CHAPTER 5: The Other Half
Fifteen months ago...
"Come on, Brandon, do your homework," Mrs. Rosen said.
"Ah, Mom, come on," Brandon complained. "Five more minutes, please?"
Mrs. Rosen shared a look with her husband. Mr. Rosen shook his head and shrugged. "Alright, five more minutes of TV, but that's it," she conceded.
Brandon grinned and turned back toward the TV as his parents left the room. He absorbed himself in the program. Suddenly, he heard his mother scream, followed by an explosion. "Mom!" he yelled as he ran up the stairs. As he reached his parents' room, a second explosion knocked him off his feet. He looked back to see a creature straight out of nightmare. Brandon desperately wished he could escape this creature, before he met the same fate...
****
"Thanks for picking me up," Patti said as she got into Prue's car. "I would have driven myself back, but Penny needed to borrow my car since hers is in the shop, and she just dropped me here on the way over to that restaurant..."
"It's ok, I don't mind," Prue interrupted with a smile. "Speaking of Penny, what do you think of her and Zack?"
"I think they look good together," Patti replied. "Penny is totally in love with him."
"She swoons practically every time his name is mentioned," Prue said with a giggle. "What about him?"
"I don't know," Patti said. "He's so hard to read sometimes. One moment, he almost seems to be distancing himself from her, and the next, it seems like he'll never leave her for a moment. Almost as though he's trying to protect her from something."
"Yeah," Prue mused. "It's almost as if..."
Prue's words were cut off as a car slammed into her driver's side door. The car flipped over a few times before coming to a halt in the street. Patti groaned and dragged herself out of her window. "Prue..." she said as she slowly walked around to the other side of the car. "Prue!" she yelled as she saw that her older cousin was motionless. She managed to drag Prue out of the car and cradle her in her arms. "Come on, Prue, just hold on," she begged.
The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up. She saw a kid of no more than fifteen approaching her. The kid was wearing dirty, ripped clothing, and he had a look that spoke of a long time spent outdoors. He bent over and gave Prue a curious look.
"Please help us," Patti said a choked voice.
Without a word, the kid moved his hands over Prue's body. A soft, white glow emanated from the kid's hands. Prue's eyes snapped open almost at once, and they widened as she saw what the kid was doing. As soon as the glow stopped, the kid leapt up and began to run. "Hey!" Prue yelled, but the kid didn't stop. She got to her feet and took off after him.
"Prue!" Patti yelled, but her older cousin didn't stop. "This is your car, you know!"
****
The kid ran and ran. 'Oh, man, now they'll find me for sure,' he thought. He stopped when he noticed he was in a dead-end alley.
"Hey!"
The kid whirled to see Prue standing behind him. "What do you want?" he asked fearfully.
"Just to talk," Prue said. She noticed that the kid seemed to have a slightly emaciated look. "Maybe I can buy you some lunch? There's a McDonald's around the corner."
The kid pondered for a moment. "Ok," he said. Prue lead him inside.
After they got their food, Prue asked, "What's your name?"
"Brandon," the kid answered.
"Did you run away from home?" Prue continued.
"Not exactly," Brandon answered uncomfortably.
"What happened?" Prue asked gently. She could see that something about the subject was causing him pain.
"My parents were murdered," Brandon said softly.
"I'm so sorry," Prue apologized. "How did it happen?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Brandon said.
"Did I freak out when you..." Prue lowered her voice. "...healed me?" Brandon shook his head. "Trust me, I've seen plenty of weird things in the past few months."
"Some kind of monster attacked them," Brandon said. "It was horrible..."
"This monster...what did it look like?" Prue asked.
"I don't really remember," Brandon explained. "I only got a glimpse of it. The next thing I knew, I was outside of my house. I ran off, and I haven't looked back since."
"Interesting," Prue mused. Suddenly, she groaned. "Nature calls," she said with a smile. "I'll be back in a minute." Prue took her purse and left the table.
As soon as Brandon saw the ladies' bathroom door shut, he got up and ran out of the restaurant. In his haste, a picture of him and his parents landed on the seat. A minute later, Prue came back to find Brandon gone. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. She noticed the picture Brandon had left and went to pick it up. As she grasped it, Prue was jerked into a premonition.
****
"It's taken me so long to catch up with you," the dark figure said. Brandon backed away in fear until he was against a tree. "But I always find my prey," he continued, chuckling. The figure formed a fireball, and in the firelight, his red eyes seemed to glow in contrast with his dark blue skin...
****
Prue gasped as the premonition ended. "Oh, why now?" she grumbled, thinking of her wrecked car that was waiting for her on the street. She ran outside, but there was no sign of Brandon anywhere.
****
"Mmmm...that feels good," Penny sighed. She was curled up with Zack on the living room couch, receiving a much needed neck massage.
"I'm glad, because I could do this all day," Zack murmured as he planted a small kiss on the back of Penny's neck.
"You're being too sweet for me to just sit still," Penny said as she twisted around to face her boyfriend. Pressing her forehead gently against his, she continued, "These have been the best six weeks of my life." She sighed again. "I love you, Zack."
"I love you too, Pen," Zack replied with a smile. He leaned in to kiss her when suddenly the front door opened with a slam.
"Penny, are you here?" Prue asked.
"Yeah," Penny groaned as she and Zack got off the couch. 'Not the best timing you've had, cousin,' she thought.
"We've got a...ohhhhh, wow, I'm sorry," Prue said, clearly embarrassed, as she saw Zack standing next to her. "We've got a situation," she said, clearing her throat discreetly.
"Great," Penny sighed. Turning to Zack, she added, "Hopefully, I won't be too long."
"It's ok, take your time," Zack replied with a smile.
"Ooh, you're so sweet," Penny said with a small giggle as she and Prue left the room.
****
Prue walked Penny into the foyer where Patti was waiting. "So, what was so important that you had to...?"
"First of all, my car is totaled," Prue said, cutting her younger cousin off.
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," Penny apologized. "Are you ok?"
"That's the other thing," Prue said. Lowering her voice, she continued, "Some kid used magic to heal me."
"What?" Penny almost screamed.
"He took off afterward, but I had a premonition," Prue finished. "He's going to be attacked by a demon somewhere in Golden Gate Park."
"Can't you be a little more exact?" Patti asked.
"No, but luckily for us, I don't have to be," Prue said with a smile. "You've been working on your orbing, haven't you?"
"Yeah...why?" Patti asked.
"I think that if you had something to focus on," Prue said, showing her the picture of Brandon and his parents, "you could orb straight to him."
"Alright, then, let's get to this," Patti said. Seeing the sad look on Penny's face, she said, "He'll be here when we get back, you know."
"I just hate having to run out on him like this," Penny muttered. She followed her cousins outside, failing to see Zack standing just inside the threshold to the living room with a satisfied smile on his face.
****
Brandon leaned against a tree, panting heavily. "Gotta keep moving," he said to himself. He started to run again. All of a sudden, the air in front of him began to shimmer, and a large demon appeared.
"It's taken me so long to catch up with you," the dark figure said. Brandon backed away in fear until he was against a tree. "But I always find my prey," he continued, chuckling. The figure formed a fireball, and in the firelight, his red eyes seemed to glow in contrast with his dark blue skin. Just as the demon drew his hand back to throw the fireball, a small explosion slammed him to the ground.
"Leave him alone!" said a voice. Brandon whirled to see the Charmed Ones standing off to the side.
The demon got to his feet and glared at the cousins. "Witches," he hissed. He threw a fireball at them.
"Fireball!" Patti called. To her satisfaction, the fireball dissolved into blue-white orbs and reappeared in her hand. She threw it as hard as she could at the demon. The fireball hit the demon and slammed him against a tree.
"This isn't over," the demon said. Eyeing Brandon maliciously, the demon threw one last fireball at Brandon before shimmering out.
"Watch out!" Prue yelled as the fireball flew threw the air. To the cousins' utter shock and surprise, Brandon's body dissolved into blue-white orbs, and the fireball whizzed through where he'd just been standing. Brandon reappeared a moment later.
"What the hell?" Penny exclaimed. "He orbed!"
Prue moved to Brandon. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah," Brandon said, catching his breath. "Thanks for saving me. I'm sorry I ran before."
"At least we were able to get here in time," Prue said. "Come on, you can stay with us for a while." Prue extended a hand. Brandon hesitated a moment before taking it. Prue led him over to where Patti and Penny were standing. As the cousins joined hands, Patti concentrated, and the group orbed back to the Manor.
****
The demon sat in his chamber, growling. "The Charmed Ones will pay for their meddling," he muttered. "That boy will be mine."
****
"I think I've got the demon," Penny said. "Nikto, a Koloth demon, whose powers include fireballs and shimmering. Being an upper level demon, a piece of Nikto's flesh must be added to the following vanquishing potion. Great, we have to make demon sushi."
"Why don't you get started on the main part of the potion now, so when he shows up, we'll be ready for him," Prue suggested. As Penny went back downstairs, Prue walked over to the couch where Brandon was sitting. "So, are you a witch too, Brandon?"
"I'm not sure," Brandon replied. "My parents never really told me too much about my powers."
"Well, Patti can orb too, so you must have something in common with her," Prue reasoned.
"I think I've got something," Patti said indicating a page in the newer section of the Book. "The powers of orbing and healing are commonly attributed to a select group of magical beings called Whitelighters. They are the Guardian Angels of witches, guiding them in the ways of the craft to insure their safety and the safety of innocents. They also act as the chief informants to their charges on behalf of a senior group of Whitelighters known as the Council of Elders. So, maybe your parents were Whitelighters?" Patti suggested to Brandon.
"I don't remember my dad doing any magic, but my mom definitely had powers," Brandon said.
"That probably means that my mom was at least part-Whitelighter, since I inherited orbing from her," Patti remarked.
"I wonder who our Whitelighter is," Prue mused.
"Ok, one vanquishing potion base, ready," Penny said, carrying a pot full of foul-smelling liquid into the attic.
"Yuck!" Prue groaned, pinching her nose shut. "Let's hope the demon shows up soon. Otherwise, I'm gonna hurl." As though in answer to her plea, Nikto shimmered into the room.
"You won't escape me now, witches," Nikto said in a deep demonic voice.
"I think you've got that backwards, buster," Penny said as she froze Nikto. She then quickly rushed over and sliced a piece of his flesh off his right arm. Nikto unfroze and howled in pain, but Penny had dropped the flesh into the pot. Scooping out a cupful, she said, "Your turn to burn." She threw the potion, which shattered at Nikto's feet. He burst into flames, and howled for several seconds before he exploded.
"You ok, Brandon?" Prue asked.
"I guess," he said. "At least, my parents' deaths are avenged now. I don't know what I'm going to do now, though."
"Well unfortunately, you're going to have to go into foster care," Prue said. "Unless, you want to stay out on the streets, that is."
A cold look came over Brandon's eyes, "It's better than the alternative."
"How much longer can you live on the streets?" Prue pressed. "A year, maybe two, before you are killed? Foster care isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing."
Brandon sighed, and said, "Maybe...I do have an aunt I could go to, up in Sacramento."
"Come on, we'll call her right now," Prue insisted. As she led Brandon off, Penny groaned.
"What's wrong?" Patti asked.
"Zack, I blew him off for this, what am I going to do?" Penny remarked.
Patti grinned, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were really into him."
Penny glared, "It's just that he's nice," she muttered defensively. "Besides, it's nice to be going out with a normal guy."
***
"I'm glad we finally found you," Aunt Helen mentioned.
Brandon sighed, and said, "I guess..."
Aunt Helen caught the sigh, and turned, "I truly am sorry about your parents. I miss my sister dearly."
Brandon fought back tears as he nodded, and changed the subject, "Where are we going?"
Aunt Helen smiled, "I've hired a social worker to help you get adjusted to Sacramento. He's really nice."
"I don't know. Do I have to?" Brandon demanded.
Aunt Helen nodded, "It really is important. Trust me?"
Brandon shrugged. "Alright, where is the guy?"
"Right here," a voice said behind him. Brandon and Helen turned to see a young man with light brown hair and blue eyes. The man smiled and held out his hand. "My name is Zack. It's nice to meet you."
TO BE CONTINUED...