A/N: Hey guys! I know this is long-awaited, but it's finally here! The sequel to Surrender to Fate!
I hope you guys enjoy! I don't have many chapters written yet and I have NO clue where this is going, so bear with me!
Read, review, enjoy!
...
"KATELYN!"
Katelyn cringed, trying to sneak down the stairs and out the front door before Corrine caught up to her. But just as she cleared the landing, Corrine grabbed her by the arm and spun her around, with Melinda and Rebecca hurrying down the stairs after her.
"Katelyn," Corrine seethed, "your spell was supposed to make the authorities and the outside world believe we had a legal guardian looking after us."
"Well..." Katelyn said slowly, keeping her tone light and cheerful, "That's what it did, didn't it?"
Corrine glared at her cousin, crossing her arms. "No. The spell aged us all! By, I don't know, about five years! That's not the same thing!"
"Yes, but, this works out even better, doesn't it?" Katelyn asked, attempting to defend herself and her spell-gone-awry.
It had been a year and a half since Prue's death, and roughly six months since the cousins had defeated Carsaeus with Cole's help. They had managed to cover their tracks for a long time, convincing anyone who asked that Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were simply not home, or were on vacation, or were just taking a shower and would call back – Anything that convinced friends and neighbors to leave them alone.
But the excuses were wearing thin; P3 was in ruins without Piper, and her staff was beginning to become suspicious. And Bay View Social Services had, ultimately, fired Paige, despite Rebecca's pleading and protesting.
The nail in the coffin came when the cops and social services showed up, demanding to know why Melinda, Katelyn, and Rebecca was missing so much school, and why their parents hadn't informed the school of any of the absences. Corrine had tried to explain that she was over eighteen, and caring for her siblings in the absence of their legal guardians. She had explained that they were out of town helping a sick relative.
Unfortunately, that excuse did not fly with the authorities, and they had threatened to take Rebecca away to foster care if Paige did not show up and explain her whereabouts.
The cousins had debated using magic to impersonate Paige; however, they realized that that would only work so many times, for so many things. Instead, they decided they needed a more permanent solution. So, using a spell to trick the world into thinking they had a legal guardian was their solution.
But, as could happen sometimes with magic, the spell had – clearly – gone awry.
"How could this possibly have worked out better?" Corrine demanded, glaring at Katelyn.
"I mean, this means we are all old enough to not need a guardian. And, cool bonus?" Katelyn dug into her bag and pulled out a California Driver's license, grinning. "I have legal I.D. now!"
Melinda rolled her eyes. "Katelyn, spell or no spell, you are 18-years-old and no where near 21."
"Nope," Katelyn agreed. "I'm 23, according to this," she said, pointing at the I.D. "And, cousin, that means you are, too. And that means you're old enough to take over P3, if you want, so it doesn't end up closing up and dying."
Melinda fell silent, contemplating this possibility. She really didn't want to see P3 fall to the wayside. Piper had worked so hard to get P3 up and running, it didn't seem fair to let it fall into disrepair.
Katelyn grinned, knowing she had won Melinda over.
"So..." Rebecca questioned, frowning in thought. "Does this mean I don't need to finish high school?"
"Nope!" Katelyn proclaimed, smirking. "I'm pretty sure if you check your room, you'll see a high school diploma hanging on your wall. I'm pretty sure all four of us have one. College degrees, too." She paused, frowning at Rebecca. "Well, you probably don't have a college degree, since you're only 21-years-old. But no more high school, at least!"
Rebecca nodded appreciatively. "Okay... I can live with that. Hey, if anyone asks, I can say I decided to take some time off before going to college..."
Corrine placed a hand to her forehead, trying with great difficulty to keep her breathing steady.
"This is crazy!" she cried, throwing her hands up. "We are not all in our 20's. We're all still in our teens... I just... This is insane!"
Melinda sighed. "Cor... What choice do we have? We can't let the authorities know the truth. We can't let Rebecca be placed in foster care. We have to stick together."
Corrine finally sighed, shaking her head. "Okay, fine. But listen closely." She paused, eyeing each of her cousins carefully until she knew she had their undying attention. "We may be 24, 23, 23, and 21 to the world," she said calmly, rattling off their new ages respectively, "But in truth, we're still 19, 18, 18, and 16. So let's not abuse that, okay? Seriously, if I find any of you drinking when you shouldn't be..."
"Oh, come on Corrine," Katelyn whined. "We've got to play the part. And honestly, the spell aged use. In mind, body, and spirit. We are, for all intents and purposes, all in our 20's and either done with or in college. You can't tell me that if we go on dates or business meetings, we can't drink. And seriously, what about you? I know you've snuck drinks before, and I never even ratted you out to Prue. So, seriously... No drinks?"
"And what about driving?" Rebecca asked, her face scrunching in confusion. "Our I.D. say we're all old enough to drive but I've never operated a vehicle before..."
"We'll teach you," Katelyn said with a shrug. "No biggie, right? We each have a car, since technically we all inherited our mothers cars."
Corrine groaned, covering her eyes with her hands. "Oh, man... I need a drink!"
Katelyn grinned. "See?"
Corrine's steely gaze landed on Katelyn and, almost inaudibly, she growled.
Katelyn' eyes widened and she put her hands up defensively. "Sorry, sorry."
"Okay, fine," Corrine finally relented. "But, we are so setting up sound ground rules."
"I can live with that," Katelyn agreed quickly. Rebecca nodded eagerly.
Melinda shrugged. "Our lives can't get much crazier, so, sure, why not."
"Mel, seriously," Katelyn warned. "Never say those words again. Because this is us we're talking about."
Melinda winced. "Yeah, good point."
"I still don't know how we're going to explain the whole parental absence..." Rebecca said nervously.
At this, the cousins fell silent, contemplating this unfortunate loophole in their plan.
"What if..." Rebecca began, pausing to gather her thoughts. "What if we do another spell... One that convinces the world that our mother's died two years ago? I know there's a chance that one could go awry, too, but it would be better than lying. It's the closest thing to the truth."
Corrine, Melinda, and Katelyn all nodded, looking solemn. An unspoken look passed between them, as they had the same thought: Prue had died publicly. She'd had a funeral and a death announcement, so that was one less death they had to fake. They just needed to do the spell for Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.
"Okay, let's do it," Corrine finally said. "We'll use a Power of Four spell. And maybe call upon the matriarchs of the Halliwell line. Maybe those elements will strengthen it, keep it from going sour on us."
"And we need very, very specific wording," Katelyn added.
Nodding in agreement, the cousins, once again, made their way upstairs to the attic and the Book of Shadows.
