Author's Note: So, I am working on keeping my word and updating quicker than I have lately, so here you go. As for my other story, THE UNLIKELY BOND, at the moment, I am still having a bit of writer's block. I started the chapter, but I'm kind of stuck, but I promise you guys, it won't be too long before I update that one. Hopefully within the week it will be posted. Thanks to my devoted readers and my awesome reviewers. I appreciate every piece of feedback I get. Thanks guys! Enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW!
"I don't blame him you know?" Dean said as he took a swig from his beer. He had taken Kimberly to a nearby bar and Kimberly was in the middle of a plate of cheesy fries. She looked up from her meal in confusion. "Cody. I mean, for wanting to be with you, despite everything that told him he shouldn't. He was a dick about it but I get it." Kimberly just stared at him for a moment but then shook the devil off of her shoulder and listened to the angel instead. The angel that said that Dean was just trying to be a good friend because he knew she needed one.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't change the fact that he lied to me for months. Then he just barges in one day and goes, oh yeah, I'm a white lighter. Not to mention, I'm not so sure I want to go through the whole Piper/Leo fiasco. I know my destiny is pretty much planned out but I would like a little free will." Dean raised his beer.
"Here here. To free will. If they don't like our decisions… to hell with them." Kimberly raised her beer.
"I will certainly drink to that." They clinked the top of their beer bottles and took a swig. "Dean, do you think there's a girl out there for you?" Dean smiled.
"Yes. I know there is."
"I hope you find her. On your own terms. Destiny be damned." Kimberly smiled her dazzling smile at him. Dean sat pensively while she continued to munch on her fries.
"Since we're sharing, can I ask you something?" Kimberly sucked the sauce off of her thumb.
"Sure."
"Do you think there's someone else out there for you? Besides Cody?" Kimberly knew that she had to answer carefully, but for some reason, her mouth wasn't in agreement with her mind.
"Yes." Dean looked like he was going to say something else, but then decided against it.
"You're hogging all the fries." He smiled and stuffed a couple fries in his mouth. He dropped a twenty on the table. "Come on. We should get back."
Sam was busy cleaning his gun in the living room while Dylan and I were upstairs setting up barriers for our showdown.
"Sam." He heard behind him. He spun around and took aim at Cody's head. Sam let out a frustrated breath.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm the Charmed Ones white lighter."
"Well, your orbs are grass if Kimberly gets home and you're still here." Cody sighed in relief.
"Oh good. She's not home. So that means the girls decided to hold off on the Balthazar vanquish."
"No. They're upstairs setting up. They're just going to do it without Kimberly."
"What?" Cody lost his cool and collected demeanor. "Why would you let them?" Cody yelled as he started up the stairs.
"And exactly how was I supposed to stop them?" Sam shouted back as he chased after him. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is that they can't take out Balthazar. Not with that potion alone." Sam pushed Cody out of the way as he made his way up the stairs, praying that we hadn't summoned the demon yet.
"Okay, so we summon him, throw the potions and then I close the circle of crystals so that the force of his explosion doesn't destroy our house." Dylan said.
"Yup. And we'll still have enough time to go see a celebratory movie after." The two of us gathered behind the flipped over table that we placed for our own protection and opened the book to the correct page. "You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever been." We held hands and recited the spell.
"Magic forces black and white, reaching out through space and light, be he far, or be he near, bring us the demon Balthazar here." Suddenly, a tornado of white smoke appeared in the middle of the attic and we heard dark laughter booming from it.
"You rang?" Balthazar said. He was in his human form.
"Now!" I yelled. Dylan and I tossed our positions and ducked.
"Crystals! Circle!" Dylan yelled. We waited for the loud blast, but all we heard was yelling.
"Guys!" Sam and Cody yelled as they ran to the door. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the demon.
"I'll get to you two in a minute." He threw an energy ball their way and Cody stepped in front to take the blow. Orbs lit up the doorway as both Sam and Cody flew backwards and down the stairway. "Now, for you two." He threw an energy ball at Dylan and I and we jumped from behind the table.
"What the hell happened to the crystals?" I asked in panic.
"Oh, these things?" the demon said. He picked one up off the ground.
"Forget the crystals! What the fuck happened to the potion?" Dylan shouted back.
"What? You didn't think I'd actually come back here without a little insurance, did you? Call it a magical force field from all witchy powers."
"Okay, well, I think we can all agree that we'd much rather be doing something else, so why don't you come back later." I tried pathetically enough. The demon smiled at me.
"Ah, the charming humor you girls possess. You called me didn't you? Now, you've got me." He tossed another energy ball my way.
"Energy ball!" Dylan called. She quickly tossed it back at him and sent him flying off of his feet. "Book." Dylan called as we rushed out of the attic.
"Sam!" I yelled in panic as we helped both him and Cody onto their feet. The front door opened and in walked Dean and Kimberly.
"What's going on?" Kimberly asked.
"We heard an explosion." Dean added. Dylan and I ran over to Kimberly and grabbed her hand.
"Balthazar, in the attic, potion doesn't work." Dylan informed them.
"What?" Dean asked in disbelief.
"What do you mean the potion doesn't work?" Kimberly objected.
"Like I was trying to tell your friends before they summoned him, he's under a magical cloak. Until you break that protection, the potion will be useless on him." Cody informed us a little too late.
"What are you doing here?" Kimberly asked, temporarily distracted.
"I believe he just told you." Dylan bit out bitterly.
"Cody, take the guys and get them out of here." I ordered him.
"No way am I leaving." Dean shouted.
"You guys can't kill him. Let's get out of here!" Sam barked.
"No. Shar's right. We have to deal with this tonight. Is there somewhere safe you can bring them?"
"Magic school."
"Whoa, that actually exists?" The demon, probably sensing that we were getting a bit off topic, picked that moment to come down the stairs.
"Looks like the gangs all here."
"Get them out of here!" Kimberly ordered. Before Dean or Sam could object, Cody grabbed hold of them both and they were all taken in a swirl of white and blue lights.
"No matter. It was you I came here for anyway." Once again, he attempted to kill us, throwing a large energy ball straight at us. Dylan held on to both me and Kimberly, while I held the book and Kimberly flashed her hands at the energy ball. Of course, she was trying to freeze it. Dylan quickly orbed us, so that we wouldn't go flying like Balthazar but since the force was so strong, we wound up orbing into Bobby's living room and getting knocked on our asses.
"What in the hell?" Said Bobby as he quickly took aim. He then realized it was us and came to help us up.
"Ouch." We grumbled in pain.
"Everybody alive?" Kimberly asked.
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Dylan said while slapping Kimberly on the leg.
"Yeah Kim, why on Earth would you blow up an energy ball three inches from our faces?" I asked.
"I was trying to freeze it. And why in the hell would you choose to summon a demon in our home?"
"Because patience is a virtue that we don't have." Dylan replied. As we brushed ourselves off and checked that none of our extra potions broke, Bobby just watched in confusion and then folded his arms.
"Is someone going to tell me what in the hell kind of bull mess the three of you done stepped in now?" he inquired ever so sweetly.
"Well, I'm not really well informed on the demon Balthazar, but as far as magical cloaks go, I think the four of us could put our heads together and come out on top." Bobby said as he led the way to his personal all-things-creepy library. Kimberly shook her head as we took a seat around his desk.
"What were the two of you thinking? You could've gotten yourselves killed!"
"We were thinking that you are way too stressed out to control your powers right now." Dylan answered.
"Oh, don't give me that crap. Death is just waiting to collect our souls! In case you haven't noticed, it's kind of in our job description to die!"
"Kimberly, it was my idea to summon him. Not Dylan's. Don't yell at her."
"I'm yelling at the both of you! Demons try to kill us week after week and now you two are just making it all too easy for them. You are just walking right into it!" I held her hand and gave it a gently squeeze. The only reason she is so upset is because we scared her. We easily could have died.
"We're sorry." I said sincerely. She gave a restless sigh, but our sisterly moment was interrupted by the stack of books Bobby slammed down in front of us."
"What's done is done. There's no use crying over spilt milk. Now, let's focus on killing this son of a gun. Shall we?" Dylan raised a brow.
"Um… Don't tell me you expect us to read all of that." She whined.
"No. I left that out for the tooth fairy." He countered sarcastically. With a roll of her eyes, she picked up a book and the rest of us followed suit. About an hour later, I had a migraine.
"This is pointless. Can't we just write a spell or make another potion?"
"No Shar. Cody said Balthazar's force field protects him from all witch's magic, including spells and potions."
"Well, he's not invincible." Bobby reminded us. Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb popped up above Dylan's head.
"Exactly." She said. We all turned to stared at her. "He's not invincible, so if our powers aren't strong enough to break his force field…" she trailed off.
"Then we just have to find someone whose powers are strong enough." Kim finished, catching on.
"And who's the most powerful supernatural being we know?" Dylan pushed. Kimberly and I looked at each other with questioning eyes.
"Uh, Dylan, the most powerful supernatural being isn't exactly on our team." I pointed out.
"Yes, I know, but we don't need him in particular. We need one of his kind. And that we do have on our team." The three of us smiled as it was all coming together and then we yelled out.
"Cass!" we all called in unison. With a flap of his wings, he appeared.
"Yes."
"We need your knife." Dylan said getting straight to the point.
"Wait. What?" I asked confused as to why Cass can't just handle everything himself.
"If Balthazar senses an angel coming, he'll flee just like he did when Lucifer came to heal Sam."
"Okay, but how do you know the knife will work?"
"Because a force field is like a wall, something you can see and feel if you get too close." Bobby answered.
"The knife will be strong enough to puncture it, and then we are free to use the potions." Dylan said beaming with pride that she figured this out all on her own.
"I like it." Kim agreed. "Grab the potions, and let's get to it." Dylan held out her hand to Castiel.
"Knife please." He hesitantly handed it over.
"Be careful with it." She rolled her eyes at him.
"We wont break your angel toy."
"How do you know that Balthazar is even still at the manor?" Bobby asked.
"Because he can't find us here. Not with the crystals protecting us." Kimberly answered.
"We fled with the book, but he knows that sooner or later we will have to return to our powerbase." I added. The three of us smiled at each other with confidence. It seemed that our minds were beginning to move on the same wavelength giving us an extra boost. Holding hands, the three of us let out a deep breath as we let the now all too familiar feeling of orbs carry us away. When we got to the manor's kitchen, Kimberly reached into the little baggie that contained the last two potions and handed one to Dylan. Dylan then handed the angel blade to me and suddenly my boost of confidence vanished.
"What are you handing that to me for?"
"Someone's got to get up close and personal to break the force field."
"And that someone is me?" I squeaked.
"You're the one that's been doing boot camp training for battles like this." Dylan said with a reassuring smile. I glared at her.
"Plus, as the ones with offensive powers, we should have our hands free to back you up." Kimberly added. I sighed.
"This sucks." I said. The three of us made our way up the stairs very quietly, praying that Balthazar didn't decide to pop up out of some dark corner. We finally got to the attic door and shared a look of encouragement before marching in, only when Kimberly swung open the door, there was nobody to be found. "I don't like this." I said as we walked further into the attic. Once we were near the book's stand, the door creaked shut. We spun around and there he was in his demonic glory, tribal markings and all.
"Like lambs to a slaughter." He whispered with a smile before throwing an energy ball at us. Dylan called for it and sent it his way but this time, being prepared for that, he simply caught it.
"Shar." Dylan nudged me to attack. With the blade hidden behind my back, hanging from my belt, I levitated and kicked him in the face. Kimberly took the chance to find our crystals. Balthazar didn't fall, but he stumbled back enough for me to take the upper hand. Spinning around I kicked him in the face. Knowing that it wouldn't be wise for me to let up for one moment, I kneed him in the gut, causing him to bend over and then I swung my leg around to kick him in the back of his head. He collapsed onto all fours, and I continuously kicked him in his side.
"Shar now!" Kimberly shouted. I reached for the knife but the demon must have known that we had something up our sleeves. He caught my leg and pulled me towards him before spinning around and tossing me into a mirror. The glass shattered against my body as I slid down to the ground.
"Shar!" Dylan called, but I was already floating to the land of the dead.
"Enough!" Balthazar shouted before throwing an energy ball at Dylan.
"Dylan, look out!" Kimberly called. The force of the blow sent Dylan across the attic and through the window. Her potion fell out of her grasp and splattered on the ground.
"Oh my God!" Kimberly screamed as the piercing sound of Dylan's screams were heard throughout the entire neighborhood.
"Now, it's your turn." He balled an even larger energy ball and took aim. "Together, even in death."
I was unconscious up until then, but hearing Dylan's screams and Kimberly's whimpers, I just knew I could not sleep through this. Not yet able to sit up, I blindly reached behind me for the blade. It was wet with something but I could care less. I pulled it free from my belt and looked at it. It was covered in blood. My blood. I gasped as I realized what that piercing feeling was in my back, but then I willed myself to forget about it for just one minute. Taking a deep breath, I gathered up all the energy I had left and sat up.
"Together, even in death." Balthazar said as he stood across from Kimberly with an energy ball in his hand. Knowing this was our last shot, I threw the blade, straight for his head, but before it could get there, it froze. At first I thought it was Kimberly's doing, but then a shining light glowed around him and it looked as if crystals were around him. A bright light suddenly burst through the room causing us all to close our eyes and then the knife fell to the ground. Kimberly and I glanced back at the demon to see a worried and confused look on his face. He looked down at me.
"What did you do?" I only stared at him. Kimberly looked down at the potion balled up in her fist.
"This… is for Dylan." She said as a tear rolled down her cheek. I stood in confusion as I realized that Dylan wasn't in the room. Kimberly tossed the potion and the demon began to shimmer away. Not wanting him to get away, she flashed her hands to freeze him, but instead, she blew him up along with the potion and a nearby lamp. He flew back into the wall, temporarily down. I ran over to her and hugged her as tears developed in my eyes.
"Where's Dylan?" I asked.
"Here I am." She said as she limped through the attic door. She was covered in small scratches, but she was determined to see this bastards demise. Dylan looked at the remaining potion that was splattered on the ground. "Get up." She said and waved her hand to help him on his feet. "At least you'll go down in history." She said with a raised brow. Before he could even react she waved her hand. "Potion!" she shouted and we watched as the potion orbed from the ground to Balthazar.
"No." he whispered.
"Oh yes." Dylan smirked. Kimberly pulled me and Dylan into a vicious hug.
"NO!" Balthazar screamed before he finally exploded, leaving pieces of him behind on the walls.
"Kimberly, easy. I did just go through a window. Just because I orbed myself to land on my bed does not mean it doesn't still hurt."Kimberly smiled weakly. She let go of us both.
"Sorry guys. I'm just so glad you're…" she trailed off as she looked down at her hand to see that it was covered in blood. "…okay. Shar?" That's the last thing I heard before I hit the floor.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Kimberly said when I woke up to find that Cody had healed my wound.
"What happened?"
"We kicked Balthazar butt. That's what happened." Dylan said proudly. I looked at Cody and thanked him. I then patted him on the shoulder.
"Get used to it buddy." I said as I sat up slowly.
"I'm going to go let the Elder's know that you fought Balthazar and won."
"Did you doubt us?" Kimberly asked.
"No, but they did." He said with a smile. She smiled back and Dylan and I watched this little moment closely.
"How about when you get back, we have a little talk?" Kimberly suggested. Cody's smile seemed like it was going to take over his entire face.
"I'd love to." He quickly orbed away before she could change her mind.
"So, you forgive him?" I asked. She sighed.
"Baby steps. Dean was right. Cody risked a lot to be with me and I should try to understand that." Dylan and I shared a look.
"And Dean was the one who gave you this amazing advice?" Dylan asked skeptically.
"Yeah. He's kind of like the big brother I never wanted." Kim smiled. "Well, if that's not awkward, I don't know what is." I thought to myself. "I may not agree with how Cody and I happened, but I do have to deal with the fact that we are together. But, I am going to deal with it my way. Whether or not we make it is going to be my choice." The three of us fell into a comfortable silence when Dean and Sam appeared from out back.
"So, Bobby said that he's glad you guys are okay and that us idjits owe him a non-work related visit." Dean informed us. Sam sat next to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Glad to see there's some color back in your cheeks."
"Yeah, you almost gave my baby brother a heart attack. You should have seen him. It was adorable." Dean teased.
"Shut up Dean." Sam sighed with a roll of his eyes.
"Guys, what do you say, we pop some corn and kick back with a non-chick flick?" Dean suggested.
"Dude, it's like 4 in the morning." I protested.
"Sharnel, you were dead for like thirty minutes. Live a little."
"As insensitive as that was," Dylan started, seeing me throw a pillow at his face, "Dean has a point. I am way too wired to go to sleep now and that demon that just went boom in our attic was Balthazar. Maybe that rings a bell? Seduced a charmed one. Married her. Impregnated her. Made her the Queen of all Evil."
"Yeah, I vaguely remember that." I said sarcastically.
"My point is this is a big deal. Why not kick back with a few beers and a movie to celebrate?"
"Well, obviously I am going to have to pass." Kimberly said.
"Why party pooper?" Sam said making a sad pouty face. She snickered at him.
"Because I promised Cody I would have a talk with him." All eyes were on Dean, and we weren't surprised to see the tick in his jaw spring to life.
"What happened to 'destiny be damned'?" Dean asked bitterly. She shrugged.
"I still live by that rule, but I can't avoid this forever." With that, she turned on her heels and headed up to her room. Dean watched her disappearing form in silence but his annoyance was just radiating off of him.
"So, comedy, action or horror?" Sam asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Comedy. Definitely comedy." I answered. At this point, I think we need a little break from action and horror.