Silence

Chapter 6

"It appears Adalina's life was a bit darker than anticipated," Sebastian said to Ciel as he served him his tea.

"Why do you say that? Did she tell you?"

"No. I was able to see it for myself."

Sebastian explained what he had seen when he had connected with Adalina in order to share her memories. He conveniently left out the unusual feeling he'd had when she parted from him. He still couldn't explain that himself.

"Sebastian, I want you to see if you can find where those men live. If any of the girls are still there, free them. And if there are any more occupants who attempt to stop you, deal with them accordingly."

"Yes, my lord."

As Sebastian took off to fulfill his orders, Ciel prepared a letter for the Queen. After all, he dealt with criminals and the business they partook in the underworld, and those men who had abused all of the young girls were about as active in the underworld as one could get.

He was glad he finally knew the reason Adalina refused to speak. It certainly made sense after all the trauma she had been through. He could relate to her on some level. Both of them had seen their parents die and were forced into captivity of different sorts.

He had to wonder if Adalina would ever choose to speak again. What kind of situation would she be in where she chose to say something? Would he live to see such a day?

Only time would tell.

Adalina soon graduated from foils, so Sebastian began to train her with real swords. She picked up a lot of cuts and scrapes, but she didn't care. If a lot of minor injuries prevented her from getting killed in the future, it was worth it.

Sebastian soon also began to teach her hand-to-hand combat. While it was literally impossible for Adalina to defeat him, he was an excellent opponent to train with. He took things slow enough for her to learn, he was patient, and with his speed, he could easily give her the impression she was fighting multiple people. While he knew when to hold back, that didn't mean he went easy on her. She picked up many bruises and sore muscles as she trained. But she refused to let any of that mess with her work. She still remained a loyal and hardworking head maid for the Earl Phantomhive.

The whole idea of training with Sebastian was comical really. No maids serving nobility learned how to swordfight or engage in combat. If anyone found out about the long hours she spent learning such skills (including the times where Sebastian had awoken her in the middle of the night for additional training), she might be rebuked for such improper behavior.

However, she was a Phantomhive maid, and the rules for her were a bit different than for the rest of society.

Sebastian, Ciel, and Adalina were in town late at night doing some shopping and seeing if there was any activity that Scotland Yard did not know about yet. It was always best for Ciel to know things before they did. Scotland Yard always did interfere with his work in the most annoying ways.

It was a very quiet night and hardly anyone was still out and about.

They had just exited one of the shops when a short but shrill scream pierced the air. Immediately, the three of them took off to see the source of the noise and help whoever may be in trouble.

Adalina was not prepared for the sight that greeted her.

A woman lay sprawled on the ground just off the sidewalk where she could easily be missed if one wasn't really looking. Blood flowed from her body and began to soak the pavement.

It reminded her of that fateful day so long ago.

Her father's blood running across the floor. Her mother's blood splashing onto her face and clothing.