Authors Notes: First I'd like to thank the people who have been reviewing this story. I know I said I'd try to get this chapter up during the week but I didn't have time. The next chapter will definitely be up by next weekend. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and as always please review.
So it's been a week since I left the manor. I've been tempted to call several times, but I know I can't. If I do it could make it easier to find me, and I won't go back.
When I first arrived, I was worried about finding a place to stay. I mean it's not like I'm old enough or have the money to rent a place, so the first few nights I spent sleeping in an alley. Then two days ago I found this place. It's an old abandoned shop, tucked away at the end of this alley. I found it by chance, and apart from the smell I like it.
I've already spent half the money that I came here with and I know I'm going to have to think of a way to come up with some more money, but it's not like I'm old enough to get a job.
Sometimes I wonder if I should have thought this whole running away thing through more before I decided to leave, but the truth is that I can't imagine going back to the manor.
For the first time in my life I'm free.
Melinda stopped writing and quickly placed her diary back into her bag.
The shop she was staying in was quite small. There had obviously been a fire in the place, as the shop still retained the smell of burnt wood. The shop was made up of a small front room which was completely wrecked, and a larger back room, the only entrance to which was a hole in the wall that was carefully hidden behind some boxes.
The last thing Melinda wanted was some uninvited guests.
The shop was located in the bad part of the city, so there were a lot of reasons for Melinda to be careful with hiding the entrance to her place.
Checking the time on her watch, Melinda noted that it was past 11.
She knew she should try and get some sleep but she was too restless.
Instead, after thinking it over she grabbed her brown jacket from where she had dumped it on the floor and put it on. She quickly hid her bag behind the burnt remains of a table, and then Melinda headed to the hole in the wall and ducked through it. After recovering the hole Melinda headed out of the shop and down the alley.
She hesitated as she reached the end of the alley and only after she was sure that no one was around did she leave the alley and move onto the street.
Melinda walked for several blocks with no destination in mind, enjoying the feel of the cold night air. She saw several other people hanging around, most of them drunk, but she ignored them.
Melinda had just started to head back to her place when she heard someone scream in fear, making her stop.
She hesitated a moment wondering if she should do anything, when the scream came again. Throwing caution to the wind Melinda raced down the street in the direction the cry had come to.
She reached the entrance to an alley and stopped suddenly almost causing herself to loose her balance.
A man lay unconscious on the floor while a woman was backed up into the wall of the alley, blood flowing from a wound on her shoulder. In front of the woman stood a man, and it was him that had made Melinda stop suddenly, because in his hand he held a ball of energy.
Melinda knew he was a demon and that she should leave the ally before he saw her, after all she had no powers to stop him with and she would likely just get herself killed but her conscious stopped her. Leaving now would mean leaving that woman to die and Melinda couldn't do that.
So with grim determination Melinda ran down the ally towards the demon. He was so engrossed in taunting the woman that he didn't hear Melinda approach until it was too late and Melinda flung herself at him, knocking them both to the floor.
The energy ball from his hand flew of to impact the wall several feet away giving of a small explosion and leaving a scorch mark. This caused enough distraction for the young woman to stumble to the body of the man a few feet away, who was just starting to come around, and start to drag him down the ally, leaving Melinda to face the demon alone.
Before the demon could move Melinda was on her feet and glancing around the ally floor for a weapon that she could use. She wished that she had her athame with her, she could have finished the demon of quickly, but she had foolishly left it in her bag.
Melinda's roving eyes fell on a metal pipe about as long as her arm lying on the ground a few feet away, but before she could grab it the demon was back on his feet.
"That was a mistake little girl." The demon snarled as he lunged at her.
Melinda sidestepped him at the last minute and delivered a kick to his side, making him stumble. He regained his balance quickly and before Melinda could react he managed to get a hold of her arm. He twisted it painfully until it snapped causing Melinda to cry out in pain.
The demon was strong and Melinda knew that she had to get him to let down his guard if she had any hope of surviving this fight. She pushed aside the pain she was feeling from her broken arm and started to struggle weakly against the demons grip on her arm, making soft whimpering sounds. She knew it had worked the moment his grip slackened on her arm and Melinda took her chance. She drove the elbow of her free arm into the demons chest as hard as she could. He released her arm completely as he bent over trying to catch his breath.
Melinda quickly made a grab for the pipe she had seen earlier on the ally floor, and after picking it up with her good arm she swung it with all her might at the demons head. The force of the blow sent the demon stumbling backwards. She drew back the pipe preparing for another hit when a shining blue light coming from the demon distracted her.
It was an energy ball; the demon had formed another energy ball in his hand.
Before Melinda could react the demon flung the energy ball at her. The force of the blow sent Melinda flying backwards, through the air, to connect hard with the ally wall. Pain flew through her body as she crumpled to the floor, blood flowing from a cut on her forehead, while her chest was burnt and bleeding from where the energy ball had hit her. Melinda tried to get up, but all she managed to do was lift her head up slightly.
As she gasped for breath and struggled to stay conscious her eyes fell upon the demon who was making his way towards her, another energy ball in hand.
Just before Melinda lost consciousness the demon gave of a scream as a knife impacted him from behind, the sharp point protruding from his chest. He burst into flames, vanquished, as the blackness surrounded her and everything faded away.
* * *
Piper sat up in bed, gasping for breath as tears flew down her cheek. Leo sat up a moment later, turning on the bedside lamp and wrapping his arms around Piper, in comfort.
"Honey, are you alright?" Leo asked as he started to rub her back gently in an effort to calm her down. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"It's Melinda." Piper said in between sobs. "She's dead. I know she is."
"Honey it was just a dream." Leo said trying to reassure Piper.
"No it wasn't." Piper said as she pushed Leo away from her, and rose from the bed. "She's dead. I felt it. My baby's dead."
Piper crumpled to the floor beside the bed, wrapping her arms around her legs in the fetal position as she cried. She knew she was right. She couldn't explain how she knew it, but somehow she knew that Melinda had died.