CHAPTER 2: The Darkness
In the cover of night, a figure observed the Halliwell Manor from across the street. He had felt the presence of new witches in the city, and Rick wanted to be the warlock to bag them. After all, it was better to get them while still new to their powers than before they figured out how to trigger them. Giving one last look at the Manor, Rick blinked out.
****
Penny yawned as she came down the stairs. She had a lot of trouble falling to sleep the night before, especially considering the events of the day. The cousins had all been a little freaked out from finding the Book of Shadows and from the rush of energy they all felt from reading the spell. Although each of them was denying it, they all knew that things had changed.
Penny walked into the kitchen to see Prue reading the Book of Shadows. "Morning, Prue," she said sleepily.
"Hey," Prue replied, not taking her eyes off the Book.
"Anything interesting in that thing?" Penny asked.
"I suppose that's one way of putting it," Prue replied. "According to the Book of Shadows, we are descended from a witch named Melinda Warren."
"You know, most people would think that's absolutely crazy, but for some reason, I don't," Penny said ominously.
"Yeah, me too," Prue agreed. "Anyway, the Book goes on to say that she was burned at the stake in Salem, but just before she died, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches following her would become more powerful, culminating in the appearance of three sisters, who would be the most powerful witches the world had ever seen, known as the Charmed Ones."
"That must be a misprint," said Patti, as she walked into the kitchen. "We're cousins, not sisters."
"The Book wasn't talking about us," Prue explained. "It was talking about our mothers. They were the Charmed Ones."
"What else does the Book say?" Penny asked.
"Well, it says that Melinda had three powers: premonition, telekinesis, and time freezing. However," she said pointing down at the bottom of the page, "somebody must have added on to this entry, because it has the details of our mothers' powers. My mom had premonition and developed levitation later on. Penny, your mom could freeze time, but that really meant slowing down molecules, and it developed so she could speed them up, effectively blowing things up. Patti, your mom had a special form of telekinesis where she could call objects to her and she also had a transportation ability called orbing."
"So, that means that we inherited these powers from our mothers?" Patti questioned.
"Looks like it," Prue said. "Honestly though, other than that rush of energy last night, I really don't feel any different. Do you?"
"Not really," Penny answered.
"Me neither," Patti replied. "I guess that if nothing happens, then maybe it was just for fun, something our mothers made up."
"Yeah," Prue said indistinctly. In her heart, she believed that all of this was for real. Something in her told her that this wasn't just fantasy, that magic really did exist. "Anyway," she said, shaking herself, "I've got to get to work, so I'll see you guys tonight?"
"Sure," said Patti. "I've got to get down to this studio anyway."
"See you two later," Penny said as her cousins walked back upstairs to get ready to leave.
****
Michael walked away from the pool of seeing and sat down next to Cole. "It's amazing, how it's all starting so similarly," he commented.
"But it will be different," Cole reminded him. "They're already more powerful than their mothers were when they first received their powers, and they'll grow even more. You and I both know that already."
"Very true," Michael agreed. "I imagine the pattern of attacks will be much the same as well."
"Starting with the bottom up, of course," Cole mentioned. "We made sure it would be that way."
"You mean HE made sure it would be that way," Michael corrected him. He sighed as he walked back over to the pool of seeing.
****
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Dr. Halliwell," said Mrs. Hansen.
"It's no problem at all, Mrs. Hansen," said Prue. "What's the problem?"
"I've been feeling very itchy lately," Mrs. Hansen explained. "I'm not sure if it's a rash or not, because I haven't seen anything at all."
"Well, let's take a look," Prue said. Mrs. Hansen unclasped the cuff of her shirt and held out her arm. As Prue placed her hands on Mrs. Hansen's arm, she gasped as images started to appear in her mind.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hansen," said Prue, "but I'm afraid your wife is dead."
Mr. Hansen rubbed the back of his neck. "I should have known, with diabetes being in her family."
"We may have been able to stop it, if we'd caught it sooner..."
With a sudden jerk, Prue came out of the premonition.
"Is something wrong, Dr. Halliwell?" Mrs. Hansen asked.
Prue swallowed and said, "I'm not sure. Just out of curiosity, Mrs. Hansen, is there a history of diabetes in your family?"
"Actually, yes there is," Mrs. Hansen answered. "My grandfather and my mother both had it. Why do you ask?"
"Well, itchiness can be a symptom of the onset of diabetes," Prue explained. "I'm going to take a blood sample just to be sure." As Prue went to get a needle, she realized that she had just proven to herself that everything in the Book of Shadows was true...she was a witch.
****
Penny sat on the front porch, pen and notepad at hand as she tried to think up new recipes. She glanced up to see a car coming down the street, and at the same time a child ran out into the street, oblivious to the oncoming car.
"OH MY GOD!" she yelled, leaping to her feet. On instinct, she brought her hands up and waved at the boy to try to get him to move. Suddenly, the scene came to an abrupt halt.
"What the hell?" Penny said as she surveyed the scene. With slight apprehension, she looked down at her hands. The power to freeze... "Oh, shit...I'm froze them," she breathed. Taking a look inside the car, she noticed that the driver hadn't noticed the boy, so she quickly went down and moved the child out of the car's way. She ran back up onto the porch, and cautiously gestured again. The scene unfroze, and the car went on its way while the boy picked up the ball he had chased into the street. Neither one knew what had transpired, nor would they.
"Phew!" Penny gasped, sitting on the porch. "Well, no one ever said being a witch wouldn't be stressful."
****
"You sure this one will work?" Patti asked.
"This is good material, kid," said Ray, her contact at the studio. "Trust me, you'll hit the big time soon enough."
"Ok," Patti said with a sigh. It was becoming harder to compose as it seemed so many of her songs were not getting good reception from the record companies.
"We're getting ready to start, Miss Matthews," came a voice over the room's PA.
"Ok," she replied. She realized she didn't have her microphone. "Just one sec." She looked around, and sighed in frustration. "Where the hell is that microphone?" Suddenly, the microphone appeared in her hands in a swirl of blue-white orbs. "Whoa..." she breathed.
"Miss Matthews?" the voice questioned.
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, anytime you're ready," she replied. They must not have noticed what happened. As the music to her song started to come in over the loudspeakers, she thought, 'Hmmm...I wonder if being a witch is a good prerequisite for a singer.'
****
"Well, you won't believe what happened to me today!" Prue yelled as she came into the Manor.
"Let me guess...you had a vision?" asked Penny.
"Yeah, and it ended up saving a patient's life, too," she added. "You froze something?"
"Yup," Penny replied. "Saved a kid from getting hit by a car."
"Well, mine sounds kind of dull compared to those," said Patti as she came in the still open front door. "I called for my microphone, and it appeared in my hands."
"Well, I guess that settles it," said Prue. "We're witches."
"Hey, Pen, did you do anymore reading in the Book while we were gone?" Patti asked.
"Yeah," she said. "As the Charmed Ones, we have a big responsibility. We have to protect the innocent and fight Evil."
"What kind of Evil?" Prue asked.
"Hmmm..." Penny said, flipping through the Book to the appropriate spot. "Well, there are demons, LOTS of demons, for starters, and...ok, here we go. It turns out that witches can be good or evil. Evil witches are called warlocks. The only problem is that most of these demons and warlocks can look human when they want to."
"Well, that puts us at a disadvantage, then," Prue commented.
"Indeed it does," said a new voice. The cousins turned to see Rick standing in front of them.
"Who the hell are you?" Patti asked defiantly.
Rick sneered. "I've come for your powers, witches. Now, why don't you just hold still and make it easy on yourselves." He gestured, and an athame appeared in his hand.
"Not so fast, pal," said Prue, moving forward. As it happened, Prue had found an interest in martial arts classes much like her mother did, and she was adequately skilled. She started to execute a jump kick, and was surprised when she felt herself rise into the air midway through the kick. She hit Rick squarely in the chin, and finished the maneuver in a back-flip that landed her on her feet. "I guess that was levitation," she said sheepishly.
"Now you've pissed me off," Rick snarled, moving again.
"My turn," said Penny. She gestured to freeze Rick, but to her surprise one of his arms suddenly exploded. "Well, I guess that works, too."
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed. "I WILL KILL YOU!" He threw the athame at Patti. She let out a yelp, and was just as shocked as her cousins when she dissolved into blue-white orbs and reappeared.
"Orbing, check," she said breathlessly.
"Ok, hold it!" Penny said, this time freezing Rick to the spot. "Prue, you see any spells in there for killing warlocks?"
"This book is HUGE! How are we expected to find..." She cut herself off as the pages of the Book began turning on their own. "How the hell did that happen?"
"Beats the hell out of me," Penny said. At the same time, the pages stopped moving.
"The Power of Three," Prue read.
To our beautiful daughters...as you embrace your new destiny, know that we will always be watching over you. May this Book give you the light to find the shadows. Remember, the Power of Three will set you free.
Your loving mothers,
Piper, Phoebe, and Paige
"What do you make of that?" Patti asked.
"I think I've got it," Prue said. "Say this with me and repeat it: the Power of Three will set us free." Her cousins gave her quizzical looks, but turned toward Rick and said with Prue:
The Power of Three will set us free.
Rick unfroze and began to scream in pain as a wind began swirling through the room. "You may have stopped me, but you can't stop us all! In time, we will kill you all, and be masters of this world!" He then exploded in a flash.
"Well, there's something you don't see everyday," Prue commented.
"You know, I don't know if you guys noticed this or not, but I'm really not at all freaked out by this," Patti said. "I mean, we should be but we're not."
"Yeah, that is pretty weird," Penny agreed.
"I wonder why that is?" Prue mused. As though in answer to her question, all three girls were suddenly plunged into long suppressed memories.
****
"Hello, girls," said Michael. "You won't remember this conversation until your powers are unbound again, but you need to know the truth. You are witches, special witches with special powers. I trust that this knowledge will help you in your journey and help you understand the radical changes that will occur."
The three young girls looked at him with strange shock on their faces, as though they barely registered what he said. Michael sighed, and with a wave of his hand, said, "Forget."
****
The cousins gasped as they returned to themselves. "I don't believe it," Prue said, a slight edge to her voice. "He made us forget what we were."
"Why would he do that?" Patti asked.
"To protect us," Penny said gravely. As her cousins turned to look at her, she continued, "That was something else I found in the Book. As long as our powers were dormant, no evil beings attacked us. Uncle Michael wanted to make sure that we were safe until we were old enough to take on this responsibility."
Prue sighed and nodded. "Well, I guess we've got a long road ahead of us, in that case."
"Do you think we'll make it through this?" Patti asked.
"As long as we stick together, we're unstoppable," Prue said confidently.
****
Michael looked over a largely exaggerated chess board. On one side, three white pieces in the forms of young women stood, ready for battle. On the other, a host of creatures of darkness faced them down. Michael gestured at the board, and one of the pieces vanished in a burst of smoke. He cast an ominous glance at a hooded figure near the back of the black pieces before turning away...
TO BE CONTINUED...