Author's Note: Hey guys! Wow, its been a while since I've updated this fic. I simply just lost my interest in this story but now I am going to try to continue, lets hope my spark stays! Ha! Anyways, thank you everyone for the reviews. I hope I have not completely lost of the followers and favorites for this story. I hope yo enjoy this next installment and I'll have the next one up ASAP!
Declaim! I do not own absolutely nothing! If I did, my version would be so different because I only like the first Twilight book.
Warning: Some of the dialogue is from twilight and the movie..
All reviews will be responded at the end of each chapter.
Chapter 11
Dead End
It was much too late, at least for Phoebe's point of view. Prue was never one to over sleep or sleep much for that matter. She walked with a cup of coffee, cautious not to slip on the new rug on the hallway, or else face Piper's wrath. And it too early for yelling on such a bright day. Phoebe knocked gently on Prue's door but no response. Bewildered, Phoebe walked in to find a sleeping Prue, drooled over her pillow while cuddling the Book of Shadows.
A chuckle escaped from phoebe's lips as she smiled. Gently she shook Prue's shoulder, who regarded her with a annoyed moan, "Prue?"
Prue cracked open her left eye to be blinded by the sunlight that sheered through the blinds. Swiftly, she closed her eyes and attempted to ignore the burning pain. With a deep yawn, Prue rolled to the other side before suddenly she jumped up, panic stricken and asked rapidly, "What time is it?"
"Its exactly nine am on a Saturday." Phoebe announced in a casual voice, suspected Prue to overact as if she were late for her job.
"Saturday?" Prue repeated half asleep, rubbed her temple to rid herself of an annoying headache. "Oh, I don't have to go to work today." She fell back on to the bed as her head spin. It wasn't until after four AM when Prue passed out and even now, she wondered how she ever pulled an all-nighter when she was a teenager.
"Doing some late night studying?" Phoebe inquired as her eyes snapped to the book followed by a mischievously, "Or maybe some late night cuddling."
Prue looked at her arm, which was securely wrapped around the Book of Shadows. Moaned to herself, she stifled a chuckle and sat back up. Her memories of last night studying flashed back to her. It was down right frustrating to study for so long and hit a dead end, "Yeah, well someone has too."
Phoebe softly smiled as her eyes softened to the sadness that Prue attempted to hide, "I think you miss Andy too much."
With a deep sigh, Prue looked away despondent, "Its fine." Prue rose from the bed and approached her closet to pick out an outfit. Since it was her day off, she was free from profession attire. One by one, no shirt seemed to grasp her interest, "Andy can't handle our secret."
"I am sorry, sweetie." Phoebe murmured softly, looked away and feeling useless. It hurt her to see her older sister suffer from heartache problems. A family trait, so it seemed.
Prue came out of her closet with a cream sleeveless blouse and black stylist jeans. She tossed them onto the bed and muttered to Phoebe before returning to the closet for matching shoes, "Yeah well, I can't handle the fact that there is no information on this woman in the Book of Shadows."
"Nothing at all." Phoebe repeated, dumbfounded and sighed deeply.
"Zip." Prue exasperated returned to the bed and placed her boots on the floor. Frustration build up companied with anxiety about this new rival. A rival that could be their undoing. Prue was absolutely determined to protect her sisters no matter the cost. As Prue glanced at Phoebe, her beloved and erratic younger sister, and Prue knew in her heart that she die for her.
With a sigh, Prue brushed her hand through her black locks when she eyed the cup of coffee in Phoebe's hands. Curious, she inquired. "Is that for me?"
"Oh, yes." Phoebe almost shouted for she had forgotten the cup. All the tension regarding this new evil had her sidetracked. Prue murmured a soft 'thank you' as she sipped the lukewarm coffee. Phoebe went to Prue's jewelry box, hand selected two small pearls for her older sister while she questioned, "What do we do now?"
Prue sighed as her shoulders dropped and said plainly, "I don't know."
Phoebe opened her mouth to respond when suddenly, out of the blue, Piper was yelling. "We should be able too, Leo!" Both of the sisters looked at each other, confused and curious. Phoebe dropped the pearls onto the comforter and followed Prue out of the room, curious to the shouting at 9am. In the hallway, rounding up from the stairs was Piper arguing with Leo.
Piper stomped her feet, infuriated when Leo gently grabbed her hand to turn Piper toward him. Leo murmured gently, his voice pleaded for compliances from his fury headed fiancé, "We just have to keep it quiet for a little longer."
"A little Longer?" Piper whined in protest, almost offended by his suggestion. "Leo. I want a wedding. I want everything from the dress to guest and even…"
"I know, piper. We will." Leo cut in gently as he closed the gap between them and hugged her until she melted into him. Piper was reluctant but finally wrapped her arms around his waist, pulled him closer.
She sighed in defeated and rested her head on Leo's shoulder, "No we won't, not with them dictating our every move."
"I know." Leo murmured, he pulled away and cupped Piper's face. "Just be patient."
Piper sighed, frustrated as she pitched the bridge of her nose. "Is there anything else you can do?" Piper asked, almost pleaded as she looked up at Leo.
He shook his head and then glanced to the side to find Phoebe and Prue watching their private scene. Piper followed his gaze and her heart constricted. The worry look on her sister's face gave her despondent mood. With a sigh, Leo backed away and whispered to Piper, "I should go."
Instantly, Leo materialized into the air. Phoebe asked, "Honey, what is wrong?"
Piper barely acknowledged them before she turned on her heels, escaped into her room and slammed the door. Prue and Phoebe looked at each, dumbfounded. Shortly afterwards, Bella peeked out her head, sleepily and searched for commotion. Phoebe gestured her youngest sister to follow as they hustle to Piper's room.
Confused, Bella followed faithfully. The three sisters found Piper on her bed in a fetal position. Phoebe's heart sunk as she immediately jumped onto the bed and swept Piper's hair out from the nape of her neck. "Sweetie, What happened?" Phoebe inquired, her voice very soft as if she feared she would startle Piper.
"Did the Elder say something?" Prue added as she sat next to phoebe at the Piper's legs. Her arm wrapped around Piper's calves.
Still oblivious, Bella came to the side of the bed in front of Piper and sat on the edge. Piper sniffed as she closed her eyes tightly before answering her worried sisters, "The elders do not want us to marry."
"What?" Phoebe objected, she looked to her sisters for support. "They can't do that."
"Yes they can. They can take him away." Piper corrected, her voice almost defeated and weary. She wiped away a tear the escaped from the corner of her eye and sniffed again.
Prue swelled with ferrous protectiveness for the elders caused her younger sister pain. Tightened her hand into a fist, Prue forcefully declared, "We won't stand for it."
"None of us will." Phoebe complied, infuriated at the Elders.
"It will work out somehow." Bella added, she went for Piper's hand and gently caressed it.
Piper looked at her youngest sister and then to Prue followed by Phoebe. Her support system had her almost in full-blown tears. With a weak smile, she pulled Bella into a hug. Phoebe and Prue came in and tightly hugged Piper's waist.
Later in the day, after Piper calmed herself. Bella snuck up into the attic and hoped no one would disturb her. This research was for her alone. After she understood the truth, she'll consider informing her sister. Until then, she'll do this alone. Over a week, she'd dodged questions and now finally had the time to figure out her own questions. Flipped page by page, her eyes skimmed through different demons.
Her heart dropped when nothing matched. Edward was another entity entirely and there might not be absolutely anything on him or his family. There was no way he was human. Possibly a witch, but Bella highly doubt it. Witches weren't frozen or stop cars with their bare hands. She sighed…
Brute Demon, Bounty Hunters, Call for a Lost Witch, Banshee, Vampire, Balthazar, Furry, Laz… wait, vampire?
Bella flipped back a few pages to the Vampire. Frowned at the two images that absolutely different from each other. On the top edge was the classic vampire from old movies and Dracula. Two long teeth, enhanced in the shadows and turned to ash if ever in the sunlight. Under the short description, these vampires were led by a queen and lived in a colony beneath the earth's surface in the darkest of caverns. A vanquishing potion was complex but that was not what she needed. No, Edward did not match that. Of course, she never seen his two long teeth, if he had them but he did not live in a colony or in the shadows.
Her eyes skipped down to the second image. The other was more… well human. Normal teeth, utterly beautiful but… stone-faced. The description on the side was too vague, there was hardly any information except that fact one of her ancestors from the sixteen hundreds hunted these so called vampires. This ancestor of her, met a vampire once and described them to be unimaginable beautiful, but cold with red dark eyes of a predator and instinctively irresistible.
Bella looked up from the book, frowned and attempted to comprehend the information. Cold… Edward's hands were cold as ice… but his eyes weren't red, they were gold. Closed the book, Bella walked around the attic deep in thought. As she paced, she mentally compared him to those vampires. Edward was in fact, instinctively irresistible, even against her own will and he did stalk like a predator. Swallowed hard as perspiration ran down her forehead…. Was Edward a vampire?
Suddenly, before Bella was even considered prepared, a red-skinned demon shimmered into the attic. Stunned, Bella staggered backwards from him as he formed a fireball in his hand. Frightened, Bella yelled. "Piper!... Prue!"
The demon threw the fireball directly at Bella's chest but she instinctively raised her hand to bounce back the fireball. Its flames grazed her hand and left acid-like burns down her forearms. Yelped in pain, Bella thrust the fireball back toward the unsuspecting demon and vanquished him with his own power. He melted with screams of agony and exploded into thin air. Scorch marks were left behind on the new rug that Piper just bought.
Instantly, all three sisters ran into the attic with prepared potions at hand. "Where is he?" Prue first asked until her eyes landed on the burned stains on the rug.
"He's gone." Bella murmured as she cuddled her burned hand and resisted a moan. The throb burn escalated down to her fingertips and elicited a soft whimper through Bells' parted lips. Her eyes trailed down to her wound, fresh blood gushed out from her gruesome wound with dried blood on the edges. Gulped back the bile that suddenly rose to her throat.
"Oh, honey, you're hurt." Phoebe cooed softly as she approached her first and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder. The young seer cradled Bella's hand in her own to examine the wounds.
"Really!" Piper exclaimed over Phoebe's soft murmurs to Bella. Her eyes took in the burn in the middle of the room, "Can't these demons ever die on the wooden floor and not on my rugs!"
Prue came to Bella, concerned and protectively. "Leo!"
Blue orbs materialized and Leo appeared unexpectedly. The smell of fresh burnt demons evaded his nostril as he glanced at the scorch marks on the rug. Frown, he turned to Bella who resisted crying from her burn arm. Instantly Leo came to Bella's aid, worried and concerned, "What happened?"
"A demon attacked!" Piper pointed out the obvious. Leo hovered his hand over hers and softly reassured the younger sister. A white light radiated off his as Bella's wounds slowly healed. The throb subsided and normal feeling returned to her fingertips.
"Yeah, how did you vanquish it?" Prue inquired curiously, skeptical that her youngest sister took on a demon on her own when she can barely walk down the stairs without tripping.
"I… I throw back the fireball." Bella explained with a shrug, surprised herself. Once Leo healed her, she smiled appreciatively, "Thanks Leo."
"No problem. What did the demon look like?" He inquired as he approached the scorch mark, impressed with Bella's handy work.
"Red." She answered swiftly and followed Prue to the book. Prue flipped through the pages as Bella continued to describe her newly vanquished, "Red skinned, ugly.."
"Well, they are all ugly…" Piper chimed in, stood in front of the book with her arms crossed. Still infuriated about her rug. Now she'll have to return it and explain a strange reason why she needed it replaced. As if her to-do-list wasn't long enough.
"Not Cole." Phoebe corrected with much pride in her voice.
"Him." Bella interrupted as she pointed a firm finger on the image of a red-skinned creature. The drawing was rather appalling; the creature stood upon skulls and held a fireball in his hand. Her eyes skimmed the description. "A powerful bounty hunter for a higher power…"
"Yeah, it even says you need the power of three to vanquish him." Prue's voice trailed off; surprised the Bella defeated not just any demon, but a powerful one. Bella's hesitantly glanced up at her surprised sister, waited for something skeptical.
"Way to go, Bella!" Phoebe immediately congratulated and came around the pedestal to embrace her younger sister. Swiftly, rocking her sister followed by a tight hug, Phoebe exclaimed, "We should let you handle all the demons next time."
"It was luck, Phoebe and it wasn't without downside." Bella murmured, shying from all the attention. It was in fact her first demon that she killed alone, without the supports of her sisters or a vanquishing potion. It wasn't a secret that Bella was viewed as the weakest of the brunch but today she proven otherwise.
"Yeah, but who sent him?" Prue inquired, slightly frustrated to another dead end. Swiftly, she slammed the book shut, followed by an exasperated sigh, "It would have been nice to interrogate him."
"I'm sorry." Bella muttered softly, downcasted her eyes.
"Don't be sorry, Bella. You had to do what was needed." Piper said firmly and with confidence, "You life was at stake and the important thing is that you're safe."
The corners of her mouth lifted as she stared at Piper. Prue felt slightly guilt for allowing Bella to believe it was her fault. With an inward sigh, Prue rubbed Bella's arms and added, "Yeah. The question is, was he after you?"
Bella looked up at Prue, frowned. "I don't think so..."
"Well, we don't know that for sure so, until we do. You're under house arrest." Prue said firmly, pointed a finger at her with no room for argument. If she had too, Prue would lock up Bella.
"No…" Bella retorted firmly, but then cleared her throat and said more gently, "I am going to stay at Charlie's tonight."
"Well Bella…" Piper tried to reason.
"No." Bella cut in and her voice strengthened with determination. "I don't think he was after me. I was just here at the wrong time."
Prue sighed deeply, not happy but she would not argue more, despite her own opinion. It had been several weeks since Bella had seen Charlie and the phone had been ringing off the hook lately. Charlie had missed his only child for a while. Prue clasped her hands together and said firmly, "Fine, but if something happens…"
"I'll call for Leo." Bella finished.
"Ok." Prue ended, not happy but complying. After the sisters agreed, Bella was left alone again in the attic where she flipped to the Vampire page. Nothing changed and there was nothing more to go on. She sighed and closed the book.
By the evening, things cooled down. Bella's sisters stopped asking if she was ok. Obviously since she did not have a meltdown after the demon attacked, they were concerned about her going to Charlie's. But, it's been two since she last saw her father. Between her witchy life and his career, time was fragile. Charlie spent the day with Billy Black on the water… fishing. Not her favorite hobby but he enjoyed it. She agreed to come after six and stay until Monday morning where he'll drop her off at school. Then Phoebe would take her home from there.
The time neared five thirty and Bella was folding her clothes into a small bag. Most of her things were already at Charlie's, so she never had to over pack. At least with Charlie, he will not hover. It would be nice to be away from the constant worries of her sisters. Just for a little time. She needed to get away to recharge herself before handling another day in the manor.
After she was readied, she went to the living room and waited for Charlie to pick her up. Collapsed into the cushioned couch, Bella allowed herself to truly relax without her sisters or anyone. Just to be alone for a short time, until… Cole decided to shimmer in.
Bella eyes snapped open to his presences and jumped in surprise. Swiftly backing into the couch until the back stopped her. Cole stared at the terrified sister and held up his hands as a peace gesture in case she decided to scream, "It's alright.. Its only me. There are no hunters after me."
Bella somewhat relaxed. With Cole, it was difficult to do so. His demon side was what had her on the edge. She never particular like to be alone with him, he was much too unpredictable and sometimes dangerous… Not the good-kind of dangerous. She nodded hesitantly and swallowed a hard lump in her throat. Once satisfied, Cole turned to find Phoebe when Bella jumped to her feet, "..C-Cole?"
He turned, expectedly, "Yeah?"
"I have a question." She stared uncertainty and swallowed hard. Surprised, Cole turned to her, and rubbed his weary face. This night, all he wanted to do was sleep beside Phoebe. Bella hesitantly inquired, "… What do you know about Vampires?"
Not exactly a conversation starter and if anything that was a very odd inquiry. Bella had always avoided him to some degree and here she was, asking about vampires. Surprised, Cole frowned to the thought of these wretched creatures, "Vampire? Why'd you ask?"
She shrugged, and attempted to sound nonchalant. "Just curious."
He cocked an eyebrow, no entirely believing her but he'll humor her. He shrugged and went to sit on the accent chairs, across from Bella who slowly sat on the couch. "Well…. There are two breeds. One that live in a colony and another that live in small groups. They both drink blood and can turn humans…"
Bella listened very intently, but nothing new as she hoped. If anyone would know these creatures, she half-expected Cole would. He was in fact over a hundred years old. She nodded in comprehension and inquired, "The ones that live in small groups… are they dangerous?"
"They both are." Cole answered, his eyebrows furrowing to why she was so interested, "The colonial Vampires are easier to kill. Just vanquish the queen but the other breed… you have to rip apart and burn their limps. Why do you want to know?"
Bella gulped to Cole's curiosity. As she shrugged nonchalantly, she attempted to pass it off as nothing, "Oh… I was just researching about demons upstairs and came across them."
"Oh, well… " Cole breathed and glanced away. He leaned back into the chair and continued, "They are very interesting… a little too inviting. If you ever meet one, don't be alone with them."
His warning sent a chill down her back as his dark eyes stared intently at her, pierced through her. Tension grew in her chest as her hand began to quiver from the intensity of his gaze, Bella swiftly looked away when the doorbell rang. Bella jumped, surprised as her heart raced rapidly. Charlie, she thought. Uncertainty she looked at Cole who was unfazed and unconvinced, and she murmured hesitantly, "Umm… th-that's Charlie. I should go."
Her eyes flickered away from Cole who remained still and unmoving but his eyes never left her's. Stumbling for her backpack, Bella straighten herself and whispered, "Bye."
With that, she quickly turned on her heel and retreated for the door. Cole watched the younger sister with much interest. It confused him that Bella would keep her distance and then inquire about such strange things. His hands tightened, as he felt suddenly protective of Phoebe. For a moment, he believed Bella might have found her a vampire…
"Hey Bells, you ready?" Charlie inquired, monotone as he waited outside on the porch for his only daughter. He never displayed it, but he was happy to have his daughter with him, even it was for a short time.
Bella came slightly ruffled and unfocused. The words that Cole told her had her slightly unraveled. Mustered a smile, she said, "Yes, lets go."
Charlie frowned at his daughter who refused to make eye contact. He suspected something was under her skin; maybe something to do with her magical life but it unnerved him that he could not help in anyway. As he followed Bella to his cruiser, he glanced back at the house, unhappy that he lost his daughter to such a life.
He shook his head and crawled into the front seat. After he was buckled, he drove off and relieved to be away from that eerier house. "How's school? Are you meeting people?"
Bella glanced up at her father's attempts at a conversation. Nodded her head, she answered nonchalantly, "Yeah… old and new people."
"Good, good." Charlie responded, happy that Bella can have a life outside of the magical life.
"How was your trip?" Bella returned the question, mildly interested.
"Good. Got some good bites" Charlie retorted, he glanced at Bella and offered a small smile.
When he turned away, Bella glanced outside. The awkward conversation they had was something unnerving but to get away from the house just for a short while…. Well it was worth it. They drove to the other side of the town to a small two-story house. Memories of her childhood came to her.
Sighed, Bella climbed out of the car and followed Charlie into the house. Immediately she went upstairs to her room and felt relieved to be alone for a while. No hovering sisters, no demon… just her and… Charlie. She went to her bookshelf where her favorite classic books were. Smiled, she grabbed 'Pride and Predajuice'. A good night reading would do her good.
To be continued...
Answering Reviews:
nursing a hangover: Thank you for the review. I have no intentions of giving up now, but my chapters will come slower since my life is starting to get busier and busier. I hoped you enjoyed!
