Ch. 6: Clearing the Air
Blue orbs of light descend in the living room of the Halliwell Manor. Three witches look up at a fourth person, a very surprised and shocked person.
"How'd you that?" asks Jackson. He removes his hand from Melinda's grasp and steps away from the trio. A mixture of confusion and surprise was on his face. The three were now unsure if revealing their secret was a good idea.
"Please, don't be scared," Melinda appeals. She steps forward with arms up gesturing at him to calm down. Jackson steps back a little bit to keep a slight distance. Melinda was hurt but she understood that these were not normal circumstances.
"I'm not scared. I'm…I don't know what I am but one's thing for sure you three have some explaining to do. I said I trusted you so now prove that I was right in trusting you. Tell me the whole truth," Jackson replies as he was trying to remain calm and not bolt out the nearest door.
"You may want to sit down. It's going to be a long story," Melinda says. The three take turns in revealing the magical world that's hidden from the ordinary world. They go into the Warren bloodline and what it means to be a witch. They talk about the briefer history and legacy of the Charmed Ones. They talk about demons, warlocks, magic, potions, and spells.
"So let me get this straight. You three are suppose to be magical witches, and you're not any regular witches but the next Charmed Ones, three of the most powerful witches there are, and you save the world from the forces of evil on a weekly basis with spells and potions, right?" Jackson asks. The three just nod their heads. "So now let me guess, I'm now an innocent that you have to protect, right?" Again the three nod. "Okay so here are my real questions, what makes me so special? And who or what are you protecting me from?" Jackson asks. Jackson turns to the three, and then looks at Melinda straight in the eye. He seems them standing uneasily like they weren't sure if they should reveal that much information. Melinda decides to go ahead and tell him everything. She sits down next to him and takes his hand.
"Okay, what're I am going to tell you may be a lot to take in. Even more surprising that what we've already told you," Melinda says. She gives Jack a serious look. Jackson nods his head for her to go on. "We've found out that one of our most powerful enemy, the Source, has resurfaced to take control of the Underworld."
"Who or what is the Source? And where is this Underworld?" Jackson asks.
Alex answers, "The Source is a very powerful hateful being. He's so strong that he can keep order to what normally would be backstabbing demons, warlocks and darklighters. That's why he's called the 'Source'…he's the source of all evil."
Trish pipes in, "And the Underworld is just the collective name for all those evil baddies. Sometimes it literally means underworld." She points downward to emphasize her meaning.
"So what's that have to do with me?" Jackson asks. He turns back to Melinda to get more answers.
"This maybe hard for you to believe but your adopted father was being controlled by the Source. He's the one after you. He's the one who has been hurting you. He's the one that killed your adopted father. And he was the one keeping you there in that environment," Melinda explains to Jackson. Jackson felt anger, sorrow, and hurt. Melinda notices the emotions in his face and moved to give him a small hug. Jackson's looks at her and gives her a poignant smile.
Emotion in his voice, Jackson says, "I knew something was wrong. When I was younger, I was in a loving family. A caring couple adopted me. But when I turned eight, everything started going downhill. My adopted mother left without a trace. And my father wasn't able to keep a job for any period of time. He also started to drink heavily. He didn't use to have a temper but when all these things started happening, he was always angry. A lot of that was directed at me. But I always thought it was my fault or I thought something was wrong with me. I never told anybody. He made sure I would never tell anybody. I don't know how, but he managed to scare any possible friend I could make too. Sometimes I think it was because of me. Sometimes I blame my real parents for abandoning me." The three still can't believe physical and emotional damage that was done to Jackson.
Melinda, still holding Jack's hand, gives him a consoling squeeze. "Nobody is to blame except the Source. And we'll do anything in our power to keep you safe."
"Yeah for all you know all that was done by the Source to break your will. To make it easier for him to control you," Trish says.
"What do you mean control me?" Jackson asks.
"Well, he wanted you because he had information about your future. Something you will do," Alex replies.
"But I can't do anything. I mean you guys are the ones that are special. I'm just a regular guy" Jackson looks at the three but he gets a feeling like he missed something. "Right? I am good old non-magical me, right?"
"Well…" Trish says.
"Well what?" Jackson demands. The others are getting uncomfortable because they're unsure how to answer or what to answer with.
"Well you see we don't know yet," Leo says from behind. Nobody had noticed Leo had orbed in. All four were surprised when they heard his voice. Jackson turns to see a man that looked to be around late 20's or early 30's. He noticed that Melinda and the older guy had some of the same facial features and the same colored eyes.
"And what's our guest doing up?" Leo asks.
"Well you see Dad, after you left, we found Jackson missing, and we went to look for him. I think he was caught in one of the Source's little plots but we got there in time," Melinda explains.
"Dad?" Jackson thinks, confused. "Isn't he a bit young to have an 18-year old daughter."
"I take it that you've explained everything to him already," Leo states. The father in Leo notices that his daughter was holding hands with Jackson.
"Yeah. Well actually we were in the middle of explaining things to him when you popped in," Melinda says. She sees the direction her father's eyes were taking. She quickly lets go of Jackson's hand and stands up shortly after. "Oh! I almost forgot. Dad this is Jackson. Jackson this is my Dad and our whitelighter."
"Oh. Nice to meet you sir," Jackson goes over and shakes Leo's hand. "Well that explains why he looks young," Jack thinks.
"Good to see you awake and well," Leo says. Done with the pleasantries, Leo asks, "So how much have they told you?"
"Well they were going to tell me why the Source wanted me but I still don't understand why he just didn't take over my mind like he did with my adopted father," Jackson says.
Leo answers, "We believe one of your real parents or both were possibly witches that put a very powerful protective ward that guarded you against all magic. Unfortunately or fortunately, depends on how you look at it, we had to remove that warding so that I could heal you after you were injured tonight."
"So that was the wonderful feeling I felt when I was out," Jackson reveals in astonishment.
"Yes, you're probably right," Leo confirms.
"But if one of my parents was a witch, doesn't it make me a witch too? I don't think I am, and I've never had any special abilities or anything," Jackson states.
"Hey, I didn't realize that," Trish says in surprise. Melinda and Alex were equally surprised that they never noticed that. "Maybe it skips a generation or something like that," Trish suggests.
"Well, the Elders are not sure either but since the warding was lifted, the Elders can see that you are destined to do a lot off good things," Leo tells Jackson. Jackson was shocked speechless.
"But if the Elders could see his destiny couldn't the opposite team do the same thing?" Alex asks in concern.
"That's probably why he was taken tonight," Melinda answers.
After recovering from the news, Jackson asks, "How am I going to protect myself? Where am I supposed to go?" He had a worried look on his face. "What's good a destiny when I won't be able to protect myself from this Source person?"
"Well I have some more news from the Elders. They tell me that we're now supposed to keep watch of you and protect you. It's now our responsibility since we did take away your original protection. I've decided then to ask you to live here in the Manor," Leo announces.
"I don't know what to say. This is totally unexpected," Jackson stammers. He wasn't sure what to do but he had nowhere else to go. He had no family or a job. Whatever money his father had was rapidly dwindling. He still hasn't finished high school, and now some incarnation of evil was after him.
"How about just saying 'thank you'" Trish suggests.
"Thanks." Jackson says simply. He was still reeling from the shock.
"You'll be rooming with Alex, and we'll do some rearranging so that you two will get the biggest room since you are sharing one," Leo states. "But for tonight, you'll be sleeping in Alex's bed and Alex will stay down here. Is that fine with everybody?" Leo asks. Everybody nods in agreement.
"Jack, you can borrow some of my things for school tomorrow," Alex states.
"Thanks that would be great," Jack replies.
"After school we can stop by the apartment and pick up some of your things," Melinda proposes. "Unless you're still uncomfortable about going there."
Jackson has pensive look but replies, "Yeah we should go. I have to get things eventually and settle things with the landlord."
"Are any of you hungry? I came prepare a quick dinner," Leo asks. Everybody responds that they're too tired. "Well, then I suggest everybody go to sleep. There's still school tomorrow."
"Jack, I'll go show you where my room is," Alex says. The two head upstairs first with Alex leading Jack. Leo beckons for Melinda and Trish to stay behind. He waits until he's sure that Jackson is out of earshot.
"We'll wait for Alex to come back down but I need to talk to you three further," Leo alerts the two girls.
"Dad, that was really nice of you to help out Jackson," Melinda says gladly. She goes over to him and gives her father a hug. "It really meant a lot to me."
"Now, I know you like this person. And I've seen how you've acted around him. I don't want you rushing things with him. Especially in the house," Leo says in his parental voice. Melinda blushes at being treated like she was still 15. Trish just snickers in the background.
"Dad!!" Melinda admonishes. "I can't believe you're talking about this right now. You know we still have more important things to talk about."
"Hey, I'm still you're father. And I just want to make sure everything is clear. I just want to make sure that you're sure about Jack," Leo says. He sees his daughter giving him an 'I can't believe we're still talking about this' look. Leo just smiles at her. He sees Alex heading toward them, and Leo says, "Okay relationships aside, let's get back to some seriousness." Alex moves closer to the conversing group. Leo continues, "I was being kind in offering Jackson to stay here but you also know that he doesn't have his warding any longer. The Elders were pretty adamant that you three should protect him. They believe that he still needs to be protected from the Source. They're still not sure what he's suppose to do but they made it clear that protecting him is of the utmost importance. They believe he will be instrumental in bringing this new Source down."
"But how Dad, he doesn't magical training at all," Melinda points out.
"Yeah, he doesn't even have powers to use against the Source or to protect himself with," Trish adds.
"He might do a lot of good in the world. Maybe that'll weaken the Source's power base," Alex speculates.
"Well nobody is for sure yet. You know how destiny's can sometimes twist or change so the future isn't very clear. But one thing's for sure he has to stay alive, and we have to protect him from the Source," Leo says adamantly
"How can we? We couldn't even affect the Source, and not even a Power of Three spell could take him down," Melinda warns. Alex and Trish nod their heads in agreement. Leo gives them a worried look but then his face turns thoughtful. The other three are curious by what has suddenly caught their whitelighter's attention.
"I think I may have an answer. I don't know why I haven't realized it yet," Leo says. The other are now completely lost. They have no idea what Leo is talking about. They turn to each other and just shrug at each other. Melinda turns back to his father.
"What haven't you realized, Dad?" Melinda asks. Leo was now pacing back and forth in front of them. He responds, "Well I remember the Elders telling me something when you three first got your powers."
"Let me guess it was cryptic and oh so mysterious like all their messages" Trish replies dryly. Leo gives his youngest charge a reproving look. Granted he thought the message was puzzling at the time.
"Well, they were telling me about a fourth witch. They said a fourth will be needed to strengthen the power and the bond that you three shared. At the time I was grieving too much about the loss of your mothers and worried about preparing you three to become full time witches that it slipped my mind. Now all that has happened got me thinking," Leo explains.
"Thinking what, Uncle Leo?" Alex asks. Melinda's eyes go round as she figures out where her dad is leading. She divulges, "Dad thinks that Jackson is the fourth. Right?" She looks at her father for confirmation.
"Yes, Mel but what's got me confused is why hasn't he…" before Leo could finish, they heard Alex gasped. It looked like he was having a premonition. After a few seconds, they see him straighten with a vacant look in his eyes. He starts speaking:
"Children of Three,
Prepare for the hour.
The fourth must be free
To strengthen the Power."
After he finishes, he drops to his knees gasping. Melinda and Trish help him up to the couch. "Are you all right?" Leo asks in alarm. Alex nods his head for an okay. "What happened?" Leo questions.
After catching his breath, Alex responds, "It was like I was receiving a premonition. But instead I got a compulsion to say what I said. Maybe it was because I was the most receptive for psychic messages that I was chosen to say it."
"But I think it helps," Leo says. "I think that gives a clue about why Jackson has no magical abilities. It said that the fourth had to be freed. So what does that imply?"
"It implies that he's constrained and restricted," Trish suggests. Then, she looks up in excitement and jumps up and down like a little girl who just got a present. She says eagerly, "In other words he's bound. His power and magic are bound just like ours were. But why would anyone do that?" Trish looks up at Leo in question. She sees her uncle in deep thought again.
"Something is not adding up here. I think the Elders are holding something back. I'm going to check with them. But I suggest you three go ahead rest for the night. I'll talk to everybody in the morning," Leo says.
"Dad before you go can you ask what happened to my powers this evening," Melinda asks. "I think they're changing or growing. I thought at first they were like mom's exploding powers but the darklighter just dispersed and then reformed. I thought her power had more oomph than that." She looks at him slightly concerned.
"Don't worry about it honey. I'm sure your powers are fine. But I'll ask about that too," Leo then orbs out. The others turn to go to bed. Alex prepares his temporary bedding while the two girls head upstairs. Melinda heads toward Alex's bedroom to check on Jackson.
Trish whispers to her, "Hey don't do anything I won't do."
"There're not a lot of things you wouldn't do," Melinda counters.
"Exactly," Trish says with a sly smile. She then slips into her room. Melinda shakes her head. "That girl needs her brain washed," Melinda reflects. She just smiles at her cousin's comment and goes ahead into Alex's room. She sees Jackson lying in the bed sleeping. Melinda notices he's shaking his head and whispering something. She silently walks over to the sleeping young man. She can tell that he's in a middle of a nightmare. She bends down and wipes away the sweat that's forming on his brow.
"Shhhh…calm down," Melinda whispers. Jackson responds to the touch and visibly settles down. He's breathing evenly again and seems to move closer to the caring touch. "Sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow morning," she continues. She gently moves her hand down to his cheek and rubs it gently. She slowly bends down and gives him a gentle kiss on the forehead. She stands up and walks away. Before closing the door she whispers a final, "Good night." She doesn't notice the content smile on the dreaming young man's face.