Gift For A Demon

First Day Jitters

Something kept Eve tossing and turning all night, besides the rawness of her skin. Thoughts of Sophia scrubbing her in the scalding hot water would jolt her awake, but then there was something else. An unsettling feeling that she couldn’t place and couldn’t shake, no matter how much she told herself there was nothing to be worried about.

In the morning she wakes up early to her bright and clean new room. Outside of her bedroom windows are swirls of fog rolling in from the surrounding forest. It’s a different sort of forest than the one on her mountainside back home. Back home there were different varieties of trees that changed all different colors during the autumn season. Here it seems to be mostly pine trees that are old and tall, sprouting their evergreen needles at their very tops. Even the forest floor looks different, almost bare in comparison. No colored leave or giants roots, only brown pine needles and fallen pine cones.

She wraps a white sheet around her sensitive skin to step closer to the window. Wow. If she thought the front of the enormous mansion was impressive, she is nearly overwhelmed at the modern beauty displayed outback. Below her is a courtyard made of the same dark colored stones that accent the entire home. In the center of the expensive patio furniture is a round fire pit set into the stone ground. Behind that are stone walls that separate different entertaining areas from gardens. She can see a large stone chimney coming up from an outside fireplace. On the opposite side of the property, tucked away in a corner, is a beautiful gazebo constructed of rich dark wood.

It’s all so beautiful, almost mystical set at the forest’s edge surrounded by light gray swirls of fog. The strange thing though, is that there is nobody to be seen on the property. So far it has just been herself, the fired maid, and the butler. Besides Sophia of course, she hasn’t even seen the Master of the house yet. Maybe she will be lucky enough to not have to run into him at all.

Could such a powerful demon be able to tell that she is a witch, just by looking at her? She shutters inside of her tightly wrapped sheet at the very thought. If she had the ability to shimmer, she would be far away from everyone.. Everyone but for her Nana and perhaps Alan too. Eve hates to think she was only using him to escape that awful town. Yea she cared for him, but not as much as he obviously cared for her. It was hard to see him as anything more than a friend. She wonders if he can still sense her feelings even this far away or if he is worrying about her at this very minute. All she can do is shake her head and get ready for the day.

There are a couple of doors in her room that Sophia didn’t bother to open, perhaps one of them is a closet where Eve can find something to wear. How embarrassing would it be to not have any clothes, because she hadn’t brought any with her either. To her surprise behind one of the doors is a walk in closet fully stocked with black clothing from one end to the other. A few thoughts go through her head at this. First, whoa! This closet is bigger than the main room of her little cabin. Second, there are more clothes and coordinating shoes in here than she would have ever thought to own. Third, every piece of clothing is black. Not that she had really hoped for anything better, but it seems to be the one similar thing from her previous life to this one.

Dressed and feeling somewhat ready for the day, Eve grabs the ring of keys from her nightstand and heads for the door. Her hand reaches for the doorknob and pauses once she has the cold metal in her hand. This is the beginning of something, though she doesn’t quite know what that something is. If this were any other job she would be brimming with confidence, but fear resides deep within her where self assurance ought to be. Despite her reluctance, she opens the door and descends down the stairs. She goes past her Master’s bedroom door to explore the rest of the house.

Where does one begin in a house of such magnitude? At the front she supposes. Standing in the foyer of the large house, she can’t help but to look around in awe. For a moment she feels almost overwhelmed, as if there is no way possible for her to accomplish everything. Then she decides to make herself a list and see what sort of supplies are kept in the cleaning closet. In there she finds everything she needs, including paper and a pen.

When she has the outline written she decides the best thing to do is just to get started. She grabs a broom, some spray, and a rag. On her way out of the closet she sees the former housemaid turning the corner at the end of the hallway. Eve begins to run after her. Maybe she can give a few pointers before she leaves.

Eve calls out to the woman, but is ignored until she is practically standing right behind her. The older woman wearing a plain black shirt and jeans turns to look at Eve with a sour expression on her face. That’s when Eve sees that her lip was busted from Sophia’s slap. She can’t help her eyes from wandering down to examine the mark, which only seems to piss the woman off.

“Hi, my name is Evangeline. This house is enormous!” She says enthusiastically, but gets no response.. “Umm, maybe you can give me some tips or pointers on where to start?”

“Oh, right. Hmm.. You can start right over here actually.” The woman walks into the nearest living room.

Eve follows her into a large room with dark hardwood floors and an expensive circular black couch set. The older woman looks directly at Eve before kicking a large planter over onto the floor. The ceramic planter set on a wooden base goes crashing onto the floor, the clatter echoes through the room. Eve’s expression changes to shock as she sees the plant and black dirt scatter across the floor.

“What are you.. Why?!” Eve can’t help but ask.

“You can start right here, wench. Good luck!” The woman says sarcastically before she exits the house, never to return.

Well.. Some part of her supposes that she should have seen that coming. That sort of behavior isn’t much different from what she was used to back at the cabin. However, it isn’t what she was expecting to happen on her first day. Hopefully she can get this mess cleaned up quickly so she can actually get some other things done. She’s learned in life that there is no point in complaining and no one ever cares when the blame is shifted to someone else.

After the mess is cleaned up she walks around and does a few more things. She feels like she is having to make up chores to do. Everything in the entire house seems new and it doesn’t appear like anyone actually lives here. Eventually, she decides to take a better look around with the set of keys she was given. It isn’t hard to figure out which belongs to each door. The only doors she doesn’t try to open belong to the Master, his office and his bedroom.

However, there is one door in the house that none of her keys go to. She tries each key twice and jiggles the handle, but it’s no use. Suddenly she feels something off about the door.. A feeling in her gut that is telling her to leave it alone. In fact, she finds herself not wanting to be in this particular area of the house at all. It is a darker hallway on the top floor, set away from the rest of the home’s living spaces.

Eve starts to walk away, but turns to look back over her shoulder. What was that? It was a strange feeling that seemed so real to her. As if.. As if she were being watched and that she is no longer alone. She stares down the dim hallway for a moment before finally walking away. A voice in the back of her head tells her it was nothing, but best to stay away from that door for now. Her pace quickens as she makes her way downstairs to the kitchen.

Once she is in the kitchen, she feels more comfortable and content. Her feeling of uneasiness fades away. Instantly she is feeling almost happy. Her hand glides across the dark speckled marble countertop of the large island. The cupboards and pantry are full of groceries, everything she could imagine. Luxurious ingredients that she had only read about in magazines and books. She actually finds herself clapping her hands in excitement.

To her delight the fridge is fully stocked with an assortment of meats. Her eyes land on a beautiful piece of flank steak, something she has only dreamed of working with. She finds an elegant yet, simple recipe in one of the cookbooks. A recipe for something called Matambre, which is an Argentinian stuffed flank steak. As long as she cleans up after herself, she doesn’t see any reason she shouldn’t be practicing for her new.. Master. The word is still so foreign to her.

Once the Matambre is in the oven, she realizes that it needs to cook for an hour. With the kitchen cleaned up in less than ten minutes, she decides to add a dessert to the meal. Something just as elegant as the flank steak. She is not disappointed to find fresh raspberries in the fridge and a fine white chocolate in the cupboard. Why not try her hand at cream puffs like she has always wanted to? She finds a French recipe labeled “Raspberry Choux Au Craquelin” and thinks even the name of it sounds fancy. It is a bit trickier to prepare than the flank steak, but if the recipe turns out right she thinks it will be absolutely amazing.

After everything is finished, she tries a little of each one and feels like a different person than she was just yesterday. She isn’t used to such rich food and carefully puts the leftovers into the fridge.

Eve goes through the house to check lights and doors before she goes up to her room for the evening. Something comes over her at the sight of her new room and the fact that she has her own personal bathroom. She decides to make herself a bath and actually enjoy it without someone filleting her skin off with a scrub brush.

The clock on her nightstand says it’s almost ten o’clock at night, but she can’t help herself from wanting to go downstairs to admire her cooking. She knows she isn’t supposed to be out of her room after her chores are done, but she justifies making sure the leftovers are stored properly as a part of her duties.

Quietly, she makes her way back down to the kitchen and heads straight for the fridge. What’s this? She is filled with both surprise and delight! Someone else has eaten a couple of the cream puffs! They must have liked them, but.. Who?

Is she not the only person in the house after all?