Legacy: Dark Forces Rising
by Lady Dawson
Chapter One: The New Whitelighter
Brooke Murphy was only half-awake when she headed into the kitchen, pouring herself some coffee, but she could sense the anxiety in Susan Dawson as she tried to escape the apartment before seven. "You know, you're not going to solve anything that way," she commented.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Susan said as she picked up her purse off of the table. "I've just got some stuff to take care of today."
"Right, like you've had stuff to do every morning this week?" Brooke said dryly. Susan said nothing as she averted her gaze. "Sue, you're going to have to talk to him eventually. So the two of you kissed, it's not the end of the world. You need to talk to him."
"Or I could just go out and do the stuff that I have to do today," Susan responded, looking highly annoyed. "Brooke, what gives you the right to think that you can go barging into my life without so much as knocking? It's rude and aggravating."
"Which is half of the fun," Brooke said, grinning. Susan glared at her and Brooke held up her hands. "Fine, do what you want. But you know, Chris is not going away. He is still going to be our next door neighbour and you cannot avoid him forever."
"Do you get some kind of sick, twisted pleasure out of watching me squirm?" Susan wondered as she left the kitchen.
Not even a split second later, Susan let out a shriek. Brooke dropped the coffee and hurried into the living room just in time to see the witchlighter flying across the room and slamming into the wall. The demon that'd appeared in the room turned towards Brooke.
"Well, well, two witches. This should be an interesting start to the morning," he commented, conjuring an energy ball in his hands. Brooke glared at him, her brown eyes blazing as she raised her hands, summoning the powers of the earth to cause an earthquake.
"It's so nice to be in earthquake country, where people don't question this," she remarked as the quake threw the demon off balance. The energy ball went flying towards Brooke. By then, Susan had recovered and conjured up winds to send the energy ball back to its caster and the demon went up in flames.
Letting out a sigh as they were alone once again, Susan looked towards Brooke, placing her hands onto her hips. "Why is it that we can't have a normal morning around here?" she wanted to know. Brooke shook her head just as clapping caught their attention.
Both girls whirled around to look at the newcomer, electricity starting to crackle at Susan's fingertips as they did so. The guy that was standing behind them was about their age, nineteen, and quite handsome, Brooke had to admit. He had long brown hair that hung in curls around his face and determined blue eyes. But he seemed . . .
Brooke let out a sigh. "What is it with familiar guys in this town?" she whispered, studying the newcomer closely. But he seemed even more familiar than that kid had.
Susan didn't bother with courtesies. "All right, who are you and what do you want?" she demanded, taking a step forward. The guy held up his hands peacefully and took a step back. Brooke frowned; he obviously was no stranger to Susan's temper, even though she didn't lose it very often.
"Relax, Susan, I come in peace." He was smiling at the both of them, though Brooke noticed it was a little strained as he looked at her.
Her friend wasn't amused, however. As she glared at him, she said in a calm voice, "That doesn't really answer my question, now does it? Who are you, what do you want, and thirdly, how did you know my name?" Her blue eyes were narrowed slightly.
"Simple enough questions," he replied, folding his arms across his chest in a manner that seemed all too familiar. "My name's Brandon. Brandon James. And as for how I know your name and what I want, that's easy . . ." He grinned. "I'm your new Whitelighter."
--
"So apparently, Sam's got herself a new boyfriend," Wyatt Halliwell remarked as his brother Chris flipped through the newspaper, not really reading it, but not paying attention to Wyatt either. His thoughts were focused entirely on the girl next door that he'd kissed last week on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. "Chris? Hey, little brother, are you listening?"
"Nope," Chris said dimly without looking up.
"You're not at all interested with one of our cousins being picked up by some jerk?" Wyatt asked incredulously. Chris shrugged, turning the page of the paper. "Are you actually reading that?"
"No."
Wyatt shook his head. "Well, if you're not looking at the paper and you're not paying attention to me, then you're obviously worried about something." Chris glanced up at his older brother. "Come on, Chris, I know you just as well as you know yourself and I know when something's bothering you. Spill it. What's going on?"
"I'm not worried about anything!" Chris insisted. "I'm not!" he added when Wyatt gave him a disbelieving look. "Look, I've just got some stuff going on and I don't want to elaborate on it."
Pushing the paper aside, Chris ran a hand over his eyes as female voices started to rise through the walls. Wyatt looked towards the apartment next door, then to Chris.
"Is it about Susan?" he asked, frowning.
Chris said nothing as Wyatt shook his head. "Okay, if you are this hung over a girl, then just go over and ask her out, Chris. What's the worst that could happen?"
"I kissed her."
Wyatt stopped, staring at his brother in a mixture of shock and amazement. "You did what?"
"I . . . kissed . . . her . . ." Chris said, speaking slowly so his brother couldn't misinterpret his meaning.
A triumphant smile spread across Wyatt's face and he crowed. "YES! So I was right, then!" Chris rolled his eyes at his brother's insanity. "When did you kiss her, anyway?"
"When she and I left the club," Chris said with a sigh. "And I took her up onto the Bridge."
"You kissed her on top of Golden Gate Bridge?" Wyatt repeated, trying to control his laughter. He tried to calm down when Chris gave him a furious look, though this attempt failed miserably. "Not bad, little brother, not bad at all. So what happened after that?"
"She . . . left," Chris said lamely. "I took her home and she's been avoiding me since then."
Letting out a low whistle, Wyatt shook his head. "Either you're really bad at kissing or she's got some major problems," he remarked. "That's bad, considering who we are. We should have girls coming to warfare over us."
"Knock it off, Wy," Chris said, annoyed. "I know something happened to her back in Wisconsin and she's having a hard time dealing with it. It's just . . . I wish she wouldn't run from me."
Wyatt stared at his brother before glancing down at the paper. "Hey, check this out," he remarked, picking up the clipping. "'Five students attending the local university were found dead over the past week. The doctors examining them claim that while they are sure that poisoning took place, it is unclear what kind of poison it is. Anyone with information should contact the police.'"
"Some kind of poison?" Chris repeated, looking over his brother's shoulder at the paper. "Does it say what kind of effects they had?"
"Yeah, apparently the poison was just hit in a small point, like a insect bite or something and it started spreading throughout their system. It happened so slowly that they weren't sure what happened until it was too late." Wyatt slowly started folding up the paper and looked at his brother. "You know, maybe you should ask Susan to go investigate this with you. Sounds pretty demonic. Maybe somebody will know something in the Underworld."
"Yeah, it does," Chris agreed. "But I don't think that getting Susan to go demon hunting is the best way to get the relationship off of the rocks that it's on. I know you've got a problem talking about your feelings with girls, but that's not how—"
"At the very least, it'll make her talk to you," Wyatt said, exasperation in his voice. "Or I could go and talk to Brooke for you, if you want."
"No!"
"Then go ask her to check it out with you. I don't think she would turn you down when innocents are in trouble." Wyatt stood up. "I have to head over to work. You gonna check it out?"
"Yeah," Chris sighed. "I'll see you later."
As his brother left, he glanced down at the paper before grabbing it to go over to the girls' apartment. Just as he closed the door to his own, he saw a guy being practically thrown out of Susan's apartment by Susan herself.
--Opening Credits—
Title Song: "Chariot" by Gavin Degraw
Drew Fuller as Chris Halliwell
Wes Ramsey as Wyatt Halliwell
Michelle Trachtenberg as Susan Dawson
Anne Hathaway as Brooke Murphy
and Hayden Christensen as Brandon James