Caged in Darkness (Caged #1)(8)

Ash knew that when I was alone in the house I tended to have panic attacks. He learned that the hard way when he came home with Maye from seeing a movie, to find me curled in fetal position in the kitchen pantry. When they tried to comfort me, I slashed at them with my nails, while letting forth a growl. My mind simply wouldn’t process who they were, and as cornered animals do… I viewed them as a threat. Ash managed to lure me out of my internal rage by singing to me. When my mind began to process who I had been slashing at, I broke down into tears. They made a point not to leave me home alone again.

“Mmmm… nope.” I avoided his eyes, as I shoved my books into the tote at my feet. “I’m not going to be home anyway. I promised Izzy we could go dress shopping today.” I rolled my eyes at Izzy.

“Well, if I am going to be seen with you two wallflowers, you can’t look like you just rolled out of bed. It’s either wear my clothes or buy something new. Since you and Willow insist my wardrobe is too garish for your complexions; that leaves shopping…” Izzy shrugged with a smile and walked off towards her first period class.

Ash blocked my way when I tried to follow. “You’re going shopping?” He laughed, “To a mall… to buy real clothes?” Amusement and disbelief ran rampant in his voice.

I shoved Ash gently against the locker. “Yes, to the mall for real clothes. What kind of clothes did you think I was going to buy?” I crossed my arms and gave him my, be careful what you say or you’ll regret it stare.

Griffin came to Ash’s rescue by shouting that they needed to get to class or they would be late. Ash glanced at me, shrugged and said “Guess I can’t answer that question. Talk to you tonight, S.”

I looked in the direction that Izzy had gone and slowly ambled forward. This was going to be a long day. Not only did I have to worry about a calculus test and the inevitable bruising from self defense class, but I had to worry about shopping too.





Ash





When Savannah turned, her hair grazed my face and brought the fresh scent of strawberries. I thought it was ironic that she was firm in her decision to be anti-feminine, considering that she added small accents, which were very much feminine. Savannah had been that way since the first day I met her. She fought a war within herself; always trying to be someone she wasn’t. She was beautiful, but she hid it behind baggy clothes. She was smart, but she never opened her mouth to show it. She was insecure and yet she deliberately took the lead, as if daring her personality to deny her anything.

At first, I was jealous when Savannah came to live with us. I had been uncomfortable with the idea of sharing Maye since she was the only family I had left. When I thought of the look in Savannah’s eyes the night she showed up on our lawn; the vacant cavern of emotion behind her gaze, I wanted to rescue her.

I was a child when Savannah came to live with us and didn’t realize that she couldn’t be fixed. She wasn’t a disease or a broken computer; she was a girl who had endured the nine circles of hell and survived. I admired her, but more than that I loved her. I had to share Maye, but I gained so much more.

I couldn’t help but feel protective of Savannah; it was in my nature. I was an Emmons; it was in our blood to protect our loved ones, just as it was in our nature to descend into a poisonous rage when those loved ones are threatened. The thought of the trials Savannah endured, was enough to make me lengthen my fangs and hiss.

I walked to English, and went to each of my classes, but they were more of a formality at this point. Other than first period English and fourth period gym, I had enough credits to graduate. Rather than taking a course load of unneeded electives, I choose to go home directly after lunch.

As a senior, I sat in the first cafeteria. My small band of friends took up the table in the middle of the room, which meant that we were the object of many stares. Unlike my friends, I was uncomfortable with people watching me. I felt like a stage puppet for the student population. Griffin enjoyed performing for everyone. I didn’t.

My table was filled mostly with girls and a handful of guys. I sat on the far end of it, which over looked the entrance to the cafeteria. Griffin sat directly across from me and Isis next to him. The rest weren’t witches, and remained unaware of what we were.

Isis was a member of the coven, but I found her annoyingly flirtatious. Her cruelty towards Savannah and her friends made me dislike her. Many considered Isis beautiful, but her beauty lay in her appearance only. Her skin was the shade of bronzed coffee. Her hair hung straight down her back to graze her thighs, and her eyes were like red garnets. She wore her makeup the way ancient Egyptians had, with the color outlining her eyes to make them seem catlike. She had an amazing body; thin with long legs and big breasts. I knew that was why Griffin kept her around. They hooked up on a regular basis, but neither really wanted the other for anything more than sex.

Isis was rarely found without her two best friends, Jen and Stacey. They were twins from the coven, but their parents had taken them out of the country to visit relatives in Ireland for a few weeks. Isis was alone and she did not look happy about it. She was on a war path and her personality depicted it.

I winced, thinking that Isis would probably go out of her way to cause problems for Savannah until her friends were back to distract her. She usually attacked Savannah when she was in a bad mood.

“Look who just walked in.” Isis craned her neck, as she pointed out Savannah entering the cafeteria. “It’s such a shame that she has the body of a child. She could almost be pretty. Maybe I should suggest a plastic surgeon to fix her problem areas.” Her eyes sparkled with wicked intent. “I mean, she is almost sixteen. It’s not normal to be so flat chested. Maybe, she is really a boy?” Isis looked me in the eye, daring me to defend Savannah. I ignored her, and ate my fries.