Chapter 1
Melinda and Pharah walked into the kitchen to find Piper rolling dough.
"What cha baking?" Melinda asked.
"Cookies. You two want to help?" Piper asked.
"Sure!" Pharah exclaimed.
Melinda and Pharah washed their hands then began to help Piper with the cookies.
Prue entered the room from the back door on the phone.
"I'm off for the rest of the day. I gave my orders. If you all can't handle the job, maybe I should hire a new staff." Prue said. "That's what I thought." Prue replied to the response of the person on the other end then hung up the phone and kissed Pharah on the forehead. "Hey, Sugarplum."
"Hi mommy." Pharah said.
"My sister's homemade cookies, yay!" Prue exclaimed then Paige walked in.
"Hey family! Ooh cookies tonight." Paige said.
"How was work?" Piper asked.
"Great. Suzi, Marla and Jada were all adopted together today and just in time for the holidays. I was so happy for them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep two sisters and a cousin together? They're all they have. I couldn't let them get separated. I almost adopted them myself."
"Will you adopt someday?" Prue asked.
"Yeah and I'm thinking someday soon. I'd really love to get married sometime soon too, pop out a few too."
"I could go for another cousin. We need some more Halliwell's running around." Melinda said.
"Yeah!" Pharah added.
"Are we still going to pick out the Christmas tree today?" Melinda asked.
"Definitely. We can go after the cookies are done." Piper replied.
A couple hours later, the Halliwell women went to pick out a tree. After finding a big beautiful one, they took it home and decorated it together. The family time was joyous, they cherished every moment.
In the mist of a warm family moment and bright laughs, the front door flung open. The sisters heard chaos coming through the front door so they went to see what was going on. Four huge men, three with special giant guns and the other being Nathanial Pratt walked in.
"Girls, down now!" Piper yelled.
Melinda and Pharah got down behind the couch.
Prue and Paige attempted to use their powers to send them out the door but it didn't work. Piper tried to freeze them.
"Silly witches. Think we would come unprotected by your wicked magic." Nathanial said before the guns went off and shot all three of the sisters.
Melinda and Pharah's hearts sunk when the gunshots went off. Melinda peaked from behind the couch and saw Piper, Prue and Paige lying on the floor. Her eyes filled with tears instantly then she orbed herself and Pharah behind a stack of old stuff in the basement, figuring Pratt and his men would search the house. They held each other in heartbreak and fear as they waited for the men to leave.
"Clear out!" The girls heard Pratt command his men upstairs. Then they heard them leave so Melinda orbed them to their family's side.
"No!" Melinda exclaimed, both girls eyes still filled with tears. "Wake up!" Melinda checked all their pulses then she attempted to try and heal Piper first. "Come on! Work! Ugh!" She was frustrated at her weak powers, she had no control of any of them accept orbing. Both girls began to cry harder.
"What do we do?" Pharah asked.
"Dad!" Melinda yelled out. A few moments later she yelled for him again. He came a minute later. "What took you so long?"
"What happened?" Leo asked as he ran over.
"Pratt. They figured us out. Heal them!" Melinda exclaimed. Leo attempted to heal them.
"Why isn't it working?" Melinda asked.
"... I can't heal the dead." Leo replied with tears in his eyes.
"No! They can't be! They're all we had left." Melinda and Pharah hugged then Leo hugged and comforted them both.
They soon called 911. Daryl showed up too.
"Uncle Daryl!" The girls ran to him and they hugged.
"I'm so sorry." Daryl said with tears in his eyes, mourning the lost of his sisters. He hadn't seen Leo in years, he almost didn't expect to see him.
Darryl and Leo got a moment to talk.
"What happened?" Darryl asked.
"Pratt. I was too late. Even though Piper and I were divorced, I still loved her. I always will."
"I know... You know if you have to go back up there, the girls can stay with me and Sheila. We love them, we'll take care of them."
The next day, all the sisters friends that were left came over to support and mourn. Leo stayed the night with them but Melinda didn't figure he could stay on earth for too much longer. She knew Darryl was planning to take them in if and when he had to go back to the heavens.
Melinda stared out the window of the attic.
"Christmas is coming and my family is gone. I hate this world. There must be something better out there..." Melinda looked down at the loose floor board. She went over, opened the board, took the Book of Shadows out, went over to the couch and flipped through the pages. Leo walked in.
"There's a house full of people. You shouldn't have that out." Leo said.
"No one has any business up here anyway."
"What are you looking for?"
"I don't know."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Leo said as he sat next to Melinda.
"I'm used to it now."
"That's not ok."
"But that's how it is. Just like we have to live in fear and just about my entire family is dead. It's just how it is."
It was the night before the funeral. Melinda was comforting Pharah as she slept and looking through the Book of Shadows again.
"Bingo." Melinda said as she came across the perfect spell.
The next day, they went to the funeral. It was difficult. They had lost their aunts and mom all in one day, to make it worst it was close to the holidays. They couldn't stop crying. That night, Pharah sat by the fireplace and Leo was sitting on the couch when he heard Melinda descending the stairs. He met her at the end.
"I'm going to clip my wings and come back home." Leo announced.
"You don't have to do that. You shouldn't. You serve a bigger purpose."
"But you and Pharah need me more, especially with Pratt on the lose."
"No. The world needs you more. We'll be fine with uncle Darryl and aunt Sheila."
"... Are you sure?"
"Positive. I love you daddy." Melinda hugged Leo. "I know you can't continue to stay on earth so it's alright if you leave in the morning."
"I can't leave you two like this."
"It's alright. You have to do what you have to do."
"I'll visit you more often, I promise."
After Leo left the next day, Melinda used a voice changing spell to disguise her voice as Leo's. She called Darryl as Leo and said that Leo was going to stay with them and he and Sheila didn't have to take them in.
"Why'd you do that? Who's going to take care of us?" Pharah asked.
"Christmas is just a few days away and I don't want to spend it here. I'm tired of this world, I'm tired of living in fear. Pratt is going to come after us. We're the only ones left of the Halliwell line. I found this spell in the Book of Shadows that will send us to a parallel universe, hopefully one better than this one."
"I don't know. It doesn't sound safe. Your dad will be worried."
"We're not safe here. Besides, we'll be gone a long time before he realizes we're gone. There's a return spell but hopefully we won't have to use it. There are like a million parallel universes out there, it must be one we can live on happily and safely. Come on, don't you trust me? What do we have to lose?"
"Uh..."
"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true." Melinda sung. "In a world of darkness, let's hope we can find some light."
"...Ok."
"Good. Pack some clothes and be ready in a few minutes."
The girls went to pack a book bag full of clothes and met in the attic.
"Is it ok if I bring Mr. Snuggles?" Pharah asked, referring to her stuffed bear.
"Sure... Ok. Next stop, a parallel universe..." They held hands. "Move us through time and space
To a parallel dimension
Much better than this is
Where what could have been is"
A portal opened and moved the girls from one universe to the next parallel one.