Darker

Haunting Ground

Darker

Chapter 4

By BJ-Blatzkowitz-Reborn

Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Haunting Ground or the characters that are presented here in this fanfic. Everything in this game are under copyright by Capcom. All of the characters here are used with uttermost care and without permission.

WARNING: This fanfic is based on the playing of the game itself. Also, this has been redone to slightly more lemony overtones. If you don't like sex or nudity, please leave now. Otherwise, read on at your own risk. Oh, please get this game if you want to know how I based this fanfic on...

(telephone room...)

Her footsteps sounded hollow as she walked down the room. 'What is this room?' The walls were covered with a sort of murial or probably a fresco. Sofas lined both walls and an elegant table stood nearby with an old telephone to match. A ringing began to break the silence. Turning slowly, she saw that it was the telephone that was doing the ringing. Hesitently, she picked it up. A rasping noise came from the other side.

“Fiona?” Fiona gasped. 'Who the...?'

“Who is this?”

“You must pay attention now, Fiona. Be wary of Riccardo. Your Azoth...” A garbled static came through before the sounds went dead.

“Hello? Hello?! Are you there?” Fiona put the receiver back onto the telephone. 'Who was that? Well, whoever he is, he's telling me to be wary of Riccardo...'

“Azoth?” But there was no time to think as the heavy footsteps returned.

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle...

Riccardo looked at his handy work as he stepped away from the telephone lines. All that remained was a charred wreck of copper and wiring.

“Bastard. I never thought he would contact her that way.” Originally, Riccardo was wary of what Lorenzo would do if he found out that he had 'acquired' Ugo's daughter like that. The plan was that Lorenzo would use Fiona's Azoth to be reborn again. Unfortunately, Riccardo realised that without enough Azoth, he would slowly descend into madness and also incapable of self-thought. So he hatched his own plan with his own rebirth from Fiona's own womb. Lorenzo told him how to create homunculus through the use of alchemy. But the Azoth was the most important part as that housed the soul of the human being. Without it, the homunculus would be mindless drones. When he and Ugo were born, Ugo was filled with more Azoth as compared to Riccardo. But Ugo had more sense and escaped. Riccardo was sent to retrieve him as Ugo ran off towards the forest.

Ugo was more of the troublemaker as the Azoth within him made him more human than Riccardo. The great forest outside the castle proved to be a more problematic as Ugo always made fun of Riccardo by playing Hide and Seek in the woods. More than often, he couldn’t find Ugo anywhere only to have him appear behind or next to him. He learnt some tricks off Ugo before he finally escaped.

The castle had always been closed off to the public even though it was located smack bang in the middle of the natural forest. Beyond the forest was a modern town. Ugo managed to escape there and grew up as one of them, whilst Riccardo was subjected to more and more beatings. Lorenzo never forgave Riccardo for losing Ugo. Ten years had passed since then. Of course, the castle still needed supplies so Lorenzo relented in letting him go to the town in order to pick up some much need supplies such as painkillers, soap and food.

While over there, he found Ugo and a woman. He hid from view to see something he didn’t see or experience before. Ugo just kissed the woman gently as she smiled into his eyes. Love? Lorenzo said love was a fickle emotion and that it would rob you blind. But seeing that emotion acted out in front of him, Riccardo hated Ugo more than he did.

Lorenzo began to age rapidly as his body began to deteriorate just after he returned from the trip. It was only after this that Lorenzo began to tell Riccardo of the great alchemy secret of synthesizing human beings. In his studiesRiccardo found out that the transfer of the soul from body to body slowly deteriorate the soul. With each transfer, the body housing the body would deteriorate in order to reject the soul.

Another ten years had passed before Lorenzo gave Riccardo a letter to send to Ugo. It was strange how the old man managed to find the lost son. But he did as he was commanded to do. As he walked out, curiosity began to gnaw at him over the contents of the letter. He opened the letter and scanned over the contents. His eyes grew wide at the mention of a child. A girl for that matter. His heartbeat quickened. Resealing the letter, he went to deliver it.

The day before, he was summoned to Lorenzo’s presence. It seemed that Ugo was coming and the entire family was with him. Lorenzo had commanded he take care of Ugo and the bitch. The daughter was not to be harmed. The thought of giving Ugo his just reward was good enough. Smiling, Riccardo went to carry out the deed. It was too hard to start the ‘unfortunate accident’. Ayla was already dead when he got out and Ugo got a stab in the heart. Karma did have a way with him. Looking in the back, he saw the precious prize unconscious but alive. He could barely contain his laughter as he thought of the things he could do to her. Getting her out of there was no trouble as was reliving her of her current outfit. Her figure was absolute perfection as was the mark of the Belli clones which she had. But he had to wait. She wasn’t ready yet. Giving her to the gardener, he gave strict instructions to the dim minded gardener to not do anything to her.

Riccardo smiled at that. If Lorenzo couldn't get his hands on his precious prize, then he'll die. But Riccardo knew that Lorenzo had some Azoth somewhere. But it wasn't time for that now. All he had to do was prevent that old man from getting his hands on her. The gardener was too dim already whilst the maid bitch could be a problem as she always tended the master. Riccardo turned and walked out...

Back at the telephone room...

Fiona looked as Debilitas walked into the room, probably to investigate the ringing. He looked at her before walking over to her. His slows arms tried to grasp hold of her, but the bookcases made that hard.

“Hewie.” With that, Hewie latched himself on Debilitas' hand. A scream of pain came out of his hands before he shook off the dog. Fiona was already running. The door lead to a grand entrance hall, similar to one she saw in a video game. Running to the grand doors, she unlocked it. Opening it, it revealed the bridge and the double doors that she banged her hands on fruitlessly. There wasn't enough time to find a hiding spot so she ran up the stairs, Hewie still trailing behind her. The balcony only offered one way out and lead to a red carpeted corridor. Fiona was sure that she'll lose her breath this way.

The corridor lead to a room full of stuffed dolls and a big cupboard. “Hewie, hide!” Hewie seemed to understand and jumped into the rows of dolls. With him safe, Fiona hid in the cupboard as she caught her breath. The heavy footsteps echoed into the room with him sniffing out the room. After what seemed like a lifetime, the footsteps receded back towards the corridor.

Fiona sat there almost drained. 'Why is this happening to me...' Her tears fell down as she sat there, remembering the times.

Fiona looked up as she saw that was back on the deckchair near the pool. 'Another dream?' Getting up, she saw that she wore her black bikini with matching g-string. Sighing, she picked up the towel and sauntered back into the house. Her mom was there, preparing lunch. Fiona picked an apple off the basket and walked up.

“Sweetie. Could you check that your dad is ready?”

“Okay mom.” With that she walked up to her dad's office where he worked. Knocking lightly on the door, she walked in. Her dad was sitting there, a serious look on his face. He was always dressed in his shorts and polo shirt.

“What is it, dad?” Ugo looked up.

“Oh, it's nothing. Just a note from my relatives. They want us to visit them sometime soon.”

“Well, what time did you have in mind?” Ugo rested his head and looked at the ceiling.

“Hmmm, your exams end about July right?” Fiona nodded. Sighing, Ugo got up and put his hands on her shoulders. “How about we go...in August? Is that fine with you?” Fiona just smiled.

“Yeah, I think the holidays doesn't end until end of August.” Using her dad's computer, she looked up the diary and saw that it was fine. “It's okay, dad.” He walked over to her, hugging her slim waist. It had been a week since he took her anus for a spin. Grating her hips into him, she felt his stiff rod whilst bringing herself close for a kiss. The passionate tongue war began as her hands locked behind his head whilst her father got busy. One of his hands strayed from her waist to inside her g-string as his fingers played with her folds whilst the other began to tweak the hardened nipple. Soon, they heard footsteps heading up.

“Dear? Are you okay?.” With that, they tensed slightly as Ugo tried to think of a suitable answer.

“Be there in a minute, dear. Just need to finish this work.”

“Okay, just hurry up okay? Fiona, come on.” Fiona thought a bit before answering.

“I'm just going to get changed. Freezing in this outfit...” She heard her mother sigh.

“Okay Fiona. Just hurry up as your father does need to be back in business soon.” With that, Fiona felt her father gently tweaking her g-spot and her nipples. His eyes were filled with desire as she slowly moaned. His fingers were wet from her juices as lulled her head back. In a smooth move, he placed her on the desk as he got down and removed her g-string. Her flower leaked the juices he desired as he lapped it up. Fiona stiffled a gasp as her pleasure increased as her father continued to eat her out. Soon, she gave a sigh as her dam broke. The smooth tongue cleaned her mess as she lied there. Fiona saw her dad wiped the rest from his mouth before giving her a slight grin. She smiled back and went to change.

Dumping the swimwear on the floor, she walked over nude into her closet. Picking up some jeans and a t-shirt, she quickly changed. Going down, she saw her dad and mother giving quick smiles and laughter. Yes, it seemed perfect.

Fiona awoke to her surroundings. With that, she got up and opened the door a crack. 'Seemed he's gone.' With that, she went over to stuffed dolls. “Hewie?” Hewie popped his head up. “There you are. Come on.”

Walking out they saw that it opened up into a gallery of some sorts. To her left, Fiona saw that she saw the artwork as if depicting a real-life battle. 'Creepy. Why would someone get an artwork that would depict a battle?' Continuing along, she saw a large hole in the wall. 'Everything seems to say don't go. But...' With that, she crawled in the hole.

Inside, it revealed to be a room with herbs, cauldrons and experiemental equipment. 'A sort of alchemy room.' A machine sat in one of the corners whilst a closet sat on the other side, near the blackboard. Fiona looked at the blackboard on her left. 'Quis, Mundus...what weird names...' Walking up closet, she saw that inside was various doctors' tools such as scapels and forceps. Looking at the machine, she saw that one side had some slots. 'Slots...maybe...' Rifling through the closet, she found a sort of medallion that looked odd. Slotting into the machine, she heard it start up. Soon the coloured balls began to spin. 'Hmmm, is it just like those reaction games?' With that, she banged randomly on the buttons. Eventually, she heard something come out. Looking at the pan, she saw some jelly like material. Picking one up, she examined it. 'It looks like jelly but it doesn't feel like it. I wonder how it tastes...' With that, she took a small bite.

At first, she felt as she was made of jelly. But that came to pass as she felt her body refreshed as if dipping into a pool of cold water. Looking down at her cuts on her knees, she noticed that the scratches were gone. 'Hmmm, maybe this is to heal. I might as well keep some.' Scrambling back outside, she saw that Hewie was waiting there patiently. “Come on.” With that they continued along the balcony until she saw a crumbling balcony. 'Hmmm, a dead end.' Soon, she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Turning round, she saw that Debilitas blocked the doorway, making it impossible to get through. He took slow and deliberate steps towards her as she inched back from him. Soon, she looked at the crumbling balcony that was inches from her. He began to break into a run in order to get her. With little time, she began to run at the balcony. He saw this and began to run after her. Stopping short of the cracks, she waited until the last moment. Sidestepping a bit, she saw him fall onto the weakened balcony which collapsed with a crack.

Looking down, she saw that he lied there. 'At least, he'll be out for a while...' Seeing that there was way down, she began to climb down. He still didn't move, meaning that he could be out for a bit. After climbing down, Fiona noticed that there were 4 doors to her right. 'Hmmm, let's play Russian roulette with 4 doors...' Opening the far right, she saw that it opened back into the gallery. Running back up, she found Hewie waiting near the balcony. “Hewie.” Hewie turned as he walked slowly over to her. Walking back down the stairs, she stopped to briefly admire the glass artwork. 'Looks like a ghost image of the real thing.' Walking outside, she found Debilitas had vanished. 'He must have gotten away. Hope I don't run into him.' Opening the other 2 doors, she found only the brick wall. Walking to the last door, she hoped that this wasn't a big joke. Opening the door revealed a large book room with butterflies flying round. Her focus shifted to the butterflies flying round the vase of dead flowers. 'I can't get through there with all those butterflies flying round it.' With that, she walked back outside. Continuing to her right, she passed a small hole before Hewie began barking.

“What is it, boy?” With that, Hewie disappeared into the hole. “Hewie?” With that he came back out with something in his mouth. “Hewie, drop.” He dropped it, revealing to be a key. Picking it up Fiona looked at the key. Engraved on it was something called Study. 'Study, could it be that study that I passed earlier?' With that she gave a quick scratch on Hewie's head. “Good boy, let's get going.” Walking back to the four doors, she continued to further as it revealed a dead end and a ladder. Sitting down, Fiona felt she was exhausted from all the running and sat down on the cool ground.

'Man, all this running and walking is making me tired. I haven't done anything this athletic in a while.' With that, she began to think again.

It was getting brighter as she opened her eyes. 'That's strange. I thought it was night now.' In front of her were several girls that wearing skin tight black leotards. She looked down and saw that she was wearing the same thing. 'Weird, am I back in my dream world?'

“Fiona.” She looked up and saw her instructor in front of her. “Geez, girl. Your head is always in the clouds. Can't you get back down here?” Fiona heard several giggles from behind her.

“Sorry Coach.”

“Okay girls, you need to work on your timing.” With that, they all began a regime of practicing the moves for jazz. Soon, Fiona felt as if she would drop everything now.
“Alright girls, that's it for today.” With that they began to disperse. Fiona walked over to the black duffel bag that held her clothes. Looking inside, she began to look over it. Inside were her shoes and her drinks. 'Odd, I thought I put my clothes here.' With a bit more rummaging, she managed to find the rest of the clothes. 'Okay, everything's in. Might as well get changed.'

Several other girls were getting changed as she entered the room. Mostly, Fiona rarely talked to the other girls as she thought of them as vain and as well as stuck up. As she pulled down the leotard off her shoulders, she saw several other girls leave. She stood there with her sports bra and her briefs. She thanked the person that made the sports bra as the normal bra usually was too uncomfortable or moved too much around. This was even more apparent with her ample size. A soft noise broke her thoughts a bit. Following the noise, she saw two nude girls getting it on. It wasn't uncommon for some girls to experiment on each other. She had seen countless of other girls, caressing and even kissing full on when changing in the past. Seeing the larger bust size, Fiona realised that the girl on the right was the coach. On the left, she knew the other girl as just “Alice”. At first, she never liked her as she did act like a skank. This didn't help as Alice managed to isolate Fiona from all the other girls. Fiona looked on as Alice moaned as their coach used her fingers to gently massage her lips.

Fiona couldn't believe how turned on the scene in front of her was. Looking down, she noticed that she was getting excited and without a second thought, she slowly began to masturbate. Keeping her eyes on the scene, she noticed that her coach now began to rock onto Alice, grating their hips together as their collective moans got louder. Fiona didn't care as she fingered herself rapidly. Her ears pricked as she heard someone coming in. Taking her fingers out, she also heard the two girls stopping before running towards her. Fiona quickly ran back to her stuff where she pretended to just to change. She heard the 2 girls run towards the showers as the sounds of water floated round the room.

Fiona bit her lip as she picked up her t-shirt. Although she nearly had a scare, she was still unsatisfied. The scene of Alice and her coach getting it on was too much and her flower ached from the scene. Slowly taking off the briefs, she wondered at her little mound of hair near her womanhood. Although she was technically the oldest, she had little to no experience compared to the other girls on the subject of sex. The alienation and as well as her own meek nature made Fiona curious of the subject, overhearing snippets of conversations the girls might have.

‘The girls say that having the hair gone usually is a lot better. I suppose it’s similar to having your legs waxed. No hairs mean more guys…’ With hands shaking, she removed the sports bar. The ample mounds flowed out of the confines. Her fingers feather danced over the nipples. At just 36D, she was the biggest bust size out of most girls. The larger ones tend to be only the instructor or special guests that arrive. Fiona shook her head. ‘This is my final year and I’m going after this anyway.’ Stuffing the two undergarments into the bag, she dug back into the bag as she wore back the leotard and the white socks. The sounds of the shower echoed louder as Fiona heard one of them gasp before the other gave a soft scream. Shaking her head, she ran out of the change rooms.

Her mother was tired of waiting as Fiona jogged up to the car. “You’re pretty late. Something wrong?”

Fiona bit her lip.

“It was fine. Just tiring.”

“Didn't have enough time to change?” Fiona looked down at her outfit. It was strange only having her leotard as her only clothing but without briefs or bra made it as if she was just wearing air itself.

“Yeah, too many girls were in the change rooms.” Fiona hated lying, especially lying to her mother.

“Okay, how about you just come out like that then?” Fiona just sighed. Her mother was too busy concentrating on the road ahead. Although her head faced the window, her hands sought out her jewel. Gently, the fingers began to work their magic as Fiona found it was harder to keep up her look. Her breath was quickening as the music seems to prod her on. Knocking her legs together, she felt her insides tighten as her orgasm passed. Looking down, she saw the clear mess on the seat and on her leotard. Luckily, she got some tissues in her bag to wipe up the mess. Fiona looked at her mother sadly.

‘I just can’t. Not yet….’

A dim light broke her reverie as she looked up. A light post flickered on as darkness fell. Fiona looked at Hewie as they walked towards the ladder. Hewie seemed more apprehensive as they approached the ladder. “Stay boy.” He obdiently stand down as she began climbing up. Up another ladder and there was nothing there apart from a winch.

Fiona looked across the rampart and noticed a drawbridge that has been raised up. Connecting the wires back to the winch, she began to examine it. 'Looks like someone has taken the crank for it. But maybe if I kick it hard enough...' With that, she gave the winch a few good kicks. After the third kick, she saw the drawbridge lower beyond the rampart.

A child-like giggle broke the silence before heavy footsteps echoed in the air. Fiona wasted no time as she ran towards the ladder. Descending down, she thought she heard Debilitas jump across. Her heart was beating wildly as she descended the other ladder. Looking bck, she saw that he had managed to get to the ladder. Wasting no time, she jumped to the ground where Hewie was barking at him. Debilitas took the hint and jumped onto the garden bed near the wall.

With that, he looked at Fiona who stood there in shock before he raised his arms; giving a defiant yell. Hewie launched into action as Fiona stood blankly against the danger infront of her. His sharp teeth dug into his feet as his screams of pain sounded through the air. That and the sight of Hewie broke her stunned look before she bolted. Debilitas sat there nursing his injured foot. He had the chance if only that damned dog didn't interfere.

Fiona ran as her heart raced a million beats per minute. As she got into the corridor, she leaned against the wall as she caught her breath. Bending down to Hewie, she gave him a cuddle. “Thanks boy, I really...” A strange sound stopped her as she stood back up. A gentle sucking noise entranced her as she walked over the walls. Continuing on, she heard the sound getting louder as she approached the hole-ridden wall. Steeling herself, she tentively stuck her hand in one of the holes. An iron grip caught her wrist. Panicking, she tried to pull back. A wrinkly old hand and arm came out with her hand. Suddenly letting go, the old hand disappeared back into the hole. Looking at her hand, she saw that the thing gave her a note. Opening it, she saw the following.

Beware of Riccardo. Nothing is what it seems.

'Nothing is what it seems...' Musing at this, she let the note drop to the floor as she continued on. An iron gate stood opposite where she stood. Walking over, she noticed the lever that stood nearby. Grasping it, she tugged at it with all of her strength. The lever gave a groan before it moved. The gate slowly moved up, the ancient gears groaning. Walking in, she noticed she was back at the courtyard area, taking note of the tall barrels that she hid earlier against Debilitas.

Walking back out again, she saw another ladder going up. “Stand guard, okay?” Hewie barked his reply and stand there. Walking up, Fiona opened the door, revealing a room. It was strange seeing the walls filled with speakers. A grand piano stood on the far end of the room whilst towards the open end of the room stood a telescopic mirror. 'That's odd. It's not a telescope for sure. Seems to reflect the light elsewhere.' With that, she read the notice near the telescope. 'I think I can turn this.' With that she gently tugged at it, the whine of the gyros filling the still air. A click was heard. 'Maybe that's it.' With that she walked over to the piano. The ivory keys were still cleaned. Fiona remembered what the mysterious voice told her. With that, her mind drifted...

Fiona woke up as she sat in her room again. 'I'm really getting sick of getting these flashbacks.' With that, she walked out and saw her mother cleaning the piano. Her mother looked up from her work.

“Hey sweetie. You want to use it?” Fiona shook her head.

“I'll use it later I suppose.” Her mother shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, at least this thing hasn't gone to waste. Your dad still plays you know. He still loves playing his movie classics.” Putting the lint cloth and the key covers back in place, she turned to Fiona. “I'm off to meet some friends so take care of yourself, okay?” Picking up her keys and her handbag, she gave Fiona a hug before closing the door behind her.

Fiona looked at the piano before opening the lid. The ivory keys reflected the light as she sat down at the piano. Her hands glided over the keys as she began to hum her own tune. The flowing tune glided over her as she closed her eyes. It was as if the piano was entrancing the tune for her. A sudden closing of the door broke her out of the dream state. She tried to remember back the tune but it was too complicated.

A howling brought her out of her dream world. Standing back up, she walked over to the other door. Unlocking it, she looked back outside. It was the same place she passed earlier. Even the familiar sight of blood on one of the posts told her that she was on the right place.

Walking along, she headed for the study. The old waft of paper lingered in the air as she walked over to the study desk. Remembering the key, she fitted it into the lock. A dull click echoed throughout the room. Pulling open the drawer, she found some old lavender flowers and as well as a mirror. It was round and slightly heavy as if it was to refract something. Pocketing the mirror, Fiona gently closed back the drawer before walking back outside. As she headed to the piano room, a soft whipping noise clearly came through the still night.

Curiosity got the better of her as she followed the noise. Leading her back towards the typewriter room, she heard mumbled voices inside. Ignoring Hewie’s howling, she peeked into the keyhole.

(typewriter room)

Riccardo lashed out again as his fury was belted on the nude woman before him. Daniella just looked at him as she received the blows. It was unnerving for her to shake off the pain and shock of the blows. But that damned smile made it even worse, he thought.

When Riccardo came back news of Ugo having a woman partner, Lorenzo wasn’t too surprised with that. When Riccardo went to learn the secrets of alchemy, what fascinated (and horrified him) was the number of young women that were in the suspended vats. Lorenzo reasoned with him that a fertile egg was needed to create a homunculus. A big surprise was when Lorenzo showed him the first woman homunculus, growing the artificial womb. In theory, men were easier to replicate as Lorenzo’s DNA provided the template for the males. Women were a lot harder due to the differing chemical structures in the DNA.

When Daniella was first born, she was very sex crazed which was odd in Riccardo’s opinion. The first prototype was imprisoned as Lorenzo studied the ancient text. It was found out that Azoth and a change in the DNA structure of one chromosome in order to suppress the issue. The first was recycled before the second and current Daniella was born. Unfortunately, her mental capacity took a big dive and could only process the commands like a machine.

It suited Lorenzo fine as she was capable of servicing his castle and fantasies. Riccardo cringed as he saw Lorenzo once engaging sex with Daniella. It was more of a sex show with a doll rather than the intimate coupling as described in the books.

Looking back at her back, he marvelled at the smooth skin down to the firm breasts and legs. It was almost perfect except for her mental capacity turned him off. The red marks on her back and buttocks only made her more beautiful. But Fiona was an angel as compared to the whore that was standing in front of him.

“You…wench. You told him, did you?” A dull crack went through the air. The woman looked at him indifferently as he laid on another blow.

“Where is he now?” His fingers ran through her puffy twat as she hung there.

“Where is the old man? Where’s he hiding?” His hand snaked along her wet twat before he shoved his fingers into her. He repeated fingered her and whipped her until she was shaking from head to toe. Looking at Daniella with utter contempt, he looked back at the door before whispering a bit.

“I won’t let him touch her!” Raising his voice, he fiercely bellowed his challenge.

“Do you hear me, old man?” He looked at Daniella before release her from her restraints. She dropped to the floor before sitting there in her own juices. Reaching down, she tried to wipe away the mess with her hand. Sighing, Riccardo kicked at her. “Get your clothes back on.” With that, he began to shuffle towards the door.

(outside the typewriter room)

Fiona looked in horror as the monk like figure came towards the door.

‘Oh my, where can I hide?’ She didn’t have time to answer that as the door began to open. In a flash, she hid behind the door as the figure strode out. Fiona couldn’t get the abuse of the maid out of her head. It was brutal and intense. Of course, the punishments her parents gave out were nothing to the fury and humiliation in front of her.

Hearing more footsteps, she held her breath as she heard the maid walk out. The jaunty steps seemed to indicate to her that the maid had some slight problems in walking. Peeking her head round the door, she gasped as she saw the big gardener not far away, talking to the monk. It seemed the monk was ordering him something but she couldn’t hear. After that, he walked off, leaving the gardener there and in front of her. He looked ahead before sniffing the air.

‘Please don’t…’ Unfortunately, he looked at the door before pulling it away. Fiona couldn’t scream as his brown eyes peered at her. Time slowed as she saw his hands coming at her. A flash later, she found herself on the ground with some distance in between her and Debilitas. Not taking any chances, she scrambled onto her feet before running. She could hear his childlike chuckle before he began to chase her.

‘Someone help…Hewie…anyone body…’ Her legs were close to tiring as she ran to the ladder outside the piano room. Glancing over her shoulders, she saw Debilitas slipping outside the door. ‘I’d better get out of here before he gets up.’ Climbing down the ladder seemed to take ages as she hit the ground. Hewie was still there as he barked and growled loudly. Looking up, she saw that Debilitas started to climb down the ladder. Running, she went past the gate and the walkway before she stopped to catch her breath. Looking down, she didn’t see Hewie. Frantically, she tried to find him. “Hewie!” Debilitas came round the corner as she stepped back. Her heartbeat was like a constant running beat as adrenaline surged through her.

Then screaming was heard as she timed out. Shaking her head, Fiona saw that Hewie had latch himself onto Debilitas’ neck. He screamed as Hewie’s teeth did the talking. Soon, he managed to get Hewie off before running back towards the way they had came. Fiona went up to the Hewie.

“Thank you boy. I thought I was a goner.” He barked happily before Fiona got up. ‘He’s not going to give up that easily so I’d better find a way out.’ Walking back up to the sculpture gallery, she walked back onto the balcony. Seeing the ladder, she gave Hewie a scratch behind the ears.

“Now, stay here boy. I shouldn’t be long.” Steeling herself, she began to climb up the ladder. At the end, she saw that it was the drawbridge that she had lowered earlier. Running to the other side, she opened the door. A wooden balcony and another door greeted her. Running over to the other door, she tried to open it. ‘Locked.’ Giving the door a kick, she noticed a strange symbol on it.

‘That’s the symbol of Saturn on it. Maybe there’s a key with that symbol on it.’ Walking down the stairs, she noticed several blocks out of place. Sighing, she began to move the orange block out slightly. It took several tries and running before the last of the blocks was in place. A rumbling began as Fiona stood stunned as the mural in the ground began to show a hidden staircase.

Heading downstairs revealed more telescopic mirrors except for one. Fishing the mirror out of her pocket, she placed the mirror back into the slot. She moved the telescope slightly until a click was heard. A beam of moonlight came down from the vents before hitting the back door. A faint click was heard before the door moved out of the way. Fiona smiled slightly before she heard she heard Hewie’s howling.

‘Darn, I forgot him.’ Looking around, she saw a steel door. Unlocking it, she looked around. Surprised, she saw that she was at the walkway. Running back, she found Hewie lying at the bottom of the stairs. “Come on.” Perking his ears, he walked over to Fiona. Scratching behind his ears, she led him back to the telescopic room. Going through the newly opened door, she heard the ticking of the nearby clock. Walking down the stairs, she found a door and an inscription next to it.

Only those that can see the light will be able to walk through the hall of darkness. Lest not one falter or perish in darkness.

Looking down at Hewie, she hugged him tightly.

“Please take care of me, okay. I’m counting on you.” Fiona didn’t know whether it was impulse or not, but Hewie barked as it saying yes. Walking through the door, she saw a completely dark room with the only light was above the door she came through and above the door at the opposite end. Chewing her lip slightly, she looked at Hewie.

“Go boy.” With that, Hewie began to walking over to the darkness. He seemed a bit afraid before continuing across. Stepping on the path Hewie took, it didn’t take long before Fiona reached the other end.

“Good boy.” Opening the other door, she saw what looked like a large chapel with rows of benches and as well as innumerable lit candles illuminating the room. Seeing towards the chapel, Fiona’s well trained eyes spied something on the large angel’s staff. Running down the isle, she looked at the key that was hanging there. It was too high for her to reach. Even Hewie would have a hard time trying to jump that, she mused.

‘There’s gotta be something I can stand on.’ Spying the altar, she slowly moved it to position underneath the key. Gingerly stepping on the altar, she took the key off the staff. On it was an engraved symbol of Saturn. ‘Yes, now I can unlock that door I passed before.’ Stepping down, Hewie was barking like mad.

“What is it, boy?” Looking towards where Hewie was looking at, she stepped forward slightly. Behind the door, peeked out Debilitas as he began to push the door forwards.

“No…” The slamming of the door and locking sound made Fiona’s heart drop. ‘No, I’m trapped.’

Debilitas was overjoyed as he managed to sneak in here as his angel was too busy with that key. Although the dog was a problem, he could handle that as it was nothing but an annoying insect that needs to be squashed. Without the master watching him, it was time to make his move. At last, he can finally release himself from this prison as he raised his arms in triumphant cry of pleasure. He looked at she stood there, shocked and timid as a mouse. It was only a matter of time before he can hold her in his arms.

To be continued…

Author’s notes: Whew, that was a long time, eh? Originally, I was hoping to finish this chapter before the end of the break in August. Not surprisingly, exams and as well as work didn’t help out. Fortunately, with 3 months of breaking, I can really open the taps and get the chapters over and done with. I’m still keeping the tradition with flashbacks of Fiona’s sexual past and as well as some fleshing out of Daniella’s creation. I’m pretty sure that there was a copy of her before the current and demented maid we hate/love appeared.

Lorenzo would have some ‘favours’ for Daniella to do but that’ll probably come later in the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next one…Fighting one’s fate.