Author: Az

Title: Taxidermy

Promt: Séance

Email: az.ombie[at]gmail.com

Homepage: http://www.forgottenjuliet.net

AN: Taxidermy (Greek for "the arrangement of the skin") was not a random chosen title. This takes place around where the Earl’s father has just resurfaced, and has proven himself not to be dead. All 25 chapters of this is one long story, so please read from start to end.

WIP: 1/?

Fandom: Count Cain

Betaed by; none

Rating: R for disturbing issues, and M+ later for m/m interactions.

Disclaimer: none of these characters are mine, sad but true. They belong to Kaori Yuki.

Summary: Cain attends a bogus séance.

Warnings: violence, smex, angst & au’ness.

Pairings: Cain/Riff

Part 1 – Saffron’s Séance.

Cain stood in the far corner with Riff to his right. Looking at the table there was being set up, servants carried in eight beautifully crafted chairs, and Cain guessed that this would have to be the best the Leander’s had, He turned his head and narrowed his eyes as he saw Saffron’s mother pull the curtains closed. Saffron was the girl who had sent him the letter, the letter that had resulted in him standing here in the Leander’s living room, Saffron was worried that her mother had been taken in my a con-artist, the poor lady Leander had suddenly developed a taste for the occult, so much that she worried her own daughter, and Saffron was now worried that the man responsible for Lady Leander’s fascination, a self proclaimed medium called Zeus, maybe had some ulterior motives.

Riff leaned in and whispered softly in Cain’s ear “What are we looking for, sir?”

Cain smiled “I will let you know when I see anything.”

Riff nodded, and whispered again “I think the séance is about to begin, my lord, I will wait outside.”

Cain nodded and watched as Riff left the room, watching the lady Leander with his golden eyes. When something caught his eye, it was the girl Saffron, who entered the room, with a tall red haired man, whom Cain could only assume was her fiancé from the way he held her arm. She had not mentioned him in the letter, but Cain hated to take upon tasks that he had not investigated on his own, and he had pretty quickly found out about Saffron’s fiancé, Michael, the American. Cain smiled as Saffron saw him and let got of Michael’s arm to greet Cain, at the other end of the room.

She was a beautiful woman, even compared to many others that Cain had seen, but somehow she had met up and apparently fallen for that crude red haired man. Cain took her slim hand and kissed the pale knuckles politely. “Lady Saffron, thank you for inviting me,” he said flashing her a charming smile.

“Oh Lord Hargraves, I am thrilled to have you here” she answered, but instead of smiling back, she turned her head slightly and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone listened in. “Have you found out something about Mister Zeus?” she whispered.

“I have” Cain said pocketing his hands in his pants pockets, and watched the beautiful black haired woman. “Do not trouble yourself.”

“Oh, I’m so relieved,” she sighed.

Lady Leander clapped her hands firmly once, and announced that everyone please take their seats, the séance was about to begin. Cain followed Lady Saffron to her seat, and sat down next to her, directly opposite the Lady Leander herself. They waited in silence when the doors opened and a young man entered, he was dressed in tacky extravagant embroiled fabric in dark colours, Cain smiled inwardly was the mighty Zeus flailed about his arms, to appear mysterious and exotic.

The medium sat down and held out his hands, waiting for the rest of the table to do the same, and soon they all held hands around the table, Cain squeezed Lady Saffron’s lightly. In Lady Saffron’s letter she had expressed her distress, that apart from her mother apparently being taken in by this Zeus person, then she had noticed that her mother had tried to retrieve her late husband, Saffron’s fathers will from the lawyer who held unto it, since the Marquis of Leander had tragically met his own end as he drove off a bridge, the horses apparently gone mad. This had piqued Cain’s curiosity to say the least. Zeus asked them all to close their eyes, and they did.

“Tonight,” Zeus said with his best doomsday voice. “We are gathered here for a special reason.”

Cain could feel Saffron tense.

“Tonight we will achieve to summon the spirit of the late Marquis of Leander,” Zeus said lowering his voice to a near whisper. “You know the rules, no matter what you think you feel, or hear, you cannot open your eyes until I say so.”

Cain vaguely wondered if Riff had done what he had told him to, but why wouldn't he? Riff, he could always count on him doing what he as supposed to. Zeus began to hum, and gasp, when suddenly the table began to shake. Cain could hear some of the ladies, who attended the séance gasp in fright, and a little smile spread on his lips, he had to give it to this Zeus, he did know how to stage himself.

“Open your eyes,” Zeus said, and they all did. And then Zeus closed his eyes and in the half-light he started to shake his head “Marquis Leander, we call upon you to enter our circle,” he mumbled. Cain looked at the Lady Leander who had her sight steady on Zeus, and then suddenly a cabinet locker started to open and lock, seemingly by ghostly hands.

“Rose” Zeus said with a deep voice, clearly addressing the lady Leander, “I ended my days before I was ready,” Zeus said, still with his eyes closed, in what looked like the ecstasy of being entered by the entity of the Marquis of Leander. “My time is short, and I must use it well.”

Lady Leander blinked away a tear in the corner of her eye. “William” she whispered with a shaking voice.

Cain did not move his gaze from the Lady Leander.

“I hid my true last will and testament,” Zeus said with the William-voice. “And you Rose, my faithful wife, you we’re clever enough to find it, like I knew you would be.”

A gasp went through the people attending the séance, could that really be? Did the Marquis of Leander have a hidden testament? Cain resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and just squeezed Saffron’s hand again. “Yes William my love” the Lady Leander said.

“I know you have brought it with you” the William-voice whispered. “Lay it here on the table for all to see.”

Lady Leander looked a little confused, until she hesitantly let go of her companion’s hands, and reached down between her quite large breasts, and pulled out a piece of paper, which she carefully unfolded and laid on the table, and then she grabbed her companions hands again, whispering “There it is my heart”

“Excellent” the William-voice said. “I can see this is indeed the correct testament.”

“Stop!” Cain suddenly burst out, and stood up, letting go of the hands he held before. “Riff!” he called, and the door to the corridor opened, letting the light into the room. “I can’t watch this preposterous performance any longer.” He said more calmly.

The Lady Leander looked up at the young man with the wild and strange eyes at the other side of the table “How dare you!” she hissed.

Cain smiled, and snatched the last testament of the Marquis of Leander from the table. “No my lady, the question is how dare ‘you’?” He turned to Saffron and reached out a hand, asking her silently to stand. “Riff, if you please?” he said holding the parcel out to his butler, who walked across the room and took it from his master’s hand. “My lady Saffron, you met your fiancée Michael when he was introduced to you as a friend of the house, am I right?” Cain asked the young lady.

“Yes?” Saffron said with a little nod “My mother told me that my father had had dealings with Michael overseas”

“I see” Cain almost snickered, “Your father did never have dealings overseas, my lady, your fiancée Michael is a impostor, he is an actor, just like the ‘great’ master Zeus there” he pointed at Zeus at the end of the table. Lady Saffron gasped and shook her head in denial, “but why my lord? Why would anyone be so cruel as to convey this deceit?”

“Because my lady” Cain said and nodded to Riff who left the room again, “in this room, we have two con-artists, one killer, and three victims” He let go of lady Saffron’s hand and walked slowly around the table, and laid a hand on the lady Unger’s shoulder, “one victim is here, Lady Unger” the lady Unger turned her head and looked up at the young man behind her, “Don’t look so frightened my lady” Cain said, “You are the Bailiff’s wife, am I right?” the lady Unger nodded, “So it would have been within your power to authenticate this phoney testament, that was why you received this invite, my lady. Your signature was needed at the bottom, and so you would have fallen victim to fraud.”

Cain moved from the lady Unger to the medium himself, Zeus. “And you my good man, you are not what you appear to be,” Cain said “Not only are you not a medium, never have been, never will be, unless you can conduct a such from within the prison.”

“Are you calling me a fraud?” Zeus said frowning, standing up crossing his arms over his chest.

“I am” Cain said with a slight smile, “and I am calling you a conspirator to murder” the circle of people gasped and Cain turned to them and patted Zeus hard on the back. “You met Michael at the theatre, and you formed a friendship” Cain said looking back on Zeus, “But for you it was much more than that, weren’t it?” Cain lowered his voice to a sweet whisper “You fell in love with the American, didn’t you?” And just as Cain had thought the Lady Leander made it for the door to the corridor in anger. “Riff!” he yelled, and as on cue, Riff stood in the door, blocking the Lady Leander’s path. “You milady, would like to hear this, I assure you” Cain said. “You met Michael in the theatre too, didn’t you? And like mister Zeus here, you fell in love with the exotic nature of this young man, and like Zeus, you believed that this infatuation and trust was returned.” Cain said, turning away from Lady Leander.

“You” he said, pointing to Michael, “you love nothing but power, and money means power” Cain winched, as had he tasted something vile. “You knew you could talk Zeus into anything with a kiss, so you had him hide in the bushes by the bridge that night, didn’t you? Had him spook the horses of the Marquis of Leander’s coach. You made him kill the marquis, and why one might ask, because you told him that once you had seduced the widow of Leander, then it would all be milk and honey, isn’t that right?”

“But, but” Lady Leander whispered in the far end of the room.

Cain smirked, and clasped his hands together as he walked back to Zeus, “What did he tell you? He told you that once this testament was done, then what?”

“Then.. Then” Zeus whispered as he hung his head “Then I did not have to worry about anything ever again”

“I see” Cain said, “But you didn’t know that he had told the Lady Leander the same, did you?”

“No” Zeus breathed.

“You love him, don’t you?” Cain said laying a hand on Zeus’ shoulder.

“I do” Zeus said wincing slightly.

“And so do you Lady Leander, and perhaps you too Lady Saffron” Cain said, walking away from Zeus and back to Lady Leander “You called this séance, well knowing that Zeus was in on the fraud, to pass off the fake testament, that would assure you every penny of your late husbands inheriting. But what you didn’t know was that the plan you had carefully made, would never be reality, those money would never be yours”

Cain took a deep breath, “Michael, you are indeed a clever, but not clever enough” he walked around the table to stand next to Michael. “The truth is that the marquis did not leave all his money to his wife, but to his daughter, and this was why you Michael agreed with Lady Leander, to woo the girl, to pass off as her fiancée, when all this time you shared the bed with Lady Leander, but this was the only way that you could get close enough to Lady Saffron to murder her, and it would not be suspicious that the only person there as she met her tragic end, would be the devastated fiancée. Cain put his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight from the back to the front of his feet. “You thought you had it all figured out, didn’t you? First you tell your actor friend who worships the ground you walk upon to kill the marquee, and then you cheated the lady Leander into believing you loved her, and would keep up your charade to lady Saffron, you would blame the murders of the marquee, his wife and his daughter upon Zeus, and this would leave you with the family fortune of the Leander’s’ and no one would ever wonder why. Clever, Michael.. Clever, but not clever enough”

Michael frowned “it would have worked if not Timothy had been such a bad actor” he pointed at Zeus. And then swiftly Michael’s hand went for his inner pocket, and produced a gun, “I always loathed you, sodomists and posh people alike,” he cried, and aimed the gun at Zeus. Without thinking Cain stepped in front of Michael to wrestle the gun out of the American’s hand, but the shot went off and penetrated Cain’s shoulder, burying the bullet deep within the young man’s flesh. The impact pushed Cain backwards, and he fell over a chair and landed on his back on the floor. A second shot rang, and Cain heard the soft thump of a person hitting the floor.

Nauseous from the hit he had taken to his head as he fell, Cain blinked confused as he felt warm arms around him, “Riff,” he whispered with a faint smile.

“The police are here,” Riff whispered back, pulling Cain to his feet.

“Let’s go home, Riff” Cain whispered, “I am tired” he looked down on the floor, seeing Michael laying in a pool of his own blood, that still seeped out from a perfect shot to his forehead. Cain didn’t say anything, he just closed his eyes, and leaned against Riff, he hoped that Lady Saffron would some day be happy. “Riff do you think that..” he whispered.

“Yes I think he would have shot Timothy” Riff whispered back and smiled to himself, “come my lord, we have lingered here for too long already”

“Yes” Cain murmured, “home”

TBC.