HALLIWELL 2024
Wyatt Halliwell could not control his anger. As he clenched his fist and raised his hand, he watched with some satisfaction as the terrified police captain was lifted from his chair, gasping for breath. As the captain dangled in mid air, thrashing fruitlessly against Wyatt's invisible hold on him, Wyatt stepped closer.
"I could kill you right now. You do realize that. Don't you?" he spat.
Standing behind him with his arms folded across his chest, Jeremy shook his head.
"This isn't helping Wyatt," he said calmly.
"Shut up!" Wyatt commanded, not releasing his grip on the weakening captain.
"We need him!" Jeremy said – the urgency in his voice growing.
"I don't need anyone." Wyatt shot back.
"If that's what you think, then you are a fool." Jeremy replied.
Furious, Wyatt released his grip on the captain, who crashed to the floor and rolled to the side, gasping for air.
"What did you say?" Wyatt asked as he advanced on Jeremy.
"Think about it." Jeremy replied, not backing down. "If you kill him, then the already shaky alliance we have with this department will crumble and the resistance will grow."
Wyatt laughed.
"I'm not afraid of these mortals. They are no match for my power or those of the demons I command."
"No." Jeremy agreed. "But if they choose to align themselves with the underground Witches…with Chris…that could be a problem."
Wyatt scowled and turned his back to Jeremy. He said nothing though. He didn't have anything to say. Jeremy was right. He usually was, although Wyatt would never admit that.
Wyatt took a moment to calm himself before turning back the captain, who was now staggering to his feet.
" I will not tolerate any further action taken against my brother by any member of this department. Have I made myself clear Captain"?
"Yes…of course," the Captain sputtered, still trying to catch his breath. "I can assure you Mr. Halliwell, that today was an isolated incident…a mistake that will not happen again."
"Very good." Wyatt responded. "And to ensure that there are no more "mistakes", your department will leave all further witch hunting to me and my followers. You will arrest and punish only those witches stupid enough to get caught practicing magic in public view. My brother of course, is not to be touched under any circumstances. So it would be in the best interest of you and this department that you make sure everyone knows who he is and what he looks like. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir. I will hold an all hands meeting today and make sure that everyone in this department understands and complies."
"And if they don't, make sure they understand that they will be answering to me!"
Having said that, Wyatt quickly spun around and stormed out of the office.
Jeremy followed.
"Well, that went well." Jeremy said sarcastically as he tried to keep pace with Wyatt.
"Do me a favor Jeremy," Wyatt replied without slowing down, or turning to face his friend, "keep the sarcasm to yourself. And while you're at it…Find my brother!"
Before Jeremy could object, Wyatt orbed away mid-stride.
Jeremy sighed and looked around the open office area where he now stood. Several officers and administrators had stopped what they were doing when he and Wyatt approached and were now staring at him.
Annoyed, Jeremy flicked his tongue at them menacingly and snapped, "What are you looking at? Get back to work!" before shimmering out himself.
It wasn't an easy life - being a witch in the city of San Francisco in 2024. No one knew that better than the group of young men and woman currently huddled around the bar, in the dilapidated club that had once been P3. Because they had refused to join the ranks of the infamous Wyatt Halliwell, or flee the city they called home, they had become outcast and outlaws. They were all homeless now, having either lost their families in the vicious attacks against witches or having left their families in an attempt to protect them from persecution. They were all young and they were all alone. The only thing they had left in the world was each other and that made them closer than any biological family in the city.
TAG, thirteen, and the youngest of the group, sat cross legged on the bar and looked up anxiously at the older members of the group
"What do you think happened to him?"
"How should we know?" his 17 year old brother Mace snapped, "You're the one with the powers of premonition. Why don't you tell us?"
"Because stupid, I can only see the future, not the past!"
"Cool it guys." 21 year old Crystal said, trying to control the situation. She was an empath and her emotions were still reeling from when Chris had blown through moments before. She couldn't take anymore.
"He looked really upset…and hurt," Tag continued, ignoring the others.
"We all saw him TAG!" Mace snapped again-clearly annoyed.
"What are you getting so pissy about!" Tag protested. "I was just saying…"
"OH ENOUGH ALREADY!"
Seated on one of the only intact stools remaining at the bar, 19 year old Jessie raised her head and flipped the hair back out of her eyes before continuing…
"If you guys don't cut it out, I swear to god I'm going to blow one of you up! And I'm not kidding," She added as she lowered her head back down- burying her face in her arms which were crossed and resting on the bar. "You know I can't control my powers that well when I'm pissed off."
They all knew it was true of course. One of the first things they had all learned as witches was that their powers were tied to emotions. A mature witch…and one confident and capable with her powers could deal with it. But Jesse definitely wasn't what one would call a "capable witch". Not that this was her fault. She was fairly knew to her craft and just never had the guidance necessary to master her active powers. And of course maturity was something they were all lacking.
They continued to wait in silence, when suddenly, the door to the office opened and Bryan, the oldest member of their group emerged, shutting the door behind him. He hadn't taken more than a few steps toward them when he was bombarded with questions.
"Is he OK?"
"What happened to him?"
"Is he hurt?"
Bryan sighed and shook his head as he joined his friends at the bar.
"I don't know," he said, answering all of their questions at once.
"Well he must have said something," Mace replied.
"Yeah, he did." Bryan smirked. "He said 'go away'!"
"Go away?" Tag echoed. "that's it?"
"That's it. He wouldn't tell me anything."
"Well what do we do?" Crystal asked.
"I dunno." Bryan shrugged.
"Well we have to do something. He could be really hurt."
"Look, I don't know what to do! OK?" Bryan snapped, losing his patience, "Quit asking me!"
The room fell silent again and Bryan instantly regretted losing his patience with his friends. They were just concerned about Chris and it was only natural that they would look to him to tell them what to do. At 24 years old, he was the oldest in the group and they looked up to him. He knew that. He knew it and he hated it. He very rarely felt like he was in control and he certainly didn't consider himself a leader. Even if he was the oldest. That was Chris' role.
The group continued to sit in silence until they were suddenly interrupted by a faint voice coming from the back hallway.
Hello?
The group sprang to attention.
Mace reached out, grabbed his little brother off the bar and set him down, taking a protective stance in front of him. The rest of the group stood and turned their attention to the hallway where the voice had come from.
Hello? Is anyone here?
Bryan was just about to instruct his friends to run when a woman suddenly emerged from the hallway carrying two large shopping bags. Bryan recognized her immediately.
"Mrs. Morris?"
Sheila smiled, relieved to see him.
"That's right. Bryan…right?"
Bryan breathed a sigh of relief and stepped toward her.
"Yeah. What are you doing here?"
"Jesus lady! You scared the shit out of us!" Mace said.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, placing her bags down on the ground. "I'm looking for Chris. Is he here?"
The kids all turned to Bryan, not sure how they should respond to her question. Bryan, in turn, immediately looked down at the ground.
"It's not a difficult question kids. Is he here or not?"
They remained silent.
"Look…" a frustrated Sheila continued, "You know who I am. You know I'm not going to hurt him. I just wanna talk to him. Please!"
"He's here." Tag spoke up,stepping out from behind his brother.
"Tag!" Mace said angrily, spinning around to face him.
"What? He won't talk to us! Maybe she can help him!"
"Help him?" Sheila repeated.
"Oh man, Chris is going to flip out! Way to go Tag!" Jesse chimed in.
"What does he mean 'help him'?"
Sheila was clearly panicked now.
"He's right. She might be able to help him." Bryan said, addressing his friends before turning back to Sheila. "He's in the office," he told her. "Go see for yourself."
To be continued…