Chapter one
"Lily?" I heard Prue call, "You need to get up"
I ignored her and rolled over. I had only gotten home three hours ago and had had little sleep since then. My body was bruised and sore from a night of fighting I had not quiet foreseen; breathing caused pain to shoot across my chest. The thought of moving and standing was enough to make my mind go numb. My eyes closed and I was whisked away into a dream, a proper make believe world which was a rather rare occurrence for me. Unfortunately I had barely taken in my surroundings before I was pulled out.
I felt my duvet being pulled off me; my body was exposed to the chill that was always present in the house during the colder months. "Lily. Get. Up." Prue said towering over me, I groaned and covered my face with my arms. I felt the bed move as Prue sat down. "Lily" she said this time a little calmer. I felt her touch my arm, I quickly withdrew from her touch, partly from the pain caused by last night's miserable efforts and partly because any touch always made me feel the smallest amount of fear.
I sat up and made my way off the bed moving quickly in an attempt to shun the pain. "Fine" I snapped as I made my way towards the door, I stood there waiting for Prue to leave, forcing my body to remain standing and not double over in pain. She quickly got the hint and left telling me to hurry as she walked past me, classic Prue always had to have the last word. 'Don't have the best relationship with her' I thought as I closed the door and stumbled to the mirror.
I had to tug at my nightie to get it free from the muck that must have covered my back. I let it drop around my ankles as I studied my body. I was very lucky Prue had not seen anything, my body was covered in bruises, I sighed as I realised what a struggle the day would be.
I found my clothes from the night before, they were blooded and torn. I fished under my bed for a plastic bag to hide them in, which I instantly regretted, as I stood up a sharp pain radiated from my knee, I let out a small cry as I felt myself fall to the ground. My knee was incredibly swollen, 'How the hell am I going to hide that?' I thought to myself. I forced myself to stand and struggled to gather my clothes, I wrapped my dressing gown around me, did a quick scan of the hallway and after discovering it was empty stumbled towards the bathroom.
The water was cold, the result of being the third to have a shower. I stepped into the stream, it stung at first but that soon gave way to comfort. I watched as the blood stained water disappeared down the drain, hiding my secret with it. I grabbed a face washer and scrubbed at my back getting the more stubborn clumps of blood off.
My body began to shake with cold and I realised my shower was over. I carefully dried myself; my back was raw but not bleeding. I found comfort in the fact that by tonight the pain would be gone and by tomorrow all the bruises and scrapes would have disappeared.
I could almost feel Prue waiting impatiently for me down stairs. I quickly got dressed, did a once over of the bathroom to make sure there was no evidence of blood and made my way down stairs.
-8-
"Did you really need a shower?" I was greeted with by Prue when I entered the kitchen. "Good morning Lily" Piper said rather cheerfully clearly trying to relieve the tension that had already built up in the room. "Hi, Piper" I said to her with a smile. "Lily, are you limping?" Piper asked, "Oh yeah. I um … a boy tripped me while we were playing soccer, think I jarred it" I come up with quickly; it seemed to address Pipers curiosity.
I went to the fridge and grabbed out the milk. "Lily, we don't have time for cereal, just grab some fruit" Prue said grabbing the milk from me. I glanced at the clock, 8:40am we were really running late. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?" I asked her. "I shouldn't have to" Prue replied. "You woke up Phoebe" I said, I knew where this was going and I knew I would win. "Phoebe hasn't lived in this house for six months" Prue tried. 'Lame' I thought to myself, "You woke her up when she was here and she was a teenager" I retorted. "We have to go now Lily" Prue said 'Yes a change in subject, I win' I gloated to myself. "You would still think Phoebe was here" Piper started "The way you two fight. You have really stepped up haven't you Lily?" "I try" I replied sarcastically. Prue just glared at me, then at Piper who was trying to hide a giggle.
"Prue, you go to work. I'll take Lily." Piper offered. "I don't want to burden you" Prue said to her sister. "Burden" I remarked "Is that what I am?" "No Lily that's not what I meant" Prue said in a softer tone, but I knew it was kind of what she meant. Last week Prue had gained full guardianship of me, since then she has ensured she was the one to take care of me, even though Piper lived with us and unlike Prue did not have a job. I broke my gaze with her. "Piper, are you sure you don't mind?" Prue said. "Nope" Piper said.
With that Prue was out the door. Piper walked over to the pantry, "What would you like?" she asked. I smile at her "Oreo". "I can't believe you talked me into buying them. Plus you said they were only for special occasions" Piper said as she filled a bowl with the yummy black o's. I got the milk out of the fridge once again and sat at the table. "Well, it is a school day" I said. "So?" Piper questioned as she placed the bowl in front of me, "I'm getting an education, that's special. Not all kids my age get to go to school" Piper laughed "I'm going to use that one next time you refuse to go" she said.
-8-
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, there was a small bruise under my right eye 'If the sisters hadn't seen it then chances are the teacher wont' I said trying to reassure myself. I couldn't actually remember being hit in the face. I had been searching for the warlock that was running amuck killing witches when I ran into five demons stalking the street for their next kill. I usually only took three on at a time but I couldn't let the gang get away. I was able to lure them into an ally. Things started well; I destroyed two within minutes but one managed to grab hold of me and threw me across the alley causing me to crash into a pile of wooden boxes tearing my back up. I eventually got rid of two more although it caused me a lot of pain and cost me my knee. The last one bailed out, leaving me struggling for air and dreading the long walk across the city.
"Need help?" I heard Piper ask as she entered my room. I picked up the brush and handed it to her. It was one of the first ways we had bonded when I had arrived at the manor six years ago. She began to comb my hair, constantly getting stuck within the many knots it contained. "Maybe you should have washed your hair" Piper said, screwing up her face. I nodded in agreement. "What have you been doing?" she exclaimed as she pulled a splinter of wood from my hair. I just shrugged; I had found that often a shrug was enough to get people to stop asking questions.
