Their only lead was three grey, muddied cloaks- white, Ciel thought, at least originally- and a fourth white coat housing a dead body-a man in his late twenties or early thirties the investigators were saying- mutilated beyond facial recognition. All found in different corners of England with no discernable pattern between the corpses and their possible connections besides a dulled star-like cross pinned to each of their coats

And that link, in and of itself, was worrying.

The case had connections to the Church.

Ciel knew he wasn't as naive as his outward appearance suggested him to be and he could admit to underhanded if not outright cruel techniques- he contracted a demon and then had it serve as his butler for years- under duress but even he had a certain degree of innocence when compared to the Vatican. After all, it certainly hadn't become a center of power simply by preaching the word of God.

The disappearances were another thing.

The Queen's letter had spoken of a power vacuum, Ciel mulled sipping a cup of tea, and while the tone had been the same tone of joviality that he had long since attributed to Queen Victoria, there had been an undercurrent of worry in the way the case was described. A whole family, an Earl Campbell and his wife, children, heirs. All gone overnight with nary a trace they could follow to a perpetrator or a murderer.

It was as if they had ceased to exist and, surely, if they could be disappeared- Ciel felt a part of his heart freeze, the eyepatch suddenly feeling overwhelmingly stiff over his eye. He breathed out, shaking his head. Focus.

Though the letter had never mentioned it, their disappearances had been put down to an impromptu vacation to the East. It may as well be the truth as the Earl had been known for liking to maintain an airs of mystery, choosing to surprise his guests with masquerade balls, orchestras that took up to floors of his estate and-on one occasion-statues of each individual carved entirely out of candle wax.

It didn't escape his attention that these were both issues that the Queen and the police force couldn't directly involve themselves in. At least for the Jack the Ripper case, though the backup was entirely unneeded, could be completed in the public sphere. These would have to be done privately.

Ciel looked up at Sebastian as the butler's shadow seemed to stretch across the floor. A blink and it had gone back to its original size.

"Plans, young master?"

"We take care of the Jack the Ripper case first", Ciel said moving the letter and the details on the disappearances and the miscellaneous corpses to another side of his desk. "We have more information on the other case and it would be best if we make haste to stop the killer we know than the killer we don't."

"Is there any chance of a correlation?"

"Of them being the same killer?", Ciel started upwards, letting his hands come in contact with the desk.

Both cases seemed to have an agenda but the murder methods didn't match. It was much more likely that the case of the found four and Jack the Ripper were both different cases, Ciel reasoned. But was it still a possibility?

Ciel scowled. Reached a gloved hand up to the furrow in his forehead as if in hopes that the newfound pressure there would lessen the oncoming wave of frustration.

"It's highly doubtful ast it doesn't explain the pin or the connection to the church. Unless we have a very random killer, which doesn't match the evidence we've found. For the other case it's much more likely to be a radical group of sorts enforcing their teachings through force of some kind. But thats still bloody unlikely seeing as this happened all over the damned country and such an organization would be more known to the general public. It's not like they could've grabbed people out of nowhere. So, no, I do not think so. Ciel sighed, letting his hand fall to the table, "Besides, Jack the Ripper doesn't target men so much as women. Specifically prostitutes. The last victim in the other case is male, not female."

"It would be best to look into the other case briefly should there be time but to focus efforts on the case that seems easier to solve."

Sebastian kept smiling but noticeably said nothing else, choosing instead to produce an opened envelope waving it between two fingers.

Ciel blanched.

"Queen's watchdogs we may be but", Sebastian placed the invitation on the desk, "it would be best to still attend a few socials wouldn't it?"

If it wasn't unbecoming of a person befitting his status, Ciel felt he would have rather liked to groan and become one with his chair. Outwardly he huffed, reaching forward in resignation for the letter, flipping it open and beginning to read.

"Ah, young master one more thing."

Ciel looked up to another notice, this time bearing a cat's crest in red wax and blinked.

It was only a week later that Allen turned in a letter of resignation to Doris, the woman freezing from where she'd been taking note of the day's balances in another book to take it with shaking fingers, "This is-"

"I've caused you enough trouble I think", Allen said, his smile turning wry on his face.

"Trouble" was putting it mildly.

Morris had turned various colors of red, finally settling on a vibrant hue of scarlet before the inspection had come to an end. Even then, the man had been shaking in anger by the time he had left, the two halves of a pencil in one hand and the clipboard in the other. And while Allen had left the shop moments later that day to take up his shift at a tavern-one of the few that either had no idea that his master had been a thing or one of the few that remained unaware that the hair dyed, scar-less person in their midst was the very same Allen Walker on their blacklist-the way Morris had seethed at Allen promised an ill-begotten future if he chose to continue working in the store. Even if that meant stopping to work with one of the few people that had seemed to grow to care about him as the second month had drawn to a close.

"Allen, this-", Doris waved the letter looking between the piece of paper and his face, "I-I can't take this. You said you needed this job."

And he did in some ways. While the inn's pricing had gone down in the last two to three months due to the news of it being rather close to Jack the Ripper's haunts, it still remained a bit high of a price to afford with only his job at the tavern and the other few odd jobs he'd gotten during the months of silence from the Order.

But- "I'll manage", Allen said smiling, "It'll only be a few luxuries I'll need to sacrifice. No worries, Doris."

"But what if I need you here. I'm just one old woman and-", Doris seemed to sag and Allen was reminded of what Morris had said and flapped a hand in the air.

"You managed before without me just fine. Besides, the profits have been coming in less and less what with the rumours. If I stayed that'd be more of an expense to you than a benefit."

"Th-that is-", Doris grimaced pausing for a moment to look back down at the last couple records.

Allen watched as the wrinkles around her mouth tightened in confirmation of his words before walking over to where his coat had been hung on a small hook, "It's alright Doris. I'll be fine, besides", he said shrugging it on and smiling over at where the old woman had been flipping through the book, "I'll be around. If only to see a notoriously soft hearted old woman."

Doris swiveled her head over to glare at him, a scowl enunciating the wrinkles in her forehead. Allen grinned as she sighed, closing a book with in resignation. "At least take a small box with you."

"Ah, I couldn't. Profit margin and all that-"

"Box or this letter doesn't count, Walker."

"But-"

"Walker", she warned, crossing her arms, "Box."

Allen left with a box, a very awkward hug from one very gray, very old woman and a wisp of something lonesome curling around the corners of his heart at the final sound of the bell ringing as the door shut.

He backed his way out of the entrance to the shop, one hand holding something wrapped in red and the other up in the air to wave at a teary Doris trying not to break down crying in her shop. It was only when the old woman had given up keeping appearances, choosing to turn around inside the store that Allen allowed himself to do the same.

Only to bump into something firm.

He blinked in confusion at the sight of a plain shirt and a pair of coattails instead of the half-empty, dark roadside he had been expecting and looked up.

The man was taller than Kanda, he thought detachedly as his eyes settled on the bemused expression of the individual he had collided into. The man seemed to share the same sharp eyes and black hair that had belonged to his friend though there were stark differences in the mischief and amusement that seemed to radiate off the man in waves and with the way his hair only framed his face rather than falling to mid-back length. It helped as well that Kanda also wouldn't-hadn't, Allen thought belatedly- be caught dead with a smile on his face in public.

A gloved hand settling on his shoulder stopped him from continuing to stare as the individual in question bent down. "Ah my apologies. These would be yours?" He held up the box of confectionaries that had apparently fallen onto the floor in the collision.

Allen started forward, reaching for it, "Er yes, thank you."

The man smiled and while the gesture should have reassured him, it served instead to make the expression that much more unnerving. His left eye itched and Allen almost reached up for it before remembering the layer of makeup there. His hand falls to the back of his neck which he rubs while flashing an apologetic smile. "Thank you. And sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. Didn't mean to bump into you."

"Not at all", the man said waving a hand, "on the contrary I should have taken extra precautions as you did seem to be otherwise preoccupied. I do have to ask however how you came about this brand", he nodded towards the box being clutched in Allen's right hand, "it's quite expensive and- forgive me for being slightly offensive- not easily acquirable."

It was true, Allen knew, that Funtom chocolate was both expensive and rather rare while also being a well renowned brand but the logo on the windows of the shop literally behind him seemed to be a clear indication all by itself.

Still.

"It's a parting gift actually. There's a store here", he moves to the side gesturing to the building behind him as he turns slightly.

"I beg your pardon; a parting gift?"

The man seemed to sharpen at that statement, his shoulders broadening and his posture straightening. His eyes that had remained rather lax for this entire encounter focused on Allen instead of the store and Allen feels a chill that had nothing to do with the dark gray clouds overhead creep its way down his spine and spread towards the digits of his left hand.

Allen inwardly cursed, "Oh, it's nothing really. If you really must know though I've lost a job"-not really but by the way the intensity of the man's focus seemed to fade slightly Allen relaxed, "And the owner feeling bad for me gave me a parting gift."

"I see. That's quite unfortunate", the man said, his brows seeming to furrow in concern.

Allen really doubted he "saw". "Yes, it is", he murmured pushing one hand into a coat pocket.

The circular surface of his pocket watch touched his wrist and what time was it again.

Vincent was going to kill him.

A/N: Welcome back guys! Thank you to all those who read, reviewed, favorited and followed and here's the next chapter of this whole thing. I'm actually kind of excited for the next couple chapters coming up now that I've got a plotline that I can build (hehehehe) but there will be a little bit of time before we get there. But *rubs hands* I'm really hyped so \(*^*)/ I do want to apologize for the week wait for this one as I kind of (not really) unexpectedly ran into some trouble last week to really dedicate time to this chapter. But yeah! Its up now and I apologize for the wait. That being said I will try to update from between every two weeks to a month; that much I can definitely promise. Also,while this is longer than the last chapter it isn't as long as I wanted it to be but I figured you guys had waited enough for an update.

On that note though I hope y'all are excited as I am and that today treated you guys well. And that none of you are down with the flu ^^;. Nearly everyone in my house is sick or getting sick so skdksakd but yeh all the same. Keep safe and stay warm guys (or stay cool if you guys are somewhere outrageously hot). I hope to see you next chapter :)

Edit: I also removed the previous 8 chapters that were originally up for the original version that I was revamping. Hope that helps and to all y'all who are new, hello!