CHARMED
"AN ALTERNATE DESTINY"
by J. B. Tilton
email: aramath@isot.com
Rating: PG (for mild language)
PART 3: ONE LAST CHANCE
When their attempt to stop the warlock fails and Darryl dies,
Prue decides she must return to the past to stop the warlock. But is
even the Power of Three enough to return Prue to her own time?
* * *
ONE
Locating Richard James proved to be harder to do than any of
them had anticipated. The home address he had given to the police
turned out to be fictitious. Not at all surprising to Darryl.
In addition, no one seemed to know him. Even though he had
apparently been exonerated with the third murder while he was in
custody, the police still kept a tail on him. He had suddenly
disappeared, leaving the surveillance team in a quandary.
Even the official records on him seemed to have been misplaced.
The arrest report, the officers' reports on the case, even the card
used to fingerprint him had suddenly gone missing. Even his mug shot,
along with the negative, had vanished as if into thin air.
"They won't find them," commented Piper. "My guess is he
blinked into the station lat at night and destroyed it all."
"Sounds reasonable," said Darryl. "If he is the killer, it
wouldn't do to have any evidence connecting him to the killings lying
around."
"Trust me, he's the killer," said Prue.
"Which means," said Darryl, "we can't even prove he exits. I
talked to one of the detectives who were dealing with the press. Even
the footage the news stations shot on him has vanished."
"He's thorough, I'll give him that," said Phoebe.
"At least he hasn't had a chance to go after victim number
five," said Prue. "Which means we could still have a chance to get
him. But that may not be easy. I'm sure San Francisco has a lot of
prostitutes in it. How do we narrow down the search?"
"Can't you scry for him?" suggested Heather. "I think I
remember you telling me once a story about scrying to find someone."
"We did that quite a number of times, if I remember correctly,"
said Phoebe. "But it won't work in this case. We'd need a personal
item of his to make it work properly. Besides, there's no guarantee
it would work against this symbiotic demon."
"Does the Book of Shadows have anything on it that can help us?"
asked Piper.
"Nothing," said Phoebe. "Apparently the warlock holds up in
some sort of hibernation in a secluded place. When he wakes up, he
takes his victims. The demon gets their life essence and the warlock
gets any powers, money, and personal items they have. Then, the
warlock goes back into hibernation again. But there's nothing about
where he hibernates."
"My guess," said Darryl, "is that's where he's hold up right
now. Choosing his next victim."
"But how does he choose his victims?" asked Prue. "Don't most
serial killers go after a specific type of victim?"
"Yes," said Darryl. "But that's what's got us stumped. The
only thing these victims have in common is that they're prostitutes
under the age of thirty-five. Nothing else seems to connect them.
"They don't have the same hair color, some work other jobs
during the day while some don't. Only one had any children. They
were all killed between dusk and dawn in the area where the
prostitutes frequent."
"Wait a minute," said Prue. "Twenty-eight years ago he wasn't'
stalking a prostitute. And he was quite a ways from the red light
district."
"Actually," said Darryl, "that woman was a call girl. She was
on her way to an appointment when she was murdered."
"Yeah, but he was following her," said Prue. "Which means he
was after her specifically. He could have found someone else, but he
followed her all the way into the residential area. That means he's
looking for something specific."
"Now all we have to do is figure out what that is," said Piper.
"And I don't think we have a whole lot of time to do it, either."
They spent the next few hours pouring over the information on
the case. As an official consultant on the case, Darryl had access to
all the police information. They weren't sure it would do any good,
but they had nothing else to go on. Dozens of detectives had already
been over the same material many times before.
"This is getting us nowhere," said Darryl finally, rubbing his
eyes. "I've been over these files a dozen times and I'm not finding
anything new. There's just nothing here that connects the victims to
each other."
"I'm going to need a new prescription for my glasses after
this," joked Phoebe.
"There has to be something," said Prue. "I can't believe all of
the victims are just randomly selected."
"Let's take a break," suggest Phoebe, starting to straighten up
the pile of papers on the table. "Maybe things will be a bit clearer
after . . .."
Suddenly Phoebe stiffened.
"What's wrong?" asked Piper.
"Whoa," said Phoebe. "I just had a premonition. After all
these years, I really wasn't prepared for it. It was pretty intense.
I'm okay, though."
"A premonition?" asked Prue. "About the murders?"
"Yes," replied Phoebe. "James was using an energy ball on a
woman. She seemed stunned by it. Then he pulled out this wicked
looking knife. That's all I got."
"Did you see where it happened?" asked Darryl. "Do you know
what the location is?"
"Yeah, I think so," said Phoebe. "It was night out. We still
have some time."
"Let's go," said Prue. "With a little luck, we can put an end
to this tonight."
"AN ALTERNATE DESTINY"
by J. B. Tilton
email: aramath@isot.com
Rating: PG (for mild language)
PART 3: ONE LAST CHANCE
When their attempt to stop the warlock fails and Darryl dies,
Prue decides she must return to the past to stop the warlock. But is
even the Power of Three enough to return Prue to her own time?
* * *
ONE
Locating Richard James proved to be harder to do than any of
them had anticipated. The home address he had given to the police
turned out to be fictitious. Not at all surprising to Darryl.
In addition, no one seemed to know him. Even though he had
apparently been exonerated with the third murder while he was in
custody, the police still kept a tail on him. He had suddenly
disappeared, leaving the surveillance team in a quandary.
Even the official records on him seemed to have been misplaced.
The arrest report, the officers' reports on the case, even the card
used to fingerprint him had suddenly gone missing. Even his mug shot,
along with the negative, had vanished as if into thin air.
"They won't find them," commented Piper. "My guess is he
blinked into the station lat at night and destroyed it all."
"Sounds reasonable," said Darryl. "If he is the killer, it
wouldn't do to have any evidence connecting him to the killings lying
around."
"Trust me, he's the killer," said Prue.
"Which means," said Darryl, "we can't even prove he exits. I
talked to one of the detectives who were dealing with the press. Even
the footage the news stations shot on him has vanished."
"He's thorough, I'll give him that," said Phoebe.
"At least he hasn't had a chance to go after victim number
five," said Prue. "Which means we could still have a chance to get
him. But that may not be easy. I'm sure San Francisco has a lot of
prostitutes in it. How do we narrow down the search?"
"Can't you scry for him?" suggested Heather. "I think I
remember you telling me once a story about scrying to find someone."
"We did that quite a number of times, if I remember correctly,"
said Phoebe. "But it won't work in this case. We'd need a personal
item of his to make it work properly. Besides, there's no guarantee
it would work against this symbiotic demon."
"Does the Book of Shadows have anything on it that can help us?"
asked Piper.
"Nothing," said Phoebe. "Apparently the warlock holds up in
some sort of hibernation in a secluded place. When he wakes up, he
takes his victims. The demon gets their life essence and the warlock
gets any powers, money, and personal items they have. Then, the
warlock goes back into hibernation again. But there's nothing about
where he hibernates."
"My guess," said Darryl, "is that's where he's hold up right
now. Choosing his next victim."
"But how does he choose his victims?" asked Prue. "Don't most
serial killers go after a specific type of victim?"
"Yes," said Darryl. "But that's what's got us stumped. The
only thing these victims have in common is that they're prostitutes
under the age of thirty-five. Nothing else seems to connect them.
"They don't have the same hair color, some work other jobs
during the day while some don't. Only one had any children. They
were all killed between dusk and dawn in the area where the
prostitutes frequent."
"Wait a minute," said Prue. "Twenty-eight years ago he wasn't'
stalking a prostitute. And he was quite a ways from the red light
district."
"Actually," said Darryl, "that woman was a call girl. She was
on her way to an appointment when she was murdered."
"Yeah, but he was following her," said Prue. "Which means he
was after her specifically. He could have found someone else, but he
followed her all the way into the residential area. That means he's
looking for something specific."
"Now all we have to do is figure out what that is," said Piper.
"And I don't think we have a whole lot of time to do it, either."
They spent the next few hours pouring over the information on
the case. As an official consultant on the case, Darryl had access to
all the police information. They weren't sure it would do any good,
but they had nothing else to go on. Dozens of detectives had already
been over the same material many times before.
"This is getting us nowhere," said Darryl finally, rubbing his
eyes. "I've been over these files a dozen times and I'm not finding
anything new. There's just nothing here that connects the victims to
each other."
"I'm going to need a new prescription for my glasses after
this," joked Phoebe.
"There has to be something," said Prue. "I can't believe all of
the victims are just randomly selected."
"Let's take a break," suggest Phoebe, starting to straighten up
the pile of papers on the table. "Maybe things will be a bit clearer
after . . .."
Suddenly Phoebe stiffened.
"What's wrong?" asked Piper.
"Whoa," said Phoebe. "I just had a premonition. After all
these years, I really wasn't prepared for it. It was pretty intense.
I'm okay, though."
"A premonition?" asked Prue. "About the murders?"
"Yes," replied Phoebe. "James was using an energy ball on a
woman. She seemed stunned by it. Then he pulled out this wicked
looking knife. That's all I got."
"Did you see where it happened?" asked Darryl. "Do you know
what the location is?"
"Yeah, I think so," said Phoebe. "It was night out. We still
have some time."
"Let's go," said Prue. "With a little luck, we can put an end
to this tonight."