Read Online Caged in Darkness by J. D. Stroube - Free Book Online Page A

up close it was more like pixels that didn’t quite
blend together. It was like looking at a photograph so closely that
it no longer resembles a picture, just fragments of random
colors.
    I half expected my fingers to pass straight
through the rug, but they felt solid wood when I touched it. There
was a board on top of the real floor that was half an inch high,
and camouflaged by the rug. Why would my parents go through this
much trouble to hide something and yet make it so obvious that it
was there?
    The board wasn’t difficult to pry away, and
once it was removed from the space, it looked like an ordinary
board. In its place was a tiny indentation in the floor. It
revealed a small lever resembling an elongated door knob. I didn’t
hesitate; I reached to pull the lever, and the bookcase against the
wall, glided forward and to the left. It left a hole that was
barely big enough for an adult to fit through.
    I vaguely wondered if finding this lever had
been the type of instinctual feelings Maye had talked of. The
secret pathway was jet-black. It was difficult to imagine light
ever being held within its walls.
    Thanks to modern technology, I was able to
use my cell phone as a flashlight. After I tugged the phone from
the pocket of my jeans the pathway lit up. It revealed a narrow
hallway. Cobwebs and I imagined spiders, hovered around as I moved
forward.
    Pointing my cell phone towards the back
wall, I kept my right hand on the wall to make sure I didn’t miss a
turn and to brush the webs from my face. I could still feel the
silk graze my neck and shoulders. After about 300 feet, I felt a
draft graze my bare arms. The source of the draft was a small
rectangular room. It resembled an attic in an ancient house, with
cobwebs connecting various artifacts that were layered in dust and
the occasional sheet draped furniture.
    A five foot long metal chest sat in the
middle of the room, and when I tried to open it I found that it
needed a key. A bar similar to a ballet barre connected two walls,
and was filled with garments and bizarre robes. Some of the
clothing looked like it was from the Renaissance period.
    From a bookcase, I pulled out a leather
bound text with torn pages that were literally falling apart at the
seams. Sifting through it, I discovered it was journal from an
ancestor of mine. In fact, all of the books looked like journals
from various ancestors.
    In a vanity, I discovered antique jewelry
with strange symbols inscribed on them. I touched a necklace with a
ruby stone at its center. It felt as though someone had warmed it
with their breath. The other jewelry was similar. Some burned at my
touch, others were icy, and one of the rings made me lightheaded. I
found a choker necklace with a pentacle dangling from it. The
pentacle was inset with small blue sapphires. When I placed the
choker around my neck, my body became infused with warmth. A
bracelet with the Triquetra dangling from it caught my eye, and was
soon attached to my wrist.
    A table layered with strange items was
placed next to the vanity. There was a bowl, ink, stamps with
designs I had never seen before, a small stick shaped object, and a
bone with a needle attached to it. I made a mental note to ask Maye
about the items later.
    I looked around, and even though my cell lit
up some of the room, darkness had begun to ingest the light.
Shadows danced across the walls and vines slithered up my legs. I
could smell my parents’ taint here and yet I was drawn to this
place.
    In the corner nearest to the entryway, was a
box that resembled a casket the size of a china doll. Unlike a
casket, it was made entirely of clear quartz with a large
bloodstone imbedded on the lid.
    The light shown on the casket and I watched
as gray smoke shifted within. When I drew the light away, the
shifting became more furious, but calmed when I brought my cell
phone next to it. I noticed inscriptions carved into the quartz and
the bloodstone. They looked similar to Egyptian