Charmed Reboot: Season 1 | Episode 1 | And Then There Were Two
"Screw this..." she grumbled as she got up from the kitchen table and made her way into the living room. Birds squawked outside of the window, their screeching noises accentuated by the emptiness in the house. A large black bird in particular hopped around the window sill seeming to take particular interest in Piper.
"Oh what the hell are you looking at? Shew... before I turn you into a roasted pheasant," she joked with a smirk. She flicked her hand lightly, letting off a slight spark to scare the bird away, but it was unmoved. She frowned at it before making her way upstairs.
"Hey, Phoebe, you busy?" Piper spoke into the phone after dialing her younger sister's number.
"Hey, Piper! Coop and I were just on our way out to the beach for a little afternoon get away. How's everything?"
Piper sighed, wishing she could go to an afternoon get-away with her husband. Even with having his wings clipped, Leo still couldn't tear himself away from the magical world and dedicated most of his time molding and shaping the future of magic.
"Everything is fine, I guess. Just thinking..."
Phoebe climbed inside the passenger side of her and Coop's Nissan Rogue. "Uh oh, I know that sound? What's wrong, honey?"
"Just wondering if maybe I should have been careful about what I asked for. I mean, having a life without constant demon hunting is great. But it would be even greater if I weren't always left in the house alone."
"Leo's still at Magic School, huh?" Phoebe asked as she threw her sunglasses on.
"Of course he is, and I don't want to nag him, you know. This is what he love's to do and I support that. But this life without demon fighting was supposed to be for both of us, not just me," Piper explained.
"Then maybe you should tell him that, honey. Wyatt is up there, now. He doesn't have to be at Magic School all the time."
"Yeah..." Piper sighed again. She looked to the window when she heard the squawking bird once more. She began to feel uneasy but let it slide. No way was she about to start getting jumpy over a silly little bird.
"How about you come hang out with me and Coop at the beach?" Phoebe suggested.
"Nah, I don't want to crash you guys' time together."
"It's not a problem, really. Coop won't mind. We can build sand castles like when we were kids and Grams used to take us to the beach."
"Oooh boy. Phoebeville and all its glory," Piper teased making the two of them laugh. "No, you guys go ahead. I'm going to head over to the restaurant and make sure everything is as it should be. That'll take up some time until Leo gets back and then I'll have a talk with him."
"You sure, honey?" Phoebe double checked as Coop navigated through traffic.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You two have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Piper warned jokingly.
Phoebe laughed, "Of course not. Love, you!" she said in a cutesy voice.
Piper smiled, "Love you, too. Bye..." She disconnected the call and sat on the edge of the bed before glancing at the window. The little black bird was finally gone and she partially felt relieved. Piper really didn't feel like driving across town to check on things at the restaurant. She honestly didn't have to since her new manager stayed on top of everything, always making sure they had fresh produce and stayed up on their supplies. She suddenly missed her grams and decided to go into the attic to summon her for a little conversation.
She was setting up the five candles at her table and about to light the last one when she heard a squawking sound from the window behind her. She turned to it, finally annoyed with the pesky bird.
"You, little black bird, have gotten on my last nerve," Piper sneered as she popped her hand at it to blow it up. Glass shattered causing her to jump as a scream escaped from her mouth. She put her hands up to guard her face against the shards of glass that blew in her direction. The first black bird flew in followed by a small army of other birds. Piper looked around with her mouth gaping open.
"What the hell...? Oh you've got to be kidding me!" she shrieked as she tried blowing the birds up. Mini explosions from her hands erupted in the attic, but the birds seemed to be immune to her powers. They then all seemed to get into formation, floating above her head, and then transformed into a thick cloud of black smoke. Piper's heart raced as she couldn't believe her eyes. She initially thought the Woogie Man escaped from the basement and was about to say the spell to get rid of it. Before the first line could come from her mouth, the black cloud took on the shape of what appeared to be a man. She took a step back away from it as she peered at the dark figure.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked with a grimace.
"It's been a long time, Piper," the figure said to her before stepping forward where he could be seen slightly. Piper studied him for a moment almost certain she was familiar with who he was but not quite sure. The evil grin that crept across his face made her realize who he was as she thought back to the battle against Christy and Billy when they had to summon the Hollow.
"I know you," Piper said.
The demon smirked, "No... you knew me."
"You should've known better than to try me here, you sonuva bitch," Piper snarled as she motioned her hands to blow him up.
The demon quickly raised his hand stopping her explosion, making it appear to be as trivial as a miniature fire cracker. He then looked at her with an evil glare that sent a chill over her body before making an athame form in his hand and throwing it at her faster than Piper anticipated. She reacted on instinct, freezing the blade moments before it hit her in the chest.
The demon waved his hand while muttering a phrase in Latin. "Undo euis Magicae..."
Piper gasped when she saw the blade wiggle as though it was fighting through her freeze and attempted to duck. The demon vanished before reappearing behind her, grabbing her by her throat with one hand while snatching the blade with the other.
"You never did learn not to do business with demons. The Four Horseman should have taught you to never make that mistake again. Now, that mistake will cost you your life," the demon whispered in her ear. He squeezed her throat tightly, making it impossible for her to call for Wyatt, Paige or Chris, before plunging the athame in her chest. Her gasp sounded like a gurgling screech, unable to fully come through as her vocal chords were nearly crushed. The demon planted a kiss on the side of her head with his eyes closed as he pulled the knife out and plunged it in again, deeper. The blow was fatal. A tear fell from the corner of Piper's eyes before they fluttered and closed, her head falling back against the demon as her body went limp and lifeless.
The demon flung her body to the attic floor and stood over top of her. He then knelt down and slowly waved his hand over her body, from her head down to her feet. "Erit mors euis..." he said. When he was satisfied with his kill, he stood and opened his arms while looking up at the ceiling, his body transforming back into the black smokey cloud before formulating the gang of birds and flying back out the broken attic window.
Miles away across the country in New York, Wyatt sat in a living room with his charge, a 17 year old high school student who was contemplating having her powers bounded. Wyatt shared the story of him conjuring a dragon when he was a small child that almost caused his entire existence to be wiped clean... literally.
"Had my parents bound my powers, imagine all the good I would not have been able to do, the people I wouldn't have been able to save. They believed in my ability to control my power and use it as a source of good. And because of that, I'm able to help witches like me. Imagine the amount of good you won't be able to do if you were to strip yourself of your powers," Wyatt said to her.
"I just don't see myself as a source of good. More like... a freak of nature," the young witch explained.
"And that's why I want you to spend some time at Magic School, so you can see that there are so many other kids like you. That way you can be some place where you fit in and not struggle with having to stand out."
The young witch secretly was crushing on Wyatt, loving his blonde hair and dreamy eyes, the way his smile could light up a room. If he was going to be at Magic School, she was willing to give it a shot just so she could be around him even more.
She was just about to nod her head to give in to Wyatt's suggestion when he yelped in pain. His eyes squeezed shut and he partially fell to one knee, holding onto the arm of a sofa to keep from completely falling on the floor. The pain in his chest was unbearable, as though his heart was literally breaking.
"Oh my God! Wyatt! What's wrong? Are you okay?" his charge asked, becoming frightened.
"Protect the void..." Wyatt heard a voice say. It sounded very much like his grams.
"Ah..." Wyatt grimaced again, shaking his head as he tried to fight off the pain.
"Protect... the void..." he heard the voice say again. This time he was positive that it was Grams. He was hit with a feeling of extreme sorrow and knew that something was wrong. The first person he thought of was Piper.
"Mom..." Wyatt called out.
"Wyatt... are you...?" the charge started to ask. But she never got a chance to finish her question. Wyatt was gone in a swirl of blue-ish white lights as he orbed over to the manor.
He appeared in those same swirl of blue-ish white lights in the kitchen. He saw all of the food that Piper had prepared for breakfast and briefly felt bad that he didn't come over as he promised. He looked around and didn't see any sign of anyone.
"Mom!" Wyatt called out. "Mom, are you here?!" He staggered out of the kitchen to the living room, looking around. He closed his eyes trying to sense her but felt nothing in regards to her presence. That left him feeling as though something was indeed wrong and he ran over to the stairs, going up the steps, skipping two at a time. He went down the hall to her room and saw that she wasn't in there. He checked his bedroom and then Chris' bedroom, but she wasn't in there either.
"Please... don't let anything be wrong..." he murmured as he was walking past the bathroom. Something drew his attention to the stairs leading to the attic and knots formed in his stomach. Wyatt swallowed past the lump of fear in his throat as he made his way up the stairs slowly. When he got to the doorway, the first thing he noticed was the candles that he could tell had been lit as well as the broken attic window. He then looked down and saw Piper laying lifeless on the floor.
"Mom! Mom!" Wyatt cried out as he scurried over to her. He saw the knife wound in her chest and put his hands over it. A golden glow emitted from his hand but nothing happened. He jerked his hands as though to force more healing power from them. Still nothing happened. He looked his mother over as tears fell from his eyes.
"No... no no no no no... NOOOOOOOO!" Wyatt screamed as he grabbed onto Piper's lifeless body and pulled her into his arms. He screamed again and again, the agony of his mother being dead tearing him apart inside.
"Protect the void..." he heard the voice again. But he ignored it, not seeing or understanding the purpose of hearing that phrase again and again. His mother was dead and he knew it had to be demonic. A demonic force bold enough to attack them and strong enough to succeed was a problem he would soon deal with...
