Post by StoryGirl83 on Aug 30, 2008 20:48:07 GMT -5
Chapter Ten – First Impressions
When there was no response Vicki decided she hadn’t spoken loud enough. It wasn’t easy to disregard a lifetime of quite submission to rules and regulations for safety’s sake. Even answering the front door of their house in Boston had been forbidden. If her parents weren’t home strangers were not to know that the girls were there. “Who’s there?” she asked again, this time louder.
“Paige,” the confused voice of her Aunt Paige responded. No, not her Aunt Paige. Her Aunt Paige was dead, gone forever, as was her entire world. All her friends. Everything. Still, the witch trials were no more and while this wasn’t the same Aunt Paige, it was, after a manner of speaking, her aunt Paige. She had the same life as her Aunt Paige did up until just about twenty-eight years before. The experiences that truly had shaped her aunt were the same as those of this woman’s.”
“Hello?”
Vicki realized she had been drifting off into another world, her world. She shook her head a little and straightened her shoulders. Then, she took the door knob in her hand, turned and pulled the door back. Paige Matthews-Mitchell stood there with one of her twin daughters. Vicki looked closely and seeing a slight color to the older teen’s cheeks she smiled knowing it was Alanna. “Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
Paige looked at her curiously. “Who are you?”
Vicki nodded as if this confirmed something. She stepped aside and let them in. “I think I am supposed to let Mom tell you or one of the other adults,” she told them as she shut the door behind them.
Paige frowned. “Should I know you? There is something familiar about you.”
“You have never met me,” Vicki assured her. I’ve met you, but you have never met me.
“Are you certain?” Paige asked, again. There was something very familiar about this girl.
Vicki nodded. “Alanna, I believe my cousin would like to speak with you. She said if you or Janice came to send you upstairs.”
Alanna frowned. “How do you know I am Alanna and not Janice? We are identical.”
“Not fully,” Vicki informed her. “There is a subtle difference in your hair colors and your cheeks usually look warm, while she often looks cold.”
Alanna blinked at the odd referencing to her powers and that of her twin. “Our powers show in our appearance?”
“To me,” Vicki commented with a shrug. “Pat always says she doesn’t see it when I say things like that, so I am unsure if it is only me or really there.”
“What,” Alanna began before asking, “who’s Pat?”
“My sister,” Vicki told her with a smile. “I’m Vicki, if you are interested. Victoria Penelope Tru . . .” she sighed and stopped. “Melinda will want to see you I think.”
“Melinda?” Alanna asked, confused again by an unfamiliar name.
“My cousin,” Vicki informed her. “She is upstairs in one of the bedrooms. I am not sure whose room is whose or anything at this point.” She looked up suddenly at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She peaked through the doorway into the front room to see who was coming.
Her father, Andy, walked down the stairs toward her. Seeing her he smiled. “Vicki, are you sure you don’t want to come upstairs with us?”
Vicki nodded. “There is nothing to fix it. Everything and everyone we know is gone except for us five.”
Paige had walked over to the archway and looked at Andy with a frown. “Who are you?”
Andy looked at her surprised. “Paige.”
Paige gave him a dubious look. “Yeah. And you are?”
Andy sighed. “Sorry, this will take some getting used to.” I only hope I get the chance to get used to it. Andy looked at his daughter. “We can’t go back. They say we have nowhere to return to. That isn’t what we are trying to do upstairs. We are trying to stay.”
“Stay where?” Paige asked, confused. “They who?”
“They,” Andy said, pointing up, “said that myself, my wife, my two daughters, and my wife’s niece have nowhere to go, since we seem to have crashed our reality. We are trying to figure out a way for us to stay here.”
Paige gapped at him. “Start over.”
Before anyone could answer, Piper came down the stairs . “Paige, you made it.”
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Paige looked at them pleadingly.
Piper looked at Andy with a frown. “You didn’t tell her?”
“I just got here. I was looking for Vicki.”
Piper sighed. “Paige, you had better find a seat. This is a doozy.”