I can't breathe. It's dark and I can't breathe. I feel like I'm falling, sinking into the void. I try again and again to scream but my throat is too dry and I just make barely audibe cracking noises instead. I can't move and the more I try to struggle against it the harder it gets.

"You can't give up." a man's voice rings like a bell through my body. I can feel it radiating through every nook and cranny, illuminating every dark space in my mind filling it with an overwhelmingly bright light, eradicating the darkness and filling me with peace.

I woke up in a haze, my head throbbing. Everything foggy from the night before. As I sat up I realized my clothes had been changed from tattered soaking wet rags to a silk nightgown. The air in the room was cold and heavy with a sense of confusion. Where am I?

Of course I had no better idea of where I was than I did of who I am.

I have no memories before coming here.

Everything from yesterday started coming back to me. The forsaken, the clans, an Amplifier? why did that woman call me the Amplifier?

Just then the door to the room opened, a small woman walked in carrying a stack of towels. She was young probably around 25, her hair chestnut brown and bouncy with curls. Her face held a bright smile that seemed like it could light up any room.

"Good morning Miss, I've brought you some towels and drawn you a bath. There are some new clothes for you in the closet there and when you're all cleaned up Her Greatness requests an audence with you in her chambers." her voice was as cheerful as her smile. She was the most refreshing thing I'd come in contact with since I arrived here yesterday.

She layed the towels at the foot of the bed and strode over to the window, she pulled back the drapes revealing a beautiful sunrise. The light filled the room, I held my arm up in front of my eyes until they could adjust to it's brightness, I could feel the warm rays hitting my face, and I remembered Annabella's hands around my wrists. Their icy grip constricting my every movement, my every thought. I shuddered. How can something so cold exsist in this world?

With this much light I could really get a good look at the room. The bed was large and had a canopy over it. The bedset was a brilliant red and white, at the foot of the bed was a large chest adorned with intricate carvings of roses. The work that went into it was very impressive, no two roses were alike, a matching dresser sat across from the chest. The dresser spanned the length of the wall and had a large mirror on the top. There were two doors on either side of the dresser one the closet and one the washroom. A small bedside table sat beside me, on top of it a intricately hand painted vase depicting dancing elephants held a bouquet of sunflowers. The vase looked old like everything else in the house and the sunflowers still had a fresh smell to them, you could tell they had been picked that morning.

The woman started for the door.

"Um excuse me miss...?" my voice came out shakier then I had intended it to. "But, where exactly are we?"

"Why you're at Grey Manor dear. In the middle of the Red Valley, you came wandering in yesterday soaking wet poor thing. Amazing that you even found this place considering how far it is from any town and how dangerous the wood is. Now hurry along best not to keep Her Greatness waiting." and with that she left shutting the door behind her.

After my bath I went to the closet to find a pale blue dress. It fit my slender figure quite well and was very modest. It had long sleeves and came down to my knees. It had white lace around the bottom and on the cuffs. It was quite pretty and I was quite pleased.

Glancing at myself in the mirror I could see that the dark circles under my eyes made it look like I hadn't slept in a year, and with nightmares like the one I had last night I can't say I'm surprised. My black hair draped down to my shoulders and it framed my face, my emrald eyes stood out against my pale skin.

I don't recognize the person staring back at me in the mirror. I wonder who she is, who I am? Do I look more like my mother, or father? What were they like? Do they miss me?

Pushing these thought from my mind I notice something shiny around my neck. A necklace with some sort of symbol on it, like three circles intertwined in an endless loop. Where did this come from? Have I always had it?

I wasn't sure where Annabella's chambers were, and after wandering around aimlessly for a brief period of time I managed to find my way into to the courtyard. It was overgrown with weeds and ivy climbed it's walls carelessly, it clearly hadn't been tended to in quite some time. A large oak tree stood in the middle of the courtyard it cast a large shadow easily hiding the figure who had also found this forgotten Eden.

"Did you like the flowers?" a man's voice echoed from the other side of the courtyard against the stone walls. The voice was calm and seductive, it was somehow strangely familiar.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" I said with a fake confidence.

A figure emerged from behind the tree. I recognized him from the table last night, he sat to the right of Annabella. He was tall and had long blonde hair, his eyes were crystal blue and shone so brightly they could have easily been mistaken for diamonds. He wore brown suit pants and a white button up shirt that seemed to cling to his muscular figure like it was holding on for life.

"Who are you?" I asked taking a step backwards.

"My name is Holden Parker, prince of the Grandior clan." he said with an egotistical smile crossing his lips. Within a second he had me pinned against the wall. Inches from my face I could breathe in his scent, it was intoxicating and made me feel weak. His hands grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head. "Did you like the flowers?" he said again somehow just as charming as the first time. I closed my eyes tightly hoping for it to be over, for him to do whatever he was going to with me and leave me be.

Before I could open my mouth a booming voice came from every direction. "ENOUGH!" it ordered.

Our heads turned only to be met with Annabella's disapproving gaze. He let go of my wrists and I was free.

"I know of your impure thoughts creaton." she spat. "Come girl" she said looking at me.

I hurried along behind her, until we came to a door she pulled a key from her long black gown and unlocked it.

"Sit" she said gesturing to a chair in the corner. "We have much to discuss." The room was more like a library with several large cases of books reaching the ceiling filled. The room smelled old, and like paper.

Annabella sat across from me. "I'm sure you have many questions." she said. "I will explain everything to you now." Her tone so serious I thought it best not to interrupt so I simply nodded in agreement.

"We are the Forsaken, an ancient race that has walked this Earth since the beginning of time. We feed off the blood of the living and we do not age. We are immortal, we are stronger, and faster than mere humans. The Forsaken are broken up into five clans, the Grandior, the Kalrav, the Rheys, the Sylvons, and the Hawns. Each clan has it's own hirearchy but there is only one true law among Forsaken and it is the word of the ruler. The ruler is made the most powerful Forsaken by way of feeding on the Amplifier's blood. The Amplifier amplifies a Forsakens power by ten fold making them the most powerful in the world. Each of the clans have specific powers that can be amplified. The Amplifier is reincarnated once every hundred years. By this time line we choose a new ruler, we choose a representative from each of the five clans to compete for the Amplifier. The Amplifier must choose the new ruler of the Forsaken by binding with the chosen one. "

I stared at her blankly taking in all of the information I had just heard.

"So I am this Amplifier?" I said calmly trying to accept what was happening.

"Yes, it has been your fate since birth."

"How does the binding work?"

"Once you have chosen the ruler, you will lay with them to bind yourself to them for all eternety, or in your case a hundred years. For the binding to work you must remain chaste."

"So that guy in the courtyard, he's one of the Forsaken I have to choose from?"

"Yes, do not worry you have a year to get to know all of your suitors. If you do not decide within that time the governing voice of our race will cease to exist. It will be complete anarchy through the Forsaken and the whole world will be at stake. Wars will break out and many will die. It is imperative that you choose before the year is up"

She said this so nonchalantly as she sipped her tea, as I was sitting there trying to wrap my head around everything I had just heard.

"I think I need to lay down" I said and without another word stood up and walked back to my room for the night.