Changing Bed Sheets -CHAP.02--BLACKBUTLER-

   Andie didn't get any sleep the first night in Phantomhive Manor. This wasn't new to her. Insomnia was a bit of a recurring problem of hers, and what little sleep she did get was usually plagued by nightmares. So she didn't really feel like she was missing out at all.

   When the morning rolled round she found herself amidst the happy chatter of the other servants as they ate a quick simple breakfast and got ready to carry out their chores for the day. Andie couldn't decide if it was pleasant or unnerving. Either way, such happiness wasn't something she was used to.

   But only when Mey-Rin disappeared, saying she first had to change all of the bed linen, did Andie realise that she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. She didn't think Sebastian would be very happy if she stayed in the servant's quarter doing nothing on her first day whilst the others did all the work.

   Tanaka would probably have been the best person to ask – Sebastian had said he was the best behaved too – but he'd left before Mey-Rin had. Andie chewed her lip nervously, hesitating in the corner of the room. She didn't even know her way around the manor to try and seek out Sebastian. She was afraid of getting lost somewhere on the giant estate.

   "Well… I'm off outside then!" announced Finnian brightly, pulling on a straw hat so that it hung loose and covered the back of his neck.

   Andie blanched at the thought of being left alone with the intimidating-looking chef, who seemed more laidback and not in as much of a hurry to get to work as the others. She hastily made a swift decision and as Finnian passed she hesitantly grabbed his sleeve.

   He stopped and looked round in surprise. Bardroy chuckled. "I think she's taken a liking to you, Finny."

   Andie shifted uncomfortably and didn't say anything. Finnian frowned at Bardroy. "You're talking about her like she can't hear you," he chastised.

   Bardroy held up both his hands, though he still looked amused. "Hey, I was only kidding."

   Finnian turned back to Andie. "Are you alright?" he asked kindly.

   Andie hesitated before quietly admitting, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing."

   "Didn't Sebastian tell you?" asked Bardroy.

   Andie recoiled slightly from his much louder voice, but she acknowledged his question and shook her head. Sebastian had given her an overview of what her job would include, but it wasn't really enough for her to just jump in and start. Especially since she didn't know her way around the manor yet.

   Finnian looked sympathetic. "Do you want me to help you find Sebastian so you can ask him?"

   Andie nodded. This way she wouldn't get lost trying to find her way and she wouldn't have to face Sebastian alone again – she felt she'd already filled her quota for that last night. Maybe she really had made the right choice in choosing the gardener to be her new safety net.

   "Do you want me to take her?" Bardroy offered. "You should probably be getting out to the gardens. I won't have to start anything in the kitchen just yet."

   Andie tried to take an inconspicuous step back so that Finnian was between her and the chef – though his motives seemed innocent enough he still intimidated her; she didn't want to go with him – but the movement didn't go unnoticed.

   "I think she's scared of you," said Finnian uncertainly.

   "I'm not scary!" protested Bardroy.

   Andie neither admitted nor denied it. She simply kept her wary distance and fixed her expectant gaze on Finnian, hoping he'd still be the one to take her to Sebastian.

   She was in luck. Seeing the desperate look in her startling blue eyes filled the kind-hearted young gardener with sympathy. He didn't know what had happened to this girl to make her so fearful of people, but for some reason she seemed to trust him and he couldn't just ignore that.

   "Don't worry, I'll take you to find Sebastian," he told her kindly. He turned towards Bardroy. "I'm sure he won't mind if I go back to work straight after."

   "Suit yourself," said Bardroy, still a little resentful at the fact that the new girl was afraid of him. "Try the master's quarters first – he'll probably be with him right about now."

   "Alright, thanks!" said Finnian brightly. "Let's go, Andie."

   Andie nodded again and followed him out of the servant's quarters, still very tentatively holding onto the edge of his sleeve. He led her up one of the gleaming staircases and along several winding corridors. She was right – she definitely would have gotten lost if she'd been by herself.

   They came to a stop in front of a large polished wooden door. "This is the master's study," explained Finnian, rapping on the wood. His knock was surprisingly loud for the little effort he seemed to put into it.

   Andie was amazed that he could tell the difference. Even though she'd already seen master Ciel's study the night before she couldn't see any difference between this door and any of the others that they'd passed. But despite Finnian's efforts there wasn't any answer.

   He didn't seem dismayed though. "We'll try the master's room instead," he told Andie.

   He led the way down the corridor towards a different door and knocked again. This time they heard murmurs from inside and Andie felt sure that they'd come to the right room. Sure enough, the regal-looking Sebastian opened the door.

   "Why good morning," he addressed them. "Is everything alright?"

   Andie shrank back a little. She'd forgotten the intensity of the dark aura that seemed to surround him. How could she have believed even for a moment that this man could possibly be human?

   "Andie didn't know what she was supposed to be doing," Finnian helpfully answered for her.

   "Ah yes, I suppose you'll need to be shown the ropes first," said Sebastian, his gaze sweeping over Andie. "I'll have you working with Mey-Rin since you'll mostly be doing maid's duties. Thank you, Finny. You may return to your own work now."

   "Right." Finnian nodded. He gave Andie a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Mey-Rin will look after you."

   Andie gazed imploringly after him as he hurried off back down the corridor. She took a small step in the same direction but stopped when she heard Sebastian chuckle behind her.

   "No, no, you can't go with him," he said in amusement. "Finny has the gardens to tend to – your duties will be mostly inside the manor."

   Andie reluctantly turned back to Sebastian. He was watching her carefully, also amused at how she'd so clearly singled out the servant who, to her, appeared to pose the least threat.

   "Now… If you carry on straight down this corridor," Sebastian directed. "Turn left at the end and then take the second door on your right. Mey-Rin will be there and she'll show you what to do."

   Andie shot him a quizzical look. How could he be so sure exactly where the maid would be in a manor this big? Did she follow a schedule down to the last minute? Or was this something else to do with his mysterious, inhuman air?

   He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. "Oh don't worry, she'll definitely be there," he assured. And then, addressing her quietness, he added, "And don't be afraid to speak up. None of the staff here will bite."

   He then extended his arm in a sweeping gesture, following the curve of the corridor. Andie recognised it as a dismissal and felt that she had no choice but to do as he said. Giving him a timid nod, she followed his directions to seek out the maid.

   Sure enough, Mey-Rin was in the exact room he'd indicated. The large oak door had been left open, so Andie hesitated in the doorway as she knocked shyly on the wooden frame to get her attention.

   "Oh!" exclaimed Mey-Rin when she spotted her. "Is everything okay?"

   "He said to work with you," said Andie quietly.

   There was no question of who he was. Mey-Rin looked positively delighted and bustled over towards Andie. "Of course! Have you done much cleaning before?"

   "Um, I've done some around the house," replied Andie.

   There it was again – that strange sense of lust coming from Mey-Rin… Was it because of what Andie had just said? Did Mey-Rin desire Sebastian? Andie didn't understand. How could the maid not feel the overwhelming sensation of evil and darkness that shrouded him?

   But either way Andie couldn't sense anything other than that from her and she seemed more than happy to help Andie try to find her feet. She bustled about showing Andie the right way to make the beds, where to put the used linen, which cleaning substances to use on which surfaces…

   As the day progressed Andie relaxed a little. Though she still didn't trust Mey-Rin's opinion of Sebastian – and wasn't ever entirely at ease with her and the occasional bursts of desire she kept picking up when the maid was daydreaming – she was easy to work with and Andie was almost able to forget that there were several men in the same manor.

   Mey-Rin didn't seem to realise how dependent Andie was on other people though. "Would you mind just grabbing some more of the silver polish for me? There's barely anything left in this bottle."

   Andie looked round from the cabinet she was dusting. They were in one of the smaller dining rooms, where Mey-Rin had pulled out all of the silverware to polish. Andie saw that she was holding up a crumpled plastic bottle with a faded label on the front. She blanched when she processed what she'd said. She wanted her to go on her own?

   Mey-Rin noticed her hesitation. "Oh, but I can go instead if you'd rather wait here?"

   Andie shook her head quickly. They'd worked in several rooms this morning and she'd already began to realise that some of the rooms seemed to have auras just like people did. This dining room felt particularly gloomy to her – the worst one they'd been in so far. The prospect of staying in here on her own sounded far worse than going to find more polish by herself.

   "I can go," she told Mey-Rin.

   She was sure she knew where the cleaning cupboard was on this floor. Plus it would give her a chance to get some air – she'd discovered that Mey-Rin daydreamed a lot about romance whilst she worked. The feelings had been starting to overwhelm her a little.

   "Are you sure? You remember where it is, don't you?" asked Mey-Rin. Andie nodded. "Alright then. I'll be waiting here for you."

   Andie set off, feeling a little nervous but also relieved to escape for a bit. The air already felt lighter out in the corridor. Again, she couldn't help wondering why she could sense these dark things that other people couldn't…

   She soon reached the door she was looking for and opened it, only to find that it appeared to be a guest bedroom. Definitely not a cleaning cupboard… She frowned. She was sure this had been the right way. Maybe she should have turned left off of the main corridor, not right.

   She backtracked and went in the other direction instead. It didn't take her long to realise that this wasn't right either – this was closer to master Ciel's study, she was sure of it. And that was in the opposite side of the manor to where the cleaning cupboard was if she remembered correctly… Oh, why did everything here have to look the same?

   Andie tried retracing her steps again but she found herself on a corridor she was certain she hadn't even been down before. She must have turned the wrong way when she was trying to go back… Now she was well and truly lost. She bit her lip, wondering what to do now and trying not to panic. Maybe if she tried looking in some of the rooms along here it might give her an idea of where she was.

   She tried the door closest to her and found that it was a large, moderately dusty library. She stared around in awe at the endless shelves of books. She couldn't read very well but she'd always wished that she could. She'd been told before that reading was a great form of escapism, and escaping her life had always been her deepest desire…

   "What are you doing in here?"

   Andie jumped and whirled around. The manor's master Ciel was stood in the doorway behind her with a frown on his face. She shouldn't have been afraid of him – he was only young; quite a bit younger than herself – but his manner was intimidating and she couldn't ignore the shadows that followed him. They were nowhere near as intense as Sebastian's, but dark all the same. Too dark for someone of Ciel's youth, who was still supposed to be innocent at this age.

   "I… I was looking for the cleaning cupboard," Andie squeaked.

   "But the cleaning cupboard is all the way back down there," said Ciel, his frown increasing. When Andie just shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other without saying anything he sighed. "You got lost on your first day? Unbelievable…" Why did Sebastian always hire such incompetent staff? "Well seeing as there's nobody else around I suppose I'll have to show you the way."

   He spoke with a haughty reluctance, making Andie feel even more uncomfortable. "If you just point me in the right direction I'm sure…"

   "That you'll get lost again," Ciel concluded for her. "Come along, we haven't got all day."

   Andie had no choice but to hurry after him as he strode back down the corridor. He walked with a grace and purpose that she'd never seen in a person before – let alone someone as young as him. Her two younger brothers were only a few years shy of his age and they still bumbled along in a rather clumsy, endearing fashion. Master Ciel could never be described as either clumsy or endearing.

   "Here we are," announced Ciel, indicating one of the doors on his right. "Now where were you working before this?"

   "In the third dining room," Andie replied softly.

   "Do you know how to find your way back from here?" Ciel questioned.

   Andie hesitated. She was scared to say so in case she was wrong, but she was even more afraid to say that she didn't know. She very slowly raised her hand and pointed uncertainly in the direction she thought she was supposed to go.

   Ciel's expression didn't change. "I think you'll find it's that way." He pointed towards a different corridor, causing Andie's head to reel. This place was like a maze! How was she ever going to learn her way around here? Ciel sighed again, seeing the lost expression on her face. "Get what you need from here and I'll show you the way back."

   "You don't have to…" Andie started to mumble, but he swiftly cut her off.

   "My mind will be more at ease knowing you're not wandering around and neglecting your work," he said simply.

   Andie nodded, taking that as her cue to hurry up and find the silver polish. She sidestepped awkwardly around Ciel into the cupboard and hastily started checking the chemical bottles. She could recognise the shapes of some of the words on the labels, but some of them were still alien to her eyes.

   One of them had an image of silverware on the front – that looked like it was the right one. She unscrewed the bottle and sniffed it to make sure. Yes, that was definitely polish. She quickly fitted the cap back on and hastened out of the cupboard.

   "Is that all?" Ciel asked briskly. She nodded quickly, worried of bothering him further. "Good, then let's get you back to work."

   He marched her back to the smaller dining room, where Mey-Rin seemed to have been getting anxious. "There you are; I thought you'd gotten lost!" She noticed Ciel beside her and became flustered. "Oh forgive me, master, I didn't see you!"

   "Actually she did get lost," said Ciel, enunciating every syllable very deliberately. "You should take better care of your new underling, Mey-Rin."

   "Yes, sir. Of course, sir," gabbled Mey-Rin, giving him an abrupt half bow as he exited.

   "I'm sorry," Andie said quietly after Ciel had left, sensing that she'd been close to getting the other girl into trouble.

   "Oh, don't worry about it," Mey-Rin reassured her. "It's only your first day. It's understandable."

   But the next time that they needed more cleaning supplies she made sure that she went with her to get them.