Chapter 5 – Daddy Dearest
A/N: I really like this chapter, especially the end. I want to again thank Carmix for typing most of it for me…you are so cool. All my reviewers keep reviewing. I own nothing.
Melinda gaped at me open-mouthed. "But your dad…he's…well evil", Melinda said apologetically. I sighed.
"I know he is", I admitted sadly, "that's the problem." Most demons didn't frighten me. I had been exposed to demons for as long as I could remember. Fighting them came as second nature. There was only one demon that could haunt my nightmares, the demon Balthazar, Cole Tuner, my father.
"What are we going to do?" Melinda asked worriedly. My cousin was unusually pale. She knew what my father could do. Just as I had, she had experienced what he could do first hand. Simultaneously, we shuddered, remembering the last time we had encountered him. It almost destroyed my mother when she had to vanquish him again. She had really thought that he was a good man that he had truly changed. She still loved him.
What could he was from us, here and now? "Your father's…Cole?" Chris asked tenderly. He was different from the Chris we knew, but he still knew of Cole. I concentrated, trying to sense the emotions attached to that name. For once, this Chris wasn't blocking me. I sensed, anger, sadness, loss, and longing, all attached to the name Cole Turner, "Yeah," I said sighing. Chris and Melinda weren't the only Halliwells with father issues. "He's up to something sinister."
Grams walked over to us. I had almost forgotten that she was there. "I'm sorry my dears", she said gracefully, "But I'm a little lost." I looked at my great-grandmother with slight pity. I would have to explain the situation with my father. I sat down, trying to think of the best way to begin.
"It's a long story," I admitted finally.
"I have time Patience," Grams said. She sat down, and waited for me to begin. I fidgeted in my seat, not really wanting to talk about it, not wanted to explain.
Grams said, "I also have patience, which despite your name you don't have," I forced a laugh at her overused joke.
"Very funny", I said sarcastically. I thought of the best way to tell the story I heard so many times. The best place to start, as with any story, was at the beginning. I took a deep breath and began.
"A long time before I was born, my mom fell in love with a half demon named Cole Tuner. Without meaning to, Cole fell in love with her. His human side won out, and for several years, they fought evil together. When my mother and aunts vanquished the source of all evil, he was possessed by the source. They vanquished him twice before they believed he was gone for good. But like he always does, he came back."
I paused there in my story. I was becoming a little breathless. That's where the story became complicated. IT also became hard to believe, even by my standards.
"Go on," Grams prodded. I looked to my cousin, hoping for some sort of support. She just shrugged her shoulders. I understood, she couldn't really help me. This was something I had to do on my own.
"First, I should tell you that my older sister Prue is actually my half sister," I said. Prue and I are as close as sisters can be so I often forgot that we didn't have the same father. I found it difficult to continue. I was approaching the part that was painful, the part that was difficult to discuss.
"Prue's dad was never very acceptant of magic, and he left mom before Prue was born," I continued. Now I was reaching the topic of my father, a topic I tried to avoid at all costs. I sighed and continued, "My dad came back from the dead, like he always does."
I paused again. This was hard for me, and I wasn't sure exactly how to explain. Melinda knew me well enough to know that I had said all that I was going to say. 'It's okay Patience,' Melinda said into my head, 'I'll finish for you.'
'Thanks,' I thought, filled with gratitude.
"He went to Aunt Phoebe, since he had always lover her," said Melinda. She was continuing exactly where I had left off. "She forgave him, because when he was the source it wasn't his fault. She had always loved him. They got married when Prue was three. Two years later Patience was born."
Melinda continued, "Cole gave up his powers to be a better father to Patience. Cold couldn't handle being powerless. He became evil again, mad with power. The Charmed Ones had to vanquish him."
I let out a breath I was unaware that I had been holding in. I was relieved that the story was over. It was a very painful story for me to hear, because it was my story. I saw Chris stand up quickly. His dark green eyes swept the attic wearily. He was looking for something invisible.
"Patience, what exactly did you see?" he asked sharply.
I explained my vision, and Chris became, if possible, more worried. His eyes swept the attic once again, resting on a bare patch of wall. "There's someone here that shouldn't be," he said tensely. He made a slight nod towards the wall again.
Chris stuck out his arm and made a pulling motion. There was a pop, and a demon appeared. For a split second the demon was colored the same way as the wood of the attic. Immediately, the demon became bright green and lizard like.
A chameleon demon," Melinda said in awe. Chris took it upon himself to take charge of the situation. I had never faced a chameleon demon before, so for Chris' help, I was grateful.
The demon form was blurring, becoming indefinite. Chris was quick to action. "Demon hiding in our home this spell will keep you from changing form!" Chris chanted. The chameleon demon's shape returned to its solid state. Chris didn't even give it time to regain its footing. He had a fist and the demon clutched its neck, gasping for breath. A moment later, the demon exploded into a million flaming pieces.
"He heard everything we were saying," Chris said glumly. Gram finally spoke up.
"How did you know he was there?" she asked.
"I sensed him," Chris answered almost as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The real question is who hired him." The Book of Shadows fluttered open, answering our question as it often did. It opened to the page entitled the demon Balthazar. The page looked strangely bare without my mother's photographs and scribbled notes about the man, Cole Turner.
Grams looked over at the entry. "It says there no known vanquish," Grams said, "but I suppose we could make a standard upper-level demon vanquishing potion with a bit of his flesh." She ran his fingers thoughtfully over the page. She began muttering to herself.
"NO!" shouted Melinda, Chris and I in unison. Grams eyes were wide at our sudden outburst.
"If you vanquish him, I cease to exist," I added quickly. Her arms dropped lamely to her sides, looking utterly defeated.
"So what on earth are we supposed to do?" Grams asked sounding bewildered.
Me shoulders slumped and I sighed. This was the question I had been dreading, the one in which I had no answer. My father was going to try and kill us and we couldn't try and kill him back. We could never fight back, not offensively.
Chris looked just as defeat as I felt. "We can't do anything," he said in a stunned voice. I was about to agree when I felt a strange coldness seep into the center of my being. I shiver, I felt a strange pull, something familiar yet strange. In a rush, I understood what it meant.
"He's coming," I said in a panic. I was sensing my father with the connection I unfortunate had with him. He was on his way, I was sure.
"Cole? Here? Now? How can you tell?" Melinda asked in a rush. She was jumpier then usual.
"I sensed him. We have a connection. He is my father." I said in disgust.
"When is he coming?" Chris asked. I cast out my senses, trying to figure that out. It didn't take me long to feel his presence. It was much stronger than before. He was very angry.
"NOW!" I yelled. In a rush of flames, he was there, as were three other smaller demons. I took a step backwards. I was disgusted by his red towering demonic form, but I couldn't look away. The unknown demons were after Melinda, Chris and Grams. The three fought valiantly. I understood what the other demons were for, they were a distraction. Cole's only target was me.
Cole was quick to form a fireball and throw it at me. I was quick to dodge it. I attempted to deliver a strong roundhouse kick to his side, but I nearly broke my foot. His demonic form was much more muscular than I had remembered.
He seemed to abandon his idea of a fireball, thinking that I could easily dodge it. Instead he came up behind me. Before I could do a thing, before I could even scream, he began chocking me. No one had noticed, they had their own battles to fight.
I was gasping for breath, the world dimming. All the while Cole's eyes didn't leave my face. The sick thing about my father was that he seemed to take pleasure in my pain. I began to panic, my breaths becoming more ragged. I was going to die, looking in my father black, soulless eyes. Still no one had noticed.
With one of my last breaths I gasped, "Leo," I didn't want to call for him, I didn't want to see him but I had no choice. He appeared almost instantly. It had always been my instinct to call for Leo when I was in trouble, I couldn't help it.
Momentarily shocked by Leo's presence, Cole loosened his grip and I fell to the floor. The past version of Leo wasted no time in placing a glowing, healing hand over my throat. I felt better instantly. I regained my footing and looked around. The smaller demons had not stopped fighting, and neither had my father.
"You dare try and stop me!" My father yelled in an inhuman voice. There was a puff of black smoke, and in his hand there was something I recognized; a darklighter arrow. Before anyone could do anything besides turn and look, he shot, his aim perfect.
The arrow soared through the air, and hit Leo square in the chest. I could tell that it had pierced his heart. His eyes opened wide in horror. In a brief sickening second Leo remained standing, gasping for breath. As if in slow motion, he arched backwards and fell to the floor. He was dead before he hit the ground.
The unknown demons stopped fighting, transfixed. In tandem of their father, Chris and Melinda gasped. They began fading and quickly disappearing all together. Their father was dead and they had just ceased to exist. It was all my fault.
I let tears fall freely from my eyes. I felt so hollow and empty inside. Grams too, was crying, even though she couldn't possibly understand how much my cousins meant to me. My father grinned and the demons shimmered out as one. I felt utterly alone.
"I'm sorry Patience," Grams said.
I barely heard her. Actually, I didn't really care what she had to say anymore. This was it. My life was over. Standing there, stewing in my own tears, something strange happened. The unbearable grief I was feeling began to disappear. Instead, it was replaced by hot boiling anger. I had never felt this angry before. I wanted to physically hurt the ones who took my cousins away. I wanted to kill. I wanted revenge.
My body began to feel like it was bubbling. In a surge, I felt my skin expanding, my teeth elongating... The strangest thing about the feeling, was the hatred. The pure primal hatred. Instead of being disgusted by it, I embraced it. It made me feel indestructible; powerful. I looked in the mirror, and no longer saw my familiar reflection. I saw a large red demon, with black tribal marking, long fangs, and yellow eyes, like a cat. I looked so similar to my father.
If I was thinking normally, I would have wondered how this could have happened. Now though, I didn't care. In fact, whatever the reason was, I welcomed it. I supposed it was because since I was in the past; technically, my mother had not bound my demonic powers. I raised my now red scaled head to look at Grams. She was looking at me with wide eyes. I took a step towards her, and she did not back away.
"Patience…I can help you", Grams said, her voice trembling.
I laughed mirthlessly, my voice sounding inhuman…evil. She couldn't help me; not now, not anymore. I growled, baring all of my newly pointing teeth. I felt very different, but in a very good way. All of my life, I had been virtually powerless in our families fight against demons. Now I can do something. No had ever told me how good evil can feel. I felt my anger rise, and a fireball formed in my clawed hand.
I threw it into the wall, loving the feeling of the power I held. It hit the wall, shaking the attic a little, leaving a scorch mark in its wake. It left Grams a little stunned, but I really didn't care. All I cared about now was who to kill to bring Chris and Melinda back. The desire for revenge was much sweeter than I had expected.
Without looking back once, I shimmered out. Somehow, I knew where I was going. I ended up in a dark cave in the underworld. There were demons all around me, but they didn't give me a second glance. Under normal circumstances, the underworld always inspired a certain fear in me. Today, I felt perfectly at home. I was evil now, and I liked it…
TBC…