Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H.
Will was running through the basement. She didn't fly because she would have ended up crashing into approximately everything on her way. That smoke filled cadaver had slipped away from her and she feared it would try to target her parents and brother instead. She herself didn't fear the demon that much anymore, yes she could rank it on top three of the most horrifying beings she had encountered so far as a guardian, but he had lost his element of surprise when he had finally shown himself. The nightmarish figure scared her the most as long as he had remained unseen, now she was confident she could give it a good old beating. What she feared now was what it could do to her family who were defenseless against a supernatural creature.
With only the thoughts of finding her parents in mind before the demon did, she rushed out and up from the cellar, the stairs were done in three long steps. She rushed out into the first half of the corridor that lay bathed in darkness, but from around the corner at the end of it she could see that somebody had turned on the lights. As there was no hindrance here, and the distance from wall to wall was just wide enough, she unfolded the wings on her back and flew with great speed towards the light. She rounded the corner so fast that she only escaped a collision with the wall thanks to years of flying experience.
As she came closer to the bedrooms she slowed down to look inside to be sure no one was there, she did the same when she passed the living room and the kitchen. No one was to be seen, so she hoped they had managed to get out of the house unharmed. However, when Will entered the hall, she understood something was wrong. She had expected the main door to be open, but instead she found it still closed and under a window close by was a broken chair.
"Oh-oh," Will said loudly to herself, it seemed they had tried to break through the window. Why would that be? She landed by the door and tried to open it, but found it stuck. Then she ran up to the window, took one of the broken chair legs and tried to smash the window. It was like hitting a solid wall. The demon must had sealed the house to prevent anyone from escaping from it.
"No no no," she thought, "Where could mom and Dean have gone, surely they must have tried to find another way out, where should I look?" Will nearly panicked again before a tiny voice in the back of her mind said, "Hey, get a grip on yourself girl, stay still and try to listen for them, they must be around somewhere."
Will stood completely still for a short moment and hold her breath while she tried to listen for any noise that could tell her about her parents whereabouts. After fifteen second without hearing anything, she couldn't stand still anymore, she spun around and sprinted into the left wing calling for her mother and Dean.
It was Will's voice that spoke.
"Mom? Dad? Are you inside?"
Both Dean and Susan let go of their breath, Will had come looking for them so they stood up to let her inn. Susan took William out of her lap and sat him down on the chair, perhaps they would be able to get an explanation for what was going on.
Susan watched Dean lay down the wrench on the desk and went to unlock the door, what would she say to her daughter? She couldn't help feeling angry and disappointed. Will had been holding secrets for her about herself, all the times she had snuck out of the house and came back often late at night with lame excuses. Was it this kind of things she went out for, and put herself in danger without letting her know? What if she didn't come back one day, would she ever know what happened to her daughter? Her thought went to earlier this night when she had been thinking on how to confront Will with her suspicions and all the strange things that went on, and then a thought suddenly struck her like a ton of bricks.
Dean had unlocked the door and had started pulling it open when he heard his wife yell, "STOP!" Then within a fraction of a second, two things happened simultaneously;
The first was that the door he had been opening was unexpectedly forced completely open from the outside so it nearly hit him.
The second was that Susan came running up from behind him, holding the top of his chair over her head and smashed it hard down on the person that stood on the other side of the door.
"CRASH"
From behind William started to scream. "Susan what the h…" Dean didn't finish the sentence, because when he was able to comprehend what had happened, he saw that it wasn't Will who was in the hallway. Down on the floor with a broken chair on its head lay a bone-thin humanoid figure on its back with black smoke hovering around and a scared Susan standing over it.
Susan didn't hesitate, she turned on her heel, ran back inside the room again and shouted, "Lock the door, lock the door!" too her husband.
The creature was fast however, just before Dean had shut the door after Susan, four dark claws got in between the door and the doorframe, preventing it from shutting completely. Dean pushed against the door with all his might, hoping it would at least hurt the bony fingers enough to make the demon pull them back, but to no avail.
Susan had barely lifted her crying child from his chair when she heard, "Susan, get….oohhff!" She turned her head around and saw the door burst open, showing the tall demon standing there in the dark. Its evil black and bottomless eyeholes looked at them with invisible eyes, then it flung itself at Dean who had fallen on the floor when the door burst open.
Dean had barely time to understand what happened as he slammed down on his back on the floor. The first thing he knew was a pain that shot through his back, and when he opened his eyes he saw a bony creature from a childhood-nightmare flung down on him and pressed him hard to the floor.
Dean tried desperately to get himself loose as he felt his sweat blended with his fear and tried to think of a way to throw it off, but the demon held him pinned down. Close up to it, Dean could see its tight facial skin was frozen into an awfully smile that revealed a long row of sharp teeth, and it smelled of old decaying flesh. He was going to yell that Susan had to get herself away when he felt a blow strike him and left him without a breathe. Only a painful gasp escaped his lips as his vision started to blur.
Susan screamed as the creature threw itself at Dean, but as she was holding the crying William in her arms she couldn't do anything. She saw her husband trying to get loose and say something when suddenly one of its hands planted itself in his stomach and Dean's futile tries to escape came to a halt. The wicked creature took hold on her husband's neck with a black hand and started to tighten its grip and Dean started to choke. Susan was too scared to do anything else but stare in panic, in her arms William howled worse than he had ever done before.
Its bald and skull-like head moved slowly to look at the terrified Susan, perhaps it tried to grin at her, but it was impossible to tell because its tight lips and tendons already gave it a dreadful smile. Then it lifted its other hand and purposely showed her his long thin fingers so she could see the sharp claws at the end of the fingertips, and she understood they really could be used to cut someone open. A hoarse sound, low and unbidden, began to emerge from the creature's throat; Susan thought it almost sounded like laughter. Then she closed her eyes and screamed…
A sudden crash and an angry outburst coming from the floor made her open her eyes again. "Get your sorry ass away from Dean!"
Will laid on the floor next to her stepfather and wrestled with the eerie demon, throwing him punches and kicks that must have broken several bones it its seemingly fragile body.
"Mom, how is Dean?" Her daughter shouted as she delivered another punch to its face.
Susan rushed over to Dean with a hysterical William in her arms to see if he was still alive. "He is breathing, but he was hit hard on his stomach, I don't know how serious it is."
"You are so paying for this." Will yelled to the demon and used her leg to kick flat on its chest. The creature however caught it and tried to use its claws to slice her leg open, but the material of her clothes prevented it. She jerked back her foot and threw herself on the floor in front of him. Acting quickly she took hold on one of its legs, threw herself around and sent it flying so hard into the wall behind her that tapestry and bricks came tumbling down upon it.
A load gasp from Dean was heard and he opened his eyes again, "I am fine, he just knocked the air out of me." He said with a sore voice and put a hand on his throat to check if he really spoke the truth. Finding it to be in order he then put his hands under himself and tried to rise up.
Susan took hold on her child in one arm and used her other to drag Dean up to his feet again. A little behind them the demon also dug itself out from the rubble and flung towards Will while she tried to block the incoming attack. But she failed and got a nasty punch in the stomach that sent her flying into the opposite wall. A loud smack was heard as Will's back connected to the brick wall, Dean and Susan cried as they saw this happened.
"Will, are you alright?" shouted the couple as they saw their daughter fall down from the wall, leaving quite a mark after where she struck it. To their relief and not so little surprise, the answer came rather quickly and undisturbed.
"Don't worry, I have taken worse hits than this."
The creature didn't waste time. Before she could stand up it attacked her again, but Will raised her hand quickly and shoot a lightning bolt that momentarily stunned the entity. Then she pushed herself up, let a couple of loose bricks slide down one of her wings and brushed some dust and cement out of her fire-red hair. She looked at Dean and Susan and suddenly let a smile shine on her face, "I will not let him harm you, so don't be afraid. Just stay close to me and I will protect you." Then she caught eye on Dean who was clutching his stomach and sheepishly corrected herself, "At least no more harm from now on, you sure everything is okay Dean?"
"Yes, truly, I am fine I am only out of my breathe, and no broken bones. WHATCH OUT!"
A blur of black fog and ragged clothes seemingly flew through the air, this time towards William and Susan.
Instinctively, Will sent a wave of radiating magic from her hands, creating an impregnable barrier to protect her mom and brother.
Without bulging a millimeter, the barrier effectively withstood the creature as the hellish being smashed into it a second later and fell to the floor. It stood up again and tried to move away.
This time the creature was obviously hurt too, and far more than Will because it stood not as tall anymore, but somewhat more bent. Again, it let out a deafening shriek and the smoke started to cover him. Causing Susan, Dean and William to cover their ears to shut out the infernal noise. "Oh no, not this time!" Will yelled and jumped towards it with her fist already on its way to give the monster another blow. But she was just too late, her right fist slammed through the smoke and straight through the wall behind and into the hallway on the other side.
"Coward, come back here and fight!" she yelled when she understood it had escaped her again.
Someplace deep under the old asylum between thick walls, there are hidden corridors from the time of the monastery. Why they were built, nobody knew. Like empty veins in a body devoid of life, they stretches upwards and throughout the entire building, secretly connecting the various parts of the house with each other. Inside one of these, a lone figure shrouded in darkness and mystery lurked around for purposes unknown.
A/N. That was another chapter done and I was happy to learn that at least one of my reviewers, ThePeridotRanger, had guessed right that it was not Will who was behind Dean's and Susan's door. I have tried through the various chapters to give some clues that it couldn't be Will. Did any other figure it out too?
When I write this story, I try to somewhat stay close the characteres personality (the comic verson) and I remembered that in one comic issue, Susan try to encourage Will to call Dean, dad (after Susan and Dean have married of course). And about Will's strenght, she is usually shown as much stronger in the cartoon than in the comic, but it is also hinted off screen in the comics that she is very strong. She was among other things able to single handed take down several robots on her own when William had been kidnapped. But then again, I will blend some of her comic and cartoon powers to give her a big repertoar of abilities when needed.
As for the other members of the W.I.T.C.H. gang, maybe they will make some sort of appearance, but you will have to wait and see.