Chapter 4: The Start of Something Difficult
Pheobe looked over a Violet as she made her a cup of tea. The girl was sitting at the kitchen table staring down at her hands which were shaking badly. Pheobe walked over and placed the hot tea in front of her.
"Thanks," Violet said quietly, still staring at her hands.
"You're welcome, sweetie. How are you feeling?" Pheobe asked sympathetically. She felt so bad for this girl, something this big being dumped on her like this.
"Numb," she said, trying to muster out a laugh.
"That's understandable," Pheobe said.
"Who are you?" Violet asked, finally looking up into Pheobe's face.
"I'm Pheobe Halliwell."
"Oh. I'm Violet…Peters." Violet was trying to stop her hands from shaking. Pheobe placed her hands over them. "What happened to me back there?"
"I'll try to explain that in a little bit," Pheobe replied. "First, I want to wait until my sisters get here. They can help." Violet fell silent. Pheobe had to come up with something. "How old are you?" she asked.
"Seventeen," Violet replied. "I got to Lincoln High School. I'm a senior."
"Cool." Pheobe really couldn't think of much else to say so the pair sat in silence until she heard the front door swing open.
"Pheobe!" Piper yelled from the front of the house. Pheobe jumped to her feet and ran towards her voice.
When she came in view of Piper and Paige, she saw Paige ushering in a very shaking girl and putting her into a nearby chair and Piper dragging an unconscious girl.
"What happened?" she asked, rushing over to help. She helped Piper lay the girl onto the couch.
"She was thrown into a wall. The first time it happened she got right back up, but this time, it knocked the wind out of her," Piper said, moving aside so Paige could heal her. Violet had followed Pheobe into the living room and was now standing behind the chair that housed Ronnie.
After some difficulty, Paige finally healed the girl on the couch. When she came to, she looked at her surroundings and settled her eyes on Paige.
"Who are you? And how did I get here?" she asked, anger peeking in her voice.
"I'm Paige and these are my sisters, Piper and Pheobe. Who are you?"
"You still didn't answer my second question. How did I get here? Now I have a new one." She looked over at the other two girls. "Who are they?"
"That's what we're all here to figure out, sweetie," Pheobe said, settling in beside the girl. She shot up, clearly angry that no one was answering her questions. "Where are you going?"
"Away from here. I don't know you people. For all I know, you could be out to kill me or something," the girl said.
"We're not, but I guarantee that if you walk out that door, someone will kill you," Piper said, giving the girl a stern look. "What's your name?"
The girl stared at Piper with fire in her eyes. This girl's tough, Piper thought, I like her. But Piper could see the girl was not going to give in that easily. As if reading her mind, Pheobe walked over to the girl and put her arms around her shoulders.
"We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help. Something very bad happened to the three of you and we're here to make sure it doesn't happen again. So please, tell us who you are so we can do what we're supposed to."
The girl looked around at the faces staring at her. She had to admit, these people were persistent. Finally, she caved.
"Varali Stevens," she said.
"Nice to meet you, Varali. That's a unique name," Pheobe said.
"Yeah," Varali said. She was going to say that her mother gave it to her, but she barely knew these people.
"I'm Violet…Peters," the girl standing behind the chair said.
"And I'm Ronnie Wilson," the girl sitting said.
"Great. Now that we all know each other, can you tell me how the hell I got here?" Varali said, temper flaring.
"Yeah and what happened back there?" Ronnie chimed in.
"Like I said, that's what we're trying to figure out. You see, the three of you were attacked and we have to figure out why so we can stop it from happening again," Pheobe offered.
"Attacked….by what?" Violet asked, fear in her voice.
"Demons," Paige said quietly.
"What?" Ronnie said, jumping out her the chair.
"Oh yeah," said Varali, "and what? You're going to tell us that you're what? Wood nymphs who prance around in purple, pink, and emerald dresses?"
"No," Piper said, "we're witches."
"Oh please," Varali laughed. Ronnie began laughing in disbelief as well. Violet sat with a terrified look on her face.
"We're serious," said Paige.
"You must be something special as well," Pheobe said. "How did you know about wood nymphs? Not many non-magical people do."
"My dad used to tell me stories about mythical creates when I was little. So what? That doesn't mean anything," Varali said.
"Or maybe it does," Ronnie said. She was looking at Varali but immediately looked down at her hands when she shot her a dirty look.
"It's worth finding out" said Violet.
"No it's not," Varali shot back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to take care of that don't involve people that need to be institutionalized."
"No, wait," Pheobe ran to catch her. "You can't go. At least not until we find out what this is all about."
"We don't want you getting hurt," Paige said.
"And that's what's going to happen if you walk out of here unprepared," Piper added.
"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." Varali turned to leave. Piper grabbed her arm.
"Not from this you can't." She gave Varali a stern look.
"Come on," Violet said, "your mom and dad wouldn't want you getting hurt."
Varali looked at her. "My dad. My mom's dead."
"Our's too," said Piper.
Varali was silent for a moment, considering her options. Finally, "alright, I'll stay. But only until you figure this mess out," Varali said. She took a seat on the couch, crossed her arms over her chest, and waited for someone to tell her that she'd been Punk'd.