The Girl In The Glass Prison
Phoebe had been working at the Enchantment Bookstore for a couple of months and really loved the work. She was starting to pay off her credit card debts and had some extra spending money too. This year she wanted to find something nice for Prue for her birthday and went downtown to an old antique store in the Mission District. It had mostly run of the mill antique furniture. Phoebe wanted to find something unique because compared to what Prue saw at Buckland's this store had nothing but junk. Then the sun came in the window lighting up a far corner of the store. A reflection full of rainbows shot out from the darkness and filled Phoebe with a sense of wonder. She went over and saw a paperweight made of clear glass with smaller pieces of glass of many different colors suspended in it. As she turned it over the sun caught the pieces of colored glass causing a multitude of rainbows on the wall. In the very middle was a small figure. Looking closer Phoebe saw the figure of a woman. As she moved the paperweight from side to side, the distortions in the old glass made it appear that she was moving. It was beautiful, Phoebe thought. She put it back down in the sun and saw that the figure was still moving. In fact it was waving its arms and appeared to be shouting at her, but she heard no sound. She picked it up and looked very closely and she saw a woman in old pilgrim dress waving directly at her. She certainly saw Phoebe, but could not hear her. Phoebe took the object over to the shop owner. She told Phoebe that it was very old and made in New England three hundred years ago. When Phoebe asked about the figure inside it, the woman couldn't see anything. Phoebe made an offer on it and the woman first hesitated, but then accepted it. Maybe my shopping skills are improving as she thought as she walked out with her bargain. When she got out into the sun, she again looked in it and the woman was still there. Phoebe was puzzled, put it into her bag and jumped on the bus.
Piper was in the middle of fixing dinner when Phoebe came marching in the front door.
"Hello," she shouted, "I found something really weird."
"What hasn't been weird around her lately?" quipped Piper. "What's up this time?"
"I was shopping for Prue's birthday down in the Mission District and found a beautiful paperweight with a real little woman inside of it. Somehow she is trapped or bewitched in there. I just want to find out why she was in there and if we should help her. We've had enough of letting bad guys out. She must have been in there for centuries."
Phoebe showed it to Piper who said that it was lovely. Then after concentrating on it she saw the little woman who was no more than an inch and a half high.
"Wow! Hello there little woman, who are you and how did you get in there? Let's wait for Prue before we do anything. Put her on the mantel and help me with dinner," And off to the kitchen they went.
Prue walked in late as usual and gave a cheerful "Good evening everyone. I had a very good day today. We just corralled the estate of Malcolm Jenkins. He was one of the most extensive collections of memorabilia from old Hollywood. When everything's unpacked I can show you some of his artifacts. Some of the movie props he had are unbelievable. What's new here?"
Phoebe said, "Look at the paperweight I got today, Prue."
Prue picked it up and said, "It is very unique and very old. Phoebe, I didn't know you had such affection for anything older than...wait a minute, what do we have here?" She saw the same little woman waving desperately at her.
Phoebe continued, "I was birthday shopping in an antique shop and found her. I don't know if we want to release her or not. Is she an innocent or is she someone bad?"
Piper took it from Prue looking closely and mimicked, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"
"Thanks Glinda, but we need to find out what to do." said Phoebe.
"Try and freeze her Piper." said Prue. Piper raised her hands and the little figure stopped all movement.
"Now we know she's not a good witch that leaves trapped mortal or evil warlock. We're not much further along," said Phoebe.
As many times before, the three Charmed Ones went up the stairs to consult the Book Of Shadows. They could not find anything specifically on this person, but there was a spell that could release her. Phoebe was all for at least checking her out. Prue and Piper were a little hesitant, but agreed to try getting her out as long as they watched her closely. The paperweight was placed in the center of the candles on the floor and the three sisters joined hands and recited the incantation. A blue mist shot out of the paperweight and swirled around the candles forming a woman about thirty years old with blond hair, blue eyes and wearing puritan clothing. She took one look at the Halliwells and fainted dead away. Piper tried to revive her. They put her on an old stuffed settee and applied a cold cloth to her head. She was unconscious for about ten minutes and started to come out.
When her eyes opened she first let out and scream and said, "Where in the name of heaven be I? What sort of place is this?"
Not trying to start her off with too much, Phoebe explained that they were witches who had just released her from the paperweight. "Who are you and how long have you been in there?" Phoebe inquired.
"I be Mistress Nelson, Samantha Nelson of Plymouth Plantation. I know not how long I was trapped inside. Ye are the first to have seen me in so, so long. But, ye say that ye are witches, not like any that I have seen."
Piper chimes in, "You knew witches in Massachusetts? Did you know a Melinda Warren in Salem?"
"I knew her not, but heard of her ten years ago when they purified her."
"You mean burned her alive," said Phoebe, "She was our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother."
"Then what year does this be and where am I?" she asked.
"1999. You've been trapped almost 300 years." said Prue. "Our house is in San Francisco, California, 3000 miles from your home."
"No wonder my mind is spinning and everything is so strange. All I know is gone," said Samantha. She burst into tears.
"Be thankful that you are no longer trapped." said Phoebe, though she felt for her since she sometimes felt lost without her mother.
Samantha was led down to the kitchen and she said, " What a grand house you have, it was bigger than the richest man's in Plymouth." They made her some tea that helped her feel better. And she started to tell them her tale.
"I made my home with Mistress Phoebe Wilson in Plymouth Plantation. She was a kind woman, a widow with two daughters, took me self in after the passing of my father. Helped around the house I did. She practiced the black arts, but no one ever suspected she be a witch. I would nae ever do such things, but she nae did anything bad with her craft. One day a stranger came to town that seemed to court Mistress Wilson, which seemed strange her being along in years. One day his true self came out when he broke into our home saying awful things and saying he wanted me mistress' powers. When he doth got very angry, he changed in his face and horns sprouted from his head like the devil himself. Fire shot from his eyes and he killed her and her two daughters and pulled all their power out of them. Then he doth look at me saying that he will be back for me later. And he waved his arms at me and I find myself in a glass prison. The very thing you found me in. I spent all the time just trying to free myself, yelling at anyone who might see me. Mistress Phoebe is the first one who ever saw me. Perhaps because she is a witch. But now what is to become of me? I am so very, very lost. Woe is me," she moaned.
With that she again burst into tears and Piper came over and held her.
"That is quite a tale, Samantha." said Prue, "It sounds like Phoebe Wilson was attacked by a warlock. We don't know who he was, but he might come back for you now."
Prue took her to the spare bedroom and put her to sleep. She was very impressed with what she thought was luxury as compared to her dirt floor house 300 years before. After all those centuries, she went quickly to sleep. Phoebe had checked the Book and found no mention of that warlock or the attack, so they had to remain on their guard.
The next morning Samantha was invited downstairs for some breakfast. she found the waffles very tasty, but the juice and coffee were not to her liking. Even the water tasted funny to her. Phoebe provided her with some clothes since she wasn't even as tall as her. Samantha felt very strange with bare arms and bare legs, even though Phoebe gave her a very conservative outfit. Phoebe also volunteered to take show Samantha around the city. She could not believe how big it was, the tall buildings, the number of people and the noise. Nothing she saw was familiar to her. They had lunch on Fisherman's Wharf. When she got home, Phoebe showed her how to work the television
"Such marvels there be. If thou had not said it was not witchcraft, I would have believed thee not. And all these people and places come into thy home with a touch of thy finger. Heaven can only be like this."
She kept flipping and flipping through the hundred plus available stations.
"Great," thought Phoebe, "Samantha's introduction to the twentieth century is turning her into a channel surfer. She probably doesn't understand anything she's watching."
"Samantha, you stay here and I will get us something to eat." Phoebe said and she went into the kitchen. Suddenly, Phoebe had a premonition. She saw a warlock coming at Samantha from behind and slitting her throat. She seemed to be in Prue's office and it was very late. Phoebe called Prue and told her about her vision.
Prue said, "I brought her down and show her some of the old New England items we had up for auction, but we need to get home to defend her. I will get home early. She is probably safe until tonight. Good luck, Phoebe." And Prue hung up.
Phoebe made some nachos and salsa, but Samantha did not like it. Most of the processed food she tried just did not have the taste and texture of the natural fresh food she was used to. Phoebe did tell her that she felt that the warlock who had imprisoned her would be back later that night. It did not surprise Samantha since he had promised to return.
Prue and Piper both got home before dinner. They ate very little while waiting for the attack. As is often the case, they waited in the attic. The sun went down and the moon came out. An eerie light descended from the full moon. The sisters were tense and only Samantha seemed completely calm.
At half past eight a shadowy figure came in through the window sliding down the beam of moonlight.
"So some witches have let you out of your glass prison, my dear. You will not be free for long. A worse fate awaits you," laughed the warlock.
Before Piper could try and freeze him, the warlock waved his arm and the three Halliwell sisters found each of them inside a glass paperweight. The warlock disappeared with Samantha and all was quiet in the attic. In her fright, Samantha dropped her personal items that Phoebe had loaned her earlier in the day.
Prue started calling out. "Phoebe, Piper are you there?"
"We can hear you, Prue" called out Phoebe.
"I can, too," cried out Piper.
Prue called out describing her prison and both of the other sisters said they were in similar situations.
Prue made her way along the inside of her prison and could see the attic on the other side. It was like being on the inside of a fish bowl. Prue tried to push at the side of the bowl using her powers and nothing happened. That was odd she thought since she should at least be pushed backwards. So she changed her tactic and to pull what ever she could come in contact with. The settee from the attic was dragged into the fish-bowl.
"I must still be standing in the attic," though Prue. So she got down on her hands and knees and started to push away from the attic wall as hard as she could. She started to move a bit and then shot out of her prison like a sling shot. She hit the far side of the attic wall with her head and was woozy for a couple of minutes. When she came to she saw her two sisters at the far end of the attic. Phoebe had her hands up pantomiming her way around her glass prison. Piper was sitting down in a 'woe-is-me' position. She got up, went over and took Phoebe's hand. She was quite surprised as she was pulled through the wall.
"What gives? How did you get the power to move things through walls?" asked a surprised Phoebe.
"Nothing that remarkable," said Prue. "It was all an illusion." She went over a grabbed Piper's hand.
"Wow. I was getting ready to be imprisoned there for three hundred years. Thanks for rescuing us, Prue!" said Piper.
"Now to find Samantha and that warlock," said Phoebe as she picked up the comb that Samantha has dropped when she was kidnapped by the warlock. She had a premonition that Samantha was being held in a prison cell with the sound of the ocean in the background. "She's being held at Alcatraz," said Phoebe.
It was late at night as they borrowed a friend's boat and headed out into the harbor. They landed on the far side of the island to avoid the Park Service patrols. The island was creepy in the daytime, but at night every shadow looked like a threat above and beyond the warlock they had to deal with. The sisters headed for the main prison cell complex. As they entered the building they heard the ravings of the warlock cursing the sisters and their reversal of his imprisonment spell.
"How dare they release you, you little wench. I wanted you trapped in there for all time. But they will not get out of their situation and you, Samantha, will have a faith worse than death. These witches have sent many honorable warlocks and demons to hell. That is where I am going to send you. Death would be preferable because all those spirits for the rest of eternity will torment you. That will be your fate, my little wench," said the warlock ending his ravings with a demonic laugh.
Samantha did not flinch, did not plead. She been punished by this spirit before and new threats of torture did not trouble her.
"God shall protect me and shall punish thee. My faith hath withstood all those years in thy glass prison and again will I be saved," said she.
The sisters had surprise on their side this time. Piper got within in range and was able to freeze him. Prue undid the bonds that tied up Samantha.
"Saints be praised. Twice to be rescued from the same demon. Thou art very kind," Samantha said.
"Now to get rid of this warlock." said Prue. In the absence of any references in the Book Of Shadows, the Charmed Ones used a new spell to send him straight to hell. He vanished in a red puff of smoke shouting,
"No-o-o-o-o-o!" The air smelled of fire and brimstone.
"What doth thou do to him," asked Samantha, her composure now broken.
Phoebe replied, "We sent him where he was planning to send you. You're now a free woman. And we have a surprise for you. We found a spell to send you back to where you came from."
"Nothing would please me more," exclaimed Samantha.
Back in the attic at Halliwell Manor, Samantha had changed back into her pilgrim clothing and said her good-byes.
"Though I owe a debt to all of thee, Mistress Phoebe, thou be my savior since thou found me in my glass prison. I know not all of thy kind are evil and thou shall always be in my heart. Farewell daughters of Melinda Warren." she said with lasting gratitude.
Hugs were exchanged and the charmed Ones gathered around the cauldron sending Samantha back three hundred years.
"Well," reflected Phoebe, "One can get a lot of satisfaction from being a witch. Another innocent has been saved and now has her life back on track," Thinking back on how this adventure began Phoebe asks, "Now, Prue, tell me, what do you really want for your birthday?"
The Charmed Ones had a good laugh and headed downstairs to hopefully start a "normal" day.
THE END