The hushed and monotonous hum of the wall air conditioning unit echoed throughout Emily's small apartment. Every few minutes it would create a deep rumbling groan as if it was struggling to keep alive, and then resume to its usual white noise. Despite the little machine's hard working attitude, the room was still sweltering. The curtains and shades remained drawn closed as to block out the heating sunlight, and the rest of the world. The walls, tables, and shelves inside the apartment were dull and mostly bare except for some books and candles. This was a dramatic change from Emily's once overly colorful and decorated bedroom of the house she had resided in only a few years earlier. The house in which Emily swore she would never set foot back into.
The scent of lavender filled the muggy air and Emily's nostrils as she laid back on the sunken-in and ripped couch, book in hand. The fragrance relaxed her and was one of the few things keeping her from going insane. As she was finishing reading the first sentence on the page, a thundering bang erupted under the ground below her. In the next instant, the sound of glass shattering filled her ears.
"I can't do this anymore, Richard!"
Muffled screams made their way through Emily's floor.
"You can't do this anymore? What about me, huh? You're selfish and pathetic!"
The woman let out a shriek before the distinct clap of a hand to a face could be heard. In the next moment a car alarm set out somewhere in the distance and a dog began to bark furiously. The door across the hall slammed open and shut and techno music began playing deafeningly from another. A small child cried in the distance and suddenly Emily realized in horror that it was coming from straight below her.
"Shut that kid up!" The man hollered. "Shut it up, or I will!"
The screaming continued and more glass crashed to the ground. All the noises swirled inside Emily's head and she dropped her book, rubbing her temples. A few years back Emily would have been dialing the police or hurrying downstairs to save the poor child, but now she just laid there, absent minded. She glanced up at the wall unit air conditioner and put all her energy on focusing only on that one sound, attempting to block all others out. She could deal with the white noise, in fact, she almost preferred it. It helped calm her. The smell of smoke and alcohol now covered the lavender as Emily's window was stuck partially open, also not helping with the racket. Every single sound seemed to intensify, even as she was trying to tune it out. The drip of water in the sink was like a waterfall. The tick of the clock synchronized with the beating of Emily's heart and pounded in her brain. The pounding continued to increase until she opened her eyes and realized it was coming from somewhere else. The knocks on her door pulled her back into reality and she groggily got up.
"Who is it?" Emily asked, peering through the peephole.
"Maintenance. You called about a window needing fixing."
She hated letting people in but hated the open window even more. Emily reached up and hesitantly pulled back the chain from the highest lock, then undid the sliding latch, and finally turned the deadbolt lock. She opened the door slowly and with caution, looking the man standing outside a long look before allowing him entrance.
He was not much taller than her with short blonde hair. He looked strong, but not dangerous, like most men she met in this town. He gave her a soft and genuine smile that she failed to return. She led him to the window but not before pausing.
"Are you alright?" He asked, sincerely.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
She lied. Emily could not shake a feeling, but she could not even place what it was or where it was coming from. She glanced at the stranger once more. He seemed, familiar.
"This should only take a minute, then" The man stated.
"Good."
Emily resumed her spot on the couch and again attempted to concentrate on her reading.
"You interested in magic?" The stranger questioned, nodding at Emily's book.
"Um, no. I'm a big reader and have read everything else here and don't have any more money to get more books. This, this was my sister's. She was into all that sort of stuff."
"But not you?"
"No way. I prefer my literature to be a little more, well, real. Read a lot of Camus and Kierkegaard. I don't believe in any of that magic stuff or mushy love junk everyone reads today."
"So, what do you believe in?"
"Survival."
The man went back to the window and Emily went back to her book thinking that this handyman did a lot more talking than fixing but for some reason was not as agitated or infuriated as she expected herself to be.
"All fixed." The man proclaimed merely seconds later. "Sounds like you've got a leaky faucet."
"As a matter of fact, I do." She replied bitterly. "I've called you guys a dozen times about it. I was surprised to see you here for the window only after seven calls."
"Well, I have a few places I need to get to right now, but I will come back tomorrow and fix that right up for you."
"Great." Emily responded without enthusiasm, staring into the pages of her book.
The stranger left, offering another genuine smile, which again was not returned. He sighed heavily and then left. Emily got up and quickly shut all three locks as soon as the door was closed. Finally, she thought to herself in relief. She didn't like people and she especially didn't like strangers. Still, for some odd reason, this man did not feel like a stranger, but like family.
"I don't know what else to do" Leo confessed, pacing back in forth in the kitchen, his son Wyatt starring up at him in his highchair.
"Talking to yourself or do we have another ghost in the house?" Paige asked entering the room.
"No, I was, just, uh, talking to Wyatt, about something."
"Must be a pretty riveting one-sided conversation. What's going on Leo? Must be pretty heavy if you're unloading on an infant."
"It's nothing. Just, a charge."
"A charge? I haven't seen you with a charge since before you became an elder."
"Yeah, I know. She was my charge but they're not putting anyone else on her case because they say it's hopeless. She's a future whitelighter and has fallen from the path, more like ran from it. I've tried everything I can think of. I've posed as a neighbor, handyman, co-worker, social worker, everything. Each time, I just hit a wall. I can't just give up on her."
"Well, what's her story? Why is she so apparently hopeless?"
"I don't know much. Her first whitelighter, her family's whitelighter, was killed, along with the rest of her family. We don't know how or why."
"Elders being clueless. Big shocker there. You said 'family's whitelighter'?"
"Her step-sister and step-mother were witches. That's everything I know. So far the only thing I have gotten from her is that she had issues with her father, serious issues. She won't talk about anything, but especially not her father. Maybe she just doesn't like men. Maybe you could talk to her, try to get through to her. I am a little old to be reaching out to a 19 year old girl."
"Oh, come on Leo, you're not old, just older. But, I can't help you. Piper's full on mom and expecting mom, Phoebe's full on workaholic, leaving me to be head sister witch for the time being, remember? Why don't you ask Chris to help you?" She asked innocently as Chris entered the room. "He's had his fair share of daddy issues, no offense."
"Wait, what's going on?" Chris asked, glancing back and forth from the two of them.
"Leo here," Paige began, making her way to the door, "needs your help with a charge. I'll be upstairs doing some research on some low level demon that attacked here yesterday."
"Wait," Chris interrupted, "demon attack? I should help –"
"It'll be fine. He's doing the hellfire dance as we speak, just doing some follow-up. Leo will fill you in on what you need to do. Have fun."
With that, she was gone. Leo and Chris exchanged looks and sighed.
"She's taking this 'head sister witch' kick thing pretty seriously, huh?" Chris asked, taking a seat at the table next to Wyatt.
"Yeah, I guess. Look, I'll ask her again or get one of the sisters to help Emily. Don't –"
"Wait," Chris's gaze flashed to worry, "Emily? Emily Parker? Is she your charge?"
"Yeah, but how did you know?"
"From the future. She's a whitelighter. She helps with the resistance against," He stops himself and gives a sorrowful glance at the baby version of his older brother.
"Well, she may not be a whitelighter anymore. I haven't been able to get through to her and with everything that has been going on around here, the elders have been more Wyatt focused than charges focused. They haven't tried sending anyone else. What do you know about her?"
"Not much. From what I've seen and heard though, she is one of the best. She was one of my friend's whitelighters as a kid. She told me she never met someone who loved people so much."
"Well, something serious must have happened, because right now, she hates them."
