SIX
"Someone stole the Book of Shadows," said Paige in total
astonishment.
"That's not possible," said Phoebe. "Evil can't touch the book.
And if someone had broken into the house and stolen it, we would have
heard them. Look, the window to the attic is still locked."
"That might be why we've lost our powers," suggested Piper. "If
someone took the Book of Shadows, they might have been able to use it
somehow to take our powers from us."
"Then why is my orbing power gone?" asked Paige. "Leo told me
that it's part of me. That I was born with it. How can I have lost
my orbing?"
"I don't know," said Piper, nearly on the verge of tears. "Now,
we really have a serious problem. Without our powers, we're at risk
from even the most minor of demons. And Leo isn't answering us so we
can't count on his help. Maybe Darryl can help. We'll call him and
let him know what's going on."
The sisters went downstairs and Piper dialed the police station.
Paige and Phoebe went into the kitchen to put the dishes away.
Neither had an appetite any longer and both felt that Piper probably
didn't either. As they were putting the dishes away, Piper came into
the kitchen.
"So, what did Darryl say?" asked Phoebe.
"Nothing," said Piper. There was the strangest look on her
face. "In fact, he claimed not to know who I was. He said he had
never heard of the Halliwells. And he thought I was a crank when I
told him our powers were gone."
"Curiouser and curiouser," said Phoebe. "What is going on here?
It has to have something to do with my premonition, I'm sure of it.
First I get that premonition, then all of these crazy things begin to
. . .."
"Piper, are you okay?" asked Paige, cutting Phoebe off in mid
sentence. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Not seen," said Piper. "Heard. While I was talking to him,
his partner interrupted us. Darryl even called him by name."
"Partner?" questioned Phoebe. "Darryl doesn't have a partner.
He hasn't had one since Andy died. Did they give him a new partner?"
"Not exactly," said Piper, sitting down in a chair. "Darryl's
partner was Andy. I heard his voice in the background. It WAS Andy.
Darryl even told me that he and his partner, Detective Trudeau, had to
get back to work and to stop bothering him. Then he just hung up on
me."
"Okay, this has officially turned from strange to weird," said
Phoebe. "It couldn't be Andy. You and I went to his funeral. So did
Prue. Remember how hard she took his death? It couldn't be Andy."
"Prue," said Piper. "That's it. That's what was wrong in the
bedroom."
Piper jumped up and ran from the kitchen, Paige and Phoebe close
behind. Neither of them knew what she was talking about. She hadn't
mentioned anything being wrong in the bedroom. Now, she was almost
out of control
When they got to her bedroom, Piper just walked in and looked at
the dresser. Paige and Phoebe stepped in behind her. They looked
around the room.
"Piper," said Phoebe, "where's the picture of Prue you keep on
the dresser? You haven't removed it since she passed away."
"That's just it," said Piper. "I didn't do anything with it.
It was there last night when I went to bed. I always say good night
to Prue before I go to bed. When I got up this morning, I felt
something was wrong in the room but I couldn't figure out what. Now I
know what it was. Prue's picture was missing."
"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this," said Phoebe.
"So am I," said Piper. "Paige, Phoebe, go to your rooms and
check them. See if anything is different, no matter how minor it
might seem"
"What are you going to do?" asked Paige.
"I want to check something in the attic," said Piper. "I'll
meet you in the living room when we're done."
Paige and Phoebe were already in the living room when Piper came
in. She was carrying several books with her that looked like photo
albums."
"What did you find?" asked Piper, sitting on the sofa next to
Phoebe.
"Neither of us has any pictures of Prue, either," said Phoebe.
"They just vanished as mysteriously as yours did."
"And the picture of my parents is gone," said Paige. "It's
really upsetting. It was the last picture they took together before
they died. I've never been without it."
"I found something, too," said Piper. She opened one of the
albums. "On a hunch, I checked these. They all seem to be perfectly
normal except for one thing. There are no pictures of Prue in any of
the albums. Not even as a child. But there is this."
She pointed to a picture near the middle of the album. Paige
and Phoebe looked at the picture, scarcely believing what they saw.
It was a picture of Piper and Phoebe dressed in costumes. Standing
next to them was Paige, also wearing a costume.
"Wait a minute," said Paige, looking at the picture. "Is that
me? What am I supposed to be? A ballerina? This is crazy. I never
took this picture. And I sure as hell was never a ballerina."
"Prue was," said Piper. "About seven years ago. Before we
became the Charmed Ones. This was taken at Halloween that year. Prue
was a ballerina, Phoebe was a fairy princess, and I was a nurse. This
is the same picture, only it has Paige in it instead of Prue."
"That's impossible," said Phoebe. "How could someone have
altered a photograph?"
"That's not all," said Piper.
She flipped through the album showing the others picture after
picture. They were all the same. Pictures of Piper and Phoebe in
various ages and dress obviously taken over a period of several years.
But instead of Prue in the pictures, Paige was at their side.
"They're all like this," said Piper. "Not a single picture of
Prue. But Paige is in the ones that Prue is supposed to be in."
"Okay," said Phoebe, "so what's going on? Why would someone go
to all the trouble to fake all these pictures? And how were they able
to get Darryl to pretend he doesn't know us and try to make us think
that Andy is still alive?"
"I don't know," said Piper. "But someone has gone through a
great deal of trouble to make us believe all of this is true.
Computers can be used to produce fake pictures. But that would mean
someone would have had to have the originals in order to produce such
realistic fakes."
"That means someone's been in the house more than once," said
Phoebe. "But why go through all this? It doesn't sound to me like a
demon. Demons are usually more direct."
"I agree," said Piper. "I don't think it's a demon. Maybe our
witch hunter friend had some conspirators. Someone who found out what
we did and it trying to get revenge on us."
"Then why wait for so long?" asked Paige. "We stopped him
almost a month ago. And how could a witch hunter have stolen our
powers, even my White Lighter powers? Leo's not answering, Darryl
claims he doesn't know us, you say this Andy is still alive. None of
this fits anything that makes any sense."
"It might be something we've never encountered before,"
suggested Phoebe. "Maybe not a demon exactly, but something just as
evil. And as dangerous."
"Phoebe's right," said Piper. "The first thing we have to do is
figure out what's going on. Only I'm not sure exactly how we're going
to do that."
"Pamela," said Paige. "The woman in the hospital. She has to
have something to do with this. Maybe Phoebe's premonition was about
this. There has to be a connection between her and what's happened to
us."
"I think Paige is right," said Phoebe. "We all know my
premonitions are meant to either warn us or give us information.
Maybe this one is both. To give us a clue about what's happened to us
and to warn us. We just didn't know that's what it was."
"Then we need to go back there," said Piper. "Only without
Paige's orbing ability, I guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned
way. I'll go and see what I can find out. Phoebe, why don't you go
to the paper and see what other changes might have occurred. You can
check through back issues of the paper and see what's different from
what we remember."
"I'll go in to work and see what I can find out there," said
Paige. "One of the advantages of working for Social Services is that
I can get information that I ordinarily wouldn't have access to."
"Good idea," said Piper. "We'll all meet back here later this
afternoon. With a little luck, we should be able to piece this thing
together pretty quickly."
"And then what do we do?" asked Phoebe.
Piper just looked at Phoebe. Until they knew what had happened
and why, they wouldn't have any idea how to correct it. She was just
hoping they'd be able to correct it once they did find out what was
going on. Privately, she was afraid that there would be nothing they
could do and the changes would be permanent. That was something that
she didn't like to think about.
"We'll do whatever we can," said Piper finally. "First, we have
to figure out what's going on. Until we do, there's no sense in
making any plans."
"Okay," said Phoebe. "But this is getting stranger and
stranger. We'd better find out what's going on soon. This entire
thing is starting to give me the creeps."
The sisters left the manor to learn what they could about what
was going on. Each of them felt sure they would learn something
quickly. None of them dared to think about what might happen if they
didn't.
To be continued . . .
Be sure not to miss Part 2: What Might Have Been. Piper,
Phoebe, and Paige soon find out that even more has changed than they
originally thought. When it begins to look like they will never be
able to set things right, they receive an unexpected visitor. But not
even this special visitor may be able to help them.
If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Charmed"
stories at my website, www.geocities.com/killeenmale/. You can also
post your own "Charmed" stories if you like to write fan fiction.
"Someone stole the Book of Shadows," said Paige in total
astonishment.
"That's not possible," said Phoebe. "Evil can't touch the book.
And if someone had broken into the house and stolen it, we would have
heard them. Look, the window to the attic is still locked."
"That might be why we've lost our powers," suggested Piper. "If
someone took the Book of Shadows, they might have been able to use it
somehow to take our powers from us."
"Then why is my orbing power gone?" asked Paige. "Leo told me
that it's part of me. That I was born with it. How can I have lost
my orbing?"
"I don't know," said Piper, nearly on the verge of tears. "Now,
we really have a serious problem. Without our powers, we're at risk
from even the most minor of demons. And Leo isn't answering us so we
can't count on his help. Maybe Darryl can help. We'll call him and
let him know what's going on."
The sisters went downstairs and Piper dialed the police station.
Paige and Phoebe went into the kitchen to put the dishes away.
Neither had an appetite any longer and both felt that Piper probably
didn't either. As they were putting the dishes away, Piper came into
the kitchen.
"So, what did Darryl say?" asked Phoebe.
"Nothing," said Piper. There was the strangest look on her
face. "In fact, he claimed not to know who I was. He said he had
never heard of the Halliwells. And he thought I was a crank when I
told him our powers were gone."
"Curiouser and curiouser," said Phoebe. "What is going on here?
It has to have something to do with my premonition, I'm sure of it.
First I get that premonition, then all of these crazy things begin to
. . .."
"Piper, are you okay?" asked Paige, cutting Phoebe off in mid
sentence. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Not seen," said Piper. "Heard. While I was talking to him,
his partner interrupted us. Darryl even called him by name."
"Partner?" questioned Phoebe. "Darryl doesn't have a partner.
He hasn't had one since Andy died. Did they give him a new partner?"
"Not exactly," said Piper, sitting down in a chair. "Darryl's
partner was Andy. I heard his voice in the background. It WAS Andy.
Darryl even told me that he and his partner, Detective Trudeau, had to
get back to work and to stop bothering him. Then he just hung up on
me."
"Okay, this has officially turned from strange to weird," said
Phoebe. "It couldn't be Andy. You and I went to his funeral. So did
Prue. Remember how hard she took his death? It couldn't be Andy."
"Prue," said Piper. "That's it. That's what was wrong in the
bedroom."
Piper jumped up and ran from the kitchen, Paige and Phoebe close
behind. Neither of them knew what she was talking about. She hadn't
mentioned anything being wrong in the bedroom. Now, she was almost
out of control
When they got to her bedroom, Piper just walked in and looked at
the dresser. Paige and Phoebe stepped in behind her. They looked
around the room.
"Piper," said Phoebe, "where's the picture of Prue you keep on
the dresser? You haven't removed it since she passed away."
"That's just it," said Piper. "I didn't do anything with it.
It was there last night when I went to bed. I always say good night
to Prue before I go to bed. When I got up this morning, I felt
something was wrong in the room but I couldn't figure out what. Now I
know what it was. Prue's picture was missing."
"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this," said Phoebe.
"So am I," said Piper. "Paige, Phoebe, go to your rooms and
check them. See if anything is different, no matter how minor it
might seem"
"What are you going to do?" asked Paige.
"I want to check something in the attic," said Piper. "I'll
meet you in the living room when we're done."
Paige and Phoebe were already in the living room when Piper came
in. She was carrying several books with her that looked like photo
albums."
"What did you find?" asked Piper, sitting on the sofa next to
Phoebe.
"Neither of us has any pictures of Prue, either," said Phoebe.
"They just vanished as mysteriously as yours did."
"And the picture of my parents is gone," said Paige. "It's
really upsetting. It was the last picture they took together before
they died. I've never been without it."
"I found something, too," said Piper. She opened one of the
albums. "On a hunch, I checked these. They all seem to be perfectly
normal except for one thing. There are no pictures of Prue in any of
the albums. Not even as a child. But there is this."
She pointed to a picture near the middle of the album. Paige
and Phoebe looked at the picture, scarcely believing what they saw.
It was a picture of Piper and Phoebe dressed in costumes. Standing
next to them was Paige, also wearing a costume.
"Wait a minute," said Paige, looking at the picture. "Is that
me? What am I supposed to be? A ballerina? This is crazy. I never
took this picture. And I sure as hell was never a ballerina."
"Prue was," said Piper. "About seven years ago. Before we
became the Charmed Ones. This was taken at Halloween that year. Prue
was a ballerina, Phoebe was a fairy princess, and I was a nurse. This
is the same picture, only it has Paige in it instead of Prue."
"That's impossible," said Phoebe. "How could someone have
altered a photograph?"
"That's not all," said Piper.
She flipped through the album showing the others picture after
picture. They were all the same. Pictures of Piper and Phoebe in
various ages and dress obviously taken over a period of several years.
But instead of Prue in the pictures, Paige was at their side.
"They're all like this," said Piper. "Not a single picture of
Prue. But Paige is in the ones that Prue is supposed to be in."
"Okay," said Phoebe, "so what's going on? Why would someone go
to all the trouble to fake all these pictures? And how were they able
to get Darryl to pretend he doesn't know us and try to make us think
that Andy is still alive?"
"I don't know," said Piper. "But someone has gone through a
great deal of trouble to make us believe all of this is true.
Computers can be used to produce fake pictures. But that would mean
someone would have had to have the originals in order to produce such
realistic fakes."
"That means someone's been in the house more than once," said
Phoebe. "But why go through all this? It doesn't sound to me like a
demon. Demons are usually more direct."
"I agree," said Piper. "I don't think it's a demon. Maybe our
witch hunter friend had some conspirators. Someone who found out what
we did and it trying to get revenge on us."
"Then why wait for so long?" asked Paige. "We stopped him
almost a month ago. And how could a witch hunter have stolen our
powers, even my White Lighter powers? Leo's not answering, Darryl
claims he doesn't know us, you say this Andy is still alive. None of
this fits anything that makes any sense."
"It might be something we've never encountered before,"
suggested Phoebe. "Maybe not a demon exactly, but something just as
evil. And as dangerous."
"Phoebe's right," said Piper. "The first thing we have to do is
figure out what's going on. Only I'm not sure exactly how we're going
to do that."
"Pamela," said Paige. "The woman in the hospital. She has to
have something to do with this. Maybe Phoebe's premonition was about
this. There has to be a connection between her and what's happened to
us."
"I think Paige is right," said Phoebe. "We all know my
premonitions are meant to either warn us or give us information.
Maybe this one is both. To give us a clue about what's happened to us
and to warn us. We just didn't know that's what it was."
"Then we need to go back there," said Piper. "Only without
Paige's orbing ability, I guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned
way. I'll go and see what I can find out. Phoebe, why don't you go
to the paper and see what other changes might have occurred. You can
check through back issues of the paper and see what's different from
what we remember."
"I'll go in to work and see what I can find out there," said
Paige. "One of the advantages of working for Social Services is that
I can get information that I ordinarily wouldn't have access to."
"Good idea," said Piper. "We'll all meet back here later this
afternoon. With a little luck, we should be able to piece this thing
together pretty quickly."
"And then what do we do?" asked Phoebe.
Piper just looked at Phoebe. Until they knew what had happened
and why, they wouldn't have any idea how to correct it. She was just
hoping they'd be able to correct it once they did find out what was
going on. Privately, she was afraid that there would be nothing they
could do and the changes would be permanent. That was something that
she didn't like to think about.
"We'll do whatever we can," said Piper finally. "First, we have
to figure out what's going on. Until we do, there's no sense in
making any plans."
"Okay," said Phoebe. "But this is getting stranger and
stranger. We'd better find out what's going on soon. This entire
thing is starting to give me the creeps."
The sisters left the manor to learn what they could about what
was going on. Each of them felt sure they would learn something
quickly. None of them dared to think about what might happen if they
didn't.
To be continued . . .
Be sure not to miss Part 2: What Might Have Been. Piper,
Phoebe, and Paige soon find out that even more has changed than they
originally thought. When it begins to look like they will never be
able to set things right, they receive an unexpected visitor. But not
even this special visitor may be able to help them.
If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Charmed"
stories at my website, www.geocities.com/killeenmale/. You can also
post your own "Charmed" stories if you like to write fan fiction.