Dreamscape

Sorry about the delay in posting. I had some serious computer trouble to deal with. Now, $264.89 later, I am up and back online. Right now, I'm posting this in Philly from my friend Nightcrawler's computer. Anyway, enjoy the COMPLETE story, and I promise a sequel in the near future. In addition, I'll post something a little extra as an apology for the delay.

This is the sequel to "The Scepter of Anubis". I do not own any part of Charmed, I just write about it.

"Good night, Mary. Have a nice night," Sara shouted as Mary left.

Mary grinned, and said, "I plan to," before running off. Mary was in a hurry. She was running late, and had promised to meet Jason at home. Jason was coming home from the navy tonight, and they planned to celebrate it in style. That's why she had asked to cut their coven meeting short. But if she didn't hurry, she'd find herself late anyway.

When Mary got home, she found the door slightly ajar. Mary was worried for a moment, before she grinned. She was in a safe neighborhood, which meant Jason had beaten her home. Not knowing what to expect, Mary walked into the door and said softly, "Jason?"

His suitcase was in the middle of the living room, and Mary saw light from the bedroom. Mary grinned as she pushed open the bedroom door. That grin became a scream as she saw Jason. Someone had killed him, gutted him in fact, and Jason was staring up at her with his very dead eyes.

Mary was about to shout for her whitelighter when she felt a knife slam into her back. Someone was right behind her, and Mary felt blood flowing from the wound. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Now, now, I can't let you scream for your whitelighter," a voice whispered softly. "After all, he or she'd spoil our fun. Did you like what I did to your fiancé? I normally don't take the time to truly gut my victims, but you were late, and I was bored. He was rather brave; I can see why you liked him. He didn't even start screaming until the very end. I just love a strong man, don't you? That just made it SO much better. But his power wasn't that impressive, unlike yours."

Mary was spun around, and the last thing she saw was a face set in a sadistic and gleeful expression. Then it all went dark.

***

As morning dawned on the Halliwell manor, Piper walked into the kitchen and bit back a scream of rage. "GABRIEL!" she shouted in an outraged tone.

Gabriel walked in, and grinned sheepishly as Piper pointed to the nearly empty pantry. "Sorry, but I was hungry. I came down for a midnight snack.and a 1am snack, and a 3am snack.and a dawn snack.um, when's breakfast?"

Piper picked up a spatula and waved it threateningly at Gabriel. "Don't you start.LEO!"

"What?" Leo murmured sleepily as he walked into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw the empty pantry, and turned to Gabriel. He grinned at him and said, "Got hungry, did you?"

"Leo, this isn't funny," Piper commented darkly, "This is the fourth time in a week that Gabriel has cleaned out the pantry. I can't keep going to the grocery store. The clerks think I'm feeding an army at home."

"Gabriel, what is with the hunger, anyway?" Leo wondered out loud.

"I don't know.I'm just always hungry. I'm really sorry, Aunt Piper," Gabriel murmured apologetically.

"Don't give me those puppy dog eyes of yours," Piper said. She said, "You go up and demand that someone tell you what the Hell is going on, or I swear I'll never feed you again."

Gabriel's eyes widened in panic as he vanished. Piper whirled as Leo fought not to chuckle, "And you, go to Dunkin Donuts and buy us a family set.no, make it two. One for Gabriel, and one for us."

Leo nodded, and orbed out as Paige and Michael walked downstairs. "Gabriel raid the pantry again?" Paige mentioned with a smirk.

"I swear I'm going to put a barrier on it to keep him out," Piper replied. "How are you two doing?"

"We're fine. It's been a week, and I'm pretty much recovered," Michael reassured her.

Piper was about to comment when Cole and Phoebe walked in. She took one look at Phoebe and stated, "You look awful."

Phoebe managed a grin and said, "Thanks, right back at you."

"Seriously, Phoebe, what's wrong?" Paige murmured worriedly. Dark circles were under Phoebe's eyes, and her eyes had that blurry look that usually meant a person wasn't getting enough sleep.

"I don't know," Phoebe said honestly, "I go to sleep earlier, but I wake up tired. It is very confusing."

"Are you astral projecting, like Prue did that one time," Piper asked in concern.

"I don't think so, because I haven't been having any weird dreams. I just don't know...but I need to get a good night's sleep."

"Try some sleep pills tonight, and then we'll consider another option," Paige suggested.

"Good idea.where's Gabriel?" Phoebe changed the subject.

"He's on an.errand," Piper replied.

Phoebe looked at the pantry and managed a sly grin, "I'll bet. Raided the pantry again, didn't he?"

The doorbell rang. Piper glared at Phoebe and said, "Saved by the bell." She went to the door and opened it to find Sara and Arianna there. "Hey Sara. What's up?" Piper wondered.

"Can I come in please?" Sara asked softly.

"Of course. We're all in the kitchen." Piper led them into the kitchen, where everyone was sitting. Just as they got in, Gabriel appeared.

"Gabriel," Arianna said as her face brightened. She squirmed out of her mother's arms and grabbed Gabriel by the hand. She was leading him away when Piper stopped them.

"Not so fast," Piper warned, "Well?"

"I talked with them, and it turns out all Azarians go through a growth spurt at my age. It should last another month." Gabriel explained.

"A MONTH! We'll be paupers by then from the food bill," Piper said worriedly.

Gabriel handed over a paper and said, "When Mortanos heard about this, he felt the same, so he said if you say this spell, your pantry will never empty. Also, if you cancel it when my spurt is done, he promises no consequences for personal gain. When he heard how much I was eating, he said he considered it saving an innocent, namely me."

"Come on, Gabriel, let's go play." Arianna begged. She dragged Gabriel out of the room before he could even respond.

"I see Arianna still has a crush on Gabriel," Phoebe mentioned.

"Be careful, Arianna told me last night she plans on marrying him," Sara joked.

The group laughed at that, and then Piper said, "So, what brings you over?"

The smile left Sara's face as she said, "Several witches from my coven have been brutally murdered."

Paige gasped, and said, "Any idea which demon could be behind it."

"That's just it; we're not so sure it's a normal demon." Sara explained.

"What do you mean?" Cole asked.

"Well, demons kill witches, but they aren't usually this brutal. I mean, the last demon eviscerated his victim's husband before killing her. That's not normal."

"You're right, demons usually don't do that. At least, I never did. With me, witches were targets for power, but this sounds like something more," Cole said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry, demon or not, we'll help you with this," Piper stated firmly.

Sara's face looked relieved as she said, "Thank you. I feel better knowing the Charmed Ones are involved."

"Is there any pattern to the killings?" Phoebe questioned softly.

"Yes, they all take place around midnight, which I'm sure you realize is a magically significant time," Sara replied.

"So, how many coven members are left?" Paige asked.

"Two besides myself. Both of them are up in heaven with their whitelighters until we figure this out. We decided as long this demon is out there, we'd be better off with only one target to protect."

"Good plan." Piper murmured approvingly. "now, I figure the best thing to do is."

A loud crash sounded from the living room. The group ran in to see Gabriel, Arianna, and Melinda in a triangle around a broken lamp.

"Who did this?" Piper demanded.

The children looked at each other, and then each pointed at the one to their right and said, "Their's!"

***

"Are you sure about this," Sara asked quietly.

"Look, we will protect you. But the other coven members can't stay up in heaven forever. We need to draw the demon out, and this is best way. We'll be right there with you. No way will this demon get to you." Piper soothed.

Sara stood up and walked to the window. She looked out and watched as her daughter played with Gabriel and Melinda. Finally, she nodded and said, "Alright, but I want Arianna to stay here, away from it all."

"Of course," Phoebe interrupted, "We'll have Leo keep an eye on her. She can stay here tonight."

Paige looked over at her in concern, and said, "Phoebe, no offense, but I think you should stay here tonight too."

"What, but I'm." Phoebe began, but stopped as she yawned.

"You're exhausted," Cole finished. "We're not going to kill the demon; we just need to figure out who he is. Your sisters and I should be able to handle it without the Power of Three. Besides, I'd feel better knowing you were here."

Phoebe glared at them, but finally said tightly, "Alright.this time I'll stay behind."

"Good, it's settled," Piper stated. "We'll head over to your house and get everything set up."

"What about Gabriel and Melinda?" Paige demanded.

"We shouldn't need them at this point," Piper pointed out, "I'm confident we can handle it. Come on, let's go get ready. It's going to be a busy night."

***

As Sara paced back and forth, she kept glancing at the clock. Five till midnight. The demon should be here any moment now. Almost unbidden, Sara spared a quick look at the far wall, but she still could see nothing. Cole's invisibility shield was working perfectly. They should be able to get the jump on the demon this way.

Sara's musings were interrupted by the doorbell. She felt Cole's presence in her mind as he whispered softly, "Answer, we'll be ready."

Sara slowly opened to door to find a man in a UPS uniform waiting. He looked at her and asked, "Sara Connors? I have a letter for you?"

"Since when do you people deliver at midnight?" Sara demanded.

"We don't, normally, but we were paid a great deal to deliver it at this exact moment," the delivery man explained. After Sara signed for it, the man turned and left. Sara opened the letter as Cole and the others appeared. She gasped, and went pale.

"What, what does it say," Piper demanded.

Sara looked over at her, and then said softly, "Nice try. Now pay the penalty for your trap."

"How could the demon know?" Cole wondered, "My shield was perfect, it would take someone of immense power to see through it."

"And what did he mean by a penalty," Paige wondered.

The group looked at each other, and then they went pale as it hit them. Sara gasped, and said, "ARIANNA!"

***

As Leo slumped to the floor, the demon grinned ruefully. It was too easy. The whitelighter did not even see it coming. The demon paused for a moment, debating whether or not he wanted to take the time to deal with the whitelighter. No, he could always do that later. Right now, it was important to teach that witch a lesson. No one tries to trap him.

The demon entered the room silently, and grinned slowly. The girl was sleeping softly, and she looked truly angelic. It was almost a pity to have to kill her.almost. The demon slowly drew his butcher knife, and crept over to the bed. The girl didn't even stir, and the demon took a moment to gently slide the girls hair away from her eyes. He then drove the knife straight towards her heart.

About an inch from her flesh, a white shield erupted around the girl. The knife shattered against it, and the demon was thrown back. As he struggled to rise, Gabriel walked into the room. He glared at the demon in the darkness, and said, "This girl is under my protection, I will never allow."

Suddenly, a flash of light burst forth, and Gabriel saw the demon. He stopped speaking, and stared in utter shock. Finally, he managed to say slowly.

"Mom?"

TO BE CONTINUED.