Tainted

The deafening siren wailed within the building, disrupting the silence of the night. A girl sprinted down its hallways as fast as her legs could carry her. Strands of hair whipped around her face just as she took a sharp left turn at the corner of the hallway. She quickly hid herself behind some crates as the sound of pounding footsteps echoing through the hallway grew louder. Grabbing at the hem of her tattered shirt, she twisted the fabric into knots till her knuckles turned white. Her stomach felt like a thousand butterflies had been set free from their cages, as though they were fluttering around, bumping into its walls, in their haste to try and escape. She gulped, trying to keep as still as possible, as the guards stopped near her hiding spot, discussing in hushed voices. "Any sign of her?" "No. Let's try that way." She held her breath, trying hard not to let her ragged breathing give away her hiding spot. Her heart was pounding hard against her ribcage as sweat broke out on her forehead. When the guards finally started moving down the hallway and were out of sight, she released her hold on her breath while hungrily gulping for air. Allowing herself a few seconds for her heart rate to steady itself, she took out a piece of wrinkled paper out from the pocket of her shorts and studied its contents once again. She had managed to steal a copy of the building floor plan from her captor and subsequently planned out her escape route. This was the only chance she had to escape from this damned place. This was the one and only chance for her to gain back the freedom that was rightfully hers. The need to flee far, far away from here was like an unquenchable thirst that had been carved deep into her being ever since they found her. A living nightmare she thought probably resembled hell if anyone asked – here she was regularly beaten and experimented on, and treated worse than a dog. To live freely was a desire that she'd been dreaming of every single day, and today was finally the day she grasped it in her hands. Freedom was close – she could almost smell it. All she need was a distraction to close the gap between her and the big world out there. Flames of determination flare in her gaze as a plan solidified in her head. She carefully folded the paper and stuffed it back to her pocket as she surveyed her surroundings. Her eyes settled on the crates she used to hide herself with and slowly reached out to one of the crates to lift off its lid. She smirked in triumph as the crate opened to reveal what she needed. The sound of the hooves was muffled by the soft muddy ground as the carriage trudged along the lonely path through the forest. The lone occupant of the carriage sighed as he took out an expensive-looking paper out of its envelope and read through its content once again. To: Earl Ciel Phantomhive Dear Earl Phantomhive, Your next assignment will be to gather information on the organization called SIGMA. Destroy this letter immediately after reading. Enclosed in the same envelope was a newspaper article dated two days ago. "CHILDREN VANISHING RIGHT OFF THE STREETS OF LONDON" "...mysterious disappearing... claimed they were just 'gone'...children from well-known families...right off the streets...broad daylight...police baffled..." Attached to the article were some photographs taken from where the children were last seen, and they all showed the same symbol: SIGMA. Ciel snorted inwardly. How obvious can they get? They were clearly revealing themselves for a reason. But for what? What were they aiming for? That was his job to find out. He frowned to himself. SIGMA... Why did it sound so familiar? Something nagged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't figure it out. But it was nothing that Sebastian couldn't dig out. "Sebastian. Stop the carriage." The carriage stopped obligingly. The door opened seconds later, revealing his ever faithful butler. "What is it, Young Master?" "I'm destroying the letter." Alighting from the carriage, Ciel took the lighter offered to him by Sebastian and lit the parchment. He watched the flame swallow the letter until nothing but ashes remained. He looked up at the luminous moon. It was a calm, breezy night, and for a moment, he felt contented. Then he turned away from the scene before him, to face Sebastian. "Let's get to work." The red-tinged air was filled with the smell of burning. The building was wreathed in a funnel of black smoke. Scarlet flames scattered across the hallway, making it hard for the girl to flee down the corridor. Sweat ran down her neck in rivulets, dampening her shirt. The air was full of dancing smoke and ash. Her lungs felt as though they were on the verge of bursting as more choking smoke rushed in. Shrieks and screams flew around her. She didn't care anymore. She will have to leave those who had suffered the same fate as her behind. She knew she was selfish for abandoning them. But it did not matter anymore. All she wanted now was her freedom. Ignoring the protest of her blistered feet, she swerved herself around a corner into the left. Her legs were beginning to ache and her mouth was dry as parchment. Her vision was starting blur as the smoke stung her eyes causing tears slowly swell up. Blinking away those tears, she pulled out her escape route from her pocket and studied it again before stuffing it back. She took a glance around before making her way further down the hallway and made a sharp turn to the right. Her arms were pumped by her sides as she darted around shattered bits of furniture and jumping over debris, she could hear the unsteady thump of her footsteps echoing in her ears. Her breathing hitched in her burning throat, burning like the stuffs around her. Her heart leaped when an exit came into view at the end of the hallway. She was close, so close to freedom that she could taste it! Forcing her legs to run faster, her heart pounded to the beat of her feet racing over the hard ground as a mild burn started seeping into her muscles. Sweat beaded her forehead, causing her hair to cling to it as her throat ached for air. She jumped over the last chunk of debris before she skidded to a stop in front of the door. Reaching out to its handle, she yanked it down and pushed forward. Her heart sank. The door did not even budge the slightest bit. It was locked. She turned back to face the blazing scene before her and slumped against the door, arms hanging limply at her side. She sighed. Is this how I'm going to get my freedom? Through death? Is this how- Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt invisible cold fingers trailing down her neck, sending chills down her spine. The cold whispering in her ears made her hair stand on its end as she shuddered. What's this chill? Is it because my death's near...? Is this what it feels like to be near death?... No, wait. Why is there a smell? Smells kind of...earthly? Wind...? It must be the wind... Pushing herself away from the door, she turned to the right and trudged down the corridor, towards the direction of the wind. Luckily, this part of the hallway was not on fire or else it would have been hard for her to move down the corridor. The cuts on her legs were stinging and her blistering feet were still protesting. Unable to withstand the ache of her feet, she had to use the wall to support herself as she hobbled forward. As she moved down the corridor, strands of her hair whipped around as the wind blew harder, a sign that she was near. Her journey down the hallway was then disrupted when she suddenly burst out into a fit of coughs as smoke rushed into her lungs. Damn. The smoke had become spread over here. Got to move faster! Pushing herself to continue moving forward, she quickened her pace down the corridor as fast as her protesting feet could carry her. She then soon stumbled to a halt when she reached the end of the corridor. She was greeted by a blast of cold air as it blew through the wide open window. She took in a big gulp of fresh air hungrily before poking her head out of the window to see a dirt ground that had barely a single strand of grass. Her eyes zeroed in on the remaining short stump of a cigarette which was still seemingly fresh, given from the escaping thin wisp of smoke. A mocking smirk. Stupid guard. Taking a deep breath, she heaved herself through the window. She broke into a sprint the moment her foot touched the ground, making her way towards the forest that surrounded the building. Pausing at the edge of the forest, she gave one last glance at the burning building and smirked before disappearing into the forest. Thinking of how she was finally free, she mentally patted herself. She ran, the grass brushing against her legs, pushing herself to get as far as possible from the burning building. She hissed in pain as she stumbled over the rocks that littered her path. She could hear herself breathing hard and her legs were screaming desperately for her to stop running. Her limbs felt like they had turned jelly, her arms were swinging lifelessly at her sides and her legs could barely carry her anymore. The next thing she could hear was her own breath puffing in surprise when her toes stumped painfully against a root protruding out of its earth and she landed hard on the ground. Her head was pounding and everything was blurred. She tried to lift an arm but could not as it suddenly felt like it weighted a thousand pounds. She could feel herself slowly slipping away into unconsciousness as black spots danced across her vision. She fought hard to keep herself from slipping into unconsciousness but at last she could only give in to it as the world slowly slipped into complete darkness... The carriage slowed down to a stop as the horse ceased its frantic galloping. The occupant in the carriage gave out a heavy sigh as he surveyed the dark and looming trees through the window. Running his hands through his teal-black hair, he closed his eyes, gave out another heavy sigh before reviewing through the plan he had came up with to complete the task he was assigned to while waiting to arrive at his destination. His thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open to reveal Sebastian, his butler, bowing to him with one hand on his chest. "We have arrived at our destination, Young Master." Ciel snorted and pushed himself off the leather seat before making his way towards the door. Taking the waiting hand of his butler, he stepped out onto the dirt path. "Sebastian, are you sure this is the right place?" His eyes narrowed at the forest of trees that stood a few feet away. "I am absolutely sure that this is the right place. I would never make a mistake, Young Master. After all, I am one hell of a butler." Sebastian smirked serenely. "Then quit wasting time and lead the way." Sebastian gave a small bow before moving forward into the patch of tall grass with Ciel trailing behind. Ciel's nose twitched as one strand of grass tickled his nose. Eyeing at his butler that was moving fluidly through, he uttered a string of curses as he struggled to follow his butler through the patch of irritating grass. "Now, now, Young Master, you should not be cursing." Sebastian tilted his head to watch his Young Master struggling to follow in amusement with a mocking smile on his face. "Che. Sebastian, just carry me over already!" Ciel snarled at his butler in annoyance. Sebastian uttered a "Yes, my lord." before moving his way to his young master and scooped him up in bridal style. Sebastian then continued his way through the grass towards the forest of trees ahead. Ciel turned to face his butler after he was lowered down to the ground. He glared at his butler that had his usual unreadable smile planted on his face, obviously oblivious to his young master's glare. "You should have done that from the start!" Ciel glared heatedly up at his butler. "Technically, Young Master, you did not order me to do that." Sebastian only smiled down at his young master, totally not affected by his heated glare. Ciel still continued glaring at Sebastian before he snorted in annoyance. "We have wasted enough time already, let's move on!" Sebastian gave a small bow before leading their way into the forest of trees with Ciel trailing behind looked up at the moon that was peeking through the leaves of the trees and gave out a sigh before picking up his pace so to follow his butler closely behind. Ciel c****d up an eyebrow when his butler suddenly stopped at a clearing; it was obvious that they have not reached their destination yet. He was about to open his mouth to question his butler for his sudden halt, he noticed that his butler was narrowing his eyes at something, head slightly inclined towards something that was ahead and above. Ciel's visible eye averted to whatsoever that had captured his butler's attention. His answer was quickly found amidst the dark sky, where a peculiar reddish glow seemed to be hovering over the thick vegetation ahead. Sebastian eyed the narrowing gaze his master held the scene before them with. "Let's go, Sebastian." Ciel finally spoke, tearing his gaze away. Heeding his order, Sebastian continued to lead their way to their destination. After trotting behind his butler through the forest for a few moments, his butler then suddenly stopped again. "What is it now?" Ciel snapped impatiently. "Allow me to investigate that reddish glow from just now; it seems to come from the direction of the hideout. I will make it quick, Young Master." Sebastian gave a bow. "Fine. Make it quick." Ciel grunted. The spot where the butler stood became empty as a blur of black disappeared down the path leading towards the source for investigation. Watching his butler disappear out of sight, Ciel strolled over to the side of the path to lean on a tree. He looked up at the moon through the little gaps between its leaves and gave out a big yawn. Better get this investigation done quickly, it's getting late. His pupil of his visible eye moved across the row of trees that stood at the other side of the path as he surveyed the scene with boredom written in his eye. Before he could even avert his eye away, a figure on the forest ground caught his eye. Squinting his eye, he tried to make out the figure but the shadows cast by the surrounding trees made it quite a challenge. Putting his weight against his cane, he pushed himself off the tree and sighed before moving forward to investigate. He took steps cautiously, slowly making his way towards the subject of his investigation. Just when he was nearing the edge of the forest of trees, Sebastian, done with his investigation, occupied the spot behind his young master that has obviously not noticed his butler's return, still caught up in his progress towards his own subject of investigation. Sebastian c****d up one eyebrow as he watched with amusement and smirked. Bending down, Sebastian placed his mouth next to his master's ear. "Young Master..." He whispered huskily into Ciel's ear before pulling back. A low chuckle emitted from his mouth when Ciel jumped. Ciel spun around to the source of the low chuckle and glared at the source which turned out to be his butler that was now with his usual creepy smile planted on his face, a glint of amusement can be seen in his red eyes. "Sebastian!" Ciel growled. Unfazed, Sebastian gave out a soft chuckle before moving on to report his discoveries from his investigation. "It appears that the hideout had been burned up in flames. Everything seemed to be wiped out in the fire and there are no survivors. I'm afraid that this investigation cannot go on." "What?" Ciel stared at his butler in disbelief. "Damn..."He cursed under his breath. If their hideout is all burned out, then the long trip here is all for nothing. This hideout is the only source required for this task so I'm back at square one again. I've got nothing. Damn... Running his hand through his hair in frustration, he gave out a heavy sigh and he suddenly paused, hand still hovering above his head in mid-air. His eye widened as he suddenly recalled that he was going to do his own investigation before his butler disrupted it. He spun around and strolled forward to continue his earlier investigation, ignoring his butler's calls. Sebastian watched his master move cautiously into the rows of trees, puzzled by his master's sudden odd behavior. Flipping open his pocket watch, he took a glance and sighed before snapping it close. It's late. Better get this done quickly, can't let young master miss his curfew. He slid his pocket watch back into his breast pocket before trailing after the boy. His master suddenly came to a halt and looked down. Following his gaze, Sebastian looked down to find a figure at his master's feet. His head snapped back up when his master uttered his name and saw his master gesturing him to go over. Sebastian obligingly strolled over to his master's side and got a closer look at it. It was a person or more specific, a girl. She was laying face down; her back heaved small ups and downs, indicating that she was still alive. Her tattered shirt and shorts that looks too large on her was covered with soot and filth. Her red hair fell all over both sides of her head, making a split that revealed a creamy portion of her skin with a black line that trailed on and disappeared under her hair at her back of her neck. The black line was the one that had caught Ciel's eye. Using his cane, he cautiously shifted the hair aside, his eye widened in surprise as recognition struck home. A tattoo... It wasn't just a tattoo; it was a tattoo that bears the symbol of an organization they had been investigating hard on. SIGMA... Turning to his butler that was too staring at that tattoo, he ordered, "Take her."