Sophia - Second Awakening

Sunlight and the sound of birds woke her. Stiff muscles screamed in protest as she moved from the twisted position she had landed in. A need to relieve herself got her fully to her feet and headed to the archway. Beyond, a worn stone stairway descended to her left, revealed by the sunlight from a high skylight. Across the way a small room held a sink and toilet. She stepped onto the landing and felt a faint tingle pass over her. She felt the same tingle again when she entered the far room. Once she was finished, she returned to the bed chamber, stopping and moving slowly through the archways. The tingles happened in the exact center of the openings. If she moved really slowly she could almost see a hint of empty blackness right at the tingle point.

Fear, anger, and curiosity warred as she slowly walked back to the bed and her clothes. She grabbed them to start dressing, stopping when a dark leather bound book and a small ivory carving dropped onto the bed. Once she was dressed she sat back on the bed and examined the items next to her. The ivory item was carved to look like an oddly shaped key with the blade shaped in a simple fashion as if for a very old lock. A short, sharp needle stuck out from the end of the blade and the top of the key was worked into a perfect miniature skull, with rubies set into the eye sockets. "What the hell?" she whispered as recognition dawned. She reached out to pick it up and froze when her hand touched it, locked rigid as a cascade of energy and imagery slammed over her. For a few seconds her awareness almost kept up with the onslaught, then, finally overloaded, she fell into blackness.