"I'd never have imagined that Whitelighters could get car sick," said Paige, giving a very pale Leo a curious look.
"Honey, if you had told me that you got car sick I would have given you something for the nausea before we left the house," said Piper, as she parked her car in front of an old one-story house that clearly had seen better days.
It was past 5 p.m., but since the house was actually on the surroundings of Coleville and they had to drive past it to get to the city, everyone agreed to stop and take a first look at the place. Besides, both Leo and Ben needed a break, the Whitelighter because he had been as sick as possible for the last two hours, and the toddler because he was starting to get restless, despite of the best efforts of Cole and Phoebe to entertain him.
"I didn't know I got car sick, Piper," Leo said, while he unfastened the seat belt and opened the passenger side door. "I didn't get car sick when I was alive and, as a Whitelighter, I never traveled by car for obvious reasons. Now, if we had orbed, like I suggested..."
"... it wouldn't have been a family trip," Paige said decisively, getting out of the car.
Cole had just parked his own car next to Piper's, and he, Phoebe and Ben joined the others, looking at the house with doubtful expressions. The dirty yellow color of its walls was probably already hideous when the painting was fresh, something that obviously belonged to the distant past.
"So," said Paige, "do we get in or what?"
"Get in, I guess," said Piper, without much enthusiasm. Then, turning to Leo: "Come on, honey. You'll feel better once you've washed your face and had some fresh air."
She gave Cole a warning look that made a witty remark die on his lips, took Leo by his hand and walked towards the house with him, while the others followed. They had stopped in Sacramento to talk to the attorneys in charge of Helen Bennett's last will and get the key that Piper was now taking from her purse.
She unlocked the front door and opened it; then, as she and Leo entered the house, Piper stopped short and looked around, frowning slightly.
"Piper?" Paige said, stopping right behind them. "Anything wrong?"
"Uh, no. I guess," Piper said. "Just a chill."
"Well," Paige said, walking in, "in this family we take chills very seriously, because... wow!"
"What?" Cole said, grabbing Phoebe's arm and preventing her from following Paige.
"Did you feel... Honey, are you okay?" -- Piper forgot all about her chills when she noticed the look on Leo's face.
"Not really," he muttered. "Restroom."
Leo darted towards the first door he saw, which fortunately led to a restroom, reaching the toilet just in time to throw up lunch and -- he felt -- his soul. Piper followed him, while Paige stood by the door, uncertain.
"Wait here," Cole said to Phoebe.
He cautiously walked in, while she stood outside, with Ben in her arms. Not feeling anything different, Cole turned to Paige:
"Do you feel anything?"
"No," she said. "I had a chill when I entered the house, but..." -- she shrugged, not so sure -- "I don't know, I don't feel anything now. It could've been just a cold breeze..."
"Baby, it's starting to snow," said Phoebe, crossing the doorway. "I'll..."
She stopped short and grimaced, and Cole promptly reached out for her, pulling her towards him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"Yes," she said, yet holding Ben a little tighter and leaning against her husband. "But I, too, felt... hum, something."
"Premonition?"
"No. Definitely not."
"I don't like this place," Cole said, frowning.
At this point, Piper and Leo came back from the restroom. He looked very pale and a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, guys. I'm afraid all the orbing thing spoiled me," he said, with a weak smile.
"Are you sure it was just car sickness?" Cole said, keeping his arm protectively around Phoebe. "Because it seems that everyone felt something while entering the house."
"I don't know," Leo said, uncertain. "I feel better now. Not great, but better. And I was sick long before we arrived here. How about you?" -- he looked inquisitively at the girls.
"I'm okay," said Paige.
"Me too," said Phoebe.
"I'm not sure I actually felt something," said Piper.
"Besides," Phoebe said, turning to Cole, "you didn't feel anything, did you?"
"No," Cole admitted, unwillingly. "Still, can you just look at whatever it is that you want to look so that we can leave?"
"Sure," said Phoebe.
"Can you believe all those ceramic figures?" Piper said, looking around. "She must have been really fond of pottery."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Can you believe this?"
"I know! Three witches... and a Whitelighter to boot! Someone down there must really love us!"
"Do you think there's enough magic for both of us?"
"Absolutely! Once the portal is fully opened, we'll be back in business, my friend!"
"But..."
"What?"
"Whitelighters... they're like, pure magic, aren't they?"
"Yeah. So?..."
"Once we've taken all of it, don't you think he'll die?"
"Yeah. So?..."
"You're evil."
"Yeah. So?..."
(chuckles)
(laughs)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"So, everything inside the house belongs to us, too?" Phoebe said, casting a curious look around.
"Yes," Piper said. "Why? See anything you'd like to keep?"
"Not really. But it won't hurt to take a look around."
"Hey, there's a piano here," said Paige, opening one of the doors.
"Wow! Look at the size of this kitchen!" Piper said, opening another one, opposite to the corridor through which Paige had gone. "Now, that's something I'd like to take with me to San Francisco."
She looked at Leo, who had followed her to the kitchen, and asked, frowning:
"Honey, are you sure you're feeling better?"
"Yes," he said, carefully sitting by the kitchen table, "I just don't feel like walking around, do you mind if I just wait for you here?"
"Of course not," she said, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "We won't take long."
"Take your time," he said. "Right now, the idea of getting into the car again is anything but appealing."
Piper touched her husband's face affectionately and said:
"Would you rather orb straight to the hotel and wait for us there?"
"Nah," he said, smirking. "Who would listen to me whining about my misery until you got there? I'd rather stay here and make your lives miserable, too."
"You could never do that," said Piper, smiling. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he said, smiling back at her. "Now go check on your heritage: I'll be fine."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, Phoebe was checking the library, with Cole on her heels.
"Baby," she said, after turning around and bumping into him for the fourth time, "will you relax? I'm fine now."
"Phoebe, I have a bad feeling about this place. There's obviously nothing here that could interest any of you. Besides, the snow hasn't stopped falling since we arrived here. The last thing I want is to be stuck here in this no power, no phone, dusty place."
She put the book she was examining back on the shelf it had come from and looked at him with some concern.
"You know, I thought you were just grouchy because you, too, got a little car sick, but it seems that this place is really giving you the creeps, isn't it?"
"Sort of."
"Are you sure you didn't feel anything when we walked across the door?"
"No. I just..." -- he shrugged, feeling a little frustrated by his inability to put it in words -- "I don't know. Maybe I am a little grouchy, after all. But I'll be glad when we're out of here."
"I'll tell you what," she said, smiling and touching his face. "I'll call the library inspection off. There's nothing here but old books and mold, so unless Paige wants to take the piano with her, I think we..."
As they heard the first notes of Pour Elise coming from the next room, Phoebe and Cole exchanged an incredulous look.
"Can Paige play the..." -- Cole was interrupted by Paige's clearly frightened voice.
"Guys?!"
The sound of a door being slammed shut was followed by Paige's scream. Cole and Phoebe rushed towards the door that led to the corridor, but it was closed with a slam before they reached it. They heard footsteps coming down the corridor as Piper and Leo came running from the kitchen.
"Paige?" -- they could hear Piper fumbling with the doorknob, unsuccessfully trying to open the door -- "Paige, are you okay? Orb out here!"
"I can't!"
Meanwhile, Cole had been trying to open the library's door with no success.
"Piper, can you explode this door?" he shouted, and they heard Piper yelp in surprise.
"Cole? Are Phoebe and Ben with you?" she asked, while Leo kept trying to open the door to the room Paige was in.
"Yes, and... Oh, crap!" -- he cursed as the book Phoebe had been examining was opened and its pages started to flip by themselves.
"What?" Piper asked, anxiously.
"Just blow the damn thing up!" he said, quickly backing away from the door and wrapping his arms protectively around Phoebe and Ben as more books started to jump from the shelves and fall on the floor.
"I can't!" came the anguished answer. "Leo, what's going on? And why don't you just orb in there?"
"I've already tried that! No good!"
Phoebe screamed in surprise as the library window slammed open and the snow started to blow inside.
"Leo! Oh God, are you okay?" said Piper.
"What? What happened?" Paige raised her voice to be heard beyond the door and over the song.
"I think he passed out!"
"Hold him," said Phoebe, putting Ben, who was crying at the top of his lungs, in Cole's arms. "Piper, stay away from the door!" she warned, waving her hand towards the door, but no fireball was produced. "What the..." she said, staring at her hand in bewilderment. Then she saw a heavy dictionary flying straight towards Cole and shouted: "Cole, watch out!"
Cole turned around and the book hit him in the chin, almost making him lose his balance. And then, all of a sudden, it was over. The song came to an end in the middle of a verse, and the books laid still on the floor, their pages being flipped only by the wind that still roared through the open window. They heard the sound of a door being opened and then Paige's voice, closer now:
"What happened to Leo?"
Phoebe reached out for the door and opened it, and she and Cole rushed to the corridor, where they found Paige and Piper leaning over Leo, who was still confused and struggling to sit up.
"What was that?" Phoebe said, nervously.
"I don't know," Piper said, curtly. "And I don't intend to stay here to find out. Honey, can you walk?"
"If he can't I'll be glad to carry him," Cole said, before Leo could answer. "Let's just get out of here."
"I can walk," Leo said, in a weak voice. "Just give me some space to breathe."
The others took a step back as Leo got back to his feet, leaning on Piper. A few drops of cold sweat glimmered on his forehead, and he was white as paper as they all started to make their way back to the living room.
"A haunted house..." Piper muttered. "We had to inherit a freaking haunted house, and it's not even from mom's side of the family."
"Where did all this snow come from?" Paige said, looking out though the windows as they reached the living room.
When Cole opened the front door, his heart sank when he saw the snowstorm outside.
"Oh, this can't be good..." Phoebe moaned.
Cole didn't say anything; he just watched the snow with a somber look.
"I don't think we'd go very far without snow tires," Piper said, dejectedly.
"Which, of course, none of us brought," Cole said, frustrated.
"So," Paige said, "any ideas?"
"I suggest you start by closing the door," Leo said, "it's not getting any warmer in here."
"Unbelievable..." Cole muttered as he closed the door. "Well," he said, turning the others, "with our luck, I suppose no cell phone is working, is it?"
Four cell phones promptly emerged from their owners' pockets and purses, all of them with the "no signal" icon ominously blinking on the display.
"It just gets better and better," Cole sighed, clipping his own cell phone back to his belt.
"Okay, I don't wanna sound whiny but I really need to sit down," said Leo. He faltered and Cole caught him just before he fell.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"It's this house," said Piper, giving a defiant look around, "it's doing something to you."
She and Leo were sitting side by side on an incredibly ugly yet surprisingly comfortable two-seat couch. A fake mahogany coffee table stood between them and Paige, who was sitting on a gaudy green stuffed chair matching the two-seat couch and the three-seat sofa on which Cole and Phoebe were sitting, hand in hand. Phoebe had tried to keep Ben in her arms but, after spending the last three hours in the child seat, the toddler had protested vehemently. Cole had then reasoned that, since the boy still wasn't able to take more than a couple of faltering steps without support, he wouldn't get into trouble, and so Ben had been allowed to stand on the floor, and was now happily walking over and over around the coffee table, reaching out for support every now and then.
"If there's something draining our powers," Leo said, tiredly, "and I think there is, it's no wonder I feel so weak: without magic, you'd be regular mortals; I, on the other hand, without magic would be a guy who's been dead for over sixty years now."
"Which means we need to get out of here," Cole said.
"Not to mention that someone in this house obviously doesn't like us," said Phoebe, coming from the kitchen with some ice wrapped in a towel to place on Cole's bruised chin.
"Now that you've mentioned it," Paige said, "can't we try to talk to whoever is haunting the house?" Ignoring their doubtful looks, she pursued: "Maybe they just want to be left alone, or to make sure their remains have a proper funeral, or something. I think it's worth the try, don't you?"
They looked at each other in silence for a moment, and then Piper stood up and said with a sigh:
"I'll see if there are any candles in the kitchen."
"Wait, I'll go with you," said Phoebe, standing up, too.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Beloved unknown spirit, we seek your guidance.
We ask that you commune with us and move among us."
Leo and Cole watched as the girls chanted, but no one answered. Suddenly, Ben, who had been sitting on Cole's knees, watching the scene without much interest, peered up and looked at the center of the circle formed by the five candles. The girls exchanged uncertain looks, and Leo suggested:
"Keep chanting."
As they kept repeating the words of the spell, Ben giggled, still staring at the center of the circle. But then all the candles suddenly burnt out; Ben pouted and gave one last puzzled look towards the spot before turning his attention back to the colorful towel Cole was pressing against his chin.
"That was odd," said Piper, giving the candles an intrigued look. "Should we try again?"
"I guess," said Phoebe. As she picked up the matchbox and lit another match, though, box and match were snapped from her hands by an invisible force, and all the candles were sent to the floor. One of the ceramic figures suddenly exploded, its shattered pieces flying in all directions, and a big one got stuck to the sofa's back, right beside Phoebe.
Cole promptly put his arm around Phoebe's shoulders and pulled her to him. While holding his shaken wife and his son against his chest, he glared at Paige and said:
"No more talking. No more summoning the dead. Just come up with a spell to get us out of here."
"God, I'm freezing," Piper said, bracing herself, "can we use the remaining matches to try and light the fireplace?"
"Let me try," Leo said, picking up the matchbox and crouching in front of the fireplace.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"That was close."
"How did he do that?"
"Damned if I know. I didn't even know he was here, too."
"Do you think he was trying to warn them?"
"I don't know and I don't care. My main concern now is to have this damn portal opened. Playing haunted house is wearing me out."
"Yeah, me too. So, what do you say? A break?"
"Definitely. Let's get some rest and then, if they still don't open the portal, we'll give them a little extra push."