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The Scourge of the Demon Hunters—Act 14

Act Fourteen: Dinner's Darker Delights

By Lorelei_SandsPublished 5 years ago 12 min read
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Sowton was still fawning over Louisa’s every word when Ciel appeared at the parlour door.

“Ah, Sowton, I see you have met my cousin. Quite enchanting, isn’t she?”

“Earl Phantomhive, she is the most beautiful creature I have ever been entertained by.”

Ciel smiled, creature indeed. If only he knew the truth behind those words. At that moment Sebastian appeared behind him.

“My Lord, dinner is ready.”

“Excellent,” replied Ciel. “Louisa would you escort our guest?”

“Of course, cousin, I would be honoured.”

She glanced briefly at Sebastian as they passed him. His expression cautioned patience, but it was also tinged with pain and anger. She smiled, acknowledging his warning, and continued to the dining room with Sowton, who had missed the whole exchange. He was engrossed in his new plan to destroy the Phantomhive family and rebuild it in his own image.

Ciel moved to the head of the table and directed Sowton to the seat on his left, while Louisa took the empty seat to Ciel’s right. Sowton looked confused, and Ciel grinned.

“Forgive me for not following protocol and seating you on the right. We have business to discuss, and it is easier to converse when I can see you clearly.” He gestured to the patch that covered his right eye as he spoke.

Satisfied with the answer and ignoring the implied slight of being sat in a lower position than a woman, Sowton took his seat. At least with Louisa being directly opposite him, he had a clear view of her assets.

Sebastian served the first course, removing the vial from Sowton’s pocket while his attention was firmly fixed on Louisa. Sebastian always enjoyed his young master’s business dinners, but he was going to take extra pleasure in closing this particular transaction. Louisa saw the slight movement of Sebastian’s hand, but her face betrayed no hint of what she had seen. She continued to smile sweetly as Sowton showered Ciel with compliments over his care and devotion to Louisa.

As Sebastian poured the wine, Ciel took up the conversation.

“As head of the family, the welfare of all Phantomhives is my responsibility, and I take all my duties very seriously.”

“Yes, of course, my Lord,” said Sowton taking a sip from his glass, “you have a great deal of responsibility on your young shoulders.”

“Are you saying that I am unable to manage due to my age?”

Sowton stopped; he had forgotten how prickly Ciel could be when his age was mentioned. Yet he was still just a child and had a tendency to act like one every so often.

“No, far from it, my Lord. I marvel at how you shoulder your responsibilities so well and have created such good fortune for the company.” Sowton fiddled with his collar it was getting very hot and uncomfortable in the room.

“Yes, good fortune indeed, and with Louisa at a marriageable age, it will present an enticing dowry for the right suitor will it not? A position on the board and a place at my right hand?”

“The one you choose would be very lucky, your Lordship. Louisa is very beautiful and will make a wonderful wife.” Sowton was becoming more uncomfortable, and sweat was beginning to drip from his temples.

“I was hoping you may be able to suggest some suitable candidates, Sowton.”

“My Lord, I am honoured, but I can think of no one.”

“No one, not even yourself, after you made such an effort to see me tonight to ask for a position on the board? That is what you wanted, wasn’t it? A place at my right hand?”

Sowton looked at Ciel, searching for signs that the young Earl was toying with him. He was finding it hard to concentrate, but he saw nothing that raised any alarm. The right, carefully crafted reply now would seal his place in the business and the family.

As he opened his mouth to speak, Sebastian placed his main course in front of him and refilled his wine glass. Sowton was frustrated that he had been interrupted, but he took a sip of his wine to calm his nerves and tried hard to focus on what it was he was going to say.

“My Lord, I can think of nothing I want more.” He was beginning to feel very strange; the edges of his vision were blurred, and his voice sounded distorted. He couldn’t possibly be drunk; he had been careful to avoid drink all day. He wanted to remember this night in its entirety.

“Nothing? Are you so sure?” asked Ciel cryptically.

Sowton was sweating profusely now; he looked at Louisa in the hope that her beauty and his desire for her would help him to focus. As he looked at her, he could swear that her eyes had changed colour. In the place of the warm blue, cold black eyes returned his gaze. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, no, they were warm and blue just as they were before.

He looked at Ciel, who sat waiting for a reply as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. He needed some air. He tried to excuse himself from the meal, but the words wouldn’t form and his legs wouldn’t work. He tried again, only to find himself restrained by a heavy gloved hand on his shoulder. He tried to complain, to remind the butler of his place, but again the words would not come. He looked at Sebastian and recoiled as he saw his glowing red eyes. It was then that Ciel spoke.

“Mr Sowton, is something the matter?”

“I, I, I don’t know, I don’t feel...” he stammered before Ciel interrupted him.

“Do you not want my cousin anymore?” Ciel asked casually. Sowton looked at Louisa, hoping to find comfort, but instead, her eyes were black again, and her smile was filled with sharp, pointed teeth.

He tried once again to rise from his chair, only to be pushed back down by Sebastian.

“What about my company then, do you still want that?”

Sowton began to panic.

“What about my life?” Ciel said with a voice edged with ice.

As he spoke, Sebastian placed the vial on the table. Sowton could see that it had been opened and that it contained less liquid than it had when he arrived. He felt sick and close to passing out. He had heard stories of what happened to those that crossed Earl Phantomhive, the Queen’s Guard dog, but he had dismissed them as the tales of old men too weak and feeble to remove a small child. Now, as he watched Ciel’s calm assuredness, he was less certain and began to fear for his life.

“H, h, how?” he stammered.

“You should take more care in your treatment of your household, particularly the women within it. Everyone has their breaking point, and when they reach it, they tend to come to me.”

“You, you knew.”

“That you came here to kill me, yes. That you could be so easily distracted by a pretty face, yes. That the same pretty face would help to reveal your true, disgusting nature and the depths that you would stoop to, yes.”

Sowton tried to speak; he needed to know how much of the poison he had ingested. He needed to know what would happen to him now.

As if reading his mind, Ciel spoke. “You have not been given enough to kill you, not yet, and what happens next is completely up to you. You see, the only thing I don’t know is who. Who put you up to this?”

Sowton was a disgusting, power hungry, and depraved individual. But he lacked the resources needed to wheedle his way into the company and get this close to Ciel on his own. Even if he had, Ciel’s source from within Sowton’s household had clearly said there was another individual involved, someone who had been coaxing and cajoling Sowton into action for some time. They had never seen them, only heard the late night conversations between Sowton and his mystery guest.

Ciel continued, “This is what is going to happen. You are going to tell me everything, all your plots and plans, all your associates and backers, and then I am going to consider letting you go.”

Sowton shook his head. If he told Ciel anything, then his associate would kill him, of that he was certain.

“No, that does not work for you?” said Ciel without any hint of emotion. “Then I will leave my butler to extract what he can before you draw your last breath, and believe me, he can make that last a very long time.”

“Oh, and I should warn you,” continued Ciel, “Sebastian is no ordinary butler.”

As Sebastian closed in on him, Sowton screamed. “Now, now Mr Sowton, I haven’t even laid a finger on you yet. Which reminds me, I have a promise to keep.”

He stopped and turned to Ciel, “My Lord, are you sure you wish to stay?”

“Yes, I will stay. I want to hear what he has to say myself.”

“As you wish, my Lord. I only ask as it may get a little messy. This is the ideal opportunity to explore Miss Louisa’s potential talents.”

There was something in the way that Sebastian spoke that sent fear through Sowton to the point where he lost complete control of his bladder.

“My god, the man is completely spineless,” said Ciel with contempt. “I will stay, I must admit to being interested to see what my dear cousin can do.”

“As you wish, my Lord,” said Sebastian, and turning to Louisa, he said, “Let us see just how much like your father you are.”

Louisa walked around the table, her eyes still in their demon form; her mind was clear and present; she had complete control.

“Now focus, my love, and let’s see if you cannot cool down our guest here, he seems to be overheating somewhat.”

Louisa focused on Sowton’s fingers, she imagined them cold and blue, ice stopping the flow of blood to the very tips of each finger. Sowton cried out as frost and ice appeared on the tip of each finger, traveling down the first knuckle below his fingernails.

“Good, my love,” said Sebastian, not caring that Ciel could hear how he addressed her. If she was to maintain total control over her form and powers, then she needed to know that he was by her side, completely. “Now stop there; this is not a task we want to rush.”

Ciel grinned, choosing to ignore Sebastian’s familiarity with his cousin; now was not the time to distract either of them. “Sowton, I would estimate you have moments before that damage is irreversible and you lose the tip of each finger. Tell me what I need to know,” said Ciel, his voice monotonous, sounding almost bored.

Sowton, who had now lost control of his bowels as well as his bladder, cried for mercy.

“And where was your mercy for me or my cousin?” asked Ciel before nodding to Sebastian.

“Now my love, a little further, I think.”

Louisa focused and the frost grew, taking in each finger down to the next joint. Again Sowton cried out, but he would not give a name. His fear of his associate was still greater than his pain.

“Well, this will not do at all,” said Sebastian. He walked over to Sowton, lifted one hand, and snapped off its little finger at the frozen joint. “You have nine more, and I’ll admit that I am starting to get very bored.”

By the fifth finger, Sowton was weeping uncontrollably. With the tears came the beginnings of a confession.

“He said I would be paid well, that I was doing a service for my country and would be rewarded, my proclivities would be overlooked, and I would have everything I ever desired.”

“Who?” asked Ciel.

Sowton gave no response; he only sobbed as he looked at his ruined hand.

“His eyes, let me take his eyes,” said Louisa.

“Excellent choice,” replied Sebastian, “but do not damage the brain; he still needs to give us a name.”

Ciel watched in awe and horror as Louisa created a shard of ice with a tip as fine as a needle. Without hesitation, she walked over to Sowton, tipped back his head, and slowly inserted it into his right eye. His scream rang through Ciel’s head, yet he could not look away as Sowton’s eyeball burst, covering Louisa in blood and vitreous fluid.

Sowton broke and he began to babble, making little sense. “He had no name, no name, just promises, promises, he promised, he promised, when the time came, when the end came, I would be saved, I would be pure, my mistakes would not be counted against me, as long as I held my nerve, my soul would be saved.”

Louisa turned to Sebastian and Ciel; those words, she had heard those words before.

“The Order, those are the words of the Order. This is about more than just the Phantomhive name or its work,” she said.

“I would have to agree, young master; it would seem that something greater is trying to use you as a pawn in their game.”

“Yes, so it would seem, but the question is who? We will get no more from him. Finish him and clear up this mess. I am going to bed.”

“Do you wish me to attend to you, young master?” asked Sebastian.

“No, I believe you may be required elsewhere this evening.” As he spoke, he looked at Louisa, who still hovered between her human and demon forms. “Do not get used to it; I will not be making a habit of it,” he added as he left the room.

Sebastian went to Louisa’s side and kissed her gently on the neck. “He is all yours, my love, finish him.”

Louisa smiled, showing her pointed teeth. She released her wings, bringing out her full demon form, and fashioned a second needle of ice. Louisa drove it through Sowton’s other eye; this time, she did not stop, allowing the point to find its way into the soft tissue of his brain. Sowton drawled and whimpered, hanging being consciousness and death.

Keeping her earlier promise to herself, she caused his lips to freeze, crack, and shatter; he merely whimpered as all sense had gone from him now.

Death came quickly then, as Louisa discovered that she could also control other elements, and fire burned Sowton from the inside out.

fan fiction
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About the Creator

Lorelei_Sands

Professional copywriter and mother during the day. Poet, dabbler in fanfiction and erotica at night. I've been living with a long term chronic condition for over 20 years and I'm not ready to give up the fight yet. Glory or Valhalla.

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