Everyone surrounded Wesley, staring intently as he held the athame over the concoction he had been brewing earlier. It was now room temperature, just as the instructions had required. Slowly, as he tilted the dagger, the blood pooled into larger, heavier masses. Once large enough, three drops freed themselves from the athame, plunging into the liquid below, magically fusing with the rest of the ingredients. As promised, the moment the blood came into contact with the potion, a dark plume of smoke rose majestically from the pot as a loud explosion slightly rocked the room. Wesley stepped back; he had seen this one coming. With a medicine dropper, he carefully siphoned some of the magical brew out of the pot and into small glass vials, one for each of the brothers.
"Done!" he announced, holding three glass vials filled with the dark red liquid. He bowed slightly, proud of his accomplishment.
"Congratulations homeboy," Matthew said, patting Wesley roughly on the back. "You've made your first potion."
"And not a moment too soon," Benjamin said, pointing at two very angry looking women who had just blinked into the living room.
"Nice place," Shelina said, leering at the group of witches. "Too bad I have to destroy it…again."
She whirled around and shot a ball of fire from her hand. It sailed through the air and struck the sofa, incinerating it in a matter of seconds. Wesley and Jordan jumped back slightly as upholstering and cloth flew into the air while the rest of the sofa reduced itself to a pile of ashes. Shelina quickly followed suit and held out her arm. From her hands an enormous stream of fire conjured itself and destroyed two more chairs in the living room.
"Hold on!" James shouted. "Y'all can't just come in here and wreck our house! It costs too much to keep getting this stuff replaced!"
"This is just a warm up," Sarah said, her eyes now a fiery shade of crimson. "Nobody messes with my mother."
She pulled her arm back and thrust it forward with incredible force. Another fireball came from her hand and headed right towards James' head. Wesley immediately threw his hands up and the globe of fire ceased motion, hanging helplessly in midair just inches from James' face. James took over and waved his hand, using his telekinesis to reflect the fireball back at Sarah. She stepped to the side casually, allowing the projectile to neatly pass by her. It struck the wall, burning a picture of the three brothers.
"Damn it!" James yelled.
"Quick!" Matthew said to his brothers. "The potion!"
Wesley threw his glass vial at Shelina. It sailed through the air and was just about to hit her when it suddenly disintegrated as a burst of fire hit it head on. Shelina laughed evilly as she lowered her hand. She had obviously prepared for such an event. Matthew and James kept a tight grip on their potions; they didn't want the same thing to happen.
"First things first," Shelina said, blinking out of sight.
"Where'd she go?" Wesley asked, frantically looking around.
"I'm still here, honey," she said, reappearing behind Chyp, the Guardian.
She backhanded him furiously. The force of her blow sent him flying into the air and all the way across the living room. He crashed into the front door, cracking it, and fell to the floor unconscious.
"Can't have him ruining everything by healing the rest of you," Shelina said.
"No!" Jordan cried out. "It's happening again!"
"The three brothers, along with Benjamin and Jordan, were now flanked by Shelina and Sarah, who both slowly closed in on them. James refused to cower again and stepped up. With a wave of his hand, he once again called on his power, but having already used it on Shelina before, this time it had no effect.
"Damn," he mumbled to himself.
"What do we do?" Wesley asked. "Our powers don't work on them anymore."
"Not necessarily," Benjamin said. "We just need to be smart."
Benjamin concentrated quickly, tapping into his ability to use others' powers. His eyes clouded over, as they had done before, and he unleashed an intimidating fireball that struck Sarah unexpectedly. She fell backwards onto the floor. Matthew, meanwhile, ran to Shelina, his body becoming transparent. His power to phase meant that she couldn't physically touch him. He got close enough to grab her arms, prohibiting her from using her powers.
"Now, Jimmy!" he called as he held her firmly in place.
James produced his glass vial and hurled it at Shelina, who struggled in place but was held fast by Matthew. At the last possible moment, she blinked out of sight. The potion struck Matthew in the chest, melting the front of his shirt and burning the flesh on his skin. He fell to the floor, clutching his chest. As he fell, he lost grip on his vial and it rolled away from him, out of sight. Wesley ran to help him, but Shelina blinked back into view and caught him off guard. She grabbed his arm and abruptly twisted it, forcing him to turn around. She kicked him in the back, sending him crashing into Benjamin. They both landed on the coffee table, which shattered on impact.
Jordan was about to act when all of a sudden some invisible force made him jerk upright. Sarah stood behind him, her eyes now the darkest shade of black. James turned and saw her from the corner of his eye, but that was all the time Shelina needed. The last thing he saw was her high-heeled shoe racing to his face before he blacked out.
"You don't want to hurt me, do you honey?" Sarah asked Jordan. Her voice now seemed to have an eerie echo.
"I…" Jordan struggled to say, but something was clouding his mind. All he could do was think of Sarah. "No, of course not."
"I thought so," Sarah said, smiling. "Honey, I need you to do me a favor."
"Anything," the teenager replied, "anything for you."
"Is there any more of that vanquishing potion around?" Sarah asked.
"In the kitchen," Jordan answered obediently. "A big pot."
"Come with me and mother," Sarah said as they traversed the living room, stepping over the unmoving bodies of Chyp, Benjamin, Wesley, James, and Matthew. Jordan stopped abruptly just for a second after stepping over Matthew. He dropped to the floor, dazed, but then stood up again and continued walking, as if nothing had ever happened. They joined Shelina and walked into the kitchen. Shelina feigned a gasp at the sight of the large pot full of the deadly liquid. Sarah ran her hand through Jordan's blond hair and playfully pinched his ear.
"This won't do at all," Sarah said to Jordan. "Won't you be a dear and pour that nasty stuff down the drain?"
"Sure," Jordan said, immediately picking up the pot and tipping it into the sink. The liquid momentarily filled the sink before forming a small whirlpool and racing down the drain. Afterwards, he dropped the pot into the sink and turned back to Sarah, who smiled back at him.