CHAPTER 1X01 WITCH BURNING

Phoebe screamed as flames rose from the pier on which she stood. Her sister's Prue, and Piper hugged and cried. Each scream that shot from Phoebe's mouth was like a dagger in her sister's hearts.

"P-Piper, freeze time. Now." Prue said. Piper shook her head. "Fine. I'll do it. Forwards and backwards, we move through time, other witches pay this no mind, now it's stopped, for all it's broken, freeze time: the words have been spoken." Everyone in the room froze, and the flames stopped. They turned around and left the way they came.

Prue and Piper sat in the manor, hugging on the sofa of the living room.
"P-Prue," said Piper, "May-maybe we can go to the past again. Make a new spell. Maybe Phoebe will be alive. We've got to save her. Please."

"Piper," Prue said, looking into her sister's eyes, "We can't save her. She's gone...she's gone." Prue's cell phone rang. "Hello," she said, "No! I'm not coming into work. My sister just died. Leave me alone!" She sat the phone down on the table; it rang again. Prue held out her hand and closed it. The phone crushed and stopped ringing. Prue helped Piper walk; when they reached the stairs, the doorbell rang. Piper went over to the door and opened it. A woman with brown hair walked in.

"Hi," she said, smiling, "My name is Paige Matthews. I work for social services. I'm a grievance counselor. I'm here to talk about your sister, Phoebe," she gave a watery smile and Prue led her under the chandelier. She shook her hand and Piper grabbed Prue's other arm. The chandelier sent shafts of light down around the girls.

"The Power of Three," said Piper.

"What—What was that," Paige asked.

"It's...It's party lights," said Prue, "A party light."

"Um—Okay. So, should we sit down?" Paige looked toward the living room.

"Yeah," Piper said quietly, not paying attention, "Yeah! Yeah. Follow—follow me." Piper led Paige into the living room, Prue following in their wake. They sat down on the couch and Paige looked at the cell phone.

"Uh—," Paige began.

"Accident," said Prue, "That was an accident."

"Right. Prue, Piper, when a member of your family dies, it's a loss that, will never go away, and can never be filled. We have two options we think will work for you.

"Option one: You take counseling sessions three times a week," Paige paused for moment before continuing, "Or, you can adopt a family member for a few weeks to help fill the void, and then, they will leave and it should help ease the pain; it's worked before."

"Wait! You want someone to—," said Piper.

"What about you," said Prue. "Could you be the one who stays with us?"

"What? Why," Piper said, her face showed a mix of anger and shock, "Why would we want her to stay here?" Piper stretched out her hands.

"Prue, we can't have her around here," said Piper, "with all the—"

"Why not," Paige said, causing Piper to jump, "I'd do it." Prue took her sister's hand and pulled her into the hallway.

"I think she's a witch," said Prue, "Let's just let her live here for a while and find out. And if not, she'll just be going away."

"But Prue, what about all the demons that come here?"

"Who knows? Maybe in the future, demons don't attack us, or maybe not as often."

Paige screamed in the living room. They ran toward the source of the scream. A muscular demon with fangs and slime protruding from its mouth stood holding Paige.

"Okay," said Prue, "I was wrong."