Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of it's characters

This story was inspired by a certain ancestor of the Charmed Ones. It revolves around a woman who stumbles on a magic book and begins using spells for her own gain, as she really has no understanding of the craft. She gets into some trouble and the Charmed One's come to her rescue. For those who are fans of the comics, this story is set in the future, but is not based on any info created in the comics. It's based only on what was given to us in the show.

CHAPTER 1

It was a dark, dreary night during the roaring twenties. Thunder sounded in the distant sky as rain began to fall. A woman walked up to an apartment building near Chinatown and hurried inside. She shivered from the rain that soaked her brown hair and red flapper dress. She had a brown leather book clung tightly to her chest.

Inside, the woman made it to the apartment on the second story and rushed herself in to dry off. She went to the bedroom and reached for a floorboard, pulling it up and stashing her book inside. Her lover lay asleep on the bed, his face illuminated briefly by the lightening outside. She changed into a nightgown and lay next to him barely able to sleep. She fiddled with the amulet around her neck, a gift from her lover, as she thought about the morning to come. It could very well be her last morning. The only family she had left, her cousins, were now her enemies and she was about to confront them once and for all.

Decades later, Alyson McCalister walked into that same apartment building. A table saw buzzed in the background as she maneuvered around tools, ladders, and construction workers. The building was in the process of being renovated. She made her way to the second story, to an apartment. She pushed a wave of red hair behind her left ear and stepped inside. "Hey, Bill." She waved at one of the workers as she shuffled her purse from one arm to the other.

"Alyson, good to see you again." He said. "What can I do for ya?"

"I'm just here to get a look at the place, maybe get some inspiration for design purposes." She explained. Alyson worked as an interior designer. The owner of the building hired the company she worked for to design the inside of that specific unit for a client that would eventually be purchasing it.

"Ok, just be careful. Pulled some rotted floorboards up in the bedroom." He said.

She smiled. "Thanks."

The unit was a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. It had a smaller kitchen and a large living area. Alyson was picturing an elegant kitchen, with white cabinets and brown or gray granite counter tops. She headed into the bathroom and saw the old claw foot bathtub, wondering what it would cost to restore it and keep it in the apartment. She walked into the bedroom and caught glimpse of something partially under a floorboard.

Alyson knelt down, setting her purse beside her on the floor. She reached under the floorboard and pulled up an old brown leather book. She used her hand to brush some of the dust off of it's cover and took a peek inside. The book seemed to be filled with spells and potions, but it also seemed to be a journal of sorts. Before she could read any pages, Bill entered the room. "Everything ok?" He asked.

She whipped around quickly, closing the book. "Yeah, um...I think I'm done here." She stuffed the book into her purse and rose to her feet. "Thanks." She walked out quite quickly and headed home, eager to read some entries in the book.

Alyson drove to her mother's house, her temporary home after she left her cheating, lying husband. It was an older Victorian home on Prescott Street. She and her daughter Alex, which was short for Alexandria, moved in a few weeks back. Her mother was thrilled to have them, but Alyson was less than thrilled about living back home.

When she arrived home, she checked the clock, noting that her daughter would be done at school in about an hour. She went up to her old bedroom and sat on her bed, leaning back against the head board. She pulled the book from her purse and opened the cover to the first page. "Pearl's Black Magic." Alyson read out loud. She made a face and asked herself. "What kind of name is Pearl?" She continued to read, flipping to other pages. She found a spell to invoke nightmares, a potion to attract lovers, and many other spells, wondering if they truly worked or not. "Who am I kidding? Magic isn't real." She thought as she slammed the book closed.

A few minutes later, she was opening the book again. She didn't think magic was real, so what was the harm in trying a spell or two. She wrote down a few things on a paper and stuffed the paper in her purse.

Eleven year old Alex stood on the sidewalk at school impatiently awaiting for her mother to pick her up. It wasn't like her to be late. She had only been at the school a few weeks and had already made friends with Peyton Halliwell. They sat and talked as they waited for their respective parents.

"Your Mom really works at a Newspaper?" Alex asked, the warm sun beating down on her. She would give anything for a pair of sunglasses.

"Yeah, she has an advice column." Peyton replied. "So what's it like being an only child? I'm the middle child of three unfortunately." Sometimes she wished she were an only child at times.

"Well, I used to get spoiled by my parents, but then they separated. I think they're going to divorce or something." Alex answered. She certainly wasn't happy about the possible divorce, but she had heard her mother saying her father had done some bad things. She didn't know what all of those things were though. "Now my Mom barely has any money and we had to move in with my grandma. I don't think she is really happy living with my grandma either."

"At least you have a Grandma." Peyton replied. "My Grams died before I was even born. She died right after my Mom was born."

"That sucks." Alex said.

"Where does your Grandma live?" She asked.

Alex thought for a minute, trying to remember the address. "She lives on Prescott Street, 1331 I think."

"You're kidding right? My Aunt Piper lives just a few houses down on Prescott Street." Peyton replied.

Phoebe Halliwell pulled her mini van up to the curb and rolled down the passenger window. "Hey, Peyton." She said, putting the van in park.

"Hey, Mom." She replied. "Can we wait with Alex until her Mom gets here?"

Phoebe shook her head, "Ok, I guess." She turned off the car and got out. "Is your Mom usually late Alex?"

Alex looked up at Phoebe. "No, not really." She answered.

Alyson pulled up her SUV behind Phoebe's van. She put the car in park and climbed out. "Sorry I'm late Alex, had to run to Chinatown and pick a few things up." She explained. She turned to Phoebe. "Thanks for staying with her."

"It was no problem." Phoebe assured her. They weren't waiting long anyways. "We really need to get these girls together again for another afternoon of fun."

"Yeah that sounds great, maybe over the weekend." Alyson replied. "Anyways, we should go. Bye!"

Her and Alex both ushered to the car and drove off. Alyson had to get Alex to her fathers place for the night. She was also eager to get home and try her first spell, though she was certain it wouldn't work.

In her mothers basement, Alyson opened the leather book and turned to a spell for wealth. She squinted at the old cursive, reading the page to herself. "In a cauldron of water, place a silver coin. Join hands with whom the spell is to affect and chant the words below. Once recited, pour the water over the earth and carry the coin as one would carry a charm." She pulled out an old silver coin that once belonged to her father and placed it in the cauldron that she had purchased earlier along with candles and other items at an occult shop in Chinatown. She added water and recited the spell. "I ask the lady of the moon, to bring to us your wealth right soon, jewels, money, silvers, and gold, all you give our hands can hold." She sighed and closed the book. She grabbed the coin and placed it in her jean pocket and carried the cauldron out through the kitchen. It was late enough that her mother was asleep soundly in her bed.

Alyson stepped outside into the brisk night air. Under the light of the moon, she poured the water over the Earth as the spell had called for...well, over the dirt her mothers azaleas were planted in. If anything, she gave the flowers a good watering.

I had this idea that maybe Pearl Russel might have had a book of her own potions and spells, kind of like Grams did. I made potions, spells, journal entries all for this possible book. I wish I could share all the pages I made here so you all could see them. That all helped to inspire this story. Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts so far.