"My dolly!" The huge, ogre-esque man yelled at the sight of her.

She gasped at the sight of him and darted to the dining room, nearly tripping.

Her fragile heart was nearly pounding out of her chest, and she could barely keep her breath but she knew...

She knew she mustn't stop running, or she'll meet her demise.

The scared girl scattered into the dining room to a giant red curtain near a large window and hid behind it.

Hot, painful tears rolled down her flushed face, but she kept completly silent.

boom, boom, boom

It's him... it's his footsteps... and they are slowly etching towards her.

"My poogley pie!" The man called out, in an innocent tone.

Innocent as he seemed, our protaganist wasn't letting it deceive her.

He would crush her in seconds, amongst other things...

She shook it off, she didn't want to think of such horrors.

Leave! Just leave! Her mind raced and raced, everytime a footstep was heard her heart pounded harder.

Grunts and groans popped out of the greasy creature as he looked for his "dolly". No sight of her anywhere.

"Where is you!" He called out as he slammed his fists onto the dining table in a child-like temper tantrum.

This frightened the girl, but she promised herself not to make a sound...

The disappointed giant stormed out of the room whilst mumbling incohearant nonsense.

He was gone, but she had to stay an extra second or two just to be safe.

As she began to relax she noticed something, or rather, someone outside.

It was too far away to get a good look, but it looked like a... young man.

Come on, Fiona. Get a hold of yourself... She mumbled,

You must be seeing things...

She watched in awe at her seemingly imaginated being as he was walking towards the big tree,

The one she rescued a near-death Hewie from.

"What is he doing?" She asked aloud, then pressed her hands up against the window and watched intently.

He looked as if he was searching for something around the tree, pacing around it and looking at every branch.

To test out if she's gone mad or not, Fiona pounded a fist onto the window and maybe get his attention.

No luck. Her head drooped in shame.

"Damn, maybe I have gone insane..." She felt her heart sink.

Her eyes made their way back to the tree and the figure was gone, as expected...

But something... was glowing... near where the man was.

"What... is that?" Whether this was also her imagination or not she had to see.

The quite unathletic woman stood up and tried her hardest to run out of the room, nearly tripping again.

She then made it into the guest room, the fireplace aglow with cackling firewood. Who lit this?

Disregarding the fire, she made it to the teal back door.

Please don't be locked... please...

Her hand trembled on the knob as she turned it... to her relief it was unlocked.

With a swift unlatch and open, Fiona made it outside, with the bitter, cold evening air chilling her every bone.

"Hah..." Rubbing her arms to keep warm, she marched forward down the stairs and towards the tall oak tree.

When she got there, she noticed instantly a... strange, red sigil on the ground. "What on earth...?"

Fiona bent her knees to get a better look. It was a star-like symbol, seemingly glowing.

Something about it chilled her even more, it didn't feel right.

As she stared closer into the sigil, it felt as if an intense stare reflected back onto her.

She cocked her head to the side as she tried to get a grip on what the hell this thing was. Until-

"Huh?" A lizard-like hand appeared out of the symbol, and soon some others joined it.

"What is this? What's going o-" She was cut off by the sound of footsteps running toward the back of her.

Fiona jerked her head back, a red flash rushing by. This caused her to fall into a dirt patch, blinding her for a moment.

All she could get herself to hear were these moaning and screetching noises as she tried wiping the dirt off her eyes.

"Who- what..." She muttered,

"Ay! Are you okay?" A young man called out-

Is... he talking to me? Fiona thought as her surrounding was learing into view.

"You alright?" A pair of legs appeared in front of her. She slowly inched her head up...

With a hand reached out, a young, silver-haired man smirked at her.

"A-are you... real?" Fiona hesitated. "Heh!" He scoffed,

"As real as I wanna be, baby." The man swiftly pulled her up, with little force,

Causing her to struggle with her footing.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," He pulled out two guns, one black, one white...

"I got a dance to attend to!"

"A-a... da-" Fiona stuttered around at the sight of his pistols.

He looked back at her, "Yeah, and no chicks allowed." With that, he cocked the handguns...

Three demon-like creatures arised out of the glowing symbol-

"Oho yeah! Three's a charm!" The man whipped a pistol towards one of them-

BANG

"Aha, bingo!"

Its body fell motionless to the ground, a gaping hole in its cranium.

The others lunged at him but to no avail as he darted away, shooting carelessly.

"Ah!" Fiona collapsed to the ground, covering her head-

Who is this, I-I can't be seeing things?

"Are you even trying?" The gun-toter raised his boot up to the remaining monster's face,

"I've delt with rashes more obnoxious than you." He slammed his foot onto its face, squashing it like an insect.

Fiona, her heart thumping with anxiety, glanced up to the settling dust,

"Man, if you wanna get me riled up at least gimme a challenge. Sheesh!"

He returned his pistols to holsters around his waist, then looked back at Fiona.

She regained her posture and looked in shock at the man in red before her.

"Who are you, exactly...?"

"Y'know, you're lucky you weren't invited to that dance..." He walked casually over,

Sniffing his nose as he looked at the tree, "No class, there wasn't even good music playi-"

"Who are you?" She reuttered, catching him off guard.

"Oh... name's Dante." He grinned. "Hey, is that your place?"

He pointed over at Belli castle. Fiona looked at him in discomfort,

"Hey, nothing to be ashamed of. I mean it's a palace compared to my junkhole."

She placed her hand on her chest and nodded, "I... I don't know where I am, to be honest."

"Eh, don't we all feel that way." He pat her shoulder, "It's freezing out here, wanna show me the door?"

His grin softened. Fiona looked into his shiny blue eyes, feeling a bit weird in her chest, "Yes, certainly."

She walked over and up the stairs, Dante trotting closely behind.

When they reached the door, Fiona heard a weird mumbling noise emitting from the forest behind her.

"What is it?"

"Oh, erm... nothing I guess."

With that, she gently opened the door, back into the cozy, warm guest room.

"Hah, this is more like it." Dante collapsed onto the bed, fresh sheets lining it.

An awkard silence passed until something hit Fiona-

"I... don't think we should stay here."

"Huh? Well why not?" He crossed his legs atop the bed, relaxing.

"We just can't... there's this manic freak after me."

He glanced over, "Well I think any guy would go crazy if they saw you."

"Erm..."

She blushed slightly and stared at the burning fireplace.

"This place needs leash laws..."

Fiona sat down at the foot of the bed, "Hm? What do you mean?"

"There's some dog just running rampant around here, he nearly tackled me..."

She gasped, "Huh! You saw-"

"And lemme tell you this, dog slobber is NOT a nice alternative to cologne."

"Hewie! You found him, where'd he go!"

He shrugged, "Hell if I know, he scampered off at the front of the place."

Fiona's smile faded slowly. "Well, at least I know he's okay..."

"Yeah, well you should keep tabs on him. The guy's all over the place."

She giggled, "Yes, indeed."

Dante smirked a little before starting to dose off.

Fiona watched the bewitching, amber flames dancing in the dark room. She began to smile.

Something she hasn't been much able to do since she was thrown into this madness. Something just felt right.

"Hey."

She glanced back at him, a little startled.

"What's your name?" His eyes sparkled in the flame's light.

"Er, my name?"

He nodded.

"Fiona..."

"Fiona, eh? Suits you."

She looked a little embarrased, "Thank you... I suppose."

"Man, I'm starving. Got anything to eat here?" Dante asked, rubbing his abdomen in hunger.

She shook her head, "I don't really know. I believe the maid is cooking something..."

"Well she better know how to cook some good pizza." He stood up off the bed.

"Wait, where are you going?" She exclaimed and stood herself up, "You can't go out there, he's lurking!"

Dante shrugged, "Nah, he can't be much scarier than a sleep-deprived Patty... trust me."

"Patty...?

"Long story."

He opened the door near the fireplace and carelessly stepped out, Fiona hesitantly close behind.

"Look at that, no boogeyman. Heh heh." Dante sarcasticly remarked as he made his way down the hallway.

He looked around, "So... which way to the kitchen?"

The slightly jittery girl pointed to a small flight of stairs in the corner.

"Gotcha." They made their way down the stairs and to a large, dusty door.

It opened to the dining room and a door inside entered the kitchen.

As they got to the last door, Fiona shivered anxiously to herself.

"Well, it ain't gonna open itself." He turned the knob effortlessly and pranced into the room,

"What's cookin', mama?"

The maid was busy, stirring away at a pot ontop the stove.

He whiffed up the good smell, causing his stomach to growl.

Fiona lightly grinned, trying to ease the tension as the maid did make her feel a bit more comfortable.

Rushing over, Dante eargerly looked into the pot of, what looked like, pasta. "MmMmm..."

"Erm, I think we should let her cook now." Said Fiona, a bit shy.

"Hey, she has a voice! She can tell me to buzz off on her own, besides I get first dibs on this!"

The emotionless maid ceased her stirring and turned to him, "Miss, it appears you have an unexpected guest over..."

Her voice chilled the air, "Shall I prepare a room for him?"

"How about you get back to preparing dinner, I'm starvin'!" Dante asked eagerly, pointing to the pot.

She stared at him for a moment before bowing, "Yes... sir."

His smile quickly turned into a smirk towards the ominous servant.

Fiona took his hand and led him back into the dining room.

"Well ain't she creepy?" Dante remarked in a near whisper.

Fiona sighed.

"I just think she's bored is all. Heaven knows how they treat her here..."

He giggled, "Ah, low wages wouldn't bring a smile to my face either. I should know."

As they shared a laugh, an unheard barking was emitting from the distance...