Drew sat on the edge of his bed, staring off into space. He had woken up to the sound of rustling in the room, which he would later find out was the sound of his brother getting up to use the bathroom. He had woken up like he would on any other day in the manor: eyes fluttering, sitting up, thinking it was still too early, lying down on the bed again. Then he would drift back to a state of near-sleep, and then suddenly jump out of bed, realizing it wasn't too early and it was just the half-transparent window curtains which filtered the striking nine a.m. daylight.

It was like any other day, except this time, the memories of yesterday's escapade came rushing back, reminding Drew that he was a witch and that he had been kidnapped and almost killed. He had magical powers that he never would have thought existed, and these powers were corrupted and almost stolen by a power broker. Who, surprisingly, had also been a witch before he defected and joined the ranks of brain-sucking demons.

He still had his powers, didn't he?

At the idea of doubting the presence of his magic, Drew immediately opened his mind, reaching out to find another psyche to read.

Contact-

…scream.

A searing pain rushed to Drew's side, as if his flesh were suddenly slashed by a knife. For a moment Drew was paralyzed, and as suddenly as it had come, the pain disappeared, leaving him breathless and his head racing.

What- What was that?!

"Drew!"

"Are you okay?"

It was then that Drew was suddenly aware of Pru holding him by the shoulders, and Paige hovering over them both in apprehension. Xan, in his white tank and blue shorts, arrived in a run from the bathroom; Julia was already leaning on the doorframe, her pink pajamas ruffled, her normally straight shoulder-length hair frizzy from static.

It was then that Drew was also aware that he was wearing only blue checkered boxers.

"Shit! Why is everyone here?" burst Drew, grabbing sheets to cover his near-nakedness. Paige's face screwed into a frown. "Didn't you scream?" she asked.

"He did," Xan answered for his twin. "I could hear it across the hall."

"I did?" said Drew, more to himself than to his family.

"I woke up when I heard you. Proof enough?" mumbled Julia, stifling a yawn.

"What happened?" inquired Pru.

"I… I don't know. Nothing…"

"Not nothing. You screamed. How often does that happen?" Julia grinned.

"It wasn't me- I- It was someone else's thoughts…"

Puzzled by his brother's conundrum, Pru turned to face their aunt, who, with a determined look on her face, answered her questioning gaze.

"Book of Shadows."

~~~***~~~***~~~

The five residents of the manor were all in the attic, having eaten breakfast, cleaned up and changed into fresher clothes. While Aunt Paige scoured the book, Pru sat on the chaise couch, sipping a cup of coffee. Xan was playing with a handheld game console, while Julia, munching on a bag of sour cream & onion chips, watched over her brother's shoulder. Drew sat on a lonely iron stool, mulling the condition of his magic.

"How about now?"

At his aunt's request, Drew attempted to unlock his telepathic powers, but when before he was easily able to open any mind that was near enough, now nothing resulted from his endeavor. It was as if his power had simply left him. He looked at his aunt in dismay, shaking his head.

"I don't understand it," Paige told her nephew. "Powers don't just disappear."

"What about the power broker?" noted Xan, his eyes and Julia's still on the game he was playing. "Vanquishing him should have undone the magic. I can't understand it at all."

"Maybe it didn't," Drew pointed out. Pru set down her coffee to glance at her brother. It wasn't like him to be pessimistic, but then again, they'd never had powers before, let alone believed in them. Everything that was happening so far seemed so surreal. But there they were, witches in the flesh.

"You okay?" Pru finally said to her troubled sibling.

"Yeah," sighed Drew, putting his face into his hands. "I'm just… tired, that's all."

"Look on the bright side," said Xan, handing his electronic gizmo to an elated Julia, "At least you aren't dead. Maybe your powers just changed a little."

"Maybe your karma caught up with you," muttered Julia.

"Julia may be right," considered Paige, getting her head out of the book.

"What do you mean?" asked Julia, surprised. Her sister and brothers, with the same reaction, leaned in closer for their aunt's explanation.

"Well, you did misuse your powers somewhat," began Paige, pacing around the attic. "It's possible that the guys up there tweaked your powers."

"Just because I used them on Julia a lot?"

"You were given those powers to combat evil, Drew. Not to harass your sister."

"In any case," said Xan thoughtfully, "you still have it. You were able to read someone's thoughts, right?"

"Not thoughts," said Drew. "It was more like…"

"Emotions?" offered Paige, reading off of the Book of Shadows. "You just might have empathy."

"What's that?" asked Julia, before Drew could utter the question.

"It's the ability to sense other people's feelings," said Xan, answering for his aunt. "Only Drew could feel someone else's pain. How'd that happen?"

"Maybe there's more to Drew's power than just knowing others' emotions." Paige shrugged, failing to put the others at ease.

Pru checked her watch, getting up from the couch. "I'm gonna fix lunch, if that's okay." Pru was up and out the door before Paige could protest.

"Hey, Pru-" Paige started to scurry out the attic before she went back to Drew, asking, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I don't know," he mumbled. "I think I need help."

Then the doorbell rang.


~~~***~~~***~~~~~~***~~~***~~~

Notes: Yeah, um. About Drew's powers, I don't really know what happened. I just knew that I wanted to change it, or, I HAD to change it, for me to be able to continue with the other ideas I had for the W4 series. It was kind of drastic, I admit, but it had to be done. And I thought about the change waaay before I knew about Phoebe getting the power (it's true! I really did!), so don't think I'm just copying from the show.

Anyhoo, empathy is much more fun. We've all seen how Phoebe uses it, though I won't quite follow the same idea on empathy as the show. You'll see more of it in my later stories. That's all!

By the way, I'm using Native American names that I found on the net, and I might incorporate Native American rituals or practices. I'll do what I can and research to make sure I get things right and make things like that as accurate as possible. If I offend anyone, please email or put your thoughts on a review, and I'll fix or edit what I can. Thanks.