Charmed Ones: Part 4

written by Iz |0 comment(s)

Caleb stared at his cup of cappuccino. He felt very nervous. Somehow, he himself was puzzled why he was being so nervous about. Whether it was about meeting Luke Greene or about asking him who he really was. He kept thinking how to put what he wanted to ask into words. He grabbed the cup and took a few sips of the drink. He remembered the text he sent Luke last night after Connor and Charlie brought up the topic that Luke might be a fraud.

Could I see you tomorrow? I need to ask you something very important. It's about the will.

Sure. Is breakfast okay?

Definitely. See you at Al's Diner?

Okay. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Caleb stared at his BlackBerry screen for quite some time. That was the conversation he had with Luke the night before. So there he was, waiting for Luke to show up at Al's Diner. He was wearing his hospital uniform. Working as a medical assistant, the uniform he wore was light green in color but since he hadn't checked in to the hospital, he put on a grey sweat shirt and put on the hoodie onto his head halfway because it was pretty cold.

"How many of those have you had?" A familiar voice asked Caleb from behind.

Caleb jumped a bit as he was caught off guard. He took off the hoodie, stood up and turned to his back. It was Luke in his dark brown suit. He was wearing dark green shirt and a polka-dotted bright yellow on apple green colored necktie. His dark hair was brushed to the side in an attractive way instead of geeky one. His eyes were light green, his skin was fairly pale. There was a trail of greenness on his face; the area where he let some of his facial hair grew. Well trimmed and groomed. He got closer to Caleb. Compared to him, Caleb stood few inches taller than he was. They shook hands and Caleb asked him to sit down.

"This is actually my first cup." Caleb started the conversation answering Luke unanswered question.

"Sorry I was a tad late. Traffic jam. Same old same old in LA." Luke widened his eyes, insinuating that it was very ridiculous. He took the menu, "Any suggestions on what's best here? I'm hungry I could even eat a horse!"

"I'm not so sure, but I usually have pancakes if I have breakfast here." Caleb shrugged.

"Is that what you're having? Make it two." Luke smiled at Caleb. Caleb smiled back faintly. Something was obviously bothering him and Luke could see that. Caleb placed their order to the waitress, and asked her to refill his cup with coffee this time. "Is everything okay?" Luke asked once the waitress went away.

"Yeah, pretty much." Caleb only answered Luke very shortly. He actually didn't know what to do. It was like he was battling inside of his head.

"Something is bothering you. What is it?" Luke looked at Caleb. From where he was sitting, he could see that Caleb's forehead was a bit frowned. Though Luke thought that Caleb appeared a bit agitated, he still looked handsome. His brunette hair was short and spiky to the left side. His skin was fairly tanned. His eyes were dark brown and when he smiled, Luke noticed that a dimple appeared only at his left cheek.

Caleb let out a big sigh, "If I ask you a question, could you please be honest with me?" He looked into Luke's eyes for assurance.

"Certainly. Does this have something to do with what you wanted to talk about last night?" Luke guessed.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Who are you, actually? I don't think you're a lawyer because an Assistant District Attorney who handled our father's will and attended some divorce cases at the court sounds bull to me." Caleb was hoping for some straight answers.

Luke was going to say something before the waitress came to their table and brought their orders. Luke grabbed the cutlery and started enjoying his breakfast. On the other hand, Caleb seemed uninterested about the meal before his eyes though he was a bit famished. He hadn't had anything but a cup of cappuccino.

"Why aren't you eating? These pancakes are 'da bomb'!" Luke cut another piece of pancake and shoved it into his mouth.

"I'm not that hungry." As soon as Caleb said that, his stomach growled, pretty loudly.

Both Caleb & Luke stared at each other. For one second, it was silent. Then they both laughed till some people around them glanced at their way.

"Okay, fine. I'll eat." Caleb gave in to his hunger, grabbed the cutlery and started eating. "This doesn't mean you can get away from answering my question." Caleb looked at Luke in a skeptical way.

"I must say, if looks could kill I'd be dead by now." Luke finished his pancakes. He put his food aside, "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"I want to know who you really are. My brothers don't trust you and I'm starting to feel the same way." Caleb said frankly.

"Okay. Truth is I'm not really a lawyer. I don't even have any idea how does the law work." Luke replied.

"Then what were you doing barging into our lives? Who knows if the will was a fake one?" Caleb said in exasperation.

"No, it is real. I went to your house as a lawyer because I couldn't think of a better explanation on how to give it to you. All of you. I assure you, I'm a friend. I'm not the bad guy here." Luke explained.

"I don't even know if I can trust you." Caleb buried his face into his palms. "So, who are you really?"

"I can't tell you that, Caleb. At least, not until you're ready." Luke said it slowly.

"Not till I'm ready?" Caleb repeated. "This is ridiculous. What kind of game are you playing, Luke?"

"I'm not playing any games, Caleb. It's just…I'm not allowed to tell you anything unless you discover it yourself." Luke said guiltily.

Caleb looked at Luke and said, "Look, I like you, Luke. But I don't think I can trust you unless you're being honest with me."

Luke said, "Yeah, about that. I think there's been a misunderstanding." He took a very deep breath. "I'm straight."

Caleb froze. He didn't know what to do. Confusion took over himself. It was like his heart skipped a beat, only in a very bad way. His mouth felt dry. He wanted to say something but he choked.

"Caleb, I'm sorry if I've been sending you mixed signals but I'm not gay." Luke explained it to Caleb.

Caleb suddenly burst into a big laughter which made Luke astonished. "Of course you are! You misunderstood. I mean, I like you as a friend. Sorry I didn't make it clear enough to you."

"Oh really? That's great to know." Luke said skeptically.

"Oh! Look at the time. It's almost time for my shift. I need to get to the hospital." Caleb said as he was looking at this watch on his left wrist.

"Okay. Let me take care of the bill." Luke called for the waitress and signaled her to get the bill.

Caleb said, "No, you shouldn't. I was the one who asked you to come here today. I'll take care of it. I insist."

As soon as he had done take care of the bill, Caleb excused himself. He told Luke they'd be in touch. Caleb walked away from the diner awkwardly quick, making it very obvious that he wanted to avoid anymore conversation with Luke. Luke looked at the way where Caleb was headed until he disappeared from his sight. Luke let out a big sigh. That was a big fat lie, he told himself. Not being completely honest with Caleb about his destiny was one thing, lying about his feelings was another thing. Luke liked Caleb, but the only reason he told Caleb that he was straight because it was forbidden.

Caleb reached the hospital miserably. He really thought that Luke showed some interest in him, he was very positive about it. All he could do was lying about his feelings towards Caleb. He couldn't think as he felt humiliated. Luke was just being nice, he thought. He felt stupid and vulnerable. He checked in for his shift and headed to his workstation. He tried to make himself busy with work. He tried to focus but to no avail. He began to be preoccupied with his work till someone patted his left shoulder pretty hard. He jumped a bit and accidentally let everything he was holding fell on the floor.

He turned around and he saw Charlie. "Charlie! You scared me. What are you doing here?" He bent down to pick up the things which were scattered on the floor.

Charlie bent down to help Caleb pick up the things, "Sorry, dude. Didn't mean to scare you like that. I came because I figured I could help you with Luke Greene predicament."

"Too little, too late. I talked to him this morning." Caleb started walking and Charlie just followed him everywhere he went.

"You did? So, how did it go?" Charlie seemed curious.

Caleb told Charlie everything that happened in the morning, that he wasn't a lawyer and claimed that he was a friend instead of a foe. He also told Charlie about how he misunderstood Luke's mixed signals and he was indeed straight, or so he thought.

"Luke? Straight? You've got to be kidding me!" Charlie said in incredulity.

"Tell me about it." Caleb seemed uninterested to continue talking about the topic but Charlie couldn't see that.

"Dude, I had my ‘gaydar’ all over him. The way he looked at you, there's no way he could be straight." Charlie shook his head.

"Charlie, you're not supposed to have ‘gaydar’. Only gays do." Caleb chuckled at what Charlie said as they arrived at the staff lounge.

"I'm not? I thought everyone should have that." Charlie became a bit confused.

"Sometimes I think you know more about gays more than I do, Charlie. Are you sure you're straight?" Caleb said it teasingly.

"Straight as an arrow! You want proofs?" Charlie defended himself.

"There's no need for that, Charlie. I know you're straight. I don't doubt that at all. You can't even take your eyes off of Maria since we came here." Caleb pointed at a redhead girl Charlie kept staring at. "I know what you're thinking. I don't allow it. Not from my workplace!" He gave Charlie a smirk.

"Who's so lame to make such rules? That's not cool, man." Charlie complained.

"I don't care if forbidding you 'do' my co-workers is lame. I've got reputation to keep here too. Back off, okay." Caleb warned Charlie.

"Chill, man. Okay, I won't mess around with people from your work place. But I'm still not going anywhere. You still owe me lunch and u promised to land me some bartending gig here in LA." Charlie said mischievously.

"Okay, but not now. I'm still on my shift. I'll only have my break in an hour from now." Caleb looked at his watch.

"I can wait. It's not like I have better things to do." Charlie crossed his legs and leaned his back on the comfy sofa.

Caleb indulged himself in his work, updating patients' charts, attending warded patients. One hour passed just like that. He thought of going back to Charlie at the staff lounge before one of the warded patients, Mr. Vasquez's heart stopped. He quickly went to the room tried to revive the patient. Considering that he was just a medical assistant, he didn't have the authority to revive the patient using electricity. 20 seconds had passed and no one arrived to help him. He performed CPR, and pushed his palms onto Mr. Vasquez's chest. He put all his willpower to save Mr. Vasquez but he began to think that if the heart wasn't revived, the patient would be gone for good. Desperation engulfed him. It was very intense. He wished that the doctor would be there to authorize the electrocution revival. Suddenly, a spark of electrostatic came to life on his hands. He was dumbfounded with that. He tried concentrating and this time it wasn't just electrostatic that came to life. It was red colored electrical sparks coming out from his fingers. It wasn't fatal, but it was strong enough to electrocute the dying patient in front of him. Suddenly, Mr. Vasquez's heart began to beat. It progressively gained normal heartbeat rate. Caleb took a step back. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't make sense what just happened and the episode astounded him. The doctors and other medical assistants arrived to the room only to realize that Mr. Vasquez had been revived. They were all looking at Caleb for explanation, but he could only shook his head in disbelief. He dismissed himself from the patient's room and went to the staff lounge to find Charlie.

"You won't believe what just happened to me." Caleb startled Charlie who was listening to music tracks in his BlackBerry. They were alone.

"Hey, buddy. Calm down for a second." Charlie stopped the song that was playing in the playlist. He took off his earplugs. "Now, tell me what happened. You look like you'd seen a ghost."

Caleb took a deep breath before began to talk, "I've just electrocuted a dying patient."

"Huh? Don't you medic people usually do that to revive people?" Charlie stated, began to think that it wasn't a big deal.

"No! You don't understand! I did it with my bare hands!" Caleb pulled out his palms. For a second, the red colored electrical spark appeared again between his fingers. They both were taken aback. "Now, you believe me?"

"Whoa! What just happened, man? That was bizarre!" Charlie widened his eyes.

"That was his power. Cool isn't it?" suddenly a big bearded guy interrupted Caleb and Charlie's conversation. He wore a black t-shirt and a black leather pants. His shoes were black, and his arms were full of tattoos which appeared to be satanic. His eyes were ebony black, not even a single color of white was present in his eyes.

They both were surprised by the interruption and stood up. "And who are you?" Caleb asked the fully black attired guy.

"I'm your death sentence." The guy said. He held out his right hand and suddenly a fireball magically integrated in his palm. He threw the fireball at Caleb.

Caleb froze and he had no idea how to react. From the look of it, he could anticipate that the fireball was targeted towards his chest. He wanted to move away but he knew it was too late.

"Look out!" Charlie pushed Caleb to the side. He didn't know what he was doing but it was his reflex to do that. As they fell onto the floor, Charlie was surrounded by blue shining light. He was confused by the occurrence. His surroundings began to shimmer and slowly changed into the villa's living room. During the transition, the blue light followed the direction towards their movement. This happened so fast, the next thing that Charlie saw before his eyes was the wooden coffee table in the middle of the living room. Too bad they fell on it and Charlie slammed his face onto it. Caleb was lucky that he landed on his butt. Their crashing made a loud booming sound.

They took time to regain their balance before they realized that they were back home. Charlie felt the ache on his face.

Caleb brushed off some of the debris from the breaking of the coffee table. He helped Charlie back on his feet. "How in the world did we get here?"

Charlie looked at Caleb before saying, "Caleb, I think I've just teleported us back home."

Charmed Ones: Part 3

written by Iz |4 comment(s)

Charlie swiped the dust off of the peculiar book. The book was huge and bulky. The dark-green leather on its hard cover gave the impression of its being old. Scratches appeared on some parts of it as if it had survived centuries of battle. He opened the book. The first page had a sentence written on it. He thought it could be like some sort of an incantation but it was too short to be one. The power of the trio will set us for go. He whispered the words. He kept reading. The first few pages of the book narrated the history of magic. The grand design of good and evil, a sense of duality like yin and yang. Magic had been seen as the means of evil but it wasn’t revealed that over the centuries magic was used to fight evil of the world. Demons that walked among people, warlocks that killed good witches to gain powers and fallen witches who practiced dark magic.

“This is ridiculous.” Charlie told himself. “So I read this and I become Harry Potter or something?”

He closed the book thinking that it was such a waste of time spending a few hours reading some old witchcraft history that had nothing to do with him. He put the book back into the chest and went out of the basement. As he walked to his room, the triquetra symbol glowed. He tucked himself to sleep when the triquetra symbol became brighter. The glow levitated on the air and broke to individual symbols. The symbols flied across the villa and reached Connor, Caleb and Charlie. The symbols landed on their chest then disappeared like they were absorbed into the brothers’ bodies.

Charlie woke up the next morning. He was drenched in sweat. Perplexity filled his mind when he discovered that he wasn’t in his room. He rubbed his eyes hard. Disbelief overwhelmed him as he was lying on the living room floor. He got up and went to the kitchen only to see Connor was having his breakfast.

“I could use some of that coffee you’re having.” Charlie sat on the stool next to Connor. Connor got up and dispensed some coffee from the coffee-maker and handed it to Charlie. “Thanks.”

“You alright? You look terrible.” Connor took a sip of coffee.

“Thank you.” Charlie said sarcastically. “I don’t know what happened to me. I woke up at the living room floor.” He took a few sips of coffee from his blue colored mug. “I clearly remember that I slept in my room last night.”

“Maybe you were sleepwalking.” Connor took a guess.

"If I had sleepwalked, wouldn't I had been having that since I was a kid?" Charlie asked Connor.

Connor took a bite of peanut butter toast before saying, "I don't know. The other day I saw on Desperate Housewives that one can develop that out of guilt or something."

"Or something?" Charlie repeated, skeptical.

"Don't ask me. I'm no medical expert. I work in an advertising company, okay. Maybe you should ask Caleb about this. Figure he would at least have some ideas about it." Connor went to the toaster and took two slices of toasts, placed it on a purple ceramic plate and handed them to Charlie. "Here are some peanut butter and various flavor of jams."

"Thanks. Speaking of which, where's Caleb?" Charlie grabbed a butter knife and took a big chunk of peanut butter before putting them on the toasts.

"I guess he went out early. Maybe he went out to work." Connor could only guest as he didn't know anything about it any better.

"Or maybe he went to see Luke? Or investigate about him?" Charlie took more wild guesses.

"I hope everything will turn out fine for him. I don't want him to face another sorrow after we lost our dad, you know." A bit of concern was present in Connor's voice.

"I wouldn't worry much about him. He's a grown man. Sure he can take care of himself pretty good." Charlie finished off his first toast.

Connor said, "Well, both of you are my only brothers and I sure don't want anything to happen to you both. Whether you like it or not, I'm looking out for you two. I'm the big bro, aren't I?"

Weirdly, Connor put on a very warm smile on his face which was something he rarely did. The denotation behind that smile was understood by Charlie. Though he wouldn't admit it in a million years, Charlie cared for his eldest brother regardless. He would always be known as the one who rebelled, the one who got into trouble for no reason but never meant all that to be a sign of defiance toward his brothers.

"It's like you can count on me like one two three…" Connor started singing.

"Whoa! Hold it right there. Don't you go all Bruno Mars on me. It's just weird, man." Charlie dropped his toast onto the ceramic plate and raised both of his hands.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea." Connor started laughing and Charlie joined him.

There was a familiar feeling to that. They were one big happy family. Their parents were pretty much crazy in love with each other years ago before it all shattered into pieces. Pieces that couldn't be put back together.

"Guess we can have a civilized conversation without shoving knives to one another's throat." Charlie muttered after he was done laughing.

"Yeah, I guess we can." Connor agreed.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you last night I got the chest opened." Charlie changed the subject.

"Seriously? How?" Connor was invoked by confusion and curiosity.

Charlie started telling Connor how he carried the chest into the basement and found out the padlock was unlocked as he believed was caused by the impact he made from putting the chest onto the floor pretty hard. He also told Connor that he found a big thick green leathered book with a triquetra symbol on it inside the old wooden chest. He told Connor he read a few first pages of the book about witchcraft history and how they somehow related to those stated in the book.

"Witchcraft?" Connor was flabbergasted.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry much about it. Probably just nothing." Charlie cleaned up the kitchen and put everything into the dishwasher to get them cleaned.

"I'll get down and see the book for myself later. Now, I'm just going to get ready for a jog." Connor stood up from the stool.

"You do that. I need to get ready myself." Charlie started leaving the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Puzzled by this, Connor asked Charlie.

"Think I'm meeting Caleb at the hospital. Maybe he needs help with Luke Greene investigation thingy. Plus, he did promise to land me that bartending gig here." Charlie put on his mischievous look.

"Don't do anything stupid okay. Be safe." Connor said to Charlie half yelling as he already left the kitchen running towards the shower.

Connor put on a pair of black shorts, sleeveless red muscle shirt and a pair of red running shoes. It suited his muscular built even though he wasn’t as well-built as Charlie was. He locked the door behind him and headed to the nearby park to go for a jog. His dirty blonde hair shined under the hot scorching sun of the morning. A girl ran passed him couldn't help but become aware of the hazel eyes he had. Connor saw the girl was looking at him so set a smile on his rose-tinted lips which also showed a set of white dazzling teeth. 

He began to do his stretches to warm up his body as he arrived at the park. He felt effortless when he jogged. He wanted to challenge himself so he changed his pace to be more rapidly. Gradually, he gained the momentum to run faster, and faster. It was late till he realized that he was in the middle of the city of Los Angeles. Some cars honked at him for standing in the middle of the road. He didn't understand how he could get to the city when it usually took 45 minutes to get there even by using a vehicle and he somehow got there in a couple of minutes. He walked around and found Starbucks. He sat there trying to make sense what just happened.

Connor thought there must be a very good explanation to this. He took a cab and went back to the villa. He immediately went to the basement and tried looking for the chest that Charlie brought down the night before. As he found the chest, he quickly took the book out from it and flipped through the pages. He read again what had been read by Charlie the other night, only Connor decided to read further.

Connor found out that the Alexanders were the descendants of a once very powerful witch who sacrificed herself to obliterate one of the most powerful forces of evil in the entire universe. According to the prophecy written in it, there would be a time where three witches would inherit the gifts to continue the legacy. These witches, regardless of gender, would possess three types of magical powers. The first was superhuman magical abilities, the second was the magical power of elemental control and the last one would be the power of magical defense.

Connor read the last line that illustrated the powers. "These powers when combined would be the most powerful ever existed on the face of Earth. And this power would be known as the ‘Power of the Trio’." He closed the book. He let this new discovery sink in to his head. “I’m a witch?” He shook his head in disbelief.

Before he could open the book to continue reading it, there was a loud booming sound upstairs.

Charmed Ones: Part 2

written by Iz |3 comment(s)

Connor stared at the house grant blankly. He didn’t know what to do with it. He didn’t know where to start. He would have to go back to New York in few days time yet he hadn’t talked to his brothers about the villa. What they were going to do with it. He had thought about selling it, but that would not be approved by Caleb. Since the delivery of the will from their father’s lawyer, Luke Greene, Caleb had expressed his wish to stay in the villa considering that the hospital where he worked as a medical assistant was closer to the villa compared to his old apartment.

Connor went down to the living room. He saw Charlie was lying on the sofa browsing through the TV channel. Charlie was wearing grey shorts and white muscle shirt which had “YOLO” written in the middle of it. He was eating a box of popcorn while watching the rerun of “Pimp My Ride” on MTV. Charlie saw Connor coming to his way but he didn’t bother to turn his head to look his direction. His eyes were so glued on the screen of that 42-inched LED Samsung TV in front of them. Connor joined him, unsure how to start the conversation with his youngest brother.

“What are you watching?” Connor cleared his throat because his voice sounded dry. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“This is the best thing I can do in this freaking old villa.” Replied Charlie, still glued to the TV screen.

“Just got back from the gym, I see.” Connor looked at the TV and the show turned to commercial break.

“I don’t wake up one morning then ‘poof!’ this hot body suddenly become mine. I put extremely lots of work to gain this.” Charlie turned to look at Connor, bringing his eyes up and down. “I think you should spare some time at the gym too.”

Ignoring what Charlie said to him, Connor said, “Have you seen Caleb? Think it’s time for dinner.”

“He BBM-ed me earlier saying he would be back in a bit. He bought dinner for us. Hope you’re not allergic with Chinese food.” Charlie checked on his BlackBerry to see if there was any notification he hadn’t opened.

“Oh, okay. Could you please tell me when he arrives? I need to do some conference call in my room. I’ll leave to whatever that you’re doing right now.” Connor stood up, prepared to leave Charlie alone.

“Sure. I’ll just text you. Keep your cell phone close. Too bad you’re not using BlackBerry. I could've BBM you. You don't even have WhatsApp installed in your iPhone.” Charlie said with a smirk.

Connor left Charlie alone in the living room. He got upstairs and sat on the bed. He didn’t really have a conference call he needed to do. It just felt weird being in the same room as Charlie without Caleb’s presence there. Plus, he didn’t want to risk being in an argument with Charlie again. He didn’t quite remember what had happened between them when they were small, but they hadn’t had the best brotherly relationship.

He pulled out his iPhone 4S and started browsing through the net. He logged on to Facebook. His jaw literally dropped as he stared at the first post on the News Feed that read ‘Lisa Grimaldi is in a relationship’. Lisa Grimaldi was the love of his life, or so he thought. They broke up just a few weeks before Connor got the phone call from Caleb’s on their father’s death. She told him that she didn’t feel the excitement in their relationship anymore. ‘Irreconcilable differences’ as she told him. He had suspected that she might be cheating on him, but it wasn’t his style to accuse people without having any proof. He couldn’t even do that when the person he suspected was the person he was in love with. A notification suddenly popped up onto the screen that read ‘Caleb’s home.’ Perfect timing, he thought to himself. He deleted the notification and placed his phone in his pocket.

Connor went down only to see that Caleb and Charlie were already sitting at the dining table. Seeing the Chinese takeout made him realize that he hadn’t eaten anything since Luke Greene’s visit to the house. Luke Greene. He thought there was something odd about that guy. Well, he knew that Caleb was already head over heels about him but he had an anomalous feeling about that lawyer. All the more reason to be cautious.

“Thanks for the dinner, Caleb.” Connor broke out the uncomfortable silence.

“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad both of you are here right now. It sometime feels kind lonely here in LA without any family members close to you, you know.” Caleb looked at Connor and Charlie both.

“I’m just glad Connor isn’t allergic to Chinese takeout. Who knows if he needed CPR right after? I ain’t doing it in a million years.” Charlie burst into laughter. “I’m sure Caleb wouldn’t mind giving you CPR, Connor.”

“Watch it, Charlie. Even though he’s gay, it doesn’t mean that he wants to kiss me.” Connor paused, thinking about what he said. “You wouldn’t, right Caleb?”

“Of course not! That’s just disgusting! Euw! Can’t believe you thought about it like that. I won’t do you CPR if you needed one. I’ll just punch your chest instead. Sure you can handle it.” Caleb said humorously.

For some reason, they laughed about it. Somehow, they needed it after the bad day they just had.

“So, any decision on the villa and that old wooden chest?” asked Charlie. He looked at Caleb who later turned to look at Connor. Connor felt trapped, like they both were ganging up on him.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about.” Connor put his food aside. “I don’t know what to do actually. I was hoping we can all decide what our next move will be.”

“I was wondering if both of you could move in.” Caleb turned to Charlie. “That would be okay with you, right?”

“Well, I’m going back to Miami to tend bars. You know a guy have to do what he’s got to do. I’m a career man. Plus, it’s YOLO.” Charlie pointed at his muscle shirt like some sort of a rap singer.

“YOLO?” Connor looked baffled.

“It means ‘You Only Live Once’. Dude, you really have to keep up with the Internet lingo.” Charlie gestured something signifying that Connor was old.

“It’s also the dumbass’ excuse for doing something stupid,” Caleb put his food aside now, “and I know you’re better than that, Charlie.” Charlie seemed unconvinced so Caleb continued, “Come on, Charlie. I’m sure you can tend bars here too. It’s LA, for God’s sake. You’ll get paid better here.”

“Fine. I’m staying, but just because you said I’ll get paid better here. And you’re going to help me with it. Deal?” Charlie pulled out his right hand and set his picky finger out. “Pretty please?”

“God! You’re the most annoying brother ever! You didn’t really have to make that voice. It’s a deal.” Caleb ignored Charlie immature acts and voice for that matter. “How about you, big bro?” He later turned to Connor who looked agitated about the whole conversation.

“I can’t leave my job in New York just like that.” He said to Caleb. He didn’t want to look at Charlie. “I’m leaving this weekend.”

“Can’t you ask for a transfer? You said they have an opening here, right?” Caleb asked.

“They do, but it’s a lower position.” Connor said.

“So, you’re worried about being paid less? Thought you’d care about family bonding and whatnot.” Charlie said exasperatingly.

“Now look who’s talking. Who has been away doing ‘God knows what’ in Miami? Don’t you think I know that you’ve been tending bars because you dropped out of college?” Connor looked into Charlie’s eyes.

Flabbergasted, Charlie turned to Caleb and said “Damn! That was supposed to be a secret. Thought I could trust you on this.”

“Come on, Charlie. Who would have believed you’d finished your bachelor’s degree this soon? I had to tell him somehow.” Caleb said as he tried to talk some sense into Charlie. “Connor, you sure you can’t pull some strings on this?”

“I don’t think I can. I’m really sorry.” Connor said feebly. “I’m okay with you both staying in this house but I can’t leave my commitment just like that. Hope you would understand.”

There was an awkward silence for a couple of minute before Caleb asked everyone, “Ok, that’s it about the villa. How about the chest?” 

“Since we can’t open it, I was hoping if Charlie could bring it down to the basement?” Connor turned to Charlie, “Is that okay with you?”

“You expect me to carry that alone? Who knows what’s inside? It might be extremely heavy for me.” Charlie felt like he was being bullied.

“Come on, Charlie. I think you can handle it. All those times you spent in the gym must have given you a lot of strength.” Caleb tried to persuade him.

“Very well, I’ll do it but you owe me tomorrow’s lunch. I’m a college dropout after all.” Charlie continued, “Or you have a date with McSmiley?” he said mischievously.

“McSmiley? Who’s that?” Connor seemed confused.

“It’s Luke Green, Connor. Didn’t you see how Caleb responded when he smiled? He practically melted many times.” Charlie blurted it out.

“I did not! Plus, why would you be that observant on a guy? It’s incredibly odd for a straight guy like you.” said Caleb, trying to put the attention on Charlie as he began to blush.

Connor said, “Caleb, you’re blushing. I could basically see it from here.” He let out a small laugh.

“I…may…have…liked…the…way…he…smiles.” Caleb said slowly and softly.

“Told ya!” Charlie said to Connor. They both ended up laughing out loud.

“Whatever you do, we support you 100%, Caleb. You’re our only gay brother.” Connor assured Caleb “But I think you should be careful with him.” He continued.

“Why is that?” Caleb questioned.

“He said our father appointed him as his lawyer, but he needed to attend some divorce cases at the court? That sounded peculiar to me.” Connor insisted.

“I’m on the same page as Connor on this one; even a college dropout like me knows that lawyers have their areas of expertise.” Charlie agreed.

“It says here that he’s the Deputy District Attorney of LA.” Caleb told everyone as he pulled out the name card he got from Luke before he left.

“That makes it even stranger. The DA is supposed to take care of crime cases, against the criminals.” Connor took the card from Caleb then gave it to Charlie.

“This is strange. Think you should look into this, dude.” Charlie gave the name card back to Caleb.

“Maybe I’ll ask him about this tomorrow.” Caleb stopped there. “Think I’m going to call it a day. I’m so tired.” He quickly left the dining room, leaving only both Connor and Charlie looking bewildered at each other.

“He seemed upset.” Connor muttered.

“Of course he was. If the girl I like turned out like a serial killer or something, I’d be upset too. He liked the guy.” Charlie tried to rationalize Caleb’s gloom.

“Think I’m heading to my room too. There are a lot of things I need to settle.” Connor wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Don’t forget about the chest, okay?” he pointed to the chest. “Good night.”

“Night.” Charlie replied short. He then looked at the chest, “You and I, we’ve got serious problem. I need to carry you to the basement. Wish I had a magical power to teleport you down there.”

Charlie cleared the dining table and threw away the leftovers into the bin outside the villa. He found it surprising that the chest was actually lighter than the weighs he lifted at the gym. So he put the chest on the basement’s floor. As he turned away to get back upstairs, he heard a click behind him. He returned to the chest to check it out. The padlock had suddenly been unlocked. “The impact must have made this happened.” Charlie thought to himself. He got curious; he wanted to see what was inside the chest that their father left. The same chest that Calvin looked at as he took his final breath, only Charlie didn’t know that. He opened it. There was a creaking sound as he opened the chest. Chills went down his spine. It was abruptly cold in the basement. It was so eccentric considering that the basement got no windows but Charlie didn’t think about any of it. His curiosity empowered him to look into the chest. Inside, there was a green-leathered book with a triquetra symbol. Charlie grabbed the book. He said, “What in the world is this?”

Charmed Ones: Part 1

written by Iz |10 comment(s)

Disclaimer: This is just fiction. Please read it with an open mind.

Caleb sat in the kitchen staring into nothing. He thought about his father as he was standing there powerlessly as they lowered the coffin into the ground. Tears fell down his cheeks. Stood next to him during the funeral were his brothers, Connor and Charlie. Caleb found it very hard to accept the death of his father. Among the three of them, he was the closest one to their father, Calvin Alexander. He reminisced about the memories that they shared together. 

The most memorable thing was the day he came out to his dad, admitting to him that he didn’t like girls like his brothers were. He felt the pounding in his chest when he told his dad about his homosexuality. He could not withhold the fact that his dad might be upset with this and kicked him out of the house and told him he wouldn’t love him anymore. In fact, he had his stuffs packed in a luggage in his room just in case if that were to happen.  

“Dad, can I talk to you about something?” Caleb said nervously. He grabbed a stool in front of him gesturing his dad to sit in front of him. “It’s important.” 

“Sure, son.” Calvin sat on the stool, making himself comfortable with the position. “You okay, son? You look like you had seen a ghost.” Calvin chuckled. He looked at Caleb’s face; the expression in his face didn’t change. He knew then that it was serious. “I’m sorry. Come on, talk to me. Isn’t that what you wanted to do?” 

Caleb cleared his throat before starting to tell his dad the news. “Dad, I’ve been keeping this to myself for quite some time and I don’t think I can keep this any longer.” He paused, looking at Calvin’s face for reassurance. “Dad, I’m gay.” 

For a minute there was an awkward silence. Caleb looked at his dad. He was perplexed by his dad’s expression because there was nothing. He stood up, beginning to leave. He could not bear seeing his dad’s face turned into a face of disappointment. Calvin clutched Caleb’s arm holding him from leaving. 

“Where are you going? I don’t think we’re done here, young man.” spoke Calvin. 

“I don’t want to look at the disappointment all over your face because your son didn’t turn out as you expected.” Caleb said as his eyes started to water. 

To Caleb’s surprise, his dad hugged him. He was shocked. He didn’t know what happened. “Who says I’m disappointed?” Calvin let go of the hug and looked straight at Caleb in the eyes. “I’m proud of you. You have the courage to actually admit it and tell me about it.” He continued, “How long have you been keeping this?” 

“For a couple of months. You’re the first person to know this, dad. I don’t know what to do.” He wiped his tears. “I thought you were going to kick me out of the house. I even had my stuff packed in my room. You know, just in case.” 

“Caleb, you shouldn’t think about it like that. No matter what happens, I will always love you. All of you”. Calvin said, “Have you told your brothers about this?” 

“No, I haven’t. I wanted you to know first. I was wondering if we could tell them both. I don’t think I can do this alone.” Caleb took a deep breath. “Will you?” 

“Of course, son.” Calvin said, “No one should go through this alone. I’m sure your brothers would be okay with it. I didn’t raise them to be judgmental freaks, you know?” he laughed. 

Caleb laughed as well. “Thanks, dad. I would never have done this without you.” He embraced his dad and said, “Love you, dad.” 

“Love you too, son.” Calvin hugged Caleb tight. “Now, come on. We wouldn’t want your brothers to miss this remarkable news, right?” he said it with a big smile making the lines beside his eyes appeared. 

Caleb snapped back into reality. Now, he realized that he was in the villa’s kitchen. That was the place where the conversation took place. He didn’t realize that he was in tears. He grabbed a tissue from its box and wiped them. He blew his nose into another sheet of tissue. Then the youngest brother, Charlie stepped into the kitchen. 

Charlie got closer to Caleb. He could see that Caleb was crying. “Dude, you okay?” 

“Am I okay? Our dad just died.” There was anger in his tone. “How can I be okay with that?” 

“Caleb, I lost our dad too.” Charlie said. “We all lost our father. I didn’t mean it that way when I asked if you were okay.” He said calmly. He understood how devastated Caleb was considering that he was the closest to their dad. 

“I know. I’m sorry.” Caleb put on a smile, faintly. “So what brought you here?” 

“We’ve got a company. There’s a lawyer at the living room with Connor right now. He said something about our dad’s will. I think he’s going to read it to us.” Charlie put his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Come on, I think we shouldn’t keep the lawyer waiting.” 

Caleb and Charlie left the kitchen. Sitting with the eldest brother, Connor, was the lawyer. He shook both Caleb and Charlie’s hands. Caleb thought that the lawyer looked attractive in his suit. The shirt that he wore was soft green in color with his apple green necktie that had pictures of leaves on it. 

“Hello, my name is Luke Greene and I am you father’s lawyer.” Luke put on a big smile on his face while introducing himself to the brothers. 

“Mr. Greene? Does that have anything to do with what you’re wearing now?” Charlie cracked a joke but no one laughed. Connor shot a killer look at his way. “What? I’m just kidding. I didn’t want us to go all awkward about this will thingy.” 

“It’s okay. Well, it’s a coincidence. As for what I’m wearing today, it’s my favorite color.” Luke explained to Charlie. 

“You don’t have to explain that, Mr. Greene. Charlie doesn’t think before he says anything. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.” said Connor apologetically. 

“He’s not uncomfortable, Connor. Could you please for once stop putting words into people’s mouth?” said Charlie, irritated with what Connor said about him. 

“Guys, come on. Could you both stop killing one another just for a minute?” Caleb was annoyed by their actions, fighting like small children. “We have a guest for crying out loud. If anyone is making Mr. Greene uncomfortable, it’s you both.” 

“You can call me Luke, Mr. Alexander.” Luke said reacting to what Caleb said. 

“Well, you shouldn’t call me that either. Caleb’s just fine.” Caleb said to him back. 

Connor and Charlie looked at one another and for a moment there was an awkward silence. Connor cleared his throat and said, “So, Luke. What brought you here?” It broke the awkwardness in the room. 

“Yes, about that. I have here a short will from your father, Mr. Calvin Alexander.” He pulled out a piece of paper from his briefcase. “According to your father’s will, he named the three of you to become the heirs of this villa and that old wooden chest sitting at the corner of the room right there.” Luke pointed at the old wooden chest beside the floor lamp. 

“So, you’re saying you have the key to open the chest?” Connor said blatantly. 

“Unfortunately, no. This will is the only thing I have. Your father trusted me to give this will to all of you if anything happened to him.” Luke replied. 

“I’ve tried opening it before, but it’s locked. There’s no way we can open it without the key.” Caleb told everyone. 

“We can break it. Just smash with a large rock or something.” Charlie gave an idea. 

“We can’t risk breaking whatever inside the chest, Charlie.” Connor rejected Charlie’s idea. 

“I’m sure all of you will figure out what to do next. I believe that’s what your father wants. If you excuse me, I need to go to the court. There’s a divorce case that I need to attend.” Luke said as he began to stand. 

The brothers all stood up but Caleb volunteered to walk Luke out the villa. Both Connor and Charlie looked at each other and pulled out big grins on their faces. 

“Thank you, Mr. Greene for your trip over here. I know you’re a very busy man.” Caleb said to Luke as he opened the door for him. 

“Come on, it’s Luke. Have you forgotten about that?” Luke said it with a smile. 

Those nice set of teeth and amiable smile exactly what made him looked charming. Caleb looked at Luke talking but he didn’t hear any sound coming out from his mouth. All he could see was a very attractive young man stood before him. He didn’t realize that Luke was handing him his name card. He became a bit clumsy and took the name card from Luke’s hand. 

“That was my name card, if you notice.” Luke said it teasingly. “If you need anything regarding the will or anything at all, call me.” 

“Err…thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” Caleb looked at the name card then said, “Drive safe.” 

Luke let the door closed behind him. He still smiled with Caleb’s reaction toward the name card. Suddenly, green lights started to appear around his head like some sort of flashing orbs. Slowly, the shining green lights started to spread around his arms, legs, every parts of his body. Before he disappeared into thin air, he said “The time has come for you, Charmed Ones.”

Charmed Ones: Prologue

written by Iz |8 comment(s)

I've mentioned earlier that I want to try writing a story, so this is it. Just a prologue. I don't have a title for this story yet but it will soon. Please leave your comment for the newbie writer, which is me, okay? Thanks! - Iz

He lied on the floor, bleeding and helpless. The athame, a signature knife for demons was still buried in his stomach. He knew that this day would come but he thought he could handle it. How could he not prepare himself for this? The only thing he could do was blasting the demon with electrical discharge from his right hand that was later placed on the wound. As he saw the demon disintegrated to ashes, his whole life flashed before his eyes. 

He thought about the sons he had. Three of them. He could still remember every single bit of memory watching them grew up, raising them into the men they had become. He remembered them all: the first word, the first step, teaching them how to ride bicycles, kindergarten, elementary school, high school, girl problem and guy problem for his middle son, graduations and the list went on. But the most important thing was their first discovery of their powers. They were perfect for him, he could not possibly care about anything more than his sons. The only thing he could not understand was why his sons never got along. 

He tried to move but to no avail. Somehow, he could sense that the life in him was slowly fading. He attempted to scream for help but he choked. Slowly, he looked at the corner of the living room that he was in. Sitting next to the floor lamp was an old wooden chest. He pulled out his left hand as if he was trying to grab the chest. He let out a small chuckle. He didn’t know what was so funny but that was the only thing he could do, given the circumstance. He was perplexed that he could hold it this long before dying. 

His heart pumped slower. Every second took his life away from his body. At this point, he could be drowning in his own blood. He lost so much blood he knew there was nothing he could do. Looking straight at the old wooden chest as he let out his final breath, he said “Sons, I’m sorry.”