Caged by Damnation (Caged #2)(34)

The lights flashed once more before stabilizing, and I was once again alone.


I was beginning to worry that I may have begun my descent into insanity. Everything that had happened to me recently seemed surreal. I couldn't help but wonder if I was locked away inside my mind and everything I was seeing was all a part of some endless nightmare. For all I knew, I could be a drooling mess in an institution with an inability to tell reality from fantasy.


I rounded the corner to find myself in an entirely new environment. I stood in a hall teeming with people. The floor was made of white marble inlaid with shades of gray and black. Large pillars dissected the interior into empty caverns. A desk the size of a large mansion lay in the center, workers buzzing around the desk, speaking with those who were on the other side. Everything was illuminated by a ceiling made of a unified glowing light.


I couldn't believe that this room existed in the same building as the eerie hallways I just left. At first I wondered why I hadn’t heard the hundreds of people before entering the room. However, I then realized that sound was muted inside the room. Ordinarily, in a room so open, the sound would bounce off the walls, floor, and ceiling to create continuous echoes, but there were none.


Forcing myself to focus on my task, I approached, waiting for someone to notice me.


An elderly woman placed a bookmark into the novel she had been reading, A Night in the Duke's Bed. Then she leaned forward with a smile. "Can I help you, young one?"


I shifted my feet, embarrassed that I was standing in my robe, and pulled myself together. "Um, I was in the medical center, but was told my friend was locked away somewhere. Is there someone I can talk to who can help me find her?


"Ah ... you must be talking about the fierce winged one. She made quite the spectacle and harmed a few of our own before they could tranquilize her."


Her stare was disapproving, but I refused to feel guilty. "That's probably her. I just need to find her. I'm sure I can keep her from hurting anyone else and I won't be able to sleep until I know she's safe."


She sighed. "Very well. I heard that some of the warriors managed to contain her in the high security wing." She shifted some papers around; the thin, gray strands of her hair fell forward, getting caught behind the lens of her glasses. "Ah, here you go." She placed a miniature map between us and pointed to the empty space in the center. "We're here. This is the directive. You turn around and take the passage against the far wall until you reach the dead end. There, you’ll will find an elevator. Take it to the top floor. You'll find some guards there who will tell you which cell she's in."


I grabbed the map, smiled, and forced myself to speak in a sincere tone. "Thank you. I appreciate this."


"Just keep that winged one under control and I will consider us even."


I followed her directions down a dark hall until I stood in front of the elevator. Aside from the bright light surrounding the edges of it, it looked like an ordinary elevator. The doors opened and I pushed the button. The trip up was longer than I expected. My eardrums popped from the pressure change.


The elevator stopped, but the doors remained closed. A few minutes later, when they still hadn't opened, I began to panic. The doors open button did nothing and there wasn't a button to set off an alarm or call for help.


My memories flashed back to my childhood cage. I could feel the steel bars containing me, pressing against my skin, incinerating cohesive thought. Tears fell. I screamed and banged my fists against the walls, wailing, begging for my escape. Part of me knew I was having a panic attack, but the primitive part of me screamed at my loss of freedom. Giving up on the walls, I tried to pull the doors open with my fingernails.


I couldn't breathe; my throat was closing. I was cloaked in a familiar darkness. It had a grainy texture that seemed more substantial than it had been before. Suddenly, light blazed in a blinding flash that shocked me enough to take several moments before I realized I was out of the elevator.


My body was shaking from anxiety and I held my eyelids closed, as if blocking the light out would release me from the mortification of my episode. When I finally peeked, I found Ash staring down at me. He held me in his arms, whispering soothing words, furrowing his brow the way he did when he was worried.


"I'm okay. You can let go now."


Ash pulled away sharply, placing our complicated past between us once more. Behind him stood two abnormally large men wearing black uniforms. The first was beginning to show the frost of age, his skin crinkled, his hair graying. He had the look of a seasoned warrior who had seen his fair share of death, but a soft kindness still lingered in his blue eyes. Strange symbols had been tattooed on various areas of his visible skin and I wondered if they were a cultural thing.


But then I noticed that both the guards’ necks held the identical tattoo, two daggers crisscrossed with the blades pointing down. In the center of the daggers was a spear with the sharp end pointing upwards. The black weapons were surrounded by a knotted circle that glowed a bright red, vaguely resembling the Celtic knot.


The second guard was much younger. I doubted he had seen a true battle, but he looked fit enough to handle himself. His hair had been shaved until barely half an inch of blond hair was left to warm his scalp. He smiled, showing his razor sharp teeth, and I twitched at the sight. I would have been tempted to back away, but his eyes were filled with rich emotion, as though a churning sea were held in their depths.