Chapter 4

Sisters

"And so the eternal battle goes on..."

"What eternal battle Kar'?"

"Chocolate or peanut M&M's?"

The woman laughed and walked over to her boyfriend and kissed him behind the ear. "Chocolate." he said, smiling, " and I think an action movie."

"Your mother will kill us if you show up with Rocky VII again. I think a superhero movie, 'coz' your lot kind of are."

The couple squabbled good naturedly for a while, chose their movie and opted for something from the jelly sweet family for snacks to save arguments, and left the video store.

The streets around this particular store were considered dangerous to most pedestrians, at least the human ones, which made the store cheap and the selection eclectic enough to draw people to it in spite of that, but this young couple were safe from all non-human threats.

Chris was snapped out of the memory by the shutting of the club door behind him. He turned his gaze from the amber liquid and called desperately. "Kara!"

"Sorry Monkey Boy," her younger sister said gently, sympathy at the fore of her voice, for the anguish and hope in her older brothers' voice.

"Whatchadoin?" she prodded gently.

"I'm getting drunk, Mel. I'm getting absolutely hammered!"

"Why? It won't make it go away and you won't be able to help her if you can't see straight."

"Why? WHY? Because, it was my fault Mel. I bought the damn ring."

"You couldn't help that it was cursed. It was just a spell. It can be broken!" she made each point more emphatically, trying to get him to snap out of it.

"I tried and I let Eve out and she tricked me and..." his voice trailed off and his face changed. He flung the whiskey glass but he was so out of it he couldn't hurl it with any force and it shattered in a pool on the other side of the bar. Then, he slumped back onto the bar stool.

His sister came to stand behind him and watched him closely. "What am I going to do Mel? Wyatt's looking for her wherever he can go, Aunt Paige is talking with the Elders, Mom's scrying and we can't find her. It's been two days..."

He dropped his head into his hands.

Below the surface there was a small war going on. Eve Williamson stood over her sister, Kara.

So, little Charmed One. What are you going to do now? With no gallant rescuer riding over the horizon to save you?"

"As I recall, Eve, it was the other way around."

Eve snorted "Saving HIM! And letting me die while you were at it. We had a deal Kara!"

"Which was off as soon as one of your demons killed Alice."

"I didn't mean for that to happen, Maresh took that upon herself."

"You were supposed to have control over them Eve!"

"She was my friend too, K'."

"Eve, you were stolen when you were six years old, you don;t have human friends and do demons make friends with each other?"

"She was my friend too... before..."

Kara felt a rush of sympathy for her twin, for her lost childhood, but that quickly vanished as Eve stepped towards her, her mournful expression replaced by an angry.

"I guess you're right, a demon, with no friends, no family."

But rather than being afraid of the implication, of this change of attitude, Kara found it irritating. Kara stood up and with a swiftness that shocked her demonic sibling, and grabbed Eve by the throat.

"You think you're scary! The big, Queen demon. Mourning a 'friend', you haven't seen since you were six and you never really had in the first place, then letting your mood swing like a spoilt teenager! Pathetic! Yes, I'm just a witch, but I'm a telepathic witch. I could get into your head. I could make Barbus, the demon of fear, into a distant dream. I could be ten times the demon you are, then you ever will be or ever were."

She dropped her sister and stalked to the other side of the cave, clearly very angry.

"But I won't get into your head, not because I can't but because I don't want to get into your head. It seems pretty pathetic in your head. I don't want to be the better demon. I want to be a good witch, which I can be. I want to go back to the people I love and who love me me. My real family, and I'll do anything to get there."

"We won't let you go. You're part of the prophecy now!"