A New Covenant - 3. Some Things Happen for a Reason

Chapter 3: Some Things Happen for a Reason

*This chapter is told from Wyatt’s point of view*

I orbed into the mansion to find an explosion of demon debris everywhere. My mom, and my aunts stood in the solarium, defending themselves from the horde coming from the dining room, but there were 4 coming from the living room, and they were wide open to that attack.

“Mom, Aunt Paige; LOOK OUT!!” I yelled hoping to catch their attention.

My Aunt Paige turned around and called an athamey to a demon’s throat, then re-routed a fireball, and my mom froze the room.

“Wyatt, where’s David?” I could hear the concern, and the upcoming rant in her voice and expression.

“He’s on his way to the airport, he took the car. Where’s Chris?” I could see most of the room, and I still hadn’t seen him.

“He went up to the attic, to protect the book, orb up there and help him; we’ve got it covered down here.” I knew it was my aunt Phoebe, even though I could only see the back of her head, as she looked for a way to get rid of all the demons at the same time.

“I’ll go check on him. You guys need any help down here?” I looked around and counted 14 demons, nothing out of the ordinary, but I knew they could cause a lot of property damage, and the grandfather clock had only come back from the shop two days ago.

“We got it; I think…well would you mind putting a shield around the doorway to the living room? Just in case we get distracted again.” My aunt Phoebe still hadn’t looked at me, but her voice was raspy, she’d been crying right before I’d orbed in.

“Aunt Phoebe, is there something wrong?” I put all the worry and sympathy I felt into every word, making sure she knew how much I wanted her to talk to me, how much I wanted her to turn around.

“You ass!!! I’m going to obliterate the very essence of you, they very air you breathe in will kill you!!!” My voice was flowing of its own accord, but the threats I was making were neither empty nor false; they were promises.

“Do you actually think I would face you un-aided? You’re more stupid than I first thought, no Wyatt, I know who you are, and what you’re destined to do, I know the extent of your powers, and I also know your weaknesses, I’m going to kill everyone you love, and once your spirit’s broken, that’s when we will see each other again, that, I promise you.” His voice made my skin prickle, his laughter left me weak, and his eyes pierced me in such a way as a demon had never done before, but I would not break, he can’t break me. My family’s welfare depends on it.

He glimmered out, leaving nothing but anger and frustration in me. Chris lay still, but breathing by the podium, the book safe in his hands, even if he himself was short of that. I walked over to him, slowly and carefully, this could be a trap, and I couldn’t afford to fall into it, my mom and aunts also needed my help. I got to where Chris was, and kneeled slowly over him, he was still breathing, but his pulse was weak, I had to heal him, but it would take long. I hovered both my hands over his still body and began to let my healing power flow, I concentrated on saving him, on making him stronger than he was right now, making sure his vitals strengthened.

Suddenly the attic door blew to pieces, I would have to stop healing Chris and fight something; this was not a good day. Then there was a voice.

“Chris, Wyatt; are you okay?” My mom’s voice was filed with concern, anger and worry. It was almost whimsical in my ears. I kept healing Chris, and yelled back where we were, my aunts and my mom rushed in, all of them waiting to find something just as I had a couple of minutes ago. Finally Chris regained consciousness. He looked up at me.

“Thanks Wyatt. What the hell just happened?” Chris’s voice was groggy and slow, then again he’d almost just died, it was a good sign he could speak no matter how weird his voice might sound.

“That was too close, and if we don’t get to the hospital soon, I might just have a nervous breakdown.” My aunt Paige sounded like hell, she would for a while; her nerves wouldn’t settle quickly, they never do.

We orbed to the hospital’s entrance hoping that we’d go unnoticed. We walked into the sterile, unwelcoming ER lobby, and headed towards the nurse’s station. A woman hovering in her early 40s sat behind the sky blue counter, her white headset contrasting against her deep ebony skin, her lime green nails an offense to her profession, her fire-engine red hair, the only thing that stood out in the bland, colorless lobby.

“Excuse me; we’re trying to find out if a patient has been admitted. Is there anything you can do for us?” My aunt Phoebe kept her voice even and amiable, even though her foot kept hitting the parquet-imitation tiles with a staccato-like rhythm, the little raps and taps becoming almost hypnotizing.

“Well, we could start with the name; don’t you think that would be a good start? I mean I ain’t psychic or nuthin’ sweetie.” The woman was clearly bored, and her only entertainment was to torture those families that were too aloof and in pain to care.

“Look here…SISTAH…my son could be dying right now, and your attitude isn’t helping the problem, how about you do your job and drop the goddamned little ‘I’m too low-paid to help you’ gig before things really get out of hand!!!” my mom’s face contorted into a fake, smile that could’ve vanquished 100 demons if she channeled her powers through it, then as an afterthought she added “please.”

The woman glared at my mom then turned and looked to the computer, the distinct sound of typing echoing through the lobby.

“What’s ya son’s name?” the words were spit out, bitten off, spoken through anger and frustration.

“David Samuel Halliwell. He should’ve come in…we ummm… we got a call from…the cops, he was in a car crash.”

The nurse clicked away on her keyboard, and stared at the screen. There seemed to be a glee, a joy on her face, all my instincts began to run rampant, this could clearly be a demon, or a Harpy or something. I began to fidget my foot in a staccato noise, matching my aunt Phoebe’s as of now incessant beat.

“There hasn’t been anyone admitted for a car crash or under that name; are you sure this is the right hospital?”

My mother glared at the woman, her hands went up and suddenly the whole of the lobby was hovering in time, all except for us.

“If you hadn’t frozen I would’ve gladly blasted you!!” Mom said to the nurse, her rage clear on her face. Suddenly there were sirens outside heralding an incoming ambulance.

Mom looked outside, and unfroze the room. She turned to the nurse.

“Can you please check again? I’m sure the cops said San Francisco Memorial.”

The doors to the ER burst open, and on the stretcher being shoved through the door, bathed in bruises, blood, soot, and what looked curiously like ashes was David, unconscious, his vitals barely there.

“Omigod, Piper look, it’s Dave.” My aunt Phoebe had noticed and had begun to run towards the stretcher.

My mom looked and ran to the stretcher as well, me and Aunt Paige trailing behind.

“BE CAREFUL WITH HIM!!! THAT’S MY SON!!!!” tears were streaming freely from her eyes, and her voice shook with worry.

“Piper, let go, they need to treat him, Phoebe, help me get her off of him.” My aunt Paige was crying her voice catching at her throat on every word, her face gaining that unearthly glow so typical to her.

I pulled my mom from David’s limp body as my aunt Paige pried my aunt Phoebe from the side of the stretcher.

“If he dies, you’ll regret it, I swear you’ll regret it.” Mom glared at the paramedics and doctors that were gathered around my brother. In our rush we’d forgotten about Chris, he was by the door to the ER looking towards the outside, I caught his attention and he rushed over, a worried look on his face.

“Did you see orbs? Were they white?”

“Yea, I just told you I saw orbs, but they weren’t white, he just came outta nowhere, I saw him when mom unfroze the room. Right as David was coming in.”

I looked to my brother, catching his eyes, we shared a look, he bit his lip in worry, I exhaled, and we waited while debating whether we should alert the hospital staff or heal the guy ourselves. Finally I made up my mind.

“Listen let’s do this the safe way, we alert the staff, and if he’s magical, and needs to, he can get himself outta this jam. We’ll make sure he gets in the room with Dave, that way if it’s a plea for help we’ll be able to help him and if he’s evil we can keep an eye on him”

Chris looked at me and nodded, still biting his lip pretty hard.

I walked over to the nurse’s station the nurse who had first “helped” us was now gone, replaced by a matronly, almost grandmotherly woman with a sweet smile and the smell of baby powder and lilac perfume. I looked at her and my skin prickled, she looked like an older version of the Seer Kira, my breath caught, I stuttered out an unintelligible hi, she smiled and looked at me.

“Is there anything I can help you with love?” She had a very pronounced British accent, nothing like Kira’s.

“Ummm…yes, I…well my brother…umm he just saw a…a guy…he ummm…collapsed right outside.” The shock of her reminiscence to Kira had not worn off and I found every word I spoke painful, my pain for Kira had not lessened, and this woman looked too much like her.

“I’ll call the code” she got up with an unusual litheness, and agility rousing the staff around her.

“We have an unconscious John Doe at the door, he collapsed, bring a stretcher, I need 20 cc’s of Epi, and bring the defibrillator, page doctor Hanson, hustle, hustle!!!! Also get 10 cc’s of saline!!! C’mon people, raise a fire under your asses c’mon!!!!” She ran from behind the desk, I spun my body to follow her, suddenly the room froze, people stopped in mid-stride, a vase of flowers stopped in mid-air, but the old lady was still running.

“KIRA!! I knew it was you!!” I couldn’t help but smile as she turned around, exasperation clearly showing on her face. Yellow lights surrounded her and the mirage of the old lady faded away.

“DAMN IT!! I knew this wouldn’t hold up too well if I ran into you. Wyatt, I’m on a mission, I need you to unfreeze the room.” Her words were gentle, and her eyes spoke more of yesterdays and how much she still cared.

“Kira, I didn’t do this, but someone did, and quite frankly I’m very thankful, I’ve missed you so much, what happened after Zankou killed you? I knew you weren’t dead, I could feel it, but where did you go? Where have you been these past ten years?”

Kira looked around; she seemed to be deciding something. She began to walk towards me, I walked towards her. We met halfway, she put her arms around my neck, I put mine around her waist, and we kissed, I held her close to me, not willing to let go, I breathed in her scent, burnt roses and blooming lilies, I caressed her back feeling every inch of that familiar territory, I took her hair into my hand, her luxurious hair, still tender to my touch. Finally she broke the kiss. We locked eyes, her beautiful hazel eyes, they hadn’t changed; they still had such an amazing depth in them.

“Wyatt, I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been meaning to come to you, but my bosses, they said we had to leave it to destiny, that if we were supposed to be then we would find each other. And today when I was told to come here, I never expected to see you again.” her voice was pitched almost to a whisper; her eyes darted every which way, as if searching for something.

“Kira, when did you become a white-lighter?” She was surprised, but I knew that no demon left anything to destiny, especially not the high-level demons. Only the Elders would speak so cryptically. Her eyes lowered and she pushed away from me.

“I…they…it happened right as I was about to be consumed by the wastelands, the Elders sensed a soul inside me, and they knew they had erred, so they brought me back immediately, made me a white-lighter, actually, some wanted to make me part of the Elder council, but with my past history, it all got a little…iffy. Well it took them what seemed like two days, but it ended up being more like 7 years here, so by the time they decided to give me a charge, they’d already found their powers, and had this whole…ugh thing about magic, so I lost my first charge…then there was arguing about whether or not to keep me, now I have a new set of charges, and I’ve spent 9 and a half years stuck at an Elder council.” She looked around the room “still, doesn’t explain why the whole lobby’s frozen, that’s not my charge’s power.”

I looked, and still the lobby was frozen. There were hurried steps from the hallway, my mom came crashing through the corner, hands at the ready, my aunts Paige, and Phoebe close behind her.

“Wyatt, are you okay?” She saw Kira, and her face lit up.

“KIRA!!!! OMIGOD!!! You’re alive!!! You’re alive? How? What? I mean…WOW!!!” My aunt Phoebe was utterly shocked, what she and Kira had shared had meant a lot to her, to both of them. My aunts and mother all walked towards Kira, my aunt Phoebe had her arms outstretched, she hugged Kira with sincere love.

My mom took Kira’s arms; she looked her up and down “Kira, by God. You haven’t aged a day” she hugged Kira tightly, patting her on the back “you know Kira; you’re still my favorite demon, and my favorite daughter-in-law.” My mom hugged Kira once more then broke the hug. Kira moved on to Paige. My mom walked towards me.

“What gives? I didn’t do this. Did you?”

“No mom. I was talking to Kira, and then the room froze.”

“No Wyatt, it’s not just the room, it’s the hospital.”

“It’s more than that” Chris walked in from the outside “San Fran is frozen I walked a 5 block radius, and orbed to the Golden Gate. San Francisco is frozen, once you get across the Golden Gate, everything’s back to normal.”

“Piper, if it’s not you, Wyatt can’t freeze, I don’t think Kira can either, and neither Chris, Phoebe or I, then who or what did this?” My aunt Paige gestured around the room, everything still unmoving. There were bells chiming, and a flood of almost white orbs descended on the lobby, from it materialized 2 figures, one male and one female, both dressed in floor-length golden robes, with pure white coats and hoods.

“I am Orphea, this is Mercurian. We are the first elders.” Orphea’s face was still hooded, so was Mercurian’s. Orphea’s voice carried clearly, and evenly. She looked to be about 5’ 11” her skin was as fair as winter snow. Mercurian had yet to speak, but he looked to be about 6’ 2” and in contrast to her creamy white skin, his was rich ebony.

“We have come to offer a truce of sorts between us, and the Charmed line. The Twice Blessed Child, the Time Traveler, and the Graceful Son are all about to ascend to the Charmed post, and we would like to be able to work with the Charmed ones again.” Mercurian’s voice rang through the lobby with a certain power, but it still held softness and a love that was as startling as it was out of place. Mercurian removed his hood, his face was young, with peach fuzz, where a beard may one day have grown had he not gained eternal life, his nose though prominent, was perfectly proportioned to his face, his eyes tilted upwards, the yellow green color giving him a weird perfection. His lips were full, yet demure.

“We have come to show our good faith and trust in the Charmed ones by endowing these gifts upon you. Gifts that will show how much we want this to work. Leonard Wyatt.” As she spoke Orphea lowered her hood, her face seemed even younger than Mercurian’s, her deep green eyes sparkled in their acorn shaped frames, her nose was piqued, thin and yet it fit her perfectly, her hair was spun gold, with a light reddish tint glinting whenever the light caught it, her lips were almost sculptured. She had high cheekbones, not prominent but very pleasing, and her eyelashes were long and luxurious.

As she finished speaking my father’s name a stream of blue orbs appeared next to her, my dad materialized from it, looking dumbfounded, as he realized he was no longer at Magic School. He looked around the room bewildered, spotted us and walked away from Mercurian and Orphea. His gaze could’ve vanquished them.

“What are YOU doing here? Get away from my family!!” Dad stood between the Elders and us, arms outstretched, creating a shield with his body. Mom walked up to him, and held on to his arm, my aunts walked up and stood next to her, I walked to his left side, and glared at the Elders, Chris stood next to me, and Kira stepped forward next to Chris.

“We are not here to harm any. We wish to give you all a gift…or more correctly two. We want to endow Leo with his white-lighter powers, no ties to us, but with the same privileges. And we wish to bless Kira and Wyatt’s union whenever they decide to give each to the other.” Orphea’s face showed no emotions, it remained rigid, almost as if it were set in stone.

“I don’t think so. First you take Leo from me, you forbid us from seeing each other. Then you clip his wings, then you give them back to him. Then one of you tries to kill my son, and when Leo defends him you threaten his life, then you erase his memory and force him to choose between you and his family, unfairly might I add since one of you goes and brainwashes him while I am at the brink of death. And now I’m supposed to smile and say thank you? NO WAY!!” My mother clutched my father’s arm tighter, her gaze defiant on the Elders.

“Piper, wait…I think we should think this through. I mean, you know how I feel about just standing around and watching you guys get hurt especially when you’re trying to protect me. This might be a good deal.” My dad looked deep into my mother’s eyes his light blue eyes searching deeply into her light hazel eyes. “Piper, you know we could use this, especially now that the boys are off to school, we won’t have a healer in the manor, Paige can’t be at our every whim.” He looked at the Elders “what if this is meant to be? What if this can save our lives?”

My mom looked at the Elders, then back at my dad, she seemed to come to a decision in her mind “If you hurt us, in any way, I will personally obliterate all of you. I will find whatever means are necessary to get to you. And that’s not an empty threat, it’s a promise.” She looked at my dad “If it’s what you want to do, I’m behind you 100%.”

Orphea stepped forward, and held out her arms; dad looked at mom, kissed her and then walked towards Orphea. “No obligations right? I only take care of the Charmed ones, the girls, I get to lead my life as I have been. I stay as Headmaster of Magic School. I am simply someone with white-lighter powers. Right?” He looked into Orphea’s eyes, searching for something that wasn’t present anywhere else.

“Leo!!” Paige called my dad, and he orbed in next to her.

“YOU! What happened just now?” My mom kept her hands at the ready, glaring at Mercurian. “What is going on? Your better tell me something soon or you’re going to be blown up!” she raised her hand one more inch, aiming them directly at Mercurian. “Start talking, or things are gonna get messy very quickly.”

My aunt Phoebe stepped next to my mom and held her elbow, channeling her anger through her own body with her empathic gift. My aunt Paige took my Aunt Phoebe’s shoulder and together the Charmed ones glared at the Elder.

“Listen there’s nothing wrong with Leo, Orphea simply lost her focus, she gave him more power than she meant to; hence why he began to shine brighter than her. Orphea will be fine, she just needs some rest. Leo is now one of us; he has no obligations as promised, lest we see a great danger coming to either you or the coming generations. We promise that until you call for us we shall not come to you. Wyatt, Kira our offer shan’t expire, should you wish to become married we would gladly bless the union. Mote it Be.”

With that Mercurian was gone, and then his voice floated to us. “You might want to get back to where you were before we cast our spell, Kira remember your assignment. Blessed be. We will wait until you are where you should be, and Kira turn back to your cover.”

“Chris” I looked into his light hazel eyes so much like my mother’s “you know better than to fight him, it’s a pointless battle. He will get who and what he came for, no matter how much you fight him” I pushed him farther from me, at arm’s length, looked him dead in his eyes and put as much comfort and love as I could in my voice “Christopher, no matter what, we WILL find a way to bring him back. I swear that to you. But you have to understand that fighting the Angel will simply weaken you, and he will not even be fazed.”

Chris looked down the hall, followed his gaze, but saw nothing there. Once again I heard the chime, this time a little louder than before. To my surprise the lights in the corridor flickered, and a spark came from Chris’s hand, up his arms, then it connected with my hands on his shoulders and I was sent flying back, I heard a loud crack as I hit the wall, suddenly the room went dark.