Wow, it's finally Thursday. It's been such a long week. My poor kitty passed away on Friday and my students are bouncing off the wall and need a nice long summer vacation (as do I!!) I hope your week went better than mine did.
Thank you so much to Mom2Pooh-n-Nu, patricia02052 and lizardmomma for the reviews. I really appreciate reading what you've thought about my story. This chapter is longer than the last two, so I hope it's a better length for you to read.
---
Piper stepped back, with the bloody knife held tightly at her side, and glared at Prue. Prue's mouth dropped open as she gingerly touched the wound on her shoulder. She turned and faced Piper in disbelief.
"Oh, my god!" Phoebe gasped. She leapt up from the table and kicked the knife out of Piper's hand. Piper stared at the crimson liquid dripping to the floor from Prue's shoulder. She had expected the demons to bleed a different colour than red. They didn't usually bleed the same as humans.
Leo quickly pulled Prue aside and began healing her shoulder. "Are you ok?" Phoebe asked Prue as she wrapped her arms around Piper to keep her from going after the knife.
"I'm fine," Prue replied, trying not to panic. "Everything's fine. We have to agree not to say anything about this to anyone at the hospital though." Phoebe nodded and gently ran her hand over Piper's hair.
"It's all right, honey," she soothed. "We know you didn't mean it." Piper stepped back angrily, pulling away from Phoebe's embrace.
"It's ok, Piper. I'm fine," said Prue. "Look, only Whitelighters can heal, right?" She watched Piper hopefully. Piper rolled her eyes and pushed her way out of the kitchen.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Prue inquired, looking in Leo's direction. Leo shrugged.
"Not necessarily," he replied timidly. Prue sighed and crossed her arms. "Don't rush her, Prue. She'll figure it out eventually."
"Hopefully sooner rather than later," Phoebe grimaced as she picked the knife up off of the floor and placed it in the kitchen sink. "Maybe we should Piper-proof the manor before we bring her home again." She smiled weakly and looked around.
"I'm going to check on her," said Leo as he turned to leave the room. "You girls finish with dinner and I'll keep Piper preoccupied." The girls nodded and resumed the meal preparation.
Leo walked over to the staircase and closed his eyes, focusing on Piper's energy. He could sense how angry she was and where she'd wandered off to. He slowly opened the front door of the manor and looked down at Piper. She was sitting on the top step with her arms wrapped around her knees.
Without a word, Leo sat on the top step, leaving a few feet of distance between the two of them. He sat completely silent, enjoying the feeling of sitting next to Piper again. Piper looked over at him for a moment then looked out at the street. She waited for him to say something to break the silence, but he remained mute.
The two of them sat silently together on the front stoop for almost an hour. Leo finally looked over at Piper and broke the silence.
"I think dinner is ready," he said softly. "You ready to go in and eat something?" Piper continued to stare out at the street, refusing to respond in any way.
"Well," Leo grunted as he stood up and stretched. "I'm going to head in and eat. You can come join us whenever you're ready. We won't force you to talk to us or anything. We just want to feed you."
Piper looked back at the front door of the manor as Leo disappeared behind it. She considered staying where she was, but she really wasn't that comfortable. She was getting quite hungry as well.
After thinking it over, she stood up and walked into the manor. She wandered slowly into the dining room and looked around at the table. The girls had prepared an elaborate dinner especially for Piper.
She walked around the table to a chair that wasn't very close to anyone and sat down. She tried not to smile as she looked at her table setting. Each of them had colourful plastic cups and plastic utensils, rather than glass and stainless steel. Everything at the table was child-friendly; and apparently, Piper-safe as well.
---
Piper stepped out of her room and looked around at the psych ward corridor. The ward was a great deal quieter after visiting hours. Many of the patients headed to their rooms or sat in front of the TV once their friends and family went home.
Piper crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall, staring longingly at the fire door. She knew that if she could reach it, she could escape, but their always seemed to be someone nearby that could stop her. Odin and Loki seemed to have created the perfect prison with no way for her to escape.
She could see Mason, the psych tech, doing his round of checks of each of the rooms. He smiled at her as he walked passed and continued making his way down the corridor. Piper walked casually behind him and made her way to the end of the corridor, next to the fire door. She stared out of the window and listened as Mason continued his checks behind her.
"What's up, Piper?" Mason asked. He leaned against the window once he was finished his checks. Piper shrugged and continued to stare out the window. "You're not thinking of running again, are you?"
Piper frowned and looked at him questioningly. "No," she grumbled defensively. "What, I can't look out a window now?" Mason smiled.
"Of course you can," Mason replied cheerfully. "I just thought it was curious that you would choose this window." Piper rolled her eyes and shot him an annoyed look. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to your window gazing. Don't get into any trouble."
Piper watched as Mason walked back the way he came and disappeared into Sheila's office, no doubt to tell Sheila about Piper. When Piper was absolutely certain she wasn't being watched by anyone nearby, she shot through the fire door and took off running.
The moment the fire door opened an alarm began to ring. Piper ran up the stairs and pushed through the door to the next floor, hoping Mason and the rest of the psych ward staff would assume she would go downstairs. She was still wearing her street shoes from her home visit, so she wasn't wearing slippers that would give her away. Besides the hospital bracelet on her wrist, there was no way of knowing she was a patient.
As she walked quickly through the corridor, an announcement came over the speaker system throughout the hospital alerting everyone of her escape. Piper cursed under her breath and sped toward the door leading out of the ward she was in. When she approached the door, the door slammed closed and the lock clicked shut, preventing her from leaving. The bracelet around her wrist had a small microchip that forced the hospital doors locked if she was placed on alert.
Piper rolled her eyes and ducked into an empty room. She hid in one of the corners of the room and tried to pull the bracelet off. Unable to get it off, she looked around the room for something she could use to cut through the plastic. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the room that would work.
She cautiously moved toward the door of the room and looked around for something she could use to remove the bracelet. Across the corridor from the room she was in was a small janitorial closet. She ducked into the janitorial closet without catching anyone's attention and closed the door.
Using a utility knife, she cut off the bracelet and tossed it in the garbage on the janitor's trolley. She grabbed the janitor's uniform from the back of the door and put it on. She curled her hair around her hand and tucked it under the janitor's hat and pushed his trolley into the corridor. No one gave her a second glance as she stepped into the elevator with the trolley and headed toward the first floor.
With her head hunched over, she pushed the trolley out of the elevator, walked toward the front exit, and stepped outside, leaving the trolley at the door. She continued to walk quickly around the building and into an alley before discarding the janitor's clothes next to one of the hospital's back doors and taking off into the street.
----
Sheila paced anxiously around her office with her cell phone at her ear. She had already called Daryl to keep an eye out for Piper and had the security guards reviewing the security tapes from each ward to see where Piper had gotten to.
"I don't know how she could have left the building," Sheila explained. "Her bracelet should have kept her from getting far."
"It's all right, Sheila," Phoebe comforted. "As soon as we contact Leo, we'll get him to see if he can locate her. I'm sure she'll be ok." Prue walked into the manor's kitchen and looked at Phoebe questioningly. Phoebe finished her conversation with Sheila and flipped her cell phone closed.
"What's up?" Prue asked. She placed her elbows on the island and looked up at Phoebe.
"Piper ran away," Phoebe replied. "She got out using the fire exit and somehow disappeared somewhere in the hospital." Prue stood up straight and placed her hands on the island.
"They don't know where she is?" Prue gasped. "Was she taken again!?"
Phoebe shook her head and explained Piper's earlier escape. Prue listened intently, every muscle in her body completely tense. As soon as Phoebe stopped speaking, she immediately shouted Leo's name. Phoebe cringed and clasped her hands over her ears.
Leo orbed into the room and looked at each sister. "What happened?" he asked.
"Piper's run away," replied Prue. "Can you sense her?" Leo stood still for a moment and focused on Piper.
"She's in a crowd of people," Leo explained, keeping his eyes closed. "…I think she's on a bus."
"So I'm guessing that orbing isn't an option," Phoebe groaned. "Can you tell where she's headed?"
"It looks familiar," Leo continued. "She just got off near a beach. It looks like Seal Rocks State Beach."
"Is she alone?" Prue asked. Leo nodded and held out his hands, inviting the girls to orb with him.
They orbed onto a large, rocky ledge overlooking the ocean. Piper was sitting alone with her legs crossed looking out at the vast expanse of blue water.
"I knew you'd come," she sighed, defeated. She stood up and turned to look at them. Prue caught a glimpse of the utility knife in Piper's hand.
"Piper, come on," Phoebe begged. "Let's go home."
"Why won't you leave me alone?" Piper growled. "I told you, I'm not giving them to you. Just kill me and get it over with already." Phoebe cupped her hand over her mouth and took a step back.
"What do they want from you?" Prue asked calmly, hoping to get Piper to settle down enough to get the knife away from her. She could see Piper's hands shaking at her sides.
"We don't want anything from you, sweetie," Phoebe soothed. "We just want you to come home."
Piper rolled her eyes and slid the blade out of the utility knife with her thumb. Prue swung out her arm and sent the utility knife flying. It went over the cliff and disappeared into the surf. Piper took a step back, inching her way closer to the edge of the ridge.
"Oh my god, Prue," Phoebe gasped, realizing that her sister was threatening to step over the ledge. Leo moved forward to stop Piper, but realized his mistake when Piper took another step back.
Piper stared each of them in the eye and took another step back. Her heel dangled dangerously over the ledge. She clenched her fists to keep her hands from shaking and took a deep breath before lifting her other foot and stepping over the edge.
Phoebe screamed and bolted toward Piper. Prue threw her arm out and sent Piper flying toward them and away from the edge of the ridge. Piper landed hard on the stone surface and rolled a few feet before lying in a motionless heap. Phoebe and Leo rushed to Piper's side. Phoebe pulled Piper into her arms and cradled her tightly against her torso. Leo took Piper's hands and held them between his own.
"Is she ok?" Prue asked as she ran toward them.
"I think so," Phoebe whimpered. "I think she hit her head." Leo ran his fingers through Piper's hair and examined the laceration along her hairline. "What are we going to do, Prue? I don't know how we can help her." She watched as Leo's hand began to glow over Piper's forehead.
"I don't know," Prue sighed.
Piper's eyes fluttered open and she looked around, allowing the disorientation to subside. Phoebe could feel every muscle in Piper's body tense as she realized where she was. Piper pushed away from Phoebe and Leo and tried to run but Prue grabbed her by the arm before she could get far. Piper fell to the ground and fought with Prue, trying her hardest to get away.
Prue pulled Piper into a tight embrace, keeping Piper from being able to use her arms and limiting her ability to fight back. She kept holding Piper as she kicked and screamed and wriggled in an attempt to free herself. Finally, after putting up a good fight, she gave up and dropped to her knees.
"Please let me go," Piper sobbed hopelessly. Prue released her hold on Piper and knelt beside her, gently rubbing her shoulders.
"I'm so sorry, honey," Prue whispered. "I don't know what they did to you. We want you to be able to trust us, but I don't know what to do. We don't want you to disappear again. We've missed you so much." She could feel herself breaking down. Her eyes burned as she fought back her tears.
Piper choked back a few sobs before bowing her head and closing her eyes. "I can't take it anymore," she whimpered. "Just take them. You can have my stupid powers."
---
All right. I've given you six pages to last you until next week. I hope that's long enough to tide you over. : ) Enjoy your week!! Don't forget to review if you like what you read.