Fate Rewritten
Music Credit: "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence, "My Last Breath" by Evanescence
Present Day
She astral-projected into the parlor of the old Victorian manor and moved quietly through the house until she could hear their voices. They were all upstairs in the attic, discussing their options. Like always a demon was attacking. Phoebe's premonition alerted them to it. But this demon was different. This demon held a special importance to all of them, and also to the Power of Three. She stood outside the door and listened to their conversation.
"What if we have to vanquish her?" Paige asked. She was always one to weigh all the options. She wanted to be prepared.
"We aren't going to. We have to find a way to keep that from happening," Phoebe said. She knew her premonitions usually were meant to lead them to a demon that would have to be vanquished. But this time it was different.
"But from what you described in that premonition we're not going to have much of a choice," Paige said.
"We'll find a way," Piper shot back. "We've been presented a chance to get her back on the side of good. We can't just ignore it."
"They're right, Paige," Patty added. "Premonitions are just a warning of what's to come so that you can change it. How you change it is up to you."
"I still think we should be prepared for the possibility…"
"We will be," Patty added. "But only as a last resort. I'm not about to vanquish Prue if there's a possibility of bringing her back."
Prue's smirk turned to a frown when she had heard most of their conversation. So it was either be vanquished or be good. In her evil heart she would rather have the vanquish. But that didn't really matter. She wouldn't give them the chance to say any spells. Her plan would prove to make them suffer and then they would die once she had claimed all of their powers. The powers of four additional Warren witches would make her the Charmed One. And with that much power, no one would be able to stop her.
October 10, 1977
They were just three young girls, but it was amazing the amount of noise their little feet could make coming down the Manor stairs. Patty was pregnant with her fourth daughter, but no one really knew about it except for her mother and her whitelighter and lover, Sam. Their fear of what the Elders might do forced them to keep this child a secret, even from the three little girls that entered the parlor where she sat.
"Mommy, Prue took my doll and hid it and she won't tell me where it is!" Piper cried with a quivering pout.
"Tattle tale!" Prue shouted at Piper.
"Meanie!" Piper shouted back.
"Whiner!"
"Stealer!"
"Bah!" two-year-old Phoebe added, not really good with much vocabulary yet.
"Girls," Patty interrupted sharply. All three of them looked up at her. "Prue, I want you to go get Piper's doll and apologize right now."
"But mommy…"
"Prudence Ann Halliwell, you do as I say," Patty said. Prue turned and skulked out of the room, knowing that when her mother used her full name, let alone called her Prudence, that meant trouble.
Phoebe climbed up onto Patty's lap and Piper sat on the sofa next to her while they waited for Prue to come back. Moments later they heard a scream from upstairs. It was Prue. Patty immediately went into action, moving Phoebe out of her lap and onto the sofa next to Piper. Both girls' eyes were wide with fear and confusion.
"Piper, honey, if anybody comes into this room I want you to freeze them, okay?" she said to her four-year-old daughter. Piper simply nodded her head, too scared to form words.
Patty and her mother met at the bottom of the stairs and barely glanced at each other as they took the steps two at a time. When they reached the room where the scream had come from they were taken aback by the large demon standing there. They both recognized him well from the illustration in the Book of Shadows. Penny was about to use telekinesis on him when he shook his head and tightened his hold around a terrified and squirming Prue. He spoke to them in his deep voice.
"One move and I'll kill her."
They hesitated and he took that moment to shimmer out of the Manor with the eldest Charmed One, not to be seen or heard from for another 24 years.
Present Day
Piper stood at the stove mixing herbs and other magical ingredients into what she hoped to be an effective potion. Paige stood by, mostly watching but assisting when she could. Phoebe and Patty were in the parlor working on spells. The kitchen was silent except for the sound of the bubbling pot on the stove. Finally Paige broke that silence with a question.
"What do you remember about her, Piper? I mean, before she was evil."
Piper sighed. It wasn't something they talked about much. Phoebe and Paige wanted to know about Prue, but they knew it hurt Piper and Patty to talk about it. With Phoebe only two at the time and Paige not even born, Piper was the only one of the three sisters who remembered Prue before she was taken. She remembered how they would play together. She remembered every detail about the day the demon attacked and took her big sister away. She remembered how Patty, Grams and Sam had fought the Elders to let Sam and Patty keep Paige to reconstitute the Power of Three. With Prue on the side of evil, they needed the Power of Three to defend against her and possibly get her back. The Elders had reluctantly agreed.
"I remember right before she was taken she had hidden one of my dolls from me and wouldn't give it back," Piper said with a smirk. But that quickly disappeared and her face turned serious. "Mom sent her upstairs to get it and then she was taken."
Paige regretted bringing it up. "Sorry."
"No, it's okay," Piper said. She knew Paige was just curious. "I guess that's just the most vivid memory I've got."
Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. They looked at each other. Confused at who would come over at this hour unexpectedly. When they made it to the foyer Phoebe was already opening the door to their visitor.
"Andy," she said as she stepped back to allow him in. "What are you doing here?"
"Same old, same old," he said as he pulled something out of his coat pocket. He handed it over to Phoebe as he moved to Piper and gave her a kiss. "Hey, honey."
"Hi," she said with a small smile as she wrapped her arm around his waist. Andy had been friends with Prue and Piper from the day they could talk to each other. After Prue was taken Piper and Andy became closer. He hadn't learned of their family secret until a few years ago and that's when he also learned about what really happened to Prue. By that time he and Piper were practically married. Now they were engaged.
"So what present did you bring us this time?" Patty asked with a smirk. As a police inspector Andy would keep his eye out for the "weird" cases and make sure he brought them to the Halliwells' attention. Phoebe hadn't taken the item out of its evidence bag yet. She didn't want to risk a premonition until she knew the whole story.
"Athame," he replied. "We've got five homicides so far. All of the victims were suspended face down above the ground and ritualistically bled. The symbols carved on the victims match the symbols on the blade."
"Five already?" Paige asked, surprised that Andy hadn't come to them sooner. He nodded his head.
"They were all done at about the same time last night, in different places," he said. "They've gotta be connected. Right now we're figuring a group of people."
"Not necessarily," Piper said. "Most demons and warlocks can transport themselves from place to place instantly in some way. It wouldn't have been hard for a demon to do this on its own."
"Prue can shimmer," Paige said.
"And astral project," Phoebe added.
"You really think Prue did this?" Andy asked.
"It's a possibility," Patty answered. "But it's not the only possibility. We need to figure out what this ritual is and what it's for."
"It's for destroying the Power of Three."
The group turned toward where the voice came from and saw Prue standing in the doorway of the parlor. Piper stepped away from and slightly in front of Andy protectively. Patty was about to try to freeze her when Prue put both hands out and swept them in opposite directions, telekinetically throwing Andy, Patty, Paige and Phoebe in one direction toward the front door and Piper in the opposite direction toward the dining room. As they all tried to recover Prue telekinetically opened the front door and threw Andy, Patty, Paige and Phoebe out of it, the four of them tumbling onto the front walk. Then she quickly slammed the door shut with her power.
"Cantade!" she shouted. A red glow swept over all of the walls and quickly disappeared. She had magically sealed the Manor from everyone. Then she turned to Piper. Before the witch could do anything, Prue thrust out her right hand and telekinetically blew all the furniture in the hallway towards Piper. The force of the power caused an explosion that threw Piper back into the far corner of the dining room. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Prue walked over to her and checked for a pulse. Sometimes she got carried away with her power. She didn't want to kill Piper just yet. She was important to the plan. She smiled when she felt a pulse. Then she dragged her out of the dining room in order to prepare her for the ritual.
Outside, Andy was the first to recover. He jumped to his feet and charged up the porch steps, ready to break through the door if necessary. But instead of breaking through, the magical force field sent him flying through the air. He hit the ground at the top of the cement stairs and then tumbled down them, coming to a stop against the side of Piper's Jeep, which was parked on the side of the street.
"Andy!" Phoebe cried when she saw this. The three witches hurried to his side to make sure he was okay.
"Ow," he said quietly. He just sat against the side of the Jeep rubbing his neck. "What the hell…?"
"Prue probably erected a magical barrier to keep us out," Patty said. She looked to Paige who shook her head.
"I already tried to orb in," she replied to Patty's silent question. "Didn't work."
They all looked up when they saw bluish-white lights nearby. The familiar lights turned into their whitelighters, Sam and Leo. They both looked very concerned. Phoebe reached over and took Leo's hand as she stood. Paige and Patty helped Andy up from the ground. Then Patty moved over beside Sam.
"What's going on?" Leo asked. "We tried to orb into the Manor and ended up out here."
"Prue attacked," Paige said. "She put up a force field. We can't get in either."
"Yeah, I learned the hard way," Andy commented. Then he looked to Patty. "Can you three get it down? You've gotta get Piper out of there before Prue does anything to her."
"We might be able to get it down, but it could take a while," Patty replied. "But we also need to figure out this ritual. Leo, Andy, and Phoebe you need to go over the information from last night's murders and see if you can get any details from that. Paige, Sam and I will work on this barrier."
They all agreed to that plan. Leo orbed out with Andy and Phoebe, and the others started discussing ways to get back into the Manor and save Piper.
June 10, 1977
"…Happy birthday dear, Piper. Happy birthday to you!"
Once the singing had ended, Piper knew exactly what she was supposed to do. She closed her eyes, made a wish and then blew out the four candles on the large cake in front of her…a cake she had "helped" Grams make. In reality she had ended up getting covered in flour and "helped" clean the mixing bowl by scooping up all the batter she could with a spatula and her fingers.
When she opened her eyes all she saw was the four wisps of smoke coming up from the extinguished candles, the unforgettable smell of the smoke creeping up to her nose. She smiled and everyone else clapped and cheered for her. Prue was sitting to her right and she posed a question to her little sister.
"What'd you wish for?"
"I can't tell," Piper said. "It won't come true."
She wasn't really sure if that superstition was true or not. But it didn't matter. She would've been embarrassed to tell Prue anyway. Her wish that her big sister would always be there to play games with and have fun with and to read her stories was something she didn't tell anyone. She was afraid to be teased for it. She idolized Prue and nobody knew it. And she didn't know that her wish wouldn't come true…
Present Day
Her head felt like it was going to explode. The throbbing started on the right side of her forehead and then spread like tentacles of pain all throughout her head. Her vision was blurry and wouldn't seem to focus at all. She could tell she was tied down to something. She could feel her feet bound together at the ankles, something holding her at the waist and her arms stretched out straight and tied at the wrists. It was dark. Wherever she was, even without the blurred vision, she wouldn't be able to see much. She heard a scratching noise and then smelled the familiar sulfur of a match that has just been lit and blown out.
"Mmmm…" she groaned as she finally realized how stiff her neck was from hanging down. Finally her vision focused and she saw that she was hanging above the ground, suspended just like Andy had described. She looked around frantically and saw leather straps bound her wrists, waist and ankles. On the cement below her a symbol was drawn. It was a pentagram.
"It's about time you woke up," Prue said as she lit a fifth candle and placed it on the final point of the pentagram. "I was afraid I had knocked you around too much."
"Where…?" Piper asked. Just the simple act of moving her jaw to speak caused more pain to surge through her head.
"Man, I really did hit you too hard. You don't recognize your own basement?" Prue asked with a chuckle.
Piper looked around again and saw all the boxes storing holiday decorations, old clothes and other things. She hadn't noticed them at first. Why in their basement? Why would Prue stay here when the others were sure to come after her?
"So, have you figured it out yet? Is that brain of yours swirling with escape plans? Or are you still confused about where you are?" Prue said, tauntingly.
"Why the Manor?" Piper asked, ignoring the stabbing pains in her head.
"Nah. I'm not going to do the whole revealing of my master plan thing. Not yet anyway," she said. "I think you can figure that out for yourself."
The air next to Prue distorted temporarily as someone else shimmered into the basement. She looked up and pulled the demon into a passionate kiss before either of them could say anything. Piper watched them, disgusted. To think she had once idolized Prue. Now she was killing people and kissing demons.
While those two were engrossed in each other, Piper took a moment to examine the contraption she was tied to. It amazed her that Prue was able to get this set up during the short time that Piper was unconscious. The structure had her suspended above the concrete basement floor at a 45-degree angle. It was a wooden frame circle with two boards crossing each other and spanning the diameter of the circle. It was as wide in diameter as Piper was tall and it was suspended from various support beams along the ceiling. It was like the thing was made specifically for her.
"Don't bother thinking about an escape," the male demon said. "There isn't one."
Piper glared at him with contempt. "And who are you?"
"Belthazor," he said with a grin. "Pleasure to kill you."
Leo, Andy, and Phoebe returned to the front lawn of the Manor to find Sam, Patty and Paige in discussion about various spells. They had found a pen and some napkins in Piper's Jeep. Several napkins were crumpled up and tossed away. Others with writing on them were stacked neatly next to Patty. The three of them looked up, ready to hear what had been discovered about the murders.
"You're not going to believe this," Phoebe said. She knelt on the grass next to them and unfolded a map she was holding. When she finished unfolding it they saw that it was a map of San Francisco. But what drew gasps from Patty and Paige was the pentagram drawn on the map.
"What's this?" Paige asked.
"The points of the pentagram are the locations of the five murders that occurred last night," Andy explained.
"But look at the center of it," Leo said, pointing at the map. They all turned back and squinted at the small lettering.
"What street is that?" Sam asked, not able to make it out.
"Prescott," Patty read. She looked at Phoebe in surprise.
"The center of the pentagram is our house," she said.
"The nexus," Patty said. Paige's eyes widened, remembering what Grams had told them of the spiritual nexus that the house rested on.
"Nexus?" Andy asked.
"Our house is built on the site of a spiritual nexus," Patty began to explain. "It's equidistant from the five spiritual elements. Earth, fire, wood, water and metal."
"The locations of the murders?" Sam questioned, looking back at the map.
"Exactly," Phoebe answered.
"So whatever Prue's doing has to do with that nexus," Paige said. "And something tells me she picked Piper for a reason."
"Piper's the most powerful Warren witch remaining," Patty said. "Her blood would be best for whatever this ritual is going to do."
"So, there's the important question," Andy said. "What's the ritual doing and how do we stop it?"
"Belthazor?" Piper asked. She stared at him. Her vision was starting to blur again from the pain in her head. "Belthazor is the demon who took Prue from us over 20 years ago. I've seen pictures of him in the Book of Shadows. You look nothing like him."
Belthazor looked down at himself and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. You're thinking of this, aren't you?" Then he morphed into a large demon with red and black skin. He growled and reached forward, wrapping his large clawed hand around her throat. Then he released his grip and morphed back into his human form.
"Belthazor is my demon half," he said. "But she seems to like the appearance of my human half better."
"Your human half?" Piper asked.
"Yeah. I had a mortal father. Makes it easier to blend into the world while I'm looking for witches to kill," he said.
"Why did you take Prue? Why didn't you just kill her?"
"He saw my potential," Prue said. "Why kill the most powerful witch around when you can get her on your side?"
"Why, Prue? Why didn't you fight? Why did you give in?" Piper asked finally. "The Prue I knew would've died before hurting anyone."
"That's exactly right, sweetheart," Prue said with a smile. She pulled the athame from her belt and pressed the tip under Piper's chin firmly, but not hard enough to draw blood. "The Prue you knew is dead."
October 24, 1977
Prue sat in the dark cave with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She rested her chin on her knees and just wished that she could get out of here. She had tried using telekinesis on the demon that had taken her, but it didn't work. He seemed immune to her powers. Or maybe she just wasn't strong enough. She was only six. Well, almost six. Her sixth birthday would be in four days. She made her birthday wish early, wishing for her family to come save her.
She looked up when she heard someone coming. It was the demon that took her. Except he was in his human form now. That was something that confused her. Her mom had told her about lots of demons, but she had never mentioned demons that had human halves. This one did. He told her about his human half and she wished that the human half would take over instead of the demon so he could take her home.
He set a tin plate in front of her along with a bowl of water. There was a piece of bread and some meat on the plate. Surprisingly enough, the meat was cooked. She just glared up at him.
"Don't pull the hunger strike thing again, kid," he said. "You know it won't work. Eat it."
"I hate you," she said angrily.
"Fair enough," he said, shrugging the comment off. "You can hate me while you eat."
"My mommy and my Grams are going to save me and vanquish you."
He just laughed. "If they were going to do that, don't you think they'd have done it by now?"
"It hasn't been that long," she said. "They're just looking in the Book of Shadows for a spell."
"There's no spell to vanquish me," he said, still chuckling. "And it's been two weeks since I brought you down here. At least, in their time it has. Time moves slower down here, kid. For us, it's a day. For them, it's a week."
"You're lying. They'll come for me," she said defiantly.
"They've given up on you. They think you're dead," he said. "They're mourning you instead of searching for you. They don't think you're powerful enough to survive. You're just a child. Their poor, dead child. Face it, kid. I'm all you've got left."
Prue stared up at him, a few tears welling in her eyes. They just stared at each other for several minutes. Finally she said, "Stop calling me kid. My name is Prue."
"Fair enough, Prue. So what'll it be?" he asked.
She didn't say anything. Finally she reached forward and grabbed the piece of bread. Belthazor watched with a triumphant grin.
Present Day
Belthazor stood in front of Piper and just looked at her for a while. Then he took the athame and moved forward. She winced when he moved the blade toward her, but he didn't cut her. Instead he used the athame to carefully cut the buttons off her shirt until it fell open revealing the black bra she was wearing underneath.
"You know, Prue, I've been thinking," he said. "It would be such a waste to just bleed her and be done with it. After all, she's supposed to be the most powerful good witch in the world, right?"
"Yep," Prue answered with a smirk.
"Not to mention the history you two have got…all four years of it," he continued. "We should have a little fun with her, don't you think?"
"I agree. What do you think?" she asked Piper with a smirk. She just glared back at Prue with contempt. She was starting to think it was true. The Prue she had known was dead. There was no way to bring her back after 24 years. How many innocents had she killed during that time? It was hard to know, but no doubt it was a lot.
Belthazor picked up one of the candles and suddenly brought the flame up against Piper's neck, causing her to cry out in pain and surprise as she was burned.
"She asked you a question!" he growled. He held the flame against Piper's skin for over a minute as she bit her lip, trying to keep from screaming. Tears streamed from her eyes. Finally he pulled the candle away and stared at her. Piper remained silent for a moment, closing her eyes and trying to collect herself. Then she looked up at them with defiance.
"I think you're both going to wish you were vanquished when my family gets a hold of you," she spat out at them.
Prue grabbed one of the other candles. She walked over and the two demons held their candles up to Piper's arms quickly. This time Piper was unable to contain her scream.
The group outside heard the scream and Andy started to rush to the house again, but Paige jumped in front of him and held him back.
"No, Andy. You remember what happened last time you tried that," she said. He grunted and stepped away, beginning to pace anxiously on the lawn.
"We've gotta do something!" he said, deeply worried about his fiancé. "She's going to kill her!"
"We will do something," Patty assured him. "Once we figure out how to get past this damned barrier, we will."
"We're trying Andy, believe me," Phoebe said.
"Piper's strong. She'll fight Prue every chance she gets," Sam added.
"How can she possibly fight if she's tied to some contraption bleeding to death?" Andy asked. "What can she do? Her powers work through her hands."
"I think I've actually got an idea about something Piper could do," Paige said, suddenly having an idea. "I've been thinking about a spell to get Prue back on our side. It would involve bringing out repressed memories of her childhood before she was taken. But a spell like this might need to be said in the same room."
"Well, how are you going to tell Piper the spell if you can't get to her?" Leo asked, confused.
"Telepathy," Paige said, making it sound like it was something she did every day.
"Um, that's good in theory, but none of us have that ability," Phoebe said.
"But you have the closest thing to it," Paige said. "You would be the best candidate for it."
"That still begs the question of how?" Leo asked.
"I've got a spell for that, too. I think," Paige replied. "I'm hoping telepathy will get through this barrier even though we can't."
"Okay then," Phoebe said. "Let's hear these spells."
Her entire body trembled from the pain. Burns marked all along her arms, neck, chest, and abdomen. Belthazor had removed her shirt and used it on a makeshift torch to hold against her stomach when he felt like doing so. But they were taking a break now. They didn't want her to pass out from the pain. They busied themselves in heavy make out sessions during their breaks and Piper wanted to vomit.
"Piper, it's Phoebe. Don't say anything. Just listen."
Phoebe's voice invaded her mind and she instinctively looked around the room for her.
"I'm not in the Manor. I'm outside the Manor with everyone else. We're going to get you out of there, but there's a magical field keeping us out. There's something you can do to get Prue back on our side."
Piper stared at Prue and Belthazor, hoping they would continue their break long enough.
"Paige came up with a spell that will uncover some of Prue's repressed childhood memories. But you need to say it. Just repeat this spell."
Piper took a deep breath and began repeating what Phoebe told her.
"Shadows of the past revealed. Memories blocked are now unsealed…"
Prue and Belthazor separated and looked up at her. Quickly Prue stood and grabbed the athame.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked as she approached Piper.
"Bring forward what evil hides. Bring her back to good's side."
Prue grabbed Piper's wrist and brought the athame back to stab Piper in the hand, but she faltered and staggered backward, dropping the athame and grabbing her head.
"Mommy! Mommy! Look what I made!" four-year-old Prue cried.
She shook her head and then glared at Piper. But her gaze broke as her mind was invaded again.
"Oh what's that Prue?" Patty asked as she took a look at what Prue held.
"It's a picture of you and daddy and Grams and me and Piper!"
"What's wrong?" Belthazor asked, putting a hand on Prue's shoulder. She shook it off and spun away from him. She looked at him like she had never met him before. He immediately grabbed the athame off the floor, walked over to Piper, and wrapped his left hand around her neck. "What the hell did you do to her?"
Piper said nothing. She simply summoned up the most sardonic smirk she could. He growled, morphed into his demon form, and quickly finished what Prue was going to do. Piper screamed as he embedded the blade all the way through her hand and into the wood behind it. He began turning the blade and her screams continued. Finally he released his grip on the hilt of the dagger and turned back to Prue, leaving Piper to try to recover from the shock. He morphed back to his human form.
"Prue, what's going on?" he asked. His words echoed in her head as she closed her eyes to try to shut out whatever was invading her mind.
"It's beautiful sweetie," Patty said. "Let's go show your Grams and then put it on the refrigerator!"
"Stop it!" she cried out suddenly, causing Belthazor to even jump in surprise. Prue looked up at Piper and yanked the knife out of her hand, causing another cry of pain from the tortured witch. "What did you do to me?" Piper said nothing. She couldn't get her voice to say anything. "Fine. No more games. We start the ritual now!"
The others heard Piper's screams outside. Andy sighed in disappointment.
"It didn't work."
"Not necessarily," Paige said. "It might take a little while for the repressed memories to really get through to Prue."
"In the meantime, she continues killing Piper?" Andy asked.
"Not if we can help it," Patty said. She held up one of the napkins with writing on it. "I think this may be the spell we need to get in there."
Piper nearly drew blood as she bit her lip to keep from screaming. Prue was carefully carving symbols in her chest and abdomen. Slowly Piper's blood dripped down onto the cement below her. The pentagram was starting to glow. When Prue finished carving, she stepped away and smiled.
"Now, all we have to do is wait," she said.
"So…when are you going to tell me…what this does?" Piper asked, her voice wavering as she watched her own blood spread on the floor. "Obviously the Manor is an important part of it or we wouldn't be here."
"You're right about that. You know what people say. Location, location, location," Prue joked. "I'm assuming you remember that this house sits on the site of a very powerful spiritual nexus. Well, I'm tapping into that power to steal yours and claim this nexus for evil. Can you imagine where that'll take me…" She stopped and glanced at Belthazor. "…us on the evil ladder? We'll out-rank the Source. The great Power of Three will become ours when this ritual is over."
"Surely my blood isn't the only key to it," Piper said. She could feel herself getting weaker by the moment. She needed to think of a way to get more of Prue's memories to surface.
"There's a chant we'll have to do in a little bit, but not to worry," Prue said. "We'll do everything right. You just keep bleeding."
Piper smirked slightly as she got an idea. "Remember how I used to be terrified of blood? That one time I cut my knee when we were playing outside and you had to lead me back into the house with my eyes closed because I was afraid I would see the blood on my knee?"
"You're such a baby," Prue said as she took her little sister by the hand and led her back to the Manor.
"Shut up," Prue said. Her face had taken on an expression of discomfort as she obviously was starting to remember that.
"And then there's the time I threw my musical stuffed lamb at you and the wind up for the music box cut your forehead open," Piper continued. "Remember that? I screamed and ran to mom."
"Piper, what's wrong?" Patty asked as three-year-old Piper led her back to the parlor where Prue sat, crying.
"Stop it," Prue said. She backed up and turned away from Piper.
"We were both crying like little babies," Piper said. "Mom cleaned you up and showed us that the cut wasn't as bad as it looked. Remember?"
"See, it's nothing," Patty said. She pointed in the mirror to show both Prue and Piper. She had cleaned all the blood away and the cut was barely an inch long.
"What are you trying to do?" Belthazor asked. He stepped forward but realized that the pentagram could not be broken. If he stepped inside it would interrupt the ritual. So he turned to Prue. "Don't listen to her! She's trying to make you turn on your true nature."
"This isn't her true nature," Piper said. She could feel herself fading. She had lost so much blood already. She wasn't sure how much longer she could stay conscious. "Come on, Prue. You remember who you really were. Who you were meant to be. This isn't you, it's him and some hold he has over you."
"No!" Prue shouted. She put her hands over her ears and clamped her eyes shut.
"How about my fourth birthday? Do you remember that?" Piper asked. "It was six months before this bastard took you away from us."
"Shut up!" Belthazor shouted at her angrily. He changed into his demon form and was ready to compromise the ritual. He formed an energy ball in his hand. "I'm warning you."
"Remember, you asked me what I wished for and I told you I couldn't tell. It wouldn't come true," Piper said. "Well, it didn't come true. Or at least it hasn't yet."
"What'd you wish for?"
"I can't tell. It won't come true."
"No," Prue said, still holding her eyes shut.
"My wish was for you to always be there for me," Piper confessed. "I idolized you Prue. What happened to the big sister that I idolized?"
"Enough!" Belthazor shouted. He released the energy ball and broke the chains holding Piper and the wooden frame. Piper landed face down in her own blood with the heavy wooden frame pinning her down. The glowing of the pentagram stopped. Everything was becoming blurry for her. Sounds were echoing in her head like she was underwater. As her world faded to black she thought she heard Belthazor scream.
Paige, Patty, and Phoebe had just finished saying the spell that they hoped would break the force field around the Manor. They all stood there, unsure if it had worked. Andy stepped forward and picked up a large rock from the garden.
"Only one way to find out, I guess," he said. He hurled the rock at a window. But instead of crashing through the glass, a red glow flashed around the house and the rock bounced back toward Andy. He ducked out of the way and turned to the others, who were confused and disappointed.
"That should've worked," Patty said. "I don't see why it didn't."
"Maybe there's a delay," Paige said. She walked up the porch steps and started to slowly reach for the doorknob wondering if she would be thrown back into the front yard like Andy had earlier.
Belthazor turned to Prue who was still looking pale and frightened. He approached her and she backed away.
"They've given up on you. They think you're dead."
Prue realized she was the one who gave up. She was weak. Then. But now she had the power. She had more power than Belthazor could ever dream of.
"They don't think you're powerful enough to survive."
Prue turned toward Belthazor and offered up a steely gaze. She gripped the athame tightly in her right hand and looked over at Piper. She was unconscious, pinned under the wooden frame, and lying in her own blood. Prue looked back at Belthazor and with one quick motion, flung the athame at him. The blade buried itself deep in his chest and he staggered backward. Flames started appearing around the hilt of the athame and then started spreading all over his body. He howled in rage and pain as the flames engulfed his entire body and then he disappeared. The athame clattered to the floor.
Prue ran her hands through her hair and just held them there on the side of her head. She didn't know what to do. As she surveyed the basement, she didn't know where to go from here. The ritual had been stopped. Belthazor was dead. Piper was dying. Finally she made a decision. She retrieved the athame, walked over to Piper, and cut the leather straps from the wooden frame. Then she telekinetically flung the frame off of Piper and across the basement. She stared at the bleeding and battered witch for a moment.
"Descantade," she said finally. A red glow spread across the walls for an instant and then disappeared. Then she shimmered out of the Manor.
Paige gripped the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door open. The others were shocked, but then they all walked up the porch steps and made their way into the Manor. They attempted to be as quiet as they could.
"Where would they be?" Andy asked in a whisper.
"Basement," Leo, Paige, and Sam said at the same time. They had sensed Piper the instant they walked into the house.
"Prue's not there. Nobody's there," Paige said. "Well, except Piper."
"The spell must have worked," Phoebe said. Sam and Leo didn't waste any time. Leo orbed down to the basement alone to check on Piper. Sam orbed down with Phoebe and Patty while Paige orbed down with Andy.
"Oh my god!" Phoebe cried out when she saw Piper's condition. Leo had turned her over onto her back and already started healing her.
"Piper," Andy said. He started to move forward, but Paige held him back.
"Give Leo some room," she said.
"She's going to be okay," he said. "But this is going to take a while."
Andy knelt next to Leo and rested his hand on Piper's forehead. When he had seen all that blood it felt like his heart had been ripped out. He was just glad they were able to get into the Manor before it was too late.
The others surveyed the area, wondering what exactly went on in this basement. Paige noticed the now broken wooden frame in the far corner.
"I wonder how that got broken," she said.
"Where did Prue go? If she wasn't vanquished, where is she?" Phoebe asked.
"Maybe the memory spell worked," Patty said. "Maybe Piper got to Prue and the memories got her to let Piper go. The ritual obviously didn't happen."
"There's a scorch mark over here," Sam said. He was standing near the spot where Belthazor had last stood. "Maybe Prue was vanquished. Maybe the spell didn't work and Piper came up with one to vanquish Prue on her own."
"Mmm…" Piper groaned. Leo had healed her major injuries and was now working on the burns on her arms and the stab wound on her hand. "I didn't vanquish Prue."
The others turned to her, ready to hear about everything that happened while they were stuck outside. Leo finished healing her last wound and she started to sit up. Leo stood and moved over beside Phoebe while Andy reached forward to help Piper.
"Take it easy, honey," he said. "You've been through a lot."
The two of them stood and Andy gave her his coat to put on. She wrapped it around herself and then he wrapped his arms around her.
"I don't think I've been that scared since the day we met," he said. "I heard you screaming and I couldn't do anything."
"I'm okay, though," she said. She leaned back against him and looked to the others, who were also showing signs of further concern. "I promise. I'm okay. The spell worked. I got through to her. I think that scorch mark is actually Belthazor."
"You vanquished Belthazor?" Paige asked in confusion and surprise. Piper laughed.
"No. I didn't vanquish anybody," she replied. "I think Prue vanquished Belthazor."
"So all this time they were working together?" Phoebe asked. "He must have raised her."
"That's pretty much what I'm guessing," Piper said. "I was unconscious when Prue left though. So I'm not really sure what happened after she vanquished him."
"She must have been the one to drop the barrier around the house," Leo said. "She was letting us in to help Piper."
They all stood in silence, not really sure what to do next. They were all alive. They had averted losing their powers. Belthazor was vanquished. What came next was anybody's guess.
November 2, 1975
Piper and Prue both hurried into the bedroom, excited to see their new baby sister.
"Girls, careful," Grams said. "You don't want to scare her."
For once the two of them heeded their grandmother's warning and slowed down. They approached the bed and craned their necks to see. Grams picked Piper up and set her on the end of the bed by Patty's feet while Prue climbed up on her own. The two of them crawled up to the head of the bed and flanked their mother to see the new addition to the family.
"Girls, I'd like you to meet your little sister, Phoebe," Patty said. She held the newborn low enough so they could see her.
"Fifi?" Piper asked. Her pronunciation, at the age of two, was not the greatest.
"Not Fifi, goofy," Prue said. "It's FEE-BEE. It rhymes."
"That's right, Prue. It does," Patty said with a smile.
"Fee…bee," Piper said cautiously. Then excitedly. "Phoebe!"
"Right, honey," Patty encouraged Piper.
"Can I help take care of her?" Prue asked.
"Sure you can," Grams said, enjoying that Prue would want to take that responsibility. As the eldest Charmed One it was nothing less than what she expected.
"Me too," Piper said, just wanting to be included.
"Yes, you too," Patty said. She looked at all three of her girls. "You'll take care of each other."
Present Day
Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?
The haunting sounds of the new hit band Evanescence filled P3. The band became a hit after Piper had booked them for the club, as luck would have it. The first week, ticket sales were light, most of them going to Evanescence's existing fans. But then "Bring Me To Life" hit the Billboard charts and people were coming from different states to see them. The club was packed.
The sisters were sitting in the booth with their respective guys—Piper with Andy, Phoebe with Leo, and Paige with her boyfriend and best friend, Glen. Their on and off relationship was something that baffled the rest of the family, considering the two of them were still friends when they weren't dating. They defied all the relationship rules.
"So let me get this straight," Glen said, confused about the Prue situation, which the others had tried to explain to him. "Prue's out there and you guys aren't trying to find her? I thought you said she was evil and had killed a bunch of people. And she tortured you, Piper."
"I got through to her. I don't think she's going to hurt anyone," Piper said. "But with old memories flooding her mind, it might be best for us to keep our distance for a little while."
"Unless she comes to us," Phoebe said.
"We're letting her make the next move," Paige finished.
"I'm still not sure I understand," Glen said.
"Don't worry. You're not the only one," Andy said, offering Glen a sympathetic smile that said, 'Us mortals need to stick together.' "After what she did to Piper…"
"How many times do I have to tell you…?" Piper began.
"You're okay," Andy finished. "Right, you keep saying that. But you almost weren't okay. Can I help it if I have a hard time dealing with you almost dying all the time?"
"Hey guys, look," Leo said, pointing toward the bar. They all looked over at the same time and all were shocked to see her sitting there. Prue blended in with the crowd well in her black leather skirt, black sleeveless halter top, and knee high boots. She appeared to just be there to enjoy the band. A bottle of beer stood on the bar in front of her. No one was speaking to her.
"Speak of the…" Paige began. But she stopped herself from saying a too appropriate cliché. "…Prue."
Nobody else said anything for a moment. They just stared at her. Finally, Glen spoke up.
"So, what are you going to do?" he asked. Paige shrugged her shoulders.
"We should keep an eye on her I guess," she said. "We have no idea why she's here."
"She could be looking for a kill," Andy said.
"She could be looking for us," Piper countered.
"Or she could just be here for the band," Phoebe suggested. The song ended and the crowd erupted in cheers. They began an extended intro for their next song and the crowd exploded again when they recognized the opening of the band's most popular song. Phoebe stood. "I'm going to talk to her."
Leo grabbed her hand. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I'm not saying she isn't impulsive enough to attack me in the middle of a crowd," Phoebe said, agreeing with what everyone was thinking. "But I have a feeling that she won't."
"You're going on a feeling?" Glen asked.
Phoebe, Paige, and Piper all shot knowing smiles at each other when Phoebe replied, "We always do."
How can you see into my eyes
Like open doors?
Leading you down into my core
Where I've become so numb
Without a soul
My spirit sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home
Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become
Prue almost growled when she saw Phoebe come up to the bar next to her. Granted, coming to a nightclub owned by her good witch sisters wasn't exactly the best way to avoid them, but she had hoped they wouldn't see her. No hope in that anymore. She watched Phoebe signal the bartender.
"Hey Nick," she said with a smile. "Can you get me a vodka and cranberry juice? Thanks."
Prue continued ignoring Phoebe, and Phoebe pretended to not notice Prue for a while as she thought of a way to open the conversation. Finally she braved it.
"You aren't very stealthy, are you?" she asked, shooting from the hip.
Prue glanced at her and then went back to staring at the label on her beer. "I am when I want to be."
"So you wanted us to see you?" Phoebe asked.
Prue laughed as if the suggestion was absurd. But in all honesty, she wasn't really sure. Did she want them to see her? Why had she come to this particular nightclub? She knew they owned it. The memories still invaded her mind. The spell Piper had cast opened a flood gate. Was she looking for help? Was she turning against everything Belthazor had raised her to be?
Now that I know what I'm without
You can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring me to life
Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become
Bring me to life
"Why are you here?" Phoebe asked. "Something inside you wanted us to see you and approach you. Otherwise you wouldn't have come to a club that Piper owns."
Prue exhaled and started thinking aloud. Sort of talking to Phoebe, sort of not. "I'm well-known in the Underworld. Respected. I can't turn my back on that."
"Can't you?" Phoebe asked.
"Even if I wanted to, no. I've ki—" She stopped mid-sentence when the bartender returned with Phoebe's drink and then walked away. Prue lowered her voice slightly. Just enough to be heard over the band. "I've killed more people than you know. You three seem to think you say a spell and, poof, I'm good again." She shook her head. "It's not that simple."
"Of course it's not," Phoebe said. "You've spent twenty four years of your life doing everything we stand against. We don't expect you to be a white knight right away."
Frozen inside
Without your touch
Without your love
Darling only you
Are the life
Among the dead
All this time I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul
Don't let me die here
There must be something more
Bring me to life
"If you don't expect that, what do you expect?" Prue asked.
Phoebe waited for Prue to make eye contact and looked into those intense gray blue eyes. She was there. The good in Prue was there. It just had to work to the surface.
"Redemption," Phoebe said simply. She turned to Nick, got his attention and then pointed at Prue. "Her next one's on the house."
Prue just sat there, letting the word settle in her head. It had occurred to her, but she had dismissed it. That word was something virtually alien to the evil world. It took nothing short of a gypsy curse to get an evil being on the path to redemption. Or a witch's spell.
Phoebe took her drink and turned away. Before she left she said, "You know where to find us."
She walked away from Prue and left her thinking about that word. Redemption.
Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I've become
I've been living a lie
There's nothing inside
Bring me to life