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

8. Lord Damiano

I know it's a bit weird to give Lord Damiano a POV when he's not a main or prominent character but I couldn't find any other way to get through this part without him experiencing the terror Sebastian will inflict on him. And it's fun seeing him get scared shitless. Inspiration for this part was a scene in Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House  and I was super excited to have it done. I do hope you enjoy this one. 

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Lord Damiano looked around to make sure no one was listening. Once the coast was clear, he dialed a specific phone number. The booth was meant for more private calls so he was certain no one would hear him.

Finally, someone answered on the other side.

"Is it done?"

Lord Damian scoffed. He was already irritated having to play games with the earl. "Not yet. I'm working on it. He's stubborn as a mule."

"Keep trying. If we don't get the money, how are we going to pay for the opium stocks?"

"I'm tired of babysitting this earl brat. Are you sure I can't just kill him?"

"Not yet. We need the money first so we can buy the key to the storehouse. This bastard wants 12, 000 pounds, can you believe it? If you ask at least for 20,000, I'll pay the bastard his money and we can pocket the rest. Have you sold the factory like I asked you to?"

"Yes, I've already sold off the factory. Now all that is left for us is to squeeze more money out of the brat."

The man from the other side of the line chuckled maliciously. "What are we going to do about the employees? You practically left them jobless."

"The employees? Who cares about them? We can kick them to the streets if we like. And if any of them tries to report to the earl, we can just shoot them all." He proceeded to laugh at this afterwards, unaware that a pair of glowing red eyes were watching him from the shadows. "Anyways, I have to go before the brat starts asking about my whereabouts, I'll leave the rest of the formalities to you, Vanel."

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Sure," Lord Damiano shrugged his shoulders. "It's not trouble at all. He's just a child anyways. How much of a menace can he be?"

The man named Vanel chuckled at the other side of the line. "Good luck."

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After finishing the phone call, Lord Damiano headed back to the library in hopes that he would have better luck trying to scam money out of Ciel this time. Only...he forgot which way to go. The mansion was so big and all the doors looked the same. It was difficult to tell which one led to the library. He opened each door he came across but none led to the young earl or his butler.

Blast, he thought to himself as he continued to walk down the corridors.

"This manor is a maze," he muttered to himself. "How can anyone find anything in this place?"

The more he walked, the more frustrated he got. On top of all of it, he had an uneasy feeling of being watched. Like someone was following him. He looked over his shoulder every now and then, but didn't see anyone wandering the halls. He assumed it was the manor's hollow emptiness that was giving him that uneasy feeling.

As he proceeded with his search, he heard footsteps walking up behind him and the voice of a man call out his name.

"Damiano."

The Italian man sighed in relief. Thank goodness, the butler found me. "Finally, you have no idea how long I've been searching -."

However, when he turned around...No one was there. No butler. No earl.