Backing out of the room, she shook her head at the odd event and then turned, freezing as she saw a figure standing at the end of the corridor, seemingly as surprised by her appearance as she was by his.
He wore a long black robe with a hood that left him entirely hidden, though his general shape made it clear he was male.
He swore and his hand turned, her eyes drawn down to it and she saw the trickle of blood rolling down his previously clean palm. That was all the warning she needed, and she wheeled around, sprinting down the hall with him coming after her with echoing pounding boots.
Heading back the way she had come, she streaked past the hallway that led back to her room and instead headed down the left passage where she had previously gone right. A voice joined the pounding feet. It appeared that Vincent had been coming back and her timing was terrible.
She sprinted down the hall and nearly collided with the wall to yet another intersection that she turned left with the right passage looking like it was less used with rubble on the passage floor.
There were two after her and she had to wonder why Vincent hadn't tapped into the blood on her chest. Perhaps it had a distance limit? She didn't know, and she pushed herself to run as fast as she was able to, taking another left and then a right, but she had no idea where she was, nor how to get out. There seemed to be no pattern to the passages, and it felt oddly like she was in the middle of a maze.
Turning down another passage, she felt the line down her chest beginning to warm up and she cursed, glancing back to see they were catching up. She was taking too long to decide which way to go, and they knew the layout better than she did.
She streaked down another corridor and came to a screaming halt as she burst through a door and out into a large cavern filled with light, and to her horror, at least fifty figures all turning in her direction.
It appeared to be a dining hall of some sort, and she made her choice, leaping off the small landing and down onto the hall floor, she skirted the figures as fast as she was able, looking up as the hooded figure and Vincent came into the hall, finding her.
Giving up on her attempt to avoid the figures, she made a beeline for the stairs at the other side, dodging the grasping hands as Vincent cried out for them to stop her. She was able to move freely, and she was fast in the open space, scrambling up the stairs and finding herself faced with a locked door.
Swearing, she turned and pressed her back to the door, her attention going back to the way she had come, but Vincent was there to block the door and he was grinning, knowing she was trapped in the room where, if she got closer to him, he would be able to incapacitate her.
Looking down as the hooded figure approached her, she gripped the spike tighter and as his foot came down on the first step, she stepped forward and drove the spike into the side of his neck.
He screamed, and then louder as she ripped the spike back out of him, his body slumping to the ground, but she doubted he would stay down long.
Dropping the spike, she curled her slick fingers around the chain as she jumped off the steps, landing lightly on the hall floor.
Giving the chain a light flick, she smiled as Vincent's face fell while the chain and the spike whistled, suddenly a projectile weapon as she spun it in a tight circle at her side.
The group of figures seemed wary of her as she inched her way along the wall, ready to launch the spike at the first person to come for her.
And so she did, a man wearing a creepily blank black mask reached for her was greeted with the spike to his chest and she pulled, the spike returning to her side and splattering the wall with blood and gore.
That seemed to make them more wary of her, her eyes lifting to Vincent, his face amused and patient as she made her way back towards him and dangerously close to the reach of his magic, the blood on her chest warming up again as she closed the distance to him.
He was waiting for her, enjoying the show she was putting on and she cursed when the hooded man rose back to his feet, growling as he headed for her.
Cursing silently, she ran for Vincent and threw the spike, hoping to distract him but even as she stepped into the range of his magic and the blood on her chest began to burn, the hooded man crashed into her and the spike jerked down a mere foot from his face as her arms were forced down.
She would have gotten him right in the face if it hadn't been for the hooded man, and she screamed her anger as he heaved her off her feet, the chain was gripped by another.
His arms pinned hers down to her sides. A plan formed in her mind as a yellow masked man approached her. She used him to launch herself and the hooded man backwards, her foot planting against his chest and flinging herself up and over his shoulders, hitting the hard ground as she landed back on her feet.
She made it only one step before pain ripped through her body and she staggered, the pulse of pain starting at her chest and radiating out into the rest of her body.
Gasping, she clutched at the wall and looked up as Vincent approached her calmly, his eyes glowing eerily in the dim light. His smile was cruel and as her eyes met his, pain radiated through her again. Dropping to her knees, she made no attempt to struggle as the hooded figure's arms went around her and he heaved her to her feet.
"Now you look more like a Queen," Vincent whispered, lifting her face to his as he bent down to press his lips to her forehead. Everything went black in a pulse of agonising pain.