"Well this is nice," Piper muttered, carefully setting her glass on the table. "Remind me how much I love storms."
"Maybe, it'll come back on," she heard Phoebe say.
"Not with this weather." Piper glanced around, trying to get her eyes to adjust. She could just make out Phoebe and the edge of the bed. But beyond that was a big black pit of nothingness.
Piper dragged her half of the blanket up over her legs, then jumped as a long squealing sound came out of the darkness. She resisted the urge to pull the blanket all the way over her head and instead looked towards Phoebe.
"It was just the house," Phoebe said. But there wasn't much certainty in her tone.
"It sounded like a door opening," Piper said, feeling her heart start to race. "Oh god, what if that's the big danger? What if it just granted itself an all access pass?"
"Can we say paranoia?"
"Oh yeah, like we've never had demons and warlocks in the house before," Piper said, the fear still in her voice. Already her mind was starting to list the numerous evil beings that had come calling. "We're practically their hang out spot."
"It was probably Prue."
"Or maybe the demon attacking Prue."
She could see Phoebe shift beside her, thinking that over. Suddenly, her sister stood up and grabbed Piper's hand. Piper pulled back, not wanting to move. She wasn't exactly anxious to go stumbling through the hallways.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, if there is something wrong, then we have to help Prue."
Piper sat there for a moment, considering what her sister had said. Wandering through a big dark house, or losing Prue to some vicious warlock, she weighed the options in her mind. Finally, she got to her feet.
"All right, but if it is a warlock, and it murders us, I'm going to kick Leo's shimmery butt."
"You'll be dead, Piper."
"Fine, then he better expect nightly hauntings for eternity." Piper grabbed onto her sister's nightshirt, not wanting to get separated as they walked out into the hall. "Him and his stupid big danger. Oh yeah, way to be helpful Leo."
"Hey, um, does Leo really have a shimmery…?" Piper cut her off with a vicious look. Phoebe nodded slowly, pushing her hair back behind her ears. She got the message loud and clear. It wasn't the time to ask. Piper could hear her clearing her throat before she continued. "Anyway, it's not his fault that they didn't do the info relay."
"I'm sure he could have been a little more…" Piper stopped as the house creaked again. She could feel a slight draft blowing through and she was suddenly very cold. Piper shivered, twisting Phoebe's shirt in her fingers. "Okay, getting scared now."
"Let's just find Prue." Phoebe stepped carefully down the hall, dragging Piper along. "Prue! Pru-ow!" She touched her arm where Piper had hit her. "What was that for?"
"Phoebe, if you keep yelling, Mr. Warlock Guy's not gonna have to search long to find us."
"All right, but how-"
A sudden flash of light came from the darkness. Piper shrieked and Phoebe covered her eyes as her sister ducked behind her. Holding her breath, Phoebe waited for the warlock to kill her, to zap her out of existence, or to set her on fire. When nothing happened she slowly lowered her hands from her face.
"Piper..."
"What?" Phoebe could hear her sister's muffled voice. Piper was still hiding behind her, her face buried in Phoebe's back. "Are we dead?"
"Not unless Prue's here to kill us with a flashlight," she said. "And by the way, I'm glad you love me so much, you know, that you'd hide your little active powered bod behind me."
Piper didn't say anything. But she did make a face at Phoebe as she moved out from behind her. There stood Prue, pointing a flashlight at them. In her other arm, she held a few candles and two more flashlights.
"I thought you guys might want these," Prue said as she approached them.
"So that was you making all the noise?" Phoebe asked.
"Just me and the house." Prue gave her a puzzled expression as she handed Phoebe a flashlight. "I didn't realize the sight of me bringing candles was such a frightening one. Way to be on the defense there, Piper."
"Thanks," Piper said shortly, taking her flashlight from Prue. Phoebe pointed her own light at Piper and saw her face burn with embarrassment. Prue regarded her with a small smile but Piper just scowled back. "Just glad you're not getting slaughtered by a warlock."
"A warlock?"
"Let Phoebe fill you in." Piper pushed the button on her flashlight, then pointed it towards her own door. After a moment she turned and followed the beam of light into her room. Once she closed the door behind her, Prue looked to Phoebe.
"What was that about?"
"She's just a little edgy," Phoebe explained. "You know, because of the big danger."
"The big danger?"
"Oh you haven't heard about that yet?" Phoebe smiled and gently grabbed her sister's arm. Then she led Prue back to her room. "Come on in and I'll show you our three contestants."
She could feel the chill of the rain over every inch of her body. But she sat there anyway, freezing cold, a puddle surrounding her. Piper took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart. The water had long since soaked through her clothes and she shivered uncontrollably. But still, she didn't make any move to get out of the rain. She just sat there against the cold brick wall, hugging her knees to her chest. She could feel the tears slowly running down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. But her sadness and horror had been replaced by an odd sort of emptiness. All she could feel was the horrible ache that was buried deep within her.
Piper closed her eyes, still trying to breathe. She could see the picture from the little book even as she pressed her eyelids shut. It was imprinted in her mind, and she knew she would never get that image out of her head. It would be with her forever, always in the back of her mind, a silent reminder of what she had done.
Piper rolled over with a jolt as the house shook. A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky and illuminated her bedroom. Her bedroom...she was still in her bedroom. She sat up slowly and glanced around. Everything was the same except for the rumpled pile of blankets that had landed on the floor. It was the same stormy night that she had fallen asleep to. Piper sighed with relief. It had only been a nightmare.
Slowly she lowered herself back onto her bed, trying not to remember the dream. That was the last thing she needed tonight. Already the storm had her freaked. She couldn't understand why. She'd faced demons and warlocks and other creatures most people had never imagined. And yet one little thunderstorm was causing shivers to run down her spine. Something was different tonight though. She could feel it. Half of her wanted to jump up and run into Phoebe's room. She knew her sisters were probably still there, conferencing over their demon problem.
Piper bit her lip as she lay there. She couldn't go rushing to her sisters every time a storm hit. She was an adult after all. She closed her eyes reluctantly, willing herself to think about nice things, Leo, a tropical beach, winning the lottery...back to Leo again. She smiled a little, pulling her covers up around her chin. But as she rolled over to one side she thought she heard a sound coming from the corner. It's probably just the trees in the wind, she tried to assure herself. Or maybe the cat had sneaked into her room. Whatever it was, it was nothing to worry about. There was-
Piper jumped as something crashed to the floor. Sitting up again, she grabbed for the flashlight. The sound had seemed very close and as she pointed the light around the floor she realized why. One of her picture frames had fallen. Piper sighed and leaned over to grab it. She picked it up carefully, wary of the broken glass as she examined it further. The photo was of Prue, Phoebe and her. A smile spread across her face as she remembered the day it was taken. It had been around Christmas, during their tree-trimming party, just before-
Piper dropped the frame as another sound startled her. It sounded farther away, maybe on the other side of her room. Either they were having an earthquake she couldn't feel, or the storm was creating quite the draft through the house. Piper was beginning to feel more annoyed than scared as she turned her flashlight beam towards the wall. She rolled over trying to get a better look at what had fallen this time. It was then that her light hit the woman standing at the foot of her bed.
Piper screamed and dropped the flashlight as she frantically attempted to freeze her. But nothing happened and the light hit the ground, rolling under the bed. Piper scrambled to her feet, trying to get to the other side of the room and as far away from the pale young woman as possible. But there was no way to get to the door without passing her. Piper wanted to run, to take her chances with a mad dash for the hall. Instead she stood there frozen and terrified, not knowing what to do. Piper finally got the nerve to meet the woman's eyes and she recognized her instantly.
She gasped, her eyes widening as she backed up towards the window. I'm going to die, she thought. My sisters are going to come in here tomorrow and find dead Piper all over the room..."Piper!"
Piper shrieked, the sound of Prue's voice catching her off guard. Her sisters burst into the room, and just as Piper was about to shout out a warning, she stopped herself. The woman was gone. Piper blinked, whirling around. But she and her sisters were the only ones there.
"Piper?" It took Prue a moment to spot her sister in the dimly lit room. Finally, Phoebe caught her in the beam of her flashlight and they both stared at her. Piper was standing over near the window, desperately searching for something.
"Piper, what's wrong?" Prue went over to her and grabbed her gently, forcing her to turn around. She held Piper's clammy hand in her own, but her sister didn't seem to notice her presence. "You're shaking."
Piper finally looked at her and Prue could see the terror in her eyes. Something had frightened her badly.
"Did you see it?" Piper asked quickly.
"What?" Phoebe looked around. "Piper, there's nothing here."
"Of course, there's something." she said.
"Well, I don't see anything." Phoebe eyed Prue, obviously worried.
"I saw it, someone or something-" Piper glanced around one final time, then leaned back against the wall. She shot a cautious look at the door as if readying herself for a quick escape. Phoebe reached out and brushed the hair out of Piper's face, trying to calm her down.
"Honey, what happened?" she asked. "We could hear you screaming down the hall."
"Yeah, us and half the neighborhood, " Prue mumbled as she surveyed the room. But if Piper really had seen something, then it was long gone.
"I'm sorry." Piper took a deep breath. "I just-" She glanced around again in total confusion. "I don't know."
"What was it?"
"I thought I saw something," Piper said hesitantly. She seemed more embarrassed than scared now. "It just startled me that's all."
"It startled you right out of bed?" Phoebe tried not to smile as she saw Piper's mangled pile of blankets.
"I guess I was sleep walking."
"Well, remind me to stay out of your way," Prue said as she kneeled down by the bed to retrieve the lost flashlight. She stood up slowly, directing the light towards her sister. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Piper sighed, taking a few slow steps towards the door. "I think I'm just gonna get a drink from the kitchen."
"Okay, but no more caffeine for you young lady!" Phoebe called after her. Prue made a face at her, then whirled around as Piper popped back into the room.
"I'll just take that for now." She held out her hand and Prue quickly relinquished the flashlight. Then Piper slipped out of the room once more.
"Whoa, check out the edgy girl." Phoebe glanced over at Prue. Something was clearly up with Piper. Even the most paranoid of the Halliwell sisters didn't usually wake up screaming. "What was that about?"
"Piper doesn't sleep walk." Prue said, walking over to the bed as Phoebe trained the flashlight around the room. Everything looked normal, except for the creepy shadows the light was creating.
"Exactly. And she didn't seem too forthcoming with whatever it is she saw."
"Or thought she saw anyway..." Prue mumbled. Phoebe followed her over to the bed, as she noticed the glass on the floor. She knelt down next to it, then pointed the flashlight at the picture frame Piper had dropped.
"The work of our sleep walking sister?"
"That must have been some nightmare." Prue picked up the picture and couldn't help but smile as she stared at it. "Last Christmas." She held the photo out for Phoebe. "Remember? Piper froze the dinner guests when the tree nearly fell on them."
"Hey, she was the one who wanted the Douglas fir." Phoebe reached out to take the frame from her sister. It was then that she got the flash.
Phoebe held her breath for a second. It had been nearly two years since she'd received her power. And yet there were still times when the sensation felt strange, alien to her. But the vision was clear. Piper sleeping in her bed, Piper awake and looking around. Someone had been watching her sister, the same someone who had knocked over the picture.
"Phoebe!"
"What?" Phoebe snapped back to attention. Prue was staring down at her, a concerned expression on her face.
"You're bleeding."
Phoebe glanced down at her hand. She'd been gripping the frame tightly and her finger had pressed on one of the jagged glass shards still in the frame. A thin line of blood was starting to form on her finger. Before she could wipe it away a tiny drop fell on the picture.
"Oh no." Phoebe quickly tried to rub it off. But it only smeared more. She stared at the bloody picture for a moment, then swallowed hard as she felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. But she couldn't take her eyes off the blood. "Oh god..." She suddenly felt sick. She dropped the picture back on the ground, then jumped to her feet.
"What did you see?"
"Huh?" Phoebe had only been half listening to Prue.
"You had a vision didn't you?" she asked. "What did you see?"
"Someone was in here," Phoebe said finally trying not to look at the picture. After a moment she picked it up and tossed it into the garbage can.
"Okay, wait." Prue gave her a confused look. "First of all, that was Piper's, and second-"
"I'll give her my copy." Phoebe grabbed Prue's hand and led her to the door. Someone had been in that room and she certainly didn't want to be there if he or she made a repeat visit.
"Where are we going?"
"To find Piper," Phoebe said. "I think we just found Leo's big danger." She paused to think about that for a moment as she led her sister down the darkened hall. "Actually, I think it found us."
