Well, I'm sure you're all very excited to read the last chapter in my story. Even more so since this chapter is super sized! So, all my boring rambling will be at the end this time. Please review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that have appeared on Charmed. It's kinda sad actually.
"Kitty!" Leo yelled after me, the sisters echoed him with similar exclamations, but it was a moment before they all finally followed me upstairs. I took the steps two at a time, grabbing onto the banister so I wouldn't lose my balance. I finally reached the top, and heard the others following me quickly. Running to the small door leading to the attic, a steady breeze swept the dust from out of corners, showing how excited I was. I crossed the floor and arrived at my destination, the Book of Shadows.
"OK, wait a second here." Said Piper, as the sisters and Leo barged through the attic door. "What's going on, and what are you planning?"
" I remembered…I remembered…" Pausing to catch my breath, I started looking through the many worn pages, looking for one I barely knew. "When I was up here looking at the Book of Shadows with you, Piper. I saw a page that I thought was really cool. I only just recalled it, something about switching powers."
There was a silence in the room, only broken by the fast flipping of pages. My eyes searched each title but to no avail. God, hadn't people thought about alphabetizing it or something? Finally, Phoebe spoke up.
"Here, let me help." She said, closing the book and then looking up at the ceiling. I was about to protest but then she interrupted me. "We could use a little help down here, you know!" I thought she was crazy, talking to the ceiling like that, but not much could surprise me anymore. Nothing happened for a couple seconds, but then the pages started moving by themselves. When they were finished, one page stood out.
"The power-switching spell." I said, silently reading over the incantation.
"So, I'm getting at what your mysterious plan is now. But why don't you just enlighten us with your idea?" Said Paige, the sisters and Leo nodded.
"Well, basically we have to find a way to vanquish Szalack." I started, " and the only way to really do that is to vanquish him on the dream plan. Which really sucks since that's the place he can steal our powers. So, what if you guys summon him here or something, and then buy some time while I say the spell. Then we'll knock him out somehow, and then I'll get onto the dream plane…somehow."
"That's too many 'somehow's for comfort." Grumbled Paige, the others didn't look all too convinced either.
"It'll be a piece of cake!" I said, trying to sound confident. " We'll write a kick ass spell, I'll vanquish him quickly on the dream plane, since he can't steal my powers. Well, since he'll already have my powers. But I'll have his, and then right before he vanquishes I'll say the spell again and get mine back. That way, all of Szalack will be gone forever."
Leo sighed, "Couldn't one of you go?" He said, meaning the sisters. "I mean, Kitty, you're my charges and only found out about all this yesterday…"
I cut him off before he got going. I find that this technique is most effective when dealing with adults. That way, they can't convince themselves with their own ideas. " But what if this doesn't work?" I said, a little unusual I know. Considering what I was trying to convince them of. " If it doesn't, you'll have to try a Power of Three spell, there's no other solution. And for that, you'll actually need the entire Power of Three."
There was silence around the room. "Well, it's not a bad idea." Said Phoebe carefully.
"No…maybe it could actually work." Said Paige, looking over to Piper and Leo. I did the same and after a moment Piper just shrugged, she didn't look happy about it, but I guess that was the mother in her talking. Leo looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped himself.
"OK then." I said, taking their silence as an agreement. " Let's get to work on writing that kick ass spell!"
" Are you sure you wanna go through with this?" Piper asked me, as the other sisters were getting everything else ready.
I nodded. " Phoebe wrote a great vanquishing spell, plus I've got the spell to switch powers memorized. I'm all covered. Besides, this is something I kinda need to do."
Piper nodded, but she didn't have a chance to say anything else, as Leo orbed back into the attic.
"OK, the Elders gave me a summoning spell for Szalack." He said, handing the paper to Piper. " I hope it works, and by the way, They said 'good luck'." I nodded and turned to look at the rest of the attic. Paige and Phoebe had set up a circle of white candles, as well as the crystal cage from before. I could only hope it worked better this time.
"Ready guys?" Piper asked, Phoebe and Paige came to stand beside her. "Kitty, say the spell right away, I'm not sure how long the crystal cage can last." I nodded as they started the spell. My palms were sweaty, I realized. I was scared, but it was now or never.
In this night, and in this hour,
I call upon the ancient power.
Szalack, from the depths of hell,
We summon you here with this spell.
There was a sudden gust of wind in the room; for once it wasn't caused by something I did. We stood transfixed, looking at the middle of the circle, where a figure was starting to appear. It only took a few seconds, and when the dust cleared, Michael was standing there. But it wasn't Michael anymore, it was Szalack.
"Say the spell!" Yelled Paige, Szalack looked around the room with a small smile forming on his face. I wasted no time in starting the spell.
What's mine is yours,
What's yours is mine…Szalack threw both his hands out, creating a concussive force that ripped through the crystal cage, sending us all flying towards the wall. My back collided with something hard, and for the second time that day, I was winded.
"Piper, freeze him!" Yelled Phoebe, who had landed beside me. Piper flicked with her hands and Szalack was slowed down, but not frozen. He moved as if the air around him was holding him back. Nevertheless, it was enough to make me continue the spell.
Let our powers cross the line,
I offer up my gifts to share…
I watched as Szalack's face contorted, trying to yell out "NO!" or something else equally dramatic. He was slowly forming an energy ball as I said the last line of the spell.
Share the powers through the air!There was an unusual wind in the attic again as I felt something being pulled out of me. I didn't hurt, but I was soon feeling horribly empty. Is this was Zach felt like? I thought. But soon the empty feeling was changed into a burning hot sensation. Let me tell you, demon powers? Yeah, they suck.
Szalack was also looking down at his hands strangely; they were now empty where the energy ball was just forming.
"Piper!" Said Leo, and his voice brought everyone out of their little trance. Piper brought her hands up and sent Szalack sailing through the air, he crashed into a table and lay still.
"Did it work?' Asked Paige cautiously, being the first to stand and taking a careful step towards the demon.
"Looks like it." I said, following her, " he's definitely knocked out." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at this. Looking at him just lying there, totally vulnerable and without his powers, I felt a surge of satisfaction. Me, on the other hand, felt totally energized. At the moment I was probably one of the most powerful beings in the world, that does tons to a girl's ego.
"So," I said, kneeling down besides the demon and putting my hands on either side of his head. I don't know why, it just seemed like the right thing to do. "Any idea how I'm supposed to use his powers?"
"Well, when we used this spell the last time." Said Phoebe, "we had to find each person's different trigger. The demon's then was, well…hate."
That was easy enough, I thought, closing my eyes. I held a lot of hate for this guy. I carefully focused on the park, how I felt when I could do nothing when Zach was having the life choked out of him. I felt the boiling anger surge through my veins, as I focused on all the other witches Szalack must have killed during his quest for more powers. But I had the power now; the cards were in my hand.
Suddenly, I gasped involuntarily and opened my eyes. I was no longer in the attic; I'm guessing it was the dream plane or something, basically just this weird area where everything was covered with fog. I stood up slowly and found that Szalack was no longer lying before me.
"Kitty." I heard a voice behind me, and turned quickly. Everything I did there seemed surreal, like it wasn't happening at all. I guess it wasn't, since I was probably still in the attic just dreaming all this.
"Szalack." I said in response, squinting to see him appear out of the fog. He was no longer in the body of Michael, now he looked just like a man in his 30s, dressed all in black with greying hair and a small goatee. Just as I always imagined an evil guy to look like, actually. I reached into my back pocket and took out the vanquishing spell that Phoebe had given me. Let's hope it's really kick ass, I thought.
" Now, now. Before you do that, just think about how good it feels to have all that power moving through your veins." I paused, and he smirked and continued. " Now you know why Michael was helping me, feels good doesn't it? I should know, since it is my power. I could share it with you, and we could be great together. All you have to do is accept me."
Now, for the record, I was never even considering joining his little 'evil tea party'. For one, I hated when people smirk at me. Secondly, I could see through his little confident façade, this was really just an act of desperation.
"I don't think so, Szalack." I said, smirking at him and starting the spell.
Evil wind that blows,
Take this demon and all he knows.
Banished back to the realm of hell,
He is no more with this kick ass spell.
I laughed out loud at the last line, and admittedly watched Szalack being sucked back to the Underworld quite happily. Luckily, I didn't forget to repeat the power-switching spell. I felt all the boiling anger in my body disappear, replaced by an old, comfortable feeling.
I stood there for a few seconds, feeling a bit lost. Closing my eyes, I whispered to myself, "I'd like to go home now, please."
When I opened my eyes again, I was surrounded by the sisters and Leo. Michael was again lying before me. "Why is he still here?" I asked weakly, getting to my feet.
"Well, I guess he wasn't a demon after all. Probably a beginning witch, we checked for a pulse but there wasn't any." Said Leo, " is Szalack gone?"
I nodded as I looked down at Michael, another death I was associated with, that must be a record for only two days. The familiar sound of orbing filled the attic and I looked curiously at Leo before turning to look at who orbed in. It was a woman with long brown hair and green eyes, and she was wearing this totally gaudy, gold robe or something.
" Um, this is Ariana." Said Leo, making the introductions. "She's an Elder." He said to me with a little smile. Ariana inclined her head in our direction with a small smile on her lips.
"On behalf of the Elders I'd just like to congratulate you on your victory. Szalack is now back where he belongs."
We all nodded and grinned. "So I guess this was the 'great evil', right Leo?" Said Piper happily.
I looked at her; this magical community sure was confusing sometimes. Ariana, on the other hand, just looked mildly amused. " Not to ruin your victory celebrations, but more evil is coming your way. Kitty, your job isn't quite done yet."
Everyone remained silent for a moment, taking this in, I guess it was somewhat expected. I thought about how normal and boring my life was 3 days ago, and then I realized that I wouldn't change it for the world now. Bring it on, evil.
"I guess I'll be going now." Said Ariana, bowing slightly to us. That must be something, having some sort of greater good bow to you. " Don't worry about the one called Michael Ruth, we'll take care of him." With one last smile, she orbed out gracefully, the body of Michael disappeared in a similar fashion.
"Well," Paige repeated with a smile, breaking the silence. "No rest for the wicked I suppose."
"Detective Hunter?" Asked the young lab technician, knocking once on the doorframe.
Mack looked up from the paperwork she had been doing and towards the door. It had been a long day at the office and she had been looking forward to the end of her shift. "Yes, Jill?" She asked, closing the folder she had been working on.
" I just got back the fingerprints from the Zachary Bellevue case." She replied, " Most of the prints on the body came from the girl whose prints we took at the crime scene. Katharyn Whistler? Especially on the letter we found in the vic's jacket pocket, the one about the football scholarship."
Mack was silent for a moment, reclining in her chair and looking up at the ceiling. " Isn't that a bit odd, considering she claimed never to have spoken to him before?"
" A suspect, perhaps?"
"Maybe." Mack responded, " thanks, Jill." The young girl nodded and walked away from the door, Mack opened up another folder and started working again, there was still 30 minutes left in her day. Suddenly, she looked up and noticed that the door was still open.
With a flick of her wrist, it closed suddenly. Must have been the wind.
FinWow! I seriously can't believe that I finished this story, it only took around 3 months, but I swore I would finish and I did. Anyway, as you can see I left you in a sort of mini-cliff hanger, which might lead you to believe…sequel! And in this case, you would be right. I will start writing chapter 1 for the new story as soon as my muse decides to give me a bit of inspiration. In the meantime, I'm going to be starting an NCIS story soon, so check that out if you tune it.
Finally, I'd like to give a heartfelt thanks to all readers. It's nice to write for yourself, but even better if you're writing for someone. Especially if those someone's review. So I'd just like to give a special mention to…
Chrissy, Stephasaurus, Rini08, Lynnicaec, Elphabathedelirious32, Rachel.m.g, Charmedaholic521, Piper-rox and Alone-in-the-night.
Of course, in no particular order.
Thank you, and Katie…out!
