The Birth of the Black Rose

Chapter 7

I woke up to hushed whispers, both voices I new: Mike and Savannah. "--did he get two words out before passing out?" Savannah, that one. "It took Austin YEARS to do more than one!" A chuckle. Mike. "Amazing, isn't it? I saw it coming the second the first word rolled off his tongue. It was like he had been speaking it for years." I tried to get up, but there was some sort of barrier there. Oh, I thought, tapping it, Glass. Duh. I looked around, suddenly claustrophobic. I searched for a few seconds, but it felt like hours in that thing. Then I saw it: a release hatch. I pulled it and burst out of my glass lined sarcophogus, inhaling the fresh air. "Oh, look who's awake!" Mike smiled at me, as did Savannah. "You did great out there, man." He said, patting my shoulder. "Two in one day? You're lucky your vocal cords didn't disintegrate!" He laughed like that was the funniest joke in the world. However, I did feel a slight pain in my throat and lungs. I tried to speak up, but it had a slight croak to it. "What the hell happened?" Mike threw some water to me, and I drank it gladly. Felt like I'd been locked in that thing for years. "You let out your first Word of Power, my friend." He looked at me with pride. "Welcome to the ranks. That glass tube you were just in is a sort of indoctrination process." He pointed at the coffin I had just come out of. "It drains you of all nonessential bodily fluid and leaves you with just what you need to survive. Then it'll slowly drain that away as well, taking away your blood, water, everything." He laughed. "Good luck having kids, mate!"

Okay, yes, I looked down. What would you have done? I just found out I had been sterilized! "After everything's been drained," Mike went on, "New liquid is pumped into you, radiating through your body, enchancing your reflexes, your strength, your looks, everything. You are now one of us, and you are stronger, faster, and overall better than any human and most demonic entities. But this comes at a... small price." Savannah looked at me sadly as Mike said,

"Cory Miles, to the world, you are dead and gone."