Caged in Darkness (21 page)

Asmodeus knew I was descended from the Cross
lineage, but he smelled something more in my blood. He accused my
mother of consorting with an angel, but she denied the accusation.
Angered, Asmodeus hooked his hand around my neck and squeezed. My
mother begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t. My father stepped in.
He shouted that I was a Nephilim and my mother looked at him in
shock.

The angels had been forbidden to mate with
humans, but one angel had found a loophole. To possess a human and
have that human, mate with another. It wasn’t technically against
the rules. An angel had possessed my mother without her knowledge.
My mother didn’t have time to be angry with my father and
rationalized that I was still her daughter. I was unique because I
had three biological parents. Huh, hadn’t I lucked out? Three
parents and none of them stepped up to the plate to be a real
parent!

The rest of the journal, was even more
shocking than the realization that I had an angel for a parent.
Since school had been called off, I dialed Willow and Izzy the next
morning at seven. When they arrived, we secluded ourselves in my
bedroom and I told them everything. They stared at me in horror,
when I told them about my absentee parent, and couldn’t believe
that there was more.

“Asmodeus told my parents it made me
stronger than the Nephilim. I was descended from the Nephilim, who
had fed on the blood of a demon
and
I was also the child of
an angel. He explained that it made me an entirely new species. It
meant that I was more angel than human, but with demonic powers
thrown into the mix.”

“Geez! Girl, you have the most screwed up
life ever!” Izzy said, before I finished explaining.

“Ummm… yeah!” Willow joined in the distress
over my horrible life.

I sighed and continued, “Having the Cross
blood was a bigger plus because it meant I was descended from the
founders of two covens: Sacred Moon and Meadow Falls. Meaning I
could be initiated into both, which included a massive amount of
power. Asmodeus made a deal with my father. He would wait until I
was old enough to be initiated into a coven. Once I was, he would
use me to tap into the collective and sacrifice
every member of
those covens,
me included.”

“Holy Hell!” “Crap!” Izzy and Willow shouted
at once.

“Yep, the story of my screwed up life
continues. Apparently, my Mother didn’t agree with the deal. They
decided to build up enough power of their own to stop Asmodeus from
taking me, but accepted that the covens would still be sacrificed.
Their way of protecting me, was to sacrifice innocents to gain
enough power and keep me safe.” I paused, while they absorbed
everything.

“Unable to internalize the power, it would
be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb if they absorbed that it.
I,
on the other hand, was not a witch. As a child, they had
turned their power on me. It had felt like darkness was burying
into my soul, they were giving me more power. Enough power to
provide protection once I could access it.”

I cried. Izzy held my hand in comfort, while
Willow sat behind me on the bed to wrap her arms around me in a
hug. I was lucky to have two amazing friends.

“Do you think you can tell us the rest?”
Willow whispered in my ear, squeezing tighter.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“There's more?” Izzy was horrified, but
nodded for me to continue.

“My mother wrote that their deeds to gain me
power corrupted them. Their souls darkened until they remembered
their goal, but not the reason behind it. They couldn’t experience
love any longer. Before their souls were completely lost to
darkness, they threw themselves into one last act of love. They
trapped the demon in the bloodstone box, hoping I would only have
to call my extra power, as a last re-resort.” Sobs racked my body,
but Izzy and Willow helped me to gain composure.

“Shhh… it’s okay. None of this is your
fault.”

“Yeah, Willow is right. If your parents
hadn’t summoned Asmodeus in the first place, none of this would
have happened!”

“That’s not why I am crying.” Izzy handed me
a Kleenex to blow my nose with. “I’m crying because this means that
they loved me. They did all those horrible things because they
cared. All this time, I thought they were evil, but they became
that way to protect
me.
”

The way I saw my parents was different now.
They were parents who made a mistake. They were corrupted because
they did the wrong thing for the right reasons. I wasn’t unloved; I
was loved
too much
.

“Why did the bloodstone box keep him
trapped?” Willow’s question made me smile. I knew she would
understand my need for distraction. I leaned into her hug to show I
was grateful.

“Bloodstone is a unique stone. It gives the
user power over demons, while protecting them, and it destroys
evil. They trapped him inside the small box. To keep the bloodstone
from touching him, he had to revert to an insubstantial form. The
bloodstone also made the symbols more effective. It would have
perfect if I hadn’t knocked the darn lid off.”

The next day, Ash was still avoiding me.
After the things I had learned, I wasn’t up to hunting him down.
Instead, I sought out the comfort of my forest. The trees were
welcome friends that didn’t demand anything from me. They gave me
sanctuary without hesitation. I had been pushed towards a mind
altering quicksand. It trickled down my throat to envelope my heart
in its grainy grip. The images from my childhood were suffocating
me and I needed relief.

Kit emerged, as an apparition that was far
more real than the forest around me. As part of my soul, I could
sense his worry for me. He rubbed his head against my skin and
wrapped his tail around my legs. It was strange that he appeared as
a ghost, but people could physically interact with him. I always
expected my hand to pass through him, but it would come into
contact with a physical body, complete with soft fur. Kits eyes
glowed bright blue, his fur had a filmy black texture, but his form
was mostly a silvery blue shade. He was magnificent.

I sat down with my back against a towering
tree, the nearby foliage leaned over to provide a canopy of warmth.
Kit arranged himself into a crescent shape with his head in my lap.
His touch brought with it an intense comfort. Gone was the
quicksand; Kit had chased it away. His gentle purr quieted my
thoughts and I fell asleep. I must have slept for hours, because
when I opened my eyes the sky was dark.

The frigid air warred with my breathe to
create a milky steam, while the hairs on the back of my arms
stiffened. As I started my walk back home, a branch snapped behind
me. The noise originated in a shadowed area of the forest, where
the trees were tightly packed together, concealing the presence of
someone else. I took a step closer and saw the shadows rise from
the darkness. Trembling, I took a step back and crashed into
something
hard
.

Arms spun me around, slammed me into a tree,
which knocked the breath from me. Asmodeus rose out of the night
and came forward to press me further into the wood. His hand lay in
the center of my ribcage and I worried he might shatter them with
his strength.

Asmodeus leaned forth and sniffed my flesh
before locking his eyes with my own. “Did you enjoy your mothers’
journal?” His accent was as dark and terrifying as the rest of him.
He eased the pressure on my chest and I could breathe again.

“What?”

He laughed and grinned, sardonically. “You
honestly believed I wouldn’t know about your little scavenger hunt?
That I wouldn’t watch every move you and your friends take? Oh,
little
Anakim
. You have much to learn.”

I recognized the term, Anakim. It was
another term for the Nephilim and it bothered that he referred to
me that way. “If you have been watching, then why haven’t you done
anything about us?”

“You think I am worried about a witchling, a
human, and you? I am far more powerful than any of you.” His face
descended until it was less than an inch away and he snarled.

“That’s not it, is it? You are weak!” I spat
in his face and he used the back of his left hand to wipe it
off.

“Feisty, aren’t you? I am never weak. I
merely don’t do anything without good reason. You will learn that
soon enough.” I laughed. “Your insults will gain you nothing, but
will
cost you something.” He let me go and backed away. The
inscriptions along his skin shimmered and burst into a blinding
glow.

“Run, little
Anakim.
I want to play.”
His wings spread wide. Smoke billowed off his skin and his eyes
glazed over to display the fire within. I screamed and threw my
strength into running. Fighting the forest, I had to carve new
paths to push my way through the forest and away from him.

I found myself tangled in some branches.
They tore at my skin, clothes, and hair. Refusing to give up, I
push harder, but was lifted off my feet into the air. Asmodeus had
me in his grip again, but this time his arms
did
crush me.
Blood spilled from my lips, while the sound of my bones shattering,
left an ache deep inside. Tears shed to pool on the floor beneath
me. I was slipping, my mind was floating in a mist that made it
difficult to concentrate, but I didn't give up. I push and kicked,
though it was futile. I wasn't strong enough.

“Savannah! Wake up dammit!” A harsh smack
against my cheek tore me from the nightmare. My eyes opened to find
Ash standing before me. I was still leaning against the trunk and a
few feet away, Kit sat next to Ash. Through our bond, I could feel
Kit’s confusion. I made a small attempt to send waves of comfort,
but we both knew that it wasn't much of an effort.

I couldn't stop the river from flooding my
eyes and spilling over onto my already moist cheeks. Kit rubbed his
head against my arm, while Ash pulled me into his arms. “Kit showed
up at the house without you. I followed him here. Are you okay? I
thought you were injured or something!”

“Just, just hold me, please.” I griped his
shirt to pull him closer. Kit spirited back into my form, while Ash
lifted me into his arms and carried me back to the house. I closed
my eyes until I felt my bed beneath me. “Thank you.”

Ash sat next to me on the bed and stared at
the ground. “Don’t be. You can’t help your nightmares.” He gave me
a tiny hint of a smile and started to leave, but I grabbed his arm
and pulled him back to the bed.

“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry that I
kissed Liam. No matter how I rationalized it, I should not have
done it. Once I knew I hurt you, I shouldn’t have made excuses,
because if it hurt you then it was wrong.”

He looked at me when I had finished. His
eyes were soft, as he leaned down to kiss me. “It’s fine. I reacted
too harshly. I love you, S. Now, get some rest. We can talk about
this when you feel better. Okay?”

“I love you too. You know that, don’t
you?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He folded the blanket
over my body and I curled into it. I fell into a peaceful sleep
after Ash left.

I woke to my phone buzzing on the
nightstand. It was only six at night, but it felt much later. It
was Izzy calling, but I couldn’t bring myself to pick up. I hit the
ignore button and fell back to sleep. I had earned a break, hadn’t
I?

The next morning, I climbed out of the
shower and brushed the fog away from the mirror. I let out a shriek
at the sight of the angry red blistering on my chest. It was in the
shape of a hand; a very large hand. Panicking, I threw on some
clothes and ran over to Willows house. I couldn’t be alone right
now. The demon had visited me in my dream and left a souvenir; a
painful souvenir. He could reach through the veil of dreams to hurt
me. Was there anywhere I could be safe?

Willow wasn’t home, Ash was at Griffin’s and
I didn’t want to worry Maye. I briefly thought of Izzy, but didn't
want to bring up sleep and demons after the way her mother died. It
would open up memories and I did not want to responsible for
deepening wounds that hadn't had time to heal.

I resigned myself to decorating my room with
symbols of protection. It was unlikely that they would stop
Asmodeus, but they might slow him down long enough for me to get
help.

When I got home, Izzy was waiting for me on
my bed with her arms crossed and a caustic look on her face. “Why
didn’t you answer my call?”

I didn't have time to deal with drama right
now. Ignoring her call one time should not earn me a trip to the
land of angry Izzy. A small headache had begun to chip away at my
patience. It was irritating that I would have to explain myself
right now.

“I was sleeping.” I pinch the area between
my eyes, threw my purse to the ground, and grabbed some Tylenol
from my nightstand.

“Really? Your excuse is sleep? What if my
call had been urgent? What if I was in danger or I was going to
commit suicide? What then?”

“Obviously that wasn’t the case or we
wouldn’t be talking right now. Honestly, Izzy. I was half asleep
and wasn't really thinking about all the bad crap you
might
calling me over. I have enough to deal with! I don't think should
be angry with me over one missed call.” I knew I was whining, but I
felt like I was going to have a mental break down. Besides, with
the stress I had been dealing with, I needed the sleep.

“Complications? That’s what I am to you?”
Izzy shot off the bed in anger, walked to my bookcase, took a book
and threw it at me. I ducked, but another soon followed and hit me
square in the chest, where the demon had burned me.

“Ow! What are you, two? You are behaving
like a lunatic toddler with tantrum issues! Calm down.” I closed my
eyes and calmed my breathing, while Izzy did the same.