With her arms folded to keep herself warm, Prue wandered over to the doorway of the parlor. She stared at the old-fashioned rug in the center of the room. There was a pool of blood on the hardwood floor next to it and a surprisingly small amount had actually saturated into the rug itself. There was also a trail of Piper's blood leading from that spot to the back door in the direction where Prue had dragged her sister outside.

She walked slowly toward the kitchen and gathered a clean cloth and soapy water before getting onto her hands and knees and wiping the floor. As she mindlessly scrubbed away the last couple of hours, she found her vision was becoming blurred by the build up of tears along her bottom eyelids. Halfway through her task she threw the cloth aside and buried her face in her hands.

Leo and Cole walked slowly down the staircase and watched as Prue broke down. Leo knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her. Prue leaned into Leo and cried into his shirt.

"We're going to bring her back," he said softly. "I promise." Prue nodded. She knew he meant well, but it seemed hopeless. As far as they knew, there was no possible way to bring someone back from the Spirit plane.

"Why don't you go get washed up and Leo and I will finish cleaning up," Cole suggested. He could see how hard it was on Prue to have to clean the mess left on the floor. Prue nodded and pulled herself off of the floor. She mumbled a quiet "thank you" before walking up the stairs and into the bathroom.

As Prue disappeared up the steps, Leo looked up at the ceiling. He could hear a persistent jingling within his head that informed him that someone was looking for him. "I'll be right back," he said softly as he stared down at the mess on the floor. "Can you keep an eye on the girls for me?" Cole nodded and watched as Leo disappeared amongst a swirl of white lights.

Cole gazed up at the stairs. He really didn't want to have to clean the mess up on his own, so he opted to go and check on Phoebe and Prue instead. He grabbed a hold of the railing and let his hand slide up its smooth, polished surface as he slowly ascended the stairs. He couldn't recall the last time he'd heard the manor so quiet when the girls were at home.

Piper wandered into the sitting area and looked down at the mess on the floor. She couldn't remember any of the day's previous events and, oddly enough, didn't question how the blood had been spilled. Without question, she made her way into the kitchen to fill a bucket with soapy water and proceeded to wash the floor. Cleaning was such a natural thing to her that she never once considered what had happened. She mindlessly scrubbed the floor until the mess was completely washed away.

Cole opened the door to Phoebe's room just enough so that he could see her sitting on her bed. He pushed the door open the remainder of the way and stepped inside as quietly as possible. Phoebe was sitting silently on the bed, deep in her meditation. She hadn't even noticed Cole enter her room.

Cole softly cleared his throat to casually let Phoebe no that she was no longer alone in her bedroom. Phoebe's eyes snapped open and she turned to look over at Cole, who was standing apprehensively at her bedroom door. She flashed him a weak smile and patted the bed next to her, signaling him to sit down.

As Cole sat down, Phoebe could feel the mattress sink beneath her under his weight. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder, letting his body heat comfort her.

"I don't know what else to do," she sighed. "I've never had to work to see a ghost before. I've just always seen them."

"Those ghosts were innocents," Cole replied as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "You were meant to see them because they needed your help."

"Piper needs my help," Phoebe grumbled. "Because of them." She stared skyward with a look of absolute loathing. Cole nodded.

"We'll fix it," he assured her. "At least we know Piper's not going anywhere. She's not in any danger." Phoebe sighed and entangled her fingers between Cole's. They sat in silence for a few moments before a gentle tapping at the door interrupted the quiet.

The door slowly slid open and Leo appeared in the doorway. "Hey, that was quick." Leo exclaimed. Cole looked at Leo with an expression of confusion. Leo immediately understood that Cole had no idea what he was talking about. "The mess downstairs," Leo explained. "It didn't take you long to clean it up."

Cole shook his head. "I haven't started cleaning yet," Cole explained. Leo frowned, but quickly realized what must have happened.

"I think I may have found a way to communicate with Piper," said Leo. "I was called by another whitelighter that had heard about our situation. He has a charge that recently came into his powers and can communicate with the dead." Phoebe looked up at Leo hopefully.

"I'm sorry Phoebe," said Leo. "I know you were working really hard to advance your powers, but I really think this could help us out sooner." Phoebe smiled and let Leo know that she was willing to accept the help.

Before making a concrete decision amongst themselves, they decided to move to Prue's bedroom and discuss the new option with her.

"His name is Cole Sear," Leo explained as the four of them sat in Prue's room. "He's had his power for most of his life, but only recently learned how to control it and understand it. We'll have to convince his mom to let him come to San Francisco to help us out, but I'm pretty sure she'll understand."

"He's so young," Prue exclaimed as she looked at a photo that Leo had provided them.

"He's about eleven years old, but he's very mature for his age," said Leo. "He's also very good with his gift. He'll be the best person to let Piper know what is going on."

-----

It didn't take much convincing to get Mrs. Sear to take Cole to San Francisco. The sisters offered to pay the travel expenses and invited them to stay at the manor during their stay. Mother and son were able to arrive within two days of receiving the call for help.

Prue and Phoebe welcomed the two of them into their home and gave them the tour of the manor as soon as they arrived. While Mrs. Sear and the two sisters went upstairs to unpack and get Cole and his mother settled into Prue's bedroom, Cole continued to wander around the manor in search of Piper.