Charmed Realities – Episode I: Be Careful What You Dream Of
A Charmed Fan-Fiction
© Copyright 2002 Andrei R C
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Spelling Television and Constance M. Burge, except for the characters "Andrew Chase", "Andrew Wyatt" and the demons which are mine.
Part 1
It was Wednesday evening. The clock showed 11:45 p.m. as I turned off the TV and went to bed. My parents were already sleeping so I moved as quietly as possible. I slipped into my pijay's and tucked myself in. I started thinking about the next day: Thursday ... Charmed evening. I was gonna see another exciting episode of my favorite TV show. I started wondering if I'm gonna have another Charmed dream, if I was gonna be again Andrew Wyatt, whitelighter, brother of Leo Wyatt and husband of Paige Matthews (we got married a few weeks ago - in another Charmed dream, of course). I kept on wondering about this for a few minutes. Then I fell asleep. And started dreaming. It was to be another Charmed dream ...
(The dream is being told from Andrew Wyatt's perspective)
I was lying on the bed in our bedroom (Paige's and mine). It was pretty quiet for a few moments. Then I heard a voice from the other side of the door, saying: "Oh, Honeybucks, are you ready ?". It was Paige. "Honeybucks" was the nickname she gave me after our wedding.
"Ready ?", I asked "Ready for what ?"
The door opened and Paige walked in. She was wearing her red nightgown. She looked awesome.
"Ready for your wife, silly.", she said and she closed the door behind her.
"Oh yes ... Of course, I'm ready for my wife. Always am.", I said and smiled. "By the way, where's everyone else ?"
"Don't you remember ? Piper and Leo are spending a few days in Paris. Piper called a few minutes ago. She said they're coming back the day after tomorrow. And Phoebe and Cole are ... God knows where ... they shimmered out of the Manor two days ago." said Paige while sneaking in bed next to me. "How did you forget all this ?", she said while giving me a strange look.
"Easy. I took one look at you and I had a sudden attack of amnesia.", I said grinning.
Paige started to grin and said: "Oh yeah ? Just give me a few minutes and I'll provoke you an even stronger attack of amnesia." And then she turned the lights off.
Next morning, I woke up at 8:15 am. After taking a quick shower and got dressed, I went downstairs to the kitchen. Paige had already finished breakfast and was about to leave for work. "Good morning, sleepyhead!", she said and then kissed me on the cheek.
"Good morning, hun !", I said and kissed her back. "Well, it is your fault I slept so long."
"Ohhhhh, so that's it, blaming me again for waking up late, eh ?", she said, pretending to be upset. "Ok then, mister, make sure you'll set the alarm clock tonight. Or you'll wake up late again."
"I will. And that's a promise", I said and head to the fridge. "You did leave something to eat in the fridge, right ?"
"Awww, you're impossible !", she said angrily.
"Ok, I'm sorry, honey. Come here, you !", I said and gave her a big kiss. "Better ?"
"Much better", she said smiling. "Ok, I'd better get to work. See you when I get back for my lunch break, ok ?"
"Ok, dear ! Have a good day !"
"You too ! And if you go out, make sure you lock the front door. We haven't fought a demon in weeks, so we need to be careful."
"Ok, got it. Bye, honey !", I said and took a sip from the orange juice,
"Byeeee!" she said and closed the front door behind her.
Part 2
A few hours later, after tidying things up in the Manor, I went out for a walk. There weren't many people around. I walked for a few minutes and I reached a pedestrian crossing and waited for the light to change. I noticed that there was somebody else waiting at the crossing. It was a young woman. There was something quite familiar about her. It took me a few seconds to realize who she was: the famous British singer Dido Armstrong. But before I could make a move, lots of people popped out of nowhere asking her for autographs. The scene lasted for a few minutes. I watched the whole scene in amazement. When everybody left, I was alone with her. She noticed me and smiled.
"Seems you've got lots of fans in this neighborhood.", I said.
"Yes, it seems I do."
" How come you don't have a car ?", I asked.
"I have one, but it broke down yesterday with engine trouble.", she answered. Now I'm on my way to the auto repair shop. I tried to get a taxi but after waiting for 15 minutes I decided to go on foot. It's only a few blocks away anyway."
"I'd be glad to escort you to the auto shop. Just in case there are more fans around."
"Thank you, that would be nice. If I meet more of my fans, the 15-minute walk will turn into a 2-hour one.", she laughed.
So I escorted her to the auto shop. When we got there, she said: "Thank you for escorting me till here, ... ummm ... I didn't quite catch your name ... "
"Andrew ... Andrew Wyatt. Me and my wife Paige just love your songs."
"Thank you, I'm glad you love them. Ummm, do you have a pen, by any chance ? I'd like to give you and your wife an autograph, but unfortunately I seem to have lost mine."
I started to look for a pen in my pockets. No such luck. "No, I'm sorry, I think I've misplaced my pen too. Ahhh, and I know she would have loved an autograph from you. Damn ..."
She thought for a bit and then said: "Tell you what. Why don't you come by this club tonight" and she gives me a card of a club called 'Starspot' "I'm doing a short concert there at around 7 pm, and I could give you the autographs there. I'll make sure your name will be on the guest list. This way you'll make your wife a nice surprise when she comes home from work."
"That would be great. Thanks so much, Dido. I'll be there.", I said delighted. "Ok, then, I'll see you again tonight. And thanks again."
"No", she answered "thank you. Bye bye See ya tonight !" and she entered the auto shop.
I was left alone in the street. I looked at the watch. Paige was supposed to arrive home in about 30 minutes. I decided to head back. I said to myself: "Wow ! Wait till Paige hears about this." and started walking quickly towards the Manor.
Part 3
"You met who ? Dido Armstrong ? Awww, you lucky devil !" said Paige, while we were having lunch at the Manor.
"Yep, talk about coincidence ... Too bad I couldn't get an autograph. Damn pen, always putting it in the wrong shirt."
"Yeah, it's too bad. Not every day you met one of your favorite singers on the street. Next time you go out make sure you take that pen with you."
"Oh yes, I sure will.", I said and started to clean up the table. "When did you say Leo and Piper are arriving ? Tomorrow morning ?"
"Yep, tomorrow morning ... "
"By Air France or ... by Air Leo ?", I asked grinning.
"Air ... what ? Oh ... ", and she started laughing. "I dunno. Piper didn't say. Probably Air France."
"Should we go pick them up at the airport or are they just gonna orb here directly ?"
"No, Piper said they'll manage.", she said and grabbed her coat. "I gotta go. Have a lot of stuff to do today at work. Probably gonna have to do some extra hours too."
"Ok, hun. I'll finish things here.", I said and gave her a kiss. "Bye, sweetie ! See ya tonight, ok ?"
"Yep, see ya tonight. Bye-bye. And don't have too much fun without me."
"Ok, bye-bye."
I hear the front door closing. I said to myself: "Ok, now let's finish the dishes. Then I'll take a quick nap and then get ready to leave for 'Starspot' around 6 pm ... Paige is gonna have a big surprise when I'll get back with the autograph." I started to smile and started to whistle one of Dido's songs while doing the dishes.
The clock was showing 5:45 pm when I started to get ready to go to "Starspot". First a quick shave, then a complete wash over. Then I started to get dressed. After I finished dressing, I grabbed the card Dido gave me with the club's address and my jacket and headed towards the front door. Just then, the phone rang. I picked it up.
"Halliwell residence."
"Hi, honey, it's me.", said a familiar voice from the other end of the phone.
"Hi, sweetums ! What's up ?" "
"Just called to tell you I'm gonna be a bit late for dinner. I'll probably get home at around 9 pm. I'm sorry but this stupid boss of mine gave me a lot of work to do and he told me to finish it by tomorrow morning."
"It's okay, honey. I'll wait for you. I was just going out to get a few things. I'll be back in about an hour or two. Then I'll fix some dinner. Is that okay with you ?"
"Yes, that's okay with me. I gotta hang up now. And again I'm sorry about this ... "
"No problem, honey. It's okay. See ya tonight. Love ya."
"Love ya too. Bye-bye." and she hang up.
I hang up too and then I left the house, locking up behind me.
The walk to the club took me about 45 minutes. As expected, my name was on the guest list and I had no problem getting in. The club was looking pretty good. I sat at a table and ordered a soda and then waited for the concert to start.
Part 4
The concert was over. Everybody in the club (including me) was applauding frenetically. Dido and her band kept on taking bows and saying "Thank you !" to the crowd. Suddenly, she spotted me and waved towards me. I made my way towards the stage.
"Hello Andrew !", she said.
"Hello ! Great show ! Loved every minute of it.", I said.
"Thank you ! I'm glad you enjoyed it. By the way, here's something for you and your wife.", and she handed me two pictures of her, personally autographed for me and Paige. She also handed me an envelope and I put the pics in it and the envelope into my pocket.
"Awww, thank you so much ! My wife is gonna flip when she sees this.".
"No problem, it was my pleasure."
"Oh, I'd better get going. She's gonna be home any minute now. Thank you again for the autographs. And for a great concert. Too bad Paige wasn't able to make it. She had to work late. But I know she'll love the autograph."
"Yes, too bad she couldn't make it. Ok then ... bye-bye ... it was nice meeting you."
"Bye-bye ... it was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks again for everything."
I left the club and headed home in a hurry. I started thinking: "Wow ! I got an autograph from her ... and Paige's got one too. Man, she's got be soooo happy." I took a look at the watch and said to myself: "Why am I in such a rush ? It's 8 o'clock ... I'll be home before her." So I stopped hurrying and started walking slowly.
I had left the club for about 15 minutes when suddenly I noticed that it was quiet all of a sudden. "Something's not right here. It's too quiet. I'd better orb outta here, it would be much safer." I looked around. There was no one in sight.
I was just about to orb when a powerful explosion occurred. All the windows of the store I was standing in front of were smashed to pieces and burst into flames. The blast threw me in the door of a car parked just in front of the store. Before losing consciousness, I managed to say : "Paige, help me !"
When I woke up, I was lying on a large bed that looked pretty familiar. I saw that Paige was sitting in a nearby chair. She was dozing. I tried to lift myself up, but I was in pain and fell back on the bed moaning. Paige woke up.
"Hey, hun ! Stay still ! You haven't recovered completely yet."
"Hey ! But ... How did I get home ? I remember a blast and ...", I said.
"I got home and you were nowhere to be found. I was worried and orbed out looking for you . I tried to heal your wounds, but I wasn't able to do it completely. By the way, I've found this in one of your pockets." and she showed me the envelope in which the autographed pictures were.
"Oh, that was meant to be a surprise for you."
"It surely was. Thank you." and she gave me a kiss. "But how did you get them ? I thought you didn't have a pen when you met her this morning."
"I'll tell you tomorrow morning. Ummm ... I have one question, honey"
"And that would be ... ?"
"Why am I only wearing my underwear ? (Paige started to grin) Oh no ... wait a sec ... (Paige continues to grin) Honey, I'm still in pain. I can barely move."
"Don't worry, sweetie, I'll take care of everything ...", she said and turned the lights off.
Part 5
Then ...
Then the dream ended and I woke up. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. "Man, what a great dream !" I thought. "It seemed so real. Well, I'd better get up and fix me some breakfast." I got up and I remained stunned. "Wait a sec ! This isn't my room ! Where am I ?", I thought. I looked around to try and figure out where I was. The room looked a bit familiar. I went to the window. I didn't recognize the neighborhood. But the room still looked familiar. I approached a mirror and took a good look at myself. Everything looked normal. Except for that red stripe that was on my left cheek. It looked like ... red lipstick. I tried to rub it off with my left hand and then I noticed something else. I had a ring on my left hand ! I decided to yell for help, hopefully someone would hear me and explain to me what was going on. A few moments later, I heard a voice coming from the other side of the door. I rushed over there. The door opened and ... I was completely stunned to see who was standing in the doorway. Paige !
"What's all the commotion ?", she asked. "Honey, you OK ? You're turning white as a sheet." and she rushed towards me. I fell on the floor in amazement.
"Paige ? Where ... where am I ?", I managed to mumble.
"You're at home, of course. What's the matter with you ? What happened ?" she said trying to get me up on my feet.
I managed to get a hold of myself and asked her: "I have a serious question for you. Who am I and where exactly am I?" She looked at me completely stunned "Please answer me. I am very serious about this."
The answer came as a complete shock. "You are my husband, Andrew Wyatt. And you are in the Halliwell Manor. Now could you please tell me what's with all these silly questions ?"
I thought I was still dreaming so I said, "Could I ask you one more favor ? Please pinch me, coz I think I'm still dreaming."
"Okay", she said after giving me a strange look. And then she pinched me. I wasn't dreaming. "Now are you gonna tell me what's all this about ?"
I thought for a few moments. "This is impossible. How did this happen ? I'm in another reality. And I look like her husband but I'm not him. Unless ... No, it can't be ... Can it ?", I thought.
"Well ?", Paige asked impatiently.
"Oh boy", I said. I took a deep breath and continued. "Paige, I'm not who you think I am."
"What ? What are you talking about ?"
"I'm a 25 year-old man from another reality. I think somehow me and your husband switched bodies."
Paige was about to faint but I managed to catch her just in time.
"You're kidding, right ? It's just one of your jokes, right ?" she said and took a look at me. I was just as scared as she was. "Right ?", she asked again with a scary look on her face.
"Try make me orb. Scare me or something."
"Ok", she said. A few moments later she made a scary face and jumped towards me. I jumped backwards. Nothing extraordinary happened.
"Well, did that convince you ?"
"Oh God ! You did switch bodies. How the hell did it happen ?"
"I don't know how did it happen. Oh man ... How will I get back to my own reality ? And in my own body ? Maybe you and your fellow sisters witches can help me."
"Wait a minute ! How do you know I have sisters ? And how do you know we're witches ? Are you a demon or something ?", she said and took a step back.
I picked up a needle from a table and stung myself on the right hand. A red point appeared on my hand. "Ouch ! See, I'm not a demon. I'm just a normal human being."
"Then how do you know that we're witches ?"
"It's a long story. And confidentially ... I'm a bit famished."
"Oh ... Let's go to the kitchen then. I'll fix you something to eat and then you'll tell me that long story of yours. But first, let me take care of that sting.", and she started to heal my sting. "By the way, what's your name ? I'm ... "
"You're Paige Matthews. I know." I interrupted her. "And your sisters' names are Phoebe and Piper. And they're both married, Phoebe to Cole Turner, ex-demon Belthazor and Piper to Leo Wyatt, whitelighter, your husbands' brother." Paige stopped healing my sting and looked at me in amazement. "I'll tell you everything over breakfast. And my name's Andrew. Andrew Chase. I live in Toronto, Canada. You can call me Andy."
"You're a Canadian ? Wow ! Okay, Andy.", she said. "Let me finish healing that sting of yours and then we'll go down to the kitchen. Can't wait to hear your story. And when my sisters arrive, we'll try to figure out exactly what happened and to get things back to normal. Okay, arm fixed, let's go to the kitchen."
"Okay, thanks." And we headed towards the kitchen.
Part 6
We talked for about an hour during breakfast. I told Paige everything I knew about Charmed. All the episodes that I've seen so far. Then she told me something that came as a shock to me: everything that has happened in Charmed, from the first to the last episode, had happened for real for her, Piper, Phoebe and, earlier, for Prue. All those demons and warlocks were vanquished one by one by the Halliwell sisters. I was stunned for a few moments. Paige was just as stunned as I was. Their lives were related in a television show.
In the meantime, Paige had phoned work and told them that she couldn't come in that day. Family emergency.
After we finished breakfast and cleaned up the table Paige asked me a very delicate question: "So, tell me, Andy, who is your favorite Charmed character ? You do have one, right ?"
I smiled and asked: "Are you sure you wanna hear the answer ?"
She looked at me a little bit intrigued and said "Yes, why not ?"
"Okay. You are."
"You're kidding."
"Nope. At first, Piper was my favorite. She resembled my character quite a lot. Then at the beginning of Season 4, when you came into the series, I've changed my mind."
"Awww ... thanks ! You're sweet."
Then there was a moment of silence. Paige was probably thinking about her beloved husband stuck in an unknown reality. I realized that she was worried about him and said, "Hope he is okay."
"Yeah, I hope so too ... I also hope he won't be giving too much trouble for you to fix when you get back.", she said with a worried look on her face.
"My parents are out of town today so no problem there ... The biggest problem he could cause is scaring people when orbing in and out of their houses.", I said trying to cheer her up. "I hope I won't cause too much trouble here either."
"Well, I know one person who certainly won't be very happy about the situation when she comes home."
"Let me guess ... Piper". Paige nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"I know you didn't, Andy. But, tell me, did anything unusual happen last night ?"
"Ummm ... I don't think so. I went to bed as usual, had a Charmed dream and woke up here in your husbands' body."
Paige suddenly became interested of the whole dream thing and asked: "A Charmed dream ? Tell me, Andy, what was your dream about ?"
"I dreamt that I was Andrew Wyatt and that I've met one of my favorite singers, Dido. And then something about a blast. Why ?"
"Have you had more dreams like this before ?"
"Yes. Once every four or five days. And they're all from Andrew's perspective. I'll give you another example, a dream from about 2 weeks ago: you and Andrew were getting ready for bed when Phoebe bursted in. She just had a premonition about the Manor being attacked by all sorts of demons that night. The demons did attack that night but all you guyz were ready for them and vanquished them by morning."
Paige thought for a bit and then said: "Okay ... Let me tell you something. That dream you had last night ... that happened to my husband yesterday."
I was shocked. "What ?"
"There's more. I think that during your dreams you're in some sort of a strange connection with my husband."
"Interesting ... ", I said and started thinking.
"What ?"
"I remember that a good friend told me that a dream is some sort of a spiritual intercommunication. Maybe me and Andrew are having something like that ... But why we two ? That I don't understand. Besides looking the same, nothing else seems to link us."
"Maybe ... Wait a sec ! Did you just say you look the same ?"
"Yes ! We could be twins !"
"That could be one factor ... Tell me, are you interested in magic ?"
"I believe in magic ... and any other paranormal things."
"That could be one more factor ... If you had been a witch or a whitelighter, that would have been decisive."
"Maybe I am and I don't know it."
"Maybe ... but that still doesn't explain how did you two switch bodies ? After all, you're from a different reality ... Ahhh, what's taking them so long ? I'd better try and can call Cole, maybe he can hear me and will get back here with Phoebe. And we'll try to fix things."
"Ok, you try and get Cole and Phoebe here ... And maybe Leo. In the meantime, I'll go and pay a visit to your husband's closet to find something more suitable to wear. Be right back."
"Okay, take your time ... ", she said. I headed towards the bedroom while Paige started to call for Cole and Leo.
Part 7
In the meantime, back in my home reality ...
Complete confusion. That's how the last few hours could be described from Andrew Wyatt's point of view. When he woke up, he found himself in an unknown place. At first, he thought that somehow he orbed during his sleep (it had happened before) and he tried to orb back to the Manor. But instead of orbing to the Manor, he orbed into a house in L.A. that looked exactly like the Manor. Naturally, he freaked out everybody who was in the house at the moment and he decided to orb back to where he came from. Then he realized he was wearing pijay's. He remembered that the night before he was only his underwear. He also noticed that his wedding ring was missing. Something was really strange. He decided to explore the house a little bit, to try and find out what was going on. A few minutes later, he found some stuff about a TV show called Charmed: books, posters, newspaper clippings and episode synopsis. While going through them, he realized that that Charmed stuff resembled quite a lot to what happened in the last few years at the Manor. Most of the situations told in the books were completely identical. "Even more weird", he thought. Then he found a photo of the Charmed cast. It was them ... his brother, his wife, his two sisters-in-law and Phoebe's husband.
Andrew started thinking. After thinking quite a while, he reached a conclusion: he was in another reality where their day-by-day lives were related in a TV show. And in somebody else's body. But how to get out of that reality and get back into his body ? He didn't have the power to travel between realities. But he knew someone who can do that. Cole. "But how to call him from here ? I guess I'll have to wait for them to come and get me.", he thought. He sighed and then continued to explore the house.
Back to the Manor.
I finished getting dressed and I was heading to the stairs. I reached the stairs and wanted to go downstairs but ... I've noticed the attic door. The temptation was too great. I've reached the attic door but it was closed. "Oh well, another time perhaps", I thought and I turned around. But I heard a squeaky sound behind me. The attic door was open ! "I guess everything is possible in this house ... ", I thought and I entered the attic.
The attic looked just like I remembered it from Charmed. Lots of old stuff lying around everywhere. I turned my attention to the window. And there it was ... the Book Of Shadows. The emotion was so intense. I opened it. On the first page I've found the spell that started everything. "What if ... ?", I wondered with a strange smile on my face. "After all I'm not a witch. And it isn't midnight." I pondered for a few minutes whether to read the spell or not. In the end, the temptation got the better of me.
"Okay, here we go ... Hear now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night.
The oldest of gods are invoked here,
The great work of magic is sought.
In this night and in this hour,
I call upon the ancient powers.
Bring your power to me,
I want the power, give me the power."
I waited for a few moments. Nothing strange happened. "I might have imagined.", I thought. I closed the book and headed to the attic door. Suddenly a blue light came from above and surrounded me. "Uh-oh ... ". I knew what that blue light meant. I got turned into a witch ! Suddenly the blue light disappeared. I was completely overwhelmed by the moment. I tried to focus on the book and tried to move it with my mind. Nothing. I started touching things to try and trigger a premonition. Nothing. "Maybe that blue light didn't mean anything after all. Okay, let's head downstairs." And I did just that.
I almost reached ground floor when I heard Paige calling me from the kitchen. "I'm coming", I said. Suddenly I heard a movement behind me. I turned around and I saw a guy all dressed in black standing five feet away from me with an evil grin on his face. A demon ! "Ummm, Paige ! We have an uninvited guest in the house.", I shouted and started to back away from the demon . "What ?", she shouted back. Suddenly a blue energy ball appeared in the demon's right hand. "Oh God !", I yelled. A second later, the demon threw the energy ball at me. I instinctively threw my hands in front of my face as a gesture of protection and waited for the ball to hit me. But it didn't. I lowered my hands and looked. The ball was frozen in mid-air. The demon was also frozen. I was stunned for a few seconds. Then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Paige, Phoebe, Cole and Leo looking as stunned as I was.
Part 8
"I thought you said he didn't have any powers", said Phoebe.
"Well, he didn't have any 10 minutes ago", said Paige.
"You left the attic door open ? Again ?", said Phoebe.
"No. It was closed when I last checked it.", said Paige.
What was to become an endless arguing was stopped by the time getting unfrozen. The energy ball whizzed by my shoulder and hit a nearby chair. The demon got unfrozen too and was surprised to see five pairs of eyes staring angrily at him. Then Cole threw an energy ball at him and the demon blew into pieces.
"Ok, now that that's over with", said Phoebe "Andy, please explain us how come you have the power of freezing time and 10 minutes ago you didn't have it."
"Well, it's like this", I said. And I told them what had happened in the attic, starting with the door that opened all by itself and ending with the strange blue light coming from above. And in the end, I said "And by the way, we didn't even have time for introductions but I guess Paige has told you everything and I know all of you so I guess all I can say is 'Hello, pleased to meet all of you !' "
"Hello, pleased to meet you too, Andy !", said Phoebe, Cole and Leo in chorus.
"And you say you haven't practiced witchcraft before ?", asked Phoebe.
"Nope. I believe in witchcraft but I've never practiced it.", I answered.
"Then how the heck did you get powers ?", asked Paige.
"Search me.", I answered. "So you guyz have a plan to fix this thing ?"
"Well, this certainly seems to me like a classic case of switched souls.", said Phoebe. "Only this time it happened between two different realities. Leo, could you find out how was this possible ? And since you're going up there could you ask the Elders how come Andy got powers even though he ain't a witch ?"
"Sure thing", said Leo and he orbed away.
"Okay then, now we can use that souls switching potion that we used the time we two got our mixed up", said Phoebe looking at Paige.
"Yep, we could use that. But we need to have both Andy and Andrew here. So Cole should go and try to retrieve my husband. Think you can do it, Cole ?"
"It will be hard to locate him in other reality but I'll give it my best shot. Catch ya later.", said Cole. Then he kissed Phoebe and shimmered away.
"Okay then ... In the meantime we'll make the potion.", said Paige.
Just then we heard the front door opening and an angry voice saying "Could someone please help me with this luggage and tell me why did my husband had to orb out of the car in such a hurry ?" It was Piper. We all rushed to the front door.
"Welcome back, big sis", said Paige and hugged her.
"Piper, hunny, welcome back", said Phoebe hugging Piper. "Andy here will carry your bags to your room. In the meantime we'll fill you in with what happened. You do know the way, right Andy ?", she turned towards me.
"Yep, I sure do.", I answered. "A pleasure to meet you, Piper. Let me carry them for you", I said to Piper and grabbed her luggage and started towards the stairs.
"Thank you.", said Piper to me, with a confused look on her face. Then turned towards Phoebe: "Why is Andrew acting like he sees me for the first time in his life ? And where's my husband ?"
"Come over here and sit down and we'll fill you in on the whole thing.", said Paige.
And Phoebe and Paige started to tell Piper what happened, while I was climbing the stairs towards the first floor.
When I came back downstairs, Piper was just saying: "So we're gonna use that potion to switch them back." Paige and Phoebe nodded. "I wonder if we still have powered toadstool."
"Powered ... what ?", I asked. The sisters turned towards me. "Oh, that white powder ... yeah, yeah I remember." Piper and Phoebe looked at me a bit confused and then turned towards Paige. Paige shrugged her shoulders and said "I told you, he's a walking Halliwell encyclopedia. I'll go check if there is any toadstool left.", and she headed towards the kitchen.
"Well, we'd better start making that potion", said Piper. She and Phoebe headed towards the kitchen. But then she turned towards me and asked: "Will you join us in the kitchen, Andy ?"
"Sure", I said and followed them in the kitchen.
Paige closed one of the kitchen cabinets and said: "We're out of powered toadstool. I'll go buy some."
"Okay, hun.", said Phoebe. "We'll start making the potion here."
"Okay, I'll be back quickly", said Paige and she ran out the front door.
Part 9
The potion was almost ready when Leo orbed in half an hour later. Piper rushed to him and gave him a kiss. "Hey you !", she said.
"Hey Leo !", said Phoebe.
"Hiya Leo !, I said. "So what did the Elders say ?"
"Hi hun ! Hey guyz !", said Leo. "Well, they don't have a clue either on what happened. They say it might have been some sort of an inter-reality rift that caused the souls of Andy and Andrew to be in a two-way connection and got mixed up."
"Two-way connection ?", said Phoebe. "What's that ?"
"Dreams are normally a one-way connection.", said Leo. Like for example, Andy's soul was connected with Andrew's soul and was having those dreams. But Andrew wasn't connected to Andy. In other words, he wasn't dreaming about Andy. But that rift probably caused the connection to be two-ways, they were dreaming of each other at the same time. And probably this caused their souls to get mixed up."
"Man, I didn't think dreams could get you so mixed-up.", I said. "And what about my powers ? How did I get them although I'm not a witch ?"
"The Elders decided to give them to you temporarily. If you're proving worthy of them, they're gonna let you keep them.", said Leo.
"Well, so much for a peaceful life.", I said. "And how long is this trial period ?", I asked Leo.
"They didn't say. Sorry. But I think you'll know when it's over, trust me.", Leo answered.
"I'll probably have to come here once in a while to do quick study courses on witchcraft. Just in case demons show up in my house. Will you ladies help me ?" and I turned towards Phoebe and Piper. "Please ? I promise to be a good student."
Piper looked at Phoebe then she looked at me and said smiling: "Sure, we'd be glad to help you. We'll work up an inter-reality travel spell and send it to you."
"What about a whitelighter ? Don't I need one ?", I asked Leo.
"I think that can be arranged", said Leo smiling.
"Thanks. You guyz are the best."
Just then there was a flash of light near the kitchen door.
"That must be Cole", Phoebe said and headed over there. "Have you found Andrew, hunny ?"
But instead of Cole, a demon stepped into the kitchen and said "No, but I've found you. Prepare to die, witch !" and a fireball appeared in his hands. He was ready to throw it at Phoebe, who was taken completely by surprise.
"Phoebe, get out of the way !", yelled Piper. Phoebe was standing right between Piper and the demon and she couldn't blast the demon to pieces. I, on the other hand, had no obstacles in front of me.
"No, no, allow me", I said and quickly raised both my hands in the air freezing the demon. Phoebe unleashed a karate kick on the demon's chin sending him flying backwards. Then she got out of the way and Piper blasted the demon to pieces.
"Thank you, Andy. Not bad for a rookie witch.", said Phoebe smiling.
"Yeah, not bad at all. I'm sure that the Elders will let you keep the powers after this.", said Piper. Then she turned towards Leo: "Don't you think so, hun ?"
"Yeah, I think so too. Good job, Andy", said Leo and gave me a pat on the back.
"Awww, it was nothing really. Would have done that for anybody.", I said.
A flash of light appeared in the middle of kitchen and Cole shimmered in. But not alone. Andrew was with him.
"Welcome back, Cole ! Hey, Andrew, welcome back !", said Piper and went to hug Andrew.
"Welcome back, hunny !", said Phoebe and rushed to Cole and kissed him. Then turned towards Andrew and hugged him: "Welcome back, Andrew ! We missed ya !"
"Good to see ya back, bro !", said Leo and gave Andrew a pat on the back.
"Thanks, everyone ! It's good to be back.", said Andrew. Then he spotted me and said: "And this must be the "infamous" Andy. Nice to meet ya. Wish the circumstances were different." Then he shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Andrew.", I replied.
Just then Paige walked in. "I got the powered toadstool, Piper." Then she spotted Andrew. "Honeybucks !" She rushed towards him and kissed him and hugged him. "Oh, God, I've missed you so much !"
"Me too, Noogie !", he said.
"Okay, now that everyone is here and the potion is ready, let's switch'em back.", said Piper. "Andy and Andrew, get over there, beside the pot and join hands. Then you'll both say 'I wanna be myself again'. And one of you will throw some powered toadstool in the pot."
"Okay", we said in a chorus. We went there and I grabbed some white powder in my left hand. We joined hands and said at the same time: "I wanna be myself again" and then I threw the white powder in the pot. There was a white light enveloping Andrew and me that lasted for a few seconds. Eeveryone was waiting impatiently. I looked at my hands and I said: "It's good to be back in my own body". Everybody breathed a sigh of relief and Paige rushed to Andrew and hugged him tightly.
Part 10
Half an hour later, I was ready to go home. In the meantime, Phoebe managed to cook up an inter-reality spell, so Cole was off the hook. He didn't have to do the trip all over again.
We all got up to the attic. I was holding a piece of paper in my hand with the spell written on it.
I hugged the ladies and shook the hands of the men. Then I made a few steps back.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye then.", I said. "Thanks for everything ! It's been quite an experience."
"Yeah, for us too !," said Piper smiling. "Take care of yourself and be sure to stop by for your witch craft lessons. We (and pointed to Phoebe and Paige) will be happy to have you around as our student."
"Yeah", said Phoebe.
"And keep on watching Charmed.", said Paige grinning.
"You can count on that", I said smiling. "Guyz, take care of your ladies. You're very lucky to have them around." Piper, Phoebe and Paige gave me an "Awww, you're sweet" look.
"We will, don't worry.", said Cole.
"And Andrew ... ", I said looking at Andrew.
"Yes, Andy.", he replied.
"See ya in my dreams", I said and winked at him.
"Okay, man", he said.
"Okay, I guess it's time for the spell.", I said and started to read the spell from the piece of paper. "Let doors be unlocked
And barriers breached
Send me a portal
To places not reached
To the worlds not to be seen
To where I can't be
Send now the portal
Between realities."
A portal opened to my right. "Okay, this is it. Good bye, everybody. Take care of yourselves." Suddenly a blue light enveloped me. It lasted a few seconds. When it disappeared, I looked at Leo. He was grinning widely. "I guess your trial period is over. Congratulations, Andy. You're now a full-time witch.", he said. Everybody else was smiling at me.
"I guess that means I'll see all of you soon. Bye-bye for now.", I said and waved.
"Bye, Andy. Take care of yourself.", said all of them in a chorus as I stepped into the portal.
I was enveloped in a white light for a few seconds. Then a black portal appeared in front of me. I stepped outside and found myself in a room that looked very familiar. I was finally home ! The portal closed up behind me.
I didn't even have time to be glad that I was home coz the doorbell rang. My parents were home.
"So did anyhting interesting happen today ?", my dad asked me.
"Ummm, nope ... nothing interesting.", I replied with an "innocent" smile on my face and feeling the paper with the spell in my right pocket.
That night, I watched Charmed. It was a terrific episode, as usual. And, as the final credits appeared on the screen, I felt a bit different knowing that I did meet the real things that day. And knowing that I was ... Charmed too.
The end (or maybe ...a new beginning)
Note. A friendly warning to all my readers: be careful what you dream of. You might not wake up in your own bed the next morning.
A Charmed Fan-Fiction
© Copyright 2002 Andrei R C
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Spelling Television and Constance M. Burge, except for the characters "Andrew Chase", "Andrew Wyatt" and the demons which are mine.
Part 1
It was Wednesday evening. The clock showed 11:45 p.m. as I turned off the TV and went to bed. My parents were already sleeping so I moved as quietly as possible. I slipped into my pijay's and tucked myself in. I started thinking about the next day: Thursday ... Charmed evening. I was gonna see another exciting episode of my favorite TV show. I started wondering if I'm gonna have another Charmed dream, if I was gonna be again Andrew Wyatt, whitelighter, brother of Leo Wyatt and husband of Paige Matthews (we got married a few weeks ago - in another Charmed dream, of course). I kept on wondering about this for a few minutes. Then I fell asleep. And started dreaming. It was to be another Charmed dream ...
(The dream is being told from Andrew Wyatt's perspective)
I was lying on the bed in our bedroom (Paige's and mine). It was pretty quiet for a few moments. Then I heard a voice from the other side of the door, saying: "Oh, Honeybucks, are you ready ?". It was Paige. "Honeybucks" was the nickname she gave me after our wedding.
"Ready ?", I asked "Ready for what ?"
The door opened and Paige walked in. She was wearing her red nightgown. She looked awesome.
"Ready for your wife, silly.", she said and she closed the door behind her.
"Oh yes ... Of course, I'm ready for my wife. Always am.", I said and smiled. "By the way, where's everyone else ?"
"Don't you remember ? Piper and Leo are spending a few days in Paris. Piper called a few minutes ago. She said they're coming back the day after tomorrow. And Phoebe and Cole are ... God knows where ... they shimmered out of the Manor two days ago." said Paige while sneaking in bed next to me. "How did you forget all this ?", she said while giving me a strange look.
"Easy. I took one look at you and I had a sudden attack of amnesia.", I said grinning.
Paige started to grin and said: "Oh yeah ? Just give me a few minutes and I'll provoke you an even stronger attack of amnesia." And then she turned the lights off.
Next morning, I woke up at 8:15 am. After taking a quick shower and got dressed, I went downstairs to the kitchen. Paige had already finished breakfast and was about to leave for work. "Good morning, sleepyhead!", she said and then kissed me on the cheek.
"Good morning, hun !", I said and kissed her back. "Well, it is your fault I slept so long."
"Ohhhhh, so that's it, blaming me again for waking up late, eh ?", she said, pretending to be upset. "Ok then, mister, make sure you'll set the alarm clock tonight. Or you'll wake up late again."
"I will. And that's a promise", I said and head to the fridge. "You did leave something to eat in the fridge, right ?"
"Awww, you're impossible !", she said angrily.
"Ok, I'm sorry, honey. Come here, you !", I said and gave her a big kiss. "Better ?"
"Much better", she said smiling. "Ok, I'd better get to work. See you when I get back for my lunch break, ok ?"
"Ok, dear ! Have a good day !"
"You too ! And if you go out, make sure you lock the front door. We haven't fought a demon in weeks, so we need to be careful."
"Ok, got it. Bye, honey !", I said and took a sip from the orange juice,
"Byeeee!" she said and closed the front door behind her.
Part 2
A few hours later, after tidying things up in the Manor, I went out for a walk. There weren't many people around. I walked for a few minutes and I reached a pedestrian crossing and waited for the light to change. I noticed that there was somebody else waiting at the crossing. It was a young woman. There was something quite familiar about her. It took me a few seconds to realize who she was: the famous British singer Dido Armstrong. But before I could make a move, lots of people popped out of nowhere asking her for autographs. The scene lasted for a few minutes. I watched the whole scene in amazement. When everybody left, I was alone with her. She noticed me and smiled.
"Seems you've got lots of fans in this neighborhood.", I said.
"Yes, it seems I do."
" How come you don't have a car ?", I asked.
"I have one, but it broke down yesterday with engine trouble.", she answered. Now I'm on my way to the auto repair shop. I tried to get a taxi but after waiting for 15 minutes I decided to go on foot. It's only a few blocks away anyway."
"I'd be glad to escort you to the auto shop. Just in case there are more fans around."
"Thank you, that would be nice. If I meet more of my fans, the 15-minute walk will turn into a 2-hour one.", she laughed.
So I escorted her to the auto shop. When we got there, she said: "Thank you for escorting me till here, ... ummm ... I didn't quite catch your name ... "
"Andrew ... Andrew Wyatt. Me and my wife Paige just love your songs."
"Thank you, I'm glad you love them. Ummm, do you have a pen, by any chance ? I'd like to give you and your wife an autograph, but unfortunately I seem to have lost mine."
I started to look for a pen in my pockets. No such luck. "No, I'm sorry, I think I've misplaced my pen too. Ahhh, and I know she would have loved an autograph from you. Damn ..."
She thought for a bit and then said: "Tell you what. Why don't you come by this club tonight" and she gives me a card of a club called 'Starspot' "I'm doing a short concert there at around 7 pm, and I could give you the autographs there. I'll make sure your name will be on the guest list. This way you'll make your wife a nice surprise when she comes home from work."
"That would be great. Thanks so much, Dido. I'll be there.", I said delighted. "Ok, then, I'll see you again tonight. And thanks again."
"No", she answered "thank you. Bye bye See ya tonight !" and she entered the auto shop.
I was left alone in the street. I looked at the watch. Paige was supposed to arrive home in about 30 minutes. I decided to head back. I said to myself: "Wow ! Wait till Paige hears about this." and started walking quickly towards the Manor.
Part 3
"You met who ? Dido Armstrong ? Awww, you lucky devil !" said Paige, while we were having lunch at the Manor.
"Yep, talk about coincidence ... Too bad I couldn't get an autograph. Damn pen, always putting it in the wrong shirt."
"Yeah, it's too bad. Not every day you met one of your favorite singers on the street. Next time you go out make sure you take that pen with you."
"Oh yes, I sure will.", I said and started to clean up the table. "When did you say Leo and Piper are arriving ? Tomorrow morning ?"
"Yep, tomorrow morning ... "
"By Air France or ... by Air Leo ?", I asked grinning.
"Air ... what ? Oh ... ", and she started laughing. "I dunno. Piper didn't say. Probably Air France."
"Should we go pick them up at the airport or are they just gonna orb here directly ?"
"No, Piper said they'll manage.", she said and grabbed her coat. "I gotta go. Have a lot of stuff to do today at work. Probably gonna have to do some extra hours too."
"Ok, hun. I'll finish things here.", I said and gave her a kiss. "Bye, sweetie ! See ya tonight, ok ?"
"Yep, see ya tonight. Bye-bye. And don't have too much fun without me."
"Ok, bye-bye."
I hear the front door closing. I said to myself: "Ok, now let's finish the dishes. Then I'll take a quick nap and then get ready to leave for 'Starspot' around 6 pm ... Paige is gonna have a big surprise when I'll get back with the autograph." I started to smile and started to whistle one of Dido's songs while doing the dishes.
The clock was showing 5:45 pm when I started to get ready to go to "Starspot". First a quick shave, then a complete wash over. Then I started to get dressed. After I finished dressing, I grabbed the card Dido gave me with the club's address and my jacket and headed towards the front door. Just then, the phone rang. I picked it up.
"Halliwell residence."
"Hi, honey, it's me.", said a familiar voice from the other end of the phone.
"Hi, sweetums ! What's up ?" "
"Just called to tell you I'm gonna be a bit late for dinner. I'll probably get home at around 9 pm. I'm sorry but this stupid boss of mine gave me a lot of work to do and he told me to finish it by tomorrow morning."
"It's okay, honey. I'll wait for you. I was just going out to get a few things. I'll be back in about an hour or two. Then I'll fix some dinner. Is that okay with you ?"
"Yes, that's okay with me. I gotta hang up now. And again I'm sorry about this ... "
"No problem, honey. It's okay. See ya tonight. Love ya."
"Love ya too. Bye-bye." and she hang up.
I hang up too and then I left the house, locking up behind me.
The walk to the club took me about 45 minutes. As expected, my name was on the guest list and I had no problem getting in. The club was looking pretty good. I sat at a table and ordered a soda and then waited for the concert to start.
Part 4
The concert was over. Everybody in the club (including me) was applauding frenetically. Dido and her band kept on taking bows and saying "Thank you !" to the crowd. Suddenly, she spotted me and waved towards me. I made my way towards the stage.
"Hello Andrew !", she said.
"Hello ! Great show ! Loved every minute of it.", I said.
"Thank you ! I'm glad you enjoyed it. By the way, here's something for you and your wife.", and she handed me two pictures of her, personally autographed for me and Paige. She also handed me an envelope and I put the pics in it and the envelope into my pocket.
"Awww, thank you so much ! My wife is gonna flip when she sees this.".
"No problem, it was my pleasure."
"Oh, I'd better get going. She's gonna be home any minute now. Thank you again for the autographs. And for a great concert. Too bad Paige wasn't able to make it. She had to work late. But I know she'll love the autograph."
"Yes, too bad she couldn't make it. Ok then ... bye-bye ... it was nice meeting you."
"Bye-bye ... it was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks again for everything."
I left the club and headed home in a hurry. I started thinking: "Wow ! I got an autograph from her ... and Paige's got one too. Man, she's got be soooo happy." I took a look at the watch and said to myself: "Why am I in such a rush ? It's 8 o'clock ... I'll be home before her." So I stopped hurrying and started walking slowly.
I had left the club for about 15 minutes when suddenly I noticed that it was quiet all of a sudden. "Something's not right here. It's too quiet. I'd better orb outta here, it would be much safer." I looked around. There was no one in sight.
I was just about to orb when a powerful explosion occurred. All the windows of the store I was standing in front of were smashed to pieces and burst into flames. The blast threw me in the door of a car parked just in front of the store. Before losing consciousness, I managed to say : "Paige, help me !"
When I woke up, I was lying on a large bed that looked pretty familiar. I saw that Paige was sitting in a nearby chair. She was dozing. I tried to lift myself up, but I was in pain and fell back on the bed moaning. Paige woke up.
"Hey, hun ! Stay still ! You haven't recovered completely yet."
"Hey ! But ... How did I get home ? I remember a blast and ...", I said.
"I got home and you were nowhere to be found. I was worried and orbed out looking for you . I tried to heal your wounds, but I wasn't able to do it completely. By the way, I've found this in one of your pockets." and she showed me the envelope in which the autographed pictures were.
"Oh, that was meant to be a surprise for you."
"It surely was. Thank you." and she gave me a kiss. "But how did you get them ? I thought you didn't have a pen when you met her this morning."
"I'll tell you tomorrow morning. Ummm ... I have one question, honey"
"And that would be ... ?"
"Why am I only wearing my underwear ? (Paige started to grin) Oh no ... wait a sec ... (Paige continues to grin) Honey, I'm still in pain. I can barely move."
"Don't worry, sweetie, I'll take care of everything ...", she said and turned the lights off.
Part 5
Then ...
Then the dream ended and I woke up. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. "Man, what a great dream !" I thought. "It seemed so real. Well, I'd better get up and fix me some breakfast." I got up and I remained stunned. "Wait a sec ! This isn't my room ! Where am I ?", I thought. I looked around to try and figure out where I was. The room looked a bit familiar. I went to the window. I didn't recognize the neighborhood. But the room still looked familiar. I approached a mirror and took a good look at myself. Everything looked normal. Except for that red stripe that was on my left cheek. It looked like ... red lipstick. I tried to rub it off with my left hand and then I noticed something else. I had a ring on my left hand ! I decided to yell for help, hopefully someone would hear me and explain to me what was going on. A few moments later, I heard a voice coming from the other side of the door. I rushed over there. The door opened and ... I was completely stunned to see who was standing in the doorway. Paige !
"What's all the commotion ?", she asked. "Honey, you OK ? You're turning white as a sheet." and she rushed towards me. I fell on the floor in amazement.
"Paige ? Where ... where am I ?", I managed to mumble.
"You're at home, of course. What's the matter with you ? What happened ?" she said trying to get me up on my feet.
I managed to get a hold of myself and asked her: "I have a serious question for you. Who am I and where exactly am I?" She looked at me completely stunned "Please answer me. I am very serious about this."
The answer came as a complete shock. "You are my husband, Andrew Wyatt. And you are in the Halliwell Manor. Now could you please tell me what's with all these silly questions ?"
I thought I was still dreaming so I said, "Could I ask you one more favor ? Please pinch me, coz I think I'm still dreaming."
"Okay", she said after giving me a strange look. And then she pinched me. I wasn't dreaming. "Now are you gonna tell me what's all this about ?"
I thought for a few moments. "This is impossible. How did this happen ? I'm in another reality. And I look like her husband but I'm not him. Unless ... No, it can't be ... Can it ?", I thought.
"Well ?", Paige asked impatiently.
"Oh boy", I said. I took a deep breath and continued. "Paige, I'm not who you think I am."
"What ? What are you talking about ?"
"I'm a 25 year-old man from another reality. I think somehow me and your husband switched bodies."
Paige was about to faint but I managed to catch her just in time.
"You're kidding, right ? It's just one of your jokes, right ?" she said and took a look at me. I was just as scared as she was. "Right ?", she asked again with a scary look on her face.
"Try make me orb. Scare me or something."
"Ok", she said. A few moments later she made a scary face and jumped towards me. I jumped backwards. Nothing extraordinary happened.
"Well, did that convince you ?"
"Oh God ! You did switch bodies. How the hell did it happen ?"
"I don't know how did it happen. Oh man ... How will I get back to my own reality ? And in my own body ? Maybe you and your fellow sisters witches can help me."
"Wait a minute ! How do you know I have sisters ? And how do you know we're witches ? Are you a demon or something ?", she said and took a step back.
I picked up a needle from a table and stung myself on the right hand. A red point appeared on my hand. "Ouch ! See, I'm not a demon. I'm just a normal human being."
"Then how do you know that we're witches ?"
"It's a long story. And confidentially ... I'm a bit famished."
"Oh ... Let's go to the kitchen then. I'll fix you something to eat and then you'll tell me that long story of yours. But first, let me take care of that sting.", and she started to heal my sting. "By the way, what's your name ? I'm ... "
"You're Paige Matthews. I know." I interrupted her. "And your sisters' names are Phoebe and Piper. And they're both married, Phoebe to Cole Turner, ex-demon Belthazor and Piper to Leo Wyatt, whitelighter, your husbands' brother." Paige stopped healing my sting and looked at me in amazement. "I'll tell you everything over breakfast. And my name's Andrew. Andrew Chase. I live in Toronto, Canada. You can call me Andy."
"You're a Canadian ? Wow ! Okay, Andy.", she said. "Let me finish healing that sting of yours and then we'll go down to the kitchen. Can't wait to hear your story. And when my sisters arrive, we'll try to figure out exactly what happened and to get things back to normal. Okay, arm fixed, let's go to the kitchen."
"Okay, thanks." And we headed towards the kitchen.
Part 6
We talked for about an hour during breakfast. I told Paige everything I knew about Charmed. All the episodes that I've seen so far. Then she told me something that came as a shock to me: everything that has happened in Charmed, from the first to the last episode, had happened for real for her, Piper, Phoebe and, earlier, for Prue. All those demons and warlocks were vanquished one by one by the Halliwell sisters. I was stunned for a few moments. Paige was just as stunned as I was. Their lives were related in a television show.
In the meantime, Paige had phoned work and told them that she couldn't come in that day. Family emergency.
After we finished breakfast and cleaned up the table Paige asked me a very delicate question: "So, tell me, Andy, who is your favorite Charmed character ? You do have one, right ?"
I smiled and asked: "Are you sure you wanna hear the answer ?"
She looked at me a little bit intrigued and said "Yes, why not ?"
"Okay. You are."
"You're kidding."
"Nope. At first, Piper was my favorite. She resembled my character quite a lot. Then at the beginning of Season 4, when you came into the series, I've changed my mind."
"Awww ... thanks ! You're sweet."
Then there was a moment of silence. Paige was probably thinking about her beloved husband stuck in an unknown reality. I realized that she was worried about him and said, "Hope he is okay."
"Yeah, I hope so too ... I also hope he won't be giving too much trouble for you to fix when you get back.", she said with a worried look on her face.
"My parents are out of town today so no problem there ... The biggest problem he could cause is scaring people when orbing in and out of their houses.", I said trying to cheer her up. "I hope I won't cause too much trouble here either."
"Well, I know one person who certainly won't be very happy about the situation when she comes home."
"Let me guess ... Piper". Paige nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"I know you didn't, Andy. But, tell me, did anything unusual happen last night ?"
"Ummm ... I don't think so. I went to bed as usual, had a Charmed dream and woke up here in your husbands' body."
Paige suddenly became interested of the whole dream thing and asked: "A Charmed dream ? Tell me, Andy, what was your dream about ?"
"I dreamt that I was Andrew Wyatt and that I've met one of my favorite singers, Dido. And then something about a blast. Why ?"
"Have you had more dreams like this before ?"
"Yes. Once every four or five days. And they're all from Andrew's perspective. I'll give you another example, a dream from about 2 weeks ago: you and Andrew were getting ready for bed when Phoebe bursted in. She just had a premonition about the Manor being attacked by all sorts of demons that night. The demons did attack that night but all you guyz were ready for them and vanquished them by morning."
Paige thought for a bit and then said: "Okay ... Let me tell you something. That dream you had last night ... that happened to my husband yesterday."
I was shocked. "What ?"
"There's more. I think that during your dreams you're in some sort of a strange connection with my husband."
"Interesting ... ", I said and started thinking.
"What ?"
"I remember that a good friend told me that a dream is some sort of a spiritual intercommunication. Maybe me and Andrew are having something like that ... But why we two ? That I don't understand. Besides looking the same, nothing else seems to link us."
"Maybe ... Wait a sec ! Did you just say you look the same ?"
"Yes ! We could be twins !"
"That could be one factor ... Tell me, are you interested in magic ?"
"I believe in magic ... and any other paranormal things."
"That could be one more factor ... If you had been a witch or a whitelighter, that would have been decisive."
"Maybe I am and I don't know it."
"Maybe ... but that still doesn't explain how did you two switch bodies ? After all, you're from a different reality ... Ahhh, what's taking them so long ? I'd better try and can call Cole, maybe he can hear me and will get back here with Phoebe. And we'll try to fix things."
"Ok, you try and get Cole and Phoebe here ... And maybe Leo. In the meantime, I'll go and pay a visit to your husband's closet to find something more suitable to wear. Be right back."
"Okay, take your time ... ", she said. I headed towards the bedroom while Paige started to call for Cole and Leo.
Part 7
In the meantime, back in my home reality ...
Complete confusion. That's how the last few hours could be described from Andrew Wyatt's point of view. When he woke up, he found himself in an unknown place. At first, he thought that somehow he orbed during his sleep (it had happened before) and he tried to orb back to the Manor. But instead of orbing to the Manor, he orbed into a house in L.A. that looked exactly like the Manor. Naturally, he freaked out everybody who was in the house at the moment and he decided to orb back to where he came from. Then he realized he was wearing pijay's. He remembered that the night before he was only his underwear. He also noticed that his wedding ring was missing. Something was really strange. He decided to explore the house a little bit, to try and find out what was going on. A few minutes later, he found some stuff about a TV show called Charmed: books, posters, newspaper clippings and episode synopsis. While going through them, he realized that that Charmed stuff resembled quite a lot to what happened in the last few years at the Manor. Most of the situations told in the books were completely identical. "Even more weird", he thought. Then he found a photo of the Charmed cast. It was them ... his brother, his wife, his two sisters-in-law and Phoebe's husband.
Andrew started thinking. After thinking quite a while, he reached a conclusion: he was in another reality where their day-by-day lives were related in a TV show. And in somebody else's body. But how to get out of that reality and get back into his body ? He didn't have the power to travel between realities. But he knew someone who can do that. Cole. "But how to call him from here ? I guess I'll have to wait for them to come and get me.", he thought. He sighed and then continued to explore the house.
Back to the Manor.
I finished getting dressed and I was heading to the stairs. I reached the stairs and wanted to go downstairs but ... I've noticed the attic door. The temptation was too great. I've reached the attic door but it was closed. "Oh well, another time perhaps", I thought and I turned around. But I heard a squeaky sound behind me. The attic door was open ! "I guess everything is possible in this house ... ", I thought and I entered the attic.
The attic looked just like I remembered it from Charmed. Lots of old stuff lying around everywhere. I turned my attention to the window. And there it was ... the Book Of Shadows. The emotion was so intense. I opened it. On the first page I've found the spell that started everything. "What if ... ?", I wondered with a strange smile on my face. "After all I'm not a witch. And it isn't midnight." I pondered for a few minutes whether to read the spell or not. In the end, the temptation got the better of me.
"Okay, here we go ... Hear now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night.
The oldest of gods are invoked here,
The great work of magic is sought.
In this night and in this hour,
I call upon the ancient powers.
Bring your power to me,
I want the power, give me the power."
I waited for a few moments. Nothing strange happened. "I might have imagined.", I thought. I closed the book and headed to the attic door. Suddenly a blue light came from above and surrounded me. "Uh-oh ... ". I knew what that blue light meant. I got turned into a witch ! Suddenly the blue light disappeared. I was completely overwhelmed by the moment. I tried to focus on the book and tried to move it with my mind. Nothing. I started touching things to try and trigger a premonition. Nothing. "Maybe that blue light didn't mean anything after all. Okay, let's head downstairs." And I did just that.
I almost reached ground floor when I heard Paige calling me from the kitchen. "I'm coming", I said. Suddenly I heard a movement behind me. I turned around and I saw a guy all dressed in black standing five feet away from me with an evil grin on his face. A demon ! "Ummm, Paige ! We have an uninvited guest in the house.", I shouted and started to back away from the demon . "What ?", she shouted back. Suddenly a blue energy ball appeared in the demon's right hand. "Oh God !", I yelled. A second later, the demon threw the energy ball at me. I instinctively threw my hands in front of my face as a gesture of protection and waited for the ball to hit me. But it didn't. I lowered my hands and looked. The ball was frozen in mid-air. The demon was also frozen. I was stunned for a few seconds. Then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Paige, Phoebe, Cole and Leo looking as stunned as I was.
Part 8
"I thought you said he didn't have any powers", said Phoebe.
"Well, he didn't have any 10 minutes ago", said Paige.
"You left the attic door open ? Again ?", said Phoebe.
"No. It was closed when I last checked it.", said Paige.
What was to become an endless arguing was stopped by the time getting unfrozen. The energy ball whizzed by my shoulder and hit a nearby chair. The demon got unfrozen too and was surprised to see five pairs of eyes staring angrily at him. Then Cole threw an energy ball at him and the demon blew into pieces.
"Ok, now that that's over with", said Phoebe "Andy, please explain us how come you have the power of freezing time and 10 minutes ago you didn't have it."
"Well, it's like this", I said. And I told them what had happened in the attic, starting with the door that opened all by itself and ending with the strange blue light coming from above. And in the end, I said "And by the way, we didn't even have time for introductions but I guess Paige has told you everything and I know all of you so I guess all I can say is 'Hello, pleased to meet all of you !' "
"Hello, pleased to meet you too, Andy !", said Phoebe, Cole and Leo in chorus.
"And you say you haven't practiced witchcraft before ?", asked Phoebe.
"Nope. I believe in witchcraft but I've never practiced it.", I answered.
"Then how the heck did you get powers ?", asked Paige.
"Search me.", I answered. "So you guyz have a plan to fix this thing ?"
"Well, this certainly seems to me like a classic case of switched souls.", said Phoebe. "Only this time it happened between two different realities. Leo, could you find out how was this possible ? And since you're going up there could you ask the Elders how come Andy got powers even though he ain't a witch ?"
"Sure thing", said Leo and he orbed away.
"Okay then, now we can use that souls switching potion that we used the time we two got our mixed up", said Phoebe looking at Paige.
"Yep, we could use that. But we need to have both Andy and Andrew here. So Cole should go and try to retrieve my husband. Think you can do it, Cole ?"
"It will be hard to locate him in other reality but I'll give it my best shot. Catch ya later.", said Cole. Then he kissed Phoebe and shimmered away.
"Okay then ... In the meantime we'll make the potion.", said Paige.
Just then we heard the front door opening and an angry voice saying "Could someone please help me with this luggage and tell me why did my husband had to orb out of the car in such a hurry ?" It was Piper. We all rushed to the front door.
"Welcome back, big sis", said Paige and hugged her.
"Piper, hunny, welcome back", said Phoebe hugging Piper. "Andy here will carry your bags to your room. In the meantime we'll fill you in with what happened. You do know the way, right Andy ?", she turned towards me.
"Yep, I sure do.", I answered. "A pleasure to meet you, Piper. Let me carry them for you", I said to Piper and grabbed her luggage and started towards the stairs.
"Thank you.", said Piper to me, with a confused look on her face. Then turned towards Phoebe: "Why is Andrew acting like he sees me for the first time in his life ? And where's my husband ?"
"Come over here and sit down and we'll fill you in on the whole thing.", said Paige.
And Phoebe and Paige started to tell Piper what happened, while I was climbing the stairs towards the first floor.
When I came back downstairs, Piper was just saying: "So we're gonna use that potion to switch them back." Paige and Phoebe nodded. "I wonder if we still have powered toadstool."
"Powered ... what ?", I asked. The sisters turned towards me. "Oh, that white powder ... yeah, yeah I remember." Piper and Phoebe looked at me a bit confused and then turned towards Paige. Paige shrugged her shoulders and said "I told you, he's a walking Halliwell encyclopedia. I'll go check if there is any toadstool left.", and she headed towards the kitchen.
"Well, we'd better start making that potion", said Piper. She and Phoebe headed towards the kitchen. But then she turned towards me and asked: "Will you join us in the kitchen, Andy ?"
"Sure", I said and followed them in the kitchen.
Paige closed one of the kitchen cabinets and said: "We're out of powered toadstool. I'll go buy some."
"Okay, hun.", said Phoebe. "We'll start making the potion here."
"Okay, I'll be back quickly", said Paige and she ran out the front door.
Part 9
The potion was almost ready when Leo orbed in half an hour later. Piper rushed to him and gave him a kiss. "Hey you !", she said.
"Hey Leo !", said Phoebe.
"Hiya Leo !, I said. "So what did the Elders say ?"
"Hi hun ! Hey guyz !", said Leo. "Well, they don't have a clue either on what happened. They say it might have been some sort of an inter-reality rift that caused the souls of Andy and Andrew to be in a two-way connection and got mixed up."
"Two-way connection ?", said Phoebe. "What's that ?"
"Dreams are normally a one-way connection.", said Leo. Like for example, Andy's soul was connected with Andrew's soul and was having those dreams. But Andrew wasn't connected to Andy. In other words, he wasn't dreaming about Andy. But that rift probably caused the connection to be two-ways, they were dreaming of each other at the same time. And probably this caused their souls to get mixed up."
"Man, I didn't think dreams could get you so mixed-up.", I said. "And what about my powers ? How did I get them although I'm not a witch ?"
"The Elders decided to give them to you temporarily. If you're proving worthy of them, they're gonna let you keep them.", said Leo.
"Well, so much for a peaceful life.", I said. "And how long is this trial period ?", I asked Leo.
"They didn't say. Sorry. But I think you'll know when it's over, trust me.", Leo answered.
"I'll probably have to come here once in a while to do quick study courses on witchcraft. Just in case demons show up in my house. Will you ladies help me ?" and I turned towards Phoebe and Piper. "Please ? I promise to be a good student."
Piper looked at Phoebe then she looked at me and said smiling: "Sure, we'd be glad to help you. We'll work up an inter-reality travel spell and send it to you."
"What about a whitelighter ? Don't I need one ?", I asked Leo.
"I think that can be arranged", said Leo smiling.
"Thanks. You guyz are the best."
Just then there was a flash of light near the kitchen door.
"That must be Cole", Phoebe said and headed over there. "Have you found Andrew, hunny ?"
But instead of Cole, a demon stepped into the kitchen and said "No, but I've found you. Prepare to die, witch !" and a fireball appeared in his hands. He was ready to throw it at Phoebe, who was taken completely by surprise.
"Phoebe, get out of the way !", yelled Piper. Phoebe was standing right between Piper and the demon and she couldn't blast the demon to pieces. I, on the other hand, had no obstacles in front of me.
"No, no, allow me", I said and quickly raised both my hands in the air freezing the demon. Phoebe unleashed a karate kick on the demon's chin sending him flying backwards. Then she got out of the way and Piper blasted the demon to pieces.
"Thank you, Andy. Not bad for a rookie witch.", said Phoebe smiling.
"Yeah, not bad at all. I'm sure that the Elders will let you keep the powers after this.", said Piper. Then she turned towards Leo: "Don't you think so, hun ?"
"Yeah, I think so too. Good job, Andy", said Leo and gave me a pat on the back.
"Awww, it was nothing really. Would have done that for anybody.", I said.
A flash of light appeared in the middle of kitchen and Cole shimmered in. But not alone. Andrew was with him.
"Welcome back, Cole ! Hey, Andrew, welcome back !", said Piper and went to hug Andrew.
"Welcome back, hunny !", said Phoebe and rushed to Cole and kissed him. Then turned towards Andrew and hugged him: "Welcome back, Andrew ! We missed ya !"
"Good to see ya back, bro !", said Leo and gave Andrew a pat on the back.
"Thanks, everyone ! It's good to be back.", said Andrew. Then he spotted me and said: "And this must be the "infamous" Andy. Nice to meet ya. Wish the circumstances were different." Then he shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Andrew.", I replied.
Just then Paige walked in. "I got the powered toadstool, Piper." Then she spotted Andrew. "Honeybucks !" She rushed towards him and kissed him and hugged him. "Oh, God, I've missed you so much !"
"Me too, Noogie !", he said.
"Okay, now that everyone is here and the potion is ready, let's switch'em back.", said Piper. "Andy and Andrew, get over there, beside the pot and join hands. Then you'll both say 'I wanna be myself again'. And one of you will throw some powered toadstool in the pot."
"Okay", we said in a chorus. We went there and I grabbed some white powder in my left hand. We joined hands and said at the same time: "I wanna be myself again" and then I threw the white powder in the pot. There was a white light enveloping Andrew and me that lasted for a few seconds. Eeveryone was waiting impatiently. I looked at my hands and I said: "It's good to be back in my own body". Everybody breathed a sigh of relief and Paige rushed to Andrew and hugged him tightly.
Part 10
Half an hour later, I was ready to go home. In the meantime, Phoebe managed to cook up an inter-reality spell, so Cole was off the hook. He didn't have to do the trip all over again.
We all got up to the attic. I was holding a piece of paper in my hand with the spell written on it.
I hugged the ladies and shook the hands of the men. Then I made a few steps back.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye then.", I said. "Thanks for everything ! It's been quite an experience."
"Yeah, for us too !," said Piper smiling. "Take care of yourself and be sure to stop by for your witch craft lessons. We (and pointed to Phoebe and Paige) will be happy to have you around as our student."
"Yeah", said Phoebe.
"And keep on watching Charmed.", said Paige grinning.
"You can count on that", I said smiling. "Guyz, take care of your ladies. You're very lucky to have them around." Piper, Phoebe and Paige gave me an "Awww, you're sweet" look.
"We will, don't worry.", said Cole.
"And Andrew ... ", I said looking at Andrew.
"Yes, Andy.", he replied.
"See ya in my dreams", I said and winked at him.
"Okay, man", he said.
"Okay, I guess it's time for the spell.", I said and started to read the spell from the piece of paper. "Let doors be unlocked
And barriers breached
Send me a portal
To places not reached
To the worlds not to be seen
To where I can't be
Send now the portal
Between realities."
A portal opened to my right. "Okay, this is it. Good bye, everybody. Take care of yourselves." Suddenly a blue light enveloped me. It lasted a few seconds. When it disappeared, I looked at Leo. He was grinning widely. "I guess your trial period is over. Congratulations, Andy. You're now a full-time witch.", he said. Everybody else was smiling at me.
"I guess that means I'll see all of you soon. Bye-bye for now.", I said and waved.
"Bye, Andy. Take care of yourself.", said all of them in a chorus as I stepped into the portal.
I was enveloped in a white light for a few seconds. Then a black portal appeared in front of me. I stepped outside and found myself in a room that looked very familiar. I was finally home ! The portal closed up behind me.
I didn't even have time to be glad that I was home coz the doorbell rang. My parents were home.
"So did anyhting interesting happen today ?", my dad asked me.
"Ummm, nope ... nothing interesting.", I replied with an "innocent" smile on my face and feeling the paper with the spell in my right pocket.
That night, I watched Charmed. It was a terrific episode, as usual. And, as the final credits appeared on the screen, I felt a bit different knowing that I did meet the real things that day. And knowing that I was ... Charmed too.
The end (or maybe ...a new beginning)
Note. A friendly warning to all my readers: be careful what you dream of. You might not wake up in your own bed the next morning.