After the next few weeks Andie felt like she still hadn't quite settled in yet. She'd learnt her way around the manor, so she could at least get about without getting lost now… But she was still always very aware of the people around her, no matter what distance they kept, and she knew which of the rooms she'd rather avoid being in alone, if at all.

The manor was so dark and some of the murky feelings lingering in the air were so thick that she was beginning to feel like a caged animal. She missed the solitude of the churchyard that she'd always escaped to when she'd needed to clear her head. Strangely, that place had never felt bad to her. Just melancholic, empty…

She still wasn't entirely certain if she'd made the right decision in agreeing to come and work here. She was endlessly glad that she wouldn't be sold to men anymore, but her fear of them was still there. And she still felt very uncomfortable having to be around them here at the manor.

What had she expected in coming to live here? Comfort? A place that felt like home? Andie wasn't even sure of that herself. But whatever she'd been looking for she didn't know if Phantomhive Manor was it.

She'd still been working alongside Mey-Rin so far. She was dreading when Sebastian would separate them and she'd then have to fend for herself – with nobody but the ghosts of the manor's past for company. Thankfully, it hadn't happened yet.

Andie felt a little more comfortable around Mey-Rin than with most of the other people at the manor – women had generally seemed to pose less of a threat – but she still wasn't entirely at ease with her. The maid's weak-willed lust always made her head swim and her stomach feel nauseous.

She'd discovered also that Mey-Rin was remarkably clumsy, even without Sebastian around to distract her. She was a potential danger both to herself and those around her, so Andie had to be on alert at all times for things like spillages and falling objects. She couldn't just allow her mind go blank and withdraw into the state of numbness that she so often found solace in.

Mey-Rin chattered away incessantly as they worked, despite Andie's consistent lack of response, explaining more procedures to her and praising Master Ciel, Sebastian and the other servants in between. There was much respect and allegiance between the small group living in the manor. Andie just wished she could be more of a part of it.

"Master Ciel's engaged, you know," Mey-Rin informed her new assistant. She was balancing on a stool beside a glass cabinet, dusting the top of it. Andie was knelt down in front so that she could clean the glass doors. "To Lady Elizabeth. She visits the manor from time to time."

Andie always listened to everything Mey-Rin told her – she just didn't usually have much to say in return. But even she couldn't ignore that piece of information. "He's so young," she said softly.

"Yes, it was arranged between their families when they were children," explained Mey-Rin, surprised but pleased that Andie had offered some input. "The master's been through so much for his age. He's the only one left in his family now."

That made Andie feel a little guilty. Though she'd always just accepted it, she'd still felt that she'd been dealt an unfair hand in life. But what did she have to complain about when her family were alive and well? She may have had nothing more than a working relationship with her mother, but she knew that her little brothers were there and that they still cared for her…

"Oh no! Watch out!"

Mey-Rin had lost her balance on the stool and thrown all of her weight against the cabinet to try and keep from falling. Andie looked up to see the cabinet topple towards her. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, but she still didn't have time to react. All that she could register was that it was Mey-Rin's fear enveloping her, rather than her own…

Andie saw something black blur past out of the corner of her eye and slam into the cabinet. It was Sebastian. He caught Mey-Rin with one arm and used the other to stop the cabinet from falling on Andie. She quickly backed away from him, caught off guard. She hadn't had chance to prepare for his presence and now she could practically feel the black energy of his crawling across her skin.

Lust then washed over her as Mey-Rin's fear gave way to desire, still encircled within Sebastian's arm. He tipped the cabinet back into place and set Mey-Rin down on the floor in the same movement, shaking his head.

"What am I going to do with you, Mey-Rin?" Sebastian sighed.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian!" Mey-Rin wailed, pink in the face, her glasses misting over.

"I don't think I'm the one you should be apologising to," said Sebastian, turning to Andie. He saw her stricken expression and pale face. "Are you alright, Andie?"

He reached out towards her and she jerked away. "No, don't touch me!" she cried. Her skin was still crawling. Surely for him to touch her would mean tainting her too with that dark energy.

"I'm so sorry, Andie," apologised Mey-Rin, moving towards her. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Don't!" protested Andie, holding her head like she was in pain. "I don't want to feel anymore!"

Her head was swimming with a black cocktail of lust and some otherworldly darkness. The room felt too hot, the air too thick… It was too much for her to handle – she hadn't even been able to prepare for any of it. Sebastian had just come out of nowhere and overwhelmed her with his shadowed aura.

Sebastian frowned at her reaction. "Come now Andrea, we're not going to harm you."

He moved towards her again and Andie finally snapped. "I said no!" she screamed, pushing away and running from the room.

She'd never said no to anyone before. Her mother had always been there to do it for her if things became too much. The relationship between them may have been abnormal, but Andie was still her daughter and she knew what went beyond her limits to handle – and in turn, Andie had still relied on her. But now she had nobody to say no for her. Nobody to protect her.

She didn't stop running. Her claustrophobia was setting in. The corridor she was running down seemed to be getting longer and narrower, like a taunting finish line that she'd never reach. An anguished cry escaped her lips and she quickly darted to one side, down the first staircase she saw.

The stairs opened out onto the gleaming marble of the main foyer. Andie had only been vaguely aware of the direction in which she was running. She carried on flat out across the foyer floor until she finally burst outside through the large double wooden doors… But then she couldn't stop herself.

She tripped down the first of the stone steps, lost her footing on the second and fell. She rolled all the way down, not coming to a stop until she hit the bottom. She instinctively curled up into a ball, holding her head and breathing hard.

It was okay – she was outside now. She could breathe. She'd escaped.

After a while she began to ache from where she'd rolled down the steps – her shoulders and back in particular. She slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position and rolled her shoulders a few times to get the movement back. The back of the right one hurt especially. She wondered absently if it would be bruised by tomorrow.

"Andie?"

Andie jumped violently and jerked around to see who was invading in on her. It was the young gardener, Finnian. He was carrying a huge sack over his shoulder that looked like it should have been way too heavy for him. He looked very surprised to see Andie sitting on the floor, covered in dust.

"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously, slowly lowering the sack to the ground.

Andie managed to nod. Her heart rate was steadily returning to normal. She couldn't sense anything from Finnian. Either he was only experiencing positive emotions – the kind that had always evaded her ability – or he wasn't feeling anything at all. She was visited again by the same feeling that he wasn't a threat to her.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Finnian.

"Had to get out," said Andie quietly, hugging her knees.

Finnian trailed carefully over to her, abandoning the sack he'd been carrying. He looked sympathetic. "I thought you were still working with Mey-Rin today. What happened?"

Andie just shook her head. Mey-Rin seemed like a nice enough person, but how could she explain that she couldn't have an unclouded opinion of the maid when she so desired a man who clearly felt like nothing but evil to her. Why could nobody else sense it when it was so obvious?

Sebastian had said that her empathic abilities were a gift… But how could something that only caused her pain and discomfort be called a gift?

Finnian crouched down in front of her. His expression was sad but open. So innocent-looking. "You can trust us, you know," he said earnestly. "I don't know what it is that happened to you to make you so afraid of everyone… But I promise that nobody here will hurt you."

Andie didn't say anything. He was being very kind to her. His accent was pronounced, his voice still soothing… And looking into his large sea-coloured eyes she could see the genuine truth behind his words.

But it was those words that she just couldn't adhere to. She couldn't trust anyone. She wasn't even sure she knew how to.

When Andie still didn't respond Finnian gave her a sad smile. It made her feel a little guilty. He was trying to help her, but he didn't understand that she couldn't be helped. She was like a broken toy that couldn't be fixed. And for once, she wished she could.

Finnian straightened up and Andie latched onto his sleeve as he did. He looked down at her in surprise, still sat on the floor. She was staring at his boots, away from his face. "What is it?" he asked gently.

Andie finally looked up and met his gaze hesitantly. "Can I… watch you work for a bit?"

That took Finnian even more by surprise. "You want to… watch me?"

Andie just nodded, her eyes wide and beseeching. "I don't want to go back inside," she said softly. "I want to stay out here."

Finnian hesitated. He was sure that if Sebastian found out she'd be in trouble – or they both would. But he also had a feeling that Andie didn't make many requests… So how could he refuse such a simple one?

That was enough to cement his decision.

"Of course you can!" he said brightly. "I'm just going to get rid of this, and then we can go back round to the front of the manor."

He indicated the giant sack he'd been carrying as he skipped across towards it and hoisted it back over his shoulder. He trotted back over toward Andie and held out his hand.

"Come on," he said, giving her a friendly smile.

Andie eyed his hand warily. She didn't like touching people more than she had to, but Finnian hadn't been anything but kind to her. "Okay," she said eventually.

She slowly took his hand and then, in one abrupt movement, she was suddenly standing. He'd pulled her up so easily! But despite his small size, Andie wasn't entirely fazed – she was very petite; men had always been able to shift her about without much effort.

Once she felt steady on her feet she released Finnian's hand. Her arms were starting to ache from her earlier fall, as well as her shoulders. "Which way?" she asked in her usual soft tone.

In this one afternoon it was the most that Finnian had actually heard Andie speak. He could hear now that she had a very slight lisp to her voice – it hadn't been as noticeable when she'd only been giving monosyllabic replies. He found it to be quite endearing.

Finnian led the way round to the back of the manor and towards a small enclosure in the corner. He put the sack back down on the ground so that he could open the latch on the gate. Andie helpfully decided to pull the sack over so that Finnian didn't have to do two things at once, but when she tried it didn't budge an inch. Even when she pulled with all of her strength.

She frowned. How could it be so heavy when Finnian had been carrying it around without any problems? Was she really just that weak?

Finnian looked back and saw her struggling. "Oh don't worry, I'll get that," he reassured her quickly. He grabbed the sack and swung it into the air like it was nothing. Andie watched, feeling completely lost. She didn't understand… Had she just imagined how heavy it was?

Inside the enclosure was a tall, ripe-smelling pile of what looked like dirt and dead plants. Andie wrinkled her nose. "What's that?"

"It's a compost heap," Finnian explained, as he emptied the contents of the sack onto the pile. "It's what you get if you leave dead plants and things to decompose. When you put them on new plants it helps them to grow."

Andie couldn't imagine the smelly dead plant matter being good for anything, but then she didn't know a thing about gardening. "So what do you have to do now?"

"Now I have to go and get more weeds," said Finnian cheerily, throwing the empty sack back over his shoulder and closing the gate behind him. He was pleased that Andie seemed to be getting bolder by asking more questions. "Let's go. It's back this way."

Andie followed as he led her back round to the front of the manor. He stopped to kneel down alongside one of the flowerbeds, where he started to pull more weeds up out of the ground. Andie watched him interestedly for a while before she interrupted.

"Can I help?"

Finnian looked up abruptly – her words had surprised him again. "It's okay; don't feel like you have to."

Andie shook her head. "I want to. It looks more… interesting than what I do."

Finnian noticed her hesitation and wondered if she'd been about to use the word 'fun' before she'd changed her mind. Truthfully, Andie didn't find fun from anything anymore. It wasn't even a concept she really remembered all that well.

"Well if you want to, then sure!" Finnian gave her a positive smile.

"What do I do?" asked Andie, as she came over to kneel in the dirt beside him.

"The weeds are the ones with the leaves that look like this. You hold them as close to the bottom as you can and pull till they come out of the ground. Don't try from the top or you'll just pull the leaves off…"

He continued to give her more directions and Andie did everything that he said. Within minutes she'd already pulled one of the weeds from the ground in one piece. The first attempt at gardening she'd ever done! She'd always wanted to do work in the garden. Where she could stay outside for as long as she wanted…

"Do you like it out here?"

Andie looked up into Finnian's expectant face. "Here?" she repeated.

"You don't seem to like the manor very much," Finnian pointed out. "Do you prefer being outside?"

Andie nodded, her gaze returning to the ground as she started attempting to pull up another weed. "I've always liked being outside."

Finnian smiled in response. "Me too. I never used to get to go outside – I didn't even see the light of day. So now that I can I like to spend as much time as I can out here."

Andie couldn't help looking up again, regarding the gardener carefully. She understood the sentiment perfectly. She felt like she'd been cooped up her entire life – from her past situation it was easy to see why. So she wondered why such an innocent-looking young boy felt the same way that she had…

"There you are!"

Andie jumped as if she'd been burned. She hastily scrambled to her feet, turning round with a guilty expression on her face. Sebastian was stood behind them – his expression unreadable, though his tone held the slightest hint of amusement.

"I had a feeling I may find you out here," he said knowingly.

Finnian jumped to his feet too as soon as he spotted the butler. "Oh, Sebastian! I'm sorry, Andie was just helping me."

"Yes, I can see," said Sebastian, his gaze trailing over Andie's dirty hands and knees. "Don't worry, Finny. It's not your fault."

The way he said it made it obvious that Andie wasn't going to get off so lightly. She looked up at him reluctantly, feeling uncomfortable. His dark aura was nowhere near as overwhelming out here in the open, but she could still taste his annoyance as clear as if it were her own.

"Now then, Andrea, listen to me… You were hired as a maid and your duties are to be carried out from inside the manor. You can't just run off outside as you see fit. If you can't learn to behave then I'll have to send you back home to your old lifestyle. Now you don't want that, do you?"

Andie opened and closed her mouth twice. The butler already intimidated her greatly, but his words had shot a spike of fear through her. With that threat in the air she realised that he had even greater power over her than she'd thought. He could very easily send her back to the misery that she finally thought she'd escaped from forever.

She settled for just shaking her head, unable to say anything. Her progress from her time outside had completely vanished and her ability to speak up had disappeared along with it. Finnian watched in dismay as she so obviously retreated back into her shell.

"Good," said Sebastian. "Now to prevent this from happening again I'll be splitting you up from Mey-Rin. You'll be working on your own after today."

Andie blanched at the thought. As much as the emotions that she picked up from Mey-Rin bothered her, having to work alone was the last thing she wanted. Finnian noticed her reaction and felt a pang of sympathy for her.

"But Sebastian…" he started before Sebastian swiftly cut him off.

"No buts, Finny," Sebastian dismissed him. "Andie's going to have to deal with it herself. Nobody else can be expected to fight her battles for her."

Finnian grudgingly fell silent, though he was still troubled. Sebastian could be scary at times but he wasn't a bad person. He should have realised how much this decision for Andie to work alone bothered her. Choosing something that clearly upset her so much seemed too harsh of a punishment for her just escaping outside for a little while…

Andie's gaze was still fixed firmly on the ground. Sebastian knew better than to try and touch her this time, but he raised his voice enough to make sure he had her attention. "Go back inside and get cleaned up. Then you may rejoin Mey-Rin for the rest of the day. She should currently still be working in the East wing of the manor."

His tone was very final and Andie knew that she couldn't have argued against him even if she had been brave enough to. And she definitely couldn't expect Finnian to stick up for her again… She didn't actually understand why he'd already tried to.

So she gave Sebastian an obedient nod, shyly avoiding the gaze of both him and Finnian, and began to make her way meekly across the grounds and towards the manor. The one time she'd actually said no to someone and it had only caused things to go from bad to worse.