Author's Note: Thanks, as always, to reviews from highlander348, ObsessedwReading, and Reina Valeria Nox, here's the new update! I apologize for an unintentional deception: I promised to provide a surprise guest in the last chapter…Only, I didn't finish the chapter because it was getting too long. Even though this chapter is more than 5000 words in content, I'm going to finish it in one chapter.
Sorry for the delayed update, but I've had bronchitis, the last semester of college, and two jobs consuming my best energies. But I've been motivated to continue with the story by the reviews and followers I see added. The next three "episodes" will attempt to follow Season 4, episodes 7, 8, and 9, to a degree.
Please continue to review and follow!
Chapter 8: Cat Lady, Part Two
The Next Morning…
Prue sipped her morning coffee cold. Summer was upon the city of San Francisco, but caffeine was still the best part of waking up. As she sipped, Prue observed sunlight breaking through the fog over blanketing Prescott Street. The gay couple was jogging again, and Mrs. Elliott across the street watered her flowerbeds in advance of the water usage restriction. 'If only everything in life were this calm and simple,' Prue sighed.
Then she noticed the slightly stout, middle-aged woman stapling sheets of paper to the electricity pole across the street, and Prue's morning became as chaotic as the rest of her life.
She set the coffee cup on the living room table and stormed from the house. 'It's a good thing I was already dressed.' Prue's Pueblo-inspired turquoise craft jewelry jangled from her wrists and neck like alarm bells announcing the approach of danger. As the president of the Prescott Street Homeowners' Association, it was Prue's duty to monitor and secure the full compliance of every household with the residential codes of San Francisco. Posting signs on street lights and electrical poles violated one of the codes and added unsightly litter to the streets, demeaning their property values.
"Excuse me," Prue said tactlessly when she reached the woman, "what do you think you're doing?"
When she turned to Prue, the woman's surprise at being questioned was alleviated by a glimmer of relief in her light green eyes. 'If I didn't know better, I would say we know each other somehow.'
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. You startled me." The woman's feigned effort at surprise—the clasping of her right hand to her throat—heightened Prue's suspicions. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Yes, you did." Prue offered her hand, and the woman shook it. Her handshake and the smile she offered Prue seemed warm but laced with poisonous acrimony. "I'm Prue Halliwell, President of the Homeowners' Association of Prescott Street. You must be new here?"
"I'm Belinda Martin, and yes, I just moved here."
'Those eyes and that chin are too familiar….' "Do you have a daughter named Belinda as well?"
When she worked at Buckland's, Prue had seen an expression like Belinda's too many times on the faces of a widow disposing of her husband's worldly possessions. Belinda did not understand what Prue had stated. The moment passed quickly, and Belinda laughed congenially.
"Oh, my daughter Belinda, the one with the skimpy outfits and not-so-nice attitude?"
"That's the one."
When Belinda patted Prue's shoulder with her right hand, fear flashed through her eyes. She withdrew the hand while attempting to disarm Prue with an affable smile. "Yes, my daughter's always been so…difficult. Sometimes I forget I have a daughter."
"I don't have any experience in that department. But I was a rebellious teen once."
"How fortunate for you; I was always compliant and dutiful." Belinda smiled wistfully. She ripped down the sign she had begun to post. "It was so nice to meet you, Prue. I don't know many people in the neighborhood yet, but you are always welcome to come by for tea."
'Is it just me, or does she seem older somehow? Something about this woman is definitely a little off. The last thing I need is another warlock or demon determined to kill me and my sisters.' Prue defensively folded her arms over her chest.
"Thank you for the offer, but I've got to go to work now. And I don't really like tea."
Belinda reached into the brown leather purse on one of her shoulders and pulled out a silver business card holder. Removing one of the calligraphy-engraved cards, she handed it to Prue. "If you change your mind, please call me. I would love to have company. My daughter isn't very good at that."
"Thanks, I'll call you some time." Prue didn't attempt to conceal her insincerity when she crossed the street. Belinda sneered traitorously. When Prue had closed the doors of the manor behind her, Belinda spun her left index finger in the air. A sudden, powerful vortex of wind snatched the offending posters from the electric pole along the street as Belinda passed.
"I think our new neighbor is a warlock," Prue half-whispered to Piper and Paige during their lunch that afternoon.
"Cool, my first warlock! You said warlocks can be vanquished, right?" Paige grinned enthusiastically.
Piper's brow furrowed, while Prue nodded. "What makes you think she's a warlock?"
The eldest Halliwell animatedly explained her encounter with Belinda. When Prue finished, she and Paige turned to Piper for her verdict. With a flick of her wrist, Piper froze the entire bistro around them. "I admit that it seems suspicious about her daughter, but Prue, we've dealt with weirder things than that. There was the priest you had the hots for…"
"Whose brothers were warlocks," Prue finished.
"And there was Derek, Phoebe's hospital hottie."
"His dad was the target of brain-sucking warlocks."
Piper frowned. "Leo!" The Whitelighter Orbed instantly into the sidewalk café, wearing a fresh yellow plaid shirt and jeans but neither shoes nor socks. "Honey, are you okay?"
Leo glanced at his bare feet and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I just came from helping a Charge at a beach. I was going to Orb home and shower." He leaned down and peckd Piper on her cheek. "What's going on?"
"Can you check with the Elders, see if they know anything about a warlock named Belinda?" Prue requested. Leo gave a curt nod and Orbed out. When he was gone, Piper unfroze the bistro. "I wish I had a guy as useful as Leo."
"Keep your mittens off, sister. He's mine," Piper teased.
"Pretty please? I'd only borrow him for one day, and I'd give him right back."
"Yeah, Piper, you should've let Prue borrow him last night, for sure. Jamie said it was awkward that you didn't have a date last night," Paige chimed in.
"I didn't want a date last night. I'm a successful career woman; I don't need a man to complete me."
"This is from the same woman who showers for a full-hour every morning?" Piper cocked one eyebrow in challenge. Prue's mouth gaped open in half-shock, half-amusement. "Whatever happened to Logan?"
"He went to East Africa on assignment."
"And he never explored your jungle," Paige inquired.
"We have similar careers." Prue stabbed the slice of lemon cheesecake that had followed her lunch. "My job keeps me domestic, but Logan's told me he goes abroad for three weeks to a full-year. It's kind of hard to keep the romance alive when he's twelve hours away for half the time you're dating."
"Jamie mentioned he has a few friends from UCSF he'd like to hook you up with."
Prue rolled her eyes. "College boys? Thank you, but I'm a little over my frat boy phase."
"Oh come on, Prue! Younger guys are so…stimulating."
Both of her older sisters giggled at Paige. "Alright, Samantha, they are not my type. I need men with enough maturity to recycle beer cans and not crush them on their foreheads."
"I understand. After all, Leo's got to be eighty years old."
"Can we please talk about something other than guys? Like Kit, for example," Piper burst indignantly. "I haven't seen her in days, and she should be in heat soon."
Prue frowned and waved over a waiter to their table. "We would like our checks now, please?"
Paige and Piper stared quizzically at Prue. "Where are you in a hurry to?" Piper checked her watch. "Your lunch break doesn't end for another twenty minutes."
"Yeah well, taking pictures of children wearing the latest designs by San Francisco's elite clothiers is a lot more interesting than discussing our cat's reproductive cycle." Even with years of self-restraint, Prue couldn't keep the jealous edge from her voice. She took out her platinum Visa, set it inside the billfold offered by the waiter, and returned it to him. "Piper, will you make sure that Paige comes home with you tonight? I'm going to check out this Belinda woman."
"By yourself?" Paige asked.
"Prue, we said we were going to stop doing that." Piper's analytical gaze scrutinized Prue's face. "If we take any more demons or warlocks, we promised to do it as the Power of Three, not the Power of One. Remember what happened when you were forced to marry Zyil?"
"Another warlock wants to marry me? If only I were that lucky twice." Piper stared pointedly at Prue, and the elder Halliwell relented. She took two pieces of paper and a pen from her purse, and copied the address from Belinda's card to another piece of paper. "That's Belinda's address. I'll see you later guys."
Before Prue disappeared into the parking garage, Piper socked her younger sister on her left arm. "Why did you do that?"
"Do what? And by the way, ouch!"
"Why did you have to point out to Prue that she's the only single Halliwell?"
"You're the one who brought up the horny cat!"
"I had a reason for that," Piper said defensively.
"So did I."
Piper sighed. "We both suck as sisters."
An elderly, white-haired woman opened the cottage door. Her face beamed with the light of someone lonely for too long who has finally received a visitor. "Yes, may I help you?"
Prue cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm Prue Halliwell, President of the Homeowners' Association. I met a woman today who was posting flyers on the utility poles of our street. She said her name was Belinda and her address is this residence?"
The older woman's skeptical face softened. "Oh, you've met my daughter!" We've just lost four of our cats, and I asked her to put up signs to help find them. She's out right now, but would you like to come in and wait for her?"
"Oh, no thank you. I have some work to do at home."
The old woman waved away the thought. "I insist. Please, come in and have a cup of tea."
Won over by the elderly woman's congeniality, Prue entered the house she didn't remember from her childhood. The living room was filled with two things: the collection of an elderly woman's life and cats. No fewer than eight cats were sprawled around the living room, including the armchairs, sofa, and cabinets. 'The last time an elderly woman made tea for me, it stole my powers.' Prue cautiously studied the tea in her dainty china cup.
"This really is a beautiful design on the cup. Where did you get the set?"
Belinda sat with a grunt. A cat almost immediately leaped into her lap, and was rewarded with the elderly woman's caring strokes. "When I went to Hong Kong years ago, there were these amazing specialty shops. I bought an authentic tea service and learned how to make this particular tea there. Have a sip, dear. It won't do you any harm."
"Promise?" Prue half-joked. With one tentative sip, Prue was hooked. "Oh wow, this is really good."
"I know. It's supposed to contain all sorts of antioxidants to guarantee youth."
"Then I'll probably have two cups." Prue sipped again and glanced at her watch. "When did you say your daughter would be back?"
"She'll be back whenever she wants. I'm sure you know how it is. Children have their own agendas nowadays. You do have children, don't you?"
"No."
"Well, there's no point in asking if you're married either. I noticed you don't have a ring on your finger either."
"With all due respect, I don't think that's any of your business. Please tell your daughter I'll visit another time." Prue set her empty cup on the table and grabbed her purse. Instead of standing, she flopped back into her very comfortable armchair. Her legs and arms felt useless. "What did you put in my drink?"
A line of cats filed into the room. Prue noticed that no two were alike, even the species she didn't recognize. The cats all began to meow in the same keening pitch until the cacophony filled the room. Belinda stood in the middle of a circle of cats. "It's just a potion to take away your youth and give it to me. After all, what are you doing with it? You work, but you're single, childless, and unhappy. In exchange for your youth, I'm going to give you a much happier life."
One moment, Prue was Prue. In a flash of green light, she was a snow white cat with stunningly blue eyes. In the same instant, Belinda reverted to the lithe, youthful teenager Prue had met only days earlier. She casually flicked her finger, and a gold collar with a heart-shaped tag appeared around Prue's neck.
Belinda crouched before Prue. The transformed witch swiped at her with a paw but missed. "You should be happy. You get to serve a goddess."
"You said the warlock's name is Belinda, right?" Paige asked over her shoulder. Her eyes felt strained from all the reading she'd done.
"The alleged warlock's name is Belinda. She could be a demon or a witch, or even some otherworldly spirit for all we know." Hanging up the cordless phone, Piper darted a hopeful glance at the bowl on the table. "That potion should have started to boil by now, and she's not answering her cell phone. Damn it, Prue!"
After their respective work days, Piper and Paige had returned to Halliwell Manor in the anticipation of Prue's reconnaissance. P3 wasn't as active on Thursdays, but Paige had a number of reports to read and file. Her duty to her sisters came first. So while Piper combined a flurry of ingredients into a potion, Paige had flipped tediously through the Book of Shadows in search of Belinda. When brewing became too boring for her, Piper relented and began calling Prue's cell phone.
"Maybe she's just at work."
"Prue answers her phone calls, even when she's at work," Piper sniped then sighed. "I'm sorry, Paige. I'm not upset with you. It's just…"
"I get it. We just lost one sister, and we can't lose Prue." Paige slammed the Book shut. "Maybe she's not in the book?"
"This book has secrets that come straight from the afterlife. Anything it doesn't know is too ancient fro even dead people to know about. Speaking of dead people….Leo! Leo, get down here now!" The soothing sound of heavenly music and the appearance of myriad Orbs preceded the Whitelighter's appearance. Before Leo could breathe, Piper rattled off, "Prue is missing, and we think Belinda took her. Sense her, Orb us to her, and let's vanquish this warlock."
"Come on, chop, chop!"
Piper glared at Paige. "He's my husband. No one but me is allowed to do that."
"Sorry."
Leo smirked at his wife. "And anyway, Belinda isn't a warlock, and I already know exactly where Prue is. But you need the Power of Three."
"Is she that powerful?" Paige asked fearfully.
"Her real name isn't Belinda. It's Bast, and she's an Egyptian goddess." Piper and Paige's jaws dropped, and Leo quickly amended, "Well, she's a former goddess. Her powers are still formidable, and she's still immortal. But she ages just like a mortal, and to preserve her youth, she's been stealing from others for centuries."
"How would she do this for hundreds of years and not get caught?" Piper asked.
Kit meowed at her feet and rubbed against Piper's leg. When she reached down to stroke her fur, the cat darted toward the stairs. Kit stopped at the top of the stairs, glanced back at the two witches and Whitelighter, and meowed. "I think the cat wants us to follow?" Paige said.
They followed Kit downstairs from the attic into the basement. The dark, dank space was crowded with any knick-knacks and heirlooms that couldn't fit into the attic. When they crossed the threshold, all three felt the presence of something more powerful than any antiquities lurking in the basement as well. Piper flicked the light switch before starting down the stairs. "Oh my God!"
Nearly a dozen cats sat on the basement floor. There were more species than they could easily recognize, and all faced them with anticipating expressions on their faces. "Did Kit decide to throw a party and not tell us?" Paige joked.
"She must be in heat. They probably flocked to her." Piper made her way to the throng of cats and knelt before a fat tabby. "They must have owners; they have collars. This one is named Jessica."
"That's a weird name for a cat," Leo said.
Piper quickly examined the cat's collars. "There's also Lauren, Andrea, Stacey, Hope, Maureen, Daisy, Vivian, and Susie….These are people's names, not cat names."
"Who would be cuckoo enough to name their cats for people? And if they're female cats, what are they doing down here with Kit? Do we have a lesbian cat?"
A glacial dread filled Piper's chest. "We have to get to Prue. Now."
Belinda/Bast laughed mockingly at Prue's furious swipes of her cat cage. "Considering how many girls have run off lately, I can't risk losing your youth, too."
She stood upright and snapped her fingers. Instantly, her clothes transfigured from the dowdy attire of an elderly loner to skintight, hip-hugging designer jeans and a pair of sandals. "When the pyramids were built; when Alexander the Great swept the Mediterranean world; when the Roman Empire rose to its peak, I was as beautiful then as I am now. Men flocked to my temple to breathe the same air as me. Women longed to be me.
"Then they stopped believing in the old gods." Belinda/Bast admired her reflection in a mirror on the wall. There was not a flaw, blemish or mark on Belinda/Bast's face or neck, but she examined her complexion for one. "We were granted immortality for the great service we had done for the world, but what of our fame? What about eternal youth? No, we would lose our beauty and age without dying. How was that fair?
"So I brewed a potion to take youth first from my acolytes. Without their youth, they died as withered women from diseases far before their time. How was that fair, Prue, that the women who were most loyal to me had to suffer gruesome deaths from old age? Over the centuries, I survived as a midwife."
Belinda/ Bast crouched in front of the cage and smiled maliciously. "Don't worry. I won't kill you, Prudence. But I will find another girl. I only choose naked, single ones like you, because no one ever comes looking for you busy, single working girls."
The room filled with bluish-white light. With a gasp, Bast spun and faced Piper, Leo, and Paige standing side-by-side on the opposite side of the room. "A Whitelighter and two witches come to my kitchen and didn't knock on the door. What could you possibly want?"
"Our sister."
Piper waved her right hand at Bast. The goddess immediately flew off her feet and slammed into the far wall of the living room. Bits of shirt fabric, furniture, and wallpaper amassed in a cloud where the goddess had landed. Her cats scampered upstairs. "Where's my sister?" Piper yelled.
A beam of light shot through the dust, and just seconds before it struck Piper, Paige pulled her from its path. The light beam embedded in the wall as a glowing hot ankh. Bast stepped through the dust. Leo charged at her, but a flick of her index finger sent him sailing into a wall.
"I suppose you must be sisters of the witch, Prue?" Bast laughed coldly while she loomed over the sisters. "I won't give her up that easily. She's the latest acquisition to my collection of cats. I think life as cats would be much simpler for you two meddling witches."
Before Bast could begin an incantation, Piper caused an explosion that knocked Bast backward again. Then she waved her hand a second time, and Bast's right hand exploded, leaving behind a stump. While the goddess screeched in pain, Paige ran over to Leo and shook him awake. "Leo, wake up! We need you to get Prue out of here and find a way to vanquish the goddess."
Leo groaned as he returned to consciousness. "Where's Prue?"
"I don't know! Can't you sense her?"
Another blast from Piper's hands rocked the small house. Bast retaliated by creating a sand cyclone with a gentle exhalation. Piper was caught in it and carried to the back of the house, where Paige was tending to Leo, and knocked against the wall. She landed hard on her hands.
"Piper!" Leo and Paige both cried out. They attempted to rush to her aid. Bast sent sandstorms in their direction, but both Orbed out.
Orbing back in place, Paige pushed Leo toward Piper. "Heal her; I've got the cat lady!" Paige rose into the air, slammed her clog-clad feet into Bast's chest, and followed the kick with a punch that knocked the goddess onto her back. "That was for my sisters."
Leo quickly healed Piper. She sat up groaning. "Are you okay?"
"It's not the first time I've been knocked out, Leo. Where's Prue?"
Taking Paige's advice, he closed his eyes in concentration. "She's at the Manor."
"How?" Leo didn't have time to answer, because both he and Paige were slammed into the wall by another of Bast's sandstorms.
Andy Trudeau unlocked the cat carrier, reached in, and picked up the snowy white cat Prue had become. "I know you can understand me, Prue, but I don't have much time. I'm not supposed to be here after the last stunt I pulled. Bast isn't in the Book of Shadows but the spell to counteract her magic is."
Securely tucking the cat under his right arm, Andy read from the Book:
"Let fur become flesh,
"The spell is undone.
"Let fur become flesh,
"The spell is undone."
In a shimmering of radiant green light, Prue was restored. She turned to Andy, whose arm already embraced her, and breathed a wisp of longing, unsteady breath against his lips. His fingertips brushed delicately against her left cheek. Prue's blue eyes followed the stroke of his fingers, the slope of his nose, and the chisel of his cheeks. "Is this real, Andy?" she whispered.
"Use the other spell to defeat Bast. Your sisters need you, Prue." He pressed his lips to hers, and for a passionate, heady moment, Prue's world stopped.
Then Andy vanished in a cloud of Orbs.
Bast fell on her backside from another of Piper's explosions. In retaliation, she launched another flaming hot ankh, which Piper detonated with a flick of her left hand. Bast blasted Piper off her feet with another gust of wind. Before she could intensify the attack, Leo tackled Bast. She squirmed free of his grasp and kicked the Whitelighter in his mouth.
Climbing to her feet, Bast pointed at the two witches and Whitelighter. "I should turn you all into scarab beetles! How dare you attack me! I am a goddess!"
Then her eyes widened in shock. Bast's flawless skin had wrinkled and veined with age. She gasped wordlessly and ran to the nearest mirror. "No, no, no!" Her hair and face had gone white with age. "You stole my youth! How could you?"
"It's a little thing called magic," Prue replied.
Bast whirled on her and glared viciously. "You don't have the power to stop me, witch. I'll take your youth and your sisters, and maybe even the Whitelighter's." Bast launched a red-hot ankh, but Prue launched into the air and performed a roundhouse kick that knocked the goddess into her refrigerator. While Bast was stunned, Prue helped Piper, Paige, and Leo to their feet.
"Prue?" Piper asked, dazed. "How did you get here?"
"Astral projection; I'm still at the manor." Prue took her sisters' hands. "I've got the spell memorized:
"Immortal goddess who lies and steals,
"The pain you've caused, you now shall feel.
"With twisted bones and bending back,
"A long life you will not lack.
"Covered in fur the rest of your days,
"Your crime is punished and will be repaid."
Bast opened her mouth to scream, but her screech of resistance melted into the enraged yowl of a cat. Prue, Piper, Paige, and Leo watched as the goddess dissolved into a large Persian cat. The four of them stared off and the goddess' green eyes flashed irritably. She scampered through the rubble of her house and disappeared through a shattered window.
"Wow, she's just a plain old pussycat after all," Piper quipped.
The three witches and Whitelighter allowed a laugh of relief. Footsteps crunched on the broken glass and splintered wood. Surprised, they turned and found a middle-aged woman in a flapper's dress, her curly blonde hair bobbed, approaching them. "Is Bast gone? Is she dead?"
"Yeah," Paige responded, "we kicked her ass."
Another woman, Indian and wearing a brightly colored sari, walked into the demolished kitchen as well. "Is she really and truly gone then?" she asked in clipped English.
"She would be crazy to come back," Prue answered. "Are you her…cats?"
The flapper nodded. "There are more of us."
"How many more are there?" Leo asked.
"He's a really bad dancer."
"No, Piper, I-I think he's doing an impression of a duck."
"Prue, a duck doesn't stomp like that. He's dancing like an elephant."
"Look at his arms though! Those are wings!"
The two sisters dissolved into laughter as the song, Jimmy Eat World's "Sweetness," came to an end. Paige led Jamie to their booth. With his slender build, Jamie's black suit and colorful tie seemed too large for his body. He was barely taller than Paige, but his windswept-style hair gave him an advantage of three extra inches.
Paige flopped onto the sofa beside Prue, and Jamie started to join her. "Hey, Jamie, would you mind going to get a mineral water?"
"And two beers?" Prue requested.
"No need for that second one." Leo came to the booth as Jamie was leaving, carrying two beers. He handed one to Piper, and they clinked their bottles together.
When Jamie was out of hearing range, Leo said confidently, "You'll be glad to know that Bast's victims are being taken care of by the Elders as we speak. There's a lot of Memory Dust involved, a few time portals, and some Whitelighters will be busy for the next couple of weeks, but they'll be reunited with their families."
"Those poor girls, I'm glad they'll be with their families though," Prue said.
"I agree," Piper said.
"Yeah," Paige smiled.
"On a lighter note," Prue smirked cheekily at her youngest sister, "Jamie seems like a great guy."
"Yeah, and this is really exciting too. Being able to hang out together, have fun…."
Prue realized her younger sisters were staring at her. "Are you guys still worried that I'm upset about being single?"
"Are you?" Paige inquired.
"It's really not that important. And I'm not really single right now: Logan's still in the picture, and there's now…."
"Prue, I know you think you saw Andy," Piper rested a comforting hand on her older sister's shoulder, "but….he's dead."
"How else do you think I went from Bast's house to the manor, Piper?" When Piper could not respond, Prue plowed into her point. "I know I saw him tonight. You and I both know that 'dead' doesn't mean the end of someone's life. Andy is out there. Nothing's going to stop me from finding Andy."
