the top hat sitting right across from him at the midnight tea party table.

It was a little after midnight and Ciel was attending this mysterious party as the winner of the annual cricket tournament. The party was taking place in one of the school's gardens and Ciel had been led there by Clayton, Lawrence Bluewer's fag, and then by the four prefects of the Houses themselves. Now, he was sitting along with the prefects, their fags and the headmaster. He had just inquired about the missing students, implying the purpose of his enrolment in Weston school, shocking prefects and fags alike, and at the moment he was waiting headmaster's answer to a most reasonable question.

"There is no need to do that." A cold voice responded and everyone turned to look at vice headmaster Agares who had spoken from headmaster's side where he was standing. "For... they are right here in the school." He continued with his flat voice and pointed somewhere behind Ciel.

The young Earl followed with his eye the pointing finger and with dread saw the handle of a door behind him slowly turning and the door opening.

"Hullo... I detect the wonderful aroma of tea." A young voice, flat as Agares', followed and Derrick Arden, the missing nephew of the Queen, appeared smiling and in full costume with a top hat on his head.

Ciel could not believe his eye, watching the young man proceeding in the garden as if he was never missing; the prefects were also watching in great disbelief and strangely enough they all seemed very pale and sweaty.

"Well, rats! There he is; all fine and dandy." Cheslock said with a bored expression.

"Arden? Are you really f-" Herman Greenhill asked as Arden was passing behind him. However, he never finished his question since he looked up and saw two completely dead eyes looking at him from Arden's cold face, his mouth a twisted smile.

"Hullo... I detect the wonderful aroma of tea." Arden said again, only this time his voice sounded more like a gurgling sound.

This made Greenhill freeze in his place and started trembling as Arden leaned closer to him. Suddenly, before anyone realises what was going on, Arden had grabbed Greenhill and his teeth had clamped on his arm, tearing up clothe and flesh and making Herman scream in terrible pain and agony.

Everyone was frozen in complete terror and only Edward Midford had the courage to jump over the table and throw a very strong kick on Arden's face. "You cur!! What do you think you are doing?" He screamed as he managed to release Greenhill's arm from the violent teeth.

Arden's head snapped back and his top hat fell to the ground, but the problem was that the boy did not follow, he did not even stagger, he just snapped his head forward again, revealing a forehead opened in two and then stitched back, a pair of hungry and bloodthirsty eyes and a bloodied mouth wide open and snapping the air in search for the flesh of his prey. Something that the other three prefects would not allow as they had grabbed Arden and were trying to pull him away from the bleeding Greenhill.

Ciel immediately remembered Undertaker's bizarre dolls onboard Campania had very similar wounds and identical behaviour. Without losing another second, he tore off his eye patch and summoned Sebastian. The demon appeared right behind his master like he came out of thin air and landed on spot.

Lawrence Bluewer took notice of him and remained looking with eyes wide open, since he could not comprehend how young Ciel called professor Michaelis here so fast. However, surprises were not done as another dark figure jumped over the wall and joined the professor and the Earl; it was the blond female servant seen earlier outside the showers waiting for Ciel. Now, she was dressed all in black, had trousers and high heeled boots on, but the most curious thing was that she was swinging two short swords and her gaze was not very different from that devilish look the strange professor had in his red eyes.