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anonymousewrites · 7 months

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One Hell of a Love (Book 2) Chapter Ten

Sebastian Michaelis x Demon! Reader

Chapter Ten: One Hell of an Alibi

Summary: Murder in the Phantomhive Manor isn't new, and (Y/N) remains unshaken.

“He’s dead,” said Arthur, eyes widening.

“What?” gasped Woodley.

“No!” Irene’s voice quivered.

“What was with that voice just now…” Baldroy ran into the room with Finny before stopping at the sight.

“I-Is this man dead?” said Finny worriedly.

“Yes…” said Arthur. “The hemorrhage from the chest wound was most likely fatal. I can’t be certain because of how dark it is, but—”

“Hey, ain’t this room kinda hot?” remarked Baldroy.

(Y/N)’s eyes slid to the fireplace, and they nearly smirked. Yes. It is.

“Yes, it is,” said Sebastian. “I heated up the room in advance, but perhaps he had a chill.”

“I say, what on Earth is the meaning of all this racket?” said Ciel, recovering from his sleepiness as he entered with Tanaka.

“Young Master,” said Sebastian.

Ciel’s eyes fell on the body in shock. “Lord Siemens!” He exchanged a calculated look with Sebastian and (Y/N).

“I-In that case, let’s just leave things untouched as they are,” said Grimsby. “Until the Yard gets here, that is—”

“No. We should move the corpse right away,” said Baldroy somberly.

“Eh?” said Grimsby.

“I don’t wanna put it like this, but flesh decomposes faster than you might think,” said Baldroy. “Even if we douse the fire now, the corpse’ll go right off if it’s kept by the hearth.”

“Flesh…decomposes…” Irene shivered.

Grimsby steadied her. “Irene…”

“He’s right,” agreed Arthur. “I also believe that we should place the corpse in a cool, dark place until the experts can examine it.”

“The cellar would work,” said (Y/N).

Sebastian nodded in agreement. “Finny, bring us a cot.”

“But the Yard won’t be here anytime soon, now, will it?” remarked Lau. He pulled back the curtain to reveal the raging winds and rains outside. “I mean, have you seen this storm?”

“But that means we can’t leave this place, either, doesn’t it?!” said Woodley.

“You only realized that now?” Lau shrugged nonchalantly. “Anyway, it’s fine. We all planned to stay the night anyway.”

“It’s far from fine!” shouted Woodley. “A murder was just committed here—.”

“Indeed,” said Grey. “Right now, this manor is truly an isolate island in the middle of nowhere. Therefore, it’s highly likely that the murdered is still inside the manor or within the grounds.” He paused and looked around at the ground. “Or perhaps I should say…thinking it through logically, the murderer is one of us?”

Panic flashed cross the guests’ faces.

“Why must it be one of us?! What kind of sick joke is that?!” cried Grimsby.

“Yes, that’s right!” said Woodley.

And yet the truth remains is that if a murder is committed, one of the people inside is likely the perpetrator. Though I suppose some rather determined people may brave the outdoors to arrive here, thought (Y/N).

“First off, the majority of us have just met one another, and—” Arthur’s words were cut off by Irene exclaiming worriedly.

“Miss Diaz?” said (Y/N).

“When we arrived at the door to this room, it was locked, wasn’t it?” said Irene.

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. It was,” said Mey-Rin.

“Then someone could have entered the room from a window and, after locking the door to stall for time, escaped the same way they came, couldn’t they?” remarked Irene.

“But wouldn’t you expect there to be footprints if someone came in from out of this downpour?” said Grey, looking at the balcony doors. “And let’s not forget, this room is on the second floor. The window’s locked, too.”

“Then somebody locked the door from the corridor and then ran off after all…” said Grimsby.

“That is impossible,” said Sebastian. He held up a key as an example. “The keys in this manor all belong to warded locks from when the manor was first built. The keys themselves are of very complicated make, so without a master locksmith on hand, duplicated them is impossible. Moreover, the keys are stored in a locked storage cabinet, over which I, the butler, stand guard, so no one can take the keys out as they please. In addition to the warded lock, the doors are also fitted with a latch on the inside for convenience’s sake, so they may be locked from within. In a situation where the keys cannot be removed from the cabinet. It is only possible to lock the doors from inside.”

“In other words,” said Lau. “We’re looking at a locked-room murder, hmm?”

(Y/N) glanced at the expressions of the humans and struggled to keep their composure. This banquet was proving entertaining for them.

“That’s not possible…This isn’t some novel!” said Woodley.

“Indeed.” Ciel yawned. “You’d never hear the end of it from the public if an unsophisticated locked-room drama like this was ever publish. Aren’t you of the same opinion, Professor?”

Arthur blinked. “Ah! Yes, now I see…It is possible if you use that…”

“What do you mean?” said Lau.

“Needle and thread,” said Ciel.

“A needle…?” began Grimsby.

“And thread?” finished Woodley.

“As Sebastian mentioned, this door can only be locked from the inside. However, you can easily lock it from the outside with needle and thread,” said Ciel. “It goes like this. First you jam the threaded needle by the raised latch to fix it. Then you lean the room, having pulled the thread under the door. Last, if you tug on the thread carefully so it doesn’t break and dislodge the needle…the latch will fall, thereby locking the door. If you retrieve the needle and thread from beneath the door just so, you leave behind no proof. And disposing of a needle and thread is easy enough. It’s a simple and boring trick that’s been used over and over in mystery novels. But the murderer isn’t looking to write a novel. This trick serves more as a practical diversion, wouldn’t you say?”

“I do see now how you can create a locked room that way, but…” Lau trailed off.

Arthur finished the horrible sentiment. “…Doesn’t that mean it’s possible anybody could have murdered him?”

“We did no such thing! It must have been somebody else!” said Grimsby, holding Irene tightly.

“It wasn’t me, either!” cried Woodley. “You’re the most suspicious one among us! Besides, I saw your face when Siemens was flirting with Miss Diaz! You were angry with him!”

“Don’t falsely accuse me, old man!” shouted Grimsby. “Who’d murder a man over such a trivial thing!”

“Come, come you two,” said Lau. “We just need to calm down and verify everyone’s alibis.”

That is one of the smartest things he’s ever said, thought (Y/N).

“Lord Siemens was murdered after he retired to his room, or, to put it more accurately, he was killed after he rang the bell for the servants and before Master Butler and company arrived at his door,” said Lau. “Thus you only need have an alibi for that time frame.”

“Irene and I were in the billiard room,” said Grimsby.

“Yes,” said Grey. “I was there, too.”

“I as well, and Mr. Phelps, too,” said Arthur, checking on the still-unconscious Phelps. “After Lord Siemens went to bed and until the commotion occurred, we were all in the billiard room. None of us left the room in that time.”

Ciel looked at Lau and Ran-Mao. “What were you two doing?”

“Hm? We were drinking in the lounge with Mr. Woodley. Right, Ran-Mao?” said Lau, and she nodded.

“Yes! We were together until the racket began,” said Woodley.

“I and the rest of the servants were cleaning up in the kitchen,” said (Y/N).

“Yes, we were!” said Mey-Rin.

“To begin with, we didn’t even know which room Siemens was staying in!” pointed out Grimsby. “It would take ages to find him in this huge manor, am I right?”

“Which leaves…” Grey’s eyes went to the one person in the room without an alibi. Ciel.

“Forgive my insolence, Lord Earl, but what were you doing at that time?” said Lau.

Ciel’s eyes narrowed. “I am indeed the only one without an alibi, but I had no reason to murder his lordship.”

“Reeally?” challenged Grey with a smirk.

“What is it?” retorted Grey.

“You can’t say you had no reason with absolute certainty,” said Lau. “The reason for which one person murders another is typically inconceivable to other folk. People will never be able to understand another’s mind, regardless of how much research genius scholars collect on the subject. Besides, your company has a branch in Germany, right? You might have had disputes over some documents with him, a board member of a large bank…though we’d know nothing of such matters.”

“Are you implying that my Funtom is defaulting?” Ciel scoffed. “What utter drivel.”

“It is possible. In this day and age, any large company can disappear overnight,” said Lau with his usual casual tone.

“Please wait!” interrupted Finny boldly. “I don’t quite get the complicated stuff, but! The Young Master would never do such a—!”

“Finny,” said Ciel. “It’s fine. Step back.” Finny deflated.

“What I want is a guarantee,” said Grey.

“A guarantee?” said Ciel.

“A guarantee that we’ll be able to make it out of here alive,” said Grey.

“What…do you mean by that?” said Irene nervously.

“This here manor is under the control of the killer, right? And until the storm passes, we’re stuck,” said Grey. “What happens if all our lips are forcibly sealed before the storm ends?”

The dark sentiment caused the guests to shiver.

Except for Lau, who just smiled brightly. “Then what about we confine him? You know, lock him up!”

“Lock him up?!” cried Baldroy.

“Our Young Master?!” said Mey-Rin.

(Y/N) and Sebastian looked to Ciel. It was his call.

Ciel sighed in annoyance. “If that will satisfy you, then do it.”

“His Lordship’s room won’t work. An aristocrat’s quarters usually have some secret means of escape. My place has them, too,” said Grey.

“Then how about we keep watch over the Young Master while seeing to you—” began Sebastian.

“That won’t do either,” said Lau. “Any servants of the Lord Earl might allow him to get away.”

“So I believe the best alternative is to have one of the guests stay with his Lordship and keep an eye on him,” said Grey.

“You can count me out!” declared Grimsby. “There’s no way I can leave Irene along!”

“I don’t want to myself!” said Woodley.

“Me too. I have poor Ran-Mao to think of,” said Lau.

I suspect it’s more laziness on his part, thought (Y/N).

Grey looked at Ciel dubiously. “I don’t want to do it either, but someone’s got to.”

Lau clapped Arthur on the shoulder. “It’s in your hands, Professor!”

“Ehhh?!” cried Arthur.

“No one else wants to!” chirped Lau. “Make sure you keep a close watch on his Lordship so he doesn’t run off now!”

“N-No, wait a minute!” said Arthur, but no one was listening to him.

“Oh, yes,” said Grey, remembering something. “I have something useful loaded on my carriage.” He looked at Finny and Baldroy. “You there. Will you go get it for me?”

“Then we’ll break up for the night,” said Ciel. “Sebastian, (Y/N). Show everyone to their rooms.”

“As you wish, sir,” said Sebastian.

“Very well, my Lord,” said (Y/N).

(Y/N) was finishing preparations for breakfast the following day when Sebastian stepped into the kitchen. They turned to face him.

“You’ve finished your investigation?” they remarked.

“Not quite,” sighed Sebastian. “I know the killer—Earl Grey. However, I am not at liberty to expose him.”

“Oh?” Now that was interesting. (Y/N) leaned forward.

Sebastian sighed tiredly, almost bored. “It appears I’ve been killed.”

(Y/N) smothered a grin. “Did you get caught off guard? Getting old, are you?”

“Unfortunately, the Young Master would like this to play out longer so the Professor can gain some inspiration,” said Sebastian. As usual, Ciel was putting him through trouble.

“Ah,” said (Y/N) in understanding. “So, how do you want to proceed?”

“I will have you discover me ‘dead,’ ” said Sebastian. He smirked. “And then I shall…assume another role in this play.”

“Very well,” said (Y/N).

“And while I’m gone, please assist Mr. Tanaka is watching over the Young Master,” said Sebastian.

“I will make sure your master is taken care of during your brief departure,” said (Y/N). They smiled at him. “And you know I’ve never failed you.”

Sebastian gazed at them fondly. “I know. That is why I trust you.”

(Y/N) blinked at the intensity of his gaze, and their nose twitched. “So, how do we start?”

“I must go and stab myself again. I have made the other necessary arrangements,” said Sebastian.

“And then I mourn your loss,” said (Y/N).

“I can assure you, I would never allow you to mourn any loss of mine,” said Sebastian. He would never leave them alone. He would be with them until the end of time if they would have him. He would adore them for all eternity, worship them, treat them as the brilliant demon they were.

(Y/N) opened the door of Siemens room to find Sebastian positioned on the ground in a pool of blood. They knew he was perfectly alright, but at the idea of Sebastian truly being gone, every part of (Y/N) cringed. To lose him would destroy them. He was all they had in this world.

(Y/N) wouldn’t know what to do with themself if he was gone. He had guided them, made sure they had the strength to face the world as a demon. He respected them as no one ever had, and they loved him. If he were to leave, they’d lose the person they loved, the being who held their heart.

And so, (Y/N) poured all that emotion and love into their performance. And they screamed in agony over lost love as they discovered Sebastian’s “corpse.”

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jillsvalentinex · 4 months

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The day of the reaping was as annoying as ever. Thea was never fond of things that forced her to wake up early so it came to no surprise to both her and Jace that she woke up in less of a happy mood than usual. she stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, combing through her hair to get all the knots out from the night prior. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, a noticeable frown on her face. The eye bags under her tired eyes were noticeable, too.

"Thea! You done yet?" The voice of her brother caused her to turn her head to the closed door to the hallway.

"In a minute!" She yelled back before she turned back to the mirror, huffing in annoyance as she struggled with her hair. She quickly tied her hair up in a half up, half down look, pulling a few hairs out of her ponytail to frame her face before she exited the bathroom. She rushed downstairs as fast as she could, entering the living room where Jace stood impatiently.

He flapped his arms up in the air dramatically, heaving a harsh sigh. "You always take forever."

"I'm supposed to look my best, right?" Thea asked in a snarky tone as she stopped in front of him.

"Yeah, well you didn't even do that right. Turn around." Jace told her, watching the short blonde pout before turning around.

"You were rushing me. What did you expect?" She asked as Jace gently pulled the hair tie out of her hair and started fixing it. She felt his fingers comb through her hair as he gathered half of her hair and started tying it up in a high ponytail with the other half of her hair down. Thea glanced down at the floor of her house, nervously fiddling with her hands. "I'm...not going to get picked, right?" She turned her head slightly to the side, making Jace stop what he was doing.

There was a short silence afterwards before Jace sighs deeply while continuing to put up her hair. "How many times is your name in today?"

Thea shifted her weight onto one leg as she stared off to the side. "Like... I don't know. Maybe twenty? Counting each year my name has been put in." She answered.

"Twenty?" Jace questioned, his voice slightly raised from surprise. "What in the bloody hell have you been doing to have your name in the bowl fourteen more times than you need it to be?"

Thea lowered her eyes down to the floor, embarrassed, and began to fiddle with her hands. "I've been...helping...the poorer people get food."

Jace then lets out an amused chuckle because of her reasoning. "Of course, taking after mom; helping others out even when you don't need to." He answered before his face fell back into his normal, stoic look. He shook his head. "No. No, it's highly unlikely you're going to get picked. You'll be fine." He reassured her with a quick nod as he finished tidying up her hair.

Their attention quickly shifts once a blare of a horn sounds off, telling everyone in the district to walk up to the reaping centre. The horn goes off once again shortly after and Thea turns around to Jace for an extra bit of comfort before they'd have to go to the reaping. He cups her face and with a reassuring but stern look, he repeats, "You'll be fine," with another nod before pulling her into a quick hug.

Thea nervously fiddled with her hands as she stood in the crowd of girls, separate from the boys and her brother. She watched as the doors of the Hall of Justice opened, a tall, olive-skinned woman walking out onto the platform. The woman, also known as Irene Diaz, had puffy, black curls in her hair and was wearing what seemed to be a long, tight black dress that ended just below her knees with some kind of black blazer on top, although it didn't look like any normal blazer. She also had a matching black walking cane despite being completely fine without it.

Irene was known for her dark coloured outfits, almost always wearing black, but sometimes there would be times where she'd show up in a little bit of colour, but it would still be within the darker shades. Her makeup was just as dark, but minimal. She had blended in black and red eyeshadow and her eyeliner was done to look like a spider web. Her lips were the same colour as her eyeshadow. Around her lips was black lipstick and the rest of her lips were red, carefully blended in with the black outline with some gloss on top to make it look glossy.

She walked up to the mic near the edge of the platform. Her hands wrapped around the mic, showing off the pointy black nails she had on. "Hello~, District four." She greeted in her usual sing-song voice. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the-"

May the odds be ever in your favour. Thea mouthed, seemingly mocking the phrase as Irene spoke it to the whole of District four. She's heard it so many times it has practically been engraved into her brain.

"It is now time for us to select one courageous young man and woman for the honour of representing District four in the 69th annual Hunger Games." Irene announced, looking back to the male and female crowds separated from each other. "Ladies first." She scanned the crowd of girls to see if there were any hands raised for volunteers, but there seemed to be no one offering up their life as she turned to her left and walked over to the bowl full of girl names.

The air became tense as everyone watched Irene put her hand in the jar. Her hand hovered over the pile of names for a few moments before digging in deep, grabbing a piece of paper and walking back to the mic. She gave the crowd a smile as she opened up the piece of paper. "The female representing district four is..." She said before her eyes turned to the piece of paper, quickly reading the name before announcing it to the district.

"Thea Greene!"

Thea felt her heart sink in her chest. She felt all the girls around her turn towards her, staring at her with blank expressions. Even when Irene called her name again, it seemed like the blonde had turned into a rock, frozen in her spot.

"Well, come on, darling, we don't have all day." She heard Irene speak into the mic with a chuckle, however she was unable to move from her spot. She then felt a hand grab tightly on her wrist, roughly pulling her out of the crowd. She stumbled a little once exiting the crowd of girls by the force of the peacekeepers pull as she stood in between the girls and boys. Having no other choice but to walk forward, she slowly began walking to the platform where Irene stood waiting for her. She felt a harsh push from one of the peacekeepers behind her to make her speed up her pace.

Her breath hitched once walking up the stairs to the platform, Irene waiting at the top of the stairs, walking beside her with a hand placed on her back and stopped once beside the mic. "Thea Greene; our female tribute! A round of applause." Irene announced where the sound of applause was heard from both crowds. Thea turned her gaze over to the boys section, trying to look for her brother's shaggy blonde hair. Her breathing steadied once noticing the tall boy in the crowd. She watched as he nodded his head while staring back at her, trying to reassure her from the crowd although it was noticeable he was just as terrified for her as she was for herself. The clapping soon stopped, allowing Irene to continue the reaping process. "And now, for the boys."

Irene walked to her left where the bowl full of the male's names were. She took off her black glove dramatically, but before she could lower her hand into the bowl, she was stopped by a sudden voice coming from the male crowd.

"I volunteer!" Everyone turned their heads to the crowd of boys, noticing a hand raised in the crowd. Both Irene and Thea looked stunned as the male walked out of the crowd, a few peacekeepers following him from behind as he walked towards the platform.

Irene drops her hand down to her side before walking back to the mic. "Oh, my. It looks like we have a volunteer. Come on up."

Thea watched as the male walked up the steps to the stage. She already knew who he was, after all she did talk to his grandfather just the day before. Morgenthau did say he was planning on volunteering... The resemblance between him and his grandfather was wild. He had the same dark brown skin and an impressively built body, his biceps almost too big for the shirt he was wearing. His hair was short with his sides shaved. He stood roughly the same height as Irene, only because of the fact she was wearing high heels to make herself taller and towered over Thea, almost making him look intimidating if it weren't for his kind smile as he stood beside the mic opposite her.

"Now, dear, what is your name?" Irene asked into the mic with a smile before giving it to the male.

He leaned forward, his white teeth flashing the audience as he gave them a proud smile. "Judas Morgenthau!" He announced.

"Judas Morgenthau; our male tribute, everyone." Irene spoke into the mic before clapping causing most of the audience to clap along also. The applause was bigger than the applause Thea got as a lot more people clapped, even a few people started whistling, most of them being from the academy.

Once the somewhat chaotic applause died down, Irene spoke into the mic once again. "And with that, that concludes the reaping. District four's tributes, everyone!" She announced while placing a hand on both of Thea's and Judas' back, as if showing them off. The applause started up again, but it didn't feel like the same type of applause Thea would usually receive. To the common folk, it would sound the exact same, but Thea could tell something about it was different. Despite that, she flashed a smile at the crowd, albeit a fake one, as the two crowds clapped for the two tributes, one crowd more enthusiastic than the other.

"Happy Hunger games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!"

#finnick odair x reader #thehungergamesxoc #hunger games

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