Tainted | Kuroshitsuji ✔️

Prologue

Warning: I wrote this story when I was 13 so it's pretty bad (well, at least for the early chapters) but it gets better.

I reckon readers to go straight into reading my next Kuroshitsuji book, "The Landlord Next Door".

.....

The deafening siren wailed within the building, disrupting the silence of the night. A girl sprinted down its hallways as fast as her legs could carry her. Strands of hair whipped around her face just as she took a sharp left turn at the corner of the hallway. She quickly hid herself behind some crates as the sound of pounding footsteps echoing through the hallway grew louder.

Grabbing at the hem of her tattered shirt, she twisted the fabric into knots till her knuckles turned white. Her stomach felt like a thousand butterflies had been set free from their cages, as though they were fluttering around, bumping into its walls, in their haste to try and escape. She gulped, trying to keep as still as possible, as the guards stopped near her hiding spot, discussing in hushed voices.

"Any sign of her?"

"No. Let's try that way."

She held her breath, trying hard not to let her ragged breathing give away her hiding spot. Her heart was pounding hard against her ribcage as sweat broke out on her forehead.

When the guards finally started moving down the hallway and were out of sight, she released her hold on her breath while hungrily gulping for air. Allowing herself a few seconds for her heart rate to steady itself, she took out a piece of wrinkled paper out from the pocket of her shorts and studied its contents once again.

She had managed to steal a copy of the building floor plan from her captor and subsequently planned out her escape route.

This was the only chance she had to escape from this damned place.

This was the one and only chance for her to gain back the freedom that was rightfully hers.

The need to flee far, far away from here was like an unquenchable thirst that had been carved deep into her being ever since they found her. A living nightmare she thought probably resembled hell if anyone asked – here she was regularly beaten and experimented on, and treated worse than a dog.

To live freely was a desire that she'd been dreaming of every single day, and today was finally the day she grasped it in her hands.

Freedom was close – she could almost smell it. All she need was a distraction to close the gap between her and the big world out there.

Flames of determination flare in her gaze as a plan solidified in her head.

She carefully folded the paper and stuffed it back to her pocket as she surveyed her surroundings. Her eyes settled on the crates she used to hide herself with and slowly reached out to one of the crates to lift off its lid. She smirked in triumph as the crate opened to reveal what she needed.

.....

The sound of the hooves was muffled by the soft muddy ground as the carriage trudged along the lonely path through the forest. The lone occupant of the carriage sighed as he took out an expensive-looking paper out of its envelope and read through its content once again.

To: Earl Ciel Phantomhive

Dear Earl Phantomhive,

Your next assignment will be to gather information on the organization called SIGMA.

Destroy this letter immediately after reading.

Enclosed in the same envelope was a newspaper article dated two days ago.