The day was slow going, just as the last weeks have felt for Mel. After taking the Source out of Macy and hiding the pieces around the world, the middle half-sister had tried getting a new job at the Women's Studies department to no luck.
The interview went as well as any she had gone to but just as she was finished it up her hopefully soon to be boss sneezed fire. Needless to say, Mel had vanquished him and never got the job.
That's how she found herself at the Haunt mixing a drink for a bachelor party with many, many drunk men. The groom to be was the only semi sober one in the bar, but the rest of his pals seemed to being drinking them dry.
"Hey cutie, another beer for me please," said one of the guests, one of the more annoying ones to Mel as he had been hitting on her all night. Sighing, Mel turned around and grabbed what he asked for before bringing him his drink to the end of the bar where it was less crowded and quieter.
"Here you go," she said politely before turning to attend the rest of the customers, however her hand was held in place by a much bigger one.
"Why go back to dealing with those drunken idiots when we could get out of here right now," he shot her a grin, showing a set of perfect white teeth. Mel quickly assesses the man, noticing his shiny gold watch, expensively tailored suit, and perfectly trimmed nails.
"I'm with someone and you're not my type at all," she said before trying to rip her hand free from his. She had no luck and her wrist was starting to hurt. Mel quickly looked around for anyone who could help her, but the groom had rented the whole place out and she was at the end of the bar which turned around a corner, separating her from the rest of the public.
Just as she was about to freeze time the man quickly grabbed her other hand and pulled her across the bar, stopping her from being able to freeze him. One hand wrapped had both of her own pinned behind her back, and the other one quickly shut her mouth, effectively stopping her from calling out to Harry.
"You stupid Witch," he snarled into her ear, his breath hot. "I'm gonna take you home and show you a good time before killing you and leaving your dead corpse for your sisters," he started pulling Mel towards the nearest exit, the party still going on around them, no one noticing.
As the demon reached for the door Mel took her chance and froze time. As usual the whole room froze, including the demon behind her. She took this as her chance and quickly untangled herself from the man.
"Mel?" At the sound of her name, or any voice really, considering she froze time, the frightened witch jumped and let out a squeal.
"Niko?" Mel asked in disbelief, turning away from the frozen demon to find her girlfriend behind her.
"Mel what's wrong, why did you freeze time?" The detective asked, quickly setting down her belongings on the bar and rushing to her girlfriend.
"D-demon," Mel stated weakly, gesturing behind her to her almost captor, his eyes a dark purple. "He was trying to take me to the alleyway."
"Oh my god did he hurt you?" Niko asked instantly, her eyes scanning Mels body for any injuries as she shook her head. "Come here."
The two met in a tight hug, Niko's touch immediately calming Mel who melted into the safe arms of her lover.
Niko was still new to this whole witch and demon thing, but she was thankful that she had her ring that Mel had given her, never taking it off. She looked at the frozen demon before trusting it was okay to approach him and slowly untangled herself.
"What is it?" She asked, getting on her tip toes to look the demon straight in the eyes. "And do all demons eyes change color?"
Mel walked over to join her, taking Niko's hand for comfort and squeezing it tightly.
"I'm not sure, but he definitely knew who I was. He reached over and grabbed me across the bar. He even knew to bound my hands behind my back so I couldn't freeze him," she gestured to her hands, bruises already starting to form on them.
"Well how do you kill him?" Asked the ever curious detective. Mel smirked at her girlfriend, pulling her away from the demon, and putting herself in between them instead.
"We vanquish them, and I'm not sure what this one is, but I need to call Har-" just as she was about to finish calling to her whitelighter, Niko started to scream her name before something heavy crashed into Mels back, sending her flying across the bar and hitting the stairs, her head taking most of the impact.
As for Niko, the demon couldn't care less about her, though it was confused as to why she wasn't frozen when all the other partiers were. He could smell the pure human on her, but he was after the witch.
"Mel!" She shouted, upholstering her ankle gun and turning to the demon. "Stop right there demon!" She called out, Mel lying helplessly on the floor at his feet.
"You can't hurt me, human. Not even your adorable little toy guns," he called out to Niko before turning to face her. "Shoot me, see what happens," he taunted, putting his hands up and walking to the detective seeing as his prize target was knocked out on the floor just behind him.
Niko was in cop mode, and as the demon made his way to her she shot off four bullets, all hitting him in the head. Granted, it slowed him down a little as he clutched his head in pain, but he laughed at her efforts, quickly recovering.
"Rest assured, Detective," he turned back towards Mel who started to stir, grabbing her bleeding head in pain. "I'm gonna take your witch home and have fun with her before killing her."
Mel was lying on the floor, blood pooling around her as she clutched at her head, trying to stop the bleeding. She was too disoriented to notice the demon approaching her as she slammed her eyes shut at the bright party lights around her.
"Mel get up!" Niko shouted to her girlfriend. Slowly, Mel realized she was in danger and stood up on wobbly feet, trying to freeze the rapidly approaching demon. Something wasn't working though, and she quickly grabbed her ears at the sound of a gun going off again.
Niko shot at the demon a few more times, getting his attention away from Mel and onto herself. As he turned towards the detective once more, he wasn't laughing, instead his face was angry. Niko had only a few shots left, so she emptied her clip on the monster. However, as the last bullet fired from her gun, the demon smirked at her, turning into a black smoke. Instead of shooting the demon, the bullet found itself in Mel as the witch dropped to the ground.
Quickly the detective holstered her gun and ran to Mel who wasn't moving. It was ridiculous how much blood had already pooled around her girlfriend. Niko scanned for where the bullet hit Mel, and she found the source in her left shoulder, a few inches above her heart.
"Humans think that their guns can stop us?" A voice said from behind Niko, who immediately whipped around, trying to protect Mel who still hadn't moved but started to groan in pain. The detective took it as a good sign, considering her girlfriend wasn't dead. "The only thing that can stop me, Detective, is the precious thing that you shot," he laughed, an ugly chortle that she'd never heard before. "I just want to say thank you, before I kill you."
Just as Niko went to punch the demon in the face, not going down without a fight, he froze in his spot, unmoving as he was earlier. She looked behind her on the floor to see Mel, sweat on her forehead, with her hand raised, before it dropped to the ground with a thud.
"It's not gonna hold long, Niko," she said weakly. "You need to go," Mel's eyes fluttered shut before she could say anything else. She thought the worst for a moment before noticing the slow rise and fall of the Latinos chest.
"I'm not leaving you Mel," stated the detective as she pulled a white tablecloth off from the table next to her and started wrapping the gunshot wound. The white easily stained red within seconds, and Niko was about to call 911 before remembering no one witnessed this and time was still frozen. Just as she started wrapping Mels head the demon had started to unfreeze, slowly starting to move towards the two girls.
Niko gently picked her girlfriend up and made her way to the exit that her girlfriend was almost dragged through earlier, pocketing her phone. She needed to text Maggie or Macy, let them know what was happening, but right now she didn't have the time with the demon unfreezing.
As soon as the cold winter air had hit Niko she heard the demon roar in rage as the party started back up. The music that blared so loudly woke Mel up, her eyes scanning around her new surroundings.
"Niko?" She asked weakly.
"I'm right here baby," came her reply as she carefully set her injured girlfriend up against the wall, no longer able to carry her. "Call Harry, Mel. That demons coming out any second," no sooner that she said those words did they hear the bar door slam open.
"I can smell your blood, Melanie. Give yourself up now and I'll kill your detective quickly," his voice boomed throughout the dimly lit alley. Niko tried peaking around the AC unit they were hiding behind but she couldn't make out where the demon was with all the snow falling. As she turned back around to her girlfriend she noticed that the snow beneath her was stained red.
"Harry, where are you?" She whispered to herself. Niko wished she could call to the Whitelighter seeing as Mel wasn't comprehending anything she said, coming in and out of consciousness. The witch was definitely concussed, but it wouldn't matter soon if Niko didn't get her to Harry.
The detective almost jumped when she heard the sound of what she could only guess was a trash can being kicked across the alley.
"Come on detective, I know you and Melanie are out here somewhere. You couldn't have gone very far! After all, you're only human."
Niko had been on the police force for many years, so naturally she found herself in tough situations. But a demon who could absorb her bullets wasn't something she was equipped to deal with, and she knew it. Looking to Mel, slumped against the wall, eyes barely open and blood pooling down her face and jacket, she made a decision.
Standing up, Niko went over to the door behind them and started to pick the locks as quickly as possible with the demon getting closer and closer. With a final grunt the door opened to them, offering Niko the hope and adrenaline she needed to pick Mel up and half carry them inside, quickly closing and locking the door behind them.
No lights were on, putting the witch and detective in terrifying darkness of the unknown.
"Where are we," Niko whispered to herself, her breath forming in the air. It was freezing out.
"Fa..." Mel mumbled as she stumbled, having difficulty walking.
"What's that Mel?"
"We...are in...the factory," she said weakly, hardly audible enough for Niko to hear.
"Okay baby we gotta get you somewhere safe, can you call Harry?" Asked Niko hopefully, needing to get out of this nightmare.
"Harry?" She asked confused. "Why would we need him? What's wrong Niko, and why does my chest hurt so much. And where are we, 'coz it's freezing," Mel spoke in a rushed voice, confused as to everything going on around them.
"Mel I'll answer all your questions if you call Harry to us, we need him right now!" Niko almost screamed. The detective was no stranger to blood, but Mel's head still hadn't stopped bleeding and Niko's hands were covered in the sticky, red liquid pooling out from her gunshot wound. A wound caused by herself. And Mel was becoming delirious, which meant she probably wasn't getting enough blood to her brain.
"Okay, okay jeez Niko calm down," the witch laughed, letting go of her girlfriend and trying to stand straight, but started to fall backwards. Luckily Niko caught her as they both fell to the ground. Unfortunately, Mels head jolted on the impact, and a big puddle of blood started to form again.
"Mel, call Harry right now!" Niko yelled, a tear slipping down her face. She could see her girlfriends eyes starting to flutter close, and she was scared for Mels life.
"H-Harry!" She weakly called, instead turning into a coughing fit. Blood started pooling in her mouth.
"Here baby, sit up," Niko said, gently lifting Mel into a sitting position, the witches back against the detectives chest as she gently stroked blood caked hair out of her girlfriends face. "Try calling to him again," she whispered encouragingly as she dug around her pockets for her phone.
"H-Harry!" Mel screamed slightly louder from last time. They waited for a sign of the whitelighter but none came.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Niko found her phone and instantly called the first person she could. They waited and waited as Maggie's number rang and rang, before finally, she picked up.
"Niko? Why're you calling me at almost midnight. Are you alright?"
"Maggie no, listen to me - a demon attacked Mel and I at the Haunt. Mel hit her head really hard and it - " Niko's voice got caught in emotion,"it won't stop bleeding. I tried to shoot the demon but it moved away and I shot Mel instead, and we are in the factory next to the Haunt with the demon right outside-" the hysterical women was caught off guard by the sound of the factory door being kicked in. "Maggie please hurry, Mel doesn't have much time!" With that, the detective hung up, not wanting to give away their location.
They would be alright. Macy, Maggie and Harry would be here soon. She just had to keep Mel safe until then.
"Melanie! I can smell that precious blood of yours! Did you know that I hunted your mothers sister down too? I killed her slowly and painfully for over 3 weeks. Oh she begged for death, even tried to do it herself a few times. But no, I wouldn't allow it. We had fun, just like you and I will Mel! If you're not already dead, that is. Detective, is our dear friend dead yet?"
Door by door was ripped off its hinges around the corner from where Niko and Mel hid huddled together. The Detective had her head buried in Mels neck, needing to hear her heartbeat. They would be saved in time, because Niko was sure if she stopped applying pressure to Mels head and chest, she would die.
"N-Niko," a weak voice called out. "I love y-you, so much."
"Shh, we're gonna have the rest of our lives to tell each other that baby, just hold on. Your sisters are on their way."
"No, you l-listen here, N-Niko," Mel weakly turned herself around so they were facing each other, Niko's hands never leaving her wounds. "I can feel m-myself dying, I'm not gonna m-make it." Niko went to protest but Mel didn't give her that chance. "I don't want you to bl-blame yourself for what happened, you hear m-me? And please, tell Macy and Maggie how much I l-love them," Mel started coughing, and there was no being quiet about it.
"There you are," said the demon, ripping the hinges off their door. "It is a pity that you're in such terrible shape, Melanie, but we can still make the best of our time," the demon, who looked like a trust fund baby with purple eyes and sharp claws, reached for the two girls when suddenly he went flying backwards.
"Leave my sister alone!" Yelled Macy, hand extended as she went to keep the demon occupied, Harry and Maggie running over to the two women.
"Mel!" Maggie whispered, scared at seeing her sister so broken and bloodied. "Give me your hand," she said, taking her sisters hand into her own.
"Mel, I'm going to try and heal you okay? Just hold still, it'll be over in a jiffy," Harry reassured his nonmoving charge.
"You're not in pain?" Maggie stated, clearly confused as to what she was feeling. "Mel, why aren't you in pain?"
"Because it doesn't hurt anymore," came the weak reply, her eyes staring at the ceiling as she lay in Niko's lap, before slowly closing.
"Hurry Harry!" Maggie said.
Harry's hands flashed over her bullet wound, healing it instantly before moving to her Mel's head and doing the same.
"Is she dead?" Macy asked, running into the room, out of breath from her fight.
"Why isn't she waking up? Is there an enchantment or some crazy witch thing I don't know about?" Niko asked desperately, looking to Harry for answers.
"No Niko, there's no enchantment," he said solemnly, tears pooling around his eyes.
"Then why won't she wake up Harry?" Maggie asked, tears streaming down her face freely. "She can't die!"
"It is not up to me, Maggie. Melanie has made her peace with the fact that she is dying, and her body is healed, but her soul may already have left," he explained.
"Can we get her soul back?" Niko asked, looking between Maggie and Harry for answers, though the former looked as confused as the detective.
"Before Mel passed out you said she had no pain, correct Maggie?" The whitelighter asked. She nodded, unable to speak. "Then it may be as I fear, Mel thinks she died, so her body came to peace with death, and now-" Harry choked before saying the last part. "Now, all we can do is wait and convince her she isn't dead yet."
"How do we do that?" Niko asked, staring at Mel through her glossy eyes.
"We take her home, make her comfortable, and talk to her, hope she can hear us from wherever she is and comes back," Harry stated. "Maggie, Macy, grab your sister and stand her up please, we are going home."
Slowly, the two sisters got Mel up and standing, Niko behind her for extra support, and Harry in front of Mel to orb them home.
Later that night found everyone gathered around Mels unmoving side, no sign of life. Maggie was telling stories about her childhood with Mel, while Harry told stories of him failing to teach her spells and how they backfired. They stayed with her all night, as one family hoping to bring back someone they all loved.
Meanwhile, Mel slowly woke up in a strange place she's never seen. It was supernatural, it had to be, because the young witch had never seen a place so beautiful. From the golden waterfountains, to the trees. Everything was unnaturally perfect.
"Hello Melanie, I had hoped I wouldn't see you here for many years to come, child."
Mel looked to the bright figure slowly approaching her in disbelief.
"Mom?"