Charmed: Charmed for Life
By: Andrya Marí Maertz (Hershey)
1329 Prescott Street. This is where the Halliwell's live. Now, the Halliwell's aren't your typical family. There was Prue, the eldest, Piper, the middle child, and Phoebe, the youngest. However, just a few years ago, Prue was murdered, and Paige Matthews, a long lost, younger half-sister of theirs, found her way into the scene.
The Halliwell's were frequently attacked by supernatural beings called demons. They also have unusual gifts to fend off these creatures. Prue had telekinesis and astral projection. Piper, she could freeze things, or in other words, stop time in a certain area for a certain period of time. She could also blow things up. Phoebe used to be able to have premonitions, levitation, and empathy (feeling what others are feeling). Paige, now her power is a little more difficult to explain. When she calls out the name of an object or person, it will disappear in white, shiny lights that sparkle and glow, then reappear in her hands in the same manner. She could also orb, where she would disappear in the brilliant lights and reappear somewhere else in the lights. There was also one other thing she was able to do, and that was healing. A golden light would surround her hands on the wound on the other person would be gone.
It was another sunny, summer day on Prescott Street and the Halliwell's were inside. Piper was making lunch, Phoebe was at the kitchen table on her laptop, writing her column for the Bay Mirror, and Paige was in the nursery, taking care of Wyatt and Chris. Wyatt and Chris were the sons of Piper and her husband Leo, a White Lighter. Or in other words, Leo was an Angel who had pretty much the same powers as Paige. All seemed to be perfect. That is, until a loud, banging sound filled the room, coming from the outside.
Piper, Phoebe, and Paige stopped what they were doing and rushed to the living room window to see what was going on. They were surprised to see that it was a cute brunette girl across the street, directing movers.
"Cute... new to the neighborhood... young... we should introduce ourselves," Paige said. Phoebe just shrugged.
"I'm up for a new friend," Phoebe replied with a smile on her face. Paige and Phoebe looked to Piper, waiting to see what excuse she would come up with to not join them.
"I can't. I have to keep an eye on the food," said Piper with a bit of a sigh. Phoebe and Paige knew that she just didn't want to leave the house. The last time she had, she had been possessed by a spirit of a Hindu goddess named Shiva.
"We'll see you later, Piper. Don't wait up!" Paige said and left the house, Phoebe right behind her. Piper sighed again and then retreated back to the kitchen to hide from civilization behind her food.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"No! You have to lay the couch on the side to get it through the door... you know what? Just forget it. I will do it later," said the girl moving in across the street, trying to direct the movers. She then looked up to see Phoebe and Paige heading her way. "Hi!"
"Hey. I'm Phoebe, and this is my sister Paige. We live across the street," Phoebe said.
"Obviously," Paige added with a bit of a smirk.
"I am Penelope. I go by Penny, though. I was just about to have lunch, would you like to join me?" The girl, Penny, said with a bright smile on her face.
"We'd love to! But... our other sister, Piper, she's making lunch for us," Paige said. "Why don't you join us though?"
"I would love to! Thanks for inviting me."
"No problem. The more the merrier."
"Wow... I hope Piper's making a lot of food..." Phoebe said, more to herself than anyone. Paige gave her a 'why do you say that' look, so Phoebe said, "Well, there's you, me, Richard, Les, Leo, Wyatt, Chris, dad, Penny... and you never know who might stop by. But what the hell? Let's go!"
With that they headed over to the manor. "Piper!" Paige called out. Piper came out from her haven and smiled at them.
"Oh, good! Another guest! I think I cooked too much, so I hope you brought your appetite! Where are Les and Richard? They should be here by now." Piper seemed unusually happy since the past five minutes, but she reacted differently to every death in her life.
Just as Piper finished her sentence the door-bell rang. Phoebe ran to the door, Penny close behind. Phoebe opened the door to reveal Darryl, a black Lt. who used to be a good friend of the Halliwell's. There had been an unfortunate incident where Darryl had almost been killed because of magic. Darryl smiled faintly at Phoebe and then looked to Penny, who had a grin on her face.
"Darryl! It is so nice to see you. How long has it been? Five, maybe six years?" Penny said. Phoebe just seemed confused.
"Wait. You two... know each other?" Phoebe asked. Darryl nodded.
"One minute, Phoebe." Darryl grabbed Penny's arm, pulled her outside, and then closed the door so Phoebe couldn't hear. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come back here!" Darryl exclaimed.
"I missed you too," Penny said with a hint of sarcasm. "Look, I know you do not want me here, but-"
"No buts! I told you I didn't want anything to do with your kind anymore, and if you're gonna be around the Halliwell's, you're gonna be seeing me a lot. So just get out of town. Now."
"Lighten up Darryl. This is how it goes, I do not do what you tell me to, and I do not care whether you want to do with 'my kind' or not. You will be seeing a lot of me, so get over it. I am not leaving until I do what I came here to do, like it or not. I am staying. And if you get in my way, I cannot promise you will get out of it alive. So deal with me being here. If you have a problem with that, youget out of town now."
Darryl seemed to have no reply to this for a few moments, and then he said, "Just hurry up with your business and leave." Darryl quickly ran to his car and sped off. Penny smirked, then turned back to the door, and entered the manor once more.
"Where's Darryl?" Phoebe asked.
"Oh, he had to jet. He said something about 'sorry, I have to go, tell the Halliwell's I need to talk to them later'... blah, blah, blah," Penny replied.
"Hmm... I wonder what he wants to talk to us about." Penny shrugged and led Phoebe into the kitchen, where Piper and Paige were, accompanied by a blonde man. "Hey, Leo." Leo nodded to her then looked to Penny. His eyes widened a bit, but when no one was looking Penny put her finger to her lips as if saying 'Shh'. Leo nodded; still seeming a bit shocked, but brushed aside the thought when Les and Richard arrived.
"Les, Richard, this is Penny. She just moved in across the street," Piper introduced. Penny shook their hands.
"Hi. Nice to meet you two," Penny said as she retrieved her hands from theirs.
"Ditto," Richard said.
"Likewise," said Les.
They all sat down, Phoebe sitting next to Les, Paige next to Richard, and Piper at the end, Penny sitting next to Paige, and Leo next to Phoebe. Piper stood up and went into the kitchen, and then came back out holding a large tray that had chicken on it. "That looks wonderful, Piper," Penny said, a bright smile on her face.
"Why thank you, Penny. I'll be right back," Piper said, setting the dish on the table then retreating back into the kitchen. Leo quickly got up and followed, Penny eyeing him. "Leo! Get out of the kitchen! Now!" Leo shook his head.
"There's something I have to tell you, Piper. It's about Penny. She's-" Leo was cut off.
"Anything I can help you with, Piper?" Penny asked, arriving in the doorway of the kitchen. She eyed Leo and he left. Piper looked confused as to why Leo left, but shrugged it off.
"Thanks, Penny. Why don't you take this into the dining room?" Piper handed Penny a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy.
"Okay." Penny took the bowl into the dining room, shooting a glare at Leo, and then sat back down in her seat as Piper brought out the drinks and some more food.
"Thanks for inviting me, Paige. I haven't had a decent meal in... A while," Richard said.
"It's no problem, Richard. Just eat up," Piper said as she sat down herself and started loading food onto her plate. The food looked delicious and smelled so. They ate their meal rather quickly, talking very little as they ate. When they finished, Penny helped clean the dishes, and then they all went into the living room to talk a bit more. This gave Penny a chance to tell them a bit more about her.
"I originally lived in San Francisco, but a few years ago I moved to England. It is actually quite wonderful there. After living there for about 6 years, I decided to move back home. My father was murdered about two months ago, in San Francisco, so I came back to see if I could help the police with anything. Though I could help very little, there are a few family things that I could not share. Then about a week ago, I found the place across the street, while I was living on campus-" Penny started.
"Campus?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes. I go to San Francisco State University. Anyways, I am also looking for a job. I write a column in the school newspaper, so I was hoping to maybe get a job at The Bay Mirror."
"Really?" Les asked. "What column, in your school newspaper?"
"Advice. I give great advice because I can relate to the other students. I also write random articles. Like about how to meet people, which ways are best, those kinds of things." Phoebe looked shocked.
"Wow... sounds a lot like Phoebe," Paige said. Penny smiled.
"Well, one reason I moved in across the street is because of Phoebe. I had the advice column cut out of the newspaper and my sister would send it to me. Her name is Paris. Then I have another sister who died around 3 years ago, Patty, and I have a younger half-sister, Padma. Do not ask about her name, she was not in our family for most of our lives. She had been given up at birth to a church, and they had named her. I do not understand why, though. My mother could have at least given her a name." Phoebe looked to Paige and Piper, who were returning her stunned look. Penny's life was a lot like their own. Well, more like Phoebe's.