Thank you, Natalia173, for fixing up my story so it's the best it can be.
The street was quiet and still, except for the teenage boy running down the road as fast as he could. The placid air of the avenue was broken by the screech of tires as a car came speeding around the corner.
The boy looked over his shoulder as he ran. Spotting the brown car, he expelled an extra burst of energy. When the adolescent rounded a bend in the attempt to get away from the advancing vehicle, he was surprised to meet a dead end. There was a fence running across the street since the street opened up into a car holding lot.
The car, which was still in hot pursuit, skidded around the corner. A little girl appeared as the car slid to a halt, mere centimeters from the small female frame. The driver, who was male, didn't even glance at the girl standing on the other side of the car. Instead, he grabbed his parolee. The man then started dragging the teenager to the car, telling him everything he had done wrong.
The women in the passenger seat, was gapping at the girl out her window.
"Henry," she croaked out at her husband.
"Yeah, Paige?" Henry asked, forcing the boy into the backseat.
"Where did she come from?"
Henry's forehead creased in confusion as he walked around the car.
"Where did who come…from?" the moment Henry caught sight of the child his eyes widened. He looked from the girl to the car and back. "I almost hit her!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, but you didn't," Paige pointed optimistically as she carefully opened her door and edged out of the car, afraid of bumping the girl. "Hey, darling," she cooed to the girl, crouching down in front of her. "What's your name, sweetie?"
The girl just stared at Paige with a blank look. Paige decided to call on her motherly instincts to gain the girls trust. She reached forward to push a lock of wavy, dark brown hair out of the girls face but the moment Paige's fingertips brushed the girl's skin, she flinched. Paige withdrew her hand abruptly.
"What happened? Is she hurt?" Henry asked in concern.
"I don't think so. Sweetie, what's your name? Who are your parents?" Paige wanted to know, making sure not to touch her as she had.
The girl just stared at Paige with her bright green eyes, her face showing no emotion or signs of life besides the coloring to her cheeks. The couple's attention was drawn away from the girl by a chuckle in the back seat of the car.
"You won't get anything out of Mute!" stated the Parolee.
"Adrian, if you tell us everything you know about this girl, I'll do everything I can to lessen your punishment," promised Henry, looking at the blond boy wearing baggy clothing.
Adrian seemed to consider this deal before shrugging and giving up the information.
"I don't know much. She showed up about six months ago, hasn't spoken a word, just pops up out of no where and flinches when people touch her. Oh, and these weird guys attacked her."
"What did these guys look like?" Paige demanded.
"You won't believe me, but black clothing, big build; some looked like they were in Halloween outfits. Down right un-human! I swear one guy had horns coming out of his head, but Mute held her own." Adrian lounged back against the seat. "There! Now you better stick to your end of the deal."
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," Henry reassured him before turning to his wife and whispering, "Demon?"
"Sounds like," Paige whispered back. "We should take her to The Manor, maybe Leo will know something." Paige got distracted as she saw the mark on the inside of Mute's wrist. Ignoring her winces of pain, Paige gently picked up Mute's arm and looked at the mark. It was a pentagram. "Who would tattoo a child?" Paige screeched her mother instincts in overdrive.
"Come on. We'll take Adrian to the precinct and then you can take her to The Manor. I'll look in the system for her," Henry instructed his wife.
Paige felt extremely guilty as she felt the little girl tense in her arms when she picked her up and put her in the back.
"You touch her, and I'll make you sorry," Paige warned Adrian.
"Don't worry, I have respect for Mute. I'll look after her," Adrian drawled.
Paige eyed Adrian warily before deciding he was genuine. The woman waited for the girl to buckle her seat beat before she even thought about making a move to the front seat of the car. The girl, however, just leaned forward and looked over at Adrian before looking on either side of her body. Spotting the black band, she grabbed it and looked at Adrian's belt. Using his as an example, she pulled the belt across her body pressing the black material to the side of the plastic clip. The girl let go and the belt flange back, startling her in the process. The girl looked at Adrian's belt before looking at her clip, believing that was the reason it didn't work.
Paige shot Henry, who was in the driver's seat, a look. When Henry just shrugged, Paige decided to help the girl.
"Here, sweetie, I'll help you." Paige grabbed the buckle of the belt and pulled it across Mute, taking great care not to touch her. After Paige had clicked it in, the girl looked at her. For a moment Paige believed she was going to say thank you, but instead the girl looked over Paige's shoulder and showed the first sign of emotion. She smiled!
Paige looked behind her but only saw the run down street. She did, however, get the feeling someone familiar was there, just unseen. Getting into the front of the car with her husband, Paige tried to shake the uneasy feeling she had as she buckled her seatbelt and they drove off.
The drive to the precinct took longer then it should have since Henry was being careful with a child in the car, especially since he felt guilty for almost hitting her. When they got there, Henry took Adrian inside and started searching for Mute in the system. Paige got into the driver's seat of the car and drove to The Manor with Mute still living up to her nickname in the back.
Paige knew that Piper, her eldest living sister, had a house full. After all, she did have all the nieces and nephews over, as well as Phoebe, Coop, and Piper's own three children and husband all in the, thankfully large, house. She wondered if her sister would mind her bringing over one more child, but dismissed the thought: Piper loved children. This one was quiet and she was in danger and needed help. She was an innocent, an innocent no older then Piper's middle child. She was around four, close to the age of Phoebe and Paige's eldests.
A smile slipped onto Paige's face every time she thought about how happy her sisters and she were. They had fought demons for so long that Paige and Phoebe, who weren't married like Piper, thought they may never find love. Even if being powerful witches had risked their love lives, they wouldn't change it for the world. It was being a witch or in Paige's case, half witch, half Whitelighter, that had united Paige with her half sisters. Unfortunately, this happened because the eldest Halliwell sister died.
It didn't take long for the car to pull up at the homey Manor. The brunette got out of the front seat and went around the car to help her passenger out. When she opened the door she found Mute poking the release button, obviously mimicking what she saw Adrian do. She however, was not pushing down hard enough. After realizing the clip wasn't going to give, Mute looked up at Paige in confusion, her mouth slightly open. Paige had to smile at her expression. It was the first child-like expression she had seen on the little girl's face.
Paige lent over, heedful not to brush her in the slightest, and pushed down on the button, causing the buckle to pop out. Mute threw the belt off her and scrambled out of the car before Paige could pick her up and cause her discomfort. When Mute had finally gotten herself out of the car, she stood in front of Paige and gazed up at her, the midmorning light catching her eyes and making the green shine brighter.
"Let's go," Paige said, cocking her head towards the stairs leading up to the door.
Mute walked up to the house a step behind Paige, her eyes drinking in the exterior. There were voices emanating from within: laughter, cheerful tones and a vibe of togetherness. Paige knew what today was. It was Family Fun Day. That was why everyone minus Henry and Paige were there. The couple had been there with their family until Henry had received a phone call saying one of his parolees had failed to show up. That same parolee was a charge of Paige's and was destined to become a future Whitelighter, so Paige and Henry both had to go.
"Hey everyone, I'm back," Paige called through the house after she opened the door. She stepped in with Mute and closed the door behind the girl. Paige noticed that Mute seemed to cringe into herself as she watched the door close. "It's alright, no ones going to hurt you. You're safe."
"Mummy," filled the air as well as…
"Aunty Paige."
And, "Paige."
Paige looked around to see her twin daughters, Pandora and Penny, Phoebe's middle child, Patience and Piper's only daughter; Melinda come running to her and engulfed her in a big hug. Behind the girls were Paige's sister, Phoebe, and her handsome husband, Coop.
The girls finished greeting Paige and ran back into the lounge room where they were playing. That was when Phoebe and Coop moved forward and spotted Mute.
"Oh, who's this little darling?" Phoebe asked. She moved forward and crouched down in front of the quiet brunette. "Hey there, I'm Phoebe and this is Coop. What's your name cutie?" Phoebe went to put her hands on Mute's shoulders in a friendly gesture but Paige stopped her.
"No, don't touch her!" Paige ordered.
"Why not?" questioned Coop.
"Because she flinches. I think it hurts her to be touched," Paige explained. "Where's Piper? I think Mute's an innocent. The parolee Henry and I picked up said she has been attacked by weird looking guys, he swore one of them had horns on his head."
"Mute?" Phoebe gave her sister a disbelieving look.
"That's what Adrian called her. Apparently she doesn't talk, she hasn't said a word. She didn't even move in the slightest when Henry almost hit her." At Phoebe's and Coop's horror struck expressions, Paige elaborated. "She popped out of nowhere when we were chasing Adrian. She was so close to the car when we slid to a stop I'm surprised she didn't cry."
"Okay," Phoebe said slowly. "Piper's in the kitchen."
Nodding, Paige turned to mute.
"Come on." She led the little girl into the kitchen, Phoebe and Coop close behind.
The moment Mute stepped into the kitchen she spotted the thick book lying open in front of a boy her age. Upon seeing it, she started backtracking. When she ran into Phoebe, she spun around and looked up, seeing the women smiling down at her. Horrorstruck, Mute circled passed her, never taking her eyes off Phoebe and Coop. Once around them, she bolted up the stairs as fast as her little legs could carry her.
"Who was that?" the little boy at the book asked.
"I was about to ask the same thing," stated a women with striking resemblance to both the boy and Phoebe and Paige.
"She's an innocent and that is the first real sign of emotion from her I've seen besides pain when people touch her," Paige confessed.
"Okay then, you can tell me the whole story after we find her. Her first emotion shown looked like fear," Piper said, dusting her hands off on her apron before taking it off and throwing it over the back of a chair. All three sisters plus Coop ran up the stairs and left the little boy with the book.
Hope you all liked it and that you want to review.