Across town in a very tidy apartment, Josiah Sanchez sat writing at a desk. He was the oldest of the adopted Potter sons and was now thirty years old.
Josiah was writing a letter to his sister, Hannah. She lived in a special home as she had mental problems due to the abuse of their magic-hating, human father. When their father had married their mother, Maria, he hadn't known that she was a witch; he didn't find out until after she'd had their two children: Josiah and Hannah. After the man had found out his wife was a witch, he had killed Maria because he feared her using magic on him - he feared magic and believed that it was only used for evil. The father had constantly abused the two children after Maria had died, until he was able to send them elsewhere and no longer be responsible for them.
Josiah didn't visit Hannah too often because the visits always saddened him. It was painful seeing Hannah the way she was. So he found it easier to write to her frequently - even though she couldn't write back.
Josiah, being a police detective, hadn't long ago re-opened the case on his mother's death, and had testified against his real father who had always claimed he hadn't meant to push Maria Sanchez down the stairs of their home; but the case was going along slowly. Josiah remembered when he was a little boy and had seen his father deliberately push his mother down the stairs. His father had made no attempt to help the woman lying at the bottom of the stairs, and she'd died.
Vin and Ezra orbed into the small home-office, startling Josiah who hadn't been expecting anyone to orb there. There hadn't been much demonic activity lately, and the family could usually vanquish any evil beings without his help. Josiah always told his parents when he would be at home and available if they needed him - emergencies could happen at any time, and Josiah wanted to be on hand to help if needed.
"'Siah, we came ta get ya," said Vin, letting go of Ezra's hand. "There's a woman warlock who needs vanquishing but she's got a really powerful staff that she could use against us."
"Ahh. That sounds like the Staff of Powers which was created by a powerful sorceress many centuries ago," said Josiah. "It is used to kill evil creatures, then absorb their powers. Then the powers can be used against others by just thinking what you wish to do. It retains all the powers it collects forever. It can only be used by someone evil FOR evil."
Ezra and Vin both looked stunned by Josiah's extensive knowledge.
"I read a lot - I've learnt about these types of things, guys."
"Ella Gaines has possession of it now and she has concocted an evil plan to destroy our whole family," informed Ezra, glad that Josiah already knew about the magical staff so they wouldn't need to explain it to him.
"Wasn't she the one who tried to turn Chris evil?" Josiah received twin nods from his younger brothers. "I'd be interested to know how she got the staff - I read that it had been destroyed a long time ago. We'd better join the rest of our family before she causes any damage." Josiah walked the short distance to Ezra and Vin. He put his hand on Vin's shoulder, while Ezra held the half-Whitelighter's hand on the other side. As long as someone had some kind of physical contact with the half-Whitelighter, they would be orbed as well.
Vin orbed them back to the house, glad that Josiah was so willing to help, despite that he'd been writing a letter to his sister. Vin had seen the letter on the table and had guessed it was to Hannah, as Josiah never seemed to write to anyone else. Keeping in contact with his sister was very important to Josiah.
To be continued…