Witch Trial Revisited Part 3

Witch Trial Revisited Part 3

Belthazor or Cole Turner, as he was known in the human world, had a long memory. He was evil as evil goes. Had been for most of his life. It had been a hundred years since the human part of him had not resurfaced. He could still remember that at one time, he had been a very different person. But that memory carried no sense of regrets or longing. It had been when he was deluding himself that he could simply be human as his father had been, and that he could save his father' soul by doing what they asked of him.

At the time, he had thought it was the most important thing to him, but now, if they offered it to him he wouldn't have known what to do with it. This didn't change the fact that he wanted to be free of the Source's influence though. About that part of the deal, he still cared a lot. Who knows, he told himself, maybe soon I will find the perfect trading card for that. Lately he had been pulled between two distinct quests. One involved his desire for revenge against the witches who had caused his near disgrace with the source, and put him in the hands of the Triad. That had been a crushing blow to his ego, as he had been put into their service, as a punishment for his failure, no doubts. The other quest was more uncertain, but oh so much more promising. That was the one he thought would guaranty his freedom.

He had been thinking about it carefully, planning and pacing himself because he knew that if he were right about this, the task would spell great danger for him. But the spoil would be so sweet when he had succeeded; and he was sure that he would. He was not the Great Belthazor for nothing. In the last hundred years, and in spite of the slight disgrace he had suffered, his enormous powers and his cunning had earned him the title and the fear that accompanied it. Most demons still respected him as much as they were afraid of him. And that was exactly how he wanted things to be. In his own world, he was still believed to be the best at what he did, and it wasn't a little feat considering that he was by far the youngest among the upper demons and half-human.

The Triad's arrival interrupted his train of thoughts and he prepared to make his proposal to them:

"My lords" he said lowering his head in a false sign of respect.

One of them:

"So you have something to offer?"

Belthazor looked up at him and started:

"I want to offer you the greatest prize there is. I would go after the fabled charmed ones…"

The first one:

"By yourself? We were told that these witches would be a serious threat to our side. And now you're suggesting that you could kill them by yourself?

Belthazor:

"I know that I can. If you give me the time and freedom to act, I will get them for you. But I will do this for a price…"

Another of the hooded demons:

"And what would that be," he said, giving the impression that he already knew but wanted him to say it nevertheless.

Belthazor:

"What I've always wanted. I want to be free." Then after a pause he added:

"And I want my father' soul…" The moment he had said it, he wondered why? What could have pushed him to ask? Was it just that he had been thinking about him a moment ago? Or was it that little voice inside of him that was always trying to come out?

He put it aside right away, preferring to forget about it. After all what did it matter? When he was free, he would have time to dwell on these little moments of weakness.

The second one:

"We might agree with this… But what makes you think that they really exist?"

Belthazor was ready:

"Multiple reports of demons and warlocks disappearing in the vicinity of a human city called Mapleville for once. That has been going on for a while now. I suspected it after we lost Gregor, but the latest news seems to confirm that a great force for good is at work there."

The first one:

"And how are you going to succeed where so many have failed?"

Belthazor:

"You shouldn't even have to ask me that. I am not like those other ones. The charmed ones are no match for me…"

The first one again:

"Still, will you tell us of your intentions?"

Belthazor:

"My plan is for me alone to know. You will get results and that is all you should need. All I want from you is the guaranty that once the task is done, I will get my prize…"

The second one, after they all looked at each other questioningly for a moment:

"So be it. If you succeed in bringing them down, you'll have earned your freedom." Then he added with contempt: "And your father' soul, if that is what you want."

Belthazor just nodded and shimmered before they could ad anything else…

At the manor, the girl's lives had changed tremendously ever since they had vanquished their first demon. In the last year, they had understood how evil was truly all around them. It had seemed so unbelievable at first. But then the attacks on innocents became more and more obvious and the girls had accepted, at least in part, their destiny. They still had no clue what said destiny really was, but it didn't matter as long as they could help innocents escape evil. To this, they were applying themselves with diligence and even enthusiasm by moments.

At first Piper had still been reluctant and occasionally the desire for a normal life was resurfacing. But she also had a big heart and she felt for those people being hurt by evil. This gave her all the motivation needed to continue the fight, even after they had risked their lives many times.

Piper:

"You know that life was infinitely simpler before, don't you?"

Phoebe:

"But never as much fun." She answered with a grin.

Phoebe had embraced her new status as a witch completely. It had given her a direction that she had been lacking before. It didn't keep her, however, from being the center of attention among the men of the city. Her beauty alone was enough to attract them to her, but she also took great pleasure into this. She was of petite stature but so full of energy that she turned every head her way.

Prue:

"You should take this stuff seriously Phoebe, it's not a game."

Phoebe:

"Come on Prue, there is no point in being so negative and serious. If we do, we will become bitter; and for my part, I intend to enjoy myself doing this. After all, we are fighting on the side of the greater good. That should be more than enough without us having to become old spinsters with no life."

Prue frowned:

"Is that a comment about me and Piper? You have no right to criticize. The way you are going, no man will ever want to marry you anyway."

Phoebe smiled teasingly:

"And what exactly made you think that I wanted to get married? All I want is to have a life; not to be confined here and being all about duty, that's all. After all, we face danger every day and we should be allowed a little distraction."

Piper:

"For my part at least," she said with a little offended look, "I did have a suitor at the house last night…"

Phoebe laughed:

"Yeah, and you said 3 words to him in the whole hour that he was here. The poor man didn't know what to do with himself…"

Piper:

"That is so not true!"

Phoebe:

"Is too… You have to lighten up."

Piper made a face at her sister but decided not to embark in one more of those futile arguments she seemed to enjoy.

A knock on the door gave her the excuse she needed.

Piper:

"I'll get it."

Phoebe:

"Chicken!"

Piper growled affectionately and went to the door without replying.

Prue:

"You know Phoebe one of these days, you will hit on a warlock or worse a demon…"

Phoebe:
"No worries, I can take him if that happens."

Prue sighed.

Phoebe:

"Speaking of new men… Bernice told me of a handsome law clerk that just arrived in town."

Prue:

"Phoebe!"

Phoebe:

"What? He's most certainly on the side of good, yesterday on his first day in town he saved a little girl from a carriage according to her."

Prue:

"To trick us maybe?" She said seriously.

Phoebe:

"Oh come on Prue, I'll say it to you too, lighten up. He works with the judge on the side of the law. Besides you will see for yourself when I bring him home, that is if he is to my liking."

Prue teasing now:

"And what makes you think that you will be to his?"

Phoebe gave her an incredulous look that made Prue laugh in spite of herself.

Prue:

"Alright, alright, but be careful…"

Phoebe:

"As I always am."

Prue shook her head in disbelief.

"It's a good thing I love you little sister, because you can be so irresponsible."

Phoebe:

"And loving it," she answered.

At the door, Piper found a young man with his tool bag.

Piper:

"I suppose that you are the handyman we have been promised?"

The young man seemed speechless as he was staring at her and Piper asked again:

"Are you?"

He seemed to find his voice and Piper smiled inwardly, thinking that her charms might be just as good as Phoebe's.

The man:

"Yes," he says hesitantly, "yes I am."

Piper smiled gently:

"Then come on in, we do have some work for you."

Then to her sisters as she came back toward the sitting room:

"Hey girls, we're finally going to have a handyman to repair the little disasters…."

Prue gave her a warning look:

"Well that will be good… That last party was really a little too enthusiastic," she says looking in Phoebe's direction with a triumphal look about her.

Phoebe felt like making her a face but she knew that it was better to keep this version for the handyman.

Piper:

"Well, come with me," she told the young man, who seemed transfixed. Piper started wondering if something wasn't out of place on her. She finally asked:

"Are you ok or is it me?"

The young man seemed to pull out of his reveries with difficulties but then realized that she had noticed his state of mind:

"Oh no, nothing is wrong, sorry I was just a little distracted."

Piper started thinking again that she must have been the cause of his distraction and was very flattered, as he was a handsome man.

The young man:

"I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Leopold Barclay."

Piper jumped a little at the name but she recuperated quickly as it, of course, was not the Leopold that she had known. But if he had noticed anything, he wasn't saying.

Piper:

"As you can see," she told him, indicating a large hole in the wall and some burnt spots on the floor, " we had a few little accidents and are in dire need of repairs."

Leopold just acquiesced and started on his work immediately. He still couldn't help following her with his eyes as she left the room…

Piper was a little perplexed as she was going back to her sisters. She had assumed that the man would ask her how the floor came to be burned in so many different spots, but he had not even flinched at seeing this, and now she was getting suspicious…

In the sitting room, her sisters had quieted down. Now that they were not alone in the house, they didn't want to reveal anything inopportune. But Piper had a pressing question for Phoebe:

"Phoebe," she asked in a low voice, "do you still have that evil detecting spell?

Phoebe:

"I think so, why? You don't think that the…"

Piper:

"Keep it down," she replied quickly. "I don't know for sure," she continued in the same low voice, " but he didn't seem very surprised at the scorched marks on the floor…"

Phoebe:

"Maybe he is just not curious by nature?"

Prue:

"Better safe than sorry. Who knows what plans evil has in store for us?"

Piper said with a pensive expression:

"I sure hope that I am wrong though, because he seems like such a nice man."

Phoebe:

"You like?"

Piper:

"Don't be ridiculous Phoebe, I barely know the man."

But she couldn't help feeling something for the handsome handyman and that made her a little uncomfortable. Those stirrings inside of her, she had managed to bury them deep. But now, somehow, he had awakened something in her that scared and excited her at the same time.

Phoebe:

"Ok then, let me get it, and then we can make sure that your beau is safe for you."

Piper looked at her with annoyance but didn't comment as Phoebe was getting up to fetch the spell.

It didn't take her long to find it as it was still tucked in the BoS.

Going back downstairs, she was wondering if she shouldn't use it occasionally on her own conquests, just in case like Prue had said, but she dismissed it. She knew that she could recognize evil by now. Only Piper's anxiety needed to be appeased and she was going to oblige.

Once she was back, Prue, Piper and she huddled, and they told the spell in a low voice, careful that he wouldn't hear:

"We Invoke the Power of Light

To help us reveal what Might

May the Truth to all be Clear,

Make all Evil to us Appear."

The reassuring silence brought a smile to Piper's lips. She was not expecting to really find him evil, but still was a little worried. Now, at least, she was certain that he was all that he appeared: just a man.

That afternoon, she spent going back and forth from the kitchen to the sitting room, pretending to survey the advance of his work but in reality, she simply was drawn to him. Only once in her life before had this happened, and now she was wondering if she really was ready to take the risk again. "At any rate," she told herself, "if it was to happen, I think that I could do worse." Her sisters were not duped by her pretense either, but they chose not to remark on this as they knew how long it had been since she had shown genuine interest in a man. And after all, they had just proven that he wasn't evil…

As the afternoon came to a close, Leopold had already achieved a lot of the work that they had ordered, but he knew for a fact that those girls would need a handyman around. The elders had been smart in their choice for a cover. But Leopold almost wished that they had not chosen him for this assignment. His love for Piper had not diminished in the least. He had thought that he could see her and accept the anonymity of his disguise, but right then, he was wondering how long he could hide his feelings from her. In spite of himself, he was happy that she was still alone. He knew that it was selfish and undignified of a Whitelighter to think such a thing. But he couldn't help it. "Did she pine for me all these years" he was asking himself? But then, he rejected the thought because it went against everything that he now stood for… He was aware that he would have to make great efforts to stay away from her. And from the look of things, that might be difficult. She was coming back yet again and his heart jumped.

A tinkle coming from them thankfully interrupted his line of thought and he started assembling his tools under Piper's intense gaze.

"Are you done already?" She asked him, obviously disappointed.

Leopold:

"I will have to come back tomorrow, if it is convenient for you?"

Piper answered a little faster than she would have liked:

"Of course."

She felt her face warm and was sure that she turned red as he was observing her.

Leopold:

"Then I'll take leave of you until tomorrow."

Piper:

"Very well." She had said this in a little voice, that she barely recognized herself.

As soon as he was out of sight, Leopold morphed into little balls of white light and disappeared…

Phoebe was enjoying herself tremendously. As usual, she was the life of the party and men were almost fighting for just a moment with her. To this she was responding by moments, with interest, and the next with apparent boredom. She was very well versed in those games of love and played them with great skill. Still, no man had ever truly captured her heart. She thought of herself as wild and free. She never wanted to be saddled with a man and a family. But occasionally, she felt that something was still missing in her life, and she often wondered if her reason to play these dangerous games wasn't exactly that?

Phoebe refused to worry too long about this though. And she concentrated on the next beau who had wrestled his way by her side.

"Miss Halliwell, what a pleasure to finally know you."

Phoebe batting her eyelashes in false innocence:

"How does one know another, really?"

The young man:

"I would give a lot to learn that with you."

Phoebe uttered a light and crystalline laughter that encouraged the young man.

From afar a tall man had heard the laugh and turned to search the room with his icy blue eyes. He couldn't see where it had come from and reported his attention to the crowd surrounding him. He had yet to find who were the witches he was after, but he had no doubts that he would soon. Only once before had he failed, and this would not be the second one.

Phoebe noticed a man in dark clothing who seemed to be on the lookout for something or someone. She immediately became suspicious and lost interest in the young man beside her completely, to his chagrin.

In a moment, she had taken leave of him and started toward the stranger. She had become really good at finding them out, and was now convinced that she was facing yet again one of those evil agents that seemed to pop up more and more.

She had almost reached him, when another man bumped accidentally into her, with a glass of liquor in his hands that he nearly spilled on her. But that wasn't what stopped her in her track. She forgot all together where she was going as she lifted her pretty brown eyes toward the tall man. At first it had been to demand an apology but the words stayed in her throat. As their eyes met, she felt captured by his deep blue eyes and she instinctively knew that the feeling was mutual.

Phoebe took a deep breath and said:

"I,' she stopped for a second then started again trying to keep her voice steady, "sir." But she never got to finish the sentence as the man found his voice:

"My apologies madam, I should have been looking where I was going…"

He smiled at her and she cursed the feeling of warmth that course through her body. What was happening to her, she thought. Never had she felt such immediate attraction to any man.

He said again:

"Will you forgive me?"

Phoebe finally found her voice and smiled sweetly:

"I'll forgive you, but who should I forgive?"

His smile widened and he introduced himself:

"Cole Turner, law clerk recently arrived in your city. Had I known that such beautiful women lived in this town, I would have moved here sooner."

Phoebe felt herself blushing and tried to hide it by looking down.

He asked then:

"And what is the name that I should call in my dreams?" He asked in a flirting tone of voice.

She looked back at him still shaken to the core of her being, but she managed to smile and, using the same flirting intonation, she answered, extending her hand for him to take:

"Phoebe Bennett." She couldn't help a little shiver as he put a lingering kiss on her hand, still looking straight at her, unflinching.

"Would you be the same person who saved that little girl yesterday?" she asked trying very hard to maintain the flirting façade.

Cole:

"It was not so dramatic really, but one does what one can to help."

Phoebe smiled charmingly, while inwardly she felt her heart melting.

Cole:

"Well Miss Bennett, I certainly hope to have the pleasure of your company again soon, if you'll forgive my clumsiness of course."

Phoebe:

"If you are going to live in our humble town, I suppose that it might happen eventually."

She gave him her most encouraging smile at this.

Cole:

"Till I see you again, then." He kept his eyes fixed on hers for another moment, then left without another word.

For a moment she just stood there, transfixed and unable to understand how a man could have made her feel this way. Then, she noticed the individual she had been after before the interruption, and she moved toward him again. All the while, she couldn't help being tempted to look back in the direction Cole Turner had taken, and only at great effort on herself did she not turn around to see where he went.

The man in dark clothing seemed to notice her at last and, as if he had known the danger, stepped out of the room. She hurried behind him and found herself in the poorly lit backroom adjacent to the ballroom. There she could feel him, but not see where he had gone. She prepared for his attack and it didn't take long to come:

The man, now transformed into a gruesome creature, with glowing eyes and fangs, jumped at her from behind and nearly tackled her to the ground. Fortunately, she had sense him before he did and she levitated off the ground before he made contact with her.

Suspended close to the ceiling, she gestured frantically as he was trying to jump toward her. He froze in midair and Phoebe let herself down. Fortunately she had seen such creature before and knew that her energy power was more than sufficient against those. Still, she knew that if Prue had been aware that she had gone against an unknown enemy by herself, she would really want to ring her ears. Without delay, she sent the energy ball to the ground and was consumed in flames.

Phoebe took a moment to recover from the attack before returning to the ballroom, as if nothing had happened. But she knew in her heart of hearts that something did happened to her. And it had nothing to do with the demon that she had just vanquished…

Cole was very troubled. He couldn't chase away the image of her face. She was so beautiful and charming that he had felt immediately attracted to her. Like he never was before. Of course, his life had not been spent in celibacy. No matter his demon inheritance, the human part of him still had some influence on him. But this woman had captured his mind and now he tried very hard to forget about her.

As soon as he had lost sight of her, he made the decision to leave the party; unsure of his reaction was he to meet her again that night.

He had no time to lose on an affair. Once outside, he had managed to regain his control, and was actually wondering how he could have been so troubled by a woman. So much so that he had lost sight of the demon he had been seeking. He had even altogether forgotten about it until then. Now he was looking back at the building, and he suddenly realized something else. Until a few minutes ago, even if he did had a moment of inattention, he had still been able to feel the other demon. Yet now, he couldn't feel anything…

The young man who had been flirting with her earlier was now on his way to her, but all she felt now was annoyance at the sight him. For the last few minutes she had been searching the crowd for Cole Turner. She had tried very hard to put him out of her mind, knowing full well that what she felt now was almost dangerous. Never before had she felt drawn to a man like this and it scared her.

"Could I have fallen so fast?" She asked herself incredulous. Yet she couldn't stop thinking about him. "I don't even know him." She insisted inwardly. But to no avail, as her eyes were continuously scanning the room for a sign of him. The young man tried to get her attention, but she just dismissed him and walked away without a word, leaving him with a very disappointed expression. After a while, she finally gave up when she understood that he obviously had left already and it pained her. It truly was a curious sensation for her to pine for a man. What she had thought to be a great party had become insipid and almost grating, so she left earlier than she had in years.

As she was going to the carriage, she had the sensation of being observed but she was so used to be the center of attention that she dismissed it.

He had caught sight of her and now was again losing his grip. "How is it possible?" The demon fought to regain his hold on the human and succeeded with more difficulty than before. From that moment on, he told himself that he would try and avoid that woman at all cost…
That night Phoebe actually surprised her sisters who didn't expect to see her home this early, but she didn't tell them why as she herself was questioning her motivations and feelings. It took her a long time to fall asleep that night and she couldn't help him invading her dreams as well…

After a while waiting outside, Belthazor finally decided that he should verify his suspicion. It didn't take him long to find the spot where the demon had been vanquished, and he puzzled about how he could have missed what happened. This brought back the memory of the woman and he had to push the image away again, cursing his weak human half and the mistake he had just made because of it. He shimmered out.

The next morning, Phoebe told her sisters about the demon of the night before, trying to minimize her reckless attitude at going after him.

Still, Prue guessed that it had not been as accidental as her sister was saying:

"You're telling us that you just happened to walk into that backroom?"

Phoebe:

"Yes, that's what I'm saying…"

Prue:

"Hem!"

Phoebe made her a face, but was happy that she didn't insist too much about this.

Piper:

"You still haven't told us what made you leave so early though. You said that the vanquishing was easy enough, didn't you?"

Phoebe:

"Yes it was," she said with a dismissive attitude.

Piper:

"Pardon me for insisting then, but I have never known you to quit a party so soon."

Phoebe:

"It wasn't nearly as pleasant as I thought."

This had been said in a casual tone of voice but Prue caught something nevertheless:

"There is something you are not telling us…"

Phoebe hesitated. Weirdly enough, she had thought that her admission about the vanquishing would be the most difficult thing to say, but now she couldn't bring herself to tell them her true motives. Somehow, she felt diminished and almost ashamed at having let her emotions take over so easily.

Prue still insisted seeing the pensive expression on her sister's face:

"Come on, I know that there is something else…"

Phoebe became agitated but again denied that anything was amiss.

The others gave up for the moment, but Prue promised herself that she would figure out what was up with her sister.

Belthazor had finally realized that maybe the whole thing wasn't lost after all. He was certain that many people saw the man that evening, before he disappeared, and he started a rumor that soon became the talk of the town.

He had lingered around at the sheriff's office after bringing them some papers and now, he was addressing a deputy as casually as he could:

"You know, I saw something odd last night at the party."

The deputy:

"How so?"

Belthazor:

"There was this man going to the backroom, and when he didn't come back, I got curious, but all I found were scorched marks on the floor: the man had vanished."

The deputy:

"He probably went out the back…"

Belthazor insisted:

"No really, I checked. There is no door to the outside that way, I'm still wondering…"

The deputy:

"Scorched marks, you say?"

His face expressed at once puzzlement and a sudden fear. He had heard of strange tales from people coming from other towns: about how witches were taking revenge for being persecuted as they called it…

Belthazor:

"I really think that the sheriff or a deputy should look into this."

The deputy acquiesced and Belthazor had pain to contain his satisfaction until he had left the office. He knew that he had taken the first step in dragging them out in the open, and he was ready for them.