Prologue

She was running; dodging branches, feeling the twigs, sticks, sharp rocks and other objects poke and cut at her feet and legs as she ran. She could hear in perfect clarity every night creature in the dark and seemingly endless woods: an owl hooting, a mouse running along a branch, the breathing sound of the being pursuing her with unrelenting persistence.

She looked back for a split second as she continued to run barefoot and in her nightgown. She couldn't see her pursuer within the thicket of the woods, but she didn't dare to stop and possibly let it catch up to her. No, she had to keep running. Every fiber in her body screamed to run, to flee. She found herself able to tap unknown reserves of strength that she never knew a human could have. Perhaps it was the primal feeling in the primitive part of her body that went off like a siren that a more advanced, more dangerous, creature, animal, being, whatever you wanted to call it, was here, hunting for her. What's worse, her mind felt as if, to let the being catch her would mean more then just being slain and devoured. No, this felt as if, somehow, the being wanted her, not just her body, but what made her as well, her. Perhaps it was that thought that gave her the energy and strength she needed to flee.

As she continued to run, she entered a clearing, an island of wheat grass in a sea of black woods. She could see the moon, full in all its splendor. In the sky, strangely the stars were just as bright as the moon. Nearly halfway through the field, the urge to suddenly stop and collect her wind took over. Standing their, panting for breath, not aware of the cuts and scratches on her legs she began to scan the tree line. Her starting point was directly behind her, slowly she to look along the border between the trees and the field, her eyes strangely being able to pick out every branch moving in the wind, ever creature scurrying about in perfect detail. The question of how her eyes were picking up such detail didn't enter her mind, or why her ears didn't register the sound of breathing until she felt the heat of the breath on the back of her neck.

She froze. It was right behind her, the being that she had been running from, with all her speed, that despite all her attempts to evade the being, it ended up finding her, and was inches away from her at that. The urge to flee did not kick in; even though the brain commanded it she could not do it. It was as if the impulses going down her spine terminated just short of the legs. Then suddenly, with reason, she slowly turned to face it. Every command from her brain to her legs screamed to run, not to turn. To get away, not stay. Before long, she was face to face with the being.

She felt her head forcefully tilt to look directly at its head, then her eyes to look into its eyes. It dawned on her that she was not in control of her own body, all she could do was fight the control to no avail.

"You can not escape, Faina... Did not the enhanced senses not tell you that something was different with your body?"

"What have you done to me!" Faina managed to get out, partly due to fighting for control of her body, and fighting the fear eating at her very soul. Looking into those crimson red eyes, no, not eyes, more like blobs of crimson in the place that was logical for the eyes, sent shivers down her spine.

"I've given you a great gift Faina. Soon you will learn, you will learn how to-"

Faina woke up screaming, kicking off her blanket and sheet. Jumping out of the bed her feet hit the cold stone marble floor as she ran for the door. Reaching for the knob she tried turning it, only to learn it was locked from the outside. She began to pound on the door, screaming, crying, demanding to be let out of the room. As her arms began to grow tired, hands hurt from constantly hitting them against the solid wood door she realized there was no getting out of this room through the door. Looking for a window she spotted one with elaborate design and ornate decoration. Running to the window she quickly looked for a lock, latch, anything she could turn to open the window and escape from this place, a fruitless search.

Finding none didn't stop her though. Looking for a heavy object she was soon rewarded with a small but heavy polished ball of granite. Taking the ball, she brought it to the ready, and threw it at the glass, shattering it outwards. She heard the scuffing of chairs on the other side of the door and realized she had but mere seconds to now make her escape. Looking out the window, she realized a grim truth: there was no escape; her room was at least a hundred feet above the ground. The height made her dizzy, combined with the adrenaline affect wearing off she felt light headed. With her last ounce of strength she pushed back, falling to the floor in a faint.

On the other side of the door, two men, both wearing white with white dread locks sat in a pair of wooden chairs, a hookah between them. "She's awake."

"That she was, brother."