Leona opened her eyes with some effort, trying to fight off the sluggishness that had taken hold of her mind. Within a few seconds of blinking her eyes in a futile effort to chase the fog from her vision.
It was only then when she tried to lift her hand to wipe her eyes that she felt her arm be pulled back harshly into the table. Just managing to lift her head and look down at her hand her heart sped up and her stomach dropped as she saw the manacles holding her down.
Trembles wracked her frame as she franticly spun her head to try and look around the room. Goosebumps prickled her skin as a cold breeze drifted down from above her.
From what she could make out with her impaired vision and sluggish thoughts, the room was smooth stone with a slightly wet sheen. looking ahead past her feet sat a reinforced wooden door. Shelves and desks lined the other walls filled with all manner of bloody tools. Some with beakers holding things she looked away from in fear and disgust.
What she figures is the main desk has a dimly lit lamp with papers strewn about its surface and pined to the wall above it. She could just make out what looked like grey, stone tentacles sitting in the very middle.
She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. The only thing slowing her breathing down managed to do was fill her nostrils with the scent of decay and blood.
A tear trailed down the side of her face and into her hair as she threw her head back into the table.
A few seconds later of trying to breath through the stench she managed calm her self down somewhat and try reaching out to her magic.
The thrum she has always felt just under her skin like that of electricity in her veins was dimmer than ever before. Trying to pull it to the surface and unlock the manacles sent dread into her stomach as her magic was locked under the surface, refusing to answer her call.
Her head snapped up to the reinforced door at the sound of quickened footsteps drawing closer. Her heart hammering as she tried franticly to pull herself from her restraints.
The door opened after a few seconds of the footsteps paused.
An old man, judging by the grey hair and hunched posture, walked in, shutting the door forcefully and snapping the bolts in place. All the while Leona could just make out the sounds of his quite muttering. Something about the blood not being enough.
He turned to her than, his dark eyes crazed and bloodshot. His white bloodstained coat flaring out behind him. As he saw her staring a horrific grin took over his face.
"Ah, you're finally awake." His giddy, high pitched voice turning her spine to ice. "It is so good to finally meet you finally."
A laugh escaped him as he approached her quickly, bending down to look her in the eye.
"You are going to be the one." His eyes took on an even more manic look as his gaze flickered between her own panicked eyes. "Ah, but where are my manners." He moved over to the desk, the sound of rustling papers and tinkling glass sounding through the room.
"My name is Unspeakable Ackley Burton-"
"Unspeakable." Leona croaked.
He turned to her than, the sounds of his activities ceasing. "It's impolite to interrupt Leona." He turned back to whatever it is he was doing. "If only your mother was still alive. I'm certain she would have taught you some manners."
Shock coursed through her. "You knew my mother?"
"But of course. She was my student." His high pitched laughter grated into her ears. "The best I've ever had." He looked to her, one of those tentacle things in his hand as he gestured wildly. "That is, until she stole from me."
"Stole?" Leona asked, trying her best to subtly pry her hands from the manacles.
"Yes, yes." He crowed manically, his movements becoming more erratic. "The blood, she stole the blood, but oh, the miracle she made." The reverence in his gaze as he looked into her eyes.
"Miracle?" She just needed to keep him talking for a while longer. Now that she wasn't as panicked her efforts to free herself has been making progress.
"Yes, yes a miracle." She heard glass shatter before he cursed and more there was the sound of more clinking jars and beakers. "I had never thought to put the blood in an unborn child. But Lily, oh Lily, she was always the genius."
"What blood?" She almost groaned as pain flared in her hand as it slipped out of the manacle.
"The Old Blood of course." The reverence was clear in his voice, even greater than when he mentioned her being a miracle. "The blood will make us transcend, I just haven't found how yet until now. I've been stuck for years until now. And you, you will be the first. The first to transcend."
Just as she got her other hand out she was roughly slammed back onto the table. She was to stunned and weak to fight him off as he snapped the manacles back in place, a lot tighter than before.
"Just like your mother indeed." He giggled.
"W-What are you going to do to me?" She couldn't keep the panic from her voice if she tried.
He looked at her than like she was an imbecile. "I'm going to make you transcend of course. You will become a god, the first of a new generation!"
He hopped over to his desk, glee radiating from his hunched form.
Her head lolled to the side as her vision swam.
Ackley came back into her view a few seconds later, syringe in his hand and those tentacle like things tucked under his other arm. He gently laid the tentacles down onto the table beside her.
"Now first," He started, bringing the syringe up to inspect it. A drop of red fluid rolled down the needle as he pushed the plunger in just a bit. "The blood."
Leona struggled, trying to get as far from him as possible as he brought the syringe down to her thigh. The manacles bit into her wrists and ankles as she struggled.
She felt a sharp pinch in her thigh as the needle punctured her skin. It was a few seconds before she felt a rush flow through her body. Not unlike the feeling she gets chasing after the snitch or flying through the air but ten times stronger.
"There now that wasn't so bad was it?" He questioned, his tone trying to be soothing but just made her skin crawl.
"And next," He walked back over to his desk, bringing over a mortar and pestle. He ground up the tentacle things into a fine powder before pouring in some of the red liquid to make it into a paste. "The umbilical cords."
Her stomach turned as her forced open her mouth before shoving the paste down her throat and clamping his hand over her mouth and nose. She choked, trying to draw in a breath or cough out the paste. Her chest began to burn and spots began to cloud her vision as she thrashed before finally swallowing the paste.
She gasped in a great breath as the hand blocking her air ways disappeared. the burning ache in her chest slowly dissipating.
"It shouldn't be long now!" His voice sung with sick glee. "The umbilical cords still contained the nutrients the infants needed to grow. With the Old Blood having been in your veins since birth the chances should be that much higher."
As Ackley talked his voice started becoming further and further away. Leona's head began spinning. That rush she felt from the injection doubling. After a few seconds she thrashed against her shackles, her mouth opening in a silent scream. Her eyes rolled back into her skull before the blessed feeling of unconsciousness took her.