Witch trail

It's night time. Phoebe walks into the manor. She notices that all the lights are turned off. "Hello? Anybody home? Sister witches, guess what?" Phoebe walks in the living room and turns on the light. She finds Piper making out with a guy on the couch. Piper gets out off the couch.

"Oh, oh. Are you nuts?"

"What are you doing? Hi."

"Hi."

Piper freezes the guy and walks over to Phoebe.

"Sister witches? I can't believe you said that. What's the matter with you?"

"How was I supposed to know that you were gonna be here with anybody? Last I heard that you were meeting a banker friend about the loan." She looks at the guy and then back at Piper. "Is this the credit check?"

"It's not what you think. We were just... we were just kissing, that's all."

Paige comes down the stairs.

"What is all the noise?"

"Oh the ordinary stuff, gone to the store, come home and find Piper snogging with her banker friend."

"Ow."

"Oh please Phoebe, it's not that, you know…"

"Piper, you don't have to justify it. You're single. You're responsible."

"And you're way overdue in the sex department."

Piper and Phoebe look back to Paige, who is still at the top of the stairs.

"I'm not way overdue. Alright, maybe a little, but that's besides the point. You go back up, it's a school night tomorrow."

"Oh, don't remind me, but sleep can wait, I first want to see how this ends."

"Paige!"

Paige looks back at Piper with a grin so Piper starts giving more arguments.

"And you guys know that I would never just sleep with a guy to get something. You know that, right?"

"Piper, give yourself a break. You're going through a lot right now. No job, straining to buy the club, you haven't heard from Leo in weeks."

Prue walks in through the front door. She's on her phone.

"Alright, well, the preview is at five and the auction Sunday at eleven."

"Oh no, Prue. Go back outside. Go on. Hurry!"

Prue looks at them for a second, then goes back outside. Piper gives Paige a look and with a sigh Paige returns to the second floor. Piper goes back into position next to the couch and unfreezes him again.

"So, you must be Prue."

He stands up.

"Uh, no. Actually..."

Phoebe points to the door which Prue reopens, still on the phone. "Alright, great, yeah, I'll see you then." Prue hangs up and stops next to Phoebe, looking curiously at the guy.

"She's Prue. And that…" Phoebe now points to the stairs where Paige is coming down from in a run to end besides Phoebe and Prue. "Is Paige. I'm Phoebe." They all look expectantly at Piper, who turns to her friend.

"Rob, can we take a rain check on the rest of the evening? It's getting kind of crowded in here."

"Okay, sure."

Rob grabs his coat and heads for the door. Piper follows him, companied by her sisters eyes.

"Yeah. Okay, um, so I'll meet you tomorrow at the club at noon. Great. Thanks for dinner."

"Okay, alright." They kiss and Piper opens the door. "Bye."

"Bye."

Rob leaves. Piper closes the door and turns to her sisters, who are grinning.

"So, did you get the loan?"

"Hopefully. I'll find out tomorrow."

"Well, my fingers are crossed."

Prue, Piper and Paige start to leave the room, but Phoebe stops them.

"Wait, you guys. Where are you going?"

"Well, I have an auction coming up. I have clients to call."

"And I'm getting back to my beauty sleep, you know what they say about first impressions."

"Wait, you guys. Don't you even know what tomorrow is? It's our one year anniversary of becoming witches. Hello?"

"Tomorrow is? Really?"

"So..."

"So? So? It's a day to celebrate. And not just because it's our anniversary but because it falls on one of the most powerful wiccan days of the year. The autumnal equinox. Now, according to this witch that I met today at bookstore..."

"Hold it. A witch?"

"You didn't tell her about us, did you?"

"Well, yeah, sure I did. Why not? I mean, I didn't tell her that we're magical witches, obviously. Look, I'm sorry but I think after everything we've been through it's important to learn as much as we can about who we are. Forewarned is forearmed."

"And I think that we should leave well enough alone. I mean, we've been demon-free for over a month now, I'd like to keep it that away."

"Amen to that."

Prue and Piper walk out of the room.

"What about you Paige?"

"I'll think about it in my sleep."

She yawns as she goes back up the stairs.

-c-

The next morning, Phoebe races into the attic cause the sound of pages flipping caught her attention. When she enters, she notices the book of shadow open.

"Prue! Piper! Paige!"

Prue, Piper and Paige, also in their sleeping clothes, come in.

"What's going on?"

"Uh, I don't know!"

"Why does the book do that?"

"A better question: how does the book do that?"

They go over to the book and look at the page it opened up to.

"Rite of passage. Fight it with the power of one or else..."

But Phoebe can't finish her sentence because a vortex opens in the wall and a gust of wind blows them to the side of the attic. A demon is sitting in the vortex. Prue tries to use her power but it doesn't work. The demon lets the book fly towards him and once it's in his hands, the vortex closes.

"What the hell was that?"

"The book of shadows? Where's the book of shadows?"

"So much for being demon-free."

-c-

Prue, Piper and Paige are cleaning the attic up while Phoebe is knocking on the wall where the vortex opened.

"Did you find anything?"

"Nothing. But whatever it was literally came out of nowhere and disappeared into nowhere."

"Well, it took the book of shadows somewhere. And he's powerful too. No other demons been able to steal the book."

"But if he's so powerful, why didn't he kill us?"

"He probably didn't want to go up against you."

"Me? What do you mean?"

All the sisters look at Prue.

"That's what the book of shadows says. Fight it with the power of one. That's gotta mean your power. It's the strongest."

"Says who?"

"Says every demon or warlock we've ever gone up against."

"She's right, Prue. The power of one's gotta mean you, otherwise it would've said the power of four." "The only question is how are we gonna find this demon. We don't know anything about him."

"Well, we better think of something fast because without the book of shadows, we're not the charmed ones anymore."

The doorbell rings and Phoebe heads down the stairs followed by her sisters.

-c-

Phoebe is making her way over to the door while the bell keeps on ringing. "Coming." She walks into the foyer and opens the door. A 16-year old girl, with wet eyes, stands there. "Uh, hi..."

"Can I use your phone, please?"

"Uh, well, actually, we're..."

"Please? It's an emergency. Please?"

"Okay. Come on in. It's right around that corner."

The girl walks in and picks up the phone. Prue, Piper and Paige walk in the foyer.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"What was I supposed to do? Say no? Look at that poor girl."

They look at her, but quickly turn their faces back when they hear a man's voice.

"Jenny? Jenny, come on. Talk to me."

A cute guy in his late 20's lets himself inside. The four sisters all have the same reaction.

"Whoa!"

Jenny is still on the phone, ignoring the man.

"International operator please. Saudi Arabia."

"Saudi Arabia?"

"I'm sorry. We're moving in next door. Or at least we're trying to. Our phone's not hooked up yet."

"So, you're our new neighbours?"

"Name's Dan. Uh, Dan Gordon."

"I don't care if the circuits are busy. I have to talk to my mum."

"And that's my niece Jenny. Who's obviously not talking to me. Jenny, sweetie, come on." Jenny hangs up and storms outside. "I'm sorry. It's nice meeting you."

"You too." Piper lets him out and turns back to her sisters. Phoebe sticks her arm in the air. "I saw him first!"

"Demons now, drooling later."

"Look, I have to meet my client before the preview."

Prue starts to leave.

"Oh, wait a minute. The scariest demon we've ever run across opens up some portal in our attic, and steals the book of shadows and you want to go into the office?" Prue nods and walks up the stairs. Phoebe turns to Piper and Paige. "What's the matter with her?"

"It's the first demon she's faced since Andy died. Maybe it's bringing up some bad memories."

"Well I'm going to get ready too."

"What, Paige!"

"I'm sorry, but I got to go to school and you guys can research things on your own, right? You don't need the power of four for that."

Paige also goes up the stairs.

"I actually am supposed to meet Rob at the club." Phoebe gives Piper also one of her disappointed looks. "But I guess I still have a little time." Phoebe starts smiling and puts an arm around Piper's shoulders.

"Now, that's the spirit."

-c-

The demon, that stole the book of shadows, turns to the back of the book and starts reading the love-spell backwards.

-c-

A couple of women are gathered in the park around a rock. Piper and Phoebe are also there.

"What are we doing here?"

"Celebrating the Equinox. Can't you just feel it? The energy in this place? It's a convergence."

"It's a rock. I thought we were supposed to meet your witch friend."

"We are. This is where she told us to meet her. Now, please just relax."

"Relax? My life was a mess before our little wake up call this morning, remember?"

A woman arrives and Phoebe runs over to her, followed by Piper.

"Oh, Stevie!"

"Hey, Phoebe. I'm so glad you could make it."

"Um, actually, we are not here for this. We needed to talk to you about something. This is my sister, Piper."

"Hi."

"Hey, Piper, it's very nice to meet you. Are you witch too?"

"Uh, sorta... maybe... I don't know. Uh, is everybody here one, also?"

"Oh, no. It's just a group of believers, women who know of this special place and who've come to celebrate. By the way, happy anniversary."

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about. Why did you say that today was gonna be a powerful day for us?"

"Because your anniversary falls on the Equinox. Which is a powerful day in and of itself for you, this convergence of powers is even stronger. The potential greater. All you have to do is connect. You wanna try it?"

"Try it? How?"

"Let us begin."

Stevie joins the other women.

"I don't wanna connect."

"We have to connect."

"I don't wanna try it."

"Okay, but we have to because..."

"Why?"

"What have we got to lose, okay?"

Piper and Phoebe turn around and notice all the women are taking off their clothes.

"Well, apparently we've got our clothes to lose."

"I see that."

Phoebe pulls Piper back in the circle and Phoebe undoes her zipper.

"No. Whoa, Whoa. Wait. What are you doing?"

"When in Rome…"

"No, no, no! We're not in Rome, Phoebe. We're in California. And it's illegal here."

"It's totally natural, okay? Go for it. Come on."

Piper lets her dress fall to the ground.

"God. This is ridiculous. Can I keep my shoes on?"

"Yeah, but that's it."

"We've got absolutely zero, zero information."

"Everybody's naked, not just you."

"And now we're naked."

"Shh, okay? Shh."

Suddenly Phoebe hears a voice.

"The power of four.

"Did you just hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The voice continues.

"The power of four."

"That. Grams?"

"Grams?" Piper looks around and tries to cover herself up. "What? Where? I don't hear anything."

-c-

A woman is looking at some items up for auction when Prue walks in the room. She goes over to the woman, who is noticeably having a difficult time.

"Mrs. Milton. Hi. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"Oh, no problem. I was just looking around."

"Well, I think that we'll have a great turnout for the preview. We've been getting an excellent response to your husband's collection."

"I'm not surprised."

"Now, the opening bid prices may look a little low, but don't worry. It should attract a lot of buyers, which should result in a bidding war. It's the best way to sell inventory like this at top dollar. Is that all right with you?"

"I guess I'm having a little more trouble letting go of John's things than I thought."

"That's only natural. It's not easy."

"I suppose that you deal with death quite a bit in your line of work, don't you?" Prue gets nervous, thinking that the woman means being a witch. "I mean, like this, auctioning off some poor widows inheritance." She lets go of her breath, relieved.

"This? Unfortunately, yes."

"I just keep going over and over in my mind the last time I saw him before the accident. And I keep thinking if only I'd done something or said something to stop him from getting in the car, maybe he'd still be alive."

Prue looks down as she remembers the last time she saw Andy.

-c-

Outside a large building that's up for sale Piper pulls up in her car. She gets out and walks inside. Rob is already there, looking around. Piper comes down the stairs.

"Oh, god, Rob. I'm so sorry I'm late. Uh, I got stuck at this thing and then my sister needed a ride, and I'm so totally screwed on the loan now, aren't I?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm just looking around, checking things out."

"It needs a lot of work, uh, I know that. But that's not a problem and just because the last two owners went bankrupt, doesn't mean it can't work. I've done three separate marketing studies and found a 68% interest in the target clientele."

"Piper..."

"Plus, running a restaurant is very similar to running a club."

"You've already shown me all this. I've got it. I've got everything, except for an understanding of why you wanna put yourself in a position to fail like this."

"Uhh..."

"Clubs are an extremely high risk business, Piper. You could lose your shirt."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time today."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Look, I know what I'm getting myself into. I know the risks and actually it's a lot less risk and a lot a less expensive than starting my own restaurant, which is what I really wanted to do. The point is, I'm tired of working for somebody else and helping them realizing their dreams. I wanna run my own place. This place. And I can do it, too. But not without your help."

"Well, at the risk of you never wanting to go out with me again... Congratulations."

"I got it?"

"You go it"

"Yay!"

Piper hugs him and they kiss.

-c-

The demon is saying another spell backwards which makes Jeremy appear wielding a knife.

"Were you vanquished by the charmed ones?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm giving you a second chance."

-c-

Piper and Rob are still kissing when Piper also hears the voice.

"The power of four."

Piper pulls away.

"Did you hear that?"

"The power of four."

"Hear what?"

Piper looks around.

"Grams?"

Suddenly Jeremy appears behind Rob and knocks him unconscious. Piper screams and backs away.

"You're dead, witch."

Piper freezes him.

"Oh my God. Jeremy?"

-c-

Prue's sitting at her desk. The phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Prue, thank god you're there. Jeremy..."

"Piper, calm down."

"…Just attacked me."

"Jeremy? That is impossible. We vanquished him a year ago."

"Well, apparently he got unvanquished somehow. And since we don't have the book of shadows, we're gonna have to remember the spell together. I'm conferencing Phoebe and Paige." She presses a button on the phone.

"Paige?"

"Here, but not for long, my class is about to start."

"And Phoebe, are you there too?"

"AT&T, the power of four."

"Okay, wait. Wasn't that it? The power of four, evil be no more?"

"Grams..."

Jeremy unfreezes. "Whoa!" Piper freezes him again.

"What's the matter?"

"He's..." Jeremy unfreezes again and Piper has to freeze him again, while walking away. "He's fighting through my freezes. He's adjusting or something."

"Uh, okay, put us on the speakerphone. We have to say it together."

Jeremy unfreezes. Piper lays the phone on the machine while pushing a button, she backs away.

"You're not getting away from me this time."

Jeremy attacks her with his dagger but she ducks right in time.

"Piper!"

"Hurry! Now! Hurry, now, now, now!"

They all starts chanting. "The power of four, evil be no more." They keep repeating it until Jeremy explodes again.

"Piper?"

"Are you alright?'

"Piper?"

"It's okay. He's gone. Again."

"Alright, see you later. I've bought some new books, I'm going to look trough them."

Phoebe hangs up.

"Bye, oh Piper could you pick me up in an hour?"

"Sure, see you then."

Paige is also gone.

"Alright, I'm coming over."

"Prue, that's not necessary."

"Piper! I'll be right there."

-c-

A few minutes later, the paramedics are there. They put Rob on a stretcher. Piper is crouching down beside him.

"How can you not have seen who attacked me? How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I guess I was blocked or something and then he just sort of disappeared, you know?"

"I'm starting to understand why this place keeps going under."

"Oh, no. It's not a bad crime area. Not at all."

"Well, it's something I'm going to be checking into. I can assure you of that."

"Excuse me, ma'am."

The paramedics carry Rob up the stairs. Prue walks past and looks at him.

"Yeah, hi, how ya doin'?"

Prue ignores him and goes over to Piper.

"Are you okay?"

"Physically, yeah. I think my loan's on shaky ground. I couldn't exactly tell Rob, It was just a warlock. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, it would be a shame if the loan didn't work out, I mean, this place is great. I used to come here. It has a lot of potential."

"Yeah? You think so? Care to loan me sixty grand?"

"Hmm. Any ideas on where Jeremy came from?"

"No, but I don't want to run into any of the other demons we've already vanquished."

"Well, hopefully Phoebe can find some answers in those new books of hers."

"I sure wish she had our book to look it at. Feels kind of lost without it. Although..."

"Although what?"

"It was weird but right before Jeremy appeared, I swore I heard grams."

"Grams?"

"I was positive it was her. She said the power of four. And Phoebe said she heard her say it this morning. Maybe grams was trying to warn me, warn us."

-c-

Phoebe is at home, busy on her laptop. She hears Kit meow and looks out the window. She sees Jenny sitting on the stairs next door, holding Kit. Phoebe continues to type on her computer but changes her mind and goes outside. She walks over to Jenny and sits down next to her.

"Hey there. It's Jenny, right?"

"Yeah."

"We didn't really get to say hello before. My name is Phoebe. Phoebe Halliwell. And this is Kit the cat. Get it? Kit Kat. Little play on words. So, shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm taking a week off."

"Really?"

"For the move, you know."

"So you're moving in with your uncle?"

"Well, just for the school year. Until my mom and dad come back."

"From Saudi Arabia?"

"My dad's with the state department. So, he gets transferred a lot."

"That sucks. So, did you ever get in touch with your mum?"

"It doesn't matter."

"If it matters to you, it matters. Your secret is safe with me."

"Well, it's almost that time of the month, you know? And, well, I need some..."

"Tampons?"

"Right, yeah."

"And you don't want talk to your uncle about it?"

"But I did. But he went out and bought sanitary napkins."

"Ugh."

"Like that's gonna work. This is so embarrassing." Phoebe's attention gets caught by Kit's collar, which has the quadquetra symbol hanging from it. "So, do you think maybe you could get some for me instead?" She doesn't listen to Jenny anymore.

"Uh... sure... but... a connection."

"But what?"

Piper and Paige pull up in the driveway next door.

"Uh, I'm really sorry, Jenny, but I have to go."

Phoebe picks up Kit and leaves Jenny disappointed on the stairs.

"Fine."

She turns back around.

"Look. I would love to help you out but I gotta believe that your parents wouldn't have left you with your uncle if they didn't think you could trust him at stuff like this. Ask him again. And if he still screws it up, remember, we're open 24 hours, 7 days a week, right next door, okay?"

Jenny smiles. Phoebe goes back over to the manor.

"Paige, Piper, wait up. I think I figured out how to find who the demon is. All we have to do is ask the book of shadows."

"What?"

"It's been right in front of us the whole time."

She shows them Kit's collar.

"Kit's collar?"

"No, the quadquetra. The symbol of the power of four. Our symbol. Maybe that's what grams has been trying to tell us."

"Phoebe, you're rambling."

"No, Stevie said all we would have to do is find our connection, right? That if we did, we'd be able to tap into the power of the Equinox. Well, this has got to be it, the quadquetra. It's us. It's on the cover of the book of shadows."

"I still don't understand how can we ask the book of shadows for help when we don't have the book."

Phoebe pulls Piper and Paige inside.

-c-

Paige, Piper and Phoebe are standing in front of the spirit board.

"The spirit board?"

"It told us how to find the book of shadows, didn't it? It can do it again. All you have to do is believe. Now come on. We're stronger together."

"Okay."

Paige takes the pointer and puts it on the spirit board. The others also put their fingers on it.

"Come on. Okay. Close your eyes and feel it."

There is a sudden wind an they all hear grams' voice.

"The power of four."

"Did you hear that?"

"Grams?"

Paige looks around while the pointer starts moving.

"A."

"B-R-A-X-A-S."

"Abraxas?"

They look at each other.

-c-

The demon turns to another spell in the book of shadows and starts to read it backwards.

-c-

Piper and Paige are sitting on the couch in the living room. Phoebe walks in, reading from a book.

"Okay, I found it. Abraxas: A demon of the astral plane who destroy witches by demonising their powers. Okay, but what does that have to do with the book of shadows?"

"Well, that's where our powers come from, isn't it? Maybe Abraxas it turning it evil somehow."

"That would definitely undo our spells. And explain why Jeremy all of a sudden became unvanquished."

"And the woogyman."

"The woogyman?"

"When did the woogyman become unvanquished?"

"A couple of seconds ago."

Phoebe and Paige look around and see the woogyman coming towards them. They all jump up.

"Freeze it."

"It doesn't freeze, remember? The spell. What's the spell? Spell, spell..."

The woogyman starts surrounding them.

"I am light. I am one too strong to fight. I can't remember the rest."

"Phoebe! Piper!"

They notice that the woogyman is surrounding Paige's neck, making it harder for her to breath.

"Yes you can. Okay, we can. Uh, Return to dark, where the shadows dwell. You cannot have this Halliwell."

The woogyman gets surrounded itself by white lights. Paige, Piper and Phoebe end the spell together.

"Go away and leave my sight. And take with you this endless night."

The Woogyman gets vanquished.

"That wasn't so hard."

"It's a good thing we were together."

"Definitely."

"Abraxas must be reading the book backwards. That's how he's turning it evil."

"How do you figure?"

"The spell to vanquish Jeremy was at the back of the book. And the spell to vanquish the woogyman was right before that."

"Which means more are on their way."

"Uh-huh."

"We gotta warn Prue."

"Uh-huh." They walk into the foyer and Phoebe touches a photo frame. She gets a premonition. Nicholas, the warlock, attacking Prue at Bucklands. "What? What happened?"

"I saw the warlock Nicholas, killing Prue."

-c-

Prue is walking down the corridor of Buckland. She stops when she sees Mrs. Milton. Prue's assistant approaches her.

"Prue, your sister Phoebe's on the phone."

"Oh, uh, tell her that I'll call her back."

"She said it's important."

"She always says that it's important. Just tell her I'll call her back. It's okay. Thanks." Prue goes over to Mrs. Milton. "Mrs. Milton."

"Oh, hi."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"I had no idea there'd be this many people interested. You're obviously very good at your job."

"Actually, I think it says more your husband's collection than it does about me. How long has it been since the accident?"

"Eight and a half months. How long has it been for you?"

"Not very long." Nicholas appears out of nowhere. He spots Prue. "Nicholas." Prue walks off. Nicholas follows her. Prue races into her office. Nicholas stands at the doorway and points his ring at her.

"You remember the feeling, don't you?"

Prue falls to the floor.

"Lavender, mimosa, holy thistle, cleanse this evil from our midst scatter..."

"You're overheating. Your brain cells are frying. It's over."

"Scatter its cells throughout time. Let this Nick no more exist."

Nicholas shatters into pieces and Prue collapses to the floor.

-c-

Prue is lying on a bed while a doctor is taking her blood pressure. Piper, Phoebe and Paige are standing beside her.

"Well, your blood pressure's back to normal. So is your temperature, your electrolytes. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were perfectly healthy young woman."

"Does that mean I can go home now?"

"Well, I'd like to run a few more tests. Find out what caused your body temperature to rise spontaneously like that. Has that ever happened to you before?"

"It's happened to us all before."

Phoebe laughs but stops when she sees her Prue's angry look.

"Doctor, it's okay. Really. I think I know how to keep it from happening again."

"All right. I'll see to your discharge papers."

"Thanks."

The doctor leaves and Prue gets up.

"That was close."

"Too close."

"No, I don't mean her. I mean you. The paramedics said you almost died."

"Yeah, well, what else is new?"

"We better figure out a way to get the book back from Abraxas because if we don't, we're all dead."

"But how? We don't know where the astral plane is."

"Yes, we do. It coexists within our own plane. Remember, that's what Stevie said."

"Still doesn't help to find the demon."

"Maybe, maybe not. I was thinking... You know how we always thought that nobody could take the book of shadows out of the house but us? Maybe nobody did. Maybe it's still in the house. Just on different plane. The astral plane."

"That would mean Abraxas is still in the house too."

"Right. So, we would need to find a doorway or a window to get to his, like he used to get to ours and we need to do this before the end of the Equinox, by sunrise tomorrow. And then Prue can kick some astral ass with the power of one."

Prue grabs her stuff and leaves the room. Piper, Phoebe and Paige follow. They walks towards the exit.

"Prue, what's the matter?"

"Nothing. I just think that it's a long shot, that's all."

"Well, at least it's a shot."

"I agree, I mean, who knows how many other demons and warlocks he's let loose that we just don't know about yet."

"Or even worse. If Abraxas gets to the first page of the book before we get to him, we're toast."

"Why?"

"Because it's the incantation that gave us our powers, remember? If Abraxas says that backwards too, then we'll lose them and the book forever."

"So we go back to leading normal lives again. That doesn't sound so bad."

Phoebe stops Prue.

"What? Are you joking?"

"No, Phoebe, I'm not joking. Look, we always said that things happen to us for a reason, right? So, maybe the reason this time is to give to us an out."

"Prue, there's no out. Abraxas will kill us."

"Not if all he wants is the book. After all, that's the real power, not us."

"If all he wanted was the book, he wouldn't keep sending demons and warlocks after us."

"Yeah, well, we won't have to worry about anymore if he gets to the first page."

"What are you saying, Prue? Look, if we don't get to him, we stop being witches."

"Exactly. Which means we stop risking our lives all the time. Which means we stop watching the people we love lose theirs."

Prue walks away.

"Prue..."

Piper stops Paige from following.

"Let her be."

-c-

Piper, Phoebe and Paige are in the kitchen. Phoebe's sitting at the table, Paige is getting something out of the cupboard and Piper is looking for something in the fridge.

"We're screwed, you know."

"No, we're not. There's a window, we'll find it."

"That's not what I meant."

Paige sits down at the table, holding cookies, she holds them out to Phoebe, but Phoebe rejects them.

"She'll come around."

"By sunrise? You know how Prue is when she makes up her mind about something. That's it. We're screwed."

Phoebe takes a cookie.

"And we're out of wine."

The doorbell rings. Phoebe gets up.

"I'll get it. Paige, you keep dreaming. Piper, you keep looking."

-c-

Phoebe opens the door to find Dan, holding a bottle of wine.

"Oh, hi..."

"Dan."

"Dan, right."

"You're Phoebe. Jenny told me. I hope it's okay to stop by."

"Of course, uh, we were just doing some reading."

"Well, I just wanted to give you this." He hands her the wine. "To say thanks. You know, for talking to Jenny. Or better yet, for getting her to talk to me."

"That's really sweet. And timely too. But it's not necessary."

"Well, to be honest, I was sort of hoping to get something out of it. I mean, you know, for Jenny. Just in case she needs a woman to talk to again."

"Ah, of course. Any time. She seems like a great kid. So, did she tell you what the problem was?"

They laugh.

"Any idea what size I'm supposed to get. There's like... five."

"Uh, junior is probably a safe bet."

"Right. Thanks."

"Hm."

The phone rings.

"Well, uh, see ya around."

"Hopefully. 'Night."

"'Night."

Dan leaves. Phoebe checks out his butt as he walks away and gets an approving look.

-c-

Piper's on the phone when Phoebe walks back into the kitchen. She sits back down at the table taking another cookie.

"Who is on the phone?"

"Piper's bank friend's assistant."

"No, I understand. Okay, bye."

She hangs up.

"And? What's the verdict?"

"My loan has been denied."

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

Phoebe and Paige get up and hug her.

"Cookie? That always helps me when I feel down."

"That's okay. Just wasn't meant to be, I guess. Really glad I never slept with him, though. What was I thinking?"

"About Leo, maybe?"

"Ugh."

"Wine?"

Phoebe holds up the bottle of wine.

-c-

Prue walks up to Darryl in the police station.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"You wanna sit down?"

"Sure."

They walk forward, but Prue stops when she sees Andy's empty desk. "They haven't assigned me a new partner yet since Andy died. Here." He takes her into a room, they sit down on a bench.

"Listen, I'm sorry I haven't come by to see you."

"Yeah, me too. I'm just glad you're here now, Prue. I've been worried about you."

"I'm alright."

"Really? Then how come you've been avoiding me? And don't give me back that crap about being too busy 'cause I know better. I know what you're going through, Prue. I lost him too, you know?"

"I know. It's just been so hard, to, uh..."

"What?"

"To face you after what happened."

"Now, see, that's exactly what I want to talk to you about..."

"Darryl, um, I need to know what Andy told you about me and my sisters... about who we really are."

"Just that you were involved in some of our unsolved cases, and that you somehow helped stop the killers."

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"He was my partner, Prue. I didn't need to know anything else."

"So, then, um... why did you cover for us when Andy died at the house?"

"Cause he asked me to. That's why I've been trying to get a hold of you. To give you a message from him. That morning, after he saw you, Andy told me to tell you that if anything were to happen to him, that it wouldn't be your fault. He didn't want you to blame yourself."

"Too late."

They hug.

-c-

Piper, Phoebe and Paige are in the attic. Piper has drawn the quadquetra symbol on the wall with chalk.

"You really think that's the window?"

"You said yourself the quadquetra's the key, our connection. And besides, we keep hearing grams say the power of four. This is what that stands for. Either that or I just screwed up this wall for no reason."

"Well, even if it is the window, if Prue doesn't show up..."

Prue walks in.

"She'll show. Better late then never, right? Look, I know that I haven't exactly been myself lately and I know that I'm going through... something. And that I have some things to work through. But I don't wanna let you down because of it. Right now, it's not about me. It's about us."

"Attagirl, Prue. I knew you'd come around."

Paige looks at Phoebe.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I did deep down."

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

Prue uses her power to move a chair across the room.

"I'm sure."

"Okay, so when the window opens, Prue, you'll knock Abraxas away from the book, so Piper and I can reach in and grab it. And then, while you're holding him back..."

"You'll find some spell to vanquish him I got it."

"Okay."

They walk towards the wall. "Okay. We have to create a circle." They join hands. "Three, two, one." Piper and Phoebe touch the wall and it opens up. Abraxas appears. "Hold on. Now, Prue, now!"

"First the book, then you."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Prue, use your power."

"Prue!"

Abraxas pushes them away and they slide across the floor. The portal closes. Paige, Phoebe and Piper look angrily at Prue.

-c-

Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige are walking down the stairs.

"Prue, what happened up there?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, nothing is exactly the problem."

They enter the dining room and stop. Prue turns towards her sisters.

"I never said that I had the power to go against him. You did, remember?"

"No, the book of shadows did."

"Well, maybe it was wrong. Maybe Abraxas is just too strong."

"Maybe, but that doesn't explain why you hesitated."

"I didn't hesitate."

"The hell you didn't Prue. I saw you."

"We all saw you."

"So, what are you saying? This is my fault, is that it? Because I can't defeat Abraxas?"

"No, Prue, you can. You just won't. Okay, something is holding you back. Something big time and instead of facing it, you're running from it."

Prue's eyes are getting wet.

"Phoebe..."

"But you can't keep running, Prue. Because you have got to figure out what your problem is, otherwise we're all dead."

Prue starts to cry.

"That's right, Phoebe. It's my responsibility, isn't it? The oldest sister, always supposed to be able to figure things out. Well, if that's the case, then how come I couldn't save Andy? If I'm supposed to be so powerful, how come I couldn't save him? I mean, my god, don't you understand? Andy died because of me, it doesn't matter what he said, it was my fault. How could it be good to be witches if all it does is get the people we love killed?"

"Oh, sweetie."

"Prue, it's not your fault. You tried to keep Andy from coming here that night, remember? You tried to warn him but he came anyway. He came because he wanted to."

"And there was nothing that you could have done to stop him, Prue. He chose to walk through that door, not because of who you are, honey, but because of who he was."

"Protector of the innocent, just like us."

"I just don't know if I believe in it anymore."

"Honey, we've done a lot of good as witches too. You know that. But that doesn't mean that bad things still aren't gonna happen. But just because we can't help that, doesn't mean that is our fault."

"Or yours."

"Come here."

They all hug causing a wind to blow trough the house and the voice of grams to be heard.

"The power of four."

They look around.

"Okay, did you guys hear that?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Grams?"

"The power of four."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know but it's gotta to be a good thing if we're all hearing it."

"Maybe it means we're connected."

"To be as one. Maybe that's what the book meant by the power of one."

"The four of us working as one."

"Which is what the quadquetra represents."

Phoebe looks at her watch.

"Almost sunrise. Do you think you're ready to try the window again?"

"Yeah, yeah, but Abraxas will be ready for us here. We have to take him by surprise, go where we're most powerful, where we're most connected."

-c-

Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige have joined hands around the stone in the park. They start chanting together.

"Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night, the oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought. In this night, and in this hour we call upon the ancient power."

-c-

The pages of the book of shadows turn over so Abraxas can't continue reading. He turns back to the spell that gave them their powers and continues to read it backwards.

-c-

"Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night, the oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought."

-c-

The book closes and starts falling down.

-c-

The book drops out from the sky and lands on the rock.

"Prue, Piper, Paige..."

"Keep chanting."

"Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night..."

Abraxas appears above them

"What are you doing? How'd you bring me here?"

"The oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought. In this night, and in this hour we call upon the ancient power. In this night, and in this hour we call upon the ancient power. In this night, and in this hour we call upon the ancient power."

Abraxas gets vanquished. Phoebe grabs the book.

"And we didn't even have to get naked."

-c-

Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige are in the attic. Prue places the book of shadows back on its stand.

"That's more like it."

She flips through it. Piper walks over to the wall, holding a cloth.

"I'll feel better when we erase that window. I don't want any more demons coming through it."

"They can't. It's our window, not theirs."

"Still, better safe than sorry. Especially if we can expect any more demons like Abraxas coming."

"Well, apparently we can." Prue starts reading. "Rite of Passage. Fight it with the power of one, or else... a more powerful evil that awaits will destroy you".

"Wow. I'm glad I didn't finish reading that yesterday. I might have changed my mind about not wanting to give up our powers."

"No, you wouldn't have. You like being a witch too much, Phoebe. And you help remind me that I like being one too."

"Me too."

"Hey, me four. Too bad it doesn't pay the bills, though."

Paige turns to Prue.

"Did you get it?"

"Mm-hmm."

Phoebe, Paige and Prue happily go over to Piper. "Get what?" They hand Piper an envelope. "What's this?" She looks at it. "$60,000? Where did you get this?"

"Home equity loan. Phoebe, Paige and I took a second out on the house. To help you buy your club."

"Actually, our club technically."

"Right, as long as you don't mind being partners with your sisters."

"Thank you!"

They all hug.

"The power of four."

They pages turn of the book turn and grams' spirit appears. They turn around and see her.

"Grams?"

"Hello, my darlings. Oh, it's nice to see you, or rather, it's nice being seen by you."

"But how is this..."

"Possible? All things are possible, my dear. It's just simply a matter of your being able to do them."

"Wait, so you're the one that keeps turning the pages in the book?"

"Just my way of looking after you. As best I can, anyway. Don't try to understand this. You're not ready yet. But the fact that you could hear me before, can see me now, means that someday you might be. Be good to each other. I love you."

Grams disappears. The book turns to a page.

"Is it just me, or is this attic getting awfully crowded lately?"

They go over and look at the page.

"Look."

Grams has written Happy Anniversary, My Darlings in the book.