The Wine of Centuries

Chapter One

First, I felt the throbbing. It seared like a hot knife down my curved back, traveling in a steady flow to my tailbone. My breath came in rattling shudders, puffing into caressing cold wisps that got trapped into the tight space around my face. Opening my eyes didn't help my situation because everything was pitch black anyway. I crawled my hands out from under me and felt about, only to find cold stone. My fingers began to tingle from lack of blood flow. Beginning to shiver, I shoved my hands under my armpits and stood up slowly. Bones popped and I groaned when the pain in my muscles pulled.

Utter silence. My foot acted as my tester; my left toes felt for sturdy ground and felt no gives. Good sign. With my hand, I groped beside me and scraped rough rock edges against my finger tips. A tunnel of some kind maybe. Couldn't be a subway or metro-it was too...natural and irregular. I began to carefully walk, straining my eyes for light and my ears for any sign of life or echoes. My footfalls fell into a rhythmic, loping pace that felt more natural than the slow stroll. I went on for several minutes, changing direction when the tunnel curved to the left. My breathing came in short, claustrophobic pants when I finally caught a sound.

It was almost nonexistent except for that the small vibrations in the air gave a hint of pulsing movement. Footsteps. But not normal ones: marching. I continued down the tunnel, frantic hope causing my feet to scuffle against loose rocks and my breath to hitch. My bare left shoulder scraped painfully against a wall. A small cry escaped my lips before I realized what I had done.

The marching ceased.

Murmurs began to come closer and closer in the inky darkness. My heartbeat drummed the song of panic-what did I do? They were people, I needed civilization. I seemed to only be half dressed and to be in a very unfamiliar place. The last thing I remembered was... The attempt to remember caused a twinge of pain to crack down my skull. A whimper had me cringing into the rocky wall to my right. The approaching voices were now just around what I guessed was the nearest bend in the tunnel. Light flickered on the wall just in front of me before the true glow of the orange flame had me squint away.

"Hey!"

I jumped and began to run. Who were they? I couldn't see past the light-my eyes weren't adjusted yet. And that yell didn't sound friendly. But I had only made it about three steps before a heavily muscled arm caught me around the waist and slammed me into the ground. The breath whooshed out of my lungs with such force that a wheeze followed. The hand attached to the arm flipped me over, none too gently, and I was once again blinded with light and dark.

"State your name," the man commanded, both hands pinning me down. "Why are you here? How did you find the entrance?"

I blinked the pain and light into clarity. "If you'd get your damned knee out of my ribs..."

The man's face came closer. I could now see his features- sharp bone structure, pale as snow skin, dark hair that blended into the shadows...and his eyes. They were such a pale gray that it took more focusing to see the actual pupil. "Answer the questions."

I wheezed once more and wiggled. "I don't know. Get off!"

"Answer."

His companion chuckled. I scowled in the general direction but rolled my eyes. "Seriously, I don't know. I woke up here. I don't even know where this is."

The man on top of me stared down at me, unblinking. The one holding the torch took a step closer and bent to have the flame closer to my face. I squinted and blinked until my eyes got used to the brightness. Something crossed my detainer's face, but it was quickly masked into stone again.

"State your name, then," he said.

I wanted to sigh, but his knee would probably break a rib if I did. I dug in my mind for the simple answer to this question but froze. My name. My name was... I didn't know. Blank emptiness filled the yawning void of my mind as I looted for information about anything on myself. I came up short.