Chapter Thirteen:

"Where is Aries?" Ciel asked one afternoon, two days after they had confronted Agni.

"Pardon?" Lau asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Aries? I haven't seen her since that night," he huffed.

"Was she not stuffed in her bedroom for two days once before?" Lau asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's true," Ciel murmured. "I'll have Sebastian look for her later."

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Ciel had forgotten about Aries until that night. They had had a big day ahead of them in the morning, and Sebastian insisted he'd go to bed early.

"Oh, Sebastian," Ciel sat up before Sebastian left his room for the night.

"Yes, Young Master?"

"I meant to tell you. Go check on Aries. I haven't seen her in a few days."

Sebastian rose an eyebrow, "It isn't unusual for her to be holed up in her bedroom2, my Lord."

"Just do it," Ciel said, going to lie down, a tired yawn escaping his lips.

Sebastian sighed, but closed his door, going upstairs anyway.

Aries' door had been closed, and locked as usual. Sebastian suppressed an annoyed eyeroll. He had told the girl several times not to lock her bedroom door, yet she does it anyway.

He easily took the master key and unlocked the door. He opened it, but didn't step in, waiting to see if she had set down traps for him, as she usually did.

Nothing happened. The bed was completely made, everything set neatly. A small letter was on the bed and Sebastian picked it up. His name was on the front, and after examining it for a moment, he opened it. There was a single sheet of paper in strong, bold, scraggily written ink that read.

'DO NOT EAT. NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT EAT.'

Aries' name was signed at the bottom, but that was it. Sebastian frowned, "Aries?" He called, half expecting her to stumble out of the closet.

Sebastian went to the window, seeing a long haphazardly tied bed sheet hanging out. Aries had left, and this was what she left him. A warning, that he didn't know what meant. Don't eat? Don't eat what?!

Sebastian silently cursed the girl for being so vague and left the room, deciding to inform his young master about the unfortunate news in the morning.

¥.¥.¥

"What do you mean she's gone?" Ciel frowned, crossing his arm.

"When you had me check on her last night, she wasn't in her room," Sebastian explained. "None of the other servants have seen her since we returned from that night in the Harold manor. And, she left this note." Sebastian held out the note Aries had left on her bed to Ciel and he took it from him.

Ciel quickly scanned it's contents, his brow furrowed and eye narrowed. "Don't eat what?"

"That is beyond me as well," Sebastian admitted. "Maybe it is a clue for the curry contest. However, she does not specify what not to eat. And, with all the attractions and food there, it would be impossible to tell what exactly."

Ciel sighed, "Just like her to be this vague. Well, unless she comes forward gives a proper explanation as to why we cannot eat in the contest, then we won't. However, we will still attend, I do want that royal warrant."

Sebastian smirked, "Even with your life at on the line, you'll risk that for favour with her Majesty?"

"No. I simply do not like losing," Ciel huffed. "Let us hurry with the rest of the preparations to leave."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian said with a bow, and turned to exit Ciel's study.

¥.¥.¥

Ciel watched intently as they entered the large building for the Indian expo. Aries' strange warning had occupied his mind since the began their trip when they left that morning. And yet, an hour later, he it was still on his mind and it bugged him. In a building where the majority of the exhibit is Indian food, to tell his servants and companions not to eat because of Aries' superstistion, it'd make him look wrong and silly.

Ciel sighed, standing straighter. He need desperately to find Aries and have her explain, but he needed to keep Sebastian preoccupied with the competition. That, and he himself didn't want to think too much on it as well. So, he didn't warn his inferiours and collegues when they went off to admire and taste the food. However, he kept his eyes peeled for Aries, or that man Sebastian kept telling him about names Jonas Goodie-something.

Ciel's eyes narrowed as he saw Harold West approaching him, and in that instant decided to let the thought of Aries go for now. He had other matters on His hands that didn't involve the mysterious workings of one of his servants.

¥.¥.¥

Aries breathed heavily, eyes hardly opened. Blood trickled down a cut near her hairline and between her lips. "We don' 'ave to do this, lil' lady," the man in front of her said, wiping his fist covered in her blood with a rag. "All I need s'the 'formation my boss wants, an' I'll send ya on ya way."

"That..." She muttered, spitting out a bit of blood that had collected in her mouth. "Is illogical. You have orders... To kill me as soon as I talk. With that knife," she moved her head slightly with a knife that hadn't been touched by her tormentor. "It's coated in poison... And will kill you as soon as it comes into contact with your blood."

"Oh really?" He mused. "What else can you tell me?"

"You have a son. He's eight years old tomorrow... Your wife is infertile and you beat her for it. Instead... You bought a girl and used her to have your kids. She... She killed herself after having the baby, so you bought another one. Your wife hates you...  And your son sees how you treat her and will grow up to be just like you --- the scum of the earth... And all your children will be just as disgusting as you. Maybe you should kill yourself and... And stop the train now? A better question is... What are you going to use once your wife leaves an... And takes the children with her? Drink yourself drunker than you usually do? You're... Just a incompent human who's only value comes in your strength... Your lack of brainpower shows how weak you truly are... And will always be because of your lack of education... What else comes out of a slum rats like you?"

The man's face was redder than a tomato and his hand flew across her face. Aries' head snapped to the side and she inhaled, but the man wasn't done. He grabbed a knife and slammed the blade into her hand that was tied down to the chair. Aries grinded her teeth, closing her eyes tight as pure pain shot through her hand.

"Say another word!" He hissed, yanking the knife out.

Aries panted, "Well... You asked me to speak---" he gripped her shoulder and slammed his fist in her gut several times. Blood leaked from Aries' lips and she gasped, feeling as if all her organs turned to mush.

"What does he want wit' ya!?" He demanded, but Aries just breathed hoarsely, her head lolling from side to side. He hit her again and Aries groan a bit. "Is tha' all ya got, girly?" He mocked.

"Go ahead then." Aries murmured. "Kill me. Just like he wanted. Just... Slice my throat. Nobody would.... Know, right? Take your role as the loyal lapdog... That... That's what you're here for..."

A fiery glare shone in his eyes and he grabbed the dark, slick handle of the long serrated blade of the knife. "If that's what you want," he hissed, tossing the knife from hand to hand before he finally held her wooden, splintered chair with one hand and the sharp blade of the knife against her throat with the other.

Aries jumped in the chair, making the raw splinters and jagged edge of the wooden chair drive into the man's palm, blood leaking quickly from the open wound. The knife also dug into her skin, causing a shallow cut from her neck to the side of her jaw.

"Why, you---!" He cut himself off, and stared down at his hand, shocked. The skin had began to wither and crust, slowly and painfully deteriorating the skin. "Ah! Wha' the hell!?"

"You should be feeling... Mild pain," Aries said calmly, still in pain from her injuries. "And the epidermis of your flesh will be exposing itself to the poison."

"The poison!?" He screeched, stumbling back. The disease had spread up his forearm and was getting faster.

"Yes. I told you, the poison would kill you with contact with your blood," Aries said. "Soon, the poison will reach your heart and you will die."

The man began to panic, he went to his tray of knives, finally coming back in Aries' view. He hurrying grabbed a blade and began to cut his own arm off, and howled in pain as he cut through nerves.

Aries watched calmly as he finally hacked off the limb savagely, and then held it out for Aries to see. "I... Won't die today, bitch!" He hissed, throwing the ampuated arm on the ground.

Aries smiled, and a giggle left her as she said, "Stupid human. I told you it traveled by blood." Aries felt it so to tell this man this because as she spoke, pieces of his face was turning ashen and black, like a overcooked marshmellow.

The man touched his face with his remaining hand, and found the skin falling off. In fact, his hand, too, was turning to dust, the cells of the skin absolutely dead and worthless. He cried out in pain and fell to one knee while his body continued to painfully wither away.

Aries calmly dislocated her wrist and slipped her hand out if the ropes tying it down. Then, she wiped the handle of the knife on her shirt before grabbing it and cutting off the ropes holding her other hand back. Then, she worked on her legs and stood.

Using one hand to rub her wrist, she walked over to the half dead man, smirking down at him. "... The blade," he murmured weakly, motioning to her still slightly bloody neck. "I cut you."

"The poison wasn't on the blade, silly," she shook her head. "It was in the handle. This wasn't my murder, but your unknown suicide." She smiled and turned to leave.

"I have a child," he wheezed, "Is there an antidote? Please!"

"You have the bastards child of your sex slave, because your wife couldn't bear children," she spat, not bothering to look at his pathetic rotting face. "You don't deserve to use your child as an excuse. Besides, if there was an antidote, it'd be far too late to give it to you, if I even wanted to. Have fun dying!" Aries said cheerily, and began up the steps slowly, listening the moans of a dead man.

"I finished!" Aries called, banging on the door of the basement, "Let me out, Goodridge!"

There was a silence, then a man opened a small shaft slide open so Aries could see Goodridge's wild eyes. "Mmm... That took you long, my dear! You aren't getting dull, are you? I'd hate for my favourite daughter to be becoming soft due to her time with nobles."

"I assure you, my time with the Phantomhive boy is hardly making me softer," she hissed. "I did what you asked and killed the man, now let me out. Are you not a man of your word, Goodridge?"

"Word, word, word, yes, my word," he nodded fiercely. "But, I cannot let you out just yet, no, no, my dear, not at all! I still have someone whom you need to meet!" He opened the door and a child, no older than six came crashing down the steps. They landed on the floor in a semi-awkward position, but they groaned, signalling that they were still alive.

"That one is the last disposable that I have! Then you may go."

"What's the point in this?" Aries demanded, eyes narrowed. "You have all the means to kill your own children. You don't need me. Besides, it'll be a waste of a child that you could've used for experimentations otherwise. And---"

"Don't question my orders!" Goodrich snapped, and the child sat up immediately, crawling backwards, until they backed into a post. A headwound from their lack of coordination down the steps bled from their forehead, and it gave Aries pause.

"Don't! Don't! Don't, my dear," He told her smiling. "I am the man of this house, I am! Don't tell me what to do."

"There is no reason to throw a fit over it," Aries frowned. "If you want the child killed, them so be it." Upon hearing this, the six-year old whimpered, moving away from Aries and her father.

"Yes, yes, kill the girl. Bring me back a finger, please. I need another." The small metal shaft slammed shut and Aries was left alone with the child.

"I... Please," she begged, tears falling down her face. "Don't kill me, please! I don't wanna die!"

Aries' eyes narrowed and they stepped closer. The child crawled back hastily, which allowed Aries to grab a knife off the torture tray the man before her left.

The girl's eyes had gone wider and she began sobbing. "Please!!" She screamed, Please, don't kill me! I don't wanna die, Please!"

Aries said nothing. She kneeled in front of the child and yanked her arm from her legs. In one swift motion, Aries cut off her forefinger. The six-year-old howled with pain and blood dripped from her hand. "Stand up," Aries commanded, but the child had done nothing but cry. "I didn't cut of anything that wouldn't allow you to stand. Stand up."

The girl shook her head, no, and Aries sighed, yanking the girl to her feet. Her knees gave out from underneath her, and Aries let her fall.

Surprised by this, the girl slammed into the ground, both her hands caught her fall, but as soon as the injured hand made contact with the dirty floor, she screamed, her nerves reacting immediately.

Aries rolled her eyes, rubbing her temple as the girl wailed on the ground, tears streaming down her face. "If you don't stop crying, I'll cauterize the wound, which would, technically, make it hurt eighty percent more than it does now. Get up."

Finally, the girl got her act together and stood. Sbe was still very much crying, but on wobbly legs, like a newborn colt, and she probably wasn't willing and respond rationally to anything Aries had to say. So, she kept it short and simple.

"I'm not going to kill you," she assured the girl. "I needed your finger as proof that I did. There's a window right there," Aries pointed to a small window barely able to fit this child, but it was doable. "I can get you to it and you crawl through. Do you understand that? You can escape, but you have to do exactly as I say."

The girl weakly nodded and Aries walked over to the long shelf of seemingly disposable jars, as it they were locked in the basement of a witch's hut, not a doctor's. Although, some may argue that this man could have been both and neither. All and none. Frankenstein and Monster.

Aries pushed the shelf to right underneath the window. "It should be unlocked already. So you have to push out and crawl. You'll be at grass level, and that should allow you to escape. Get the Yard, alright? This man is a lunatic!" The girl nodded and Aries gave her a boost. The girl began crawling unsteadily up the rack, her small, chubby fingers sometimes slipping, but she finally made it to the top.

The girl's hand was placed against the glass and Aries turned and ran, taking cover behind a different shelf. "What---? Miss, where are you---?" The girl didn't finish. Her pressure against the glass opened the window which ignited the fuse. There was a loud explosion, blood and metal parts flying everywhere, but Aries was safe.

Aries couldn't say the same for the girl, however. She found bits of her hand near her hiding spot. Aries kicked it aside and began to walk. The rigged explosive gave way to a convenient opening outside to escape the basement.

Aries took the finger Goodridge asked for and left it at the steps of the basement. Then, she headed for the opening. After a few minutes of investigating, Aries dubbed it safe and began to walk through the unkempt grass of the estate and away from Jonas Goodridge.

"Oh, and Aries, darling!" Aries stopped dead in her tracks, turning to see Goodridge half hanging the window of the mansion a few stories higher than her, smiling down at her. "Here, a gift for your troubles!" He dropped an envelope, which had to have been weighed down by rocks or something of the sort because it fell fast to the earth.

Aries picked it up and opened it. It was a golden ticket to a... Circus?

"I hope to see you there, my dear~! Now, hurry along, I'm sure your friends would like to hear all about your little adventure, yes?" Aries didn't say a word. She simply turned on her heel and left as fast as she could.

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Ciel was very pleased with the outcome of the Indian festival. With the Royal Warrant, it opened his buisness up to a lot it new possibilities in the future.

With this in mind, he was particularly in a good mood --- if one could call the 'unusually' human he seemed to express a good mood.

Unfortunately, it lasted only a short while. Sebastian and Ciel returned to the townhouse alone, his other servants were in the city and had received instructions to be back before sunrise the next morning. Nobody was expected at the house, however, someone had been there.

Sebastian noticed it first, the tempting scent of blood always turned the head of a demon. When they entered the townhouse, he stopped Ciel immediately. "What---?"

"Blood," he told him and Ciel stiffened, his hand reaching for his gun. Sebastian began to walk up the steps, spotting small droplets of blood along the way. The trail led to Ciel's study, and Ciel was quiet, his breath hitching.

Sebastian opened the door slowly and then frowned, his composure relaxing. "What is it?" Ciel demanded, coming to Sebastian's side.

Aries was on the hardwood floor, backed against a bookcase. Her gun was at her side and her hand rested casually on it. "I... I don't suppose you would be up to making a pot of tea, Sebastian?" Aries asked, hardly being able to breathe properly.

Sebastian was quick, down the hall in seconds, and then back with a box of first-aid items. "Where have you been?" Ciel demanded angrily, coming beside her.

"Ah... Out and about." She smirked, watching carefully as Sebastian lifted her shirt, leaving her only in her undergarments and exposing dark brusies on her skin, and a shallow cut near the side. "I guess I didn't keep myself from bleeding everywhere, did I?"

"You'll be cleaning up your mess," Ciel said and Aries laughed, but winced immediately.

"Oh, that is cruel, Silly Ciel," she chuckled.

"Where were you?" Ciel demanded again, upset.

"Ah, well," Aries tried to sit straighter but Sebastian held her down. "My... My father decided it was necessary for us to... Reunite and get to know each other in a different light. He is very big on bonding and the like."

"This is what your father considers bonding?" Sebastian inquired.

"Oh, yes. This was all from... Strategies, so to speak. Different, Mm...." Aries groaned as Sebastian applied a bit too much pressure. Her fingers curled, but then she hissed, straightening them back out. A few of her nails had been viciously torn off.

"I apologize, but it seems you might have a broken rib bone or two. They don't seem to have punctured anything --- or else, you'd be dead right now."

"Oh, that's nice to know, isn't it?" Aries murmured, knowing that Sebastian would suggest bedrest.

"I suggest that you'd go lie down. I'll bring you up some tea and something to eat."

"No, no," Aries shook her head. "I don't have time for that. I need to know... I..." Aries closed her eyes, breathing heavily.

"Aries? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. Don't worry. Don't," she shook her head. "Ciel... Did you eat anything?"

"What?" He frowned. "What does that have to---?"

"Answer the question!" Aries hissed, trying to sit up again, but Sebastian held her down.

"Stop trying to move," he told her, but she tried anyway.

"I need to know, Ciel. Did you eat anything?"

"No," Ciel frowned. "After your note, I didn't. Why Aries?"

"Because... He might have posioned it," Ciel went white and Aries closed her eyes. "The food. He... I know he did something to it. I don't know how. He wasn't there. I know he did something, I just..."

"Aries, you're delirious. You need to get some rest," Sebastian said, trying to carry her away, but Aries stopped him, holding tight to the bookshelf. Her nails burned and blood dripped onto the wood, but she didn't care.

"Did you use your own utensils?" Aries demanded.

"Why is that important?"

"Just answer the question."

"I will, if you agree to go upstairs, Aries."

Aries stared huffily at him. Then she turned away, and leaned her head back. "Fine. I'll go upstairs. Now, answer my question."

"No. We didn't. All of our utensils were donated by a cutlery company hoping to use the expo to showcase their new line of utensils. Now, let's go." He picked her up from underneath her legs and carried her out of the room.

"What was the name?" She asked.

"That wasn't in the deal, Aries."

"Please, Sebastian. Tell me."

Sebastian sighed, "The company was called Gwendolyn Goods. They also sold perishables as well." Aries closes her eyes and inhaled. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"He was there," she murmured. "He had to have poisoned the food."

"But, no one is dead, Aries," Sebastian assured. "If he did poison the food, it must not have worked. A lot of people ate there and they aren't just going to drop dead suddenly."

"It wouldn't be that fast," Aries frowned. "Something subtle, he could use to his advantage." Aries looked at Sebastian as he entered her room. "Ciel lied to me, didn't he?"

"Why do you say that?"

"I could smell the curry on his breath." Sebastian sighed, and Aries tried to move away. "I told you not to eat, damn it! Why didn't you listen to me!?"

"Aries, we didn't know what happened to you," he explained. "You left a scraggily written note not to eat, how were we supposed to know?"

"Don't play the fool, Sebastian!" Aries hissed, "You knew exactly what I meant!" She tried to get past Sebastian, but he grabbed her arm. Aries inhaled, a bruise there sent sharp pains through her body at his grip.

"Aries, I need you to calm down," Sebastian said, his tone low. It was probably taking everything in him to keep it steady and even. "Go lie down. If Ciel's safety troubles you so much, I'll check on him myself. However---"

"It doesn't matter now," Aries hissed. "Ciel is one person, and he can afford medical help if he gets sick. What about the hundreds of others that attended, Sebastian? The low-income families who can barely afford one doctor for a child. If they all went ill, what would they do? The doctors of the city would be spread thin, and..." Aries froze, eyes wide. "Oh, god. He..."

"Aries, what are you talking about?!" Aries shook her head and moved to sit on her bed.

"You cannot tell Ciel of this," Aries said calmly.

"Why not?"

"If Ciel were to know... He'd try to help. If he does and it sabotaged Goodridge's plan, he'll come after Ciel personally."

"Then, we should let Ciel know---"

"No," Aries said immediately. "If he doesn't know, he won't try to help."

"Tell me what's going on, then."

Aries inhaled, and covered her eyes. "If there were to be a mass-sickness in the city, the city would be short on doctors to help everyone. My father is a doctor. But, not a medical one. When... I was with him, he wasn't upset when I told him he shouldn't waste children... That they were hard to come by and he got upset. He doesn't like to be corrected. He's not worried about wasting children because... He'll be using the sick ones in order to keep up 'stock'. By posing as a doctor to help the ill, he'll be kidnapping children and even a few adults and taking them for his experiments."

"How do you know any of this?" Sebastian asked.

Aries smiled and chuckled bitterly. "Those experiments went through me first. He likes to pick apart the brain, physically and mentally, and uses it as long term torture in order to study reactions to the torture done to them."

"And what did he do to you?" Sebastian asked, and Aries didn't reply.

"Where are the other servants?" She asked, trying to get up off the bed, but her torso seemed to burn in that instant and she hissed, sitting back down.

"I told you not to move," Sebastian chided. "And you didn't answer my question. What did your father do to you?"

"How my father treated me when I was under his custody is none of your concern, Sebastian," Aries snapped. "Go to Ciel. Make sure he hasn't fallen ill yet. It might not be instantaneous, but it will appear over the next few days."

"How do you know that to be true? You have no evidence of a mass-poisoning." Sebastian asked, but Aries didn't answer his question.

"You know, you are going against your own instructions by keeping me awake here, Sebastian," Aries told him. "Go to Ciel. I'll be alright."

"You're lying to me, Aries," Sebastian frowned.

"I'm always lying to you, why is this any different?"

"He took you from this room. He'll come back here, won't he?"

"I've exercised that possibility, yes," Aries agreed.

"Why then are you telling me to leave?"

"Because, it is not your business to handle the dealings between me and my father. It is already delicate as it is, and frankly, surviving in his prescense is stressful alone. I don't want to have to worry about keeping you and Ciel alive as well, especially since the other servants probably won't be returning until far past dark."

"And if your father doesn't show?" Sebastian asked, "What will you do then?"

"Sleep," Aries admitted. "I won't be able to do either if you don't leave me be, though. Go check on Ciel, Sebastian. I'll be fine."

Sebastian sighed, annoyed by Aries' stubbornness, but stood and began to leave anyway. However, he lingered at the door for a moment. "You are aware that if Ciel were to be in trouble, I would be there near instantly?"

"I assume," Aries shrugged, "But, you being here isn't helping your master, despite his orders. So, aren't you, by contract, supposed to be protecting him at all times, even from himself?" Sebastian pressed his lips together, and shook his head.

"You are strange, Aries," Sebastian told her.

"You aren't the only one to tell me that," Aries replied. "Go. I am tired. Oh, and I lied when I asked for tea earlier. Please don't bring that up. I don't like your tea. It's always too sweet."

Sebastian chuckled, "An odd request, but alright." Aries smiled and shooed him away as he closed the door.

Now, surrounded by silence, Aries sighed and pulled out the envelope in her pocket and opened it. She hadn't had the time to actually look at it before.

'NOAH'S ARK CIRCUS' was in bold, calligraphic letters across the front of the golden ticket. On the back was their name and their showtimes. One was circled in bright red ink and it was a week away. Aries assumed that was the one Goodridge wanted her to be at, and knowing her father, if she didn't show, someone would probably die.

Around the edges of the golden ticket was an intriguing black lacey design aroind the ends. The circus had to be quite expensive to be selling tickets like these.

Aries sighed laying back on the bed. What if she was wrong about all this? What if Goodridge wasn't trying to take sick children? If Ciel had eaten the curry, he could afford a doctor. Hell, he could afford Sebastian.

Aries ran a hand down her face, wincing at her missing nails. She needed go get better quickly. If she was supposed to be going by next week and she wasn't ready, Goodridge would be highly upset.

So Aries closed her eyes and rested. There would be no attack tonight. Not if Goodridge wanted her ready for the performance.

If anything, he probably wanted her to star in it.