Eye of the Storm (The Charmed) (10 page)

She nodded her head yes.

Brendan started the truck back up and drove down to Lake Hollingsworth from there and cut over to Beacon. From there he took a side road and drove straight up to Harley’s house. He pulled up in front and cut the engine.

He clasped Harley’s hand. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Chase was miles from the lodge. He was to get some wood and come right back but the farther he went, the better he felt. His mind was clearer, more stable. The forest was hundreds of miles all around, he sat on a log to rest for a moment. Something caught his eye. It was a red item on the other side of the stream. Chase stood to get a better look. It appeared to be a jacket. Chase walked toward it, waded into the water and felt a force release him. Chase fell forward in the stream. He gasped for air, crawling in the water to the other side and holding onto the red jacket like a lifeline. Chase pulled the jacket from him and looked at it. He put a hand in the pocket and found a receipt. It was for a tent, supplies and food. Chase looked around, nobody was within sight.

“Hello!” He yelled at no one.

Chase heard the echo of his voice but nothing else. There was something very familiar about this. Chase stood up, his head feeling a little woozy like he had been punched. He looked around and a pain ripped through him so fierce he doubled over and fell to the ground. The memories flooded back in a violent torrent of emotions. Jaden had been here. The coat was Kayla’s. Chase drew himself to a sitting position and drew his knees to his chest. His breathing wasn’t coming back but the pain was all over. A picture of Lyla came flooding into his head. She was in pain. The realization of what was happening hit him. Lyla was being tortured so he would come back. Tom knew. Tom knew he was free of the hold and he was using Lyla to get him to come back. Chase looked at his watch. It was July fifth. Where had all those weeks gone? Chase stood and walked across the stream. He braced himself to resist the spell but it never hit. Tom must have known it wouldn’t now that Chase was aware. The biggest mistake Tom had made was not doing the work at the safe house himself. He had Chase do all the chopping and gathering, all the labor. Free will always trumped a spell or charm. Chase strode up the mountain determined to kill Tom.

Harley had tried to bring Brendan over before but it always ended badly. Either her father was ashamed of what he’d become or he would curse at Brendan in a drunken stupor. Harley stopped at the front door. The two-story run down house had stucco removed in various spots, ivy ran up one side and the other was dirt worn. The yard was so overgrown that you couldn’t tell a wrought-iron fence was in front of the property. Harley looked at the oval shaped door. It had rusted hinges and various pieces of wood were peeling off in strips.

“Are you sure?” She hesitated.

Brendan placed his hands on Harley’s shoulders and turned her toward him. “It’s time to start, from here on out no more being ashamed, no more hiding. We are who we are, we’re the people we are because of who raised us. You became strong, and I love you for that. I don’t know where I would have been all these years without you by my side. I love you and always will. But it’s time to face some demons and the first one is behind this door. I’ll be right next to you. I won’t leave no matter what he says.”

Harley turned her head into his chest, and held back tears as she pulled away, looked up and said, “Okay, let’s go.” She turned around and opened the door. A loud blast threw the two back into the overgrown yard. They both rolled over onto their knees coughing. Harley looked back and her house was engulfed in flames. “I didn’t smell fire! Brendan, I didn’t smell anything! My Dad! Where is he?”

Brendan stood up and raced into the house flames and all.

“Brendan!” Harley screamed. A moment later he came through the front door holding Mr. McGillicuddy. They hesitated slightly just over the threshold of the door but Brendan held on and pulled him through. His arm was draped over Brendan’s, he was limping and had a large gash over his left eye that was bleeding profusely. They walked to the car carefully through the thick brush. Smoke emitted from the small two-story, neighbors came out to stare at them but stayed at a careful pace away. In the distance a fire engine was revving around the corner. Harley held onto Brendan and watched her house go up in flames. The firefighters arrived pushing everyone across the street out of harm’s way. Windows were broken, large hoses were forced through the front. No matter how quick they got there, the fire burned too hot and too quick, the house was burned to the ground in minutes.

“Sir, is this your home?” A fireman approached Harley’s father.

“Yes.” Mr. McGillicuddy sat down on the curb. A paramedic began tending to the cut on his face, giving him an oxygen mask and taking vitals.

“Any idea, sir, how the fire started?”

“No.” He looked down. The fireman dropped the questioning, Harley looked at her father, something didn’t add up.

Once the firemen and paramedics left, it was too dark to go into the burned structure. Brendan ushered them into his truck and they drove to Jaden’s house.

Harley rang the bell. Kayla answered laughing. “Hi! Wow. What happened to you guys? You smell like smoke!”

“Can we come in?” Harley said wearily.

Kayla stepped aside. “Hey Jaden, look what the cat dragged in.”

Jaden came around the corner from the kitchen with a spoon in one hand, a pot in the other and an apron on that said “It’s mine, not yours.”

Brendan sat down in the living room, everyone else followed.

“What happened? You guys all look like hell. Hello, Mr. McGillicuddy.” He shook the elder’s hand.

“You hear the sirens?” Brendan said.

“Yes.” Jaden said slowly.

“Harley’s house went up. It’s gone. All of it, to the ground.”

“How?!” Jaden stood and paced to the fireplace against the wall.

“We don’t know.” Harley said but her father spoke up at the same time. “What dad? What did you say?”

“I said, I started it.”

Harley and Brendan both stood. Harley paced toward her father. “What do you mean? My childhood was in that house! Pictures of mom were in there! What do you mean you lit the fire?! Are you mad?”

“No. Tired.”

“Tired? What the hell does that mean? How could you be tired? You sleep most days! You’re drunk the rest!”

Brendan spoke up. “Harley, let’s hear what he has to say.”

“Hear him? He’s had eighteen years to tell me, to do anything but be a drunk! If you think he deserves anything but a thrashing then you’re sorely mistaken! I’ve had it! You are no longer my father! I hate you!” The whole of the room winced. The pent up frustration of Harley McGillicuddy was coming out in droves.

Mr. McGillicuddy sat back down and put his head in his hands and spoke quietly. “I don’t expect you to understand but I have a story to tell if you’ll listen.” His hands shook, making him look a hundred years old.

Jaden walked to the center of the room. “Harley, I understand what you’re going through, I do. We’ve all seen it over the years, how the stress of this has worn you down. But as one of the Charmed, he has a right to tell his story. I’m not saying he was right in how he lived his life, but maybe there’s something in there we can grasp onto? Things have gotten very strange very fast around here and maybe, just maybe, your dad knows a small piece of the puzzle. Now I suggest you all go shower up. Harley, you can borrow some of Kayla’s cloths, Brendan, I think I have some old things of my uncle’s in the back room. Mr. McGillicuddy, dad’s closet is in the back, we’ll talk over dinner.”

Jaden walked out of the room motioning for Kayla to follow. The other three went off in separate bedrooms to shower and change. Thirty minutes later they were all sitting around a table eating lasagna, bread and salad. Jaden looked at Mr. McGillicuddy, “Would you care for some wine? I think dad has some in the fridge.”

Mr. McGillicuddy looked up. “No. Not ever again.” He looked at Harley who pretended to be busy with her roll. They ate in silence for a while. When they all finished, the table was cleared and Jaden brought out some mugs and some coffee. He had a feeling this might be a long night.

“Mr. McGillicuddy, the table is yours.”

He looked up, eyes red rimmed, hands shaking. “I was best friends with your dad. Sam and I shared a love for the Occlumency tale. We thought it was an urban legend but the more we looked into it, the more we realized it was real. We suddenly had others who arrived in town wanting to be a part of the study. Chase’s parents, Sam and I were inseparable. When Sam and I realized the magnitude of it, the danger we put ourselves in, Sam and I were adamant we wanted nothing to do with it anymore. It seemed as if more strangers were in town, tourists if you will.” He stopped to wipe his forehead with a napkin. His light brown hair was un-brushed and his bangs were in his eyes, giving him the appearance of a shaggy dog. He raised a glass of ice water to his lips and drank carefully. He took a deep breath and continued.

“Harley, Jaden and Chase had already been born. I never paid much attention to Mark and Cindy Fountaine, I didn’t like them much from the start.”

“They threatened us if we stopped the study. We would be out of their circle of priviledged, we said we didn’t care but we should have. Both our wives died shortly after, I was in despair. I started shouting accusations about how they got Chase, I never saw Cindy pregnant. They withdrew from me after that. I had a little girl to raise and now even Sam wouldn’t talk to me. He said I was acting irrational. Ted and Emily Ellis arrived six months after the accidents, with a small child Harley’s age, Brendan. I had nobody else and Ted and Emily were kind for a while. We became tight. Yes Brendan, believe it or not, your parents were actually nice to me. I told them all our secrets about Occlumency, I trusted them with my very life. I had no one. By this time, Sam had taken up teaching at the high school and I continued at the plant. We stopped studying together and drifted apart.” He stopped for a moment and took a drink of water with a shaky hand.

“Sam came to me one night. He was in a panic. He said he knew who killed our wives but that he couldn’t talk. He told me to stop speaking to Ted and Emily and then he was gone. The next day I noticed even more new Charmed in town. I went to Ted and Emily and they met me at the door. They didn’t want to see me anymore, they said I was a liability, that I attracted attention with my frantic manor. Before I left their doorstep another car arrived at their house. The man walked up past me and shook Ted’s hand. He muttered something about this spot in two thousand thirteen. I turned around and they shut the door but not before they saw I overheard them. It hit me then that I had been used, it had all been a plan, Mark and Cindy befriending me, Ted and Emily swooping in to save my day, me spilling the beans about all we had learned. We had been set up. I immediately went to see Sam but he wasn’t there. I went home and that’s where they cornered me. Ted and Emily hit me with a spell the very second I opened the door. I could see what was happening but was unable to stop them. They took that picture of us, it was the item that bound the spell. They put it in a photo album and left.”

Harley’s voice was so quiet you could barely hear her speak. “What did the spell do?”

Mr. McGillicuddy looked up at his daughter, eyes red-rimmed and said, “It made me a drunk.”

Harley stood, “I don’t believe you!”

“Every time I tried to go near the picture, my mind would slip, I would immediately go for a drink. You have to believe me.” He pleaded.

Jaden stood then. “Harley, think about it. The same thing has been happening to us, every time we think of Chase.”

Brendan stood then. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to my friends accuse my parents of this…this mess.”

They all turned and looked at Brendan, who was headed to the door.

Harley stopped him, “Brendan, nobody accused your parents, it’s just my dad, and you know him.”

“Sorry Harley, I have to go.” He pushed past her and left out the front door.

Harley went back to the living room and sat putting her head in her hands. Her father continued.