Cage of Roses

"Everything will be okay Jas. Don't worry." I told her as she continued to look worried.

"I want to believe that but Mal I've never felt anything like this before. Its like, it feels like something I should know but don't. It's driving me crazy!" She said shaking her head as if that would help.

"Just talk to mother and father about it. You'll feel better and they'll be warned, okay?"

"I'll try. Sorry for bothering you and sorry again for the whole thing at dinner." She said as she stood up.

"Your my older sister. It's you job to bug me." I reminded her grinning as I did.

"Good night Mal. Get some sleep." Shaking her head at me.

After awhile I heard the sounds of Jas, my father, and my mother talking below me. She must have told them. Getting up I turned off my light then crawled under my covers. It wasn't my problem, anything that had to do with "Magic" or whatever it is called, was supposed to get told to my parents first. So why had Jas told me about it first? I didn't know anything. I gave up studying stuff like that when it became apparent that I had no powers.

"She should have gone to them." I muttered as I pulled the blankets tighter around my body.

It took awhile for me to fall asleep. And even then the smallest sound would wake me up. I knew the charms around my room would stop even the strongest demon from getting in but still what Jas had said played on my mind. IN the end I fell into a fitful sleep my dreams fading in and out throughout the night.

What woke me up the next morning wasn't the sound of a boom. It was something stabbing me in the arm. Turning over I felt the same thing happen to my other arm. Thinking there was something on my bed stabbing me I sat up running my finger through my bangs trying to wake up. Prying open my eyes I turned shoving aside my comforter so I could find whatever had stabbed me.

I smelled them before I saw them. The smell of roses, which was strange since I didn't have anything rose scented in my room. Looking down at my arms I blinked a few times making sure what I was seeing wasn't a hallucination. Around both of my wrists was a circle of thorns and on each circle was a rose. Carefully I reached over and started to run my finger along one of the roses. Electricity shot through me when the petals bent under my fingers.

"What the hell?' I asked pulling my finger away.

I did it again and the same thing happened. Steeling myself I reached over and touched one of the thorns. A small prick of pain hit my finger, when i pulled it away I saw a drop of blood swelling where the thorn had pierced my skin. This was unreal. There was no way.

That's when I screamed.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Mal! What's wrong?!" My sister yelled bursting into my room as I continued to scream.

When she saw the blood on my finger she rushed over and grabbed my arm. I tried to stop her but she learned soon enough. Her fingers touched the thorns and she pulled them away. Now I wasn't the only one bleeding. I stopped screaming long enough to grab some tissues and wrap them around her fingers.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" My father yelled as he and my mother dashed into the room.

They took in the sight of my sister clutching the tissues and me with tears in my eyes. They knew something was wrong. When I saw them staring I raised my arm and showed them the thorns and rose.

"How is this possible?" I asked as the blood that had dripped on the rose trembled in the petal.

* * * *

"It must be a spell of some kind." My father said.

We had all moved to the dining room where my mother took care of the cuts before they started to examine the roses. They poured their magic onto it but like my father said it was nothing they had ever seen before.

"Its growing magic." My mother concluded setting a book on the table.

"Growing magic? How can that be?" My father asked as she flipped through the pages.

"It's a spell my master forbid me to learn. I did it anyway. It's a way of placing your mark on someone so they will never be lost to you."

"That doesn't sound so bad." My sister said as she placed her hand in my careful of the thorns this time.

"If that were only it my master wouldn't have forbid me to learn it. The spell is a death spell." She said her eyes on me.

"A death spell?" I asked my voice hollow.

"Only someone who is truly strong can cast this spell. And the only reason they would was so they could complete the other half of it. When the roses and thorns cover your entire body they will begin to kill you. The thorns growing sharper and sharper each month. And when the time comes one word from the caster and . . . ." She didn't say the rest but I could tell.

I had once seen what happened to a dog that raced through a rose bush. It barely survived but it was missing an eye and it had to get it's leg removed. I knew I didn't have half the chance that dog did. Looking down at the rose I saw it shake a thin vine flowing from under it. My clock was already ticking.