Haunted

Haunted (Chapter 3) Awoken

Ciel awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. Blinking several times and groaning, he looked over at the clock- it read 11:45. He flopped back on his pillow and rubbed a hand over his eyes, wondering what could have woken him up. It was then that he noticed a suspicious lump at the bottom of the bed. He lay staring at it in confusion for a couple of minutes, then a grin slowly spread across his face. Pulling back the covers, he looked underneath and chuckled, "Come out of there, Alois. You'll suffocate."

A dishevelled blonde head appeared from under the sheets, and grinned at him.

"Honestly," Ciel said, smiling. "Sneaking into my bed like that. You didn't half give me a fright! Whatever am I going to do with you?" He shifted onto his side, and Alois crawled up happily into his arms.

"I couldn't sleep in my own bed," Alois replied, his expression darkening a little. He looked as though he was going to add something else, but thought better of it. Instead, he buried his face in Ciel's nightgown. "I understand this is going to be rather hard to explain in the morning," he muttered ruefully. "A couple of pillows under a duvet won't fool Claude."

Ciel gave an uneasy laugh. "Indeed," he replied. "In fact, I have the most uncomfortable feeling that Sebastian knows exactly what's going on."

Alois grimaced, and looked down. "I'd rather that than spend the night alone, though." he murmured, hugging Ciel tighter. Ciel reached down and pulled the covers up around them. "Ssh," he said. "Go to sleep. I'm here." Alois obediently closed his eyes as the other earl stroked his hair, and was soon asleep. I don't know what it is, Ciel thought vaguely as he drifted off, but he's scared of something.

--

When Ciel woke the next morning, Alois was already gone. I suppose he didn't want to have to answer any awkward questions, he thought to himself. He turned over and went back to sleep.

They discussed what to do at the breakfast table.

"We need to find some way to get rid of those tiresome ghosts," Ciel said as he took a sip of his tea. "Her Majesty's instructions were to stop them interfering so the church could be demolished. However, it's not going to be an easy task..." He sighed.

"You've got that right," Alois agreed, shovelling a forkful of bacon into his mouth. "They're just kids."

Ciel ran a hand distractedly through his hair. "If only they were older, I could reason with them... but I can see they don't intend to leave without a fight." He sighed again. "We'll just have to go in there and try and convince them to go."

Sebastian smirked. "To think that a couple of children- ah, I mean ghosts, could cause you so much trouble," he said.

"Oh, be quiet," Ciel growled, sitting up straight. "I'll deal with this somehow. I have no other choice."

--

This time, when they entered the church, the group were greeted more quietly. So quietly in fact, that Alois got a dreadful fright when the little boy appeared silently behind him and tugged on the bow on his coat. Turning round sharply, he gave a sigh of relief when he saw it was just him. "You didn't half make me jump," he said. He bent down and smiled at the kid. "What's your name?" he asked. The small spectre gazed solemnly at him for a minute with his big soulless eyes, then said in a voice barely more than a whisper,

"-mmy."

"Pardon?" Alois asked.

"Timmy," the boy repeated, slightly louder. Alois grinned, looking a little sad all of a sudden. "Timmy," he said. "That's a nice name." He went to pat the little ghost's head, but stopped in time, remembering. "Bloody sods," he muttered grimly to himself, looking away angrily. "Murdering a little kid. Damn them to hell."