Daniella's eyes snapped open, harsh white light flooding her vision. She heard a voice. It sounded familiar. She felt a vague caress on her upper arm. She stared up at the bright light, knowing that her eyes would adjust to it after some time. She did not try to move.
As her consciousness slowly returned, she realised she must have had some sort of mishap and her master had been fixing her. It happened from time to time. Sometimes she would fall off of a high surface while dusting or have a run-in with one of the other inhabitants of the castle. These events could result in what Master Lorenzo called injuries. Afterwards, she would always find herself on her master's cold, metal table, staring at the ceiling.
She wondered what had happened this time. Daniella could not remember any incident which could have led her here. She dared not ask, either.
Lorenzo was proud of her. He said that she was his greatest creation… the perfect woman. He would sometimes call her just to marvel at her as she stood before him. He was satisfied with his creation, but he made sure she knew her place.
"Get up," she heard him say.
She sat up, even though she still could not see well. A wave of dizziness hit her for the first time in her life. Her chest felt restricted, yet she felt as though she could breathe more deeply than she ever had. Her vision sharpened and she looked at her master.
He sat calmly in his wheelchair, watching her with interest. "Come here," he commanded.
Daniella had always been able to feel pain but in a rather elusive way. It was almost there but not quite. Just on the edges of her being. Yet as she stood up to walk over to her master, she felt a searing pain in her chest.
She gasped involuntarily and sank to her knees. She regretted it immediately, knowing it wasn't proper behaviour. As tears stung her eyes, she looked up at her master.
Lorenzo was smiling – his old, cracked face lit up like Daniella had never seen it before. As she watched in awe, her master threw his head back and laughed. The sound that escaped him was high-pitched, a rasping shrieking noise that came out in short bursts.
Daniella had not heard all that much laughter in her existence, and this frightened her. She backed away toward the table she had been upon a few moments ago.
When Master Lorenzo's gaze fell upon her again, however, he was smiling in a way that seemed… kind. He stretched a hand towards her, reaching for her face. She remained motionless.
He caressed her cheek, the somewhat fond smile still gracing his features.
Some time later, Daniella stood in the room that had been prepared for their guest, Fiona. Would the young miss come back here? She seemed to have been… frightened. Daniella tried to recall exactly what she had been doing before her latest mishap. She remembered trying desperately to find Miss Fiona… but what for?
Normally she would have been able to simply stand and wait for hours if that was what she needed to do, but Daniella could barely keep still. Master Lorenzo had said that he needed Fiona for something, so she had to find the miss. However, there was a good chance that the girl wouldn't come back here at all, so Daniella decided to actively seek her out.
She wandered the halls for a while, having no way of telling where Miss Fiona could be. The girl was clumsy, Daniella remembered, and spoke to her dog, who would bark in response or alarm. They were a noisy pair, and the castle was incredibly quiet in most places, so if Daniella walked around for long enough she would be sure to find them.
She was about to walk past the dining room for the third time when she decided to rather go into it. She walked around the long table slowly. For a moment, she almost remembered something, but it slipped away before she could be certain of what it was. Her eyes swept across the room towards the door that led to the kitchen. She approached it with caution.
A large pot sat on the stove, neglected. Daniella let out a moan, recalling what she had cooked in that pot and attempted to feed to Miss Fiona. She realised now how dreadful that was. Why had she not understood that it was wrong before? She had been ordered to do it, but by whom?
For a while, Daniella kneeled on the cold kitchen floor. She did not notice that there were footsteps approaching until she heard a shriek coming from the doorway. She stood up and turned around sluggishly to see Fiona scrambling away from her.
"Miss!" Daniella called out, speaking louder than she could ever remember speaking before.
Fiona had already started running, shadowed by the dog. Daniella followed patiently, knowing that she would catch up with the girl even though she could not run herself. Or could she? So many things seemed different since she had woken up earlier. She pushed herself to walk faster.
Following Miss Fiona up the stairs to the guest room, she quickly and quietly locked the door through which they had entered, knowing that only a small part of the castle was accessible from the other door in this room, which led outside. She stood very still for a few seconds, listening.
Daniella noticed a broken window pane, making a mental note to have it fixed. What had happened to it? Again, a flash of a memory, and then it was gone.
She could hear heavy breathing coming from under the bed. She could have dragged the girl out, but she now thought she understood how frightened Fiona must be. Perhaps she should be more… comforting.
"Miss," she said, walking carefully around the bed. "The master will see you now."
A whimper came from where Fiona was.
Daniella pretended not to hear it. She walked toward the television. Maybe Fiona would remain calmer if she thought her exact location remained unknown.
Perhaps it would be wise to try to reassure her. "He does not intend…" to harm you. The words died on her lips. In fact, she believed that he did intend just that. There had been one other girl, before Miss Fiona… she had been there because Master Lorenzo had thought that she had Azoth.
There was a shuffling noise behind Daniella, then silence again.
Azoth…
The sound of the door being tried came from somewhere behind Daniella, and Fiona let out a small but high pitched moan.
Daniella had wanted azoth. Did she have it now? Was that why everything had changed?
She turned to face Fiona, looking straight into those blue eyes. If she did, indeed, have azoth now, then why was Fiona still alive and seemingly unharmed? She observed the girl's clothing – a dingy, blood stained medical gown. Yet, she didn't appear hurt, only frightened.
"Miss…" she said again, reaching a hand towards Fiona.
"Please," Fiona stammered. "Don't hurt me. I just… please let me out of here."
Daniella realised that she stood between Fiona and the other doorway. Feeling pity for the frightened girl, she opened the back door and walked to the other side of the room, leaving Fiona plenty of space to run.
The girl remained near the bed, her features uncertain. She glanced towards the open door and then looked back at Daniella. The dog came out from under the bed to stand at Fiona's feet.
Daniella felt a small amount of panic rise up in her. The dog might attack her, especially if Fiona told it to do so. She took a step back and did a quick scan of the room to see if there was anything she could use to defend herself. Her eyes settled on the broken pane of glass.
Then she remembered.
She looked down at her now-shaking hands, to see that there were still small cuts on both of them, the right hand more severe. Touching her cheeks, she remembered feeling tears running down them for the first time. She had chased Miss Fiona with a shard of glass, wishing to steal the azoth from her. Her aim had been to murder the girl so that she could be complete… but instead Fiona had…
Daniella's hands flew to her chest, feeling the area where she had felt immense pain upon awakening. Stinging discomfort ran through her torso when she touched it. She grabbed at the collar of her undershirt and tore it down the middle, then the top of her apron too, until she could see the pale flesh between her breasts.
A long wound ran jaggedly down towards her stomach, decorated with untidy black stitches but still a fresh wound. She touched it gingerly, embracing the pain that washed over her.
She remembered the glittering shards of glass raining down upon her, as she had looked up at them, so much like the one she had loosened from this very window with murderous intent. She remembered the large fragment falling towards her, and then piercing right through her body.
Daniella remembered how she had truly felt pain for the first time, and how she had welcomed death.