I am so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. Any college student can relate to class work piling up and then moving back home and job hunting and dealing with parents….etc. I hope that you can forgive me for not updating as often as when I first started this out. Even if I make you wait this long again, please do check on me every once and a while until you see this labeled as "Complete." If not, then something is on the way, just maybe not as quickly.
And with no further excuses and babbling, here is the update you've been waiting for. Please enjoy.
Prudence Marian Halliwell, aged 17
All day long, Prue could feel her temperature rise and her vision blur. At first, she attributed her feelings to skipping breakfast; she had simply not been hungry that morning and had left for school early. By third period English she found herself drifting off while reading Shakespeare. So, Prue convinced herself that she would perk up after lunch. But just smelling the cafeteria food made her feel nauseous and she only got down an apple and some iced tea.
When it came time for physical education, Prue finally acknowledged that she was coming down with something. It couldn't be blamed on her period; she probably just had a bug or something. As luck would have it, her cousin Chris was in the same gym class.
"You look like the Underworld warmed over," he commented as they met up after changing into uniforms.
"I'm too wobbly to even dignify that with a response," Prue muttered.
Chris' smirk disappeared from his face and was replaced with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Just a stomach flu, I think. It just hit me."
"Why don't you sit out today?"
"Do you remember who our teacher is?"
There was a reason for the stereotypes of gym teachers. Mr. Caldwell kept the stereotype of driven, uptight, and never accepting excuses type teacher going strong.
"Then take it as easy as possible. And then go home after this, you look like a lower level demon could take you out."
"You're really helping, Chris. Thanks."
By then, the two had joined the rest of their classmates who assembled in front of their terror of a teacher.
"Suicides!" he barked. "Go."
Suppressing groans—it would only enrage their teacher—the students lined up and set off to running back and forth, using the different lines on the gym floor as a guide. Suicides, also known as the shuttle run, were aptly named. Prue ignored the others around her and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Had it been straight running, she might not have had as many difficulties, but having to bend down to touch the line over and over was taking a toll.
"Halliwell! Faster!"
Chris was at least three lines ahead of her, so she knew that the comment was meant for her. With visible effort, she pushed up her speed, but apparently not enough.
"Halliwell! If you don't speed up, you'll be doing these all period!"
The shouted rebuke echoed in Prue's ears, and then she experienced a slip of concentration. Suddenly, the world was sideways and she couldn't figure out why.
PANIC
Concern
Disgust/hatred
Whirling
Sympathy
As multiple hands reached out to Prue, she felt a hurricane of emotions break over her mind. Prue's empathy had never caused problems for her; in fact, it had been carefully controlled from the beginning since Phoebe insisted on teaching all of her daughters basic meditation, and more advanced techniques for Prue when that power did emerge.
Now, the unconscious shielding that Prue practiced every day was whipped away like a feather on the wind, exposing her to her classmates' raw emotions.
"Prue? Prue, wake up…"
Through the wall of teenage angst and alarm, Prue dimly heard a solid voice: Chris.
"Shields, gone," she whispered brokenly, her eyes closed to slits in pain.
She saw Chris' eyes widen in shock before watching him get pulled from her side by Mr. Caldwell.
"Halliwell, lie still," he said brusquely. "Everyone else, get back."
As soon as the teacher's hand made contact with Prue's forehead, she felt a rush of darkness, fear, and struggle impact her close to shattering mind. Prue cried out and tried to roll away from that wretched touch.
"Halliwell, stay back!" Caldwell barked to Chris who had come forward to aid his cousin. "Go get the nurse."
Prue heard another voice volunteer to go instead, followed by footsteps and the surge of purpose that came with a scared teen that was given something productive to do to re-focus her energy.
Chris must have defied Caldwell because Prue felt his hand on her arm and the rush of concern/protection that came with her cousin's touch.
"I'm not leaving her," Chris said firmly. He turned back to Prue. "Can you stand?"
Locking her gaze on Chris' face as an anchor, Prue nodded shakily. Chris kept his hand where it was and moved the other to her back, easing Prue to her feet and draping one arm around his shoulders.
"I'm walking her to the nurse and then I'm calling her parents to take her home," Chris told Caldwell in tones that brooked no dissention, even from a teacher.
As they walked away, Prue was still feeling everyone else's emotions. Among the still present panic—though it was dying down—Prue felt a flash of angry disappointment.
"I think he's trouble…" she muttered.
"He's just an ass," Chris assured her.
"No…there was something more…"
Not only did Prue hear Chris' dismissal of her words, she felt it in every fiber of her being. That brush off spiraled into doubt in Prue's thoughts. Could she just be hallucinating? Reading evil intentions in a teacher's surly disposition? Her twisted mindset was a feed-back loop, a cycle that only compounded itself.
And continued contact with Chris was not helping matters. His concern was now overwhelming her, but she knew she couldn't stand on her own. Not only that, but his frustration was building to the point that Prue could almost read his thoughts. He was royally pissed off at Caldwell, anxious about her lack of shields, worried about how much longer she could last, and frustrated that he couldn't just orb her home without notice.
And all the while, Prue was also picking up on the entire student body's chaotic emotions. Test anxiety, heartbreak, friendship drama, infatuation, rivalry, success, failure… She flinched at every turn, eyes closed in pain, with a death grip on Chris arm.
After Chris bullied his way to the nurse and through Phoebe's secretary via phone, some of his emotions lessened, so Prue suspected that her mother was on the way and none too soon. Luckily for Prue, the release of tension in Chris was due to Phoebe's permission for him to take Prue home himself. It was enough for the nurse and principal, so Chris waited until the coast was clear and orbed the two of them directly to Prue's bedroom.
Prue dry-swallowed cold medicine—it was likely that the breach of her powers was tied to her sickness—and isolated herself in bed. Chris had closed the curtains, killed the lights, and plied her with cold, wet washcloths for the headache. He left her alone after surrounding her room with crystals spelled to keep out emotions, though he wouldn't leave the house until Phoebe came home.
After some indefinable time for Prue, she felt the strong beacon of her mother's emotions, as familiar to Prue as her own emotional center.
Prue whimpered slightly as her mother came closer. Phoebe must have correctly interpreted the whimper and paused. The crystals could keep emotions from outside the room out, but had no effect on any emotion found inside the room. Prue felt the renewed strength in her mother's shields and blissfully felt alone in her mind once more.
"Sweetie, is that better?"
"Yeah. I don't know how this happened…"
"If our powers are tied to our emotions, it makes sense that they are also tied to our well-being."
"Mom, I have to tell you about my teacher—"
"Chris told me what you said. Honey, you could have just misinterpreted what you felt and there were so many other people around—"
"I know that I can be wrong!" Prue screamed in frustration. "But I've never felt that from anyone else before and even if I'm not understanding the details, I know that something is wrong!"
Rather than prolong the argument, Phoebe had left her daughter without a satisfactory conclusion. Prue slipped into a patchy sleep due to the mounting fever. In moments of wakefulness, she either forced liquids and medication down her throat or attempted meditation. She had the room to herself since Tris had grabbed days worth of clothing and was sleeping on the floor of Nellie's room. In sporadic moments, just as she was drifting in between dreaming and waking, she could swear that she felt that same dark and complicated presence. And yet each time, it would vanish just as she would fully wake up.
Within the next day, Prue had her shields back up and felt like she had kicked the worst of the cold off. She hadn't mentioned the dark presence she had felt to her family even though she was now certain of its authenticity. Instead of going through the arguing and disbelief, Prue snuck over the Manor to read the Book of Shadows and then brewed several potions.
She kept several vials with her on her first day back at school. She had put herself on such a high alert, scanning for the presence and waiting for its move that all she needed was the barest hint of panic to spur her into action.
The panic came from Melinda, a freshman at the same high school with Prue and Chris. Prue could read any of her cousins like a neon sign and knew that this was the type of panic that came with demon attacks.
Prue raced for the competition gym, sending a call to Chris as she ran.
She arrived to a scene that she had expected and dreaded: Mr. Caldwell was in the process of strangling her cousin. Without a second's hesitation, Prue kept running and tackled her teacher to the ground, freeing Melinda to stagger away for a few feet, heaving to intake oxygen. Caldwell turned his attentions to Prue with an evil glint in his eyes.
Prue hurled the first vial of potion at her teacher just as Chris burst into the gym. The man shuddered once, and then fell to the ground, leaving behind a shadowy form of a demon. Prue was consider herself lucky later on that Chris was quick to recognize the possessing demon and moved to back Prue up.
"This is for thinking that you could kill me off while I was sick!" Prue spat angrily and threw the vial with the second potion, vanquishing the demon.
Chris rushed to his sister and helped her to her feet.
"You okay?"
"Sorta," the young teen replied hoarsely. "I think I'll fake a cold and say that Prue got me sick so I can go home."
"Just take the rest of the period off and take a walk. You shouldn't get in the habit of skipping school every time you get attacked by a demon," Prue semi-lectured.
Chris gave Prue a long, measuring look which Prue returned fearlessly.
"I'm sorry," Chris finally said. "I should have listened to you when you said that something was wrong."
"Yes. You should have," Prue agreed, not letting him off the hook.
"What do we do about him?" Melinda asked, gesturing to the still unconscious Mr. Caldwell.
"Get out of here before he wakes up," Prue answered, leading the other two out of the gym.
Once they were alone, Chris turned to Prue again. "What are the odds that he becomes a better teacher now that he's not possessed by a demon?"
"I may not have premonitions like my sister," Prue said. "But I'd say the chances are slim to none."