I always loved looking at the stars at night. So far away yet vibrant in the dark blue n sky. It made me feel small. The world was vast and I was just a small piece of it, they always comforted me. Now they lit the path home, as I ran covered in my own blood with one eye swollen shut and two fucken glowing arms.
After I had snapped out of my rage , I raced out of Charles room dashing for the door and running out half naked in the open streets. A thin blanket from Charles bed covering my corset and underthings. This was bad.
He knew what I was, and soon others would know too. My heart leaped out of my chest when I saw Mrs Frankel sitting on her stoop and rushed to her.
"Annalease WHAT HAPPEN?!"
She grabbed me in her arms and rushed me into the parlor as I quickly babbled out what had happened
We stood in the doorway and she looked terrified.
"The fire was blue you say?"
"Yeah why?"
There was a knock at the door just then and Mrs Frankel went to answer it to reveal a man dressed in yellow. A library worker. He smiled at me and asked for my name.
That was the last thing I remembered.
I don't know how long i was out for , but I woke up on concreate. I stood up slow, grabbing the wall for balance as I tried to make out the room I was in through the pitch black darkness. As I walked, I gained some bearings. It was a small cell with a straw mattress in the corner hugging an iron gate to another cell, maybe? I couldn't tell where the concrete began or ended. one step. two step. It was too dark to be sure. Reality hit me like a wave of nausea. Where was I? How did I come here?
Suddenly I looked up as I sensed movement. Glowing amber eyes stared at me, live balls of fire with a large black pupil shining through. I had never seen eyes such as these, and I was uneasy at the unnatural sight of them. My own lilac eyes were rare, but my mother shared their likeness. The amber fire pierced through me and enchanted me. It almost illuminated the space, and I made out the forming's of an adjacent cell. The eyes belonged to a man from what I could tell from the shadows. I could make out a form with board shoulders leaning against the metal bars that separated our cells. Something in me, a kernel of instinct, flared as though I was staring at an apex predictor. I started to scoot against the mattress to distance myself from him when a blood-curdling laugh echoed from the eyes.
"Well well," he said "A new toy to be played with"
I then realized then my red corset was gone, replaced by this golden shift. Leaving my breasts poking out. I had no idea how long I had been here because the blood on my arms had been washed clean, my eye was no longer swollen.
I mustered confidence from below, confidence or maybe a bit of madness.
"Where am I" I asked the figure, still shrouded in darkness.
"Funny" he started "they haven't been able to find a woman ever, only untrained males. But I'd guess you're special then huh?"
There was a small light coming from a window on the ceiling, a skylight I realized, moonlight drifted past the front portion of my cell. I stood up brushing off my shift and made my way to the front of the cell, the shift barley reached my upper thighs. Standing at the bars I could make out the layout of the room. I was in a circular prison with eight? Maybe nine cells surrounding a middle stone basin filled with water, beaming from the moonlight. Under other circumstances it might've been pretty.
"Curious thing, have you figured out where we are yet?" Pushed my cocky neighbor .
Out of fear or maybe lack of Their of I laughed a bit to myself. "Ha hmph, no fucking idea why don't you tell me".
I locked eyes with him then and he stood up and reveled himself in the moonlight. Inches from me separated by metal bars. He was tall, towering at least a foot above me. He had dark curly hair that was shaggy and unkept and golden tan skin. With his piercing eyes he resembled the old gods from children's fairytales. The hero that saves the girl and lives happily ever after. His body was muscular and he was shirtless only covered by tattered pants. His forearms faced me Exposing identical tattoos to mine. He must have noticed me looking at his body as his mouth parted into a cocky grin.
"Pleased to meet you my dear" he said mockingly bowing "My name is Romulus, who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
He was charming, I'll give him that. Charming like a fox in a hen house.
I crossed my arms in front of my almost naked body now a bit self conscious looking at his fucking six pack and my belly poking out . "Annalease, but everyone calls me Anna".
"Anna" he smiled at each syllable dragging the word out like molasses. "Pleasure to meet you, to answer your question we are underneath the library who are keeping us captive. They are studying necromancers and using us as their test subjects"
"Your a necromancer too?" I asked intrigued by meeting someone like me.
"Yes dear I am, the only one they could find that strayed of of the isle, until you of course."
"Wait you said test subjects? Why is the library of all places interested in necromancers?".
He looked confused then generally lost as he looked me up and down.
"You're being serious?"
He was cut off by the sound of feet walking toward us. A women and man appeared before my cell, both tall and thin and dressed in the white robes of the library scientists. The women held a clipboard and the man a tray of needles with a green substance in them. The woman had a pointy old face with corn silk blonde hair. She looked me up and down and began scribbling notes.
"Subject 156 fully healed from initial injuries to icmals and bruised eye has retained full vitality."
She grabbed my arms through the bars with so much force my face slammed between them
"Nose has fully healed with no remaining fractures."
She let go then looking to her partner holding the tray.
"Activate restraints"
He flicked his hand midair and cuffs of blue electric covered my arms and legs pinning me to lay flat on the ground. I tried not to panic and looked at Romulus. He looked at me with a straight face, but his eyes flared, a warning not to fight.
"Girl" the pointy women started
"State your name and age"
I took a deep breath, I'd have to keep my cool to get out of here. Complying for the time being was my best option, I had to learn what they wanted and how I could get out.
"Annalease Lilian Dramere, I just celebrated my 21st birthday, why am I here?, how did I get here?"
She ignored me as her assistant crouched next to me displaying the needle . I tried to move but the restraints held me in place.
The needle pierced my skin and the liquid burned like liquid fire as it entered my veins.
The man and the women silently left and my restraints dissolved leaving me too wraith around on the cold floor in burning pain. My icmals began to flicker and dim like they were trying to gauge what was happing
"It'll be over soon, the pain will fade, try not to fight too much, your power will make it harder if you don't just let go" Romulus said, seated on the floor a foot from me on the opposite side of the cell.
The pain began to subside after 20 min and I lay on the floor sweaty and nauseous.
"What was that". I whispered out.
"That's a good question, some kind of neutralizer I assume, it makes necromancers powerless for about 12 hours, give or take. They are trying to develop a stronger dose, one that will wipe out out completely. Thus we come in to be there Guinea pigs, each trial lasts longer, the first dose only lasted 30 min, and so that was pretty pleasant."
"How long have you been here" I said
He locked eyes with me then looked away "What month is it, I've lost track of the time"
"I-its march" I stumbled out.
"Then about a year"
My eyes began to flutter and the weight of sleep pressed down hard on me then, I crawled toward the straw mattress in the corner.
"Dddos it make yoou tired too ?"I slurred toward Romulus
"Yes try to get some sleep, they'll bring food when you wake up"
And then it was dark.