Well, here's the 3rd chap!

I'm glad I got one good review, since the other was a message from someone who, at the moment, didn't like me very much :(. Oh well . . . .

Disclaimer: Don't own Haunting Ground, but Draven's aaall mine, hehe!(insert wink here).

Recap:

They heard Debilitas stir beneath the chandelier before Draven had a chance to return the embrace. Fiona jumped off him and he sat up. They stood and looked at Debilitas, who was moving the chandelier, and getting up. He walked towards them, not in a menacing way, but a humble one. He bowed to them, and turned to leave. Once he was gone, confusion filled both of them.

"Does this mean he won't come after me anymore?"

"Only one way to find out."

Chap 3: Deceit . . ?

They walked out of the moonbeam room, confused at Debilitas's actions. Draven seemed to know where he was going. They walked out of the moonbeam room, and up a ramp. They went through a tunnel and continued walking until they reached a strange cabin. Draven went into the cabin first, and Fiona smelled a strange odor coming from inside.

It was really small. They walked through a small hallway and found themselves beside a bed. Across from the bed, on their other side, stood Debilitas. He seemed to be praying. The small inlet in the wall looked like a shrine of some sort. He noticed that they were there, and turned around, reaching into his pocket. Draven immediately went on guard. Debilitas did his best to show that he was not trying to harm Fiona. He bowed his head and outstretched both his hands towards them. He was holding a key, offering it to them.

Fiona reached for the key, taking it from his hand. (a/n: The following contains a game cheat.)

"Thank you, but . . . what is it for?" All he did was grunt and point at the door. He wanted to lead them somewhere. Draven stood out of his way and signaled for Fiona to do the same. She did, and Debilitas led them out of his cabin, taking them into the castle, through the doors, and through the kitchen. He brought them to the hall outside the kitchen, and led them to a staircase that led to a bathroom. He pointed to it. When he looked at them, his eyes were sad. "What's wrong?" All he did was grunt, point at the door again, bow, and leave the way they had come.

"He wants us to go to that room. Perhaps the door that this key opens is inside." They went in and began to explore. The only doors were stalls, and two out of the three were open. Fiona tried the third door, and it opened. She saw that this stall was different. In fact, it was not a stall, but a staircase to some kind of basement.

"Draven! I found a doorway." He went to where she was and they both headed down the stairs. They arrived in a kind of cell, but it had a large table. On the table, there were a pair of boots, and a key. Fiona looked at the boots and realized that they could fit, and were very strong, which could help her, since it hurt to kick and walk barefoot.

"Fiona . . . This key, it's the key to the castle gates. We can leave. We've found the way out!"

"Are you serious? That's wonderful!" She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck, like she had taken to doing.

"Yes, it is . . ." He gently pushed her away, causing her to look him in the eye.

"Sorry . . ." she mumbled.

"You shouldn't be."

"Why?" He took her chin with his index finger and thumb, bringing her towards him, as he leaned down to her. His other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her as close to him as possible. "What are you-" She didn't finish her question. His lips caught hers, but only briefly. When his hand moved away from her chin, she felt a blinding pain on her back, and lost consciousness. The last thing she heard was a sickening thud, her own body hitting the floor.

When she woke up, she had her hands above her, tied to a wall, and was dressed in different clothes. It was a long white dress, with long sleeves and a low collar, exposing much of her chest, causing her to shiver from the cold. She looked around and saw that she was in some sort of cave. She could tell by the drawings on the stone walls and the pedestal she was on, that this room was used for some kind of ceremony. At that moment, she heard the rolling of wheels, and saw an extremely old man in a wheelchair emerge from the shadows. She could see that he was ancient, and guessed that this was the original Belli.

"Ah, Fiona. You are awake. We can commence with the ceremony, then." He wheeled over to her, and she noticed that his face was level with her naval. He put his hand on her belly, and began to mutter strange words. He then used the other hand to reach behind him, grabbing a strange looking dagger (imagine the one used to kill Ugo). He was about to plunge it into her, when there came a growl out of nowhere. Hewie emerged from the shadows, as well, and attacked the old man. Causing the chair to collapse. This gave Hewie enough time to chew threw the rope that bound her, freeing her.

"Hewie! You're back, I thought you were dead." She hugged him, holding him as close as possible, glad to finally have her friend back.

"Fiona . . . ." She turned to see that the old man was dragging himself, at an extremely fast pace, towards them, dagger in hand. She stood and prepared to run.

"Hewie!" They both ran out of the cave, and found themselves underground. They ran until the reached a creepy room. It had animal carcasses on a table and a hatchet. She looked around for an exit, and found a set of stairs. She hurried, and came out to the Castle gardens. She went up the stairs and went into the suite, locking the door behind her, hoping that the old man could not catch up as quickly. She figured he'd think she ran for the castle gates. She sat on the bed, looking hopelessly at the portrait that looked the most like Draven, feeling a sharp pain in her heart. He had been just like the others. The only reason he hadn't killed her sooner, apparently, was so he could take her straight to Belli himself. She'd admit, he had been smarter at accomplishing it than the others. He had even gone so far as to kiss her . . . She touched her lips with the tips of her fingers, tears threatening to spill. Hewie seemed to sense this and put his head on her lap, whimpering. "Thanks Hewie . . ."

She petted his head absently, wondering what she had to do now. Belli obviously thought she had left, because it had been a while and he still hadn't found her. She looked around the room, looking for better clothes to wear. She checked the dresser, and saw that there was a dress similar to the one she wore now, except that it had a shorter skirt, which went above her knees, and allowed better leg movement. She also noticed a pair of boots. She changed her clothes, and pulled her hair back, ready to tackle anything that stood between her and her freedom. Unfortunately, she did not have the key, Draven did, so she had to find it before escaping, which meant facing the old man. She walked out the other door, going back down to the room they had found it in. She had Hewie sniff around, and he caught a scent, immediately running of to have Fiona chase him. He led her to the garden, and stopped by the tree she had saved him from. He barked, signaling to Fiona that this was where the scent had led him. She crouched down to see that there was a stone there. She moved it, and found a key. It was the key to the castle gate. She had found it again, but wondered why it was there, if Draven had it. She dismissed the thought, and immediately made a run for the gate. She reached it, and her hand was shaking.

She managed to open it, but it shut before she could take a step forward. The air around her began to shift, causing ripples, until she was in a strange hall of some kind. There were two doors, and she chose one, emerging in a similar hall each time. She kept hearing a voice, recognizing it as Draven's.

"Ah, Fiona . . . Must you run from me?"

"Where are you!" She continued to walk through doors until she came to a room with a conveyor belt. On the other side, she could see Belli.

"Fiona!" He dragged himself towards where she was was, but she quickly moved out of the way, towards the conveyor belt. She stood there, baiting him. Once he reached her, she aimed a powerful kick at his head, knocking him unconscious for a while. She went over to a machine, and turned it on, causing the belt to move, causing Belli to be squished completely, the only remains being his blood and a small key. She took it and went to the door, his unusual death not fazing her at all. She was becoming used to the violence, which was not a good sign, not a good sign at all. Her heart was hardening, so she no longer cared. She walked through the door, coming to a large circular room. She went through another door, and it shut behind her, trapping her at a dead end.

"Fiona . . . I've finally found you. My Azoth . . ." She looked around, but couldn't find where the voice came from. She kept looking, but to no avail. Why couldn't she find him? Finally, the door she had come through opened, and shut behind her when she left. She also noticed that the room had changed, and now had a large door . She went through it, and found herself face to face with her father.

"Daddy . . . ?" He approached her, and not in a very friendly way. She realized that it was Belli. "No, you're not my dad."

"Fiona . . ." He took a deep breath and his body began to change. He got younger, his hair became red, and his skin was no longer wrinkled. "My Fiona . . ." His voice was just like Draven's. A few hours ago, if she had heard that phrase in that voice, she would have blushed a bright crimson, and gone weak-kneed. "My Azoth . . ."

"I am not yours." With a power she didn't know she had, she placed her right hand on his chest, and threw him back, his body smacking against the wall. She ran out of the room, finding herself in the old hall, before it had changed. She exited through the other door, and hurried down the hall. She stopped, realizing that she had no idea what she was doing. She could hear Belli getting closer. Hewie decided to lead the way, running to a room that had a huge tank in the middle, filled with molten rock, lava. An idea struck her, and she decided to wait to be caught. "Hewie, get ready." He began to growl and went into ready position, waiting for his next order.

Belli burst through the door, sending explosions at Fiona. She told Hewie to attack and he did, spilling a lot of Belli's blood, and weakening him a considerable amount. She went over to him, and pushed him into the tank, as he laughed all the way, sending a dagger at Fiona. She didn't have time to react, and was almost hit, if Hewie had not intercepted the blade. He fell, whimpering, and blood pooled around him. At the moment, the strangest thing happened.

Hewie began to lose his hair, and his body grew. It transformed into a human body. Draven's body. His fur was replaced by his clothes, and the blade could be seen stabbed into his side, causing his white shirt to be stained. Draven had been Hewie the entire time. How could she have missed it? She had seen Hewie in the forest, the wound on his leg, it had been the same as Draven's. How the hell could she have been so stupid? And now he was dying, because of her.

"Draven!" She ran to him, collapsing onto her knees beside his body. She was sobbing uncontrollably. She took his head and put in on her lap, stroking his hair gently.

"D-Don't cry . . ." He lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. "You're free now. Go . . ."

"I can't just leave you here! You-You have to come with me. I can't leave without you. Please."

"Fiona, I'm dying. I can't let you give up your freedom for me. I need you to go, please. Do not mourn for me, just go." At that moment, something climbed out of the lava. It was Belli.

"FIONA!" he was just a skeleton, and was on fire. Just one touch from him and she would die. She didn't care, though. This was another fight, just like all the others. She stood, ignoring Draven's voice, telling her to run away.

"You. You ruined everything. You killed my family! And now you kill my. . . my. . ." She had begun to cry again. She yelled, and outstretched her hands in front of her. Out of them, shot a torrent of ice. Knocking the skeleton back, breaking him into bits and pieces, and pushing him into the lava again. Belli was finally gone, and Fiona felt a strange power surge through her. She made her way back to Draven, and saw that he was still awake. She sat by him, cradling his head in her arms.

She bent her head down, and kissed him, feeling his lips go cold. That was the last thing she felt, before blacking out completely.

A cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers. I 'm such a hypocrite, aren't I? Please review!