Caged in Darkness (Caged #1)(48)

“Yes. Savannah is a big girl and she can handle herself. Leave them be.”

Maye walked away with a look of pity. I sat on the stairs with my head in my lap. I could hear Savannah and Liam talking, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I comforted myself with the thought that if they were talking, they weren’t kissing.

Liam walked into the hallway and stood at the door to wait for Savannah. A few minutes later, she walked up to him with an apology for making him wait. Her back was to me when she leaned up to hug Liam. He buried his face in her hair, squeezed tight and gave her a lingering kiss on the lips. My insides screamed at their kiss, but I forced myself to remain still. I turned my gaze to a used a picture that hung on the wall next to the door. I used the painting as a focal point and bit my lip. My lungs started to burn, but I refused to allow them control.

I was concentrating on the willow tree in the picture, when it began to smoke and caught fire. The flames released my tension, which made me slow to react. When Savannah started shouting, I stood quickly. The flames were traveling up the photo to lick the wall. She looked at me in horror, while I tore off my shirt and hit the frame to knock it from the wall. I used my shirt to smother the painting until only smoke remained. Meanwhile, Liam rushed towards the kitchen to get the fire extinguisher.

Liam came back into the room and stopped. I followed the line of his sight to see Savannah standing with her arm stretched towards the wall. The fire that had traveled up the wall was now frozen. We turned in unison when Maye stumbled into the hallway. Her hands were covered in dirt and she held a spade in one hand. Her expression was as icy, as the flames Savannah froze.

“My, what happened here? Are you all okay?” Maye looked us over for injuries and then at the ice laced wall.

“Oh dear, that wall is charred to pieces.” She sighed, seeing my guilt ridden face. “Hmmm…I suppose you are responsible for this?”

I cleared my throat and glanced back and forth at Savannah and Maye. “Yes, but it was an accident.”

“I’m sure it was. I remember your father had a similar accident, when your parents had a nasty fight. You need to control your emotions, Ash. I don’t think that the insurance company will be too happy with me if you burn this house down.” She shook her head and waved her hands at the three of us to get out of the house. We left the door open to allow the house to breathe and moved away.

“Sorry about that.” Savannah apologized to Liam and walked him to his car. I stood and watched. This time there was no kiss.

“Ash…”

I held up my hand to ward of her questions. “Why were you kissing him?”

“That? It was a goodbye kiss! It was a harmless peck.”

I bared my teeth at her. “That, was not a goodbye kiss. A goodbye kiss is a peck on the cheek or a chaste one on the lips! I told you it was all or nothing, because it would be too complicated to be halfway. You said you were in and the next day you’re kissing your ex? Why was he even here?”

She sighed, and blinked away tears. “He called and asked me to meet him. I told him that I didn’t think it was a good idea, but told him he could come here. He just wanted to explain…”

“I don’t care. You should have told me before he came and there was no excuse for that kiss!”

“Ash, please…”

I shook my head, got into my SUV and drove away. I left Savannah standing in front of the house with tears trailing down her face. I watched her form shrink in the rear view mirror. I didn’t like seeing her sad, but I hadn’t left to punish her. I left, because I knew I was losing my temper and I didn’t want another accident to happen. I also wanted some time to clear my head and to make certain my reaction was warranted. I knew that it made sense for Savannah to want to hear Liam’s explanation. She made a smart choice in having him come to the house, instead of meeting him somewhere. However, their kiss was burning an angry hole through my rationality.





13: Revelations


SAVANNAH





I waited outside for Ash to come back, but he didn’t. Maye called me in an hour later. I retreated to my room shut the world out. My solitude would bar further complications. I worried about Ash. It was understandable for him to be angry about my kiss with Liam, but I hadn't expected the kiss. Would I ever figure out how to handle men? I couldn't help but think that the movies, pronouncing women as the confusing gender, had never been a teenage girl caught between two witches and a psychotic demon.

Later that night, I heard Ash in the hallway outside my door. His footsteps paused. I held my breath waiting for him to knock, but he continued to his room.

I picked up my mothers' journal, because I promised Willow I would study it some more and I hoped it would distract me. I hadn't picked the journal up since Izzy’s mother died. My past was something I tried to keep separate from my present. I didn’t want the ghostly child I once was, to haunt me. My greatest fear was myself; my past. It terrified me that my memories had the power to destroy my soul. Reading about my mother would awaken those memories.

I piled into my bed with more pillows than usual and used the light beside the bed to examine the journal. I skimmed through the parts that had nothing to do with the demon. I didn't enjoy thinking about my mother as a regular person. Reading her thoughts and worries made her seem a mere mortal. In my mind, she was an immortal executioner who continuously raked her axe against my brain stem. I couldn’t escape her and I couldn’t run. I was eternally bound in chains and some part of me would always be in that cage, where I watched her terminate countless lives.