V. I Chapter 31: No Regrets

"I'm staying here for the moment," said Jaeyline. "I'll take over Ciel's place right now, but I'm also going to be hunting him down through connections, so please make sure nobody bothers me."

"Of course, President Jaeyline," Laksa replied, sitting at his own desk. "I'm counting on you."

Jaeyline smiled as she walked into the large office that belonged to her subordinate. She sat in the chair and pulled out her cell, along with the desk phone, dialing two different numbers. "Hello. This is Jaeyline," she said into them. "I need some favors. Yes. I need you to search for someone. It's very important. I need you to find a man called Ciel Michaelis."

There was a long pause before both voices asked through the phone, "Are you sure? This isn't a repeat, right?"

Jaeyline smiled to herself. "Of course not. This time, I'm not letting go of him."

.

Jaeyline was filling out paperwork that had piled up to a momentous size when her cell rang with an international call. "Hello, Orion," she said as she held the phone with her shoulder, continuing to fill out the work.

"Jaeyline, I know what you're doing. Are you sure this is a good idea? Do you remember what happened the last time you used our connections to look for someone?"

Jaeyline sighed. "I know full well, Brother."

"Then why are you doing it? You don't even actually like him, do you?"

Jaeyline hesitated. "I don't really know. All I know for sure is he's always here for me when I need him, so it's time to return the favor, especially now that I'm best friends with his little brother."

"You and Jackson are best friends? You do know who his father is, right?" asked Orion.

"Of course I do. I don't care. I'm sure he knows what happened years ago, and he didn't go shooting his mouth off to Ciel, so I trust him for now."

The desk phone rang, and she picked that up, still on the phone with her brother.

"Hello. Jaeyline Cordelia."

"Hello. This is Fleeting Shadow. We found traces of him, but they're vague. It seems he went to Japan, but returned on the same day he arrived, spending only three hours there. He was also sighted in the countryside going to a fairly small and remote city."

Jaeyline frowned. "Got it. Keep looking for him. Don't stop until you can narrow where he is."

"Yes, Mistress."

Jaeyline hung up that phone, sighing into the other.

"Jaeyline…"

"Listen, Orion. I don't know if I really like Ciel. But right now, his existence is everything to me."

Orion was quiet for a long while before sighing. "Fine, Jaeyline. You win. I can't help you find him, but I can help you hear about his past, or at least the injuries he obtained. Even his doctor isn't fully aware. Only the Chairwoman of the hospitals has the full record."

Orion told her the name of the hospital.

"Oh, really? Lanara is actually a bit of a close partner." Jaeyline said. Lanara vi Fiorielle was Jaeyline's friend in high school, but they'd both inherited their families' conglomerates, causing them to have very little time to see each other.

"That's good to hear. Apparently she's a surgical god."

"Yes. She's always had steady hands, slender fingers, and very fast reflexes. Her sewing work has always been extraordinary."

"Great. Go see her, and she can tell you everything about his medical records. This may actually tell you more than expected."

"Thanks, Orion."

"No problem, Little Sister."

Jaeyline hung up, sighing in her chair. "Cie-- Laksa, I'll be taking leave for a short while," she called.

"Got it."

"Denis, come with me."

"Yes, Chairwoman," Denis said from the corner of the office.

.

"Excuse me, I'd like to see Lanara vi Fiorielle."

"Name?"

"Jaeyline Cordelia."

The receptionist looked up. "Ah. I see. I'll call her down."

Jaeyline waited only about ten minutes before a figure with stunning gold hair walked toward them, pulling a mask off her face.

"Good afternoon, Jaeyline. What caused you to come out here?" asked the woman.

"Just a few questions about the medical records of my subordinate," Jaeyline replied. "It's been awhile, Lanara."

Lanara's lips twitched. "Indeed, Jaeyline. Let's move this to a place a little less dirty, yes?"

Jaeyline followed Lanara into the restricted areas of the hospital, where there would be no interruptions.

"What do you need?" Lanara asked.

"Hospital records for a patient named Ciel Michaelis."

Lanara furrowed her brows. "Ciel Michaelis... his doctor is Cheryl Ishida. He's been visiting our hospital for just about five years, if I remember correctly. And he came in here for the first time looking as though he'd been raped.

"Of course," said Lanara, "That's because he had been raped."

"Yes," agreed Jaeyline.

Lanara opened his mouth, but a man wearing a surgeon's scrub ran over. "Miss Lanara, we have a patient in critical condition and need you."

Lanara nodded. "I'll send you all relevant documents, Jaeyline."

"Thank you. I'll hope to see you soon, Lanara." Jaeyline walked back out of the hospital. Her phone rang and she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mistress Jaeyline, we've discovered that the target has returned to London. We're working to track him down as we speak."

"Very well. If I get another call and he's not found, I'll cut off one finger for every word spoken."

"Yes, Mistress."

Jaeyline hung up, stuffing the phone back in her purse. "Dammit." She was so distracted, she bumped into another woman. "I'm sorry," she said.

The woman stared at her. "No, it's my fault. If I may, do you mind having a cup of coffee with me?" she asked.

Jaeyline frowned, but nodded. "Why not?"

The woman led Jaeyline to a café, ordering an americano, Jaeyline a latte.

Jaeyline took a sip before saying, "Obviously, you know me somewhere, or you wouldn't have called me out."

"Yes," the woman replied. "My name is Leslie, and I know you because I've seen you around Ciel."

Jaeyline set her cup down. "Really, now? Pray tell, how do you know him?"

"I was his girlfriend for one day, before his mother attempted to kill me."

Jaeyline's fist clenched under the table. "Really? And how did you survive?"

"I was in a coma for quite awhile, then woke up recently. I was actually employed by Laksa Jackson, and recently discovered that Ciel was still alive and so close."

"Are you going to chase after him again?"

"Perhaps."

The atmosphere was tense, though both used polite, business-like tones.

Leslie took a drink, fixing her piercing blue eyes on Jaeyline. "I know what you did."

Jaeyline's blood went cold. "What do you mean?"

"Just over five years ago, before you were transferred to London and made the President of the company, so you had enough work so you couldn't repeat history."

"You're speaking in riddles. If you can't tell the truth, then you should have your tongue ripped out," Jaeyline said coldly, though she had a polite smile on her face. "Denis, we should get going."

"Yes, Miss Cordelia."

Jaeyline stood, tossing a bill down on the table. "For the tab," she said.

Leslie ran her finger around the rim of her cup. "You know running away isn't going to do anything, right?"

Jaeyline gave another smile, this time a dangerous one. "Mind your own business and you'll live longer."

Leslie watched the two of them leave, sipping from her cup. Ugh, she thought. I really hate black coffee. She got up, glancing at the bill on the table.

Leslie smiled slightly. "A five hundred euro note?" She picked it up sighing. "It's not that expensive, Miss Moneybags." She shredded the note into eighteen pieces.

"It looks like things are going to start connecting, aren't they?" Leslie asked, walking out of the building.

Only minutes later, a figure dressed all in black entered the shop, scooping up the shredded pieces of the banknote, and left.

.

Laksa sighed as he walked home after work. "Ciel... where are you? Are you getting me back for just running away from you?"

He sighed.

Laksa turned the corner, someone crashing into him, sending them both stumbling back. "Hey, watch it," Laksa snarled, but when he looked up, the one who'd hit him was gone.

A sense of foreboding followed Laksa all the way back to Ciel's house, where he dropped off his bag before heading to the office on the second floor.

He opened his laptop, reaching into his left pocket for the flashdrive, but instead grabbed a small piece of paper.

Laksa pulled it out, looking at it. Was that... a piece of a five-hundred euro note? Laksa set the piece on the desk, getting the flashdrive from his other pocket, plugging it into his computer.

As he opened it, he found a new email in his imbox.

"... What?"

.

"Mommy, where's Sissy?"

"You know where she is. She's grounded. How can you be so happy all the time when your sister tried to kill you?"

"I didn't die! That instructor saved my life! He was awesome, like a real-life superhero!" The little boy still remembered that long-haired man flying through the air to save him, even hurting himself to safe him. The little boy recalled the instructor's name was Ciel.

"Yes. I still owe him an apology and a thank you," sighed the boy's mother.

"Mommy, what is this?"

"Where did you get it?"

"It was in my pocket just now, but I don't remember putting it in there."

The mother stepped away from the stove, looking at the strange colored paper in the boy's hand. "That looks like... a piece of a five hundred euro note," she said, astounded.

"Wow!"

.

Lily Jackson set down the picture she was holding, of her son and husband.

Due to a sudden mission, Michael had been gone for awhile, and she missed him, but she was more worried about her son.

"Why would you just up and leave, Laksa?" she asked.

"Miss, your tea is here."

"Thank you..."

The tray was set down. On it was a teapot, teacup, a small bowl of sugar, small bowl of cream, Lily's anti-depressants, and a sealed letter.

She poured the tea first, putting in one teaspoon of sugar and a slash of cream, taking a sip before picking up the envelope. She cut it open with an extremely sharp letterknife, sheathing it in the sheath around her forearm.

Lily removed the letter a small scrap of colored paper falling from it. "Is that... a piece of a five hundred euro note?" she asked herself picking it up. "Why would that be enclosed...?"

Lily unfolded the letter, eyes zooming across the paper. "Oh..."

Crash!

.

Michael Jackson paced in his office. He hadn't been expecting his son to have lived, and to work his way up the ranks in a mafia Michael had promised he wouldn't get involved with.

"Ciel Michaelis..." Michael whispered. "Ciel..."

Michael remembered everything that had happened in those years.

Well, everything that involved a headstrong woman and that genius baby boy.

Everything in his life had always been not worth remembering, but once he'd met her, and then they'd had him, everything was suddenly as if he were seeing it clearly.

Michael missed those times. Just a little. A time when he actually cared about whether he lived or died.

But then his work performance had fallen, and the leader of the English Mafia had noticed.

He'd given Michael three options. He could either get rid of whatever made him change, accept much harsher training, or he could throw himself off the edge of a cliff.

Michael had gotten wasted that night, and had woken up in a hotel bed with a slender, pale young man next to him. The boy had the same platinum blonde hair as Acacia had.

The young man had woken up then, and, stretching, had said, "Now, you're going to take responsibility for me, aren't you?"

Michael had seen the eyes, the same blue as Acacia's, and told the man to wait one day.

Michael had gone back to Japan, and told Acacia he was leaving for good. He hadn't meant to tell her he'd found another lover, much less a man, but he had to hurt her thoroughly, so that she would hate him, so he could finally let go of that time in paradise, so that Acacia and the boy wouldn't be targeted.

"Sir, a letter has arrived for you."

Michael took the letter offered by the guard, slitting it open with a dagger and pulling it out, reading it. At the bottom, where a name should have been signed, was a small piece of a banknote taped to the paper.

Michael dropped the letter, backing away. "No..."

.

"Miss Cordelia, a letter."

Ina Cordelia, Jaeyline's elder sister, looked up from where she sat on the veranda of her estate.

"Do you want to take it?" asked Thomas Cordelia, Ina's husband.

"I suppose I should," Ina sighed. "But I don't know why someone would end a letter when you can just text someone. I'm sure I told everyone of importance I was on leave with my family..."

Ina took the letter, opening it and removing two pieces of what appeared to be a five-hundred euro note. She frowned at them, removing a letter from the envelope. "Addressed to a Miss Ina Cordelia and a Mr. Liam Cordelia." Ina frowned. Who could be writing to her year-old son?

She grimaced as she continued to read, but in seconds, her hands went slack and the letter fluttered out of her hands. "No..."

.

Eighteen individuals found a piece of that note, unwittingly being entered into a cruel, deadly game. Out of all eighteen people, not even half will survive.