Chapter 2: Merry meet
Sadie walked to the bottom of the stairs, leaning lightly against the railing. She tried to look to see if someone was coming down the stairs and sighed when she didn't see anyone.
"Shannah!" she called. "I have to be at work in fifteen minutes and if you don't come down soon then I'll leave without you!"
Sadie looked at her watch and then turned to Melinda who was in the sitting room. Melinda was sitting on the couch, with her goldfish bowl in front of her on the coffee table. Frowning, Sadie walked into the sitting room.
"Melinda... what are you doing?" she wondered. Melinda smiled, looked at Sadie briefly before turning her eyes back to the goldfish bowl.
"Watch this."
Melinda flicked her hands. The goldfish had been swimming peacefully around inside the bowl. Once Melinda had flicked her hands the goldfish frooze, looking very much like the goldfish on the fish food package. Melinda flicked her hands again and the goldfish continued to swim, unaware of that it had been frozen for a few seconds. Sadie looked at Melinda, unsure of what to say.
"I... don't see the point."
"It's just fascinating that the goldfish frooze," Melinda told. "Perhaps if I concentrate enough, I might be able to freeze the tail only. I wonder what that would look like."
Sadie shook her head and laughed. Shannah came running down the stairs with her bag, shoes and jacket in her hands. When she saw that Sadie hadn't left yet, she stopped and put on her shoes.
"I'm so glad that you haven't left yet," Shannah said gratefully but didn't escape the stern look in Sadie's eyes.
"I'll be late for work if we don't get going now," Sadie complained and grabbed her bag and car keys. She looked back at Melinda. "Bye Melinda!"
"See ya later!" Shannah called as she followed Sadie out the door.
"Drive carefully!" Melinda said to Sadie from the living room.
There was really need to say that since Sadie had been driving for years and was probably the best driver in the entire family. Melinda was just about to return to freezing and unfreezing the goldfish when the phone rang. She sighed, she hated being disturbed. But she got up and walked into the kitchen to answer the phone.
"This is Melinda speaking," she answered. She had stopped saying her full name when answering the phone, it was way too long.
"Melinda, it's Tricia."
"Tricia?"
Melinda sounded both happy and surprised at the same time. Tricia was her younger sister and Shannah's grandmother. Though Melinda and Tricia had no problems getting along, for some reason phone calls and visits between them were rare.
"I was wondering if I could stop by later," Tricia said. She didn't sound as happy as Melinda was. In fact, she sounded a little sad. "There's something very important that I need to discuss with you... my granddaughter."
"You want to discuss Shannah?" Melinda wondered.
"No," Tricia answered. "The one who's living with me... Summer."
* * * *
"I worked over eight hours, on a Saturday, just so you could be satisfied with it," Sadie argued while barging into the editor's office. She held a folder in her hand and once she approached the desk she slammed the folder into it. Then she crossed her arms and held up head up high while looking at the editor.
"What's wrong with my article?" Sadie demanded. "I've done research, I've written, I've revised. Now tell me why you won't publish it."
The editor's name was Richard Cutter. He was a middle aged man who had eaten way too many donuts in his lifetime. All he did was to take one look at the folder before he sighed, took off his reading glasses and leaned back in the chair.
"Miss Harding, I'll be honest with you," Cutter began. He lit a cigarette as he spoke. It annoyed Sadie even more, she detested smoking just as much as she detested Cutter. Cutter picked up the folder, looked at it again and practically blew smoke into Sadie's face.
"It's boring," Cutter went on. "No one wants to read about these kind of things in these times anymore. Have you seen how many issues we sell every time the word 'witch' is in the headline?"
"The witch hunts are just as stupid as the ones in the dark ages," Sadie retorted, narrowing her eyes. She told herself to calm down and ignore the urge to use her powers to throw the lamp on the desk on Cutter. A week ago, she had had few opinions about the witch hunts. Things were different now, which made her see the witch hunts in a different way.
"The public doesn't think so," Cutter answered. "They are the ones who keep this newspaper alive. Do you know that this newspaper is in the middle of being sold? The current owner wants us to increase the sales of issues. If we don't write about things that people want to read, no one will buy this newspaper and we'll all lose our jobs! Is that what you want?!"
Cutter's voice had gone from tired to angry in a matter of seconds. Sadie backed, a little taken back by Cutter's sudden outburst. She frowned. Cutter must have been stressed during the last few days, but no more stressed than everyone else who worked with the newspaper.
"No, of course not," she replied, sounding a lot calmer than before.
"Good," Cutter muttered. He held up the folder so that Sadie could take it back. "Now... do you understand me?"
All Sadie did was to take the folder and leave the office. Without a word she left and slammed the door shut. Everyone else stared briefly at her as she quickly walked into her own office. She put down the folder on her desk, walked around it and sat down on her chair. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. After a while she heard someone knocking softly on the door.
"Come in," Sadie said, not even bothering to look at who it was. The door opened and revealed Jill standing there.
"Sadie, I have a little problem with my computer," Jill said, smiling a little. "Could you give me some help?"
Despite that she just wanted to stay in her office and do nothing, Sadie nodded and got up. She followed Jill, who didn't have an office of her own, to her desk. Jill sat down on her chair and showed Sadie what was wrong.
"I don't know what I did, but all of the sudden everything that I had written was gone and..." she began. Sadie would have continued to listen to her if it hadn't been a small sound in the background. It was the sound of the elevator doors opening. Normally, Sadie would have paid no or little attention to it. But for some reason, she looked up, curious about who had come. Four people stepped out from the elevator, but only one caught her sight.
It was a man, probably at the same age as Sadie and not that much taller. His skin was neither pale or tanned, but something in between. Black seemed to be his color. His hair, cut very short, along with his thick eyebrows were black. The suit, the shirt and even the shoes he wore were all black. His clothes reminded Sadie a little of the warlock that had tried to kill Shannah last week, but she pushed that thought away without any problems. The man had dark brown eyes, eyes that Sadie found herself staring into.
There was only one word Sadie could think of to describe the man. Beautiful.
The man took a few steps forth, followed by the other people who had been in the elevator with him. They were all dressed in business suits, they all looked boring and gray in comparision to the man in black. Jill's voice faded off. The man she had been staring at looked around the editorial office and Sadie tore her eyes away from him, thinking that she had been staring at him long enough.
But she soon returned to stare him... only to find him staring back at her.
She suddenly found it a little harder than usual to breathe and she tightened her fist. He was looking at her, but Sadie felt as if he had penetrated through her defences and left her unarmed. Her mind went blank and she could do nothing about to stay where she was. She tightened her fist even more.
"Sadie?"
Jill's voice returned and Sadie turned her eyes back to the computer screen. As Jill continued to explain what she had done with the computer, Sadie unwillingly raised her gaze a little to see if the man was still standing there. He was and their eyes met briefly again before Cutter came out from his office. This time it wasn't Sadie would looked away. Cutter and the man shook hands and began to talk, Cutter seemed surprisingly happy. The man smiled politely at Cutter's bad jokes.
[Come here,] Sadie wished and found herself blushing at what she had been thinking. Once again she looked at the computer screen and tried to concentrate on what Jill was saying. But whether Sadie turned away from the man didn't matter. Her heart was still beating fast and her fists were still tightened. In the corner of her eyes she saw the man and Cutter walking away from the elevator. Just as she thought that they were going to enter Cutter's office, they made a turn and walked over to Jill's desk.
"Mr Rowe, this is Jill Watson and Sadie Harding," Cutter introduced. "Ladies, this is Orlando Rowe."
Jill got up from the chair and shook Orlando's hand with a smile. Orlando returned it with the same polite smile he had shown Cutter before.
"Nice to meet you, miss Watson," he said to Jill. His voice... like his appearance Sadie could only describe it with the word 'beautiful'. Sadie was looking at him again now and Orlando turned to her after shaking Jill's hand. The polite looks and smiles he had exchanged with Cutter and Jill were now gone. In his eyes Sadie saw mystery, making her more curious about him.
"And miss Harding..." Orlando began. "I've read your articles, I'm a big fan."
They reached out their hands to shake at the same time. A shiver went through Sadie as their hands touched. She hadn't expected his hand to be so warm. Orlando's lips had curved into a small smile, one that no one but Sadie could see. He had long and slender fingers and his fingertips touched her wrist.
"I never knew that I had one," Sadie replied, sounding a lot calmer than she really was.
"Now you know."
Orlando's fingertips stroke the palm of her hand seductively as Sadie and Orlando pulled their hands away from each other. Sadie felt disappointed inside. Strangely enough, she felt as if she was missing something when her hand lost physical contact with Orlando's.
"Well then, let's continue," Cutter said. He and Orlando walked away from Jill's desk. Sadie returned to trying to listen to Jill but took every chance she had to glance at Orlando. She didn't know that he did the same thing.
* * * *
Shannah stood before the bulletin board, looking at the different messages that had been pinned on the board. Job offers, annoucements about classes... Shannah caught sight on a message that caught her interest. A martial arts class.
[Interesting...] she thought, reading through the message as she thought. Taking a martial arts class could be useful. After being attacked by the warlock Shannah had come to the conclusion that she wasn't strong enough to defend herself, from demons or humans. She frowned as she thought of the witch hunter poster she had seen just outside campus.
Taking out a notepad and a pen from her bag, she scribbled down the address of the dojo where the martial arts class would be taking place.
"Hi."
Shannah jumped, startled by suddenly hearing someone talking to her. She looked to her left and saw Ben, a guy from her art class, standing there. He smiled sheepishly towards her and Shannah did her best to return the smile.
"Ben, you scared me," she said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Ben apologized and then saw what Shannah had written on her notepad. "A dojo? Do you plan on learning self-defense or something?"
"Yeah," Shannah answered and put the notepad and the pen back into her bag. "You never know when it could be needed."
She left out the 'against demons and warlocks' part. Ben smiled again and adjusted his bag a little. If Shannah didn't know better she would think that he was nervous.
"I was wondering..." Ben began. "A friend of mine is playing at the club this Sunday. I was planning on going there with a couple of my friends, but they cancelled and I..."
"I'd love to," Shannah finished, smiling. Ben's eyes lit up with happiness.
"G..great..." he stammered and confirmed that he was nervous. "I'll meet you outside the club at... seven?"
"Seven will be great."
* * * *
Later that evening Shannah told Sadie and Melinda about the witch hunter posters she had seen. They were all having dinner. Shannah did more talking than eating and Sadie added a comment now and then. Melinda was silent and she had barely touched her food but the two others were too busy talking to notice it. When Shannah finally stopped talking to take a bite of the food, Melinda put down her knife and fork.
"Girls... there's something that I need to tell you."
Sadie and Shannah stopped eating and looked at Melinda. Melinda looked a little nervous and troubled, the same way she had looked when she had told them about her unbinding their powers.
"Shannah, your grandmother Tricia called me today," Melinda began. "She wanted to talk about Summer."
"My cousin?" Shannah said. "I haven't seen her for years..."
"Sadie, perhaps you don't know but..." Melinda sighed and sipped at her water before continuing. "Summer's parents died when she was ten. She's been living with Tricia and her husband ever since. Tricia called me today... she asked if Summer could stay with use."
There was silence. Sadie looked at Melinda, shocked at first but then her usual calmness returned. She put down her fork and started to play with her napkin.
"Why did she do that?" Sadie asked.
"Summer hasn't been getting along with Tricia ever since she moved in," Melinda told. "Tricia thinks that it would be better for both of them if Summer could live with us, since you two are closer to her in age."
"So, she's moving in?" Shannah guessed. Melinda nodded. Shannah stopped eating as well. "What about our powers? We would have to hide them from Summer."
Melinda nodded. "We will have to do our best about that. We don't have full control of our powers yet, but if Summer finds out about them... I'm not sure how she'd react. I haven't seen her since she was ten and that was six years ago."
"When is she moving in?" Sadie wondered. Before Melinda could answer they all heard the door bell ring. Melinda got up from the chair.
"Now, I guess," she answered. Melinda quickly left the dining room to open the door. Shannah turned to Sadie.
"Where will she be staying?" Shannah wondered. "There are only three rooms in this house."
"She'll probably share with you," Sadie replied, smiling as she got up. "You're the one who's closest to her in age."
Shannah made a face at Sadie and then followed her. They both left the dining room and went out in the hall. Melinda had already opened the door and standing on the doorstep was a woman who looked similar to Melinda, only with a smaller nose and larger eyes.
"I'm sorry we're late," the woman, Tricia Reeves, apologized as she gave Melinda a hug. "But the traffic was just terrible."
"It's okay," Melinda assured and stepped aside so that Tricia could come in. "Have you had dinner yet? There's plenty of food if you'd like to join us."
"No, Tom is waiting for me at home," Tricia answered, referring to her husband. She stepped inside and turned around when she noticed that no one had followed her in. "Summer? Aren't you going to come in?"
At first no one came in, but after nearly a minute Shannah and Sadie could see a girl with long hair standing on the doorstep. The girl stepped inside the manor and they got a better look at her.
She was a teenager, probably fifteen or sixteen. She had long, brown hair that stopped a little over her elbow. The jeans she wore were very worn but still seemed trendy. She also wore a red shirt with long sleeves that hugged her figure. The girl looked up at Sadie and Shannah for a second, then lowered her gaze to her hands that carried her suitcase and an old bag.
"Summer, you've grown," Melinda said, smiling. "You were so little the last time I saw you."
She left out the part that last time she had seen Summer was at Summer's parents' funeral. Summer looked at Melinda and seemed neither sad or happy when she answered:
"Thank you."
Summer took another step and Melinda closed the door after her. Shannah hesitated at first, she felt like she had to say something to Summer but she didn't know what. She couldn't even ask if Summer needed help with the bags since she didn't even know where Melinda had planned for Summer to sleep.
"Hi, I'm Shannah," she finally said and wanted to slap herself for sounding so nerdy. "Do you remember me?"
Summer just nodded.
"Would you like to have something to eat?" Melinda asked. "As I said, there's plenty of food."
"No thanks," Summer answered politely. "I was just wondering.. if I could use the bathroom."
"Of course," Shannah replied. "It's upstairs, I'll show you where it is."
Summer nodded again. While she followed Shannah upstairs, Melinda, Tricia and Sadie went inside the sitting room. Tricia sighed and shook her head as she sat down on one of the couches.
"I can't thank you enough, Melinda, for letting her stay here," Tricia said. Melinda sat down next to her. Sadie sat down on the other couch, curious why Tricia seemed so desperate. Even though Summer seemed way too quiet for a normal teenager, she didn't seem to be troublesome.
"It's alright," Melinda assured. "It's not like Summer is a burden."
"For me, she has been," Tricia said and sighed again. Sadie was surprised that she said that. "I know that it's unfair and mean of me to say that, but that's how I feel. Ever since she came to live with us... well, I've been worried that she'd end up like our aunt Paige."
This made Sadie even more curious. Tricia was worried that Summer would end up like Paige Matthews?
"Why were you worried about that?" Sadie questioned without thinking about it. Tricia didn't seem to mind that Sadie was asking.
"She's been reading a lot about witchcraft..." Tricia told and looked down at her hands. "I caught her reading a book about it only weeks after she had moved in with us. And she never talks to me or Tom about anything. When we ask her about it she just says that it's none of our business. I can't handle her Melinda... I just can't."
"It's alright," Melinda repeated. "We'll take care of her."
"Don't worry, grandma," Shannah said as she entered the sitting room. She had returned downstairs directly after showing Summer the way to the bathroom, thinking that Summer could find the way downstairs. Tricia smiled at her other grandchild, who luckily was doing better than Summer. Tricia was about to ask Shannah how she was when she caught sight on the clock hanging on the wall.
"Oh dear, it's late already," she said and got up. "Tom must have fallen asleep waiting for me. I have to go."
"I'll walk you out," Melinda offered and got up too.
"Shannah, Sadie, it was nice to see you again," Tricia called as she approached the door. Then she turned to her sister. "And thank you, Melinda, for helping me. Call me if anything happens and if Summer..."
"You don't have to worry," Melinda cut off with a smile. "We will take care of Summer. Just take care of yourself and Tom."
Tricia nodded and gave Melinda a last hug before opening the front door.
"Bye grandma!" Shannah called as Tricia left the manor. Melinda remained on the doorstep and waved as Tricia got into her car and drove away from the manor. When she returned to the living room she found Sadie looking at the goldfish bowl.
"Well then..." Sadie began. "I guess that this means no more freezing goldfishes for you."
* * * *
Summer had stayed upstairs because she knew what was going on downstairs. She didn't what they were talking about exactly, but she knew that they were talking about her. She hated walking right into a room where everyone would stop talking because of her. She hated many things. Instead she had found herself silently walking to the attic door.
Whether it was by curiousity or something else Summer didn't know.
She opened the attic door, expecting to find anything. The attic was bigger than the one in her grandparents' house and certainly had more interesting things. There were plenty of chairs, one of them was even hanging on the wall. There were desks as well. Boxes filled a corner of the attic and Summer could only imagine what was in them. There was an old bed, bookshelves, more chairs, low table. But what captured Summer was a large, thick book on an old fashioned music-stand.
She walked over to the book and raised her brow in surprise as she saw the triquetra symbol on the front of the book. Curious, she started to flip through the pages of the book. Summer thought that what she found was almost unbelievable. Knowledge of demons, spells and rituals that had been collected during hundred of years, all gathered in this book.
[Paige Matthews must have used this book,] Summer thought and kept looking through the book. She didn't know how much time she had spend on the attic when she started to hear voices from downstairs.
"Where did she go?" It was Melinda's voice.
"You don't think..." That was Shannah's.
"The attic." Summer didn't recognize that third voice, but she figured that it belonged to Sadie.
Summer didn't run or hide... she didn't even try to. There were many places to hide in the attic but for some reason she didn't try. She didn't even step away from the Book of Shadows. When Sadie came up to the attic she immediately saw Summer standing by the book. She didn't know what to say. Shannah and Melinda came shortly afterwards.
"Summer, what are you doing?" Melinda asked, taking one step closer. Summer backed. She didn't want their eyes on her. She didn't want to be there.
As Melinda took another step closer, Summer's body collapsed to the floor. Melinda gasped and rushed over to Summer's side. Shannah did the same thing. Sadie was the only one who noticed an exact copy of Summer materialising in the other side of the attic.
"Summer, wake up!" Melinda said, shaking the unconsious Summer lightly. The other Summer was awake and standing. She looked at herself briefly in a confused way. By now both Melinda and Shannah had noticed the other Summer.
"What the..." Shannah whispered to herself. The other Summer seemed just as confused as the others were. She looked at the unconsious Summer for a moment. Then she turned around and ran towards the door.
"Wait!" Sadie called, trying to grab the other Summer's arm as she passed by but failed. Summer ran out of the attic with Sadie chasing after her. Shannah took a step to follow Sadie but then stopped herself. She knew that Sadie was a faster runner than her and would most likely do a better job catching the other Summer. Instead, Shannah turned to Melinda hoping for an explanation.
"What just happened here?" Shannah asked. There were two Summers?"
Melinda was silent. She had stopped shaking the unconsious Summer by now. Shannah took Melinda's silence as a sign that she was doing some thinking.
"I think Summer astral projected," Melinda finally said. This caused Shannah to get even more confused.
"I'm sorry, she what?"
"Astral projected," Melinda repeated. "When I unbound my own powers, I didn't just unbind yours and Sadie's. I probably unbound the power of every descendant of the Charmed Ones. Summer's related to a Charmed One too. Astral projection was a power that my aunt Prue Halliwell had. It allows you to leave your physical body and it's triggered by the will to be in another place. Once you have astral projected, your body becomes very much like the way Summer is now."
"Wow..." Shannah said and actually looked impressed with Melinda. "You've done some reading."
"I'm a senior citizen, there's nothing else for me to do," Melinda retorted. "Help me get her up on the bed. I think she'll be more comfortable there."
Shannah nodded. While Melinda grabbed Summer's arms, Shannah grabbed her legs and they put Summer up on the bed. Melinda quickly found a few pillows and put them under Summer's head while Shannah sat down and watched.
"So... what do we do now?" she wondered. "Is there some sort of spell to get astral Summer back into her body."
"No, I'm afraid not," Melinda answered. She sat down next to Shannah and looked at Summer. "We'll just have to wait until she returns on her own."
* * *
Almost an hour later Sadie dialed the number to the manor. Since she had chased Summer there was no time to grab her purse or anything. She had lost sight of Summer almost an hour ago and it had taken her time to find a phone booth. Luckily she had found a few coins in her pocket and she used them to call back home.
Sadie had to wait for almost a minute before someone picked up the phone. For a moment she was afraid that something had happened because no one picked up the phone. But when Shannah's voice was heard she let out a sigh in relief.
"Shannah, it's me," Sadie said. "I lost Summer."
"That's alright," Shannah answered to Sadie's surprise. "Where are you? I'll drive you back to the manor."
"And leave that Summer copy running around town?" Sadie questioned. "What are we going to do about that?"
"I'll tell you later. Where are you?"
Sadie was about to tell Shannah the address when the phone receiver gave a beeping sound. Either Shannah had hung up or the coins hadn't been enough. The last one seemed most likely to happen. Sadie hung up the phone and left the phone booth. Without hesitating she started to walk. The walk back to the manor would probably take over an hour, not to mention that she felt a little tired after running around looking for Summer. But what else could she do?
The street and pavement were both empty, along with the park that Sadie walked along side. She looked at her watch, it was already 9.45 p.m. When she got home she would go and take a hot shower and then go to bed. But considering how long it would take to solve everything with Summer, Sadie started to give up hope on getting any sleep at all.
A black Mercedes drove right past her. Sadie paid it little attention until she saw that it stopped just a few seconds after driving past her. Sadie slowed down, not knowing if it was good or not to walk past the car. Who knew what the driver was planning to do? Then she felt angry at her for being so paranoid. She was a witch, she was telekinetic. And besides, the driver was probably a normal person, just like her.
[Then again...] Sadie thought, almost smiling to herself as she began to walk normally again. [I'm not normal.]
As she approached the car she stopped again when the left car door opened. Reminding herself that it was a normal person, Sadie walked past her car.
"Miss Harding?"
That voice... Sadie turned around and once again found herself staring into the eyes of Orlando Rowe. She felt heart slamming hard and quick against her rib cage. Her mouth felt dry all of the sudden and she had no idea what to say.
For a moment she doubted, was it really him? Sadie didn't have to doubt when he came closer to her. It really was Orlando. As he stood before her he put his hands into his pocket. Sadie noticed that the first three buttons of his shirt had been unbuttoned, revealing more of his skin... Sadie blushed and crossed her arms, standing in a defensive stance.
"Mr Rowe..." she began.
"Please, just call me Orlando," he cut off. He smiled and Sadie couldn't help returning it.
"Orlando, then."
"I didn't expect to find you here," Orlando said. "What are you doing here so late all alone?"
"Walking home," Sadie replied without thinking. She quickly made up an excuse. "My friend was supposed to pick me up but I guess she forgot."
"Well, I'm on my way home, would you like a ride?" Orlando offered.
[Yes!] was Sadie's first thought. But then the logical part of herself started to resurface. She didn't know anything about Orlando except for his name and that he liked her articles. She didn't even know why he had been in the editorial office with Cutter. For all she knew he could be a psychopath, even a warlock!
But there was something inside her. Something hadn't felt for years. Whatever it was it was what made her so nervous, made her unwilling to look at anything else but him.
"I'd love to," Sadie answered. Before she had realised it she was sitting next to Orlando in his black Mercedes. Her fists were tightened again. Her nails dug into her palm and were going to leave marks.
"Where do you live?" Orlando asked. Sadie was about to ask him why he wanted to know that when she remembered that he was going to drive her home. If she had been alone she would have slapped herself.
"1329 Prescott Street," she answered and looked surprised when Orlando actually knew where it was.
"My uncle stayed at Prescott Street once," he explained and said nothing more about it. Sadie didn't ask. The drive to the manor was mostly quiet, although Orlando asked a few questions about work a few times. Sadie answered them politely, careful not to say anything she wasn't supposed to say. She wanted to ask him what business he had with Cutter but didn't know how to ask. Before she knew it, Orlando parked the car just outside the manor.
"Should I walk you to the door?" Orlando asked. Sadie shook her head and smiled.
"It's okay," she replied. "I'll manage."
Orlando laughed softly, but then just smiled at her. He lifted his hand and stroke Sadie's cheek. She shivvered at his touch but to her surprise she didn't pull away. Had it been someone else she would have. She looked into his eyes again and felt as if she had been put under a spell.
"You're a Scorpio... aren't you?" Orlando asked. Sadie found it hard to concentrate on speaking with his hand carressing her cheek. Or to concentrate on anything at all. She drew a deep breath.
"Close enough... I'm a Virgo..."
Orlando stopped her from saying anything more by placing his thumb on her lips. It caused Sadie to become even more nervous. She tried to calm herself using her thoughts, but found that it was impossible to listen to herself since all that she could listen to was Orlando's voice.
"Scorpio is the most powerful and passionate sign in the zodiac," Orlando went on. "You should have been born a Scorpio, Sadie."
In the mix of the many emotions she felt at that moment she didn't even register the fact that he had called her by her first name. For a moment Sadie thought that he was going to lean forth and kiss her. She felt blood rushing inside her, his warm hand on her cheek and his thumb on her lips.
"You don't know me..." Orlando whispered, as if knowing what she was thinking. His voice wasn't harsh or cold, but just a little quiet when he spoke.
"And you don't know me..." Sadie replied. It was the only thing that she could say. Orlando withdrew his hand slowly from her cheek. Sadie felt cold when she lost contact with him. Orlando smiled vaguely towards her and Sadie blushed. She unbuckled her seat belt.
"I have to go," she said quietly. "Thanks for the ride."
"You're welcome," Orlando replied. Sadie opened the car door and stepped out. Just before she was going to close she heard him say something.
"I'll see you again, Sadie."
It wasn't a promise. The way Orlando spoke made it sound like a... fact. Sadie smiled in return, feeling warm on inside her again.
"I know."
After she had closed the car door, she turned around and started to walk up to the front door. Sadie noticed that Orlando didn't drive away until she had reached the door. She was surprised to find that the door was unlocked but remembered that she had probably been the last one who had left the house.
Once Sadie was inside she locked the front door. Then she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She could still feel Orlando's hand carressing her check, thoughts about him refused to go away.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Shannah coming down the stairs.
"You're back!" Shannah called out. "Melinda told me that Summer astral projected, which means that she can move outside her physical body, so that means that the..."
Shannah was about to continue to tell Sadie all the details when she noticed that Sadie wasn't listening to her.
"Sadie? Hello?" Shannah said. She poked Sadie's shoulder carefully. Sadie opened her eyes, but didn't change her position.
"What's wrong with you?" Shannah wondered. "You're acting a little strange."
Sadie just smiled mysteriously.
* * * *
Summer had gone where no one expected her to be. The cementry. After running away from Sadie, she had been too exhausted to go anywhere else. She wasn't sure of what had happened back at the manor, but all she knew that if she concentrated hard enough on staying in the place she was, then she didn't have to return to her physical body.
Now, she sat before the graves of her parents. She felt sorrow when she looked at the graves, but not the overwhelming sorrow she had felt six years ago when they had died. Her parents were dead, she had accepted that years ago.
"So... what brings you here?"
Summer looked up and saw a boy at her age standing next to her. He was brown haired, by his hair was lighter than hers and cut short. His eyes were intense blue, resembling the color on his sweater. The boy sat down next to her.
"Who are you?" Summer questioned.
"I'm Hayden," the boy answered without hesitating. "A male witch. What about your name? Are you a witch?"
Summer found Hayden's questions a little too suspicious. She got up and backed away from him.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing," Hayden replied. He didn't even bother to get up. "I'm just curious, that's all. I sense witch blood inside of you. When I astral project I usually come here where it's peaceful. I was just thinking that you did the same."
Hayden spoke in such a natural way that it was hard to believe that he was lying. But why someone would talk about these kind of things so freely Summer had no idea.
"You're astral projecting too, aren't you?" Hayden asked. "I can sense it."
Summer was still silent. The truth was that she was thinking to herself more than being suspicious of Hayden. Astral projection... why hadn't she remembered that?
"At least give me your name," Hayden said. "Or sit down, I won't bite."
Summer remained standing for a while. Then she sat down but was sure to keep some distance between her and Hayden.
"Summer," she murmured. "Not the season... it's my name."
* * * *
Melinda had almost fallen asleep waiting for Summer's astral self to return to her physical body. When she heard the sound of something moving, Melinda opened her eyes and forced herself to stay awake. Her lips curved into a smile when she saw that Summer was sitting up.
Summer looked around and found herself lying on the bed in the attic. Melinda got up from the chair she had been sitting on and walked over to Summer. She gave Summer a hug.
"I'm so glad you're back," Melinda said and then released Summer who looked a little dazed and confused. "Do you remember what happened?"
Summer nodded slowly. "I... astral projected."
"So you know..." Melinda said slowly. Summer looked at Melinda and didn't know why Melinda had a sad look in her eyes.
"What is it?" she wondered. But Melinda just shook her head and gently pushed Summer down on the bed. Then she went to grab a few covers she had placed on a chair hours ago.
"I'll tell you all about it in the morning," Melinda answered and put the covers of Summer. "You must be tired."
"I am," Summer replied, relaxing. It felt good to be lying in the bed. The bed was comfortable, it almost felt like the bed she had had when her parents had been alive. She fell asleep only a few moments later. Despite how tired Melinda felt, she stayed for another few hours to watch over Summer.
It wasn't until Shannah came up and convinced her to go to bed that she left the attic. Melinda didn't turn the lights off in the attic on purpose.
Sadie walked to the bottom of the stairs, leaning lightly against the railing. She tried to look to see if someone was coming down the stairs and sighed when she didn't see anyone.
"Shannah!" she called. "I have to be at work in fifteen minutes and if you don't come down soon then I'll leave without you!"
Sadie looked at her watch and then turned to Melinda who was in the sitting room. Melinda was sitting on the couch, with her goldfish bowl in front of her on the coffee table. Frowning, Sadie walked into the sitting room.
"Melinda... what are you doing?" she wondered. Melinda smiled, looked at Sadie briefly before turning her eyes back to the goldfish bowl.
"Watch this."
Melinda flicked her hands. The goldfish had been swimming peacefully around inside the bowl. Once Melinda had flicked her hands the goldfish frooze, looking very much like the goldfish on the fish food package. Melinda flicked her hands again and the goldfish continued to swim, unaware of that it had been frozen for a few seconds. Sadie looked at Melinda, unsure of what to say.
"I... don't see the point."
"It's just fascinating that the goldfish frooze," Melinda told. "Perhaps if I concentrate enough, I might be able to freeze the tail only. I wonder what that would look like."
Sadie shook her head and laughed. Shannah came running down the stairs with her bag, shoes and jacket in her hands. When she saw that Sadie hadn't left yet, she stopped and put on her shoes.
"I'm so glad that you haven't left yet," Shannah said gratefully but didn't escape the stern look in Sadie's eyes.
"I'll be late for work if we don't get going now," Sadie complained and grabbed her bag and car keys. She looked back at Melinda. "Bye Melinda!"
"See ya later!" Shannah called as she followed Sadie out the door.
"Drive carefully!" Melinda said to Sadie from the living room.
There was really need to say that since Sadie had been driving for years and was probably the best driver in the entire family. Melinda was just about to return to freezing and unfreezing the goldfish when the phone rang. She sighed, she hated being disturbed. But she got up and walked into the kitchen to answer the phone.
"This is Melinda speaking," she answered. She had stopped saying her full name when answering the phone, it was way too long.
"Melinda, it's Tricia."
"Tricia?"
Melinda sounded both happy and surprised at the same time. Tricia was her younger sister and Shannah's grandmother. Though Melinda and Tricia had no problems getting along, for some reason phone calls and visits between them were rare.
"I was wondering if I could stop by later," Tricia said. She didn't sound as happy as Melinda was. In fact, she sounded a little sad. "There's something very important that I need to discuss with you... my granddaughter."
"You want to discuss Shannah?" Melinda wondered.
"No," Tricia answered. "The one who's living with me... Summer."
* * * *
"I worked over eight hours, on a Saturday, just so you could be satisfied with it," Sadie argued while barging into the editor's office. She held a folder in her hand and once she approached the desk she slammed the folder into it. Then she crossed her arms and held up head up high while looking at the editor.
"What's wrong with my article?" Sadie demanded. "I've done research, I've written, I've revised. Now tell me why you won't publish it."
The editor's name was Richard Cutter. He was a middle aged man who had eaten way too many donuts in his lifetime. All he did was to take one look at the folder before he sighed, took off his reading glasses and leaned back in the chair.
"Miss Harding, I'll be honest with you," Cutter began. He lit a cigarette as he spoke. It annoyed Sadie even more, she detested smoking just as much as she detested Cutter. Cutter picked up the folder, looked at it again and practically blew smoke into Sadie's face.
"It's boring," Cutter went on. "No one wants to read about these kind of things in these times anymore. Have you seen how many issues we sell every time the word 'witch' is in the headline?"
"The witch hunts are just as stupid as the ones in the dark ages," Sadie retorted, narrowing her eyes. She told herself to calm down and ignore the urge to use her powers to throw the lamp on the desk on Cutter. A week ago, she had had few opinions about the witch hunts. Things were different now, which made her see the witch hunts in a different way.
"The public doesn't think so," Cutter answered. "They are the ones who keep this newspaper alive. Do you know that this newspaper is in the middle of being sold? The current owner wants us to increase the sales of issues. If we don't write about things that people want to read, no one will buy this newspaper and we'll all lose our jobs! Is that what you want?!"
Cutter's voice had gone from tired to angry in a matter of seconds. Sadie backed, a little taken back by Cutter's sudden outburst. She frowned. Cutter must have been stressed during the last few days, but no more stressed than everyone else who worked with the newspaper.
"No, of course not," she replied, sounding a lot calmer than before.
"Good," Cutter muttered. He held up the folder so that Sadie could take it back. "Now... do you understand me?"
All Sadie did was to take the folder and leave the office. Without a word she left and slammed the door shut. Everyone else stared briefly at her as she quickly walked into her own office. She put down the folder on her desk, walked around it and sat down on her chair. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. After a while she heard someone knocking softly on the door.
"Come in," Sadie said, not even bothering to look at who it was. The door opened and revealed Jill standing there.
"Sadie, I have a little problem with my computer," Jill said, smiling a little. "Could you give me some help?"
Despite that she just wanted to stay in her office and do nothing, Sadie nodded and got up. She followed Jill, who didn't have an office of her own, to her desk. Jill sat down on her chair and showed Sadie what was wrong.
"I don't know what I did, but all of the sudden everything that I had written was gone and..." she began. Sadie would have continued to listen to her if it hadn't been a small sound in the background. It was the sound of the elevator doors opening. Normally, Sadie would have paid no or little attention to it. But for some reason, she looked up, curious about who had come. Four people stepped out from the elevator, but only one caught her sight.
It was a man, probably at the same age as Sadie and not that much taller. His skin was neither pale or tanned, but something in between. Black seemed to be his color. His hair, cut very short, along with his thick eyebrows were black. The suit, the shirt and even the shoes he wore were all black. His clothes reminded Sadie a little of the warlock that had tried to kill Shannah last week, but she pushed that thought away without any problems. The man had dark brown eyes, eyes that Sadie found herself staring into.
There was only one word Sadie could think of to describe the man. Beautiful.
The man took a few steps forth, followed by the other people who had been in the elevator with him. They were all dressed in business suits, they all looked boring and gray in comparision to the man in black. Jill's voice faded off. The man she had been staring at looked around the editorial office and Sadie tore her eyes away from him, thinking that she had been staring at him long enough.
But she soon returned to stare him... only to find him staring back at her.
She suddenly found it a little harder than usual to breathe and she tightened her fist. He was looking at her, but Sadie felt as if he had penetrated through her defences and left her unarmed. Her mind went blank and she could do nothing about to stay where she was. She tightened her fist even more.
"Sadie?"
Jill's voice returned and Sadie turned her eyes back to the computer screen. As Jill continued to explain what she had done with the computer, Sadie unwillingly raised her gaze a little to see if the man was still standing there. He was and their eyes met briefly again before Cutter came out from his office. This time it wasn't Sadie would looked away. Cutter and the man shook hands and began to talk, Cutter seemed surprisingly happy. The man smiled politely at Cutter's bad jokes.
[Come here,] Sadie wished and found herself blushing at what she had been thinking. Once again she looked at the computer screen and tried to concentrate on what Jill was saying. But whether Sadie turned away from the man didn't matter. Her heart was still beating fast and her fists were still tightened. In the corner of her eyes she saw the man and Cutter walking away from the elevator. Just as she thought that they were going to enter Cutter's office, they made a turn and walked over to Jill's desk.
"Mr Rowe, this is Jill Watson and Sadie Harding," Cutter introduced. "Ladies, this is Orlando Rowe."
Jill got up from the chair and shook Orlando's hand with a smile. Orlando returned it with the same polite smile he had shown Cutter before.
"Nice to meet you, miss Watson," he said to Jill. His voice... like his appearance Sadie could only describe it with the word 'beautiful'. Sadie was looking at him again now and Orlando turned to her after shaking Jill's hand. The polite looks and smiles he had exchanged with Cutter and Jill were now gone. In his eyes Sadie saw mystery, making her more curious about him.
"And miss Harding..." Orlando began. "I've read your articles, I'm a big fan."
They reached out their hands to shake at the same time. A shiver went through Sadie as their hands touched. She hadn't expected his hand to be so warm. Orlando's lips had curved into a small smile, one that no one but Sadie could see. He had long and slender fingers and his fingertips touched her wrist.
"I never knew that I had one," Sadie replied, sounding a lot calmer than she really was.
"Now you know."
Orlando's fingertips stroke the palm of her hand seductively as Sadie and Orlando pulled their hands away from each other. Sadie felt disappointed inside. Strangely enough, she felt as if she was missing something when her hand lost physical contact with Orlando's.
"Well then, let's continue," Cutter said. He and Orlando walked away from Jill's desk. Sadie returned to trying to listen to Jill but took every chance she had to glance at Orlando. She didn't know that he did the same thing.
* * * *
Shannah stood before the bulletin board, looking at the different messages that had been pinned on the board. Job offers, annoucements about classes... Shannah caught sight on a message that caught her interest. A martial arts class.
[Interesting...] she thought, reading through the message as she thought. Taking a martial arts class could be useful. After being attacked by the warlock Shannah had come to the conclusion that she wasn't strong enough to defend herself, from demons or humans. She frowned as she thought of the witch hunter poster she had seen just outside campus.
Taking out a notepad and a pen from her bag, she scribbled down the address of the dojo where the martial arts class would be taking place.
"Hi."
Shannah jumped, startled by suddenly hearing someone talking to her. She looked to her left and saw Ben, a guy from her art class, standing there. He smiled sheepishly towards her and Shannah did her best to return the smile.
"Ben, you scared me," she said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Ben apologized and then saw what Shannah had written on her notepad. "A dojo? Do you plan on learning self-defense or something?"
"Yeah," Shannah answered and put the notepad and the pen back into her bag. "You never know when it could be needed."
She left out the 'against demons and warlocks' part. Ben smiled again and adjusted his bag a little. If Shannah didn't know better she would think that he was nervous.
"I was wondering..." Ben began. "A friend of mine is playing at the club this Sunday. I was planning on going there with a couple of my friends, but they cancelled and I..."
"I'd love to," Shannah finished, smiling. Ben's eyes lit up with happiness.
"G..great..." he stammered and confirmed that he was nervous. "I'll meet you outside the club at... seven?"
"Seven will be great."
* * * *
Later that evening Shannah told Sadie and Melinda about the witch hunter posters she had seen. They were all having dinner. Shannah did more talking than eating and Sadie added a comment now and then. Melinda was silent and she had barely touched her food but the two others were too busy talking to notice it. When Shannah finally stopped talking to take a bite of the food, Melinda put down her knife and fork.
"Girls... there's something that I need to tell you."
Sadie and Shannah stopped eating and looked at Melinda. Melinda looked a little nervous and troubled, the same way she had looked when she had told them about her unbinding their powers.
"Shannah, your grandmother Tricia called me today," Melinda began. "She wanted to talk about Summer."
"My cousin?" Shannah said. "I haven't seen her for years..."
"Sadie, perhaps you don't know but..." Melinda sighed and sipped at her water before continuing. "Summer's parents died when she was ten. She's been living with Tricia and her husband ever since. Tricia called me today... she asked if Summer could stay with use."
There was silence. Sadie looked at Melinda, shocked at first but then her usual calmness returned. She put down her fork and started to play with her napkin.
"Why did she do that?" Sadie asked.
"Summer hasn't been getting along with Tricia ever since she moved in," Melinda told. "Tricia thinks that it would be better for both of them if Summer could live with us, since you two are closer to her in age."
"So, she's moving in?" Shannah guessed. Melinda nodded. Shannah stopped eating as well. "What about our powers? We would have to hide them from Summer."
Melinda nodded. "We will have to do our best about that. We don't have full control of our powers yet, but if Summer finds out about them... I'm not sure how she'd react. I haven't seen her since she was ten and that was six years ago."
"When is she moving in?" Sadie wondered. Before Melinda could answer they all heard the door bell ring. Melinda got up from the chair.
"Now, I guess," she answered. Melinda quickly left the dining room to open the door. Shannah turned to Sadie.
"Where will she be staying?" Shannah wondered. "There are only three rooms in this house."
"She'll probably share with you," Sadie replied, smiling as she got up. "You're the one who's closest to her in age."
Shannah made a face at Sadie and then followed her. They both left the dining room and went out in the hall. Melinda had already opened the door and standing on the doorstep was a woman who looked similar to Melinda, only with a smaller nose and larger eyes.
"I'm sorry we're late," the woman, Tricia Reeves, apologized as she gave Melinda a hug. "But the traffic was just terrible."
"It's okay," Melinda assured and stepped aside so that Tricia could come in. "Have you had dinner yet? There's plenty of food if you'd like to join us."
"No, Tom is waiting for me at home," Tricia answered, referring to her husband. She stepped inside and turned around when she noticed that no one had followed her in. "Summer? Aren't you going to come in?"
At first no one came in, but after nearly a minute Shannah and Sadie could see a girl with long hair standing on the doorstep. The girl stepped inside the manor and they got a better look at her.
She was a teenager, probably fifteen or sixteen. She had long, brown hair that stopped a little over her elbow. The jeans she wore were very worn but still seemed trendy. She also wore a red shirt with long sleeves that hugged her figure. The girl looked up at Sadie and Shannah for a second, then lowered her gaze to her hands that carried her suitcase and an old bag.
"Summer, you've grown," Melinda said, smiling. "You were so little the last time I saw you."
She left out the part that last time she had seen Summer was at Summer's parents' funeral. Summer looked at Melinda and seemed neither sad or happy when she answered:
"Thank you."
Summer took another step and Melinda closed the door after her. Shannah hesitated at first, she felt like she had to say something to Summer but she didn't know what. She couldn't even ask if Summer needed help with the bags since she didn't even know where Melinda had planned for Summer to sleep.
"Hi, I'm Shannah," she finally said and wanted to slap herself for sounding so nerdy. "Do you remember me?"
Summer just nodded.
"Would you like to have something to eat?" Melinda asked. "As I said, there's plenty of food."
"No thanks," Summer answered politely. "I was just wondering.. if I could use the bathroom."
"Of course," Shannah replied. "It's upstairs, I'll show you where it is."
Summer nodded again. While she followed Shannah upstairs, Melinda, Tricia and Sadie went inside the sitting room. Tricia sighed and shook her head as she sat down on one of the couches.
"I can't thank you enough, Melinda, for letting her stay here," Tricia said. Melinda sat down next to her. Sadie sat down on the other couch, curious why Tricia seemed so desperate. Even though Summer seemed way too quiet for a normal teenager, she didn't seem to be troublesome.
"It's alright," Melinda assured. "It's not like Summer is a burden."
"For me, she has been," Tricia said and sighed again. Sadie was surprised that she said that. "I know that it's unfair and mean of me to say that, but that's how I feel. Ever since she came to live with us... well, I've been worried that she'd end up like our aunt Paige."
This made Sadie even more curious. Tricia was worried that Summer would end up like Paige Matthews?
"Why were you worried about that?" Sadie questioned without thinking about it. Tricia didn't seem to mind that Sadie was asking.
"She's been reading a lot about witchcraft..." Tricia told and looked down at her hands. "I caught her reading a book about it only weeks after she had moved in with us. And she never talks to me or Tom about anything. When we ask her about it she just says that it's none of our business. I can't handle her Melinda... I just can't."
"It's alright," Melinda repeated. "We'll take care of her."
"Don't worry, grandma," Shannah said as she entered the sitting room. She had returned downstairs directly after showing Summer the way to the bathroom, thinking that Summer could find the way downstairs. Tricia smiled at her other grandchild, who luckily was doing better than Summer. Tricia was about to ask Shannah how she was when she caught sight on the clock hanging on the wall.
"Oh dear, it's late already," she said and got up. "Tom must have fallen asleep waiting for me. I have to go."
"I'll walk you out," Melinda offered and got up too.
"Shannah, Sadie, it was nice to see you again," Tricia called as she approached the door. Then she turned to her sister. "And thank you, Melinda, for helping me. Call me if anything happens and if Summer..."
"You don't have to worry," Melinda cut off with a smile. "We will take care of Summer. Just take care of yourself and Tom."
Tricia nodded and gave Melinda a last hug before opening the front door.
"Bye grandma!" Shannah called as Tricia left the manor. Melinda remained on the doorstep and waved as Tricia got into her car and drove away from the manor. When she returned to the living room she found Sadie looking at the goldfish bowl.
"Well then..." Sadie began. "I guess that this means no more freezing goldfishes for you."
* * * *
Summer had stayed upstairs because she knew what was going on downstairs. She didn't what they were talking about exactly, but she knew that they were talking about her. She hated walking right into a room where everyone would stop talking because of her. She hated many things. Instead she had found herself silently walking to the attic door.
Whether it was by curiousity or something else Summer didn't know.
She opened the attic door, expecting to find anything. The attic was bigger than the one in her grandparents' house and certainly had more interesting things. There were plenty of chairs, one of them was even hanging on the wall. There were desks as well. Boxes filled a corner of the attic and Summer could only imagine what was in them. There was an old bed, bookshelves, more chairs, low table. But what captured Summer was a large, thick book on an old fashioned music-stand.
She walked over to the book and raised her brow in surprise as she saw the triquetra symbol on the front of the book. Curious, she started to flip through the pages of the book. Summer thought that what she found was almost unbelievable. Knowledge of demons, spells and rituals that had been collected during hundred of years, all gathered in this book.
[Paige Matthews must have used this book,] Summer thought and kept looking through the book. She didn't know how much time she had spend on the attic when she started to hear voices from downstairs.
"Where did she go?" It was Melinda's voice.
"You don't think..." That was Shannah's.
"The attic." Summer didn't recognize that third voice, but she figured that it belonged to Sadie.
Summer didn't run or hide... she didn't even try to. There were many places to hide in the attic but for some reason she didn't try. She didn't even step away from the Book of Shadows. When Sadie came up to the attic she immediately saw Summer standing by the book. She didn't know what to say. Shannah and Melinda came shortly afterwards.
"Summer, what are you doing?" Melinda asked, taking one step closer. Summer backed. She didn't want their eyes on her. She didn't want to be there.
As Melinda took another step closer, Summer's body collapsed to the floor. Melinda gasped and rushed over to Summer's side. Shannah did the same thing. Sadie was the only one who noticed an exact copy of Summer materialising in the other side of the attic.
"Summer, wake up!" Melinda said, shaking the unconsious Summer lightly. The other Summer was awake and standing. She looked at herself briefly in a confused way. By now both Melinda and Shannah had noticed the other Summer.
"What the..." Shannah whispered to herself. The other Summer seemed just as confused as the others were. She looked at the unconsious Summer for a moment. Then she turned around and ran towards the door.
"Wait!" Sadie called, trying to grab the other Summer's arm as she passed by but failed. Summer ran out of the attic with Sadie chasing after her. Shannah took a step to follow Sadie but then stopped herself. She knew that Sadie was a faster runner than her and would most likely do a better job catching the other Summer. Instead, Shannah turned to Melinda hoping for an explanation.
"What just happened here?" Shannah asked. There were two Summers?"
Melinda was silent. She had stopped shaking the unconsious Summer by now. Shannah took Melinda's silence as a sign that she was doing some thinking.
"I think Summer astral projected," Melinda finally said. This caused Shannah to get even more confused.
"I'm sorry, she what?"
"Astral projected," Melinda repeated. "When I unbound my own powers, I didn't just unbind yours and Sadie's. I probably unbound the power of every descendant of the Charmed Ones. Summer's related to a Charmed One too. Astral projection was a power that my aunt Prue Halliwell had. It allows you to leave your physical body and it's triggered by the will to be in another place. Once you have astral projected, your body becomes very much like the way Summer is now."
"Wow..." Shannah said and actually looked impressed with Melinda. "You've done some reading."
"I'm a senior citizen, there's nothing else for me to do," Melinda retorted. "Help me get her up on the bed. I think she'll be more comfortable there."
Shannah nodded. While Melinda grabbed Summer's arms, Shannah grabbed her legs and they put Summer up on the bed. Melinda quickly found a few pillows and put them under Summer's head while Shannah sat down and watched.
"So... what do we do now?" she wondered. "Is there some sort of spell to get astral Summer back into her body."
"No, I'm afraid not," Melinda answered. She sat down next to Shannah and looked at Summer. "We'll just have to wait until she returns on her own."
* * *
Almost an hour later Sadie dialed the number to the manor. Since she had chased Summer there was no time to grab her purse or anything. She had lost sight of Summer almost an hour ago and it had taken her time to find a phone booth. Luckily she had found a few coins in her pocket and she used them to call back home.
Sadie had to wait for almost a minute before someone picked up the phone. For a moment she was afraid that something had happened because no one picked up the phone. But when Shannah's voice was heard she let out a sigh in relief.
"Shannah, it's me," Sadie said. "I lost Summer."
"That's alright," Shannah answered to Sadie's surprise. "Where are you? I'll drive you back to the manor."
"And leave that Summer copy running around town?" Sadie questioned. "What are we going to do about that?"
"I'll tell you later. Where are you?"
Sadie was about to tell Shannah the address when the phone receiver gave a beeping sound. Either Shannah had hung up or the coins hadn't been enough. The last one seemed most likely to happen. Sadie hung up the phone and left the phone booth. Without hesitating she started to walk. The walk back to the manor would probably take over an hour, not to mention that she felt a little tired after running around looking for Summer. But what else could she do?
The street and pavement were both empty, along with the park that Sadie walked along side. She looked at her watch, it was already 9.45 p.m. When she got home she would go and take a hot shower and then go to bed. But considering how long it would take to solve everything with Summer, Sadie started to give up hope on getting any sleep at all.
A black Mercedes drove right past her. Sadie paid it little attention until she saw that it stopped just a few seconds after driving past her. Sadie slowed down, not knowing if it was good or not to walk past the car. Who knew what the driver was planning to do? Then she felt angry at her for being so paranoid. She was a witch, she was telekinetic. And besides, the driver was probably a normal person, just like her.
[Then again...] Sadie thought, almost smiling to herself as she began to walk normally again. [I'm not normal.]
As she approached the car she stopped again when the left car door opened. Reminding herself that it was a normal person, Sadie walked past her car.
"Miss Harding?"
That voice... Sadie turned around and once again found herself staring into the eyes of Orlando Rowe. She felt heart slamming hard and quick against her rib cage. Her mouth felt dry all of the sudden and she had no idea what to say.
For a moment she doubted, was it really him? Sadie didn't have to doubt when he came closer to her. It really was Orlando. As he stood before her he put his hands into his pocket. Sadie noticed that the first three buttons of his shirt had been unbuttoned, revealing more of his skin... Sadie blushed and crossed her arms, standing in a defensive stance.
"Mr Rowe..." she began.
"Please, just call me Orlando," he cut off. He smiled and Sadie couldn't help returning it.
"Orlando, then."
"I didn't expect to find you here," Orlando said. "What are you doing here so late all alone?"
"Walking home," Sadie replied without thinking. She quickly made up an excuse. "My friend was supposed to pick me up but I guess she forgot."
"Well, I'm on my way home, would you like a ride?" Orlando offered.
[Yes!] was Sadie's first thought. But then the logical part of herself started to resurface. She didn't know anything about Orlando except for his name and that he liked her articles. She didn't even know why he had been in the editorial office with Cutter. For all she knew he could be a psychopath, even a warlock!
But there was something inside her. Something hadn't felt for years. Whatever it was it was what made her so nervous, made her unwilling to look at anything else but him.
"I'd love to," Sadie answered. Before she had realised it she was sitting next to Orlando in his black Mercedes. Her fists were tightened again. Her nails dug into her palm and were going to leave marks.
"Where do you live?" Orlando asked. Sadie was about to ask him why he wanted to know that when she remembered that he was going to drive her home. If she had been alone she would have slapped herself.
"1329 Prescott Street," she answered and looked surprised when Orlando actually knew where it was.
"My uncle stayed at Prescott Street once," he explained and said nothing more about it. Sadie didn't ask. The drive to the manor was mostly quiet, although Orlando asked a few questions about work a few times. Sadie answered them politely, careful not to say anything she wasn't supposed to say. She wanted to ask him what business he had with Cutter but didn't know how to ask. Before she knew it, Orlando parked the car just outside the manor.
"Should I walk you to the door?" Orlando asked. Sadie shook her head and smiled.
"It's okay," she replied. "I'll manage."
Orlando laughed softly, but then just smiled at her. He lifted his hand and stroke Sadie's cheek. She shivvered at his touch but to her surprise she didn't pull away. Had it been someone else she would have. She looked into his eyes again and felt as if she had been put under a spell.
"You're a Scorpio... aren't you?" Orlando asked. Sadie found it hard to concentrate on speaking with his hand carressing her cheek. Or to concentrate on anything at all. She drew a deep breath.
"Close enough... I'm a Virgo..."
Orlando stopped her from saying anything more by placing his thumb on her lips. It caused Sadie to become even more nervous. She tried to calm herself using her thoughts, but found that it was impossible to listen to herself since all that she could listen to was Orlando's voice.
"Scorpio is the most powerful and passionate sign in the zodiac," Orlando went on. "You should have been born a Scorpio, Sadie."
In the mix of the many emotions she felt at that moment she didn't even register the fact that he had called her by her first name. For a moment Sadie thought that he was going to lean forth and kiss her. She felt blood rushing inside her, his warm hand on her cheek and his thumb on her lips.
"You don't know me..." Orlando whispered, as if knowing what she was thinking. His voice wasn't harsh or cold, but just a little quiet when he spoke.
"And you don't know me..." Sadie replied. It was the only thing that she could say. Orlando withdrew his hand slowly from her cheek. Sadie felt cold when she lost contact with him. Orlando smiled vaguely towards her and Sadie blushed. She unbuckled her seat belt.
"I have to go," she said quietly. "Thanks for the ride."
"You're welcome," Orlando replied. Sadie opened the car door and stepped out. Just before she was going to close she heard him say something.
"I'll see you again, Sadie."
It wasn't a promise. The way Orlando spoke made it sound like a... fact. Sadie smiled in return, feeling warm on inside her again.
"I know."
After she had closed the car door, she turned around and started to walk up to the front door. Sadie noticed that Orlando didn't drive away until she had reached the door. She was surprised to find that the door was unlocked but remembered that she had probably been the last one who had left the house.
Once Sadie was inside she locked the front door. Then she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She could still feel Orlando's hand carressing her check, thoughts about him refused to go away.
She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Shannah coming down the stairs.
"You're back!" Shannah called out. "Melinda told me that Summer astral projected, which means that she can move outside her physical body, so that means that the..."
Shannah was about to continue to tell Sadie all the details when she noticed that Sadie wasn't listening to her.
"Sadie? Hello?" Shannah said. She poked Sadie's shoulder carefully. Sadie opened her eyes, but didn't change her position.
"What's wrong with you?" Shannah wondered. "You're acting a little strange."
Sadie just smiled mysteriously.
* * * *
Summer had gone where no one expected her to be. The cementry. After running away from Sadie, she had been too exhausted to go anywhere else. She wasn't sure of what had happened back at the manor, but all she knew that if she concentrated hard enough on staying in the place she was, then she didn't have to return to her physical body.
Now, she sat before the graves of her parents. She felt sorrow when she looked at the graves, but not the overwhelming sorrow she had felt six years ago when they had died. Her parents were dead, she had accepted that years ago.
"So... what brings you here?"
Summer looked up and saw a boy at her age standing next to her. He was brown haired, by his hair was lighter than hers and cut short. His eyes were intense blue, resembling the color on his sweater. The boy sat down next to her.
"Who are you?" Summer questioned.
"I'm Hayden," the boy answered without hesitating. "A male witch. What about your name? Are you a witch?"
Summer found Hayden's questions a little too suspicious. She got up and backed away from him.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing," Hayden replied. He didn't even bother to get up. "I'm just curious, that's all. I sense witch blood inside of you. When I astral project I usually come here where it's peaceful. I was just thinking that you did the same."
Hayden spoke in such a natural way that it was hard to believe that he was lying. But why someone would talk about these kind of things so freely Summer had no idea.
"You're astral projecting too, aren't you?" Hayden asked. "I can sense it."
Summer was still silent. The truth was that she was thinking to herself more than being suspicious of Hayden. Astral projection... why hadn't she remembered that?
"At least give me your name," Hayden said. "Or sit down, I won't bite."
Summer remained standing for a while. Then she sat down but was sure to keep some distance between her and Hayden.
"Summer," she murmured. "Not the season... it's my name."
* * * *
Melinda had almost fallen asleep waiting for Summer's astral self to return to her physical body. When she heard the sound of something moving, Melinda opened her eyes and forced herself to stay awake. Her lips curved into a smile when she saw that Summer was sitting up.
Summer looked around and found herself lying on the bed in the attic. Melinda got up from the chair she had been sitting on and walked over to Summer. She gave Summer a hug.
"I'm so glad you're back," Melinda said and then released Summer who looked a little dazed and confused. "Do you remember what happened?"
Summer nodded slowly. "I... astral projected."
"So you know..." Melinda said slowly. Summer looked at Melinda and didn't know why Melinda had a sad look in her eyes.
"What is it?" she wondered. But Melinda just shook her head and gently pushed Summer down on the bed. Then she went to grab a few covers she had placed on a chair hours ago.
"I'll tell you all about it in the morning," Melinda answered and put the covers of Summer. "You must be tired."
"I am," Summer replied, relaxing. It felt good to be lying in the bed. The bed was comfortable, it almost felt like the bed she had had when her parents had been alive. She fell asleep only a few moments later. Despite how tired Melinda felt, she stayed for another few hours to watch over Summer.
It wasn't until Shannah came up and convinced her to go to bed that she left the attic. Melinda didn't turn the lights off in the attic on purpose.
