"What do you mean?" Dominic demanded, his voice dangerously calm. He advanced on the elderly woman who was holding a glowing orb in her hands.
"I only tell you what I see, my liege, and I see a new threat." She looked back into the orb, her eyes began to glow the same white as the orb, "All the readings I have prepared are saying the same thing. The Warren witches will kill us all."
Dominic leaned over the woman, glaring into the orb. He grew frustrated, smashing the orb out of the Seers hands, it shattered onto the floor.
"Rubbish!" Dominic declared, "These orbs are lying to you Seer. The Warren line is dead, I killed the last witch with my own hands."
The seer lowered her head, bowing before Dominic. "It is not you I question master, I believe you have slain the Charmed Ones."
Dominic looked carefully at the ageing woman in front of him. Her looks betrayed her powers. She was one of the most powerful beings in the Underworld, of course her powerful position was helped by the fact that she had basically raised him, but she would not have had that opportunity had she not wielded remarkable power, power enough to deter all threats, above and below, from attacking while he was maturing, growing into his powers.
In all that time, this woman had not lied to him, or betrayed him in any manner, yet here she was, in front of him, telling him something he knew to be impossible. The Warren line continued.
"Are you telling me, that I have more Aunts?" He asked the Seer carefully, offering her his hand and raising her up from her knees.
The Seer shook her head, "Not Aunts, my liege, Cousins."
Pia awoke to the sounds of her bedside alarm ringing in her ear, she slapped her hand down on top of it, shutting it off. She closed her eyes and contemplated a return to sleep, she had been dreaming about her mom and Aunt Piper. It had been a nice dream.
But reality got in the way. She had to get up, re-enrol at the local school before the term started again, and Wyatt had mentioned the possibility of meeting with an estate agent to sell the apartment.
Pia groaned as she rolled out of bed, she threw on her blue flannel dressing gown and lurched downstairs, towards the smell of fresh coffee and toast.
Wyatt greeted her in the kitchen, a half smile forming on his face, "Have you thought any more about what I said?"
Pia groaned at him, and leant against the counter to pour the coffee out. As she made contact with the counter she jolted as if she had an electric shock. Her head pounded as her vision blurred, she closed her eyes and saw her Aunt Piper, standing exactly where she was standing, facing a tall dark haired stranger who was holding something weird in his hand. He threw the object towards her.
Another jolt and the pounding in her head subsided, her vision cleared.
"What the hell was that?" Wyatt asked, concern filling his grey eyes, like water pouring into a glass.
"I have no idea," Pia found a stool and sat down, her legs felt so heavy and her hands were shaking furiously.
"Did you hurt yourself?" Wyatt began looking at the coffee maker, searching for a loose wire, "Was it an electric shock?"
"I didn't even touch the coffee pot!" Pia said, "It wasn't a shock, it was something else, like a vision." She held her head in her hands, trying to calm the shaking.
"A vision?"
"Yeah, I saw Aunt Piper, standing exactly where I was. There was someone else." Pia looked over at Wyatt, "I think I saw Aunt Pipers killer."
Chris walked into the kitchen, lured by the smell of fresh coffee. He was surprised that Pia had made it out of bed before him, she usually resisted getting out of bed before midday at all costs.
He looked closer at his cousin, she was pale and shaking, holding her head in her hands.
"Whats wrong? What happened?" He asked, as he heard the voice of his brother coming from the other room.
"Can I speak to Inspector Hamilton please?" Wyatt paced the living room, "Yes, it's about the Halliwell murders, can you tell him it's Wyatt? Thankyou."
Chris caught his brothers eye, "What happened?" He mouthed.
Wyatt shrugged and put his hand over the mouth piece, "she's really shaken up, can you get her some water or something?" He asked.
Chris nodded and returned to Pia In the kitchen, "Can I get you anything?" He asked.
Pia smiled and nodded, "I'd kill for a coffee!" She said, "and maybe some toast?"
Chris set to work filling the order, "So can you tell me what happened or is it all some big secret?"
"I saw something." Pia said, she frowned, "It sounds crazy, but I had some sort of vision. I saw Aunt Piper get killed, and I saw who killed her."
Chris stood staring at his cousin. "What?" He asked, unable to string a more coherent thought together.
"I was standing over there," Pia pointed to the coffee pot, "And I had a jolt, or something, and then I saw her, standing in the same place I was. And then I saw him."
"Him?" Chris asked, the toast began burning in the toaster. Chris cursed and popped it up, putting it onto a plate.
"I don't know, I'd never seen him before yet he looked really familiar." Pia shrugged, taking the plate from Chris, "It was as if I knew him, but I know I've never seen him before. It was the weirdest thing."
Wyatt returned to the kitchen, "Inspector Hamilton will be round as soon as possible. He seemed really intrigued, but I just don't know what we're going to tell him. How are we going to tell him we know what the killer looks like?" Wyatt pondered as he took a stool next to Pia. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort, shaking his head, his blonde curls swinging, "It all sounds so crazy!"
Thoughts buzzed around Chris's head as he made his way towards the school building. Wyatt had asked him to pick up Pia's enrolment forms, Pia and Wyatt were going to wait for Inspector Hamilton. He still didn't know what they were planning on telling him, Chris doubted that he'd believe Pia's vision story, he still didn't know whether he believed it or not.
Chris frowned. He really didn't know what to make of it all, but then he hadn't been in the room when it had happened. Wyatt had described what Pia had done, how she'd reacted like she had an electric shock or something.
Wyatt seemed to believe what Pia had told him, and usually Wyatt was so logical, so level-headed that he usually brushed off any fantastical stories with a sceptical laugh.
Chris shook his head, Pia had been having a really hard time, he wasn't surprised that she'd started seeing things, seeing ghosts everywhere, he had a hard time not seeing his mom in every corner of the manor, the whole place was so drenched in memories, surely ghosts were bound to materialise sooner or later. But Pia wasn't describing it as a ghost, she described it as a vision, and his mom wasn't the only person she'd seen. That was harder to brush aside.
The very idea that Pia had seen the killer, the person responsible for ripping his life apart. It was more than they had so far. The police were at a loss for any motive and even the weapon used was unknown. They didn't know anything which could create such severe burns, and yet not engulf the entire victim in flames. They were throwing around guesses, but had so far come up empty.
Pia's description of a ball of electricity was fantastical, but it would match the marks on both his mom and Aunt Paige.
Chris ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, clearing it from his eyes. He didn't know what to think. He approached the school entrance and climbed the stairs towards reception, trying to clear his mind of the confused thoughts circling.
Chris told the receptionist why he was here, and the elderly woman greeted him with a tepid smile and asked him to fill in some forms for his cousin. She handed him the required forms and left him to it.
Chris flicked through the papers and rolled his eyes, he detested paperwork, and filling in forms was just a nightmare. He looked around for a pen, he saw one on the other side of the receptionists desk.
"Excuse me?" He tried to get the attention of the receptionist, but she was busy tapping away at a computer and couldn't hear him, "Excuse me?" He tried again, "I need a pen!"
As Chris pointed towards the pen, he stared in amazement as it moved across the desk, hovered through the air and found its way into his hand. He gaped at the pen in his hand, studying it intently, there were no strings attached, it was just an ordinary biro, yet he had seen it fly.
He threw it back down on the desk, almost too scared to hold it for a second longer, he grabbed the forms and fled the building.
Chris burst through the doors of the manor and ran through to the living room, doors slamming behind him, to find Wyatt and Pia sitting with Inspector Hamilton.
The Inspector took a sip from the cup of tea in front of him as he regarded Chris with a surprised expression.
"Jeez Chris, could you make much more of a noise?" Wyatt scowled at his brother.
"I seriously need to talk with you two." He looked pointedly at the inspector, "Alone!"
"Do you mind?" Wyatt asked the Inspector as Chris began pushing him into the conservatory. Pia smiled apologetically as she followed the boys.
Once the three were in the conservatory Chris shut the door, "Ok you guys, something really freaky just happened to me." Wyatt raised his eyebrows.
"Freaky? Like a vision freaky?" Pia asked, eager not to be alone in her experience.
"Freaky like a flying pen freaky," Chris explained.
"A flying pen?" Wyatt laughed, "dude, that's lame!"
Chris frowned at his brother, "You believe her vision story, but not me?"
Wyatt just looked at Chris, unconvinced.
"I believe you." Pia told him, "Now tell me exactly what happened."
"Well I was given these forms," Chris gave Pia the enrolment forms he'd picked up, "But the receptionist hadn't given me anything to write with, and I saw the pen, and it just flew at me, landed right in my hand." Chris held up his right hand.
Pia looked at her cousins, "You know, I think something happened when we were in the attic." She looked at Wyatt, "I think we might be witches."
"Right," Wyatt grinned, "We're witches, and he," Wyatt pointed towards the living room, indicating Inspector Hamilton "Is a fairy."
Chris and Pia looked at each other, "How do you explain it?" Chris asked his brother.
Wyatt shrugged, "I'm not even trying," He said, "All I know is that 'witches' are make believe, this murderer is real and I intend to find him and bring him to justice." Wyatt opened the door, "Now if there's nothing else Chris, the Inspector is waiting."
Wyatt sat back down opposite the Inspector, "Sorry about that," he sighed, "families, hey, who'd have them?"
Inspector Hamilton smiled and doodled on his notepad, "So we were discussing a new development?"
"Yes," Wyatt nodded, "We've got an idea on what the killer looks like."
"Really?" The Inspector looked up sharply at Wyatt, "And how would you come across this all of a sudden?"
Wyatt sighed and hung his head, "Does that matter? It's a lead, something to go on right?"
The Inspector looked at his notepad, apart from the doodles, it was blank, which could also be said for most of the crime report so far. He shrugged, "Someone saw the perp?"
Pia sat next to Wyatt and took a deep breath, "He's about 24, he's tall, I'd say about the same height as Wyatt, he has short dark hair, black almost, he's muscular, but not stupidly so, you know, toned." Pia stopped, waiting for the Inspector to stop scribbling.
"Any distinguishing features?"
"Like a tattoo or piercing something like that?" Pia asked, the Inspector nodded, Pia frowned trying to remember the vision, but the image was fuzzy, she couldn't remember. "I cant remember seeing anything like that."
The inspector looked up at Pia, "So you saw the perp?" Pia didn't respond, not knowing what to say, "It would help if you told us when you saw him, how you know he was the perp and anything else you remember."
"I'm sorry inspector" Pia sighed, "I wish I could tell you more, but honestly, that is all I know." The inspector raised an eyebrow at Pia, but he left it at that, he put the notepad and pen down and sighed. He was just grateful for some sort of lead, even if it seemed to come out of thin air.
Chris trembled with anger and fear. He didn't know what to do or think, only that he needed to prove himself to Wyatt, prove that he wasn't making this story up. He'd never felt so furious with Wyatt before, how could he believe Pia, but not his own brother?
White hot anger surged it's way through Chris, pushing him into the living room, he made his way behind the detective. Wyatt would have to believe him if he saw it with his own eyes. Chris looked around for something small to fly across the room, his gaze settled upon the Inspectors pen.
Wyatt watched as Chris walked up behind the inspector. He was looking angry, but also kind of determined. Chris stared at the pen, focusing. Wyatt's eyes widened as the pen wiggled on its own and then hovered just above the table.
The inspector looked at Wyatt's expression and frowned, "What's wrong?" He asked as he followed Wyatt's gaze behind him, where the pen was slowly floating towards Chris's outstretched hand.
"No!" Wyatt shrieked, and the Inspector paused, half turned towards Chris. The pen stopped in mid air, halfway to Chris's hand. Chris looked at the pen in mid-air, and then at the Inspector who hadn't moved.
"Inspector?" Wyatt asked, "Inspector, are you ok?"
Inspector Hamilton didn't move, not even to blink. Pia moved up close and waved her hand in front of his face, trying to provoke some sort of reaction. "It's like he's frozen or something!"
"Good Job!" Wyatt complained, "Are you totally insane?" He yelled at Chris.
"I had to prove to you that I wasn't making it up!" Chris yelled back, "And I proved it!" Chris folded his arms, satisfied.
"Did you have to prove it when we had company?" Wyatt sighed, exasperated, he turned to look at the frozen inspector, "And what the hell is this?"
Pia shrugged, "Looks like you have some sort of freaky gift too! Like you can freeze time or something!"
"Freeze time?" Wyatt rolled his eyes, "If I could freeze time, why aren't you two frozen as well?"
"Maybe our powers don't work on each other?" Chris guessed.
Wyatt sat down, stunned "Any idea how to unfreeze him?"
Pia shrugged and Chris shook his head, picking the pen out of the air. Suddenly the Inspector continued his turn, looking round at Chris. Chris smiled at the Inspector, handing him back the pen.
The inspector took the pen, confused, "Uh, thanks." He said, he looked around at Pia and Wyatt, perplexed to see that they had both moved.
"Well," he said, getting to his feet, "If you happen to think of anything else, Miss Matthews, be sure to give me a ring." He picked up his notepad, and let Wyatt guide him to the door.
Wyatt returned to the living room, he looked at Chris and Pia. "What the hell was that?" He asked, trying to clear his thoughts .
"As I said," Pia told him, "I think something happened when we went up to the attic. I think we might be witches."