Chapter 11: Shattered Glass

A/N: This update took so long, only because I got very few reviews. I want to thank Carmen for putting up with the frequency that I talk about this, and being so nice! In french class, I've written 3 pages into chapter 13, and nothing's happened! Also, a special thanks to my most loyal reviewer who isn't Carmen: JadeAlmasy... (I hope i spelled that right...too lazy to check) Anyways, Please read and review, and I don't own Charmed.

I stared open mouthed at my sister. She was furious at me. I could tell because I could feel it. Aidan was just standing there. He too was staring. Prue opened her mouth uncertainly to speak. I didn't let her. I didn't want to hear her right now. "How dare you be angry with me? I've done nothing wrong!" I yelled. I bit my lip. I sounded much bitterer than I had intended to.

"I was trying to save you! Besides, you shouldn't be kissing that…that boy!" she shouted right back. She spoke the last word as if it were poison.

Prue advanced towards Aidan, as if to hit him. I expected him to look frightened, but he stood his ground. That boy was full of surprises. "Don't talk to her like that. She isn't a baby. Wow, I thought, he's actually defending me.

I had little time to think about any of this. At that moment, Melinda came running into the room. Her eyes flicked from me, to Aidan, to Prue. I sensed an emotion from her that I rarely sensed; confusion. Usually Melinda knew exactly what was going on. She looked at me and said, "Huh?"

I was going to explain, really I was. My sister Prudence cut me off. "I came here to come get you. Everyone is really worried. This spell brings me here for 24 hours. The moment I got here I saw them kissing." She pointed to Aidan and I. To Aidan's credit, nothing burst into flames.

"Oh" said Melinda emotionlessly, "Well, that's not really a big deal." Again Melinda was trying to be a peace maker. That was just one of the many things I loved about her.

"Not a big DEAL", Prue said furiously, "OF COURSE it's a big deal!" I hated when she yelled like that. Prue wasn't very good with anger.

My sister, my cousin, and my new boyfriend continued to yell at each other. It was so loud. They all seem to have forgotten that I was there. Back and forth they went. Not once did they ask me what I thought. Their voices bore into my brain like a drill. After a while their words got jumbled up in my mind. This was driving me insane.

So loud…not stopping. I couldn't hear my own thoughts any more. I wanted it to stop. I needed it to stop. I felt a surge of anger towards those who had created my insanity. I flash of red passed before my eyes. "SHUT UP!" I yelled.

They were all immediately silent. My eyes fell on Prue. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking at me in horror. She actually looked frightened of me. I didn't understand it. "You!" she said pointing at me. She looked as if she had seen a ghost, or even a demon. I took a cautious step towards her, but she backed away.

"For a moment…you changed…into your demonic form", Melinda said, and apologetic note in her voice. That's what the red flash had been. I was going to speak to Prue, to explain, but then I hear them again. The voices.

Prue, Melinda and Aidan weren't talking. They weren't real people I was hearing. They whispered to me. They said horrible evil things. They whispered in my ear and called to me. I pulled my knees to my chest and rocked back and forward. "Go away", I whispered, "please stop."

Melinda walked to me cautiously. She held out a trembling hand and placed it on my shoulder. "Patience, what's wrong?" she asked nervously. She really was concerned about me.

"Please go away", I begged her, "I don't want to hurt you." It showed how much Melinda loved me, because she didn't move.

I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do what I knew it was in my nature to do. "I'm sorry", I whispered. Without knowing where I was going, I shimmered out.

I reformed in cave I had never seen before. There were strange demons all around me. There were crystals around me. I knew I was trapped, so I didn't try to shimmer again. Then, a very familiar demon stepped out from the shadows.

My father walked towards the front of the crystal cage. He was smirking at me. He looked at me, in an almost curious way. I noticed that when he appeared all of the other demons had backed away. "I knew you were my daughter since you arrived in this time", he growled.

My insides froze. I tried not to show it. I didn't want to show him that I was afraid of him. He continued as if he had not stopped. "I was curious about you, I admit. How could I, the mighty Belthazor, ever have a child?" I didn't like where this was going.

"But when I met you, I knew I didn't need to have worried. You are a lot like me. You have the same conflict inside you. You have the same desires. There is one difference; you don't have the same power, but you have more. Your mother was nothing more than a pawn, I am sure."

I was still terrified of my father. That unfortunately would never change. However, I would never let anyone talk about my mother like that. He had gone too far. That's what found me my voice.

"Don't talk about my mother like that!" I yelled, "Her name is Phoebe, and she loved you. There was a time when you loved her too!" I felt slightly better after my vicious tirade.

My father laughed his classic evil laugh. It sent shivers down my spine. "More like me than I thought" he said menacingly. With that, he disappeared. I still heard his voice, although he wasn't there.

"By the way, I put a spell on you to reveal your inner nature." With that he was gone. The other demons surrounded me, grinning maliciously. I didn't take much notice to any of them. The voices began again. They were whispering loudly, trying to tempt me, telling me to do things. Now I knew what they were.

The voices were my hidden self. They were my inner desires. I knew that they were the demonic part of me that for my whole life I had been subconsciously trying to repress. Unknown desires flooded my consciousness. I wanted power, and I would do anything to get it. I thought of my enemies, and I wanted to hurt them. With sickening realization, I realized that I felt exactly like a demon

Back at the manor…

Prue sat on the sofa, her face in her hands. Of all the possible scenarios she had imagined before coming to the past, this was not one of them. Melinda was pacing, back and forth, in the kitchen. That was how she dealt with stress. Patience's friend, Aidan she thought his name was, had tried to comfort her, to explain, but she wouldn't hear any of it.

She just didn't understand. There was no way that her little sister, the sweet and innocent Patience, could be a demon. Sure, her father was a half-demon. Prue was sure that her mother had bound her sister's demonic powers. She had been 6 at the time, and one year old Patience had been throwing miniature fireballs when she was fussy. Her mother and Cole both decided to bind her demonic powers. That's why this couldn't be possible.

However, there was no getting around what she had seen. Patience had somehow become a demon. She looked almost as Cole had looked in his demonic form, only female. She looked over at the young boy that was Aidan. He was staring straight ahead, almost as though he wasn't there. She was still furious with him, but she had to ask him what had happened.

"Um…Aidan?" she asked awkwardly, "can I ask you a question?" He looked up at her, surprised.

"Sure", he said hesitantly. He seemed afraid that she might try and hit him again. Melinda had stopped her pacing to listen.

"What happened to Patience?" she asked.

Aidan took a deep breath, and began explaining. He spoke for nearly a quarter of an hour. He shared with Prue what Melinda and Patience told him had happened before he arrived. He then spoke of the day he arrived, how he had saved Patience from evil. When he had finished, Prue felt more warmly to him than she had ever done.

She hung her head. "I'm sorry…to both of you", Prue said in shame.

Melinda put a comforting hand on my shoulder. She remembered that I liked that. "I forgive you as long as we find a way to get Patience back."

In an unknown underworld cave…

My limbs elongated. I grew taller and more muscular. My skin became red with black markings. My fingers became claws and my teeth became fangs. The transformation all and all took less than a minute. The first time I had transformed, the demon body felt unnatural, like a costume. Now the demon body felt like my true body.

I was a demon now. I had no desires other than to hurt and to kill. The first had to be those who had forced me to embrace my humanity. My cousin, my sister, and my boyfriend would be the only ones who would stand in my way. My father needed me to lose all of my humanity. Melinda, Prue and Aidan were the only ones who were holding me back.

I tried to think of them, only briefly, but everything came up fuzzy. All I could think about was what my father wanted. He wanted me on his side, and he wanted the ones I loved dead. I had to do what Belthazor wanted. I smiled, revealing my fangs. Everything was clear to me now. I shimmered out.

I reappeared in the attic. That's where they were, frantically flipping through the book of shadows. They looked up at me. They didn't look afraid. Quite the contrary; they looked prepared. I saw Melinda first. She had a potion in her hands, and she prepared to throw it. I didn't know what the potion was for, but on instinct, I waved my arms. It flew through the air and shattered on the wall.

Without thinking, I formed a fireball, and threw it blindly. It hit Aidan and sent him flying. He hit the wall and fell to the floor. Melinda ran to him and checked for a pulse. "It's okay, he's alive", she yelled. Prue breathed a sigh of relief. I found that I was so much a demon that I didn't care at all.

Prue said, "I know you're in their Patience. This isn't you. You don't have to do this. I love you." Great, she was trying to reason with me. I was beyond reasoning now. I laughed out loud. It was not a normal laugh, but a cruel and demonic one.

"You're mistaken, dear Prudence", I said cruelly, "This is me, and I don't love you anymore." Prudence hid her reaction, but she paled slightly, and a single tear slid down her cheek.

"You are like your father! He always said you were like him!" Prue yelled wildly. I backed away as if I'd been slapped. I had to do what he said, but still, deep down inside, I never wanted to be like him.

"I'M NOT!" I raged. For the first time, Prue looked fearful. She was very much like her namesake in that she was very proud, and very brave. She has been afraid in her life, but never had she shown it so visibly. Only for an instant, I hesitated. Prue looked at me, her big brown eyes filled with terror, and a hint of pleading.

My resolve to do what my father wanted me to do had faltered a little for the first time. I roared a horrible demonic roar. I let out a blast of energy and Prue flew into the air and on top of Aidan and Melinda. I looked at her helpless unconscious form. I had to get out of here.

I shimmered away and ended up in what would one day be the room I shared with Melinda. Now it was occupied by Piper. I used to feel safe here. In this house, it was the one place I could go just to think. It looked almost the same as it did in my time. The only thing that showed the passage of time was the posters on the walls.

I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror that stood by the window. I saw myself for the demon that I was. I turned away. Along with all the hateful feelings that had ruled my mind, and cause me to become truly demonic, I felt a hint of disgust. I really did hate what I had become. Melinda, Aidan and Prue wanted to help me. They didn't realize that I was beyond help now.

I didn't want to look at myself, but I couldn't look away. For a second that contained eternity, I stared at the monster I had become. I let out a cry, like that of a wounded animal. I didn't want to look anymore. I threw a fireball directly at the antique mirror.

It shattered into a million pieces.

The pieces of glass flew every which way. Some of them hit my face, but I didn't feel them. Eventually, every piece of glass that was once the mirror settled to the floor like pieces of my broken life.

There was a time that someone could have saved me. It was too late now. The old Patience was much too far gone now. She wasn't coming back. I would never be the girl I once was. I was a real demon now…

TBC…