Disclaimer - I do not own Charmed or any of the characters. I will not be making any money from this simple story.

Chapter Two

"If shame had a face I think it would kind of look like mine
If it had a home would it be my eyes
Would you believe me if I said I am tired of this
Well here we go one more time..."

-Lifehouse, "Sick Cycle Carousel

Charlie Garretson sailed through the air, landing with a resounding crash on the far side of the Halliwell's attic. He groaned twice before pushing himself into a sitting position as his head began to pound. Instinctively, he gripped his pendant and looked for the nearest demon.

The attic was in chaos as the sisters and their whitelighter fought the demons that were pouring through the door. Behind him crouched Chris, holding tightly onto Wyatt who was watching everything with a strangely sad look.

"Get him to Magic School, Chris. Now!" Piper ordered, pausing briefly to make sure she was obeyed.

Charlie stared in amazement as she returned her focus promptly to the task at hand. Shaking his head he concentrated on the horde of demons, cursing under his breath.

"Hey, none of that language here," Phoebe called before turning into a high kick, which sent a demon flying to the floor.

Charlie offered an apologetic smile before turning his focus on the demon that was currently stalking him. He held out his hand and the demon frowned before being slammed against the far wall. After murmuring a quick spell the demon turned to ash.

"What have you done to annoy these demons?" Paige quipped as she redirected yet another fireball.

Charlie shrugged. "Old family enmity."

"Hey Piper," Phoebe called in a sing-song voice.

"What?"

"Freezing them might be an option at this time."

Piper's eyes widen as her hands flew up. "Oh."

Charlie inhaled deeply and touched at the bump on his head, wincing as a sharp pain exploded.

"Well, well, Charlie. You did better than I thought, my boy," a cruel voice taunted.

"Who said that? Where are you? Why aren't you frozen?" Piper asked in rapid succession.

Charlie shivered as a familiar form wove its way between the frozen demons. The wealth of red hair was the first thing he saw as the demon made it's way towards him.

"Dhani you're not welcome here," Charlie growled, stumbling to his feet.

"Now Charlie, that's no way to treat an old friend," Dhani smiled, revealing fangs.

Paige looked between the two of them in shock, her mouth falling in a 'o' of surprise. "You two know each other?"

"Oh, it's the Charmed Ones. This is so exciting, I am a big fan of yours, really," Dhani exclaimed, eyes glowing with malice.

"We get that a lot," Phoebe scowled.

Charlie gazed at her expecting to feel surprised or afraid but for the first time in a long time he didn't feel the familiar fear welling up inside him.

"Get out, Dhani. I am stronger now and I will defeat you," he yelled, startling himself and all those around him.

He took a step toward her when he felt a chill go through him. A shadow seemed to fall on his mind and he felt himself fall to his knees.

"You can't escape me, Charlie, our bond is too strong," Dhani laughed cruelly. "As for the Charmed Ones, you should stay out of other people's business. Not everything that goes on in our world concerns you."

Piper, Paige and Phoebe stared at her in shock as she walked calmly out of the room followed by the demons suddenly bursting into flames.

"Ooh," Phoebe exclaimed as she jumped back in surprise.

Piper turned around and faced Charlie, a frown on her face and her hands on her hips. "Explain."

Charlie sighed and sat back, drawing his knees to his chest. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and wake up when this was no longer a problem.

"I am so sorry; I should have never gotten you involved in my problems."

Paige frowned and stepped toward him. "That's no way to talk. If you were in our city we would have caught up with you eventually, these things tend to happen to us all the time," she said, kindly.

Charlie shook his head, trying to ignore the ringing sound starting in his ears. "It's a long story..."

"Aren't they always?" Phoebe said with a wry grin.

"This one really is," he said. "Okay, I'm originally from Somerset in England but I have been travelling the world with my parents. As you can guess, I am a witch, same as my mother. My father, however, is just a historian." He grinned wryly.

"Chris and Wyatt," Piper exclaimed suddenly.

"Go, you have to look after your boys," Charlie told her, focusing only on her.

Without another word Leo wrapped his arms around Piper and they disappeared in a swirl of lights. Charlie stared at the spot where they had just stood for several seconds before turning his attention back to the girls.

"My mother was from a long line of witches and she was more than pleased to find that I was...um...'endowed.' At the same time, though, she was worried about me, since we were moving all the time. It was as if we were trying to escape something or someone, as it turned out."

"Dhani?" Phoebe raised an eyebrow.

Charlie nodded. "It seems that you can never escape your past even though my mother tried. It's hard to explain but it turns out that Dhani and my mother were related. They grew up together but had different ideologies, as you could have guessed. It seems that Dhani didn't take it too well and my mother had to take some drastic steps.

"Dhani, however, had already taken some desperate steps herself. She had gone in search of more power."

"It's always the power thing," Paige muttered.

"Unfortunately, she went to the wrong kind of people and got the wrong kind of help."

"Let me guess demons?" Paige said, grimly.

Charlie nodded. "But it turned out that they needed a favour from Dhani. She had the choice to turn another member of her family or kill them and since I am the youngest member of the family she assumed that I would be the easiest to turn or kill. Dad's safe and mum can protect herself."

Charlie stared at the sisters while he cursed inwardly. He wished he could tell them everything but that wasn't how he worked and he didn't know if they would want to help him after.

"Okay, so we have to find out what demon is fuelling Dhani's power and work out how to stop it," Phoebe began to talk and Paige turned her focus to her sister.

Charlie still held the pendant in his hand. Feeling the coldness radiate from it. He shivered once again.

"Damn it! Damn it all to hell," Dhani growled, storming around the cavern that now housed her.

"That's were we are already, my dear," a cold voice chuckled.

"You promised me," she turned on the speaker, a red glow tinting her eyes.

"I promised you nothing that I have not given you," he spoke again.

Dhani looked at her benefactor and grinned slightly. "That much is true," she purred.

She walked away from him, her hands in front of her. The rage was uncontrollable and she had to direct it somewhere. Her hands began to burn and she stared at them bemused as they ignited in a blue tinged flame.

"I'm coming, Charlie," she laughed, a deep throaty sound.

To Be Continued...