Caged in Darkness (8 page)

In a vanity, I discovered antique jewelry
with strange symbols inscribed on them. I touched a necklace with a
ruby stone at its center. It felt as though someone had warmed it
with their breath. The other jewelry was similar. Some burned at my
touch, others were icy, and one of the rings made me lightheaded. I
found a choker necklace with a pentacle dangling from it. The
pentacle was inset with small blue sapphires. When I placed the
choker around my neck, my body became infused with warmth. A
bracelet with the Triquetra dangling from it caught my eye, and was
soon attached to my wrist.

A table layered with strange items was
placed next to the vanity. There was a bowl, ink, stamps with
designs I had never seen before, a small stick shaped object, and a
bone with a needle attached to it. I made a mental note to ask Maye
about the items later.

I looked around, and even though my cell lit
up some of the room, darkness had begun to ingest the light.
Shadows danced across the walls and vines slithered up my legs. I
could smell my parents’ taint here and yet I was drawn to this
place.

In the corner nearest to the entryway, was a
box that resembled a casket the size of a china doll. Unlike a
casket, it was made entirely of clear quartz with a large
bloodstone imbedded on the lid.

The light shown on the casket and I watched
as gray smoke shifted within. When I drew the light away, the
shifting became more furious, but calmed when I brought my cell
phone next to it. I noticed inscriptions carved into the quartz and
the bloodstone. They looked similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs, but I
was almost certain they were something entirely different.

I began to trace the inscriptions, but felt
I felt a feathery touch against my other hand. I thought little of
it, but shook my hand. The feeling persisted. I looked down to find
a coffee colored spider with extremely long legs crawling across
the back of my hand. I screamed and shook my hand furiously. In my
attempt to get away I slipped, landing hard on the quartz box; the
lid slid off.

Smoke swelled from the container and encased
the surrounding area; effectively shielding half of the room. It
lightened to a mist and ascended to the ceiling, where it spread to
sheath the plaster. It made the room look like an upside down
haunted house. I turned to run from the room, but hands grasped my
shoulders in a viselike grip.

A shriek tore through my vocal cords when
the hands pulled me back against a solid chest. The fog evaporated
and I noticed the darkness surrounding me. This darkness had
texture and twitched frequently. A harsh breath blew against my
ear. The hands tightened and I began to worry they might crush my
bones.

“Let me go!” The hands fell away from my
flesh, but the body didn’t move.

“All you needed to do was ask.” The voice
was deep with a slight edge and it sent tingles up my spine.

Before I could lose my courage, I spun
around. I stood in shock at
what
I saw; and I don’t say
what
lightly. Backing away from the
thing
in front of
me; my back hit the wall. I was trapped.

The room was crammed with its sheer size.
Before me was the body of a man with enormous wings, and strange
eyes. In the dark they glowed with amber light.

Without wings he still would have
overpowered the room. Abnormally tall with a strong torso, he was
intimidating. His wings folded outward in a crescent shape that
surrounded me. He was clothed in a pair of black dress pants, but
his chest and feet were bare.

He moved like a bird; twitching and bunching
his shoulders. His head angled back and forth to watch me, and as
he did, his biceps tightened. His dark hair was chin length and
concealed most of his face. His mouth was wide in a disturbing
smile that displayed his perfectly white teeth; the upper and lower
canines sharpened to fine points.

“Please, don’t hurt me.” I squeezed my eyes
shut, hoping that when I opened them, he would be gone. My hands
clenched into fists and I opened my eyes.

It
was chuckling. While closing the
distance between us, his wings spread out to blanket the wall
behind me. He sniffed the air around my face and paused to stare
into my eyes.

“I smell you.” He growled.

His growl deepened and he barred his teeth
in an angry snarl. “I
smell
your power.” I watched, while
his pupils dilated until they pushed away all traces of color. His
hand reached for my neck, but when it came into contact my skin he
let out a sound of anguish as his palm smoldered.

His face changed then. One moment he was
divinely beautiful and seconds later I watched as his veins
blackened to a cryptic maze of inscriptions across his body. I
recognized him as a predator and felt something pulse from within
him. I was fairly sure that made me the prey.

In that moment, while he was distracted by
his burning hand, I made my move. I reached across to his wing, and
pulled feathers, while pushing with all my strength to get past
him. I toppled furniture behind me as I ran. When I reached the
library, I pulled the lever to close the passage and screamed for
Maye at the top of my lungs.

Liam

I spent my childhood bowing to my mother’s
every whim. As teenager, I grew a pair and rebelled against her.
The last straw had been when my mother’s domination over every
aspect of my father’s life, led to him abandoning us.

When I turned 18, I moved out and took a
year off from school. At 19, I was home schooling myself to make up
my last year of high school. My education began my escape from my
mother. There were some members of the coven I couldn’t bring
myself to shun. My aunt who had taken over my dark arts training
was one of them.

I had some anxiety about my mother’s request
involving the witch prodigy. I wasn’t sure how to make someone fall
in love with me; my specialty was convincing women to fall into bed
with me. I wasn’t anxious to try that with the Cross girl.

My mother had a skewed view of the world and
the people in it. She thought that whatever she wanted was hers for
the taking, but didn’t understand that it was merely that way
within the coven.

Most witches were born into a coven and it
became their only choice. However, the Cross girl was descended
from a royal line. The Cross family was known for splitting hairs
where magic was concerned. They had been the founding members of
both the Sacred Moon and Meadow Falls covens. This gave the Cross
girl an advantage because she could choose her destiny. Her blood
flowed towards two separate paths and it was her choice that would
decide which vein to clamp. Once in place, it was unlikely that she
could remove the clot and regain that choice.

My earlier assumptions involving the Cross
girl, Savannah were wrong. My mother provided all the information I
would need to insert myself into Savannah’s life, but given her
childhood I wasn’t confident in my skills. She was raised to
despise black magic. She would probably choose to be initiated into
the coven who took her in. I didn’t see how I could pull her away
from her family within a few weeks. It would be better for her if
she stayed far away from my mother’s manipulations.

I reached my apartment door to find that it
was unlocked, which wasn’t a surprise. I opened the door to reveal
the three women I enjoyed earlier that morning. They were in a
similar state to the one I left them in; barely clothed and tangled
in sheets on the living room floor.

That morning they begged me to stay.
Considering their current activities, they obviously found adequate
comfort in each other. It was a sight most men would salivate over,
but had begun to bore me lately. They didn’t look up, when I tossed
my jacket on the couch and walked past them towards the
bedroom.

I unbuttoned and tugged off my shirt as I
walked into the room, and directly into the closet.

“I wasn’t sure you would make it past them.
I almost found them too tempting to pass up, myself.” A familiar
voice sounded from my room.

My shirt still off, I peeked my head around
the door and smiled at the sight that greeted me. On the bed lay a
seductive creature. Ordinarily, I limited my bed partners to
ordinary humans, but occasionally found myself making
exceptions.

Kali was one female I couldn’t help giving
in to. She was wild, impulsive, and a Hellhound. She wasn’t the
distorted perception of a Hellhound that humans had, but an actual
Hellhound. Most of her race was extinct, but there were five left;
five gorgeous, powerful, and terrifying females.

Death itself created the Hellhounds from
tainted souls. They were the guardians of the afterlife, the takers
of souls, and the dispensers of justice. In the case of a wicked
soul, who escaped death, the Hellhounds would embark on the “Wild
Hunt.” Their punishment was far worse than the sentences death
would distribute.

Hellhounds could shift at will into enormous
beasts that resembled a wolf or dog, but far more terrifying. They
were considered harbingers of death and could visit it upon a
person merely by meeting their eyes.

“Another five minutes and I would have given
up waiting for you.” She said, while playing with the necklace that
hung between her breasts.

“If I knew you were waiting for me, I would
have been back sooner.”

“Then why are you standing all the way over
there? It’s cold in here. I think I need you to warm me up.” She
purred, and turned onto her belly facing me.

I looked her over; she was wearing a black
lace corset with a matching garter belt, and a g-string. Her
blazing red hair hung down in a mass of waves. I cursed my
slowness, and strode to the bed.

Smiling, Kali sat up and kneeled at the edge
of the mattress. “Mmmm… I missed you.” She said, and grabbed me by
the waist band, and pulled me on top of her.

Savannah

I fidgeted in the rocking chair, waiting for
Maye to return from the passageway. I shouldn’t have let her go in
there alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to go back. The idea of it
sent chills across my spine.

“Darling, there isn’t anyone in there.”

Maye stared at me in pity. I knew the look,
because she wore it whenever she referenced my past.

“I know what I saw. It was this thing, it
had wings, and…”

“Oh sweetie, I know you think you saw
something. It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just think that it
was a hallucination.” She moved to brush my hair with her fingers.
“The stress of being in this place has probably gotten to you and I
doubt you slept well last night. It is completely normal to think
you saw something that wasn’t really there, under these
circumstances.”

I thought about Maye’s logic and it made
sense. If there had been something in the passageway, Maye would
have seen it too. I did have heightened emotions and we did just
talk about me facing my demons… Could I really have imagined it
all? I felt foolish and I knew my face showed this.

“Do you want me to get the items from the
room? I could call Ash and have the boys come get them.”

“Yeah… I think Ash should do it. I don’t
want to go back there and I don’t want you to hurt your back.” I
paused. “I’m sorry if I scared you. This place gives me the creeps.
I’ll be happy once it’s sold and I never have to come here
again.”

Maye giggled; a bizarre sound coming from a
robust middle aged woman. “I say that we take the rest of the
afternoon and make a girl day of it.” She winked.

“Oh, no. Not more shopping, please say you
don’t want to shop. Please, please, please…”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a
spa day. What do you think? We could go see a movie after…” Her
voice trailed off. I realized she was offering the girl day because
it was something
she
needed, not because she felt sorry for
me.

“If I must.” I gave her an exaggerated sigh.
“To be pampered for an entire afternoon, I shall positively die of
it.” Holding my hand to my forehead, I pretended to faint. I opened
one eye to see Maye beaming in happiness. I would endure anything
for her.

6: Magnetized

Sixth Entry: Facing my Demons

Visiting my parents’ estate was an
experience I was glad to be done with. The more I thought about the
man with wings in the passageway, the more I realized I was stupid
to think it was real. Of course, my mind could make up something
horrific when under that much strain.

Ash picked up the things from the passageway
and everything else that I couldn’t carry. He put most of it in the
attic and I planned to get a better look at the collection of items
soon.

I’m beginning to worry about Ash. He was
cold towards me this afternoon and he has never been that way. Did
I do something wrong?

Savannah

Izzy and Willow came by my house to get
ready before the bonfire. That’s usually how it worked out. Willows
house was cramped with too many family members. Izzy lived in an
apartment that was considered a two bedroom, but really her room
was closer to a walk in closet.

The bonfire was little more than an
annoyance on my attention radar, but was obviously socially
significant to Izzy. It wasn’t that she necessarily wanted to
“socialize” at the bonfire, but she wanted to broadcast to the
general population that her antisocial behavior was a personal
choice, not a sentence to social leprosy.

I had misgivings about being around those
who were not part of the coven, while this close to my ascension. I
knew that the closer I was, the more dangerous I became. My gift
would gradually become uncontrollable, as I approached my
16
^th
birthday.