Caged in Darkness

by J. D. Stroube

  There were ten royal families who were the first witches. The Cross family was one of the most powerful of the royals. Maye had told me during one of my lessons that the royal lines had learned to protect their secrets by ensuring that only one of theirs could find them. They used blood, sweat, saliva, and…tears to do this.

  I pulled the chair toward the middle of the room and knelt beside the rug. From a distance the rug looked Persian, but up close it was more like pixels that didn’t quite blend together. It was like looking at a photograph so closely that it no longer resembles a picture, just fragments of random colors.

  I half expected my fingers to pass straight through the rug, but they felt solid wood when I touched it. There was a board on top of the real floor that was half an inch high, and camouflaged by the rug. Why would my parents go through this much trouble to hide something and yet make it so obvious that it was there?

  The board wasn’t difficult to pry away, and once it was removed from the space, it looked like an ordinary board. In its place was a tiny indentation in the floor. It revealed a small lever resembling an elongated door knob. I didn’t hesitate; I reached to pull the lever, and the bookcase against the wall, glided forward and to the left. It left a hole that was barely big enough for an adult to fit through.

  I vaguely wondered if finding this lever had been the type of instinctual feelings Maye had talked of. The secret pathway was jet-black. It was difficult to imagine light ever being held within its walls.

  Thanks to modern technology, I was able to use my cell phone as a flashlight. After I tugged the phone from the pocket of my jeans the pathway lit up. It revealed a narrow hallway. Cobwebs and I imagined spiders, hovered around as I moved forward.

  Pointing my cell phone towards the back wall, I kept my right hand on the wall to make sure I didn’t miss a turn and to brush the webs from my face. I could still feel the silk graze my neck and shoulders. After about 300 feet, I felt a draft graze my bare arms. The source of the draft was a small rectangular room. It resembled an attic in an ancient house, with cobwebs connecting various artifacts that were layered in dust and the occasional sheet draped furniture.

  A five foot long metal chest sat in the middle of the room, and when I tried to open it I found that it needed a key. A bar similar to a ballet barre connected two walls, and was filled with garments and bizarre robes. Some of the clothing looked like it was from the Renaissance period.

  From a bookcase, I pulled out a leather bound text with torn pages that were literally falling apart at the seams. Sifting through it, I discovered it was journal from an ancestor of mine. In fact, all of the books looked like journals from various ancestors.

  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 16th birthday.

  If my emotions became chaotic, my gift would inevitably follow. I had nightmares the bonfire would turn into a real life Carrie remake and I would star as the psychotic witch who destroys everyone in a fiery rage. I knew this was unlikely, but it didn’t stop me from worrying.
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  I would be a landmine hidden beneath the teenage population, awaiting an unwary shadow to make a wrong step, in the unending pursuit of impressing the teenage socialites that were the cafeteria one crowd. That wrong step could result in an explosion of my power and could have seriously terrible consequences.

  It was times like this that I regretted keeping my other life separate from Izzy. She wasn’t a witch, but she was my friend and someone who I thought would understand.

  I put the finishing touches on my makeup and stared in the mirror. Izzy and Willow were getting ready in the bedroom, but I wanted to be alone. I was feeling nervous about going out looking like this; especially when my gifts were acting up.

  I groaned at my appearance. I chose to leave my hair down for once and let it dry naturally. Loose curls hung down my back with wild abandon. I rarely wore make up, but Izzy taught me some techniques. I gave my eyes the smoky gray look, added some highlights to my cheeks, and the barest amounts of pink lip-gloss. I didn’t need foundation or mascara.

  I wore a burgundy mini dress with a sweetheart neckline, a tapered waist, and a slightly flared skirt. The bell sleeves hung loose, and my back was completely bare down to the very bottom. I felt exposed. Izzy forced me to buy a bra that linked in front, but was backless and strapless. The cups were sticky, and I personally thought that calling it a bra was an insult to actual bras. Still, it gave me the merest sense of coverage and I was thankful for any. Izzy tried to convince me to buy a pair of strappy stilettos but I told her she was insane. Instead, I wore a pair of gray flats. I didn’t need heels with my height and I wasn’t sure I would be able to walk in them.