Cage of Roses

It took awhile for me to get up from the table. It took even longer for me to fall asleep that night. My uncle knew who it was that had cursed me. He knew the answer to the most important question I had. And yet he wouldn't tell me. That night I didn't feel like going through the books again, like I had been planning to. Instead I laid down and covered myself with a blanket. I was still laying under it when he left for work the next day.

"I won't be back till late. Don't make dinner for me either." He said in a tired voice.

I didn't reply and he wasn't expecting one. I heard the sound of his footsteps then the door closing. I waited until I heard the car driving away to get up. My raven who had been sleeping till now woke up and followed me as I headed towards my uncles room. The answer had to be in there. I was sure of it.

It took a while for me to get the door open. Of course even with my uncle's limited power no normal human would have been able to open the door. The spells made sure of that. Thankfully I wasn't just a normal person. Armed with my lock picks ( my da gave them to me for my third birthday. I have no idea why) I somehow managed to move the spells away long enough to unlock the door. My uncle's room was nothing special. It didn't really have anything in it that marked the room as his.

"Now where do you think he keeps his books?" I asked the raven as he flew past me to land on my uncle's bed.

He cawed and settled down to sleep. He wasn't going to be any help. Shaking my head I got started looking around his room. I could feel the dim embers that were his power in the spells but they were all normal. I didn't see anything that could be hiding the books I was looking for. I was about to give up when I noticed one spot on the wall was a different shade then the rest. You wouldn't have noticed unless you'd been staring at it for a long time. Walking over to it I sprayed my hands along the wall feeling the difference.

"Well it seems my uncle's smarter then I thought." I said out loud.

He'd know the first thing someone would look for was a concealment. It took a little time (and two of my lock picks) but I got the panel off. Inside the wall was a stack of books. I could tell even before I picked them up that they were old and held some powerful stuff. Holding them to my chest I sat down and opened the first one. Two hours later I closed the last book and shut my eyes. There was more evil then good in the books then I'd thought there'd be. But at least now I had my answer.

"Come on let's go." I said as I stood up replacing the books a moment later.

My raven cawed and flew out of the room after me. I didn't realize until I was packing my stuff that I was visibly shaking. Shutting my eyes again I tried to calm down but there was nothing I could do. I was terrified. Now I knew why my uncle didn't want me to know who I was dealing with. Now I knew what I was up against and I wish I didn't.

"Why the hell is this happening to my life?!" I thought my brain unable to comprehend what I'd learned.

"It's insane." I said out loud.

Slumping to the ground I shook my head. But it was still the same. I was being toyed with by a god.