Caged by Damnation (Caged #2)(6)

As cliché as it was, I wanted to enter.

When I couldn't tear myself out of my vision, my suspicion that it wasn't ordinary was confirmed. I had been deserted, left to fend for myself in a vision directly out of a horror film, compelled to live out the waking nightmare.

The gargantuan doors opened at my approach. The castle was dark, humid, and entirely too dirty for my peace of mind. The sound of scuttling vermin whispered across the floor. I hoped that the rats weren't hungry.

I hesitated in the doorway. A large staircase lay in the foyer with rooms to each side. Turning, I peered back at the yard and wondered about my options. If I moved forward, I was terrified of what waited for me, but if I didn't, would I be stuck in a never-ending vision? Would my body waste away in a comatose state?

I plunged forward, cringing as the doors closed firmly behind me. I would have been grateful that the moonlight allowed me to see where I was going, but it gave the castle a menacing air. Cold, I ran my hands up and down my biceps. Should I turn or go up the staircase? Tears slid along my cheeks and I couldn't help but wish that Asmodeus were here. I would have been relieved by any familiar presence.

The rust-filled sound of a door hinge creaking open startled me from my musing. It had come from the right, but another sound soon followed from the left. My feet moved forward, but stopped when footsteps sounded from behind. The front door flew open in an angry gust and I raced up the staircase. Only, when I reached the top, I wondered if I was doing exactly what the entity of this castle wanted.

I continued moving, stopping to feel along the wall in an attempt to escape. The instinct to survive was natural – fight or flight – embedded in my DNA, but I didn't know what I was fleeing from. I found myself in a window-lined corridor. Many of the windows were broken. The sheer curtains swayed with each breath of air, as if the house were inhaling my essence and releasing the scent in excitement.

Lured into the comfort of the light, I found myself standing in the middle of the corridor, with no idea of how my feet had been enticed to step there. As if in a trance, I looked out the window to my right, down into the courtyard. Vines climbed along the walls, inching towards the sky, aching for the light.

Windows peppered the walls between the plants, and inside, red eyes were blinking up at me. Thousands of creatures stared out those windows, stalking me with their gaze. Screaming, I backed away from the eyes shifting within the rooms, until my back hit the cold glass behind me.

As a gust of air smothered my neck, I turned quickly around to face a cavernous mouth blocking the outer edge of the windows. The house seemed to have come alive, its jaws appearing before the glass, ready to ingest me. The rows of razor sharp teeth were each larger than my entire body and it was salivating. I screamed, visualizing them tearing into my porcelain-smooth flesh and gnawing on bones that were left over.

At the end of the glass-lined walkway, a doorway lit up in the shape of a crescent moon, surrounded by cracks of blinding light. I had one chance to escape, and this miracle door was it. I made my way towards it at a breakneck pace, praying that I wouldn't trip. My heart pounded, creating the illusion of time standing still and chaos accelerating around me. Screams of glee met the chase I offered, glancing down I realized the sounds came from the beady eyes in the windows on the opposite side of the walkway.

Behind me, the mouth roared in sync with my blood. The Hell's mouth widened, and broke through the glass from the outer courtyard. The floor crumbled as it pursued me, threatening to pull me into the mouth. Before the mahogany flooring could force me to succumb to its fate, I yanked the door open and jumped through. The sound of unsatisfied famine followed me through before the door slammed shut.

My hands and knees slid across gravel. The pain barely registered in the wake of my fear spiraling out of control. I was afraid to look, but my eyes flew open at the sound of birds singing and water rushing. I was cowering before a garden, complete with a bridge and waterfall. The doorway gently disappeared.

The aura of plants reassured me that I was safe. My eyes touched on the silvery sheen of living water, a characteristic found only in a place of divine energy. I crawled towards the water, forcing my body to move while my wounds begged me to remain still. My toes were barely submerged when the liquid glided along my skin, soothing my aching cuts. It brushed through the locks of my hair and removed itself, taking my fear with it.

In the absence of terror, I felt drained, and suddenly heavy. The flowers bathed me in their sweet nectar, and the water welcomed me with its promise of protection. It wasn't long before the birds sang me into a hypnotic sleep. I was safe; I was sheltered.

I awoke to the sound of crickets and the crackles and bursts of a nearby fire. My nerves grated along my temples, bursting forth as a migraine. Groaning, I sat up and was confused when I wasn't greeted by divine beauty. The vision had loosened its hold, allowing the physical world to embrace me.

Josephine brought me a steaming mug. Instinctively, I latched onto the connection she brought with her. Her hands were ice cold, in spite of the steam writhing around her brittle fingers. In a single gulp, I tossed back the tea, trying not to gag at the foul taste in my mouth. The warmth of the drink pushed the healing properties towards every angle of my body. I always wondered what the secret ingredient was in the miracle poultice of Josephine’s tea.

"I had a strange vision." My voice came out in wisps, as though my voice remained trapped in the clenched jaws of my vision.