Hello! RedVoid here with the prologue of a brand new story! ;)

This fanfic will be OC-centric. But I don't really have any pairings in mind; the only ones I beleve will appear, eventually, are Ciel/Elizabeth and one-sided Grell/any other male (mostly Sebastian though).

Disclaimer (valid for all the chapters): I don't own Kuroshitsuji nor its characters. I only own the plot and OCs.

Warning: English is my second language, so let me know if you find any mistakes that I'll fix them right away.

Hope you like the prologue! =)

Today, July 5th, is a very special day… a very special day indeed. No, it's not my birthday… actually nothing important to me happened in this date. At least, not yet.

But, where are my manners? Introductions should always come first, so, since I don't believe I'll be hearing much from you, let me begin: my name is Eliza Davis and I think I'm 20 years old. Why I'm not sure about my age? You lose track of time after years trapped in a scientific facility on the underground of a castle to be used as a guinea pig.

And that brings me back to why today is a special day: I'll be escaping this place.

Sorry about cutting short my introduction, but we'll have plenty of time to talk later, if you stick around; if you don't… well, one more crazy person talking to herself won't make a difference in this world, right?

First, let me give you a description of the castle's plant… actually, of how I believe this place's plant is, after all they don't come up and show a map of the place to their prisoners. But, after being here for as long as I remember, I was able to build a mental map of the place myself; it took me some good 10 years (what can I say? I've never been the brightest bulb in the box), but I did it and I will explain it to you right now.

Let's start with the third basement floor and also the lowest one; aka the prison. This floor is built out of stone and is quite big so it can fit many cells; their sizes range a lot, so some of them are full of prisoners while others are occupied just by two or three. The cells were built side by side and all of them have an iron door facing a narrow hallway that can hardly fit three people at once. On each extremity of the hallway there is another iron door, one opens the way to a huge empty room where they… you know what? I think it'll be better if I talk about this room later. Now, the other door opens the way to a huge old stone stairwell that leads to the second basement floor. Got the picture in your mind? Now imagine it at least three times dirtier.

Did you dirt up the place as I told you to? Good. Now clean it up, because the next rooms are in the summit of cleanliness; they are part of the scientific area.

The scientific area isn't just a huge lab as you're probably thinking; before the lab, there's a white corridor of a medium length with others iron doors that lead to other cells. But the cells of the scientific area are far better than the ones in the prison; they're cleaner, more comfortable (or should I say less uncomfortable?) and private. Needless to say, these cells are occupied by the most important and comported experiments here. Now, after the corridor, there's the huge lab that you imagined.

Some of you must've imagined a dark place, full of open bodies over dissection tables and many scientists working as slaves for a crazy and sadistic one; others, on the other hand, must've imagined a well-illuminated and organized room with scientists dressed all in white working cooperatively. Sorry sinister labs lovers, the other ones were right.

The lab is extremely clean and impeccably organized, and the only open bodies are the ones in the surgery room, localized on the right extremity of the lab. Also, the scientists aren't enslaved and there is no sadistic mad-scientist; believe it or not, they don't take pleasure in our pain, though I must admit that they don't put effort in keeping it away from us either.

Why the lab and the scientists aren't cruel when their guinea-pigs are imprisoned human beings? Simple, the only guinea-pigs who enter the lab are the ones who occupy the scientific area's cells, in other words, the important ones, so the scientists need to provide relatively good living conditions to them.

But I'm losing focus here; before talking about the people that inhabit this place I must finish describing the castle; don't worry, I'm pretty much done with.

So, on the lab's center, there is a spiral stair case that leads to the first basement floor; I've never been up there so I won't be able to tell you how it is, but I've been told by someone that the stairs take you to the castle's wine cellar.

I think I'm done with descriptions. Are you still there? I hope I didn't bore you too much... Well, now I think I should tell a bit more about myself as I've promised, right?

You already know my name and age, so let's jump to my background here in the castle.

The first thing I remember was waking up in one of the dungeons' cells, surrounded by people that I didn't know; some of them were very old while others were only children. I think I was ten years old at the time.

Now, what does a ten-year old do when she wakes up in a dirty cell surrounded by people she doesn't know? She cries, and that's exactly what I did… well, I didn't exactly cry; I had a fit. I thrashed, screamed and cried, demanding to know where I was. Some of the older prisoners tried to calm me, but that only made me scream and cry harder.

I don't know how long it took me to get out of that panicked state; I think it was quite a while because most of the other prisoners weren't even paying attention to me anymore.

After I stopped screaming, a woman approached me; she was sickly thin, her blonde hair looked like a bird's nest and her face was almost as white as a paper sheet. The woman was Emma Clarke.

But what really caught my attention was that, even in her deplorable state, she smiled in a way that only a mother could… you know what I'm talking about, right? That kind smile that makes you feel safe, happy and calm. That smile that assured you that everything would be okay. That loving smile that shows that there's someone who truly cares about you.

I'll never forget that smile… I still try to imitate it, but it never seems to be as good as hers.

Sorry, I lost focus again. Now, as I was saying, Emma approached me, sitting right in front of me with that motherly smile on her face; I stared at her with my teary eyes for some minutes, wary of her presence. But soon my wariness gave place to that despair that I had felt when I woke up and I started to cry again; but this time Emma was there to hug me. I cried in her arms until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was laying my head on Emma's lap while she softly caressed my head; noticing I was awake, she smiled at me just like my mom used to.

Talking about my mom, you must be wondering what happened to my family, right? Well, long story short, my mom and dad died in a robbery when I was three years old and I've lived with my uncle since then.

Now, I believe some of you are imagining a nice and caring man while others are picturing a pedophile monster. This time no one is right. He wasn't the loving type, but he didn't mistreat me either. My uncle provided me shelter, food, water, clean clothes and education (well, he just taught me how to read, but this is quite a lot since I was just a middle-class girl), but he didn't particularly care for me. I think he felt obligated to take care of me… even so, I must thank him, because most of people wouldn't even bother to do that for a three years old girl with a small inheritance.

What? How did I get here, you ask? Not even I can answer this question precisely; one day I was taking a walk around my neighborhood and the next thing I know I'm waking up inside the dungeons' prison.

Now, back to my story here in the castle.

Emma ended up taking the role of my mother, something that I'm quite grateful for. She made sure to teach me what to do and what not to do, also she explained me how the system worked here.

All of the guinea-pigs start by the dungeon's prison, where they are pre-experimented (I think I just made up a word), getting weekly injections of… something. You see, the injections make the guinea-pigs stronger and they have to test how strong they got, so, after some months, they start being sent by the pairs to that room I talked about earlier. That room is huge, dirty, smelly and empty; it is kind of a training room, where the pair fights until they are stopped with a tranquilizer. Before each fighting session, the guinea-pigs are given an injection of... well, another thing, that makes them lose control of their actions and fight with all they got. Needless to say some of the guinea-pigs end u-

…

Sorry, but I just noticed I'm calling people who were imprisoned and being forced to be test subjects as guinea-pigs... That's not good, especially since I was one of them so I know what they're going through. Let me rewrite that last sentence, at the very least.

Needless to say some of the peopleend up dying in that room.

But that's not a problem to the scientists, since they don't care much for the people in the dungeon. You see, the prisoners usually die after two or three years, only the ones who survive more than that are the true target of the scientists' interest. You must've deduced already that the ones that live more than that are moved to the scientific area's cells. In these cells, the people are better fed, kept clean and allowed to some sort of entertainment (like books or one-player games), not to mention that they go to the lab at least once a day to do a check-up. Why so much difference? That's simple: the scientists are trying to make the people forget what has been done to them so they'll be easier to manipulate if they succeed on the experiment; at least, that's what I've been told.

Who told me that? Be patient, I'll tell you soon enough.

Now, back to my time in the dungeons.

As I was saying, Emma kind of adopted me so my time there wasn't all bad. Sure, the cell was dirty and we were fed poorly, but I gained something I had lost and thought that would never get back: a mom. Believe me or not, but having Emma around compensated the time I've wasted in there.

My first year there was uneventful. Most of my time was spent hearing stories from Emma; she'd tell me all the little tales and long romances she had read during her life. I think it's because of theses stories that I love reading so much.

After one year in the dungeons, I was in the same state of Emma when we met, but I didn't mind, it wasn't like I had a reason to care for my appearance. Even though I was in a semi-permanent dirty, hungry and hurt state, I was contempt as long as I had Emma by my side.

Then it all ended.

Emma started to get weaker as the days passed; her hair had fallen and she'd cough blood and throw up for no reason. But she kept telling me stories every now and then with a motherly smile on her face. One day, one miserable day, a motherfucking, filthy and cruel scientist decided she should fight someone to see her progress; no matter how loud I cried and begged, they took her there. Needless to say, Emma died in that fight.

With Emma gone, my only source of happiness in that hole disappeared. The days started to pass me by as a blur; I didn't care if I lived or died anymore, but my body endured everything they did to me. Soon, three years had passed and I was alive and, relatively, healthy. That got the scientists' attention and I was moved to the scientific area.

Before taking me to my new cell, the scientists washed me and did some tests… actually, they did A LOT of tests, but that was to be expected. After the tests, I was taken to my new "room", the cell number 7.

In there, was a meal waiting for me; I stared at it in disbelief for some milliseconds, then I ate it so quickly and desperately that I'm sure I looked like an animal. After I finished licking even the salt off the plate, I started crying. Why, I still don't know for sure, but I cried very hard, just like I did when I woke in the dungeons; but this time there was no Emma to hold me.

My crying was ceased by a boy's voice coming from the room besides mine.

"Stop bawling like a fucking baby, will ya? It's annoying the shit outta me." The boy demanded from me.

Quickly, I crawled to the wall and pressed my ear on it. "Is someone there?" I asked with a low voice.

"No, it's your fucking conscience! Of course someone's here!" The boy shot back. "Ya're a newbie, right? What's your name? Mine is Darrel Basset."

Believe me or not, I liked that boy immediately; he was simple, straightforward and talkative. We never met face-to-face, but every night we'd talk about any and everything; we shared our stories and he told me his dreams for the future. When he asked about my dreams, I said I had none.

"What ya mean ya don't have dreams? Ya can't live without dreams… we have to think something up to ya pursue."

After that, he'd tell a different dream for me to have every night but we never settled on something. I was contempt again; I had someone who I held dear to me.

Soon I started following a routine: shower, breakfast (all the meals were eaten in the room), lab, lunch, every other day a fight, read a book (provided by the scientists), dinner, talk to Darrel and sleep. My everyday life was pretty much like that until a couple of months ago.

Darrel had been disrespectful towards one of the scientists during his tests and was sent to the dungeons for one month as a punishment. I was already conformed to the idea of spending a month in silence, but it didn't happen.

On the first night Darrel was away, a man clad in black showed up; he was tall, his rich black hair was slicked back and his eyes were of a frightening red, also he had a very strong and imposing presence. He was the most intimidating and yet beautiful person I've ever met. I was laying on my bed when he opened my cell's door, so I sat up immediately.

"You are Miss Eliza Davis, am I correct?" He asked with an easy-going smile on his face.

I nodded in silence.

Widening his smile, the man raised his right hand; in it was a book titled 'Pamela' by Samuel Richardson.

"I've brought this for you." The man purred as he walked towards my bed. "I read it as I walked down the corridor; it's quite an interesting story. I think you'll like it, Miss Davis." How he read a 600 pages book during a short walk I'll never know.

He sat down on my bed and offered me the book; my hand was trembling as I took it from him.

"T-Thanks." I said nervously.

"No need to be nervous around me, Miss Davis." He spoke softly. "I'm nothing more than a mere butler."

"What is a butler doing here?" I couldn't help but question.

"Oh, my lord is involved with the research that is being developed here so I must accompany him to ensure his safety and comfort. But right now he is in a private meeting, so I was allowed some time to myself."

"And you decided to spend your free time delivering a book to one of the test subjects." I sated skeptically. "Why would you do that?"

"My lord and I are very interested in you, Miss Davis; you are the only truly successful experiment so far." He smiled sinisterly, making me shrink in fear. "We expect great things of you and I am sure you will not disappoint us, am I correct?"

I nodded in fear. Satisfied, the man's sinister smile gave place to a soft one and he laid his gloved hand on my cheek. "I knew you would agree, Miss Davis."

With his other hand, the butler took a watch from his pocket and checked the time, not removing his hand from my cheek.

"Look at the time. Unfortunately, I must go now, Miss Davis." The butler purred as he stood up. "I hope you enjoy the book."

The man was almost leaving the room when I asked for him to wait a little; he turned around with an inquiringly expression. I took a book form under my pillow and walked towards him.

"I must return the books when I finish reading them." I stated as I handed him the book. "Also, what's your name?"

The butler kneeled down and took my hand in his, making me blush like mad.

"I am Boris Kent, the butler of the Chamberlin family." He purred and kissed my hand. "At your services, Miss Davis."

After he left, I thought I'd never see him again, but I was sadly mistaken; he showed up all of the nights that Darrel spent in the dungeons, sometimes he'd spend just a few minutes while others he stayed with me for more than three hours.

On the first nights his presence made me feel uncomfortable; he was too perfect. But I got accustomed to him and started to enjoy our talks about books, life and, some times, the research they were doing. He never told me much about it, though; only that their objective was to create a demoniac human with amazing abilities. Hard to swallow, don't you think so?

By the way, he was the one who told me that the stairs in the lab lead to the castle's wine cellar, but you must've deduced this already.

On the 23rd night Darrel was away, Kent showed up with another man. This man had long platinum blonde hair that was tied in a low ponytail and forest green eyes; he was almost as beautiful as Kent.

"Eliza Davis, it's such a pleasure to meet you." The blonde spoke cheerily as he walked towards me with arms wide open. "I am the marquis Cyril Chamberlin."

What he did next surprised me to no end: he embraced me as if I was his old friend. I froze in shock and discomfort, not returning nor refusing his embrace. He didn't seem to even notice my discomfort though, because he didn't let go of me for some good 30 seconds.

"Boris has told me many good things about you." I was (and still am) very curious to what those things were, but I didn't dare to utter a word.

"Boris." Chamberlin said looking over his shoulder. "Would you be so kind to leave me and Eliza alone so we can chat?"

Kent bowed deeply. "Your wish is an order, milord." In a blink of an eye he was gone.

"Now, why don't we talk a little?" Chamberlin purred as he walked towards my bed and sat down. "You must be curious to why I'm here, right?"

I nodded nervously; this guy's presence was even scarier than Kent's. He noticed how I was feeling and chuckled.

"No need to be nervous, Eliza, I don't bite… hard." He said with a malicious smirk on his face that made me take a step back and, I shamefully admit, blush. Soon his smirk turned to a childish smile and he patted the mattress. "Now, don't just stand there staring at me, sit, sit."

I obliged and sat down on my bed as far away from him as possible… by the way, I can swear I heard him sigh in relief because of that! Obviously, I didn't say anything about it but that small action made it clear that he didn't really like me. Or maybe he was just too disgusted by me; I was just a lab rat after all...

Whatever it was, it showed to me that his smiles were fake, so I decided not to let myself believe his words easily.

"So…" He began cheerily. "How would you like getting out of here?"

I didn't believe his question at first; I thought he was making some sort of sick joke with me; showing a steak to a starving dog, but not allowing the animal to eat it. But Chamberlin was dead-serious. He said that I just had to wait for the right day to break free: the day he and his butler would destroy everything and everyone in the place.

Why he wants to do that when he was the one who involved himself with all of this? Don't know; he refused to tell me.

As I'd said before, I didn't trust him (I still don't) so I declined his offer… until he mentioned Darrel.

"Darrel isn't a total success like you, but he has survived so far, so I believe he isn't completely useless… you both could escape together! Don't you think Darrel would like to get away from here?"

He was right; Darrel would give anything to get away from this place. He had dreams and this was his only chance to pursue them.

Needless to say, I accepted Chamberlin's offer.

I talked to Darrel about everything that happened when he came back from the dungeons.

"That's so fucking awesome, Elli!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "They told ya when they gonna cause the racket?"

"No." I answered. "But don't get too excited, Darrel; I don't think we should trust them."

The days passed by uneventfully. After that night, I didn't see Chamberlin anymore (thank God, by the way), but Kent would still show up to talk to me when Darrel was in the labs or fighting.

"Why do you keep visiting me? Marquis Chamberlin doesn't mind you being here?" I asked the butler some day.

He stared at me for a few seconds before answering. "Milord has better things to worry himself about than a mere butler." He said smiling. "And I happen to enjoy our talks about life and, specially, about literature; it is quite hard to find someone who likes to read as much as I do."

Yesterday, when Darrel was in the lab, Kent showed up again.

"Good afternoon, Miss Davis." He said with a charming smiled. "I have come to brief you about tomorrow's event."

"Milord will set you and Mr. Basset free around midnight, when the number of scientists and guards is reduced. After you are free, you must lock milord in one of the cells so it seems that you got away on your own. But…" He looked down at me with the most intimidating and cruel eyes I've ever seen. "You shall not touch a single hair of his head unless he gives you permission to do so. If you do that, I promise that you'll experience the most terrible kind of death that exists; is that understood, Miss Davis?"

"O-Of course." I answered promptly. "I wouldn't dream of hurting Marquis Chamberlin."

"I'm sure you wouldn't, but better safe than sorry, am I correct?" He said with a fresh smile. "Now, let me continue. After you both are free, you shall go to the lab, where I will be waiting so we may proceed to kill the scientists."

"Wait!" I exclaimed with wide eyes. "Darrel and I'll have to kill them too?"

"Why, yes, of course. That will be the final test to see if you are of use to milord." He said nonchalantly. "It won't be a problem for you, will it Miss Davis? After all, you have killed many people in the fights to test your developing, am I correct?"

Ashamed, I nodded my head in agreement.

"Moving on; after we finished killing the scientists, I will leave you and Mr. Basset at your own to run away. There are very few guards in the mansion, so I believe you both are more than capable of taking care of them… and by that I mean killing them."

"I know what you meant." I said annoyed. "I'm not THAT dumb, you know?"

Kent's eyes widened for a millisecond and he kneeled before me. "I am sorry, Miss Davis. I didn't mean to offend your intelligence."

Quickly I pulled him up. "Don't kneel like that to me, it's weird."

"As you wish, Miss Davis." He said with a smile. "Now, after leaving the mansion, you and Mr. Basset must follow a road to a small village. There is an inn there called 'The Foresters Arms'; you must check in there and get the room 104. Milord and I will meet with you there after a few days."

Now, here I am, waiting for Chamberlin to show up so Darrel and I can get away.

"Hey, Elli." Came Darrel's voice. "Ya okay there?"

"Yeah, just a little anxious… you?"

"The same."

After that we both kept silent; no words needed to be said right now. We just had to wait a few more minutes, until it was our time to act.

Today is a very special day… a very special day indeed.