The Neighbors
Laveda watched as he shimmered away before she quickly changed from her dark green and pale yellow robes which told of her two heritages. Green robes meant the wearer was a witch. Pale yellow meant they were a psychic of some sort.
Instead she changed into her street clothes and walked out to the hall. There were three doors in that little hallway that separated the Meeting room from the large office. The rooms that lined the other side of the hall belonged to Halliwells. However, it wasn't those rooms that she was interested in. There was a room to her right, a room right across from both her room and the neighboring room. Laveda looked at the room nested next to hers and her hand touched it gently.
For the first time in months an emotion flashed through her eyes as her fingertips brushed over the name Vera which was engraved in the grain of the wood. It was a look of pain and loss that was gone as fast as it had arrived. She stepped away from the door to the room right across from it, her hand lingering just a few extra moments.
She opened the door without knocking. Her eyes looked over the room and found Pandora in the middle of the room, things flying around in orbs crashing into walls. The girl was on the floor in a heap sobbing, the council robe still on her body.
Laveda didn't think as she moved towards the young woman. She pulled Pandora's sobbing body close to hers in a bear hug. The girl placed her face in Laveda's shirt and cried. Her body was wracked with the sobs. She could understand the young woman's pain. She'd felt it enough over the years.
Her voice spoke soothing and comforting words to the fourteen year old – words Christopher had spoken to her several times before.
Eventually the girl exhausted herself. She cried herself to sleep. Laveda moved the child once the tears had stopped. She picked the teen up in her arms and carried her over to the bed. She gently placed the blankets over her sleeping figure.
"Sleep," Laveda said as she moved a strand of dark curly brown hair from the young girl's cheek. Those locks reminded Laveda of the girl's mother. She'd always looked more like her mother than her father after all. "Dream sweet dreams, little one." With that she used her powers to push the nightmare that was beginning to build out of the girl's mind and replaced it with a sweet dream – a dream of a brighter world.
If only she could do that to herself. With that she walked out of the room, her body moving of its own will while her mind wandered. She didn't notice the respectful bowing of the heads people gave her as she passed by. She didn't hear the whispering voices or the sympathetic looks people threw her way.
She went to the cafeteria and picked up a dinner for Pandora that she knew would keep while the child slept. Then she carried it back to the girl's room. She sat it on the table before moving to her own room which she locked up and cast a spell to keep people out.
No one could orb, shimmer, or anything else their way into the room. No one could hear or see in either. Then she went to her bed, placed her face into her pillow. She forced herself to sleep not even realizing there were silent tears falling down her cheeks of suppressed pain.
That night she dreamed of the worse night of her life. She dreamed of the night that had changed her from the person she use to be.
--
The sky was dark surrounding them. Yells could be heard and fireballs were flying every which way. Rain was pouring from the sky so thick you could barely see the person standing near you. No one knew if they were hitting the enemy or a friend.
This was war. Laveda glanced around with her light blue eyes as her soaking blonde hair blew behind her.
She was searching for one figure in particular, worried. Her eyes eventually landed on a short haired blonde – fifteen-years-old. Then she noticed who the young woman was fighting.
This woman had unnaturally black hair. Blonde roots were showing. A scar slashed the woman's left eye which was an identical hue of blue as Laveda's. That blue was also identical to the child's eyes.
Instantly Laveda sprinted towards the two figures, slashing out with her sword. Unlike many other resistance members she fought with a sword – just like the demons used. Most resistance members used guns with enchanted bullets or other such weapons to survive.
She preferred to be more in-your-face rather than fighting-from-afar which is what guns and the like gave you. She swung out decapitating three demons with one swing.
"Goodbye," a voice echoed over the battle and rung in Laveda's ears.
"NO!" Laveda screamed as the dark haired woman stabbed the teen through the stomach with a sword. Her voice echoed and everything for her stopped. She could only see the young teen gasp with wide eyes.
Then she fell to the ground. Laveda moved dodging attacks, not even daring to fight back. She ran through the battlefield and fell to her knees as she grabbed the young lady.
"Hello sister dear," The black haired female said and Laveda glanced up, tears falling from her eyes.
"How could you, Ebony? How could you?" Laveda demanded angrily. Inside Laveda felt like she was dying. Her heart was breaking into a million pieces.
"How could I what, kill a witch disloyal to the master? It's easy," Ebony said with an evil grin, her voice laced with hatred and disdain. Laveda glanced at those blue eyes that were shaded identical to hers. She looked for some sign of remorse but found none. Instead, all she found looking at her was evil, pure demonic aura screamed from the witch.
"Vera wasn't just a witch, Ebony. She was your niece, too," Laveda screamed as she held the young teen in her arms. Tears and rain rolled down her face, glistening in the dim lighting.
"So?" Ebony asked nonchalantly. "I'm evil, or have you forgotten. I'll kill anyone for the right price… like I'm going to kill you."
With that Ebony sprinted at her. With one swift move Laveda instinctively sliced at her attacker. All those well toned skills kicked in and she didn't think. She watched the blade she was holding enter her sister's stomach. It was the same thing that had just happened moments ago to her niece.
Her sister looked at her slightly shocked but anger was the dominant emotion in those cold eyes. Ebony's hands grabbed onto the blade, slicing the skin open. Then she pulled it farther into herself, moving till she was at the butt of the blade. There she touched her sisters face with her bloody hands.
"Guess what, sister dearest," Ebony said in a harsh laugh as blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. "You are a killer, just like I am." With that she fell to the ground next to their niece, her blood mixing with Vera's on the ground and on Laveda's hands.
--
Pandora woke up feeling very alone. This wasn't the first time she'd felt like this. It was a feeling she'd become accustomed to over the years. Normally, when she felt like this, she would go to Vera, Laveda, or Chris to remove the feeling.
Vera had been her best friend. Sure, Vera had been a year older than her but they'd both been powerful and born to two powerful magical lines. Now… now Vera was dead. Pandora's cousin and last family alive was dead making her alone.
Sure, there was Laveda, her body guard and a friend but she'd changed. Four months ago Vera had died and Laveda had been different. She wasn't the same woman who had helped teach her years ago.
No, that Laveda was gone and a stranger stood in her place. It was the same face but the life it had once held was gone.
She hadn't smiled since Vera's death. Her words had all been purely logical. Any feeling or emotions she might have felt were gone.
The teen sat up and moved around the room, spotting a picture on her desk. She picked it up and sighed. It was a picture taken from when she was young, really young. Chris and Laveda stood there, arms wrapped around their shoulders. They were smiling and dripping with mud. Wyatt and his best friend, Robert – the manticore baby the sisters had dealt with when Wyatt was young – before Chris was born, stood next to him completely bare of mud except for on their hands.
Pandora's thoughts were interrupted as There was the sound of orbs behind her and Pandora turned to see Darryl standing there.
"Hello Darryl," she said looking at him.
"I came to check on you," he said as he looked at her. She remembered the day he'd died. If it wasn't for her uncle Leo Darryl would still be dead. He'd used his powers to make Darryl a whitelighter – like he had done with every whitelighter out there and the few new elders he'd made since they'd all been wiped out by her 'precious' cousin.
"I'm fine," she stated and he sat down. This was going to take a while and they both knew it.
