Author's Note: Second to last chapter, guys! Thanks to who all are reading and thanks double to those who are reviewing. Y'all have no idea how much the kind words mean to me :)

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"Leo, she's been gone all night!" Piper cried. "If she could sense Mindy and you could sense her earlier, why can't you get anything on her now?"

"I don't know," Leo gently admitted. He wished he could give Piper just a little bit of hope, anything to make her calm down. "Maybe someone's blocking her signal."

"Doesn't that mean he caught her, then?" Phoebe asked softly. She gazed down at the floor as soon as it was out of her mouth. She didn't want to be the one to ask that question, but she knew she had to.

Piper knew just from the look on Leo's face that Phoebe was right. "God damn it!" she cried, flinging her hands out to her sides. She knocked a cup of coffee off the counter as she did and it landed on the floor with a loud shatter. Piper didn't even care; she just turned around, leaned back against the counter, and put her face in her hands.

She couldn't handle any of this. It seemed like only yesterday that she lost Prue, and now, here she was, faced with it all over again. It was a little surprising to her how much this was all upsetting her. She wasn't so much surprised by how much Paige meant to her as much as she was surprised by how deeply she loved her. Even though they had only known Paige for a year, Piper felt as if they had always been together. She didn't think she could live without Paige any more than she could live without Phoebe. And she knew that losing Paige would hurt just as much as losing Prue did.

She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and pull her into a comforting embrace. The smell of Leo's cologne filled her nose as she collapsed against him, allowing herself to start crying. "I can't lose her, Leo," she said through her tears.

"And you won't," Leo assured her. "She's going to be fine."

Piper wrenched away from him, leveling a cold stare in his direction before giving the same look to Phoebe. "You two keep saying that, but how do you know that? How do you know that he's not doing something to her right now?"

"I don't," Phoebe spoke up. She stood and walked over to her sister, gripping her hands comfortingly. "Believe me, I'm petrified. I'm terrified that I'm never going to see her again. But I have to have faith in her. She's strong, and she can handle anything he throws at her. She'll find a way back to us, and I bet you anything she'll have Mindy with her when she does."

Piper closed her eyes and bit her lip. She did have faith in her sister. She was just afraid of who or what Paige was up against. "I'm not underestimating her. I'm just scared that he's stronger than she is. How am I supposed to have faith when everything I know is telling me that this is going to end badly?"

"That's your fear talking," Leo answered. "You guys have survived much worse than this."

"Have we?" Piper opened her eyes and looked into Leo's, searching not for an answer, but a little sliver of hope. "We lost Prue in a routine demonic attack. What's to say we don't lose Paige in a dimension we have no way of reaching? It happened once, Leo. There's no reason to believe it can't happen again."

Leo didn't know what to say to her. All he could do was pull her close to him and hold her as she once again started crying.

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When Paige lifted her head and opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Mindy standing over her. She raised her hand to her throbbing head and allowed a relieved Mindy to help her stand. "Are you okay?" Mindy asked. "I tried to get you up, but . . ."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Paige said, groaning as the sound of her own voice tore through her pounding headache. "What happened?"

"He hit you," Mindy said, her eyes filling with tears. "He was going to kill you, but someone came and said it was time for their meeting. He had to go preach, and he figured you wouldn't wake up in time to do anything anyway." She ran up to Paige and wrapped her arms around her waist, burying her face into her stomach. "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! It's my fault you're here, it's my fault you're hurt."

Paige gently pried the little girl's grip from her and knelt down in front of her, holding her at arm's length. "This is not your fault, Mindy, you understand me? None of this is your fault. It's Jonas's fault."

"But we're going to die in here--"

"No, we're not," Paige said forcefully. "I believe that, and I need you to believe it, too. We're going to get out of here and Celeste will send us home. Where is she?"

"I don't know," she said with a sniffle. "I don't think he's letting her come near. He can do that . . . it's like some kind of magical shield or something."

Paige didn't want to get herself bogged down with logistics. "Well, we just have to find her, then," she said, standing up. She took Mindy's hand and tugged her out of the nook where they were being hidden. When they got out, Paige had no idea where to go. "Do you know where we are?"

"Nope," Mindy frowned. She took the lead anyway and forged ahead, Paige following closely behind her. After walking for a little bit, Mindy heard voices up ahead of them. Curious, she slipped her hand out of Paige's and rushed forward, determined to discover where the voices were coming from. They all sounded young. Not one of them sounded much older than she was herself. She stopped short when she saw them: a bunch of children all playing together.

Paige finally caught up to Mindy and stopped short as well. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked out over the group of twenty or so children. The youngest looked like he was around three and the oldest looked no more than eleven. The pieces were starting to fall into place. She was willing to bet anything that Jonas had led these people many years ago in a ritual suicide and every member of the cult followed suit, with the parents even making their children sacrifice themselves for the cause. For decades, the cult had stayed intact even after their death, and it was finally threatened when they reached Twilight. "Look at them all," she whispered.

Mindy suddenly gasped and pointed to one of the little girls playing tag. "That's Lucille! I talked to her!"

Paige squinted, but all she could really see were the children's bodies. She still couldn't make out any of their features. She wondered how Mindy could see well enough to recognize anyone. "Are you sure?"

"Positive! Her name's Lucille Gibson. She's my age. I tried to talk her into going into the light, but she said her parents wouldn't let her."

"Because Jonas wouldn't let them," Paige murmured. "Do you recognize anyone else?"

Mindy scanned the group. "Wait, there's Donald. And that's Dorothy!" she cried, pointing out each of the children in turn.

So this wasn't random. Jonas didn't just grab any little girl to use as a distraction. He grabbed Mindy specifically because she knew at least a couple of the members of his cult. She crouched down, a plan forming in her head. If Mindy recognized the children, would that mean the kids would recognize her? Had Mindy ever talked to any of the adult members of the cult? If she had, Paige wondered if she could get the adults to follow her.

Wait, why was their recognition of Mindy as their Counselor even necessary? Jonas was using Mindy as a distraction for the whole group. She gasped, remembering that Jonas wouldn't let Mindy go anywhere near the light. What would happen if she went towards it? Perhaps they'd all follow her anyway, their desire for her life force outweighing their devotion to Jonas. "Mindy, I have an idea," she said softly.

Mindy crouched down next to Paige. "What?"

"We have to find that meeting and crash it." She giggled at the surprised look on Mindy's face. Before Mindy could argue, Paige began to explain. "I'll distract Jonas once we get there and I want you to start running towards the light. Don't look into it and stop when you get right up to it. If I'm right, everyone else will follow you. They'll find the light and go into it."

"What about the kids?" she asked hesitantly.

She smiled at the little girl. "Their parents won't leave without them, I promise."

Mindy hesitated another moment, then grinned. "Okay!" She jumped up and grabbed Paige's hands, pulling her up. "Let's send them home."

Paige giggled as Mindy ran forward, tugging her along. Mindy seemed to know where she was going, so Paige was happy to let the little girl lead her. After a few minutes of walking deeper into the darkness, a gruff male voice filled her ears. It was Jonas, preaching to his congregation. The message was one of unity and strength. Paige slowed Mindy down and made her walk behind her. She wanted to keep Mindy hidden from the crowd until it was time. As they walked on, she felt herself being drawn in by his voice and the peacefulness of both the area and the sermon. Suddenly, she realized what was happening and she shook herself out it. He's evil, she told herself. It doesn't matter what the message is, he's still evil.

Suddenly, the voice stopped short, the sermon abandoned mid-sentence. Paige couldn't see much of anything, but she could guess just by the shocked silence that he had spotted them. "What are you doing here?" he bellowed.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance," she answered, holding Mindy in place behind her. "Now you get to find out what happens when you mess with a Charmed One."

He laughed, snickered really, dismissing her. "Your powers can do nothing to me here!"

She smirked back. "That may be so, but I know what'll hurt you more than any magical battle ever could. Now, Mindy, go!"

Mindy darted out from behind Paige and ran full-speed towards the light. Paige heard an excited low mumble flow through the crowd, then she heard the shuffling sound of a group of people all leaving in the same direction. Her plan had worked! They were all following Mindy. "Yes!" she exclaimed softly.

Her excitement didn't last long. She soon felt a strong pair of arms, Jonas's arms, grab her, whirl her around, and hold her tightly against his chest, pinning her arms at her sides. "I should kill you right now," he hissed into her ear.

Panic was churning in her stomach and rising in her throat, but there was no way in hell she was going to let him know that. "Go ahead. Mindy doesn't need me to get home, and you've already lost your following."

He squeezed more tightly, and it began getting harder and harder for her to fight back. It felt like he was somehow zapping all of her energy very quickly. She wasn't sure how he was doing it, but after a few seconds, she didn't care. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and give in to the exhaustion.

"Don't you dare give up."

She gasped and shot her head up. Who had said that? The startle had given her a tiny amount of adrenaline, but she was quickly losing what little energy she had left. Her thoughts drifted to her parents. Would she be able to see them again? She didn't know if witches wound up in a different place than mortals in the afterlife. Her eyes fluttered closed and her head fell forward.

"Paige, think of Piper and Phoebe. They already lost one sister. You can't let them lose two."

She recognized the voice that time. It was Mindy's guardian angel, and now, she was acting as Paige's. Her thoughts drifted back to Piper and Phoebe. She couldn't give up just yet. She needed to fight at least a little more, if only for them. Forcing her eyes open, she started struggling again, the thought of seeing Piper and Phoebe again making her stronger.

"Damn it, witch, die!" Jonas yelled.

"Not a chance in hell," she replied angrily, finally breaking free of Jonas's grasp. Thinking quickly, she took off towards the light, hoping Jonas's need for victory would cause him to follow her. After a moment, she heard his footsteps following hers.

The light was so bright that she couldn't even bear to look at it. She had to close her eyes in order to charge forward, and even then, it still felt like she was staring directly into the sun. Still, she kept running, knowing that if he caught her, she'd be dead for sure.

"Get down! You're going too far!"

It was Celeste again. Paige did as she was told, dropping to her knees and hunching forward, almost like she was playing leapfrog. She felt Jonas trip over her and stumble forward. Then, she heard screaming.

"Oh my God!" she heard Mindy gasp. "Paige, you did it! You forced him into the light!"

Paige turned her back to the light, unable to stand the intensity any longer, and sat down. "Was that good?" she asked, her eyes still squeezed shut.

"That was very good," she heard Celeste say. "He's gone now; you forced him to cross over." She grabbed Paige's hand and pulled her up, then walked her into the darkness a little. Once they were far enough away from the light, Celeste turned her around and instructed her to open her eyes. What Paige saw made her feel giddy inside. Mindy was standing in front of the light, watching each of the members of the cult walk single file into it. "These people are all free now, free to find peace."

She felt tears well in her eyes. Out of all the things she had seen in her life, this was one of the most beautiful. Her brow furrowed after a moment. "How can Mindy see?"

"She's a Counselor, it's part of her powers," she answered. "For her, looking into that light is no more painful than looking into her bedroom light."

Paige smiled and watched the last of the people step into the light. Mindy let out a heavy sigh and ran over to both Celeste and Paige. "They're all safe now."

"Are you ready to go home now?" Celeste asked.

"One thing." Mindy ran closer to Celeste and whispered, "What's your real name?"

Celeste gave Paige a sideways glance, then looked back at Mindy and smiled. "I'll tell you later," she whispered back. She waved her hand and a portal with bright blue sky and puffy white clouds opened beside her. "It's time for you two to go back where you belong. Paige, I want to tell you this. Take care of yourself and your sisters. You all need each other more than you know."

Paige squinted at her, trying one last time to make out the woman's features. Who was she really? How did she know about Piper and Phoebe? How did she know all their names? Was it simply because Mindy had told her, or was there another reason? "I will," she promised. "Cross my heart."

"Good," Celeste smiled. Then she nudged them both towards the portal. "Get out of here, the both of you."

Paige grinned as she walked into the clouds, happy to finally be going home.