Legacy: Power Thrust
by Lady Dawson
Chapter Three: Demonic Powers
Almost the second that she entered her apartment, Susan heard the sounds of pained whimpering coming from the kitchen, followed by Bobby's consoling voice, telling whoever it was that it was going to be okay. As she wandered into the kitchen, she found a scared looking teenage girl rocking back and forth in the chair.
"Hey, little brother," Susan said as she hugged Bobby affectionately. "So this is Hannah, right? Any idea what happened?"
"I haven't been able to get any idea of what happened out of her," Bobby admitted, running his hand through his brown hair. He looked worried and anxious. "But uh . . . why is Cassandra still here? Shouldn't you have vanquished her by now?"
"Can't really do that. Brooke used a power-stripping potion on her and she's mortal now. Like it or not, she's an Innocent." Susan shook her head, squatting down next to Hannah. "Did you find anything in the Book? Anything to find out what's causing this?"
"Nothing," Bobby sighed. He was sitting at the table, thumbing through the Book of Shadows. "Hannah, please, just calm down, we're gonna figure out what's causing this."
"Your dad hasn't been up to anything?" Susan asked him and he shook his head. "Great. At least with Peter, I know what I'm really up against. Okay, Hannah," she said, addressing the trembling girl. "Did anything strange happen before all this happened? Did you go somewhere new or meet some strange?" Hannah raised her head and her brown eyes were wide and fearful as she bobbed her head.
"Really? Great, what was it?" Bobby asked her, thrilled.
"My . . . my friends and I, we . . . we went to this place on the outskirts of town," Hannah whispered. "My friend Ashley heard about it from her older sister, said that they had some really cool stuff for sale in there. We just went to go check it out and they had these pretty gems. They were pretty cheap, too, so we each got one of them. Then this started happening." She buried her head into her knees and started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Where's this gem?" Susan asked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Almost instantly, she was flung backwards, hitting the wall opposite and nearly knocking the wind out of her. Hannah went white and she tried to scramble out of the kitchen, desperate to escape, but Susan orbed in front of her, stopping her.
Hannah looked stunned. "What—what just happened?" she asked. "How did you do that?" She looked between Bobby and Susan. "Who are you people?"
"We're friends, Hannah," Bobby told her. "We have gifts that we use to help people. I know that this is a lot to take in, but you just have to trust that we're trying to help you. If you can just tell us everything that you know and let us help you, I think we can make the pain go away."
Looking sceptical, Hannah looked between Susan and Bobby, uncertain, but nodded slowly. "My mom wouldn't believe that I was really sick. I don't know why it's happening, but the past week, ever since we got those gems, I was in some serious pain. I could barely even stand up and not throw up. It was too much, some days. The room kept spinning around me and it felt like someone was shoving something into me, something I couldn't control. Then yesterday, it just started happening some of the time. Before, it was going on all the time, but yesterday, it just was doing it for brief intervals. Mom thought that I was well enough to go back to school and then . . . this started happening. Things started moving around me. Every time I took a step, things began to move and people were thrown across the room. I tried to hold it all in, but then the pain came back and . . ." Hannah gave a shuddering breath and looked down, ashamed.
"Listen to me," Susan said, drawing the girl into a seat. "It's not your fault; you're not doing anything wrong. Someone is doing this to you and we're gonna do our best to fix it. Your friends . . . did they all start showing these symptoms too?"
"I think so. Mom said that Ashley and Lauren were both out, too, but Tracey was still in classes. I saw her today, though, and she looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion. She wouldn't talk to me, though, said that it was too dangerous to be around her."
"Do you still have that gem?" Susan asked her. Hannah nodded and reached up around her neck, pulling out a cord and undoing the clasp. When the clasp was undone, she withdrew a long cord that had a pink gem on the end of it, glowing dangerously.
Taking the gem, Susan studied it carefully. She could feel power flowing from it, evil power. Demonic power. And it was flowing into Hannah. It was what was giving Hannah her powers.
Standing up, Susan headed into the kitchen, started flipping through the Book. She was sure that she had seen something like this somewhere in there before. "Come on, where is it?" she muttered as she flipped through the pages as Bobby and Hannah wandered back into the kitchen. "Where is it?"
"You think you've seen something like this before?" Bobby asked her.
"No, but I've seen something in the Book like this before," Susan answered, glancing up at him. "There was a demon that used gems to infuse mortals with powers, demonic powers. Trying to recruit an army or something. I forget the exact details, but this sounds like his work. Here it is," she added suddenly, stopping on the page. "That's right, his name's Geschenk. It's Dutch, it means 'gift'."
"So, basically, he thinks that he's giving mortals a gift?" Hannah asked bitterly. "Does he know how much pain it causes?"
"I think so, but it's not just giving you your powers, it's also burning away your mortality and turning you into a demon," Susan said slowly, her hand slowly reading down the page. Hannah looked horrified. "The gems are how he does it; they start to bond with your DNA. It takes a quarter's moon turn for it to take full affect. When and where exactly did you get the gem?"
"Two days ago, after school," Hannah answered, her expression wide-eyed. "It was at this place at Rose and Manny called—"
"James," Susan said, running her hand over her eyes. Bobby frowned at Susan's reaction.
"How did you know that?"
"Because that's where I had the premonition of this morning," Susan replied, looking up at her brother. "And that's where Brooke and Wyatt are right now."
--
Brooke looked at the gems that the clerk had produced interestedly while Wyatt waited impatiently behind them, giving her exasperated looks. Just because they were in the middle of a mission didn't mean she couldn't stop and look, did it?
Apparently, from the looks that he was giving her. With a sigh, Brooke finally snatched up a blue gem that gleamed in her hand as she took it, handing it over to the clerk. "I'll take this one, I think," she said cheerfully, smiling at the clerk, who gave a dangerous, gleeful smile as he took it from her. "How much do I owe you?"
"For a pretty girl like you? I'm feeling extremely charitable today. I'll let you have it for five dollars."
"Five bucks?" Wyatt repeated suspiciously. "Seems like it's too good of a deal. You're sure you want to get that, Brooke?"
Giving her boyfriend a warning look, Brooke nodded happily. "I'm sure. There's this awesome top in my closet that I'm sure will go great with it. And if you're lucky, I might even model it for you."
Wyatt blushed and Brooke swiped out five bucks, handing it over to the clerk before he could say anything word, and hurried out of the store, the gem necklace in hand.
"Where'd Susan go, anyway?"
"Bobby called her. He needed her help with something. And anyway, I'm not entirely sure that you should've bought that necklace, Brooke."
"Why not?"
"Because Susan and I both get the feeling that that guy is the reason why she got a premonition here. The only reason people like us get visions is because there's something of the supernatural going on. How do we know that he's not a demon?"
"Because he would've attacked us by now if he were." Brooke shook her head. "Come on, let's not fight. Maybe Susan's vision was just somewhere close by, not necessarily this place."
"I'm not so sure, Susan said that she saw James' place in her vision." Wyatt gave in, though. "All right, let's check some of the other places and see if anything turns up. In this neighbourhood, though, I'm thinking that it might not be evil in the way we're thinking of."
"Tell me about it," Brooke muttered, taking a quick look around the dreary neighbourhood. "Next time Susan has a vision, remind me to tell her to have it at a mall or someplace." Sliding her arm around Wyatt's, the two witches walked together down the street.
Meanwhile, the clerk stepped outside for a moment, watching Wyatt and Brooke as they rounded the corner, his eyes flashing a demonic yellow. "So, witches have decided to come around here, have they? No matter, my gems will soon dispose of that little girl."
"You'd better hope so, James, if you hope to keep your life," Peter Connelly said coldly as he stepped around the corner.
"Have I ever failed you, my lord?"
"There's a first time for everything," Peter said smoothly. "And I will not tolerate any more failure this time."
"Sir, I just don't understand. Why go after the nymph-witch?"
"Because I have tried going after my daughter and time and time again, she has thwarted my attempts. And now, instead of being with a Halliwell witch, she is protected by a demon. I can't decide which is worse. So I'm going to try and rid myself of another one of prophesised witches. After all, it really doesn't matter which one I get rid of. One down ends the threat?"
"What if they find out what we're up to?"
"They won't," Peter said smoothly. "Not until it's too late. After all, those demonic powers work on both witches and mortals. So when they finally wedge themselves into Miss Murphy, then she'll embrace the darkness. And if she fights for evil, then she'll go after her friends. Once she's killed them, then we can get rid of her."
--
Chris tossed a steak onto the grill, watching as it smoked and fried, irritation flooding through him as he saw his mother walk into the kitchen, regarding him carefully. The other kitchen help were already working their magic on the customers that were waiting for their food.
"Honey, you know, maybe you should take a few days off," she said kindly as she watched him toss a few more steaks, rather ferociously onto the grill, not caring if he ruined them or not.
"I'm fine."
"Those steaks that you're making say otherwise," Piper told him. Chris looked and noticed the medium well steak he was cooking was now burned black. "Candace? Can you take over for a little bit? I need to talk to my son about something."
Candace nodded as Piper led Chris out of the room.
"Okay, look, sit down, sweetie," Piper instructed as she led him out to the bar. "You know that I know that you're a grown man, but I am still your mother and I worry about you. So I know that there's something going on. And I'm pretty sure that I know what it is."
Chris looked at his mother, sighing. "Trust me, Mom, there's no way that you could know what's bothering me. Not that anything is," he added quickly to cover up his slip.
"Uh-huh. Well, I'd say that whatever's bothering you, it's about Susan," Piper said and he stilled, astonished at how well his mother could read him. Was he really that obvious? "Because I called her earlier and she told me that you guys split up."
"What?!" Chris exclaimed, causing a few customers to stare. "Why would you call her?"
"Because as far as I knew, she was your girlfriend and therefore the best choice besides your brother to get information on what was wrong," Piper said gently. "She didn't want to tell me, Chris. In fact, she told me that it was better if I asked you or Wyatt."
"Did she tell you why?" Chris spat.
Piper sighed. "Well, sort of. She said that an old flame of hers came into the picture, but I didn't really get any of the details."
Chris frowned. "Did she tell you that he's half-demon?" he asked, keeping his voice low so nobody would hear him. Piper looked shocked at his confession. "Yeah, her new boyfriend is a demon. Not only that, but he was actually sent to Wisconsin to kill her and her brother. She sure knows how to pick them, huh?"
For a moment, his mother just looked at him. "So, are you upset about the fact that you lost her to a demon or she picked this guy over you or that she'd rather be with the bad boy?" she asked calmly. Chris sighed, shaking his head as he stared ahead of him. "Or is it all three?"
Before Chris could reply, they heard screaming coming from the kitchen and both mother and son jumped into action, rushing to the kitchen as two of the kitchen helpers ran out, one of them on fire. His friend was patting out the flames as the door swung open and Chris ran inside, his mother right behind him, stopping in his tracks.
Candace was lying in the middle of the kitchen, curled up in a ball and whimpering and screaming loudly as flames emitted from her, flying every which way and lighting anything it touched.
Flicking her wrists, Piper hurried forward to inspect the girl as Chris stood dead in his tracks. "What the heck is going on?" he demanded. "What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know," Piper said, shaking her head as she looked up at him. "But she was throwing fireballs. So . . ."
"She's a demon," Chris said grimly.
Piper frowned. "I'm not so sure, sweetie. I mean, if she was a demon, then she wouldn't be reacting like this." She gestured at Candace's feral position, her eyes wild.
"Then what is going on?"
"Not a clue."
