Not So Blissful Matrimony
Melinda Halliwell had been standing on the porch of the Victorian manor she called my home for the past 20 minutes or so. Once or twice she had reached to grab the doorknob but she couldn’t bring herself to open the door. She was considering, in her own mind, if running away would be worth the trouble. After some careful though she decided it was pointless to run and she was going to have to face her demons eventually.
She sighed and opened the front door and slowly made her way inside. The house hadn’t changed much over the years. It was originally built in 1898 and since then the only real difference was that now there was indoor plumbing.
She didn’t bother looking for her eldest brother downstairs, she knew he would be waiting for her in the attic. She began to climb the staircase, allowing her hand to glide up the banister as she walked.
She finally reached the door to the attic and again found herself unable to open the door. She had this awful feeling in her stomach that once she knew what Wyatt had to tell her nothing would be the same again. She basked in the last few seconds she had in her old life before finally entering the attic.
Wyatt stood on the opposite end of the room, his back turned to her. He didn’t acknowledge her presence so she figured he must not have heard her come in. He seemed to be distracted. He was looking over some old pictures that were set up on a shelf. Most of family members who had died before any of them were born but Melinda had a feeling he wasn’t focusing on those. On the third shelf, second from the left, lived the only surviving family picture they had left. It was taken when Melinda was three, before Leo left. Melinda was fond of looking at it from time to time but she had never thought Wyatt would waste his time with it.
“Reminiscing?” She finally said, making my presence known.
He turned to look at her. She could tell she had caught him off guard because for just a second she a glimmer of his old self in his eyes before they hardened over.
“How long have you been standing there?” He asked, moving away from the pictures.
“Not long. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me come in.”
He looked at his younger sister intently, probably trying to figure out if she was telling the truth.
“So what did you want to tell me?” She asked, she didn’t actually want to know but she figured she would find out eventually and there was no point of dragging it out.
“I have arranged for you to marry?” He said so calmly which only made what he was saying sound even worse.
“What?” Melinda yelled. She had expected something bad but this was just awful. “I will not allow you to just give me to one of your stupid demons. I’m going to…” before she could finish, she felt her throat begin to constrict and it was becoming harder and harder to get air. She fell to my knees clawing at her throat, unable to get any air at this point.
“Are you threatening me little one.”
Wyatt finally released his grip and she fell to the floor gasping for breath. He kneeled down next to her so his face was right next to hers. “Don’t you want to know who it is?” He asked in a mocking tone. She didn’t really want to know, it didn’t matter who it was, She wasn’t going to go threw with it.
“It’s Matthew,” He told her.
“You’re kidding.” She half screamed. She had finally regained her strength and was able to stand herself up so that she was eye to eye with him. She couldn’t believe he wanted to marry her off to that scum of the earth. He was skinny and twisted like this petrified tree Melinda had seen when she was a kid and always made her feel uneasy. “I’m not going to marry that son of a bitch.”
She barely finished her sentence when the back of his hand met with the side of her face. She stumbled back a few steps from the intensity of the blow.
“You will do as I say.” He yelled and raised his hand for another assault and She braced myself but the blow never came. She looked up to see Chris, her other brother, holding on to Wyatt’s arm, shaking his head.
“What the hell is going on?” Chris asked with some intensity in his voice.
Wyatt turned his attention from Melinda to Chris. Chris dropped Wyatt’s hand and took a step back from Wyatt, he knew Wyatt would never hit him, mostly because he would just hit back, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.
“Wyatt has decided to sell me off” Melinda said, hoping maybe Chris could help get her out of this mess. Either way she has already decided she wasn’t going to marry Matthew. She knew Wyatt was only doing this to help himself.
“You don’t have to tell him, he already knows and he thinks it’s a good idea.” Wyatt told his sister. She could hear the triumph in his voice and it sickened her, almost as much as hearing that Chris, who she saw as her only hope at this point, approved of this union.
“What?” She yelled a little louder then was necessary “You know about this?”
“Yes” Chris admitted. Melinda could see how sorry he was but at the moment she really could have cared less.
“I can’t believe this. I hate you.” She had never told Chris she had hated him before but in this moment she did. She hated both of them. “I will not marry him, you can’t make me. He is repulsive and I hate him almost as much as I hate the two of you.” With that she stormed out.
Melinda ran to her room, locking the door behind her knowing that it wouldn’t stop her brothers from coming in but it was the principle of the thing.
She sat on my bed playing catch with herself by throwing one of those little pink stress balls against the wall. The constant sound of the ball hitting the wall was strangely soothing.
As she had predicted, Chris didn’t even bother trying to open the door and orbed in without permission. Melinda threw the ball at his head but he caught it in mid air.
“Can we please talk about this?” He begged as he threw the pink ball back to her. She caught it and placed it on the nightstand.
“No. You sold me out. How dare you think that you can just smooth this all over cause you cant.” She was fuming at this point.
“Melinda, listen to me, Matthew is a good guy. You two will be very happy together.”
“First of all I am only 19 and I don’t want to be married. Second what gives you the right to say who I will be happy with? What am I two you? Just some thing that you can trade or sell or throw away or hide?” She was so sick of the way her brothers treated her.
“Melinda that’s not fair...”
“No, you know what’s not fair, having to marry someone you don’t love or even remotely like. Just leave.” She couldn’t stand the sight of him right now.
“Fine, ill leave.” He began heading for the door before turning back to look at his sister, “You should get dressed, Mathew, Christy and Bianca will be over shortly and we are all having dinner together. Gwen made something from this French cook book so it also wouldn’t be a bad idea to eat before.”
“I’m not eating dinner with them. I hate Christy, Matt and Bianca.” She huffed.
“You will eat with us and you will behave. Understood?” Melinda was amazed out how her brothers could be so nice one second and then become complete jerks the next. She figured it probably has something to do with Bianca. Chris and Bianca had been dating for almost a year now and whenever she was around or her name was even brought up, Chris became a completely different person. Melinda hated how bipolar her brother’s could be, she never knew what she would get. Sometimes they could be nice, even Wyatt now and then, but they could also just snap and become these evil sons of bitches.
Chris didn’t wait from a reply from his sister and left the room.
Melinda refused to let him push me around like this. Did he forget that he was supposed to be groveling for her forgiveness?
She ran down the stairs after him, pink stress ball in hand.
“Hey.” she said as she threw the ball at the back of his head. It must have hurt cause it made a loud noise.
It probably wasn’t the smartest idea but it definitely did the trick. Chris grabbed his sister roughly by my arm forcing her to look directly at him. He rarely got physical with her like this but when it came to Bianca something just snapped. His eyes were cold, the person that stood before her was not my brother, at least not anymore. While Melinda still saw glimmers of the person he use to be now and then it was fading and fast, soon he would be no better than Wyatt.
Chris realized he was hurting her and let go and took a few steps back. Like Melinda, he noticed how much he was changing too.
“I’m sorry I…” he was at a loss of words. Melinda knew he didn’t mean it but she was so mad she didn’t care at the moment.
“No your not. You’re just like him. The two of you…Mom would be so disappointed.” It was harsh but true.
“Why would Mom be disappointed?” Both Chris and Melinda turned to see Wyatt had entered the hallway.
“It doesn’t matter does it, cause she is dead and I’m stuck with the two of you.”
“Melinda Faith doesn’t act like you are so much better than Chris and I. You turned your back on your heritage and your magic. You barely even use it. Mother would be so disappointed.”
“That’s a lie.” Melinda screamed running over to him in an attempt to hurt him, of course she was much smaller than her brother and he easily avoided her attack.
He grabbed her by her shoulders and was about to let her have it when a mocking voice behind them said “Sibling rivalry at its finest ladies and gentlemen.”
Wyatt released his grip on Melinda and she was able to turn around to see where the voice was coming from.
Standing before the three siblings stood Christy, Matthew and Bianca.
“Sorry to interrupt, please continue.” Christy said through her giggles.
Melinda was mortified, aside from the fact that she hated each and every one of them, she now had no way of getting out of dinner.
Melinda was relieved when Gwen walk into the room, cooking attire and all, and call everyone to dinner.
Everyone made there way into the dinning room. Melinda took her time though, She was in no mood to sit down and eat with these people. A dinner like this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence and Melinda always hated them but now she had to deal with the issue of marriage on top of it all. She wanted to run, just head straight for the front door and leave and not come back. She wanted to but she didn’t, instead she headed into the dinning room and braced herself for what I knew would be a long night
She sighed and opened the front door and slowly made her way inside. The house hadn’t changed much over the years. It was originally built in 1898 and since then the only real difference was that now there was indoor plumbing.
She didn’t bother looking for her eldest brother downstairs, she knew he would be waiting for her in the attic. She began to climb the staircase, allowing her hand to glide up the banister as she walked.
She finally reached the door to the attic and again found herself unable to open the door. She had this awful feeling in her stomach that once she knew what Wyatt had to tell her nothing would be the same again. She basked in the last few seconds she had in her old life before finally entering the attic.
Wyatt stood on the opposite end of the room, his back turned to her. He didn’t acknowledge her presence so she figured he must not have heard her come in. He seemed to be distracted. He was looking over some old pictures that were set up on a shelf. Most of family members who had died before any of them were born but Melinda had a feeling he wasn’t focusing on those. On the third shelf, second from the left, lived the only surviving family picture they had left. It was taken when Melinda was three, before Leo left. Melinda was fond of looking at it from time to time but she had never thought Wyatt would waste his time with it.
“Reminiscing?” She finally said, making my presence known.
He turned to look at her. She could tell she had caught him off guard because for just a second she a glimmer of his old self in his eyes before they hardened over.
“How long have you been standing there?” He asked, moving away from the pictures.
“Not long. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me come in.”
He looked at his younger sister intently, probably trying to figure out if she was telling the truth.
“So what did you want to tell me?” She asked, she didn’t actually want to know but she figured she would find out eventually and there was no point of dragging it out.
“I have arranged for you to marry?” He said so calmly which only made what he was saying sound even worse.
“What?” Melinda yelled. She had expected something bad but this was just awful. “I will not allow you to just give me to one of your stupid demons. I’m going to…” before she could finish, she felt her throat begin to constrict and it was becoming harder and harder to get air. She fell to my knees clawing at her throat, unable to get any air at this point.
“Are you threatening me little one.”
Wyatt finally released his grip and she fell to the floor gasping for breath. He kneeled down next to her so his face was right next to hers. “Don’t you want to know who it is?” He asked in a mocking tone. She didn’t really want to know, it didn’t matter who it was, She wasn’t going to go threw with it.
“It’s Matthew,” He told her.
“You’re kidding.” She half screamed. She had finally regained her strength and was able to stand herself up so that she was eye to eye with him. She couldn’t believe he wanted to marry her off to that scum of the earth. He was skinny and twisted like this petrified tree Melinda had seen when she was a kid and always made her feel uneasy. “I’m not going to marry that son of a bitch.”
She barely finished her sentence when the back of his hand met with the side of her face. She stumbled back a few steps from the intensity of the blow.
“You will do as I say.” He yelled and raised his hand for another assault and She braced myself but the blow never came. She looked up to see Chris, her other brother, holding on to Wyatt’s arm, shaking his head.
“What the hell is going on?” Chris asked with some intensity in his voice.
Wyatt turned his attention from Melinda to Chris. Chris dropped Wyatt’s hand and took a step back from Wyatt, he knew Wyatt would never hit him, mostly because he would just hit back, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.
“Wyatt has decided to sell me off” Melinda said, hoping maybe Chris could help get her out of this mess. Either way she has already decided she wasn’t going to marry Matthew. She knew Wyatt was only doing this to help himself.
“You don’t have to tell him, he already knows and he thinks it’s a good idea.” Wyatt told his sister. She could hear the triumph in his voice and it sickened her, almost as much as hearing that Chris, who she saw as her only hope at this point, approved of this union.
“What?” She yelled a little louder then was necessary “You know about this?”
“Yes” Chris admitted. Melinda could see how sorry he was but at the moment she really could have cared less.
“I can’t believe this. I hate you.” She had never told Chris she had hated him before but in this moment she did. She hated both of them. “I will not marry him, you can’t make me. He is repulsive and I hate him almost as much as I hate the two of you.” With that she stormed out.
Melinda ran to her room, locking the door behind her knowing that it wouldn’t stop her brothers from coming in but it was the principle of the thing.
She sat on my bed playing catch with herself by throwing one of those little pink stress balls against the wall. The constant sound of the ball hitting the wall was strangely soothing.
As she had predicted, Chris didn’t even bother trying to open the door and orbed in without permission. Melinda threw the ball at his head but he caught it in mid air.
“Can we please talk about this?” He begged as he threw the pink ball back to her. She caught it and placed it on the nightstand.
“No. You sold me out. How dare you think that you can just smooth this all over cause you cant.” She was fuming at this point.
“Melinda, listen to me, Matthew is a good guy. You two will be very happy together.”
“First of all I am only 19 and I don’t want to be married. Second what gives you the right to say who I will be happy with? What am I two you? Just some thing that you can trade or sell or throw away or hide?” She was so sick of the way her brothers treated her.
“Melinda that’s not fair...”
“No, you know what’s not fair, having to marry someone you don’t love or even remotely like. Just leave.” She couldn’t stand the sight of him right now.
“Fine, ill leave.” He began heading for the door before turning back to look at his sister, “You should get dressed, Mathew, Christy and Bianca will be over shortly and we are all having dinner together. Gwen made something from this French cook book so it also wouldn’t be a bad idea to eat before.”
“I’m not eating dinner with them. I hate Christy, Matt and Bianca.” She huffed.
“You will eat with us and you will behave. Understood?” Melinda was amazed out how her brothers could be so nice one second and then become complete jerks the next. She figured it probably has something to do with Bianca. Chris and Bianca had been dating for almost a year now and whenever she was around or her name was even brought up, Chris became a completely different person. Melinda hated how bipolar her brother’s could be, she never knew what she would get. Sometimes they could be nice, even Wyatt now and then, but they could also just snap and become these evil sons of bitches.
Chris didn’t wait from a reply from his sister and left the room.
Melinda refused to let him push me around like this. Did he forget that he was supposed to be groveling for her forgiveness?
She ran down the stairs after him, pink stress ball in hand.
“Hey.” she said as she threw the ball at the back of his head. It must have hurt cause it made a loud noise.
It probably wasn’t the smartest idea but it definitely did the trick. Chris grabbed his sister roughly by my arm forcing her to look directly at him. He rarely got physical with her like this but when it came to Bianca something just snapped. His eyes were cold, the person that stood before her was not my brother, at least not anymore. While Melinda still saw glimmers of the person he use to be now and then it was fading and fast, soon he would be no better than Wyatt.
Chris realized he was hurting her and let go and took a few steps back. Like Melinda, he noticed how much he was changing too.
“I’m sorry I…” he was at a loss of words. Melinda knew he didn’t mean it but she was so mad she didn’t care at the moment.
“No your not. You’re just like him. The two of you…Mom would be so disappointed.” It was harsh but true.
“Why would Mom be disappointed?” Both Chris and Melinda turned to see Wyatt had entered the hallway.
“It doesn’t matter does it, cause she is dead and I’m stuck with the two of you.”
“Melinda Faith doesn’t act like you are so much better than Chris and I. You turned your back on your heritage and your magic. You barely even use it. Mother would be so disappointed.”
“That’s a lie.” Melinda screamed running over to him in an attempt to hurt him, of course she was much smaller than her brother and he easily avoided her attack.
He grabbed her by her shoulders and was about to let her have it when a mocking voice behind them said “Sibling rivalry at its finest ladies and gentlemen.”
Wyatt released his grip on Melinda and she was able to turn around to see where the voice was coming from.
Standing before the three siblings stood Christy, Matthew and Bianca.
“Sorry to interrupt, please continue.” Christy said through her giggles.
Melinda was mortified, aside from the fact that she hated each and every one of them, she now had no way of getting out of dinner.
Melinda was relieved when Gwen walk into the room, cooking attire and all, and call everyone to dinner.
Everyone made there way into the dinning room. Melinda took her time though, She was in no mood to sit down and eat with these people. A dinner like this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence and Melinda always hated them but now she had to deal with the issue of marriage on top of it all. She wanted to run, just head straight for the front door and leave and not come back. She wanted to but she didn’t, instead she headed into the dinning room and braced herself for what I knew would be a long night