Caged in Darkness Read online

3: Surrogate

  Third Entry: Safety

  When Maye issued the council meeting, the adults from the surrounding houses gathered in the casting circle. Outsiders from nearby districts drove to Meadow falls and joined the coven to discuss my situation. The adults clustered together in the circle surrounding the altar. The outsiders revealed themselves as representatives of the sister covens. It was decided that my parents were a poison that needed to be eliminated, and the covens would band together to be the antidote.

  That night Maye made certain my parents could never hurt another. She took me in and promised to never allow anyone to harm me. The expression on her face was heart wrenching. Her clothes were scorched, and she had a gash across her right cheek. She moved slowly, not due to physical exhaustion, but rather emotional drain. Her hunchback seemed to be tied to gravity; she was bent over as though a ghostly weight lay on her shoulders.

  Maye closed the distance between us and encircled my shoulders to hug me. To others it would look as though she were comforting me, but she was the one who needed comfort. I would have preferred not to be touched, but I forced myself not to stiffen at the contact. This was the woman who had saved me. How could I deny her one moment of human comfort?