"Come on Phoebe, Pammie! Get a move on!" Piper was rushing around trying to make it to an early morning merchants association meeting, and her two younger sisters weren't making it easy on her.
Pammie clambered down the stairs with Phoebe a few steps behind her.
"Geez, where's the fire?" Pammie grumbled as she pulled on her coat.
"Yeah, we didn't get the morning person genes you did." Phoebe echoed as she hurriedly stepped into her shoes.
Piper grimaced. "Its just that I have to get to a meeting, but before I can get there, first I have to drop you off at the gym, and then Pammie at the train station."
Just then Leo orbed in, the twinkling blue and white lights announcing his arrival. "Wow, it's a three ring circus in here. What about Prue? How come she's not driving?"
Piper looked at her husband as if he were daft. "Who's Prue?"
Pammie grabbed Piper by the elbow. "My usual ride. She's sick today. Come on, do you want to go or not?"
"Yes, yes! Out the door! Both of you now!" Piper shooed them out to the car, then turned her attention to Leo. "And you, meet me for lunch today around Noon, ok? Love you, bye!" And then she too was out the door.
Leo stood there a minute in total bewilderment. Then the door opened again. "Ok, you gonna explain that Prue crack-oh, hi, who are you? I thought that was going to be Piper."
Pammie stuck her head through the door and gazed up at the man. Leo raised a hand to his forehead in disorientation. Pammie smiled. "Just forgot my backpack. See ya Leo."
"Oh, see ya Pammie." The door banged shut again, and Leo stood there alone. Then he swung around at the sound of his name.
"Leo?" Claudia quietly stood in the parlor, having just come from the kitchen. "I came in through the backdoor."
"Oh, well you just missed them. In a big rush this morning I guess." Leo grinned sheepishly. "What are you doing here?"
Claudia gave him an appraising look. "Leo, have you noticed anything strange lately?" Leo looked blank. "Something strange about Pamela?"
"Pammie? Oh no, she's a good kid." Leo smiled. "Unless you're referring to the fact that she's getting to be more like Phoebe everyday."
"Mm-hmm. 'Sometimes seeing past your own nose is the difficult part.'" Leo repeated his uncomprehending stare, he wasn't used to Claudia's little sayings yet. "Leo, I wanted to talk to you in hopes that you wouldn't be affected. Pammie is not what she seems."
Leo joined her in the next room, and they sat down on the sofas, as Claudia continued. "Pamela is not the youngest Halliwell. She's not a Halliwell at all. Don't you remember Prue?"
Leo was working on perfecting his blank stare. Claudia sighed in consternation. "Leo, remember! Prue is the oldest sister. Piper next, then Phoebe. There should be no Pammie! I came to Phoebe yesterday because I had a feeling, and at the time my meditation couldn't tell me what it was. But last night at midnight it all became clear. Pamela has somehow taken Prue's place. Don't you remember anything child?"
Leo slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry Claudia. I just don't understand what you're saying. Are you telling me that little Pammie is a demon?"
"No, not a demon." Claudia shook her head, "But she is a warlock. I'm sensing evil in the guise of good. Pamela has somehow cast a spell that displaced Prue, and planted herself in her place."
"Claudia, I know I only met you a few months ago, and I like you, I do; but I've known Pammie for the past three years. She's not a warlock, she's a teenaged girl." Then looking up toward the ceiling in an odd manner, he continued, "And I'm sorry, but I've got to go. Can you let yourself out?"
Claudia stared at him in aggravation, but she nodded her head. Then he was gone in a shimmer of blue lights. "'Blindness can be catching if you're not watching for it.'" She sighed. "Well if their own White Lighter won't even listen, I guess this one is up to me." Rising from her chair, she headed for the door. "Sarta has got to have something that will help."
"It has to be some sort of talisman or amulet. There is no way that she'd be able to blind the Charmed Ones without the help of a powerful charm." Sarta concluded. Claudia had relayed the whole story to her, and she, Claudia and Celia were in the bookstore discussing a plan of attack.
"That's it!" Claudia exclaimed. "Pamela has a charm bracelet that she wears on her left hand. That must be what she's using to cloud the girl's minds."
"OK, but how do we get Piper and Phoebe to believe us?" Celia asked. About the same age as the Halliwell sisters, Celia had met them at the same time as Sarta, Claudia and the rest; and thanks to her power to 'Shield' herself and others from the eyes of the forces of evil, she had been instrumental in their rescue from the dream dimension. "I mean, if Pammie has them so deep under her spell that they've totally forgotten about the Power of Three, and they truly believe that she is their youngest sister, how are we going to convince them?"
Claudia gave her a speculative look. "Well my dear, that is where your talents will come in handy. 'There's no shame in using a key for what it was intended.' But first we have to figure out how to vanquish Pamela without harming Prue…"
Celia looked at her quizzically, but started to nod her head as Claudia explained her plan.
"Geez, since when did locking the damned door become such a priority?" Pammie snarled as she tried her key again, and leaned heavily against the Manor's front door. As soon as Piper had dropped her off at the train station, she had waited for a bus to take her back to Prescott Street.
"If I could fly, I could have gotten here much faster, and not have had to sit next to that smelly man." She wrinkled her nose, but then laughed as the door swung open. "Of course, once I have Phoebe's 'Levitation' power, I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out!"
Dropping her backpack on the floor, she raced up the flights of stairs leading to the attic. Noticing that she was not at all winded, she smiled to herself. "Well, having this godforsaken adolescent body does have some advantages afterall…"
She slammed open the attic door and gazed in triumph at the large book sitting on its pedestal. She could hardly contain her glee as she practically skipped into the room. "Heh, I feel like I should be cackling right about now." She aloud said as she reached out to pick up the old family grimoire.
Then she snatched her hand back hastily, and looked around in alarm as the book moved of its own volition and landed on the floor. Hesitantly, she reached for it again, and once more the Book of Shadows jumped just out of her reach. She roared in fury, "Alright you blasted thing! Stop playing around!" From a standing position she leaped at the book, as if to tackle it, but only managed to crash to the floor in a sprawl, as the book once more skittered across the floor. Narrowing her pretty brown eyes, her adorable face contorted into a picture of rage. "Fine then. Be that way. I'll have you soon enough. Just two more nights, and I'll rip those delicate pages one by one from your flaming little spine!"
Realizing then that she was addressing a book, she grunted and dusted herself off as she rose to her feet. It didn't matter; so far her plan was working. All she needed to do was keep the two remaining Halliwell sisters under her thrall for three nights, and Prue would be gone forever-along with all their memories of ever having an older sister. Then, with their ties to the Charmed legacy severed forever, she would be able to steal their powers in true warlock fashion.
She gave one more glance to the book, then turned on her heel and sauntered out the door. She smiled wickedly as she looked forward to the day that she would bring down the Charmed Ones. Just two more nights and she could return to her regular body; this one was useful she supposed, but having to carry around that stupid little backpack and listen to Pop music was annoying her to no end.
She paused then on the last step; there was only one thing she had to watch out for, and that was making any physical contact with Phoebe, the true youngest Halliwell. Phoebe's power of 'Premonition' would be enough to lift the veil from their eyes and expose her true nature. Pammie shrugged as she resumed her descent; no teenager likes their space invaded, and she could milk that easily enough. Her new sisters were putty in her hands.