Caged in Darkness (Caged #1)(27)
“He used rituals to bring back the souls of the dead to gain knowledge.”
That confused me. “Wait, I thought you needed something that represented a specific person in order to communicate with the dead?”
Willow smiled. “The blood of someone is the most significant representation of that person. Since he was their descendent, their blood was also his blood.”
That was interesting. The possibilities of communicating with the first witches from your line would be amazing, but I had a feeling it would take a lifetime to communicate with all your ancestors.
An hour later, I was examining clothing from the passageway when Willow jumped to her feet. At first I thought that a spider must have crawled near her, but then I saw the way she was looking at the journal.
“Oh my God!” She looked at me and back at the book. “Did you know how the royal lineages were created?” I shook my head. “It says here that the first witches were Nephilim. Apparently, most of the Nephilim were whipped out of existence. However, the few who managed to refrain from destructive actions were spared. The Cross family was unique, because not only are they the descendants of Nephilim, but they also have the blood of demons running through their veins.”
Willow sat on an unopened box, while I waited to hear the rest. I was descended from Nephilim? Why would a Nephilim allow their blood to mix with a demon?
“It says that they were born to angel and man, but destined to precede the fallen unto earth. They would feed from the darkness to be born again in the light. It then says something about how the royal lineages took part in a ritual and fed on the blood of demons.”
Willow snapped the book shut and stared at me. “You know that doesn’t mean anything bad, right? I mean, even if you have some demon blood in you, it doesn’t make you evil.”
“I know.” Shaking my head, I went back to the box I had been searching through. I moved aside a silk shawl to discover the box we had been searching for. I picked it up and showed it to Willow.
Willow examined the box and had me repeat my experience in the passageway. Her brow was crinkled, which happened when she was deep in thought. She picked through some of the books we brought with us to the attic and started flipping through them. I knew this was a sign that I was dead to her until she found what she was looking for.
Now that I found the bloodstone box, I didn’t have a target to look for. I pulled the box Willow had been going through and started sorting through the journals. Some of the bindings were falling to pieces, but others were perfectly preserved. I came to find that while they all looked like journals; some of them were filled with spells, rituals, and research.
I didn’t spend much time looking at any specific journal, but started organizing them into piles based on their contents. At the bottom of the box, I found the newest collection. There was a journal by a man who would have been my third cousin, a great aunt, my grandmother, and my grandfather. I placed those journals in a special pile. I never considered what my other relatives would have been like, but now I was curious. Descendants of angels and demons; I wondered if any of them knew.
Lastly, a single journal remained in the box. It was more modern and in great condition. I opened it to see that the handwriting was a delicate script, which must have been a woman’s. I quickly flipped through the pages and saw that the further I got in the journal, the worse the writing became. Curious, I went back to the first page and was dumbstruck, when I saw the name “Irena Cross” in large letters.
I was holding my mother's journal, which was a strange concept. I remembered my mother when she still had spurts of kindness and wondered what she had been like before she became a monster.
“Do you know what bloodstone is used for?”
Grasping the journal in my hands, I moved closer to Willow.
“I know a little. It’s used to increase the power of a spell. Doesn’t it also have something to do with protection?”
“Yeah, bloodstone is supposed to provide protection against demons and it also gives the user power over demons. It is also used to banish evil.”
“Quartz is used for protection and containment, right?” I had heard the word demon too many times lately. I was starting to feel ill at the implications that this box had.
“S, I think this box was made to contain a demon and to protect others from it. It makes sense considering what you saw in that passage and last night…”
I held my hand up to stop her. I was beginning to feel caged in. If that box was meant to protect everyone from a demon and I unleashed it, that meant I was responsible for anyone it harmed. Oh God, what if it hurt someone I care about?
“The only thing I can’t figure out is why it is interested in you. I mean, it makes sense that you would see it in the passage, but why would it follow you here?” Willow walked to me and spun me around to face her.
“I don’t know! Okay? If I knew I would tell you, but I don’t.” My head was beginning to spin and I couldn’t get enough oxygen. Willow noticed immediately and led me downstairs and back into my bedroom. I sat on the bed with my mother’s journal still clenched in my fist.
“Maybe we should ask Maye about this?” Willow asked shyly.
“No!” I started to panic again. “I don’t want to worry her. She’ll probably just say it was a hallucination or whatever. This is something I need to figure out on my own. Besides, we don’t even know if this demon is going to come back….”