Trapped (Book #1 of the Charmed and Dangerous Series)

Chapter 8- Melinda's Past

In this chapter we get to see what has happened in Melinda's past. Where she went. What she did. How she became the girl she is today.

Mel's POV

I was 7 when it happened the first time. And I don't remember too much. I remember having fun that morning. Wyatt had been mad for some reason that week.

When Chris helped me get to the attic I remember seeing 3 dust piles and 2 bodies. Wyatt was up there with his powers being crazy. He didn't look good and wasn't the same after that at all. I know everybody thinks that my Aunt Paige died that day but, I don't think she did.

I just remember seeing the bodies of my mother and Aunt Phoebe. I think there were 2 piles of dust. 2 were of males and 1 female. The 2 males were my father and Uncle Coop for sure. However, the dust pile seemed too small to be an adult woman. Did I have another cousin? Was my Aunt Phoebe pregnant when she died, I mean she had a bump on her stomach, I think? Why can't I remember anything but those words? Those words. The last words spoken to me by.....by.....somebody. But who. The words. (Don't worry. This will be elaborated upon in the second book.)

Take this tape with you Melinda. You will always need to remember. Some day you will become a part of something very special and this tape is the key. Just.....always.......remember....

The last word rung in my mind through my entire life. It was when I was 11 that things start to become clear in my memory. My grandpa had allowed me and Chris to move in with him. He believed, as did I, that we were the very last remaining members of our family.

When I was around 12 years old, that's when Chris started to seriously hunt demons. He was 15 and he'd been training for years on demon killing. I was scared. I didn't want him to go out there. I was afraid that I'd lose him, just like everybody else. But he always came back. Always.

12 years old was also the time that Chris started to teach me how to use my powers to fight. He said I would need to know how to one day, and boy was he right. I've faced thousands of demons since then. But my first demon killing happened 3 months into my training. A demon came into grandpa's apartment. I wasn't in the room at the time but my grandpa was, and I was hiding in the closet. I thought about calling for Chris but didn't since that would mean sensors, and sensors meant we were caught. No, I couldn't call on him unless it was an emergency. The demon severely injured my grandpa with one stab to the leg from his blade. It was then that I stepped out of the closet, filled with rage, and blew the demon up.

Chris and I had been on the run ever since then, we never went back for fear of putting our grandpa in harm's way again. We met Bianca, a demon, when I was 13 and Chris was 16. She'd been ordered to assassinate us for a passing grade in her Assassination 101 course in school. However, she didn't. We were near a forest and I decided to wander in. Chris told me to be careful. He said he'd tell me when it was good to go. I almost fell into a river. It's more dangerous than it sounds. This river had fast rapids and there was a cliff about 10 feet above it. The river had rocks jutting out of it. I hadn't learned to swim so when I was walking I tripped and fell. I grabbed hold of a tree root near the cliff side. I was about to fall when Bianca grabbed my hand. She had a death grip and Chris was right behind her. Bianca had stuck with us ever since then.

When I was 14 the world started changing for the worse. Buildings were being demolished quickly. Wyatt was starting to take control. During that year it was the first time I'd seen my brother in nearly 7 years. His hair was longer and he seemed more evil, if that was even possible, which it was. We were over powered by demons. They brought us to him. He released us, thinking we were no challenge. He was wrong, he tried to bring us to the dark side but we fought back and fled. However, I later realized that he could have killed us right then and there. He even seemed to be going extremely easy on us. I think that somewhere inside him there is a little bit of good. I continue to believe that to this day.

At 16 years old Chris had bought an apartment and I was living with him. This was around the time that I started exploring the Underworld and taking young and undeveloped witches down there to live. Nearly all of the demons had abandoned their little hovels to go live on the surface. This place was my place. It was a place where witches could be safe. They could live, and they could practice and hone their powers.

It was around the time that I was 18 that things started to go wrong. I had bought my own apartment and moved in. I changed looks and aliases a lot. Chris had been gone for a week but he was demon hunting. Either that or he was having a little lovers quarrel with Bianca, they'd gotten engaged about a month earlier. I was at the marketplace and had about $5 in my pocket. I decided to buy an apple. The rotten owner called me out saying that I'd stolen it when I had just handed him the money. I was arrested and eventually taken to the citadel.

I'd heard that people normally don't stay but about 4 months, as in they were dead. When I got to my third I was getting worried. I'd had so much stuff happen to me. Experiments and such. However, one day I was taken to Wyatt. It was a bad day I could feel it in my bones. He smugly looked at me and told me that Chris had just left and gone to the past to "fix" everything. I didn't believe him for a long time until I realized that he wasn't coming to help me. If Chris were in my time he would have known something was wrong with me if I hadn't contacted him in so much time. So it must have been true. Maybe he had tried to tell me. How am I supposed to know?

He probably thought I was mad at him or something. Sometimes I did that. If he made me mad enough I wouldn't talk to him for months, and this would be something I would be mad about. But why wouldn't he tell me goodbye. I had given up hope of escape until Adam and the gang came by.

After I was free and away from my friends I went to my apartment and checked my holographic lookup. (Like a tablet with holograms.) I had so many messages from him, until the last one eventually told me that he loved me but was going to go through with the mission anyways.

And now here I am. Free from the citadel but in another dimension with a family I never got to know, but now need to lead into combat.

I thought about all of this as I prepped my mother and aunts for my dimension. To prepare them for anything and everything that may happen.

8 months ago

Chris' POV

We'd been able to sneak into the manor. Bianca and I were in the basement. We'd just had the best night of our lives, but I was nervous. "What's wrong?" Bianca asked. She knew me so well.

"Nothing. It's just" I sighed, "I don't want to leave Mel here alone. I know she hasn't contacted me, but I just have a feeling that something's wrong." Now Bianca sighed, "Chris nothing's gonna happen to her. She's probably just mad that you've decided to leave. But you'll be back. And while you're gone I'll look out for her."

"Promise?" I asked.

"I promise."

?*?*?*?**?*?*?*?*?**?*?*?*?*?*?**?*?*?*?*?*?*?*

Hi guys. I know it's been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. 3 more chapters left in this book. And, as it foreshadowed in the story, a sequel has been planned. Sorry about the little Chris part with all the lovey-dovey stuff. It was a little bit hard to write.

Predictions?