A/N: Yay, my first KuroFic!

...This was meant to be a one shot. It turned out at over 15,000 words so I've split it into chapters that I'll update as I proofread them individually. Expect quick updates, if you're reading this and it isn't finished yet.

I've managed to write a fairly decent amount in just over a week, but what matters is the quality of the contents, so please, critique me all you like. I'm waiting for you. *Adjusts glasses... even though I have none*

Expect the next update to be very, very, soon. I'm serious. Proofreading doesn't take long, even for a perfectionist like me, but that doesn't mean to say that I don't still miss things. Let me know if I HAVE missed something, and I'll fix it up how I deem appropriate ^^

I seem to ramble on in these notes, which is why I now put them at the top, in case there's a *SHOCKREVELATION* or *CLIFFHANGER* then suddenly me going on about some random nonsense no one ever reads.

Anyway, enjoy! ...Please :3

Warning: High Voltage

Chapter One - Burnt

They were burning again. They were always burning.

If I shut my eyes, it'll all go away! It's not real! It can't be real!

It was no use. Even with his eyes firmly shut tight, he could hear the crackling flames around him. A distant yell and a pained scream ripped through the air.

He opened his eyes and uncovered his ears."Father?" he yelled, running in the direction of the horrible sounds. "Mother?"

He came to a broken door. He pushed it aside and ran into the room behind it, desperate to find his parents. He clung to the one measly shred of hope he had left.

He saw them, and cried out in pain.

"FATHER! MOTHER!"

"Young Master?"

Ciel's eyes fluttered open. He was lying flat on his back in the centre of his bed, entangled in his sweat-drenched sheets. Sebastian hovered above him, firmly gripping his upper arms with both hands. He supposed he had been thrashing around a bit, judging by the upset state of the bed.

"My, Young Lord, you really should read something else before going to sleep," Sebastian remarked, eying the Edgar Allan-Poe book on the floor beside the bed.

"Shut up," Ciel growled, pulling his arms out of Sebastian's grip and sitting up. The room was still mostly dark, lit only by a single candle holder on the bedside, and it looked as if the sun was far from rising. "What time is it?"

"It is forty-three minutes past three in the morning, my Lord," Sebastian answered precisely. "You were thrashing about in danger of hurting yourself."

Ciel massaged his throbbing head with his palm. Sebastian's accurateness and acute hearing was still unnerving sometimes. He hoped that Sebastian would consider the book to be the reason for the nightmare, but somehow Ciel knew that his butler would piece together that it wasn't at all the case. How weak of him, to still have nightmares about the deaths of his parents. He was thirteen now; a teenager. Nightmares were for children, and definitely not for people of his status as an Earl; child or otherwise.

"Master?" Sebastian's voice dragged Ciel out of his thoughts. "Do you need anything? Would you like me to read to you until you fall asleep again, or sing you a lullaby?" he added teasingly.

Ciel scowled. "Shove off. Just bring me some tea," he snapped.

Sebastian stood, and bowed. "As you wish, my Young Lord." He left the room.

Ciel put his head in both hands, pushing the bases of his palms into his eyes. Showing weakness was not an option. Quit being such a cry-baby he told himself. It is my duty as the Earl of Phantomhive, the Queen's Watchdog, to keep my dignity and status.

He repeated it to himself many times. Whenever he had a nightmare, he would remind himself of this. Why, he did not know. Perhaps he thought his pride could stomp unpleasant images from his unconscious mind's eye?

Within minutes, Sebastian returned with the tea Ciel had requested. The sweet lemony aroma helped to relax him, and after a few sips, he was asleep once more.

Sebastian smirked at his sleeping master, before clearing away the half-full (or half-empty) cup of tea and extinguishing the candles.

"Honestly, my Lord," he said under his breath. "So childish."

When the sun had finally risen, and Sebastian had awoken his master again, Ciel continued as if nothing had happened.

"What's my schedule for today?" he asked with a sniff as Sebastian took away his clean breakfast plate.

"There is some urgent paperwork that needs to be finished today concerning a new toy model and a new flavour of chocolate. I suggest you do that as soon as possible. Then, at two in the afternoon you have lessons with the new Arithmetic tutor, Ms. Perkins. Apart from that, your schedule is relatively clear for the time being," Sebastian cited, putting a slight emphasis on the phrase 'for the time being'. While Ciel sometimes did have blanks in his schedule, the likelihood of them not being filled by something last minute was practically non-existent. He wondered what would fill it today.

"I guess I'll be in my study, then. Bring me some tea in half an hour," Ciel said lazily.

"Very well, my lord."

Ciel was quick to finish the paperwork. By the time Sebastian came into his study with his tea and his mail, he was playing with dominoes on the top of his desk.

"A letter from the Queen, Young Master," Sebastian said, placing the tea on the desk and handing Ciel the letter. He flicked the end domino over and cut open the letter, reading over it quickly but carefully.

"Anything of relevance, my Young Lord?" Sebastian asked conversationally as he stacked the dominoes neatly inside their box and put them away.

"An odd case. Her Majesty wishes for me to solve a string of disappearances and reappearances," Ciel explained.

"Care to elaborate, Young Master?"

"London middle-class citizens have been disappearing from their homes and reappearing dead in completely unrelated locations. That's about all it says, though, we'll need to go to the Yard for more information."

Sebastian smirked. "This is a nice way to pass the time, is it not, Master?"

"I suppose it is, I was getting quite bored," Ciel admitted truthfully

Another half-hour later found Ciel and Sebastian at the scene of the latest crime, which was not far from the Phantomhive manor.

"-While there's no pattern connecting the victims, the injuries—" Sir Randall was saying to Abberline as Ciel and Sebastian approached them.

"-Are the same. Major burning and disfiguration to both arms," Ciel finished the sentence, much to Sir Randall's disgust.

"Not you again! We can handle this one on our own!" he spat.

Ciel smirked. "While I don't doubt you, I am simply fulfilling Her Majesty's wishes. May I see the crime scene?"

Sir Randall scowled stubbornly, while Abberline smiled tentatively at Ciel and Sebastian, who was following his master like a shadow. He'd seen them working on cases with the yard many times, but he still found the pair slightly intimidating.

Ciel and Sebastian were reluctantly allowed to see where the body had been found. It was in the cellar of an abandoned pub, and apart from the markings showing where the corpse had been, the room looked relatively unperturbed.

"What do you think, Sebastian?" Ciel enquired. "Apparently, the victim died of severe burns, but there doesn't appear to be any signs of a fire in here."

Sebastian frowned. "There is the possibility that the murder was not committed here, that the body was simply placed, or that it was not a fire, My Lord."

Ciel looked closely around the room again, making sure not to miss any possible detail. Finally, his eyes came to rest on Abberline, who was standing nervously at the foot of the stairs. Sir Randall had put him in charge of escorting Ciel and Sebastian.

"Where is the victim's corpse?" asked Ciel firmly.

"Currently undergoing autopsy," Abberline answered stiffly. "I have a list of the other victims here, if you need it…" He held out the paper awkwardly. Sebastian took it from him, and handed it to Ciel, who looked it over. The list stated the names, addresses, and dates of birth and death, the place of death, and a description of the crime scene. After looking it over, he handed it to Sebastian.

"You were saying there's no connection between the murders, but you're wrong. If you look closely at the dates, you can see the pattern," Ciel explicated smugly. "There have been five murders in total. The first was on the eighth of May. The second was two days later, on the tenth of May. The third, four days later, on the fourteenth. The fourth, nine days later, on the twenty-third of May. And the fifth was yesterday, the eighth of June."

Abberline said nothing, but his eyes widened in apparent shock at the young Earl's perceptiveness.

"So it's come full circle, hasn't it, Sebastian?" Ciel continued.

"Indeed it has, Young Master."

"If these murders continue, then the next will be either in twenty-five days, or, if the culprit intended to come right back to the eighth, then the next murder will be tomorrow, on the tenth."

"Y-you think so!" Abberline burst out.

"Yes, I do. Now could you take us to see the body?"

Abberline seemed lost in self-conflict for a minute, before he gave in, and allowed them to take a carriage to the local morgue, where the body was being kept.

Before they got to the carriage, Ciel gave the list of victims to Sebastian. "I want you to compile a list of relatives and acquaintances for each of these victims, then contact them all to find alibis for the victim's activity of... let's say, a week prior to the time of their disappearance. I want it done by tonight, at the latest."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian said as he helped Ciel into the carriage and saw to it that Tanaka knew where to drive the carriage. As it rolled away, he smirked. "It shall be done."

"Can one man do all of that in one day?" Abberline asked, shocked. "Isn't that order a bit harsh?"

Ciel smiled charmingly at the detective. "If it's Sebastian, he'll have it done before lunch," he said confidently, and with an air of finality, so that Abberline could simply not reply.

They reached the morgue within a few minutes, and Ciel and Abberline were lead into the room where the body lay, prepared for an autopsy. The body was as all the others had been described; the arms were completely charred, and there were some burns to various other parts of the body. The look on the young woman's face suggested that she had been caught by surprise. Ciel stared at the severe burns, especially at the nearly non-existent hands, which where the most charred.

"You've seen the body, now let's go!" Abberline said, eyeing Ciel, who was frowning, his brow furrowed.

"No, wait," he said quietly. "I don't think... that these are fire burns."

Abberline blinked. "How can you be sure?"

Ciel closed his eyes. As he did, he was able to see the disfigured bodies of his parents, engulfed in flame. "Trust me... I know well what a fire burn looks like."

Deciding not to remark on the young Earl's moment of sentimentality, Abberline asked. "Then what do you suggest?"

Eyes snapping open, Ciel once again took on the official haughtiness he so often wore. "Electricity perhaps? It would make sense, since I don't think merely having your arms char-grilled would cause someone to die, unless from blood loss."

Nodding, Abberline added, "And there was no blood at the scene, so that can't be it."

"Unless the victim was murdered somewhere other than in the cellar," Ciel corrected. "Even so, tell the pathologist to check for any signs of cardiovascular collapse or cardiac arrest or seizure."

"R-right!" Abberline stammered, pulling out a pen and a notepad from his coat pocket and quickly writing it down.

"And also," Ciel took a few steps closer to the body, holding his breath as to not breathe in the disgusting smell of blood and burnt flesh. "Look at this," he pointed a gloved finger at the blackened hand of the corpse. "Don't you think it takes on a slightly reddish hue, like blood? Fire would simply burn it away."

Abberline followed Ciel's instructions, and examinined the arm. Some of the blackness did indeed appear to be a dark red; like burnt congealed blood.

"Blood is a very good conductor of electricity. Better than water, in fact," Ciel continued. "But when an extremely high voltage runs through it, it will do its best to build up a resistance, and therefore congeal."

Amazed at Ciel's observance and knowledge, Abberline scribbled down these notes, as well as the next instruction, though he hesitated first.

"I'd also like this blood to be tested and compared to a sample of pure blood from inside the body."

Abberline didn't bother to question why, since by now he trusted the young boy's instincts probably more than his own.

"Alright then, we can go now," Ciel sighed lazily, walking towards the door.

Ciel went back to his carriage and instructed Tanaka to take him back to the manor, while Abberline stayed behind to relay the information to the pathologist who was in charge of the autopsy.

Sebastian was, of course, standing on the driveway waiting as the carriage rolled up to the front door.

"Young Master, welcome home," he said smoothly. "It appears we have some...uninvited guests, so I was unable to return to you."

"Uninvited guests?" Ciel echoed. "You don't mean..."

"CIEEEEEEEEEEEL!"

Suddenly, Prince Soma burst through the doors and started running towards Ciel at an impossibly fast speed.

"Ah-!" Ciel gasped desperately as the young Prince drew closer. "Sebastian!"

"Yes, my Lord?" Sebastian asked pleasantly as Prince Soma took a flying leap and smacked into Ciel in a tight attack hug.

"Cieeeeel! I haven't seen you in so loooong! It's good to see my best friend again!" he gushed, still holding Ciel in a vice-like grip.

"Get off me! I'm not your bloody toy!"Ciel protested indignantly, cringing away from his enthusiastic 'friend'. "Sebastian! Help me, damn it!"

However, Sebastian was deep in a conversation with Agni, who had appeared silently under the cover of his noisy master, about the benefits of salt. Salt.

Finally, Soma released Ciel, and dragged him inside to taste a new curry recipe of Agni's.

"Bastard," he mumbled under his breath, eyeing Sebastian's amiable expression as he served tea in the parlour twenty minutes later. He then bitterly turned his gaze onto Soma, who was staring at him expectantly. "So, why are you here again?"

Soma's expression fell. "You aren't happy to see us?" he said, hurt. "We came to see you and Sebastian, of course!"

Before Ciel could reply, Sebastian did so for him. "Forgive my Master, he's simply tired from having slept restlessly last night."

Ciel turned and gave him a glowered at him. How dare he talk about such personal things in front of guests? Especially Dr. Isn't-a-Doctor.

"Ciel! You aren't sleeping! Lack of sleep is connected to many serious conditions!" Prince Soma burst out, leaping from his chair suddenly. "Agni! Get me my diagnosis book!"

"Jo Ajna!"

"Wait a second! There's nothing wrong with me, I just... ate too much chocolate last night is all!" Ciel lied desperately. Agni and Prince Soma did not listen, of course, and started off on a list of possible ailments Ciel could be suffering from.

"Ah! It's probably insomnia, Ciel! Or narcolepsy, which also includes the weakness of muscles, which makes complete sense for you!"

"What! I do not have insomnia! And I'm not weak at all!" Ciel disputed angrily, also standing up from his chair.

The instant he did so, Soma was in front of him and trying to push him back down onto the chair. "No, Ciel! You mustn't stand up! It could be RLS! Restless Leg Syndrome! You stay here and I'll-!"

"Don't touch me!" Ciel hissed, slapping the Prince's hand away. "Leave me alone!"He glared at the three of them – Sebastian included, before turning on his heel and storming out of the room.

His exit preceded a stiff silence. Soma's hand was still stretched out to where Ciel had been standing seconds previously.

"Forgive him, please," Sebastian said quietly, breaking the silence. "He is simply under an amount of stress at the moment. Please understand, he is only a child, on top of being an Earl."

"O-of course!" Soma stuttered guiltily. "Please tell Ciel I'm sorry, Sebastian. I was only trying to help..."

"As you wish. Now, please excuse me, I must inform my master that his arithmetic tutor has rescheduled today's lesson," Sebastian bowed deeply before taking leave.

He strode quickly down the hall, and entered his master's study, whereupon he found the Young Master sitting in his chair hiding behind some company documents.

"What's wrong with you today, Sebastian?" he snarled, not looking up. "You're even more apathetic than usual."

Sebastian smirked, slowly approaching his Master's desk. "There's nothing wrong with me, Young Master. It's you."

Ciel slapped the papers down on the desk and looked up at him, wearing same bitter expression as earlier. "What are you talking about?"

Sebastian leaned forward, placing a teasing finger under Ciel's chin. "You're even more irritable than usual, lately. Not to mention these horrible dark rings under your eyes." He traced them once with his thumb, as if to make him aware of them. "You must get more sleep, Young Master.

Ciel pushed his hand away. "Don't be ridiculous. I've been getting all the sleep I need."

Sebastian smirked, straightening up. "Then perhaps it is the nightmares?"

Ciel stiffened and brought the papers up in front of his face again.

Chuckling, Sebastian remarked. "Really, my Lord, you must tell me these things. We don't want the Young Master getting sick, now, do we?"

Ciel remained stonily silent.

"By the way, Ms. Perkins is unable to teach you arithmetic today, due to a recent bout of the flu, so you have more free time."

Still no reply.

"Would you like one of the custard tarts I prepared this morning? They should have set by now."

Ciel's fingers twitched slightly. "...Fine. Bring it to me later. I'm going to get some work done."

Sebastian chuckled under his breath. "Very good, Young Master."

As soon as Sebastian had left the study and closed the door behind him, Ciel threw the papers down and rushed over to the mirror, hung on the wall near the window, to inspect his eye. There was indeed a dark ring underneath it, and they were slightly bloodshot, as if he had not slept in days. His eye patch covered up whatever rings might be under his other eye. Cursing under his breath, he returned to his seat and promised himself an early night.

Sebastian returned just over an hour later wheeling on a tray the promised custard tart and some hot Assam Black Tea.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Master. Prince Soma was causing quite the—" he paused when he saw that Ciel had his head buried in his arms, fast asleep.

"My, my," Sebastian murmured, shaking his head.

Ciel's eyes opened slowly. "Sebastian..." He lifted his head.

"I apologise, Master. Did I wake you?" Sebastian said sincerely, bowing.

"You must have. Did I drift off?" Ciel asked, still slightly bleary-eyed.

"Obviously, Young Master. You appear to have been asleep for a while," mused the butler, as he poured his master some tea.

"What makes you say that?"

Sebastian smiled amiably. "All irritation with me has vanished."

Ciel rolled his eyes, and took the cup of tea as it was handed to him. "I suppose Prince Thinks-He's-A-Doctor is still causing a racket, then?"

Sighing, Sebastian nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. When I told him you were busy doing paperwork he was less than pleased."

"It's not like I got any work done, anyway," Ciel admitted as he straightened the papers that had gotten slightly creased when he had fallen asleep on them. "I suppose I really was tired. No, I still am..."

"Would you like me to prepare a bath for you, Young Master? Then you can take it easy for the rest of the day," Sebastian suggested kindly.

"Yes, do so right away. I'll stay here and finish this in the meantime." He indicated the tea and tart.

"Right away, my Young Lord," he said, bowing low and leaving the study. Ciel quickly finished his tea and wolfed down the custard tart. Sebastian's sweets were, as always, perfect. Five minutes after his departure, aforementioned sweet-maker returned to inform Ciel that his bath was ready.

- Silver