Charming the Halliwells 69
Charming the Halliwells
Chapter 69: Lineage
Wyatt and I orbed into my Grandmother's living room. She lived in a small town in Oklahoma where me and my parents used to live. The house looked exactly like I had remembered, though it hadn't been too long since I had been. I mean, I was still a teenager last time I went and my mom was still alive. I had seen her at both my graduations, so I wasn't too guilty.
"My charge is calling me." Wyatt said.
"Now? I really want you to meet my grandma." I said.
"Well, babe, I'm sorry." Wyatt said, "I swear I'll come back as soon as I'm done."
"Fine." I said.
"You sure you're going to be okay alone?" Wyatt asked.
"She's my grandmother, I'm sure we'll be okay." I said, "Besides, I'm pregnant, not powerless."
"Well, when my mom was pregnant with me, her powers went wonky." Wyatt explained, "So..."
"Wyatt, I'll be okay." I smiled.
"Okay. Love you." Wyatt smiled.
"I love..." but her orbed away, "You too!" I shouted into the air.
"Who is that yellin in my house!" Grandma Francine yelled, coming into the room, "Oh Hell, it's you. I thought I was going to have to kick somebody's ass, amen."
"Grandma, you can't curse and then say amen." I said, mildly shocked. She had always been a little...rough around the edges. I liked it. She was always one of my favorite people.
"The Hell I can't," Grandma said, "Sit down."
I sat down and looked at her. There was silence before we started speaking again.
"So, you're married to a man?" Grandma asked.
I blushed.
"Back in my day, you ain't hear about such a thing!" Grandma said.
I frowned, "So you never knew about any gay people back then?" I asked.
"I didn't say that! I just said you ain't hear about it." Grandma chuckled, "When am I going to have some great-grandchildren? I mean after what happened to the last one..."
I felt my face go blank.
"I didn't mean to make you mad, I was just asking." Grandma said, "That was a terrible, horrible thing they did to you."
"Yeah, it was." I said quickly, "But you won't have to wait for long, Gran."
Grand looked at me, "I knew it when you walked through the door." She smiled, "Thrice-blessed?"
"How did you know?" I asked.
"You come from a long line of voodoo priestesses, wizards, and witches, did you really think nobody saw this coming?" Grandma asked.
"Voodoo priestesses? Aren't they evil?" I asked.
"Mostly." Grandma said, "You want a drink?"
I looked at her oddly.
"Oh yeah, you pregnant." Grandma said, "So, how'd you get back with the handsome blonde white boy?"
"You saw Wyatt?" I asked.
"I remembered him from your wedding." Grandma said, "When I heard you, you almost got shot."
"Who the Hell are you, Madea?" I chuckled, "Well, at first I was mad. Really mad..."
Flashback...
I dove to the ground to avoid an oncoming energy ball. I stood back up and waved my hand at one demon and caused him to blow into pieces. The other demon, clad in black as they always were, shot another energy ball at me that singed my arm! I crawled behind the sofa.
"I'm not Charmed anymore!" I shouted over the sofa! Another energy ball went flying past the sofa, "Demons never listen."
There was the sound of fighting and then the sound of the demon disintegrating and I looked over the couch to see Wyatt standing over ashes.
"You okay?" Wyatt asked.
"Get out." I said quickly.
"I just saved your life. I think you could at least thank me." Wyatt said angrily.
"Thanks," I said, "Now get out."
"Fine." Wyatt said, "But next time, I might not be here for you."
"Fine. Tell the demons I'm not with your family anymore. They can't keep coming here." I frowned.
"At the next meeting." Wyatt said, orbing away.
I sighed and began picking up the scattered mess on the floor. I picked up a toy that belonged to Matthew and looked at it. I thought about it for a second and threw it in a box labeled `Matthew'. There was a knock at the door, so I went to open it. Dad and Caleb stood in front of me.
"Hey, bro!" Caleb said, walking past me and right to the fridge.
Dad actually hugged me, "Son, what's up?" he asked. He took a few steps into the apartment before looking at the box, "You haven't, uh, finished packing Matty's stuff up?"
"No." I frowned, "I'm sorry about the mess, I was just fighting for my life."
"Maybe you need to get out of this stinkin apartment." Caleb said, fanning his nose, "Seriously, it's starting to smell."
"There was a demon fight." I said, "With demons. Stuff got singed."
"Listen, I was talking to your grandmother and we both think it's a good idea if you go back home for a while." Dad smiled, "Just until you feel better or..."
"Dad..." I whined.
"It's been a while since she's seen you." Dad said, "She's expecting you today."
"Today? I can't. I've got work." I said quickly.
"Work can wait. Who knows how long your Grandma's going to live. What is she, a thousand?" Dad asked.
"Dad!" Caleb and I warned.
"You know me and your Grandmother never really got along." Dad said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Nature?" Dad joked, "She's a foul mouth, drunken old lady. With powers over the weather."
"Wonder she never electrified you." Caleb joked.
"Don't joke, she tried." Dad said.
"Maybe I'll go and visit her one day, but not today. There's just a lot going on. The paper is on my ass, Jason Dean and Phoebe want me to host a show, I've got this important column dealing with teens, and demons just keep bursting in here. Not to mention my estranged husband constantly popping in to `save' me." I said, "It's just not a good time."
"Fine, but I think it would do you a heck of a lot of good." Dad said.
"Probably." I smiled.
Flashback
-
My grandma's house was a one story house, normal. When I was growing up and even now, the house was more than enough. It had a dining room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a living room. It wasn't Halliwell Manor, but that's what made it so good. I felt at home there. It reminded me of my old house, minus all the demon attacks...I think. My grandma was nestled behind her sandy beige couch. The coffee table was broken in half and a very large man stood by a very pale man. I lifted my hand at the larger man, but he quickly sent me flying backwards into an end table! My grandmother stood up and, with anger in her eyes, sent her arms forward! As she did, the window shattered and thunder rumbled as lightning shot through the broken window and hit the large man right in the chest, causing him to burst into flames! The other man turned into a bat and flew out past me.
"Do they just follow me or something?" I asked, walking over to Grandma.
"Child." Grandma said, "I was beginning to think you weren't as powerful as you said you were."
"That's a sign of power?" I explained.
"When they want you dead, you're doing something right. I'm not exactly happy they want you dead, but it's good to know you can protect yourself." Grandma explained, heading to the kitchen. I followed, "They thought they were taking advantage of an old lady."
I chuckled.
"Who am I kidding, I'm no lady." Grandma smiled.
"You're an ass-kicking grandma with the power to control the weather." I smiled, "You're Storm, but on the Golden Girls."
Grandma let out a hardy laugh and hugged me again, "So, this boy...he don't beat you, does he?" she asked.
"No, Granny. Actually, he does the exact opposite." I said, "He's very protective, overly, as it happens."
Grandma took something out of the oven and placed it on the counter, "Your father told me what happened. Sit down." She said.
I sighed, "Grandma, I..."
"I say sit down." She more than insisted.
I sat.
"I know how you feel. Having your family go dark is a bad thing." Granny said, "Want a cookie?"
"I'm starving." I said quickly taking a cookie.
"That's the baby." Granny chuckled, "Listen, people in this family have a tendency to go dark."
"So I've seen." I said sadly, "Who went dark for you?"
"Your alcoholic Uncle Devon." Granny said, "He wasn't sober enough to want to take over the world or anything really bad, he mainly cursed people, used spells for personal gain, and occasionally killed."
"Yeah, nothing really bad..." I said, taking a bite of the cookie.
"He developed dark powers, became a dark wizard. He even fell in with demons." Granny said.
"So, how did Uncle Devon die?" I asked.
"A very strong potion." Granny said, "I'd wanted to do that ever since we were kids."
"That's just one." I said.
"Your ancestors were a bunch of voodoo priestesses, dark magic." Granny said.
I nodded, "Got it. Dark magic." I said.
"Darker than anything you've probably ever seen." Granny said seriously.
"So, we're dark?" I asked.
"Hell no! You're a force of good, aren't ya?" Granny asked, "That baby...I can sense it."
I sighed, "Why can everyone sense my baby?" I asked.
"Child, what I'm trying to tell you is that you're always in danger." Granny said, "We're all in danger of being evil. Most of the family self indulges, whether it be sex, drugs, alcohol, or whatever."
"So, I'm in danger?" I asked.
"They want your power. They want your soul." Granny explained.
"Who does?" I asked, "The demons?"
"Every darkness imaginable, baby." Granny said, "Enough of this talk, let's hit the club."
I stifled laughter, "Granny, the club? Really?" I asked.
"It's what I'd be doing if you weren't here." Granny said.
"So, you've had your family snatched from under you?" I asked.
"Yes." She smiled, "Your grandfather, bless his heart, was a good man. Bad wizard, but a good man."
"So, he wasn't just a witch?" I asked.
"Nope. You come from a long line of wizards and sorcerers." Grandma explained, "Damned how it died off. You know, there hasn't been a wizard or sorcerer in the family for some generations now."
"How can that be?" I asked.
She shrugged, "Who knows, I'm not a geneticist. The best I know is that our witch side got more powerful." She said.
"You weren't a sorceress?" I asked.
"No." she chuckled, "Maybe I'm wrong and it didn't just die out."
"Then where did it go?" I asked.
"You're Charmed, aren't you?" She asked with a wicked smile.
"So, you think I'm a wizard?" I asked.
"I think you're more powerful than you know, in more than one way." She said, "You feel like you lost control of your life?"
I nodded.
"You feel like everything's going down the toilet?"
I nodded again.
"Take it back." She said.
"That's all you got for me?" I asked.
"I know it's hard to do, but take it all back." She said, "But there are things we have to do in this life."
"Take it back...got it." I smiled.
"I don't think you do." Granny said sitting a chair in front of me and sitting in it. She grabbed my hand, "You have a baby on the way and are embraced by two families...Get over it!"
"Come again." I said quickly.
"This whole brooding thing you're doing, it's old. You're a Charmed One, you're married and you're having a baby! The legacy continues."
"I think we need to find out who this demon was and why he's working with a vampire." I said quickly.
"I'll get my book." Granny said.
§
After about twenty minutes puking my face off, I came back out to see that my grandmother sitting by her Book of Shadows. I had really only seen it once or twice. My mom used to talk about it, about how it was a more morally ambiguous. There were dark curses and spells, along with good ones. Of course there were entries on good beings and evil beings, too. It was bound but there wasn't a symbol of a triquetra on it, but a symbol of Yin and Yang. It kind of described my family. We were separate, but equal. We balanced each other out. There was a lot of bad, but there was also a lot of good. The woman sitting in front of me was a testament to that. She was rough and had a tendency to be ghetto at times, but that was made her so great. Her heart is what made her good. She didn't save people daily, like the Halliwells, but she saved people. She saved me.
*Flashback*
I sat down on my boyfriend's lap. He was watching Milk. He was a good guy. He looked like Jonathan Groff, which he hated me saying. Not because Jonathan Groff was ugly or annoying, but he liked being his own man. He sung, too, which made the comparison even more astounding. He was a nice guy, really down to Earth despite his great acting and phenomenal voice. We had been dating for a while and for that while, I really didn't believe he wasn't Jonathan Groff. He was awesome and for some reason he liked me. I, on the other hand was very interested in writing. I was a very peaceful these days, despite having papers due and being away from everything I knew. I often thought about Wyatt and Chris and the rest of the Halliwells and wondered exactly what they were doing. Dad and Caleb were definitely around more than they had been. Dad was less about work and more about hanging with his sons. He'd met my boyfriend, Luke, and was happy that I'd finally gotten over Wyatt. And I was still on the fence about Tristan.
"Hmmm, is that Shawn Ashmore? He's so sexy." I asked.
"No, he's just looks like...Hey!" Luke chuckled, pulling me closer, "He's not sexier than me."
"No, he's not." I smiled, pecking him on the cheek.
"So, you have homework tonight?" He asked.
"What are you, my teacher?" I asked.
"Now that's a fantasy." Luke smiled mischievously.
"Really? I was thinking hot singer and overworked writer..." I said, nibbling his ear.
"Better." Luke smiled.
"There could be chocolate and whipped cream...and maybe handcuffs." I whispered.
"Handcuffs? You piqued my interest." Luke said, "How about we take this to the bedroom?"
"I think we should." Luke chuckled.
I got up and took his hand, leading him to the bedroom. He picked me up and we began making out. He gently fell on the bed with me and we both giggled. I rolled over on my side and was shocked to see a man standing above us. He was wrapped in a giant robe. He raised his hand, about to use his power on us, but I pulled Luke over on me and we rolled out of the bed and onto the floor!
"Whoa, you're really into it tonight!" Luke said with excitement.
Suddenly, Caleb and Grandma appeared in my room.
"Whoa!" Caleb said, shielding his eyes.
"What in the Hell is going on?!" Grandma said.
Luke and I got to our feet and the demon was put off by them just appearing. I raised my hand, causing the demon to freeze!
"What's with that guy? And why and how in the Hell are your brother and...grandmother? In here?" Luke asked, puzzled.
"Watch your mouth, young man." Grandma said.
"Caleb, why is grandma here?" I asked.
"I saw this happening." Grandma smiled, "Need a good curse?"
"Curse? What does she mean she saw this happening?" Luke asked.
"I'm a witch, just like those two, and that," I pointed to the demon, "Is a demon."
Luke looked between us, "You're all nuts!" he said.
"This isn't the way I wanted to tell you. I wanted to like, light some candles and get married and...well, it was all very Bewitched in my head." I said.
"He's a demon?" Luke asked, "What's he doing here?"
"Trying to kill us." I said.
The demon unfroze while we were talking and sent a fire ball that clipped Luke's shoulder, causing him to fly across the sky and smash into a tv! I threw my hands up and blew the demon to pieces! I then turned to Luke, who was holding his singed shoulder and looking at me wildly. I walked toward him, but he scooted back.
"I can get someone to heal that..."I said slowly.
"Get out!" Luke said, "This is just...too much! You lied to me and...this is weird. You've got to go."
"Does he know who he talkin to? I will turn him into a frog, or shoot him!" Grandma whispered to Caleb, who chuckled.
"You can't be serious. I...I..." I stammered.
Luke looked away, "Get out!" he said angrily, still nursing his wound.
I felt like he'd just punched me or something. I walked sadly over to Caleb and Grandma, who bucked at Luke. I looked away in shame as we shimmered out.
*Flashback*
"What do vampires want with us?" I asked.
"Hell if I know." Grandma said, "But we're gonna get that sonova..."
"Granny!" I warned.
"I think I know some voodoo that can bring him to us." Grandma nodded.
"Voodoo? Insidious much?" I asked.
"Not all voodoo magic is evil, it's about the way you use it." Grandma said, getting up and heading to the kitchen, "I'll need candles."
I nodded. I sat on the couch, in front of the book and chuckled at the entry she was reading. It was of Caleb. It detailed his fall to the dark side, but also detailed his return to light. His entry had a whole slew of random facts, some that were funnier than others. I found myself chuckling and I turned the page to see the Charmed Ones. A drawing of all four of the original Charmed Ones and an entry. I turned another page and stopped when I saw a picture of Chris, Wyatt and I. The entry was so prideful. It was like she was so proud that she could almost burst when writing it. I flipped through the rest of the pages, often seeing entries on other family members. I only stopped when I heard someone scream and realized it was Granny. I jumped up and ran to the kitchen to find the vampire from earlier, standing above my Granny's lifeless body. There was virtually no blood and her body was so pale!
"The Collective sends you a message." The vampire said, "And the message is..."
I raised my hand and blew him to pieces, and then raised my hand again to freeze him mid-explosion! He was slowly blowing to pieces and I stood there, watching. I was angry! I was beyond angry and beyond sad and all of those emotions seemed to be flooding me!
"Drake?" Wyatt's voice said, "Oh God!" he said, running over and trying to heal Granny. He looked up at the demon combusting in slow motion, "Are you doing that? What happened?"
"He, umm, killed my Granny." I said.
The light in Wyatt's hand died and he looked up at me. I tore my eyes away from the vampire and looked down at her body. Wyatt walked over and put his arms around me. I watched over Wyatt's shoulder as the vampire fully blew to pieces.
§
"Is he okay?" Melinda asked.
"Mel, his grandma just died." Chris said.
"I know, but isn't that the normal thing to ask?" Melinda asked.
"I think it's time that we come to the real possibility that maybe we're not all going to make it out." Pandora said.
"We can't think like that, honey." Phoebe said.
"We've been rallying magical beings." Wyatt said, "While he went to see his grandma, we thought it was a great time to try."
"We got some definite `yeses' and some strong maybes." Chris replied, "Still, we really don't know how far the Collective's reach has gone."
There was a somber tone throughout the room. The whole Halliwell family was once again stationed in one room, reacting to everything.
"They've got whitelighters and demons, alike. And who knows what other type of magical beings." Melinda said sadly.
Leo stood, "Come on, family, we've been through worse." He said.
"Have we, Uncle Leo?" Prue asked.
"This family is a family of survivors! We've got the power that all demons fear and it's time we reminded everyone why they fear us." Leo said.
"I'm with Leo, this family is strong," Peter said, "And if you're not enough, we're here to help."
A very red and puffy eyed Caleb nodded.
"There's nothing we can do." I said, standing at the door. I wrapped my arms around myself so hard and tight that it was like I was trying to keep all the pieces of myself together, "They know us. They killed her right in front me, they sent a message."
"Honey." Wyatt said, standing and walking towards me.
"You're all nuts if you think any of us is going to make it out alive." I frowned, "They've got us right where they want us and right now they want us dead."
"Nothing is going to happen to us, not any of us." Piper said.
"Prue. Andy. Grams. Patty. Future Chris. Mom." I named them off, "I can feel this. You can feel it. This time it's worst because it's not just good against evil...this is about power. Power, I'm not sure we have."
"We're the Charmed Ones." Paige said, "We can do anything."
"We can't fight what we don't know." I said quickly.
"You're confused, you just lost somebody." Wyatt said.
"Yeah, Granny meant a lot to me too." Caleb said.
"None of you are listening. We will fight and we will die." I shouted, "This is the end. Life as we know it is over."
"You listen to me," Caleb said angrily, "Granny lost her life in the fight and she would have wanted us to fight to the end!"
"I'm leaving. I suggest you follow." I said, turning to walk away.
"What? You're leaving?" Piper asked, "Where in the Hell are you going?"
"Where's your anger? The Collective just killed your grandmother." Paige said, "Where's the fight?"
"I don't want to fight anymore." I frowned, "Fighting is for people who think they can win.
§
On the finale of this arc...
"I'm worried about this baby." I said, "I've been taking these pills."
"What have you been taking?" Ava Nicoli asked.
-
"You went to the doctor without me." Wyatt said angrily, "What's wrong with you?"
**
I looked at him oddly.**
"We all need to be together. Secrets mean we're not." Wyatt said.
-
A whitelighter orbed in and smacked me in the face, causing me to fly backwards and smash into a wardrobe!
-
"I just saw a vision of our kids." Chris smiled.
"Our kids?" I asked.
Chris smiled again.
-
"Why are you acting funny around me?" Chris asked, "This is supposed to be your big day."
**
"I think I love you." I said.**
"I love you, too. Now let's get you married." Chris said, turning.
I closed the door, "No. Chris, I love you." I said carefully.