"Do you have everything?" Kimberly asked me for the umpteenth time. I sighed heavily and opened my purse to display my healthy arsenal of weapons.
"Explosive potions, my gun, holy water and my sterling silver double edged knife. I'm all set." Kimberly nodded but I could see the worry still plastered across her face. "I'll be fine. I'll be with Cass."
"Remember. You can't interfere with anything except for Caitlyn's life. You don't want to risk changing the future in a worse way." Kimberly reminded me.
"Yeah, got it." I said, trying to reassure everyone that I could handle what was about to happen even though I wasn't so sure myself.
"Just remember that technically, you aren't killing an innocent. Caitlyn was meant to die." Dean said. All I could do at the moment was nod and stare at Dylan. I couldn't imagine life without Dylan in it. That's what motivated me. I couldn't lose Dylan. She looked tremendously shaken which only motivated me more to end this horrid day. I went over to her and wrapped her in my arms.
"Everything is going to be okay Dylan. I'll make it okay." She nodded silently in fear that her voice would crack if she spoke.
"Here," Sam said, pulling me towards him. "Take this." He placed the Ruby knife in my open palm and wrapped my fingers around it. I smiled at him and let him pull me into a hug. All these goodbyes were just giving me the jitters, but I shut my mouth and waited for them to let me go. "Keep her safe Cass." Sam told him right before Cass popped us off to the year of 1959.
For some reason, when I thought of us traveling through time, I assumed we'd land in the house, but either Castiel didn't aim properly or he didn't think it mattered. The two of us appeared in the parking lot of what seemed to be a mall.
"Cass, where are we?" I asked nervously, hoping he had an answer.
"1959. August 1959. The morning when Caitlyn dies."
"Not when Cass. Where?" He looked around and then realized my confusion.
"Oh, we are in San Francisco, California. The hometown of the Warren sisters." Surprise filled my face. With all the manor's family history crap our parents loved to tell us about, I would have thought that all our ancestors were born in or near the house in Long Island. "This is the parking lot of the hotel Caitlyn works in."
"So what's the plan exactly? You don't actually expect me to just walk in there and shoot her, do you?"
"No. We have to disguise you first. She may recognize you. After all, you look a lot like her aunt Charlotte."
"Okay. You could have mentioned the whole disguise thing before we left you know. Where the heck am I supposed to find something to wear out here?"
"Where do you think you're going?" Kimberly asked Dylan who splashed on some makeup, threw on shorts with a cute top and was heading for the door.
"I'm going across the street to see Randy." Kimberly chuckled in amusement.
"Oh no you're not." Dylan rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in exasperation.
"I'm not a prisoner here Kimberly! I've been sitting on my ass for three hours. I need a little air."
"You'll get plenty of air once Sharnel has vanquished the threat." Kimberly flipped the page to her magazine with a smug smirk on her face. Even though the circumstances sucked for everyone, she had to admit to herself that she was kind of digging the new found authority she had. Dylan eyed her sister carefully and then reached for the doorknob. Dylan yelped out a scream when the doorknob exploded right in front of her. "Don't test me woman. Now I'm sorry but it's for your own good. You have no powers and a psycho witch is coming to get you."
"How do we know that? She's not here yet! Maybe, Cadence J. Park grew up to be a normal girl who is freaking out because she found out she has powers. Even worse, she finds out alone because we're not there to hold her hand through it." Kimberly put her magazine down and sighed.
"Dylan, as much as I would love to believe that theory, this woman is a threat. You have no powers and if our hunch is correct, she does. Even if she's not a threat, where does that leave you?" Dylan trotted over to the lazyboy chair like a spoiled four year old and plopped into the seat.
"At least I'd be normal." She mumbled under her breath. Kimberly raised a brow, but decided to ignore the comment.
Was life different before we became charmed? Of course. But was life better? It's hard to say. Becoming charmed has had many downfalls but there were, and still are a lot of positive effects that came along with it. Sam and Dean are family to us. Dylan has Randy and I've never seen her so happy with anyone else. Bobby became our adopted uncle and Cass… well, he's just a delightful angel.
And the three of us were always close, but this made us blood. It made us family. Cousins. Sisters. So yes, at times like these, we look back on our normal lives and reminisce but if we were offered the chance to reverse time and stop ourselves from becoming charmed, or if the Angel of Destiny came and offered us a chance to have a normal life, would we do it?
"I have to pee." Kimberly said aloud. Dylan grimaced.
"Okay, no one's stopping you." Bitterness laced her words. Kimberly rolled her eyes.
"Well I'm not stupid. As soon as I go to the bathroom, you're going to run off. Dean!" Dean came down the stairs with his gun ready.
"What? Where is she?"
"Careful! Don't blow off the hostage's head." Dylan barked.
"I have to run upstairs. Can you look after her please?" Kimberly asked. That was the first full sentence she's spoke to him since Famine.
"Yes, because I'm a defenseless baby." Dylan said sarcastically. Kimberly smirked at her from over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs.
"I never said you were a baby."
"No. Freaking. Way." I said as Castiel dragged me into the Stonestown Mall. A couple women walked past me and gave me the stink eye as they took in my jeans and Aerosmith T-shirt. They wore pale green and pale yellow swing dresses that were different but could pass as the same in any costume store of the 21st century.
"Tell me I don't have to put on those church dresses." I whined, trailing the females with disapproving eyes. "Just direct me to the section where the demons shopped in the 1950's. Castiel gave me a blank stare and marched on. He picked the most happy-go-lucky looking store in the mall and headed straight for it. I through my head back and sighed, silently cursing Lucifer for putting me through this.
Now don't get me wrong. I have no problem with bright and happy colors. Throw me in the 60's or 70's and I'll be groovy, but the 50's were just so prim and proper. Boring in every way, including the fashion.
"Oh my God." I said. "I look like a pumpkin patch." I looked into the mirror in horror at the orange, finely checkered pencil skirted dress that Cass literally threw at me. The only thing that made it look mildly attractive was that it was sleeveless and I had to cover that up with a matching jacket that has dolman sleeves!
"Don't forget your hat." Cass said, handing me one of those white flat topped hats that was about 3 inches high that was all the rage back then. It's kind of like putting a wide can on your head. I glared at him and noticed a smirk on his face.
"What are you smirking about? Isn't that out of character for an angel?"
"You are insecure about your clothing, but in actuality you look very presentable." I eyed him carefully to see if he was mocking me but with him being an angel and all, I couldn't tell. "I liked the fifties."
"You were on Earth back then? In a vessel?" Castiel nodded. He walked up to the mirror and adjusted his silky green tie which disappeared inside his beige V-neck knit sweater. I couldn't help but laugh. "Castiel, maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but are you wearing Bermuda shorts with knee high sock?" He looked down at his clothes and didn't see anything wrong with it.
"No. Your eyes are not deceiving you." I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"Come on, let's go."
"But your hair." I stopped dead in my tracks, half offended, and half scared.
"What about my hair?" Castiel pointed to a nearby mannequin which had a brunette wig on. The wig was of the typical hairspray hairstyle of the 50's. I immediately shook my head like a mad woman. "Oh, no. Oh no, no, no. No. Not going to happen my friend. You are not putting that filthy wig on my head." Castiel simply smiled at me, snapped his fingers and his hair turned into that silky smooth wet look.
"It's the pompadour haircut. It was… all the… range back then." Castiel stated seeing the surprised look on my face.
"The saying goes 'all the rage' Cass. Not range." I said with a smile, as not to embarrass him.
"Well the bouffant hairstyle was popular too." He said gesturing to my hair. I gave him a confused look and then touched my hair. With a gasp, I ran to the nearest reflection and a look of horror came over me. I could have came right out of a 50's catalog. My worst nightmare. I had my bangs out to each side with a head band, which matched my outfit, and the rest of my hair in that high beehive look. I threw a glare at Cass.
"There will be some serious repercussions for you mister."
"Let's go." He said handing me a white strappy purse. "We need shoes."
"I was kind of thinking we could hunt in boots." He ignored me as usual. By the time we left, we looked like a couple of normal boring citizens. All that was left was for us to add to the ongoing baby boom.
"I'll be back." Dylan said to Dean as she once again tried to get out of the house.
"Where are you going?"
"To visit Randy."
"I don't think that's such a good idea Dylan." Dylan slumped her shoulders in disappointment.
"Dean, I need to see him. Randy and I have been fighting and if something happens to me, I don't want that to be our last moment together. I'll just be fifteen minutes. I swear." Dean thought for a minute and then sighed.
"Fine. Go, but if you get yourself killed, I'm going to bring you back just to shoot you myself." Dylan scoffed.
"Yeah right. Like you have that kind of power." Dean flipped the channel on the television.
"Wouldn't be the first time I brought someone back from the dead." He replied ever so nonchalantly. Dylan gave him a look which clearly stated that she now viewed him as a sociopath and then rushed out the door.
She went over to Randy's and knocked the door but there was no answer. Frowning, because she knew he was off that day, she rung the bell instead. A noise sounded inside the house. It sounded like something had fallen.
"Randy?" she called and reached for the doorknob. She took a deep swallow to calm her nerves when the door opened. From the doorway she could see Randy sitting in a chair with his back to her. She gasped and covered her mouth to keep from screaming when she took in the puddle of blood surrounding him.
It was clear that he had been harmed and as his head slumped down as if he was unconscious, she only prayed he was still alive.
"Randy!" she shrieked and ran into his living room. She spun the chair around and a primal sound came from her throat. Randy sat bound to the chair with lacerations all over his body and a knife through his heart. She fell to her knees and began to sob helplessly. "No." she whaled. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Cody! Cody, where are you?"
She picked her head up to look at Randy's face, the man that she loved, and she thought she might spontaneously explode. She grabbed the knife and forced herself to yank it out. What scared her most is that no blood poured out of the wound as if all his blood had already been spilled, which by the looked of the puddle she was in, it had been. That's when she noticed the note attached by a string to what she recognized as an athema.
"Turn around." It read. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind her and Dylan whipped around to face the person she was sure to kill.
"Hey… sis." A woman who instantly took Dylan's breath away replied. It was eerie how much this woman looked like Dylan. The same skin tone. The same high cheekbones. The same proud mouth. The same everything. Only one thing separated them physically.
Where Dylan's hair was long, straight and jet black with natural gray streaks, a look that could not be pulled off by most women but suits her perfectly, Cadence's hair was cut wildly so that when a wind caught her hair, she looked like an exotic creature that could only be found in the wild. Although the roots were jet black, her hair fell into a curly frame of burgundy down to her shoulders.
Something close to a snarl past Dylan's lips.
"You killed him." Dylan growled. Cadence smirked and shook her head.
"Now what kind of Charmed One would I be if I did…?" she trailed off and then smiled wickedly. "A fun one."
Dylan's nostrils flared and she resembled a bull that was only mere seconds from charging. "Oh don't get all huffy and puffy. Your beau is safe… for now. I just had to get your attention." She said with a wave of her hand. Instantly, the Randy replica disappeared along with the blood and the entire gruesome scene.
"Where is he?"
"Close by."
"WHERE IS HE?" Dylan shouted. The smile wiped off Cadence's face. Her eyes and nostrils flared and her head whipped towards Dylan.
"DON'T TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME! I AM YOUR ELDER!" Cadence snapped. Dylan gave Cadence a look that would surely cause her to drop dead if looks could kill.
"You are no one to me." Cadence regained her composer and smirked.
"And soon, you'll be no one to them." Cadence said cocking her head in the manor's direction.
"We'll see about that." Dylan challenged. Cadence cackled.
"Do you honestly think you could take me? I may not have the power of three yet, but I still am a Charmed One. I still have my powers. What do you have? Sisters that wont be able to scry for you because you're not a witch anymore? A white lighter who can't hear your call anymore? A couple of hunters who are in love with your sisters? I mean honestly, who do you think Sam and Dean would pick if they had to choose between you and their lovers?" Dylan gritted her teeth.
"And what about you? What makes you so confident that they will just so willingly forget about me and accept you into the circle? You obviously have no clue on which stubborn witches you are talking about." Cadence nodded and clapped her hands slowly in a jeering sort of way.
"You got me there sis. But that's why I have this." Cadence said while holding up a folded piece of paper. "A little rhyme that will solve all of my problems. Of course I can't hurt anyone until after we reconstitute the charmed ones, so I have to keep you locked up tight, but once they come to their senses, I'll rid the world of you, your boyfriend and anyone else who has ever had your acquaintance and once again the power of three will be a great evil like we were always meant to be."
Dylan marched forward to tackle Cadence. Cadence only stared at Dylan and waited for her to get within an inch reach of her before telekinetically tossing her through the coat closet door. Dylan panted from the pain. She was all too used to flying through things but without her powers to partially shield her from the blow, the pain was immense.
"You fail to remember that you are mortal. It may do you some good in your short lived future to remember what you are compared to me. Nothing." Cadence held Dylan by the leg and shimmered off to the underworld. Lucifer set up a lair sealed with sorcery and guarded by upper level demons so that no one would be able to rescue Dylan. Cadence through her in a cage and magically locked it.
"This cage zaps you so don't get any smart ideas sis." With more effort than it ever took before, Dylan forced herself to man up, suck up the pain and get up. She looked around the lair and the first thing she noticed was Randy, unconscious locked in another cage. Dylan's head felt like it was about to explode. Letting out her agitation, she threw her head back and let out a blood curdling screech.
"I can't believe in all your years on earth, you never learned to drive a car." I said as I pushed the piece of junk car that Castiel stole to the metal. Castiel looked ahead.
"I'm sure I could if I tried." I snorted.
"I'm sure you'd kill us if you tried. When Dean finds out, you know he's going to freak right?"
"Just focus on the road." He chastised me. I nodded.
"Sorry. Just multi tasking. Trying to take my mind off the task at hand."
"You should be entirely focused on the task at hand. Dylan's life demands your success." I gave him an exasperated look.
"Gee Cass, thanks. I always love the extra pressure." I said sarcastically. "I'm just wondering if there is another way."
"There isn't."
"I know, Caitlyn was supposed to be murdered, but I don't believe that she was evil. I mean, I'm solitary, guarded and quick-tempered and I'm not evil." Castiel gave me a skeptical look.
"We had our eyes on you as well." Since we were currently sitting at a red light, I was able to give him a slow blink. I sighed.
"My point is…" I said with a bitter tone. "People aren't just born evil. They have to make the choice and you guys didn't even give her a chance to make it."
"It wasn't our decision. It was His."
"Okay, well God isn't doing much for the world back where I'm from so now it's mine. I'm not too keen on murdering my own flesh and blood. I mean, it's just plain wrong Cass."
"That's the way it has to be!"
"Why?"
"Because if you don't then Dylan will die? Don't you care for Dylan? This Caitlyn person is a stranger to you and you were ready to rip apart her granddaughter without hesitation!"
"Cass, don't speak foolishness to me. Of course I love Dylan. And the Cadence thing, well that's different. Cadence is in our time and she is an immediate threat! She went after my sister so she's going to die, but Caitlyn and her daughter shouldn't have to die for that. Why can't I bind their powers instead?"
"Well, for one thing, someone could always unbind their magic. Plus, you don't have any powers."
"What?" I yelped in shock. That hadn't occurred to me although it should have been the first thing to occupy my mind.
"Well, technically you don't exist yet, so neither does your powers."
"So then how am supposed to trick Tempus into thinking that he killed a demon without my powers?"
"You wont. Tempus will kill the demon and I will resurrect that demon. The problem is that the demon probably wont go after the witch again since he almost died which is why you have to kill her."
"Or, I could convince this demon to do it. I could go undercover as a demon or something. Hype him up for the kill."
"And risk your life? You have no powers. You are not confronting any demons Sharnel. Your one task is to kill Caitlyn Warren." I knew I was being a pain in the ass but I've never killed a human being before.
"Okay, if I'm going to do the damn demon's job, why are you going to resurrect the demon?" Castiel sighed.
"You are extremely inquisitive." I gave him my sweetest smile. "Killing this demon didn't just change your future. There are a whole new line of innocents around the world because whoever the demon killed after Caitlyn, lived a life they weren't supposed to."
"Castiel, that's not a bad thing. That saved a bunch of innocents from murder."
"It is bad if it ruins the grand design."
"Cass-"
"Their destinies were to die Sharnel. Now that they are alive, there are more homeless, more evil people in the world and the ones who are good are living in a world where Lucifer is free." Heaving a sigh a gave up.
"This grand design thing sucks ass." I muttered. "Who is this demon anyways? I'd like to personally pay him my respects when we get back to the present."
"His name is Shax." Now I know that it is dangerous and illogical to spontaneously stomp on the brakes in the middle of the road, but when talking about the demon that killed a Charmed one on the show, I believe my behavior was called for. "Sharnel, why have you stopped, we are not there yet." Horns blared around me as angry drivers drove around me but I ignored them.
"Shax? The demon you want to resurrect from certain death is Shax? Are you out of your blazing mind?"
"No." I threw my hands up in frustration and squeezed the steering wheel to try and calm myself.
"Calmate Sharnel. Calmate."
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish." I suddenly wondered if I crashed this car into a tree, would it kill an angel, but saner heads prevailed.
"You do know that Shax is who murdered Prue and who can very well come after us in the near future."
"That's beside the point."
"THAT IS THE ONLY POINT CASS!" In a matter of minutes, I have either gone deaf or gone mad. Most likely the latter. "You are going to resurrect one of the most dangerous demons in all of Charmed history? Do you hate me that much?"
"I do not hate you. I do not particularly like you at the moment but I normally find you amusing." My eyes were bugging out as I wondered where I could locate an angel's blade.
"I'm glad I can entertain you Cass." I said this dripping with disdain but I don't think Cass even noticed.
"Where's Dylan?" Kimberly asked when she and Sam came down the stairs to check up on her. Dean was munching down on a bowl of popcorn as he stared at the big screen TV.
"She went to Randy's. Sam look; the sound of music is on." Kimberly was in disbelief.
"Are, are you serious?"
"Yeah, it's a classic." Kimberly glared at him.
"When did Dylan leave?" Sam asked, placing a hand on Kim's shoulder to calm her. Dean shrugged.
"About twenty minutes ago."
"Twenty minutes! Are you freaking kidding me Dean?" Kimberly barked, marching to the door.
"Look, it's no big deal. She just wanted to make up with him and you know that's going to take at least a half hour." Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"And you let her go?"
"She's a grown woman Kim and she's only across the street." Kimberly made a choking gesture with her hands and growled. She hurried across the street with Sam and Dean trailing behind her. Without warning, she blew off the door and marched in.
"Dylan! Randy!" she called frantically.
"Shit." Dean whispered in awe as he took in what used to be the coat closet door. Sam and Kimberly turned to look.
"It's no big deal, huh Dean?" Kimberly said angrily. Sam hit his brother on the arm.
"Why would you let her go?" he chastised him.
"Okay, I'm a bad babysitter. We'll find her. Kim, you can scry for her."
"No need." Dylan's voice said from behind them. The three turned quickly and Kimberly was about to charge after her, hug her and then slap her but instead she stopped in her tracks.
"What did you do to your hair?" she asked.
"Nothing. It's a wig. I thought I could try and disguise myself." Kimberly chuckled.
"I doubt disguising yourself will work." Dylan began to descend from the stairs and shrugged.
"Well, it was worth a shot, besides, I kind of like it. It's a change and lord knows I needed one."
"What happened here?" Sam asked pointing to the shattered closet.
"I don't know. That's what I was wondering, but Randy's not here. I called him and he says he's working today. Maybe Cody knows." Being reminded of Cody and everything he's said and done only agitated Kimberly further.
"I'll worry about him later. Let's get you back home where you are safest." Kimberly eyed her so-called sister all the way back to the manor. Something was off about her besides her odd hair choice but Kim wasn't quite sure what it was. "To keep busy, how about you help me make another vanquishing potion?" Dylan nodded.
"Sure."
"The book is on the kitchen counter. Can you bring it upstairs to the attic for me please?" Kimberly asked, deciding to test her sister.
"No problem." Kimberly went ahead upstairs to find a weapon just in case this person turned out to be an intruder, but Dylan came upstairs with the book in hand and began flipping through it.
"Which potion do you think we should use?" Kimberly scrutinized Dylan for a moment before deciding to let it go for now.
"Well, if Cadence has Prue's powers, we should probably use the most powerful one we have. After all, technically, she is charmed." Dylan nodded.
"I can't wait until this is all over." She stated.
"You and me both." Kim agreed.
"You know, I was thinking that maybe we could go to the cemetery and interrogate demons on this Cadence's whereabouts when Sharnel gets home.
"Sure, but we'd still have to hope for luck. Who's to say the demon we capture and torture knows anything?"
"We have to stay positive Kimberly. The sooner we find this demon's lair or whatever, the sooner we vanquish this Dylan wannabe."
"This is it." Castiel said as I pulled into our destination. "Shax is going to try and kill her in about five minutes."
"So, do we just stake the house out?" Castiel nodded.
"We don't want Tempus to see us."
"Psh, not that he'd recognize us." As I chuckled, my breath was suddenly visible as the air became chilly. The door to Caitlyn Warren's house busted up and the wind turned into the blue nightmare that is Shax. I couldn't help the gulp I took when staring at his figure.
"Stay here." Castiel ordered me as he climbed out of our car. Normally I'd roll my eyes and jump out the car, but at that point, staring at this monstrous demon, Castiel didn't have to tell me twice.
From my seat, I could see him walking through the house in search of Caitlyn and then suddenly Tempus shimmered in the house. He used his powers to close the front door. I couldn't see what was happening but Castiel could. He watched from the window waiting for his chance.
"What are you doing here?" Shax asked. Tempus simply grinned.
"Ending you." Without hesitation, Shax attacked, throwing his energy blast at Tempus. Tempus flamed out of the way and appeared behind him. He stabbed Shax in the back with an athema dipped in a potion made of some dark magic and watched as the demon combusted into flames and finally blew up. He then waved his hand and a woman flamed in before hm.
"Your life is now forever bound to Him. For without Him, there would be no you." Tempus handed the woman, who appeared to be Caitlyn, the athema and placed an amulet around her neck. "Wear this until death young witch. Protect your life and protect the life of your child." He placed a hand on her stomach and then flamed out.
From the look on her face, it was clear that she hadn't a clue that she was pregnant. Castiel waited for her to leave the room and then popped himself inside. Placing his hands on the ashes of the demon, he recited some sort of Enochian and the ashes began to dance in the air. The wind picked up and a light flashed throughout the room.
Castiel had done his deed, but not before banishing Shax to the underworld, back to the rule of the Source. When he appeared in the car next to me with a solemn look on his face, I knew it was my turn.