Well here it is the second chapter, just like I promised. But I must warn you that it may be a little while before the third chapter comes because I only have a little bit of that one done whereas the first two chapters were completely done before I typed them on here. But hopefully it should be up relatively soon. I'm going to stop blabbing now because I'm tired because it took me FOREVER to type this chapter and now I'm going to go and take a nap.
I don't own charmed or its characters.
Reviews:
NERDZROCK6: Thank you so much for the review! Its good to know that there are people out there that enjoy my stories. And you'll be happy to know that this chapter is even longer than the previous one!
atlan2007: Thanks for the review. I think I know who you're referring to when you say "him". You'll find out who the "old friend" is in this chapter and I'm sorry to say that its not "him" But not to worry. If you and I are both thinking of the same "him" than you'll be glad to know that he'll have a pretty major role in the plot in the later chapters.
ENJOY!
During the first few nights at the Manor Melinda averaged a whopping three hours of sleep per night. Piper had insisted that she sleep in Paige's old room despite her offer to sleep on an old mattress in the basement. "I don't want to mess up any of her stuff" was the best argument she could come up with. Of course the basement would've been ideal for communicating with Prue without risking exposure. Prue. That was one thought that made it impossible to sleep. The guilt that resulted from the lies she had fed Piper and Leo just a few days ago had her seated on the edge of her bed staring at nothing in particular all night long. Morning came soon enough and Melinda was awakened from her thoughts by a soft knock at the door.
"Hey, you awake?"
"Yeah, come in" Piper entered with Chris in hand.
"Sleep alright?"
"Great...like a baby."
"So I figured we could have some breakfast and then get to work once the boys are out of the house."
"Okay." Melinda's nerves flared up at this proposal as she followed Piper down to the kitchen.
Meanwhile in one of the darkest caverns of the underworld a cloaked figure ran his fingers across the inscriptions on the wall in front of him. A moment later another figured dressed in all black flamed in.
"Master, Osric has returned."
"Summon him." Almost instantaneously another figure appeared.
"My liege I bring news."
"Then speak it." the demons words voice was full of irritation as he turned to face others.
"I found her."
"And?"
"She's found the Charmed Ones. She's staying with the eldest sister at the Manor." Silence followed as the hooded figure turned to inspect the wall once again. After a moment he spoke.
"If I recall correctly your task was to intercept her and bring her to me."
"Please sire, have mercy I...." Osric cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, his body enveloped in flames. With one final agonizing shout he burst into ash.
"Vesalius"
"Yes my liege" the other demon stepped forward avoiding the pile of dust that was formerly his twin brother.
"Do not repeat his mistake." After giving a short nod Vesalius flamed out.
Once the table had been cleared and Leo had left with the boys, Piper and Melinda headed up to the attic. The Book of Shadows had returened to its rightful place in the middle of the room. Piper ran her fingers over the triquetra the cover as she spoke.
"Before we get started you should probably give your whitelighter a call."
"What?" Melinda's voice cracked in panic as her heart began to race.
"Um call her. Give her a ring. A lil' jingle jangle?"
"Oh yeah I know but why?"
"Well I bet she knows a lot more than she's actually told you and we'll need that information so we know who...or what we're looking for."
"Uh..." Melinda knew she had to think fast or Piper would get suspicious. "She won't hear me. The Elders assigned her a new charge in uh.....Norway."
"Really?"
"Yeah I talked to her last night."
"Ugh! Leave it to the Elders to make this more difficult than it already is! Figures. One day I'm going to...!" But Melinda never found out what Piper was planning to do as the tirade was interrupted by the rings of a nearby telephone. Piper went over and picked the cordless of the armchair where it had been resting.
"Hello?....Oh hey Phoebs!" Piper gave Melinda a silent gesture signaling her to start flipping through the book as she left the attic closing the door behind her. Melinda flipped the front cover open and starting rifling through its many pages. There was a truth spell, an awakening spell and a spell to vanquish a demon named Shax. There wasn't anything too exciting until she got to a page titled "Belthazor". There were numerous additions to the original entry but what really caught her eye was the picture of a man with one of the sisters whom she assumed must have been Phoebe. She stared at it long and hard, her shock not allowing her to move on. 'First Prue now this? These coincidences are getting a little too.....coincidental.' Although she hadn't enough time to recover from the initial jolt of this new revelation her a voice brought her back to reality.
"Don't struggle." Melinda instinctively raised her hands in self defense but was thrown back into a shelf holding various glass containers as soon as she flinched. The sound of her crashing to the floor made quite a ruckus which had alerted Piper to the situation.
"Phoebe I got to go!" She threw the phone aside and launched into the attic. A bald demon dressed was brandishing a fireball over a dazed Melinda who was slumped over on the floor. The demon turned and before she could get even one blast off he had disappeared. In the corner Melinda slowly got to her feet and Piper rushed over to help her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah I think so. What was that?"
"I think that was our demon." Melinda began flipping through the book again while Piper went to retrieve her an ice pack. By the time she returned Melinda had located a potential suspect.
"Vesalius."
"Let me see." Piper scanned the page quickly as she handed the ice pack to the aching girl. "Yep that's definitely our guy." Melinda sat down on the couch as Piper continued.
"A long time servant of the source this high level demon is known for his indulgent slaughtering of female witches. Once dead he studies the witch's body in an effort to increase his understanding of their anatomical structure. So he's like a supernatural M.E."
"That's.....creepy."
"I've seen worse." Piper joined Melinda on the couch and helped her ice her neck. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got thrown into a shelf. Sorry about the mess."
"Don't be. I'll make Leo clean it up later."
"I feel really lame. I mean he came out of nowhere! I didn't have time to react."
"Don't worry it happens to the best of us......especially around here so get used to it. But I think this would be a good time to discuss your powers."
"My powers?"
"Like my power to blow stuff up? Are you packing anything like that or are you the old school potion making type?" Melinda thought about her answer carefully. 'Great more lies...but I can't tell her.....not yet.' So for the second time Melinda lied.
"Well I'm sort of an up and coming witch so if I do have an powers they probably haven't developed yet."
"Oh." Piper seemed slightly discouraged by this so Melinda tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry I'm not completely useless. I can make a pretty bad ass vanquishing potion."
"That's good enough for me. Let's see if the book has any advice on how to get rid of our demon."
After the book failed to turn up any answers Piper decided it was time to call for help.
"Who exactly did you have in mind?"
"Her name is Billie. She's helped us in the past. You could she was our pupil, at least for awhile."
"What makes you think she'll want to help now?"
"She owes us." Billie's betrayal had been one of the most heartbreaking experiences of the Halliwell's wiccan career. They had passed on their knowledge to Billie like she was their own and in turn she used that knowledge to try and kill them. But those wounds had been mended over time and nowadays it was common for Billie to spend a few nights a week watching over Wyatt and Chris while their parents were out on the town. Melinda sat down at the kitchen table as Piper dialed Billie's cell phone number.
"She might be in class is so I'll......oh hey Billie. It's Piper. Listen we have a problem.......our kind of problem and I was wondering if you could help us out. Uh huh. Sounds great see you then."
"She must really owe you."
"Yeah well she's done with classes for the day so she'll be right over in the meantime we should start on that potion. Look under the cupboard there. There should be some brown bags full of ingredients." As soon as Piper finished speaking the doorbell rang.
"Wow! She must really really owe you!"
"Its not her." Piper gave a chuckle as she went to answer the door but her grin vanished when she came face to face with...
"Paige?!"
"Sorry I'm late. Henry's car broke down so I had to take him to work. Do you think everything will fit in my car?" Paige Matthews spoke quickly as she gave her older sister a hug. Piper was rather taken aback and stuttered as she responded.
"Ye..stuf.....everything?"
"Wyatt's old crib. You told me I could pick it up today?"
"Oh yeah sure." The truth was Piper had completely forgotten about their arrangements. The events of the past days had kept her so engaged that the outside world had almost ceased to exist. Piper was in a pickle and to make it worse Melinda entered right on cue holding several brown bags.
"Hey what exactly is....." she paused when she spotted Paige. Pipe needed to think fast.
"Hey would you do me a favor? There's an old crib upstairs in my room. Could you go grab it and load it into Paige's car." Melinda's eyes widened at the sound of Paige's name. Her eyes shot to Paige than back to Piper and to Paige once again. "Please?" Something about the tone of Piper's voice exposed the severity of the situation that hit Melinda like a brick wall. Melinda gave a short nod and then ran off taking the stairs two at a time. Piper knew she was naive to think Paige wouldn't ask any questions but she couldn't help but fell disappointed when she turned to find a confuse Paige starring her down.
"What?"
"Don't what me lady...who's the girl?"
"Uh...she's a neighbor. Her parents are out town so she's staying her for a few days." Piper tried to look calm as Paige studied her. Even if she managed to keep the panic from her face she was certain the loud drums beating in her chest would give her away. After what seemed an eternity Paige spoke.
"I don't believe you. I think you're hiding something." As if to confirm her accusation Billie burst through the door.
"Hey Piper I brought some extra ingredients in case you were out. Oh Paige! Wow you're so big! How is the little guy?" Paige ignored Billie's question and instead turned to Piper.
"Now I know you're up to something. Why is Billie here?"
"Um....I thought she could keep Melinda company while I went to the club." Piper shot a look at Billie hoping she would play along but Billie didn't noticed.
"Who's Melinda?" Piper would've let out a cry of frustration had it not been for the monstrous crash that came from the stairs. 'Oh just kill me now' All three women turned to see the sound's origin.
"Sorry." Melinda gave a small smile as she went to recover the frame she had let tumble down the stairs. She picked it up and carried it outside awkwardly shuffling between Piper and the others.
"Who's the girl?"
"Hey Billie could you just wait for me upstairs?" Billie shrugged off the irritation In Piper's voice and made her way to the attic. Unfortunately for Piper, dealing with Paige wasn't going to be that easy.
"Piper what is going on?"
"Nothing."
"Piper!"
"Okay Okay. Melinda, she's not a neighbor girl she's a...." Piper figured it would be easy enough to say a five letter word 'Witch. Witch witch witch witch witch.' But she chickened out at the last second ".....runaway."
"What!?" Paige shouted. She composed herself immediately and continued in a whisper. "Piper you've got to be joking!"
'No you've got to be joking.' Pipe was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that Paige had believed such a ridiculous lie so easily.
"You can't go around harboring fugitive children! It's illegal!"
"Oh Paige its not like I kidnapped her. Besides I wasn't going to leave her out on the street." Piper waited for Paige's reaction still in shock that she had bought her excuse. Paige shook her head in disbelief.
"You're crazy. You are out of your mind. You're.....have you talked to Phoebe about this?"
"NO!" Just as Piper had regained control she lost it again. "And you aren't going to tell her either! Please Paige! This is my business and I'll deal with it. So just stay away." It was evident that her words had hut Paige but Piper knew it was for the best.
"Fine. I'm going. I'll....I'll call." Tears brimmed Paige's eyes as she rushed out of the door. This harsh and abrupt farewell cut Piper to the core. She hated seeing her little sister so upset but she knew that the only way to guarantee her safety was to keep her away from the Manor. A moment later Melinda reentered obviously shaken by the day's events.
"That was really close." Piper just gave her a stern look and then headed for the attic. Melinda followed obediently in silence. The silence continued during the trip to the attic where they found a very impatient Billie flipping through the Book of Shadows. She looked up when they entered.
"Did Paige leave? And who's the girl? What happened up here? What is..."
"Once your done playing twenty questions I'll fill you in."
"Okay Okay. I'm listening." So Piper talked and talked and talked. She started from when Melinda showed up and continued all the way to when Billie herself had arrived at the Manor. Once she finished Billie summarized it in a way only Billie could.
"So what you're saying is that we have to go up against a bald demon who's really just the henchman of this faceless evil that wants to restore the source's line and destroy the world and the three of us our going to stop it."
"Ha...." Piper and Billie turned towards where Melinda had been sitting quietly in a chair in the far corner of the room.
"Well it does sound kind of ridiculous." Billie rolled her eyes.
"Whatever I'm in. But one more question, why didn't Paige stay. We might need her help."
"Paige doesn't know and I don't want to get her involved with her being pregnant and all."
"What about Phoebe?"
"She's in New York."
"Yeah but there's this crazy new invention called the telephone and..."
"Billie." Billie knew at once she had gone to far with her sarcasm. After a few minutes of awkward silence in which the only sound was Melinda's tapping feet, Piper continued.
"Listen for eight years we fought to get out of that hell. And now that they have normal lives I have no right to drag them back in. They deserve their chance at normal lives. It's one thing when the demons are popping up in your attic and throwing people into shelves..." Melinda flinched. "....but this is my destiny, not there's." Billie didn't respond this time. She merely looked at Piper whom she could tell was troubled deep inside. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she knew that deep down something other than demons was bothering Piper but she decided it would be in her best interest to remain silent.
"So what do we do now?" Piper's attitude perked up once the focus had reverted back to the demon.
"Well as far as I can tell Vesalius isn't a Power of Three demon..." 'Thank God for that!' "...but there's no known vanquish so we'll have to improvise.
"Just like old times."
"Exactly like old times. Most of the potion stuff is down in the basement so I'll go grab that. Why don't you two start with what we've got here." Once Piper had finished Billie quickly began tossing ingredients into the a small copper bowl.
"That's too much."
"What?' Billie turned in surprise to find Melinda hovering over her shoulder.
"That's way too much toadflax."
"I know what I'm doing."
"No you don't."
"And who made you the potions master professor?"
"No one. I just know I could do better."
"Be my guest." Billie stepped away rather irritated. 'How old is she like twelve? I hope it blows her right up the...' Billie's jaw dropped in amazement as Melinda worked. She added three ingredients in the perfect proportions in one fluid motion. And after one little stir it gave a small puff of smoke.
"There. And by the way I'm seventeen."
"Wow that.....how did you know what I was thinking?"
"I read your mind."
"Really?"
"No. You were thinking out loud." Melinda smirked as she stepped away to let Billie take over. Billie was even more irritated than before and she could tell that Melinda and her were going to get along. She went to give the potion another stir when the table it was sitting on was blasted apart knocking her to the ground.
"What the hell?"
"It's Vesalius." The answer came from Melinda who had taken shelter behind a trunk to Billie's right. Once the room had stopped spinning Billie got back on her feet.
"Give me the girl and your death will be painless."
"Well that offers very tempting but I'll have to pass." Usually this is where Billie would've gone telekinesis on his ass but no sooner than she had spoken she found herself flat on her back seeing stars.
"ugh..damn"
"Get off of me" Billie rolled over just in time to see Vesalius flame out with Melinda.
"Shit." The sound of panicked feet echoed up the stairway and moments later Piper rushed in.
"Whats...?" She drew out the last syllable as she took in the scene before her "...Shit."
"Billie what happened?"
"Well Vesalius showed up, kicked my ass and..."
"And?" Piper knew what was coming but she believed verbal conformation was still necessary.
"...took Melinda."
"Shit."
"I'm sorry! I really..."
"Billie its fine. We just need to stay calm. Because if we panic then we won't be able to thin and thinking is very good thing and in order to..."
"Babbling."
"I know! That's how I deal with things!" Piper drew in a deep breath and tried to compose herself. Although this was familiar territory it had been a long time since their last hostage situation and that had left her soft.
Billie watched carefully as Piper thought. She had only ever known Piper as the oldest sister. By the time Billie came into the Halliwell's lives Piper had already been hardened by her supernatural career. It would've been different if it had been Phoebe or Paige had been taken but it was just some random girl that had just appeared out of nowhere one day. 'Why does she care so much?' Billie bit her lip as she pondered her question. She was brought out of her thoughts when Piper spoke.
"Okay. I'm going to go get the map and crystal and try to scry with some of Mel's stuff. You finish.... er start the potion again. When we find them you can astral project us there abd we'll kick some demon ass." Piper didn't give Billie a chance to respond before she walked out. Billie was rather impressed by how quickly Piper had regained her self-control. In the old days when Piper went off she would go on for hours maybe even days. Billie decided to finish the potion now and marvel later before Piper kicked her ass.
Halfway across town Melinda fell to the floor as her captor released his grip on her.
"I have to admit I was expecting someone a little less..." Vesalius looked down at the small girl in front of him "....pathetic."
Melinda had a few choice words, one starting with the letter "f", ending in "k", with "uc" in the middle, that she decided to keep to herself. So Vesalius continued without interruption.
"However there had been a lot of talk about you. I'm sure you're a very unique specimen." Melinda thought back to book entry. 'So he's like a supernatural M.E.' It was obvious that Vesalius' self-control was waning and this had Melinda worried.
"But I'm sure my master wouldn't mind if I took a little peek." Vesalius drew back his sleeves to reveal a razor sharp dagger. Now Melinda was really worried so she sorted out her options. 'Well I could let him cut me open and play with my innards or I could blast him apart.' Although the second choice would've been the obvious one to anyone else it would require Melinda to do something she really didn't want to do. When Vesalius advance another step she decided.
A small spark shot across the fingers of her right hand. 'Damn.' It had been a long time since had Melinda had tapped into her power. Slowly but surely a small ball of energy formed in her hand. Vesalius paused, intrigued by this latest development. Melinda was forcing the energy into her hand but it felt like a blockage was dampening even her best efforts. She squinted her eyes in concentration and suddenly the energy was flowing freely. It felt like a bolt of lighting shot out of her core, down her arm and into her hand. 'That's it.'
Vesalius didn't stand a chance. With a sudden almost graceful motion Melinda drove the ball into his chest. Vesalius doubled over in pain and Melinda stood over him as he quivered on the floor. He looked up at her and smiled.
"It seems we have underestimated you." Then with one final cry he exploded leaving no trace of his existence behind. Melinda took in a deep breath as she drew the energy back into the core of her body and released it when she was sure that the energy was securely locked away. She looked again to the place where Vesalius had spoken his last.
"Serves you right you crazy son of a....." The rest of her words got caught in her throat as she froze in horror. Piper and Billie, equally motionless stood just a few yards away paralyzed by what they had just seen. Melinda's heart sank, She knew this time would come she just wished it would've waited a little longer.
"We need to talk."
By the time the three of them had settled themselves in the family room of the Manor a soft rain had begun to fall. The sound of the drops against the house set a very eerie background as Melinda spoke.
"There's something I haven't told you." Melinda stared as the floor as she spoke. At the time she was unable to msuter enough courage to look into the eyes that she knew were locked on her.
"When....when I told you I was a witch..."
"You lied." Melinda could hear the venom in Billie's words as she spoke. Piper remained silent.
"No I just kept something else a secret. You see my dad..." She raised her head but quickly dropped it again when she saw the look on Piper's face. "...he....there's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it. I'm only half-witch. I'm half-witch........half-demon." Melinda braced herself for the tirade but the room remained silent. No on said anything for a span of five minutes. Melinda was the one who eventually broke it.
"I'm sorry I..."
"Get out." Melinda looked up when Piper spoke.
"What?"
"I want you to leave." Melinda's eyes began to fill with tears.
"Piper please...."
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Melinda jumped at Piper's sudden raise in volume, but she didn't move. She just sat there in disbelief. Piper stood up.
"I swear if you don't get out of her right now I'm going to send your sorry ass back where it belongs." Melinda attempted to speak again but was cut off by Billie.
"Go to hell." Melinda gave Piper one more pleading look but realized that it was useless and rushed towards the front door. As she reached for the handle it opened. It was Leo. He was holding a sleeping Chris in one arm and Wyatt was clinging to the other. Even in the dimly lit entrance the pain in Melinda's face was obvious.
"Hey what's wrong?" A single sob burst out from Melinda as she rushed by Leo into the San Francisco night. Leo closed the door after her and wandered into the living room where he found Piper and Billie still reeling from this latest blow.
"Honey what happened?"
Piper, unable to find her voice just shook her head.
Wow.....that was really long! I hope you liked it and just keep a lookout for the next chpater. I'll work as fast as possible while still retaining the quality at a high level. Review if you want!