Hey Guys and welcome to a very magical week for me.
Magical in that it's my third-decade birthday week (Yay!).
So this week as a birthday treat from me to you, I'm going to upload two chapters! That's right, double the fun!
Wiccancharmedguy – Yes it's interesting that the book continues to flip on its own isn't it? We may find out more about that soon. I'm glad you love the idea of making Leo gay. I will say we'll discover more in the next 2 chapters about him and Philippe. Regarding bringing any of the former charmed ones back it's a possibility for sure. You'll just have to keep reading. Thanks for your review.
Mirzaisnow- Thank you for your review I'm so glad you are loving the story and the length of the chapters. Yes it was fun to write about Selena and Kung-Fu Panda (Natalie). Yes her dry sense of character and humor are still portrayed in this book, I'm glad you picked up on that hehe.
Mazed4U- Yes it will not be easy on Selena (regarding matt being a wolf) I agree. It's something that she'll have to decide where she stands now. As for Leo and Philippe, yes they were together in the series I lost. Happily engaged and nearly married. No the complication of Philippe's fears with the elders were not present before they got together, this is something new I'm adding. Well Selena has premonitions for a reason. You'll have to read on to see if it comes true.
Ok so back we go to the mansion where Karlia and Leo are about to locate Katya…
The Power of Three – A Lover's Day/Night.
CHAPTER FIVE – This is their fault!
Back inside the mansion Karlia and Leo raced towards the screams that were continuing to come from outside the room. As they walked into the next room they noticed a spiral staircase that lead down to what would undoubtedly be a huge basement.
"No prizes for suspecting where she is," Karlia remarked.
"Yep, definitely in the basement," Leo replied.
As they were walking towards the stairs Karlia noticed that Leo had picked up the files from the office. The ones that had belonged to Bloodworth.
"What do you need those for?" she asked curiously pointing them out.
"I'm figure they may have some detailed info on Bloodworth and may even mention the jewel somehow," Leo replied.
Not thinking much more of it Karlia continued walking and very quickly and quietly made her way down the stairs.
"YOU IDIOT!" came a voice that could only be a pissed-off Katya. "HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO HAVE THE POWER NOW?!"
"I…" came a stammering voice. "I'm sorry your eminence. I thought-"
By now Karlia and Leo had a very clear view of the pair. Katya looked exactly the same as Karlia remembered. Tall, olive tanned skin, blonde curled hair and a form-fitting two piece outfit combined with what appeared to be red felt and black leather. The trembling voice had come from the older gentleman Leo had seen with Philippe earlier.
"That's one of the guys I saw with her earlier," he advised Karlia.
"Definitely a vampire," Karlia whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
The man was pale as a ghost, made up with black eyeliner and even black eye shadow to boot. Dressed in an all-black leather jacket and matching leather pants it was hard for her not to notice what he was and once she added in the long brown hair that only seemed fashionable decades ago she became more than certain.
"Clearly not hard enough," Katya spat at the vampire. "The lore clearly states that the person who wields the power must not be the one who took it from its resting place! So where exactly does that leave me?!"
"What lore?" Karlia asked confused.
"Long story short," Leo whispered. "The gods put a nifty little curse on the jewel so as to not attract thieves. So anyone that takes the jewel first will not be affected by its power but the person they hand it to will."
"Ooooh," Karlia replied. "Smart people those gods."
Leo chuckled quietly.
"Yes they were."
"I…I'd…" the man was clearly trembling in fear. "…rather not answer that your eminence."
"A wise move Ettore," Katya replied.
"Ettore…Ettore…" Leo mumbled thinking hard.
"Is this a Mombasa moment, or do you actually know of him?" she asked skeptically, wondering why he wouldn't have said anything if he knew anything at all about the vampires.
Leo turned quickly to Karlia.
"You know what this means right?" he rushed.
"Not exactly," Karlia frowned. "I mean ok demon woman looses, emerald jewel remains safe, but Ettore…? Not ringing any bells."
"Forget Ettore," Leo replied quite seriously. "Remember she just took the jewel from its resting place…"
"So she doesn't have the power," Karlia replied as it dawned on her. "But if I…"
Leo just smiled and nodded.
"Leo!...Leo!..." rang through the white lighters ears. Clearly Philippe needed him.
"Say no more," Karlia smiled.
"I won't," Leo replied quickly. "Besides Philippe and Selena need me. Can you handles this on your own?"
"A demon who can do nothing but morph?" Karlia nearly laughed. "Go Leo, I'm fine."
Agreeing that Karlia could handle this on her own Leo quickly orbed out of the mansion and headed for the woods.
Karlia meanwhile was very quick to do what was necessary. She jumped out from where they were spying and walked quickly into the room arm outstretched.
"Emerald Jewel!" she yelled out.
Instantly the Jewel flew from Katya's hands into her own.
"Nooooooooo!" Katya screamed.
But her screaming was drowned out as Karlia was illuminated in a mixture of dark and light green while the sound of a fierce wind filled the room. The force of the light levitated her several feet off the ground and before she knew what hit her Karlia was spinning quickly as though trapped in a tornado. From the ground Katya saw the witches eyes momentarily turn black, while Ettore sprinted out of the room. Not much later, Karlia landed nice and softly back on her feet.
Despite feeling sick as she spun, the moment she landed a complete sense of confidence and euphoria filled her up so much so that she almost flew straight at Katya.
"It's a bad day to be a demon!" she warned darkly.
"*"
"What, what?" Leo asked Philippe anxiously. "I just left Karlia battling K-"
He stopped dead when he noticed the almost naked man standing in front of him.
"Philippe?" Leo smiled. "Do something you've regretted and need to confess?"
He knew Philippe hadn't and could even tell by the stench that this was one of the wolves they were after. But that wasn't going to stop Leo from having a little bit of fun.
"Wha-…Leo!" Philippe replied hitting the white lighter. "That's the werewolf! Or shall I say Matt!"
"Matt…matt…?" Leo pondered before it hit him all at once. "Selena's Matt?!"
"Yes Leo!" Selena replied taking momentary leave from her date's side to approach him. "How in the world do you, correction they expect me to be able to deal with this if it's him?!"
"Selena, you-" Leo started, before noticing Matt unfreeze. "Philippe!"
"Oh-my-god!" Philippe rushed before refreezing the man.
"Leo!" Philippe whined. "Help."
"Ok," Leo replied. "Philippe tie him up and begin the interrogation while I discuss this with Selena."
"Urgh!...fine!" Philippe relented, wanting to do nothing less at that point.
Tying him up wasn't going to be too hard at all especially since the man was frozen. But what would he tie him too? Let alone with? Branches certainly wouldn't hold the strength of a werewolf.
Just then as though the elders themselves heard his thoughts a chair appeared in a swirl of white and blue lights and on it was a huge bundle of different sized ropes.
"Oh," Philippe replied looking upwards. "Ah, thanks guys."
Quickly he grabbed the ropes and tossed them to the floor before grabbing Matt and in a freeze-by-movement way eventually sat him in the chair.
Thank god I can freeze Philippe thought to himself. Guy weighs a ton. Hope Selena knows what she's doing.
Philippe grabbed the rope and using it all, successfully tied Matt to the chair.
Meanwhile Selena and Leo were bickering quite loudly.
"But he's my date Leo!" Selena yelled. "My date, my rules!"
"That's only with houses Selena," Leo replied trying very hard not to laugh at this serious matter. "Besides he's a werewolf, what if he attacks you?"
"He won't!" Selena replied. "He loves m-…"
But she realized Leo was right.
How could she know if he was going to spring off the chair and rip her to shreds?
Sure he was an attractive guy with cologne that made her swoon. Sure he was easy to get along with and he had good taste in restaurants, but really, what else did she know about him? And if he was willing to keep being a werewolf a secret all this time, what else did he have hidden from her?
As great as he was, she knew in that moment, she had to come face to face with reality.
"You know what?" she started. "You're right. I have no idea what he'll do."
Leo sighed in relief.
"Selena, I know this must be difficult for you," he started.
"Difficult?" Selena replied. "No difficult is knowing you've lost a good grand and a half on tuition because you're a power of three member. Difficult is when Karlia forgets to pick up milk after work and so there is no way to make coffee in the house. Difficult is talking to Philippe moments after he has woken up! This is not difficult Leo! This is…"
She looked towards the heavens realizing everything at once.
If there was anyone that wanted this to happen it would be them wouldn't it? The ones who had destroyed her life and turned her into something she never wanted to begin with. The ones that made a show that she watched for entertainment a reality that stopped her own! Yes indeed, this was…
"…their fault!"
She pointed upwards showing Leo she was referring to the elders.
"They were so pissed off with me having a tiny hour or two to have a life with this guy and now they're punishing me for not putting the power of three first!"
"Selena," Leo soothed.
"Don't Leo," she replied. "Just don't ok?"
"Ok Selena," Leo replied. "Just know that the elders don't create werewolves. They're a completely different species to you guys or even demons for that matter."
"Urgh! Fine whatever," Selena grunted. "Stick up for them. If I recall you always did even when Piper got upset with them."
Thinking about it quickly, she realized maybe this was one of the reasons Philippe was so afraid to commit to this guy.
"Selena that w-" Leo started.
"The last we'll mention them for a while?" Selena questioned. "Good. Now tell me Leo, what exactly do we need to get out of him?"
"*"
"Heeee-ya!" Karlia exclaimed as she aimed a well-timed kick at Katya.
Despite the force pushing her backwards Katya simply pushed one of her feet backwards and kicked-off from the wall as though this was the most normal thing she had ever done in her life, landing easily back on her feet.
"Stupid witch," She smiled. "You'd think the old generation would have prepared you for me. I am an expert in martial-arts."
"Ah…" Karlia trembled. "Old generation?"
"Of course my dear," Katya replied. "One can't crumble empires and destroy cities without having someone on the inside."
She smiled knowing Karlia was frozen with shock.
"So which witch are you?" she asked as casually as though asking about the weather. "My guess, power to orb, you must be the new Paige!"
Karlia nodded wondering how Katya knew all this.
"Mmm yes," Katya continued now getting very close to Karlia. "Trouble maker that one. Just like you. Vanquished me with a simple potion."
She then whispered into Karlia's ear.
"Between you and I, the other two were useless. Spent hours trying to vanquish me and nothing. Paige needed but a moment."
"Bet she took good care of you!" Karlia replied.
"MMM yes, but my dear," Katya continued. "Being vanquished is one thing. Coming back with the knowledge of everything that lead to your demise is, well quite another."
"Oh yeah?" Karlia replied trying to remain on the offence. "Think you're ready to take out the power of three now huh?"
Katya who had been strolling slowly away from Karlia turned quickly to face her.
"What whit!" she complimented. "Maybe if we knew each other during that 24 hour window we'd be taking on the world together."
"Yeah, I don't think so," Karlia replied. "Fashion sense aside, your nothing but a crappy demon who w-".
But Katya interrupted her.
"Hold your tongue!" she cried, before going right back to her soothing voice. "You must be exhausted after the day you've had today. No matter…"
With that she reached into her pocket and pulled out some dust before blowing it directly into Karlia's face.
The affect was instant. One moment Karlia was standing there ready to kill Katya and the next the world around her faded to black.
"*"
Back in the woods Philippe unfroze Matt and quickly jumped in before he could even have a chance to say anything.
"Ok dude," he said. "Talk."
Matt looked bizarre in nothing but Philippe's black trench coat and emotionally he seemed caught somewhere between shock, pain and anger.
He didn't say anything, but tried very hard to get free. On instinct Philippe froze him again.
"Urgh!" he cried. "At least freezing allows me to do the whole Lee method."
The Lee method as Philippe called it was a method made famous by a TV show character called Teri Lee. A lawyer's assistant who had once informed her boss how she dealt with an over-bearing person who grinded her gears and yet she had to remain professional around.
The advice had been to think the words bite-me and then calmly respond. Philippe wasn't able to be that quick and so having the power to freeze allowed him to get his anger out and then unfreeze thus creating his own Lee method.
"If you just answer me we can move on!" he yelled out, before taking a breath and kneeling down to look up at the man.
Philippe unfroze him and looked calmly into his eyes while the words bite me raced through his mind.
"Matt I don't want to hurt you," he said kindly. "I know you need to be loyal to your pack. I know you're not in control when you turn and trust me I will keep your secret. I just need to know… what does the bad demon want?"
Matt looked into Philippe's eyes, and an almost calmness seem to come over his.
"Witch?" he asked simply.
"Yeah," Philippe conceded. "And trust me, a neutral one when it comes to wolves."
Matt starred at Philippe looking him directly in the eyes. Philippe did not flinch and in fact sat still waiting for any type of response.
"I believe you," he said at last.
"Then tell me Matt," Philippe said slowly. "What does Katya want the emerald jewel for?"
"She-" Matt started, then physically struggling stopped. "I can't…I can't! Trust me I want to but I can't."
Philippe froze him instantly and looked pityingly at the man.
"Oh my god," he sighed, feeling for the man. "You've been compelled."
Compulsion was something that Philippe knew vampires could do. It allowed them to control what people did in any situation they chose. Whether it was to have them kill, forget something that happened or like in this case stop them from revealing information.
Philippe felt sorry for Matt. Werewolf stuff aside he actually seemed like a good guy. Philippe was not one to judge and especially since his research had shown wolves to be neutral to the good vs evil race, Philippe had no issue with wolves whatsoever. In fact the more he learned about them, the more he liked them.
"Philippe," Selena started coming up from behind him. "Philippe, why is he frozen?"
"Ah Selena," Philippe started standing to talk to her. "I hate to be that guy but um, Matt's been compelled."
"Com-what?" Selena asked confused.
"Compelled," Philippe confirmed. "It's when vampires use mind control to ensure a human will do something."
Out of the corner of his eye, Philippe saw Leo smile once again.
This brought up how much he was struggling with his feelings for the guy. He loved that he impressed Leo with all the knowledge he had gained, but he couldn't help but go back to that thought of exactly what the elders would do if he even kissed the guy.
But that kind heart, Philippe yearned. The dependency…that face!
Philippe shook his head violently erasing the thoughts that seemed to have compelled him. There was no time to think about Leo and the long pros and cons list he had already begun. This was about Selena and Matt.
"It must have been one of the vampires that Leo and I saw in the mansion," Philippe finished looking at Selena with sympathy.
"Sun's coming up," Leo replied, reminding Selena he was back there.
Interrupting a private moment, Philippe thought to himself. Definite con!
"Ok?" Philippe questioned. "So? He's a wolf Leo, he's not going to die from a few ultra-rays!"
Leo was moments away from blasting back at Philippe. Enough was enough after all. But before Leo could respond Matt unfroze.
"Let's get him back to the Power-Port," Leo suggested. "We'll have more luck there."
All three huddled around a very surprised Matt as Leo orbed them all back to the one place he knew they would be the safest.
"*"
The first thing Karlia noticed was how dark it was, the room was freezing and she couldn't help but shiver in the darkened coldness of it all. But where exactly was she? Her knees scraped against what felt like an asphalted floor and Karlia winced in pain.
The last she recalled she had taken the emerald jewel from Katya and was about to engage in a battle with her.
Katya! she thought to herself instantly. She's done this!
Slowly she stood up being careful to steady herself as by now she felt rather giddy. She had just enough time to bump her head onto something cold and rustic making her wince as an ominous voice could be heard in the darkness.
"Oh look, Blondie's awake."
"Wha-?" Karlia started dazed, in pain and still confused. "What did you do to me?"
"Well dear, the jewel you acquired makes you almost too powerful to handle," Katya replied pausing only to click her fingers illuminating wooden torches set in their holders around the perimeter of the room. "And we couldn't have that now could we?"
All at once Karlia could tell she had been trapped inside a metal crisscrossed barred cage.
"What is this thing?!" Karlia demanded.
"It's a cage my dear," Katya explained as though describing how to cook pancakes to a child.
She walked, though Karlia would more accurately describe it as pranced, over to the cage and lightly touched it caressing it as though in awe.
"Forged from old magic you know," she continued. "Magic can get in, but no magic can get out."
She smiled evilly.
"If the source knew I had this she would have my head," Katya smiled. "But no matter, I have ultimate protection now."
"Yeah some wolves and vampires," Karlia retorted. "How lovely…dear."
Though Karlia expected a reaction out of the demon, whether to the revelation that they knew about her so-called protection or even to the mockery, she was bitterly disappointed.
"The wolves are merely guards," Katya laughed. "But I am the first demon to work with and actually believe in vampuric abilities and let me tell you there is nothing more advantageous than working with someone who wants blood even more than a demon."
With that Katya turned and made her way towards the exit. At the last moment she whirled around and looked at Karlia.
"You know I'd love to stay and chat dear," she said. "But frankly, you're beginning to bore me."
She opened the door and called out to someone.
"Oh Constant, Constant!" she called.
A man that Karlia couldn't see replied to her.
"There you are," Katya replied happily. "I have a meal for you, fresh and ready to go."
She turned to face Karlia one last time.
"You'll find her escape…impossible."
With that she gave one last smile to Karlia and then strode out of the room leaving Karlia alone.
The sound of footsteps came increasingly closer and Karlia feared for the worst.
So that was Katya's plan all along? She thought. Kill or turn the power of three, whichever came first.
Admittedly it was a good plan, a smart plan, a very safe plan. But considering Karlia was one of those members and that escape would be futile she freaked out more and more with the sound of each step.
But just when she thought she could freak out no more, the steps came to a stop as Constant entered the room.
"Nice!" she heard him hiss as he took in every bit of her.
No, Karlia thought to herself. It can't be. It just can't.
But there was no denying it. The closer he got to her the more she was able to confirm her suspicions.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Karlia screamed out. "Alec, what the hell are you doing?!"
"*"
And that's the end of the chapter. So what do you all think?
Not only is Matt one of the werewolves but Alec is one of the vampires!
I wonder what will happen. Will Selena be turned into a werewolf? Will Karlia be turned into a vampire? Will any of them request to be turned?
Time will tell…
But for now it's time for the next chapter. So head on over there's much more to come…