Chapter Seven

Phoebe sat lengthwise, huddled on the sofa, and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. In spite of her parents' closeness to her, sitting by her feet, she couldn't stop shaking.

"Here, my darling," Penny said as she entered the room and brought a cup and saucer to Phoebe, "some of my special tea to settle your nerves." Phoebe shook her head and Penny insisted, "You haven't eaten in twenty-four hours and have been through a traumatic experience. Please, drink it, it will soothe you, I promise."

Phoebe shook her head again and quietly told her grandmother, "I don't think I could keep anything down right now." She looked to her mother for reassurance.

"Try a little sip," Patty suggested. "It might make you feel better."

Phoebe sighed, turned back to her grandmother, and reached for the cup. But her hand shook so badly she ended up spilling much of the hot liquid on herself. The pain barely registered for her as she watched her grandmother quickly place the cup on the table. She barely focused on her mother's attention to her hand. All she thought was that it was a relief that she didn't have to speak of her premonition.

"Towel," Paige quietly commanded. A small white towel appeared in her hand and she quickly stepped forward. Patty stepped aside as Paige knelt in front of Phoebe and she carefully wiped her sister's red hand.

Phoebe stared at her younger sister with a mixture of surprise and gratitude as her sister then healed her burned hand. "Thanks," she whispered. Paige released her hand but, before Paige stood, Phoebe quickly reached out and hugged her sister. "I'm so sorry," she softly cried.

"We'll get through this," Paige awkwardly assured her.

Phoebe shook her head. "You, you deserve so much better"

Paige glanced at her mother with confusion. "Whatever you saw," she told her sister, "doesn't have to come true. That's why you get these premonitions. So that we can change the future for the better." Phoebe pulled back and tried to calm herself. "But," Paige continued as she helped fix the blanket around her sister, "we can't help unless we know what you saw. You have to tell us, no matter how bad you think it is."

Phoebe looked back at her and then at all the other expectant faces. She saw that Cole stood in the back, keeping his distance. He gave her a nod of encouragement but remained in his spot and, at that moment, she realized how badly she needed his arms around her to comfort her. But she didn't know what to do. She wasn't supposed to want him. How could she have the nerve to call for him if every other word to him has been that it's over between them. And what about Piper? Things were bad enough between them and, if she called out for Cole, Piper mightShe wasn't really sure what Piper might do but she couldn't risk making the situation worse.

"Phoebe?" Victor questioned with worry.

She focused on him and realized she'd been lost in thought. "It washorrible, Dad, horrible," she quietly told him.

"Take your time," he encouraged as he stood up and crossed to her other side. He sat down again and took her hand in his. "Forget about everyone else in the room. Just talk to me."

Patty remained in her seat next to Phoebe and held Phoebe's other hand. "You're safe here. You can tell us what happened."

Phoebe squeezed her parents' hands gratefully but still pulled her hands free. She hugged herself and spoke quietly while looking down at the floor. "It was in the attic," she began. "Leo was in the center of the room and he washe was lying on the floor withwith an arrow sticking out of his chest."

Piper gasped and Leo wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Go on," he encouraged Phoebe.

Phoebe glanced up at him and he nodded again. She squeezed her eyes shut and recalled, "P-Piper and Paige werethe attic was empty of most of the junk that's there and they weretheir hands were chained up behind their heads to the wall. They were kneeling on the floor but their heads were hanging down and there wasblood dripping down. Blood was everywhere," she whispered in horror as she opened her eyes and stared blankly ahead. "It was flowing down their wrists and I saw the slash marks on their bodies where their clothing was torn. There was blood on the floor near them. They weren't moving and I couldn't tell if they wereif they were still breathing. I couldn't move, I waschained to the opposite wall with my hands above my head and I wasI was inI was in" Phoebe panicked and couldn't focus. She looked helplessly to her father as she began gasping for breath.

Victor kissed her temple and held her hand again. "Take deep breaths, sweetheart. You're safe here. Concentrate only on breathing in and out." He watched as she listened and he waited until she had herself under control before he tried to change the topic slightly by asking, "What about me? This morning you called out and told me to take the baby and run."

Phoebe nodded and took another deep breath. She squeezed her father's hand and told him, "You came into the attic carrying the baby and saw me and I guess I shouted at you to run because you stopped coming towards me and ran out of the attic with her."

"And the book?" he asked. "You wanted me to take the Book of Shadows?"

Phoebe glanced at him with confusion. "II don't know. I didn'tI'm not sure it was there."

"It's okay," he told her as he hugged her. "You're doing great."

"Leo," Piper whispered in fear as she stroked her belly.

Leo placed his hand on top of Piper's and assured her, "She'll be safe."

Penny quickly put her arms around a stunned Paige. "You said you were chained also," she inquired of Phoebe. "Were you hurt too?"

Phoebe started trembling again and pulled away from her father. "He wasThe demon laughed and came closer and he was touchingtouching meand I knew he wantedOh God, he wanted" She broke off and frantically looked for Cole. "I can't go through this again," she cried to him. "I can't lose --"

Cole was immediately kneeling at her side before she finished her statement and, to the surprise of her family, pulled Phoebe into an embrace. "It won't happen," he promised as he held her tight. "I'd die before I let it happen again."

"But you do," she cried hysterically, "you do!"

"That's impossible," Paige whispered. "He can't be killed."

Phoebe ignored her sister and continued in a rush as Cole still held her. "I guess you had been chained too because when he moved towards me you tried to attack him by choking him with your chains. You must've only knocked him out because when you tried to free me, he, he came after you and youyou fell on me and I saw theI saw the sword sticking out of your back and he pulled it out and kicked you to the side and he came closer and hehe used it to slice me open toto remove the" Phoebe broke off again and buried her face in Cole's chest as she sobbed.

"It won't come true," he whispered to her, even as he began to fear the possibility.

"What's going on?" Piper suddenly asked. "What aren't you telling us?"

Victor watched the couple and realized with a whisper, "He wanted the baby."

"No!" Piper nearly shrieked.

"Not your baby," Cole stated as he pulled back and looked into Phoebe's teary eyes. "This won't come true," he promised. "Even if I have to keep you hidden for nine months, he won't touch you."

"What are you saying?" Patty asked in shock.

"You're not" Penny began.

"You're pregnant?" Paige exclaimed.

"How could you?" Piper accused.

"It isn't as though we planned it," Cole said in annoyance even as he tenderly brushed away Phoebe's tears.

"He was after the baby," she whispered to him. "And I wasn't going to survive either. I know it. You didn't see. You didn't see," she repeated as panic began to set in again. She stared into Cole's eyes and gulped for air. He ran his hands up and down her upper arms and she slowly began to catch her breath.

"Wait a minute," Piper asked with growing anger, "are you telling me that some demon kills all of us, makes my child an orphan, just to get his hands on your own evil child?"

"This baby's not evil," Phoebe weakly insisted.

"How can you even be sure you're pregnant?" Paige wondered aloud. "Unless you've been sleeping with him all along and you're farther along than --" she accused.

"No!" both Phoebe and Cole sharply interrupted.

"Then, come on," she uttered, "you're using protection, what're the chances that you got pregnant from this one time?"

"Twice," Phoebe muttered softly.

"I thought it was three," Cole teased.

She gave him a slight smile, "Maybe four."

"No more!" Victor insisted.

"You still can't possibly be sure," Paige repeated with a look of disgust.

Cole stood and turned to face Paige, "She had another premonition this morning before you showed up at my door."

Phoebe nodded and told them, "Piper was on the floor and her baby was crawling to her and Cole and I were watching. And I was definitely pregnant."

Piper rubbed her belly again but looked at her sister and said, "Then there's one way to make sure it doesn't come true." The others looked at her and she stated, "Don't have the baby." Penny and Patty both gasped but Piper added, "We'll say you were attacked. I'm sure Darryl could get you something."

"I can't believe you're suggesting that," Phoebe whispered as she pressed her hand defensively to her stomach. She saw Cole's fists clench. "Cole"

Victor also saw Cole's expression change and quickly stood and put a restraining hand on Cole's arm. "She's upset and not thinking clearly. She didn't mean it."

"Cole" Phoebe pleaded.

Cole looked back at her and his expression softened. He shrugged off Victor's hand and told Phoebe, "I'll take you away from here." He knelt in front of her. "I'll protect you both."

"The Seer" She hesitated and looked down.

"What about her?" he encouraged as tilted her chin up and gazed into her eyes.

"What if she was wrong" She began to tremble and he quickly reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"The Seer was never wrong," he cautiously told her. "That's why she was so powerful and so highly respected."

Phoebe pulled her hand free and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She needed to explain her theory. Needed him to agree. She took a deep breath and whispered, "What if she misunderstood her premonition? Based her actions on that misunderstanding?"

"I don't understand," he admitted. "Maybe my death threw off her plan but it still worked in her favor. Our child would've been everything she'd planned. Powerful enough to make her the new Source in order to train him."

Phoebe shook her head, "But she first told you our child would be the most powerful magical child, right?"

"That's how she convinced the Source it was necessary to feed the child's evil nature, to keep the child away from the side of good and its influences," Cole quietly acknowledged. "The only reason you were given the tonic."

"Do we really have to go over this again?" Paige asked. "We vanquished baby Lucifer and the Seer, end of story."

Cole ignored Paige and admitted to Phoebe, "I still don't see where this is going."

Phoebe grabbed for his hands and clenched them as she desperately whispered, "What if she based her actions on the wrong child?"

Cole stared at her and suddenly understood what she was trying to tell him. "There's no Seer, no tonic now," he said, echoing his statements of that morning. "Nothing to turn him to evil."

"And you're even more powerful than you were last year," she added. "Maybe you could protect us," she hoped.

"We shouldn't need protection," Piper complained.

"Hush, Piper," Penny commented. She turned to Phoebe, "Did you see the demon, Phoebe? Do you know who was responsible?"

Phoebe tore her gaze from Cole and looked to her grandmother. She slowly nodded. "He was dressed in a black robe and washe was big and broad. When he came near, he pulled his hood and I saw his face." She took a deep breath, "He was bald and had these scars, tattoos, I don't know." She gulped for air and described, "His eyesthey were the centers of pentagrams." She looked at her grandmother and repeated, "He had pentagrams drawn around his eyes."

Penny noticed Cole's odd look. "What is he? Friend of yours?"

Cole ignored her and suggested to Phoebe, "Why don't you get some rest? I have to check out some things."

"Why?" She asked in a bit of fear. "Who is he?"

"I don't want to talk about it until I know for sure," he told her. He turned and picked up the cup of tea. "Here, why don't you try this now? I'll call you in a few days."

"A few days?" she gasped even as she took the cup from him.

"I have to do some research first," he said, "and I've got to be in court first thing Monday morning. I've got a trial starting and still have some preparations to make."

"Still have time pretending to help the innocents?" Paige commented.

"It's not pretend," he stated simply. To Phoebe he added, "When I come back, we'll have to talk. Really talk." Phoebe nodded and he stood, "Get some rest. I'll see you soon." He turned to the others and advised, "In the meantime, you'd better start working on protection amulets." He noticed the look Paige flashed Piper. "What is it?"

"The Power of Three is not quite so powerful at the moment," Paige admitted.

"I couldn't freeze three out of five glasses," Piper confessed.

"Well, you'd better work it out and fast," Cole said in annoyance, "because if it's who I think it is, you'll need even more than the Power of Three to save you." With one last look to Phoebe, he faded out of the room.

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