Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Charmed!
Sorry it has taken awhile for an update, I've been out of town. Thank you all so much for your encouraging reviews, keep them coming!
"What do we do?" Phoebe high kicked a demon that went sailing out the attic window. "One down..."
"Keep fighting!" Piper blew one up with her powers. Leo had gone, taking Melinda with him. Cori and Gabriel crept silently up the last few stares and peered into the open door.
"Which one are we supposed to kill?" Whispered Gabriel
"That one, with the blue shirt." Cori pointed to Phoebe.
"She looks different than in the picture, prettier." Gabriel mused. Cori led Gabriel into the room. With a swoosh of her hand she had knocked everyone to the floor. The witches and Cole looked up; they were more than surprised to see two children standing in the doorway.
"What now?" whispered Gabriel to Cori.
"Just follow my lead." Before either of them could speak any further, the demons had risen, and the fighting had resumed. Gabriel, without warning, moaned in sudden pain. "What's wrong?" asked Cori, worried.
"He knows something's wrong. He knows we're planning something. Please hurry Cori it hurts so bad." Gabriel rubbed his temples in a meager attempt to lessen the pain. Cori instinctively put her plan into high gear. She left Gabriel at the door and made her way through the dust and demons. She saw Phoebe and lunged towards her. Cori stretched her hand towards Phoebe and a string of light shot out. The light entered Phoebe's head and Phoebe fell to the floor. Cori caught sight of Cole who noticed Phoebes fall and was making his way towards her. Cori dropped a slip of paper on the floor and quickly levitated Phoebe to the door where Gabriel was waiting.
"Gabriel, orb, NOW!" Cori yelled. Gabriel grabbed Phoebe's hand and Cori's hand and together the three orbed out of the room.
"What just happened?" asked Paige while killing one of the few remaining demons.
"I don't know. Did those kids just kidnap Phoebe?" Piper questioned confused. Paige shrugged while stabbing the last demon in the chest.
Gabriel and Cori orbed Phoebe to an empty warehouse just outside of San Francisco. They tied her to a chair and temporarily bound her powers. Once they had orbed out, the pain in Gabriel's head had stopped.
"What exactly are we going to do with her?" Gabriel asked as he sat down on the hard cement floor.
"I left a note."
"A note? Like a ransom note?" Gabriel looked surprised
"I guess. It basically told them to kill Rafferty or we would kill Phoebe."
"You're kidding right?"
"No."
"Cori, I don't want to kill anybody." Gabriel stood up and paced nervously around the room. Cori ignored his comment and sat down on the floor across from Phoebe. "So we just wait here?" Asked Gabriel, a little confused.
"Yep."
"No offense Cori, but this plan of yours sucks." Gabriel joined Cori on the floor.
"I know, it was a little last minute."
"How do we know Rafferty won't find us?"
"We don't. We just have to hope he doesn't." Cori stood up and walked over to a dusty window. She stood there for a moment and gazed at the approaching evening. The sun was just beginning to set and the moon was barely visible. "At least we're free."
"For the moment." Added Gabe, joining Cori at the window.
The second the children had orbed out of the attic, the demons the sisters had not yet vanquished, disappeared, leaving the witches and Cole staring around the room in awe.
"Was that the demon attack the elders were talking about?" Paige asked confused. "It wasn't that bad. Sure there were a lot of demons but they weren't anything that special."
"No. There was more, something was supposed to happen that didn't. Those children were supposed to do something. They didn't follow his plan." Cole said brushing the dust from his pants.
"How do you know that?" Asked Piper
"Rafferty, the demon that was here earlier, worked with me before the old Source was vanquished. He's too smart and powerful to come up with such a disorganized plan. He sounded so sure of himself, he wouldn't be so cocky if he wasn't sure his plan would work." Cole replied
"So what was his plan?" Paige asked. Leo, along with Melinda, orbed into the attic.
"Phoebe. He was going to kill Phoebe." Leo answered while handing Melinda to Piper.
"Why?" Asked Piper
"He was going to extract Phoebe's heart--"
"How?" Interrupted Paige
"Those kids, somehow he was going to use them to take out her heart. The elders aren't quite sure on the specifics, but basically with the heart he was going to kill you two and by doing that overthrow all good in the universe." Leo finished.
"Oh right." Said Paige sarcastically, "I should have thought of that."
"So why did those kids take Phoebe?" Asked Cole impatiently.
"We don't know, not even Rafferty does." Said Leo shrugging. As if responding to a hidden call, Rafferty appeared.
"Where are my kids?" Rafferty asked angrily.
"Where is my sister?" Questioned Piper with just as much anger in her voice as Rafferty had had.
"Hey Piper, check this out?" Paige had been absorbed in a small slip of paper she found on the floor.
"I'm a little busy Paige." Said Piper harshly
"Piper it's a note from those kids. They want us to kill that demon, otherwise they'll kill Phoebe." Paige looked up from the note and glanced over at the smirking demon.
"You're going to kill me? I'd like to see you try." Rafferty crossed his arms menacingly. "I'll make a deal with you witches. You help me get back my kids and I'll help you get your sister from them. They will kill her, don't doubt that."
"No." Said Cole without a moments pause. "We'll get her back on our own."
"Fine, I'll find her first though and I will kill her and fulfill my plan." Before Cole could shoot a fireball at him, he had disappeared.
