Coven
Leo was in the nursery, working on the last coat of wall paint. He and Piper had
finally decided on a color scheme that she described as "baby pastels", soft hues
of pink and yellow. He'd painted one wall with a mural Paige had drawn, of
zoo animals and trees. The delighted smile on her face when he'd asked her to
come up with something, more than made up for the extra work.
He set down his brush and surveyed his work critically. Yes, that should do it--
He stiffened as his senses picked up an all-too-familiar presence
jjust outside the Manor. Darklighter. Not very powerful, or old. Probably a
newly made one, hoping to score points with his recruiter...no, not his, he
realized. She. That was unusual, though not unheard of.
Darklighters won status, rose in their hierarchy, by accomplishment, such
as killing a powerful witch or Whitelighter.
Leo tried not to think about the fact that Piper's pregnancy would allow
a Darklighter to accomplish both at the same time. Letting fear cloud his
mind helped no one, and he didn't want Piper to spend the next several
months in dread. The birth of a child should be something to look forward
to, joyous. He couldn't entirely avoid worries, but he wouldn't add to them.
He strode downstairs. "Phoebe," he called. "Is Darryl still there?"
"Right here, man," Darryl emerged from the sunroom. "Phoebe was just
telling me you're--" he stopped. "What is it?" he asked, seeing Leo's
expression. Darryl's manner shifted instantly, from "friend visiting" to
"cop ready for action."
"That lady who's outside..." Leo peered out the front window. A black Mustang
was parked a block down from the Manor. The woman was ostentatiously
trying to change a flat tire. She looked. ..well, normal. Jeans and a Hard Rock
Cafe T-shirt, no black leather or trenchcoats. Slim, blonde, some would have
called her beautiful. Of course, most people wouldn't have been able to sense
that she was radiating malice and greed like a fire giving off heat.
"A demon?"
"Darklighter."
"And she's hanging out here?" Phoebe asked incredulously. "Obviously they didn't
recruit her for brains or survival instinct."
"No, more likely for ruthlessness. I....don't want her here when Piper gets back."
"Do you have any shadowsbane made?" asked Poppy, coming up behind them.Startled,
Phoebe raised her arm reflexively, and Poppy dropped to the floor, crouching as if to
avoid a blow. "Sorry!"
"Don't do that! What's--shadowsbane?"
The girl frowned. "Maybe you call it by another name. It's a potion that's made to vanquish
Darklighters. Most witches I know keep some made up, just in case. You don't ?"
"I've never even heard of it." Phoebe stared at Leo. He grimaced. "Most of the ingredients
are pretty rare in this neck of the woods. Or illegal."
Poppy turned to her twin. "Do we have any in the stuff we brought?"
"Yes, I think so." Dylan hurried up the staircase. He returned only seconds later, holding a
lead vial. He handed it to Phoebe. " A few drops will do it. On a Darklighter's skin, though
if they drank it, that'd work too. It won't hurt a human, or a witch or 'Lighter," he added
quickly.
Leo tensed. "Piper's calling me--"
"Is she in trouble?"
"She's not hurt, neither is Paige, but they're scared."
"Go, go!" Phoebe ordered. "We'll handle Ms. Bloodthirsty."
Leo orbed away. Poppy turned to the younger witches. "Can you...do anything to keep her
from running or teleporting before I can get close enough? Maybe hit her with
something--knock her out?"
"I can, but I think there might be an easier way. Darklighters aren't bulletproof. It
won't kill them, but it hurts. " Poppy gestured to Darryl.
"Not a bad idea, except for what happens if the neighbors hear gunshots, or
report seeing me shoot her. Especially if she's dead afterward, or disappears."
"Oops. Ok. I'll go, ask if she needs help. Play dumb. Can either throw those trash
cans or the jack at her, or just knock her down. C'mon, let's do it like we're
jgoing out somewhere. " Poppy went out the front door. Phoebe and Darryl
followed, Phoebe taking her jacket as she did. They walked over to Darryl's
blue sedan, parked by the curb.
Phoebe and Darryl stayed by the car, opening the doors. Poppy glanced
toward the Darklighter. "Hold on, guys," she called, loudly enough for the
Darklighter to hear. She jogged toward the Mustang. "Ma'am? Are you all
right?"
"I have a flat. I'm trying to get it off..." The blonde smiled ruefully up at
Poppy as she knelt beside the front tire.
"You want me to call someone for you?" Poppy offered.
The Darklighter blushed. "This is my boyfriend's car," she said. "If he hears
I had to call a mechanic....could your friend maybe just help me for a minute?"
She pointed toward Darryl. He started toward them, Phoebe trailing behind.
"Sure. Oh, sorry, I'm being way rude. My name's Poppy Baxter."
"Pleased to meetcha, Poppy. I'm Alice Hicks." Alice stood.
Poppy knocked her down with a slight wave of her hand.
There was a muffled crack, as Alice's right leg and arm twisted at extreme
angles. The Darklighter cried out in pain. Phoebe and Darryl ran toward them.
Blood was gushing from Alice's nose. The jack she'd been holding was bent,
almost snapped in two.
Phoebe whistled. "Woa, you don't screw around, do you?" She uncapped the
vial, letting three drops of it fall onto the Darklighter's face.
"No. That's sort of the problem...I can't seem to rein it in. If I try to just move
something, I'm likely to break it even if I don't mean to. And I don't dare
use the power on someone if I'm not trying to hurt them..."
Alice began gasping for breath. Her face turned blue. She grasped at her
neck with her left hand, as if choking. Suddenly, her blonde hair turned white,
her face wrinkling, hands growing thin and withered. In only a few minutes
she aged from young woman to decrepit.....and then to lifelessness, leaving
a limp, half-rotted corpse. The body dissolved into ashes. Phoebe gasped.
Poppy took an empty vial out of her pocket, bending over the pile of ashes.
"What...?"
"It's one of the ingredients for the shadowsbane potion," Poppy said. "There
are other ways to kill Darklighters, sure, it's just this will work for anyone, even
if they don't have magic. With your Whitelighter and Ms.Matthews both living
here, you should have some."
"What are the rest of the ingredients?"
"Ergot, jervain, fig leaves, peyote, iron crushed or ground to powder, and
mercury."
"Oh."
"Why don't we talk about it later," Poppy suggested, seeing Darryl's uneasy
look. She capped the vial, slipping it into her pocket. They started walking
back to the house.
"Ms. Halliwell--" Poppy faltered.
"Phoebe," the Charmed One said firmly.
"Thanks. I just....I had to leave. You should know....it's because I unintentionally
used my powers in front of a cop. I had to help Dad with a vanquish and....he
got hurt. I freaked. The cop couldn't arrest me, there was no proof, but....he
kept watching me and the rest of us. We couldn't get anything done. How do
you avoid that here?"
"Darryl covers for us when he can. The rest of the time, well, let's just say we've
all gotten very good at white lies and good explanations for weirdness."
"Amen!" from Darryl. Poppy finally laughed.
Phoebe squeezed Poppy's hand. "Don't worry. You're going to be an amazing
witch, when we're done. Even moreso than you are now. However, we've got
more important business right now. Movie night--and no votes for horror movies,
please. If you live in Alaska you don't go to Norway for vacation."
"No kidding!" from Poppy and Dylan as well as Darryl.
* * *
Leo materialized in the Open Minds bookstore. He ran over to where Paige and
Stevie lay bleeding. Piper stood by anxiously, as he tried to heal them.
"What's wrong?"
"How did this happen?"
"Stevie was up on the ladder, sorting her books, and the ladder gave way. She
fell. I tried to freeze her, but I couldn't. Paige couldn't orb her."
Leo gritted his teeth. "I can't heal them. This didn't happen when they were
fighting evil...I'm not supposed to interfere in natural events. The elders have
started cracking down on that. You have your cell phone? We need to get them
to a hospital."
"I left it in the car, hold on." Piper ran to the SUV.
She stopped as she reached the driver's side door. "Ah...Leo...?"
Leo looked up.
Four men stood in a rough semicircle around Piper....and at least one of them
was holding a gun pointed at his wife. Another turned, aiming a shotgun at the
Whitelighter's
head.