Seeing Double

chapter four

'They didn't see me.' A shadowy figure watched as the tall man in a butler's uniform led a young woman down the alley's, heading away from the poorer, more unsavory side of London. This would mean that Alice Phantomhive would be alone. No one witnessed the grin that formed on the stranger's face as he moved from his hiding place, careful to avoid any obstacles, including stray trash cans.
'If Sebastian had seen me, my cover would have been compromised. Ironic, since he is doing me a favor in taking that Darcy girl with him.'
It was simple reaching the apartment the two young women had been sharing. Best of all, there was no security and, more importantly, no witnesses. The winter wind was much too frigid for people to stay unprotected out in the cold. All the homeless, cutthroats, and prostitues had hid from the weather in whatever little holes they found for themselves. Thus undetected, he began his assent up the staircase of the apartment, avoiding the spots he knew to be noisy after months of watching Darcy and Alice climb the same stairs.
Upon reaching the eighth lopsided grey door on the second floor, he paused, listening. His acute hearing told him she must be asleep, for he faintly heard Alice's rhythmic breathing and no other movement.
The lock was broken on their door, but he knew they placed the stool against it in place of a working lock, on top of the stool was a bucket of water.
Ever so slightly, he turned the knob and began to shove the stool aside using the door. It took precious time but finally he had the door opened wide enough to slip his muscular frame in.
The interior was dark, with colorless walls and minimal furniture. He could see his breath. 'Poor Alice. Such stubbornness. To think you could have been sleeping in warm luxury tonight if you weren't so... attached...to that shinigami posing as a mortition.'
He crept across the wooden floor into the bedroom that barely held the bed and the crate they used as a night stand for the candle. Alice's face was contorted, her eye brows pointing down sharply and her full lips moulded in a sad frown.
'There it is.' He caught a glimmer of the skull sitting on her chest and started forward again. 'I have to be careful.' But how he wanted to laugh at the irony. The days happenings had sufficiently dulled Alice's sharp senses; she didn't even stir when he grasped the locket and lifted it over her head.
"No... I can grab the... embalming fluid....." Alice turned her head to the wall. He studied the skull that dangled from the silver chain he grasped in his gloved hand. Its black sockets glared hatefully at him, as if weighing him, then finding him wanting. He involuntarily shuddered, pocketing the trinket as he headed for the door.
Alice whimpered in her sleep. The sound was small, much like a frightened girl would make when lost and stopped him. He glanced over at her. "Why?" She groaned, tossing her head to the right, away from the wall.
'A nightmare?' he grinned. Little did she know, the nightmare was only beginning. He left her, hurrying into the dark streets, and disappeared from view with his stolen treasure.
......
"So, you turned down 'is offer, did you?" I knocked down a few more of the cobwebs in the corners; I didn't mind them, but it was slow today, and I wanted something to do. "Yes. Darcy can help Sebastian look for whomever is after Ciel. Though... it'll be entertaining, since she refuses to fit into the mould anyone else says she should." I set down the rag and went to check the cookies. He followed me. "Why?" "Why?" I repeated, confused, as I peeked in the oven. 'Almost.' I shut the door and straightened. Undertaker was leaning against the door jam, waiting. I walked by, tugging down his top hat over his face, and replied, "Because I belong here. I love it here and I'm learning so much. Sebastian said I'd have to give it up if I were to accept his offer."
Undertaker pushed up his hat's brim, frowning slightly. "You should have accepted."
I rocked backwards, palms hitting a coffin as I gripped the edge of it to steady myself. "What?" An ache settled inside my heart. 'H-he doesn't want me to stay here and be his apprentice? Did i do something wrong?'
"You're a Phantomhive. You belong in that society." Anger, confusion, and hurt warred for dominance inside me. "You're the last person I'd thought would ever care about that. Is...is this because I reminded you of Vincent, because of the locket? You want me gone, is that it?"
I spoke in quick, fervent tones, while trying to stuff the tears I felt rising. 'Dont you dare cry! Don't be a weakling. It's pathetic.'
Undertaker's face slackened a bit, "No, howev--." I took in a deep breath, wiping my hands down my lab coat in a movement of finality, looking at the floor, then back up at him. "Well. I'll go then. You were just fine before I arrived on your doorstep like some lost puppy, and you'll be fine now." I held my chin high and headed for the door.
He grabbed my lab coat's sleeve, pulling it up my arm and stopping me. "Undertaker--" My heart sunk. Undertaker wasn't looking at my face. He was looking at the scars on my wrist.
"Alice?" My tone turned brittle. "They're old." "But the pain is still there." "Don't change the subject; release me." I broke from his grasp. "You tried to kill yourself." "I said, they're old. This conversation is over."
I stomped to the door. "Did you not even notice?" I blinked, halting with my hand on the door knob. "Notice what, Undertaker?" "You're necklace. It's gone." Immediately my hand left the knob and flew to my throat. My fingers searched in vain for the feeling of cold metal. "No! Impossible. I never take it off."
I spun around, scanning the floor. 'This week has been too much. When will it stop? Why can't it go back to just him and i, talking over a corpse and how to tell what killed them?'
I went to my knees, hugging myself like a child. "It was stolen. I'm sure of it. Last night, I wore it to bed so..." My eyes widened. 'No...that means someone was in my room? It's not just a coincidence, im sure.'
Undertaker sighed. "Another reason you should accept Sebastian's offer. I know where you live and it's not safe 'specially by yourself. You were thinkin' wot I was; this isn't an accident. The person responsible for your arrival 'ere payed ya a visit last night."
I exhaled slowly, forcing my emotions aside. "You're right. I couldn't protect myself in that apartment alone. I'm sorry for loosing my composure..." I stood up.
"Forgiven, my lady. Besides, its just for now. No one eva said it wos a permanent arrangement, now did they?" He grinned.
"You mean, after Ciel is okay and my dear old stalker is taken care of, I can come back?!" "Of course." I smiled but it quickly faded, my eyes opening wide. 'Oh crud.'
"Wot?" I lifted a finger, pointing behind him. He turned. I jogged past him into the smoky room, grabbing a thick rag as I opened the oven door. I had forgotten the cookies.
Heat billowed over my face as I withdrew the cookie tray, blowing air out to move my bangs.
"Bahaha!" I gave him a look as he bent over in laughing. "I refuse to see the humor in this. I promise. I do cook. And bake." I gestured haplessly to the cookies I had sat on the stove top. "S-sure. You said that last time, too." He chuckled.
I threw the rag at him,which he dodged easily. "Im not used to these stoves, that's all." I explained. Undertaker snickered, lifting up a burnt cookie.
I facepalmed. "If you do what I think you're doing, so help me..." "They're not that bad. At least these ones aren't black all the way through like the last were." He said around a bite. "I can't believe you." I groaned.
'At least we're still on good footing.. I don't want to loose this friendship.'
"This is why they invented tea." Undertaker stated, reaching for two beakers. 'I will miss this so much.' My hands clenched tightly, angry at the one who kept messing with my life as if I were a puppet on a string.
"Alice?" "What?" "You'll get the necklace back. Remember wot I told you. No one but a Phantomhive can wear it." "You sound so certain." "Because I'm the Undertaker, and I'm never wrong." "Ever?" I probed, absentmindedly taking a bite of a burnt cookie. "Bleck!" I coughed violently, face morphing into an exaggerated expression of disgust.
Undertaker snickered. 'That does it.'
I ran at him and he jogged out of the room; I chased him around the parlor, laughing despite my inward pain.
....
Orange, pink, and pale purple light flooded the funeral parlor from the beautiful, late winter sunset. We sat across from one another, he resting his back against the wall while I rested mine against a coffin.
'This day is ending too soon.' His hat was perched on my head, my 'trophy' after managing to catch him in our romp around the funeral parlor.
It was a bit big on me and sat low over my head, causing Undertaker to grin widely everytime he looked at me. "Undertaker?" I got onto my hands and knees, crawling to him. He lifted a finger and further pushed the hat down over my eyes. "Hey!"
I tipped the hat back up, studying his face.
I lifted my hand. Hesitated. Undertaker didn't move. I gently touched his face, brushing aside his bangs. His eyes were closed; I held his hair away from his face and they opened slowly. My heart skipped a beat while my hand fell and my jaw slackened. 'Holy Headstones....' Those intensely mesmerizing green eyes captivated me while seemingly being able to read my heart and soul. Yet they also had an alert, sharp, and  calculating look in them. They were dangerous. They were gorgeous. They were intelligent and cunning. Like him.
Then it hit me.
I fell back and landed on my rear. 'I've seen eyes like this before!'