Chapter II
Where have all the 'Lighters gone?
"What?" Phoebe asked softly.
He was looking at her with a dreamy expression.
"Oh just thinking, who needs heaven?"
She smiled ruefully as she cuddled closer.
"Really?"
"Hum, right now, definitely…"
She felt so perfectly safe in his arms, that sometimes she managed to forget altogether about the demons, warlocks and whatnot that plagued their lives. She particularly enjoyed this sensation of oneness that came so readily when they made love. Even before she had the dreams about them, she already believed that they had always been destined to be. There was no other explanation for the complete and so perfect understanding that they had.
They hardly needed to talk, as a simple look would tell them more than any word. Or a simple touch for that matter…
He was pulling her closer, holding her face up to him, and kissing her gently at first, then more and more wanting, as his hands left her face to explore her body, slowly, almost agonizingly, she thought. Before long, she was pulling him to her, not wanting to wait a moment longer.
After they were spent, basking in their lovemaking, he just stayed on her while looking at her with such adoration, she knew that no one had ever loved her as much as he did. She also was certain that she could never love anyone as much as she loved him.
"How did I ever get so lucky?"
She caressed his face softly:
"I'm the lucky one."
He smiled sweetly:
"Are we going to argue now?"
She giggled:
"I don't think that we will ever find out who's the luckiest, let's agree on a draw," she whispered.
He pulled her to him as he lied back down.
"Promise that you'll never leave me." She said more seriously, as she rested her head on his chest.
"I could never leave you…" Then, he added playfully, "how could I? I'm under you spell, you enchantress."
She laughed:
"And you better never forget it."
Paige was a little nervous, even though she felt that she was perfectly safe with Matthew. They had just driven all the way to his apartment complex in silence, and maybe that's what bothered her. He didn't seem himself tonight. She suddenly believed that she knew exactly why, and she couldn't help a certain excitement at this.
He turned to her with a hesitant smile, convincing her even more that he had not simply wanted to talk.
"I hope that you don't mind coming here?" He asked, maybe a little anxiously, she thought.
"Of course not." She answered with a bright smile.
For a fleeting moment, she thought that she had seen him frown, but soon he smiled back, and she dismissed it.
He gallantly opened the door for her. He was always so attentive, she thought again. Most of her former boyfriends had been nice enough, but none of them had given her this sensation of belonging. It felt right to be here, and she pushed any apprehension away, as they were walking hand in hand to his apartment complex.
They were almost at the door when a surprising arrival had her gasping…
At the Turners', Phoebe was almost asleep, when she heard the baby crying. She sighed and looked toward Cole, with a little irritation, as he was already asleep. She had thought that the baby would be sleeping the rest of the night, at least what little of it there was left, but obviously it wasn't to be the case. So she got up reluctantly and went to his room. Obviously, he had only needed a little attention, since he went back to sleep almost as soon as she was in the room. On her way back, she noticed that Paige's door was opened, and she remembered what she had said about the laundry. As quietly as she could, for she thought that Paige must be asleep, she went in the room and was surprised not to find Paige there.
She dismissed it quickly however, thinking that her and Matthew must still be downstairs. She went to pick up the basket that she had spotted, and a vision began the moment she touched it…
'Paige was in front of an apartment building with two identical men, both looking like her boyfriend Matthew. Only one of them wore dark clothing and smiled cruelly toward the other two. Suddenly he threw a pinch of black powder toward them, and they fell to the ground heavily. The dark clothed man bent toward Paige, and as soon as he touched her, they both disappeared in a cloud of black orbs.'
Phoebe gasped. She turned around quickly, running downstairs in the hope that she had been right about her sister being home, but of her, she found no trace. Then, she started to panic…
Leo and Coleridge had been looking everywhere around town for their whitelighter friend, but for some reason, they couldn't detect him at all.
"How could he have disappeared so completely?"
Coleridge:
"I really don't know, and frankly, I'm beginning to be seriously worried."
Leo:
"I think that at this point, we might need some help…"
Coleridge looked at him curiously:
"From whom?"
Leo:
"Why, Cole of course."
Coleridge:
"Ah well… I have a feeling that my son might just begin to think that us, whitelighters, have a bad tendency to get lost…"
He smiled at his own cleverness, in spite of the seriousness of the situation.
Leo:
"If he tries to say something," he replied with a little side look to his friend, "I'll just have to remind him of a certain ex-boyfriend…"
Before orbing to the house, Coleridge added:
"You know, one of these days, these little games of yours might get you in troubles. I won't get between you two, that's for sure…"
Leo giggled, unconcerned, before orbing out in turn.
Paige looked at both men in total astonishment. They looked exactly the same, and she was immediately reminded of Phoebe's story.
Turning toward the dark clothed man, she asked hesitantly:
"Nicholas?"
This one started at hearing his name.
"How the hell?"
He wasn't the only one surprised:
Matthew:
"What are you doing here? Leave us alone."
Nicholas rapidly got his countenance back:
"I can't do that, not after all the time I've waited for this. I've just hit the jackpot, why shouldn't I take it?"
He had decided to figure out later how she could know of him. At this point, he had worked out that Jacob must have failed in his attempt, since he had not reappeared after all this time. This meant that the other whitelighters were still a threat to him, and stood between him and his goal. He had counted on more time to seduce her, but the circumstances being what they were, he had decided to use more expedient means. "She'll come around soon enough," he thought confidently. "After all, I was always the better man. What would she want with this pale imitation of one," he continued for himself, looking disdainfully toward his still dumbfounded brother.
Before they could protest anymore, he used the same powder that he had used on him to render them unconscious, and then took what he felt was rightfully his: Paige…"
Coleridge and Leo didn't bother to announce themselves, and orbed in their living room. However, they had not expected the level of activity that they found.
Phoebe had not lost any time. As soon as she had realized the danger her sister was in, she called Piper. This one had been asleep and didn't understand what Phoebe was talking about at first.
"What are you saying? Two Matthew?"
Phoebe:
"I didn't say that they were both Matthew, just that they were identical. Except that one of them is a darklighter…"
That woke Piper right up:
"A Darklighter?"
Phoebe:
"Come on, we have to do something, and soon…"
Piper:
"I'll be there in a moment."
Phoebe hung up and dialed another number right away:
Paul answered sleepily:
"Yes?"
Phoebe:
"You offered to baby-sit at any time, didn't you?"
Paul:
"I suppose that you have some kind of an emergency?"
Phoebe:
"Yes, I think that Paige is in great danger…"
Paul didn't need more:
"I'll be right there."
He appeared beside her in his robe, and she jumped:
"Oh please, give some warning will you?"
Paul grinned:
"I said that I'd be right there…"
She was about to go get Cole, when Leo and Cole's father orbed in as well.
Leo:
"Oh good, I was afraid that we would have to wake you up. Where is Cole, we need to talk to him…"
Phoebe:
"Take your turn. Right now I need him too, and it takes priority…"
Leo:
"What are you talking about?"
Phoebe:
"Paige is in trouble."
Leo was immediately alert:
"What kind of trouble?"
Phoebe, impatiently:
"The darklighter kind… I don't know why, but she was, or is about to be kidnapped by a darklighter…"
Leo tried to find her with his whitelighter senses, but he could find no trace of her.
"Uh, oh…"
Phoebe:
"What?"
Leo:
"I can't feel her, at all… Where was she? Wasn't she here with you, earlier?"
Phoebe sighed:
"I think that she went out with her boyfriend, Matthew…"
Coleridge:
"Matthew?"
Phoebe saw that they needed to hear the whole thing, and besides, Piper was still not there, so she described her vision to them.
A look of understanding dawned on both their faces, and puzzled Phoebe even more:
"What is it?"
Leo:
"I think that I have an idea on what is happening, but I will need more details…Where did you say that they were?"
Phoebe:
"Wait, Paige wrote his address here," she said, picking up the address book, sitting by the phone.
"I can't be sure of course, but it would make sense that he brought her there…"
Coleridge:
"We looked there earlier and he wasn't home…"
Phoebe:
"You know who he is?"
Leo:
"Now yes…"
Without any more explanations, he orbed out, soon followed by Coleridge, leaving Paul and Phoebe in the dark.
"What the?"
She motioned irritably, then shrugged and climbed the stairs at last.
Piper entered the house without knocking at this moment, a look of panic on her face.
Paul:
"Phoebe just went upstairs to get Cole, and your husband was just here…"
Piper:
"He was? Where did he go?"
Paul:
"As far as I know, he went where you are supposed to be going as well… Don't ask me. I am in the dark as to what is really happening here…" He added, when she looked at him in puzzlement.
Phoebe and Cole came downstairs after only a minute, and he didn't lose time before flashing them to the apartment building.
There, they found Coleridge and Leo bending over Matthew, who was still unconscious.
Phoebe:
"Paige?"
Leo turned to her sadly:
"She was already gone when we arrived, I'm sorry…"
Cole:
"What about him? What's wrong with him?"
Coleridge:
"We have no idea, he simply seems asleep, but he won't wake up…"
Phoebe asked suspiciously:
"How is it that you know him?"
Leo:
"Huh, well… He is a whitelighter…"
Cole:
"Unbelievable…"
Phoebe:
"You mean to say that our little sister was seeing a whitelighter and, what, she didn't know it?"
Leo:
"To be very honest, neither did we. The Elders never told us that he had anything to do with Paige…"
Piper:
"What a surprise!"
Leo gave her a little sheepish look.
"We were as much in the dark as you were… They sent us to find him without giving us this little detail…"
Piper couldn't help it, as lack of sleep and fear rendered her irritable:
"Hey, how does it feel?"
Leo:
"Come on Piper, they must have had a good reason."
Piper:
"As usual…"
She wasn't going to become more reasonable about it.
"Don't they know by now that it's always better to tell us about this stuff? And really, I don't understand. A few weeks ago, Paige orbed him home and he reacted as if he was scared…"
Leo:
"She what?"
Piper:
"Long story, there is no time for it now. Can you find her?"
Leo shook his head sideways dejectedly.
"Anyone has any idea on what we're supposed to do now?"
Cole:
"I'd start by asking this one…"
He answered, indicating Matthew, who was now moaning.
Coleridge thought that he heard him mention Paige and he came closer, still trying to shake him awake.
Matthew was still moaning, but not waking up:
"Paige, bring me Paige…"
Coleridge:
"What does that mean?"
Leo:
"What did you say that you saw in your vision?"
Phoebe:
"The Darklighter threw something at them and they fell to the ground…"
Coleridge:
"A dark powder?"
Phoebe:
"Yes, that's it…"
Leo:
"No wonder we couldn't find him…"
The two whitelighters were exchanging knowing looks, and Phoebe intervened:
"Hey, you're not doing this to us again. What is going on?"
Coleridge:
"That's a darklighter spell. It kept him from orbing anywhere, and he most probably was talked into bringing Paige here…"
Cole:
"And the darklighter? Why did he look like him?"
But even before they answered, he thought of something:
"No, that can't be…"
Phoebe and Piper seemed to be thinking the same thing, as they turned to him.
Leo:
"I don't know what you are talking about, but he didn't have to make himself look like Matthew. They are twin brothers…"
Piper:
"No matter, now we have to find Paige…That is all we should be thinking about… The rest," she said, looking purposefully toward her husband, " we'll discuss later…"
Leo:
"I don't know how, he must have used the same spell on her. And we cannot feel where they went."
Phoebe:
"Maybe Paul could help, he found you the last time, didn't he?"
Cole:
"And who is going to baby-sit?"
Phoebe:
"You…"
Cole:
"Oh no, you don't. I'm not letting you go by yourself…"
Phoebe made him a face:
"It's my sister, and we can defend ourselves."
He still hesitated.
Phoebe:
"Trust me?" She added.
Cole:
"Promise me that you'll be careful…."
Phoebe smiled:
"Always…"
Cole:
"Now, why doesn't it reassure me?"
Phoebe:
"Ok now, you go…"
He sighed and flashed out.
Paul appeared soon after, more properly attired.
"Your husband wasn't really happy at staying behind."
Phoebe:
"Doesn't matter now, we need your help to find this darklighter…"
Paul:
"Let me give it a try."
He went beside Matthew, as they indicated that it must have been the last place the darklighter stood upon.
For a few minutes he concentrated intensely, but afterward he turned to them with a puzzled expression.
"I can't feel a thing. As a matter of fact, you say that this one is a whitelighter?"
Leo:
"Yes…"
Paul:
"Well, for all I can sense, he could be a log…"
Coleridge:
"It must be the spell."
Paul:
"What spell?"
Leo explained to him.
"Oh well, then it will take a little longer." Then he added to himself:
"That explains it…"
Phoebe, anxiously:
"What?"
Paul:
"Why I couldn't track him the last time either."
Leo:
"I didn't think that it worked on darklighters."
Paul:
"Not in the same manner. Moreover, it's only good to prevent me from tracking his orbing. If he was in the vicinity, you could still feel him."
Piper:
"For all the good that it does to us now…"
Paul:
"Don't worry, it will wear off soon, and now that I know this, I will find him…Eventually."
Phoebe:
"Meanwhile, who knows what he is doing to our sister?"
They all suddenly harbored grim expressions.
Paige woke up in what she thought was Matthew's apartment. She was very confused, as she didn't remember coming in, let alone falling asleep.
She looked around and spotted Matthew, sitting on a chair nearby. As soon as he noticed that she was awake, he smiled.
"Hey sleeping beauty. I thought that you'd never wake up…"
Paige:
"How long have I been asleep."
In reality, she had only been unconscious for a few minutes, but Nicholas felt that a little confusion would help his plan. Only a moment ago, he had observed from a safe distance, as the whitelighters and the witches had already showed up where he had left Matthew.
It had been an impulse to go back. At first, he had simply wanted to toy with Matthew a little more, but a lingering doubt about his own safety had pushed him to use caution. It had been well advised as he almost revealed himself to them. "Damn this Jacob," he thought, "never leave a task to another, or it is sure to fail." He wondered fleetingly what had become of the other darklighter, but now, it really didn't matter. On the other hand, he knew that he had no time to lose if he wanted Paige to come to him willingly. He would have preferred more time to plant the suggestion in her, but he wasn't exactly certain of how efficient his spell was on a witch.
"Well over an hour. You must have been exhausted, because you fell asleep as I was talking to you, earlier."
Paige grew more confused by the moment. She had no memory at all of them talking in here. However, she had no reason to doubt his word, and she figured that indeed, she must have been really tired and simply forgot…
"So," she started, smiling hesitantly, "what were you telling me?"
He got up and came to sit by her on the couch, secretly relieved that she didn't remember what had happened at Matthew's.
"I was telling you how fond of you I have become these last few weeks, and that…"
Paige:
"Yes?"
Nicholas pretended to be uncomfortable, as he knew his brother would be in the circumstances. He hated this, wanting only to take her and be done with it, but he knew that she wouldn't be completely his if she didn't come willingly.
"I…"
Paige saw how embarrassed he looked and it just made her like him even more. "He's so sweet," she thought, as she was waiting patiently for him to continue.
"I don't know how to say this…"
Instead, he bent toward her and started kissing her very softly.
At first, she simply let him, as she was a little surprised but no less delighted. Then, he moved closer toward her, caressing her shoulders, and slowly moving down her arms. His touch sent a delightful chill down her spine, and she soon responded to his kiss with all the desire that she had kept inside the last few weeks. It didn't take more than this for Nicholas to embolden himself, and his arms encircled her and pulled her to him, as his kisses were becoming harder and more demanding.
For some reason, however, the more passionate he became, the more hesitation Paige felt. Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was. When he tried to pull her shirt up, she suddenly moved away from him. She could see the surprise and irritation on his face.
"I'm sorry, it's too early for me I suppose…"
Nicholas:
"I thought that it was what you wanted…" His voice had been harsh, and he quickly changed his tone of voice, smiling sheepishly.
"I'm sorry. I guess that I was caught in the moment. Of course, if you're not ready…"
He had pain to hide the anger that he felt. "Damn you," he thought, "you're not going to play hard to get with me again, are you?"
Even after a hundred and forty years, he had not changed opinion about women. They were made for the taking, fickle little things that never really knew what they wanted. He was so tempted to take right here and now, and to forget about his goal. However, reason stopped him from doing it and instead he continued:
"It's just that I want you so much Paige…"
Paige couldn't understand what got into her. Even at this moment, she still felt the desire for him. She just wanted to be in his arms and forget about everything else. Yet, something was holding her back, a strange intuition.
"You know, maybe I'm just a little nervous. It's been a while…"
Nicholas:
"That's alright, I understand… Maybe you'd care for something to drink?"
Paige:
"Yes! Yes it would be nice. Do you have white wine? Any will do."
Nicholas:
"Let me have a look, I might have what you need." He replied as he was getting up. He turned to her with a gentle smile and Paige berated herself for what she thought were stupid jitters…
"Don't go anywhere…"
Paige smiled back:
"I won't," she replied sweetly.
He only stayed in the tiny kitchen for a moment but when he came back, something even weirder happened.
Paige was just looking up at him and she thought that she saw a different Matthew, as if another image was superimposed over him. It lasted only mere seconds, but she thought that it felt like a memory of some kind. In the past, she would have dismissed this as only a trick of her imagination, but ever since she had known of her special abilities, she had taken to trust her instincts. Still, she didn't say anything, and took the glass that he offered pretending that nothing was the matter…
Piper and Phoebe were walking back and forth in front of the building, their faces contorted by worry.
Piper:
"Why did I leave her with him, I felt that something was wrong from the moment that I saw him at the door and I left her anyway…"
Phoebe:
"Don't blame yourself. You said it. She insisted that everything was fine… On the other hand, I left her with him and never even asked what was going on. Maybe, if I had come downstairs to meet him…"
Piper:
"You probably would have done the same as me. He really didn't look dangerous, it's just that I had this weird sensation about the whole thing…"
Phoebe:
"We should have been more attentive to what was happening to her…"
Paul tried to intervene after one more attempt at locating the darklighter and Paige:
"You know, I have a feeling that no matter what either one of you would have said, it wouldn't have changed her mind…"
Piper:
"What makes you say that," she asked, somewhat irritated.
Paul lifted a hand, pretending to fend an attack:
"Don't jump on me! It's just that I have had the occasion to observe all of you, and frankly, none of you are easy to deter when you have made a decision."
Phoebe shrugged.
"You don't understand, we already lost one sister…" Then she bit her lips, a guilty look washing over her face.
"I'm so sorry…"
Paul:
"That's alright. I think that I know how you feel…"
Phoebe:
"Of course…It's just that if something happened to her…"
Piper finished for her:
"We would never forgive ourselves…"
Coleridge, who had been listening in discreetly:
"Don't worry, I'm sure that we will find her."
Piper:
"I hope that you're right." She replied, not reassured in the least.
Meanwhile, Leo had gone back at the Manor, intent on finding out if there was a spell to vanquish the Darklighter…
When he got to the attic, the book wasn't there and at first, he slightly panicked.
Then he remembered that Phoebe borrowed it a few nights before for Paige.
"We are going to have to talk about this soon, this book shouldn't be carried around so carelessly," he thought irritably.
Then he orbed to the Turner's house. Cole was pacing the living room nervously and he jumped at the sound lifting his hand toward him, ready to attack.
"Hey!" Leo said putting both his hands in front of him.
"It's just me, no need for violence…"
Cole:
"You know, one of these days, you won't be so lucky…"
Leo shrugged:
"What could you do to me, I'm already dead…"
Cole smirked:
"I still could give you a bad headache… Hey, what are you doing here anyway?"
Leo:
"Phoebe took the book out of the house. I have to look it up for a vanquishing spell…"
Cole:
"Did you find the darklighter?"
Leo:
"Not yet, but Paul is confident that he will soon…"
Cole:
"The book is in Paige's bedroom…"
Leo was already on his way, when Cole called to him:
"You will watch their back, won't you?"
Leo:
"Don't worry."
Cole, to himself:
"Now, how am I going to do that?"
He had said this in barely more than a whisper, but Leo heard:
"Trust them."
Cole turned toward him:
"What?" He asked with a little frown.
Leo:
"Just trust them, they can defend themselves…"
Cole:
"Yeah, I suppose you're right."
Still, he went on pacing the room, and Leo went to get the book…
Paige tried very hard to look calm for Matthew, but she couldn't help the feeling of unease to deepen for every moment.
"Is there something the matter?" He finally asked, telling her that her efforts at dissimulation had been in vein.
Paige still tried to minimize this:
"Nothing much, it's just, you know, nerves…"
Matthew/Nicholas:
"You have nothing to worry about, you are safe with me."
Paige wished that she could believe that. What had happened between their moment in the car and now, she wondered warily?
For the life of hers, she couldn't figure out what it was.
Nicholas was getting more impatient for every moment. In truth, he could use the powder again and simply prolong this, but he was worried that they might find him anyway. There was no way that he could bring her down with him until she had given herself freely. He felt trapped. This wasn't the way he had envisioned this at all.
Suddenly, she got up, as if ready to leave, and he realized that she was forcing his hand. He should have been waiting for her to be ready… He knew that. However, all those years waiting to have her had exacerbated his desire for her. At this point, he understood that it didn't matter so much to him all the glory that she could have brought him. All he wanted was to possess her, no matter what.
Paige:
"I think that I should leave. Maybe we could try again another time, when we know each other better?"
Nicholas got up quickly, not too subtly putting himself between her and the door.
Paige saw right away that it wouldn't be so easy to leave here. From the moment that she had awakened, she had felt that something weird was happening, and now she knew it for a fact.
Nicholas:
"You can't just go like that," he said, and she could almost hear the threat in his words, in spite of the amiable smile.
Paige:
"I really think that I should." She tried to move around him, but he took her arm in a firm grip and she truly started to panic.
"I can't let you go. You don't even know what you want. Let me show you."
Paige thought that this sounded familiar somehow, and she strained to remember where she heard these words before, even as she was trying to extirpate herself from his grasp.
That was to no avail however, as he tightened his hold on her. He suddenly pulled her to him, kissing her hard, and then pushed her rudely back toward the couch.
That is when she remembered who had said those words before…
"Nicholas," she thought, as her heart sunk…