Critical Point
In a dark and mysterious place, where you could feel and almost see the hatred that feeds its inhabitants, voices like echoes can be heard:
"It can't be…"
To which, this echoes:
"But it is…"
The voices rise and fall coming from nowhere and everywhere:
"What are we to do? They even have hope of a savior…"
Another:
"We got to stop it…"
Then:
"But how?"
And finally:
"There is a weak one, a door for us."
All together the voices:
"We will stop them; they cannot win."
Paul woke up with an uneasy feeling, the memories of very dark dreams lingering, even now. He was used to remember the worse of things when he let himself, but never had this invaded his dreams with such intensity. Deep down, a fear that he was always carrying started to rise again but he pushed it away.
"I won't let anything interfere now."
Joel could see himself and the little kid. For the last few weeks, he had been annoyed with him. They say that children are cruel sometimes, and they are right. The little boy had been on his back, telling him how weird he was. Joel felt the burning feeling of anger coursing through him even in his dreams. He woke up afraid and unsure of what was real and what was not.
"What was it I felt?" he told himself but somehow, he didn't want to know the answer.
A priest, who had known long ago what it was to be touched by evil, was turning and moaning in his sleep. He woke up with a start, wondering how those thoughts could have come back to haunt him. He had chosen goodness over evil, and he wanted nothing to change this.
Phoebe was dreaming of weddings and a wistful smile was floating on her mouth even in her sleep. The dream was interrupted by a loud scream from her sister, and it took her a moment to realize what was happening.
The night had been short, but it wasn't the lack of sleep that made her frown now.
Prue:
"Phoebe, you come out of there right now. We have something to talk about, right now…"She insisted.
Phoebe answered in a sleepy voice:
"Can't this wait?"
Prue:
"No it can't," she says with a still very edgy voice.
Phoebe:
"What is it?"
Prue:
"How could you ask me that?"
Phoebe:
"Come on Prue, I'm exhausted, tell me."
Prue:
"How could you let us freeze our butts in that cemetery last night?"
Then Phoebe remembers and she grimaces even more, but Prue continues:
"We'll wait for you downstairs and you better have a good explanation."
Phoebe:
"Hey, how did you know that I was here?"
Prue:
"Please, my ears are still ringing…"
Phoebe, speaking to herself mostly, a little embarrassed:
"Oook…" Then to her sister, she says:
"We will be down soon."
Prue:
"You have better. "
She lies back down and looking at Cole, she realizes something else.
He keeps his eyes closed, but she is not fooled:
"Hey chicken, I know you're awake."
To this he just grins, but says nothing.
Phoebe:
"You have as much to do with this as I do, don't think I will take the rap for you, you devil," she says in a teasing manner.
At this he turns to her no longer pretending to sleep, but still grinning:
"Hey I thought we had resolved this last night, or was it this morning?"
Phoebe smiles:
"Yeah well, if you're going to let me take this by myself I'm going to doubt you again…"
Cole:
"I certainly wouldn't want that, although…"
Phoebe picks her pillow and throws it at him playfully.
He reacts by taking her by the waist and tickling her.
After a moment of that little game, he says:
"Ok well, I guess we will have to do this," he says, still playing with her hair "but does it have to be right now?"
Phoebe coming closer:
"I suppose that they won't be angrier because of one more hour, now will they?"
Cole pulls her to him:
"I'm sure that they won't…"
Piper and Prue had almost exhausted the grievances that they could find to talk about without their sister present, and now they were waiting impatiently finding an all new one:
Piper:
"The little brat, it's becoming a bad habit…"
Prue:
"Well, I'm not surprised that she is not in a hurry to come down. God knows what got in her head last night. But no matter what it was, it didn't justify leaving us there without any warning…"
Piper:
"Yeah, we could have caught our death and the little vixen was just having some fun… Now that bites!"
Prue:
"Let's wait and see, but not much longer though…"
Cole and Phoebe were finally coming downstairs, but they still hesitated before going to the dining room:
Cole, with a grimace:
"Are you sure that I need to be there?"
Phoebe:
"Oh no you don't, we're in this together. From the look of you, one would think that you're more scared of them than from demons."
Cole replies half-serious:
"One might be right about that…"
Phoebe:
"Come on, they're not going to kill us…"
Cole:
"Speak for yourself!"
Phoebe:
"You know, technically we're already married, so they can't say much about this."
Cole:
"Somehow, I don't think that argument is going to help."
She grimaces dejectedly at his negative attitude, but says nothing more. Instead she takes his hand and pulls him toward the kitchen.
However, as they are walking, he has an odd sensation, like a memory of something that he has been trying to forget. It is a fleeting but very disturbing feeling, one he hopes, is only due to his apprehension at the conversation to come…
Joel is in the schoolyard, and he spots the little kid who has been teasing him. The anger inside him, he can feel mounting like a wave and he tries very hard to stop it. He has had trouble adapting to the life of a normal kid. True, he has found that his new family was very nice, and that being a part of it gave him a pleasant sensation of belonging. But he still can remember the time where nothing mattered to him. When he thought that he would have to fend for himself all of his life, and it still makes him feel insecure.
"There he comes again," he tells himself. "Why won't he leave me alone?"
As the little boy approaches him, he can already hear the jokes and suddenly, he doesn't want to hear them.
In spite of himself, he imagines the boy falling flat on his face and other kids laughing at him for a change. As he is looking and thinking about it, what he had imagined happens. The little boy seems to lose his balance for no reason and falls hard on the ground. Then he screams and cries in pain. Joel takes a step back, now ashamed of his thoughts, and wondering if he is responsible. The little boy is bleeding from his nose and has a bad scratch on his cheek. But as in his imaginings, some kids find it hilarious, and he is now so sure that it was his fault that he runs away…
When they got in the kitchen, Phoebe knew right away that it was going to be painful, unless she didn't give them the time to think about it.
So, she didn't wait:
"Hey we've got great news," she says to her sisters, who are still looking at her pretty miffed.
Prue:
"Great news, hey?"
Phoebe:
"Yes, we've just decided to get married" she answers very fast.
Her sisters are not sure that they heard right obviously, because they seem confused:
Piper:
"What?"
Phoebe:
"We're getting married," she says now with more enthusiasm.
Prue:
"You are?"
Phoebe had expected screams and recriminations, but certainly not the lack of reaction she was getting now:
"Yes we are. So?"
Prue hesitates, deflated for a moment:
"Well, I guess we should have expected it," she says, looking at her pregnant figures meaningfully.
Phoebe now smiles frankly, thinking that she had worried for nothing:
"And there I thought that you were going to make a scene."
Piper:
"Don't think that we do not have reservations about this. But this, we really did expect. On the other hand, we still want to know why you left us hanging last night. We were worried about you and that's how you treated us?"
Phoebe' smile disappears, and she casts a side look at Cole, but he isn't any help, still shocked by their lack of reaction to the news.
"All I can say is that I'm sorry, but it was kind of a spur of the moment thing and we," she insists on "we" making him squirm, "just didn't think of telling you then."
Piper:
"I'd imagine why."
Phoebe:
"I'm sorry ok?"
Prue:
"Ok then, so you ran away, so to speak, because you didn't want to tell us yet, is that it?"
Phoebe:
"Well more or less, yes."
Prue:
"We all know about the rest, and we really don't need to hear this, but you better never do this again."
Phoebe:
"Promise…"
Prue reluctantly comes to her:
"Ok then, I guess congratulations are in order," she says hugging her sister, but just nodding in Cole's direction.
Piper does the same with the same reservations but "at least," Phoebe thinks, "they didn't try to talk us out of it," which of course was what she was afraid of.
Prue trying to lighten the tension:
"So can we see it?"
Phoebe is a bit puzzled:
"See what?"
Piper:
"The ring you dope."
Phoebe laughs a little and is showing it to them, when the doorbell is heard.
Prue:
"I'll get it."
Meanwhile, Piper looks suspiciously from the obviously expensive ring to Cole:
"Where did you get that? It looks ancient."
Cole finally finds his voice, and manages to ignore the suspicion:
"It is, it belonged to my grand mother."
When he sees the look on her face, he ads rapidly:
"On my father's side."
Piper is obviously relieved:
"Well it is really beautiful."
Phoebe:
"Thanks sis," she says very grateful for their understanding.
But Piper ads:
"Now I just hope that the Elders won't get in the way…"
Phoebe makes a face:
"They can't stop me!"
She says this with a firm tone of voice, but in the back of her mind, it brings back some of the worry she herself had about it.
Paul is coming back with Prue and says:
"Hey I hear that congratulations are in order?"
He goes to Phoebe to hug her affectionately, and that brings back the smile on her face, but when he shakes Cole's hand, he has a curious sensation. As if the dreams were coming back and right then, he knows that Cole has felt it too, amazingly enough. But they both decide to pretend that it didn't happen and to forget about it.
Instead, Cole asks:
"Hey what brings you here so early, no problem I hope?"
Paul, following his lead, just answers casually:
"Not at all, just missed this one," he says taking Prue by the waist and kissing her. Then he says:
"A whole week was too long; I couldn't wait until tonight."
What he doesn't tell them is that in fact, he had still been so troubled by his dreams, that he felt maybe some time with Prue was going to put it all in perspective, hopefully.
Prue:
"I missed you too. But I was supposed to work today."
Paul:
"Can't you just take the day off?"
Prue:
"As a matter of fact that would be the second day off in a row," she says, looking intently at her sister.
Phoebe squirms but says nothing for she still hasn't told Cole about her little spell. Although she suspects he already guessed that something was amiss the day before.
Paul has no clue what the little exchange is about, so he just offers:
"Well then maybe I could just invite you to have breakfast with me?"
Prue:
"That would be lovely. Let me grab my bag."
Paul smiles but inwardly the malaise still remains and he cannot understand why.
After they left, Phoebe and Cole leave the room too, but Cole stops before they get to the living room:
"Would you mind very much if I went away for a while."
Phoebe:
"Why?"
Cole:
"It's probably nothing, it's just I felt something weird earlier and I want to make sure there isn't anything to it."
Phoebe is now anxious:
"To what?"
Cole:
"I wish I could tell you, but don't worry, I'll be back soon," he says kissing her. Then he doesn't give her time to reply before shimmering.
Phoebe just gives a worrisome look at the spot he left empty. Her own worries are enough, but now she wonders if there isn't a worse thing coming. For Cole's bad feelings were rarely trivial…
She goes to sit heavily in the living room, now not so certain that the day has started as well as she thought and that is when Leo chooses to orb in:
"Hey Phoebe! Why the long face," he says noticing her worried look?
Phoebe:
"I'm not really sure, but there seem to be something amiss. Did you hear about a problem yourself?"
Leo:
"Well not really a big thing, but I wanted to talk to you yes."
Phoebe is now surprised for she didn't think that he had come to her on purpose.
A bit nervous, she asks:
"What is it?"
Leo:
"I don't want you to get too upset, but let's say that the Elders were listening earlier and they were a bit shocked by your decision."
Phoebe has a look of understanding even if she is unhappy about it.
Leo:
"Ok, they do not want to intervene but they gave me a message for you."
Phoebe fears what it might be:
"Come out with it Leo."
Leo:
"They said that if you really want to get married, they can't stop you, but they cannot allow it to be a handfasting."
Phoebe takes a deep breath but doesn't interrupt.
Leo:
"There are other means you know," he says quickly to make her feel better, or so he hopes.
Phoebe:
"Like what?" She asks, a bit discouraged.
Leo comes to sit by her and softly says:
"Well there is still a civil marriage…"
Phoebe remembers her dream of the morning and just tells him that of all the kinds of weddings that she had imagined, this one wasn't part of it.
"I wanted my wedding to be special…"
She feels tears coming and tries her best to repress them.
Leo:
"There is also the traditional way…"
Phoebe almost laughs at this:
"Yeah! And what am I supposed to tell the priest? Would you mind marrying a witch to a half-demon?"
Leo:
"You don't really have to say."
Phoebe:
"Coming from you it's shocking."
Leo is a little embarrassed but still says:
"I just want you to be happy."
Phoebe:
"I know…"
But then an idea seems to form in her mind, and Leo wonders what just came to her.
Leo:
"What are you thinking about?"
Phoebe:
"Well, I don't want my marriage to be based on a lie and I was just thinking that I might know a priest to whom I could tell everything…"
Leo:
"Who?"
Phoebe:
"Oh someone we helped a couple years ago," she answers evasively. "I'm quite sure that he would at least listen."
Leo still looks at her questioningly but she keeps the rest of it to herself, and at last he gives up and goes to find Piper in the kitchen.
Leo:
"So, big news isn't it?"
Piper:
"You know already?"
Leo:
"I even had to give some bad news to Phoebe."
Piper:
"What?"
Leo:
"The Elders refuse to let them have a handfasting, although they say it's her choice to marry otherwise."
Piper:
"What a surprise," she replies sarcastically.
Leo is a little hurt but doesn't comment.
"Anyway, I think she got herself an idea."
Piper:
"Really? What is that?"
Leo:
"That's the thing, she wouldn't really tell me all, but she said she thought that she knew a priest…" He probes.
Piper thinks about it for a moment:
"Oh right! I wonder if that's going to work," and stillm she doesn't tell him what she means.
Leo:
"Would one of you finally tell me what's so special about that priest?"
Piper:
"What? You don't know? I thought that you were our whitelighter even when we didn't see you."
Leo:
"As you know, I have other charges and it would seem that I missed that part."
Piper:
"There was a novice that was about to be ordained priest a couple years ago, but he also happened to be half warlock and was trying to escape his evil side, so we helped him."
Leo:
"Ah now I see… Still he might not take too kindly at having a demon in his church, no matter what."
Piper:
"I hope he will for Phoebe, because thanks to the elders now she might not have the wedding she's always wanted."
Leo more conciliatory:
"Of course I understand, I was just wondering…"
Piper:
"I know."
Brendan is still troubled by the awful nightmares of the past night. He truly thought that all of this was behind him when he became a priest, and it truly had mostly gone away. But now, for some reason, the thoughts were coming back. He even wondered if his brothers had not been brought back to torment him, but he put that idea aside rapidly, remembering full well their demise. "No," he tells himself, "those were just nightmares. Evil cannot touch me anymore…"
Paul had really enjoyed his time with Prue. So much so that he had almost forgotten the malaise he had awakened with. Now he was just telling himself that those must just have been nightmares, even though he still couldn't explain what happened when he met Cole that morning.
He was about to dismiss it completely, when his cell phone rang…
Joel had been running for a while, then he had stopped, of all places, in front of a church. There, he had just stood for the longest time, at first still afraid, then puzzled by his own dark feelings of the morning. He then decided to ask for advice to the only one whom he knew could understand what he had felt. He had set out to find a phone.
Paul:
"Yes?"
Joel:
"Uncle Paul? I think that I did something bad."
Paul now completely alerted:
"What do you mean?"
Joel:
"Can I see you?"
Paul:
"Are you in school?"
Joel:
"Well, not really, I ran away but now I am at this place," which he describes, "and I really would like to talk to you."
Paul:
"Don't move, I'm coming."
Cole had not really gone very far, but he had not wanted her to see his doubts, not now that everything was going so well. When he had touched the book last night, he had felt that he had finally reached a new level in his reform. He had been so afraid to fall back into evil, that now those ugly thoughts had troubled him more than he cared to share with her.
Still sitting quietly in the mausoleum, he couldn't imagine what would make him change his mind. He was truly happy now, and completely sure that it would all work out because him and Phoebe were together…
In the dark place, the voices were louder and more assured now:
"He thinks he is safe, that we cannot touch him. Good makes them weak, doesn't it?"
Another disembodied voice replies in kind:
"Soon we will show him and all of them that they are not safe anywhere, we can't let them do this. Those of us who left have already gone too far, now it is time to bring them back in the fold."
Many more voices started laughing cruelly then.
Cole had finally made up his mind to return home, he was now almost certain that nothing would happen, but he still decided to take a walk to clear his thoughts on the subject. He was almost at the house, when he got a strange sensation, much worse than before. It felt like something had gone through him and left a trace of itself; but by the time he had realized it, he had also begun to feel its effects.
Phoebe had not lost time and, after making her decision, she had asked Piper for her car and just called ahead to father Brendan. This one had been pleasantly surprised to hear from them, since as he said, it had been a while.
Phoebe took off for his church right after hanging up.
Joel had been waiting for only a little while when he had felt a curious and very unpleasant sensation, as if something or someone had just passed through him. Now he felt like he was waiting for some kind of sign, but he had no idea of what it was.
Unbeknown to them, Phoebe had just pulled up on the other side of the church and was preparing to plead her cause to Father Brendan…
(End part 1)