A/N: Hey, everybody! Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is a bit emotional, or at least I tried making it that way. Please tell me how I did on it!
Chapter 5: The "Ex-Witch"
The girl's mother looked very worried and her voice shook as she spoke. "Please h-help my daughter!" Then, realizing whom she was talking to, she said, panicking, "I can't believe it! No…I…I thought I had escaped from m-magic! What am I doing? I'm asking the Charmed Ones for help…witches!" She was in her early forties and had shoulder length, faded blond hair. Her daughter just kept on staring straight ahead, practically oblivious to anything that was going on. She was actually very pretty with long blond hair.
Piper and Leo walked ahead to where Phoebe was standing. Phoebe started, "Well, first, please calm down. Take deep breaths. We are here to help; you have come to the right people. Don't worry. I am Phoebe and this is Piper and Leo." She motioned to her sister and husband. "There is also Paige, but she is not here at the moment." Of course, it seemed weird to Phoebe to be introducing themselves to total strangers, but after all, weren't they helping these Innocents? Her sisters and her basically decided to trust them when they agreed to help them…before this rather awkward meeting.
Piper and Leo seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Anyways, why don't we all sit down?" Piper offered in her most polite voice. The group moved to the far wall, Leo having to guide the strangers. Piper, Leo, and Phoebe sat against the wall, with the mother and girl facing them. "May I ask what are your names?" Piper asked.
The woman seemed to be calming down a bit. "I…I am Claire Harrington and this is my daughter, Megan."
"Before we begin, Claire, were there any other children hurt?" Phoebe asked. She held her breath for the answer.
"Fortunately, no. There was nothing suspicious after what happened to my daughter," she said slowly, her voice almost in a whisper.
"That's okay, then. We were just worried…" Phoebe said, trailing off and thinking of something. "Paige!" she said louder and clearer. The youngest sister appeared into view a second later with a thermos in her hand.
"Right on time! I just finished pouring the potion in the thermos when….Oh! Hello!" Her voice immediately changed to a more polite tone, not expecting to see anybody other than her sisters and Leo. Claire looked uneasy seeing her appear like that. "I'm Paige. Have I missed anything important?" She sat down beside Piper and Claire and handed the thermos to Leo. Piper reintroduced the strangers and told her that nothing else happened in the theatre. During this time, Phoebe was searching her purse frantically and pulled out a thin-sized novel. She then hurried towards the large wooden door they came out from with the book in her hand. Opening the door silently, she wedged the door with the book and peered through the crack, which was just enough to keep track of what was going on. She could also hear Telazor's voice.
"Nice thinking, Feebs," Piper said with a smile. "Tell us if you hear or see anything suspicious." Phoebe sat down beside the door, her back against the wall. She would occasionally peak through the crack to see what was going on. "Anyhow, how is your daughter acting now? Did you try to help her at all?" Piper asked, getting back to business.
"I didn't know what to do." She looked at her daughter, who was still in a trance and expressionless. "When she came back to her seat, I thought I had just imagined it, that she was fine. I told myself that it couldn't be magic, that it was behind us. Besides, we only started leading 'Mortal' lives to move on from the bad history the Harrington family has. You probably know about that." A tear dropped from her eye and her face became redder. She started stroking her daughter's long hair. "After a while, I became more worried. I asked her whether she was okay, but she never said anything. Then, I looked around to see if there was anybody who could help me. That was when I saw you leave the theatre. I thought I recognized you as do-gooders." She gave a little laugh. "I was just so desperate. I had to wait until the act was done to not arouse any suspicions." Then, she burst out, "I am such a bad mother! I shouldn't have waited…I knew there was something wrong, but I just didn't want to think of magic anymore." Tears dripped from her eyes. She kissed Megan's hair. "I'm so sorry, darling," she apologized.
"Well, honey, you can't beat yourself up about it," Paige told her. As a Whitelighter, she had had lots of charges who didn't want to use their powers for many reasons. She understood that. "All that matters is that you have found help and we're here to lend a hand, which we have started doing. But first, you'll have to accept magic for your daughter's sake. We know that it's hard because we know you don't trust it, but magic is a part of you and yes, it can be for good, not evil." She looked towards Megan.
Claire looked unconvinced. "No…I just can't…I…you don't understand…my family is known for being Warlocks. I just had to stop using my powers when all those I loved turned…turned evil!" She started sobbing. Leo, having finished his potion, slid across and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Shying away right now is just about the worst thing that you can do for her, Claire. You can't lose her like this!" Paige said, her voice harsher. Realizing this, she reached for Claire's hand and held it in hers. "You just can't sit around being ashamed of your family. How much will that do to the world? Just because they used magic in a bad way does not mean you will. I mean, look at us! We're good and we always fight for it. You're a good person as well and that's what counts. We're here for you, okay?"
Claire had to think about this for a while, her sobbing going uncontrolled. After her breathing became more normal, she agreed, "You're…you're right. I have to do this for Megan…she's all I have in this world and it would be my fault if I lost her. I just don't know whether I'm ready." She used the back of her hand to wipe her tears.
Piper remembered the time she first got her powers. "We were never ready when we got our powers. We hardly believed in magic. It was a big shock for all of us and if we survived that, you absolutely can." Claire gave a little smile. "Now, if you're ready, we have some explaining to do," Piper said. When Claire nodded, she and her sisters slowly explained to her about Telazor's spell, the doorman, and mind penetrators. They carefully left out Phoebe's premonition in order not to scare her. They also did not want to ask her about her power in case she was not ready to use it yet.
"…I guess you were lucky the force-field died down so you weren't hurt by the door," Piper added.
The mother seemed to be digesting all of this very slowly and sat there thinking for a bit, this time without sobbing. "So you're saying that my daughter has probably lost some of her memories? But mind penetrators don't extract memories, do they?"
Paige revealed, "Well, actually, it depends. Now, I have some information for all of you about Telazor." She took a breath and looked at Phoebe, who had just taken another peak. "The Book of Shadows says that Telazor has the ability to tamper with memories. He likes to extract your happiest ones because they are the most powerful, therefore adding to his power. He can also make you relive your worst moments over and over again."
"Is that all he can do?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. That was all before the vanquishing spell. I…"
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Megan screamed a high-pitched scream, clutching her head. She yelled some more. Paige tried to put her hand on Megan's mouth, but Megan was moving too much. Quickly, Phoebe peered into the door crack.
"Don't worry, everyone. I will check on it," she heard Telazor say with a hint of excitement. The demon was heading right towards the door.
