Stuck in Kuroshitsuji

Chapter 45: His Butler and Maid, Merrymaking

Aviva POV

"Holiday, holiday! We're going on a holiday! Holiday, holiday! We're going on a holiday!" I heard being sung behind me. I turned back to see all my friends so excited to be going with us to Houndsworth. Except Tanaka. Can never tell what he's thinking.

I feel bad they won't be getting the real vacation they deserve. I turned forward. I looked up to my left at Sebastian. I can't remember why he wanted me with him, but I'm not complaining. He turned to me and I smiled. His expression softened. He turned back to the road.

I remembered waking up in his room. What was I doing there? I mean I don't think we...did anything. I'm sure if we did...something I would remember. I remember my nightmare. I remember leaving and running into him and telling him I needed to talk to him. Then nothing.

Third Person POV

"Hey Sebastian?" Aviva said.

"Yes Miss Aviva?" He answered.

"Why did I wake up in your room this morning?" Aviva asked. He furrowed his brows and looked down at me.

"Do you not remember what happened last night?" He asked me. She shook her head in response. He turned back to the road. "You had a nightmare then were more than persistent to speak with me." He said.

"Did I tell you about my nightmare?" Aviva asked him.

"You did, Miss Aviva. You told me our trip will not be pleasant and to not trust Lord Barrymore's maid Angela." He said casually.

"Ok, good....Was that it?" She asked him.

"No. You asked me a few questions about our trip." He lied.

"Oh. Anything important or worth repeating?" She asked him.

"No. Merely logistics of travelling to Houndsworth." He said. She nodded.

Aviva POV

I turned back to hear everyone talking about how excited they were. I felt really bad that they didn't know the whole truth to the trip.

"Do you hear how happy they are? They're very grateful to you. Such a kind young master." Sebastian said, giving his closed eyes smile.

"I couldn't leave them there alone, I might come home to find the manor in shambles." Ciel said without looking up.

The horses neighed and stopped in their tracks. I looked to see a rugged sign saying 'Welcome to Houndsworth.' It had a spiked dog collar hanging over it. I visibly cringed.

"It seems we've arrived at the village everyone." Sebastian said.

"Alright!" The three said together looking out.

We turned to see a large dead tree. It had scythes and dog collars hanging from it. It was a horrible sight. They all instantly stopped celebrating and suddenly screamed all at once. Once they stopped, Ciel spoke up.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention something. The resort that the queen is planning is yet to be constructed." He said.

"Yes master." The three said sadly. I turned back to my friends and gave them a sympathetic smile.

We rode in silent for a bit. I observed the bleak area surrounding us. I'm really not looking forward to this trip. After a while, we approached an old lady trying to push a baby carriage. It was stuck.

"Look! Somebody actually lives here!" Finny said pointing to old woman. We got closer to her. "Tanaka stop!" Finny cried.

Sebastian and I turned to see what was going on. Tanaka stopped the carriage just next to her. Finny jumped out of the carriage and ran to the lady. I stood up and turned around to him.

"Let me help you granny." Finny said grabbing the baby carriage.

"Finny better not!" I called out to him.

"No you shouldn't do that Finny! If you aren't careful you might hurt the baby!" Mey-rin cried.

Finny grabbed the carriage and lifted it over his head. My eyes went wide and my jaw dropped.

"What did you say?" Finny asked. He quickly realised what he did, dropped the carriage, and help his hands above his head. "I'm so sorry!" He cried.

Bard and Mey-rin looked down at the carriage, horribly concerned.

"This is awful! Is the baby ok?" Mey-rin said.

Their faces of concerned turned to faces of horror once they realised that in the carriage was a wrapped up dog skeleton. Not a baby as one would expect.

"There is no baby." The old lady said calmly. "There is no baby anymore. The child was eaten by it." She said before pushing the carriage. She muttered this weird chant about white, black, good, and bad dogs.

I already hate this trip.

"Huh?" Mey-rin said quietly.

"Eaten?" Bard said horrified

"What?" Finny said.

"That's why we're here." Ciel said, turning his head to the side to see the old woman. "Apparently a lot of villagers have been violently killed or gone missing." Ciel said before turning back to front. "The village has shrunk to a third of its size in the last ten years. A part of my task is to find out why and put an end to the problem." He explained.

We continued our journey to Henry Barrymore's. After a while we approached the lake. I looked towards it and smiled. I heard the three behind me stand and marvel at the somehow lovely lake.

"Oi, it's starting to look like a place worth staying!" I heard from Bard. I smiled. I love Bard's voice.

I can see the village! Finally. My ass is starting to hurt. My face turned sad once we reached the village. It's so desolate and depressing. We passed one very good boy and his owner. I smiled brightly. He's so cute! He sat and laid down when asked too. That's one heckin good boio.

"Oh my. I'd let him pet me, yes I would!" Mey-rin said. I covered my mouth. Oh my god that was priceless. I turned back to the front.

"He manipulates the creature with rewards and punishments." Sebastian said. I turned and looked up to him. "He commandes the mutt's obedience, but the dog isn't blameless either. It fawns on its human and welcomes the chain around its neck. I can't understand it." He said.

"If you're trying to get at something deeper, just say it." Ciel said.

"No, it's nothing of import my lord. Simply that, while I love cats, I'm not especially fond of dogs." Sebastian said before turning back to Ciel. He gave his signature closed eyes smile. "To be completely frank, I hate them." He said.

While I absolutely love dogs and animals in general, I find it unbelievably ironic that Sebastian hates dogs. After all...he is named after one.

"Woof." Ciel said.

I sighed quietly and watched the village go by. We came to a fork in the road and went right. We travelled up the hill to a large stone manor. Finally. As we got closer, a tall maid with icy blue hair in a purple uniform approached our carriage. I started getting nervous. Sebastian stopped the carriage in front of the house and I discretely grabbed his sleeve. We both looked down at the maid.

"I presume this is the earl of Phantomhive." She said.

"Yes." Sebastian said. She bowed slightly.

"Welcome to Barrymore castle. My master awaits your arrival." She said before standing up straight.

I looked up to Sebastian for...some kind of confirmation or validation. And he just stared at her suspiciously. After a minute, I turned to look at him. He looked down at me and gently put his other hand over mine, his expression softening. I sighed. I was so relieved. As ironic as it may be, thank god for Sebastian Michaelis. I'm genuinely scared about this trip.