AN: Just wanted to finally get this uploaded. If anyone notices any glaringly obvious typos, let me know. Some things might be different from the actual game because it has been a few years since I played and most of this is from memory and screenshots off of the internet.

While it was warmer than being outside, the house was still chilly. The large open room didn't do much to hold in any warmth. Curious to discover the secrets the abandoned house was holding I moved towards the cooking area silently. There didn't seem to be much in the house except dust. I wondered how long the home had been abandoned.

A flight of stairs caught my attention. As I stepped onto the top stair a slight sense of warmth brushed against my skin. It felt like it was coming from the basement. I knew of no logical reason for warmth to be coming from below the house unless someone was down there.

Careful to make no sound I continued my decent. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the dim I realized that it wasn't completely dark in the basement. A red glow was coming from across the open room. A portion of the wall was broken and missing.

Thoroughly confused and a little frightened I crossed to the hole in the wall. A door sat at the end of a small passage. There was an imprint of a right hand over a large skull that took of most of the rest of the door. The bottom half of the door had a strange looking woman holding a dagger over a few corpse-like figures. To make the door that much more strange, it was glowing red!

This door was definitely where the heat was coming from. It seemed to reach inside me soothing pain I had forgotten about for the most part. As ominous and demented as the door was I wanted nothing more than to curl up on the stones under my feet and sleep.

A sudden, quiet click made me jump and I braced to run as the door swung open silently. No one was on the other side of the door. I was ready to turn around and leave but I lacked the ability to do so. It felt like something was literally pulling me through the doorway.

When I moved through the doorway and down the four stairs the narrow hall opened up into a wider hallway. Large pillars decorated with a black hand seemed to glow with a light from within. A light hung from a chain in the center of an arch that appeared to be in the center of the room. The wide hall continued on in the distance and then curved to the right.

Before I could take one more step a tall figure in a black robe, complete with a hood stepped into the center of the room and turned toward me. There was no time for me to try and melt into my surroundings to try to not be seen.

My fearless, confidence that I'd always felt as the only daughter of lonely pirate didn't exist anymore. He gasped and I caught a glimpse of shocked fury in amber eyes before I dropped to my knees. I bowed my head and cringed, expecting the worst.

"How did you get in here?" He hissed menacingly.

I jumped and said in a rush, "The door just opened. I was cold and I followed the warmth. It led to the red door and then it opened. I didn't steal anything, Sir. I'm sorry."

My body began to ache as I braced for his attack. Cassius hadn't always used a whip on me. The blunt force beatings had always been the most brutal. This man didn't have a whip. If he struck me, it would be with a fist or a strong foot.

He spoke quietly, interrupting the whimper trying to make its way out of my throat. "Most people say that the black door makes them feel cold inside, not warm." He paused his musings before he asked, "Those marks are from a whip?"

I nodded and shrank closer to the ground in fear, praying desperately that he wasn't about to add to my pain. He was quiet for another nerve-wracking moment before he spoke again. "Get up and follow me. This is not a matter to be discussed here. If the dwellers in this sanctuary felt that the security of the black door was in question it would create a disquiet that I don't want to deal with right now."

I lifted my head and fell back with a gasp when the proximity of his outstretched hand caught my attention. He studied me for a second and I studied back. As much of him as I could see anyway. All I could really see was a wide slightly pointed nose over slightly frowning lips that were full, but not overly so. And his eyes. His eyes were such a light, rich brown that they were really more of an amber or honey color. They almost seemed to glow in the soft light of the room.

"Normally trespassers to this sanctuary would be tortured and killed. Most people that attempt to enter this place are usually armed and they enter forcefully. Never before has the black door simply opened for someone who did not know the phrase to enter. I must meditate and ask the Mother what is the meaning of this. You will accompany me to my home and remain there until I find out."

I scooted away from him a little more before I stood slowly. "Am I a prisoner?" He nodded once. "Are you going to torture me?" I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to that one but if it was coming I also didn't want to be caught off guard.

"Not until after I find out what is going on. Then we will have to see." He glanced behind him at the sound of a door being closed in the distance. "Come! I will answer the rest of your questions when we reach my home. I wish to leave here now."

He started for the glowing door and I stood as quickly as my sore body would allow to follow. I had to at least appreciate his honesty. He hadn't tried to lie to me about the possibility of causing me pain. I wasn't stupid enough to try and run from him. There was a good chance he was faster than I was and I could tell from the lithe grace in his movements that he definitely had more stamina than I did at the moment.

The door opened and closed for him silently. He paused in the kitchen of the abandoned house and turned to me. I froze and eyed him warily, tensed to jump out of reach. "Can you cast any form of invisibility on yourself?"

I shook my head. "I don't know any spells but I can make myself nearly unnoticeable unless someone is looking directly at me trying to see me, especially if there is a shadow. You wish to leave this place without the guards seeing." I stated confidently.

He nodded and vanished nearly completely with a simple wave of his hand. I could see a clear outline of his body but it was very difficult to see and if I hadn't seen him before he cast the spell I probably would have missed his presence completely.

"When you exit the house head towards the east gate. Just as a warning, if you try to alert the guards, I will slit your throat without a second thought." I shivered and nodded.

I slipped into a slight crouch and moved to the window. Peeking between the boards I checked outside. A roving guard just happened to be heading west past the house. I waited until the man was a couple houses down before I moved to the door and opened it enough for me to slip through. I felt more than saw when the robed man followed behind me and I closed the door behind me before I turned east.

The sun had completely set but I had no trouble seeing where I was going. I skirted away from a street lamp and ducked behind a stone wall as a cart rolled past. Assessing the situation quickly I waited for the cart to pass my position completely before I dashed to it and grabbed ahold of the bottom edge of the back of the cart.

Clinging to the cart with all of my depleted strength, I nearly fell when I heard a low voice from beside me. "Very nice quick thinking."

I glanced at the vague outline where the robed man held on to the cart beside me. His praise was sincere. I could hear it in his voice. I nodded in thanks and waited until the cart passed through the gate and I saw the guards look away before I let go and dropped to my feet rolling off of the road under some bushes.

Instant pain sliced across my back in hot, stinging bolts. I had forgotten about my wounds in my attempt to aid the hooded man in his exit of the city. Although I couldn't figure out why I cared. I whimpered and rested on my side, riding out the waves of agony as they rolled across my skin. Tears prickled my eyes.

I fought my way through the pain and stood. There had to be some strong bit of me left that Cassius hadn't broken. If I could hide my weakness from the hooded man, I felt like I could protect my destroyed pride if nothing else. The idea that he might think less of me because of my weakness bothered me although, again, I couldn't figure out why the hell I cared what he thought.

His spell wore off and his hooded form practically melted into view. It was strange to watch, especially through blurred eyes. He motioned for me to follow and turned setting off into the dark away from the city.

"So from what I understood before, either this higher power you believe in is going to tell you I'm something special or you're going to kill me right?" A soft chuckle came from under the hood and he nodded clearly. "Who are you? Either you'll have to tell me at some point or I'll die."

"You don't seem very afraid of dying by my hand." He glanced sideways at me and I heard the amusement in his voice. I shrugged and didn't answer. I was still waiting for his name. "My name is Lucien Lachance. For now that is all you need to know."

I froze in my tracks and swallowed a sudden wave of fear that threatened to choke me. I had been getting the funny feeling since I stumbled through the weird door. The hand had sounded familiar. I knew I had heard some of my father's crew talking about it once upon a time.

"Like the Dark Brotherhood? That Lucien?" I gasped out finally.

He stopped as well and turned to me suddenly. "We have much to discuss, Woman. Your name?"

"Amiee." I choked. He nodded again and turned. I followed him quietly after that. My head was spinning as a million thoughts raced through my mind in an instant. The foremost thought really wasn't much of a thought at all. It was fear. An intense fear that made me feel cold inside.