Huh? Where am I? I wondered in as I glided into consciousness. I felt that I was lying on a cold, stone floor, and I was dressed in a tattered shirt that barely covered anything. My memories came flooding back to me: mum and dad… the car accident… a castle… the woods… Hewie… OH! I gasped, Hewie- he… oh no, oh Hewie! I remembered that Riccardo had shot him, and I fled to look for something to heal him with when… Oh, Hewie! I began to sob. He was surely dead, and even if he had survived, there was no doubt that Riccardo went back to finish him off. That bastard! I began to beat the floor with my fists. I looked up to find bars. Dammit, I thought, locked up like an animal again. "Why?!" I screamed as my body was heaving with sobs. Why me? Because of this "Azoth" stuff? Just take it, I don't want it!
At that moment I realized something: I just needed to get rid of this Azoth. Then I would be free! Riccardo could just have his "precious" Azoth, and I would be completely free! Right? What if not… I have to somehow escape, regardless. For… for Hewie. Maybe Hewie was still alive! Maybe he was wandering the woods right now! Searching for food to eat and healing and… I had to find him. I had to know what happened to him. I have to escape, and I want to escape with him! Okay, but how? I massaged one of my temples, think back to those crime shows mum was fond of… how did the girls escape their captors? Realization shot through me. Oh, God. I would have to… comply with Riccardo… gain his trust, which probably included… Don't think about it! Do what you must to escape! I began to cry again, knowing that what I would have to face probably wouldn't be pretty.
"My precious Fiona? Are you awake, my dear?"