Legacy 105: With Mortals Like These
Part 4
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Melinda gasped for air as she fell on the floor with Ryan's hands tightly around her throat, squeezing the life out of her. They hit the table and the dinner that was supposed to be romantic fell on the dirty rooftop. Melinda tried to scream, but her voice was cut off and she clawed at Ryan for release. However, when she saw his pitch black eyes and heard him growl like a wild animal, she knew it was not truly Ryan. He was possessed by something, something evil. Ryan would never do this. He loved her, and she was pretty sure he was going to propose.
Melinda attempted to freeze him, though it would not work as long as they were in contact. Instead, her eyes shot across the rooftop for a possible escape. Just then, the wine bottle Ryan had opened earlier rolled against her leg. She reached down and managed to grab it with her fingers. She lashed out and hit Ryan across the head. He screamed in pain and released her.
Melinda rolled away and got up on her knees. Ryan was screaming like an insane person that he was going to kill her, though his voice was deep and demonic. It was not him, she reminded herself. He was hurt and blood was pouring down the right side of his face. When he launched himself at her, she raised her hands and froze him in place.
Melinda sat there for a moment rubbing her sore throat as she cried softly. She had never been so scared in her life. It had felt like a nightmare and she could still feel his hands on her.
"Wyatt!" Melinda cried out desperately. "Wyatt, please help me."
A column of orbs appeared from the air and formed into her older brother. Melinda jumped up and hugged him as she cried hysterically. He felt safe and warm and she felt protected with him.
"Melinda, what is going on?" Wyatt asked confused.
"It is Ryan." Melinda said after taking a deep breath and wiping her tears. "Something got to him, he just went insane and tried to kill me."
"What?!" Wyatt called out furiously as he turned around and stepped toward the frozen Ryan. "I am going to kill him! Nobody hurts my sister!"
"Wyatt, wait, you don't understand." Melinda quickly said as she grabbed his arm. "He is possessed, look at his eyes!"
Wyatt stopped and kneeled down in front of Ryan as he studied his eyes. "You're right." He stated. "I am sorry, I jumped to conclusions."
"Ryan would never hurt me." Melinda said accusingly. "How could you think that?"
"I am sorry!" Wyatt replied somewhat frustrated. "I know that, but you were hysterical. I did not think straight. I am not going to let anyone hurt my baby sister!"
"I know that." Melinda replied with a sigh. "I am sorry too, but what are we going to do? What if Ryan is in pain or worse? What is controlling him?"
"I don't know, but pitch black eyes is a very bad sign." Wyatt replied. "I think we should take him to the manor, tie him up in the basement until we know what is happening to him."
Melinda nodded, realizing it was the best solution. "But how are we going to get him there. If we move him, he will unfreeze."
"I know, you'd better look away." Wyatt replied.
"What? No!" Melinda called out.
"Suit yourself." Wyatt replied as he turned around and knocked Ryan to the ground with a punch in the face, causing him to unfreeze and fell down unconscious.
"You could have hurt him!" Melinda called out concerned as she ran over and kneeled down next to her boyfriend, to check if he was alright.
"I didn't have a choice." Wyatt replied. "It is not like I liked it. We could not take the chance."
"Alright fine, let's just hurry." Melinda replied. "We need to get this thing out of him."
Wyatt nodded and extended his hand, which Melinda took as he held on to Ryan. In a column of orbs, the three of them disappeared from the rooftop and headed to the manor. Unknown to them, hundreds of shadows spread across the city and entered unsuspecting mortals. As their eyes turned pure black, the possessed hissed in demonic voices and headed toward Prescott Street.
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Around the same time, Chris and Penny Halliwell arrived at a club located on the other side of the city. Chris had never heard of it before, but his cousin had assured him it was one of the hottest clubs at the moment. Even though it was pretty early for club hours, it was already very busy as a popular punk band was playing. Chris was dressed in a black shirt and dark jeans, while Penny was dressed in a dark red dress that was a little too short and revealing in Chris' opinion. However, he decided not to comment on it as he did not want to be subjected to her fury.
"How are we going to get in?" Chris asked as he looked at the line.
"It's okay, I know the bouncer." Penny replied as she pointed at a huge muscular man by the door.
"How?" Chris asked suspiciously.
"Chris, you're my cousin." Penny replied with a smile. "You don't want the details."
"I really don't." Chris agreed as his mind went placed he did not want it go. "Let's just head inside."
Penny grabbed Chris by the arm and dragged him through the line, while he tried to ignore all the annoyed people they passed. When they reached the bouncer, Penny greeted and hugged him as she tried to get in. Chris did not know what she whispered in his ear, but a moment later, he agreed to let both of them in. As the door slammed shut behind them, shadows flew over the building and headed in through the skylights.
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In the basement of the Halliwell manor, Melinda sat on the stairs as she watched Wyatt tying up the still unconscious Ryan in a chair in the middle of the space. She hated seeing her boyfriend like this, but she knew she didn't have a choice. When Wyatt was done, he inspected the ropes and wiped his hands off his jeans. Together, they headed up to the kitchen and Wyatt grabbed them both a drink from the fridge. At that moment, Henry Jr. came walking in carrying the Book of Shadows.
"There are so many entries on possession I don't know which one to pick." Henry remarked as he dropped the book on the counter. "I think the safest bet is to brew the dispossession potion your mother designed."
"That isn't that complicated to make." Wyatt said as he checked the entry.
"We can't take any chances." Melinda replied. "This is Ryan we're talking about. Maybe we should call dad or one of the aunts for help."
"Mel, I know you're scared." Wyatt replied. "But we have always learned to reply on the book. I doubt the aunts have a better idea."
"Yeah, they were pretty dependent on the book. Oh, I also found this." Henry remarked as he pulled a small bottle from his pocket.
"Holy water? Seriously?" Wyatt remarked skeptically.
"What? I found it in the trunk." Henry replied with a shrug. "It can't hurt."
Suddenly, there was a demonic growl from the basement and all three turned to door. Melinda realized it sounded like a cry of pain and worried for Ryan. She wanted to run down, though Wyatt stopped her.
"It is probably a trick." Wyatt said. "We should all go. Stay behind me. I can form a force field just in case."
Melinda understood and nodded, so she waited for her brother to head down the stairs and then followed him. As they entered the basement, Melinda saw Ryan had woken up and was staring down to the floor while mumbling something she could not understand. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she felt Henry bump into her and Ryan suddenly looked up with black eyes.
"Who are you?" Melinda asked nervously. "Why have you taken Ryan?"
"My name is Legion, for we are many." Ryan whispered and it was like hundreds of demonic voices spoke at the same time.
"Really? That is a bit of a cliché." Henry remarked dryly. "Maybe the Holy Water was not a bad idea after all."
"Shut up!" Melinda snapped at him and she took a step forward. "I want you to release Ryan, he has nothing to do with this."
"He has everything do to with you, they all do. We are coming for all you filthy witches." Ryan replied. "And there is nothing you can do."
"Who is doing this? What are you after?" Wyatt asked.
"Your heads." Ryan replied with a demonic smile.
"Alright, enough of this." Henry said as he stepped forward and untwisted the cap on the bottle of Holy Water. He flung the bottle and the water splashed on Ryan, who screamed out in seeming agony.
"Oh, it worked." Henry said surprised, until the demonic Ryan started laughing instead. "Or not."
"Henry, cut it out. This is serious." Wyatt snapped at him angrily before turning to the demon. "Tell us who is controlling Ryan!"
"The worst evil you ever faced." Ryan replied. "None of you will make it through the night."
The demon possessing Ryan then started laughing again. Angry and desperate, Melinda walked over and slapped him across the face, yelling at the demon to release him. When the demon continued laughing, she wanted to slap him again, though Wyatt grabbed her and dragged her out of the basement. Henry closed and locked the door behind them and the laughing stopping.
"Melinda, that is not helping either." Wyatt said as he shook her to her senses. "Whatever is going on, we need to think clearly."
"Alright." Melinda replied. "Let's just create the potion."
While Henry went to collect the ingredients for the potion from the attic, Wyatt helped Melinda getting started in the kitchen. With something to keep her busy, she was able to calm down a little and was able to focus. She convinced herself that she was going to save Ryan. The potion would work. A few moments later, they heard Henry calling from the living room, and he sounded concerned about something. When they headed to the living room, they found Henry standing by the window looking outside.
"Guys, did the street organize a neighborhood watch or something?" Henry asked with a frown.
"What are you talking about?" Wyatt asked.
"Well, there are a bunch of people in front of the manor, and they do not look happy." Henry replied.
"What?" Wyatt called out as he walked over and checked the window. "Oh my god!"
Now worried, Melinda headed to the window and pushed Henry aside to get a look. There was a large crowd gathered in front of the manor, all standing there silently staring. It was very creepy and she sensed something was very wrong. She leaned in closer to the window and looked at a woman standing in the yard. Her eyes were pure black. Melinda gasped as she realized what it meant, they were surrounded.
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Back in the nightclub, Chris stood at the bar with a bottle of beer. It was not like he hated it, but he wasn't exactly having a good time either. He was just not used to this, trying to relax and enjoy himself. Last time he really went out was during college, and even then he was always preoccupied with demons. He guessed Penny was right, he needed to get a life outside of magic. He looked over to the dance floor and saw Penny dancing with some random guy.
A girl with short and spiky blonde hair leaned against the bar, dressed in a black top and very short purple skirt and combat boots. Aside from the whole punk look and a few too many tattoos, she was pretty hot. When she notice him looking, she turned around and smiled.
"Buy me a drink, pretty boy?" She asked.
"Sure, what are you drinking?" Chris replied.
"Beer of course." The girl said.
Chris quickly ordered two more beers and handed her one. "I am Chris, by the way."
"I'm Roxy." The girl replied.
"Roxy, is that you're real name?" Chris asked.
"No, but my real name is boring." Roxy replied with a smile. "At night, it's always Roxy."
"I see, so what does Roxy do during the day?" Chris asked.
"I'm bored with talking." Roxy replied as she grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled him closer to her. "Let's go dance."
Chris smiled and followed Roxy to the dance floor, where she wrapped her arms around his waist and started grinding him. Chris was not a very good dancer, but he went along with it and soon grew very hot with her body pressing against him. He quickly took a sip of beer and saw Penny was checking on him from a distance with an amused look in her eyes.
Suddenly, the entire club was engulfed in shadows and the mood changed. The music stopped and the people fell silent. Roxy stepped back and looked at him with a strange, blank expression. Chris looked around and noticed everyone was staring at him. Their bodies trembled and their eyes suddenly turned pitch black.
"Chris?!" Penny called out in a panic. "What is happening?"
"Nothing good." Chris replied as he slowly moved toward her. He carefully walked past the crowd until he reached her and they were both surrounded.
"Their minds are all blank." Penny whispered. "I can't read their thoughts."
"Something took over." Chris replied. "We need to get out of here."
"How? We're surrounded!" Penny said. "We can't expose magic."
"I think it's a little too late for that." Chris replied. "Can you levitate?"
"I think my dress is a bit too short for that." Penny replied.
"You think?" Chris replied with an eye roll. "Alright, I am going to orb us out of here."
At that moment, Roxy stepped forward in a trance like state. "You are not going anywhere." She commanded in a demonic voice which echoed with other voices. "All witches must die."
"What is this, the witch trials?" Penny remarked.
"Who are you, why are you doing this?" Chris asked.
"We are the true essence of evil. None of you can escape. Your entire family will burn." Roxy said with a demonic grin.
"Oh god, the others." Penny whispered shocked. "We need to warn them."
Penny reached into her purse to grab her phone, though a guy dressed in black with blue spiked hair suddenly shot forward and grabbed her arm. Penny quickly used her self-defense training to flip him over and throw him on the floor. As she did, the demonically possessed circle closed in around them. Chris quickly raised his hands and pushed them back with telekinesis, though there were too many to handle alone.
"Kill them!" Roxy screamed.
As the possessed clubbers charged at them, Chris flung his arm and threw as many as he could across the dance floor, while Penny held them off with a can of mace she had grabbed from her purse. As soon as he could reach her, Chris grabbed her arm and orbed them both to safety. After they had disappeared, the possessed calmly stood up and headed to the exit.
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