I woke in a stone room. Cold seeped into my bones, and I was close to positive that my butt was frozen to the concrete floor. Like, 96.43 percent. Give or take. Sucking in a frigid breath of air, I opened my eyes slowly, almost afraid of what I'd find.

It was dark. Not dead-of-night-with-no-moon dark, but a twilight sort of darkness that covered the room in creepy, twisting shadows. Light streamed from a small grate near the ceiling across from me. Then my eyes drifted under the grate, and my jaw dropped.

It looked like a medieval torture chamber. Row after row of knives shimmered in the low light. All shapes and sizes of blades, some curved, some serrated, some hooked at the end. Bowls lined the floor under the daggers, and above the knives was a shelf that housed hundreds of tiny, glinting jars. Shivering at the sight, I wrapped my arms around myself.

But something held my hands back. Bringing my hands into the light, I stared down at the thick metal that encircled my wrists and twined over my fingers, effectively forcing my hands to be balled into fists. The strange cuffs attached to a foul smelling chain, and trailed across to the back of the room. I was practically on a leash. Anger bubbled up in my stomach, adding to the swirling pit that already existed.

The door on the right wall opened. A woman in a black cape stepped in, closing the door behind her with a soft click. I watched warily as she stepped to the center of the room.

"How do you feel?" Her voice was regal... familiar.

"Like a fucking dog." My voice was cold.

"Those will only be on until you become one with the family, and learn to control your power."

"I already have a family. I don't want anything to do with your screwed up coven." I scowled.

She was quiet for a moment. "I see we have a long way to go."

"We have nowhere to go." I replied.

"On the contrary, we have everywhere to go."

"Let me rephrase myself." I pretended to think. "Fuck off."

"I see. Well, if this is how you want to play, then this is how we will play."

"I'm quaking in my boots." I said drily. In reality, I was terrified. But there was no way in hell I was telling her that.

She sighed. "Look. There are two ways we can go about doing this. The first one is where you cooperate, we all get what we want, and you learn to control your powers before they control you. The second way is where you fight us, and we will hurt you and the people you love. In the second one, you will never get those handcuffs off, and your blood will stain this concrete red forever. It's your choice."

"I hate you." I snarled.

She came closer. "I don't care." Then her hand came across my face with a loud smack. My cheek stung fiercely. Slowly, I brought my face up to look at the darkness that hid her face. And smiled. Just to piss her off. "My mate will come for you." I told her, grinning. "He will come and he will destroy this place. Because you just pissed off one powerful man who's spoiled enough not to know how to take the word 'no'. Trust me, I know firsthand. So you'd better prepare yourself, Morgana, because he's going to come and he's going to burn you to the ground."

She was still for a moment. "Why don't we start our first lesson now?" Her sinister voice rang from the hood. Backing up a few steps, she swiveled to face the blades. She stepped along the rows, fingers trailing just over the knives until she stopped at a single one. She picked it up, spinning it across her fingers. She turned, and took a step toward me again.

"Stop right there." I ordered her.

She tilted her head. "Alexia, you are only making this harder for yourself."

I glared, waiting. Finally, she stepped close enough, and I sprang. My metal encased hand hit her in the cheek, and she stumbled back, hand to her jaw. The blade clattered to the ground.

She removed her hand from her face, a trickle of bright blood staining her fingers. "Bitch!" she hissed. Before I could move, she muttered under her breath, and a web of sticky black magic shot at me, blanketing me. I froze, my muscles unable to move, as invasive darkness slithered through my veins.

"I told you that you were only making this harder for yourself, but you didn't listen." She tutted. "Now we have to do this the hard way." She approached me like I was a cow at auction. Carefully, she brought the knife up to my frozen elbow, and with a flick of her wrist, sliced the skin. Pain flashed up my arm.

Blood dripped out of the wound, onto the floor. She dropped the knife, and held one hand under the flow, watching it carefully. When her palm was full, she brought the pool of my blood up to the air. Peering at it carefully, she turned, and grabbed a small bowl. Muttering under her breath, she mixed a concoction of god knows what, and let her palmful of blood drip into it.

It exploded. Black light slammed out from the metal bowl, lighting the room with an eerie red-black glow. I could feel magic twisting and writhing as it hovered in mid-air. And then, cackling like some mad-woman from the movies, Morgana stuck her hand into the bundle of power. It soaked into her palm like rain after a summer drought, and she practically glowed with power.

"Good." She looked up at me, and I could actually see her eyes glowing red in the darkness of her hood. She purred. "Yes, you'll certainly do. Very, very good." And then she flicked her fingers at me and everything went dark.

A/N:

This is pretty much unedited, so I may update it in the future. 

So, what'd you think? Tell me in the comments, and don't forget to vote!

Hugs,

~Book Dragonet