The world of Black Butler / Kuroshitsuji

The First Case [4]

And he pulled the trigger.

I closed my eyes when I saw his finger starting to move, waiting for the impending doom, waiting for the shot of pain in me, wait for the end.

However, rather than a shot of pain from the front, I felt it from the side. No, it was more like an impact.

I fell to the ground with a thud. What happened next I was't sure, but with my closed eyes I could hear sounds of flesh being cut, a cry of pain, then metal hitting the ground, then collision of body parts.

I opened my eyes, and to my side, was a black man; the slave that I freed to be precise. He was the one that pushed me to the floor a millisecond before the man pulled the trigger, subsequently saving my life. I then turned my head, with the first thing in my sight being a pair of bloody arms from the elbow down, detached from its owner; then there was a gun nearby, then there was Charles, pointing his blood-stained rapier at an armless man's neck.

The weight on my side lifted, and I noticed the black man had stood up, and had retreated into the corner of the room.

A pang of pain shot through me, and I realized that my the bullet scratched my arm, and blood was spreading through the cloth of my dress.

My head was spinning as I had hit my head when we fell. I ignore the pain in my head and arm, and weakly pushed myself up from the floor, calming my rapid breathe. As I slowly made my way to Charles, I heard the conversation between them.

"... you coward."

"Am I the coward?" The boss lashed, "I am not the one who follows the Queen's order blindly!"

Upon hearing that, Charles kicked him in the stomach once again causing him to spit up more blood.

I reached them and Charles looked at me with concern, whereas the boss glared at me with hatred spilling out of his eyes.

"Kill me." He said, "You two have won, so kill me."

Charles furrowed his brows, "Alright then, if you say so."

But instead of slashing him with his rapier, he moved to the side, and looked at me with a smile, "Would you like to do the honour?"

I smirked, "Gladly."

I raised my gun, took aim at his forehead; and I fired without hesitation.

Blood splattered all over the wall behind him, and in an instant, he was no more.

The dizziness that I had been trying to fight off were finally getting to me. I dropped my gun, and took deeper breathes, but it was no use. I felt my world turned and I lost my balance.

"Clare? Clare!" Was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

-----

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned at the pain in my head and arm.

"Clare? Are you awake?" Charles' voice sounded from the side.

Now with my eyes fully opened, I could see that I was in an extravagant room, with everything edge in gold. I was on a king size bed with curtains that draped form a board overhead.

I attempted to sit up, and I immediately felt support on my back to help me do so.

"Clare, you do not have to push yourself." It was Charles, now standing right beside the bed, staring down at me with worry in his eyes.

I shook my head, which was a bad idea because it made me dizzy again, but I ignored it. "No, Charles, I'm fine, thank you."

He sat back down at a chair beside my bed, but still seemed a bit discontent.