The First Son
Part 3: The Coming
"Rueben! Stop it! Get down from there right now!"
The kindergartener looked down at his mother from his perch atop a chair that he had somehow gotten on top of the kitchen table.
"I do not have the energy for this. Oh, my back…" Piper rubbed her shoulders absently as she placed her hand on her bulging stomach. With only two months to go until her next child was born, she found herself experiencing random aches and pains more often than not.
"Come on, Cap," Leo called said as he lifted his grinning son off the table. "Get off the table. You're upsetting your mom. How'd you get that thing up there anyway?"
Rueben grinned again. "'S a secret."
Leo frowned. "Do you remember what we've told you? There are no secrets in this house. If you see something, or if something weird happens, you have to tell us right away. So, let me ask you again. Hoe did the chair get on the table?"
"Aunt Prue put it there."
Piper glanced up from her silent self-pity and blink. "Excuse me?"
"What do you mean, Aunt Prue put it there? Cap, you know she died before you were born." Leo glared at Piper. "You've been telling him too many bedtime stories."
"I have not! It's you! You're the one who always gets to tuck him in! I'm just the woman that gave him life!" Piper snorted and poured herself a cup of cold coffee.
Rueben tugged on his father's sleeve. "She comes to visit me sometimes. We were going to build a fort out of the table. Can I still make a fort, Dad?"
Leo nodded and looked back at Piper. She took a sip of her coffee and spit it into the sink, disgusted. "Can she do that, Leo? Just come back whenever she wants?"
He shrugged. "There's one way to find out."
"The book." Piper turned on her heel and headed up the stairs. By the time Leo had entered the attic behind her, the candles that they needed for the spell were already lit and set in a circle.
"Maybe you should call your sisters, "Leo said as he bit his lip nervously. "You aren't the only one who wants to see Prue again."
Piper huffed and blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. "Fine. Phoebe! Paige! Come here, I need you!"
The pounding of feet on the stairs made Leo wheel around and orb just as Paige was about to bowl him over. "What?! What is it? Is it time? Are you having contractions?" She heaved as Phoebe came up behind her and grabbed her elbow to slow herself down.
"No," Piper rolled her eyes. "Not yet, thank God. But I thought that you ought to be here when I call Prue again."
"Actually, that was my idea," Leo said as orbed back into the room. Phoebe arched her eyebrows in question, so he explained more thoroughly. "It turns out that Prue has been visiting Rueben without permission from the elders."
"And now we have to summon her. Get some answers." Piper began flipping through the book, searching for the spell.
Paige took her sister's hand gently, saying, "I think we all know the spell my now, Piper." The eldest nodded and they stood together while they recited.
Hear these words, hear my cry
Spirits from the other side
Come to me, I summon thee
Cross now the great divide.
A rush of light filled the room for a moment, and two women appeared before them.
"I thought you'd be calling soon," Prue said as she stepped away from the candles, careful not to singe her dress. "So I took the liberty of inviting a friend. Guys, this is Krista." The young redhead moved up next to Prue. "Krista, this is Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Piper's husband, Leo."
They each waved in turn, then Piper said, "I hate to burst you bubble Prue, but we need to talk as a family before you go bringing your friends around."
"But I can help!" Krista squeaked suddenly. "I can help you prepare."
The sisters glanced at her, noticing how pale and sickly she looked. "Prepare for what?" She had sparked Phoebe's interest.
"For the Coming. Once every millennia a powerful witch returns to this plane to feed in the souls of newborn witches. And from the looks of things, she'll probably be coming after you." The color began to rise slowly in her cheeks, making her seem younger by the minute.
Piper gazed nervously at her stomach, then to her sister and finally Leo, who nodded resignedly. "What can we do to stop her?"
Krista's face fell. "W-well, there isn't anything you can do to stop her, but there are ways of protecting yourself. And your daughter."
"I'm sure there's a way to-"
"There is no other way!" Krista shouted, clenching her fists tightly at her sides. She relaxed after a moment of quiet and breathed deeply. "Believe me, I know."
Phoebe pushed past Piper to stand closer to the strange woman. "How do you know?"
"Because she stole my baby's soul, a thousand years ago. Right after she took mine."
A/N: I know this was very short, but I like to stop chapters in suspenseful places. A little habit I picked up as a kid at camp while telling ghost stories. Hehe. Now you just have to wait 'til I write the fourth part… that could take me a while…
