A/N: Oh man, I'm so sorry for the delay. I had the worst writer's block due to the storyline I had going. But don't worry; it'll start picking up soon. Also, a lot of you have been asking about Wyatt's and Chris's girlfriends. So I'm going to bring them in either this chapter or next chapter. Wyatt's girlfriend will be a made-up character. And for Chris, I'm trying to decide between Bianca and a made-up. Most likely, their girls will come in next chapter. So let me know what to do for Chris when you review! I need the Reader's Help on this one.
PiPeRAnGeL39: Lol. Very angsty review! Lol. But glad you liked it!
Cornett: I'm evil, hm?
Wyatt333: Guess you'll find out if she does or not!
Matt91: No more choking! I'm gonna have tracheal problems if people keep choking me!
Charmedchick4eva: I know! Lol. Eric's evil!
C.Charmed24/7: Honestly, I don't think you'll ever find out how or why! Haha. I'm evil.
Charmedprincess: Glad mine was your first and glad you liked it!
Charmedluver: uh . . .? I'm a little confused. Did that mean you liked the chapter or not? If it was meant in a bad way, well, I wasn't even thinking about "CoughelizabethsmartCough" when I wrote it. And she didn't unblock the spell.
Ilovedrew88: glad you liked it!
Okay, here you go! I promise to try and update sooner next time!
Please enjoy and please review!
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"Who was he?" Eric snarled angrily.
Melinda (AKA 'Charlotte') glanced at Eric, shaking with fear.
Eric glared at her angrily. Trying to get information out of Melinda wasn't easy. "You're trying my patience witch."
Melinda opened her mouth to speak, but shut it. She couldn't speak. What could she say? Seeing Scott had revoked her with hope that she'd be rescued. But that hope was slowing fading.
"Who was he?" Eric snapped.
Melinda licked her dry, quivering lips. "Once you know who he is, you'll be able to find him and kill him and I'm not letting that happen, so forget it."
Eric sighed. "Whatever. I still have you, and that's all that matters. You can't escape me witch and when that child of yours is born, I'll rule the Underworld with her at my side."
"That's what you think, pal."
Eric and Melinda, startled, both turned to see who had spoken.
Standing in the middle of the room were Wyatt and Chris, arms crossed, glaring angrily at Eric, and looking at Melinda with a look of relief.
"Wyatt! Chris!" Melinda cried, hope surging through her once more. Scott! Scott must have phoned them and told them about seeing her and they must have been able to track her down, despite the spell Eric's demon friends had planted.
"You're dead, you asswipe," Chris snapped, glaring daggers at Eric. He prepared to TK him into the wall, when Melinda's shout stopped him.
"He's human!" Melinda cried.
"Well," Wyatt said calming, a small smile playing at his lips. "I know just what to do with him, then."
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"I'm so glad that's over with," Melinda said happily as they all orbed home from the police station in New York where they had left Eric (who was, apparently, wanted in three other states for kidnapping, armed robbery, and possibly murder.)
"I'm tired," she added, faking a yawn. "I'll think I'll be going up to bed." She turned to the steps and started walking to them.
"Not so fast," Wyatt said, his tone one of warning.
Melinda bit her lip and turned around. "Yeah?"
"You have a lot of explaining to do, like why you ran away," Wyatt finished. Beside him, Chris nodded, looking angry but calmer than he had been in a long time.
"This could take awhile . . ." Melinda mumbled, gulping.
"We have time," Chris assured her. "And you have even more time."
Melinda paled.
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Melinda sat on her bed, on her back, with her feet on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. She was, as Wyatt and Chris had put it, under "house arrest." They had temporarily bound her powers and put a magical "lock and key" on her room so she could only leave if she needed food or the bathroom.
She had argued that it was unfair, that she was eighteen and old enough to leave the house if she wanted to, and old enough to run off to New York City at her own will. But no, Wyatt and Chris told her that she had acted like an eight year old, running away like that, especially since she was pregnant and vulnerable. She was, they said, lucky that Scott had found her, even if it had been three months after she'd left. They also informed her of how worried they had been.
She rolled her eyes, gently rubbing her belly. She knew she had been stupid, she'd realized that the second Eric had turned out to be right-hand-man to demons and on the police's Most Wanted list. But she wasn't going to admit that to her cousins.
"I'm a bad mommy," Melinda said sadly, still rubbing her belly.
"You aren't."
Melinda sat up suddenly and turned her head. Wyatt stood in her doorway.
"What you did was stupid," he said.
"I know, I know. You and Chris have already drilled that into me. Although I think putting me under complete house arrest is a little unfair," Melinda said dryly.
"But," Wyatt continued, as if she hadn't spoken at all. "You aren't a bad mother. You stayed alive and, from what you told us, you did everything possible to ensure that Eric didn't hurt you or your baby."
"He wanted my baby alive so he could use her for evil. He wouldn't have risked hurting her by hurting me," Melinda replied sadly.
Wyatt nodded and sat beside her. "Be that as it may, you still played a part in that by ensuring that you stayed safe for your child's sake. You aren't a bad mother, Melinda. Don't ever think that."
Melinda held back her tears as she nodded. If she agreed with him, maybe he'd leave her alone.
"Chris and I talked it over and we agreed that we were just a little harsh in your punishment. We realized that you're eighteen and an adult and capable of making your own decisions. So we're lifting the house arrest a little. We're going to remove the spell on your room so you can walk around the house and we'll unbind your powers. However, we're keeping your keys and you can't have your orbing ability back yet. Agreed?"
Melinda nodded. "Agreed."
"Have you heard from Scott?" Wyatt asked suddenly.
Melinda looked down at her bed and shook her head. "N-no, but he's probably still in New York. So-so he might not be able to call me, you know? He's probably busy."
Wyatt nodded, though he knew Melinda was saying that more for her sake than his. He felt bad for her. She loved him so much and she still couldn't grasp the fact that they were broken up. Technically, neither of them had said 'okay, it's over.' But things had been rocky since that night so, so long ago when Mr. Fangy had attacked her. Things had gotten worse when she had gotten the note to be at his place and he hadn't showed up.
They hadn't spoken much after that, and then Melinda had run away to New York. She hadn't seen or spoken to Scott since she'd insisted she was Charlotte, not Melinda, and he'd left.
She'd been miserable since. Which, considering she'd just gotten home that day, wasn't much time. But she had been miserable since they'd first started fighting.
Wyatt hated to see his cousin so upset.
"Wyatt! Phone! It's Katelyn!" Chris called upstairs.
Wyatt glanced at Melinda, cringing slightly. How bad did this look? He was trying to comfort Melinda over her lack of a boyfriend, and he own girlfriend was on the phone. She must feel worse now . . .
"Go on. I want to be alone," Melinda said, lying back down.
Wyatt nodded and stood. "Promise me you won't keep sulking?"
Melinda nodded, but didn't say anything out loud. She didn't want to make a promise she wasn't going to keep.
Wyatt smiled reassuringly and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Melinda sighed and stared at the ceiling, her mind reeling with thoughts.
She went back to sulking, wondering if she'd ever be happy again.
And knowing only one way to ever be happy again.