Prue drove quickly back to the manor. She had no idea what had happened to Piper, but Prue felt she had to get her as far away from that house as possible. When she looked in the rearview mirror, Nocens was staring back at her.

"Thanks for the lift," he hissed. Prue slammed on the breaks and skid to a stop in the middle of the street. She looked back at the rearview mirror, then back at Piper. Piper was sitting up, looking terrified and confused.

"What happened?" she gasped. "How did I get here?" Prue forced the car into 'park' and crawled into the back seat. She threw her arms around Piper and squeezed her tightly.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Prue, I'm fine," Piper replied breathlessly. Prue was hugging her so tightly that it was difficult to breathe. "What happened with Nocens?" Prue let her go and avoided meeting Piper's gaze.

"I think we let him out of the house," replied Prue regretfully. "He got away." Piper looked devastated.

"But how?" Piper asked. "I thought he needed your power to get out. How did he get your power?" A car pulled up behind them, temporarily blinding Prue with its headlights. She blocked the light with her hand and crawled back into the front seat.

"Maybe your powers were enough," said Prue. She put the car back into 'drive' just as the driver behind her sounded his horn. Prue glared at him in the rearview mirror and continued driving toward the manor.

"That doesn't make sense," said Piper. "My powers are nowhere near as powerful as Grams' were and I thought he was after the most powerful witch of our time."

"I don't know," said Prue. She drove her car into the driveway and pulled the key from the ignition. "But he got out of that house somehow and he used you to do it." The two of them got out of the car and walked into the manor through the conservatory door.

"This is bad," said Piper.

"I agree," replied Prue. Phoebe ran into the room and embraced Piper. Piper rolled her eyes and hugged her sister back.

"I'm so glad you're ok," said Phoebe.

"Yes, I'm fine," said Piper. "But we have a more serious issue to deal with right now. If Nocens was able to escape, we need to find him before he can hurt anyone else." Prue nodded.

"We should check the Book of Shadows again," Prue suggested. She and Piper began walking toward the staircase, but Piper stopped suddenly. She looked down at Phoebe, who was still holding Piper tightly around her waist.

"Uh, Pheebs?" said Piper. "You gonna let go?"

"No," replied Phoebe. Piper smiled and pried Phoebe's arms from around her waist. She took Phoebe by the hand and the three of them ran upstairs toward the attic.

"Is there a summoning spell?" Prue asked as Piper looked through the Book of Shadows.

"No," replied Piper. "Pheebs, can you try getting a premonition?"

"I can try," replied Phoebe. She placed her hands on the Book of Shadows and closed her eyes. They all waited in silence until Phoebe sighed and pulled her hands away. "Nothing," she groaned. "This power sucks."

"You'll get a premonition when we need one," said Prue. "Maybe Nocens decided to lay low for awhile."

"I highly doubt it," Piper sighed. "So, now what?"

"We wait," replied Prue. "I have a feeling this demon is going to come back for us."

---------------------------------------------------

Piper walked from the washroom to her bedroom. Both of her sisters had gone to bed a few hours before, but Piper was having trouble going to sleep. She felt safe when Nocens was unable to leave Lucy's house, but now he could come for her or her sisters at any time. She crawled into bed and stared up at the ceiling. The manor was completely silent.

After a few minutes, Piper was beginning to fall asleep. She could hear the grandfather clock downstairs chime three times. She hadn't realized how late she had stayed up. As she closed her eyes and began falling asleep, her bedroom door slowly swung closed. The lamp on her bedside table flickered on and off a few times before turning off completely.

Piper opened her eyes and looked around the dark room. She could feel someone standing at the end of her bed.

"Prue?" she asked hopefully. She sat up in bed and stared into the dark.

"Guess again, witch," replied Nocens. Before Piper could scream, Nocens leapt at her and disappeared.