Chapter 10:

Author's Note: Sorry for this most recent delay, don't really have a good excuse, just life. Reviews would be nice motivators though! Hint Hint! ;)

Erica: not sure when I'll add in a whitelighter, not even sure if I will. I mean, Wyatt could kinda sorta maybe serve as their whitelighter, after all he is half angel and we've already proved he can heal and orb and hear their calls. Thanks for the review, I loved Prue too! Not that I don't like Paige, but Prue was an awesome character!

Julia's steps were slow and deliberate, her heels clicking loudly on the stone floor, echoing off the high ceiling. She was in an enormous cavern, probably underground. Fiery light emanated from the walls, somewhere behind raised stands, as though for spectators. The floor had some kind of design on it, a painted path with intricate designs, leading up to a circular area with, what looked like, an inverted pentagram, with its points touching the edges of the circle. Inverted pentagram. Julia thought hard, biting her lip. That should mean something to her, she was sure it did, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. "Is it to your liking my queen?"

The voice startled Julia, and she swung around to confront the newcomer. The intruder was a fairly young looking black woman, early to mid thirties, with black hair tied back in a ponytail, one odd looking, dangling earing and a red shaw covering most of her form. Julia open her mouth to snap at the woman, or better yet, to ask why she had been called 'queen', but the words that issued from her throat were something entirely different.

"Yes, it will do for the ceremony." Ceremony? What the hell was she talking about? But the black woman was speaking again, "All previous Sources had their coronations here, but you are hardly the typical Source of All Evil."

Source of All Evil? What was going on here? She tried again to speak, to tell this woman that she was sadly mistaken, but again she surprised herself with her words. "Indeed, which is why I will require several things to complete the effect of this coronation. It is to be not just a coming into power, but a performance for all of the underworld. I will show each and every demon the extent of my powers, and none of them will ever think to challenge me."

The woman, who Julia had now come to suspect was anything but, bowed her head slightly, then said, "what is it you require?"

By now Julia had quite given up on controlling her own voice, so she just listened to herself as she said, "Just a few thing really. A few magical artifacts; amulets, spells, enchanted objects, you get the idea. And I will need every upper level demon to re-pledge his or her loyalty and relinquish their greatest power to me." She turned her back on the woman and strode over to a full length mirror conveniently placed just behind her, Julia though, then surveyed her reflection. She was wearing a long black dress with a one or two foot train, and long sleeves with pointed extensions dangling down almost until they touched the floor. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun and on her head rested a black iron tiara, with black jewels set into the ornate design. But her eyes were what caught Julia's attention. Even when she was angry or upset, her eyes still retained some of the playful , mischievous, childlike sparkle. She stared into the mirror, into cold, black, empty eyes, completely devoid of warmth and kindness. "Oh, and one more thing. I will require powerful witches for my sacrifices. Wyatt and Desiree Halliwell, the children of the Charmed Ones, ought to do it."

Julia lurched into a sitting position, nearly falling off the bed. Sweat was pouring down her face and her mouth was stretched wide in a silent scream. Each breath tore her dry throat, and she clutched her stomach in pain. She jerked the covers from her legs and bolted out of bed, strait for the bathroom. She dropped to the floor and lifted the lid of the toilet, just in time to direct the wave of bile into it. She sat back, head hammering, body aching, gasping for air. She heard the pat pat pat of bare feet on the wood floor, and turned to see Wyatt standing in the doorway. She pulled her long nightshirt down to cover her bare legs. She was feeling very exposed as it was.

Wyatt surveyed his cousin, and pity filled him. She was a wreck, pale, sweaty, shaking from head to toe. There were bags under her eyes, a tribute to the sleepless nights of the past week. There were traces of what looked like vomit around her mouth, and here hair was coming free of its ponytail, making her look like some deranged insomniac. "This is the fifth night in a row you've had this nightmare," he said, concern in his voice. "We've got to find out what's causing it."

She pulled her legs in to her chest and hugged her ankles, curling herself up into a ball. She looked like a frightened child, Wyatt thought. There had to be something he could do for her. She spoke in a shaky voice through her knees, "every time I close my eyes I see that image, me reflected in the mirror. I look so angry, so cold. I look so . . . evil. Am so evil."

Wyatt knelt beside his cousin. "Don't say that," he began, "there is no one in the world I know who is less evil then you Julia. Its just a dream, just a nightmare."

But Julia shook her head, "No, its not. I feel it. Even after I wake up, I feel it. Something inside of me. Something horrible."

Julia turned her face to the side, refusing to look at him. He saw the pain written on her face and he felt so helpless, so powerless to make his cousin see what a wonderful person she was. Her eyes glazed over, the memory flashing behind them. He felt trapped, but he knew however defenseless he felt, Julia must be feeling ten time worse. Claustrophobic in her own body, in her own mind. He held out his hand to help her up, "Come on."

He jerked her to her feet, then pulled her down the hallway and up the attic stairs. He circled around the pedestal until he was directly in front of the book, the let go of Julia's hand. "Here," he said simply.

Julia placed her hand on the cover of the book. She felt familiarity, even though she had only first seen it a week ago. Over the course of the past week things had been relatively normal. No elders, no demons, they still didn't know what a whitelighter was, and there had been no attacks by some all powerful demon. They had tried to summon Prue again, but it seemed the elders really, really wanted them to figure it out on their own, if the continued struggle to control their powers was any indication of the elder's intent. She looked knowingly at Wyatt, "Do you really think the answer to my nightmares is in here?"

Wyatt tried to smile encouragingly, but failed as Julia continued to grin in that self-satisfied, I-know-you-better-than-you-know-you, way. "Okay, I don't really think their's something that will help in there, but you seem to believe in it. And from my experience when you believe in something you keep working at it till you get what you want."

Julia ran her hand once more over the hardened leather, then flipped the book open to a page midway through. Wyatt read aloud, "Banshee; a creature that feeds off the pain of tortured souls. How exactly does this relate to your nightmares?"

Julia rolled her eyes, "its not this page dorkus, it's the other side. Its stuck to the next page, and I can't seem to separate them. Its been bugging me forever, I can't steam them apart I can't pull them apart, its like its being held by magic."

Wyatt focused on the book. The pages hardly seemed stuck at all. It was almost as though it were one page, but it was far too thick. The edges formed together seamlessly, as if. . . "Maybe it is magic," he suggested. "Look, see how perfectly they're connected? Its almost like its one page, its just to thick. Maybe someone or something is trying to keep you from seeing these pages."

Julia inhaled deeply, raising her shoulders in an exaggerated motion. Her eyes locked on the bok as though mesmerized, her brow furrowed in concentration."I'm not sure." she looked up at him, determined, "but I know that whatever is on these pages is important, and I'm going to find out what it is." She shut the book and walked from the attic, leaving him to stare worryingly after her.

Author's Note: I know I haven't been keeping to my schedule, but I promise I'll be posting as often as I can. This chapter is a bit short and kinda lame, but it gets the point across. Really, who does remember what was on the other side of the banshee page, or who can guess after reading this?