✨Seeing in the Dark✨

🌹Chapter 13: Opus 13🌹

Ciel's hands scrambled for the door handle, missing the first two tries as they shook so badly. The door finally opened and he didn't bother to wait for Alois to stop the car. He hit the ground, knees scraping against the pavement as Alois shouted at him but Ciel pointedly ignored him. The only thought on his mind was to get to Sebastian.

He couldn't breathe. It was a struggle to take each breath and his body refused to work properly. It felt like his limbs were weighted down with lead and they could only drag helplessly against the ground with each step he tried to take. Even his hearing refused to work, the whine in his ears pitching to high-pitched noise that threatened to deafen him.

Briefly, Ciel wondered if this was what it felt like to have an out of body experience. He couldn't even feel his body and Ciel could barely even comprehend the actions he performed. Everything he did came from muscle memory. It forced his legs forward, even though they felt awkward and strange. He couldn't feel each staggering step he took, but his mind did.

The only thing, surprisingly, that he was aware of was the loud beat of his heart and the way he drew oxygen into his lungs. The frantic thumps echoed in his ears and pulsed throughout his body. Funny that he had never heard it so clearly before. He likened it to waking up from a near death experience even though he was very much so alive.

But what about Sebastian? Was he still alive?

The thought had him stumbling forward and sent his heart into chaotic overtime. His breathing caught in his chest and then quickened, heavy pants falling from his breath. The two sounds blurred together, threatening to drown out the high-pitched whine that still rang in his ears. But amidst those noises, Ciel's thoughts raced the loudest.

Sebastian, they repeated. What had happened to Sebastian?

Something had happened, otherwise there wouldn't be so many police cars and an ambulance parked on his street. And if Ciel had to wager a guess, the oddly parked cruiser belonged to Claude.

He finally reached the apartment, approaching the barrier the police had set up. How he made it there in his dumbfounded state, Ciel couldn't guess but he assumed it had something to do with will power and the desire to know what had happened to Sebastian. To discover whether he lived or not.

One of the officers met him before he could duck under the yellow tape. "I'm sorry, Sir, but this is a crime scene. You can't come any further."

"No," Ciel said quickly, shaking his head and all his senses seemed to snap back at him with the simple human interaction. It reminded him that he wasn't alone here and the answers he sought rested just in front of him. "I have to, oh God, please. I have to see Sebastian."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," the officer said. She sounded apologetic.

"Please," Ciel begged and tried to see over the officer's shoulder. "Please, he's a close friend. What happened? Tell me he's okay." His legs trembled, threatening to buckle under his weight and Ciel latched onto the officer to keep himself steady. The pain from his earlier fall had started to make itself known, turning into a dull pulsing ache.

The woman gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry; I can't release that information to you. You're not family and I have to follow protocol."

Ciel snarled. "Fuck your protocol. That's my, my," he choked on the word and his vision blurred. "You have to let me in! You have to let me see him!" Why could no one understand that?

A steady hand grabbed him under the arm and pulled him away from the officer. Ciel struggled, trying his best to fight against the newest person until they pinned his arms to his side. "Ciel, relax!" A familiar voice called to him and his vision slowly came back to him. Alois's face flickered in and out of view, and Alois gave him a light shake. "Come on, Ciel. I need you to focus."