Chapter 10: The One Unoticed
A/N: Finally, I finished this. This chapter took some twists that even I didn't expect. I hope you like it, cause I'm quite proud of it. Thanks to those who reviewed, and I hope you do it again. I'm mentioning Carmen again, cause she's my most loyal reader, and the one i can talk about future plot ideas and wacky time travel. Enjoy!
The rest of that day, I had a feeling that something was going to go wrong. I hated that feeling. I couldn't quit place it, but I knew something horrible would happen soon. That feeling took over my conciousness, and I could think of nothing else. Aidan kept trying to talk to me. I had no time for him.
"Tell me what was wrong", Aidan pleaded. I shook my head. It was difficult to articulate exactly how I felt. He was persistant, but I wouldn't give him an inch. So eventually, he gave up. Curiously, neither Grams, nor young Phoebe and Piper had bothered me much. Since Prue had gone back to college and her boyfriend had mysteriously dissappeared, things at the manor had returned mostly to normal.
I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Grams was still trying to make me and Aidan work on a way to get home. Their mindless chatter…the way they both avoided my eyes…it was maddening. I had finally gotten away from them by pretending I wasn't feeling well.
The only place to go from the attic was down. I got into the sitting room. I was happy to see that it was deserted. I planned to get comfortable. If I could only just sit, I could think of what on earth could be wrong. I suck down into the old sofa. I reached down into the pocket of my jeans. In my pocket there was something I hadn't noticed before.
Out of my pocket came a worn and faded picture. I didn't know I had it there. It was the whole family. Thirteen happy people were captured in the photograph, forever smiling. I squinted at my young self in the photo. I was about four. My father was still there, his hand resting on my shoulder. It was only a year before he changed.
In the picture, I was holding hands with Melinda. We had always been inseperable, almost from birth. Her blond hair was pulled into uneven pigtails. We bout had gaps where our front teeth once were. I looked from happy face to happy face.
Mom, dad, Prue, Aunt Piper, Uncle Leo, Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, Aunt Paige, Uncle Kyle, Patty, Jackie…everyone was there. I realized with a jolt that this was the last picture I had of all of us as a family. I ran my finger over young Melinda's face. With another jolt, I was thrown into a premonition.
There was Melinda, the present day one, sitting on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. When she looked up, I saw that she was crying. Hot tears streamed down her face. She looked so small and all alone on that huge bridge.
As quickly as it began, the premonition ended. I felt wave after wave of hot burning guilt. I realized what we had done; what we all had done.
In my obssesion over Aidan, I had ignored my own cousin. It had been hours since I had last seen her. Not one single person had noticed that Melinda was gone. I could never forgive myself. How could I have been so cruel?
But..that wasn't right. I tried to think of the last time I had seen Melinda. My memory was hazy, although I was almost sure I had seen her this morning. It was as if every time I tried to sense Melinda, picture her in my mind, something was blocking me.
There had to be some sort of spell at work. It was a demon, it had to be. What kind of demon would do something like his to me and Melinda? The answer hit me with the force of a speeding train. There was only one demon who could have done this. My father is the only one who could have done this.
Under normal circumstances, I would have told Grams where I was going. I might have at least left a note or something. Then again, I could never be under normal circumstances while I was in the past. Once I had worked that out, I had no trouble just leaving. I pictured myself on Golden Gate Bridge in my mind, then shimmered out.
I reformed on a pillar that was now very familiar to me. It's where Wyatt and Chris went when they were upset. This appeared to be something she had gotten from her brothers. She probably sensed me, but she didn't turn. I sat down besid her, trying not to look down. Heights frightened me sometimes.
"Melinda?" I asked timidly, "Can we talk?" She looked at me with the deepest look of loathing. I had never seen a look like that on her face. She was always the calm, level headed one. I was the impulsive one who was quick to anger.
"I have nothing to talk about with you Patience", she said vehemently. Her words cut through me like a knife. She spat my name out with such disgust. It was almost as though my name was poison to her. Had I really hurt her that badly?
With anyone other than family, I might have just left right then. Especially for Melinda, I would stay. My mother once told me that family means everything. She was absolutely write. "Fine, you don't have to talk, but you have to listen", I said softly.
" I'm really sorry. I don't know what has come over me. I love you Melinda. You mean everything to me. You're my best friend. Please don't be mad at me", I said in a rush. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. She wiped them away and managed a small smile.
"I'm not mad at you", she whispered, " I just felt a little left out. I'm really happy you and Aidan got together. I just felt like you were forgetting about me." She turned her back from me and paced the length of the pillar.
" I would never forget about you", I said emphatically. That was completely the truth. I knew I hadn't forgotten about her. That still didn't mean that someone or something didn't make me forget. "Melinda, I didn't forget about you. But it felt so strange when I was thinking about you…all fuzzy. I think there might be magic at work." Melinda looked up at me, a strange expression behind her pale blue eyes.
"Well…I did block you from sensing me…but I couldn't ever change your memories", said Melinda. We sat down next to each other, and thought in silence for a few moments.
" I think it was my dad", I said quietly. Melinda stared at me, wide eyed. Then she pulled me into a rib cracking hug. That was all I needed to know that Melinda had my back. I took the worn and faded photo from my pocket. I showed it to her, and she began tearing up again. She ran her fingers on the happy faces.
"I miss them", she said finally. I looked at the photo again.
"So do I", I admitted. I especially missed my sister Prue. As much as we fought, I still loved her with all my heart. I realized that this was the longest I had gone without seeing her. "Remember that time we accidently made Prue invisible?" I asked. Melinda nodded, a wide smile coming to her face, letting me know that she remebered.
It was a very rainy day. We really wanted to go outside, but we couldn't. Melinda and I were seven years old, and we were bored. At that age, we were also very fidgety. My mother had finally allowed Prue to baby-sit. Prue was trying to be the model baby sitter, to prove to mom that she was old enough to baby sit. For the first hour, she played games with us, and did what we wanted to do.
She soon got tired of that, and was trying to stay as far away from Melinda and I as she could. We were in my room, not knowing what to do. Our discarded barbies lie around us. We had intended to play, but got frustrated when my Barbie Lisa and Melinda's Barbie Coco, refused to cooperated. We were two bored little girls, cooped up together in a room. Strangely, it was Melinda who thought of our brilliant idea.
"Let's do a spell!" she had exclaimed, her eyes shinning like they did when she was excited. I was intrigued, but for once in my life, I was apprehensive.
"We could make a spell to make Prue go away!" she had shrieked excitedly. That intrigued me. I was at the age where I didn't like anything about my sister.
"Okay", I had said. That was when I became truly excited. This was going to be cool. "You start", I had said to Melinda. My cousin was all too ready.
" Prue is being mean today, so please make her go away", Melinda chanted. She was so good at rhyming from a very young age. Then she had stopped, to let me have a turn.
I continued, " Prue keeps being sad, so make her go away or I'll be sad". It wasn't a great time. I know that now. With witches though, even the stupidest of rhyme might work. We didn't know that at the age of seven. There was a loud bang and a scream from bellow us. We knew it had worked.
We went downstairs, and Prue was no where to be seen. Then we heard her. She was calling to us. It didn't take us long to realize that she was invisible. Melinda and I had burst into a fit of giggles. "It worked!" we had shrieked simultaneously. Prue had been very angry with us. Only we could make her visible again.
After that, my memory is a swirl of pranks and jokes at Prue's expense. When my mom got home, she was angrier than I had ever seen her. My fun was ruined after that. She gave me a talking to, the likes of which I had never experienced. Never, at least purposely, did I do something like that again. It wasn't so much the fact that my mother was mad at me. It was that she had been disapointed in me.
I had learned a lot that day. I had a lot of fun, at first. Then I learned a life lesson. When I think of a happy memory with both my sister and Melinda in it, for some reason, that's always the day that I think of. "That was a fun day, wasn't it?" Melinda said, snapping me out of my reverie.
"It was", I said distractedly. I was still very worried. My father had some sort of master plan. I just knew it. I had no idea what it was, but that wasn't the point. Everything was always just so complicated. We had been here for over a week, but it seemed like months.There was so much going on; my new feelings for Aidan, the fact that I was in the past, this strange threat from my father. It was all so overwhelming sometimes.
"I miss them; all of them", Melinda said suddenly. I looked up at her. I had snapped out of my daze.
"So do I", I admitted, tearing up. It was at that moment that I realized just how much. Suddenly I really wanted to go home. I wanted a hug from my mother, I wanted to vanquish a demon with my cousins. Heck, I even wanted my sister to yell at me. "Let's get back to the manor", I said.
Melinda hesitated. I could tell she was still a little angry with me. She was uncertain if she would go back without a fight. " I promise that I won't ignore you. Please can we go?" I asked pleadingly. I locked eyes with her, and could tell at once that her trust of me was completely regained.
"Okay", Melinda said finally, "let's go." She dissapeared in a swirl of blue-white lights. I shimmered away right behind her.
We reappeared in the front foyer of the attic. Aidan was waiting for us. I cast my senses until I knew that Grams was in the attic, and Piper and Phoebe were at school. Melinda cast me an awkward look. I didn't need to be telepathic to know that she was worried that I would forget her again.
I looked at her and said sincerely, "I promise I won't forget you. I just need to talk to Aidan quickly. I'll be right back."
She nodded as if giving me permision to go. I led Aidan into the kitchen, so we could talk. He looked as though he didn't know where to start. "So…where'd you go?" he asked awkwardly. With my periferal vision, I saw a small fire start beneath my feet. I stomped it out before it could get out of hand.
"Melinda ran away. We have been ignoring her a bit lately. I went to talk her into coming back. Oh ya…my dad, who you know is a demon, has some sort of master plan about how kill us", I said. Aidan stared at me open mouthed.
"Oh", he replied lamely. I could sense his insecurity from a mile away.
"I really like you Aidan, for real", I said earnestly, "you're the best guy I've ever met, and I would never do anything to hurt you." I could tell I had convinced him.
"Thanks", he said blushing. A fire in the exact same place as the first appeared, but I quickly stomped it out. He said, " You're a really great girl too…the best. You're so kind, and smart and pretty. I'm really lucky to have met you. I really like you too. I don't just like you, I like you…"
Aidan was rambling now. He sounded a little crazy when he was babbling. I don't know what possessed me to say it, but I did. "Shut up and kiss me", I said boldly. I expected Aidan to laugh, or even be a little scared. He didn't do anything of the sort.
The year 2026…
"I'm going!" Prue Halliwell shouted her mother. She was in the attic of their old Victorian Manor. She was tired of waiting. Prue knew that the time for action was now. She was going to find her sister.
"Please Prue", said Phoebe Halliwell, " I don't want to lose you to." Phoebe was devistated. Her youngest daughter and her niece had been gone for just over a week now. She knew where they were, but there was nothing they could do to get her back. Nothing they tried worked.
"You can't stop me", Prue said defiantly. She strode towards a portal on the attic wall. I was glowing a blinding white, ready to consume her. Prue strode determinately towards the portal. Phoebe grabbed her daughters arm in an effort to stop her. Prue shook her off.
"Please", say Phoebe, her voice full of desperation. Prue turned to her mother. Even when Cole had turned, Prue had never seen her mother so sad, or so defeated.
"I have to go", Prue said appolegetically. She really felt bad for leaving her mother like this. " I promise I'll save her", she said. Her mother nodded. It was a determined, yet resigned nod. Phoebe knew she had to let her oldest daughter go to get back the youngest. "It's only 24 hours", Prue reminded her.
Prue walked towards the portal without looking back. She didn't hesitate as she stepped thorough the portal. Phoebe didn't move as the magical portal swallowed up her daughter and dissapeared. She simply cried.
Back in 1987…
Aidan took a few steps towards me, and held my hands. He looked into my eyes, and never had he ever looked more beautiful. He grabbed my head between my hands, and without preamble, he kissed me passionately. It was as magical as the first time. I never wanted it to stop.
" Patience!" yelled a very familiar voice from behind me. I spun around to see my oldest sister Prue. She had a strange look on her face. It was in between fury and shock. I turned a deep shade of crimson. A plant next to Aidan burst into flame, but I ignored it.
I opened my mouth, and then rapidly closed it. I didn't know what to say to her anymore. I wanted nothing more than to melt into the ground and dissapear. At that moment, I would have given anything to be invisible…
TBC…