The Dare That Led to the Devil (Black Butler Fanfic)

Ch 4- Do You Hear the Voice of Crimson?

Sebastian was startled from his sleep by a sudden whooping sound. The sound would go on for a moment before suddenly stopping and starting again.

He moved his arm from his eyes and flourished his hands through the air, causing the lamps along the walls to ignite, filling the room with dim lightly. He sat up and looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. His eyes landed on one of the tapestries hanging on the wall.

He stood from the bed and walked over to it, pulling it aside to see the cell he had locked Katerina in.

Katerina was lying there on the floor in almost exactly the same position as when he left her. Her breathing was labored and raspy, her chest rising and falling at an alarming rate. He could hear her heart racing in her chest. The cuts up and down her body had turned red and looked terribly infected. The whooping sound had definitely been coming from her. Her body shook as another coughing fit erupted from the young Angel, sounding both wet and dry at the same time, as if something was caught in her chest.

His eyes widened, confusion written all over his face.

He was confused because he had left Katerina in there almost three days ago. According to Angel standards, she should have healed by now.

He pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked the cell. After kneeling beside her, he carefully rolled her over on her back and helped Katerina sit up.

Even before touching her with his ungloved hands, he had felt the heat rolling off Katerina's body. That and her flushed cheeks were dead giveaways to her fever. Her skin was dripping and wet with sweat.

Katerina opened her eyes slowly, the action causing her eyes to burn from the sudden light. She squinted them shut and opened them more slowly this time, still feeling heat in her eyes. It felt like her entire body was cooking from the inside out.

She looked with blurry eyes, just barely able to make out the figure of someone kneeling over her. The only thing she could make out were scarlet eyes that were staring at her with worry and confusion.

"Please..." she whispered weakly, her voice hoarse and her throat dry. Even with a brain that was barely working at the moment, she recognized those eyes, and she was terrified Sebastian was going to hurt her again.

"Shhhhhh," Sebastian hushed, moving a few sweat soaked strands of hair from her face. She felt his bare fingers graze one of her cuts, causing her to flinch and his hand to pull back slightly. "Calm down. Now, I am going to pick you up. It may hurt, so please be prepared. Are you ready?"

She nodded as best she could, not sure if she would be able to talk again. Sebastian wrapped his arm around her shoulder blades, supporting her as he lifted her up bridal style. He even winced in pain himself as she cried out when he accidentally touched the spot where he had scratched her with his claws.

She laid her head involuntarily against his shoulder, unable to support the weight of it.

Sebastian carried her over to the pillow bed and set her down, creating a mountain of pillows behind her so she could sit up. He left her side and returned with a pair of scissors. She was slightly confused until he started cutting away at her tattered dress. 

She was in too much pain to protest, plus she knew that, in its current state, removing her dress the conventional way was impossible.

After that was done and the shredded dress along with her tights were thrown aside, she felt the tips of Sebastians fingers slide down her slender torso from the end of her Angelic Marking to the tip of her navel, as if he were expecting something to be there.

"You are not at your full power yet, are you?" Sebastian asked slowly, his eyes widening ever so slightly when she shook her head. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am such a fool." He gently picked her up again, this time more careful to avoid her more serious wounds.