Her Butler: Sinful

:: Chapter Twenty Five ::

~Ciel's POV~

All of the first-tier members of the circus were currently residing in my city estate as Joker took time to recover from his injuries. Sebastian was less than thrilled to be given the task of looking after Joker. What was I supposed to do? Did he expect me to abandon him after all he'd done? Why would he save me? I was the enemy; I took everything away from them, their father, their patron, their savior.

"Young mistress, is everything all right?" The demon's silken voice startled me from my brooding thoughts.

"How's he doing?" I asked quietly from behind my desk.

Sebastian glared for the briefest of moments before composing himself, "Unfortunately, he'll survive and make a full recovery." He sighed.

"Thank you, that is all." I dismissed him with a wave of my hand and returned my focus to the papers across my desk. It was piled high with business documents, ideas and proposals needing my approval and revisions.

"Young Mistress-."

"You have a patient you should be tending to." I said coolly as I immersed myself in my work.

Sebastian left in silence and I dropped my head to my desk with a groan. Something was severely wrong with me. I couldn't face Joker or Sebastian. Seeing both of them made my heart hurt. Perhaps some fresh air would clear my head, but Sebastian would never let me go out alone. It may be possible to sneak out, though he'd probably think of a way to punish me upon my return.

A soft hissing sound snapped me from my internal war. What was that? It hissed again, it sounded like it was coming from my desk drawer. My heart began to beat faster pounding so loud it echoed in my mind. Why would there be something in my desk drawer?

Slowly, I reached out for the polished golden handle of the drawer. I held my breath as I lightly gripped the handle in one hand as my other grasped a pewter candelabrum from atop my desk. If anything jumped out, I wanted a way to defend myself.

My heart raced and for a brief moment the only sound I could hear was the sound of my beating heart. Everything else dulled down and my heartbeat began to slow as I inched open the drawer. A vibrant green snake poked its head out of the drawer with a loud hiss and bared its fangs at me. I jumped from my seat with a scream dropping the candelabrum and scrambled to climb the fireplace mantle.

The door to my study flew open. Sebastian and a heavily bandaged Joker appeared in the doorway looking panicked.

"What happened?" Sebastian asked in concern as he stared at me in awe, "Young Mistress how did you get up there?"

"WHY IN BLOODY HELL IS THERE A SNAKE IN MY DESK?!" I screamed as I pointed at the bright green serpent now claiming my abandoned chair.

Joker chuckled, "They're adventurous little th-."

"WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED? YOU'RE INJURED!" I snarled.

"Calm down, little Dove." Joker flashed me a dazzling smile. "Told ye, tis just a scratch."

Sebastian and Joker stared at the massive shield bearing my family's coat of arms hanging on the wall behind me with wide eyes.

"Young mistress, whatever you do, I implore you not to turn around." Sebastian said in a soothing voice.