A Life worth living
Chapter one : Charlie's Charms
" Emma, you know how I said I couldn't find the box with the really old books?" Charlie yelled from the back room of the shop. " There are a lot of boxes with old books, which one?" Emma yelled back as she sat cross legged on the counter, while rolling a crystal ball in her hands. " The one with all the books about the demons that have died out from existence, well I found it." Charlie said while coming out of the back room with both of his hands holding onto the bottom of a cardboard box and placing it on the counter next to Emma.
Charlie was the owner of this shop which was called Charlie's Charms and this shop carried everything from ancient artifacts to supplies for witchcraft, you name it this shop has it. Charlie was also the father to Emma his 17 year old daughter, Charlie was only 18 when he had Emma so you can imagine that he is a pretty young father. Charlie stood around 6'2 with thick shaggy dark brown hair going a little past his ears. He had these eye's that were blue as the sky and full of love and life and a five o'clock shadow that seem to never go away, needless to say he was a very handsome man. Emma had this long hair that was as dark as her fathers, she pretty much had all of his features except for her eyes, she had these dark chocolate brown eyes that she received from her mother. Emma's mother left Charlie and her about three years ago, and so for the last three years it has just been Charlie and Emma, Emma was the center of Charlie's world, from the day she was born they had such a strong bond, and if anything were to happen to either one of them, they wouldn't be able to live.
Watching as her father placed the dusty box full of books on the counter, Emma put the crystal ball back down on the counter next to the cash register, right after her dad opened up the box, Emma began to go through the books and right away one book caught her eye, this particular book had a brown hardcover that was hanging on by a thread and had no title, right away Emma was drawn to it, she was always drawn to books that were like that, to her they always seemed to hold the best information. With the book in hand Emma flipped open the cover and started to read the first page, almost forgetting about reality.
" Emma get off the counter, I don't want your butt were my costumers pay"
Charlie said while he gently pushed against Emma's back to get her to move. While still reading the book, Emma jumped down from the counter and moved to the arm chair that was sitting next to the shop door. Emma slumped in the red chair and placed the open book on her lap, and began to get lost with in the pages of the book once again.
" Gunn ! Not on the seat !" Angel yelled while looking through his review mirror as he drove down the dark street.
"….too late" Gunn said placing the slime covered battle ax in his lap.
The gang were just coming back from killing a slug demon that was living for the last 4 months in the basement of an older couples home, Angel and them were only a block away from Charlie's shop which was were Angel needed to go.
" You are such a baby !" Cordelia said to Angel with a smirk on her face.
" It's just....green slime is really hard to get out of car upholstery." Angel replied softly with a look of pain on his face while he thought about how long it was going to take to clean his back seat.
" What are we doing here?" Wesley asked, as they came to a stop in font of Charlie's shop.
" I need a book on Klumka demons" Angel replied. One by one all four of them got out of the car and entered Charlie's Charms.
Charlie was still standing behind the front counter taking books out of the box, when both Emma and himself heard the door open. Charlie watched as Cordelia, Gunn,Wesley and Angel came through the door.
" Angel, I haven't seen you in awhile." Charlie gave a welcoming smile to the crew, and moved to the front to shake their hands.
" Emma you remember Angel." Charlie said looking over at Emma. Emma didn't looking up from her book , but just waved quickly and continued to read.
" So what can I do for you?" Charlie asked looking over at the four of them.
" I need a book on Klumka Demons and I figured you were the right guy to go to." Angel said ,smiling at his friend.
" I actually do have a book for that, hold on" Charlie went to one of the book shelves behind the counter and right away pulled out a book for Angel. " This should have all the info you need." Charlie handed the red covered book to Angel.
" How much do I owe you?" Angel asked while flipping through the pages.
" Its on me." Charlie said while putting his hand up to prevent Angel from putting money down.
" Thank you." Angel said looking at Charlie then down at the book closing it.
Charlie stood there for a moment staring at the counter his attitude changed instantly. Charlie looked up at Angel hesitating before he spoke.
" I need some help." Charlie said looking at Angel with concern in his eyes.
Angel moved closer to the counter so that the conversation with Charlie was more private.
" What do you need help with?" Angel looked at Charlie intently as he listened to what he had to say.
" Emma is having these dreams." Charlie paused letting out a sigh then spoke again. " She seems to think they are telling her something..something important." Charlie shrugged not really knowing what to make of it.
Angel nodded his head slowly as Charlie spoke.
" You should bring her by tomorrow, and we can talk about this some more." Angel stuck his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out his card, placing it on the counter and sliding it over to Charlie.
" Thank you." Charlie sighed and gave a smile to Angel. Hopefully what was going on with his daughter wasn't to serious.
" and thank you for the book." Angel lifted the book up in his hand and headed to the front door along with the other three who were looking around the shop while he spoke to Charlie.
Charlie watched as they left the shop then looked over at Emma and smiled. Emma sat there with a raised brow as Charlie looked at her.
" Did you tell him about my dreams?" Emma stared at her dad with folded arms.
Charlie stood there and laughed nervously. " pfft..no..why would I tell him about those...you silly girl" Charlie rubbed the back of his head then became quiet as he and Emma had a stare down.
" Fine I did !" Charlie said breaking the silence.
" Dad !" Emma just sounded mortified when she spoke.
Charlie walked over to were Emma was sitting and knelt down and placed his hands in hers. Emma looked away from him when he knelt down to talk to her.
" Emma look at me." Charlie said. Emma rolled her eyes and looked over at her father.
" I know you are upset with me, but these dreams are not normal, we need help." Charlie's tone of voice changed from stern to concern when he spoke.
" Whatever." Emma said quietly as she removed her hands from her father's.