Chapter Eleven: Home Alone
"Now we can do this the hard way, or the easy way," Paige said, her lips curling upwards in a wicked sneer.
He remained adamant, staring cautiously into her eyes. Unblinking, Paige shoved him hard, causing him to stumble backwards. His foot caught on the coffee table, and he fell over. Landing heavily with a cry, he didn't have time to move before Paige walked over to him and sat down on his chest, straddling him.
Glancing over her shoulder, Paige saw Phoebe wandering into the kitchen. "Phoebe," she called her sister through.
Phoebe laughed as soon as she saw Paige. "Wow you're really good at this," she commented.
"Alyak here won't tell me some stuff I wanna know concerning the Underworld," Paige told her. "Think you can help me?"
Eyes flashing greedily, Phoebe disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a knife. "This help?" she asked, casually holding it up high enough so the warlock could see it and subsequently panic. He tried to wriggle free, but Paige held tight.
"Why can't I blink out?" he asked, his voice high and frightened.
Paige rolled her eyes. "Duh, cos I'm stopping you? Think I'm not powerful enough to hold back your weedy little powers?" She held out her palm towards Phoebe and was surprised when she didn't have to say anything; the knife orbed right into her hand. "Huh," she muttered. "Cool."
Turning back to Alyak, she played the dagger along his chin slowly, relishing his expression.
"I'd advise you not to move," she told him honestly, "this thing is kinda slippery and- oops!" She forced open his mouth and shoved the blade in. Now she meant business. "Feel like telling me what I wanna know now?" she growled. Eyes wide, he still remained silent. Paige pushed the blade further into his mouth, not caring if she hurt him, as long as he knew she was serious. He wouldn't bleed anyway.
Phoebe bit her lip nervously as she watched. Although it looked like Paige had everything under control, it was kind of scary how well she took to the new lifestyle.
Alyak was gagging slightly now on the knife. He felt if she pushed it any further into his mouth it would end up being shoved right through the back of his throat. And that wouldn't be very pleasant.
Paige stared at him stonily. Then she sighed and swiftly withdrew the knife. "This isn't working," she said huffily. Then her eyes flickered up to his once more. "But never to worry, we also deal with castration!" She slid down so she was sitting on his legs. "Phoebe get his arms," she commanded.
Rushing over, Phoebe grabbed Alyak's arms before he could react and pinned them to the floor, holding them steadily.
"Now relax, cos this might sting just a little," Paige told him as she undid his zip.
"Okay, okay I'll talk!" he cried, absolutely terrified. Smirking, Paige sat up and clambered to her feet. Phoebe let go of his arms and he leapt up, hands flying to his pants zip and pulling it up hastily. "Wow you two really know how to get someone's heart going."
"You have a heart?" Paige asked teasingly.
"Do you?" Alyak replied meaningfully. He looked down. "I was reluctant to talk to you... I mean, you're the Charmed Ones and I couldn't believe you'd be, well, evil... but..."
"Recent events tell you otherwise, right?" Paige cut him off. "Now look, this is all very cosy and things, but you're taking a long time to tell me what I wanna know and I'm impatient." She flicked the knife against one of her fingernails, the edges gleaming in the dimmed lights.
"Okay, here's what you do."
* * *
The manor was silent. Apart from the ticking of the grandfather clock, no noise was audible from all over the house. Prue orbed in and felt extremely disconcerted at this lack of sound. She padded through to the hallway.
"Piper? Phoebe?" she paused, then added - though a great deal quieter - "Paige?" Relaxing her tense body, she inhaled deeply. 'I hope this isn't just for good witches,' she thought to herself, and concentrated on using her whitelighter power of location. Nothing. She couldn't sense them anywhere.
Orbing up to the attic, she glanced at the podium, as usual. Even after death, she still felt the need to protect that damn book! She walked over to it. It was open at a page entitled "To Entrap a Faerie."
Frowning, Prue leaned into the page, curious because she'd never seen it before. She reached out her hand to touch it, but to her surprise the Book glowed a bright green and shot across the room.
"Oh!" she cried, not aware that she'd made the noise but shocked nonetheless. Well that was a first! The Book usually was fine with her, even after she'd died she'd been able to touch it - she'd done it the last time she'd been here. Nobody knew, of course, but she'd kinda missed the old thing. She felt almost offended at how it had flew away from her.
"What, am I too good for you?" she snapped at it, then realised that what she'd said was probably what was stopping it from letting her touch it. She was literally too good! The Book of Shadows had been restored when the Charmed Ones' powers had come back; and it was evil. "Fine. You keep yourself to yourself and have your stupid faerie spells."
She orbed out once again and appeared in her old room. "Woah!" Paige hadn't exactly strived to change much, oh, apart from absolutely everything! Prue didn't know what it was, but it most definitely was not her. She quickly walked out of the room and crossed to Piper's.
It was the same, thank goodness. Prue wandered over to the bed and sat on the edge. She could smell Piper, that faint smell you begin to recognise off people after knowing them a long time. She hadn't noticed it until now. It made her miss Piper a lot.
Clothes were strewn across the bed, and Prue noticed they were Leo's. Perhaps Piper was clearing out his stuff. She felt sad gazing at it. Wondering what to do, Prue left Piper's room and slowly made her way back downstairs. She couldn't just wait around all day for them to get back home, could she? Well... it wasn't exactly as if she had anything better to do.
In the kitchen, she clicked on the kettle and waited for the water to boil. While she was doing so, she checked the supplies cupboard in search of any dubious spell ingredients.
"Yeah well it's not like we pay in cash, besides, we're the Charmed Ones! They should be paying us to live there!"
Piper's voice! They were home! But Prue hadn't heard the door slam or anything.
Closing the cupboard, Prue turned around to face the kitchen opening where they would soon make an appearance. She hoped she didn't look too guilty. Wait - why should she?
"It's still the Underworld, so if they want us to pay in powers, let's just... pay them now and smite them later! They still don't know who we are. Well, who we've become."
"They'll find out soon enough."
"Yeah but how soon is soon enou-" Phoebe stopped short when she saw who was in the kitchen, standing at the far end and smiling at them sheepishly. Paige and Piper stopped and stared too.
"Hey," Prue said, trying to keep her voice cheery. The kettle clicked off, and a cloud of steam rose out of the funnel. "Coffee?"
"Now we can do this the hard way, or the easy way," Paige said, her lips curling upwards in a wicked sneer.
He remained adamant, staring cautiously into her eyes. Unblinking, Paige shoved him hard, causing him to stumble backwards. His foot caught on the coffee table, and he fell over. Landing heavily with a cry, he didn't have time to move before Paige walked over to him and sat down on his chest, straddling him.
Glancing over her shoulder, Paige saw Phoebe wandering into the kitchen. "Phoebe," she called her sister through.
Phoebe laughed as soon as she saw Paige. "Wow you're really good at this," she commented.
"Alyak here won't tell me some stuff I wanna know concerning the Underworld," Paige told her. "Think you can help me?"
Eyes flashing greedily, Phoebe disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with a knife. "This help?" she asked, casually holding it up high enough so the warlock could see it and subsequently panic. He tried to wriggle free, but Paige held tight.
"Why can't I blink out?" he asked, his voice high and frightened.
Paige rolled her eyes. "Duh, cos I'm stopping you? Think I'm not powerful enough to hold back your weedy little powers?" She held out her palm towards Phoebe and was surprised when she didn't have to say anything; the knife orbed right into her hand. "Huh," she muttered. "Cool."
Turning back to Alyak, she played the dagger along his chin slowly, relishing his expression.
"I'd advise you not to move," she told him honestly, "this thing is kinda slippery and- oops!" She forced open his mouth and shoved the blade in. Now she meant business. "Feel like telling me what I wanna know now?" she growled. Eyes wide, he still remained silent. Paige pushed the blade further into his mouth, not caring if she hurt him, as long as he knew she was serious. He wouldn't bleed anyway.
Phoebe bit her lip nervously as she watched. Although it looked like Paige had everything under control, it was kind of scary how well she took to the new lifestyle.
Alyak was gagging slightly now on the knife. He felt if she pushed it any further into his mouth it would end up being shoved right through the back of his throat. And that wouldn't be very pleasant.
Paige stared at him stonily. Then she sighed and swiftly withdrew the knife. "This isn't working," she said huffily. Then her eyes flickered up to his once more. "But never to worry, we also deal with castration!" She slid down so she was sitting on his legs. "Phoebe get his arms," she commanded.
Rushing over, Phoebe grabbed Alyak's arms before he could react and pinned them to the floor, holding them steadily.
"Now relax, cos this might sting just a little," Paige told him as she undid his zip.
"Okay, okay I'll talk!" he cried, absolutely terrified. Smirking, Paige sat up and clambered to her feet. Phoebe let go of his arms and he leapt up, hands flying to his pants zip and pulling it up hastily. "Wow you two really know how to get someone's heart going."
"You have a heart?" Paige asked teasingly.
"Do you?" Alyak replied meaningfully. He looked down. "I was reluctant to talk to you... I mean, you're the Charmed Ones and I couldn't believe you'd be, well, evil... but..."
"Recent events tell you otherwise, right?" Paige cut him off. "Now look, this is all very cosy and things, but you're taking a long time to tell me what I wanna know and I'm impatient." She flicked the knife against one of her fingernails, the edges gleaming in the dimmed lights.
"Okay, here's what you do."
* * *
The manor was silent. Apart from the ticking of the grandfather clock, no noise was audible from all over the house. Prue orbed in and felt extremely disconcerted at this lack of sound. She padded through to the hallway.
"Piper? Phoebe?" she paused, then added - though a great deal quieter - "Paige?" Relaxing her tense body, she inhaled deeply. 'I hope this isn't just for good witches,' she thought to herself, and concentrated on using her whitelighter power of location. Nothing. She couldn't sense them anywhere.
Orbing up to the attic, she glanced at the podium, as usual. Even after death, she still felt the need to protect that damn book! She walked over to it. It was open at a page entitled "To Entrap a Faerie."
Frowning, Prue leaned into the page, curious because she'd never seen it before. She reached out her hand to touch it, but to her surprise the Book glowed a bright green and shot across the room.
"Oh!" she cried, not aware that she'd made the noise but shocked nonetheless. Well that was a first! The Book usually was fine with her, even after she'd died she'd been able to touch it - she'd done it the last time she'd been here. Nobody knew, of course, but she'd kinda missed the old thing. She felt almost offended at how it had flew away from her.
"What, am I too good for you?" she snapped at it, then realised that what she'd said was probably what was stopping it from letting her touch it. She was literally too good! The Book of Shadows had been restored when the Charmed Ones' powers had come back; and it was evil. "Fine. You keep yourself to yourself and have your stupid faerie spells."
She orbed out once again and appeared in her old room. "Woah!" Paige hadn't exactly strived to change much, oh, apart from absolutely everything! Prue didn't know what it was, but it most definitely was not her. She quickly walked out of the room and crossed to Piper's.
It was the same, thank goodness. Prue wandered over to the bed and sat on the edge. She could smell Piper, that faint smell you begin to recognise off people after knowing them a long time. She hadn't noticed it until now. It made her miss Piper a lot.
Clothes were strewn across the bed, and Prue noticed they were Leo's. Perhaps Piper was clearing out his stuff. She felt sad gazing at it. Wondering what to do, Prue left Piper's room and slowly made her way back downstairs. She couldn't just wait around all day for them to get back home, could she? Well... it wasn't exactly as if she had anything better to do.
In the kitchen, she clicked on the kettle and waited for the water to boil. While she was doing so, she checked the supplies cupboard in search of any dubious spell ingredients.
"Yeah well it's not like we pay in cash, besides, we're the Charmed Ones! They should be paying us to live there!"
Piper's voice! They were home! But Prue hadn't heard the door slam or anything.
Closing the cupboard, Prue turned around to face the kitchen opening where they would soon make an appearance. She hoped she didn't look too guilty. Wait - why should she?
"It's still the Underworld, so if they want us to pay in powers, let's just... pay them now and smite them later! They still don't know who we are. Well, who we've become."
"They'll find out soon enough."
"Yeah but how soon is soon enou-" Phoebe stopped short when she saw who was in the kitchen, standing at the far end and smiling at them sheepishly. Paige and Piper stopped and stared too.
"Hey," Prue said, trying to keep her voice cheery. The kettle clicked off, and a cloud of steam rose out of the funnel. "Coffee?"