Legacy 105: With Mortals Like These
Part 7
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When Julian regained consciousness, he instantly felt a throbbing headache and felt his hair was wet with blood, which was slowly dripping down his neck. After being a powerful demon nearly his entire life, he had never felt weak or experienced physical pain, but now that he could not access his powers, he was confronted with both. He tried to move, but discovered he was strapped to a heavy wooden chair with metal cuffs. He was still inside the large room with the urn, sitting in front of the mirror, but Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.
Realizing he needed to get out of there, he struggled against his restraints, but it was useless. He did not want to be trapped with that woman again. She claimed to be his mother, but she was nothing but a cruel demon. His childhood with her had been torture, and he would not go back to that. He was nothing like her, but then, who was he exactly? That very question was the reason he came here in the first place. He was not a demon, a soulless evil like Elizabeth, but he was not like his other so-called relatives either. He was somewhere in between, meaning he belonged on neither side. He looked in the mirror and realized he was alone.
The doors swung open and Elizabeth walked in, having changed into a dark red blouse and black pants. He hated the sight of her.
"I see you're finally awake again." Elizabeth said. "And judging by that look you're giving me, you are not in a good mood."
"Let me out of here." Julian said. "I don't belong here."
"Then where do you belong?" Elizabeth asked with a frown. "With them? The Halliwells? Do you honestly think they will accept you for what you are?"
"No, I don't care about them any more than I care about you." Julian replied. "I don't belong anywhere."
"That is not true." Elizabeth replied as she kneeled down in front of him and placed her hands on his knees. "You can belong here, all you have to do is give in to the evil inside of you."
"I can't and I won't." Julian replied. "I don't want to be like you."
"Fine." Elizabeth replied with a sigh as she got up and walked over to the Grimoire on the table. "Then I guess we have to do this the hard way."
"What? What are you talking about?" Julian asked nervously.
"Don't worry, dear. I am going to fix you." Elizabeth said. "All your problems are caused by the same thing, that pesky little soul of yours. Luckily, I have found a spell that will allow us to get rid of it."
"No!" Julian screamed at her, again struggling against his restraints.
"Don't worry, it will only hurt for a moment." Elizabeth said.
There was a knock on the door and a demonic guard entered. Elizabeth looked at him and he nodded at her. She then waved her hand and he left the room. Julian wondered what was going on, clearly he was missing something. Elizabeth closed the book and walked over to the mirror.
"Seems like things are finally moving along." She said. "Allow me to show you the destruction of the Halliwells once and for all."
Elizabeth waved her hand over the mirror and the reflective surface rippled until it showed an image of a dark street. A large crowd of possessed mortals was chasing after the Halliwells, who were running for their lives. Julian watched in silence, knowing they were merely a distraction until Elizabeth turned her attention back on him. For that reason alone, he hoped they would survive for the time being. At least, he thought that was the only reason.
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As the growling and screaming horde of possessed mortals chased after them, Wyatt and the others ran for their lives over the streets of San Francisco. The group had become separated in the alley, and now only Melinda, Henry and Payton were with him. He had no idea where the others were or if they were even still alive, but he knew he needed to keep faith. The plan was simple, get to safety and meet at the warehouse, but that was easier said than done.
"I don't think I can run for much longer!" Melinda said out of breath.
"Me neither." Payton added.
"Over here!" Wyatt replied as he pointed to an alley.
The group quickly ran into the alley and Wyatt telekinetically orbed a dumpster in the way to stop the possessed from following them. However, that would only last a moment.
"We need a car." Henry said as he stopped to catch a breath.
"Getting a car is not a problem." Wyatt replied. "We just need to get it running."
"I can hotwire a car." Henry replied. "It will just take a few minutes, so we will need a distraction."
"How do you know how to do that?" Wyatt asked with a frown.
"My dad is parole officer." Henry replied with a shrug. "I spent time with some of his parolees."
"That sounds really not okay." Payton remarked concerned.
"We are being chased by rabid freaks, do you really want to discuss this right now?" Henry asked skeptically. "Or do you want to get out of here?"
"Get out of here." Payton replied quickly as the possessed mortals started moving the dumpster and climbing over it. "Fast."
"Okay, I will hold them back, find a car." Wyatt said.
As Henry and Payton ran off, Wyatt turned to the charging mortals and raised another force field. After all the magic he used today, he was getting pretty tired and he noticed his fields were getting weaker. The mortals crashed against the field and started pounding against it. It would not hold their attacks for very long. Luckily, Melinda was with him, meaning she could freeze them in case they got through.
"This is a nightmare." Melinda said softly. "I keep hoping I will wake up soon."
"Ryan will be okay, Mel." Wyatt said in an attempt to comfort her. "Dad will take care of him."
"I know, let's hope we'll live long enough to see it." Melinda replied.
As the possessed kept bashing against his force field like wild animals, Wyatt felt himself grow weaker and kneeled down for support. "I can't hold it." He whispered.
"Just a little while longer." Melinda said as she supported him and helped him up. "I am sure Henry will be back soon."
"I can't." Wyatt replied exhausted.
As his energy ran out, Wyatt dropped his arms and the force field shattered. The possessed mortals growled and charged at them, though Melinda flicked her hands and they froze in place. However, it did not take them long before they started adjusting. At that moment, an old black SUV raced into the alley and came to a halt with grinding breaks.
Melinda quickly helped Wyatt up and they headed for the car. When they got in, Henry quickly put the car in reverse and hit a couple of dumpsters as he turned out of the alley and drove off. As they hit the road, Wyatt looked back and saw the army of possessed running after them. He desperately hoped Chris and the others had made it.
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With a telekinetic push, Chris opened the back door of a small apartment building and led Prue and Penny inside. He then quickly closed the door and waited while holding his breath. With his ear against the door, he heard the possessed outside running past them and let out a relieved sigh. They had managed to lose them for the moment. He turned and saw Prue was trying to call someone with her phone, probably the others.
"Any luck?" Chris asked quietly.
"No, I think they left the phones at the manor or something." Prue replied in frustration as she put away her phone.
"So now what?" Penny asked. "Even if we can reach that warehouse Wyatt mentioned, that still doesn't solve anything."
"Do you have a better suggestion?" Prue asked.
"I think Chris was right all along, we need to go after the source of this." Penny said. "Maybe it is Julian, maybe not, either way, it needs to stop."
"We have no idea what we will face, or even how to find it for that matter." Prue said. "We need to meet up with the others. We're strongest when we're all together."
"Any time we waste could cost us our lives." Penny argued. "Chris, what do you think?"
"You both have a point, we need to stop what is happening, but we have no idea what we'll face or if we will be able to beat it." Chris reasoned. "But I think we need to find out what we're dealing with first. There is no point in waiting around waiting to get killed."
"I knew you would say that." Penny said with a smile.
"Right, I guess there are some good things about being a neurotic demon hunter, right?" Chris remarked dryly. "So how do we do this?"
"I was thinking, we don't know for sure Julian is involved here, but he is our only lead." Penny said. "And like it or not, we do share some blood with him."
"So you want to use our blood connection to track him?" Chris asked. "Good idea, but how would that work?"
"I once found a spell in the Book of Shadows written by my mom to reveal the presence of evil. If we rewrite it and use our blood to power the spell, it should reveal Julian's location." Penny explained.
"I know the spell, but we'll need a map for it to work." Prue said. "And I am still not sure this is a good idea. What if we need back-up?"
"Wyatt is taking care of the others. I am sure of that." Chris said. "Besides, we'll have a better chance for a surprise attack if there are only three of us."
"Alright." Prue said reluctantly.
"Great." Penny replied. "Now, we're in an apartment building, so I am sure we will be able to find a map somewhere. Let's just keep it down in case any creepy crawlies are around."
The three of them set out to find a map and raided through the apartments in the building. When they finally found a city map in what seemed like the apartment of an old lady, they cleared the table and placed the map on it. Chris retrieved a blade from the kitchen and handed it to Penny.
"The two of you share the strongest blood connection to him." Chris said. "Are you sure you will be able to do this if it is Julian?"
"If he is the one trying to kill us, sure." Penny replied.
"Yeah, I think so." Prue added hesitantly.
"Prue, you need to be sure." Chris said.
"I know, and I am." Prue replied, this time more confident. "If he is behind it, he needs to be stopped. If it comes between him and us, the choice is simple."
"Okay, let's do this." Penny said.
Penny raised the blade to her hand and made a small cut that made her flinch. She then handed the blade to Prue and she did the same. The sisters then nodded and let their blood drip on the map as they started chanting the spell;
"On this map, I conjure thee, show me what I wish to see,
Reveal our blood in this place, let it show its familiar face."
As the blood dripped on the map, the drops started glowing softly as they moved around the map. One clear drop surrounded by three slightly weaker drops was moving through the city at high speed. Chris quickly realized that it had to be Payton and the others, meaning they were safe for now. He then looked at another clear drop that moved to the outsides of the city and finally settled in a rich neighborhood, filled with mansions.
"That has to be Julian." Chris said.
"Nice neighborhood." Penny remarked.
"Could that really be where he is hiding?" Prue asked.
"Only one way to find out." Penny said as she held up a set of keys. "I found these in one of the other apartments, figured they would come in handy."
"You stole them?" Chris asked with a frown.
"I am sure the possessed creep won't miss them for the time being." Penny replied with an eye roll. "Let's go."
As the three witches left the apartment, Chris convinced himself they were doing the right thing. Julian being behind all of this was the only thing that made sense. He needed to be stopped. As long as he was out there, he was a threat to the entire family. As Chris closed the door behind him, he got the creepy feeling someone was watching him. However, when he looked over his shoulder, there was nothing there but a mirror.
Xxx
Through the mirror, Julian watched as Chris looked over his shoulder with a suspicious look and closed the door behind him. The image then faded and Julian saw his own reflection, with Elizabeth standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder. The cousins had convinced themselves he was behind all of this. It made sense, he would have probably figured the same thing, so then why did it make him feel so bad?
"I told you, they will never see you as one of them." Elizabeth said softly as she played with his hair. "To them, you will always be evil."
"Leave me alone." Julian mumbled in an annoyed tone as he looked at the floor.
"Does it hurt to see them like that?" Elizabeth asked. "Does it burn your soul that they fear and despise you for what you are? I can take all that pain away. All you have to do is ask."
"I said leave me alone!" Julian screamed at her as he struggled in his restraints. "Stop acting like you know what is good for me, like you are my mother!"
"Fine." Elizabeth replied in a dark tone as she walked away. "If you will not offer up your soul by choice, I will just take it. I should have done so the moment you were born."
As Julian struggled in his chair to get free, a spark of electricity ran through his fingers, which surprised him. The spell she had used to take away his powers was slowly wearing off. He was not strong enough to escape just yet, so he needed to be patient and wait for the perfect moment. He knew the cousins were coming here, thinking they would find him behind of all this. If he timed it right, he could use them as a distraction to escape and kill Elizabeth. She had it coming for a long time. He would make her pay for all she had put him through. And if the Halliwells got in his way, he would just take care of them as well. They clearly did not want him in their lives, so that was one wish he could grant them.
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Last chapter coming up soon. Please review!