The Hunt for Jack the Ripper (The Phantomhive Diaries #1)

3. Ciel Phantomhive

Ciel always despised Mathematics. He never got the point of memorizing and calculating numbers. He preferred Economics. Yes, they had a bit of Mathematics in it but at least they were useful for him. It benefited the Funtom Company. But here he was, struggling to learn useless numbers and trying not to fall asleep in the process. Even Dietrich made numbers fun when he and his brother were younger. But Mr. Hughes just drawled on and on. It must be his age. He was already seventy-five and his voice was raspy. Not to mention he was slow and sluggish. Ciel wasn't sure how long he could take this.

Until 12 pm. Lunch time.

Ciel looked over at the grandfather clock that stood near the doorway of his study. It was only 11 am. Ciel cursed in his mind. Fuuuck, can't it go any faster? I have better things to do than to sit here and listen to this old sponge.

Luckily, Ciel was able to sneak some old newspaper clippings under his notebook before lessons began. If he were to tolerate two hours of this boredom, he might as well have something to do during his time. He needed to continue his investigation. He needed to find out who killed his parents.

Under his notebook, he kept a few newspaper clippings regarding the tragedy that occurred three years ago. When his home was destroyed with everyone in it. Including his parents.

 
A TRAGIC NIGHT AT THE PHANTOMHIVE ESTATE. An article written by a bloke named Lou Gardiner. It mentioned how on the 14th of December, 1885, a fire broke out in the Phantomhive Manor near the town of Sawbridgeworth under mysterious circumstances. The Earl Vincent Phantomhive and his wife Rachel perished along with their twin sons, Ciel and Sirius Phantomhive. No bodies were recovered. Only ash remained...

Well, that was only half the truth of what happened. The truth was, someone broke into their mansion. These people, entered their home, killed his parents, slaughtered almost all the servants and then set the house on fire to get rid of the evidence. So the people wouldn't know it was a murder. Not an accident. Another thing that the papers didn't bother to mention were the names of the servants that perished in the house. As if they meant nothing. Sayo, the housekeeper and Tanaka's wife. Ciel's aunt Francis never liked the idea of their butler being married to the housekeeper. Of course, Tanaka and Sayo were already married when they started working for the Phantomhives. Ciel's father Vincent didn't mind as long as Tanaka and Sayo did their jobs, and kept their marital status private.

Then there was Marjorie Burgess, one of the housemaids; she was the sweetest girl in the world. And Ciel clearly remembered his brother being a bit smitten by her; though Ciel was fully convinced he saw the Undertaker flirting with her in hiding. She was twenty when she died. Reuben Mycroft, the footman and coach driver; a jolly old man who was almost the same age as Tanaka; Vincent used to joke how he looked like Father Christmas because of his big belly and white beard. Agnes Cavalier, the kitchen maid. Ena Hicks, the laundry maid. Bessie Hills, the chambermaid. Johanna Taylor, Mother's lady's maid. The Phantomhives didn't have a valet. Tanaka was the one who would dress Vincent. And he would dress the boys as well when he had the time for it. All of these servants perished along with Ciel's parents and not even their names were mentioned in the papers. And Tanaka wasn't even mentioned as the sole survivor of the fire either. The media only cared about the upper class. Worst of all, they assumed Ciel and his brother died in the fire as well.

Oh how wrong they were.

The headlines for the next newspaper clipping read: MIRACLE! ONE OF THE PHANTOMHIVE TWINS SURVIVED. Yes, Ciel survived. But he had to make a great sacrifice to survive. And it nearly destroyed him. Many speculated that Ciel fled to the woods after the fire and got lost for many days. When Ciel returned, they already had a funeral. Four empty coffins. One where he was supposed to be. He didn't even get to say goodbye to any of them. A pain that still weighed on Ciel's heart but was still unwilling to open up about it to anyone. Despite the tragedy, everyone was glad he was alive. Ciel Phantomhive was alive. The Phantomhive's legacy would continue on. At least for now.

Everyone around Ciel had moved on with their lives. He, on the other hand, tried to pretend he was moving on with his life. But he couldn't let go of this.

He couldn't. Not when his parents' murderer was still out there. Free. And doing whatever they pleased. Burning more houses. Killing more people. Selling more children to other sick twisted monsters. And destroying families. Ciel wasn't going to allow it to happen. Not again.
Since his return, Ciel had time to rest, to feed and recover. But he was still plagued by the constant nightmares. The endless torture of having to watch his parents die over and over again. While that monster, whoever they were, probably slept soundly in their bed without remorse.
His real question was, how in the world did they get into the mansion? The newspapers were correct about one thing. There were no signs of a break-in. Because there was none.

Meaning, it was someone his father knew. Someone he trusted enough to allow entry. Giving the killer the opportunity to raid the mansion with other goons to slaughter everyone in sight. But who? A friend? A colleague? A family?

Who?

 
"Ahem."

Ciel quickly looked up upon hearing Mr. Hughes clear his throat. Obviously a way to get his attention.

"Are you still with me, Lord Phantomhive?" he asked, raising his bushy eyebrow.

"Uh, y-yes, Mr. Hughes," Ciel said. He slipped the newspaper clippings back inside the notebook and proceeded to pay attention to his lessons, no matter how boring it was.

I'll continue this later on.