Post by StoryGirl83 on Jun 4, 2010 21:23:38 GMT -5
Chapter Four – Seth’s Report
The conversation with Darryl after all these years still had Piper stunned as she headed back to the kitchen.
The first words out of Wyatt’s mouth when he saw her were, “It’s been over a week.”
“What?” Piper stared at him confused. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Seth and Melinda’s demon,” Wyatt reminded her.
Miranda gulped at the word.
“They both agreed that it would be at least a week and it’s been over a week,” Wyatt continued. “We still have nothing useful on that demon, but the timing of this is right. What if this has something to do with that?”
“That makes no sense,” Piper protested.
“Actually,” Seth Silberman said from the doorway behind her, “it makes perfect sense.” His tongue flicked out drawing a gasp from Miranda.
All eyes turned to him. Tyler’s free hand went to his temple.
“Stand down, Tyler,” Piper ordered. “This is Seth. He’s Wyatt’s best friend, one of the good guys.”
“But his tongue,” Tyler protested.
Seth shrugged. “I don’t judge you for whatever you are,” Seth retorted, “so I’d appreciate the same.” He pointed a hand in the direction of the front door. “I tried the front, but no one was there and I heard voices.”
“What brings you here?” Piper asked.
“It’s happening,” he announced.
Knowing what Seth had been looking for the last week and a half, Piper instantly gave him her full attention. “Did you hear something?”
“Did I hear something?” Seth asked, indignant. “The entire underworld is a buzz. It’s impossible not to hear something.”
Piper looked back at Tyler and Miranda. “Is this something about missing children?”
Seth nodded. “Not just any children. Magical children. Seems that no one wanted to talk about this much beforehand just in case it somehow jinxed him. Apparently,” Seth grinned at Wyatt, “the last time he showed up he had some major problems with some of your ancestors. I couldn’t get many details on that, but I found it interesting.”
“Do you have anything more specific than that?” Piper asked.
Seth sighed. “Not a whole lot. I did get a date though.”
Piper looked at him, questioningly. “A date? We’re trying to stop a demon and you got a date.”
Seth snorted. “Not that kind of date. The date is April 11, 1627. I don’t think I was around then.”
“And what does that mean?” Piper asked him, annoyed.
“It’s the first known attack from this demon,” Seth informed her. “Your daughter said she heard something about him only being around for a few centuries. Well, that fits. Somehow or another, that’s most likely when this demon first hit the scene, possibly that’s when a demonic child grew into adulthood.” He was silent for a few seconds and then added, “Oh, and I also learned that he chooses to only attack once a century, because he likes to . . . are these parents?”
Piper nodded.
He sighed as he walked up to her. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “He likes to torture his victims. I’m not sure what all that entails, but it does mean that while he’s collecting them, he’s unlikely to kill them, so their kids are probably alive, possibly even unharmed. If we don’t stop him now, they won’t stay that way long.” He moved away and spoke in a normal volume. “Keeping that in mind, I also learned that while he only shows up once every hundred years, at least noticeably, he usually takes a few days to do so. From the looks of things, we are on day one, or at the beginning of day two as it sounds like kids might have started disappearing last night.”
“There are more children missing?” Miranda asked, softly. “Tyler, my babies.”
Tyler turned around to hug her to him. He shifted Halli about so that he could hold his wife.
In front of the doorway to the basement orbs flowed around and formed into Kevin Shepherd. The young elder took in those around him. His eyes stopped on Tyler with a small frown. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
“Kevin?” Piper looked at him surprised. “Are you okay?”
Kevin gave her a smile. “He’s about my age, isn’t he?”
Tyler looked at him confused. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Piper nodded. “Yeah, he’s about your same age.”
Tyler looked at Kevin and threw Piper and confused look. “He’s a teenager. He’s about the same age as my son.”
Piper shook her head. “We met Kevin only about a year after we met you.”
Tyler groaned. “He came by those orbing powers ‘honestly’ didn’t he? He died and earned his wings.”
Kevin shook his head, trying not to grin. “I’m very much alive. I’m not a whitelighter exactly, either. And I certainly didn’t become what I am by the normal means.”
“And what are you?” Seth asked.
“An elder,” Kevin replied.
Seth’s eyes widened. His mouth opened to say something and snapped closed.
“And a witch,” Kevin added. “Right now, though, I am acting as a liaison between the elders and the Charmed Ones.”
“They actually sent you here?” Piper asked.
Kevin nodded. “This time, yes. I admit most aren’t too happy with me for what I did in February, but they also agree that you are unlikely to listen to most of them.”
“So what do the elders want from the Charmed Ones?” Piper asked. “And how do they expect the Charmed Ones to do anything when Phoebe is missing.”
Kevin shrugged. “I think it’s more a plea to your family in general. Apparently no one else has ever come close to defeating this demon.”
“So they know who he is.”
Kevin shook his head. “None among the elders has ever seen him. And they know of no one who ever has.”
“Is there anything they can tell us that would be useful?” Piper asked, annoyed.
“They think he used to be human.”