Black Swan Rising - A Black Butler Fan-Fic

6 - Be Our Guest...

The night of the dinner party came all too quickly for my taste. I could still feel the mafia party's events regurgitating like the vomit I spat up. The dull ache in my arm was prominent through all of my chores for a good few days, but I quickly healed enough to continue simple tasks such as dishes and some cleaning. Sebastian, the angel he pretended to be, helped me as best as he could without making me feel incompetent.

Then I was called to Ciel's study. I stood before his desk now, hands wringing my apron. I felt this was the end of my career at the Phantomhive manor.

"Are you feeling alright, Quinlan?" he asked.

Fearing the worst, I nodded fiercely. "I feel fine, my lord," I responded immediately. I saw Sebastian hide a chuckle, and I frowned. "Hush, you..."

"Quinlan," Ciel called me again. I turned back to him, nervous.

"Y-Yes, my lord..."

He stood and walked over to me, lifting my chin and examining my color. "You're not well," he decided. He looked at Sebastian and nodded.

Sebastian walked behind me and took off his tailcoat, reaching around and handing it to me. I held it up to my chest and felt him undo the buttons of my dress. I hanged my head in shame.

"There's definitely different symbols," he concluded, eyes red with concentration. He touched my skin and moved along it, his fingers delicate against my skin. "Temperatures are normal." He nicked a small section, and I gasped in pain. "Blood is still red."

"So it's just progressing in form?" Ciel asked, walking around to my back.

"It appears so," came Sebastian's response. "How are you feeling now, Quinlan?"

"Violated!" I cried, my cheeks bright red and furiously hot.

"Be serious now," scolded the butler.

I looked back over my shoulder. "Nothing in particular," I replied. However, I wasn't feeling my very best. "I guess I'm a little weak..."

He nodded, wiping up the drop of blood he created. He buttoned up my dress again, and the young lord stood before me once more.

"You're doing great, Quinlan," Ciel praised, smiling faintly. "It's going to take some getting used to, but you can overcome."

I nodded sheepishly. I never liked these checkups with the young lord. I always felt like he knew more than I did when it came to my situation, and that bothered me greatly. Sebastian once explained that a creature was adding these markings to my back, slowly finding a way to kill me. I didn't understand why they wanted me dead, and now I didn't want to.

Sebastian fixed his tailcoat around my shoulders now, keeping a gentle hand on my back as he led me from the study. As soon as the door closed, I collapsed against him and closed my eyes. "I'm going to die soon, aren't I?" I asked, despair creeping into my voice.

He placed a hand on my head, a gesture of comfort. "The marks are changing at a constant rate. Nothing seems to be progressing. The same marks as last time are the only ones different in form, so there is no need to be concerned for the time being," he explained to me.

I had so many other questions I wanted to ask. Why did he check for temperature? Why scratch me? Why did he explain everything to the young master? Why did Ciel have to know anyway?

My thoughts crossed these questions many times throughout the day. Even the small moments of peace that I had when I changed for the dinner event that night were filled with chaos and horrible thoughts of the marks on my body.

'I need to get out of this mood,' I thought bitterly, fixing my outfit and walking out of the room swiftly. I made my way to Sebastian's room and knocked incessantly, my feet shuffling slightly as I waited. I knocked again. "Sebastian, let me in!"