Phoebe awoke feeling warm and safe, her sisters' arms wrapped around her and a strange weight lying across her legs. Looking down, she saw the dog laying there, its brown eye's staring right at her, as though knowing she needed some comfort. Reaching out her hand, she stroked the large head, feeling the softness of the fur. Carefully she untangled herself from her sleeping sisters, moving to the dogs side.
"Hello pup, what's your name?" she asked, running her hands over the dogs neck, she found it's collar, gently twisting it to get to the tags. Lifting it to the dim light, she could just make out a name, "Keba. Hello Keba, you are a beautiful girl." she said, curling up with the warm dog, she once again fell asleep.
Prue and Piper were both curled up under the rough blanket, lost in their dreams, each one remembering the events that had happened there before.
Prue found herself once again chained to the post, her life being drained away. Looking around wildly, she scanned the crowd, hoping to see Charles walking forward, but this time, she was on her own. Standing before her was the Ancient One, her eye's seemed to bore straight into her soul, pulling at the part of her that was the most private, the most personal.
"So, you thought you could beat us, send us away? You are not strong enough for that! You could not save the man you loved, what makes you think you can beat me?"
Anger and shame built within the oldest Halliwell, as she remembered waking up that fateful night, knowing that no matter what she did, she could not save all of them, that she would lose someone so important to her. "If you think you can hurt me like that, you are wrong! I have excepted that."
"Maybe you have, but you will never forget, just like you will never forget what I will do to your sisters. Once again you will only be able to watch as I drain their life as well. Bring them forward!" she commanded.
Looking around wildly, her heart caught in her throat as she saw her sister, bloody and helpless as she was dragged from a nearby building. Reaching out to them, they never even noticed her, as they were both chained to posts, there bodies unmoving. Prue cried out as she saw the first of the spirits approaching them, trying desperately to pull free from her bonds.
"My dear little witch, do you really think you can save them? You cant even save your self." the Ancient One said, walking over and placing a hand on both their heads, she seemed to glow as her sisters fell bonelessly to the ground. Slowly, she turned to Prue, her smile anything but friendly, "Now for you!" Prue screamed out, in terror and anger, the sound pulled from the very core of her soul.
Lying against her oldest sister, Piper fretted, her mind filled with images of the youngest, her body seemed to waste away as she lay sleeping on the cot. The spirits of the island had taken her, promising to do the same to all of them. It had been 3 days and still her sister had not woken, her body starving for food and water, she was barely breathing.
"You have failed!" a voice said from behind her. "You can not protect them, you are to weak on your own!"
Looking at the figure behind her, she let out a gasp, for there was the ghost of her ancestor, the one who had died on this very island, reaching towards her. Taking a step back, she fell on to the cot, her sister never even moved as she landed. Hearing her cry out, Prue came running in, colliding with the ghostly figure. Pipers eyes grew wide as she saw her crumple, her body hitting the floor with a dull thud.
"I have your sisters, now it's your turn to die." she said.
Looking at Phoebe, her heart lurched. Her baby sister was not breathing, the color gone from her face, the battle lost.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Phoebe was awaked by something cold and wet rubbing, against her face, as Keba tried to get her attention.
"You need to go out girl?" she asked, as the dog practically danced in eagerness to her question. "Come on, I want to take a look outside." Standing up slowly, she placed an unsteady hand on the dogs' back, walking towards the door. She never noticed the agitated looks of her sleeping sisters.
Prue and Piper both woke screaming out in terror, looking about themselves in fear. The first thing they both noticed was the absence of the youngest, causing Prue to jump to her feet.
"PHOEBE!" she shouted, her heart racing, fearing the dream had come true.
Standing outside, Phoebe saw the dogs' ears perk forward, as it dashed back inside, almost knocking her down in its mad flight. Moving as fast as her tired body would allow, she followed.
"Phoebe!" her sisters cried as she entered the room, fear replaced by joy as they both spotted her. "Where were you?" Prue asked, concerned for the youngest.
"I took the dog outside, and checked on the weather. Why? Is something wrong?" she asked, not understanding their fear.
"Just tell us next time you leave, ok?" Piper told her, trying to get a bit more comfortable.
"Ok. The storm is still raging outside, what are we going to do?" she asked the oldest, knowing that Piper would not be up to much travelling for a while.
Looking at her two sisters, Prue could tell they both needed rest, the events of the day catching up with them as they both tried hard not to yawn. Knowing they needed to find a more comfortable place to hold up in the storm, she searched the small dwelling, spotted an opening in the far wall of the storage room. Going back to the chamber where her sisters waited, she smiled, seeing them both playing with the dog.
"Hey, I'm going to see if I can find anything useful. Will you to be ok till I get back?"
"Yes, I'm going to take another nap, and I think little miss over there will be right behind me." Piper said, pointing to the yawning Phoebe.
"Who are you calling little miss?" Phoebe asked, curling up against the middle sister.
"You, you are our little one." Piper said as she leaned her head down onto Phoebe's. "Be careful." she told Prue, as she started to drift off.
Watching her sisters, Prue vowed to do whatever she could to get them both home, no matter what the price. Walking back to the storage room, she entered the dark opening, waiting a few seconds for her eye's to adjust to the gloom. Putting one hand on the wall, she slowly started forward, feeling each step with her foot.
Walking in the near darkness, Prue thought back on the events of the last few hours, thankful that she had found her sisters, that they were both safe, knowing that if anything happened to either of them, she would lose half her reasons for living. She noticed as she walked that the tunnel seem to slope downwards, the rough footing was getting a bit smoother, and up ahead, she could just make out a faint source of light.
Suddenly, a torrent of water washed over her feet, causing the smooth stones to be come slick with mud. Losing her balance, she cried out as she slipped, sliding down with the water. Up ahead she could hear the sound of water cascading down, and then she was falling. With a bone jarring thud, and a wet kersplash, she hit the bottom of the shaft. The only sound that was heard coming from the darkness was the sound of water pouring over the edge.
