Chapter Two beta version! Thanks again to wildwolffree17!
Chapter Two
CRASH
Patricia managed to duck just in time; the piece of flying furniture that would have knocked her head off hit the far wall instead. Aunt Piper is NOT gonna be happy, she thought with a grimace as she realized it was Piper's coffee table that'd been destroyed.
"Patty!" Chris called out as he tossed a demon against a wall.
"I'm fine!" she called out from behind the couch.
When Patricia'd orbed downstairs it was to find Aunt Phoebe being pinned to the wall by a demon while four darklighters took care of Chris, Wyatt, Sam, and Leo who had all come running when they heard the commotion, and the fight began. Wyatt had taken care of one darklighter already and Chris had threw the demon away from their aunt, but having five people with whitelighter blood in the same room made it too easy for the darklighters to shoot and hit someone, and too hard for the others to dodge and vanquish.
Patricia peeked from behind the couch and held her hands out. "Crossbow!" A surprised darklighter watched as his bow was surrounded by twinkling blue and white lights and then reappeared in the youngest Halliwell's hands. Patricia wasted no time in firing the weapon, aiming for his heart.
She was not disappointed when the arrow hit its mark and the darklighter screamed, bursting into flames. Feeling a good amount of satisfaction, Patricia mentally reminded herself to thank Uncle Cole for the archery lessons. Her eyes scanned the room quickly: Phoebe was fighting hand-to-hand with another darklighter, kicking away his bow to deliver a roundhouse kick. Chris blew up the demon with a single flick of his wrist; Wyatt, Leo, and Sam finished with their own enemies. Patricia released another arrow into the darklighter fighting her aunt and he burst into flames.
"Thanks, honey," Phoebe said with a smile toward Patricia.
"What the hell was that?" Sam exclaimed, falling down onto the couch. "Since when do four darklighters and one fugly demon join together and attack at once?" For all of his studious nature, Sam didn't look the part of a bookworm. He kept up with the latest trends in fashion, although he preferred jeans and a simple T-shirt. Strangely enough, he'd been the one to inherit their mother's tendency of dying hair and this month it was a dark black, almost blue that set off his eyes well.
"Maybe they're getting smart and finally realizing that they can't beat us on their own," Phoebe suggested.
Everyone looked at each other and then shook their head, simultaneously saying "Nah."
"It's a well proven fact that demons are idiots," Chris stated seriously, but they all heard the sarcasm lacing through his voice.
"And boring. I mean, is there a monologue demon handbook out there? Cause every demon we've ever faced has droned on and on about the same thing. Take over the world. All powerful and knowing ruler and the reason the Halliwell family finally falls. Borinngggg," Patricia added with a roll of her eyes.
Just then Piper Halliwell's voice called out from the hallway, followed by the rustling of bags and chattering of female voices. "Hey, who's home?"
"All of us," Phoebe called back to her sister, getting up to greet her. Piper, Paris and Pandora stepped into the living loaded down with grocery bags.
The eldest Charmed One's eyes took in the damage (her coffee table! She'd just gotten that last WEEK!) and the state of her family. "What was it this time?" she asked wearily, handing the bags to her sons with a 'thank you' as they headed to the kitchen to put the groceries away.
"Four darklighters and an ugly demon," Sam replied, scooting over on the couch as his sisters came to sit beside him.
Paris and Pandora were identical in their light brown hair, heart shaped faces and slightly tanned skinned, Henry's complexion. They could only be told apart by their eyes: Paris' were a wildflower blue and almond shaped, while Pandora's were the same wide deep-brown of their mother's. Paris was the perfectionist of the family: top grades, popular, determined, with a bright future ahead of her. Pandora was more reserved, but no less brilliant. She'd taken a liking to law and never gave up the chance to soak up new information with Uncle Cole.
"All of them?" Paris asked, brow furrowed in confusion. "Demons don't usually work together, especially darklighters."
"That's what we were saying before you came in," Chris responded, reentering the room followed by his older brother. For a few minutes the Halliwell family thought up possible reasons as to why the demons had joined up together to attack them, but could not come to a satisfactory conclusion.
-
Dinner was prepared by Piper, Chris, and Patricia (the only two kids who'd inherited the cooking gene. Chris helped manage his mother's restaurant and had dreams of opening up his own someday) when the rest of family showed up from their errands or appointments. Dinner was always a big affair in the Halliwell house. Piper insisted on having everyone together for the meal and spending time as family, no excuses or exceptions. At the table there was to be no talk whatsoever of demons or demon hunting, and even the Underworld had learned that interrupting a Halliwell dinner would only result in one pissed off revenge-seeking Charmed One. The only one still missing was Paige, who had phoned to say she'd be home soon.
Patricia's sulking mood had slowly disappeared, although Paris had been receiving the cold shoulder for the better part of an hour.
Chris noticed. "Wanna tell me why Paris is being ignored all of the sudden?" he asked casually when Piper left the kitchen to help set the table. He was putting the last touches on a pot roast as Patricia tossed a salad.
"Teacher compares me to Paris. I get bitchy. End of story," Patricia replied shortly, not looking up at him.
"You know it's not fair to take it out on her, Patty. Paris loves you and—"
"Yeah, yeah. She loves me and doesn't mean to show me up, blah blah blah. Save it, Chris. I'm over it, alright?"
The look on Chris' face clearly stated he didn't believe her, but before he could say anything else Patricia picked up the bowl of salad and walked out to the dining room. With a heavy sigh, Chris followed.
The Halliwell dinner table had been made by Leo himself and was long enough to allow everyone a seat. The adults sat at the first 'half' of the table, each with their respective husband or wife, while the children sat at the other end. Wyatt was always flanked by Chris and Patricia, followed by Sam and Polly across from each other. Then Prue and Polly across from Paris and Pandora. Piper cooked like she did everything—with love. The table was full of delicious, warm food. Just as the family took their seats, chattering to each other about their day (and Patricia ignoring Wyatt's and Chris' knowing jabs and looks), the last and youngest Charmed sister orbed in looking slightly haggard and still wearing her headmistress robes. Quick greetings were exchanged before Paige collapsed in her chair and dug into her food.
"Busy day?" Piper asked with an amused quirk of her eyebrow.
Paige groaned dramatically. "You have no idea. Why do people have kids? They're nothing but annoying, pains in my a—"
"HEY!" the four voices of Paige's children called out in offense, glaring at their mother. Paige laughed and smiled sweetly. "All but Mommy's four little angels." Paris, Pandora, Sam, and Patricia all grumbled under their breaths but returned to their meals with satisfaction.
"Hey, what about your nieces and nephews?" Wyatt called out, pouting at his aunt. Paige had always been Wyatt's favorite even though Paige and Chris could spend hours playing a game of 'who's more sarcastic?' without a clear winner. Wyatt'd always been able to turn to her, the only one besides his brother who didn't base the level of his skills on his Twice Blessed status.
Chris, although he wasn't the most forward with his feelings, got along amazingly with Phoebe and sometimes even helped with her advice column.
"Well, I don't know. You guys can be so annoying..." Paige teased. She caved when all her nieces and nephews sent her identical puppy-dog eyes and everyone laughed.
At the end of dinner as everyone helped to put away plates and cleaned up, Paige dug through her purse. "Oh, by the way, Patty, this was in the mail this morning when you left for school." Paige handed her youngest daughter a slightly crinkled envelope which Patricia took curiously.
"Who's it from?" Polly asked, trying to read over her cousin's shoulder.
Patricia pushed her away with an annoyed frown and read the address, honey brown eyes widening in surprise. "It's from Roxy!"