-2-
Fifteen minutes later, Kate pulled the car up to a bramble of prickly bushes that were tangled on the banks of the swift running River Moss. The water was sparkling in the mid-morning sunlight, alive with aquatic life, the abode of frogs that were croaking wetly in the shallows, and of the salmon who were taking a short rest before the rest of their trip towards a lake. The low bushes creaked and crinkled in the air,m shaking out pesky insects from their depths. A tiny grey squirrel darted across the damp grass and scampered quickly up a smooth-barked tree, yapping its disgust at the car with its passengers parked under his tree. There was no sign of a demon anywhere.
Sam unbuckled her safety belt and leaned forward to peer out the window. "Is this the place from your premonition?" She asked, her eyes sweeping the still surroundings alertly.
Kate looked out of the window too. After a few seconds, she shook her head. "No, but the place is near by. We ave to go out there and look or that boy is demon meat. Come on." Kate began to get out of her seatbelt, but Sam put a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"Kate, are you sure about this? Are you sure we're anywhere near the place? I mean, Moss is miles long-"
"No, it's nearby. I have a feeling." Kate lightly shrugged off Sam's hand and opened the car door. "It's close. Come on. The longer we hang around here, the more danger that boy is in."
Together, the sisters set off down the warm, golden bank of the river, senses alert and eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Sam glanced back over her shoulder nervously, the feeling of being watched about her, but there was no one there. Grasping hands, they continued silently until Kate suddenly stopped and jerked her younger sister behind the nearest tree, a large, dead pine that towered over the glen. Before Sam made a noise of surprise, Kate's hand was over her mouth, stifling it. Putting a finger to her own lips, Kate slowly removed her and from Sam's mouth and pointed.
There, sitting happily on the white sands of the River Moss, playing with something in his fat hands was a little boy. He was young, little more than eight years old, sandy-haired with a pudgy face covered in auburn freckles that made him look almost tan. His round face was alight with happiness and contentment as he picked the object up, and tossed it into the air. It glinted in the bright sunlight, then fell to the sand again. The boy held it up to his eyes then, and examined it as carefully as a small boy could.
Sam narrowed her eyes in concentration. She was puzzled. Why would this boy be a threat to Evil? She turned to her sister. "Kate, is that him?" When Kate, also focusing on the boy, nodded, Sam continued. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let' get him out of here!" Sam started to walk forward out from the cover of the tree, but almost instantly, Kate's hand closed around her wrist and jerked her back, staring dumbstruck at the tree opposite them. Sam, indignant and confused, turned her head to see what her sister was looking at. And she saw.
A wave in the air had appeared next to the tree, a shimmer. Sam gasped as the shimmer evaporated. Standing in the space next to the tree was a demon, six feet tall, broad shouldered and powerfully built, with muscles prominent, even under the long, black robes that cloaked his bent form. Across its ugly, white face was a tongue of flame tatooed, glowing red. In its long, grey, sickly fingers, it twirled a thin, wooden staff with an ebony stone capping the end, glittering ominously in the light. Oblivious to everything around him,the demon's bright yellow eyes flashed to the boy, who was still ignorant to his surroundings. Upon seeing the boy, seemingly alone on the forest floor, the demon's thick mouth twisted darkly into an evil grin that revealed its rotten, yellowed fangs.
"Oh boy," Sam hissed, turning to her pale sister. "He's big."
"Sam, that's the one. That's him," Kate whispered, her fingernails digging into Sam's arm.
Sam winced and peered around the tree again, carefully. "Ok, Kate. Take a breath." She gently pried Kate's hand from her arm, wincing again as she massaged it. "Any ideas how to get the kid out of the way without any of us being blasted?"
Kate stared at the demon, her mind working furiously. "Only one. We have to distract the demon and get the boy. You get Philip. Be careful."
It took a moment for what Kate had said to sink into Sam's brain. When it finally clicked, Sam hissed, "What? Are you crazy? I'm not letting you-" But Kate, ignoring her sister's protests, stepped out from behind the tree. Sam fought the impulse to fling herself after her sister to pull her back, her hands clenched tightly, fingernails digging into her palms, biting her lip until blood was drawn. Helplessly, she watched as her sister stepped into the demon's range of vision.
"Hey. Hi there," Kate sarcastically greeting the demon in a voice Sam had rarely heard from her soft-spoken sister. The demon's head turned quickly at the sound of the voice, but it hid its astonishment well, eyes flashing at the young woman. "Yeah, I'm talking to you," Kate spat. "What's the deal? Why are you hunting this boy? What has he done to you and your boss?"
"He is in possession of the Bright-" The demon began to snarl, but Kate's arm shot out. Her telekinetic power hurled the demon off its feet and threw it through the air, arms and legs flailing wildly. After flying several feet back, it slammed into the ground with a sickening crunch that made Sam wince.
"Haven't you ever heard of a rhetorical question? I didn't want a response from scum like you!" Kate snapped. She quickly swung her head around and glared at Sam with a look that said, quite plainly, to do her job.
Sam jumped out from her cover and sprinted to the boy, jerking him to his feet, and roughly shoving him in the direction they came from. "Get out of here! Quickly! Go!" Startled into movement, the boy hastily thrust the object into his pocket and scampered away out of sight, small legs working hard to move him as fast as they could. Not bothering to watch the boy hurry away, Sam tuned to her sister and viewed the next events with an open mouth.
The demon had lay momentarily stunned on the ground, multicolored leaves and twigs strewn across the ground, but almost as quickly as Kate could blink, it was upright again, breathing heavily. It shrugged its shoulders, as if brushing off a pestering fly, shook its head to clear it, then turned to Kate.
"Pitiful attempt, witch. You won't defeat me that easily," It croaked. Before Kate could budge or even think, the demon had gathered a sphere ball of energy that crackled blue with intensity. In a split second, the crusty palm had flung the energy ball at Kate, who was rooted to the spot. But Sam's instincts kicked in sharply and jarred her into action. With no thought to her own safety, Sam executed her levitation powers and flew through the air. Speeding to her sister, Sam pushed Kate out of the way of the energy ball, but in doing so put herself in its path instead. The electric sphere hit Sam full in the chest, the force of it propelling her fifteen feet back where she slammed into a tree. Kate's scream shattered the air as Sam's limp body slid down the trunk and crumpled at the base of the tree, leaves twining in her bloody hair.
"No!" Kate cried out, lurching to her feet and sprinting to her sister. Dropping to her knees, Kate put her fingers to Sam's neck, checking frantically for a pulse. A hand on her sister's bloody hair, Kate tried hard to find a heartbeat, but before she could, she heard a twig snap. Looking up, she saw, though tear filled eyes, the demon take a step forward, looking triumphant. Instinctively, as if a spirit had taken over her body, Kate stood, anger and anguish coursing through her veins as the realization of what had just happened sunk into her numb brain. Hurtling her arm out and focusing her mind, Kate's powers lifted the demon off its feet again and slammed him into a tree not too far away. The demon sank to the ground, but climbed to his feet again, though slower now, before sneering contemptuously, "I'll be back for you and your sisters, witch! My master won't be happy now that you've left the BrightGleam in the hands of a pathetic mortal boy. You haven't seen the last of me or my Master! Be prepared!" And before Kate could retaliate, he shimmered out of the glade.
Kate stumbled back to Sam and fell beside her, choking back sobs of sorrow at the sight of Sam laying spread-eagled on the dirt, a large, bloody burn puncturing her chest. Placing Sam's head in her lap, Kate checked for a pulse again. There was one, but Kate's sensitive fingers could barely feel it. Her sister was on the verge of death. With a sob of fear, Kate took Sam's limp hand in her own and put her forehead to it. "No," she choked. "No, Sam. Don't go. Sammie, come one, sweetie. Sam! Oh, this is all my fault. Sam!" Quaking with grief, Kate shook Sam, sobbing, "Sam, come on. Wake up, Sam. Please." She put her head against Sam's cold cheek, tears streaming down her face and mingling onto Sam's. Lifting her head, Kate cried out in desperation, "Jay! Jay!" Her voice echoed around the empty glen, a shallow sound in the empty air.
A multitude of bright, white lights danced about Kate, shining brightly, blurred through the tears glistening in her eyes. Gathering together, the lights fell lower as a figure formed, radiating light through the clearing. The lights gradually dissolved into the thin air, revealing a tall, handsome young man standing next to Kate, looking down at her. He was six feet, two inches tall, powerfully built but with a gentle look about his honest features. His neat, sandy hair was cropped close to his head, and his dazzling sapphire eyes sparkled and shone like two indigo stars behind long lashes.
Jay was the Miller sister's whitelighter, the guardian angel of witches, future whitelighters, and future witches. The sisters were some of his charges. As their whitelighter, Jay protected the girls, assisting in identifying demon and friend, helping the girls out of sticky situations, and, perhaps the most valuable asset, healed their wounds with the healing power of angels. But Jay was more than a whitelighter to the girls, in particular, Kate. He was Kate's husband, a title the Elders tried to forbid. Witches and whitelighters were forbidden to fall in love, and could certainly not get married. Rarely did a witch and her guardian marry. In fact, there were only two instances where there was a marriage: the Charmed One, Piper Halliwell, and her whitelighter Leo Wyatt, and Kate Miller and Jay. Both Jay and Kate however, had proved to the Elders that they could be together despite demonic threats and answering other charges, and they would stay true to their destinies.
As Jay looked into his wife's stricken face, he knew immediately that something was wrong. "What?" He asked quickly, in a deep baritone voice that omitted from his throat. "What is it?"
Kate motioned to Sam, barely able to speak for sobbing. "It's Sam. She-she's hurt badly. We have to get her out of here before-" But her plea was cut off by the demon shimmering into the area again, but this time he was accompanied by five demons, each more menacing than the other. Rapidly looking around, the fire-faced demon spotted Kate, then pointed and screamed to his followers.
"There! There is the witch! Kill her!"
Without thinking, Kate grabbed Jay's arm and cried out in panic, "Jay! Get Sam! Orb us back home! Get her out of here!" Jay, however, did not need advice and was already moving. In one fluid movement, he bent and picked up the limp body of Sam, and, as Kate wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly, white lights shimmered about them. The trio disintegrated into the lights, lifted into the air in particals, and orbed out of the glade.