Chapter 7: A Bigger Evil

"The only reason they are able to kill these demons are because of their guardians," a demon said. He, with four others, were standing in a circle around a stone table. They each wore red robes with hoods above their head. Their faces were hidden in shadow. They spoke softly. "We must rid them of their help. They'll then be defenseless."

"A good idea, Jalvor," another one said.

"We can attack them now," Jalvor continued.

"No, we can kill them as they sleep," another one said. "Take them all out at once."

"We should sneak up on each of them," a different one said. "Kill them one at a time while they're alone."

"Silence please," the strongest one of them all said. "We'll do as I say. This is not a democracy. We shall keep as we are doing."

"I'm sick of these games we play," Jalvor said, louder than normal. "We need to kill them now, before they get any stronger."

"Mind yourself," the leader said. "We shall send Marvik after them. If he fails, we shall deal with them ourselves." Jalvor let out a small growl, but bowed his head as the others were.

"As you say."

"Minxie!" the leader yelled. In a shimmer, Betrix's seer appeared. She was beautiful. She had curly, long, brown hair. She wore a leather, black top that exposed her tight stomach. She had matching black, leather pants. Her eyes were dark, evil brown.

"You called?" she asked, kneeling down in bow.

"Rise, my child," he said. She stood up. "Tell us what you see." She nodded her head and stepped over to a corner of the lair and waved her arm. Her crystal ball appeared in a white flash. She started to peer inside. She gasped. "What is it? What do you see?"

"Our downfall."

"I think I should be reassigned," Robert said. He was standing before the Elders.

"Why ever would you think that?" Arra, one of the female Elders, asked. "You seem to get along with your charges just fine."

"That's the thing," Robert said. "I get along because I'm emotionally attached to them."

"That's what makes a good Whitelighter," Rozon, a male Elder, said. "The stronger the bond between Whitelighter and charge, the stronger the Whitelighter."

"I almost lost them today because of my emotional attachment," Robert said. "I was too busy trying to be a father to Sabrina to think thoroughly of what I was telling them to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I was telling them to bring Betrix to the house, but they had no way of fighting him. They weren't prepared with a potion or anything. Because of me, they were almost killed."

"But they weren't," Arra said. "And that's all that matters."

"You saved them in the same way," Rozon added. "Because of you bonding with your daughter, you brought them good help."

"We see it fit of you to be their Whitelighter," Arra said.

"As you wish," Robert said, orbing back to the farmhouse. He reappeared in the living room. Millie was the only one there. She was sitting on the couch. A simple spell had been used to clean the room.

"Ah, Robert," she said. "Come over." He was slightly confused, but went over to her. "I…uh…" She stopped.

"What is it?" Robert asked.

"I didn't get the chance to thank you," Millie finally said.

"Thank me? Thank me for what?"

"For saving my life," Millie said. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should have told you all who the demon was. I was being foolish." Robert didn't know what to say. He hadn't been expecting this. "I'm also sorry for being so rude to you earlier. I accept you in this house with my hand opened." She held her hand out. He shook it.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're forever welcome here," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some place I need to be." She stood up and walked out the door, leaving Robert feeling more secure about his position.

"Dad," Sabrina said from the dining room entrance. Robert turned to face her.

"Yes?" he asked. She walked over and sat next to him.

"Listen, I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you," she said. Robert couldn't believe it. Two apologies and make ups in under an hour. "Can we just start over?"

"Sure, dear," he said. She looked away to avoid eye contact. They shared the same hazel eyes. Hers' were watering. She turned away to hide her whole face.

"Listen, I think I should be going," she said, standing up. "But I'll talk to you later."

"Sabrina," he said. "I'm your dad. You can talk to me. What's wrong?" She slowly sat back down.

"I've been bottling this in," she said. "But I can't take it anymore. I miss my mom. I just let her get killed. I should have stayed and helped her."

"If you would've stayed, you would have died as well," he assured her. "And then Charles would be raised in evil and we wouldn't have the Four Corners. We'd have one strong demon, and one strong, evil witch." She didn't say anything, she just sat there and sobbed. Robert put his arm around her and drew her close. She sobbed for a long time, and for the first time in her life, she had a dad to comfort her.