Witch in White
Disclaimer: You know why there is going to be a sixth season of Supernatural? Cause I own it and wanted there to be another season. No. That's a complete lie. I should be ashamed. I own neither Supernatural, nor Charmed.
A/n: I am just thrilled and overjoyed at the feedback I receive and the amount of enjoyment I see others getting from this fic. Everyone here on is so amazing. You all deserve a pat on the back and some gratuitous fan service from whomever you deem drool-worthy. Seriously. Now that I'm done singing your praises, let's get on with chapter 12. I hope you like this one, like you've liked the others!
Chapter 12: Take Me Home (2)
The Winchester brothers were still teasing and taunting one another as the trio made their way from the back of the house to the front. Melinda brought up the rear of the pack, shaking her head at the harmless sibling rivalry she knew so well from experiences with her own two older, brothers. She laughed quietly when, once again, Sam made a remark that forced Dean to become speechless and indignant.
"You wanna stop giggling back there, kiddo, and pick-up the pace?" Dean turned to Melinda when he could no longer banter back and forth with Sam. "Now that I've taken care of our ghost problem, I have no problem leaving you behind to fend for yourself. Unless of course you think you owe us, me, some sort of "thank you" payment."
"Maybe I'm enjoying the view I have from this angle," the brunette taunted back.
The eldest Winchester snapped his eyes towards Melinda's, but when he looked at her face, he saw her watching Sam instead. When Sam saw his brother's expression as Dean turned forward, the youngest Winchester chuckled. An echo of the chuckle was heard behind them.
"Well why don't you watch this prize piece of tail walk right out the front door," snorted Dean. The hunter brushed past his partner and brother; the front door slammed behind his retreating figure.
Sam turned to Melinda and the two shared another laugh. Then he too, jogged forward to catch up to Dean. Melinda watched the door slam again.
The young woman figured she should try and reach the brothers soon or Dean might make good on his threat and leave her behind to walk all the way back to the motel room. She started forward, still traveling at a slower pace, to get to the front door. Melinda had only made it a few steps when suddenly she heard a crunch of breaking glass come from underneath her foot.
Melinda bent down and picked up a dusty photo in a cracked frame. Her sleeve made a good dust rag as she wiped away the dirt and grime to reveal the picture beneath. What she saw made her frown bitterly. The Snows smiled back at her from the yellowing paper. Norman had his arm around his wife, while Peggy held their young son, CJ in her arms. Susie stood in front of her father and to the left of her step-mother; the little girl had the largest grin plastered on her freckled face.
Melinda let her eyes wander from face to face, smile to smile, within the wooden frame. She stared sadly at the infant in Peggy's arms. A slight reflection on the other side of the photo caught her eye. The witch glanced over at Susie this time and her brown eyes widened. Susie's eyes unexpectedly glowed yellow. Melinda blinked and the eyes were their normal hazel.
The young Halliwell shook her head to rid herself of the trick of light, played on her sight. She looked at the photo again; all four people appeared just as they had when she had first picked up the frame. She began staring so hard, concentrating on the family, that her focus switched to just the cracked piece of glass. That is when she noticed a new reflection coming from the room around her.
Melinda dropped the picture; it clattered to the ground but she never heard it. Her eyes were large and round when she saw the column of fire in the center of the ceiling. Without warning the flames leapt out towards the female witch, heading for her as if they had a mind of their own. She waved her hand to the right and her telekinesis pushed the flames off course.
She wasted no time. She ran for the door. She grabbed the doorknob and turned. Nothing happened; it was locked. Melinda coughed as smoke entered her lungs.
"SAM! DEAN!" Melinda pounded on the door with heavy fists. She cried out for help.
An invisible force seized her from behind and yanked. The brunette was directly slammed into a wall, her bones rattled with the power of the collision. She looked towards the flames that hovered above her, waiting to attack once again.
Melinda coughed another time; the whole ceiling was on fire now and plumes of smoke were permeating the room. "SAM! DEAN!" she choked out.
The Halliwell knew she had seconds before the fire launched itself at her, the young witch trapped by some other supernatural power, and she needed help to come within those few precious seconds. She took in another smoke-saturated breath of air, opened her mouth wide, and readied herself to scream out the names of the two brothers she knew could get to her in mere seconds through a cloud of blue and white orbs.
The Winchester brothers crashed through the locked door, Dean in the lead, guns raised. Just as the flames, again leapt for Melinda, Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her off the wall. Dean held the door open for them and Sam dragged Melinda out the front door. The eldest Winchester followed behind immediately; he slammed the door hard, watching the flames now headed for him. The column of fire collided with the closed door.
Sitting on the opposite queen-sized bed, Melinda watched Dean rubbing furiously away at his gun with a dirty rag. The hunter had been cleaning his gun for the past ten minutes, a permanent scowl fixed on his face. Sam, on the other hand, was up and about, pacing furiously. Melinda coughed and Dean spared her a swift glance before he looked at his brother.
"Freaky-ass flames on the ceiling and pinning Mel to the wall, I hate to say it Sam but this reeks of that bastard's handiwork," growled Dean.
The younger Winchester frowned, anger lines written all over his face; he literally trembled with pent up rage. "So what are we going to do now?" asked Sam. "I say we go after him. Now."
"I'm all for hunting the son of a bitch down, but first we've got to find dad. Then we kill the demon together and avenge mom and Jessica."
"Dean if we don't leave now he could get away and then we may not find him again for a long time. We know he's here; now's our chance."
"Sam, we don't know he's here. He probably turned tail and ran as soon as he failed to kill Mel."
"We don't know that," argued Sam. "He could still be here."
Dean sighed. He knew that when Sam made a decision, the young hunter would stick stubbornly to his decision until the bitter end. "We need to find dad, Sammy. That's our job right now. And to kill any monsters along the way. Which we just did; we put a ghost to rest and saved the girl. Now we get to move along." Sam growled; he knew his brother was right.
Sensing a brief pause in the conversation, Melinda took her chance to enter it.
"This demon," she said softly, "the one that killed your mom, do you think he killed Adam too?"
Both Dean and Sam stopped their movements to glance at their friend.
"Most likely, Mel," answered Sam. His brother watched the two younger people talk. "This demon leaves a trail of death and suffering every time he passes through someplace. He probably killed your friend because Dean went to talk to Adam, ask Adam questions. After that, the demon went after you. He saw that you were getting too close to us and he wanted to make sure he ended that. He gets enjoyment out of killing people close to us," explained the taller hunter.
"Oh," was all Melinda had for a response.
"I'm sorry kiddo," Dean tried an attempt at comfort.
"I'm sorry too," she said. "I'm sorry about your mom and for this Jessica woman that died too. I know what it's like to lose family and friends. I also know what it's like to have to search around for an absentee father. Why didn't you guys tell me earlier that you're looking for your dad too? Is he missing or something?"
"You're the one that ended our earlier conversation so abruptly. He's out there hunting the demon who killed our mother and Sam's girlfriend, Jess. We're following the bread crumbs he leaves behind, slaying any monster we meet along the way. And your dad? What's his deal?"
"After my mom died, yeah we have that in common too, my dad became all about his work. He had more time for his clients than he did for his children. Since the people he helps and gives advice to are all over the map, he travels constantly. Don't get me wrong, he does come home every once in a while. Christmas, other major holidays, and last year her came for my eldest brother's birthday. But his visits are becoming less and less frequent. So now I'm out here, traveling from place to place, visiting friends and clients that know him, all so that I can talk to him face to face to tell him to come home and work less. I've been traveling so long, looking for him that now I just think I ought to give up and go home myself. He can come to regret his decisions on his own time."
"When did your mom die?" Sam asked.
"I was eleven, my older brother was fourteen, and my other older brother was fifteen. That was ten years ago. Yours?"
"I was just a baby. Dean was four."
"I'm sorry."
"Us too."
There was a long pause of silence for a few minutes as the trio allowed themselves time to digest all the new information being presented to each other. Dean went back to messing with his gun, this time not as angry, and Sam finally sat down in one of the kitchenette chairs with his hands folded in his lap. Melinda hung her head and sighed.
The young woman looked up. "If you boys don't mind," she started, "I'm covered in dirt and ashes so I'm headed to that bathroom over there to take a nice hot shower. It would not be wise to interrupt."
Dean shrugged his shoulders but kept on cleaning. "Sure Mel," said Sam, "go right ahead."
Steam billowed out from all around her when she pulled open the curtain and stepped out of the shower. Melinda grabbed the nearest fluffy white towel and, after patting the excess water off, wrapped the towel around her wet figure. She rung out the water dripping from her hair, then scrunched her damp, brunette locks in her hands. She was just about to pull the hair into a messy bun when three demons shimmered into the little room.
Melinda did not waste even a second. Her hands were out as soon as she saw the first figure fully materialize. The blonde male with a scar running down his whole right arm was obliterated in an instant. The second demon, also a man but with long black hair, threw an energy ball her way and she quickly dodged to the right. She flung out her hands again and he too exploded right before her eyes.
The third demon was a lot faster and smarter than his two deceased companions. When Melinda tried to vanquish him with her ability to force all the molecules in his body to go faster, he was able to make it out of the way just in time and Melinda exploded the door instead. She knew that with all the noise she was making, not to mention destroying the bathroom door, Sam and Dean would be running to rescue her any second. Her knowledge was correct and the brothers soon appeared in the place where the door was suppose to be; both of them held guns out, ready to aim and fire.
Melinda was able to save bullets when she finally got a lock on the third and final demon. She threw out her hands, palms up, and his screams grew louder until finally he was vanquished in a fiery explosion.
Dean and Sam stared at her in shock. It only took Dean a moment to gather himself together though; he pointed his gun at the young witch. Sam mimicked his brother's actions.
"What the hell are you?" the eldest hunter growled out.
Melinda held up her hands in surrender. "Sam, Dean, what are you doing? Please don't point those guns at me," she spoke softly and slowly; she wanted them to trust her.
"How did you just do that? And what were those things? Why are they after you?"
"Please, Sam, Dean, put the guns down. I'm not going to hurt you guys."
"Just answer the damn questions, Melinda," Sam said.
"Can I at least get dressed first?" asked the brunette woman.
Sam looked at Dean. "Fine. But Sam and I stay right here with guns still pointed right at you."
"Dean. I'm not going to change right in front of you guys."
"Turn around and we'll try not to watch."
Melinda was angry. She had just been ambushed by demons, her friends were putting guns at her, and now she had to humiliate herself in front of them. 'Screw it,' she thought, turned, and dropped her towel. Then she pulled on her clothes as fast as she had ever gotten dressed before. When she turned back around, the Winchester brothers still had their guns trained at her chest.
"You guys are jerks," she said. "I know you like to shoot things and burn things, but you saved my life on more than one occasion and I thought I could consider you guys friends. Guess I was wrong."
"You're the one keeping such a secret. Now tell us what you are," was Dean's reply.
But before he let her answer, the hunters used their guns to guide Melinda back into the center of the motel room. She followed reluctantly and with a slight amount of resistance. Once the trio was all settled into a tense stand-off, the witch was allowed to answer.
"I'm a witch," she said, hands once again up in surrender.
Dean cocked his gun.
"Woah! Dean! What do you have against witches?"
"Witches are messy and they kill people."
"The only thing I kill is demons, which is what attacked me in the bathroom. This may sound cliché to you two, but I swear I'm a good witch. I help people, save innocents; I'm fighting the same fight you guys are fighting!" Melinda could feel herself getting desperate and emotional.
"We're not the same," growled Dean. "You're a monster."
The Halliwell gasped. She was shocked that Dean would call her such a harsh title when she had done nothing to hurt him or his brother. She threw out her hands; the Winchesters froze in place, guns raised menacingly.
"Well I'm sorry you feel that way, Dean Winchester."
Melinda walked down the empty road, her bag slung over her shoulder. She was cold, angry, and sad. After freezing the Winchester brothers, she had grabbed all her stuff in an angry flurry, stalking out in a huff. They would unfreeze later but she doubted her feelings towards them would. Now she was alone, and on her way towards a new destination.
"Wyatt! Chris!" she called out her fears, anger, and sadness into the cold night air.
When the two Halliwell brothers materialized in a swirl of orbs, they saw tears in their sister's face. They both looked at each other, then back at Melinda. Chris went to his sister first.
"Mel," he put his hands on her shoulders, "what's wrong?"
"Take me home."
A/n: Well that's it folks! The end. Fin. That's all she wrote. Well for this story anyway. ;) I hope everyone enjoyed it! I had so much fun writing this fic! So much fun! Sorry this last chapter came out so late at night but my aunt's gonna have babies soon so I've been helping to take care of her all weekend. Nothing's more exciting than new babies in the family! But it is a nice long chapter. I hope I answered a lot of lingering questions. If not, don't worry, there is more to come in the form of another story. Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers! See you in the next story!
Oh look! A rainbow!
-ROMS