Post by adzpower on Aug 30, 2016 10:49:35 GMT -5
Charmed Reborn Chapter Five: “South Bay Social Services”
“I really, REALLY appreciate the offer Mr Corso but I’m just not sure I can do this right now” Prue said sadly.
“Ms Halliwell, Prue. I can see you struggling with some kind of inner turmoil here, let me tell you, the only thing stopping you from doing this, is you”.
“In 48 hours I expect to see you on that plane, got it?” he said with finality.
“Ok” Prue found herself saying.
She had been offered an amazing opportunity to go and take photos at some minor royal wedding in England, apparently the Lady whateverhernamewas saw the shoot she’d done on the bridal dresses and wanted her to take the snaps for her wedding, it would be great international promotion for the magazine and her boss wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Now she had to break the news to her sisters, she was sure they’d be ok with it, but things had been pretty chaotic lately, she didn’t want to just up and leave if it meant leaving them in the lurch.
“Are you crazy?!” Piper exploded.
“We’ve got evil demons crawling out of our asses right now, we just got Cole and Phoebe back and you want to leave?”
“I don’t see why it’s a big deal” Leo piped up.
Piper whirled round at her husband, of course he’d side with anyone other than her today, they had had another argument last night about binding their future child’s powers.
Leo shrugged.
Piper grimaced and turned back round to face Prue.
“I just mean, this couldn’t have come at a worse time” she continued.
“Don’t you think I know that Piper?” Prue asked.
“I know this is sucky timing, but this is a huge opportunity for me, we can’t be all magic all the time”. Prue tried to explain.
“That’s rich considering how hell bent you were on taking down evil last year” Piper quipped.
Prue nodded slowly, “I know that last year was hectic, and maybe I got a tad obsessed”.
“HA!” Piper yelped.
“Ok, maybe a LOT obsessed, but I was just trying to protect us and it’s not like I’ll be gone for long, just a couple of days, and if you need me Cole can shimmer, Leo can orb, heck I could just astral project, I haven’t tried it from that far away before but it should work right?” Prue aimed the last question at Leo.
“It should” he agreed.
Piper rolled her eyes.
“Fine, guess I’ll have to break the news to Phoebe” Piper said as she began to climb the stairs.
She knocked on Phoebe’s door and let herself in.
“Oh My God Piper!” Phoebe yelled as her and Cole dived under the covers.
Piper averted her eyes.
“Damn, now I know why Prue finds this so funny” she said barely able to hide her giggling.
“Anyways, I need to talk to you, like now” she said as she turned her head to Cole and made a get the hell out gesture.
“I guess that’s my cue” he said as he shimmered out.
Phoebe turned her head to Piper, clearly annoyed.
“Well?” she demanded.
Piper explained the conversation she had just had with Prue, completely expecting Phoebe to agree with her.
Phoebe shrugged, “So what, just let the bitch go” she said nonchalantly.
“You two have a falling out?” Piper asked tentatively.
Phoebe shook her head and seemed to compose herself.
“Huh, I don’t know why I said that”.
“We all get off days Phoebs” Piper said.
“Yeah but I didn’t even want to say that”.
Piper and Phoebe stared at each other for a few seconds.
“Well, I guess I’ll tell Prue you’re ok with it?”
“Sure, she has my blessing, it’s not for another couple days yet anyway right?”
“Right” Piper agreed.
As soon as Piper shut the bedroom door she heard the sounds of laughter and glee erupt from Phoebe’s room, Cole must have shimmered back in.
She was worried. Phoebe hadn’t seemed like herself recently, I guess she’s still stressed from being held captive for too long. It’s only natural she thought as she made her way downstairs to talk to Prue.
A couple hours later Phoebe left Cole in bed and made her way downstairs to get something to eat, she was happier than she’d felt in weeks. But something was still off, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, it’s like she had Tourette’s syndrome, and she kept saying and doing things rashly, without thinking.
She walked into the kitchen to find Piper making some lunch.
“Want a sandwich?” she asked as Phoebe walked in.
“Sure, what’s in it?
“Chicken, figured you could use the protein for stamina” Piper said sarcastically.
Phoebe rolled her eyes.
“Ha-ha Piper, very funny, now gimme” she pointed to the sandwich.
Phoebe noticed the TV on behind Piper, “Anything good?”
“Nah, well there was a story about a fire downtown but that’s about it” Piper summarized.
Just as Piper finished talking the story about the fire popped up again, Phoebe looked up at the screen and noticed a picture of a little blond boy who had lived at the burnt down house and was currently missing.
She grabbed the edge of the table top as she was thrown into a premonition, in it she saw the little boy, running down an ally and being confronted by a male and a female demon, they pointed their hands at him and he froze, literally in ice, the vision zoomed out to show a building, “South Bay Social Services” right by the alley.
Phoebe came back out of the vision and looked immediately to Piper who had realised what Phoebe had been experiencing, after all this time they all recognised the signs.
“Well?” Piper asked.
“I saw a little boy, that little boy” Phoebe said as she pointed at the TV screen.
“He was outside a social services building, being attacked by demons”.
“Then we gotta get their fast”.
The girls threw on jackets and ran to the front door.
“I’ll call Prue in the car” Phoebe said.
They didn’t get far however as someone was already waiting on the front porch.
“Ladies” the man said.
“Uh, can we help you?” Piper asked.
The man fumbled in his jacket pocket before pulling out a badge, he held it up to them which told them that he was Inspector Cortez.
“We’ve met before…” he said.
“Oh, of course, inspector! I’m so sorry, it’s been so long” Piper said sheepishly.
She HAD met him before, she’d just forgotten, this had been the officer who had interviewed her and Prue after the death of Dr Griffiths.
“Uh, can this wait cos we’re kind of in a hurry” Phoebe said.
“I’m sorry it can’t, your friend Morris has kept me away for as long as he can but not anymore, something fishy is going on here and I’m gonna find out what” he finished.
“I don’t believe we’ve met” he said looking at Phoebe.
“Nope, I’ve been out of town for a while, but got back recently”.
“Uh-huh, convenient”.
Piper glared at him, “Well like my sister said, we really are in a hurry, so unless you have a warrant?” she asked.
The Inspector looked annoyed, “I will have”.
And with that he walked off back to his car.
“I forget Prue said this guy might be trying to get us” Piper whispered.
“Get us for what?” Phoebe wondered.
“That’s what I’m afraid of”.
Prue had just gotten off the phone with Phoebe, she had had a vision of a little boy being attacked by demons, she hated it when it was kids, adults she could handle, but children were usually even more innocent, luckily she wasn’t far from the social services and had quickly called Darryl to meet her there just in case she needed his help to cut through red tape.
As she pulled into the parking lot she saw that Darryl was already waiting by his car, she pulled up next to him.
“Thanks for meeting me here Darryl” she said as she grabbed her bag and got out.
“No worries, I was about 20 miles from the neighbourhood anyway” he laughed.
Prue giggled, there was something about Darryl that she found so reassuring, he just that kind of voice that you could use and convince anyone of anything, he should do audio books she thought as they made their way to the entrance of the social services.
They approached the reception desk and were met with a very smiley secretary.
“How can I help you?” she asked politely.
Prue nudged Darryl to speak first.
“We were wondering if you had seen a little kid today, a boy with blonde hair?” he asked.
“And you are?”
Darryl held out his bade to show her. She flushed.
“Oh, Inspector, I’m so sorry, yes we have had a boy like that come in today, he’s just being interviewed now by Mr Cowan, I can take you through…”she started to say before noticing Prue.
“Oh, she’s with me, junior Inspector” he added as they walked through reception.
Prue shot daggers with her eyes into the back of Darry’s head.
Junior my ass she thought.
The secretary walked them up to an office and started to knock before the door was thrown wide open and a tall brunette woman walked out, she looked angry.
“I don’t think you should have called his parents” the woman said.
The man who could only have been Mr Cowan replied “Well luckily it’s not up to you, you’re just an assistant, so do your job and assist me ok?”
The woman began to storm off to a room in the back.
“And Ms Matthews, have those photocopies on my desk by 3”.
Prue could tell the woman had heard by the resounding echo of a slammed door in the back somewhere.
The woman seemed kind of familiar Prue thought as she walked into the office with Darryl.
“Hello Mr Cowan I’m Inspector Morris with the SFPD and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the young boy who was bought in today”.
“Well there’s not much to tell really, you saw the news report?” he asked the duo.
They both nodded.
“Well that’s all he’s been willing to tell us as well, that and his name”.
“Which is?” Prue asked.
“Tyler” Mr Cowan replied.
“Would it be ok if I talked to him?”
“I don’t see why not, his foster parents should be here soon”.
Prue nodded and walked out the office leaving Darryl to question the social worker.
She walked out and located the boy in an empty office to the left, she knocked on the door.
“Can I come in?”
The boy looked up, he looked so sad she thought.
“Sure” he glumly responded.
“Are you another social worker?” he looked wary.
“Nope, just someone who may be able to help?”
Tyler looked her in the eyes and nodded.
“You look trustworthy” he said, smiling.
“Well thanks, so do you” Prue said.
“Can I ask what happened to you earlier?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” he said.
“Try me”.
Just at that moment two people came running past reception.
“Has anyone seen our son?” the man asked.
Prue noticed Tyler shrinking back, like he was trying to make himself invisible.
Mr Cowan walked out his office, Darryl in tow.
“Ah, Mr and Mrs Michaels, thanks for coming, this way” he pointed at the office Prue and Tyler were in.
“Oh Tyler thank goodness!” the woman shrieked.
“We were so worried after the fire, but you’re ok?” she asked.
Tyler nodded. Moving back a little to stand beside Prue.
She had a bad feeling about these two.
“Well, I’m glad that’s all taken care of” Mr Cowan said.
“We’ll take our son now yes?” the man said.
“Oh, I’m Stephen by the way, and this is my wife Annette”.
Annette smiled and nodded.
“Uh, ok” Darryl said, unsure.
“Can you drop by the station later just so I can ask you a couple questions?” he asked.
“Oh of course” Annette said.
“We’re just happy to have Tyler back”.
“Come on sweetie” Annette said, her voice so sickly sweet it made Prue cringe.
Tyler looked at Prue for help but his foster parents virtually lifted him off the floor they were dragging him so hard.
Prue and Darryl made their way back to the front desk.
“There’s something off about them” a voice said behind them.
Prue turned around, it was the pretty brunette woman from earlier, now that Prue was so close she could make out her features better, she was gorgeous, milky white skin and bright red lips, like an old 50’s style actress.
“What do you mean?” Prue asked.
“I don’t know exactly, I just get a vibe”.
“A vibe?” Darryl questioned.
“Yeah, like they aren’t telling the truth” the girl said.
“Ms Matthews was it?” Darryl asked.
The girl nodded.
Darryl turned to Prue, “I gotta get back to the station, you gonna be ok?”
“Sure, thanks for your help Darryl” Prue grabbed Darry’s arm in affection and let go.
She turned back around to talk to the girl some more but she was gone.
Prue shrugged and walked towards the entrance. She opened the door and almost collided with Piper and Phoebe.
“Did you see him?” Piper asked.
“Yeah, we had a talk, he seemed ok, a bit shaken but that’s all”.
“Who wouldn’t be?” Phoebe stated.
“I dunno though, there was something off about his parents, my instincts are telling me we should follow them” Prue said.
“Wait a minute, what did his parents look like, a brunette male and a blonde female?” Phoebe questioned hurriedly.
“Yeah exactly that” Prue said.
“Oh no” Prue continued as she realised.
The sisters, led by Phoebe ran out the entrance and down into the alley on the left, Phoebe got there first and to her horror saw that her vision had already come true, the boy was on the floor, frozen in ice. His parents standing over him.
Phoebe got straight to action, she levitated into the air and kicked the man in the face knocking him to the ground.
Prue waved her arm and sent Annette flying into a dumpster.
Piper got to Tyler, “Leo?” she yelled.
“You’re gonna be ok sweetie” she whispered.
Leo appeared in a flurry of orbs.
“What is it?” he asked.
“That!” Piper yelled as she pointed behind him.
Leo whirled around as Stephen and Annette got to their feet. Without hesitating he bent down at Tyler’s side.
“You two gonna be ok?” he asked Phoebe and Prue.
They both nodded as Leo orbed himself, Piper and Tyler out the alley.
Prue raised her arm to throw the demons back again but it was too late, they shimmered away.
“Damn it” Phoebe sighed.
Prue grabbed Phoebe’s hand, Phoebe recoiled and threw Prue out her way.
“Hey, what was that for?” Prue snarled.
Phoebe felt her hand. Unsure of what just happened.
“I’m sorry, I was surprised is all, let’s go?” she offered her hand back to Prue and the two ran back to the parking lot.
“I’ll meet you at home?” Prue asked as she got into her car.
“Absolutely” Phoebe answered as she got into Piper’s.
“What’s going on?” Cole said as he shimmered into the living room.
Piper was standing over the sofa, whilst Leo was attempting to heal a young boy, it was working. The ice melted away and he sat up.
“Where am I? What am I doing here?” he said, clearly frightened.
Piper tried to console him, “Its ok, Tyler, were here to help you that’s all”.
“Ahh, my head” he said as he rubbed his temples, at that exact moment the grandfather clock went up in flames.
“Huh?” Piper said as she ran to the kitchen to get the extinguisher.
After putting out the fire she sat down on the sofa.
“Whew, now what the hell was that?”
“I think…it was me” the boy said as he hung his head.
“This keeps happening to me, I get scared or upset and stuff catches fire, I can’t control it”.
“A Firestarter”, “That’s rare” Cole said
“A what now?” Piper asked.
“They’re rare magical creatures who can create and control fire” Leo chipped in.
“Uh-huh” Piper said.
“So now what?” she asked Leo.
“We wait for Prue and Phoebe, they may have vanquished the demons by now” he replied.
“You mean my foster parents don’t you?” Tyler wondered.
“They’re demons like me aren’t they?”
“Oh you’re not a demon” Cole interjected.
“Take it from someone who has first-hand experience with that, a Firestarter is a being of good magic usually”.
“Exactly” Piper said, “It’s how you use the power that determines whether you’re good or not”.
The door slammed open as Prue and Phoebe ran in, looking very out of breath.
Piper raised her eyebrows, “Well?” she asked.
“No dice” Phoebe said.
“They got away” Prue finished.
“No we didn’t” a voice said from behind them.
They had left the front door wide open, Stephen and Annette were there peering inside.
“We’ll be taking our bounty now thank you” Annette said as she entered.
“Firestarter’s are usually taken at a young age and trained to be bodyguards of The Source” Cole said quickly.
“Like hell they are” Prue said.
Before she could even lift her hand Annette, lightning quick threw an energy ball at her and sent her flying into Cole.
Phoebe ran forward and kicked her in the stomach. But Stephen shot a lightning bolt at her sending her threw the bannister and onto the stairs.
“Phoebe!” Piper yelled.
She threw up her hands and tried to freeze them, but it only lasted seconds, they must be upper level demons she thought.
“Don’t hurt them, they’re good people!” Tyler shouted.
“Shut up boy and do as you’re told” Annette said spitefully.
Tyler grabbed his head and aimed at the two demons, they screamed as they caught fire and exploded into a million particles of ash.
“Whoa” Piper said.
“No wonder The Source wants you” she continued.
“Everyone ok?” she asked.
They all nodded as they got to their feet.
“I think I figured out how they found us” Prue said.
“How?” Phoebe asked, coming down the stairs slowly.
“Him” Prue replied pointing at Tyler.
“Or, at least, his power”.
“Think about it, they had no idea where we lived, I don’t think we were followed”.
“It makes sense” Cole said.
“If they were bounty hunters they’d have put trackers on his powers”.
“Then you know what we have to do” Leo said.
Piper sighed, this was like some nasty karmic prank making her bind a child’s powers when she was having that same argument with Leo over their future child.
A day later and Darryl had come to pick Tyler up to take him back to the social services, his powers bound, he was off to a better life Prue thought, no demons after him and hopefully a loving family.
She dashed through the airport, worried about missing her flight. Phoebe and Piper had insisted that they would be fine for a few days without her, so she couldn’t really say no, she handed her ticket and passport over and boarded her plane, it rose quickly into the sunlight and almost 12 hours later she touched down at Heathrow airport, ready for sunny England.
“Oh” she said as she stepped off the plane into the torrential rain.
End of Chapter Five, stay tuned for Chapter Six: “When in London”.
“I really, REALLY appreciate the offer Mr Corso but I’m just not sure I can do this right now” Prue said sadly.
“Ms Halliwell, Prue. I can see you struggling with some kind of inner turmoil here, let me tell you, the only thing stopping you from doing this, is you”.
“In 48 hours I expect to see you on that plane, got it?” he said with finality.
“Ok” Prue found herself saying.
She had been offered an amazing opportunity to go and take photos at some minor royal wedding in England, apparently the Lady whateverhernamewas saw the shoot she’d done on the bridal dresses and wanted her to take the snaps for her wedding, it would be great international promotion for the magazine and her boss wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Now she had to break the news to her sisters, she was sure they’d be ok with it, but things had been pretty chaotic lately, she didn’t want to just up and leave if it meant leaving them in the lurch.
“Are you crazy?!” Piper exploded.
“We’ve got evil demons crawling out of our asses right now, we just got Cole and Phoebe back and you want to leave?”
“I don’t see why it’s a big deal” Leo piped up.
Piper whirled round at her husband, of course he’d side with anyone other than her today, they had had another argument last night about binding their future child’s powers.
Leo shrugged.
Piper grimaced and turned back round to face Prue.
“I just mean, this couldn’t have come at a worse time” she continued.
“Don’t you think I know that Piper?” Prue asked.
“I know this is sucky timing, but this is a huge opportunity for me, we can’t be all magic all the time”. Prue tried to explain.
“That’s rich considering how hell bent you were on taking down evil last year” Piper quipped.
Prue nodded slowly, “I know that last year was hectic, and maybe I got a tad obsessed”.
“HA!” Piper yelped.
“Ok, maybe a LOT obsessed, but I was just trying to protect us and it’s not like I’ll be gone for long, just a couple of days, and if you need me Cole can shimmer, Leo can orb, heck I could just astral project, I haven’t tried it from that far away before but it should work right?” Prue aimed the last question at Leo.
“It should” he agreed.
Piper rolled her eyes.
“Fine, guess I’ll have to break the news to Phoebe” Piper said as she began to climb the stairs.
She knocked on Phoebe’s door and let herself in.
“Oh My God Piper!” Phoebe yelled as her and Cole dived under the covers.
Piper averted her eyes.
“Damn, now I know why Prue finds this so funny” she said barely able to hide her giggling.
“Anyways, I need to talk to you, like now” she said as she turned her head to Cole and made a get the hell out gesture.
“I guess that’s my cue” he said as he shimmered out.
Phoebe turned her head to Piper, clearly annoyed.
“Well?” she demanded.
Piper explained the conversation she had just had with Prue, completely expecting Phoebe to agree with her.
Phoebe shrugged, “So what, just let the bitch go” she said nonchalantly.
“You two have a falling out?” Piper asked tentatively.
Phoebe shook her head and seemed to compose herself.
“Huh, I don’t know why I said that”.
“We all get off days Phoebs” Piper said.
“Yeah but I didn’t even want to say that”.
Piper and Phoebe stared at each other for a few seconds.
“Well, I guess I’ll tell Prue you’re ok with it?”
“Sure, she has my blessing, it’s not for another couple days yet anyway right?”
“Right” Piper agreed.
As soon as Piper shut the bedroom door she heard the sounds of laughter and glee erupt from Phoebe’s room, Cole must have shimmered back in.
She was worried. Phoebe hadn’t seemed like herself recently, I guess she’s still stressed from being held captive for too long. It’s only natural she thought as she made her way downstairs to talk to Prue.
A couple hours later Phoebe left Cole in bed and made her way downstairs to get something to eat, she was happier than she’d felt in weeks. But something was still off, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, it’s like she had Tourette’s syndrome, and she kept saying and doing things rashly, without thinking.
She walked into the kitchen to find Piper making some lunch.
“Want a sandwich?” she asked as Phoebe walked in.
“Sure, what’s in it?
“Chicken, figured you could use the protein for stamina” Piper said sarcastically.
Phoebe rolled her eyes.
“Ha-ha Piper, very funny, now gimme” she pointed to the sandwich.
Phoebe noticed the TV on behind Piper, “Anything good?”
“Nah, well there was a story about a fire downtown but that’s about it” Piper summarized.
Just as Piper finished talking the story about the fire popped up again, Phoebe looked up at the screen and noticed a picture of a little blond boy who had lived at the burnt down house and was currently missing.
She grabbed the edge of the table top as she was thrown into a premonition, in it she saw the little boy, running down an ally and being confronted by a male and a female demon, they pointed their hands at him and he froze, literally in ice, the vision zoomed out to show a building, “South Bay Social Services” right by the alley.
Phoebe came back out of the vision and looked immediately to Piper who had realised what Phoebe had been experiencing, after all this time they all recognised the signs.
“Well?” Piper asked.
“I saw a little boy, that little boy” Phoebe said as she pointed at the TV screen.
“He was outside a social services building, being attacked by demons”.
“Then we gotta get their fast”.
The girls threw on jackets and ran to the front door.
“I’ll call Prue in the car” Phoebe said.
They didn’t get far however as someone was already waiting on the front porch.
“Ladies” the man said.
“Uh, can we help you?” Piper asked.
The man fumbled in his jacket pocket before pulling out a badge, he held it up to them which told them that he was Inspector Cortez.
“We’ve met before…” he said.
“Oh, of course, inspector! I’m so sorry, it’s been so long” Piper said sheepishly.
She HAD met him before, she’d just forgotten, this had been the officer who had interviewed her and Prue after the death of Dr Griffiths.
“Uh, can this wait cos we’re kind of in a hurry” Phoebe said.
“I’m sorry it can’t, your friend Morris has kept me away for as long as he can but not anymore, something fishy is going on here and I’m gonna find out what” he finished.
“I don’t believe we’ve met” he said looking at Phoebe.
“Nope, I’ve been out of town for a while, but got back recently”.
“Uh-huh, convenient”.
Piper glared at him, “Well like my sister said, we really are in a hurry, so unless you have a warrant?” she asked.
The Inspector looked annoyed, “I will have”.
And with that he walked off back to his car.
“I forget Prue said this guy might be trying to get us” Piper whispered.
“Get us for what?” Phoebe wondered.
“That’s what I’m afraid of”.
Prue had just gotten off the phone with Phoebe, she had had a vision of a little boy being attacked by demons, she hated it when it was kids, adults she could handle, but children were usually even more innocent, luckily she wasn’t far from the social services and had quickly called Darryl to meet her there just in case she needed his help to cut through red tape.
As she pulled into the parking lot she saw that Darryl was already waiting by his car, she pulled up next to him.
“Thanks for meeting me here Darryl” she said as she grabbed her bag and got out.
“No worries, I was about 20 miles from the neighbourhood anyway” he laughed.
Prue giggled, there was something about Darryl that she found so reassuring, he just that kind of voice that you could use and convince anyone of anything, he should do audio books she thought as they made their way to the entrance of the social services.
They approached the reception desk and were met with a very smiley secretary.
“How can I help you?” she asked politely.
Prue nudged Darryl to speak first.
“We were wondering if you had seen a little kid today, a boy with blonde hair?” he asked.
“And you are?”
Darryl held out his bade to show her. She flushed.
“Oh, Inspector, I’m so sorry, yes we have had a boy like that come in today, he’s just being interviewed now by Mr Cowan, I can take you through…”she started to say before noticing Prue.
“Oh, she’s with me, junior Inspector” he added as they walked through reception.
Prue shot daggers with her eyes into the back of Darry’s head.
Junior my ass she thought.
The secretary walked them up to an office and started to knock before the door was thrown wide open and a tall brunette woman walked out, she looked angry.
“I don’t think you should have called his parents” the woman said.
The man who could only have been Mr Cowan replied “Well luckily it’s not up to you, you’re just an assistant, so do your job and assist me ok?”
The woman began to storm off to a room in the back.
“And Ms Matthews, have those photocopies on my desk by 3”.
Prue could tell the woman had heard by the resounding echo of a slammed door in the back somewhere.
The woman seemed kind of familiar Prue thought as she walked into the office with Darryl.
“Hello Mr Cowan I’m Inspector Morris with the SFPD and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the young boy who was bought in today”.
“Well there’s not much to tell really, you saw the news report?” he asked the duo.
They both nodded.
“Well that’s all he’s been willing to tell us as well, that and his name”.
“Which is?” Prue asked.
“Tyler” Mr Cowan replied.
“Would it be ok if I talked to him?”
“I don’t see why not, his foster parents should be here soon”.
Prue nodded and walked out the office leaving Darryl to question the social worker.
She walked out and located the boy in an empty office to the left, she knocked on the door.
“Can I come in?”
The boy looked up, he looked so sad she thought.
“Sure” he glumly responded.
“Are you another social worker?” he looked wary.
“Nope, just someone who may be able to help?”
Tyler looked her in the eyes and nodded.
“You look trustworthy” he said, smiling.
“Well thanks, so do you” Prue said.
“Can I ask what happened to you earlier?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” he said.
“Try me”.
Just at that moment two people came running past reception.
“Has anyone seen our son?” the man asked.
Prue noticed Tyler shrinking back, like he was trying to make himself invisible.
Mr Cowan walked out his office, Darryl in tow.
“Ah, Mr and Mrs Michaels, thanks for coming, this way” he pointed at the office Prue and Tyler were in.
“Oh Tyler thank goodness!” the woman shrieked.
“We were so worried after the fire, but you’re ok?” she asked.
Tyler nodded. Moving back a little to stand beside Prue.
She had a bad feeling about these two.
“Well, I’m glad that’s all taken care of” Mr Cowan said.
“We’ll take our son now yes?” the man said.
“Oh, I’m Stephen by the way, and this is my wife Annette”.
Annette smiled and nodded.
“Uh, ok” Darryl said, unsure.
“Can you drop by the station later just so I can ask you a couple questions?” he asked.
“Oh of course” Annette said.
“We’re just happy to have Tyler back”.
“Come on sweetie” Annette said, her voice so sickly sweet it made Prue cringe.
Tyler looked at Prue for help but his foster parents virtually lifted him off the floor they were dragging him so hard.
Prue and Darryl made their way back to the front desk.
“There’s something off about them” a voice said behind them.
Prue turned around, it was the pretty brunette woman from earlier, now that Prue was so close she could make out her features better, she was gorgeous, milky white skin and bright red lips, like an old 50’s style actress.
“What do you mean?” Prue asked.
“I don’t know exactly, I just get a vibe”.
“A vibe?” Darryl questioned.
“Yeah, like they aren’t telling the truth” the girl said.
“Ms Matthews was it?” Darryl asked.
The girl nodded.
Darryl turned to Prue, “I gotta get back to the station, you gonna be ok?”
“Sure, thanks for your help Darryl” Prue grabbed Darry’s arm in affection and let go.
She turned back around to talk to the girl some more but she was gone.
Prue shrugged and walked towards the entrance. She opened the door and almost collided with Piper and Phoebe.
“Did you see him?” Piper asked.
“Yeah, we had a talk, he seemed ok, a bit shaken but that’s all”.
“Who wouldn’t be?” Phoebe stated.
“I dunno though, there was something off about his parents, my instincts are telling me we should follow them” Prue said.
“Wait a minute, what did his parents look like, a brunette male and a blonde female?” Phoebe questioned hurriedly.
“Yeah exactly that” Prue said.
“Oh no” Prue continued as she realised.
The sisters, led by Phoebe ran out the entrance and down into the alley on the left, Phoebe got there first and to her horror saw that her vision had already come true, the boy was on the floor, frozen in ice. His parents standing over him.
Phoebe got straight to action, she levitated into the air and kicked the man in the face knocking him to the ground.
Prue waved her arm and sent Annette flying into a dumpster.
Piper got to Tyler, “Leo?” she yelled.
“You’re gonna be ok sweetie” she whispered.
Leo appeared in a flurry of orbs.
“What is it?” he asked.
“That!” Piper yelled as she pointed behind him.
Leo whirled around as Stephen and Annette got to their feet. Without hesitating he bent down at Tyler’s side.
“You two gonna be ok?” he asked Phoebe and Prue.
They both nodded as Leo orbed himself, Piper and Tyler out the alley.
Prue raised her arm to throw the demons back again but it was too late, they shimmered away.
“Damn it” Phoebe sighed.
Prue grabbed Phoebe’s hand, Phoebe recoiled and threw Prue out her way.
“Hey, what was that for?” Prue snarled.
Phoebe felt her hand. Unsure of what just happened.
“I’m sorry, I was surprised is all, let’s go?” she offered her hand back to Prue and the two ran back to the parking lot.
“I’ll meet you at home?” Prue asked as she got into her car.
“Absolutely” Phoebe answered as she got into Piper’s.
“What’s going on?” Cole said as he shimmered into the living room.
Piper was standing over the sofa, whilst Leo was attempting to heal a young boy, it was working. The ice melted away and he sat up.
“Where am I? What am I doing here?” he said, clearly frightened.
Piper tried to console him, “Its ok, Tyler, were here to help you that’s all”.
“Ahh, my head” he said as he rubbed his temples, at that exact moment the grandfather clock went up in flames.
“Huh?” Piper said as she ran to the kitchen to get the extinguisher.
After putting out the fire she sat down on the sofa.
“Whew, now what the hell was that?”
“I think…it was me” the boy said as he hung his head.
“This keeps happening to me, I get scared or upset and stuff catches fire, I can’t control it”.
“A Firestarter”, “That’s rare” Cole said
“A what now?” Piper asked.
“They’re rare magical creatures who can create and control fire” Leo chipped in.
“Uh-huh” Piper said.
“So now what?” she asked Leo.
“We wait for Prue and Phoebe, they may have vanquished the demons by now” he replied.
“You mean my foster parents don’t you?” Tyler wondered.
“They’re demons like me aren’t they?”
“Oh you’re not a demon” Cole interjected.
“Take it from someone who has first-hand experience with that, a Firestarter is a being of good magic usually”.
“Exactly” Piper said, “It’s how you use the power that determines whether you’re good or not”.
The door slammed open as Prue and Phoebe ran in, looking very out of breath.
Piper raised her eyebrows, “Well?” she asked.
“No dice” Phoebe said.
“They got away” Prue finished.
“No we didn’t” a voice said from behind them.
They had left the front door wide open, Stephen and Annette were there peering inside.
“We’ll be taking our bounty now thank you” Annette said as she entered.
“Firestarter’s are usually taken at a young age and trained to be bodyguards of The Source” Cole said quickly.
“Like hell they are” Prue said.
Before she could even lift her hand Annette, lightning quick threw an energy ball at her and sent her flying into Cole.
Phoebe ran forward and kicked her in the stomach. But Stephen shot a lightning bolt at her sending her threw the bannister and onto the stairs.
“Phoebe!” Piper yelled.
She threw up her hands and tried to freeze them, but it only lasted seconds, they must be upper level demons she thought.
“Don’t hurt them, they’re good people!” Tyler shouted.
“Shut up boy and do as you’re told” Annette said spitefully.
Tyler grabbed his head and aimed at the two demons, they screamed as they caught fire and exploded into a million particles of ash.
“Whoa” Piper said.
“No wonder The Source wants you” she continued.
“Everyone ok?” she asked.
They all nodded as they got to their feet.
“I think I figured out how they found us” Prue said.
“How?” Phoebe asked, coming down the stairs slowly.
“Him” Prue replied pointing at Tyler.
“Or, at least, his power”.
“Think about it, they had no idea where we lived, I don’t think we were followed”.
“It makes sense” Cole said.
“If they were bounty hunters they’d have put trackers on his powers”.
“Then you know what we have to do” Leo said.
Piper sighed, this was like some nasty karmic prank making her bind a child’s powers when she was having that same argument with Leo over their future child.
A day later and Darryl had come to pick Tyler up to take him back to the social services, his powers bound, he was off to a better life Prue thought, no demons after him and hopefully a loving family.
She dashed through the airport, worried about missing her flight. Phoebe and Piper had insisted that they would be fine for a few days without her, so she couldn’t really say no, she handed her ticket and passport over and boarded her plane, it rose quickly into the sunlight and almost 12 hours later she touched down at Heathrow airport, ready for sunny England.
“Oh” she said as she stepped off the plane into the torrential rain.
End of Chapter Five, stay tuned for Chapter Six: “When in London”.