Bitter Destruction

First off, let me say, "OKAY, I LIED!" :D There's actually two more chapters after this chapter! So there'll be 17 chapters altogether. I'm pretty positive on this now. :)

Second off, my ode to my lovely reviewers!

Prince of Madness - Haha, it sure is getting climactic, isn't it?! :D You're mighty welcome for the quicker updates. I'm definitely getting better at sticking to this now, eh? ;) No more five month waits! I'm glad you're noticing these things. It makes me proud as a writer to see you're paying attention. Great work! ;) Thank you so much, darling!

Erika - Ah, beautiful, you are back! Yaaaay! :D I literally lol'd at your comment for refreshing the page! XD What a woman you are (you are female, yes? ;D)! I'm so thrilled to hear you love the story! It's always nice to have fans that stick with it. I'm sincerely glad to have you on board! Thank you, sweetheart!

Anyway, if you didn't read the bold, there are TWO MORE CHAPTERS after this one. I'm about 90% sure about this. :)

ps - There's another POV switch in this one as well! The chapter begins with Delilah's perspective but changes into a third person POV about halfway. Please take note of this or you may get a little confuzzled. :)

That, I believe, is all. Just read it already! :p Enjoy!

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Delilah's POV

Despite how sick I felt and how dirty I knew I was, I slept well through the night. But waking up was hard. The second my eyelids lifted and revealed the new morning, the start of another day, I frowned as I looked at the other side of the bed. It was empty.

I pressed my hands down onto the mattress where Prue was supposed to be, wishing she was really there so I could touch her beautiful skin. “Good morning,” she would say, smiling sleepily, her eyes cluttered with slight exhaustion.

“Good morning,” I whispered aloud, biting my lip as I reached up to cup her imaginary cheek and stroke back her dark hair.

She shut her eyes once, longing for more slumber, then opened them again. When they opened, they weren't as happy anymore. Her smile drifted away.

My chest began to tighten as tears gathered, messing up my vision. “I'm sorry, Prue,” I choked out, watching her fade from the sheets. Empty it remained.

Three knocks at the bedroom door startled me. My heart pulsed while I struggled to sit forward. “Prue?” I called softly.

“No,” I heard Cole say from behind the wooden barrier. “It's me. Can I come in?”

I swallowed down my excitement. “Um, yeah,” I replied quietly, pushing a hand through my hair. “Just one second. I'll let you in.” I threw the blankets off and walked over to Prue's closet, finding a t-shirt and slipping it on. I sighed and rolled my eyes when it didn't go down past my belly-button. Carelessly, I waddled over to the door and pulled it open. “What's up?” I asked, closing the door behind him.

Cole's hair was wet from, what I assumed was, a shower. He wore a black, wool-knit sweater that hugged his muscular upper body and dark jeans that fell past his working boots. “How are you doing?” he asked, standing tall in front of me, his eyes glimpsing down at my exposed stomach.

I shrugged. “Could definitely be better,” I confessed, resting a hand on my lower back. It was starting to hurt just standing there; my feet grew tired from holding all the weight.

“Phoebe told me,” he said, his voice mellow. “Prue told her and Piper what happened.”

Biting my lip and blushing a crimson red, I turned away from his gaze. I didn't blame Prue for telling her sisters. She had every right. But now I knew how embarrassing it actually felt knowing that everyone around me knew about my slutty act. “I'm not proud of it, Cole,” I replied, feeling the sting from my teeth on my lip, “so if you came up here to give me shit about it--”

“No, hey, that's not it,” he said, keeping the same calm tone. “I just want you to know that I'm here for you, okay?” I looked back up at him, loving the soft blue of his eyes. Honestly comforting. “I know how pissed Prue will be, but she loves you. And if she loves you as much as I think she does, and if you work on fixing the trust you broke, you guys will mend.”

I sniffled and laughed. “Where do you come off sounding so wise?”

Cole smiled a crooked grin. “I've been practicing.”

I held half a smile and leaned into him, enjoying his hard chest and the fresh smell of his skin. I hoped that my son, if it was a boy, would be just as kind and comforting as Cole. Maybe I would name the child after Cole... Hm.

We pulled away from the embrace when Cole said, “I came up here for a bigger reason, though.”

My eyebrows became a jagged line of confusion. “What?”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, kind of like a shy boy at school around a flock of girls. His right hand wriggled inside the pouch and took out a cube-shaped box wrapped in a navy blue velvet. My eyes widened. “Is that a ring, Cole?” I gaped.

“Shh,” he hushed, glancing at the door. “I'm going to ask Phoebe to marry me.”

With my jaw hanging, I tried to smile at the same time. “That's wonderful, Cole!” I whisper-yelled, petting the soft surface of the box with my fingertips. “I'm so happy for you!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I be?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Maybe because we used to...” His eyes flickered down to my bottom half. “And I'm pretty sure we had feelings for each other.”

I nodded. "Okay, those things are true, yes, but I can see how happy Phoebe makes you and what we had was really just a fling compared to that -- though it was a very nice fling at the time." I blushed as I said that, but Cole innocently smirked. My heart did a jolt -- I missed Prue's smirk. "I give you my blessing," I said in a hushed tone, "to marry Phoebe."

The smirk stretched into a gracious grin. "Thank y--"

Cole's body shook uncontrollably for a couple seconds, his hands shaking wildly and releasing the ring's box, which clattered onto the floor. Then Cole collapsed to the floor, eyes shut, body motionless.

I gasped loudly, stepping back from the scene. My eyes found something behind Cole's ragdoll-like body: a flowing red cloak, as dark as blood. I scanned up the attire to meet a dark face with bright white eyes and brown hair. In her hand, she held a syringe with a very long needle. Inside was lime green fluid, filled all the way to the top.

"NO--" I screamed, backing into something. A hand flew over my mouth, blocking the rest of my cry. My hands dove to the arm that had latched around me, trying to release it from my face, but the intruder's other hand had snatched my limbs and pulled them back. Silent tears fell from my eyes. I needed to tell Prue.

"Don't even think about using your power," The Seer said, as if she heard my thoughts, stepping over Cole's broken body, "or The Charmed Ones are dead."

Rough, fast breaths raced out of my nose and into Jarrod's hand. I nodded vigorously and let out a muffled sob.

"Good," she said, lifting up my shirt so it sat on the top curve of my swollen abdomen. She lowered her body down, so she could kneel in front of the bulge. I couldn't see her but her hands were touching my round belly, making me shiver from how cold the fingers were. "It's ready," The Seer murmured, peeling her hands away.

Another sob shook my body while Jarrod chuckled low into my ear. "Good," he echoed, getting so close to my face that I could smell his aftershave.

Aftershave...

My eyes bugged out of my sockets. Jarrod was the demon that had been in Prue's bedroom! The aftershave that I could smell when I came in. He must've shimmered out just as I came in because the alert stopped sounding then.

"This will hurt, Delilah," The Seer said below me, poking the tip of the needle into my navel. "Try not to scream."

The needle drove straight into me, right through the scar from my father. I arched my back as I screamed in agony, feeling the greatest pressuring pain I'd ever felt. My muscles burned and spasmed, resisting against Jarrod's hold but he was strong enough to keep me back. I heard the suctioning of the fluid being pushed through the needle into my stomach, spreading through me like a disease. The Seer pulled the syringe out, leaving me to shake, pant, and groan in misery.

"Why didn't you use it all?" Jarrod said to The Seer, tightening his grip on my hands.

The Seer stood up from her kneeling position. She stared deep into my eyes, a small smile crossing her lips. "This is just enough. Let her suffer a little."

Jarrod released his hand from my mouth and pushed me down onto the ground next to Cole. I heard him laugh as I clutched my stomach, seething in excrutiation. I clamped my eyes shut, waiting for the pain to subside but it didn't. I sobbed into my hair and felt the baby kick hard against the womb. When I opened my eyes, I saw that The Seer and Jarrod were gone, and so was Cole. They took him. "No..." I whispered, curling my fingers around my belly.

Suddenly, my fingers uncurled uncontrollably. I started to stand up. I looked around. I stared into Prue's mirror and saw my eyes. They were a hollow black. Lifeless. A fire lit inside my hand and my arm jerked forward, throwing the flame into the mirror, letting it smash into a thousand pieces. Everything I just did -- everything my body just did -- was out of my control. I could hear myself think inside my head, but that was all. I could feel the harsh shooting of pain travel all around my muscles, but I couldn't take control over my body. "Stop!" I shouted silently to myself, but I didn't hear it in the room; it was only inside my head. "Stop!" My body didn't stop. My feet walked, and my stomach expanded outward. I screamed in my head, and only in my head. I tried to use my power, to tell the sisters to stop... me from destruction, but nothing happened!

I was no longer in control of my own body.

The baby had taken over.

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Third Person POV

Prue had walked by her bedroom door at least six times that morning. She glanced at it every time, too. What was she expecting? Delilah to just pop out and apologize? To say that she regretted everything? To fall into her arms and whisper how much she wanted to be with her, and not some ugly demonic woman or half-demon or anyone else? Prue shook her head; she had to stop acting like nothing happened. Delilah kissed another woman. 'So stop feeling guilty,' her mind bugged.

Huffing out a sigh, she placed her hand over her jeans' pocket, checking the bump that was hidden beneath the denim material. The vial was safe. She made it to the end of the hallway and stepped down the staircase. Piper and Phoebe were down in the living room folding clothes. "I was practicing earlier," Piper said to Phoebe, folding one of Leo's pairs of jeans, "and I actually got it right. It felt great!"

Prue paused at the last step. "Please tell me you're talking about something non-sexual," she grimaced.

Phoebe laughed loudly, covering her mouth with a sock. Piper, however, rolled her eyes in slight irritation. "Actually, I was talking about my new power. I finally got it to work correctly this morning."

Prue arched her eyebrows in surprise. "Congrats, Piper," she said, leaning over one of the laundry baskets and helping them fold.

"Thank you," the middle sister said, grinning in pride.

"See her yet, Prue?" Phoebe asked, setting down the sock that was previously attached to her face into a pile with other white footwear.

Piper's eyes angled to see Prue's profile as she folded a shirt of Leo's.

"No," Prue responded, taking one of her own shirts out of the pile. "I'm waiting for her to talk to me."

Both sisters nodded, but they knew that Prue would talk first if the opportunity came. That's how badly she loved Delilah.

"Ew," Piper remarked, wrinkling her nose, "found your bra, Pheebs!" She tossed the undergarment up in the air.

"No, Phoebe, that's De--"

As a reflex, Phoebe caught the material with her right hand and gasped, shutting her eyes tightly.

She saw the Underworld, filled with demons dressed in flowing cloaks, each of them holding candles. Near the center stood The Seer, a blonde-haired man, and Delilah, whose eyes were as black as coal and belly was large enough to carry triplets, it seemed. Delilah stared down at a large book, about the size of their own book of witchcraft, and said words as she read. She then saw herself, Prue, Piper, and Cole, all locked inside a cage between a long row of cloaked-demons. Delilah peered up from the book and at the Charmed Ones, staring directly at them before lifting up her hands and releasing fire.

Another gasp flew from the youngest Halliwell's mouth as she pulled out of the premonition. Piper and Prue stared at her, worried. "What'd you see?" Prue asked tersely.

She exhaled deeply before telling them, "I saw the Underworld, surrounded by demons, and The Seer and, I'm guessing, Jarrod were there, and so was Delilah. And Delilah looked really pregnant."

"Really pregnant?" Piper repeated, her voice elevating in emotion.

"Like, definitely nine months pregnant," Phoebe declared, nodding. "Delilah was reading out of some spellbook, it looked like, and us three were there with Cole stuck inside some cage near the demons. And the last thing I saw..."

"What, Phoebe?!" Prue questioned fiercely.

She gulped. "Delilah threw fire. In our direction."

Piper covered her "o" shaped mouth with her hand, eyes protruding. Prue didn't move; she kept staring at Phoebe. "But I didn't see if she was--" Phoebe started, but stopped when she heard the creak of the staircase steps.

All three sisters turned in the direction of the noise and felt their eyes take up half their faces. Delilah walked down the steps, taking each step with noticable caution and ease. Trance-like. Each step creaked under her weight. Her stomach had fallen over her groin, at least doubled in size, gaining the four months that were left in her pregnancy. She kept her eyes on the three witches as she stomped, using her black eyes that matched the hair on her head. Prue knew right away that what she was looking at couldn't have been Delilah. What she saw was a woman possessed; not her Delilah.

"She is really pregnant..." Piper breathed under her mouth, gawking at the sight of what-once-was a delicate, feeble Delilah, but now a whale-like, monstrous Delilah. She turned to Phoebe in a swift pivot. "Your premonition... That can't be today can it?!"

Phoebe shook her head, saying, "I don't... think so!"

As the two younger sisters went berserk over this, Prue stepped around them and stood toe-to-toe with Delilah. "Get out of her," she said, staring directly into the blackholes embedded in Delilah's skull. "Leave her alone."

Delilah's head cocked to the side, watching Prue closely. She lifted up a hand, bringing the other two Halliwell sisters closer. They each screamed and wiggled, confused by the levitation power that came from Delilah. Delilah put them down next to Prue, who didn't tear away from the black eyes.

"You're stubborn," Delilah said to the eldest Charmed One, but it wasn't her sweet, meek voice. It was distorted and gruff, like a demon's. Prue winced. It had complete control over her Delilah. The demon-witch woman raised her hand again, waving it in front of the sisters, and then clenched her hand into a fist. All of the sisters yelled when the vanished in a flame, and landed with a thud.

"What the hell!" Piper shrieked, pulling herself up first. She reached down to help Phoebe and Prue up by their hands. "Where are we?"

"In the Underworld," a man said next to them. The sisters jumped, startled by another's voice. They all realized it was Cole.

"Cole!" Phoebe cried, running into his arms. "What're you doing here?"

"Why are we here? And in this cage?!" Piper cried, putting her hands around the bars.

"We're stuck in here," Cole said, his voice scratchy. "We're here to witness the coronation... of the new Source."

The sisters turned away from the half-demon and looked around them, at the robed demons holding long, wax candles lit by small flames, at the center of the area where the red-robed Seer stood in front of a bookstand with Jarrod at her side. Before them and the book placed on the stand was Delilah, one of her hands placed on the book and the other on her gigantic stomach, staring intently at The Seer.

The Seer smiled at Delilah before averting in the Charmed Ones' direction. Her bright eyes sparkled as she grinned and announced, "Let the ceremony begin!"

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Dun dun dun! A new Source is to be crowned, hm? Oh my, what will happen next?! :D

Reviews are very welcome!