It was nearly 6:00 in the evening when the Halliwell family finally made it home. The sun was setting leaving a beautiful twilight in the sky. This wouldn't sooth Piper's nerves however. The car doors of both Pipers and Wyatt's car's slammed shut. "RIDICULOUS!" Piper yelled at the top of her lungs as she walked up the stone steps to the manor. "I get a call from the Principals office!" She continued. "On the first day of school no less!" She was furious. The Halliwell siblings knew better than to try to calm down her mother when she was angry. It was best to let her get it out all at once.
Piper opened the doors to the manor kicking off her shoes and took off her coat throwing it on the coat rack. Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda slowly made their way into the Manor behind her trying to avoid eye contact. "Leo!!" She yelled. Her eyes turned to the grandfather clock checking the time; he should have been home.
"I'm in the Kitchen!" He yelled back.
"Come on kids. Wait till your father hears about this!" Piper started. If the Halliwell siblings didn't know any better they could swear that a fire was igniting in their moms eyes. Melinda rolled her eyes and followed her mother through the main foyer and into the Kitchen. Chris and Wyatt soon followed after setting their things down. Piper entered the kitchen; Leo was found pouring himself a glass of milk. He turned hearing foot steps and smiled seeing his family. Seeing their countenances however slowly turned his smile into a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong..?" He asked hesitantly. The three kids looked at each other and then all looked at their mother. "What happened?" He asked.
"What happened? Hmmm." Piper peeved, "Your children got detention on their first day of school!" Leo's eyes widened in disappointment.
"For what?" He asked concerned. The three Halliwells couldn't look in their father's eyes. They felt bad enough.
"The Principal said that they were found in the hallway unsupervised and standing over four unconscious students!" Piper explained angrily.
Leo folded his arms and asked, "Kids…why were you out of class and why were those students unconscious?!" Melinda and Chris looked at each other and both took a step back leaving Wyatt the spokesperson of their story. "Wyatt?" Leo asked.
"Ugh. Thanks guys." Wyatt shook his head. "Mom, Dad, before you guys both explode on us I want you to know that we had very good reason for being there at that time." He explained trying to calm them both down. Piper's eyes narrowed.
"Well?!" She persisted. Wyatt knew that his parents would freak out. They used magic in a setting that they could be exposed in. Not to mention, the spell they used was from the Book of Shadows, they weren't supposed to go into it until they were 18. Wyatt was 17, Chris was 16, and Melinda had just turned 14. But, Wyatt couldn't lie to his parents. "Something demonic attacked us at school today, Mom." He said.
Piper and Leo both looked at each other in disbelief. That was not an excuse that they even thought they were going to hear. "What..?" Piper asked. "Demonic? Wyatt, that's ridiculous!"
"Is it mom?" Chris spoke up. Their eyes shifted to their second born. "Mom, Dad, the whole school became frozen. Everyone was immobilized except us three. Wyatt didn't do it and Melinda and I don't have that kind of power." Chris pointed out. Piper's angry expression turned worried.
"That still doesn't explain why those students were unconscious." Leo said.
"They were possessed." Wyatt replied. "They were all called down to the office this morning." He began, "And then when Chris, Melinda, and I investigated we found them. Their skin was all blue shaded and they were anything but human." Words couldn't describe Pipers current mood. She tried to speak but only vowel sounds were made.
"What could have the power to do that?" She finally got out.
"I personally think it was the Principal." Melinda suggested, "He freaked me out a lot." She chuckled.
"Still we wouldn't have any proof." Leo said.
"I think I'm getting a migraine." Piper interrupted placing her hands over her face. "How did you guys reverse the effects?" She asked. The three Halliwells all looked at each other. Answering this question would surely make their mom explode.
"Well…we held them off with our powers…" Melinda said
"Yeah…but that's not enough to reverse those effects." Leo added. "You would need a lot more power to do so. You would need…a spell from the…" Leo paused and looked at Piper. Her head jolted upward and she began to wave her arms about.
"Please tell me you didn't!" Piper outraged. They all lowered their heads. They knew they weren't supposed to but they did. She took in multiple deep breaths trying to calm down.
"Yes Mom…" Chris sighed, "We did…" Pipers eyes widened in disbelief. "I orbed in while Wyatt and Melinda held them off and found a Reversal of Magic spell. Then I orbed back and we read it together and all the magic that was used was reversed including the molecular immobilization over the entire school."
"And then the Principal conveniently showed up." Melinda added.
"You know you're not allowed to go into the book of shadows!" Piper yelled completely dismissing what Melinda had said.
"Piper, how else could they have reversed the effects without a spell?" Leo reasoned. Piper dismissed it again.
"You're not old enough to use that yet! You know that!" Piper scolded.
"Piper!" Leo yelled finally interrupting her tangent. Piper stopped and looked over. "It's over now. There's nothing we can do about it. They weren't exposed that's all we should be concerned with. That and why this happened. We need to be concentrating on figuring out who wants to hurt our kids. Because someone clearly knew they wouldn't be affected." Leo explained.
"But what demon has that kind of power? Can a demon freeze time? Or manipulate human motion?" She asked Leo concerned.
"Only one I know of is Tempus…and he's dead." He replied. "But what if it's not a Demon? What if its maybe a Warlock or an Evil Witch?" He suggested. Piper was definitely getting a headache and it was becoming obvious.
"Why is this happening now..?" She sighed. Piper walked passed the kids and stood in the kitchen doorway. She turned towards her children, "Don't go into the Book of Shadows without your father or me again." She instructed. "I'm going to lie down." She turned away and went to her room.
"Dad…I'm sorry but what else could we have done?" Wyatt said.
"Its okay, Wyatt. I'll talk to your mother; don't worry about it for now. Our main concern is figuring out who is after you guys. Someone is obviously afraid of you guys coming into power." Leo said. The Halliwells nodded their heads. Finally there had been some peace for the day. "Alright well…go do your homework guys." Leo said.
"Ugh. Don't remind me. First day of school and loads of homework." Melinda complained as she exited the kitchen with Wyatt. Chris didn't leave the kitchen however. He needed to talk to his father still.
"Umm. Dad…There's one more thing." Chris spoke up. Leo cocked his head and looked curious. "I think I have a new…well." He tried to explain it but nothing seemed to make sense. "Here watch." He closed his eyes and opened one of his hands. Chris concentrated real hard on the thought of a pencil. A bright light cascaded from his hand and a pencil was conjured. He opened his eyes and looked up to his father who seemed absolutely amazed.
"You have a new power…" Leo observed. Chris nodded his head. "How did you do it?"
Chris shrugged his shoulders, "Not sure completely. I just thought really hard about it and it came to me." He explained.
"Thought Projection…" Leo inferred. "That's the ability to conjure your thoughts to life. Chris…your powers are growing. No one else in our family has ever had that power before." He said, "No wonder you were attacked today. Someone must be afraid that you three will be the strongest Witches alive. Even stronger than your mother and aunts were." Leo's statement left Chris in awe. He never thought that he could ever be stronger than the Power of Three.
"So, should we tell mom about this?" Chris asked. Leo cocked his head at the questions and took a deep breath.
"Maybe it's best if we let your mom cool down some more. The last thing you want is for her to worry that you'll expose yourself because of a new power." Leo advised. He walked over to his son and placed his around him. "Don't worry about anything else right now. Just focus on school. We'll figure out everything else together." He reassured. One thing Leo's worked on since the future Chris went to Leo's past was that he needed to be a good father and he tries his best to do so. Chris is closer with Leo than Wyatt and Melinda.
"Alright dad." Chris smiled and walked out of the kitchen and up to his room. He did have homework and he wasn't looking forward to doing it, but it needed to be done for the next day. Leo turned off the Kitchen light and entered the main foyer and up the staircase. He took short glances of the pictures on the walls; they mostly consisted of Piper, Phoebe, and Paige during the good old days. Leo sighed; He missed those days often when he actually still had powers. Now he could only watch from the sidelines like a coach.
All the kids' rooms were closed. All that could be heard was the music in Melinda's room blaring. Leo opened the door to his bedroom and found Piper lying down in a blue night gown on their bed. Her arms were folded and it seemed as if she was lost in thought. "Piper…" Leo sighed. Her dark brown eyes traveled upward to meet his. "Penny for your thoughts?" He asked submissively.
Piper sighed; she wasn't as young as she used to be and it getting harder to handle these kinds of things at an older age. "It's just…" She began, "Leo, they're still so young. I'm not mad at them for using their magic…it just feels like their destiny is calling them sooner than I wanted it too. Prue, Phoebe, and I didn't get our powers until we were in our mid-twenties. We were adults and we could barely handle the day to day challenges that awaited us. They're still kids, Leo." Piper explained. Leo sat down on the bed next to her and placed one of his hands on top of hers.
"I agree, Piper. It seems that they're growing up way too fast. But this is their destiny. Everything happens for a reason. What happened today was evidence that their destiny has begun." Piper just seemed much more upset with every word that Leo was saying, but she couldn't deny that he was telling the truth. "We should be preparing them. I say we do it and soon, when you feel up to it." Piper let out a frustrated breath and finally gave in.
"Alright, Leo…if you think its best." She replied. She tossed her long faded brown hair off her shoulders and laid her head back on her pillow. Leo leaned over and softly kissed her on the lips.
Meanwhile in Melinda's room; Melinda found herself going through her book bag with a very angry expression her face. "Ugh. You have to be kidding me?!" She exclaimed. Melinda eventually kicked her back pack off of her bed. She had forgotten a book in her locker and didn't like the fact that she might not have her homework done from the first day of school. She decided it wasn't acceptable and thought it was best to get to the school and get it. Melinda inherited her Witch powers from her Aunt Prue or so Piper always used to tell her.
One of the powers she inherited was Astral Projection. This allowed her to send her subconscious to another place completely while her body went into a deep slumber. She closed laid down on her bed and slowly closed her eyes concentrating on the school hallways. It was safe to say that was no one was there at that time of night. Her body became relaxed completely and her subconscious projected itself inside one of the girls bathroom stalls in the school. Melinda stood still for a bit listening for any sound. "Perfect." She mused. She opened the stall and walked out of it and the bathroom.
She looked around keenly making sure that no one was actually there. That would be a story to tell. Slowly, she crept towards her locker and knelt down to punch in the combination. She messed up a few times but that was to be expected. "Ugh. Damn it!" She cursed under her breath.
"Where is he?!" A voice echoed through the hallways. Melinda froze in place slowly turning her head towards the dark halls. "He told us to be here. Where is he?" The voice complained.
"Just wait a minute. He wouldn't have summoned us if he didn't need to speak with us. Just wait." Another voice echoed. Foot steps filled the once silent and seemingly empty school. Melinda slowly stood up and crept towards the edge of a wall and poked her head around to get a better glimpse of who was talking. A light was on at the end of the school and three shadows were against the wall.
"No way…" Melinda whispered. She began to quietly walk down the hallway hoping to actually get a view of what they were.
"I hope he has the sacrifices!" A deep voice exclaimed.
"He wouldn't double cross us." Said a softer voice; Melinda peeked around and finally caught glimpse. There were three people, two men and one woman cloaked in dark red robes conversing. She watched keenly. Suddenly within a split second a fourth blinked in.
"Oh my god! Warlocks! That one blinked!" She thought to herself. She quickly but quietly went towards the edge of a corner and closed her eyes. Her subconscious slowly faded and transported back to her body. Her eyes opened quickly and she threw herself off of her bed and shot out her bedroom. She looked around. "I need to tell someone…" She thought. "But I can't tell Mom and Dad yet…and Chris is probably asleep." She inferred. That left one possible candidate left.
She walked down the hall and towards Wyatt's bedroom and knocked on it quietly. "Come in." Wyatt replied. Melinda quickly entered and closed the door behind her. "Mel, what's up?" He asked concerned seeing her scarce countenance. Melinda sat down on Wyatt's bed next to him and gathered herself.
"Wyatt, there are warlocks at our school." She muttered quietly. Wyatt looked confused as if he didn't understand the concept. "I forgot my book at school, I Astral Projected myself there, I heard voices, I saw three warlocks talking to each other and then one more blinked in." She explained.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slowly down Mel. Are you sure?" He asked.
"Absolutely positive!" She replied. "Wyatt, we have to investigate."
"Okay, let's get mom and dad." He said starting to sit up. Melinda shoved him back down.
"No, No, NO! There is no time, I heard them talking about 'sacrifices' we have to hurry. Now orb us there. Now!" Melinda ordered.
"Mel, we shouldn't do this." He pleaded.
"Wyatt, how are Mom and Dad ever supposed to trust us with our charmed destiny if we don't embrace it?!" She retorted. Wyatt sighed and rolled his eyes.
"The things I do for you." He said. He took Melinda's hand and closed his eyes. In a cascade of white and blue lights they dematerialized and orbed to the school in a darkened hallway. In moments they reappeared. They both stood silently for a bit, the voices still echoed through the halls. Melinda led her brother to their position and together they listened inconspicuously.
"He's still not here." A deep voice said.
"Maybe we should just blow this place up to remind him to never waste our patience." Another voice chuckled. They all began laughing lecherously but then one stopped. The others followed his example but in confusion. "What's wrong?" The same voice asked.
One of the Warlocks began to turn towards Melinda and Wyatt's direction. "I smell…Witch…" He said. The others began to look around them and slowly made their way down the halls.
"Damn it, Wyatt, I told you to always wear deodorant." Melinda peeved sarcastically. Wyatt dismissed her remark and stood up.
"I think we're caught. Melinda run!" He said shoving her aside. Melinda slowly began to back up but stopped as she began to hear heavy breathing behind her. She turned her head to find one of the warlocks there, he must have blinked.
"Oh shit…" She cursed. She squinted her eyes and sent the Warlock flying back into a wall. "Wyatt! They can all blink!" She called back. Two of the Warlocks were coming at Wyatt. One of then naively sent an energy ball at him; Wyatt waved his arm and deflected it right back knocking the Warlock away. He then thrusted both of his arms towards the other warlock speeding up its molecules until it finally combusted into flames.
The warlock Melinda sent into the wall got up and came straight at her with its arms extended. "Some of you just don't learn do you?!" She said. She jumped up quickly and round house kicked its face causing it to spiral and into the air and hit the floor. She looked upwards on the ceiling to see metal rods going across it. Melinda waved her arm at one of them pulling it from the ceiling and then thrusting it through the chest of one of the warlocks. It then combusted into flames once it penetrated the flesh.
Proud with the fruits of her efforts she decided to watch her brother kick some ass. However she didn't anticipate that the fourth warlock was waiting on her to lower her guard. He removed his cloak and just became a dark, misty shadow that flew around in the air. The mist turned into the shape of a hand and wrapped itself around Melinda's neck causing her to choke.
Wyatt blew up the Warlock the same way the first one was killed and turned around to find his sister being attacked. He waved his arms trying to fling it away but to no avail. "This is just like the Woogie Man." He said. "Melinda try to run from it." He yelled. The young Halliwell tried to crawl away but it was pulling her in tightly.
"Remember the Rhyme that Aunt --- that Aunt Phoebe told --- told us." She gasped. It was worth a try.
"I am light, I am one too strong to fight, Vanish now to where shadows dwell, you cannot have this Halliwell. Go now and leave my sight and take with you this endless night." He chanted. Bright lights surrounded the dark figure and it dispersed with an echo. Melinda gasped for air and fell to the ground, trying to gather herself. Wyatt ran to her and held her. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah…" She sighed. "Thanks for having my back bro…" She said gratefully. Wyatt smiled and hugged her tightly.
"I'm never listening to you again. We have no idea what we just did." He said.
With in a few moments he orbed them back into his room on his bed. "Melinda, we'll tell Chris about this later, but lets not tell Mom and Dad about this yet. They'd freak out. We shouldn't do this anymore without Chris or Mom and Dad." He said.
Melinda nodded her head, "Alright. Sorry for getting you into that mess, but I felt like it had to be done. At least we know that something is going on at the school. And someone at the school has something to do with it." Melinda said.
"Yeah, and I found it awkward that all of them were waiting on someone who didn't come. What if that was a set up..? Not just for them. But for us?" Wyatt asked. Things weren't adding up. The two Halliwells looked at each other in dismay. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow. We should sleep on everything." He suggested.
"Yeah. You're probably right…" Melinda got up from his bed and walked towards his door. "Good night, Wyatt." She said.
"Good night, sis." He replied. The door closed and Melinda went to her room. Wyatt got undressed into his boxers and laid down in her bed. He turned off the lights and turned to his side. "Are we being set up?" He asked. He was worried that tonight did happen for a reason, but it wasn't going to prove good for the Halliwell family. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.