Chapter 34 Blood Awakening

• The cold stone floor was damp and sticky. Dim light barely filtered through a crack in the ceiling, giving the space a grim, almost subterranean feel. Amelia slowly opened her eyes, blinking as though each movement of her eyelids required effort. A dull headache throbbed in her temples, and her body ached as if she’d been beaten.
• Her fingers twitched weakly — and only then did she feel the weight of iron restraints. Her wrists were shackled to the wall, the rough metal biting into her skin, leaving inflamed, red marks. She tried to move her legs and realized they were bound too.
• Fuzzy images floated through her memory like shards of a shattered mirror. A road. Forest. Car. Explosion. A burst of pain — a needle in her neck. Someone shouting. Strong arms dragging her away. And then — darkness. Cold, consuming, endless.