Another day, another job. Being a maid wasn't all it was cut out for. I mean, in the shows, they always show these pretty girls who have fun and witness crazy creepy things! It's not like that at all in real life... I've been trying to find a job as a maid in an interesting household for months. I think I may have found just that!"
Claire walked up the long concrete staircase, and to the double doors of the mansion she was supposed to be working at now. The place certainly seemed unusual, but looks could be deceiving. The knockers on the doors were carefully made from steel, and shaped like a lion and a tiger's head. Carefully, Claire took the ring in the tiger's mouth and knocked on the door. Within moments, a tall blonde man answered the door. He appeared to be in his late twenties, and had a neatly trimmed chin stripe.
"Why hello there. You must be Claire, the new maid. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss." He smiled at her with a strange look. His piercing orange eyes caught Claire's attention more, however. This might be more strange than she thought...
"Thank you. So, you must be Mr. Masters, then?" She looked inquisitively at him, and took in his stature and posture. He stood proudly, but held his head in a relaxed and humble manner. Everything was mysterious about this man. From the way he spoke, to the way he looked. Perfect.
"Please, call me Evan. I always prefer my staff to call me by my first name." He had a slight twinkle in his eyes as he said this. "You have quite an unusual face, my dear. Never have I seen someone who has brown hair and such green eyes."
A little bit flattered, Claire dropped her gaze. "Thanks. My mother always told me how special I was because of my eyes."
"Well, why don't you come inside, and I can show you around?There's much to be done before we can put you to work." Without giving her a choice, he swooped around and stepped back into the mansion. Claire stepped after him, trying to keep up with his long-legged walk.
He led her along, taking her on a tour of his entire home, including the grounds. In total, the house had 13 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, 2 dining rooms, 3 kitchens, a sunroom, and five entertainment rooms. The grounds sported well-kept shrubbery, flowers, and decidious trees overhanging a walkway to a private creek. There was a forest beyond the creek, but Mr. Masters did not own it. He ended the tour in the downstairs kitchen.
"One more thing, Claire. I don't want to scare you, but you must be careful of the cat. He likes to come and go freely, and he enjoys messing with our staff here. Sometimes you may see him around. If you do see him, try to pretend you didn't, and walk away."
The creepy factor just got better, and Claire was loving it. She nodded enthusiastically at Mr. Masters. "I'll be sure to avoid him." Evan seemed satisfied with this, and left her to do the work that he wrote down for her.
"It sure is spooky here. Everyone is so mysterious! I love it. Hopefully this won't be the same old boring maid work, and I might witness a crime that only I can stop." She got to doing her list of work, and by the time she was finished with it all, it was already growing dark. She'd need to find Evan again to ask which room was hers to stay in.
She scoured through the house, and finally found Evan in one of the entertainment rooms relaxing in a loveseat, watching a show on tiger attacks. "Why hello dear, what is it you need?" He asked her kindly.
"Hi again. I'm just wondering which room I'm going to be staying in, so I can get it ready for when I go to sleep."
"Of course, dear. I'll show you the way to your room. You're going to love it." He turned off the television, and waved her along.
He led her up the stairs and to a spacious room with a window facing the creek. "Oh this is lovely! What a view it must have in the morning!" She smiled and saw that her bags were already here. Evan must have been considerate enough to put them here.
"It is spectacular in the morning. For now, I think we should both rest. My room is just down the hall and on the right if you need me for anything." He yawned theatrically and said goodnight to Claire before walking out of the room, and turning down the hall to his own bedroom.
Claire was tired, and so she flicked the light off and flopped down on the soft bed. After a long day's work, it felt like she was lying on the softest pile of bedding she had ever felt. After lying there for some time, the grumbling of her stomach woke her. She realized that she hadn't had anything to eat since before she got to the mansion. Surely Evan wouldn't mind if she made herself a sandwich in the kitchen.
She made her way down the stairs quietly in the dark, and turned the corner to the kitchen. Flicking on a light, Claire snooped through the fridge and cabinets and found the ingredients to make herself a late night bowl of cerceal with milk. The light flickered, and went out. "Spooky.. I won't let it ruin my meal though."
Claire turned back to the cereal and milk, and poured some of each into her bowl. Leaning against the counter, she ate her cereal and milk in the quiet dark. In the middle of a bite, a scuffling noise near door to the grounds startled her. Peering through the dark, she spotted a small shape padding toward the table. With a mrow, it jumped onto the table and sat, staring at Claire.
"Oh, just a cat. You scared me, little guy! I thought you might have been a cat burglar!" Hadn't Evan said something about them having a pet cat? She couldn't remember in her sleep-dowsiness. Claire relaxed and reached forward to pet the cat.
"I would appreciate if you didn't." The words seemed to come from nowhere.
"What? Who..? Was that YOU, kitty? Cats don't talk though... Do they?"
"I would suggest you take a look at yourself, then." The strange cat said.
Claire tried to see through the darkness at herself, and managed to see just what the cat had meant. Before her eyes, she was starting to change. Her toes become rounded and fluffy, and her big toe entirely had disappeared. She was standing on the balls of her feet, and a long, soft tail whipped around her. Her hands felt softer than normal, and feeling her teeth, she had four pointed canines. Dropping her bowl of cereal with a crash, she reached up and felt her head. Two soft, pointed ears stuck out the top of her head. As she felt them, she felt long pricking whiskers sensing everything around her face.
Startled, she dropped to her knees and continued to feel her ears, wondering how they'd moved so high up on her head. Suddenly the light flicked on again, and she felt her eyes adjust quicker than normal to the light. Evan was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, staring right at her.
"Um. I can explain. I only came in to get a bowl of cereal! It's me, Claire. Then this cat showed up, and he said to look at myself and I did. I guess, uh... I shouldn't have talked to him?" Claire scrambled to explain this odd situation to Evan.
Evan stepped slowly toward her, and then quickly bent down and hugged her tight. "I am so sorry my dear. Flyn has only done this to one other girl. I know you must be scared, and confused. But I promise I will make this right again."
Claire tried to gently push him off of her. "Actually... I'm really not that scared. Confused, maybe a little. Honestly, this is pretty cool." She smiled awkwardly at him.
Evan stared at her in shock, as did the cat that was still sitting on the table. "You mean... You... Wait. You don't HATE this?" He blinked in surprise at her.
Claire rubbed her neck nervously. "No. I actually think I like it. Hehe, meow!" She joked around. The cat looked at her like she was crazy, as did Evan. "Am I supposed to hate this? I can see and hear better, and I have a cute tail and fuzzy ears. What's not to like?"
Evan was the awkward one now, looking away with a blushing red face. "Well Claire, you're sort of without clothing."
Staring down at herself, Claire realized he was right. She couldn't remember taking off her clothes, and they weren't anywhere nearby. "So, uh. Where are my clothes?" Glancing at the cat, she added "Did you take them?"
The cat looked taken aback, and replied to her "I would never! It's... Part of the transformation. Your clothes will reappear when you change back. Honestly, you don't hate this?"
Claire laughed nervously. "No, I don't hate it. When exactly am I going to change back?"
"That's entirely up to you. It's under your control. I only made you this way."
"Oh, well then in that case..." Claire got up awkwardly, and concentrated on being human again. She squeezed her eyes shut in the effort. Slowly, she felt herself change back to normal. She opened her eyes, and stared at Evan apologetically. "I'm sorry for breaking that bowl... I should have been more careful."
Evan got up now too. "Don't worry about the bowl, dear. Are you sure you're all right? You're not in shock are you?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm just really tired." Claire couldn't hold back a small yawn.
"Then in that case, I suppose you should go back to sleep." Evan was still looking very confused and Claire couldn't figure out why, If this had happened before.
"Goodnight then! See you in the morning." She said back to him cheerily.
"Goodnight dear..." Evan stared after her as she went. Claire made her way back to her room, and flopped on the soft bed once again. This time though, she found herself letting out a muffled purr. Soon after, she fell asleep, and didn't wake until the morning...
