• That night, Ellie laid in bed, thinking about Clouse. She couldn't believe that he came for her; considering she was just a servant, it was very surprising. The more she thought of things, though, her eyes drooped. Eventually, she fell asleep.

    A few minutes after she had fallen sound asleep, Clouse came in. She immediately woke up, alarmed. When she saw it was just him, she put a hand to her heart. "Y-you scared me." She stuttered, looking up at him.

    Clouse chuckled. "Forgive me,... Ellie," He apologized, "May I sit next to you?"

    Ellie gave him a puzzled look. "You don't have to ask. I'm your servant, remember?"

    Clouse thought for a moment. He'd never thought about that before. She moved over and he sat next to her. Ellie could see the wheels turning in his head. He smiled at her. "You're my servant?" She nodded. "Well, then, I command you to have breakfast with me in the morning."

    Ellie raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to have me cook it?"

    Clouse shook his head. "I can do that, myself."

    Ellie said nothing. 'He doesn't want me as a servant,' She thought, 'This might be fun...' "Alright," She smiled. "I'll join you for breakfast," She yawned, quietly. "May I go back to sleep,... Master?" She giggled, not used to saying the word.

    He smiled a bit wider, hearing her giggle. He had a feeling it would be nice having her around. "Good night, Ellie."

    He got up and walked out of the room, leaving behind a grinning Ellie. Shortly after he left, she climbed under the covers, curled up into a little ball and fell into a deep sleep.

    @@@

    When Ellie woke up the next morning, she smelled bacon cooking. She followed her nose to the kitchen where a skillet was sizzling with grease from said bacon. Clouse was watching it closely. Once he was sure it was done, he took a spatula and put the bacon on a plate- along with nine other pieces. Ellie almost drooled; he'd made buttered toast and two omelets along with the bacon. Clouse noticed her presence in the room and smiled. “Good morning, Miss Markawitz.” He greeted.

    Ellie sat down at the table, then, thought better of it. She got up and made her a plate. Then, she sat back down and began to eat. Clouse sat down across from her, watching her eat as he sipped his blood.

    Ellie finished her food in seconds. She got up and went to rinse off her plate. “I'll do the dishes.” She told Clouse, starting to run water into the sink. Once the sink was full, she stopped the water and began to rinse off the dishes that surrounded the sink(mostly glasses.) She then put the dishes in the sink and began rubbing the sponge against the dishes.

    A black and red feather floated toward the window from the outside and landed on the water with a plop. Ellie froze; a chill went up her spine. It can't be, She thought. Not now!

    Clouse noticed her freeze and watched as one of the dishes fell from her hands. “Ellie?” He questioned. He could see that something had terrified her.

    Ellie took the feather from the water and pushed it back out the window. She then turned to Clouse, smiling as if nothing was wrong. “Yes?” She said. A brief memory of a blood-spattered home flooded her memory and she suppressed a shiver. She couldn't tell him. She wouldn't tell him.

    “What's wrong?” Clouse asked.

    “Nothing.” Ellie replied.
    Close raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. Ellie went back to doing the dishes, thinking of that dreaded night...

    Flash Back
    Eight-year-old Ellie Markawitz skipped home from school, humming a tune. She swung her lunch-box back and forth as she skipped; her book bag bounced on top of her small shoulders. She'd gotten a part in the school play. She stopped skipping and began running.

    As soon as she got there, her mother greeted her with a hug. “What are you doing out so late, Ellie?” She asked, smiling at her, but also with a bit of concern.

    “Ms. Jones asked me to stay a bit longer,” Ellie told her, grinning. “She gave me a part in the school play!”

    Her mother smiled. “Well, lets go inside so we can tell your father.” She said.

    Ellie didn't hesitate. She ran into the house intent on greeting her dad who was, probably, in his office. Like she assumed, her father was in the office, typing up something for work. He looked up from his work when he heard her tennis shoes squeaking on the floor. “Hey, Kiddo.” He greeted as she ran over and hugged him.

    “Hi, Daddy,” Ellie greeted, a bit bubbly, “I got a part in my school play.” As she said the last part, she grinned.

    “I'm so proud of you.” He told her, a little distractedly, “I have to get back to work, now, Ellie. Go spend some time with your mother.”

    Ellie skipped off to her bedroom and dumped her book bag on the floor. She hummed as she took her books out and stacked them on her bed. Then, she began doing her Math and Language Arts homework. After she was finished, she went downstairs to the kitchen where her mother was cooking a roast. “Ellie,” Her mom called, “Could you set the table?”

    “Yeah, mom!” Ellie told her. She got some table mats out of the cabinet by the stove and set them up on the table in a not-so-straight line. She then took some glasses out of another cabinet and set them on the table mats. She got out the carton of milk and started to pour it into the first glass. A black and red feather floated in from the window and landed on the table. Ellie knelt down to where her eyes were level with the strange feather. She then blew on it and watched it float somewhere else. She got back up and, unintentionally, spilled the glass that she'd just poured milk into. Awe man. She thought as she took a paper towel from the roll and began to clean up the mess that she'd made.
    As soon as she'd done that, however, a sound like a window breaking assaulted her ears. The paper towel fell from her hands as shivers wracked her small body. “Ellie,” Her mother said, suspiciously calm, “Go up to your room and lock the door.”

    “But-” Her mother cut her off.

    “Go!”

    Ellie ran up to her room and locked the door, hiding in her closet. Suddenly, she heard a strange man talking from downstairs. “Such a sweet little family!” She heard the man say.

    “Who do you think you are?!” She heard her mother demand.

    She heard the strange man laugh. “I am Ezekiel, a god of the underworld,” Ellie heard the strange man tell her. There was a long silence, then, the man said, “I thought there were three of you.”

    Ellie's blood ran cold. Don't find me! She willed the man with her mind, Please, don't find me! She suddenly heard her mother's blood-curdling scream. She wanted to scream, “Mom!” but thought better of it.

    “Where's the third member?” She heard Ezekiel demand.

    “I'll never tell you!” Her father spat. Another scream, this one belonging to her father. Tears sprang from her eyes and began to dribble down her cheeks. She knew what had happened; they were gone. She heard the strange man tramp through the house and bolted from her closet. She looked around, frantically, for a bag to pack some things in. She suddenly heard the god ascend the stairs and snatched her book bag from the floor. The door burst open and Ellie finally saw the thing that had killed her parents.

    The god's silver eyes bore into her gray ones. Ellie froze for a moment. Reddish black wings protruded from his back. His dark-blue hair came to his ears in short spikes. Ellie shook herself and ran to the window just as the good lunged for her. He caught her by the hood of her jacket and she unzipped it. She fell out of the sleeves and onto the nightly-darkened green grass. Then, she ran like hell. Later that night -after hiding in the hollow of a large willow- she came back to find blood spattering the walls and floors; her parents laid on the floor, slaughtered. Their eyes were open, but unseeing.

    End Flashback

    The memory, even now, still made her shiver. She knew, for a fact, that this was the first sign. As soon as she was finished with the dishes, she went to the living room, deciding that she needed to tell Clouse.