Steeling my resolve, I took the left path and allowed my aching feet to carry me further. Down the hallway and through a door and down two flights of cold stone stairs. Pushing open the door that housed my destination, I gasped. Inside the room was an altar of sorts. Well, what I might imagine an alter to be. The room was made entirely out of stone, and the only lights came from torches that lined the walls. In the center of the chamber was a stone table with a body lying on it. I did not need to be a genius to know that the body was magically sealed. Why was I here?

I do not know what pulled me to the body. Why I felt the need to touch him, but I did. I found myself stroking the white-blonde hair away from its eyes and wishing they would open. The hair was soft but I kept my touches gentle. This had to be abnormal behavior, right? Most people did not go around touching complete strangers in intimate ways? I wanted to see if they were a startling shade of blue like my mind was trying to tell me they were. I do not remember my next actions, to be truthful. My mind and body working against me for once. I do remember smelling a soft coppery scent of blood and then staring into ice blue eyes.

"The prophecy was real."

I turned to the voice and saw the dark man standing there in awe. I had no idea what he was speaking about, and confusion was evident on my features. Was this some kind of game? What the heck was going on? Before I could voice my concerns my attention was distracted by the movement of the man on the table. He was sitting up, wiping the blood from his lips and staring at me in awe.

"Levi, please alert the rest of the inhabitants that the prophecy has been fulfilled. Our king is awake, and our Queen has returned."

I stood there gaping at both men trying to understand. The blonde flashed me a smile, and I caught sight of his fangs. Was he a vampire? That would explain the blood, but where? My mind refused to allow me to process anymore. I could see my vision spotting and grow darker as the world around me dulled out. I felt a pair of arms grab me before my body hit the floor and the darkness engulfed me completely.

Time was irrelevant when you were unconscious. Hours or even days could pass before a person’s body registered it needed to wake up. My mind slowly awoke from the darkness and began to process senses. The first things I could comprehend was touch. I was laying on something soft, much softer than I was familiar with back home. This was not my bed, of that I was sure. Then came a variety of sounds. I could hear the worried murmur of voices as they fretted over the occupant of the room. The sound of a fire crackling in a hearth. I could smell something sweet, almost fruit like, in its origin taunting me.

I was afraid to open my eyes. Unsure what I would see and more than sure that the minute I did I would be back in my tiny apartment and that I would never find the answers. I wondered how long I could pretend to still be out of it before someone noticed. After all, I had no idea why everything and everyone in this place looked like someone I knew. Had I exhausted myself so much that my mind was truly playing tricks on me?

“I know your awake beautiful. Why don’t you open those eyes of yours and have some fruit and we can talk?” The voice was gentle and the accent barely detectible not that I would be able to place it anyway.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and waited for them to focus. I was in a room, if that was even an adequate word to describe it. This room was large enough that my entire apartment would have fit into it, twice. Blinking twice, both times to ensure that I was still within this strange land I started to sit up. I could feel hands helping me and as I turned to look it was the same blonde man from down below in the chamber. His eyes were open and they were a beautiful mossy green in color and were gazing at me. I could not quite tell the emotion on his face.

“Easy now. You’ve had a rough time of it. Sit, rest, eat, we shall talk. I would not even begin to doubt that you have questions. So, ask them and I will do my best to answer them.”

I could sense another person in the room, as if I was being protected by a second person. Whoever this person was giving me requests would soon learn that I did nothing I did not wish too. I was not very good at taking orders, never had been, and I would only acquiesce to the requests that I felt were beneficial. Before I allowed myself to speak, I finished looking at the room I was in. I already knew that it was large. The bed I was in was a canopy bed of a dark mahogany wood. I could see doors that looked like they may belong to a closet, one was slightly ajar and I could see clothing hanging. A door to the left was closed and I was not ready yet to get up and go exploring. Mostly I saw space. Lots of space to move around.

“Where am I?” the words came out in a rough manner, and I coughed to try to get my throat working again. When that did not work, I took a small sip of the juice that was sitting on the tray next to the bed. I had two options to take when asking my questions. I could have asked who he was, or where I was. Both would get me answers but seeing as I had already spoken I was unable to take it back.

I allowed my gaze to trail back to the man in the room with me, the one that was by my bed and not on the one he called Levi earlier. I was trying to discern the emotions that were running through those green eyes but I was unable to properly do so.

“You truly don’t remember do you? This is your home. The place you were born. We call it Summermarsh. You’ve been gone so long. We never expected that you would forget about this place.”

What I could tell in his voice but that he did not say was that I had forgotten about him. The more he spoke the more I was confused. How could this place be my home? Was it possible? The more the man spoke and the more I looked at my surroundings the more I found that everything looked familiar. I could see a truth in his words but my brain was trying to process it and not really accepting it.

“I know nothing about my life before the age of four. I was found alone, almost dead from the cold and lack of food by a kind family. They said it looked like I had just washed up on the beach and if it had not been for a late-night trip to walk their dogs they might not have found me. What happened to me?”

I was trying to keep my tone neutral but I knew that emotions could be picked out of them. As if the wetness from the salty tear was not enough of a signal that I was upset. Even as I sat here this room looked familiar. Giving away too much was a bad idea. This man claimed he knew me, I would let him prove it. He would know when I was taken from this place and he could explain it to me.

“Everything you think you know from that old world, is more than not a lie. Did they ever tell you why you were taken? Did they make you hide your gifs? Tell me, Adelaide, do you believe in the supernatural? In things that ought not to exist?”

I blinked a moment. What kind of question was that? I did not even know this man’s name and yet he knew mine. He had called me the queen earlier and was asking me strange things. I thought about his question, however. Did I believe in the supernatural? The answer would be yes. I had always believed in things not exactly normal. Maybe it was due to glimpses I would catch growing up, or the way certain creatures acted around me that was contrary to their normal behavior.

“Yes.”

“Good. Then believe me when I tell you that I have known you since you were born. I have been the king much longer. Your parents were my dear friends and they loved you. You see, there was a prophecy on the island. It stated that the King of Blood would one day find his Queen of Light. That she would be born a pure soul in a world of grey. Her life would be filled with struggles but she would persevere and she would return to the king of blood when the time was right. I’m the King of Blood. I guess it’s an apt enough description for a vampire.”

I wanted to laugh, or scream, or run away but something inside of me told me this man was not lying. I had no reason to believe him and yet a part of me did. He had looked dead until I had touched him and then he was suddenly awake again. I had a million more questions but he spoke again before I could voice one of them.

Taking my hand, the vampire kissed the back of it like you would see guys do in the romance movies. “I must apologize, I assumed that you would remember me but perhaps you do not. I am High King, Elias Rayden Blackthorn.”