Title: Baylee's
Fandom: Charmed
Summary: Payton Baylee Branson is about to turn into Payton Baylee Halliwell when she meets her three older witchy sisters.
Disclaimer: I own this fan-fic, none of the characters except for Payton Baylee Halliwell.
"Get up! You're gonna be late," my witch bitch step-dad yelled from outside of my cramped messy room. I sat up in bed after swinging my feet over the side of the bed and rubbed my sleepless eyes. When I opened them, I spied a large ugly bruise on the top of my left thigh. I poked it lightly and it was delicate enough to send a sting over the smoothly painted black and blue surface of my skin. It hurt badly and I winced in pain, but I quickly got up. Then I looked in the mirror. There was a bruise on my left shoulder covering from my collar bone to my forearm.
Last night was sort of fuzzy after I took my sleeping pills, but I do remember that I had gotten into a fight with my step-dad and he smacked me with a two-by-four on my thigh. Then he pulled me off the couch by my pressure point. Then he slammed me down on the stairs so the steps hit my collar bone and my shoulder. I tried to take that off my mind and get dressed. I decided to wear my black long sleeve shirt to cover my shoulder bruise, but short shorts and just tell curious people that I got hit with a baseball bat by Joey, my gay best friend, on accident.
When I took a last look in the mirror I spied a cut on my eyebrow. It was caked with a little bit of blood so I quickly washed it off and added a little bit of foundation to it to make it barely visible. It looked slightly better; just slightly.
I quickly walked down the stairs with my blue messenger bag and my unfinished homework in it. I sat down at the table across from Ryan, my step-dad, who was reading the paper. My adoptive mother, Jenna Branson, was at the toaster making me a piece of toast. She was as silent as the rest of the room was. I wondered what was wrong because she'd usually be telling me what chores I had to do when I got home. But when she turned towards me with a plate, I saw the reason she wasn't talking. There was a large black, blue, and yellow bruise across her eye. I almost winced but didn't. I gave her a solemn look before looking down at the plate of toast she had slid underneath my silent, hurting gaze.
"I'm not hungry. But thanks anyway mom," I said pushing the plate away. I took a few sips of my orange juice and then stood up, "Seeya later, mom. I love you." I gave her a quick hug and she kissed me on the top of my head and said goodbye before I walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer.
"What about me," I heard Ryan call. "Go to hell," I whispered under my breath and just walked out, slamming the door behind me. I walked to school in the dreary, cold, unwelcoming morning of a Friday the thirteenth in the month of February. My birthday was coming up in a little bit and I would be seventeen. But I didn't think that's anything to celebrate. Ryan thinks so too. I guess my birthday was a mistake because that's what Ryan kept telling my mom whenever she tried to bring up party planning. Whenever I heard it, I always believed it a little bit more. All Ryan thinks I'm good for is probably his punching bag. Dad would always celebrate my birthday. He even let me open one present early all the time. I missed him. He was like my best friend.
As I walked to school, a car drove by and splashed me with a puddle. I got my pant leg wet. I flipped the driver off and I know he saw it because he almost stopped, but kept on driving. I walked onto the sidewalk along the school and cut across the grass and into the boring old high school they called Baker High. I wish I had been here in the eighties. A lot of my friend's parents said that they had a really great time at Baker High. But they always talked about this really shy girl and then this rebellious girl who always got in trouble but pulled the most hilarious pranks. I heard all about them and I thought they were pretty interesting, and funny. I wish I could meet them, but my friends parents always said that they had no idea of what happened to either of them, except they think the rebel might have gone to jail.
Meanwhile, to the manor! (in 25 year old Prue's point of view)
"Well, we have to find her then," my eighteen year old rebellious sister Phoebe protested to the spirit of our grandmother Penny Halliwell, also known as our Grams.
"Dear, you are not listening! You can't find her. If you do, the elders would discover her and then there would be consequences," Grams stated.
"How can you do this? She's your own grand daughter," I also tried to protest, "Mom," I said looking at the spirit of Pattricia Halliwell, our brilliantly beautiful mother.
"I want to protect her, not turn her in," she exclaimed.
"Well, we can figure out some way around this can't we? Like we always do," my usually shy twenty-three year old sister Piper added along with her our other daring comments.
"Yes, but this wasn't supposed to happen. You and Leo weren't supposed to happen either, but the elders put you on probation to test your strength together. That never happened between Sam and I. If the elders were to find out, something bad could happen to her," mom said almost exhausted from the conversation.
We all took in deep sighs as my sisters and I crossed our arms simultaneously and stood uncomfortably defeated in the attic next to our Book of Shadows and also before our victorious guardians.
"Now, we have nothing further to discuss. I'm sorry you feel as you do, but it's for Payton's safety that we keep her a secret and a less discussed topic in the Halliwell manor," Grams said before vanishing in gleaming yellow balls of light. Mom sighed and looked down as she too disappeared letting us, her saddened daughters, have one last glimpse for now until her next return.
"You can't do that Phoebe," Piper said as she followed our still more determined little sister into the kitchen who also grabbed my car keys.
"I can and no one is going to stop me," Phoebe said opening the door to the laundry room, but Piper froze it so it wouldn't budge.
"Phoebe, do you want to endanger your little sister? Besides, you don't even know where she is," I reminded her, finally deciding that it was for the best to leave her alone.
"I can try, besides, what's the worst that can happen to her? It's not like they can vanquish her," Phoebe said throwing her coat on the chair.
"Yeah, but they can take away our powers," I told her remembering the unspeakable wrath of the consequences that could have happened if the elders caught Piper and Leo getting married. But they didn't really happen.
"I just," Phoebe sighed, "We have another sister. Don't you guys understand? Aren't you guys curious about her, even just a little bit," Phoebe asked sounding like her throat was tightening. I was curious probably more than anyone, but I couldn't let anything bad happen to my littlest sister who I had never met before. And if seeing her or meeting her was going to put her in danger, than I would most certainly do what was best for her.
"Yes, we all are. But-" Piper got cut off by Phoebe, "Besides, what's the harm in wanting to get to know her and not telling her we're sisters?"
"Phoebe, this conversation is over," we all heard Grams scold invisibly from above.
"Okay Grams! Private convo here," Phoebe yelled to the ceiling.
Then she huffed and clutched the car keys tight in her hand as she pushed against the frozen door and it swung open the rest of the way. She was out of the house and into the car. She drove to the school in my old car and was probably waiting outside for about fifteen minutes before two-thirty because that was what time the high schools usually got out at. I guess Payton was in eleventh grade because the date of birth our mother gave us, signified that Payton should at least be seventeen by February sixteenth. The day before our mother had passed away.
Now, to Baylee!
I walked out of the Principal's office with my mother and out of school. I now had a black eye and a fat lip added to my list of injuries. I had gotten into a fight with one of my really hated prep classmates who also thought she could kick my ass. Which, apparently, I proved her wrong. She's the one who went to the hospital. My mother looked extremely disappointed in me. I was mad that she was too, but I wasn't mad at her, I was mad at myself for making her disappointed. I didn't mean to, but my classmate started it. I wish I had ended it. Well, I did end it, but I wish I ended it differently, like my father had taught me too. But, he and my mom got divorced when I was five, and my dad died when I was eight. I spent most of my time with him and I enjoyed every second of it because my dad was the only one who got me. But now, no one does. Not even my friends, or my used-to-be four adoptive brothers and my best friend Joey. Who was pretty good at being gay because he could understand me almost as well as my adoptive dad could. Everyone admitted that he was more feminine than normal gay guys, even his ex-boyfriend admitted it. I almost chuckled at my thoughts but remembered that I was in trouble and I didn't want my mom to think that I was being immature with this situation. I was suspended for two whole weeks.
As we walked along the school sidewalk I was looking around aimlessly instead of a normal teenager who usually looked down when they were in trouble, and I saw a woman about twenty years old. No, I wasn't looking around aimlessly, my gaze was more drawn to her. She looked familiar. Maybe like a relative. She had short brown hair, she was a little small, and had on tight jeans and a belly shirt. She looked like the one in the year book Joey's aunt showed me. It was that Phoebe Halliwell rebel girl. "No way," I thought to myself, "It can't be."
Now, to third person view!
Phoebe looked around for any faces similar to the one she had seen in her reflection every day of her life. Then, she saw a girl walking with her mother. They had almost identical bruises on their faces. But, they weren't identical. The mother and daughter didn't look anything alike. The girl had dark brown hair, almost black like Piper's, and she had a slim figure kind of like their mother's. She had the strong cheekbones, the same as Grams, and the brown cat shaped eyes of their mother. This girl had almost every concurrent feature as the Halliwell family did. "Could it really be," Phoebe thought.
First person of BayleeI thought for a second, if I really wanted to go and meet her, and I decided it was now or never, so I whispered something to my mom and she nodded, "Just meet me at the car in five minutes." I nodded and quickly ran off across the street and over to the infamous Phoebe Halliwell.
"Hi," I said a little shy.
"Hey, what's your name," she asked.
"My name is Payton. I go by the name Baylee though because that's my middle name," I explained.
"That's cool. My name is-" Phoebe started but I finished for her, "Phoebe Halliwell. I heard about you from my friends' parents who went to the same school you did. You seem pretty cool," I said excited.
"Seemed," Phoebe repeated, "I was never very popular. Only with the principal though," she laughed with a smile much like mine.
"Heh, Mr. Giyzer is pretty familiar to me too," I smiled the same, "He told me I acted a lot like a student he used to have named Phoebe. He always used to tell me, 'She was in here an awful lot, she even brought a sleeping bag to school one day and spent the night just to make sure she didn't have to do a Saturday detention,'" I laughed.
"Yeah, that was me," she laughed too, "So, how'd you get the battle scars," she asked.
I looked at the one on my thigh and then felt the one on my eye, "This one," I started pointing to my thigh, "was, one I got from my best friend who smacked me with a bat, on accident of course. He's really skinny, but he's pretty strong," I lied, well about the bat part, "Then the one on my eye I got because I got into a fight at school during fourth hour and I just got suspended for two whole weeks."
"Really," she asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," I said looking down, "I'm not very proud of it either. I wish I could have handled it the way my dad taught me too. Instead, I risk my education with a trip to the hospital."
"You went to the hospital," she asked unbelievably.
"No, the one I got into a fight with," I answered. After a few silent seconds, I said, "Anyway, Wow, I never thought I'd actually get to meet you," I sighed, "well, since it's such a big city, and all."
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm glad I met you," Phoebe said smiling lightly now.
"Yeah," I asked and she responded with a nod.
"Cool," I thought and said a little aloud. I looked over at my mom in the parking lot and then back at Phoebe. I held out my hand to shake her's and when she took my hand, I was pulled into a weird scene in my head as I winced, but not in pain, closing my eyes tight. The scene was of a beautiful woman but she was being zipped up in a body bag on a dock and a young girl with short black hair only about six or seven screamed 'mommy' and a paramedic who said 'Jesus, is that her little girl?' and then another one said 'She doesn't need to see her mom like this, get her away from here.' Then, I came out of it and I looked quickly back at the parking lot to my mom's car.
"I, I better go. My ma- uh, mom is waiting for me. Bye," I said to Phoebe as I turned around quickly and hurried to my mom's car. I heard her call to me, but I couldn't hear it as I kept on running. I felt really woozy after what I had just seen so I had almost tripped a few times on the way to the car. When I got into the car my mom asked, "What did you tell her?"
"Nothing, why," I asked.
"You didn't tell her what really happened to you did you?"
"No, but I should have. All I told her was that Joey smacked my thigh with a bat and I got into a fight with my class mate, what good is magic if you can't use it to solve your problems," I asked disappointed looking down at my messenger bag that was on my lap.
"Baylee, please. Don't tell anyone about Ryan. I know he's a little violent, but I'll talk to him," my mom said comfortingly, but somehow, it was the first time she ever sounded so unsure, "Besides, that would also be personal gain and it's not aloud."
"Is that what happened the last time you tried to talk to him," I almost yelled, but kept my voice down as I referred to my mother's bruise.
"That's none of your business," she stated.
"So Ryan did do that to you," I said as if proving someone guilty in a court room.
"Baylee, he'll soften up. He's just getting used to new things and the way this family works," she said trying to convince me, but obviously, it wasn't working.
"He's been living with us for three fricken years! All he's been doing to this family is changing it to the way he likes it," I screamed as I got out of the car and slammed the door. I ran across the parking lot as my brothers and Joey yelled at me I stopped right in front of them, not answering any questions shot at me from my brothers and said, "Joey, if Ryan or my mom calls, tell them I'm with you please?"
"Sure, but Baylee, what's wrong," Joey asked concerned.
"Nothing, I- I just need to sort out a few things. Please just understand that that's all that I can say right now," I pleaded quietly, and he nodded in understanding. Then I walked hurriedly till I got to the end of the parking lot and then broke into a run. I had no idea where I was running too, but I felt a need to go the way I was going already. I ran all the way from the school to Prescott street before I almost collapsed. I stopped running in front of the pink Victorian looking house where I tried to make my way up the first flight of concrete steps. I don't know why, but I felt connected to the house. When I finally stopped feeling a little dizzy, I could see a moving picture of the house in front of me, but I tried to focus long enough to see Phoebe open the door, then, I fainted because of the amount of pressure and pain shooting through my leg with the bruise.
"Is she okay," I heard some one ask as my vision came back to me.
"Hey, she's coming around," another woman said.
I blinked a few times and then I could see clearly. There were two black haired girls around me sitting down on a coffee table and then I saw Phoebe leaning over the side of the couch, "Phoebe?"
"It's okay Payton, just stay laying down," Phoebe said to me, comfortingly. The other two gave her a puzzling, and almost threatening look, like they had been offended or something.
Then the oldest looking one shook it off and looked back down at me, "So, you're name's Payton?"
I nodded slowly, but my head hurt a lot so I stopped quickly; I groaned and felt the ice pack on my head.
"What happened," the other girl asked me.
"Ih- I can't remember," I said almost shy, but more nervous than anything else.
"It's okay, you'll be fine now," she said with a comforting light smile.
"Um, Phoebe, could Piper and I talk to you for a second," the oldest asked.
"Sure Prue," Phoebe said walking around to the side of the couch and then heading into a different room next to the one we were in and apparently, 'Piper' and 'Prue' also followed her. But before Piper left, she stood up and looked at me saying, "Just stay here, we'll be right back okay?"
After about ten minutes of slight yelling from Prue and a little bit from Piper, which I could already tell their voices apart, and Phoebe defending somebody, I guessed they were yelling about me. I let small tears drop from the corner of my eyes as I sat up and took the ice pack off my head and set it down next to me on the couch. I buried my pitiful, bruised, wet face in my hands and cried softly. I was a burden or more specifically, a mistake; Ryan had told me so, time and time again, so I believed it a little bit more each time, just as I did with my birthday.
I hadn't noticed the three come back into the room but when I did, I quickly wiped the tears from my face. "I should probably go," I said trying to keep my voice calm and unrestricted.
"Payton, what's wrong," Prue asked as if she was phased by my crying.
"It's nothing, I have to go, Ryan will be mad if I'm not back," I said slowly pushing my way through the girls and headed towards the front door.
"Payton, wait," I heard Phoebe call. She hurried after me and put her arm around my shoulders, "Why are you crying," she asked as she wiped away a few escaping tears.
I sighed and sniffled a little bit before wiping a few of my tears myself as she said, "Payton, please don't go." Prue and Piper had stepped out into the hallway too.
"Why wouldn't you want me to leave? I'll probably be a burden anyway," I said looking out the door that I had attempted to go through but didn't because maybe, just maybe, someone actually cared for me.
"You're not a burden, why would anyone tell you something like that, or want you to believe it," she asked in a light whisper.
"Because, maybe, it's true," I answered, "Besides, why would you want to do something for me when you barely even know me?"
"Because, it's our job," Piper said quietly.
"Yeah, and we know you a lot more than you think," Prue chimed in.
"Who told you that you were a burden," Phoebe asked.
"My step-dad, Ryan," I answered sniffling a bit more.
"Payton, where did those bruises really come from," she finally asked.
I sighed, with my voice shaking, even the air I took in and let out was shaky. I cleared my throat and then finally answered, "I already told Phoebe, it was just an accident with a bat."
"Payt-" Phoebe started, but I shook away and said, "I have to go now," and I walked out the front door with my messenger bag slung over my bruised shoulder, but I tried not to wince in pain as I continued on out the door. Later that night at about ten, when I had gotten home, it took a little more than an hour and a half and I didn't have any money to use for a bus ticket, and I walked in through the door and saw Ryan sitting in his chair with the light on over him and he was reading his book. I thought I heard mom in the kitchen, but I knew she had gone to bed. I started to walk towards the door quietly, but it was no use in trying to avoid Ryan.
"Payton, where've you been? It's almost ten," he scolded.
"I was out at a friend's house and I didn't have enough money to pay for the bus or a taxi," I answered him.
"Yeah right," Ryan said as he thought he had caught me lying.
"I'm not lying. I don't have any money, and you can even call Joey and he'll say-" I was interrupted with a blow from Ryan's hand to my cheek. I cried in pain as I fell back onto the couch. I held my red marked cheek as I coward underneath Ryan's angry glare. Then, he struck my back with his forceful hand. I screamed this time, and he yelled at me to shut up. By this time I was crying like the whole world would be filled with water in one single day. I was scared and I couldn't stop. This was the first time Ryan had ever hit me so hard, where was my mother? Shouldn't she had been here to stop this? Or what about my father? Was he here to watch this in spirit? The last thing I knew, my mother was shielding me from her husbands next blow. She cried too, but she didn't stop protecting me.
The second time I awoke, not in a single day, but for three days, I had passed out for three days. It was now Sunday which I read on a calender, hanging on a white wall across from the hospital bed I was resting in. I was hooked up to a heart monitoring machine, and a breathing machine that had one of those cups that went over my mouth and nose and had a band on it that went around my head to keep it on. I turned my head to the side, looking over to the window as I saw Prue standing outside of my room. She smiled, somehow making it more concerned than happy. My heart rate was very low and it was hard for me to breath, even with the breathing mask on.
Phoebe stood up from a chair outside too and she had a tissue and her eyes were red and puffy. I could tell she had been crying, and then I saw Piper walk out from behind the wall and into my view. A nurse came up to them and I wish I could here what she was saying. I wanted to know what happened. Then the nurse waved a hand towards the doorway and Phoebe was the first to come in.
"Payton, thank god you're awake," she said hurrying up to my bedside. She leaned over me, brushing away my hair that was laid across my face almost engraved by the sweat I had bled during those restless three days I was unconcious.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, wondering if this was true; nothing ever seemed real anymore. I opened my eyes to see all three of the women standing around me. I didn't know what to do at that point except to try and take everything in without shock.
I lifted my weak frail hand to try and take off my breathing mask and successfully, but slowly I got it off and mustered up the strength to even say, "What, happened?"
The nurse hurried over and put the mask back on, "You can't take this off," she said.
"She want's to know what happened," Piper said to the nurse.
The nurse looked at her clipboard and then back at Piper and responded, "Doctor Wattson will be in in a few minutes." Then, she left the room.
"Just get some rest sweety," Phoebe whispered to me as she held my hand comfortingly. I smiled through my mask and then rested my eyes for a little while. When we all heard the door open, I quickly opened my eyes and looked up. It wasn't the doctor, no. It was Ryan. The three sisters quickly vanished into thin air and Ryan stomped up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me violently.
I shot up from my hospital bed surrounded by Prue, Piper, and Phoebe again. I was breathing heavily in the mask again and my heart rate went up very high. The nurse and the doctor hurried over as the nurse calmed me down.