Eye of the Storm (The Charmed) (14 page)

Mr. M perked up, “This calls for a celebration! Sparkling grape juice all around!” He walked into the kitchen, with James in tow.

Kayla looked over at Jaden. “So that’s it then? They’re married?”

Jaden looked up from where he had set the tools for the ceremony, absently placing them back in an ornately carved box. “Yeah, it’s really about lifting the charms that stop them from having kids or marrying. I’m glad her dad was there. Brendan’s were almost non-existent, which was confusing. They were a lot like Chase’s, loosely there but not enough to do anything. My dad was able to lift Chase’s because he was basically here more than in his own home. Lyla had some different kind that my dad was able to strip away easily. Harley’s dad was able to reverse the charms, she was pretty heavily protected. I’d have hated to get caught in the act, it would have been painful.” He continued to place the items back, letting silence fall down around them.

“What exactly does happen?” Kayla wondered.

“If they go too far, they basically get separated by an intense all over body shock. I think it’s cruel. Dad never put one on me. I don’t understand our kind most of the time.”

“So what’s next?”

“We’ll get them tomorrow and head out to Tennessee immediately. I hope to leave by seven thirty.”

“Oh.” She moved into the living room and sat in a chair looking out the window.

Jaden was worried for Kayla. He still wasn’t sure where she stood with Chase. It was a subject he would eventually have to face, but not tonight.

H
arley and Brendan were staring up at the ceiling in their wedding bed, both out of breath. “So that’s what Chase was talking about.”

Harley looked over at Brendan. “What do you mean?”

“The night my parents walked in on our pool party and you stormed out?”

“How could I forget?”

“He told me it would be all I thought about once we finally got there.”

“We have been married for about seven hours and you’re telling me it’s all you can think about right now?”

“Yes.” He looked over at Harley with his right eye, she picked up a pillow and smacked him in the head. Harley picked up a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, standing in front of the bed.

“Brendan Ellis…” She stopped.

Brendan was smiling up at her, ready to hit her with a pillow when he realized she stopped speaking for a reason. Harley put her finger to her lips, her eyes widened she pulled the blanket tighter around her body and moved to the door.

Brendan raised his left eyebrow. “Are they back already? They’re not supposed to be here until five or six.”

Harley turned to him and shushed him again, pressing her ear harder against the wall. She spoke a charm into her hands and blew it to the wall. The sound magnified so they could hear well in the tiny room.

“Look around, she was in love with him, she has to know where he went.” The two could hear tables being knocked over, doors slammed, cupboards opened. They could hear someone rummaging upstairs and then the noise from upending everything in their path began. Glass was shattered, shelves knocked down, beds smashed. Two men stopped by the concealed door. “Steven and Morgan Tremaine said she would be here, they’ve held her every summer in the house, where is she?”

“I don’t know.” Came another voice, this one deeper.

“Do you believe the Fountaine’s that they don’t know where Chase is?”

“Yes.” Came another slightly higher voice. “They’ve been loyal this whole time.”

“I suppose they can’t exactly lure him back if they stay under interrogation. Tell Marcus to release them. But keep close tabs on them, I don’t want to lose them like we did Frank and Constance Bleu.”

Harley stifled a gasp. They were keeping the Fountaine’s for questioning and following Lyla’s parents.

“My biggest concern right now is the Tremaine’s, Kayla should have been here and she’s not.”

“Wait. Did they use the binding spell or House of Reclamation?”

“House I think, why?”

The lower voiced one sighed, “You can’t place that on an eighteen year old. It’s for desperate moms who need a break, start searching the friend’s houses. She has to be in town still.”

Harley and Brendan stared at each other. Harley looked over at the clock on the wall, it was three o’clock, Mr. M would be coming for them soon then they would be heading to Tennessee. Harley was worried they would walk in on a full house of strangers. But just as the thought occurred to her, she could hear them leaving. Once they were gone, Harley let out a huge gasp. She collapsed against Brendan who swung Harley up in his arms and sat on the bed with her sitting on his lap. Still wrapped in a sheet, Harley looked at Brendan. She looked at her arm and then his. “This is bigger than we knew. Those guys, they’re working with Kayla’s parents who have been gone since the beginning of summer. Actually, I don’t think I saw them at graduation.”

“Kayla said they left right after she got back, so they had to have been at graduation. I wouldn’t have noticed though.”

“Why?”

Brendan smiled. “I only ever had eyes for you.”

Harley groaned. “Do you practice those lines?”

Brendan laughed. “No they just come naturally.”

Harley hit him with a pillow. “Brendan, we never asked what these marks meant. I mean, the fact that another couple got them, what does it mean? Mr. M looked like he expected it.”

“I know. Is it a good sign? Bad?”

“Maybe everyone will get them eventually?” Harley thought for a moment.

“Sure, impending death, what happens to the people who don’t have a partner, do they die off?”

“Now we’re just speculating. This could be a fluke, maybe it’s a curse that Lyla gave everyone?”

“Do you think the guys are gone?”

“Let’s see.” Harley stood up and spoke a charm in her hands, she moved her hands to the form of a square and a window formed. The window showed everything that was outside of the wall, including the upstairs. “All clear.” Harley stopped for a moment. “Brendan, what did those men mean when they said Kayla had been held prisoner here every summer? She went with her parents on vacation, right?”

“I don’t know. I have a feeling that Kayla’s not been very forthcoming about her world. Just looking at the types of spells she can do puts a chill down my spine. Some of it seems a little too dark for a Charmed.”

“Don’t say that, she’s just smart.”

“Oh, I wasn’t implying she wasn’t, just that maybe she knows some thing or two about all this stuff and hasn’t told us yet.”

“Innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Man.”

Brendan put his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know. Well, I hate to cut this fun short but there’s a really wickedly torn up house out there. Shall we clean it before Ms. Innocent gets here?”

“I suppose.”

Harley and Brendan had barely started cleaning when Mr. M showed up with Jaden in tow. The look of the house had them searching frantically for them. “Brendan! Harley!”

“We’re here!” Harley yelled from the kitchen where she was sweeping up broken glass.

They stepped over upturned couches and a dining table to get to the kitchen. “What happened?”

“Some men were here, they didn’t know about the room. I’ll have to thank Kayla for that later. The men are going to all of our houses, could we finish up here and tell you what we heard on the road?”

“Yes, absolutely. Step out of there, kids.” Brendan and Harley stepped carefully out of the kitchen and went back to wait in the secret room. Jaden joined them and watched his father.

Mr. M closed his eyes, spoke a charm in his head and clapped his hands together. The mess everywhere completely vanished, in a blink of an eye.

“Where did it go?” Harley asked.

“Back where it came from.” Mr. M turned around.

“Why didn’t you teach us that spell in school?” Brendan asked.

“And take away all your chores in the process? Never. Come on, Jaden. It’s time to wrap up.” Jaden already had the tools laid out, he nodded to his father.

“You and Brendan come here.” He motioned to the newly married couple. Mr. M spoke the removal spells while Jaden circled the entire inside of the house, muttering charms under his breath. They wrapped up quickly and headed out, locking the door behind.

C
hase and Lyla had been evading people for days. Just when they thought they were heading to a safe clearing, they would hear noises and have to change direction. The two had managed to find a road and had been following it for a few hours when they heard a car approaching. They encountered many but were cautious to avoid most. Chase eyed the car from a distance from around a tree. He stepped out and shot a bolt of energy out of his hand. The energy hit the car, enveloping it in a bright light. Chase walked toward the car and leaned in.

“Hi!”

“Hello! How may I help you?”

“We’re headed to Georgia.”

“You’re heading to Georgia.”

“We’d love to have a ride there.”

“You’d love to have a ride there.”

Chase motioned for Lyla to come over. She hopped into the back seat and Chase sat up front to keep the spell active. So far, so good.

“Thank you for the ride.”

“You’re welcome for the ride.” The driver, a man in his early fifties, wore glasses rimmed in black and a pocket protector in his shirt pocket where a few engineering tools poked out.

He’s going to be very late for work, thought Chase. He looked back at Lyla. She had a faraway look on her face staring out the window of the Audi. He leaned back and took her hand. Her life had changed so much this past year from learning she had the gift to enhance other people’s powers to getting married to him to save her life. The worst part was knowing they had been controlled by Tom all those weeks. Who knows what that man did to Lyla? She had dark circles under her eyes and there were leaves in her hair. A dark smudge of ash was streaked across her cheek. To Chase, she was the most beautiful person in the world. Chase looked back at the road. The driver turned onto I-75 South from Chattanooga. It would be a few hours until Chase felt safe enough to let his captor go. He had to be careful though, his work buddies might report him missing.

“What’s your name?” Chase asked him.

“Hank”

“Are you married Hank?”

“Millie died a year ago. It’s just me and Fiona.”

“Fiona?”

“My dog, she’s my best friend.”

Chase smiled. He had always wanted a dog. “I’d love to meet her someday. Why don’t you tell me about her?” Chase knew by asking him about a happy memory, Hank would feel this was a worthwhile thing to do. They drove for a long while learning about the long ancestry of Hank’s dog who happened to be a great, great granddaughter of his first dog, Mabel. Just as the story about the dog became interesting, they drove across the Georgia border. Within seconds a wave of unease hit Chase. He looked back at Lyla, she felt it too. Chase looked behind the car, a dark sedan had pulled up behind them. He could see the driver clearly, a man with black glasses and blond hair. Chase felt his mind being pushed against. “Chase, there are too many of us, you won’t make it to Florida.”

Chase pushed the man out of his mind. The man grabbed his head and veered off the side where he crashed into the rail, his car emitting smoke. Chase watched as the man jumped out of the car and ran a few feet from it. Lyla looked behind, focused her mind on the car and blew it up.

“Oh!” Hank exclaimed. “What happened back there?”

Lyla gave a sorry expression to Chase. Chase leaned forward, placed his hand on Hank. “Hank, those people were coming after your dog.”

“What? My Fiona?”

“Yes, they heard how special she was and wanted her. There are more. We have to get out of here very fast.”

“They’re not going to get her!” A frantic anger enveloped him.

“We have to get to the Florida border, we have to get you safe.”

“Yes, safe, then Fiona will be safe!”

“Uh, Hank, do you think you should call work?”

“This is more important.”

“Well, without your job, you have no food to feed her. Maybe you should call in sick?”