The Charmed Seven: Family Past Series P2: The First Son

Inspired by the TV Series: "Charmed" except all the characters are different from the TV ones.
Some universe details aren't like the TV show ones, some are the same, and some are just similar.
I don't make any profit from these stories.

Teaser

A six-year-old boy with blond hair sat on the floor in a large linen closet, which was in the hallway of his home, shivering not only from cold, but fear as well; he didn't like being alone in a place with no lights. His father was punishing the boy for accusing him of intentionally pushing his mother down the stairs and killing her. The boy, Josiah, had said he'd seen his father do it and knew he had meant to push his mother down the stairs. It wasn't an accident like Mr. Sanchez had convinced the police in their investigation. Josiah's father had first hurt the boy; kicking and punching him; then he'd shut the boy in the closet to think about the way he had accused his father of such cruelty, especially that he'd think his father would do such a thing to a member of his own family. Josiah had been ordered not to open the closet door, and the boy obeyed, fearful of what would happen if he disobeyed.

Outside the closet, a small blonde girl of five kept calling Josiah's name, not knowing why her brother wouldn't open the door to her. She hadn't seen her mother being pushed, or her mother's body. Josiah had made sure she wasn't a witness to her father's cruelty. Josiah always protected her - it didn't stop her father hurting her and hurling abuse though.

"Hannah, please be quiet or he'll hurt you again," begged Josiah, scared for his sister's safety even more when he couldn't protect her. He regretted getting himself sent to the closet so he couldn't look after Hannah - he should've waited until a better time to face his father with what he knew to be the truth.

"Jo-Jo, please let me in," said Hannah, now crying and not understanding why her brother wouldn't open the door.

"I'm sorry, Hannah; I can't open the door. Go to your room and keep quiet."

Loud footsteps sounded and Hannah screamed in terror. Their father was back and he had picked up Hannah roughly. The man with dark-brown hair hated especially that the children had blond hair from their mother, rather than dark brown hair from him. He hated all the things they had inherited from the woman.

"I've found you a new home, away from your brother who's a bad influence on you," said Mr. Sanchez, as he carried Hannah to her bedroom. "You'll never have to see that incarnation of the devil again."

"Please don't take her away," shouted Josiah, overcome with grief at the thought of losing his younger sister forever.

"I've found a place for you as well, Brat - a strict boarding school. I'll never have to see you again and they'll help you mend your ways."

As Josiah became angrier about his father's cruel treatment of Hannah and him, the closet door opened, slamming against the wall outside in the corridor.

"I told you not to open that door, Brat," shouted Josiah's father, having just missed being hit by the door as it opened without warning.

"I didn't though," whined Josiah, thinking his father had opened it and was pretending Josiah had done it, as an excuse to hurt the boy again.

"It's settled then - you're going to St. Benedict's Boarding School. You can go back to your room for now."

Josiah ran to his room and started stuffing clothes into his backpack. Anywhere had to be better than with his cruel father, but he hated the thought of never seeing Hannah again.

Mr. Sanchez walked into the room. "Don't bother packing," he said, "there'll be new clothes for you at the school."

Chapter 1

Several months later, Josiah found that there WAS a worse place than with his father. The school was very strict and punished him for many things he didn't think were wrong. He had been beaten and abused by the teachers, who were monks. One teacher subjected him to things he didn't know about - things that children of Josiah's age should never have done to them. Josiah daily prayed to God that he would be rescued by angels, never believing that his prayers would be answered even though the rescuer wasn't exactly an angel.

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One day, when Josiah was eight and still at the cruel boarding school, his prayers were finally answered.

That morning, Josiah was sent to one of the tutor's offices and stood in the corner of the office, shaking with fear. He knew what would happen next and wished an angel would come and take him away.

The big man in the long brown robes grinned at him. "There's no need to be frightened. You know you're looking forward to it really, Josiah."

Josiah closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Not long after he'd closed them he heard a noise, like little bells tinkling. He decided to risk seeing the man attack him, just to find out what the bells were, and opened his eyes nervously.

Another man, with short dark-brown hair, stood in the room looking at the now motionless Brother James. Surprisingly, Brother James didn't move at all, as though he were frozen like a statue.

Josiah cautiously took a step toward the stranger, who looked fairly young, but stepped back when the man smiled at him.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I've come to rescue you, Josiah. I know what that man did to you in the past; he won't be able to do it to anyone else ever again once the police have arrested him," explained the man, in a soft, gentle voice. "My name's Terrence Potter."

"How do you know MY name?" asked Josiah, still not sure if he could trust this man. He had stopped trusting people a long time ago. He had been sent away from home along with his younger sister, from their violent and abusive father, but he had been sent to a strict religious boarding school where no-one was kind to him.

"I was told your name by the person who helped me find you. You must come with me and I will look after you. I care a lot about children and long for my own. I'd like you to become my son. No harm will ever come to you again, I promise."

Josiah felt he could really trust this man - he was nicer than the tutors at the school. "I have a sister called Hannah at another school, can she come as well?"

"I have been to see her. They are taking good care of her there and they can help her more than I can. I promise that you will be able to visit her though," said Terrence. "We must leave this place before the police get here to arrest this man. Hold my hand and I will take us away from here."

Josiah walked to Mr. Potter and held his hand, noticing the man didn't hold it tightly and fiercely like the tutors had done. Josiah watched in awe as lots of tiny blue and white lights (called orbs) appeared all around them, and then they started to move upward. "Are we going to Heaven?"

"No, just to my house," said Terrence gently.

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Shortly after Terrence Potter had rescued Josiah from the strict boarding-school ran by monks, they orbed into the Potters' house. The house was a beautiful, large Victorian and boasted several rooms on three levels as well as the spacious basement under the house. The third level was the attic that had been converted into the Potter couple's bedroom - they preferred to have their bedroom at the top of the house, as they felt safer there. They had known about Josiah for a while but had only just been able to track him down, so they already had a bedroom prepared for the boy.

Josiah looked around him once the blue and white orbs had disappeared, clearing his view of the room he was now standing in. The furniture was modern-looking and he marveled at how expensive and elegant everything looked - it appeared the Potters weren't poor people.

A beautiful, fairly young woman with long, dark brown hair, brown eyes, pale white skin and wearing a dark blue dress walked into the room through an open door. She smiled a motherly smile at the boy and man. Josiah instantly liked and trusted her; she had an aura of goodness around her.

"Gloria, this is Josiah - the boy from your premonitions," introduced Terrence, placing a supportive hand on the boy's shoulder. "I rescued him just in time."

"Thank goodness. If we had failed, the guilt of failing to save him from further pain would have been unbearable to live with."

Terrence let go of Josiah's shoulder, then walked to Gloria and put his arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "Everything's going to be fine, dear. I knew I would save him on time. The men responsible for his and others' anguish will be put behind bars and the children will be placed into better care."

"I didn't thank you for rescuing me, Sir," said Josiah, as he stepped towards the couple.

"That you are alive and will no longer suffer is all the thanks we need, Son," replied Terrence, smiling at the boy. Then he let go of Gloria and motioned for the boy to join them. Josiah soon found himself being hugged tightly by his new family.

"We shouldn't stand here all day, there's plenty to do," said Gloria. "I've got some cookies baking for you, dear."

"Cookies?" Josiah had never had cookies before, but had heard that they tasted delicious.

"I don't suppose they gave you any treats at that awful place," said Gloria gently, inwardly angry that such strict and uncaring institutions existed.

"No, Ma'am. Just basic food needed to sustain us."

"I'm going to spoil you rotten from now on; you deserve it for putting up with that place for as long as you did."

"It's okay, Ma'am. There's no need to let me disrupt your life. I just need enough to live on: food, water to drink, and a roof over my head. I'm quite happy to sleep on the floor if you don't have a spare mattress."

"No, no. You will receive far better treatment than you did at that terrible place. You will no longer suffer the life of a pauper," said Gloria sternly.

"Let's get you settled in," said Terrence, as he took hold of the boy's hand. The man led Josiah through a hallway, up the stairs and into a small bedroom with light blue walls.

Once there, Josiah looked around the small room; he saw a small, medium-brown wooden desk, a bed with a mid-blue quilt; and several other items of wooden furniture. The furniture included a large wooden toy-box with cheerful pictures of many colors painted all over it. Josiah imagined it was full of toys for him to play with, but wasn't used to such luxury so thought he was probably being too hopeful.

"This is all yours now, Son. We wish you to be very comfortable now you're with us. If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask," said Terrence, looking at the boy intently as he spoke. He noticed that the boy looked stunned by his new surroundings. Terrence felt inwardly angry at how much the boy had missed out on since he'd been sent to that awful boarding school.

"You are very kind, Mr. Potter. But I do not wish to be a burden to you," said Josiah, showing he was grateful, but politely telling the man he didn't mean to be any trouble.

"Please, Josiah, call me Terrence. You are not a burden at all. We are delighted to have you staying here. We have always longed for a child to share our home with us."

"Thank you for all of this, Terrence. I promise I will one day repay all of your kindness."

Terrence smiled at the kind-hearted boy who had suffered so much already.

Chapter 2

Later that day, Josiah had eaten most of the cookies that Gloria had baked - he had felt really hungry after the small portions of food he'd been fed at the school, and once he'd tried one cookie he couldn't help eating more - they were so delicious.

"It is a great compliment to me that you are enjoying those cookies so much. I hope that you'll have some room remaining for lunch in one hour," said Gloria, grinning at the boy as he finished the second-to-last cookie.

"I didn't mean to eat so many, I'm really sorry, Ma'am," said Josiah guiltily - she must think he was a pig. He left the last cookie on the baking tray - he'd really meant to leave two, so that the grown-ups could have one each.

"It's okay, Josiah. Eat as much as you like, dear. You'll get plenty of exercise while you live here, so you won't put on too much weight. And please, call me Gloria. There's no need to address me so formally."

"I'm not accustomed to calling adults by their Christian names."

"You seem to know a lot of words; do you read?" asked Terrence, not failing to notice that Josiah spoke well for an eight-year-old.

"I love reading. I had access to the school's library and read through all the books there, and then I read anything I could get hold of," said Josiah with a smile. No-one had paid so much attention to him before. Except for when his real father did - but that was mostly to inflict pain upon him.

"I don't suppose you know much of your family's history," assumed Terrence. The boy didn't look as though he knew of his heritage.

"Only that my mother was deliberately pushed down the stairs by my father for no apparent reason, and ever since then, he had abused my younger sister, Hannah and me. When we were both old enough, he placed us in boarding schools where we were out of his way. Hannah had to go to a special school because of her problems."

"I suspected you were unaware of the truth," said Terrence, taking a deep breath before he began his startling revelation. "There is a reason why your father became that way. He learned of your mother's special gifts and was scared of what she could do that he couldn't. He was worried that she would hurt him if he commanded her anymore - he always wanted to be the head of the family and felt everyone should obey him. He stopped loving her as soon as he knew what she was capable of, so wouldn't have cried at her loss. When she had gone, he became aware that he would have to be your sole parent and he didn't love you two like he had done anymore, because you were children of -" Terrence broke off from what he was about to say - how could he tell Josiah the truth about his mother? It was one thing to expose the boy to his orbing power, but quite another to reveal that the boy had magical powers of his own.

"The children of what?" asked Josiah impatiently, his full attention on Mr. Potter.

"Your mother was a witch with REAL magical powers. She came from a whole line of witches. You have one of her powers, Josiah."

"I do? If I had known, perhaps it would've helped me at the school." Josiah believed everything that Terrence said. The tone of the man's voice throughout had conveyed that Josiah should trust his words. The boy had always thought there was something different about him, but he'd never been sure what.

"I don't doubt that," said Terrence, "but there was no-one to help you discover your destiny. There aren't any other witches here besides myself, Gloria and you...yet."

"Yet?" asked Josiah. "Do you mean that there will be more witches here in the future?" Josiah had never disbelieved that magic was a very real force in the world and everything Terrence said confirmed that it was real, just like the boy had thought.

"Yes, son. My wife can see the future and has seen more witches in this town. She usually only has visions of good people we are meant to save, called 'innocents'. That's the main purpose of good witches - to save others from evil. The Elders, who are high-ranking angels in Heaven, have told us that we are to rescue the future witches as children, besides non-magical ones - Gloria will receive premonitions to help us locate them when the time comes to rescue each one."

"So I am the first of several magical children you are to save? And if they can't go back to their families, you can take them in as well?"

"Once I and Gloria are gone," began Terrence, "this place and its people will be vulnerable to evil unless more witches are put in our place. As we do not have any heirs, it is very fortunate that there are some magical children who can take our place, once they are saved. The Elders have recently told us, through an angelic messenger, that there will be a few magical children who could stay with us, as fate will cause them to loose their homes and families. We won't know anything about these other children until the right times come for us to know more."

Terrence paused to give Josiah a chance to take in the information, before telling him more. "I already have some notes about your family in our magical book simply known as The Book. I have now acquired some more knowledge which I must add before I forget. Come with me and you will be able to see the most important article in this whole house," invited Terrence, holding his hand out to the boy.

Josiah smiled and excitedly took his new father's hand, looking forward to seeing a real magic book.

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Terrence showed Josiah around their special Magic Room and then showed him The Book, talking him through some of the sections contained in it. "You are welcome to come up here any time you like and browse through The Book - there is a great deal of knowledge to acquire from books, as you have already learned - but no other book contains the information included in here. Each generation of Potters have added to this book and as we have no children you will be the first of a new generation to add to this."

Josiah suddenly remembered his sister. "Can we visit Hannah soon? I haven't seen her since the day Father sent her away, because visiting her wasn't something my boarding school allowed."

"Our visit won't be until tomorrow I'm afraid," said Terrence, with regret in his voice. "We have to discover your power first. Unfortunately, Gloria hasn't received any premonitions in which you use your power, so we have no prior knowledge of your special gift." Terrence somehow knew that Josiah's power hadn't been magically bound before his mother had died, so it was there to use once the boy knew how.

Josiah stood patiently, ready to try to discover what magical power he had which he'd never known about.

"Focus on an object and concentrate. There are several magical powers which can affect objects and it may be one of those."

Josiah stared at a fairly big candle that stood unlit in its holder on an ancient dresser. He concentrated only on the object. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then the object began to float upward slowly.

"Keep focused on the object, Josiah," instructed Terrence gently.

The candle floated higher. Josiah was suddenly distracted when a skinny black cat walked up the attic stairs and rubbed itself against the boy's legs. The candle fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to happen," apologized the boy, upset that he had allowed himself to become distracted from his task.

"You're just lucky that wasn't a demon," said Terrence with a grin. "He would've picked himself up and have thrown a fireball at you by now."

"A fireball?"

"Demons have the power to create balls of fire which they can throw at their enemies. You don't want to be on the receiving end of one, believe me." Terrence rubbed his arm, remembering when a fireball in a previous attack had just skimmed by it, singeing a small amount of his skin.

"Is this your cat?" asked Josiah curiously. "I thought only bad witches had cats."

"This is indeed our cat and she's called Grace. She is our 'familiar' - a witch's pet which protects its owner from evil. Unfortunately, she doesn't always succeed in stopping the demons from attacking us - but I think she stops demons from attacking while we are asleep."

"Hello Grace, I'm pleased to meet you." Josiah tickled the cat under the chin and the cat meowed.

"She likes you, otherwise she'd scratch you for doing that to her," informed Terrence.

"I'm relieved," said Josiah, wishing he'd been more cautious about stroking the unfamiliar pet. He stroked the cat from the back of its neck down to its tail, then repeated the action.

"Don't worry; I have a healing power from my Whitelighter father. I can heal minor injuries such as scratches if you get hurt."

"That's a useful power to have. I will be more careful in future and try not to become distracted so easily."

Terrence smiled at the boy - he was young and was likely to make more mistakes in future, but with Terrence's help he wouldn't suffer from his errors. "There is a lot for you to learn. There will be more innocents to rescue soon, so I don't know how much time there is to teach you before then. I can tell you that your power is going to come in very handy. At the moment you can only move small objects, but it will grow and you will be able to throw demons away from yourself and others once you have become more experienced."

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Josiah settled in happily, living with the Potters, and they visited Hannah once a month. Terrence soon learned what Hannah's magic power was - to summon and control objects with her thoughts. Terrence bound the girl's magic, as it was clear that she wasn't sound enough of mind to ever be able to use any magic responsibly; it was because of her cruel father, whose constant abuse had badly affected Hannah's mind as a young girl.

Josiah waited for the day when he would be given a magical brother or sister - he hoped he wouldn't be too old when he got one, and he also hoped that the sibling would be younger so he could help take care of them.