A/N. Thank you for the reviews. Hopefully, this chapter will be better than the last. It's based on the season one episode, The Witch Is Back, but with a few changes. Hope you like it.
777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
Chapter 13 – Two months later Salem, Massachusetts, 1692Two men marched together, their black, steel-toed boots leaving heavy prints on a hard – packed dirt floor. All around them chickens and hens pecked at the floor, desperately searching for something edible, while racing children wove in between them.
The sounds of children's laughter and adult chatter filled the air, along with the scents of various spices mixed sweaty, unwashed bodies.
In the middle of this chaos, a roughly constructed wooden building stood. Outside the building a tall man with shoulder length greasy brown hair waited impatiently, slouching against the wall. He straightened up as the guards approached and watched eagerly as one produced a key and opened the door.
The longhaired man stepped inside, and a woman in her early twenties turned to face him, her long skirts swishing and her dirt blonde hair flying.
As she recognised the man, her blue eyes blazed and her pretty face contorted with anger. "Matthew."
"Hello Melinda."
"Why? Why did you betray me?" Melinda demanded, a tremor in her voice giving away the hurt she felt.
"You got what you deserved."
"So you never loved me? All the passion… all the heat?"
"I had to make you trust me," Matthew replied, as if he had done nothing wrong. "It was the only way to share you powers."
"And now you have them. But why did you turn me in? You know I'll burn."
Matthew laughed lightly, as if Melinda's life was unimportant. "I had to keep my secret."
"And you can keep your trinkets too," Melinda spat. She reached up to her slender neck and ripped off a pewter pendant. As she tossed it at Matthew, the ruby encrusted in front of it gleamed.
Matthew caught the locket and opened the clasp. "Never mind. I'll find another witch to give it to." He pulled out a pink rose petal, which sparked a brilliant orange and emitted a plume of smoke.
Melinda smirked. "Perhaps not."
"What kind of magic is this?" Matthew demanded, dropping the petal.
"I'm taking back the powers you stole from me," Melinda answered, her voice strong and powerful. It was time to get her revenge. "Outside of time, outside of gain."
Wind whipped around the small room, enclosing Matthew in a tornado shaped structure.
"Know only sorrow. Know only pain." Melinda's voice rang loud over the howl of wind and the cry of Matthew's pain and fury as he was sucked into the locket.
Melinda smiled triumphantly. She had got her revenge, and stopped a dangerous warlock. But then her smile faded. She was still going to burn at the stake.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
"Have you seen my passport?" Penny asked, sifting through a stack of papers.
"On the island," Piper replied.
Penny dumped the papers on the kitchen table in front of her middle granddaughter and picked up her passport. "Tickets?"
Prue, who was sitting next to Piper, wearing an amused smile, plucked the top leaf of paper from the stack and handed it to her grandmother. "Here."
Penny smile gratefully, then looked around her wildly. "Now all I need is…"
"Coffee?" Piper filled in helpfully, offering a cup to Penny.
"But the plane…"
"Doesn't leave for three hours," Prue finished firmly. "Now drink."
With a sigh, Penny sunk into a chair next to her granddaughters. "It's just been a while since I flew all the way to Boston," Penny said in explanation for her frantic behaviour.
"Which is why you're going," Prue said. "So drink your coffee, and we'll get you to the airport."
Penny nodded and sipped her drink. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"We'll be fine," Piper assured her. "And besides, we're only an orb away."
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
A few days later the Charmed Ones were in the attic, having a tidy up before Piper's baby arrived. Well, Prue and Phoebe were cleaning out. Piper was in the toilet. She swore her baby had a personal grudge against her bladder.
"You know, we really should get rid of some of this stuff," Prue commented, chucking another piece of junk into a cardboard box.
"Sure," Phoebe agreed. "As long as we keep all of this."
Prue wondered over to where her youngest sister was sitting and peered down into a huge box filled to the brim. "All of it?"
"Yeah. They're family heirlooms, connections to our ancestors."
Prue shrugged and something silver caught her eye. "What's that?" Without waiting for an answer, she reached down and pulled out a pewter necklace with a blood red ruby encrusted on the front.
"It look like a dirty old locket," Phoebe said. "Put it back."
But Prue wasn't listening. She was fiddling with the clasp. It came undone and the locket sprang open. A gust of wind poured from the locket and whipped around the attic, forming into a man.
Prue and Phoebe stared at the man. With shoulder length greasy hair and roughly made dirt smeared clothes, he was obviously not from this time. The man stretched up, working the kinks out of his muscled, and yawned. "It's good to be free. Ah, but the world had changed," he said, noticing that Prue and Phoebe were not wearing woollen dresses, but jeans and tank tops. "Tell me, what year is this?"
His voice held an English tint; Prue realised, confirming her suspicions that he was from colonial times. "Who are you?" The eldest witch demanded.
"My name is Matthew. And id you freed me from that locket, then you must be a descendant of Melinda Warren. But the family name is now Halliwell," he said, glancing at a school exercise book. Matthew took a threatening step forward and Prue flung out her arm, sending him into a wall.
Matthew picked himself up, unscathed. "Thank you."
"What for?"
"I tricked you into using your power against me and now I have it," Matthew told them smugly. He flicked his finger and Phoebe slid along the floor and outside the room. The door swung shut. The warlock squeezed his eyes shut and disappeared, reappearing next to Prue. He grabbed the telekinetic witch from behind. "Can you stop time?"
Prue's body stiffened with fear and her breathing became heavy. There was no way she could fight him on her own. They only stood a chance with the Power Of Three. "No."
Matthew tightened his grip on Prue. "What about that pretty little thing out there. What is her gift?"
"Prem-premonition."
Matthew grinned sinisterly. "So there's another."
Prue stumbled backwards as Matthew blinked away.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Matthew stalked the streets, barely noticing the strange grey buildings and brightly coloured contractions that made loud noises and carried people around. Everything in this time was bright, loud and clean, but Matthew could smell the difference. There were no farmyard smells, yet the air wasn't clear.
Despite all the differences from his time, the warlock had only one thing on his mind; learning all he could about the witches, and gaining their powers. And he knew just how to do it.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Prue threw open the attic door and nearly collided with Phoebe. "Are you okay?"
Phoebe stepped back to avoid being trampled on. "I'm fine. That power of your is pretty strong."
"Unfortunately, so was his." Prue's brow creased in concern as she went down the stairs. "We have to warn Piper."
"Warn me about what?"
Prue reached the second floor as Piper came out of the bathroom.
"Prue let loose a warlock," Phoebe replied.
"How exactly?" Piper asked.
"I found an old locket, opened it and poof, out come the warlock," Prue answered.
"He looked old, like he came straight from colonial times," Phoebe added. "And he mentioned Melinda Warren."
"As in the book Melinda?"
Prue and Phoebe nodded in response.
"I say we call Grams," Piper suggested.
"No," Prue disagreed. "We don't want to worry her. We should be able to handle one lousy warlock."
"Okay. Can I see the locket?" Phoebe asked.
Prue handed over the heirloom and Phoebe was sucked into a premonition. A few seconds later her eyes snapped open.
"What did you see?" Piper wondered.
"I saw Melinda Warren vanquishing Matthew."
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Matthew pounded the pavement, thinking hard and ignoring the funny looks people gave him. He had over heard a very interesting conversation about policeman. Apparently they were up holders of the law, and willing to help whenever possible. Because police officers had not been around in the seventeenth century, he had no way of knowing if this was true. So he was going to find out.
Finally he found a building called a police station. He went inside, expecting to see criminals chained to the walls, being tortured by stern looking men. Instead, he found men and women sitting at desks in front of large, flat squares that showed moving pictures. Stunned, Matthew stared at these pictures until a dark haired man approached him.
"Excuse me sir, can I help you?"
Matthew glanced at the man's name tag. "Mr Trudeau, I'm looking for three sisters with the name Halliwell. I need their house address."
Alarm bells started ringing in Andy's head. The only Halliwell sisters he knew of were Prue and Phoebe. Obviously this guy didn't know them this well if he thought Piper's surname was Halliwell. "I'm sorry sir, we can't give out that information. Maybe you should check the yellow pages."
'I've got a quicker way,' Matthew thought, focusing his mind on Andy's. Immediately, images of Prue, Piper and Phoebe flashed through his mind of Andy's. 'Excellent, one of them is with child. I can gain another power' Matthew kept searching the police officer's mind until the Manor came into view. 'How strange.' Matthew had assumed the room he appeared in had been for storage, but seemingly it was their home. The warlock closed down the telepathic connection, leaving a very confused and concerned Andy.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Prue clasped her hands together, taking charge. "Okay. Piper, you call Leo, see if he knows anything about seventeenth century warlocks. Phoebe, check the book." The doorbell chimed through the house. "I'll get the door." Prue made her way to the first floor.
"I guess my date with Jake's cancelled," Phoebe murmured as she trudged up the stairs.
Piper shook her head incredulously. "Leo!" Piper called, dubious that he would come. She hadn't heard form him in a week.
Surprisingly, a swathe of orbs formed into the whitelighter. "What's wrong?"
"Hello stranger," Piper greeted. "You've been gone a while."
"I've only been up there one day. Time moved differently," Leo explained. "How are you?" Leo placed a hand on Piper's five-month pregnant bump.
"We're both fine." It still amazed Piper that he could care so much for another man's child. It was one of the things she loved most about him. "Can you find out all you can about seventeenth century warlocks that can mimic powers and go by the name of Matthew?"
"Sure." Leo pecked Piper's cheek and left.
With a sigh, Piper walked up to the attic. "Anything?"
Phoebe snapped the book closed. "Nothing." The youngest Charmed Ones' eyes widened. "Piper, watch out!"
Piper spun around to see Matthew hurl a knife at her. Before she could even consider freezing the weapon, a bubble gum pink force field protruded around Piper's swollen stomach. The knife hit the shield and fell to the floor with a clatter. As soon as the danger passed, the bubble seeped back into Piper's tummy.
Prue ran into the room and squinted her eyes, intent on knocking the warlock far away from her sisters. But nothing happened.
With no active powers available Phoebe ran towards the warlock, launching herself into the air. With a well-aimed kick in the jaw, Matthew sprawled to the ground and blinked out before the youngest witch could attack again.
"Are you both okay?" Prue asked.
"Yeah. It seems the baby prefers Mommy to be indestructible," Piper replied. "Who was at the door?"
"Andy," Prue said. "Warning us about a guy wearing strange clothes who wanted to know where we lived. Matthew, I'm assuming."
"So what do we do now?" Piper asked.
"Consult someone who's done this before," Phoebe answered. "Summon Melinda Warren."
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Prue, Piper and Phoebe sat in a circle around a copper pot required for the spell.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Piper asked nervously. "What if she comes back all…"
"The spell's very specific. She'll come back as a real life person with powers. Our first powers," Phoebe assured her, holding up a knife.
"Okay, what's that for?" Piper wondered, shrinking away from the weapon.
"The spell works by blood calling blood," Phoebe explained, pricking her finger. A drop of crimson blood dropped into the copper pot.
"I can't stand the sight of blood." Piper told them.
Prue took the knife and followed Phoebe's actions. "Demons have blown up in our attic."
"Disintegrated to dust before our very eyes," Phoebe added. "And you can't stand the sight of blood? What are you going to do when the baby's born?"
"Fine," Piper said reluctantly, poking out her arm and covering her eyes.
Once all their blood was in the pot, The Charmed Ones began the spell.
Melinda Warren, blood of our blood,
We summon thee
In a swirl of pure white lights a young woman with honey blonde hair appeared. She beamed down at the sisters and inhaled deeply. "Blessed Be."
777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
A/N. Please review!