Disclaimer: I don’t own them. Don’t sue me.

Do we have to do this?

Yes, after what she did, it’s the only thing to do.

But how can we do this? To our own flesh and blood?

How could she do something to her own flesh and blood? We have to do this. It’s the only way. For our protection and Danielle’s.

But it doesn’t seem right. Something’s just wrong about this. Please. Let’s not do this.

No, we’re doing this. We made this decision and now we’re going through with it.

But..

But nothing. She’s evil. We vanquish evil, or did you suddenly forget that? Let’s go.

I couldn’t argue with that. Somehow, I knew she was right. Or rather she had to be right. Because what we were about to do could never be undone. I reluctantly followed her downstairs to the basement.

Our captive lifted her head up as soon as she saw us coming. We had made a force field that prevented her from getting away. She looked extremely nervous. I’d be nervous too if I knew I was about to be sent to the darkest realm of hell.

“ Please..”

“ Save it. You know what you did and now you must pay.”

I took out a vile of potion, as did my sister.

“ Now.”

I threw the potion on the evil that resided in the force field. She looked shocked, as if she couldn’t believe we had actually gone through with it.

“ No!” She screamed loudly as the flames slowly engulfed her. “ I didn’t do it! I didn’t kill them! Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige! Please!”

But her cries were diminished as the flames completely engulfed her and sent her straight to hell. Tears welled up in my eyes as I finally realized what we had just done. We had sent our niece to hell. And nothing would ever change that. But somehow, Phoebe seemed to be unfazed. Her face bore a stony expression, but deep down I knew it was just to cover up the pain. She looked at me and my teary eyed face.

“ We had to.”

I had to tell myself over and over that we had to. Otherwise my guilt would have eaten me alive. Something still felt wrong. Maybe it was because I somehow just couldn’t face the fact that my niece truly was evil and that it was my job, my duty to rid evil from the world. I think a part of me still believed she was good and that’s why it was so hard.

“ Paige, you ready?” I turned to see Phoebe standing in the doorway. “ Yeah. I’ll be down in a minute.” “ Okay.” She opened her mouth as if to say something else but instead just turned around and left the room.

I looked out the window quickly, grabbed an umbrella off my dresser and headed downstairs. Phoebe and Danielle were waiting for me by the door. Poor Danielle. I think it was hard for her to come to terms with her sister as well. She was only 10 after all. Just three years younger than Melinda. They had gotten along extremely well for two people that were so unalike. Danielle had lost so much in such a short period of time. A tear silently rolled down my face. I looked at Phoebe who gave me a weak smile and then we headed out the door.

Isn’t it funny how in a way the weather always seems to match how you’re feeling? The rain was coming down in buckets. I had always thought that raindrops looked like tears. How convenient of it to be pouring, because inside, I was crying a rainstorm. Just as it felt the rain would never stop, I felt that my tears, my pain would never go away.

The car came to a sudden stop. This was it. The time when I finally had to face the truth. I stepped out of the car slowly and took a deep breath. Danielle stood beside me. I felt her little hand grasp mine. Surprisingly, that little hand gave me the strength I needed. I entered the stone building and walked down the aisle to take my seat at the front. As I passed various people, they all gave me sympathetic looks. But they could never share my pain. They had no idea what it was like.

“ We are gathered here today to mourn the deaths of Piper and Leo Wyatt.” The High Priestess’s words didn’t make any sense to me. They couldn’t be dead they just couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. Not my sister and her husband. They were too strong. They were good people, they didn’t deserve to die. But images and sounds flashed through my head. Screams, thuds, fighting. Melinda standing over her parents, knife in hand. I remember she was drenched in blood and was holding the knife like it was a foreign object to her. Danielle was unconscious on the floor near Melinda. She later told us she had tried to stop her.

Melinda hadn’t even cried. She had simple walked away, like nothing had happened.

Well, she had earned her punishment.

- 8 Years Later-

It had been 8 years. Eight years since Piper and Leo had died. Eight years since I had sent my niece to hell. Danielle was now 18, and had grown to be a beautiful young woman. She was the spitting image of her father, long, sandy blonde hair, and sparkling blue eyes.

She was a senior in High School now and would be graduating in a matter of days. It was hard to believe that she was that old now. She had matured so much over the years and had worked hard to achieve her rank of number one in the class. It was a shame her parents weren’t here to see it. Somehow though, I’m sure they’ll see it somehow. In the Halliwell family, nothing is certain. Well actually, one thing was certain. They wouldn’t see Melinda.

Melinda. She would have been twenty- one now. I would have liked to see how she would have turned out. I’m sure she would have looked like Piper. She always had. It was a shame that I didn’t get to see her grow up.

After eight years, I still felt guilty. Melinda was always in my dreams, and she was always suffering. I don’t know how many nights I had woken up from hearing her screams echoing in my head. I had lost count after awhile. Then, when I had suggested to Phoebe that she was still alive, that she had managed to survive somehow, she yelled at me for even thinking of such a thing.

I still lived with guilt, yet Phoebe and Danielle had forgotten about Melinda years ago.

I still mourned her death every year. I felt I owed her that much, even if she was evil. If it had been Piper of Phoebe that was evil, and I had sent them to hell, I would have mourned them as well. It seemed like the right thing to do. Phoebe and Danielle mourned Piper, Leo and Prue’s deaths, but not Melinda’s. In fact, they didn’t know that I mourned Melinda. They would probably think I was on her side, that I was some type of demon, if I did.

I lay in bed many nights, thinking about her. Tonight was no different.
******************
I dodged a fireball that was aimed at my head and countered with a ball of electricity. My encounters with demons had been more numerous lately. My shot hit its mark, as the demon shrieked in pain, before dying.

I had been down here for eight years. Over the years, I had acquired many powers, which I needed in order to survive. I used them frequently, so that I became rather good at using them. And over these past eight years, I had been trying to figure out a way to get back to the mortal realm. Somehow, I had figured out a way to invade my aunt’s thoughts and dreams, but I was never able to figure out how to get back home.

Well, I did. And in a matter of days, I would return.

I would return and I would have my revenge.

I woke up the following morning with this terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Thinking I was just hungry, I had some breakfast. But two hours later, I still had the same feeling. I started wondering if it was something supernatural. Maybe it was some kind of warning or something. Because whatever this feeling was, it definitely wasn’t good. Something was going down, and it was going down soon.

***


My body was practically tingling with excitement. I had waited for this day for eight long years. Tonight was the night half of my dreams came true. I would return to the mortal realm and have my revenge, no matter what the cost. It was only a matter of hours.

I already had my plan all mapped out in my head. I could just picture their faces. They would be shocked to see me of course, but then they would start to become afraid as they realized it was me. By now, they would be no match for me. Maybe eight years ago they were powerful enough to send me to hell, but now, well now the tables would be turned, because I’m going to send them to hell this time.
*************
5:00. Danielle would be arriving home with Phoebe any minute now. I headed to the kitchen to set up the table for dinner. I had made spaghetti and meatballs, one of Danielle’s favorites.
************

One hour. One hour. I paced around my dark chamber impatiently. I had managed to wait eight years, yet I couldn’t seem to stand waiting one single hour. I think it was from the anticipation of what was to come. One more hour and I would be free.

*****************

“ Wow Aunt Paige, that was really good. Thanks so much for making dinner.” Phoebe nodded her head in agreement. “ That was rather good.”

“ Thank you. I’m glad that my cooking is good for once.”

“ Don’t be silly Paige, its always good.” “ Don’t kid yourself Phoebe, you’re just trying to be nice.”

“ Why, would you rather me tell you what I really think?” I glared at her, and then laughed. “ Ha ha. Dani, you better get started on your homework. Its just about seven.”

“ Alright, alright. I’m off. And you’re cooking really was good.”

“ Uh-huh. Now go.”

Danielle walked out of the room and not a second later let out a scream. Phoebe and I ran into the living room where the scream had come from. The sight before me made me gasp. A living, breathing replica of Piper was standing before us. She grinned sinisterly.

“ Hello family. Miss me?” She had no sooner said that before she pounced upon Danielle.

I barely had time to react as “ Piper” threw Danielle to the ground. Phoebe and I rushed over but she merely threw us away like a piece of trash. If I didn’t do something quick, Danielle was going to die. Whoever this clone was, they were powerful.
***

This was all a dream. This wasn’t real. Right now, my dead Aunt was not attacking me. No way. It wasn’t possible. It hurt me to have to do this, but I had to. I threw Piper off of me and jumped up. This may be my Aunt, but she was trying to kill me. I went to punch her but she blocked me. The evil that had brought her back was probably helping her. Piper blocked every punch and kick I tried with amazing skill. Or what used to be Piper anyway. Because the Piper I was fighting had a crazed look on her face. It was like she was a caged beast that had just been set loose. Her face was one of pure hunger. It thirsted, yearned to kill me. I could feel it. If I didn’t get help soon, I was going to die.
----------------------------------------------
I didn’t think that she would be so stupid. Did she not know that I knew what she was thinking? I could read every thought in that brain of hers. One of the witches threw something at me magically but I easily blocked it and sent it right back at her. She went flying into the wall and was immediately knocked out.
-----------------------------------
Suddenly it hit me. This wasn’t Piper. How could I be so stupid?
----------------------------------
“Melinda?” Hearing my name, I ceased my fighting and turned around. So she had figured it out. It made no difference. It simply made my job easier. At least now they would know why I was here and what I was here for. “ It took you long enough.” I started advancing on my sister and Aunt. My sister ran to my Aunt like a sacred little girl during a thunderstorm. My Aunt quickly held her to attempt to protect her. “ You know why I’m here. Can we just get this over with quickly? I promise it won’t hurt. Well, not that much anyway.”

“ Melinda. You don’t want to do this.” “ Don’t I? I’ve waited for too long to pass up an opportunity like this. I’ve waited far too long for my revenge. Its not very nice to send your niece, you flesh and blood to the darkest region of hell.”

It was all blurry as I slowly woke up. I saw what appeared to be Piper standing in front of Phoebe and Danielle. I went to get up, but immediately gave up when a sharp pain was sent up my leg. I groaned. Piper glanced toward me, and watched as I attempted to get up. Wait a second, that wasn’t Piper. But no, it couldn’t be. Not Melinda. She was gone. She was dead. My doubts were soon answered though. “ That’s right Aunt Paige, its me, your niece. You know the one that you sent to hell eight years ago. Although, I know you actually gave a damn about me afterwards. And I appreciate it.” She walked over to me and bent down. “ Sorry about hurting you. But you were kind of in my way.” She placed her hands over my leg and a bluish light emerged. Soon, the pain was no more. She had healed me. She then offered her hand and helped me stand up and brought me over to the couch and sat me down.

She smiled and then whispered in my ear. “ Don’t move.” She left me and then returned to Phoebe and Danielle who were frozen. No, my eyes were deceiving me. They couldn’t be frozen, unless they were evil. But to my surprise, Melinda flicked her hands once more and Phoebe and Danielle were brought back to life.

“ Now, where were we? Oh that’s right. I was just about to send you both to hell. Although, I’m sure you’d rather enjoy it. You could say that you would feel right at home. Now, let’s get this over with.”

“ You stupid witch. Do you really think you are any match for us? Please, you don’t have the nerve to kill us.”

“ Want to bet?” Melinda started to chant some words in Latin and flames started engulfing Phoebe and Danielle. I shielded my eyes from the brightness. Melinda was actually doing it. As I felt the brightness cease, I tentatively opened my eyes. I should have kept them closed. Before me, Phoebe and Danielle were still there. It seemed to take them a moment to realize they hadn’t been vanquished before they shimmered out. As they disappeared Phoebe said three last chilling words.

“ Till next time.”

This was all a bad dream. Pretty soon I was going to wake up, sweating and panting from a nightmare. Yeah, that was it. This was some type of nightmare. Because there was no way that my niece that I had sent to hell was back, alive and well.

It also couldn’t be possible that my other niece, and my last remaining sister were demons. Melinda had done something to them. I knew it. She was trying to trick me. She had turned them evil to try and get me on her side. Well, it wasn’t going to work.

No, Melinda’s good a little voice told me while another one told me she was evil. I didn’t know which one to believe. Somehow though, I knew that one little voice was right. I just had to figure out which one.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
You have to let me help her! You have to let me help my little sister! She’ll never be able to do it all on her own. She needs my help. These Elders were frustrating me greatly.

No. It is forbidden. You know that. You are dismissed. I walked out of the room angrily to my sister outside.

“ Well, what did they say?”

“ They said no.”

“ They said no? Do they want her to die? I hate them and their rules.”

“ Screw them and their rules. I’m going down, no matter what it takes.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“ Aunt Paige? Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
I grabbed my head and put it in between my knees. I was so confused. I couldn’t take this. I didn’t want to believe it, but somehow I had to. But then again, there was that other nagging voice at the back of my head that was telling me the exact opposite. I couldn’t take it. I didn’t know right from wrong. I couldn’t tell who was my friend, who was my enemy. Damn it, I didn’t even know who my own family was anymore.

“ Aunt Paige?” I lifted my head up. “ Just leave me alone. “ Aunt Paige, please.” Just leave me alone! Melinda noticed I was angry and left the room. I started to cry. I needed someone to help me. Someone to help me figure out everything, because if I didn’t it would drive me crazy. For all I knew, there was a demon in the room next to me at this very moment. A demon called my niece.

Suddenly, I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked up and gasped. I knew those eyes all too well. They were full of love, compassion and sympathy. I had been longing to see those eyes for as long as I could remember.

“ Prue?”

She nodded. “ But how?”

“ It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m here.”

“ I’m so glad you’re here. Melinda’s back, and—

“ Shh. I know. I know everything. I’m here to help you sort things out. Melinda, would you come here?”

Melinda returned to the room and nearly jumped back in surprise. “ Aunt Prue? But how is that possible?” She then walked over to Prue slowly. Prue grasped her hand. “ Its me honey. In the flesh.”

“ Aunt Prue!” Melinda tackled Prue to the ground and hugged her tightly. “ I haven’t seen you since, well since a long time.”

To me it was humorous, seeing a 20-year-old girl jumping on her Aunt like she was a little girl. Prue laughed as Melinda continued to hug Prue. “ Hey Paige, a little help here.”

“ Melinda, I think you’re hurting Prue.” “ Sorry.” Melinda gave Prue an apologetic look and then helped her up.

I wanted answers and I wanted them now. “ So Prue, what’s the deal? You said you were here to sort things out, so start sorting.

She took my hand and led me over to the couch where we sat down.

“ Well, first things first. Melinda is good and Phoebe and Danielle are evil.” I nodded. “ Continue.”

“Secondly, Danielle killed Piper and Leo.”

Paige let a small gasp escape. She had wanted the truth and she had gotten it. Wish and you shall receive. Phoebe and her had sent the wrong sister to hell.

Or was Phoebe even good? She had shimmered out with Danielle. Paige gathered herself. She turned back to Prue. “And Phoebe?”

Prue sighed. Unfortunately, she’s evil as well. In fact, she had a lot to do with Danielle killing Piper and Leo.

Paige nodded in disgust. “ So basically, you’re telling me that my niece, the supposed innocent one, killed her parents, and that my sister, our sister killed her own flesh and blood?”

Prue nodded reluctantly.

Paige could slowly feel the anger rise up beneath her. Because of Phoebe and Danielle, she had lost her role model, her big sister, the person she loved more than anything else. Because of Phoebe and Danielle, she had never gotten to know one of her nieces.

From the beginning, she had felt that something wasn’t right when they sent Melinda to hell. She had always known. Why didn’t she trust her instincts? Well, she was going to make all of this up. Not only for Melinda and Piper, but for herself as well.

Prue glanced at Paige and noticed the anger that seemed to be growing by the second. She smiled. Paige was like her in so many ways. One thing was for sure; she definitely had Prue’s spirit. She knew that Paige wanted to make this wrong right. One thing was for certain though. If they were going to defeat Phoebe and Danielle, it wasn’t going to be easy.

“ You really need to stop pacing Aunt Phoebe.” I watched tirelessly as my Aunt paced back and forth across the floor. It was becoming rather annoying. “ Could you please stop? You’re making me dizzy.” Phoebe abruptly stopped and turned to face me.

“How are you not sweating it? Are you not aware of what just happened?”

“Of course I’m aware! But we’re demons damn it! We know what we’re doing! We managed to frame Melinda and kill Piper didn’t we? Just because Melinda’s back doesn’t mean anything. I could easily kick her ass.”

“ That’s right Danielle. You could kick her ass, but you won’t. Have you forgotten that she just spent eight years in hell for something that she didn’t do? That’s got to have pissed her off. She could beat the crap out of you just on adrenaline alone. She wants both you and I dead and she won’t stop until she’s completed that task. And who knows with Paige? When she finds out she’s not going to be too happy either. Face it, we’re screwed.”

That was it. I had just about had enough of this. “ You know Aunt Phoebe, you’re really starting to piss me off!” I slowly approached her.

“ It sounds to me like you’re scared.” Phoebe glared at me.

“ Like hell I am.”

“ Oh really? When you were talking just then you sounded pretty scared to me. I believe you said that Paige and Melinda could beat us. I also believe I heard you say what was it?” I put my hand to my chin.

“ Oh yeah. Now I remember. You said we’re screwed. And you want to know what? I don’t think I can work with a demon who’s scared of their enemy or doesn’t believe they can win.”

Phoebe’s eyes widened. “ You wouldn’t.” I snickered. “ Oh I would. And I will.”

With that, I threw a fireball at Phoebe, vanquishing her forever.

I then lifted my finger to my lips and blew on them, like a person would to a gun after they had made a successful shot. It felt good to finally get rid of her, as now I was my own boss. Partnerships just never worked in the demon world. And I really didn’t like having to listen to someone tell me what I did and didn’t know. Paige was distraught as it was and I had beaten Melinda many years ago. The future looked bright for me.
*****
“ She killed her.”

Melinda had a blank sort of look on her face and was staring straight in front of her at the wall.

Prue answered this with a just as confused look on her face. “ What was that honey?”

Melinda answered in the same monotonic voice, and then sat on the couch. “ Danielle, she just killed Phoebe.”

Both Prue’s jaws and mine dropped. “ What?” Prue then started rambling.

“ This isn’t good. Phoebe must have been holding her back, which means she is probably going to attack us soon. But I don’t think she knows I’m here, so that’s a plus.”

I placed my hands in my jeans pockets and nodded. “ Alright then, we have the upper hand so we should win right?”

“ Not necessarily. Prue may be powerful and a great asset to us, but you forget that Danielle managed to kill my parents, frame me and get away with it at the age of ten. Then, you add the eight more years she had to develop her powers and you get a pretty powerful demon.”

“ What I don’t understand is why she’s a demon. Was she born that way or what?”

Melinda shrugged. “ I don’t know. Prue?” She turned questionably towards Prue.

“ The Elders aren’t sure themselves. They think she was born that way, that maybe somehow something happened during the pregnancy to turn her evil, because for all they knew, she was supposed to be a powerful force of good, not evil.”
“Damn it. I wish I knew. Knowing that could be the key to our success.” Melinda paced the floor a few times with her hand to her chin, obviously thinking. She suddenly whipped her body around and came to face Prue and me. Prue had a relieved look on her face. “ Thank God! You were starting out make me sick! What is it?”

“Well,” Melinda talked slowly, as if she was still working the thought out in her mind. “ I was thinking, about how the Elders seem to think she was supposed to be a powerful force of good and that somehow during the pregnancy something happened. Is it possible to administer a potion that will take the goodness out of someone?” She waited expectantly for an answer.

Prue’s eyes lit up. “ Actually, there might be. But it would be extremely hard to make and even harder to make it so that Danielle, while in the womb was the only person that received the potion and not Piper.”

“ What if it was Phoebe? She was certainly more than capable at making up to par and potions and was a hell of a spell writer. She could have made the potion and somehow managed a spell that prevented it from affecting Piper as well.”

“You may very well be right Paige. The one remaining question is why would Phoebe do it?”

Melinda answered Prue’s question solemnly. “ Well, we obviously can’t ask her anymore, seeing that she’s dead and all.”

Prue put a comforting arm around Melinda. “ Well, we could always try summoning her.”

I stared at Prue questionably. “ Wouldn’t she be going to hell? I mean, wasn’t she a demon?”

“ I know. But what if it wasn’t all Phoebe that was doing the dark work? I know for a fact that she definitely wasn’t 100% evil because then the Elders would have known. If there is still some good in her, its probable that we can summon her.”

I nodded. “ Alright then. Let’s summon her.”

The three of us headed up to the attic where we set up and got ready to attempt summoning Phoebe. They placed the materials on the floor and recited the spell that would bring her to them.

At the completion of the spell, a white light appeared and in it was the late Phoebe Halliwell. She rolled her eyes at the sight of them. “ What do you want?”
Prue glared at Phoebe. This seemed to intimidate Phoebe a little. “Tell us everything you know. About Danielle, you, everything.”

Phoebe sighed. “ This may take awhile.”

“Well, we have a lot of time. Start talking.” Prue gave one last glare at Phoebe.

“Alright, alright. I’ll talk.”

“It all began with the vanquishing of Cole. I think that was the point where I really started heading downhill. Even though I had returned to the side of good, part of me was still yearning for that power. Well, wish and you shall receive.”

“ Obviously, you know how powerful my baby was. But I had to give up that baby. Even though it was evil, I still created it. It was my child and even though you think that because it was evil, I should have no feelings for it, I did, and I still do.”

Prue groaned. “ We know all this! Is there a point?”

“Yes, if you would just let me continue.”

“Anyway, I admit that when Piper became pregnant with Melinda, I was extremely jealous. Piper was living her dream of having her baby girl. But then, I realized I was being irrational. I should be happy for my sister, not jealous. I pushed my feelings aside and was content for a long time. I had my sisters, who loved me, but most of all, I was going to be an Aunt. I felt very fulfilled at this. But then came Danielle. I don’t know what changed, but something did.”

“After the announcement that Piper was pregnant again, something snapped. I sure as hell was happy with being an Aunt, but this was different. Piper got to have her happy family with her two children, a loving husband, etc.”

“What did I get? I had to vanquish my husband, and I lost the child that I had created with my soul mate. I wanted to ruin Piper’s perfect family. So, I searched long and hard for a potion that could somehow alter the baby inside Piper’s womb. Make it evil somehow. I found it and then conjured up a powerful spell that would prevent Piper from becoming evil as well.”

“Well, my plan worked. I’m surprised Leo didn’t at least notice that Danielle was evil. It practically radiated off her. Her aura was extremely black and cold. I knew that Piper and Leo would fins out extremely fast that Danielle was not all she seemed if I didn’t do something. I engaged myself in the dark arts, which as I found out, wasn’t that hard. I had pushed away that side of me a long time ago, but had never gotten rid of it.”

Phoebe paused, waiting for some type of comment, but when she received none, continued.

“ I continuously made a potion to hide the evilness from Piper and Leo. I constantly placed droplets of it in Danielle’s bottles to prevent anyone, even Leo from sensing her as evil. I was successful and relieved.”

“But then as Danielle continued to grow older, obviously she was going to be able to access her powers. From the time she learned how to walk and talk, I was teaching her how to control her powers, telling her when to use them, etc. I was sort of her guide from that time on. I was her guide until she killed me.”

Phoebe stopped talking. I glanced towards Prue. Anger was clearly radiating off her in waves. “Okay, one last question. Why did you kill Piper and Leo?”

Phoebe smiled. “I was wondering when you would ask me that.”

“ I knew eventually that somehow Piper and Leo would find out. I knew they were suspicious. The potion to block Danielle’s evil aura didn’t seem to be having the same effect. One day, Piper and Leo witnessed Danielle use her powers. Danielle knew what she had to do. She killed them. She was powerful to kill Leo without an arrow. It was just our luck that Melinda happened to walk in. She confronted Danielle.”

“Danielle simply placed the knife in Melinda’s hands and pretended to be unconscious. I then screamed and started to cry as Paige came running in. I convinced her that Melinda had done it. We then sent her to hell. End of story.”

“You bitch.” Prue looked like she wanted to strangle Phoebe with her bare hands. “I don’t know how the hell you’re in heaven, but I hope Piper kicks your sorry ass.”

Prue then repeated the spell to send Phoebe back herself.

“Well, wasn’t that fun. I’ll admit, I’m always up for story time.”

The three of us whipped our heads around to see Danielle standing there with a malicious grin plastered on her face.

“But the real fun is about to begin.”

Without a warning, she pulled a knife out of her pocket and threw it. It was headed straight for Melinda’s heart.

But, at the last second, Prue jumped in front of Melinda and took the knife in her heart instead. She was dead.

Melinda was shocked as was I.

Danielle laughed. “Well, that didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but I’ll take whatever I can get. Its like your forces were just weakened. I’ll be seeing you later.”

With a wink, a snap of her tongue and a point of her finger towards us, Danielle was gone leaving Melinda and I to mourn the death of Prue.

I watched as Danielle disappeared, teary eyed. I then turned back to Prue’s motionless form on the floor beside me.

Sure, she was already dead, so this wasn’t a big deal for her, but I had just met my big sister. The person I had tried so hard to be.

Danielle had destroyed my family. I sobbed a little. Everything, it was all gone. One by one, she had taken my loved ones. All that remained was Melinda.

Melinda noticed I was sobbing and affectionately touched my arm. I looked up into her face. There was so much love. And God, she looked so much like Piper. Piper.
I had to go on for Piper. I had to avenge her death. Hell, if I was looking for my internal drive that was it. I was going to push myself for Piper.

I didn’t care how long it took, or how hard it was going to be. I was going to kick Danielle’s ass even if I died trying.

“Aunt Paige? Are you okay?”

I smiled meekly. “I’m fine Melinda. We have a bitch to vanquish.”

Melinda smirked. “ Yup, we definitely do.”


An hour later, we were armed with various spells, and potions. We needed all the ammo we could get. This was not going to be an easy vanquish. We were going to have to use every ounce of our being if we wanted to succeed. Two against one had the odds for us, but odds were nothing.

I took a deep sigh and turned towards Melinda. “ Are you ready?”

She nodded tentatively.

“ Let’s go.” At my words, we both orbed to wherever Danielle was.

We arrived in a dark cave. Figured. What was it with evil and caves?

Melinda and I started walking slowly. We had to be on alert and were careful not to make any noise. The caves were extremely dark, with only a torch every 50 feet or so. This worked against us, as we had no idea where we were going. Danielle could easily be lurking in the shadows and we wouldn’t know until she was upon us.

We walked on for twenty minutes or so, and still no sign of anything. After we rounded a corner, we began walking down a rather dark path containing no light at all. Melinda and me glanced towards each other. This was not a good sign.

Hesitantly, we took small steps down the path, with me in the lead. I trembled. Something was with us. Whether or not it was Danielle, I didn’t know.
***
I followed Aunt Paige slowly. This place was creeping me out. Places didn’t usually creep me out after spending eight years in hell. Unless, this was hell. I gulped. That wasn’t a pleasant thought. My powers were used to down here, but Paige wouldn’t be at full strength. I heard a noise ahead of me. It sounded like Paige had stopped walking.

“Aunt Paige? What is it?”

“ I’m sorry, but Aunt Paige is unable to answer at the moment. If you leave your name and number I’m sure she’ll get back to you.”

A light suddenly appeared and it was revealed that we were standing in a large, spacious area. Danielle was grinning evilly in front of me, a sword in hand. On the ground, lay Paige, not moving. I ran to her.

“ Aunt Paige? Aunt Paige?” I shook her body, but she didn’t move.

“Oh come on, don’t you know a dead person when you see one? After Piper and Leo, you would think you would know a person was dead if that much blood surrounds their body.” Danielle let out a laugh.

I glanced at Paige’s body again. Looking closer, I noticed that her throat had been slit. Just like Mom and Dad, Danielle had ruptured her jugular. My eyes opened in shock and I slowly backed away.

Past memories slowly faded into my head. History had repeated itself. My family was gone. They were taken from me because of one person. Danielle. I turned to face her.

“ You bitch.”

“Oh wow. I’m scared.” She snickered.

I was so angry. The reason for why I had worked for eight years to come back to this world was standing in front of me, laughing. And yet, I was doing nothing about it.
“ You should be.” I slowly walked towards her.

“ That’s what Phoebe told me. But I really don’t believe her. You see, if you’re so much more powerful than me, than how come you weren’t able to stop me?”

“ Shut up.”

“ Come on. I just killed the Charmed Ones, new and old and you really expect me to be afraid of you?”

Danielle and I were now circling each other. I quickly summoned a sword.

“ Oh, you want to fight do you? Well may the best sister win.”

With that, we were upon each other, ready to fight to the death.

We battled long and hard. Back and forth we swung our swords. We each blocked each other’s swings. The clang of metal was all that could be heard as we sweat furiously, neither of us willing to let down.

I wasn’t willing to let down but I knew it would happen, as I grew more tired by the second. Danielle was exceptionally skilled in the use of the sword and I wasn’t. I had to fall. I let her knock her sword out of my hand. It flew to the nearby wall and hit it with a loud clank.

Danielle looked at me menacingly. Before she could even throw in another word though, I telekinetically bent it in half. She looked down shocked. If we were going to fight, we were going to fight my way.

Danielle threw a fireball at me but I froze it. She bombarded me with various balls of electricity and fire, hoping that for one of them I would falter. But I didn’t. Danielle was growing more frustrated by the minute. She stopped throwing and I took a deep breath. This was it. Those were her only powers. I knew she couldn’t summon, thank god for that or I’d be in big trouble.

That’s where my advantage was. I knew my fighting skills weren’t as good but power wise we were about equal. Danielle and I had reached a stalemate.

We stood there, staring at each other, each of us tired and drenched in sweat. For about two minutes, we stayed like that, until Danielle shimmered away.

So that was it. There was always another time. I would get her, I would become-

I gasped. Suddenly all of my internal organs were screaming in pain. It was pain like I had never felt before. I glanced down to see my sword sticking out of my chest. How could I have been so stupid? Why didn’t I remember that it had been lying there? Well, it seemed my mistake was going to cost me my life.

I fell to the floor gasping. Danielle was going to succeed in destroying the Warren line. It was going to end with me. I started thinking about how I would get to see my parents again. I wondered how heaven was.

A bright white light appeared and illuminated the whole room. Wow, that was quick. The light stopped glowing and before me stood my parents. They smiled and walked towards me. I couldn’t believe I was in heaven already. So far it was pretty good.

My father bent down over me and placed his hands on my stomach by where the wound was. I felt no pain anymore. Heaven was nice. Then my mom placed her hand in mine.. I hadn’t touched her in eight years. Her touch was warm and inviting and suddenly I just wanted her to hug me forever. Well now that wouldn’t be a problem seeing as we had eternity now.

“ Melinda honey? You have to get up.”

Wait a second. This wasn’t heaven. We were still in the room where I had fought Danielle and I was still lying in the spot where I had supposedly died. “ What’s going on?”

I used my Mom’s hands to help me up and glanced around. In the far corner of the room stood Danielle, frozen. I hadn’t frozen her. The only person that could have done it was my mom. But she was dead. It wasn’t possible.

“ Mom? Did you? How?” I stumbled to find words.

She smiled warmly. “ It doesn’t matter. I’m here in the flesh, but only for this time. The three of us have to vanquish Danielle.”

My father joined my mom and me. He took one of my hands while my Mom took the other. What happened next was all a blur. Not consciously I started chanting words that I didn’t know and had never heard of. All I knew was I had to chant them. When my parents and I finished, Danielle was no more.

“Sorry, we have to go now.”

“I know. But can I go with you?”

“ Honey, we were sent here for one task and one task only. That was to vanquish our daughter. And no, you can’t come with us. It’s not your time. You’re destined to carry on the Warren line. You’re meant to continue our fight.”
I knew she was right of course. But I didn’t want to believe it. I nodded my head. “ I understand.”

My father spoke to me next. “ We’re so proud of you. In the last eight years you’ve been through more than anybody could ever understand. But you came through. We knew that you would. You define what a Warren is and you make our family line proud. And jus to let you know, you’re in for an even rougher road with your daughter.”

He winked at me, gave me a kiss and a hug and stepped away. My mom did the same.

“Goodbye Melinda. Just remember that we will be watching over you always and you’ll always be in our hearts.”

With that, they were once again illuminated in white light and disappeared.

Epilogue

Choices are what define us in life. They are what make us who we are. Every choice will have some type of consequence, good or bad, and sometimes we can’t go back and change a decision that we made. Because once it’s done it’s done.

Phoebe made one little mistake in her life and it cost her. She was bound to evil for the rest of her life. She couldn’t go back and change what she had done once Danielle was born.

Paige and Phoebe couldn’t take back sending me from hell. But, Paige chose to feel guilty about it. That defined her as a caring person.

You can never go back and change the past, but you can continue the future. I think that’s what my Mom taught me. I know that I’m meant to continue my Aunt’s work. But, if my Mom had been selfish and took me with her to heaven, I wouldn’t be able to. She believed in defending innocence though and that was what defined her. She was never a selfish person.

In my life, I strive to be like her everyday and only hope that I can live up to her expectations.

The end