Charmed: Heritage - 105 - A Friend In Need

Back on campus, Gary was sitting outside on a bench, starring at his hands. He had been there ever since he had run out of the library more than half an hour earlier. He was miserable and utterly relieved that Kali had shown up when she did. How could he have even thought that would work, that he could do that, even for Arie?

Behind him, Galskaper, a humanoid demon, shimmered in and walked around the bench. “You failed.”

Gary didn’t bother even looking up. He knew who it was and he knew he didn’t want to see him. “I never should have been there in the first place.” Reluctantly he looked up and added, “I almost killed a man.”

Funny, how people pick up on different things in the same situation. To Galskaper it wasn’t the fact that a death had only just barely been prevented, it was the fact that the death had been prevented that he saw. “That’s right, almost. You failed. Why did you stop?”

“I can’t kill someone,” Gary moaned his head between his hands. “I can’t do that. Whatever you did to me, take it back.”

“We made a deal,” Galskaper informed him, uncaring. “You will keep it.”

Gary stood and turned to look at Galskaper. “No, I won’t.” How he could have thought it for even one moment was beyond him, but now that he allowed himself to think about it, he knew better.

Galskaper stared him down. “You will whether you want to or not. You don’t back out of a deal with me.”

Gary felt goosebumps run along his body. He tried to act like he didn’t care, but he was scared. “So kick me out of school. Make me pay back my scholarships. I don’t care.”

“You don’t get it,” the demon informed him, looking a little amused. “If you try to back out, I will kill your family, and then I will kill you.”

Much as he didn’t want to die, he’d rather that then have someone’s life on his conscious. “If you can kill me,” he informed Galskaper, logically, “you can go after him yourself.”

“You kill him tonight,” the demon informed him with hard eyes, “or Arie will be dead at sunup.”

Gary’s eyes widened as a fireball formed in his hand. Shouting, he said, “Leave Arie alone!” Gary threw the fireball at Galskaper.

The demon shimmered out and then back in. “Remember, it’s his life or Arie’s.” Galskaper shimmered out leaving Gary alone, trembling.

It was sometime later when Chris arrived at the manor where his parents lived. He walked up the steps to the front door and knocked. He stood there a moment, waiting.

The door opened, without preamble to reveal his mother, Piper Halliwell. “Chris? What are you doing here?”

Apparently I beat Wyatt here, he thought, but all he said was, “Good to see you, Mom. May I come in?”

“Yes,” Piper said, pulling the door open wider, “yes, of course. Come in.” She stepped aside.

Chris walked through the door and headed toward the steps. He stopped and turned around.

Piper looked at him, waiting.

“Kali called Wy,” he said finally. “She needs help.”

“Is she back in town?” Piper wanted to know.

“No,” Chris shook his head. “Still at school.”

Piper waited.

It really was a very effective tool. “I don’t know very much. Wy just told me Kali’s boyfriend was throwing fireballs and Kali doesn’t think he’s a demon. Have you ever heard of a mortal with demonic powers?”

Piper frowned. After a moment she shook her head. “Not demonic powers, no.”

Chris heard a story there. “But . . ?”

“There have been times when mortals had witches powers,” Piper admitted, seeming to choose her words carefully. “The second time they took Phoebe’s powers of premonition to Vegas.”

Chris raised his eyebrows. “And the first time?”

Sadness clouded Piper’s eyes.

---

It was the end of day that couldn’t even be called bittersweet. They had lost an innocent, an innocent who had only been in trouble because of an encounter with them. Piper felt so guilty. Her sisters tried to help her feel better, but it only worked a little. She walked over to the fireplace, the medical file he had built on her in hand. She tossed it into the flames and walked away.

Only Prue’s voice had caused her to stop, concern lacing her best friend and older sister’s voice. “Piper.”
Piper turned around and looked at her two sisters as they sat on the couch looking at her.

“Are you okay?” Phoebe wanted to know, and yet already know Piper wasn’t.

Piper was silent for a few seconds before she voiced one of the many thoughts running through her head about their fallen innocent. “His name was Curtis.”

Phoebe looked at her puzzled. “Whose name was Curtis?”

“Dr. Williamson,” she told them, a catch in her voice.

Prue looked down.

Phoebe met her eyes, willing Piper to continue.

Piper gulped and continued on. “I read it in his medical bio. His first name was Curtis. He never married, because he was working all the time.” She paused, trying to find the words. ¬

“Saving lives was more important to him than having a life of his own.” Sadness filled her voice as she went on. “Now, his life is over and I can’t help but feel responsible for that.”

“We tried to save him,” Phoebe reminded her, her voice soft.

Piper nodded and then shook her head. “But we didn’t.”

“Because we couldn’t,” Prue told her, her voice even softer than Phoebe’s.

There was almost a scoff in Piper’s voice as she replied. “I couldn’t.” She turned around and walked out of the room. She went upstairs to her room and sobbed. Leo must have sent it, because he had orbed in. He had sat down on the bed next to her and held her as she had cried, cried for the life of an innocent man she couldn’t save.

---

“They drove him mad,” Piper admitted finally. "We couldn’t save him. We saved the moneys, but we couldn’t save him.”

Chris looked at his mother confused. “Monkeys?”

Piper smiled a bit. “Prue loved those monkeys.” Phoebe had loved them more, but both of her sisters had been sorry to see the monkeys go.

Chris looked at his mother surprised. “Aunt Prue? You don’t talk about her much.”

“No,” Piper admitted, “I suppose I don’t I miss her still. It’s hard sometimes ever to think of the good times.” The sound of a knock on the door caught her attention. She looked at Chris and asked, “Wyatt?”

“Probably,” Chris agreed.

Piper walked over and opened the door.

Wyatt was standing there, hand raised to knock, again. “Mom, hi.” Seeing Chris he asked, “Did Chris explain?”

“What he knew,” Piper told him. “Come in.”

As Wyatt entered as asked, “Any ideas?”

“Wyatt, I am not a walking dictionary,” Piper informed him, annoyed. “I am your mom. Could you at least pretend to be happy to see me?”

Wyatt looked at Piper, sheepishly. “Awe, Mom, you know I’m happy to see you.” He pulled Piper into a hug. After a moment he let go. “I’m just worried about Kali.”

Piper lead Wyatt up the stairs with Chris following close behind. “Now, as I told Chris, I’ve never heard of mortals possessing demonic powers, but there have been times when mortals . . . and . . . uh . . . monkeys, have had out powers.”

“Monkeys?” Wyatt asked, curiosity filling him.

Piper stopped o the stairs and smiled. “Yes, monkeys. You don’t have time for that story right now, but it has given me an idea on how to help this boy, if Kali is right.”

“When was the last time Kali was wrong?” Chris asked, trying to recall something and drawing a blank. A rather annoying trait, but she did seem to be right often.

“When she called me,” Wyatt informed his brother. “She forgot we couldn’t orb.”

Chris smiled. “Well, then. She’s due to be right on something. Let’s hope this is it and that we can help him.”

Piper started walking up the stairs, again. “We need to find out what you need to make the potion.”

Chris took several large strides in order to catch up with his mom. “Potion? But what potion?”

Piper stopped, again, and looked at her sons. “The potion to separate powers from a witch.”

Wyatt raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“And this will work for demonic powers as well?” Chris wanted to know.

“It will need some alteration, but once finished it should. If that doesn’t work, then you could maybe use a power stripping potion.” She rather doubted Kali’s boyfriend would like that one. It was a bit on the unpleasant side. “Either way it will give you a place to start.”

“Good point,” Chris admitted. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Let’s go check what we need so you two can got on the road,” Piper suggested. “You don’t know when this boy will attack, again.”

“True,” Chris admitted. “Let’s get to work.” Chris headed up the stairs and out of sight.

“Hey, Mom,” Wyatt called, catching Piper’s attention, “is Dad around?”

Piper shook her head. “No. Why?”

“It’s not important,” Wyatt shrugged it off, “just a mechanical problem at the apartment. I’ll talk to him after Kali and this student are safe.”

“All right,” Piper agreed. She headed up stairs and out of Wyatt’s line of sight.

Wyatt followed behind her.

Kali finished writing down the list of things Chris needed and said good bye. She closed her phone and put it back into her pocket. With the pad of paper hanging from her hand she walked over to Mark. “Mark.”

Mark looked up at her. “What did they call about?”

“They have a potion to try on Gary,” Kali replied looking down at the paper. “They need us to get ingredients before they get here.” She held out the paper for him to take. “Can you direct me to a place where I can get these?”

Mark examined the list. “I’ll have to take you. Just a minute.” Mark walked out of the room and into the den.

Beth was talking to Mikelle.

“Beth,” Mark called, catching her attention, “I’m going to take Kali to a wicca shop to get ingredients for a potion. Can you let her friends in, if they get here before we are back?”

“Do you trust her, Mark?” Beth asked, wanting to know that first.

Mark nodded. “She saved my life, Beth.”

“Maybe,” Beth agreed, uneasily, “but she doesn’t want to vanquish the demon who attacked you.”

“She doesn’t think he is one,” Mark countered. “If she’s convinced . . .”

As her brother trailed off, Beth nodded knowingly. “Yeah. Well, be careful.”

“You’ll let them in,” he persisted.

“And my other option would be?” she asked, teasingly.

“Beth . . .” There was warning in his tone.

Beth smiled. “I’ll let them in. I heard her talking and if they’re who I think they are, we will soon be safe. They’re Halliwells, Mark. Do you know what that means?”

Mark gave her an uninterested look. “Off the top of my head, I think Uncle Andy dated one before he died.”

Beth nodded. “And the Charmed Ones come from that line. Probably the mother of these friends of Kali’s is one of the Charmed Ones. They’ll know how to fix this.”

“You’re odd, Beth,” he told her, shaking his head. “Your attitude is so changing.”

Beth smiled. “I guess maybe I am. I don’t know this girl, but her friends have a reputation. They are known to be on the side of good.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Well, I imagine that means Kali is, too. Just let them in. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“I’ll give her a chance, Mark,” Beth agreed, reluctantly.

“And get the door?” Mark persisted, still not having his answer.

“Well, of course,” Beth replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Mark laughed, his eyes crinkled at the edges, and walked out of the room.

---

Still on their way there, Wyatt and Chris were brainstorming. Wyatt was trying to keep his eyes on the road, while Chris was writing in a notebook.

“Any chance we are dealing with a power broker?” Wyatt asked, suddenly.

“Nope,” Chris shot it down with a shake of his head. “From what you told me, this guy can control these powers.”

“Warlock who stole a demon’s power,” Wyatt suggested as he flipped on his turn signal and changed lanes.

“Warlocks don’t apologize,” Chris reminded him without looking up from the notebook.

“Power stealing athemé, like the one still in your room,” Wyatt retorted, emphasizing the last part.

“Funny,” Chris replied dryly, though he did look up. “Really funny.”

“But is it possible?”

“Yes,” Chris admitted, “that is possible, unlikely, but possible.” If you ignore the fact that most people who use those athemés don’t apologize either.

“So why not use the athemé,” Wyatt suggested.

Chris scowled at Wyatt. “Are you insane? It’s too much of a risk. We want to save this guy if Kali’s right and he’s an innocent.”

“You didn’t bring it, did you?” Wyatt wanted to know.

“No.” Chris glared at him, the pencil in his hand, tapping the paper in annoyance. “I would only use that as a last resort anyway.”

“If it came to it?” With great effort, Wyatt kept his eyes on the road.

“It won’t,” Chris assured him, nowhere near as confident as he sounded. “This will work.”

“If it did?” Wyatt pushed.

Chris’ shoulders drooped in defeat. “We could call Aunt Paige or Uncle Coop, or we could ask the whitelighter with Kali.” The idea of stabbing an innocent gnawed at his conscience, knowing that in another life, there were times he was capable of it. “It won’t come to that though and I’m not stabbing an innocent.”

Wyatt smiled. “Good point. Potion it is.”

Gary was on campus in his dorm room. His roommate was out, so he had the room to himself for a while. He had two pictures sitting on his desk, two pictures he had been staring at for almost an hour.

One was a candid shot at a volleyball game that had been printed in the local paper. A red circle was drawn around Mark’s head.

The other was a color photo of a young girl barely in her teens wearing a bathing suit. She was giving the camera a big toothy grin.

He put the pictures down on the desk and sighed. “Oh, Arie. What do I do? I can’t let him kill you, but how can I kill that guy?”

Behind him a distortion appeared, forming into Galskaper. “Second thoughts don’t work, Mr. Johnson.”

Second thoughts, third thoughts, twenty-fifth thoughts. This goes way beyond second thoughts, Gary thought as he turned around to look at him. How does he just appear like that. It’s creepy.

“Just think,” Galskaper suggested, “of how your poor, dear sister will feel in the few moments before she dies, when she knows it is your fault she died.”

“Leave Arie out of this,” Gary yelled, rising to his feet.

“Tisk, tisk,” the demon scolded. “Temper, temper. Save that for Trudeau.”

“What did he do to you?” Gary wanted to know.

“Nothing,” Galskaper informed him, though he was a demon, so who knew the truth of it. “It’s merely business.”

“Then, leave me out of it,” Gary begged. I can’t do this. I can’t do what he wants. I can’t kill that guy. It’s wrong.

“No,” the demon told him simply. “We made a deal. If you ignore it, your sister will be dead at sunrise. Perhaps your brother the next, and someone else the day after that until everyone you care about it dead.” Galskaper shrugged. “Maybe then we’ll kill you. Not before.”

“Please!” Gary bagged, a bit more desperate. “This is wrong.”

Galskaper almost laughed at that. “What do I care wrong and right? Sunrise.” In another distortion, he shimmered away.

Gary stared at him, tears shimmering unshed in his eyes. He looked down at the pictures on his desk. “One man versus everyone I love. One death versus I know not how many. My soul in exchange for . . .” He dropped his head to the desk and let out a sound of frustration. Picking his head back up, he barely kept from screaming, and only to keep his neighbors from trying to find out what was going on. “What do I do?”

I'm going to try and get a few more chapters up on here, so here you go:



Five people had stuffed themselves into Mark’s small kitchen. Only Mark, himself, was absent. Supplies were spread out on the kitchen table as Chris sat, carefully adding ingredients to a cauldron. A second cauldron was bubbling by Beth, who was sitting across the table watching with interest. A third cauldron was sitting on the floor empty.

Mikelle was leaning in a corner of the room silently observing everything that was going on. Wyatt was standing next to Chris, looking through a handful of papers. Kali was standing behind Chris on his other side, watching.

“You look like you have done this a lot,” Beth comment suddenly.

Chris looked up. “I have.”

“But why?” Beth wanted to know. “Before the beginning of the year they weren’t attacking.”

Chris shook his head. “They were. Perhaps you were left alone, but there were attacks. Mostly though . . .”

When Chris trailed off Beth looked at him. “What?”

“Never mind,” Chris shook his head. “It is a long story and one I’d prefer not to discuss right now.”

Beth made a face.

“Why don’t we focus on protecting you and your brother?” Chris suggested. “And on figuring out how to get rid of these powers in Kali’s boyfriend?”

Kali grimaced at his words. “I have the worst ability to find a good date, don’t I.”

Chris turned in his chair enough to look at her and grinned.

“Na,” Wyatt denied as he looked up from the papers in his hands. “You’ll get it right. At least you have a boyfriend. My brother can’t even find the time to ask a girl out, much less maintain a girlfriend.”

“And you date when?” Chris teased.

All signs of a good mood and teasing fled Wyatt’s face in record speed as he said in a very serious and somber voice, “I had a girlfriend, Chris.”

Chris was suddenly very somber himself as he remembered. It had been six months, nearly seven, and with his memory fully restored he had no excuse for forgetting. “Amber.” The one name said it all.

Wyatt nodded. “I’m just not ready to risk that, again.”

Chris nodded back. “Consider the subject dropped.” It was odd to have a subject that Wyatt didn’t want to talk about, when it was usually Chris trying to change the subject.

Mark walked back into the room as Chris turned back to his potion.

Wyatt’s phone began ringing. Wyatt put the papers on the table and picked the phone out of his pocket. “Wyatt Halliwell here.”

On the other end, his mother was in the attic at the manor, standing in front of the podium with the Book of Shadows spread open. “How are things going?”

“Nothing much so far,” Wyatt admitted. “Chris is working on the potion. I’m kind of bored. I considered looking for Gary, but it’s kind of pointless until we have a way to stop him.”

“I thought of another possibility,” Piper told him, looking down at the entry in the book.

“Oh?” Just that fast, she had his full attention.

“Not too long after we got out power back we met a girl,” Piper told him, remembering. She was in her teens and had witch powers. She told us she was witch.”

“So?” Where is she going with this?

Piper looked down at the entry on the page the books was opened to. They hadn’t added it until years later, because when they had first encountered that young girl and the demon tricking her, they hadn’t really known they could add things to the book. “She wasn’t, Aviva was her name, as she had been given powers by a sorceress named . . .” Piper looked down at the Book to double check the name. “. . . Kali.”

Wyatt smirked at that. “Kali will just love that one.”

At the sound of her name, Kali looked at Wyatt, curious

Piper smiled. “Yes, well after we destroyed Kali the powers she gave Aviva were gone, too. Any chance this is a similar situation?”

“Could be,” Wyatt admitted. “I mean the powers are demonic, but they could have been passed on in such a way that they won’t make him crazy like a power broker would and could be removed if the source is destroyed.”

Next to him, Chris had stopped working on the potion and was looking at Wyatt. Across the table, Beth looked up at Wyatt. From the doorway, Mark was watching a listening.

“Question is,” Wyatt continued. “Is there a demonic force behind this? Is someone else pulling the strings?”

“Kali thinks there is,” Piper reminded him.

Wyatt nodded, thinking. “And he apparently apologized to Mark while trying to kill him.”

“Odd,” his mother admitted. “Call me if you need help. You father will be home soon and we were planning to have dinner out, but we’ll stay here until you have this fixed.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Wyatt told her before he hung up. As he put his phone back in his pocket he looked at Kali. “Got anything I can scry with?”

Kali nodded. “I have something you can use.” She left the room in search of that something.

With Kali dispatched for whatever it was she was after, Wyatt turned to Mark. “Do you have a map and a scrying crystal?”

“Yeah,” Mark admitted. “When everything started up Mom wanted to make sue Beth and I had everything we needed. I’ll go get them.” He left the room.

Wyatt walked over to stand behind Chris. “How is the potion coming along?”

“Almost done with the second one,” Chris told him without looking up.

“Second?” Wyatt raised his eyebrow in surprise.

“We don’t know what will work,” Chris reasoned, his eyes still staying down.

Kali returned to the room, carrying a wallet photo of Gary. Mark was right behind her with a map and a scrying crystal.

“Will this work?” Kali asked, holding out the photo to Wyatt.

Wyatt took the photo as Mark unfolded the map. Wyatt looked at it for a second. “Yeah, this should work.”

Mark handed the scrying crystal to Wyatt.

Finished with his second potion, Chris stood up. He picked up the cauldron and walked around the table to where Beth was sitting. He put it down next to the other finished potion and walked back to his seat. He picked up the third cauldron from the floor and put it on the table in front of him. Next, he picked up the papers Wyatt had been looking at and started looking through them. Picking one, he started adding ingredients to the new cauldron.

Next to him, Wyatt leaned over the table and started scrying.

A little while later, Wyatt’s car pulled into the parking lot near Gary’s dorm. The three occupants exited the car. Chris carried the two potions in a bag slung on his shoulder.

Wyatt stepped around his car and looked at Kali. “Can we get to his dorm room?”

“No problem,” Kali grinned. “I’m his girlfriend, remember. I can get in.”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow at his brother and inclined his head toward Kali. “Remind me not to cross you.”

“Huh?” Kali frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Chris rolled his eyes and chuckled.

Kali frowned deeper as she looked between the two brothers. Focusing on Chris she asked, “What’s he talking about?”

Chris shrugged.

Kali looked between the two brothers and sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.” She walked toward the dorm followed closely by Chris and Wyatt.

---

A few minutes later they reached the hall to Gary’s room. Kali stopped in front of Gary’s door and looked at it.

Wyatt and Chris stopped a few feet behind her. They waited for her to decide what to do.

Kali sighed. “I guess there is nothing else to do.” She knocked on the door and waited.

She didn’t have to wait long as Gary’s voice sounded miserable through the door. “Go away.”

Kali squared her shoulders back. “Gary, it’s Kali. We need to talk.”

There was silence for several seconds. Then, the sound of footsteps was heard. Wyatt and Chris looked at each other.

“Looks like he is coming,” Chris said unnecessarily.

The door opened and Gary looked out at them, a frown etched on his face. “Who are they, Kal?”

Kali indicated Wyatt with her hand, “Wyatt Halliwell and,” she nodded in Chris direction, “his brother, Chris.”

Gary didn’t look impressed. “Hello.”

Chris looked at Gary speculatively.

Wyatt raised questioning eyebrows at Kali.

Kali ignored him and looked at Gary. “Can we come in?”

Gary frowned, deeper. “Do they know about earlier?”

Kali nodded. “I think they can help.”

“They can’t,” Gary informed her, grimly. “No one can.”

“How about you let us try?” Chris offered.

Gary shrugged and stepped aside letting the three in. He stood out of the way as first Kali, then Wyatt, and finally Chris entered the room. Once they were in the room, he closed the door behind them.

Kali glanced around the room. She saw the pictures on the desk and started toward it.

Seeing her, Gary called out, “Wait.” When she stopped and looked at him, he asked, “Why are you here, Kali?”

So many reasons. I just don’t understand, she thought as she looked at him. So many questions, but all she said was, “The library. Ring a bell?”

Gary sighed. “You don’t understand what’s going on.”

“No,” Kali admitted, “I don’t.” She took in a shaky breath. Why, Gary? “You tried to kill someone, Gary. Explain that to me.”

Gary sat down hard on his bed. His head slouched down in his hands; he sighed. “It started just after I graduated high school. I’m good at sports, but not good enough for a scholarship. I had other scholarships, but it was going to be tight. Then everything fell through the roof.”

Gary looked up at them. Kali watched him quietly. Chris leaned against the wall, watching wearily. Wyatt stood next to him, silent.

Taking them all in, Gary pushed forward. “It was about three weeks before I started school. My dad was driving my younger sister, Arie, to a friend’s house. The car was T-boned by a distracted driver, a woman with two screaming toddlers in the back seat. Ironically she was already headed to the hospital. No one died, but Dad wasn’t going to leave the hospital any time soon. He lost his job and even with help from the lady’s insurance medical bills were astronomical. College was no longer an option.”

Kali frowned, confused, “But you came.”

Gary nodded. “That’s when I met him. He offered me a lot of help with my father’s bills, with putting food on the table at home, and even athletics scholarship so I could still go to school. All he wanted in return was a little favor.”

“Some favor,” Kali retorted sarcastically.

Gary shook his head. “I didn’t know. He didn’t tell me, said it would be a few years in the future before he asked anyway, so no use telling me now. Said maybe he’d change his mind.”

Kali squeezed her eyes shut. You idiot, Gary. You don’t make deals with demons, even if you don’t know they are demons.

“Exactly who is ‘he’?” Chris asked a little impatient.

“Galskaper,” Gary informed him. Just the one name, never another, never knowing if it was first, last, or only.

Chris blinked. “If that doesn’t sound like a demon’s name, I don’t know what does.”

“Definitely demon,” Wyatt agreed, though his reasoning was based more on the actions than the name.

“Demon?” Gary gulped and looked at the three other occupants of the room. His eyes settled on Kali. “Why doesn’t this scare you, Kal?”

Kali glanced over at Wyatt and Chris. “I grew up with those two. Not much will.”

Gary eyed her suspiciously. “So they’re, like, your brothers or something.”

Kali looked at Wyatt and Chris, then back at Gary. She shrugged. “Honorary. They’re actually my neighbors across the street.”

Gary held out his hand and a fireball formed in it.

Wyatt and Chris stared at is cautiously.

Gary looked down at the fireball in his hand. “You said witches don’t do this.” He looked up. “What is it then? And who does this?”

“It’s a fireball,” Chris informed him, “and the power is demonic.”

“How do you know?” Gary stared at him bewildered. “I mean, how can you be sure?”

Chris hesitated before answering. Finally, he replied. “Let’s just say I’ve had a little experience around these kinds of things.”

“Doesn’t mean you can fix my problem,” Gary denied. “I tried to get out of it.” He looked over at Kali. “He threatened Arie.”

Arie, Wyatt thought remembering what Gary had said earlier, the sister that was in the accident. “Your sister.”

Gary nodded. “He said he’d kill her if I didn’t kill that guy from the library.”

“Mark.”

A shudder sigh ran through Gary’s body at the sound of the name on Kali’s lips. “Is that his name? I didn’t know.”

Wyatt shook his head in disgust. “What exactly did this guy tell you?”

Gary looked up, misery in his eyes. “He said that he needed my help eliminating a threat.”

Kali gave him an odd look. “Mark doesn’t even know how to control his powers. How is he a threat?”

Gary shook his head, sighing. “He said something about a prophesy.”

Chris groaned before whining. “Another prophesy?”

Gary frowned, confused. “Another prophesy?”

Wyatt grinned. “Chris is just annoyed because I have a prophesy and he doesn’t.”

“Their family has a lot of prophesies,” Kali added, grinning as well, “and now Mark does, too.”

Gary shook his head. “I don’t think it was specific to him, because he talked about someone else being in charge of taking care of the other.” He paused before nervously asking, “Can you protect Arie?”

Wyatt inclined his head. “Can you get her here?”

Gary nodded. “My family lives in town.”

Wyatt looked at a portable phone in its stand on an end table. He walked over and picked it up. He tossed it across the room toward Gary’s bed.

It seemed like it was going to overshoot, so Chris used a slight movement of his hand, slowing the phone with a telekinetic pull.

Gary gaped at them and down at the phone now on the bed next to him. “How . . ?”

“Call your sister,” Wyatt instructed him, ignoring the question, “and get her here. Tell her to be very careful. I don’t trust demons.”

Gary picked up the phone and looked at it. Finally, he nodded.

Wyatt looked at Chris. “We need to call with our new info.” He turned to Kali. “Do you want to join us or stay here?”

Kali didn’t hesitate. “I think I’ll pick up Arie if she’s okay with that. No sense putting innocent in any extra danger.”

Makes sense, Wyatt thought as he nodded. “Be careful, Kal.” Wyatt sent a warning look at Gary before he headed out of the room with his brother.

Behind them Gary started dialing his home phone number.

Well, here's another refresher course. I'm going to post as many more chapters of this story as I have fixed the avatars for . . . which should be all of them. Enjoy.

---

Back at the manor Leo Wyatt was looking through the Book of Shadows. Nearby Piper had set up a table and was mixing potions.

Leo looked up from the book and watched his wife amused. “Didn’t you say you already gave them a potion to use?”

“Demons are back,” Piper reminded him, dryly. “We are waiting for our sons to call. I need something to fill the time, so I’m stockpiling.” At the sound of the phone ringing Piper looked over at the phone. She walked over to it and picked it up. Putting it to her ear she said, “Hello?”

On the other end Chris had Wyatt’s cell phone to his ear. “We have a name for you to look up.”

Piper raised an eyebrow. “Hello to you, too, Chris.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Chris replied at once contrite. “Things are getting more complicated.”

Piper excepted the apology for the moment. “Do you know what happened yet?”

“Actually, no,” Chris admitted, “but we do know who the source is.”

“The source of the demonic powers Kali’s boyfriend has?” Piper asked to confirm.

“Right,” her son agreed.

Piper walked over to where Leo stood by the book. “Okay, what’s the name?”

“Galskaper,” Chris repeated the name he had heard earlier.

Piper’s eyes widened and her lips formed a quirky smile. “Galskaper. Odd name.” She looked over her husband’s shoulder as he flipped through the book in search of the name of their latest demon.

---

On the other end of the phone Wyatt and Chris waited quietly in an unoccupied computer room. Wyatt sat at one of the computer stations, staring at the blank screen. “I think one of us should go with Kali to get Arie,” he said suddenly. “Kali is worried about Arie. I’m not so sure Kali can protect her from a demon attack.”

Chris looked at his brother and then at the phone in his hand. He sighed. “Do you want to talk to Mom or go with Kali?”

“Kali,” Wyatt replied without hesitation. I am so bored. If anything is going to happen right now it will happen there.

“Okay,” Chris agreed. “I’ll see you.”

Wyatt stood and walked out of the room.

---

Back at the manor, their parents had found the entry they wanted. Piper put the phone back to her ear. “Chris, still there?”

“I’m here,” her son replied from the other end. “Did you find something?”

“We found him,” Piper revealed.

“What does it say?”

Understanding her son’s impatience Piper started reading as Leo stepped out of the way. “Galskaper extracts powers from mortals and uses the mortals to assassinate both mortals and witches who pose a threat to either him or someone who hired him.”

“He’s for hire?” Chris asked, apprehensive.

“That’s what it say,” Piper confirmed. “Do you want me to keep reading?”

Chris considered this briefly before asking. “Does it say how to vanquish him?”

“No.” She didn’t even have to look. It was one of the first things she had checked.

“How to fix his victims?”

Piper skimmed the page. “No.”

Chris groaned. “Anything we can use?”

Piper skimmed the page again, looking for an answer to the new question. “His victims go crazy after they have killed their victims, often the guilt is a factor, but it’s also the power.”

Nice. As if it isn’t enough that we have to keep the demon away from both Gary, Mark, and their sisters, we have to get the power out of Gary or he’ll go crazy and no one knows how to do this. Chris snorted. No one said this would be easy. “Anything else?”

Even though he couldn’t see her, Piper nodded. “There is nothing here on how to defeat him, no potion, no spell. And the way it’s worded, I think the power actually comes from Kali’s boyfriend. Galskaper just brought it to the surface. You might try a stripping potion if the one I gave you doesn’t work.”

Chris frowned. “Are you saying the Gary is a demon?”

“No,” his mother denied, “definitely mortal, or human anyway, just power sensitive or something like that. Or maybe there is some sort of power in everyone, something they can’t use but is there.”

Chris scrunched up his nose. “If it’s there, they should be able to use it.”

“It’s a theory, son,” Piper reminded him.

Chris smiled.

When he said nothing, Piper tried again. “It’s also possible that their power is a combination of something in them and something in this demon.”

“I like that one better,” Chris decided. “Anything else?”

Piper rolled her eyes. “You can’t just pick a theory because you like it.”

Chris grinned. “Anything else I need to know?”

Piper flipped some pages. She stopped on the page about stripping potions. “Let me give you the stripping potion formula just in case.”

Chris got out some paper and a pen. “What do I need?”

Back at Mark’s apartment, the two siblings were setting up a circle of crystals. When the doorbell rang, Mark didn’t even look up. “Beth.”

“I know,” Beth mumbled, standing. “I know.” She walked out into the hallway and up to the door. She stood there for a moment, her eyes closed as she tried to distinguish between the different emotions she was feeling around her. Since none of them seemed to be animosity or a similar emotion, she opened the door slightly.

Chris and Gary stood there.

She’d never met him before, but she had seen him around sometimes when she came to visit her brother. She didn’t think he was in any of Mark’s classes, but she vaguely remembered seeing him with Kali, so she figured this must by Gary. Besides, Chris had called to warn them. “Are you sure bringing him is a good idea?”

“Best one we have at the moment,” Chris admitted. “Kali is worried that the demon will come after him. Do you have everything set up?”

Beth nodded, her eyes never leaving Gary.

Gary turned to Chris, uncomfortable by the scrutiny. “I said I would leave her brother alone. Is this really necessary?”

“Yes,” Chris insisted, “because you already attacked Mark once.”

Beth pulled the door opened the rest of the way, letting Chris and Gary in. She kept a wary eye on them as they walked toward the living room. “Mark, we’re coming.”

---

In the other room, Mark was standing, examining his and Beth’s handiwork with the crystals. At the sound of his sister’s voice he exhaled a long hard breath and looked up as the three entered. He eyed Gary warily.

Gary gulped as he looked Mark in the eye. Earlier, he hadn’t given himself time to do that, time to think about who Mark was or the fact that like him, Mark was a person. Ever since then he had been thinking of nothing but. Now, looking at Mark, he was utterly terrified, and so glad Kali had arrived when she had.

“Gary,” Chris voice brought Gary out of his thoughts, “step into the circle.”

“Why?” Gary asked, frowning at the circle of crystals. “It’s just some crystals. How’s that going to protect anyone?”

“Just get in there.” Chris’ voice didn’t leave room for argument.

Gary started toward the circle of crystals, almost on auto pilot. About halfway there he stopped and looked at Chris. “Arie . . .”

“Will be as safe as possible,” Chris assured. “I trust those two.” Chris smiled as if he found the statement amusing.

Gary sighed and walked into the center of the crystals. He stood there and waited. “Now, what?”

Chris exhaled and began to chant. “Demonic powers bound within, keep him safe and us from him. Two way lock, no one may break, until a counter said or safety we make.”

As Chris finished, a thin shimmer of light sprang up in a dome, vanishing as it topped out.

Gary reached up his hand, pulling it back quickly as soon as he touched the shield. “If pain is the object, it works.”

“Magical protection is the object,” Chris informed him.

“Exactly how long does this last?” Gary wanted to know as he looked down at the crystals, a new appreciation for mere crystals, growing by the second.

“Listen,” Chris avoided the question, “we need to deal with this demon. How do we get him here?”

“I don’t know,” Gary admitted. “He always came when he wanted to, when I was thinking of backing out.”

“Which means, he knows,” Chris stated looking at the young man.

“Maybe,” Gary gulped. The very thought was terrifying.

The sound of Wyatt’s phone ringing, prevented Chris from coming up with a response. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, opened it and put it to his ear. “Hello.”

Kali was on the other end in the backseat of Wyatt’s car with Arie. “Hey, Chris. We’re on our way back.”

“Is Gary’s sister okay?” Chris asked, looking over at Gary. “He keeps asking.”

Kali glanced at Arie next to her. “More okay than Gary. She’s a witch.”

Chris blinked in surprise. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Kali agreed, amused. “Anyway, we called their brother and told him to be careful. We also explained the situation to Arie’s mom and she’s going to stick with her husband. She wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of us taking Arie, until I mentioned Wyatt’s name. Then she was beyond thrilled.”

Chris scowled. “The curse of the twice blessed.”

Gary looked up speculatively.

“The promise of the Charmed actually,” Kali teased.

“Arg!” Chris groaned. “Worse!” A smile twitched on his lips and he laughed. “Any idea how soon you will get here?”

“A few minutes,” she informed him, looking out the window at the scenery. Winking at Arie, she added. “I just wanted to warm you that Arie is a little more combat ready than Mark and Beth. She may try to help.”

Arie gave her an annoyed look, but a her eyes laughed.

“How’d she get trained without Gary knowing? Or does he know?”

Gary looked at Chris questioningly.

Chris ignored Gary and listened to Kali’s response.

“Martial arts classes among other things, but no, Gary doesn’t know . . . yet. How are things on your end?”

Chris snorted. “Except that we have no idea how to get this guy here, we’re fine.”

“All right,” Kali grinned, “I’ll see you in a few minutes. Bye.”

“Bye,” Chris replied before hanging up.

Kali hung up, too, and turned to Arie. She had a mind to find out more about this unusual girl.

---

Back in San Francisco, a familiar warlock was sitting in his den. The room was immaculate, not a think out of place except for a crayon drawing taped to the side of a computer PCU. The drawing bore a vague resemblance to the warlock. It was signed only with a “D” in the bottom right corner.

The keyboard had been moved and in the space left behind was a large bowl with an image of Chris hanging up the phone on it. The warlock looked at the image thoughtfully. “Interesting.”

Who is Kali thinking of?

---

Sometime later they were no closer to a solution and some of them were getting frustrated. It just seemed like they were getting nowhere.

Chris was sitting on the couch. His head was slumped against the back with his eyes rolled up at the ceiling.

Wyatt was standing a few feet from him next to where Gary still stood in the circle of crystals. He had a scowl on his face.

Kali was still by the door frame. She didn’t want to get in the way, but standing motionless was beginning to get to her.

Mark and Beth were still against the wall. Beth looked about ready to make a break for it, but she stayed put for her brother’s sake. It was kind of nice to feel that her older brother needed her.

Arie had given up all pretence of interest in their efforts. She was still seated at the computer desk, but she had turned around more than twenty minutes before and was on the internet.

There was a neat pile of crumpled papers on the floor ripped, one by one, out of Chris notepad. The notepad itself sat on the couch next to Chris.

“Well, that was a waste of time.”

Wyatt looked at his brother. “At least we know why there’s no summoning in the Book. He can’t be summoned.”

Arie twirled around in her computer chair. “I think he can. Take a look.”

Willing to do anything at that moment so long as it ended in action, Chris stood and walked over to the computer, his brother close at his feet. “What is it?”

“It’s an excerpt from a book, The Crazy Maker,” she told them pointing at the screen. “I looked it up; that is, loosely translated, what Galskaper means.”

Looking over her shoulder, Wyatt began to read aloud. “I fought him hard, but it was as if with every passing second he impressed more of his will on me until I submitted to him. Three hours later a man was dead. I’ll not give you the details; the horror of the matter grips me. I see no need to torment anyone else.” Wyatt turned around and looked at Gary.

Gary shivered and turned his head to look at Mark who, if not for Kali, would have been dead at Gary’s hand. He could well understand the man’s thoughts.

Mark met his eyes with a sigh. For once he met them and held them, willing to look his attacker in the eye.

Wyatt looked back at the computer. “I scream for him, but where he would come before every time I had doubts, now he ignores my pleas, making me a little more crazy. The man’s face drives me insane as he asks over and over, again, ‘why?” I want now only to end this, but before I do I want to give someone a fighting chance against this monster, this demon who plagues me.” Wyatt stopped and looked at Arie. “I don’t see anything about calling him.”

Arie scrolled down the page. “Read here.”

Wyatt took in a deep breath and began reading, again. “After numerous attempts I finally succeeded in getting him there, but in the most peculiar of ways. A neighbor came over to ask to borrow something, what is not relevant. While I was in the kitchen he noticed my notes. When I came back he asked about it. He wanted to know what the name went with. I explained and to my surprise he seemed to understand better than I. He explained that he had a magical background, but less magical power than I had at present. In fact until a few years prior he had thought the magic of his people a myth. The new leader of his tribe, that’s what he called them, a tribe, had been like him. Then, attacks on them had forced her not only into a leadership position, but also into a belief in magic.”

As Wyatt read Kali’s eyes grew wide. She walked over to the computer, standing silently behind Wyatt. Oh, my word. Is that what I think it is?

Not noticing Kali, Wyatt kept reading. “He asked if I would like him to try and call the monster, demon he called him. I said I would. He got out some paper and a pen and wrote something down. He folded the paper. Then, he asked for a candle. He lit the candle, said some words, and holding the paper above the candle he watched it burn. Then, he looked at me. He told me to try, again. He stepped out of the way and I tried to call the monster. This time he came.”

“I know this story,” Kali informed all of them, suddenly.

Wyatt stopped and looked at her. The eyes of the others in the room turned to her as well. It was Wyatt who spoke. “You mean you can guess how it ends.”

Kali shook her head. “No, I know the story, how it begins, how it ends, stuff not in the book. I know the story.” When Chris started to say something she shook her head. “I explain later. I know how to get him summoned.”

“We don’t know what he wrote on the paper or what he said,” Chris protested.

Kali picked up the notepad from the couch. She scribbled some words on the pad and handed it to Chris. “Yes, we do.”

Chris looked down and silently read the words on the pad. It read, “Eternally cursed by Dudarova word, allow this victim’s summons heard.” Chris frowned as he looked up. “By who’s word?”

“The gypsy who helped the man,” Kali informed him simply.

“How do you . . ?” Chris trailed off, at a loss.

“A candle please,” Kali requested, focusing only on the task at hand. Please, Chris. I can’t answer that. I just can’t. Some things hurt too much to share, even as long as I have known you.

Mark left the room, glad for something to do.

“You know this man,” Chris accused.

“No,” Kali replied with a sad shake of her head. “He died before I was born, only a few months after this.”

“But he did know your mom,” Chris pressed. “She’s the leader he mentioned there. Isn’t she?”

Kali nodded, her words almost a whisper. “Yes.”

Mark returned to the room then. He had a candle in hand. “Will this work?”

Kali nodded and took the candle from him. “Thanks. Did you bring matches? I forgot about them.”

Mark held out his other hand and grinned. “Anything else?”

Kali grinned back, taking the matches, and shook her head. She put the candle and the matches on the computer desk. She walked over to where Chris stood. “May I have the paper back?”

Chris ripped the paper she wrote on off the pad and handed it to her. “Sure.”

Taking the paper in hand, Kali began to fold it.

“I don’t much care for doing nothing,” Wyatt comment as he watched her.

Kali looked up, a haunted look in her eyes. “Oh, you won’t be. I only know how to get him here. I don’t know how to vanquish him. No one does.”

Mark sighed and headed back out of the room.

Wyatt nodded satisfied. He didn’t like the fact that no one knew how to defeat the demon, but he did like the fact that he wasn’t going to have to stand by and do nothing.

Kali turned to Arie. “Would you mind holding the candle so I can light it?”

Arie picked up the candle and held it up steady. She waited restless.

Kali took out a match and struck it against the edge of the box. She brought the lit match to the candle and watched the candle catch fire. She blew out the match and used the other hand to pick up the folded piece of paper. She held the paper over the candle, allowing it to catch fire. In a whispered voice she said, “Eternally cursed by Dudarova word, allow this victim’s summons heard.”

Mark returned to the room with a small metal dish. Wordlessly he placed it on his computer desk.

Kali looked at him with a grin before she dropped the burning paper and the spent match into the dish. Her voice still a whisper she said, “Thanks.”

Whispering back, Mark asked, “Why are we whispering?”

A frown covered her lips, but she spoke in a normal voice. “I don’t know. It seems like a silence moment.”

No one said a word as the paper slowly stopped burning, leaving only ashes remaining.

Kali looked up at Gary. “Try now.”