Disclaimer: Any property that belongs to Charmed, belongs to Charmed. All of this is my idea, except the Triquetra, and the Charmed Ones' concept. Paul, Chris, Laura, and Aunt Hallie are my ideas. The powers are my ideas. All else that aren't mine, belongs to Charmed. With that out of the way. Enjoy!

Teaser: What if the prophecy wasn't that of three sisters? What if it were three cousins instead?

Feedback is welcome at [email protected]

(Please give me feedback on this. I would appreciate any comments/criticism!)

*NOTE*: May 2005 - This was edited fairly recently to correct errors I found, and paragraph issues - Drew

Date: Today.

Location:

In Eastern San Francisco, CA. A prestigious house, not unlike a Manor, but smaller. Sky Blue paint adorns the shingles, with old Victorian Style Designs on the outside of the House.

Luck. Pure Luck. It just happened to me a few days ago. A truck almost hit me. For some reason I had a feeling to jump out of the way. It must be pure luck. I refused to accept the fact that I had psychic abilities. I refused to accept that I could move things by accident. It was all just luck. Not even feelings that kept emerging in spontaneous moments, that I had no choice but to instinctively feel, would convince me either.

But there was one thing that convinced me to accept these wild occurrences. That it was happening to my cousin too. He was also a Charmed One. Whatever the hell that meant. He informed me that I was one as well. I refused to believe him for a moment, until he showed me what he could do too. He could disappear from sight, but he told me that it was an illusion that obscured him. He could also freeze things literally. That itself knocked any doubt from my mind that he and I were actually the "Charmed Ones". Whatever that still was.

He gave me a thick, leather bound book, with a sign of a triquetra on the cover.

I joked with him, "What, is this a grimoire?"

He looked at me seriously, and nodded. My mind boggled at this.

"We're witches?"

My cousin laughed at my comical expression, and nodded. "I found this in my attic. It said that three cousins will be powerful witches and protectors of the innocent."

I caught the words, "three cousins" and asked, "Who's the third?"

He looked uncertain.

"Chris, you mean you don't know?"

He looked at his feet, and sighed. "I am not SURE. We do have 2 or 3 different cousins. Let's just see what happens. We can probably find a spell or something that will 'draw' that cousin to us."

I felt uneasy at this point. I didn't want to cast any spells, out of the blue, for the hell of it. If it were true, that we were indeed the Charmed Ones, then we better as hell be careful!

Chris interrupted my thoughts, and quietly spoke up, "But Paul, It'd be easier if we did a spell or something. We can't just ask each of those cousins which one of them has had weird bursts of powers."

"Hmm. Point taken. Or we could wait a few days. Talk to the cousins as if nothing's happened. If we do see things happening to one of them, then we know who the cousin is, and explain everything?" At this time, I was a bit stressed and I pointed this out to Chris, with a hand wave, which accidentally brought a picture toward my hand. "EEK!", came out of my mouth rather loudly.

Chris chuckled and dryly said, "Maybe we should relax? Your power seems to stem from emotion. Let's see the picture." He looked at the picture. Chris stares at the picture, and laughed.

I looked at Chris oddly, and then at the picture. It started to make sense to me; at least it seemed to me.

A picture was framed in silver, to show a cousin of ours. Her name was Laura. She was dressed in a turtleneck pink sweater, with jeans, and was in her 20s. Her curly hair, framed a heart-shaped face, with green eyes.

I hadn't seen Laura in a few months, and idly wondered where she was now. "So, where's Laura?", was the question I directed toward Chris, with a pensive expression on my face.

Chris was slightly surprised, "You don't know? She graduated from College just last summer. She's been staying with our Aunt Hallie."

I hit my head with my palm, and looked sheepish. Of course. I had forgotten, since I hadn't seen her since she went away to school. She had majored in... Damn. I had forgotten for a moment. Ah, yes. In Medicine. Herbology, and that sort of stuff. I told Chris, "I have been SO busy lately, I haven't had time to converse with Laura lately."

Chris patted me on the shoulder, and chimed in, "She'll probably call us, or showing up sooner or later. I told all my cousins to come over here, if anything strange ever happened."

I looked at him and chuckled. "You prepared for this, didn't you?"

Chris was embarrassed, as his reddened cheeks indicated. Chris gave a disclaimer, "Well, no, but I thought I should try calling them, after I read the book about the three cousins thing."

I laughed at Chris' red cheeks, and smiled fondly at him. I also reassured him that it was probably wise to warn them, even if he had to be vague. I yawned, suddenly tired. I looked at Chris, and told him I was headed to bed.

Chris nodded, and asked if he could stay here tonight? I said, "Sure thing. See you in the morning."

He decided to stay on the sofa. He wasn't feeling up to driving home.

That was fine with me. I told him good night, and headed to my room. As I reached my bed, and laid down, I started thinking about this whole matter. Why me? Why us? I couldn't get to sleep very well, and kept turning and tossing all night.

Chris was sitting at the sofa with the book open on the coffee table. He flipped through the pages of the Book of Shadows, muttering to himself, "Wow. This is cool." He rereads the family history page, on the first page. His eyes grew bigger, and wider with every page he read, past the introduction.

He then looked in the direction of my room. He thought to himself, "I hope we can do this."

Part 2: A few days later. Across Town.

Laura rested herself on the couch, after a long day of searching through the want ads. She hadn't been having any luck the last few days, due to unavailability, and was getting depressed.

Her aunt kept reassuring her. "You'll find something, dearie. You can stay here as long as you find something."

Laura smiled back at her aunt, and had gotten her cousin's call, to come over if anything out of the ordinary happened. She had known that there had been strange things going on in this family, but she was about to get proof, soon, VERY soon. She felt a little dizzy for a moment, but dismissed it as a brief dizzy spell. She thought to herself, "I hope I'm not coming down with something."

She didn't realize it, and nor did I at that time, but that feeling was due to me attempting to learn my PK power, and get it under control. She put it out of her mind completely, and somehow was able to ignore it all. I was at home, not too far from my Aunt Hallie's which was about 10-15 minute drive away. She shrugged and dismissed the dizzy feeling, and went to get something to eat for dinner.

Meanwhile back at my place, I was trying to levitate a pen. The pen wobbled and shakily rose in the air for a moment. It then fell to the table, with a small thunk, and rolled off the table. "Dammit. I wish I could do it better."

Chris walked in, and smiled at me. "Trouble?"

I growled at Chris frustratingly. "I can't seem to get a hold of this power that well."

Chris' eyebrows furrowed as he went into thinking mode. His hand grasped his chin, as he started pacing in a small path back and forth. He stopped suddenly, and looked like he had an idea.

I broke into his thoughts for a moment and asked, "Chris?"

Chris nodded, and stated, "Well. How do you 'visualize' the power working?" His question caught me off guard and I had to think for a moment, trying to piece my answer together. After a long moment, I replied, "Well, I tried to visualize the 'pen' lifting by itself."

Chris' expression transmuted from puzzlement to dawning understanding as an idea occurred to him. "Why don't you 'imagine' a 'hand' reaching for the pen, and try picking it up?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and tried it. To my amazement, the pen rose steadily in the air to land in my palm.

Chris grinned at me. "Yeah! That must be the way you do it - Glad to help!"

I gave him heartfelt thanks with a smile and felt better that control was coming easier now. To show off, a little, I levitated a small crystal vase, from Aunt Hallie, and floated it over to Chris.

He chuckled in a rich deep voice, and caught the vase, before I let go.

I watched Chris grab the vase, and grinned. He knew I wouldn't let go of that vase, since it was so precious to me.

Chris exclaimed in surprise, "Wow. I didn't know you could lift anything this heavy. Maybe you have a bit more power than you think."

I thought to myself, ' Hmm. Maybe he's right.' I put that thought out, as my stomach rumbled in hunger. I looked at Chris, and smiled. "Guess I'm hungry. Wanna go out for pizza?"

Chris nodded, and we enjoyed ourselves at a local Pizza Parlor.

Back at Aunt Hallie's House, Laura was starving, and her Aunt Hallie cooked up a feast that only served to make Laura even hungrier. She said to her Aunt Hallie in a baby voice, "When are we eating?" She fidgeted in the Kitchen, at the table.

Aunt Hallie looked at her with a stern, but amused glance, and only said, "Set the table. It's ready in 10 minutes."

She busily set the table, and waited for a torturous eight minutes, until dinner was served.

The two of them enjoyed dinner in silence, when Aunt Hallie spoke up, "Laura, Chris called last night, and wanted to see if you were busy this weekend."

Laura blinked in surprise, her hand poised at her mouth, then set it down. She thought that it would be great to see Chris, and Paul this weekend, and said so, excitedly.

She beamed and said, "I'll call Paul tonight after dinner and tell him."

Laura grinned at her Aunt Hallie, and rubbed her stomach. "Dinner was wonderful! Now I gotta relax in my room, curled up with a book."

Aunt Hallie smiled at her niece, and nodded. "Of course - have a great night, baby. I'll call Paul for you."

Laura nodded quietly then hugged her aunt good night. She headed up to her room, and curled up for the night.

Aunt Hallie looked at the dishes in the sink, and said, "Ah. I'll do 'em in the morning. I should call Paul before it's too late tonight." She picked up the phone, and dialed Paul's number.

Paul answered the phone, "Halliwell Residence, how may...? Auntie!"

Chris looked up from the sofa, at Paul.

"Yes? Oh, really? Uh huh. I'll be here then.. Okay... Love you too Aunt, Chris says hi and Love you too." He hung up the phone, and looked at Chris. "Laura's coming this weekend, on Saturday at 3pm."

Chris grinned back. "Great, Paul. We'll see if anything happens."

"Wow. It's late. Time for bed, Chris. Hm. I was also thinking earlier. How about if you move in? We've got 2 extra rooms here." I asked Chris this question.

He grinned, and nodded his agreement.

Chris replied, "I've been thinking of how we should stay together, in case anything happens. You know this book lists a lot of stuff, like warlocks and demons. And they usually want powers...so... I just think it's prudent for us to stick together, whatever happens."

I completely agreed. After hearing some stuff that was contained in the Book of Shadows, I shuddered, and imagined all too well, what might happen. What could I say? I do have somewhat an overactive imagination. We had yet to encounter a real warlock or demon but I had a feeling it would be pretty soon. I was thankful that nothing had happened yet, and it let us practice our powers, at least somewhat.

The next few days were uneventful, and I had fun practicing my power, to levitate pens, and heavier objects, like books, then finally lifting several objects at once.

Chris then dared me to try to lift the sofa. I looked at him doubtfully, and said in a hesitant voice, "Chris? Are you sure I can? I mean, It's been getting easier to lift heavier stuff, but...a sofa?"

Chris had a confident expression and nodded, "Yeah. The sofa. You can do it."

Casting another look at Chris, who nodded with encouragement, I gathered my power inside my mind, and tried.

The sofa wobbled for a moment, as I adjusted my imaginary 'hand' over to the center of the sofa. It leveled out, as it rose a few inches. Another few inches. Until it stood in the air at a foot high. I stared at the sofa in amazement.

Chris whistled loudly, "Woohoo! You did it!"

My concentration was broken, and the couch thumped onto the floor, as my hold faltered and wisped out. I exhaled loudly in surprise. "Wow. I did it."

Chris said to me, "Yeah you did! I knew you could."

I felt momentarily weak, but it passed as quickly as it came. "I think my power might be somewhat finite, cuz I just got tired, for a moment."

Chris looked at me with concern, and put his hand on my shoulder, and tried to reassure me. "I think it's just that you haven't had it very long. It probably will grow before you know it."

I shrugged off the feeling that I might actually get stronger by some other method.

Chris' emotions hit me with a blast, a feeling of confidence, but within, lurking a feeling that they might not be able to be the "Charmed Ones".

I looked at Chris in confusion, and asked in a small voice, "What was that feeling? Was that you? I ...thought I felt something from you?"

Chris stared at me for a moment, and confessed. "Hmm? New power? Um. Well. I was just um, thinking about the "Charmed Ones". We are the Charmed Ones, but... sometimes I am not sure if we can do the job. Our powers seem so small, for being powerful witches."

His words had the ring of truth, and I suddenly realized. I had the power of Empathy. I pushed that thought aside for now, and reassured Chris, "If we are indeed the Charmed Ones, then we are. Regardless of our powers, or levels of power."

Chris smiled softly at me. His emotions, previously in turmoil, began to fade away into a state of calm.

I was glad that this new power would come and go, but resolved in a determined resolution to myself, that I would learn to use it. An afterthought struck me that it might be wise to shield from others, as it would certainly help, if my senses got out of control. That resolution in my mind, I told Chris that I was looking forward to Saturday. If what we had was interesting, It would be interesting to see what Laura could do.

Saturday soon came by. It was around 3:45pm, when a knock was heard on the front door. I strode to the door, and opened it to see Laura. She was dressed in a simple white blouse, and a miniskirt.

Her smile radiated as she greeted me with a squealing hug. She asked, "Where's Chris?"

Chris walked into the Hallway and grinned, "Hey Laura!", and gave her a big hug.

I said in a hearty voice, "Welcome home, Laura!"

She grinned in thanks, and said, "So, what you two been up to lately?"

The three of us just caught up on old times, and enjoyed ourselves immediately.

The sky soon darkened, as we decided to get some dinner.

Laura smiled at me, and asked, "How about some Pizza? I had a wonderful dinner last night with Aunt Hallie, but I do miss Pizza."

We grinned at our younger cousin, and nodded impishly. "Gee... We LOVE pizza too!"

I walked to the Hallway, around the corner of the living room, hidden from Chris and Laura. I ordered some pizza to be delivered. On an impulse, I held down the phone 'depressor' (whatever it is), to listen for a dial tone. I held the receiver in the air, and concentrated on the receiver with my power, and slowly let go, watching it float. I slowly levitated the receiver onto the phone.

Laura felt weird, and put her hand on her head, with a strange expression.

Chris noticed Laura's expression, and asked, "Laura, you ok?"

Laura shook her head and said, "Yeah. I'm okay. Just felt a little wierd just now."

At this comment, I walked into the room, and said, "Pizza's ordered!"

Laura looked up at me and grins broadly.

Chris looks at me with an odd expression.

I shrugged my shoulders to say 'What?' at Chris.

He said cryptically as he passed by me into the hallway, to me in a low voice, "Watch her again. I'm going to try something."

I was still confused as ever, but went along with what Chris asked of me. I smiled at Laura, and sat down by her, to watch her covertly, attempting to engage her in some small talk about jobs.

Chris walked into the hallway, to make sure Laura didn't see him. He unfocused his eyes, and threw an illusion over him, to blanket his physical body. He slowly walked into the living room, using his illusion power as a cloak. He tried to be quiet as possible, and snuck into the room quieter than a mouse could be.

I didn't notice Chris at all either, although I noticed Laura feeling somewhat dizzy, and a weird expression on her face.

Chris dropped the cloak, and Laura screamed at the top of her voice, "What the HELL??" She scrambled backwards on the couch, trying to climb behind it.

I reached out to her, to try to calm her down. "It's OK, Laura. We can explain. It seems like you have a power of your own."

Laura, wide eyed, inched backwards still, and Chris sighed to himself. "I'm sorry, Laura. I had to do it to see if you were actually feeling our powers."

By this time, Laura had calmed down for a moment, and I could sense it. I looked at Laura, and smiled. "I know how you feel, Laura. I went through the same thing, but Chris here convinced me that I wasn't crazy, and all that. They are real."

Questions could be seen in Laura's eyes. She said in a shaky voice, "Feeling your powers?"

I nodded at her. "Close your eyes for a moment, Laura. I'm going to levitate something to me. You listen to that feeling."

Laura hesitated, and then nodded at me. She closed her eyes, momentarily, while I levitated a pen to me, from the end table. Her expression changed from frightened to wonder. She said, "It...felt like an 'air' - light type of feeling. Now. Let me SEE you do it, Paul."

I nodded, and held the pen in my hand, and sheathed it with my power, and let go of it.

She exclaimed, "I can feel it now! It feels the same as before." Her expression changed to awe. I looked at her curiously. "Before?" She looked back at me. "Well. It was two days ago. I had just gotten home, from searching for jobs at around 5pm. I had just relaxed into the couch for a few minutes when I had that dizzy spell."

Things began to click in my mind. I explained to Laura, "Um, I *was* trying to practice my power around that time as well."

She grinned at me. She then looked at Chris, and said, "You do it too. I wanna 'see' what you 'feel' like."

Chris asked her, "Cloaking, or any type of illusion?"

Laura felt giddy. She looked like a little girl, with treats about to be given to her. "Oh. Anything you want, Chris."

Chris nodded with an amused smile on his face at Laura's expression. He concentrated on a simple cloaking, to make himself seem blurred.

Laura felt Chris' power emanate from him, in strong waves of energy, very like water. Laura stared at Chris. "Wow. That was different."

Chris dropped the cloak and chuckled at Laura.

I was doubly curious. "Laura - What does he feel like?"

Laura thought for a moment, "Water. Waves of Water."

Chris looked at Laura with an interested glance.

I was smart enough to figure out the subtle hints of her power. I theorized that we may have elemental 'feels' since she feels 'water' with Chris, and 'air' with me.

Chris gazed at me and pondered it, and nodded, agreeing with me.

I looked at Laura. She met my gaze, and wondered what I was thinking.

I asked Laura, "By any chance...you have shown any other powers yet?"

Laura shook her head no.

Chris smiled at her, and said, "That's okay. A chance hasn't popped up to show them yet, I'm sure."

I reached out instinctively with my empathy to comfort Laura, and it seemed to still her doubts that she didn't have any more powers. I pulled back immediately, and scrutinized Laura's face, to see if she had noticed.

Apparently she hadn't. I thought to myself, "Hm. Maybe she only notices active powers." I was disquieted though, at this new power. I didn't feel quite right about using it this way, but...it DID comfort her, and it didn't hurt.

Chris decided to change the subject after he noticed me feeling uneasy, since it seemed to have been apparent on my face. He explained to Laura about the Charmed Ones, while I sat back, half listening, and half thinking myself.

Chris went on to explain a fact that he hadn't disclosed to me, that we had to do a 'tying' spell, between us, to enhance our connection to each other.

I held my hand up and said, "What spell? Why? You didn't tell me about it!" I was slightly angry with Chris, for omitting an important fact about this whole shebang.

Chris shook his head, and simply said to us, "I didn't tell you guys until now, cuz it would have been pointless to know without finding out who the third cousin was. Besides, you had your hands full, trying to learn your powers."

I felt a bit embarrassed, but shrugged it off, and acknowledged what he had said. I told Chris in a gruff voice, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

Laura took all this in with a somewhat bewildered, but her expression grew more excited in the next few minutes. She exclaimed, "I can't wait. Let's do the spell now."

Chris was amused at Laura's enthusiasm. He looked at me as if to confirm the 'go ahead'.

I nodded toward Chris.

Chris took charge after a moment, and had us hold hands, while reciting this spell.

I was VERY nervous. This was my first spell ever. I had a thought that crept into my mind, "What if I fail? What if we aren't..."

Chris looked at my worried expression, and exuded confidence, so much, that I could easily pick it up, and I let it seep into my bones, reassuring myself.

I took a deep breath, and we all started chanting:

"Powers Above, Earth, Water, And Air, We beseech thee, prophecy come true, Bind Us with Love, Cousins Three, The Power of Three becomes more!"

As we completed the first chant, time seemed to stand still. Then an eerie gust of wind swirled around us, sparkling white, blue, and green, surrounding us, but also a blend of colors that seemed to tingle all around our bodies. The winds caressed our bodies, and strangely, our minds, and hearts. The blue, white, green winds faded away, as Time seemed to resume in a sudden moment. Surprise was mirrored in our faces, as we let go of each other's hands.

Chris said, "Wow. That was so cool!"

Laura was still speechless, and simply nodded.

I was even impressed by this spell, since it was invigorating, but also...it seemed to cleanse our senses, for some odd reason.

Chris looked at me strangely, and his voice was soft, barely audible, but we still heard him anyways, "I feel weird - like we're connected. I can sense you dimly, but not quite. It's like I know you are here, even if I close my eyes."

Laura stared at Chris and confirmed his feeling.

I felt that as well. I asked Chris, "What does that mean anyways?"

Chris had a theory. "Well, It probably means that we are 'bound' together, heart and mind. This spell, supposedly to increase our connections, probably also bound us together, like a primitive 'bind' that lets us know where the other is."

I nodded in silence. A silence was formed in the room, for the next few minutes, since we didn't know what else to say.

Laura's stomach growled loudly.

Chris and I were startled, then I laughed. "I guess it's time to eat." We ate dinner in companionable conversation. Thankfully, it was quiet today, of all days, and was to be, in the next few days.

I didn't know when trouble would arrive, but a strong feeling told me that it was about to anytime. I had grown to trust these feelings, since they had always proved themselves to shove me into danger, but also helped me out of them.

I still hadn't figured out Laura's powers, aside from her being sensitive, when I 'levitated' anything, or when Chris practiced his own powers.

Chris had mentioned in passing that there was a reference of powers in the book, like what a person could have.

I had looked inside the Book of Shadows yesterday, but the list of powers didn't quite make sense, partly because it was not actually what I knew we had. Instead, it seemed to show a list of general powers, like moving objects, freezing, and healing. The rest was not specified. I had figured by now, the other 'powers' we had, probably were just a result of us being born, like extra adaptations in the Darwinian evolution scale, so to speak.

I pulled myself out of these thoughts, as Laura walked into the living room from the front door. I smiled at her.

She greeted me with a grin.

I had given her a copy of the house key, and I also had a feeling that she might be moving in sooner or later. The reason was that she was coming over quite often, and I thought I should drop a hint.

"Why don't you move here, Laura?", was my question.

She looked surprised, but responded quietly, "Um. Well. I'm not sure. How would I pay rent? I still haven't found a job yet."

I reassured her that rent would be no problem, at least for a year, anyways. I told her after about a year, then we'd talk about that then.

She beamed at me, and hugged me rather tightly, that I had to gasp out, "Air! Air!"

She let go and laughed. I thought to myself, "Ok. We're all set."

All of a sudden, Laura suddenly collapsed backwards on the couch.

My mind didn't quite register the shock, but I managed to rush over to Laura, to help her.

She moaned words I couldn't quite make out, until I leaned closer to her mouth, which was saying, "Dark power. Foul... Sick..."

My mind leaped to the conclusion that a warlock was coming. I instinctively reached out to Chris, who was running downstairs from his new bedroom.

Chris nodded quickly at me, as if to say he understood instantly.

I wondered how he knew, then remembered the binding spell we had done. We prepared for anything that might happen.

It didn't take long for 'it' to show up. It 'materialized' into the living room. Man, was it UGLY. Green skin, horns that sprouted from his head. Fangs that were yellowed, but deadly sharp. And taloned claws that looked like they could rip you into two.

He advanced, and growled in a deep menacing voice, "You must DIE! I want her POWER!"

Laura's eyes widened at the arrival, and screamed, then vanished.

The Demon took a step toward Laura, and then growled when she disappeared. "Damn! Where is she? NO matter. You two WILL die."

Chris thought quickly, and threw up his cloak to cover us, but the demon laughed.

What a chilling laugh it was, to send a cold shiver into my bones. I quickly realized why he had laughed. He could *still* see us through the cloak.

The Demon said, "I, Talnian, can see through your puny illusions. They are no match for me." He readied a dark black sphere in his taloned hand, which looked like hungry black fire.

I grew scared, then anger drove conscious thought from me, and somehow I 'mixed' my empathy with my PK power, and visualized a massive fist, speeding to hit the Demon's chest.

The Demon was caught by surprise, and flew into the air to hit the hallway wall.

I stared in shock, and realized I had a power that enhanced another! A thought that blazed through my mind was that we needed to find a spell to vanquish this demon, and FAST. I had an idea. We didn't have much time, so I asked Chris about his freezing ability, with an expression of urgency.

"Chris? Can you freeze things? Like...that?"

His expression reflected his uncertain voice as he replied, "Well, one or two times, by accident."

I was desperate.

He instantly figured out what to do. He concentrated on the Demon, who was just staggering back onto his feet. Chris's emotions became purposeful and determined, to my senses, and the Demon screamed for a moment in pain and agony, as he became encased in ice. Chris looked at the Demon, and said, "Finally, we get attacked. I wonder if it's all gonna be like this?"

I told him probably so, but it'll probably be different every time.

Chris looked around, "Where's Laura?"

I admitted that I saw her disappear when she saw the demon. I had no idea where she was.

She walked up to us, scaring the bejesus out of us.

I fired out, "Where the hell did you go? What was that? Are you OK?"

Chris put his arm around Laura to comfort her.

She looked at the ice-encased Demon, and simply said, "So, that's what one of them looks like?"

I nodded my head at her.

Laura trembled a little, and bravely smiled. Wow. She is being so brave.

I told her that we needed to find the info about the demon immediately, before the ice melts.

Laura nodded, and was led into the living room onto the couch.

Chris sat down next to her, and looked at me with a worried expression in his hazel eyes. His bearded jaw line clenched and I could sense that he was thinking of reconsidering this whole thing.

I looked at Chris with assurance and confidence that I didn't totally feel. "Let's look in the Book of Shadows."

I left the job of flipping the pages up to Chris, since he was the one who brought the book over here, and probably knew more about what was in it, than I or Laura did.

We soon came to an entry in the Book, which listed him as Talnian, the Demon of Dark Light. He could throw black firelight, which was very damaging, apparently, worse than a normal 'fireball' would have been. He preyed on witches, and absorbed their powers, when he kills them.

Laura paled at those words, and I patted her on the shoulder, then kept reading the entry.

It listed a spell to vanquish the Demon, but it had to be done, when he is about to throw his black light. We quickly memorized the spell, since Talnian was almost 'unfrozen'. He still had a thin layer of ice surrounding him that would be easy to break in moments.

Laura stood in-between Chris and I, and we waited for the demon to break free.

We didn't have to wait too long. The ice cracked and fell into a pile of shards. The Demon snarled at us, and conjured a black light in his palm, which seemed to be bigger this time around. That gave me a twinge of fear, but I quickly suppressed it, and said, "Let's do it!"

He let fly the black firelight at us, as we chanted:

"Darkest Light, from Hell, The Bane of Flame, Return to Hell, Demon of Darklight! We banish thee, The Charmed Ones Banish Thee!"

To our surprise, the spell took effect immediately, stilling the Darklight in midair, transforming the black flame into a pure white flare, which rebounded back onto Talnian, who screamed with agony, as it burned his skin, ate its way into the center of his being, and began to consume him from within, to without. The Demon shrilled loudly as his life expired. We clapped our ears shut, but it was too late. The white inferno rose taller, and taller, until Talnian was no more. The inferno vanished without a trace. We stared at the spot where we defeated our first Demon.

Laura let out a whoop of joy. "We did it!!"

Chris grinned like a fool, and hugged Laura. I stood there awkwardly and broadly smiled.

My thought was, "Wow. We actually defeated our first demon." I felt good about this, and had an afterthought, remembering what happened just prior to Laura vanishing.

I looked at Laura with a question in my eyes, "What happened to you? How'd you vanish?" Laura shrugged for a moment, thinking about her experience. "I guess I just panicked and vanished. I ended up in the Kitchen, but after a few minutes of his yelling, I snuck into the hall, without being seen by him. I saw Chris put him in ice, and thought it was safe to come out."

Chris' eyes widened, and then he chuckled. "Wow. So ... Let's see. I'll point at one of you, and 'name' the power, and you confirm it."

We both nodded at Chris to continue. He pointed at me first. Go figure.

I took a deep breath, and waited for Chris to name them.

"Moving objects. Empathy. Feelings of Danger, and knowing what to do." I confirmed it with a nod.

He then pointed at himself, "Illusion. Cloaking of sorts. Ice - Freezing Power." He smiled.

Laura nodded, cuz she had seen demonstrations of these already.

He then pointed at Laura, and she waited expectantly.

"Sensing Powers. Erm...Teleportation?" Laura shrugged at this, but accepted it, for now.

We all weren't sure of the ramifications of that last power yet. Only time would tell. We all decided we needed a break, and went to a nearby Dance Club, called Club Pied Piper.

That's the story of our beginning adventures into the supernatural. There were to be many more in the future. At that, I was absolutely certain!