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

19. Azzurro Vanel

Since it's almost 2024, so I decided to close this year with two POV's instead of one. How bold of me lol. Writing The Hunt for Jack the Ripper (and rewriting The Phantomhive Diaries) in general has been an incredible experience for me and has been teaching me how to love my writing again. Hopefully, in the future (2025 and onward, I mean), I can continue writing stories.  

Anyways, I added Azzurro Vanel's POV and Finnian's POV next. There are three POVs left to go before I officially finish Chapter 2 of The Hunt for Jack the Ripper. 

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"Are you sure he's dead?" Vanel asked while on the telephone with the coach who, drove Lord Damiano to Phantomhive Manor.

"I'm not entirely sure," the driver sighed on the other side of the line. "He had until midnight to finish the job and leave the house unnoticed. But he never came out of that dreaded mansion."

Vanel gritted his teeth and growled. Damn it. That damn brat figured it out. He probably invited me to his mansion to be rid of me once and for all.

However, Vanel thought for a moment. Lord Damiano was dead. But did Lord Phantomhive know about Lord Damiano working for Vanel the entire time? Did he know that one of his allies in the Aristocrats of Evil were plotting against him? Vanel had to think carefully? If Lord Phantomhive knew, wouldn't he had already shown up with an army of his own with guns ready? Wouldn't he only invite Vanel and not the entire group?

Of course he wouldn't, Vanel concluded. Because that brat knew nothing. He was just a stupid little boy. Nothing more. If Lord Damiano couldn't do the job, then that was his own fault. He was weak; always was. A prideful and weak worm.

This meant that Vanel needed to finish the job himself.

"What do we do, Mr. Vanel?" the driver asked.

"...We stick to the plan."

"But sir -."

"We stick to the plan!" Vanel shouted, before slamming the phone back into the receiver. He then turned towards one of his men. "Get everything ready. We're doing this today."

"What do we tell that Chinese man?" the man asked.

"Fuck that bastard," Vanel said. "We're not telling shit. If he finds out that Damiano fucked up, he's going to think I fucked up. That bastard will never trust me again. And he'll take away my leadership."

"What about that brat he's sending over? The Owl."

Vanel couldn't help but roll his eyes in frustration at the mere mention of that troublesome kid. It was beyond irritating that Haku was sending that bratty boy to spy on him. Although, the little brat had disrespected him in front of everyone, Haku had the audacity to use him as an informant. If Vanel had the chance, he would have loved nothing more than to strangle that annoying little pest or even blast his brains out. However, Vanel knew all too well that Haku would see this as a betrayal of their recent alliance. It would not only jeopardize their partnership but also ignite a full-blown war. Vanel knew he had no choice but to tolerate that little troublemaker, at least for now.

But that didn't mean he needed to tell that boy about what happened to Lord Damiano. If he said nothing, then that brat wouldn't say anything either.

"He's not here yet, now is he?" Vanel said. "So he doesn't have to know. We barely begun our alliance and Damiano is dead. How is that going to make us look in front of the Chinese? That bastard is going to think I'm an idiot. So you better keep your mouth shut. Got it?"

The man nodded. "Yes, Mr. Vanel."

"Good. We will show the Chinese that the Italian mafia are not a bunch of fuck-ups. We, the Ferrero family, will not coil in fear in the eyes of the Qing Bang. And especially not in the eyes of that monster of Lord Phantomhive."

"Yes, sir. We will have everything ready."

"Get to it then."

As soon as the man left, another one of Vanel's bodyguards entered his study.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Vanel," he said. "But a Chinese boy is here. He says he was sent here to work for you under the orders of Haku."

Vanel sighed. "Fuck. It's that Owl bastard. Fine, let him in."

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The Owl was already standing in the foyer by the time Vanel went to greet him. The little bastard simply stood there with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his shoulders slouched. Vanel could see that Haku didn't take good care of this day. Considering the shabby hand-me-down clothes and the messy matted hair. A pathetic sight, honestly. And he smelled awful. Like he had not bathed in years. The least Haku could do was get this little shit to take a bath before coming here. Or at least, send someone who didn't smell like cow shit. It surprised Vanel how there weren't any flies buzzing around him at this point.

Sadly, Vanel needed to play nice if he wanted this allegiance to work. One wrong move and he'd have the Qing Bang barging through his door.

"Welcome to my home, boy," he forced himself to say in a polite manner and extended his hand.

However, the boy didn't take his hands out of his coat pockets. He only gave Vanel a bored, rather blank stare.

"You realize that if you don't shake hands, that means you're hiding a weapon?" Vanel told the Owl boy.

Sighing, the Owl lifted his hands from his pockets and pulled at their insides, showing that he is not concealing any weapons. "The Qing Bang doesn't enjoy shaking hands with strangers. Especially with foreigners."

Vanel scoffed. "You're one to talk." He then noticed the large bag that the Owl had strapped over his shoulder. "And what do you have in there?"

"My rifle," the Owl said.

"And how do I know you won't shoot me with it?"

The Owl rolled his eyes. "I shoot you, Haku kills me. You shoot me, Haku kills you. Either way, we'll both lose. And I rather not take my chances."

"Fine. Whatever. I'll have my men show you where you'll be staying tonight."

With a snap of his fingers, one of his guards appeared.

"Show this boy to one of the guest rooms," Vanel said. "I'll be heading out."

"Yes, sir," the guard said.

The Owl followed the guard but soon stopped and turned to look at Vanel sharply. "I sleep with a gun. If any of your men try to hurt me, I will shoot them."

Vanel glared at him. "Behave and we don't have to go down that path, kid."

The two stared at each other with a hateful glint in their eyes. It was there that Vanel noticed the bruise on the Owl's jaw and his busted lip. It appeared that Haku had already given him a taste of his own medicine. Oh, how Vanel wished Haku could have done more. It pained him to resist the urge to kill that little bastard. Just the sight of him was enough to make Vanel wish he could wring his neck. But this allegiance was still more important than some petty argument. And if that boy fell out of line, Haku already gave Vanel the permission to beat the little shit.

He decided not to retort back as the Owl went upstairs.

Vanel let out an annoyed growl before exiting his house.

The Phantomhive bloodline will fall. I'll be sure of it.

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Please leave a vote and let me know what you think of this segment. Thanks so much. <3

P.S.: Having Mey-Rin be introduced later in the Black Butler story rather than having her already be a Phantomhive servant did give me a few challenges in the beginning. Like how the rest of the earlier scenes would play out. But as a writer, I need to try and trust my instincts, and so far, I haven't run into any issues. Plus I love building up more tension and suspense between the characters. Though I do hate torturing Mey-Rin like this. Anyone who is a fan of Mey-Rin and/or Finnian, I do apologize for making those two lovable characters suffer. It just needs to happen. XD