Chapter Three

"I think I'm in shock," Bridget mumbled, grasping for Nixa's support as they left the store. Her throat was dry, her voice raspy, her eyes darting unseeingly to and fro. "Please don't tell me I just spent seventy-five dollars on two pieces of cloth and a buckle? Pretty please? Tell me it was all a dream?"

Nixa rolled her eyes a little, but then patted Bridget on the arm sympathetically. "It's okay, calm down. Look, we'll get you some ice cream, okay?"

"How much ice cream?"

"A triple scoop. You actually look like you need it."

They stepped onto the escalator in silence, Bridget clutching the bag to her chest as if it was the most precious thing she had ever owned. Upon reaching the top they stepped off into the Food Court and headed straight for the ice cream parlour.

"Someone chocolate-y?" Nixa asked, at once knowing the answer. She handed Bridget the two bags that she had acquired while Bridget had been freaking out over at the cash register and rummaged in her purse, looking for some money.

Suddenly a young man ran at full pelt out of nowhere, long straggly hair flying behind him, his clothes that were too big for him flapping in the wind he was creating. He was unshaven and his pupils were a little dilated. He grabbed the strap of Nixa's purse, snapping it and continuing running, dragging the bag after him.

"HEY! Someone stop that man!" Nixa yelled, stabbing a finger at his retreating back. Everybody in the Food Court turned to watch him run for the down escalator at the other end, but no one got up to stop him. "Oh, for… THAT BAG IS GUCCI, DAMMIT!" Nixa shouted, setting off at a run across the area, vaulting over a couple's table and spilling a soda and a coffee. She kept running, shoving another guy out of her way and sending a burger and fries flying into the air to land on someone's lap, while the fries rained down on a vendor's head.

She had nearly reached the bag snatcher when she saw Bridget streaking along beside her. They both launched themselves at the guy's back, grabbing him around the waist and neck and sending him crashing into the ground. The force of the takedown caused Bridget to overshoot the mark. She hit the floor above the guy's head and skidded on the faux marble, bumping into the Plexiglas barrier between the upper level and the drop to the lower level, narrowly missing tumbling down the escalator.

Nixa, however, had clung on and flipped the guy onto his back. His tooth had pierced his lip, and his mouth was welling blood. Sitting astride him, she punched him in the jaw, knocking him out. She pulled the bag from his limp hand and dangled it distastefully in the air by the broken strap. "Why doesn't God want me to have nice stuff?" she groaned, realising that it had torn the seam and was, therefore, a complete right off.

Monsters of the Deep End

Nixa had driven her car home after school and she and Bridget had got a bus to the mall. The plan was that they would put their purchases in the mall's lockers, do a little hunting and then come back in time for closing time to grab their stuff and head home. However, the lockers were all closed for 'Maintenance Reasons', although what maintenance reason could shut an entire bank of lockers neither of them could fathom.

They were standing on the curb outside the mall, getting ready to walk home. If they saw any demons on the way, then they'd bite the dust, but apart from that they weren't going to be actively hunting. They were both suddenly tired, especially after the stupid mall rent-a-cops had interrogated them for about four years about the bag snatcher, which they had in custody anyway. Besides, it was not practical to hunt demons and lug around shopping, so they had decided not to. A sports car pulled up on the curb.

"Hey, Nina. Hey, Bridget."

He had so many shiny, shiny teeth…

"Hey, Josh," Nixa grinned, stepping closer to the car. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just, you know, driving around, looking about. The 'rents are gone and will be until two days after the party so, you know, no curfew." He grinned this time, and Bridget felt herself compelled to draw up next to the car as well. "So, where are you going?"

"Well, some people don't have the luxury of no curfew, so home," Nixa said, her tone lightly grumbling.

"You're gonna walk?" Josh's eyebrows went up. "You don't know what's out there."

"We'll risk it," Bridget said with a light shrug. "You never know; they might come off worse."

"Yeah. And we just had life half of Dairy Queen's supply of ice cream so exercise is definitely on the agenda anyway," Nixa told him.

"Oh, you're not gonna give me the fat thing, are you? Seriously, I'm fed up of that from slim, beautiful girls. Trust me; I say you're not fat. Do you want a lift?"

Nixa was lost for words. She tried to say something, but nothing came out. Instead she just smiled and reached up subconsciously to twirl at a strand of hair, laughing a little and making sure he could see her molars right back to the emerging wisdoms. He thought they were beautiful… He had really said that…

"We're fine, don't worry. We'll walk," Bridget said shortly, tugging on Nixa's arm. "We live in totally different directions."

Josh looked momentarily perplexed and then shrugged it off, flashed them his smile again and drove off, his wheels skidding on the road as he sped away.

"What did you do that for? We were gonna be in his car," Nixa hissed, wheeling angrily on Bridget. "That would totally mean elevated social status! Don't you get it? Are you trying to make high school even more difficult on purpose?"

Bridget rolled her eyes and started walking down the road, swinging her shopping bag. Nixa, after looking at the intersection that Josh had swung his car around, threw her hands up into the air and stamped off after her friend.

"You didn't answer me," Nixa reminded Bridget, jabbing her in the ribs irritably. "Well?"

"I just didn't feel like it, okay?" Bridget suddenly snapped, spinning round to face Nixa. "I… didn't feel right. I don't know. Is that such a crime? I feel like going hunting, so going hunting is what I'm going to do."

"Hunting? You mean you blew him off to go hunting? Why would you do that?"

"Uh, yeah, hey, newsflash, Nixa, it's our job!"

"'Our job'. Right. Because everything is all about hunting. You can't have a life because you have to go and hunt. Well, if we're newsflashing then let me tell you something. I have a life, dammit! I do! And I try so hard to keep it balanced, and then you go and do that to me! It's not fair; all I want to do is have a little fun once in a while and you decide that going hunting is more important!"

"Oh, well, saving lives or looking at my reflection in his stupidly shiny teeth. Hm…" She motioned with her arms as if she were a set of scales, weighing the options. "Now, let me think; which one is more important?"

"But hunting is all you ever do! Don't you ever want to get a life?"

"I like to hunt. It makes me feel good that I'm helping people. Apparently, you're too selfish to even think about someone that's not you for once in your pathetic life."

Nixa staggered backwards as if she had been hit. Her eyes froze over as she glared at her friend. "I am not selfish. Don't even think about telling me that I'm selfish," she said in a low voice, shaking her head. "Because that's not fair."

"Isn't it? So, you wouldn't call risking a person's life so you can go and make doe eyes at a hot guy selfish?"

"NO! I didn't ask to be a Hunter! I didn't want this! I wanted to be normal. I could so much more if it wasn't for this stupid destiny. Everyone at school thinks I'm this total freak because of the things I've had to do for other people. I wanted to get onto the cheerleading squad — and don't look at me like that; I wanted too — but I can't because, while I'm good, they hate me. It's ruined my life and when, for once, I want to try and do a little damage control on the tattered wreck my life has become, you hate me for it!" Tears were welling up in her eyes, blurring her vision and she rubbed a hand across them and turned on her heel and stalked off in the opposite direction, leaving Bridget standing frozen on the pavement.

Monsters of the Deep End

Bridget swung her shopping bag wildly into the side of a dumpster as she walked past, wishing that there was something heavier inside it than her bikini so that it would have made a more satisfying sound. She spun on her heel suddenly and gave a war cry, lashing out at the Dumpster with a roundhouse. The side buckled, a black sack of rubbish spilled over its newly dented side. Bridget looked the bag up and down, decided that it was not a worthy opponent and resumed stalking down the alley.

Oh, there better be a demon tonight. A big demon. One that would actually fight her back and piss her off even more than she was already so she could just KILL IT. Nixa wasn't right to say those things. It just… Mad. Very mad. Her shopping bag bumped into her legs as she jogged and she cursed. This was why she hated shopping. It tried to trip you up when you were running away from things like emotional pain and running towards things like killing.

She had hit grass without her realising and the softer thudding of her footsteps startled her enough to stop short for a second. She glowered at the way the situation had made her so jerky, so preoccupied, and was about to continue across the grass when she was hit with a weird déjà vu. Blinking, she took five steps back onto the tarmac and walked forwards again, slower this time, until she hit the grass. The feeling hounded her and she frowned, repeating the motion for a third and fourth time until her eyes alighted on a low, dense bush about ten paces in front of her.

Twisting her mouth in thought she set her bikini down on the grass and shook out her shoulders before tentatively approaching the plant. It was thorny. Brambles gouged chunks of flesh from her hands and arms; even her face. The tough stalks often refused to budge, but, suddenly, thanks to some perseverance, she found what had given her the prickly feeling of five minutes before.

There was the body of a young girl concealed there. Her eyes were glassy and wide, staring up at Bridget unseeingly. Her mouth was slightly agape, smudged lip gloss making them look wobbly and bright pink. All over her body, the veins were bulging out. The veins across her face and chest were deep black like writhing serpents and disappeared and reappeared at her midriff from underneath the flimsy garment she was clad in. He finger nails were short and, oddly, bitten, and there were half crescents of dark grey-green filth underneath them. One had broken down to the quick and congealed brown blood had spread across it. Her wrists were covered with angry defensive bruises and cuts, and there were what appeared to be marks from very long nails all across the side of her head.

Bridget stumbled backwards out of the bush and looked around. Nixa had the cell phone. It was Nixa who had the cell phone, dammit. Why did she think they were useless and annoying? She'd have to find a payphone.

After the money she'd spent on that stupid bikini, she was glad 911 calls were free.

Monsters of the Deep End

Piper walked into the station, handbag over her shoulder and looked around worriedly for Bridget. She had been surprised when the officer called explaining the situation but had wasted no time. She suddenly spotted Bridget sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest in a chair near an empty desk and immediately went over. The look Bridget gave her tore at her heart. She was so pale and… scared. It was unsettling.

"Are you Piper Halliwell?"

Piper glanced at the officer that suddenly appeared beside her. He was actually kind of scary looking. "Yes. That's me. I'm here to take Bridget home."

"Are you her legal guardian?"

Piper opened her mouth to give some kind of explanation but— "She's my neighbour. My parents aren't home so I'm staying with her," Bridget said softly. The officer looked a little sceptical but nodded. "I just need you to fill out some paperwork and then we'll release her."

It didn't take long and Bridget climbed into the passenger side of the SUV with her bag next to her feet. "Thanks, Mrs. Halliwell."

"Not a problem at all," she smiled kindly and pulled out of the parking lot on the near empty roads. It was around ten at night and it was a weekday. Not many people out. "Are you okay?"

Bridget shrugged. "Just surprised, I guess. It's been a really weird day," she smiled lamely. "Is it okay if I stay over for a little while?" I don't want to be by myself was clearly implied and Piper nodded.

"Of course. Boys are in the attic looking up demons or something or other." She glanced at the clock on the dash and pursed her lips together in slight annoyance. "What they think they're gonna find this late at night is beyond me."

Bridget didn't acknowledge that she'd heard Piper at all, just leant her elbow on the door and her face on her hand and stared out of the window, watching the orange flares of sodium streetlights flick by on the other side of the window.

"What happened?" Piper said, both wanting to plug the yawning silence and letting her curiosity get the better of her.

Bridget sighed and shrugged, sitting back in her seat. "I was walking home though the park and… I found a body of this bitch under a bush and she was all… gross and demonically mutilated and stuff. I mean, I really didn't like her, but she looked so scared. And I freaked. I don't get it. This is routine, this is every day, but somehow… it just wasn't. No one deserves to die like that. No one."

Piper sighed, having seen her own fair share of things that she wished she hadn't over the years. "I know, sweetie. I know."

Monsters of the Deep End

The amusement of seeing all of the junk upside on the far wall had long-since passed for Ben, but he continued to hang upside down off the attic's couch anyway despite the rhythmic pounding in his ears blasting through his head like the noise an ultrasound made. It had even managed to nearly drown out Chris's frustrated sighs and the crackle of the Book of Shadow's age-dried parchment pages turning.

Ben gave a sigh of his own and righted himself by pushing off the couch and onto the floor. He landed in a slight tangle of limbs and with a definite thud. All of the blood that had accumulated in his head rushed back down into the rest of his body, and he immediately felt dizzy. "Okay, so remind me. What are we looking for?"

Chris frowned and squinted a little at the Book, bending down so that his nose was nearly touching the pages. "Uh-huh?"

Ben smirked at Chris's absorption and continued, "I broke my leg today."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. In four places. One of them was a compound fracture. It skewered some dude as it broke through the skin."

Chris turned a page and found that two were stuck together. As he set about ungumming them, trying carefully not to tear the thin paper he answered, "Yeah…?"

"Yup. In fact, the passer-by my femur jabbed was the Source of All Evil come back to kill us. Don't worry, though. My snapped leg bone nailed him through the heart."

"Really?"

Ben rolled his eyes tiredly and sunk his fingers into a throw pillow next to him, lifted it and hurled it across the room at his friend. It struck him in the chest and sent him staggering backwards, surprised, so that he tripped over his own feet and landed on his ass.

"What was that for!" the witch-whitelighter demanded, glaring at the cushion and then at Ben before grabbing it and throwing it back.

"You weren't listening to a word I was saying!" Ben said, batting the cushion out of the air and onto the floor next to him.

"I was!" Chris protested, getting up and dusting himself off. "We were talking about… Algebra. And then we moved onto… um… Other conversational things like—"

"—the weather and pop culture, right?" Ben asked dryly, getting up from the floor and sinking down into the couch. "Algebra was twenty minutes ago, Chris. I've been babbling constantly since then."

"Look, okay, yeah, I was busy and not paying attention and I'm sorry, but, BUT don't you think I've got a good reason to be busy? You know, demonology researching and stuff?"

"You don't know what you're looking for!"

"I do too!"

"Chris, having a vague idea about any demon that could possibly be part of Josh's pool party, thus stopping it, is not demonology research. Bridget and Nixa are going to the party, okay?"

"Or not… Do you think it's polite to call them and tell them to cater for one less?"

Chris looked up from the Book of Shadows suddenly, his eyes taking extra minutes to focus due to the amount of time he'd been reading print. Ben slipped half off the sofa again with a thud, the couch cushion getting dragged off and wedged between the front of the sofa and his back.

"Don't do that!" they both scolded simultaneously, glaring at the new arrival.

Bridget sniggered, pushing her tongue into her cheek and looking them both up and down. She smirked and threw her bag onto an armchair before vaulting the back and draping herself across it.

"How did you get in?" Chris asked, walking around the book to stand in front of her.

"You didn't hear the phone?" Bridget asked, frowning slightly and cocking her head. "I called your mom. From the Police Station." She added the second part airily but as a bombshell, checking Ben and Chris's faces for their reaction. She perked up at their dropped jaws and stretched languidly, sighing contentedly.

"You're going to leave it there!" Ben asked, shuffling forward from the couch.

"Oh, yeah, we're going the classy thing, huh? Beg for more info?" Chris said, walking up behind him and hitting him upside the head. He smiled at Ben's withering look and then turned to Bridget. "So?" He dodged a punch from Ben aimed at his leg and threw one of his own at his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, does a girl have to come and kick both your asses for a little attention around here?" Bridget demanded, glaring at the both of them. She got two muttered apologies and, satisfied, continued. "So, yeah, the Police Station. I… I found a body." Her face fell just a little, but it was perceptible.

"Where?"

"Near the mall. I was walking home, and I got my… Hunter Tingle… thing and I had to look in this bush and… it was a cheerleader. A girl from our school. I think I had gym with her."

Ben and Chris grimaced sympathetically. Chris touched her shoulder, unsure if any more contact than necessary would make her uncomfortable. Moving backward quickly he offered her another commiserating expression.

"Wait, why does this mean that you aren't going to the party?" Ben asked suddenly, breaking them out of their torpor.

Bridget grunted, running a hand across her face tiredly. "Nixa and I… we had this stupid argument. She hates me."

"What about?"

Bridget shrugged and looked down at her nails. "Doesn't matter."

"Why did you call my mom anyway?" Chris asked, sensing that that particularly topic was a dead end and frowning as he walked back to the Book of Shadows.

"Oh, my parents are out of town for some fancy hotel break. I told you this, right? Or… they might be at some second cousin's funeral. Um…" She waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. I needed a guardian, and I also needed to come here because of the way she was killed, so your mom was the best option."

"Ooh, supernatural murders? We can do those," Ben said enthusiastically, desperate to quell the numbing boredom he was feeling. He got up and replaced the cushion on the sofa carefully. "Details?"

"Not much," Bridget admitted, watching Chris, poised over the Book. "She was found, well, dead… Bulging black veins, terror in her eyes. Oh, slight claw marks in the side of her head. OH! And…" She felt around in her pocket and retrieved a twisted slip of paper. "And definitely tried to defend herself. Demonic skin under her nails." She carefully unwrapped the piece of torn white tissue paper to display the few flakes of dark green flesh concealed within, and then wrapped them back up again with the same amount of care. "So… Go?"

"That's not really a lot of info, Bridget…" Chris said uncertainly, plucking at a page absently. "Anything else?"

"Dark green demon with claws that leaves victims dead and black-veiny… Nope, I think that's it. It killed someone. What other facts do you need?"

"Do you know how many dark green demons with claws there are in this damn thing!" Chris said exasperatedly, tapping the book. "There's like a million!"

"Can't you just…" she trailed off, motioning with two fingers. "You know, flip 'em that way?"

"If I had something to go on, maybe. As I don't…" He caught Bridget's look and sighed. "Okay. Okay, we'll try it with a little telekinesis. But, if the Book flies across the room and hits you in the teeth and you try to blame me?" He let the threat hang.

"Yeah, yeah. Just look up the damn demon," Bridget growled, gesturing impatiently. Chris began flicking his fingers at the book, muttering to himself as the pages began to whir past.

Monsters of the Deep End

"Okay. That's twenty-nine," Chris said bitterly, slamming the book closed with a dull 'thud'. "Twenty-nine demons that could be our killer. I've marked them with Post-Its, but without any type of description…" he sighed again, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, does it say anything about black and veiny?"

"No, none of them mention black veins," Chris grumbled tiredly. "Those are just the dark green demons with claws. And there's twenty-nine."

"Okay, so, we take ten demons each. Look at them, research them, find their MOs… We can do this, right?"

"Ten each makes thirty," Ben reminded her from the couch.

"Oh, yeah, I know. I'll have nine."

"We can't all look in the Book of Shadows at once," Chris said, a hint of duh in his voice.

"Okay, no, we can't, but there are other research-type books around here, right? You have loads of reference books, and Ben can go snooping on the 'Net, and…"

"Bridget, it's ten-thirty. Don't you think we should be thinking about getting home?" Ben tried hopefully.

"What? Why? There are people out there in serious danger. Why are we quitting?"

"It's called curfew, Bridget," Ben groused, getting up off the couch. "I actually have one."

Bridget shrugged. "So? You're staying here the night. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that is that it's a school night," Piper said sternly, coming in the door. "You all need to sleep — you've got classes tomorrow."

"Don't demonic murders takes priority?" Chris tried.

"Over bedtime and homework? Sorry, not a chance. I'll call Paige up here, we'll do the research and then we might even let you help nail him if you're good. So, go, shoo. Ben, your mom will be pissed. Chris, your mom is pissed. Bridget… Honey, we have a bed all made up here if you want it, you know that, right?"

Bridget shrugged. "Oh, no, don't worry. I have to go home and make sure I didn't leave any taps running and stuff. My mom made me promise, because that happens way too often to me, and I don't plan for the bathroom floor to end up in the kitchen again…"

"I don't think that that's a good idea…" Piper said, frowning. "Well, okay, yes, good idea but I'm sure you didn't leave the taps running. And, if you had, your house is probably already ruined, so… You just don't need to be on your own right now. What if the demon finds out that you've discovered its body and is mad? No. Stay here tonight. I'll turn down the bed for you now."

Bridget smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Piper."

"It's not a problem. Now, all of you go. Go fast, go now, just go."

Monsters of the Deep End

Ben rubbed his eyes for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning, trying to clear the sleep out of them. He'd been up so much of the night talking to Chris on the Internet. He was going to have to sit there staring at a monitor for the entire lesson, but he knew that he could get away with doing nothing but staring, as he was pretty confident that he could do the entire damn course in two weeks anyway. It was a lot simpler than they had let on when he had been persuaded to take it. Maybe he'd try to pull up some demonology or something. Maybe… on the library computers?

Chris had revealed that the Charmed Ones had found little or nothing to go on with the limited information, just as they had suspected. So now it was down to using whatever other resources they could to get the job done. He'd wanted to ask Nixa about it. Her knowledge of demons was scarily exhaustive, but he hadn't seen her yet today, which was odd. Maybe she was avoiding them because of Bridget?

He twisted his mouth in thought. Yes, he could go to Computer Programming and have the teacher demonstrate something that he had been able to do for about five years, or he could just… cut and do something useful, like demonology research. He was already late anyway, because he'd had to deliver some note to some teacher, so was there really much point in going now?

Totally knowing that, whatever he did, the devil side of his conscience was going to win out, he pushed open the door of the library. He could go to Journalism next period. He kinda needed to turn up for that, because there were mentions of giving him something to put on the front page. Lucky him.

He dumped his bag on a table next to a girl and was about to snag a computer terminal when he realised who the girl was. "Nixa?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you were sick today. We didn't see you, and I called you, but there was no answer. I just figured you were spending the day in bed."

"Oh. Well, nope. I'm here. Just, you know, reading my book."

"While cutting a class? Don't you have…" Ben frowned. "I have Computer Programming, so you should be in, what, AP FST?"

Nixa shrugged. "Well, I'm not."

Ben sat down next to her. "Why?"

Nixa huffed out an angry sigh and slammed her book closed, getting up to return it to the shelf. "Because, okay? Because I'm petty and mean and selfish and don't like anything but shopping. Happy?"

Ben blinked. "Um… No. Not by a long shot. What's all of this about? Is this the argument you had with Bridget?"

Nixa sniffed and turned, disappearing into the stacks. She didn't know what she was looking for, didn't know what she was even in the mood for reading, but she'd find something. Something to distract her from the nagging questions she was firing at herself. She hadn't wanted to go to Fashion because it seemed to encompass everything that Bridget thought that she was, and so, today, the Hunter had shunned it. She supposed Bridget was right, though. That's why she told people she took AP FST — it was just better for her image than to be thought of as just some bimbo from Fashion whose only As came from 'after school sessions' with her male teachers.

"Boo." She whirled to see Ben standing at the end of the aisle, smiling at her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about it? Talk about what it feels like to be thought of as selfish by someone you thought knew you and got you better than anyone in the world? Talk about the questions I'm now asking myself, like, 'Am I a good person?' and 'If I still come off as selfish after all the sacrifices I've been forced to make, then why am I bothering?'? Would those topics be good? If not, I could talk about the way in which demons ruin my life constantly and I'm just meant to ignore it, or I could talk about—"

"Okay, okay! You, uh… don't want to talk about it. With you. But, seriously. Tell me what's really wrong?"

Nixa gave him a long, hard look that he returned with triumph and amusement glittering in his eyes. Finally, she stepped forward and led her head on his chest, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. He wouldn't ask her about the demonology. He wouldn't mention anything about demons or magic — she wouldn't want that.

"What?"

"I just want to be normal," Nixa said, her voice small. "Why does that make me a bad person?" A cool tear bled through the fabric of his shirt and dampened his skin.