Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.
A/n: Sorry this chapter took so long but I just found out that my great-grandmother died so I've been lacking the incentive to write.
Chapter 4
Secrets come out
Phoenix woke early for a Sunday morning. Her dreams had haunted her with memories of what happened. The weird guy with the green face that had stepped out in front of the car, his evil grin was burnt into her mind. She was never going to forget that. The sun was already streaming in through the window and she could hear someone in the kitchen. She slowly got up and looked around. She remembered that she was in America and was in the care of her cousins, Piper, Phoebe and Paige. She left her room and went downstairs to the kitchen. It was Piper. She was wearing a bathrobe over her pyjamas. She had Wyatt and Chris in baby-chairs and had some bacon in a frying pan.
"Good morning," said Piper, "Hungry?" Phoenix nodded.
"You're up kinda early," said Piper.
"So are you," said Phoenix. Piper laughed and placed a plate in front of Phoenix with some eggs and bacon. Just then the doorbell rang.
"Doorbell!" said Wyatt. Phoenix grinned and carried on eating as Piper answered the door. It was Darryl.
"Hi," he said, "I just brought over everything of Phillipa's stuff."
"Thanks Darryl," said Piper as Phoenix put her plate in the sink.
"Hey," said Piper, "Darryl just brought over your mom's things."
"Caffeine," said a voice. It was Phoebe, still in her pyjamas. "I need caffeine!" she said.
"Ok, queen of the zombies," said Piper and poured a mug of coffee for Phoebe. She handed it to her and Phoebe sat down opposite Phoenix. After the first gulp, her eyes focused on Phoenix. Her suspicions were confirmed. They were Cole's eyes. She put the coffee down and looked away from Phoenix. Paige walked in, already dressed, and shortly followed by Leo.
"Well," said Piper, "As seen as we're all here. I think we should tell her. Pheebes?" Phoebe nodded.
"What's going on?" asked Phoenix, her English accent standing out against their American ones.
"We know who your dad is. Was actually," said Leo.
"What do you mean?" said Phoenix.
"He's dead. His name was Cole Turner and he was half-demon," said Piper.
"Half-demon? What are you guys? Some kind of witches?" said Phoenix
"Yes, we're called the Charmed Ones," said Phoebe.
"The Charmed Ones? My mum told me that one day, three powerful sister-witches would be here to destroy all evil," said Phoenix, "I thought she was just kidding. Do you really have powers?"
'She's taking it well,' thought Piper, nodding.
"I can freeze time and blow things up," said Piper.
"I can have premonitions and I can levitate," said Phoebe.
"And I can do this," said Paige, she held out her hands, "Book of Shadows." The book appeared in her hands.
"What's that?" asked Phoenix.
"It's called a Book of Shadows. It has spells and information about demons in it," explained Piper.
"Is my dad in there?" asked Phoenix. Paige opened it on the page for Balthazar (sp?) and handed it to Phoenix. There was a lot written on the page by Phoebe. There was a picture of him in his human form. She also noticed a few small pictures of him with Phoebe.
"Is this you?" she asked Phoebe. Phoebe nodded.
"I was actually married to him once," said Phoebe.
"So you're kinda like my step-mum," said Phoenix.
"Yeah," said Phoebe, "Look there's a reason we're telling you this. The Elders, who are these guys who watch over the earth, think that all the Demons want you to become the new Source of All Evil. You're part demon, part mortal and part witch which means you're highly coveted."
"But I'm not evil," said Phoenix.
"The demons will try to turn you evil. That's why we're going to protect you," said Phoebe.
"They're also going to help you when you receive your powers," said Leo, "I'm going to be your whitelighter, kinda like a guardian angel."
"Really? What powers do you have?" asked Phoenix.
"I can orb," said Leo and he demonstrated by orbing from one side of the room to the other, "I can also heal people."
"So, I'm going to receive powers like you guys?" said Phoenix
"Yep, you're probably going to inherit some demonic powers from Cole like I did from my dad," said Paige, "I'm actually Piper and Phoebe's half-sister, my dad was a whitelighter like Leo so I inherited the power to orb."
"When will I get my powers?" asked Phoenix.
"It's impossible to tell but they should be showing up soon because you're a teenager," said Phoebe.
"I think we need to focus on something like the fact Phoenix is still school-age," said Piper, "The new school year doesn't start for a week so maybe we should enroll her at school?"
"I think it's a great idea," said Phoebe.
"Hold on," said Paige, "in case you're forgetting, a social worker is coming tomorrow. Let's find out if she's going to stay with us before we enroll her anywhere."
"Oh, yeah," said Piper, "Well, Phoenix, do you want to come see my club?"
"You have a club?" said Phoenix
"Yeah, it's called P3 and I need help setting up for tonight," said Piper, "Now go get dressed." Suddenly Phoenix vanished.
"Oh my god!" said Phoebe recognizing it as the demonic power Shimmering.
"Phoenix?!" yelled Piper, hoping she was still in the house. She heard a scream and a door slammed. Phoenix came running downstairs.
"Are you alright?" said Piper.
"I think so. What was that?" said Phoenix.
"It's called Shimmering. It's a demonic power. You can disappear and then reappear somewhere else," said Leo.
"Like orbing for bad guys?" said Phoenix
"That's one way of putting it," said Leo, "Just try not to get excited as that seemed to trigger your Shimmer."
"Ok," said Phoenix.
Half an hour later....
Phoenix came down the stairs wearing a pair of black jeans and a dark purple t-shirt with a leather jacket.
"You ok?" asked Piper.
"Yeah," said Phoenix, "This jacket was my mum's, one of her things I've decided to keep. We can give the rest to charity or something."
"Sounds good, now c'mon," said Piper. Carrying Chris, Piper led the way out to the car. She put Chris in his car seat and Phoenix got in the back.
"So what kind of club is it?" asked Phoenix.
"The kind with lots of music and plenty of drinks," said Piper, "I've had it for years. I bought it when my older sister Prue was alive..." she stopped. Talking about Prue was still painful.
"In the Book of Shadows, it said my dad had been vanquished, what does that mean?" asked Phoenix
"He's been destroyed," said Piper, "He was evil and kept trying to destroy us, I mean, the Charmed Ones. Oh, here we are." She pulled into the car park for P3 and switched off the engine. Phoenix got out.
"Wow," she said, "This place looks cool."
"Yeah, I know," said Piper, lifting Chris out of his car seat. She led the way inside and down the stairs to the bar.
"This place is awesome," said Phoenix.
"Well, I've got to check the accounts so could you sort out the chairs for me," said Piper, using her free hand to point at some stools on the bar.
"Sure." Piper went into the office. Phoenix took the stools off the bar and set them on the floor.
"Phoenix, daughter of Balthazar," said a gruff voice. Phoenix froze. She slowly turned around and came face to face with the green-faced demon that had made her mum crash.
"You're coming with me," he said. 'Piper help,' thought Phoenix. The demon was surprised when Phoenix disappeared from right in front of him. Phoenix had shimmered into the office.
"Piper," she said. Piper looked up.
"Phoenix? What's going on? I didn't hear you come in," said Piper.
"I shimmered in here. He's here. The guy, the demon that made my mum crash," said Phoenix. A crash came from the bar.
"Where are you, daughter of Balthazar?" roared the demon. Piper ran into the bar. The demon had smashed nearly all the glasses.
"Hey," said Piper. The demon faced her and saw Phoenix standing behind her.
"She's coming with me, woman," said the demon.
"No she's not and my name is Piper," said Piper before blowing him up.
"Whoa, that was a close one," said Phoenix, "I reckon I've cracked this Shimmering thing. I just have to think of where I want to be and I go."
"Try not to use it too often. That's how they track you, when you use your power," warned Piper, "Leo!!" Leo orbed in.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"Demon but I got him," said Piper, "Look, take Phoenix and Chris home while I clean up and get Paige to go down the store and get fifty glasses, I think that's how many were broken."
"Right," said Leo, "Come on Phoenix." He took Chris in one arm and held onto Phoenix with the other and orbed out. Piper looked at the mess on the floor.
"God, I hate demons," she said.
Phoenix stumbled and fell to her knees when she arrived back at Halliwell Manor.
"I think I prefer shimmering," she said.
"It takes a while to get used to," said Leo, "Phoebe! Paige!" The two sisters came out of the kitchen. Phoebe was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. Paige was wearing the same red skirt and black sweater as earlier.
"What's up Leo?" asked Paige
"Demon attack at the club," said Leo, "It was looking for Phoenix."
"It called me the daughter of Balthazar and everything. It even knew my name," said Phoenix.
"Piper got it though," said Leo, "Look Phoebe take Chris and Paige, you need to get down the store and get about fifty glasses to replace the ones the demon broke."
"Ok," said Phoebe, "Chrissy come to Aunt Phoebe." She took Chris and Leo orbed out. Paige grabbed her coat and bag and headed for the door.
"Hey Pheebes," she said, "Try to get everything Wicca out the house. Social Services won't let Phoenix stay with us if they think we're part of cult."
"Our grandmother locked the door when we were children and lost the key. We've never been able to open it," said Phoebe, in fake surprise.
"Good one but they won't fall for it," said Paige.
"What if there was no visible way into the attic," said Phoebe, "Like there was no door?"
"Wouldn't that be personal gain?" asked Paige
"Not if it's so we can keep Phoenix safe," said Phoebe.
"I like your thinkin' sis," said Paige.
"Yeah, it's tough being the smart one," said Phoebe. Paige left the house.
"Phoenix," said Phoebe, "I need to talk to you about something."
"Ok," said Phoenix. Phoebe put Chris in the Moses basket in the living room where Wyatt was in the playpen. She led Phoenix into the conservatory. Phoenix sat down on one of the chairs.
"Did... did Cole know about you?" asked Phoebe. The question had been plaguing her all day.
"Mum said Dad didn't know about me," replied Phoenix, "She said he would have tried to get full custody of me and leave her with nothing."
"Makes sense," said Phoebe, "He would have turned you into the Source, had you trained as a demon. The Source then would have you kill your own mother."
"What? I'd never do that," said Phoenix, shocked.
"Yeah but you probably wouldn't have known she was your mother," said Phoebe, "Chances are you'd have been told she was dead."
"Oh," said Phoenix, "Phoebe, what was my dad like? When he was good?"
"He was lovely. He was really nice and sweet," said Phoebe, she had seen this coming, "I knew you'd ask about him."
"I'm just curious about him. I've got a half of me I've never known and I want to know as much as possible," said Phoenix.
"Hey, Phoenix, do you like cooking?" asked Phoebe, "It's just I've found my Gram's old recipe for cookies and I thought you'd like to do it."
"Will you help me?" asked Phoenix.
"Of course," said Phoebe, "We can make it a step-mom/step-daughter thing."
Back at P3, Piper had finally cleared up all the glass. Paige came down the stairs carrying a box of glasses.
"Hey sis," said Paige, "Whoa, that demon wasn't happy."
"You're telling me," said Piper, "I had to clear it all up myself. It's Sunday and the cleaning crew have the day off. How's Phoenix?"
"Not enjoying orbing. I left her with Phoebe," said Paige, "Phoebe thinks she's responsible for Phoenix cos she was married to Cole."
"Phoenix is a sweet girl," said Piper, "She and Phoebe are going to get along great."
"Yeah," said Paige, "Phoebe said she's going to put a spell on the attic door so the Social Worker doesn't see it. No visible sign of entry, no problem."
"Sneaky," said Piper, "Now help me with these trash bags."
End of this chapter. Next couple of chapters will be better. Wow, I'm taking this bad. I haven't even seen my great-grandmother for like a year. She didn't even remember me!! If you're reviewing please put "Back to school- 6th September" in it to remind me that I'm going into year 11 soon.
