Prologue.
The old building was big and silent. No noise came from the upper floors and nothing could ever come from the outside. The manor was alone on that side of the mountain, and no one had been living in that house for a long time. Only the laboratory was still working as the first day the experiment begun. And the girl was running a lonely and difficult run through the corridors.
For a long time she was certain that only she had been breathing under the dusty floors and the covered furniture of the upper floors. That breathing, that blood pumping through her veins, that deep sleep so similar to death and those waking hours that looked like nightmare were no living. She was a living being, but she didn't have a life. She existed, but she didn't want do. She was forced to survive by the man who fed her with a medical drip and sometimes made strange things to her. But she wasn't living. She was just waiting to die, and hoping that would be soon.
One night, however, something changed. While doing what he usually did with her, the man spoke of something that was living under the manor. That something was another man. Or, more accurately, another strange creature. She was shocked to know this. She had never been alone in there! Someone else had always been in the manor, even when the man who made her survive was not there. When she thought the whole world was far distant and no one could hear her cry, someone else was there, somewhere in the undergrounds of the manor. Someone who was as lonely and as desperate as she was. Someone always asleep. Someone living another endless nightmare. That revelation changed her life forever. He had been there all along (well, not all along, but for most of the time of her existence), a few meters away, so close she could just get up and go find him. But of course she couldn't get up. Most of the time she was locked in a small room, lying on the cold stone floor. And when the man came to her he used to take her out of the room and tie her to a laboratory table. She laid there and couldn't move. And when he had finished with her, she was so weak that he usually had to drag her back to the small room. She was locked again and all repeated itself as it always had been for most of her life. But from that night on, she had only one thought in her mind: how could she break free and find that creature?
Months passed before the opportunity came. But eventually the man became too confident and made a mistake. Maybe he just forgot to tie her to the table, or maybe he was sure she couldn't or wouldn't escape. But he was wrong. And when he turned his back to look something on the monitor, the girl lifted herself up and hit him right in the back of his head with something she grabbed near her. The man turned to look at her with surprise and disbelief and she froze while the fear ran through her veins. But then he wavered and fell to the ground, unconscious.
She sat on the edge of the table and slowly put her naked feet on the ground. Yes, she could stand. And she could walk. And so, she ran.
Sometimes she fell and sometimes she was afraid of not having enough energies to find him. The manor's underground corridors were long, dark and cold. She was naked and weak. But she couldn't stop. She had to find him. Escaping alone was impossible, but with him maybe…
The corridors ended in a big cave. There were stairs and some doors. She stopped for a moment, realizing only then that she didn't know what she was looking for. How was he? What did he look like? Where was he sleeping? Was he still alive? What if he didn't want to have anything to do with her? What if he was evil? What if it had all been a big lie and that creature had never existed?
Then she heard steps and panicked. The laboratory man was coming to get her. And if he captured her, he would never let his guard down again. It was now or never, and she started running again before making a true decision. She saw a door and she opened it, threw herself in that room and closed the huge wooden door behind her back.
The room was silent and pitch black. She took a deep breath and forced herself to keep standing on her feet. The running had been too much for her tired body, but she couldn't give in now. Being caught was like losing everything. She tried to convince herself of the possibility that the laboratory man would not notice the door or simply think she wouldn't be able to open it. That he could go on searching her and she would somehow find the other man, the one her hope was placed on. The one who could save her life.
"I won't die" she said to herself in her mind "I wont' die here, I will be free". She took the first step into the darkness of the room. Maybe there was something useful in there, like a weapon or a light of some kind. Keeping trembling hands in front of her face, she walked in the direction opposite to the door. After maybe ten steps, she stumbled in something on the floor and couldn't help but fall on the very same thing. It was something big and flat, like a box resting or the floor. She had just the time to ask herself what could be inside of it, when suddenly the box started to move.
The girl fell back on her feet, trembling with fear. What was that? Was it something dangerous, maybe a trap the laboratory man had set for her? Was it a monster left behind from old experiments with animals? Was it a phantom? Or… was it the sleeping creature that she was searching for? Was this her death or the beginning of her life?
The door behind her back opened with a strong noise and an evil laughter filled the heavy air of the room. The light of a torch invaded the space and she could see what stood in the box, which was absolutely not a box. It was a coffin, now opened. And the creature inside it, who now was protecting his eyes from the sudden light by shutting them and turning his face away, had definitely the aspect of a human being,.
-Look who's here!- said the laboratory man with his vicious voice.
The man in the coffin turned his head as fast as a shot and opened his eyes to look at the one who had spoken. He had the most furious expression on his face and his hands had grabbed the sides of the coffin, ready to help him jump out. His eyes were crimson red and stood fixed on the laboratory man, challenging the blinding light of the torch.
-Don't make that silly expression!- the other said -Who else do you think uses this place?-
The girl stood completely still. She couldn't understand what was happening there, but both the men looked like they had forgotten about her. The crimson-eyed one, especially, had never once looked in her direction as if she didn't exist for him.
-Now, let me take back what's mine- suddenly said the laboratory man taking a few steps forward and leaning to grab the girl's shaky shoulders.
She panicked and instinctively threw herself forward, almost jumping on the coffin man's legs. It was only then that he finally looked at her and his expression of rage changed in the flick of an eye to one of astonishment. The fire in his eyes ceased to burn and he left the grip on the coffin backing off a little, as if he was afraid to be touched. She gripped the cloth of whatever he was wearing and closed her eyes shut, hoping the laboratory man couldn't catch her if she was holding onto him.
But the strange man in the coffin didn't hold her back, and the one from the laboratory easily took her away from him, dragging her on the stone floor of the room and out in the corridor.
"I'm going to die here" she said to herself in her mind "He didn't save me, and there's no freedom for me".
With a swamp of tears and dust on her cheeks, the girl was back on the laboratory table she had left just a few minutes earlier. And this time she was tied down more accurately than ever. She had been living for some moments, but now her life was over. She was back to being tortured and still not enough to die. Never enough to end it once and for all.
The laboratory man seemed happy for the little distraction in his routine. Now he was typing something on the keyword of his big computer and almost singing in a low voice. He was back in control of the situation, and he was more confident than ever.
But then the computer monitor went black and the neon lights of the laboratory did the same. The room fell into complete darkness, as if the power had been taken out. This sudden change shook the girl from her desperation and made her pay attention to the noises in the manor. There was nothing. Not a step, nor a voice. Silence was complete. The laboratory man had stopped his singing and was now breathing fast. The girl knew he was afraid.
Suddenly she heard the heavy door be slammed open and the deafening noise of a gunshot resonated in the room. A chair fell on the floor and the laboratory man started panting.
-No- he said -You can't do it! She's mine-
The girl felt someone fumble with her ties and suddenly she was free in the darkness of the room. She sat on the table and two arms swiftly took her, one sliding under her knees and the other carefully grabbing her on the back, just a bit lower than her shoulders. She was lifted in the air and the left side of her body leaned against a strange mixture of different fabrics. She let her head lay on that person's chest and a strong heartbeat pumped under the layers of fabric and skin.
-I will have her back!- the laboratory man shouted, breathing difficultly.
Her savior didn't say a word, he just started to walk in one direction and never stopped until they were outside the manor's walls.
The night sky was covered with clouds and a cold rain was just about to drop down on Nibelheim's mountains. The girl breathed the outside air for the fist time in years and started shaking. She was outside. She was cold. Maybe she was going to die very soon. But she was safe. The night was dark and there were no lights on the outside of the manor, but she could finally see her savior and his face was the one she hoped it would be. His eyes didn't appear as red as they did in the torch light, but his look was gentle and caring when he put her down to untie his cloak and wrap her light naked body in it. The girl noticed he had something strange in his left hand which made the fingers look pointy and metallic and that his hairs were long and dark. Then he lifted her again and she closed her eyes taking a deep breath. He had a strange mixture of smells but, despite being sleeping in a coffin, he most certainly didn't smell of death. She thought he had the scent of freedom and life.
