~I guess that's one of the last chapters. ( One or to more. Well, don't be
too sad and tell me what ya think, as always.~~
A year later
'Melinda, do you want to come shopping with me and Tatum?' Vivien asked, sticking her head into her cousin's room. 'No.' answered Melinda. She was sitting on the floor, drawing a picture. Normally she never refused to come shopping with Vivien but whenever Tatum was with her, Melinda completely avoided being around them. 'Come on Mel, don't be so stupid, what did Tatum ever do to you?' Vivien shook her head. 'Nothing.' The little girl said. 'Well, I'm going. Take care. I think your mom is making cookies, if you're nice you might be able to snatch one before lunch.' Melinda nodded. 'Take care too.' she said. Vivien smiled. She had long guessed that Melinda was jealous of Tatum because she spent so much time with her best friend and couldn't always take Melinda with her. That Melinda disliked Tatum so much was sad, but Vivien was seventeen and didn't really care if Melinda hated Tatum or not. She grabbed her jacket off the hook by the door, waved good-bye to her baking aunt and ran down the stairs to meet Tatum, who was waiting in her car.
Melinda went downstairs and climbed on the counter. Vivien's comment about cookies had made her curious. 'Hey. Why didn't you go with Vivien and Tatum?' Piper asked and handed her daughter a cookie. She knew if she wouldn't hand her one, Melinda would grab one and run. 'I don't like Tatum. She's evil.' Melinda stated. 'Careful, little lady. Don't say such things. Tatum is Vivien's best friend and we know her for a long time. She's not evil.' Piper dried her hands and looked into her daughter's eyes. 'Well, you know her long but I know something about her you don't know.' Melinda bit into her cookie, satisfied with herself. She had made her mom curious. 'So, you know something? Tell me. If you don't I'll assume that you're just making things up.' Piper knew how to wrap Melinda around her finger. 'Okay, but you have to promise not to freak out. I couldn't tell you before because I was scared. Can we go to the living room?' Piper nodded and they went to the living room. She wondered what her daughter had to tell her. 'Do you remember the attack last year? Vivien's still humping. A demon attacked and left, after he had thrown her on the table. She was badly hurt but the demon didn't break her leg. Tatum did. She came in and called the ambulance, then she came and told me that, if I ever tell anyone what she was going to do she would hurt me, then she broke Vivien's leg. She is very strong, mommy. I've never seen someone so strong. She just took the leg in both hands and broke it. It made a bad noise. I didn't tell anyone because I was scared.' Melinda started to cry and Piper hugged her tightly. She was shocked. Tatum was Vivien's best and most trusted friend and Piper just couldn't believe what Melinda was telling her. The doctors a year ago had told Cole and Phoebe that, assuming their daughter had slipped and fallen into the table, she couldn't have broken her leg that way. They couldn't possibly tell the doctor that a demon had attacked and maybe he had broken Vivien's leg before, for they didn't know for sure with Vivien not remembering and Melinda not talking. Now that she was talking Piper felt dizzy. 'Oh my god. Melinda, are you telling the truth? This is very serious.' Piper reminded her child. 'Yes. That's how it was. Tatum broke Vivi's leg. Not the demon, not her fall.' Piper called Leo and talked to him about what Melinda had told her. He immediately went off to ask the Elders about Tatum and if they knew who she was.
He came back with bad news: The Elders had checked things out fast for him. Tatum's father was a mighty demon and his daughter helped him doing his evil jobs. Why they had only attacked Vivien and not killed her the Elders didn't know. They sent Leo back down with a message to the Charmed Ones: Kill them both, they are dangerous and we're not sure what they're up to.
Piper called Phoebe's office and told her to come home as fast as possible. She told her sister everything that she knew and Phoebe was crying silently. Tatum was the reason her daughter still wasn't able to walk properly. Cole arrived home with Paige later, both had been in the same building were they had worked on a case together. After Piper again told them the story, Cole got up and went over to the window. 'We have to vanquish them.' he said. 'We can't! Tatum is Vivien's best friend. She's never going to forgive us if we vanquish her!' Phoebe cried. 'So you'd rather have Vivien in constant danger?' Cole turned around to face his wife. 'I don't know. I don't want her in danger. I guess vanquishing Tatum is the best choice.' Phoebe whispered. 'We have to do it fast, according to the Elders, Tatum reads minds. That's how she was able to make sure Melinda hadn't told anybody about the attack. She'll know if we have a plan to vanquish her.' Leo said. 'So we have to do it as soon as they get back from shopping.' Paige got up. She didn't feel well. This was something they never had to deal with before. 'Yes, that would be a good idea.' Leo nodded. Phoebe got up. 'Then lets go and make the potion. I don't want to think about what we are going to do, so lets just get it over with. For Vivien.' She went to the kitchen, followed by the rest of her family. Leo carried Melinda, who was holding on to his neck. After they had cooked up a potion, they all sat down with the Book of Shadows at the new dinner table. 'Are we sure we want to do this?' Paige asked and looked into everyone's faces. 'We have to.' Phoebe said. 'But.we're vanquishing a friend.' Paige rubbed her forehead. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of vanquishing Tatum and secretly wished there was another way. 'Oh, not a friend anymore. There is no other way Paige, not if we want to protect Vivien.' Cole said and shook the potion he was holding. 'It just is a weird feeling, you know? I mean, we knew Tatum for a very, very long time and now we have to actually get rid of her. It feels weird.' 'I know what you mean Paige but Tatum is dangerous. Last year she broke Vivien's leg, who knows what she'll break next time.' Piper poured Phoebe another glass of hot tea. 'Alright, can we not talk about this anymore? It's hard enough. We are going to vanquish her. It might feel weird and Vivien might not understand it at first but she'll get over it and might even be thankful one day. So let's just do it and not talk about it. Tatum is a demon, she's dangerous. Just because she pretended to be our friend doesn't mean she really is one.' Phoebe got up and went over to the window.
A while later the front door opened and closed with a loud crash. 'Hello? Anybody home?' Vivien yelled into the dimly lit house. Tatum stood behind her, looking around. 'Weird, they didn't say they were going away.' 'Let's go upstairs and listen to your new CD, we still have an hour until my dad picks me up. He has to work late.' Tatum said. Vivien nodded, still wondering where everyone was and followed Tatum upstairs. At the top of the steps she almost ran into Tatum who had stopped in her tracks. 'What the hell.Tatum don't do that.' Vivien hissed. 'Vivien, step back honey.' Phoebe came out of the dark. 'Mom. What's going on?' Cole grabbed Vivien's arm and dragged her away from Tatum. 'Vivien, what's going on?' Tatum asked, a last attempt to play innocent. Then her eyes went black. Only Paige saw the energy building up in Tatum's right hand, that she was holding behind her back. 'Now Phoebe!' she yelled. Phoebe threw the potion and Tatum screamed before she dissolved into flames and smoke. Vivien starred in disbelief at the spot her best friend had just been standing. 'Dad? That's a joke right? What's going on?' she asked in a shaky voice. "She was evil Vivien. Not the demon that attacked you last year broke your leg. Tatum did.' Phoebe explained. Tears started to run down Vivien's cheeks. 'That's not true. You're lying. Tatum was good. You killed her. YOU are the one that's evil.' Vivien yelled and ran upstairs to her room, where she locked herself in. She didn't want to see anyone from her family. Evil suddenly didn't seem so evil anymore. Maybe the demons were all good and wanted the right thing and her family was preventing them from doing good. Maybe her family was evil. Maybe she was raised evil. Maybe everything she'd ever believed in was wrong. She cried for a long time and fell asleep long after midnight.
The rest of the family, except from Melinda, who was peacefully sleeping, was sitting in the living room, starring into the yellow flames of the fire. 'Will she ever understand this?' Phoebe asked silently. 'She will. Eventually. She needs to think about it for a while I guess. Then she'll understand. She's smart. She will get over it. She has no choice.' Cole answered and kissed Phoebe's forehead. 'I hope so. I hope she will forgive us. I hope she didn't mean what she said.' Paige hugged a pillow to herself. She knew that Phoebe was hurt by what Vivien had said. 'Yeah. She was hurt. She didn't know what she was saying. Wait until tomorrow, by daylight everything looks better.' Piper said. After that everyone went to bed, but neither of them slept well. Tatum's dad never came to pick her up, he must have sensed that his demonic child had been killed, as was her mission.
In the underworld the conspirators cheered. Raven was holding up his glass of wine that sparkled like rubies in the firelight. 'Your 'daughter' did a good job, Nicholas. Our little witch is confused now, what is good and what is evil. We'll not attack the witches until the little half- demon got her choice. She will have a hard time deciding and might be choosing us over her evil, cruel family.' Raven laughed loudly. 'I truly hope so. So much work for one little witch. We did a good job.' Nicholas drank his wine and smiled to himself. If Vivien would choose evil, they would never have to worry about the Charmed Ones again. Now all they had to do was to keep demons and warlocks from attacking the witches' house to make Vivien think even more that evil wasn't so evil after all.
A year later
'Melinda, do you want to come shopping with me and Tatum?' Vivien asked, sticking her head into her cousin's room. 'No.' answered Melinda. She was sitting on the floor, drawing a picture. Normally she never refused to come shopping with Vivien but whenever Tatum was with her, Melinda completely avoided being around them. 'Come on Mel, don't be so stupid, what did Tatum ever do to you?' Vivien shook her head. 'Nothing.' The little girl said. 'Well, I'm going. Take care. I think your mom is making cookies, if you're nice you might be able to snatch one before lunch.' Melinda nodded. 'Take care too.' she said. Vivien smiled. She had long guessed that Melinda was jealous of Tatum because she spent so much time with her best friend and couldn't always take Melinda with her. That Melinda disliked Tatum so much was sad, but Vivien was seventeen and didn't really care if Melinda hated Tatum or not. She grabbed her jacket off the hook by the door, waved good-bye to her baking aunt and ran down the stairs to meet Tatum, who was waiting in her car.
Melinda went downstairs and climbed on the counter. Vivien's comment about cookies had made her curious. 'Hey. Why didn't you go with Vivien and Tatum?' Piper asked and handed her daughter a cookie. She knew if she wouldn't hand her one, Melinda would grab one and run. 'I don't like Tatum. She's evil.' Melinda stated. 'Careful, little lady. Don't say such things. Tatum is Vivien's best friend and we know her for a long time. She's not evil.' Piper dried her hands and looked into her daughter's eyes. 'Well, you know her long but I know something about her you don't know.' Melinda bit into her cookie, satisfied with herself. She had made her mom curious. 'So, you know something? Tell me. If you don't I'll assume that you're just making things up.' Piper knew how to wrap Melinda around her finger. 'Okay, but you have to promise not to freak out. I couldn't tell you before because I was scared. Can we go to the living room?' Piper nodded and they went to the living room. She wondered what her daughter had to tell her. 'Do you remember the attack last year? Vivien's still humping. A demon attacked and left, after he had thrown her on the table. She was badly hurt but the demon didn't break her leg. Tatum did. She came in and called the ambulance, then she came and told me that, if I ever tell anyone what she was going to do she would hurt me, then she broke Vivien's leg. She is very strong, mommy. I've never seen someone so strong. She just took the leg in both hands and broke it. It made a bad noise. I didn't tell anyone because I was scared.' Melinda started to cry and Piper hugged her tightly. She was shocked. Tatum was Vivien's best and most trusted friend and Piper just couldn't believe what Melinda was telling her. The doctors a year ago had told Cole and Phoebe that, assuming their daughter had slipped and fallen into the table, she couldn't have broken her leg that way. They couldn't possibly tell the doctor that a demon had attacked and maybe he had broken Vivien's leg before, for they didn't know for sure with Vivien not remembering and Melinda not talking. Now that she was talking Piper felt dizzy. 'Oh my god. Melinda, are you telling the truth? This is very serious.' Piper reminded her child. 'Yes. That's how it was. Tatum broke Vivi's leg. Not the demon, not her fall.' Piper called Leo and talked to him about what Melinda had told her. He immediately went off to ask the Elders about Tatum and if they knew who she was.
He came back with bad news: The Elders had checked things out fast for him. Tatum's father was a mighty demon and his daughter helped him doing his evil jobs. Why they had only attacked Vivien and not killed her the Elders didn't know. They sent Leo back down with a message to the Charmed Ones: Kill them both, they are dangerous and we're not sure what they're up to.
Piper called Phoebe's office and told her to come home as fast as possible. She told her sister everything that she knew and Phoebe was crying silently. Tatum was the reason her daughter still wasn't able to walk properly. Cole arrived home with Paige later, both had been in the same building were they had worked on a case together. After Piper again told them the story, Cole got up and went over to the window. 'We have to vanquish them.' he said. 'We can't! Tatum is Vivien's best friend. She's never going to forgive us if we vanquish her!' Phoebe cried. 'So you'd rather have Vivien in constant danger?' Cole turned around to face his wife. 'I don't know. I don't want her in danger. I guess vanquishing Tatum is the best choice.' Phoebe whispered. 'We have to do it fast, according to the Elders, Tatum reads minds. That's how she was able to make sure Melinda hadn't told anybody about the attack. She'll know if we have a plan to vanquish her.' Leo said. 'So we have to do it as soon as they get back from shopping.' Paige got up. She didn't feel well. This was something they never had to deal with before. 'Yes, that would be a good idea.' Leo nodded. Phoebe got up. 'Then lets go and make the potion. I don't want to think about what we are going to do, so lets just get it over with. For Vivien.' She went to the kitchen, followed by the rest of her family. Leo carried Melinda, who was holding on to his neck. After they had cooked up a potion, they all sat down with the Book of Shadows at the new dinner table. 'Are we sure we want to do this?' Paige asked and looked into everyone's faces. 'We have to.' Phoebe said. 'But.we're vanquishing a friend.' Paige rubbed her forehead. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of vanquishing Tatum and secretly wished there was another way. 'Oh, not a friend anymore. There is no other way Paige, not if we want to protect Vivien.' Cole said and shook the potion he was holding. 'It just is a weird feeling, you know? I mean, we knew Tatum for a very, very long time and now we have to actually get rid of her. It feels weird.' 'I know what you mean Paige but Tatum is dangerous. Last year she broke Vivien's leg, who knows what she'll break next time.' Piper poured Phoebe another glass of hot tea. 'Alright, can we not talk about this anymore? It's hard enough. We are going to vanquish her. It might feel weird and Vivien might not understand it at first but she'll get over it and might even be thankful one day. So let's just do it and not talk about it. Tatum is a demon, she's dangerous. Just because she pretended to be our friend doesn't mean she really is one.' Phoebe got up and went over to the window.
A while later the front door opened and closed with a loud crash. 'Hello? Anybody home?' Vivien yelled into the dimly lit house. Tatum stood behind her, looking around. 'Weird, they didn't say they were going away.' 'Let's go upstairs and listen to your new CD, we still have an hour until my dad picks me up. He has to work late.' Tatum said. Vivien nodded, still wondering where everyone was and followed Tatum upstairs. At the top of the steps she almost ran into Tatum who had stopped in her tracks. 'What the hell.Tatum don't do that.' Vivien hissed. 'Vivien, step back honey.' Phoebe came out of the dark. 'Mom. What's going on?' Cole grabbed Vivien's arm and dragged her away from Tatum. 'Vivien, what's going on?' Tatum asked, a last attempt to play innocent. Then her eyes went black. Only Paige saw the energy building up in Tatum's right hand, that she was holding behind her back. 'Now Phoebe!' she yelled. Phoebe threw the potion and Tatum screamed before she dissolved into flames and smoke. Vivien starred in disbelief at the spot her best friend had just been standing. 'Dad? That's a joke right? What's going on?' she asked in a shaky voice. "She was evil Vivien. Not the demon that attacked you last year broke your leg. Tatum did.' Phoebe explained. Tears started to run down Vivien's cheeks. 'That's not true. You're lying. Tatum was good. You killed her. YOU are the one that's evil.' Vivien yelled and ran upstairs to her room, where she locked herself in. She didn't want to see anyone from her family. Evil suddenly didn't seem so evil anymore. Maybe the demons were all good and wanted the right thing and her family was preventing them from doing good. Maybe her family was evil. Maybe she was raised evil. Maybe everything she'd ever believed in was wrong. She cried for a long time and fell asleep long after midnight.
The rest of the family, except from Melinda, who was peacefully sleeping, was sitting in the living room, starring into the yellow flames of the fire. 'Will she ever understand this?' Phoebe asked silently. 'She will. Eventually. She needs to think about it for a while I guess. Then she'll understand. She's smart. She will get over it. She has no choice.' Cole answered and kissed Phoebe's forehead. 'I hope so. I hope she will forgive us. I hope she didn't mean what she said.' Paige hugged a pillow to herself. She knew that Phoebe was hurt by what Vivien had said. 'Yeah. She was hurt. She didn't know what she was saying. Wait until tomorrow, by daylight everything looks better.' Piper said. After that everyone went to bed, but neither of them slept well. Tatum's dad never came to pick her up, he must have sensed that his demonic child had been killed, as was her mission.
In the underworld the conspirators cheered. Raven was holding up his glass of wine that sparkled like rubies in the firelight. 'Your 'daughter' did a good job, Nicholas. Our little witch is confused now, what is good and what is evil. We'll not attack the witches until the little half- demon got her choice. She will have a hard time deciding and might be choosing us over her evil, cruel family.' Raven laughed loudly. 'I truly hope so. So much work for one little witch. We did a good job.' Nicholas drank his wine and smiled to himself. If Vivien would choose evil, they would never have to worry about the Charmed Ones again. Now all they had to do was to keep demons and warlocks from attacking the witches' house to make Vivien think even more that evil wasn't so evil after all.