Black Butler: The Stellar Dove

15.4

  Sebastian opened the door for Ciel. The young master stepped into the funeral parlor. "Undertaker," he called.

"Yes, yes, I was expecting you, young Phantomhive!" his voice came from the edge of the room, where he appeared to be working...

"Is this not a good time?" Ciel took a step back, cringing.

"This time's as good as ever. I'm sorry, I'll cover my project for a moment so we can talk." He pulled a white sheet over the body. "Now!" he turned around and clasped his hands together through the sagging, black sleeves of his cloak. "What can I do for ya, my lord?"

"...you sent for me... remember?"

"Oh, right, right, of course!" he snickered. "Sorry, it's early for me, too, ya know! I've been up all night! Finding the new substance on that one corpse just excited me so much and gave me the energy to work and work until—!" he flopped down across the edge of the table with an exhausted sigh. "Well, I suppose I'm about out of wick to burn."

"What's this new substance you speak of?" Sebastian asked.

"Well, if I knew the name, I wouldn't have to bring you here!" he cackled. "Just come with me and I'll show you."

Undertaker led them to a table in the very corner of the room where another body lay with a white sheet across it. He slowly pulled it back to reveal the face of a flawless, seemingly freshly prepared body.

"Have you already finished it?" Sebastian asked.

"I haven't even started!" Undertaker laughed again. "That's what's got me so excited about this one! He's already perfectly preserved!"

Ciel observed the body intently. He looked up at his butler to see his eyes narrow.

"There are, of course, a few little spots I still need to cover with cosmetics..." he continued to pull down the sheet to expose bruises on his wrists and ankles.

"He was in shackles..." Ciel observed.

"He's also got some little tiny marks, I assume from needles," Undertaker told them, lifting the arm running his long finger up it to point them out. "They were all there except for that one. That was me."

"The substance was injected into the blood stream?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes, that's what I think." Undertaker grabbed a bottle from the shelf. "This is the blood I took from him. The substance is in it. Allow me to give you a sample..." Undertaker popped the bottle open and poured a little bit into a smaller glass.

"You already performed an autopsy on him?" Ciel asked, taking the container.

"I get a little curious every now and then," he shrugged. "Something about this case just made my skin crawl, you know? It stinks like a devil." The tone of his voice darkened ever so slightly on the last sentence. Ciel narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"I don't see anything but blood..." Ciel handed the bottle to Sebastian. Undertaker snickered.

Sebastian's eyes widened slightly when his hands clasped around the bottle.

"Sebastian..." Ciel asked. "What is it?"

"It's... I'm not sure, my lord..."

Sebastian cautiously dipped his finger into the glass, attempting to touch it. As soon as it made contact with his skin, he gasped, dropping the glass onto the floor. Sebastian fell to the ground in pain.

"Sebastian!" Ciel cried.

Undertaker howled with laughter. "I had a hunch that would happen! And it did!" He took a rag and dabbed the substance off of the demon's finger.

"Why would you do that!?" Ciel shouted.

"Because I didn't know for sure. I just guessed."

"Sebastian," Ciel kneeled down by his side.

"I'm... sorry, my lord. I'm not sure what came over me."

"Undertaker, what else have you discovered about this stuff that you're not telling us?" Ciel glared at him.

"Well," he folded his long, clawed hands together. "There isn't much else to say yet. It is a likely candidate for the cause of death... I wonder..."

Undertaker grabbed Ciel's arm.

"Get your bloody hands off of me!" he struggled to get away. "Sebastian!" he called hopelessly. His butler strained to reach him, but it was as every muscle in him at cramped up all at once.

"Now, now, my lord," Undertaker smiled, dipping the end of his nail in the blood. "Be still for a second."

Ciel cried out in terror as he watched the drip fall from Undertaker's claw onto his skin. If it had hurt Sebastian—a demon—that badly, it was likely to kill him!

But it did nothing.

Ciel jerked away from Undertaker, his heart pounding in his ears. Undertaker began laughing again and licked the blood off of his finger.

"You could have killed me!"

"But I didn't," he laughed. "You see, it has no effect on humans until it gets into their bloodstream to a certain concentration—then it stops their heart."

"What supporting evidence do you have for this?" Sebastian asked, finally regaining his control.

"Because this isn't the only body that contains it..." Undertaker gestured down the wall, where there were more tables. "They all have it, too—the same amount, the same injection marks, the same bruises. And no other known cause of death."

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