Chapter 21: Stupid Plans and Good Intentions

A/N: Carmy! Hehehe…I mentioned you again. I actually was waiting for you this time. Almost school…gasp! Need class buddies. Story's almost over, so sad! At least they get home eventually. This was hard…haven't written this story in a while. Hope everyone likes it, so please read and review.

Prue, Aunt Piper, my mom and Grams were still standing in the doorway. It was one of the most awkward silences I had ever lived through. Prue looked to be the angriest out of all of them . "Why am I bleeding?" Prue repeated again , this time much louder. I looked at Melinda and Aidan for support. They gave me nothing. I was on my own for this one.

"Um…see…the thing is…", I began. Uusally, I was able to make up things like that really quickly. Today I had no ideas. Prue was tapping her foot impatiently. That sure was making me very uncomfortable. I could see that Aidan was feeling uncomfortable too. This was particularly obvious because I noticed a few flames leap from the rug, which Aidan quickly stamped out. Grams shot us all a very appolegetic look.

Melinda let out an exasperated sigh. That girl was becoming more and more impatient lately. Without saying a word, she flicked her wrists, and Prue, Piper and Phoebe froze in place. That's when I exploded at her. " What did you do that for! I had a plan, and it didn't involve exposing magic to the whole world! You ruined everything! I can't believe you were so stupid!"

I stopped. I didn't really have much energy to yell anyways. Melinda looked shocked, and a little scared when I finished. I noticed the scorch marks to the right of where my cousin stood. I didn't mean to make her feel bad. I certainly didn't intend to lose control. No way would I do what I knew I must have done on purpose. "Sorry Melly, I didn't mean to", I said, ashamed.

Slowly, Melinda nodded. "I know", Melinda said softly. I was glad that she knew. Then, as if she could read my mind, which, I reminded myself, she could, she said, "You're not evil." I didn't know that I was conveying my doubt so clearly in my thoughts, but I was glad Melinda had picked up on it. She was really much more perceptive than I gave her credit for.

While my cousin and I were having our quick little argument, Grams was hovering awkwardly by the door. Taking care not to step on her immobilized grandchildren, she walked towards us. " Would you please tell me what's going on here? You called me to bring them here, so you must at least tell me what you're up to." Grams did have a point. She deserved the truth, and we might as well give it to her.

So once again, we explained. It didn't take long, and strangely, Grams was ready to believe us without question. I was feeling a little more at ease. It looked like soon we would be home. Then, everything that I had done in the past, everything that had happened, it wouldn't matter anymore. Things would be like they used to be. At least, I hoped so.

Our plan was fool proof. At least, I thought it was foolproof. There was nothing I could think of that could go wrong. Then, Grams pointed out what could be a little glitch in our plan. "What are we to do about the girls? It wouldn't be prudent for them to even suspect that magic exsists, let alone know this much", Grams said.

My great grandmother had a point. She also had me stumped. Melinda, however, said, " Leave that to me." Once again, my cousin had a plan. I was a bit warry of whatever Melinda's plan was, but I had no other ideas. Aidan just looked at me and shrugged. He was a bit useless sometimes. It was lucky he was cute.

" We just need a spell!" Melinda said brightly. I almost groaned out loud. Melinda used to seem so smart. That was just lame. Even I could think of a plan like that. I guess it was worth a though. With Melinda, Aidan and I said the spell together, it would have enough power to do something substantial. After all the really good plans had failed, a stupid one should work.

Before she began, Melinda took the athame, and pricked aunt Piper and Mom. She quickly unfroze them and refroze them, collecting a few drops of blood. She was getting surprisingly good at this. She gently laid the athame on the table. Then she began the spell.

"Send them away, don't let them stay", Melinda began. I stared at her blankly. Nothing had happened yet.

"Start rhyming, say anything", Grams whispered. That snapped me into awarness. I was really good at making up rhymes on the spot.

"Let them not know what is here, send them to a place they don't fear, Leave no memory of what they should not know, to somewhere safe, let those three go", I made up off the top of my head. The three frozen girls were enveloped in golden lights, and they disappeared.

I wasn't sure where they went, but at least they weren't there anymore. Things would be much easier now. Melinda went into the kitchen, and brought the boiling pot of whatever potion she had made. She placed it on the table in the living room. I shakily got the Grimoire, and placed it beside the potion.

It felt so horrible touching that book. I could feel the evil radiating from within it. It was just as I felt the good radiating from the Book of Shadows when I held it. When I put it down, as small shiver ran down my spine. " Do you need me? Or, shall I find the girls?" Grams asked.

"We'll be fine", Melinda said, " You can go."

Grams left, and we were in the ho use all alone. I kind of wanted her to be there with us. Just in case something went wrong, then I wanted some sort of witness. I tried to imagine what it would be like when we finally got home after almost a month. My mom would definatley be happy to see me. So would Prue, and the rest of my extended family. I had become so caught up in what had happened in the past, that I hadn't even thought about what was happening in my time. Everyone must be worried sick.

I pushed that thought out of my mind, at least mostly. I needed to concentrate on the task at hand. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like, however. What if I was the one there, and someone I loved, like my sister, had disappeared. What if I hadn't seen her for a month? Surely I would think the worst. I knew equally that I would try and find her. Were they even looking for me?

I tried to ignore the horrible gnawing feeling that grew in the pit of my stomach after that thought. I couldn't think like that, not right now. It was unproduductive, and right now I needed to concentrate. This would be resolved when I got home. Right now, the potion and the spell that would let me go home were all that matters.

Melinda held the athame coated in the blood over the pot of potion she had made. Unlike me, Melinda was great at making potions. The potion turned from it's disgusting brown colour to a blinding white. According to the Grimoire, that's exactly what was supposed to happen. So far, so good. I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding in. I was more nervous than I thought.

Before I knew it, it was time for the spell. This was the part I had been dreading. The last time I had tapped into magic this dark, I had nearly lost the good side of myself. I felt a little guilty using what I was sure was dark magic. I had to keep reminding myself that this was the only way to get home. It still didn't make me feel much better.

Melinda grabbed onto my left hand, and Aidan grabbed onto my right. It was time to do the spell. Now or never. You ready? Melinda asked inside my head. I didn't answer. I was frozen in place. I tried to say the spell, but my mouth didn't seem to want to open. I had frozen. Finally I though, I can't do this, I have to stay away from evil.

Melinda didn't question me, being the good person that she was. Or maybe she didn't have to ask any questions since she knew me that well. I was afraid of what I would do, surrounded by all that dark energy. It was just like inviting me to destroy the world. Not that I want to destroy the world. Just my evil side was a little unstable, and if I wanted to destroy the world, I was capable.

"Aidan", I muttered, "I can't do this." He quickly let go of my other hand.

"Are you sure you're okay Patience?" Aidan asked. I liked the way he looked at me with concern. He didn't really need to worry about me, since I could take care of myself. I could tell using telepathy that he wanted to protect me. I hated how in fairy tales and stuff the big strong Prince always had to save the damsel in distress. I could save myself, and a bunch of big strong guys while I was at it.

"I'm fine", I said after a long pause, "You and Melinda will have to do the spell". I had to trust him, let him take the lead for once. Melinda and Aidan held hands, although reluctantly so. I could still sense some mutual dislike between them. It would be amusing when we got back to our time, and Aidan and I could begin dating for real.

Aidan and Melinda looked at me with concern, before beginning the spell. " We call upon the darkest power, Transport us now through time and space, Move uswith your ancient power, to our rightful time and place!"

We waited around for something, anything to happen. The house was just as it had ever been. It was silent, in a very anti climatic way. I didn't even feel anything, like usually happened with spells. The spell couldn't be a dud, considering the book it had come from. This could only mean one thing. They didn't have enough power to pull off the spell. Only one person did, and that person was me.

I didn't want to, I couldn't do it. I remembered, all too clearly, the feeling of evil encompassing all of my body. Never again did I want to fell like that. It wasn't that it felt horrible, it did, but that was not the point. What I was how worried about was how enticing it felt. It was all too easy to get sucked into that world of darkness, and I didn't want that. However, I desperately wanted to go home. This was the only way.

I closed my eyes, and tried to clear my mind of all conscious thought. I can do this, I can do this, I repeated over and over again. Deep breath in, and deep breath out. I tried to think happy pure thoughts. As long as my mind was free over murderous evil thoughts, maybe I wouldn't do any damage at all.

I placed my palms on the Grimoire, and I felt all of it's dark energy. That energy made me stronger, and ready to unleash all that power into the spell. Before I began speaking, I caught sight of myself in the hall mirror. My eyes had turned pitch black. I quickly turned away, not wanting to see myself. It was painful, almost frightening even.

" We call upon the darkest power, Transport us now through time and space, Move us with your ancient power, to our rightful time and place!" I chanted. Only, it wasn't my own voice I heard, it was the frightening demonic one I had only heard a few times in the past. I was absorbing all the evil required for this spell, and I had no choice.

I could feel deep from within, my demonic self struggling to emerge. No, I wouldn't become that again. Struggling to keep my demonic quarter buried deep inside, I opened my eyes. I hadn't even realized I was closing them. There I was, for the most part, my normal human self. Only the still pitch black eyes showed the evil I felt coursing within.

I saw the dark energies, swirling around us and around the potion. I had already said the spell, but I knew I had to keep my concentration for it to keep functioning. I was doing quite well until I caught sight of my cousin and my sort of boyfriend. The look on their faces somehow hurt me, deep down in my pure human soul. They were looking at me in fear, and although I couldn't blame them, it still hurt.

They were afraid of me. They were practically terrified. Just their expression were enough to make resurface the lingering feelings of doubt I had long felt. They made me feel like I was a monster. It wasn't right that they should do that. I didn't like being feared. They weren't supposed to be like that. They were supposed to know that I would never hurt either of them, at least not willingly.

Maybe they're jealous, said a small voice in the back of my head. I had unlimited power at my disposal, while they were just limited. Compared to me, they were nothing. Why couldn't I be normal? I didn't want to be envied, nor feared, nor this powerful. I wanted someone to have power over me for a change. I wanted to be protected by someone's power other than my own.

I shook my head. While all these thoughts raced through my head, I had lost some of that much needed concentration. The swirling black energies that had surrounded us went down a little. The power had slightly faded. I was very confused, both by what I had been thinking, and what had been happening to me. I looked back to Melinda and Aidan, although I was somewhat afraid of seeing either of them.

Neither of them looked afraid anymore. "You can do this Patience", Aidan whispered. His tone was filled with such love, that all of my negative thoughts immediately melted away. I had been wrong before. I was more powerful than everyone I knew. There was nothing at all wrong with that. There was nothing that said a girl couldn't save the day. Of course a girl could save the day, and I had just decided that I would be that girl.

I looked back into the hall mirror, and saw an amazing change. My pitch black eyes swirling with dark energies instantly turned to their normal warm sparkling brown. The energies around us also slowly changed into a sparkling white. I was tapping into the power I had gotten from good for a change. In all my worry about truly becoming my father's daughter, I had forgotten that I was and always had been truly my mother's daughter.

With my new renewed attitude, I could once again concentrate. I closed my eyes, and let the power of light and goodness run through me. I had no idea how this had happened, but I knew that this was the right way to go home. All around us, the bright lights swirled. Melinda and Aidan were looking at me in wonderment. After a single minute of concentration, the white lights enveloped us. I could see nothing but white, and I felt myself being hurtled forward, through time and space.

This was it, we were going home.

TBC…

Only one more chapter, then an epilogue. So sad! Please read and review!