Chapter 6: A Walk on the Dark Side
A/N: Thanks to all of those who reviewed, because I love you all. Keep reviewing, than I'll keep writing. I must mention Carmix again…so thanks for sharing my enthusiasm in halfies and ceasing to exist! I actually know what's gonna happen in the next three chapters. Enjoy!
I hadn't been in the underworld many times before now. The main reason is that my family didn't believe me capable of dealing with the demons. Needless to say, I wasn't extremely familiar with the place. Some demon sense I was unaware I had began to take over. My feet moved automatically. I felt like a hunter stalking her pray, and that felt damn good.
I stopped at a cavern occupied with a solitary lower level demon, hunched over a cauldron. If I had been my normal self, I might have taken the time to formulate a plan. My demonic side was taking over, and I didn't object. I boldly stepped forward, a fireball already in my hand. I threw it at him. It was not to defend myself, as fighting demons usually was, but to hurt him, to kill him.
I aimed a little to the demon's left purposely. He jumped in surprise. I didn't only want to kill him. That would be too easy. I wanted this demon to suffer. I didn't know how I knew, but I knew that this demon held the key to bringing my cousins back. I wanted to make this demon feel as much pain as I was feeling. I made an athame materialize in my hand; another new power. I rushed the lowly demon and held the athame against his throat.
He squirmed beneath the blade. It was clear that he wasn't a threat. I was the threat now. I pressed the blade against his throat, relishing the trickle of blood that it brought. "If you don't tell me exactly what I need to know", I snarled, "I might just let this knife – slip." I moved the knife again, brushing his putrid grey skin ever so slightly. The demon was blubbering now. I scoffed. Some great demon he was.
"Nothing, I know nothing", the demon cried. I smiled a crooked evil smile. This demon was in my power now. I was the one in control. If I so chose, I could make him beg for his life. I held the demon by the collar of his shirt, and threw him into the wall. This evil thing sure was satisfying. I had the power, and I could do what I chose with it.
"Tell me how to bring back a dead whitelighter", I snarled. I formed another fireball and threw it just an inch short of the demon's head. "Next time, I won't miss."
"Of course miss, I will tell you miss", the demon said, nearly tripping over his feet as he bowed. He was now showing me the kind of respect I deserved. I'm the most powerful demon there is, and I'm pissed. I felt the anger again, surging horrible anger. I needed to save my cousins, and this demon was wasting my valuable time.
I made a fist, and the demon chocked and sputtered. I was taking a life with my power. I thought that it would be horrible, I had seen demons do it often enough. It felt so good to be the one with the power for once. "A-ritual….in the Bo…book…there", the demon coughed. I released my grip, and the demon fell to the floor.
I walked to the book, running my hands over his the black grime encrusted cover. This was a grimoire, an evil book of shadows. Grimoires were supposed to repel good. I picked it up. Far from repelling me, it felt right in my arms. I wasn't one of the good guys anymore. Evil felt right, perfect with my uncontrollable anger.
I ran my hands over the book, adding its considerable power to my own. I had absorbed all of its knowledge in a matter of seconds. I needed this power, to feel in control. I felt like since Melinda and Chris were gone, I had been falling, and would keep falling until I got even. For once, when I was angry, I was going to do something about it.
The ritual was not complex, but it involved doing something I had never done before. It involved the blood of an innocent. I was still angry, furious in fact, but I doubted, only for a split second that I could hurt an innocent. Thankfully, the innocent didn't need to be dead for the ritual to work. My doubt was placed almost immediately with certainty. Someone needed to pay, and it didn't matter who.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the demon turning to leave. I could have easily let him go. He was not a threat, and he had given me what I needed. The demon in me would not let that happen. She needed to cause others pain for it lessened the pain she was feeling, if not for a second. She no longer feared hurting an innocent. To get her cousins back she would do anything, even kill.
Besides, I liked being a demon. I felt so uninhibited and powerful. If Melinda was here she would probably be worried that demon inside was consuming me. I imagined laughing at her. I would tell her that this is who I am, who I am meant to be. I then remembered why I had become this demon in the first place. Because of who I was, Melinda was gone. I roared, the anger getting the better of me again. Everything was my fault, and I would rip out as many throats as I could to fix it. Finally, I could do something; take out this anger on someone. Someone had to pay.
The demon was almost out of the cave. I couldn't let him leave, not the way he had spoken to me. I let the anger take me over again, forming a large ball of swirling fire. I threw it, this time aiming for the center of his chest. It hit exactly where I intended it to. Flames swirled around the demon, and for a moment he was screaming in agony, which I strangely enjoyed. Then, he was nothing but a pile of ash.
I shimmered out, my strange demonic senses once again taking control. I ended up in a darkened alleyway that at first looked deserted. It took me a moment to spot the person my new powers had led me too. He was clothed in rags, and he smelt strongly of alcohol. This wouldn't be as difficult as I had previously thought. It was easy to hate him, and it would be easy to hurt him.
The man was slumped against the wall, oblivious to the world. I stood before him, as menacing as I could possibly be. I picked him up effortlessly by his colour. I envisioned him as the one to blame, the one who had caused everything. "LOOK AT ME!" I yelled menacingly. He looked up, and a look of horror came across his face. I wasn't afraid of exposure…in fact, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore.
The man was shaking, begging for his life. It was pathetic. I had no time for this. I had blood to get…rituals to perform. I threw him to the ground. I looked down at my new hand, full of pointed claws. I swiped them across the man's face, pulling a handful of blood. I shimmered away, leaving the man writhing on the ground. He would be fine, but I hoped he wouldn't be.
I reappeared in the attic, my head spinning. Grams was still there, on the sofa, reading her hands. Another thing that was still there was Leo's body. I couldn't stand to look at him, and I couldn't stand that Grams was here, doing nothing. I don't need her or anyone else anymore. My mother is a Charmed One, and my father was once the source of all evil. I should be able to do anything.
I began searching through the cupboards, throwing jars of unknown substances left and right. Finally, I found the jar I was looking for. I grabbed a pot, and poured all of its contents inside. Carefully I let the blood drip from my hand and into the pot. There was a puff of loud smoke. It was working.
"What are you doing?" Grams asked tentatively. How dare she ask me such a question? I was doing what she would not. I was doing something to get my cousins back. Perhaps she was intimidated by my demonic form. I did not know. Nor did I care. Grams was in my way, and I wanted her to leave.
"LEAVE NOW!" I yelled vehemently. I waved my arm, and grams flew out of the room. I locked the door with a thought and a wave of my hand. I didn't mean to blow up at her, but she had to understand that I had to do this. The potion I had created from the blood and the herbs sat for five minutes, just as the book said it should. It stopped bubbling, which meant it was ready.
I poured it over Leo's still visible wound, and watched in fascination as the wound disappeared. Leo's eyes fluttered open, and he looked up at me. It wasn't really Leo I wanted to save; I only cared about Chris and Melinda. They were no where to be seen. I felt the fireball form in my hand, which happened when I was angry. I roared in frustration, throwing yet another fireball at the wall, causing the entire room to shake.
Leo stumbled to his feet. "What do you want?" Leo gasped. He was looking at me in fear. I truly meant him no harm…not yet anyways.
"Leo", I started. Then I decided against it. Screw him. He had not brought my cousin back, so I didn't need them anymore. I growled, letting him think that I really meant to kill him. He orbed out. I didn't really want him hear. Nothing I had done had meant anything.
I heard Grams downstairs, greeting a young Piper, asking how the party had gone. Still neither Melinda nor Chris had reappeared. Who did I have to kill to fix things? Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, I had ruined everything. I was angry; at my father, at demons, at the elders, at Leo, at Grams, at Chris, at Melinda; but mostly, I was angry at myself. I growled deep and low. It was an inhuman growl, like that of a wounded animal. I didn't like it.
"What was that?" I heard young Piper ask from downstairs. Grams stammered that it was probably just the wind. Good old Grams and her preposterous explanations.
Melinda and Chris were never coming back; there was nothing I could do. I had not hurt anyone, not made anyone feel like I felt. No one had paid. I would kill everyone who had anything remotely to do with this. I swear it. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I was shocked that I was repelled at what I saw.
It wasn't exactly the look of my new form that had me so disgusted. It was the look of I saw in my yellow eyes. It was a look of pure evil. I looked away from the mirror, not bearing to look. Now that I could no longer see what I had become, all of my doubts and insecurities had vanished. I was strong now. I was indestructible. Nothing could hurt me, not anymore.
'Come on Melinda, where are you?' I thought desperately. There was no answer, not that I had expected any. Why was she not here? I hadn't done anything wrong. I was more than angry now. I was furious. I looked at the podium holding the book of shadows, and it began to smoke. Quickly, I blew it out. Why is it that every time I was angry something had to burst into flames?
I was contemplating who I should kill next when I saw it. A blue hypnotizing glow was coming from the attic wall. It was a portal, in the same place portals always formed. A very familiar teenage boy stumbled out. He had very messy dirty blond hair, slate gray eyes, and extremely long arms and legs. I say he stumbled out, because he literally tripped over his feet on his way out of the portal. He was a gawky clumsy fire starter named Aidan, and we were friends.
"I did it! I can't believe I did it!" he said in triumph. He then looked up, and saw what I had become. Something new, something strange, replace the boiling angry that had become all I could feel. I felt a flicker of embarrassment, but it passed quickly. I didn't want Aidan seeing me like this.
"Whoa!" he said, looking at me. He narrowed his eyes, and I felt a painless flame on my finger tip. I shook it off as if it was no more than a fly. He backed away from me, looking very afraid. For the first time since I had changed, I didn't want him to be afraid. I didn't take joy from his pain like I had from others'.
"Wait, it's me Patience", I said in a rush. My voice sounded much scarier than I intended. He studied me carefully, until his eyes went wide. He didn't look that frightened anymore.
"What happened?" he asked in a bewildered voice. I found that I really didn't want him to know, and I hated him for his nosiness.
"NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS!" I roared. An old chest in the corner of the attic burst into flame. I watched it burn for a moment, getting lost in its embers. He concentrated on it, and the flame went out. I was a bit disappointed. I turned away from him. I didn't want him looking at me…not like this.
I turned my back on him, and tried my best not to look. I was still angry, but behind that anger was also a bit of embarrassment. My anger surged to the surface again, for failing, for being alone, for looking like I did…for everything. A wall of flame sprang up from the floor, separating Aidan and myself. He was trying to make it disappear, but I knew it wouldn't work. I was just a lot more powerful than him.
"Patience, please just listen to me", Aidan pleaded.
"No!" I shouted. I was trying to sound menacing, but I just ended up sounding lame. He ignored my pleas, and ploughed forward.
"I know you", he said firmly. "You're not like this. You're the kindest, most gentle person I know. You wouldn't hurt a fly. It's just not who you are. You are a good witch, and you make the world a better place", he said passionately.
I just started to him. His blue-gray eyes looked so honest and sincere. I didn't want to believe him. I was horrible, a monster. I wanted to hurt people, to kill them. That couldn't be forgivable…could it? But then I looked again into Aidan's eyes, now filled with tears. He really and truly meant what he said. The more I thought about it, the more I knew it was true.
I felt my skin begin to bubble again, this time returning to its smooth soft state. My eyes returned to brown, and my hair long and dark. A wave of sorrow washed over me, and I collapsed into Aidan's arms. I was openly sobbing now. He tightened his grip on me protectively. Over his shoulder, I saw a small fire start on an old wicker basket. That always happened when he was nervous.
There was a loud pop, and Aidan pulled away slightly. I remained in his arms, because I felt so safe there. Aidan was my friend, though. It wasn't as if I liked him like that. Melinda and Wyatt appeared in the attic, looking the same as they ever did. I felt a great leaping joy in my chest. I had done it! Before I could disentangle myself from Aidan's arms, before I could say anything, Melinda said something that let me know she was back to her old self.
"Is that Aidan Pierce?" she asked incredulously. Then she began to laugh, mocking me. Chris looked as though he was trying to hold it in, but then he began to laugh too. They had caught me in a somewhat compromising position. Melinda didn't even wait for me to answer. "Patience likes Aidan, Aidan likes Patience", she teased.
I saw Aidan turn a bright red. How cute, he was blushing. I didn't make fun of him for it, because, from the burning in my cheeks, I could tell that I was pretty much the same colour. I looked over Aidan's shoulder at the fire he had started. I was almost certain that the fire was burning much brighter.
TBC…