"When I say I'm hungry it means I want food now, not in an hour" my master growled threateningly at me.

"I'm sorry Sir. I will go to the kitchen right now and get your meal"

I tried leaving the room as quickly as possible. After hearing the rumours of what happened to the previous girl, I didn't want to make any mistakes. 

"Don't make him angry, that is the last thing you will ever do. The girl you replaced, we still haven't found"
"Found what?" I asked curiously 
"Nothing, you don't need to know. Just remember you will be the person that sees our master the most, and if you want to keep your job then you must make sure he is happy". I stood there confused as the head maid quickly left the room.

A fist suddenly hit the door millimetres away from my head, breaking me out of my memories. Yelping with surprise I jumped away from both him and the door, my heart felt like it was going to break through my chest with how hard it was beating.

"You were not dismissed. There is no leaving this room until I tell you that you can leave"

Looking at his shoulder I curtsied low and waited for him to finish speaking

"What re you doing there you stupid girl! GO GET MY FOOD!!"  He screamed at me flinging the door open.

That was all I needed, moving as quickly as possible I sprinted from the room.  Not stopping once or looking behind me, I ran towards the safety of the kitchens as if the devil himself was chasing me.

Chef,  the man that is called Chef turned towards me as I collapsed against the table trying to catch my breath and calm my heart.

"What is wrong sweetie? To look like you've seen a ghost"

"No. No ghost Chef" I gave a half smile "I need the masters food. He wasn't happy when I said that there would be a wait"

"Ahh, you poor thing. I've almost finished making it" Chef gave me a sad smile "just give me two minutes then you will be able to take it up to him"

"Thank you Chef. What did he ask for anyway, I've never seen meat like that" I asked as I poked at the pale pinky-grey slices of meat on the bench.

"It's smoked ...... canapés" he muttered a word I couldn't make out.

"Smoked what canapés?" I looked at him with confusion. 

"Nothing. It's just an expensive cut of meat the the Master likes." I thought that he looked nervous for a second. "Here you go,  it's all ready. Take it to him quickly"

I carefully picked up the silver tray with its lid on and started making my way back down the halls that I had been running down just a few minutes earlier.

"I wonder what that meat is" I questioned as I walked down the hall.

Once I was at the shattered remains of the door I froze. "How was that possible" I muttered.

"You better have my food" his voice growled from inside the room. "Bring it in here now and put it on the side table"

With my head down I quickly did as he said, then went to leave the room again. 

"I didn't tell you to leave after, get back to where you were" freezing at his voice I gulped. 

Not knowing what to do and without thinking I turned and looked at him. A terrified scream rose in my throat, I managed to stop it just before any sound came out. He didn't look right.

 His skin was pale, very pale and grey tinged. But his eyes, they were, they were dead. Not emotionless dead, but the murky white-blue that eyes go after someone has died.
But even after seeing his eyes, I noticed how good looking he was. And how incredibly thin!

Not knowing what was wrong with him subconsciously I took a step back, freezing when his brow creased with a frown.

"You need to serve the food to me" he muttered as he turned back to his desk "that is what servants do, they serve"

Quietly walking back to the tray I removed the lid and gently sat it on the table. I couldn't afford to make him angry at me again. Placing a few canapés onto a plate , I took them over to the desk and tried to see an empty space for the plate to go. 

The desk was covered in loose papers. Some were piled haphazardly looking like they were about to fall any second. Others looked as though they had already fallen, and hadn't  been restacked.

"Hold the plate out" I looked at him with suprise, then quickly averted my game to the plate. "Hold the plate out so I can eat"

Holding the plate out i bit my lip to stop the questions swirling in my mind from coming out.

"What is it" he asked glancing at me while he picked up a piece of food.

"Nothing Sir" i quietly said while staring at the plate

Once the plate was clear I glanced at him to see if he wanted more food and couldn't help but gasp.  He looked completely different, his skin was no longer grey -oft looked amazingly healthy. Once I saw his eyes I dropped the plate in suprise - Not noticing as it shattered on the floor- his eyes they were gorgeous, clear, sparkling, a deep brown that looked like molten chocolate. 

 How did he look so different?  Was I mistaken earlier? No I couldn't have been. He had been so close, I had felt his breath on my face. There was no way I could have been wrong.

He raised an eyebrow and asked "Have you never seen a zombie after they've had brains?"