Caged by Damnation (Caged #2)(5)

Savannah's Journal

I had spent a lifetime fearing myself, my parents, and what I might become. Now, I knew that my experiences weren't always what they seemed. I had come to accept myself, while retaining some anxiety about the mysteries within me.

I was a witch, a child of darkness, a descendent of the Nephilim with demon blood and an angelic parent. In short, I had come to accept that Asmodeus had been right when he’d declared I was an Anakim.

Nephilim were born from one human and one angelic parent. My lineage, as a member of the Cross family, meant that I was like other witches, but with demon blood passed down to me.

During the age of the Nephilim, the Angels were ordered to abstain from sexual relations with humans. This would allow the power to pass through the bloodline, but would dilute the blood. This would eliminate the danger of a human with the capacity for evil and the power of a seraph.

I was a product of a loophole. My parents were both witches of the Cross line. However, my mother had been possessed by an angel and had reproduced with my father. The result was a unique combination of demonic blood, wiccan magic, and angelic power. I was still attempting to come to terms with being more angel than human. I still didn't know just how much demon was in me, but I was beginning to.

My witch parents were both deceased. I was alone, but somewhere out there was an angel, a second mother, but an absentee one at best. Did I want to know her? Would I look like her? I couldn't imagine a true maternal connection with anyone other than Maye, but secretly I admitted my curiosity.

SAVANNAH

I had spent the summer trying to keep my mind off my past and on the future. That was where Josephine came in. She was training me in the art of divination. Apparently, I had an untapped gift for it, which surprised everyone in the coven. Most witches could perform some form of divination, but they only saw a hint of the future. It was rare to have an ability of my magnitude, which once taught might be greater than Josephine's. Since Josephine was the greatest visionary of our time, this made me something of a prodigy. Only a few of us knew that I could see the future due to the angelic and demonic blood running through my veins.

Good and evil tend to dictate the actions of each individual; each individual’s action then influences the actions of those around them. Having the blood of demons and angels made my third eye especially sensitive to the intricacies of the future. I could pave my way through possible futures and discover unknown threads in a way that surprised even Josephine.

I asked Josephine to forgo her usual trip into town and spend the day with me. The request was unusual on my part since we rarely deviated from our scheduled sessions, but given the stress I had been under, she agreed.

There are many methods of divination, such as tarot cards, palm reading, and tea leaves, and each witch has their own preference. I preferred to scry with water or flames to induce visions. This was an open method, more difficult to control what I saw. I couldn’t direct the visions; instead I was bombarded by random scenes. In some ways, never knowing where the flames would take me gave me a sense of freedom.

Sitting in the backyard, Josephine had lit a small campfire for me to scry with. Ordinarily, I was a natural, but with my emotions out of balance, divination was significantly more difficult. The impending rendezvous with Death worried me. Either way, I would lose a loved one, Ash or Willow.

Forcing myself to let go of my troubles, I gazed directly into the flames. Their warmth seeped through my essence to comfort me in an embrace. The fire grasped firmly, pulling me backwards into a dark void.

My heart pounded while I looked around at the vortex. It was as though all the events of my life were suddenly taking place on a four-dimensional screen, surrounding me. Only, the vortex couldn't pinpoint a single event, everything was left to fight. Suddenly, it stopped. A cool breeze smothered the flames and I could see.

It was cold in this crimson wasteland. At the edge of my vision were a few sparse trees, but they were infested with a red virus. It infected the trunks and was reaching for the branches. The tan sky was devoid of its natural wonder, as if the life had been sucked from it.

I blinked and the scene changed. I was still standing in the wasteland, but now it was covered in death. The decaying bodies of fallen men and women were strewn about. I searched the field for any sign of life. There was none.

I screamed in horror and turned to flee, but my flight was blocked by a hazy figure. I couldn’t quite make out features, but then it moved away slightly, and I was staring into a familiar face. He leaned forward and brushed the tears from my eyes.

Asmodeus smiled and crooked a finger beneath my chin to raise my face. “Shhh… little Anakim. This is not real. It’s merely a vision of what may come.”

My brows crinkled. “You’re … you’re dead. How can you see me?”

Asmodeus laughed.

Tears flooded my eyes while I spun in circles. I tried to find something to hold onto, something that represented my life, or the one I was used to. Unfortunately, the movement forced my petite frame into another spiral. This one was not of my choosing. It was rather like being on a waterslide, plummeting at a fast pace. The more I tried to stop it, the faster the slide became, pulling me down into an unfeeling, inky darkness. The temperature dropped. I screamed, but no one would hear. This wasn't supposed to happen. Visions were safe.

I landed on a hard surface, knocking air from my lungs on impact. Ouch, would have been an understatement. I remained still for a few minutes, as I concentrated on my breathing in an attempt to calm myself. When I regained my composure, I looked around at my surroundings. My brief encounter with Asmodeus was over. I stood at the edge of a forest with a house before me. Technically, it was closer to a castle. Not the fairytale, I want to wear a pretty, princess tiara type of castle, but more along the lines of the once you enter, you will never leave haunted castle.