I could only remember my name, but attached to that is the hatred I hold for each syllable of my it. Yet, I wanted to hear it. Whispering it to myself didn't have the same effect as someone else calling it, but I still did it anyways.

In my drowsy state, I had no clue where I was. Well, scratch that. I was in a cell of some kind. It looked straight out of a fantasy movie- stony walls, a lone flickering lamp, leaking water, and... OH MY GOD was that a rat? The furry silhouette brushed against my leg, and I tried to scream. That was when I noticed the gag in my mouth. My hands attempted to undo it, but they didn't move from behind my back.

Still, the fact that there was a rat at least six inches long (not including the tail) meandering about freaked me out way more than the handcuffs and gag. It moved towards me, and stared at me. Get away! I thought, trying to flail about, trying to scare it. But, maybe rats can smell fear, and if it could, it would know that I was far more scared of it than he was of me.

As I scrambled to my feet, I tripped, falling flat on my face. My ankles were chained together. I didn't think I had ever seen a real chain before, but I couldn't be sure. The clank was deafening compared to the erratic water droplets that echoed in this cell.

I struggled to simply roll on my back and sit up straight. Just as I had managed to accomplish that feat, I heard footsteps and soon after, the jingling of keys on the door.

Maybe they would know what was going on. Maybe they were able to help? But, I doubted they were random passersby. They were most certainly the ones who had imprisoned me. With a rat.

"Be careful," a voice warned. "This one's dangerous. even without her magic."

That voice... It sounded familiar. I had no idea why that voice made me shake. All I knew was that before he had even finished speaking, I was so terrified that the last sentence had no impact on me. However, a small relief was that the rat scampered away at the sound.

The door opened. With the first man, his name seemed to be on the tip of my tongue. But, I couldn't reach back far enough in my mind to grab a hold of the memory. All that I could remember was simply that I should be afraid of him.

The man accompanying him seemed young, around his late teens. A thought crossed my mind that he looked my age, but I couldn't remember how old I was, so I dismissed it. If I had once known him, nothing even vaguely seemed familiar about him.

But, I did recognize the uniform. Something akin to hatred surfaced, but much, much stronger. The first man's uniform indicated him to be a colonel, but I don't know how I knew that.

"Wow, Gantz sure broke you," the colonel said, looking over me. "Pity. I would have enjoyed the challenge, but it's much more practical this way."

Gantz? Was I supposed to know him? And 'broke me?' What did that mean? I don't think any of my bones are broken. But, that phrase seemed ominous, and I got the feeling it was a lot worse than simply a fractured wrist.

"Hayden, get her up. I've looked forward to this day for years," the colonel ordered.

The other man looked hesitantly at me. He didn't seem like the type that would kidnap someone. But, this wasn't a kidnapping, I knew that much. The military doesn't kidnap random girls and lock them in dungeons.

Who exactly was I?

Hayden pulled me up. At the movement, my stomach cramped up. Hungry. I was hungry.

"I'm undoing the chains on your feet. We don't have the time to let you stumble around. If you fight, I will do what Gantz did to you. Tenfold." The colonel unlocked the chains but let it dangle off of my right foot, restricting my movement some but not as much as before. "Don't fall behind, or there will be hell to pay."

I wanted desperately to ask where I was, who they were and more importantly, who I was. But, I was scared. This colonel looked as if he was going to slap me if I breathed at the wrong time. And here I was, chained up and unable to strike back, being lead by my arm across out of the cell.

Surprisingly, the corridor was much more scientifically advanced. Instead of an oil lamp, the pale, steel hallways were lit by electric lights. No sign of rats anywhere- and that made me breath a sigh of relief. I was almost as scared of the rats as I was of this colonel.

I wasn't that frightened of where the colonel and the other man- Hayden, I think- were taking me. I tried to think of where they might be leading me, but I drew a blank. But, whenever I even glanced at the colonel, my heart began to race even faster.

The corridor was empty and fairly silent, except for the clink of the chains. However, that quiet was interrupted with a loud scream. I froze. It seemed as if it belonged to a man, but it didn't seem like a human could make that. It lacked thought in a way that was hard to describe. It was as if the screamer was operating on instinct.

"I didn't say you could stop!" The colonel snapped. "Get moving."

For the first time, I spoke out of horror."What... What are they doing to him?"

The colonel laughed. "What I'm going to do to you." His hand reached for my face. My attempt to back away was futile, and when I tried to turn my head away, he grasped my chin and forced me to look at him.

"You're pretty for a bitch from Lyndis," the colonel said. "I'm sure some of the officers here will take a liking to you."

Lyndis? Something about that word seemed familiar. Somewhat... nostalgic. Was that where I was from? Was it a town, state or a country? But, as the colonel stared into my eyes, I couldn't bring myself to say anything else. All I wanted to do was sob. He scared me. He was downright terrifying- how could a human be this frightening?

I didn't let a tear drip down my face as the colonel shoved me forward. Now, I was almost as scared of where he was taking me as I was of him.

We stopped at a door, and instead of using keys, the colonel placed his pointer finger against a panel, and the door opened.

The colonel turned towards Hayden. Even though he was the one holding on to me, I forgot his presence. He seemed demure, and very, very hesitant for what he was doing. "Go to your shift in the prisoner's main ward. Thank you for your assistance, Ensign. Dismissed."

"Yes, Colonel," Hayden said. The colonel grabbed my other arm and Hayden bowed his head, before releasing me and walking away.

"Eh, I figured this was a good introduction to Anders, but I'll ease him in slowly," the colonel smiled at me. It wasn't a smile of malice. It was one of genuine content. "You have no such luxury, however."

The room before me was completely white. White walls, white floor, white ceiling, and it looked serene- except for the blood splatter on the wall. The crimson liquid was fresh, and it glistened in the light.

"Don't worry. That was what was left over from my meal," the colonel smiled. "And you're too valuable to kill. But, perhaps a little taste?" The colonel leaned over, and placed his mouth inches away from my neck. "I've never tasted a werewolf's blood before."

"What?" Curiosity got the better of me, and I spoke before I realized it. What was he talking about? Was he implying I was a werewolf? This had to be a dream. It felt like one. It was too weird to be reality... right?

"I didn't say you could speak," the colonel hissed. I didn't even see him move his hand, but the next moment I was flung against the wall. He'd knocked the breath out of me. "You would think Gantz would have taught you some manners. We don't have time to dwell on that, though. We need to begin The Orientation."

I stared, utterly confused and scared. The colonel walked over to me and pulled me off the ground.

"You should be honored that I am your Caretaker, Ambrosia," the colonel smiled. "Now, you most likely know the rules of the highest security prison in the world, but I will go over them, as I'm not one to break protocol. No transforming. At all. The Aoife you take daily should stop this, but don't even try. On that note, if you even resist taking the medicine, you will be punished. Speak to the guards with the title they request, and only talk to them if they speak to you first. If you don't know their preferred title, call them sir or ma'am.

"Do everything the guards request of you. Everything. Most of the prisoners we have are male, so getting a young, healthy woman is a rare treat for us. If you don't comply, they'll report back to me. And I will make sure you learn obedience. Gantz kept you in solitary, so you may be lacking in how to interact with other prisoners and guards. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to give you a free pass if you land in Room B. If you end up there, you're going to have to stay there for as long as I want."

Something about the phrase Room B made me shiver. It turned up my stomach and made me nauseous. That... That was not a pleasant place.

"Any questions?" The colonel said.

He didn't seem like he would get upset with me for asking, so I took a shot. "Um... Who am I?"

"What?" The colonel gave me a puzzled look.

"Please... Please don't hit me, sir. I'm really scared, but I don't know who I am or where I am or who you are or why I'm here."

He paused, before chuckling. "Nice try," the colonel snapped. He kneed me right in the gut. I couldn't help myself. I screamed.

"Don't play innocent with me! Don't try to get my sympathy. After all, you're the one that killed Greta."

"Please... Please, sir... I can't remember anything before waking up in that cell. But, I don't think I would have killed someone."

I braced myself for another hit, but it didn't come. Instead, the colonel shouted, but not at me. "GANTZ!"

"Um... Who is this Gantz you keep mentioning?"

"That bastard! He wiped your memory," the colonel hissed. "That wasn't the deal. But, still, that doesn't mean you shouldn't go unpunished for what you have done. Even if you can't remember it!"

The colonel raised his right hand, but he didn't look like he was going to strike me. Instead, a strange force picked me off the ground. "What... What's happening?" I whispered. The colonel didn't answer. Instead, he threw me across the room with this strange levitating power.

I slammed into the far wall, and I tasted blood in my mouth as I bit down on my tongue. "Please... Please no!"

The strange force dropped me onto the floor, leaving me in a crumpled ball. I glanced up as I heard the colonel walking towards me.

He took a whip out of his holster. "You may know what you did," the colonel hissed. "But, I do. And you're going to pay!"

This had to be a dream, I thought as the colonel raised the whip into the air. I had less than fifteen minutes of recollection, and yet I was in a prison, about to be beaten with a lash. This can't be real, can it?

The colonel brought the whip down. Hard. With my hands behind in manacles behind me, I had no way to shield my face, except to close my eyes. My skin ripped apart, and blood leaked into my shut eyes.

Yet, the potent sting of blood touching my eyeballs was far less than the pain resonated throughout the whole front side of my body. It stung. It burned. It hurt. Badly. I had nothing to compare the pain to. But, even if I did have my memory, the pain was in a league of its own.

I braced myself for the next strike, but I made out the colonel's hand brushing against my bleeding cheek. He pulled his blood stained hand to his mouth, and licked his fingers.

"All this blood is making me hungry," the colonel smiled. "Werewolf blood is the best. It gives me so much energy." Yet, he didn't dawdle with the next strike. In my weakened state, he was easily able to flip me on my stomach

Compared to the lash on my face, the whip flaying the flesh on my back was slightly more tolerable. But, tolerable implies I wasn't sobbing, that my whole body wasn't twitching in pain and that I could stand to move an inch.

I still managed to count the hits. After the tenth strike, I had cried all my tears. My throat was hoarse from shrieking.

The colonel laughed. "Seeing you like this is the best sight I could witness, unless Esther came back. But, you know better than anyone she won't. At least my sister's suffering was brief. But, I have all the time in the world to make you pay!

"But, count your lucky stars. You're off the hook for the day. After all, you still have to make your quota."

I managed to look up. He had put the bloodied whip back in his holster. It was over.

As if he read my mind, the colonel smiled at me. Once again, it wasn't one of malice. It was one of pure happiness. "It isn't over. It has just begun. Welcome to the prison of darkness, Ambrosia Lane."

I thought hearing my name would soothe me. Now, I hated each letter even more. I wished I was never Ambrosia. I wished I could be someone else- anybody else. But, all my tears had been cried out. Yet, even all of my sobs hadn't been enough to take even a tiny bit of the pain, the fear, the confusion and the sadness away.

All I had to comfort me was my name. And now, I didn't even have a few precious syllables to save me.