Chapter Four
The homeless man who had been lying on the sidewalk the night before was standing in Prescott Street, across from the house numbered 1329. It was a large house, to be sure, and when the man closed his bloodshot silver eyes and took a deep breath, he could sense the magical energy flowing around and through the home. The people currently inside the house were powerful too, each radiating a magical aura too bright and magnificent to mistake them for anybody else but the Charmed family, the most magical good family in most worlds.
One aura in particular caught the homeless man's attention: a vivid aura, swirling with so much potential, magic, and a prophecy claiming him to be the most powerful witch of all. His silver eyes darted to the door of the house as it opened and let out three young adults. The blond man, from whom the aura was radiating, seemed uncomfortable and ill as he stumbled down to the van, not paying attention to the brown-haired boy and girl who followed him, laughing all the way. The blond man opened the door to the passenger seat and pulled himself inside, then closed the door and leaned his head wearily against the window. The others outside snickered quietly before getting into the car themselves. The other young man, with the brown messy hair, switched on the engine and began to drive away.
The homeless man grimaced as the car took a curve and drove out of sight. He needed a form of transportation to follow the magical beings through the busy streets of San Francisco. Walking would take too long, and there was no way of making sure that the man he was after would still be there. Cursing, he looked around himself, hoping to find an easy solution presented to him.
"Hey, you!" he heard a yell coming from nearby. "Get off my lawn! I just mowed it yesterday!" The homeless man turned to see a man dressed in an expensive looking robe yelling at him from a window. The homeless man smiled a toothless grin at the Charmed Ones' neighbor, and the angry man quickly withdrew from the window and was soon walking out of the front door. "Get out of here before I call the police!" he threatened. "This is a nice neighborhood, not somewhere where you can beg for scraps!"
The homeless man shuddered slightly, and a strange silver mist began to flow out of his mouth. The angry man's eyes widened, and he took a step back. The mist followed his direction, and quickly made its way up the man's nostrils and into his body.
The angry man, Mr. Jameson, blinked. His eyes, which had previously been dark, were now pure silver. He stared at the homeless man still standing in front of him with absolute distaste. The rag-dressed person was rubbing at his own eyes, seeming confused and sore. "Where 'm I?" he asked, beginning to look around his surroundings. This was the sort of place he never ventured into, since he knew he didn't belong. He looked at Mr. Jameson, standing before him. "Who 'r you?"
Mr. Jameson didn't answer, and simply cracked his fist against the side of the man's dirty head. The blue eyes rolled up into sunken sockets, and the poor man collapsed onto the ground, marring the once pristine lawn with a few spatters of blood from the cut bleeding heavily on his scalp.
Mr. Jameson smiled grotesquely before turning to look at the driveway. A smart blue car was there, and as the man searched through his pockets, he came across a set of keys. His eyes glinting, he pressed a button on the keys, to which the vehicle blinked in response. Without any sort of reaction, Mr. Jameson walked down to the driveway, opened the door of the car, and got in. He pulled the robe out of the way as he slammed the door shut, and then forced the keys into the ignition. The engine came to life with a purr, and the man wasted no time in setting the lever on 'Drive' and stepping on the gas. The car screeched as it took off in pursuit of the Charmed children.
-)-(-
Chris and Wyatt had dropped off Melinda at Courtney's house, which wasn't too far out of their way. Melinda had gotten out, promising to call them as soon as the costumes were finished so she could then show them off. The boys said they'd go see the costumes half-heartedly, neither of them particularly eager to spend ten minutes oohing and aahing over what would surely turn out to be a big mess. Mel tended to think big, but when the time actually came to putting her thoughts into practice, she usually had a bit of trouble. Luckily, that was happening less and less with magic, as Melinda was quite talented, but with the mundane stuff she still had issues.
Wyatt was grateful for the lack of chatter as Chris began to drive to the supermarket, the very long list of what their mother had asked them to buy lying on the dashboard in front of them. The list was only one page long, but both sides of the paper were completely covered with cramped handwriting of items that Piper thought were vital for the Halloween celebration in two days. She was even planning on throwing a party for everyone on the block, to which Wyatt was reluctant to go. He'd rather party with his college friends, and have the chance to set his worries at peace.
Chris fumbled slightly with the radio, and a loud song began to play. Wyatt moaned and used his magic to instantly lower the volume. Chris frowned. "You know you're not supposed to use your magic on Mom's car," he said warningly. The poor van had been through enough magical attacks already, and was threatening to give out if much more were to happen to it.
"What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her," Wyatt mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. "Besides, I have a massive headache, so I would prefer it to be quiet in here." The pills had helped a bit, but there was still a throbbing right behind the blond's eyes that made him feel very uncomfortable.
"You wouldn't have such a bad hangover if you hadn't gone crazy with the alcohol last night," Chris replied, glancing over at his tired brother briefly before turning back to the road in front of him. "Seriously, Wy, what possessed you to drink that much? I had to pull you out of there before you exposed magic!"
"You wouldn't understand," Wyatt grumbled, shielding his eyes from the sun that persistently shone through one of the windows, intent on worsening the pain he was already feeling.
"Try me," Chris said, getting the feeling that he already knew what it was. It wasn't fair for the twenty-year-old to carry the heavy burden of such a large future, and no doubt it was what was causing Wyatt to lose control more and more often as they visited more parties.
"I'm just stressed," Wyatt grumbled. "College can do that to a person, you know?" He avoided phrasing what he was truly worried about, keeping it private. He didn't need to burden his little brother any more than he already had. Chris had to deal with so much stuff that it wasn't fair to pile on more.
"Tell me about it," Chris answered quietly. He knew his brother was avoiding the subject, but he didn't intend on pulling the entire truth out of Wyatt if his brother was reluctant to tell him. Chris knew the blond well, and he was sure that if whatever was bothering Wyatt became too much for him to deal with, he would let Chris know. Then the brothers would be able to help each other, same as they always had.
Chris executed a perfect turn into the parking lot and quickly found an empty spot. He drove into it, not noticing how a bright blue car missed hitting them by just a few inches. The other car drove on, looking for another space to park, while Chris unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look at Wyatt. "Come on, this is going to take a while," he said, before opening the door and dropping the small distance to the floor. Wyatt groaned in response and grabbed his mother's extensive shopping list from the dashboard. Complaining under his breath, he got out of the car as well and followed his much perkier brother into the large building. The boys didn't see the pair of silver eyes that observed them from nearby, biding their time to when the brothers would leave. They wouldn't escape again.
(A/N) Cue the dramatic music again! Gosh, I just love ending chapters so ominously! You have to admit, it does make you want to read the next chapter even more, doesn't it? Well, I hope it does. And poor Wyatt, he seems to really be stressing about the whole "Future King of Magic" thing. Honestly, I think it would be a lot to take on. Anybody would be worried, or, at least, I think they'd be. Which is why Wyatt is so stressed at the moment. If you think about it, it makes a ton of sense. BTW, Mr. Jameson the neighbor does not exist in the Charmed Universe that I know of. I created him for the specific purpose of this story. Any relation to someone actually named Jameson is purely coincidental.
Anywho, I'm going to stop rambling now and thank all the wonderful people who have read this story. You guys are truly lovely. Special thanks go to those who added this to their Favorites and their Alerts, and mega special thanks go to those few people who reviewed: Kokoro E. Junnaya, and Fanycharmed. You guys are beautiful for reviewing.
Aaaand, that's all for now. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and if you did or didn't, why not let me know by dropping me a review? It's just a little box under the story. Isn't it tempting to let me know what you thought of it? Don't you want to review? You are getting very very sleepy, and now you will review the story... please? LOL No, seriously, please review. See you guys next week!