The next morning, I awoke to find a letter on my bed, along with a box. The letter said that if I felt well enough, then I could start my chores today, and if not, then I could stay in bed and rest.

The last thing I wanted to do was stay in bed all day. The letter also consisted of a list of chores that I was assigned to. It included things like sweeping the halls, cleaning the bathrooms, making the beds, and helping someone named Finnian in the gardens.

My eyes kept wandering over to the box. It probably contained a new maid outfit for me to change into so that I could begin, so I sighed and opened the top of it slowly.

I was right. I was a new maid outfit, but this one was different than the one I had received upon coming here. This one was black with white lace, and it came with a black ribbon to tie back my hair.

I loved it. I was almost certain that my father had helped pick it. He knew I was a demon, well, a half demon, and he didn't know that we were related in any way at all. That is, unless he did know somehow and just wasn't telling me.

I slipped into the dress, and was surprised by how well it fit. I was able to move my demon wing around, but not my angel one. Once I tried to move it, I felt bandages, holding it in place. I almost fainted right there. Whoever had bandaged me, and removed the bullets from my body, knew about my wings.

Please let it have been my father, I thought with a soft sob.

*

I started my chores, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. When Ciel asked me to do something, I looked at the ground. When Sebastian asked me to help him with something, I nodded and stayed focused on my work.

I made eye contact accidentally with Finnian once, and it made me smile. His kind eyes lifted my spirits, and it was fun to garden with him. He taught me about all the different types of plants that were in the garden, and what made each one unique. I picked out my favorite flower out of the bunch. It was the rare black rose. It reminded me a little of myself: dark and mysterious, yet beautiful and delicate. That was always how my mom ad described me.

"Thanks for teaching me all this cool stuff, Finnian," I said with a smile as we stood from our hard work.

"Call me Finny," he said with a warm smile.

I smiled back. "Alright. Thanks for everything, Finny."

Finny laughed. "How long are you staying here?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I need to get out of here as soon as possible. Those people from the other day are going to come back looking for me, and I don't want to put any of you in danger because of some psychos that think I'm a demon or something."

Finny laughed. "That's true. Why do they think that anyway?"

I shrugged, looking down at the flowers. I hated lying to him. We could've been good friends, had I been born a mortal.

"Well, you can stay here. There's no need for you to leave."

I looked back up at Finny. He looked serious. He wasn't kidding about any of this.

"We Phantomhive employees can take care of ourselves. Trust me. You'll be safer here than anywhere else."

"Really? You don't mind me staying here and being a burden?"

"You won't be a burden." He assured. "I can teach you how to shoot."

"No, thanks. I don't do guns," I said, thinking of my mom.

"Then I guess you can be the lady we are trying to protect from harm." Finny smiled.

I smiled back. "You've convinced me," I told Finny.

"Yes!" he said.

I laughed, and then walked back inside to finish my chores. The bathrooms were next. Yay.

*

I scrubbed toilets, mopped floors, and wiped sinks. It wasn't fun at all, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected. Once I was finished, I went to my room, and collapsed onto the bed.

I was exhausted from all of the chores, and ready for some sleep. I didn't want to sleep, but I knew I had to. I'd been so scared to sleep last night that I'd waited until 7 a.m. before finally closing my eyes and drifting off.

The pain in my chest had also returned, and I'd yet to find out who knew about my wings. If it was my father, then he now knew what I was, and it would only be a matter of time before he found out I was his daughter. If it was someone else, I would leave as soon as possible.

I fought the urge to sleep, but lost, and fell into a deep slumber.

*

Daddy opened the door to our house and let me in first. He followed me inside and locked the door behind us.

"Did you get what you were after?" he asked, breaking the silence.

I nodded, showing him the vial I'd been clinging to.

He seemed to relax slightly. "Good. Be sure you drink that. We can't have you getting sick again."

I nodded, then walked over to a chair, but never made it. I fell halfway across the room.

I sat up and looked at the floor. Nothing had tripped me. I looked at the skirt of my dress, and for the first time, my father and I noticed it was soaked with blood. My blood.

I started crying as I started to feel the pain from the wound. My father came over and lifted my skirt up enough to where he could see where the blood was coming from.

I had been shot in the knee by one of those stupid hunters guns. But was the bullet anti-demon? Or was it anti-angel? Either way, it hurt, and it had to be taken out.

Daddy wiped blood off of my leg with a cloth and pulled the bullet out with a pair of tweezers.

It looked like an anti-demon bullet, and Daddy confirmed my conclusion by disposing of it quickly.

Once he returned, I had quieted to soft sobbing. I looked at him as he busied himself with gathering all of Mom's things in a box. He put everything that brought back memories if her in a closet and locked the door. The only thing he left out was our family picture, which had been taken the day I was born.

Daddy then came back to me with a clean dress and helped me change. Then he sent me to my room to rest. I extended my wings, which were sore from flying so fast, then quickly drank the liquid from the vial before laying on my bed, crying myself to sleep.