Swan Song • Sebastian Michaelis

02 | deal of damnation

The night closed in and the next day passed without an appearance of Ciel Phantomhive or the Scotland Yard. Aurora had spent the night awake and the next day on alert in the East End, leaving almost all of her contract kills and assassinations to the scouts that she had prowling different ends of the city, in case of a sudden appearance from the adolescent. She wasn't afraid of him finding her, but the likelihood of it made her more aware of her surroundings. The drive to avoid him and all the authorities fueled her anger and her cautiousness from her current residence on the East End.

Despite her willingness to kill him at the first chance she got, the task would be harder than she had thought – seeking him out to kill wasn't an option, she had her own rules to live by.

Aurora tucked her her arms under the cover of her cloak and I briefly looked up at the darkening sky above her as a cold wind blew over the desolate street. The street wasn't busy, not that it usually was at this time of the evening, most were in the alleyways or in local pubs. Rain threatened the sky for the second time, making the already cool weather even colder the closer the rain inched forward and the clouds waited to release the millions of drops of rain. It was her favorite type of weather, cold and cloudy, but she couldn't find the usual enjoyment from it, it was released by the nagging thought of The Queen's Watchdog. It wasn't that she was afraid, more so paranoid.

Her eyes turned to the sky for a few moments, then down to the cobblestone road littered with puddles of rain water. She caught her reflection in one and looked glanced around at her surroundings before she crouched down and ran her fingertips over the murky liquid, sending ripples through her mirrored self. Dark, brown hair that fell down far past her shoulders and bright blue eyes that swirled with the various emotions swimming beneath the surface of the alight iris. The black cloak that enveloped her body gave her a more commanding presence, like a villain from a fairytale while its hood seemed to make her look like Little Red Riding Hood, only much darker and less naive.

The sound of horses hooves and carriages wheels on the street alerted Aurora's attention, successfully breaking her from her thoughts and awakening her to someone's presence near her. She stood to her feet as the carriage came to a stop a few yards behind her and the driver hopped down onto the road with a light click from his shoes. Who? She tilted her head to the side and carefully crept into an alleyway.

"Young Master, we have arrived." A velvety voice spoke.

Aurora tensed upon hearing the familiar voice and narrowed her eyes at the wall across from her. She silently slid her knife down into her hands before peeking back around the wall again and turning back to the weapon in her hands. Alone, there was no way to kill them both, or remotely injure both of them without one raising suspicion. Who knows if he has anyone lurking in the shadows.

"It looks like rain, so we must make this quick. Quincy said that Aurora liked to take walks through here at this time."

"Resorting to a second plan rather than going through with the other, are we?"

The boy glared at his black clad butler. "Quincy wasn't the brightest of men, so the likelihood of him being caught by Aurora is uncanny. If he hasn't shown up in a few minutes, we'll be leaving."

Aurora passed her back up against the wall and clipped the front of her cloaks together, securely hiding herself from the two in case they decided to look around. She bit her lip and contemplated her next move. She was on the edge of the East End, nearest to the harbor where the immigrants from India had been working and terrorizing each other a few months ago – this was farther than she had walked in a while, but she enjoyed having the light mist of rain blow into her face every once in a while. The last few days were beginning to ware on her physically and mentally.