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

36. Mey-Rin Dai

"Come on, move it, you bastard!" Carlos said as he led "Jan" down the dimly lit corridor, guiding her towards her chamber. Carlos maintained a firm grasp on Mey's left arm, twisting it behind her back, while his other hand clamped down tightly on her right upper arm. Despite the disorientation caused by the forceful blow she delivered to Vanel, Mey desperately fought against her captor, desperately attempting to break free from his iron grip.

Carlos yanked her around. "Stop it! Honestly, why must you make things difficult?"

"Because both you and Vanel are bastards." With that, Mey jerked her fist back and punched Carlos right in the crotch. Carlos made a mistake when grabbing hold of Mey. He held her right upper arm but forgot to notice her forearm was still free to move. When Mey's mind repaired itself to realize his mistake, she took advantage of that opportunity to make her move.

Carlos crumpled in agony, his anguished cry piercing the air, as Mey seized the opportune moment to seize his firearm.

"Stay out of my way!" Mey hissed as she strode by. Carlos remained hunched on the ground, his pained moans echoing through the dimly lit hall. The urgency of her return to the office to save the boy weighed heavily on her mind, knowing that time was slipping away.

"Stop!"

Mey swiftly turned on her heel at the ominous click of a firearm.

Carlos stood tall once more, a second firearm firmly gripped in his hands. The barrel pointed menacingly at Mey's countenance.

Blast. He must have kept one hidden in his face. How could I miss that?

Refusing to stand down, she mimicked Carlos' actions and pointed her firearm back at him with her uninjured hand, her other limb hanging limply by her side.

"Put the gun down," Carlos said, "Or I will shoot you."

"Likewise," Mey said.

"Are you really going to risk your own life for this boy?" he asked.

Mey snarled at him. "I never asked for any of this. I never asked to work for Haku, and I certainly never asked to work for your boss."

"Whose side are you on?"

"I'm on the side of not killing a child!" she yelled. "If you want to shoot me, do it now! It will be the only way for you to stop me from shooting Vanel dead myself. Because I will not allow him to murder that little boy."

Carlos, amidst the deafening silence that enveloped the room, gradually relinquished his firm grip on the weapon and lowered it. "...You really want to help this boy. Why?"

Mey kept her guard up, however, refusing to lower it in the presence of Carlos. She harbored a deep distrust towards him, unwilling to let her defenses falter. "I've seen too much young blood being spilled," she said. "I cannot bear to see more of it."

"...Who are you, Jan?" he asked.

"I'm the Owl, you bastard," she said. "And I will not be fucked with by you or Vanel -."

"No, I mean...Who are you?"

Mey fell silent for a moment after he asked that. "...I don't know what you mean -."

"Who are you in all of this?"

That question...Why was he asking this? Wasn't it obvious? She was...she was...

"I...I'm..."

Mey struggled to unearth the precise words she yearned to utter. Yet, to her astonishment, she swiftly discovered that she didn't have to answer.

An excruciating pain suddenly seized Carlos, causing him to lurch forward with a harrowing cry, his body crashing onto the cold, unforgiving floor. Mey, her breath caught in her throat, emitted a gasp that resonated through the air. A knife, not of the menacing variety like a dagger or a hunting blade, but an ordinary kitchen utensil employed for the mundane tasks of spreading butter and slicing bread, had been ruthlessly thrust into his vulnerable upper back.

What the hell!?

"Interesting," a male voice suddenly spoke up. "Very interesting. Though I'm not surprised. You humans turn on each other all the time."

Mey's gaze shifted from Carlos' lifeless form to the mysterious figure who had hurled the deadly blade. Mere steps away, a man clad in the attire of a butler loomed before her. God only knew how long he was lurking in the shadows behind Carlos, waiting to strike. His jet-black locks cascaded down to his shoulders, his pallor unnaturally stark against the backdrop of the dimly lit hall. This...enigmatic stranger was unlike any Englishman Mey had encountered before.

This man....he killed Carlos with just a kitchen knife.

"Stay back," Mey said as she aimed her gun at him. "W-who are you?"

Like a blurry shadow, the man darted with such swiftness that Mey didn't have time to even pull the trigger. In an instant, the man materialized before her very eyes. Mey gasped in shock as she fired two rounds into his chest. However, to her horror, the man remained unscathed, grinning menacingly at her. Mey gulped, and her heart raced with fear. Oh my god. What is he? Why didn't he die? I shot him in the chest twice. Is he wearing a bulletproof suit? Could he...could he be the Phantomhive boy's butler?

"You are quite short for a guard, aren't you?" the man said as he loomed over her.

A strong hand tightened around her delicate neck, causing her to release a piercing scream.