Dark Paths

Melinda is tired of being shunted to the side. She knows as much as her brothers about magic and witchcraft, so why is she the one always left behind? Like Chris before her, she now wants to prove her worth as a Halliwell, and killing a demon is just the way to do it! Too bad she has no idea that she's just interrupted a darklighter's scheme and now he's out to get revenge. Will her brothers notice that she's in danger when not even Melinda sees the trouble she's in?

Warning: themes of suicide and depression

(A/N) Hello guys! I'm back with another Charmed story, the next one in the League of Brothers series! As you can probably tell, though, this is going to be a little different. Melinda is going to have a much bigger role, but I can promise that the brothers are going to play a huge part in this as well. I also recommend you read the stories before this one, since they're pretty awesome. You'll find them on my profile, and I'm sure you'll love them! *wink wink*

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed, otherwise this would be an episode in the show and not just a story posted on a fanfiction website.

Enjoy!

Chapter One

The alley was seemingly empty in the middle of the day. The sun was shining brightly overhead, but the entire place was covered in shadows from the buildings on either side of it. There was no sign of movement save for a few loose sheets of newspaper that were being tossed about by the slight breeze. It was a solitary and desolate place in the nastier part of San Francisco, and yet it was about to be frequented by several beings whom usually had no business being there.

There was a sudden movement at the very end of the alley, and a bright young face could be seen to be peeking out from behind a trashcan. The girl's dark hair glistened in the little light that made it into the shadowy street, and her intelligent eyes searched the place keenly. She had been waiting there for quite a while already, waiting for someone who had yet to arrive.

Cursing quietly, she crouched down once more, her calves groaning in protest. She pulled out a map from her backpack, and a crystal. Carefully, she swung the crystal over the map until it stopped, pointing at a location. The girl squinted at the place and sighed. Clearly, she still had a wait ahead of her. She tucked both items back into her bag, which was clearly labeled: Melinda.

It was indeed Prudence Melinda Halliwell who was hiding in the alley that day, waiting for a demon she hoped would come. Rather than stay home as usual while her big brothers went off to save the city of San Francisco time and time again, this time Melinda was doing her own part in the magical heritage. It wasn't fair that she was the only one who still hadn't vanquished a demon on her own. Even PJ had managed to participate in a vanquish a short time ago, and she was younger than Melinda! Melinda planned to fix that by getting her own demon, and showing her family that far from being the inoffensive girl who needed to be protected, she was quite capable in her own right. Everyone would be proud of her. She'd be just like a star!

At the moment, though, she wasn't feeling awesome at all. She'd been hiding out in the alley for ages, told by her crystal that a demon was lurking there, waiting for the right person to come around. So, she'd begun to wait herself. At first, it hadn't seemed so bad, but after the first hour had gone by, Melinda had arrived at one conclusion: demon-stalking was boring. Melinda wished that she'd brought at least a book to pass the time, although she wasn't sure whether it would have been a good idea to read it at all, what with the demon lying in wait and everything. She might miss something.

But nothing of interest had happened, except for a mouse that had peeked its nose out of a little hole, wondering why a young girl was sitting in its alley. Melinda had nearly screamed from the sudden feeling of fur brushing her exposed ankle, but had managed to restrain herself. It was to be expected, she'd thought. It was an alley after all.

A sound then caught her attention, and Melinda turned her eyes to the entrance of the alley, where the innocent was making his appearance. He looked rather haggard and thin, as if he'd lost a lot of weight in a very short amount of time. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his cheeks were pale. His white-blond hair was tangled and greasy-looking, and his eyes looked haunted. In short, he was a mess. Yet Melinda knew that he was the innocent she was meant to protect.

The innocent glanced about the alley, wringing his hands and muttering unintelligible words under his breath. Melinda was rather confused at why he was acting that way, but she figured that as soon as she saved him, he'd be much better. Not that Melinda was quite sure how she was supposed to save him. That afternoon, tired of the relentless teasing, she'd gone to the attic and scried for evil. This was the only place that had come up, but Melinda hadn't had time to do any research on the demon before she'd headed out. Instead, she'd decided to simply trust in her powers and pack a dozen vanquishing potions. That was what her brothers did most of the time anyway, wasn't it? Wing it? So why shouldn't it work for her?

The innocent stood in the mouth of the alley for a moment before beginning to walk forward. Melinda tensed, her fingers searching in her bag for the first vial. Then, she realized her mistake. She was at the back of the alley, while the innocent was at the very front. There was much distance that she had to cover if the demon appeared near the entrance. She'd just have to trust that the creature wouldn't want to be seen and would appear near the back, so as to give her time to destroy him. Still, she'd be cutting it close. It all depended on when the demon made his entrance.

Melinda held her breath as the innocent began walking further into the empty street. One of the newspaper sheets stuck to his foot, and he nearly screamed. His eyes wide with fear, he kicked the sheet away, muttering the whole time. He also glanced around himself several times, almost as if he knew that he was being watched.

At that moment, a demon shimmered in. He was bald and his skin glistened green. He was definitely one of the uglier kinds of demons that Melinda had seen, and she hoped that he wouldn't be too powerful. She needed to take him out as quickly as possible to minimize the risk of him hurting anybody or exposing magic to the innocent. Not that the innocent would notice. As soon as he'd seen the demon, he'd fallen down in a heap. He'd fainted from the fright.

Melinda pursed her lips at the sight of the fallen innocent. The demon paid no attention to the girl. He'd shimmered in with his back to her, and was now pulling a wicked-looking athame out of thin air and preparing to dive it into the innocent lying before him.

"Hey!" The cry escaped Melinda's throat before she realized what she'd done. She tossed a potion right after she spoke. The demon turned quickly. He saw the potion heading towards him and simply sidestepped, letting the vial fall innocently on the street next to him. He then turned his attention to the young girl.

Melinda had gone slightly pale to see the demon avoid the potion so easily. This time, though, she decided she would kill him. She threw another potion at him, but his reflexes were too good. He not only avoided it, but he threw his knife at her as well. Melinda was forced to duck to keep her head on her shoulders. As it was, she still heard the whistle of the knife next to her ear.

Closing her eyes, she called upon one of the powers she'd inherited. A clattering sound filled the alley. Melinda had orbed a large trashcan onto the demon, knocking it down to the ground. Nearly dancing with glee, Melinda then decided to throw a potion at the fallen creature. As the demon vanished in a surge of flames, gone forever, Melinda found herself smiling. That hadn't been as hard as she'd thought it would be, although she really should have used the hours of waiting to formulate a better plan. Maybe she should just have distracted him first and thrown the potions later… That was something to consider. Melinda rose out of her crouching stance and examined the athame now buried in the wall. That demon must have been really strong!

Melinda thought about taking it with her, and then she shrugged. It would work as proof, to show her brothers that she had, indeed, faced a demon by herself and come out victorious. She pulled at the knife, frustrated when it wouldn't come out of the wall. So, she used some more magic. She orbed the knife into her hand, and then tucked it into her backpack. Well, this was a job well done.

Melinda headed towards the exit, a spring in her step. Near the mouth of the alley, she came upon the innocent. He was still unconscious. Melinda considered leaving him there, but then decided that was too risky. She dragged him to the entrance, where someone would easily find him, before walking away back home. Boy, she sure had something awesome to tell her brothers!

(A/N) Ah, little innocent Melinda... she has no idea what she's getting into. Poor girl. For some reason, I always avoided writing her. I had a few chapters with her in my other stories, but she was never a main character. Now, though, I've decided to get over my fear of writing Melinda and actually dedicating a whole story to her! Anyway, I would very much appreciate reviews. Reviews make me very very happy, so please go ahead and fill the little box underneath, and then I will be even happier when I post the next chapter on Friday next week! As usual, I will be posting updates every Friday, so keep an eye out for them! See you soon!