The Fracture (Part One)
"Piper."
Phoebe opened the door to the attic and was heartbroken to see Piper
sitting down on the floor with an athame in her hand.
"Go back to bed, Phoebe." Piper snapped.
Piper lifted up the athame and moved it towards her left hand. Phoebe
walked over to Piper and took the athame out of Piper's hand.
"Phoebe! Stop!" Piper shouted.
"No, Piper! You stop! We tried everything we could, okay?" Phoebe said.
Piper stood up and glared at Phoebe.
"Everything we could isn't good enough, Phoebe! We have to do more! We
can't give up on our sister!" Piper shouted.
Piper tried to reach for the athame but Phoebe backed away.
"I'm not gonna let you hurt yourself." Phoebe said.
"I hate you, Phoebe. You gave up on Prue already, didn't you?" Piper
snapped.
"What? I would never give up on Prue. Just because she died doesn't mean
she isn't here with us. I feel her with us right now." Phoebe said.
Piper laughed. She walked up towards the book of shadows and tore out a
page.
"This is the time travel spell. All we have to do is go back in time and we can
stop Shax." Piper said.
"We need the power of three to say that spell. Right now, the power of
three doesn't exist." Phoebe answered.
"Say the damn spell, Phoebe." Piper yelled out.
Phoebe shook her head.
"I'm grateful that you're alive, Piper. I thought that I lost you too and I'm
so happy that you're still here. It's been a long day and I need to rest. I can't
stop you from what you're doing, but I hope you'll get some rest too."
Phoebe walked away from Piper and shut the manor door behind her.
Paige woke up from a bizarre dream. By the time her feet hit the floor, she
had forgotten it. However, Paige had a feeling that today was going to be a
different day. Paige quickly got ready for work and then walked over to Bay
View Social Services. Paige was excited to work at Bay View following her
master's graduation.
Paige opened the door to Bay View and was immediately greeted by
her friend, Glen, and her other friend, Alice.
"Hey, Paige. Did you see the news yesterday?" Alice asked.
Paige shook her head.
"No, I hate the news. I deal with enough heartbreaking life events here."
"A doctor died and a woman died in a house. It's so bizarre. They had head
trauma and bleeding but nobody saw or heard anything suspicious. They both
just died." Glen said.
"That's awful. I don't want to hear any of that stuff." Paige said.
Paige walked over towards her desk. She immediately noticed that there
was a piece of paper on top of her desk.
"I heard that the police are going to investigate. I think that one of the
sisters did it. Maybe she was jealous or something." Glen said.
"Sisters?" Paige asked.
"Yeah, the woman that died had two sisters. One of them owns that new
nightclub P3." Alice answered.
"I've been there. That's a cool club." Glen commented.
Paige picked up the piece of paper and briefly read it.
"Did either of you put this on my desk?" Paige asked.
Glen and Alice both shook their heads.
"What is it?" Alice asked.
"It's an invitation to the funeral of a woman named Prue Halliwell."
"That's her! That's the woman that died." Glen replied.
Paige looked over the invitation some more.
"I don't know how this got on my desk. I don't know Prue Halliwell,
although her last name is somewhat familiar. Strange. Anyway, has Mr.
Thomas arrived yet? I want to consult with him on a case." Paige said.
"Not yet. So, are you going to the funeral?" Glen asked.
Paige looked down at the invite and then back up at Glen.
"I know this is gonna sound weird, but I have this strange feeling like
I'm supposed to be there." Paige answered.
"So it's a yes." Glen and Alice said together.
There was a knock on the Manor door. Phoebe walked up to the door
and answered it.
"Andy, Daryl. What are you doing here?" Phoebe asked.
Daryl sighed.
"I'm so sorry, Phoebe. We're being ordered by the new Captain to
question you." Daryl said.
"Question me? About what?" Phoebe asked.
"Prue." Andy said sternly.
"What about her?" Phoebe asked defensively.
"Can you please let us in?" Daryl asked.
Phoebe closed the door behind her and walked outside.
"What exactly is this all about? Are you accusing me of killing my own
sister?" Phoebe asked.
"Of course not. We just have to ask you and Piper some questions.
Andy and I know what happened, Phoebe, but the captain doesn't. Andy and
I have to do our jobs. It's not personal, I promise." Daryl said.
"You need to shut this down. We're going through enough as it is and
you're making everything so much worse." Phoebe said.
"We can come back another time. I'm so sorry, Phoebe." Daryl said.
"Goodbye, Phoebe." Andy said quietly.
Daryl and Andy walked back towards their car and drove away. Phoebe
walked back into the manor and shut the door. As soon as she did, Leo orbed
right next to her.
"What did the elders say?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm sorry, Phoebe. The elders said there's nothing that can be done to
save Prue. She's dead." Leo answered.
Phoebe let out a scream and smacked her hand on the wall.
"This can't be really happening. There has to be a way that we can
save her. Time travel or some sort of spell has to do it." Phoebe said.
"The only way for those spells to work is with the power of three.
Right now, the power of three is broken." Leo said.
"It'll be broken forever, Leo. It's just Piper and I now and we only make
two. It's not like we can just magically create another sister. It was only just us
three and now it's just us two." Phoebe said sadly.
"I'm so sorry, Phoebe. I can't imagine how hard this must be." Leo
answered.
"Leo, what about demons and warlocks? If the power of three is broken,
then our magic is gone. They could find us and kill us and we couldn't defend
ourselves." Phoebe said.
"The elders told me to be on constant alert for your safety. However, I
don't think that the source will be interested in harming you. He won't see
you and your sisters as a threat anymore." Leo replied.
"Whatever, Leo. I have to go to class now. I'll yell for you if I'm
being attacked." Phoebe said blandly.
"It breaks my heart to see you like this." Leo said.
"Wait until you see Piper. She's not herself anymore. She started
drinking." Phoebe said.
Phoebe walked out the door.
Paige sat alone on the sidewalk eating her lunch. She suddenly felt a
strong sensation in her gut. She stood up and looked around. Everyone around
her had suddenly frozen.
"Do you want to make this hard or easy?"
Paige spun around quickly. In front of her, she noticed a tall man with
dark hair walking towards her. He wad dressed in a black cape and had the
darkest eyes that Paige had ever seen.
"Who are you?" Paige asked.
"I'm likely the last person you'll ever see." He answered.
Paige took a few steps back and called out for help. The man laughed.
"No one can hear you, so don't even bother trying." He said.
Paige ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She nearly fell over
when the man reappeared right in front of her.
"That's not possible. How did you do that?"
"I'm a demon. There's really nothing I can't do." He replied.
The demon flipped over his right hand and as soon as he did, a fireball
appeared right above it.
"What the hell?" Paige asked loudly.
"It's nothing personal. It's just business." The demon replied.
The demon leaned forward and held out his right hand. As he did so,
the fireball went right towards Paige. Paige closed her eyes, assuming that
she'd die. But, nothing happened. Paige opened her eyes to see a woman
standing in front of her. The woman appeared in an orb of white light
and had sent the fireball away from her.
"You will not harm her." The woman said.
"Impossible. You died." The demon said.
"My spirit will never die. Leave this woman alone, Balthazor."
Balthazor smiled a devilish smile.
"My orders are to kill Paige Matthews and I won't stop until she's dead."
Balthazor blinked his eyes and immediately vanished.
The woman turned to Paige and smiled at her lightly.
"Are you alright?" The woman asked.
"What the hell is going on?" Paige asked.
"I'm so sorry, Paige. None of this is fair to you. That man is a demon named
Balthazor. He was sent to kill you. I'm a whitelighter and I was sent to protect
you." The woman answered.
"And who exactly are you?" Paige asked.
"My name is Prue Halliwell." Prue replied.
End Part One
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