You shit-stick, Mayberry ass reject! Oh, sorry. I was watching 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' today. Sarah Michelle Gellar said that to the cop. It was pretty funny. Anyways...
Paige Marie Halliwell- Well that's cool. Thanks!
s.halliwell- Yeah, everyone seems to like Parker the best. He's pretty adorable even though I've never actually seen him. I don't even really know what he looks like in my mind. Haha! I have the first Harry Potter in Spanish and the only reason I have it is because I saw it and had to buy it because it was so cool. I would much rather have it in French of course, but they didn't have it...
Prince Halliwell- I liked that plot too. I figured, what does every kid struggle with in high school? They're identity of course! I knew I wanted a way to introduce him to let you guys get an idea of that, so I figured that would be the best way how. I wanted to make Kelsey really understanding and have her be the cool girlfriend and the one very reassuring thing in his life. Actually, if anyone would have going any further, it would have been Patience and Kyle because they have more of an Andy/Prue relationship, you know. I think Patience is the most mature of the four cousins and would be the first to do that, but I didn't want to make her out as a slut or anything so I didn't.
The-Cheese-Fairy- Hey, that's okay. I think I'll make an exception for you. Lol! I knew Parker would be your favorite. He seems to be a hit with everyone. I want to play tennis... is it fun? I could totally picture Parker playing tennis though, just like I could picture Piper playing tennis in high school. I need to reread the OotP before the Half Blood Prince comes out to clarify some things. It's been too long since I read it last. Yeah, Kelsey was meant to be the really cool, understanding girlfriend who's just popular enough that she's not a snob, but she's still really cool and can show Parker a thing or two about life.
Let's get this straight: I hate plays. They have pointless plots and are completely stupid, not to mention the fact that the whole school is forced to watch them when they'd really rather not. They also always have some sort of singing in them. Let's get something else straight: I love Kelsey. And it was because of Kelsey that I decided to join the school play.
"No," I said firmly, making my way to lunch.
"Please!" Kelsey pleaded, coming after me. I shook my head.
"No way! I hate the plays, hate them. They're horrible and long and we always have to watch them, not to mention the fact that the kids always have to sing," I said.
"Well that's what I want to change. I'm doing the play this year and I want to make it better and I would feel a lot better if you would do it with me," Kelsey said.
"Babe, I love you to death, but I'm not doing the play," I said as we sat down with our food.
"Parker, baby, come on!" Kelsey begged.
"Uh oh, now what?" Percy asked.
"Kelsey wants me to join the school play," I said.
"Well I think Patience is doing it," Percy offered.
"Damn right! The school play is so much fun," Patience said, sitting down with Kyle. It was so great to have someone know that we were witches and I knew that Patience was feeling the same way. As for Preston and Percy, they would have to tell the others in their own time.
"Well you guys can have fun, but there's no way I'm doing it," I said defiantly. Kelsey sighed.
"Fine. I guess you don't love me then," she said. I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, babe, don't even be like that," I said. She turned away from me. I sighed. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Thank you!" Kelsey exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. I grinned. Only Kelsey... "Just think, now you won't have to watch anyone else kiss me onstage."
"I'd kill anyone who tried to kiss you onstage," I said.
"No you wouldn't. You're a big softie," Percy said. I glared at her.
"What? There's nothing wrong with that," Patience said.
"I know, but you're supposed to make me look tough in front of my girlfriend, not soft. Do we not remember last month's fiasco with my alter ego?" I asked, trying my best not to say the 'spell' word around the uninformed.
"Hm, I like softies," Kelsey said. I grinned. Like I said, only Kelsey...
Later that day Kelsey, Patience and I made our way to the auditorium for tryouts. I was still very against this, but a glance at Kelsey kept me going. We walked up onstage to see about ten other kids who were trying out. I sighed. This was not cool. It was even more un-cool than me, and believe me, that's pretty low.
We sat back and watched as the others tried out. Finally, the last three were up. Patience went first, performing with flying colors as did Kelsey. Then it was me. I stepped up shakily, introducing myself.
"Ah! Look at you, you'll be perfect for the lead role!" the instructor exclaimed. I raised my eyebrow. "Quickly, read this with Patience. She's going to be the lead lady. I want to see how well you work together." I felt my eyebrow go up even farther. Patience? This was not what I signed up for. I looked down at the script and the first words I saw were 'Yes baby, of course I love you'. My eyebrow felt like it was going to become part of my hairline. Patience recited her line. I swallowed and started reading.
"Baby, how can you say that?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"I can say that because I've seen her number on your phone and you've been staying late at work for almost a month now! Do you even still love me?" Patience whispered. I sighed.
"Yes baby, of course I- Okay, I can't do this! You do realize that this is my cousin I'm saying this to," I said to the instructor.
"Yes and Angelina Jolie made out with her brother. This is acting, dear. You'll do more on this stage than you'll ever have the chance to do in real life. Now show me what you've got!" she said. I looked at Kelsey, giving her an 'I'm going to kill you' look, then turned back to Patience who was obviously trying to hold back a grin. 'Might as well give it all I've got' I thought.
"Yes baby, of course I love you! You're my world, you know that," I said desperately.
"Then say it. Tell me to my face that you love me. Promise me that you're telling the truth," Patience said firmly. I looked her straight in the eye.
"I love you," I said, wrapping my arms around her neck. Here it comes... We kissed each other and it was definitely awkward at first, but we relaxed as I imagined that I was kissing Kelsey and she imagined that I was Kyle. Wow, he was pretty lucky. She was a good kisser. Not as good as Kelsey of course...
"That was brilliant! You're in," the instructor said, jumping up as we pulled away.
"No, that was disgusting," I mumbled.
"Now I can officially say I know what it's like to kiss my cousin and it was so gross," Patience said. I nodded.
"Thank god I get to cheat on her with you," I said to Kelsey. She grinned and gave me a big kiss, wiping the Patience right out of my mouth, which I very much appreciated of course.
Later that night I decided to tell my parents about the play. I wasn't sure how they would react to me being in the play. I mean, I'm not exactly the smoothest person in the world. I knew Dad probably wouldn't care, if he was there, but Mom might be a little weird about it. You never knew with her.
"The school play, huh? What's it about?" Mom asked.
"Um, Patience and I are the lead roles. We're uh, boyfriend and girlfriend and I even had to kiss her today. But, um, then my character cheats on hers with Kelsey's," I said, looking for any sign of disapproval.
"Really? You had to kiss your cousin. That's kind of gross," Mom said.
"Um, yeah," I said, still looking at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," I said, averting my gaze.
"Something..." Mom pursued.
"It's just, you're not mad that I'm in the play?" I asked. Mom raised her eyebrow.
"Mad? Honey, why would I be mad?"
"I don't know, not mad, just disapproving," I said, unsure of myself as I always was without Kelsey with me.
"Oh sweetie, anything you do I'm okay with as long as you're not hurting yourself or someone else. Sure I'll get mad at you at times and yes, I may be disappointed in you for doing something stupid because you're bound to do that as a 16 year old witch, but I'd never be mad at you for something as dumb as the school play. If you want to do it... if you're happy with kissing your cousin, then go for it," Mom said with a grin. I grinned back.
"Thanks, Mom," I said.
"Anytime, son. You're too insecure. Maybe the play will help you with your confidence. You can't always count on Kelsey to be there when you need and ego boost," Mom warned.
"I know, Mom. I'm working on it. Notice my new wardrobe," I said.
"I did and I like it, but you shouldn't need a new wardrobe to make yourself more confident," Mom said.
"This coming from a Halliwell sister," I said, my grin widening.
"I didn't say I didn't need a new wardrobe every now and then," Mom said. I laughed and gave her a hug before going up to bed.
The next day proved to be the same as the day before, except instead of tryouts for the play, we had rehearsal. It wasn't that exciting, just going over our lines and more macking with my cousin. If it weren't completely gross and I weren't already with Kelsey, I would probably have asked Patience out with all of the kissing we had to do. The upside was that I also got to kiss Kelsey. I found out that our instructor thought I was the next Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom or something.
"That was perfect! I swear, Parker Halliwell, where were you for all of the horrible school plays? You are amazing!" she exclaimed.
"Uh, thanks," I said.
"And Patience, Kelsey, you two work so amazingly with him! The chemistry is impeccable! If Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck had this kind of chemistry, Gili would have been a box office hit instead of a box office bomb," she said. I looked to Patience and Kelsey who held back giggles.
"Um, thanks, I guess," I said.
"You're very welcome, now get off of my stage and I'll see you all tomorrow, same time, same place," she said. I walked off the stage with Kelsey and Patience.
"She's a little bit crazy," I said as we walked out to Patience's car.
"She's right though. When you're onstage, you're a completely different person. You forget all of your insecurities and you become... well, almost Kyle like," Patience said.
"Oh, that's comforting," I said. Patience glared.
"You are a great actor, baby," Kelsey said with a smile.
"Now that is comforting," I said with a grin. Patience rolled her eyes as we got in the car. She drove us to the manor and dropped us off.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To Kyle's," she replied.
"Hm, have fun," I said, waving her off. "And think of me while you're macking with him!" I called after her, receiving a very rude hand gesture. I laughed as Kelsey and I walked in the house.
"Hey Parker," Dad said as we walked in.
"Hey Dad, how come you're home?" I asked.
"Didn't have any charges to attend to," he replied. "Hey Kelsey," he added.
"Hi Mr. Wyatt," she said.
"Please, call me Leo," Dad said. Kelsey nodded. "Don't forget your lessons with Paige tonight."
"Oh yeah, that's right. It's not very exciting, but you're welcome to come with," I offered to Kelsey. She shook her head.
"No thanks. I'm better off staying at a safe distance from the magic stuff. I still don't understand it all," she said.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then," I said, giving her a kiss and orbing her home. I looked over at Dad who was smiling. "What?" I asked.
"Nothing. You're just growing up so fast," he said.
"Wow, that really made you sound like Mom," I said. He glared. Later that night I went to Aunt Paige's for my lesson. I was in a good mood, so I didn't think I would mind having to be around her tonight. It's not that I didn't like her; it's just that she was... well the youngest I guess. She had all the qualities of the youngest sister and that could be annoying. But she was cool at times. I guess I just felt the same way about her as my mom did, although their relationship had gotten ten times better than it used to be. (A/N: Sensing some tension there on the Paige issue, which sucks because Paige is my favorite. Oh well, all for the greater reading experience I suppose)
"All right Parker, today's a windy day which is very good," Paige started.
"Why is that good?" I asked, confused and slightly annoyed already.
"Because we've been focusing mainly on the 'creating wind' aspect of you power and tonight I want to focus on the 'controlling wind' aspect of your power. Now, here's a gust of wind. I want you to take it and make it stronger," Paige instructed. I let the wind blow on me for a few seconds so that I could focus on it before doing as Paige said. I was surprised to see the wind knock over a bench. I grinned at Paige.
"That was cool," I said.
"You didn't know you could do that, did you? See, you guys underestimate your powers. You're gonna kick some major ass some day," Paige said. I guess Paige wasn't too bad...
The next day in school, I was actually looking forward to rehearsal for the play. It was pretty fun and I liked the compliments because it's not very often that I get them. I did notice that one of our cast members; Kelly Swartskoff wasn't at school though. I didn't think anything of it, of course. People are allowed to be sick occasionally.
"All right people, let's get to work! Is everyone here? Where's Kelly?" our instructor asked as we all assembled onstage.
"Uh, she wasn't here today, ma'am," I said.
"Okay, then we'll make sure to skip any scenes that she was in. Let's start with scene two. There seemed to be a few rough spots there yesterday," she said. I groaned. More macking with Patience. It was getting a little annoying.
The next few days went by pretty quickly. Kelly still hadn't show up for school and it seemed like a new person from the cast was missing everyday. I couldn't figure out what it was. My first thought was that it was a demon, but then I realized that maybe I had been a witch for too long and it could just be that there was a flu going around or something. That was until I heard Uncle Andy talking about all of the kids who hadn't showed up for school. He said the parents had reported them missing. Uh oh… Time to start a little investigating. And who better to start with then the very person who connects us all: our instructor.
"Wait, so what are we going to do again?" Patience asked.
"Nothing. We're going to go to rehearsal and do what we always do, except this time we're going to stay after. We'll make it look like we're going to leave and then we'll swing back around and watch to see if she's keeping any kids afterwards and if she does anything to them," I said.
"And what if it's one of us that she asks to stay after?" Kelsey asked.
"Then the others will stand by in case anything goes wrong," I said.
"You're crazy," Patience said.
"Hey, do you want another demon killing spree? If we figure out what's going on than we might be able to figure out if we can save the people who have gone missing," I explained. Patience sighed, but nevertheless followed my lead. We went through rehearsal like I had said and we were about to leave when…
"Kelsey, darling, could you please come here a minute?" our instructor asked. Kelsey's eyes went wide and she looked over to me. I nodded slowly and she went up to the instructor. She took Kelsey's arm and led her backstage. "I'm just going to show her the costume she'll be wearing dears. We'll be back in a jiff."
"Yeah right," Patience mumbled. We sat there for a few minutes, waiting for any sign that something went wrong. We sat there for a long time actually, but they never came out.
"That's it," I said, jumping up. "I'm going to go see what the hell she did with my girlfriend."
"Oh, behold the wrath of Parker. He swore. You're in trouble now, you demon bitch," Patience said sarcastically. We walked backstage, but found no one there. The two of them weren't anywhere at all and I couldn't sense Kelsey anymore. I grabbed Patience and orbed us to the Book of Shadows immediately.
"There's got to be something in here," I said, flipping through the pages furiously.
"We don't even know where to start, Parker," Patience pointed out.
"I don't give a damn! She took my girlfriend and I want to know where she is," I said furiously. I was in a frenzy now. "Damn it!" I yelled, slamming the book shut. Patience was right; we didn't know where to start. I was breathing heavily, about to hyperventilate.
"Listen, let's just wait for tomorrow when we have all four of us and then we can ambush her to find out what kind of demon she is. It'll be better this way. Kelsey will be okay. We'll find her, I promise," Patience said, guiding me to the couch. Once again she was right. I was usually the logical one, but my brain was in a haze knowing that Kelsey could be hurt or even dead. All I knew was that I wanted to kill that bitch for even touching her.
"Well did you check the Underworld?" Percy asked a few minutes later when we were all in the attic.
"No, I wasn't going down there without backup. We just need to figure out what she is and then we can go to the Underworld if need be," I said, trying to stay calm.
"Don't you want to let the parentals in on this?" Preston asked.
"You, of all people, want parentals?" Patience asked skeptically.
"Normally, no, but when it involves saving my ass from some demon bitch in the world of demons, yes I would feel better with a parent there. We could get my dad to come with," Preston suggested.
"Do you think he would?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course," Preston said.
"Okay, let's go," Percy said, leading the way to Preston's house.
"Hey dip shit, he's not there. He does work you know," Preston said. Percy glared with her orangish eyes, forming a fireball in her hand. Preston matched it with his own, his eyes their earthy colors. I looked at Patience who rolled her eyes. She extinguished Percy's fireball with her water while I blew Preston's out.
"Can we bring it back and grow the hell up? Preston, take us to your dad," I ordered. Preston gave one last glance at Percy and shimmered us out. Cole looked up from his desk when we appeared in his office. He raised his eyebrows.
"Well this is a nice surprise. To what do I owe the honor?" he asked.
"Our play instructor. We're pretty sure she's a demon and she took Kelsey," I said.
"Oh, well I'll make sure I send her a thank you card after we vanquish her," Cole said.
"That's the thing. We need you to come with us tomorrow in case we need to go to the Underworld," Preston said. Cole nodded.
"Sounds good. Just call for me when you need me," he said.
"Thanks, Uncle Cole," I said and we orbed out. That night was a very restless one. All I could keep thinking was that Kelsey might not be okay. What if she wasn't? What if the demon had killed her? It was just too much. She was the one thing in my life that I really couldn't live without and now she was gone and I might not get her back. What would I do?
I woke up with a start as my horrible nightmare came to an end. We had gone into the Underworld to kill the demon and save Kelsey, but all we found was a bunch of mangled bodies. The one that stuck in my mind was Kelsey's. She had a look of pure disappointment on what was left of her face; disappointment because I hadn't saved her. There was no way I was going to be able to go through the whole school day.
I sat in my sixth period, nervously glancing over to Kelsey's empty seat every five minutes. I couldn't concentrate worth a shit. All I could think about was my dream. I wasn't going to let it happen. We would save her.
Finally the end of school bell rang and I flew out of the class room and down to the auditorium where my cousins met me a few minutes later. We walked up onstage and then backstage where we found our instructor getting ready. I walked up to her and put my hand around her throat, slamming her into a wall.
"What did you do to her?" I asked instantly.
"Parker," Patience warned. The instructor laughed harshly through her constricted airways.
"You won't find her. It's too late," she gasped.
"Bull shit," I growled. "You're going to take us there."
"Dad!" Preston yelled. Cole shimmered in immediately.
"Damn," he said. "What kind of demon are you?" he asked.
"Suvolte," the instructor replied.
"Oh for Christ's sake! What the hell do you want here?" Cole asked.
"The children of course. I sell them to willing buyers who do what they please with them," the Suvolte replied.
"You're pathetic. Take us to the kids," Cole said. The demon shimmered out from under me, Cole grabbing us quickly and following. I had never been in the Underworld before, but I instantly hated it because it was Kelsey's prison. The demon led us through tunnels and caves until finally she stopped. I looked up to see Kelsey and the others who had disappeared chained to a wall, completely unconscious.
"Unchain them," I ordered. The demon grinned.
"Okay, but you're the one who's going to have to deal with some very angry buyers," she said. She waved her hand and they all fell to the ground. I ran over to get to Kelsey, but was knocked back by something.
"That's mine," a vampire growled, standing over me. I stood up.
"I think my cousin would be more your type," I said. I stepped out of the way just in time to let a stream of fire from Percy come through and vanquish him. Before we knew it we were bombarded with demons, fighting and vanquishing them until only the Suvolte was left. I slowly walked towards her, ready to rip her head off.
"Now, now, let's not do anything rash," she said, backing away.
"Rash? Oh you threw all reason out the fucking window when you signed my girlfriend up for your little flea market here," I said, launching a fist at her that connected with her jaw. I punched her again and again, letting all of my fury out on her. Before I knew it I was punching at the air as Cole lifted me off of her. I was flailing trying to get out of his grasp and back at the demon.
"Percy, a little help," Cole said. I watched as Percy's fire lit up the demon, killing her. Finally Cole let me down and I ran to Kelsey, who was just stirring.
"Parker?" she asked, her eyes opening slowly.
"Yeah babe, I'm here. Everything's okay," I assured her. She threw her arms around me, sobbing.
"Oh Parker, I was so scared. I didn't know what to do and I couldn't scream," she cried.
"I know babe, it's alright. Let's get you home," I said, orbing her out. I got her to take a nice warm shower and I bandaged her cuts. She was now lying in bed.
"Thank you for saving me," she whispered. I nodded.
"Of course. I wouldn't let you down there forever. I'm never letting you talk me into doing a play again though," I said with a grin. Kelsey smiled weakly.
"Parker? Will you read me a story?" Kelsey asked timidly. I smiled.
"Yeah. I've got the perfect one."
Wow, that was interesting. It's really fun to write the different moods of Parker because I have to go from really timid to really cool to really pissed off. It's neat. Anyways, there's the next chapter. Hope you like it.
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