N/A, this is one of the chapters for which the ff is rated M. (sexual abuse). Please if you are too sensible or you think you are gonna get offended don't read it. You can always pm me to know what happened or the main points. I won't take it personal or anything, I am just warning. For the ones who read it, enjoy.

Chapter 14

As a matter of monsters

Holden Scofield was puzzled and so was his partner; Andy Trudeau. They had never seen a crime of that kind of nature. They had seen a lot of crimes but never as violent or cruel, and the worst part was that they did not have a clue of what had happened. A couple of hours ago a hysteric woman called saying that her friend was dead in her apartment and when they got there—a few seconds ago—and saw the corpse both of the criminologists realized that that was a unique case. The woman who was in her late twenties or maybe her early thirties had been burned to dead, stabbed and electrocuted. However, the cause of the death was drowning. The question was how. There wasn't water around; there wasn't anything, no fingerprints, no broken furniture. She was just there, dead. Scofield did not have a clue of what had happened or how, Andy however, had the feeling that he would have to talk to his girlfriend about it because it did not seem normal at all. It seemed like his girlfriend's kind of thing. Maybe a demon, maybe some other witch or something not human, some kind of monster did it. Of course, they did not find anything that would lead them to the killer. However Andy found a hint that of something that called his attention; a single paper with a name and a phone number written on it. He knew both. The name was Patty Halliwell and the phone number belonged to Prue's old house; The Halliwell manor.

Andy had the strange feeling that again, something was going on with the Halliwell sisters and again, he didn't know what it was but something was different; Prue didn't know it either, she couldn't possibly know because she would have told him. He knew she would have. He hid the paper from his team mate and smirked wondering when he would be allowed to go home, it was going to be a long night for them but no matter how deep they searched or how much thought they put into it…they wouldn't be able to find out what happened.

"What do you think about this?" Holden asked.

"I don't know" Andy lied.

"No Trudeau, what do you really think?"

"What do you mean? I told you, I don't have a clue and honestly I don't give a damn about it" Andy said a little irritable.

"I think…that some kind of monster did it"

"Yeah. Probably"

Andy stared at his cell phone as if Prue was going to call. He knew his wife wasn't alright and in other circumstances he wouldn't tell her anything so she could rest but experience had taught him that in those cases the best thing to do was to get involved as fast as possible. It pissed him off but again, his life and his girlfriend's would have to be put on hold again. Andy squeezed a little box he had been carrying around for a couple of days. That box had an engagement ring in it and it was a matter of time until he decided to purpose. He didn't know if it was the right time and he could never take a 'no'. In addition, he didn't want to put more stuff in Prue's head. She was already too stressed.

Prue was trying to make Ethan feel comfortable while wondering how the heck she won his trust last time. She had offered herself to drive Ethan home to pick up his stuff but he didn't want to. In fact, when Prue mentioned 'home' he freaked out and pleaded her not to take him there so instead she had taken him to McDonalds.

She knew how bad he felt but he didn't know how bad SHE felt; to have the kid that she considered as a son right in front of her made her knees crumble. To know that he had been beaten badly broke her heart in a million pieces. She stared at him and her heart just jumped. What she felt about him it was kind of close to what she felt for Andy but different. She wanted to hold him in her arms and tell him that everything would be alright; she wished he opened to her but he hadn't said any other word that "Thank you". When they were done with their lunch she drove home and when they got there, Ethan's mouth dropped open. Prue noticed.

"Do you like it?"

Ethan just nodded again. Prue sighted.

"If you want to I can drive you somewhere else or…"

"No! I have nowhere else to go!" Ethan begged thinking that she was going to abandon him. "It is just…weird"

Prue smiled and stroked his hair. "How can we make it less weird?"

"No one has been this nice to me before" Ethan said quietly and then corrected himself.

"No one has ever been nice to me before" He looked away from Prue and felt how a single tear rolled down his face. "I'm sorry…I…I…I…have nowhere else to go…I…I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…." Prue could see how the little boy was fighting tears and pulled him into a hug. Ethan was shaking and paralyzed. He didn't know what was to come. He didn't know if he could trust that woman. What if she hit him too? She couldn't be worse than the other ones anyway…However, right there, listening to her heartbeat he started to feel more calmed and even if he didn't cry he felt like a part of his pain was gone. Prue didn't say anything knowing that what he was going through couldn't be expressed with words. She knew that eventually he would talk to her but at that moment he was just not able. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Shouldn't I be nice to you?"

"No. I am a monster" He whispered and another silenced tear rolled down his face. Prue held him tightly with one arm and grabbed a mirror with the other. She placed it in front of the boy and made him look at himself. Ethan tried to look away because he hated seeing himself crying. He had seen himself like that way to many times.

"I don't think you are a monster" She smiled. "At least you don't look like one"

"It doesn't matter how I look like" He looked away and suddenly, the mirror started to get really hot, so hot that Prue had to drop it or it would burn her hand. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to I…Oh my god now you hate me, you are going to leave me. You are gonna call the police or something! Now you know…I am monster!" Ethan started freaking out and yelling trying to get out of the car. Prue locked it and tried to grab his hands that were shaking uncontrollably. "Hey, hey, Ethan, listen to me!" She begged. "Ethan! Just listen! I am not going to tell anyone! You can trust me!" Ethan seemed to calm down a little but still, he didn't get close to her again. "Please honey; just…listen to me okay?"

Ethan nodded. Prue tried to reach him but he avoided her hand. "I don't want to hurt you" He said with a weak voice. Prue started laughing. Why does she think it is funny? Who is this woman? He kept thinking.

"Sweetie, first thing I would never hate you. Second I am not going to leave you, not even if you want me to. And last, it is gonna take you hell more than that to hurt me" Prue explained while laughing. He gazed at her with his eyes wide open and gasped. Then, they both kept silence until Prue spoke.

"Why do you think you are a monster?" She asked trying not to look mad. She couldn't believe how someone could let a little boy think that he was a monster. She remembered her school years, well, more like Piper's school years when she would come home crying because someone had told her 'ugly' or 'geek'. It broke Piper down and it was breaking Ethan down.

"Because…I do weird things. I don't fit in" Ethan explained. Prue remembered that Ethan's heart was full of hate. It seemed like the more she knew him the fewer things she knew about him. Ethan tried to avoid her again but this time she was faster.

"Maybe you are just especial." She told him. "Maybe you are unique"

"You think?" Ethan asked trying not to look too excited but his eyes betrayed him.

"Yeah" Prue smiled. "I'll tell you a secret. I am not normal either" Ethan gazed at her again. He felt that she wasn't normal but what was she trying to say? Was she…like him? Prue took her cell phone out of her purse and saw that she had four missed calls from Piper but she didn't care. Not that Piper wasn't important but Ethan was the main thing at the moment. She used her powers to move the cell phone all over the car and especially in front of Ethan's face so he could see it better.

"What the hell…?"

"Hey, no swearing!"

"You just did!"

"I am an adult!"

Prue busted laughing and the cell phone fell. "I'm sorry" she couldn't stop laughing. "See? It is not wrong to be different" Prue smiled. "And…" She added. "It is not wrong to cry" She squeezed Ethan's hand. "Are you ready?" Ethan nodded. They got out of the car and walked in the house, Ethan never stopped holding Prue's hand. Prue went to her bedroom and Ethan just stood by the front door, not knowing what to do. Prue didn't know what to do either. She wished Andy was there to make things a little easier but he wasn't. She knew that she had to get to Ethan but how? Then she remembered something Ethan whispered once. I always tell you.

Prue called him and he sighed relieved.

"Yes?" he said.

"I want to talk to you" Prue said pointing the bed. Ethan sat on it and so did Prue. She grabbed his hand and stare at him. "You don't need to answer right away but I'd appreciated if you were honest with me okay. I won't get scared or mad. You can talk to me and trust me." Prue said feeling like she was treating one of her patients. "But if you don't want to answer I'll understand…for now"

"Okay…"Ethan said resigned. "I'll try"

"I want you to tell me who your real parents are" Prue said. It wasn't a question.

"I don't know" Ethan said and the worst thing was that he was being honest. "I was given up for adoption when I was three because my mother couldn't stand me anymore, or that is what I was told. I don't know who my father is but…I have a picture" Ethan took a little picture out of his pocket and gave it to Prue. Prue stared at the picture, it was a young man, attractive, his hair was black and his skin was so white that Prue thought he could be transparent. However what called her attention was his face; he had dark eyes, so dark and cold that she felt as if someone had dropped a cold water bucket on her. The marks on his face, his extreme height, all led her to figure his identity. She gazed at Ethan with her eyes wide open and realized that the sweet kid in front of her was no other than the heir of the Source of all evil. "No" she thought. "Not him" All of the sudden everything made sense…Ethan, the adult Ethan anyway, didn't want her to know who his father was because his father was the source. Prue forced herself to smile and nod and then she saw him again. Ethan, an almost ten years old little guy who didn't do anything wrong. He was beaten up because of something he didn't even know about.

Prue had wanted to ask a million questions but in the end she hadn't. She didn't know what she was going to do or what everything meant. She just knew that she couldn't force a relationship. It is not the way things work. She had been waiting for Andy for hours…He wasn't usually late and it worried her. She had cooked dinner, which was weird because she didn't cook. She had put Ethan to sleep in the guest room and cleaned the house, did the laundry, watched TV, read her book. Now it was past midnight she had started to worry.

Prue was in the office, checking some of her old patients. More concretely abused patients. She remembered this one kid called Luke McKay that she had met years ago. He was a fifteen year old who had been sexually abused for almost 4 years. It had been her very first abused patient. The kid almost killed himself once but in the end she pulled him through. She always did. However, when she saw Ethan she thought she had seen Luke again, the same anger in his eyes, the same disconcert, the same madness and rancor. She had hated see the child like that. Every time a new child came to her office she broke down. After all she had seen, not just in her office but in her old life, demons and all, she had gotten to a point where she wondered if there was any god at all. If there was a supreme good or a supreme evil.

It sounded kind of stupid but sometimes, evil seemed the right thing to do. There was this other kid, Samantha Mountifield, another case of sexual abuse, her goddamn father…And the child was still swearing that it had been her fault, not her father's. Prue had wanted to kill the bastard but again, if Sam didn't want to report the rape she couldn't do anything. Then, Andy, after everything Andy had seen, told, there wasn't any good, or evil, just circumstances. Horrible circumstances and good circumstances.

Prue heard the main door open and sighed. Andy was home. Andy's presence always made her feel better. "Andy, here!"

Prue heard footsteps but not Andy's. She stood up trying to figure out what it was. This new footsteps were kind of hidden, as if whoever was walking in the house didn't want to be noticed. Andy would always throw his stuff somewhere and get yelled at afterwards for 'being like a teenager'. Andy would always pretty much run to where she was and kiss her but this new stranger was sort of hesitating. She could hear his deep breath and even though it sounded kind of familiar she couldn't remember anything similar in her life. All of the sudden, the footsteps stopped and everything was in silence for a second, then, the light went off and Prue heard the footsteps getting closer. A horribly rough voice whispered, "Prue…where are you?" Prue held her breath and hid under Andy's table. She tried to call Andy but the line was out. Her cell phone was in the other room and she didn't think she could make it there. Her eyes opened wide open with fear when she saw the abnormally tall man walking through the door. She could feel how the room got colder and her heart started beating painfully hard. Her mind blocked, she wasn't able to think, she wasn't able to figure out what was happening and her only thought was 'please god, don't let me get hurt'. She couldn't have had a clear image of the man because he was too drowned in the shadows of the room but he was at least seven feet tall and really skinny. "Prudence?" Prue started shaking with fear, she wanted to use her powers against the man, kill him right there but she couldn't move. She was completely blocked. She wanted to stand up and get running but she couldn't. She was sure her knees would give up on her; she knew that all her strength was gone and she was crying over fear. Her legs started shaking and she had to wrap her arms around them to stop it.

"Prue" He called her again. Prue curled in her arms even more. "Here you are"

The man's arm grabbed Prue's shirt and throw her to the other table. Prue screamed of panic and pain. She hit her face with the table and broke her lip. "Fucking witch" He said and kicked Prue in her face. Prue felt how one of her teeth fell out. The man kicked her again, and stepped on her hand. Prue yelled and tried to throw him to the wall but her powers weren't working. It was as if her mental block was affecting them.

The man grabbed her by the neck and put her on the table. Prue fought back and kicked him but he was too strong, he didn't even notice. Prue screamed again but the man put his finger on her lips. He had long white fingers and long fingernails, too long and curled to be even human. Then, she saw her attacker, he had big blue eyes, cold empty blue eyes and his torso was longer than any other's man. He was wearing a long black cloak all ripped. His hair was red, long and dirty. She tried to get out but he was twice stronger than any other demon she had met. "Let me go" She begged. The 'man' lets call it monster, started kissing Prue's neck and she started crying in silence. She tried to push him away a couple more times but he didn't even move. He smelled so bad that she thought she was going to pass out. She wished she had. His hands were ascending on her legs while she desperately tried to kick him. She wanted to yell but she didn't for two reasons, the first one because her voice was gone, the second, because she didn't want Ethan to know. She wanted to protect him. She stopped fighting. Prue Halliwell stopped fighting.

"Good girl" he said. His rotten breath was too much for her to take. She wasn't even crying. If he was going to rape her, if he was going to kill her, he wouldn't have the pleasure to see her cry. Then, he ripped her clothes of and raped her. Prue had never felt anything as horrible as that before. She tried not to scream so Ethan wouldn't get up, he didn't have to know. Not that time anyway. Prue had never thought that sex could be so horrible, so painful, so destroying. She felt her entrails hurt and die her heart breaking, her brain shutting down to the situation. She didn't want to think about it. She just laid there and fought the images, she tried to place herself in a different place and she passed out.

Andy was picking up his stuff and ready to go home. He was deadly tired but glad that he could go home at last. He had been working for hours on clues that wouldn't lead anywhere. At last, he had convinced his partner to give up and go home. He had been the last one leaving though; he had had to go talk to his boss. He was going to be promoted, he couldn't believe it. He was so happy. He couldn't wait to tell Prue, maybe, they would be able to form the family they wanted so badly. Andy smiled; he couldn't wait to see Prue. Some people would say, be careful with what you wish for, it might come true.

Prue's astral materialized in front of him. She stared at him for a second. She was beaten up badly. She had a huge wound in her forehead and her mouth was bleeding, she had bruises all over and a broken arm hanging without mobility. Her eyes were totally dead; there was no expression, no feelings, and no sparkle. Her eyes were filled with tears and sweat. She was pretty much naked.

"Oh my god, Prue!" Andy yelled throwing his stuff and running towards her. She was shaking and crying. Because of the sobs, more blood was coming out of her mouth. Andy tried to hold her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright. He had never hurt that bad. Prue started screaming as if she couldn't see Andy and he could see a big burn forming in her arm. "NO!" Andy yelled desperate. He understood that he had to hurry home and stop whatever was happening. Prue's screams were drilling his ears. It was the hardest thing he ever did but he ran out and left the love of his life screaming, all alone. Her screams were killing him but he knew that he had to get home, help her. He took his cell phone out and called 911 wondering if they would be able to help. He felt like a part of him was dying. He felt a huge amount of guilt; if he had been at home nothing would have happened.

He drove as fast as he could, ignoring his own safety. He had never driven that fast but it didn't matter. His sweetheart was in pain. Prue's screams were still in his head. When he got to the house he found the door wide opened and the house in darkness. He ran in screaming Prue's name and found her in the office, passed out. There was a huge pile of ashes and the whole room seemed to have been burned off. The computer was on the floor, broken, all the stuff was disperse as well. The chair was broken and there was blood everywhere. The table was broken and Prue was laid on it in a very weird position. Andy could perfectly see all the wounds, all the semen all over her. Some of Prue's hair was on the floor, a sign that he had pulled it while fighting. Andy started crying hysterically and yelling, "Help! Help! Goddamn it there isn't a fucking person awake or what?" He yelled with all his strength. He checked her vital signs hoping to god that she was alive. She had gone through too much, everything was fine, and why did it happen to her? Why did it happen to Prue? It wasn't fair; it was totally unfair because she was the best person on earth. He covered her with his coat and rocked her in his arms. Prue seemed to wake up a little. She stared at Andy, confused and out of herself. "Ethan…" She muttered.

"What?" Andy asked. He was getting the wrong idea. "Did that bastard do this to you?"

"Hide him" Prue tried to say but she was too weak. "Guest room"

Prue seemed to have stopped fighting and Andy thought that she was giving up. "No, no, honey, awake okay? Please, you gotta stay awake" Andy begged her. She had never felt so tiny in his arms before. He kissed her wounded forehead. She was a mess. He didn't know what to do. Why wasn't the ambulance there yet? "Leo, call Leo" Prue whispered.

"Who? Prue I don't know any Leo!" Andy freaked out. "Who is Leo!"

"Just call'im" Prue said.

"Okay, okay, what …?

"Call him!" Prue whispered-yelled. "Leo!"

"Leo!" Andy yelled too without knowing what he was doing. Then, he had another idea. Something crazy, something that he wouldn't have thought of, but he was desperate.

Prue realized something horrible, Leo wasn't responding, that could only mean one thing, she was not a charmed one anymore. "Ethan!" Andy yelled with all his heart. "Ethan! Dammit! Get your ass here!" Andy remembered, still remembered the times when this Ethan guy was always around. Andy kept screaming like a madman until little Ethan came down. He was sleepy and looked really tired but when he saw Prue his eyes grew big and were filled by tears. He started shaking his head wishing that he hadn't seen what he had just seen. "No," Prue whined trying to hide from him but it was too late. Andy stopped yelling.

"Who the hell are you?" Andy asked surprised.

"Did you do this to her?" Ethan asked feeling how his anger rose. "What happened! Prue! Ethan tried to touch her but Andy pulled her apart protectively.

"I don't know. I don't know! I don't know!" Andy yelled.

A fifth person materialized in the room. It was Ethan, adult Ethan. He stared at Andy, then at Prue and then back at himself. Both he and Andy gazed at each other for a second. They had never gotten along too well but seeing Prue like that made them grow closer. All the plans blew out of his head because the only thing that he could see it was Prue.

"What happened?" Little Ethan asked horrified. "Who did this?"

"Help her" Andy cried like a little child. He couldn't just lose her. He wouldn't be able to take all the pain, and the blame.

"What happened?" Ethan (adult) yelled kneeling down next to Prue. "Oh my god is she alive?"

Andy nodded. "Please, help her. Please" Andy begged.

Okay I really hope it wasn't too hard. If it was, I am sorry. Sometimes I am less sensible than a piece of wood. I'm sorry!

Reviews,

PrueTrudeau, Thanks for the long review! I'm glad you liked the Prue/ Andy bit. I know that this new one is kind of…well, not the same. I'll make it up for you guys. About Ethan, well, in the next chapters I'll explain everything about that, I mean, him not being neutral and all…

Random3, thanks for the review! I love little Ethan too…he is too cute! Anyway, I am glad you like it! Update your story soon, if you have a writer's block I can help you.

emelie172, thanks for the review! I promise I'll write more about the Prue/Andy relationships and more sweet moments after this kind of gore and heavy one!