THREE
The sisters spent the rest of the day and all that night trying
to locate Prues' body. Piper called the hospitals and morgues on the
off chance Prues' body had been discovered in the car. Whoever had
found it might have thought she was dead and the authorities would
have sent the body to the hospital or morgue for disposition. But
there were no bodies in the morgue or hospital matching her
description.
Phoebe tried scrying for Prues' body. She had no success. She
even wrote a spell to find the body, which also failed. And repeated
examinations of the Book of Shadows yielded no results. Nothing in
the book was able to shield a human body from the girls' magic.
"Nine hours," said Prue, looking at the clock. "Nine hours and
it will all be over."
"Don't say that," chided Piper. "We' not done yet."
"Prue was getting progressively worse. Her strength was slowly
ebbing away. She could barely stand, let alone walk. As she became
progressively weaker, she also became more sullen and depressed. As
if her natural will to fight back was also be drained away.
"She might be right," Leo said to Piper. "There's only nine
hours left for her to get back into her body. We may have to accept
the fact that there's nothing any of us can do for her."
"No, I will never accept that," snapped Piper. "We're the
Charmed Ones. We're supposed to be the most powerful force for good
in history. We're supposed to be able to work miracles. I refuse to
believe there's nothing we can do."
"Her body is magically hidden," said Leo. "Unless you can find
it, there IS nothing you can do."
"I've been thinking about that," said Phoebe. "Prue said she
just happened onto that burning warehouse."
"Yeah, so?" asked Piper.
"So," said Phoebe, "whoever did this must have known about her
power. They would have had to prepare the magic to hid her body."
""How did they know she'd be at that warehouse?" asked Leo.
"Not even she knew she was going to be in that warehouse."
"And the news report said that warehouse was empty when it
caught fire," said Piper. "What was that woman doing in an empty
warehouse?"
"Our first lead," said Phoebe. "I'm willing to bet that the
fire was no accident. And that woman didn't just happen to be there.
She was there waiting for Prue to come along and 'save' her."
"It was a trap," said Leo, "to get Prue to astral project so
they could steal her body. While the woman kept Prue busy, someone
else stole her body."
"Now, that's devious," said Piper. "They, whoever they are,
destroys the Charmed Ones without ever attacking. All they have to do
is sit back and wait. Prue dies and the Power of Three is broken
forever."
"Well, as I said, we now have a clue," said Phoebe. "The police
should have that woman's name and address. If we can find her, she
might be able to lead us to whomever has taken Prues' body."
"If they haven't destroyed her body yet," said Piper. "If they
went to all this trouble, they might have just destroyed her body to
prevent her from ever returning to it."
"They haven't destroyed it yet," said Leo. "If they had, Prue
would have moved on. Since she's still here, that means her body is
still alive. At least for the moment."
"I'll go talk to Darryl," said Phoebe. "He should be able to
tell me who that woman is and where we can find her."
"Get back here as quickly as you can," said Piper. "We're fast
running out of time."
"I'm already halfway back," said Phoebe, picking up the keys to
Prues' car.
Piper was feeling a little better. At least they had something
to do that might actually help Prue. But there was so little time
left. As Prue lay on the living room sofa dying, Piper silently
prayed that they would be in time to save their oldest sister.
The sisters spent the rest of the day and all that night trying
to locate Prues' body. Piper called the hospitals and morgues on the
off chance Prues' body had been discovered in the car. Whoever had
found it might have thought she was dead and the authorities would
have sent the body to the hospital or morgue for disposition. But
there were no bodies in the morgue or hospital matching her
description.
Phoebe tried scrying for Prues' body. She had no success. She
even wrote a spell to find the body, which also failed. And repeated
examinations of the Book of Shadows yielded no results. Nothing in
the book was able to shield a human body from the girls' magic.
"Nine hours," said Prue, looking at the clock. "Nine hours and
it will all be over."
"Don't say that," chided Piper. "We' not done yet."
"Prue was getting progressively worse. Her strength was slowly
ebbing away. She could barely stand, let alone walk. As she became
progressively weaker, she also became more sullen and depressed. As
if her natural will to fight back was also be drained away.
"She might be right," Leo said to Piper. "There's only nine
hours left for her to get back into her body. We may have to accept
the fact that there's nothing any of us can do for her."
"No, I will never accept that," snapped Piper. "We're the
Charmed Ones. We're supposed to be the most powerful force for good
in history. We're supposed to be able to work miracles. I refuse to
believe there's nothing we can do."
"Her body is magically hidden," said Leo. "Unless you can find
it, there IS nothing you can do."
"I've been thinking about that," said Phoebe. "Prue said she
just happened onto that burning warehouse."
"Yeah, so?" asked Piper.
"So," said Phoebe, "whoever did this must have known about her
power. They would have had to prepare the magic to hid her body."
""How did they know she'd be at that warehouse?" asked Leo.
"Not even she knew she was going to be in that warehouse."
"And the news report said that warehouse was empty when it
caught fire," said Piper. "What was that woman doing in an empty
warehouse?"
"Our first lead," said Phoebe. "I'm willing to bet that the
fire was no accident. And that woman didn't just happen to be there.
She was there waiting for Prue to come along and 'save' her."
"It was a trap," said Leo, "to get Prue to astral project so
they could steal her body. While the woman kept Prue busy, someone
else stole her body."
"Now, that's devious," said Piper. "They, whoever they are,
destroys the Charmed Ones without ever attacking. All they have to do
is sit back and wait. Prue dies and the Power of Three is broken
forever."
"Well, as I said, we now have a clue," said Phoebe. "The police
should have that woman's name and address. If we can find her, she
might be able to lead us to whomever has taken Prues' body."
"If they haven't destroyed her body yet," said Piper. "If they
went to all this trouble, they might have just destroyed her body to
prevent her from ever returning to it."
"They haven't destroyed it yet," said Leo. "If they had, Prue
would have moved on. Since she's still here, that means her body is
still alive. At least for the moment."
"I'll go talk to Darryl," said Phoebe. "He should be able to
tell me who that woman is and where we can find her."
"Get back here as quickly as you can," said Piper. "We're fast
running out of time."
"I'm already halfway back," said Phoebe, picking up the keys to
Prues' car.
Piper was feeling a little better. At least they had something
to do that might actually help Prue. But there was so little time
left. As Prue lay on the living room sofa dying, Piper silently
prayed that they would be in time to save their oldest sister.