A heavy rainstorm had settled over the city of San Francisco, It was the summer of 1999, and The Halliwell Manor on Prescott Street was well and truly in need of repairs. The roof was leaking in one of the bedrooms, the windows in the solar had a leaking crack as well, and the chandelier in the dining room wouldn't work. It had been three months since the Halliwell sisters, Mal and Evie moved in. The manor was previously owned by their grandmother, Maleficent, who Mal was named after. Mal pulled her black Mazda into the driveway of 1329 Prescott Street. She scrambled up the steps in heels, and opened the front door, hurrying out of the rain. "EVIE?! I'm home!" Mal called, waiting for her younger sister to reply while she took off her long dark purple coat and sat down her purse by the door. Mal is the oldest Halliwell sibling. She has violet purple hair and vibrant green eyes. Her complexion is fair and naturally pretty as she wears little makeup.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Evie calls, drawing her older sibling into the kitchen. Evie is an average height woman with sapphire blue hair and bright green eyes. She was naturally beautiful, and her makeup was perfect. Mal smiled and hugs her sister before going to get a glass of water.
"What's for supper sis? Any luck with the job hunt?" Mal stood by the sink, resting her ass against the counter. Evie looked at Mal with an unenthused expression but meaningfully groaned. "That bad huh?" she raised a brow and Evie nodded while putting some more spices into the garlic cream sauce.
"Most of the fashion jobs are tough competition. I've broadened my options to internships, and I hope that means success but since most are unpaid, I'm looking at waitress and kitchen jobs. I haven't gotten far but that list is already pretty long, so I'll probably be gone most of tomorrow." Evie sighed and started straining the penne pasta.
"Alright, I'll skip lunch so I can let the handyman in to start fixing this place up. I don't know how we lucked into him. Reviews were amazing and his prices are fair… E, that's a lot of pasta. Are you hungry or something? Is Doug coming over?" Mal questioned going to check the answering machine for missed calls.
"Uh… no… actually that's something I needed to talk to you about. You know how we were talking about renting out the spare room for extra cash?" Evie began, trying to sound casual, and hide her nerves under poor acting. Mal paused and eyes Evie for a second.
"I know that tone, what is it? Don't tell me you want Doug to move in? Or is it Audrey?" Mal questioned, taking a sip of water.
"Actually, it's –" Evie starts to say before the sound of someone opening the front door reaches them. "Oh no…" Evie fretted, as Mal gave her a stern green glare as she went to check. Sure enough, Mal's concerns were immediately validated as she saw Carlos Halliwell, setting his bags down by the door. Carlos was the youngest Halliwell sibling. He had black roots that graduate into platinum white hair. He was a rather short guy with fair skin dotted with freckles and brown eyes.
"Hey guys, I was gonna use the old hide a key but turns out you left the door unlocked." Carlos smiled and Evie hurried to give him a hug. A car horn honked from outside and Carlos heaved a sigh. "That would be the cab… uh yeah, I didn't pay him yet." He looked at Evie concerned, and she just waved it off smiling.
"I'll take care of it." She said while grabbing a purse from the table by the front door and heading out into the rain.
"Evie… that's my purse!" Mal called after her, but it was too late and isn't heard. She sighed heavily and looked to her younger brother. "I guess locking the doors wouldn't have helped anyway, I suppose." She commented with a bitter edge.
"Are you still mad at me?" Carlos looked both surprised and the beginnings of upset. Mal crossed her arms glaring at him.
"Mad? No? Furious? More than you know." Mal seethed and Carlos rolled his eyes.
"You are… You are mad that I left this chaos and went to find dad. I needed to get out of here. Maleficent was treating me like I was still a child and with mom gone and dad in New York, I only had one option!" Carlos replied in his defense, but Mal just sighed in frustration and turned to head into the kitchen.
"Evie made pasta. It's not got a tomato sauce, so I know you'll eat it. It should be done." Mal changed the subject starting to set the table for the three of them. Carlos murmured to himself annoyed and left the foyer to head into the kitchen just as Evie hurried back into to take over serving up dinner.
"Some things never change. Evie is probably still the best cook of us all." Carlos commented sitting down to eat. Evie chuckled shaking her head at the compliment but Mal gave her an unimpressed look.
"Puh-lease, girl you can cook circles around us. I mean honestly, you remember the last time I tried to get into cooking and set off the smoke detectors FIVE times?" Mal gave her another look taking her first bites of pasta. Evie conceded and smiled as they start to eat. It was a somewhat comfortable silence before Mal asked, "So did you finish college? What did you major in again?" she said looking at Carlos who took a big bite of pasta. He spoke with his mouth full but covered his mouth with his hand so they couldn't see it.
"Literature, Primarily Writing. My degree certificate is in my bag" Carlos replied swallowing down his food. "What do you do now Mal?" He questioned before going for another bite.
"I have a degree in both Fine Arts and History. I wanted to get into Photography, but we don't have the funds to start a portfolio with a decent camera. So I settled for working for the Museum of Fine Arts. My knowledge in the field put me up high, now I work under the director on project management and displays. It pays the bills really" Mal admitted a little glumly and Evie sighed disapprovingly. A silence settled again and they finished dinner. Evie put away the leftovers as Mal did the dishes. Carlos grabbed his bags and headed up to the spare room, that used to be his anyway before he left for New York. He put his stuff away before turning the television on.
"Breaking news, another person was murdered as part of the recent ritual killings. The police don't have much to go on beyond all of the men and women were believed to be practitioners of Wicca, the rising interest in the supernatural may be leading to some unnatural deaths." Carlos frowned just as Evie came in with some warmed cookies and chocolate milk.
"I figured you could use a pick me up. I know things are tense with Mal… but she will get over it in time… You can't blame her for feeling the way she does. You left at the worst possible time. I'm not here to harp on you, I just don't want you two at each other's throats everyday again. I don't think I could handle that." Evie said patting his head as he munched down on the cookies and chocolate milk. Just then the lights and television had gone out bathing them in darkness. "Oh no… the power." Evie hurried out of the room to Mal who just finished putting the dishes away. "I think the power went out." She sighed unhappily going to grab the flashlight. "Mal come with me to check the fuse box… it might just be us. This place is ancient."
"Why me? I just finished the dishes." Mal grumbled "Why can't Carlos go with you."
"Carlos is still afraid of the basement. He thinks the boogeyman is down there." Evie complained and Mal relented heading to the basement with her.
Meanwhile Carlos heard a thud above him. That would be from the attic, so he got up and headed towards the attic. The door was shut and when he tried the handle it won't open. He sighed hopelessly. "Who the fuck locked the attic!" Carlos griped and turned to head down but just as he was turning, the door slowly creaked open. "Cause that isn't horror movie material or anything." Carlos commented to himself before heading inside. It was mostly full of old furniture and junk, even some toys from their childhood. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust but there was a big chest in the middle of the room that he had never seen before, which was odd since he grew up in this house. Carlos went to the chest and lifted the lid with some effort. Inside were a bunch of candles and jars full of things with a big thick leather tome sat on top of it all with a three-way knot. Carlos sat on an old rocking chair and dusted off the book, having opened it to the front page. The first page read "The Book of Shadows". Curiosity having been fully peaked, Carlos opened to the next page titled Dominus Trinus. Without thinking he began reading it aloud. "Hear now the words of the witches, The secrets we hid in the night. The oldest of Gods are invoked here. The great work of Magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, I call upon the Ancient Power. Bring your powers to we siblings three! We want the power! Give us the power!" Just as he finished reading from the book the lights in the house flickered back on. He continued to read through the book by moonlight for a bit.
Mal and Evie were fiddling with the fuses in the basement when the power in the manor flickered on by itself. Confused they shrugged, chalking it up to nothing. They both left the basement before Evie turned to Mal after putting the flashlight away. "We should check on Carlos, I know he isn't the biggest fan of the dark." Mal nodded and the two head up to his room together only to find it empty. "Carlos!?" she called into the house.
"Up here!" Carlos called back from the attic. Both of the sisters looked at each other confused but headed up to the Attic to find him.
"How did you get in here, the door has been locked from the inside since Maleficent died." Mal questioned out of curiosity and annoyance. Carlos shrugged a bit.
"It just opened when I came up here. I heard something in the attic. Nothing is up here but this really cool book." He got up bringing them the book to look at. "It's a book of magic spells, potions, and supernatural creatures! Can you believe grams had something like this in here?" He marveled. Mal shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"You didn't go reading from it did you?" Evie questioned nervously and Carlos shrugged a bit again causing her to frown. "Carlos!"
"What it was just one simple spell, it's not like you believe in this stuff anyway. The only interesting thing is this book has our family tree in it but it's mostly women and a few men. Apparently, according to this book, even Mom was a witch." Carlos grinned excitedly and Mal snatched the book up, reading over the family tree before turning to the spell Carlos read.
"You read this spell I'm guessing?" Mal questioned skeptically and Carlos nodded simply in reply. She sighed in annoyance and read over it. "You cast a spell to give us powers? What in the world were you thinking?" She growled handing the book to Evie who nervously put it back in the box.
"Us?! You included us in this?!" Evie complained and Carlos rolled his eyes.
"The book talks of three essentials of magic, which are timing, feeling, and phases of the moon. It was a full moon out tonight. If we were ever going to do it, tonight would be the time. So I figured why not?" Carlos said casually grabbing the book back out and heading down to his room with it.
"I can't be a witch, we can't be witches Carlos. We don't cackle while brewing potions and ride brooms in front of the moon. Do what you want with that book, Grams left it to the three of us to share. Don't even think about pawning it." Mal commanded before heading to her room for the night. Evie sighed tiredly and headed to her room as well. The two sisters went to bed for the night, but Carlos stayed up reading from the book all night.
In the morning Carlos had put the book away and had made coffee early just as Evie and Mal came down for breakfast before they leave. "Good morning sisters…" He commented from behind his bowl of chocolate cereal and well creamed coffee.
"Carlos, I didn't expect you to be up before noon. Did you even sleep?" Mal questioned. Making herself some coffee and a bowl of cereal as well.
"Nope, I was wide awake all night. I spent most of it reading from that book. According to the book, the Warren line, our line, is full of witches. It is said that Warren women and some men are gifted with magic. Malinda Warren our ancestor was said to possess three gifts that she passed down to future generations. The ability to stop time, move things with her mind, and see the future. Our line was said to be blessed and that upon the birthing of three siblings would they be three times blessed, making them the charmed ones. I think, we are those siblings, because never before in our family line has there been more than two children." Carlos explained as best he could. It was a lot to take in and frankly, he didn't expect his sisters to believe him but he felt he had to try.
"Well, there is your flaw. None of us have done any of those things. So if one of you stops time, sees the future or, moves things with your mind, then you can change my mind. For now, it's all just nonsense otherwise." Mal commented as she finished her cereal and coffee rather quickly before hurrying off for work.
"You believe me don't you E?" Carlos asked and Evie squirmed uncomfortably sighing at her decision to be honest with him.
"No, I can't imagine us as witches C. This is all just nonsense. I think Mal is right, and you need to keep your nose out of that book." Evie admitted honestly, going to get the news paper to start working on finding job opportunities in the classifieds and the help wanted page. After making some phone calls and compiling her list of job opportunities, Evie left the house as well leaving Carlos home alone. He wandered into the living room and turned the television on. The new was on, talking about the recent string of murders. Carlos paid some attention to it before he felt cold tingles up his spine and a vision flashed in his mind of some man with a ritual knife coming to attack him and his sisters. He gasped and got up running to the kitchen to grab the phone, calling Mal. It rings but no one picked up. He hung up the phone. His vision happened here at home so if there they aren't all here at home it won't happen yet… he had time. Carlos started up the stairs to get the book when the doorbell rang. He swore under his breath and headed to the front door to check who it was.
Opening the front door revealed one of the cutest and most handsome men Carlos felt he had ever met. He had chocolate brown hair with hazel eyes a strong jaw and the sweetest smile. "Oh hi, I'm Benjamin but you can just call me Ben. I'm the handy man your sister Mal hired." Ben said smiling. Carlos was still drinking him in, Ben was wearing a button up blue and gold plaid shirt with the tightest blue jeans and boots.
"Oh… uh yes come in. This place is desperately in need of repairs." Carlos blushed as Ben stepped in past him and he momentarily got distracted by how perfectly Ben's jeans hug his… assets. Ben however seemed more interested in the house, going around and taking notes on the things that appeared to need work. "Oh, the chandelier in the dining room isn't working too and my bedroom has a leak in the roof." Carlos commented trying to remember what Mal wanted worked on.
"Can you show me to your bedroom?" Ben asked innocently and Carlos went bright red, blushing at the inappropriate ways he could read into that. He chuckled and gave Carlos a bit of an amused smile. "So I can take a look at the leak…" He added to clarify, and Carlos sputtered a bit before nodding and leading him upstairs to the bedroom. Ben took more notes once they get there. Carlos showed him to the bathroom that had trouble with hot water as well. Once they made a lap around the house going over things Ben turned to Carlos. "Alright, I'm gonna get to work. I'll buy the supplies and get started today, see what progress I can make. I'll work on the cracks in the solarium first, then check the chandelier and then I'll head up to your bedroom." Ben smiled charmingly and Carlos pretty much melted into putty.
"Yep, sounds great… I'll be in the attic… or my room if you need me. So don't be shy." Carlos smiled smitten and Ben set off getting to work. He hurried up the stairs to the attic and faned himself. "Dear god that man is fine…" He went to the book to do some reading. He came across a section on Warlocks, who are evil beings who want to kill good witches and steal their powers. He also came across some wood carvings that depicted three siblings battling different incarnations of evil. He frowned and continues reading, hoping to find something that could help.
Meanwhile, Mal was at work speaking with the director, her boss. "Alright so I moved those two exhibits and my plans to spark corporate interest in the new exhibit worked. We have sufficient funding for the pieces and to keep our paychecks." Mal commented professionally and her boss, Rodger nods in understanding.
"Good work Mal, but I'm taking the new exhibit off your hands. The board of directors are watching this exhibit like a hawk with all the corporate interest and want a seasoned professional to handle it." Rodger commented a little smugly and Mal frowned looking upset at this news. "You look surprised…"
"I don't know why. I'm furious! I single handedly worked on this whole exhibit and it's funding." Mal growled in irritation. Rodger sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Come on now Mal, I'm here for you. What's good for me is definitely good for you." He smirked starting to rub her shoulder pushing the line. Mal moved away disgusted and shook her head.
"Whatever Rodger…" Mal walked away gesturing in the air like she wanted to choke him. Rodger's tie suddenly pulled tight, choking him and Mal turned around in time to catch him using scissors to cut the tie off. She looked confused at the event before realizing what just happened. Avoiding looking back any more she headed out to lunch.
Evie was just putting the finishing touches on her Roasted pork with gratin, Florence fennel, and a port giblet sauce. All that was left was to add the port. She was auditioning to be a sous chef at the restaurant and bar Quake. Just as she was measuring out the port Chef Moore, the head chef came in. "Your time is up!" He announced coming to test what she made.
"Oh, uh Chef Moore, the port…" Evie hesitated nervously, and Chef Moore waved her off going to take a bite. "Wait!" She threw her hands up and suddenly everything stopped. Chef Moore was frozen in place, bite poised to be eaten. "Chef Moore?" Evie waved her hand in his face but nothing happened. Thinking fast Evie grabbed a pipette of port and dropped some on top of the bite that Chef Moore had ready just in time for him to start moving again and him taking the bite. He seemed to relish it a bit.
"C'est magnifique!" Chef Moore commented and Evie gave him a bit of a confused smile.
"Yep…" Evie sighed and Chef Moore went into making sure she knew her position's responsibilities before telling her she had been hired. Afterwards she left the restaurant going to call home, but Carlos was in the Attic and can't hear the phone ring. "Come on Carlos, pick up." Evie complained, when he didn't answer she exited the phone booth running into Doug making her gasp in shock. "Oh my god, Doug, you scared the crap out of me. How did you find me?" She questioned confused. Doug was a nerdy type. He worked mostly in biochemical research. He wore glasses and had sandy blonde hair with soft blue eyes.
"You told me you were going to audition here last night. I figured I'd come celebrate with you on my lunch break. I know being a chef isn't your dream job, but it suits you for now." Doug smiled proudly and Evie chuckled flattered.
"Oh so you just knew that I was going to get the job?" She raised a blue eyebrow curiously.
"Of course, anyone who has tasted your food would know, you are a great cook." Doug leaned in giving her a kiss. She chuckled happily and hugged him.
"I need to head home, do you mind footing my taxi? Haven't gotten my first paycheck yet." Evie questioned and Doug pulled out some cash handing it to her. "Thank you honey." She hurried off hailing a cab to head home while Doug headed back to work.
Back at the manor, Ben had left for the evening and Carlos had only found spells for other demons and the like, nothing specifically for warlocks. With a heavy sigh he dropped the book back into the chest. The jostle made a pile of junk topple over, sending dust flying. Carlos coughed from the dust, finding the spirit board their mom left them. It was cut straight from a tree and was carved then glossed over. He picked it up, looking for the missing planchet before remembering the inscription on the back. He turned it over to find "To my three beautiful children. May this give you the light to find the Shadows. The power of three will set you free. Love, Mom." He felt a sadness wash over him. He really wished his mother were there. That it was her teaching them to use their powers and still there to make them stop fighting. He was startled out of thinking when he heard Mal and Evie both come home. He hurried down to them.
"How did the job hunt go?" Mal asked hanging up her jacket and purse.
"I got a job at quake… except something strange happened. It's like I stopped time. It saved the interview I'm sure but… I think Carlos might be right… I think we are witches." Evie commented and Mal nodded in agreement.
"I loath to admit it but, I think I made my boss's tie choke him earlier. I was just thinking how I'd like to strangle him, and boom his tie was choking him." Mal sighed a bit. "But what does this mean?"
"Something very complicated and bad." Carlos commented hurrying down the stairs to lock the front door in a hurry. "I had a vision of a warlock attacking us. I tried to call you Mal but you were out of the office. I've been looking up how to defeat one but there aren't any particular spells for warlocks in the book. I'm at a loss. Worst part being, I don't think he will be the only one coming for us. I found these wood carvings, like something out of a Bosch painting. Three siblings fighting different versions of evil. In the first one they were sleeping but now… I think since we aren't powerless anymore…. They'll be coming for us. I'm sorry" Carlos tried to speak clearly and quickly just as they heard the window in the kitchen get busted in. "Run!" He gestured upstairs and the three of them sprinted up to the attic to bar the door.
"Fuck we need to do something!" Mal argued and Carlos dropped down opening the book.
"I have no idea what I'm looking for!" Carlos complained just as the door got slammed into. The book magically whizzed to the first page again on its own, speaking of their powers. Carlos got up. "I have an idea. You know the line on the spirit board mom gave us that we never understood? What if that's a spell!" Carlos suggested just as the warlock busted down the door athame, ritual dagger, in hand.
"Got you three now, I knew when that old bitch died, you three would get your powers." The warlock grinned evilly, flashing his powers and making his hands glow with power. Carlos grabbed his sisters' hands.
"The power of three will set us free." Carlos recited and the warlock began to sizzle and burn.
"You bitch!" The warlock tried to swing at Carlos but Mal threw him back with her powers.
"The power of three will set us free!" Mal said, joining in with Carlos.
"The power of three will set us free!" Evie joined in. They said it one last time together before the warlock exploded into dust. Carlos, Evie, and Mal all hugged each other definitely shaken up.
"Thank you, mom." Carlos said in relief. The three set about cleaning up the mess. Evie went to make dinner, leaving Mal with Carlos.
"Look, I'm sorry I've been so hard on you… but you were always the reckless one and Grams was only trying to protect you. I know it couldn't have been easy coming to terms with your sexuality during all of this. I love you C." Mal hugged him and Carlos hugged her back.
"I know, I forgive you. I'm sorry I left when I did. I know you guys needed me more then, than ever. I love you too Mal." Carlos sighed sadly. "Oh and the handyman Ben was here today. I let him in, and we went over everything… He is so cute and handsome." Carlos swooned dramatically and Mal chuckled amused.
"Alright keep your boxers on, he is here for a job to do, one that is expensive, but he is doing at a reasonable price. Don't scare him off please." Mal gave him a motherly look and Carlos groaned petulantly.
"Fine, I'll behave, but you can't stop me from looking." Carlos grinned mischievously heading down to dinner. Mal shook her head following him. While they managed to stop that warlock, they all three now knew this was only the beginning.
