The Blood of Caine

The Awakening

The Blood of Caine

All Rights Reserved

©2015Raine Caoilin Chandler

Freya cracked her eyes open. It was dark and cold. The ground beneath her was hard: stone. She sat up and looked around. She had no idea where she was, much less how she got there. The walls were stone and there was a window high above her, that let in the moonlight. She looked down and realised that she was not on the ground, but on an altar. Her head throbbed.

"Where the hell am I?" she muttered, to herself.

She swung one leg over the side of the altar, followed it with the other and established she could stand. She crossed the room and found a big wooden door. It was locked. She turned and looked at the window, which was roughly three metres above her and seemed to be the only way out.

"Ah, crap," she sighed.

She went back to lean against the altar and decided to wait and see what happened next. It wasn't too long after that, when she heard footsteps echoing beyond the door. A key ground in the lock and a man stepped into the room. She couldn't see his features in the dark. She could only see that he was tall and he had long hair.

"You're awake," he said, his voice was deep and as smooth as velvet and he had a slight accent, that she did not recognise.

"So I am," she replied, "mind telling me where I am?"

His head moved, as if he were nodding, "Of course, but not here."

He motioned for her to follow him out the door, so she did. It didn't seem like he wanted to sacrifice her or kill her. They stepped into a corridor, that was lit by oil lamps at two metre intervals. She could see his face now. He was pale and he had prominent cheek bones. His features were sharp, his jaw was chiselled and his face was framed by black hair, that had a reddish sheen in direct light. It was long but neat. He had deep, wine red eyes - that astonished her - and a defined upper lip. He was dressed smartly in a black three piece suit and a long coat.

"My name is Caine," he said as they walked up the corridor.

"I would introduce myself but you seem to know who I am," she said.

One corner of Caine's mouth turned up in a smile, "Indeed I do, Ms Craven."

"So why am I here?" she asked, then decided on a better question to start with, "Where exactly is here?"

"You are currently in a castle," he answered, "I will say nothing more so as not to alarm you. Everything will be explained when you meet the others."

She was about to ask who he was talking about but decided against it.

They walked in silence after that. They reached a spiral staircase and ascended, the floor turned from stone to varnished wood and the stone walls to panelled ones. Caine led her down another passage way and stopped in front of two gigantic wooden doors.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Freya shrugged, "I have a feeling that if I ask what I'm supposed to be ready for you'll either answer cryptically or smile mysteriously."

Caine chose the latter and flashed her a perfect smile, "I doubt you're anything but ready."