Death's Daughter (Black Butler)

Chapter Four: Pancake Panic

The sky was clouded over with grey, making it a perfect setting for a funeral. I was surrounded by people I had never met before. A man to my right stood tall, behind his glasses I could tell that he was trying to stay emotionless. Clinging to his arm on his other side was a weeping redhead, who stood out amongst all of the dark colors. On my left, there was a male, who i suspected to be around my age. His long blonde bangs fell in his face, covering the fact that he was crying. He rubbed his hands up and down my back, trying to comfort me. "It's gonna be okay," he repeated over and over, his voice cracking. I wasn't sure if he even believed the words he spoke.

I brought away from the nameless blonde's embrace and knelt down in front of the graves below me. I sighed and fiddled with the flowers in my hands. Erica flowers, Alan had taught me. They were tied into two bunches with blue ribbon, one set of flowers for each grave. I looked up to read the headstones. Although blurred due to my tears, I could still read the names on the two stones: Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries. 

Sighing, I sat one bundle of flowers by Eric's grave and Alan's grave. I sniffed as I stood back up, retreating into the nameless blonde's arms. He stroked my hair and whispered consoling words to me. Tears flowed out of my eyes and onto the blonde's blazer. While I stood there and cried into the male, I felt something hit my shoulder. I peeked over, noticing that a small patch of my own blazer was wet. I felt more and more droplets falling on me, on my arms, hair, back, everywhere, until it was a downpour of rain. I tilted my head up, staring at the ominous thundering clouds. The rain stung as it fell into my eyes, but I didn't care. The thunder grew louder and there was a flash of lighting.

Then, just like that, it was all over.

My eyes shot up and I gasped. My breath was short and uneven, and I found myself in a pool of my own sweat. "Thank god, i-it was just a nightmare," I sighed. Slowly, I eased myself upward, sitting up straight. I looked around and examined the room. Strangely, I was surprised that I was in the same room I had fallen asleep in. I ran a hand through my hair and shook me head, letting out another sigh. "One freaky realistic dream, for sure."

I tossed the blanket from last night off of my lap and stood up, stretching my arms high above my head. I yawned, shifting my balance from one leg to the other. I looked down at the uniform I had slept in last night, still slightly irritated that Alan had forgotten to bring me some pajamas. Since I was lacking a spare pair of clothing at the time, I dealt with smoothing out the skirt and top. I had taken of the vest and tie off the previous nihgt for obvious reasons, and I decided to put them back on.

After adding the tie and vest back on, I walked over to the window. I opened it up as I had the night before and peeked my head out. I crossed my arms and sat them on the windowsill, looking down at the land below me. On the side walks bordering the flower garden, people who I suspected quickly walked along, most likely on their way to work. I smiled as I closed my eyes and relaxed, basking in the sunlight.

I heard a chuckle from behind me. "Alright, Bri, it's either you've taken a liking to that window or to the sights below it," I didn't even need to turn around to figure out who had spoken - I knew that it was Alan.

I opened my eyes again and nodded, watching the flower below me swayed subtlety in the breeze. "The sights. That flower garden is just absolutely stunning."

Alan laughed again and walked up behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder and puling me close to him. "Well, maybe we'll have to take a visit down there later this afternoon. What do you think about that?"

"I think that sounds nice," I nodded.

"What sounds nice?" a slurry voice said from behind us, a voice that could be none other than Eric's. We turned around to face the blonde, standing behind us in his pajamas. He ran a hand through the blonde portion oh his hair, blinking his eyes slowly and emitting a long yawn.