Chapter 5
Cole paced the floor of the underworld. He had a plan to cause even more trouble between the Charmed ones. So much so, that it would give him time to think of a way to keep them from getting a piece of his flesh, for banishment, once again.
Cole had done his homework, asking around about the Charmed Ones new Whitelighter. What he had learned, had made him absolutely giddy with glee! My God! For all of their power, the witches seemed to have a bad habit of forming personal relationships with beings that they shouldn't! Whitelighters, demons...
A lower-level demon, wearing a brown robe, approached him. He looked at him with reverence.
'Belthazor. Word in the underworld was that you had been vanquished by the Charmed Ones.'
'Well, obviously, news of my demise was premature.'
The demon nodded respectfully, but secretly thought he was pretty sure he had heard of it, from a reliable source.
'What can I do to serve, such a powerful and revered force such as yourself?' he asked Cole.
Cole smiled thinly at him.
'You can stop sucking up, for one. Second, I understand one of your many 'talents' is that your are able to manipulate the past?'
The demon nodded.
'Indeed. I was actually an apprentice of Tempest, for a good number of years before striking out on my own.'
The demon that brought his hands up quickly from under his robe, and made the equivalent of a big-screen TV, appear.
'What is it that you need?' he asked.
Cole walked up to the contraption. He then turned back to the demon.
'I need to go back into the past and bring someone into this reality.'
The demon said nothing, as he secretly searched his memory, for the exact details of Belthazor's earlier demise. He believed, it too, had something to do with the manipulation of time or reality. Something like that. And the demon that had helped him, ended up paying for it in the worst way imaginable.
But the demon swallowed his doubts.
'Demon? Warlock? Or...'
'Witch. I need to bring a witch into this reality. And before you ask who, I'll just come right out and tell you. I need to go back to the night I was first introduced to Prue and Phoebe Halliwell. Then, I need to bring Prue, into this reality.'
****
Phoebe looked at Piper.
'I'll stay down here and take care of this Ms. Parker. You go upstairs and see if Paige is up to vanquishing Cole tonight.'
Piper smiled at her.
'You don't trust me?'
Phoebe sighed.
'No, Piper, I don't. I think we both know how much Jarod meant to you. He told us this ice-queen would be showing up here, looking for him. Now here she is, frozen, outside of the door. She's going to wonder what happened. I think I can give her a somewhat rational explanation, without casting suspicion on us.'
'I don't care if she's suspicious of us, Phoebe! Jarod isn't here!'
'No, but we don't need strangers hanging around, suspicious of what's going on in this house! She may be after Jarod, but...look, we just don't need any outside trouble, not now! So, go and check up on Paige.'
Phoebe pointed towards the stairs. Piper stared at Phoebe, then threw her hands up in surrender. She then walked up the stairs.
The doorbell rang again. Piper's freeze must have wore off, Phoebe thought. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Ms. Parker did not look pleased!
'Did you slam the door on me?' she asked, her tone hard.
'Excuse me?' Phoebe asked, looking her up and down.
'Look, don't play games with me, little girl!'
Phoebe's eyes widened.
''Little girl?' Is that what you think I am?'
'No, what I think you are is one of Jarod's 'fans'. What, did he tell you some sob story about how big, bad people were chasing him or something? Maybe he's the big, bad person. Did you ever think of that?'
Phoebe leaned forward.
'Lady, I have never seen you before in my life! You rang the doorbell, I answered to you...some strange woman giving me grief! You said something about Jarod...that would be the guy that lives next door, right?'
Phoebe then pointed over next door for good measure.
'He lives over there. Bye!'
Phoebe tried to close the door, but Ms. Parker stuck her foot in inside. Phoebe flung the door back, jumped up in the air and kicked Ms. Parker in the face! She went flying back onto the lawn! Phoebe came out onto the porch and pointed a finger at her.
'I don't know where Jarod is! But, I would have to guess that he probably high-tailed it out of here, once that black sedan began showing up in front of his house!'
Ms. Parker, struggled to get up, holding her face. God! How did such a little person learn a move like that?! She would love to be able to do that to someone!
But, then the impudent girl's last words sunk in.
'What? What did you say?'
'I said a black sedan has been parked in front of his house!'
Ms. Parker looked away. Someone else from The Center had been here before her! For all she knew, Mr. Lyle could have Jarod by now!
Ms. Parker looked at the girl on the porch. This neighbor girl had told her everything she needed to know. Either Jarod had been caught, or had managed to escape an earlier recapture attempt, and fled the area again!
Ms. Parker turned and walked down the drive-way and across the street to her car. She gave Phoebe, one last hateful glance, before getting into her car and driving off.
Phoebe did not go back in the house until she saw the hateful bitch drive off. She prayed Andy had dropped Jarod off somewhere very far away! She then went back inside and closed the door.
****
'What the living hell is going on here?!' Piper practically screamed.
Paige, who was still firmly being held in Andy's arms, off of the ground, and was still kissing him, pulled away. Andy lowered her back onto the ground.
'Piper, I can explain...' Andy began.
Piper stared at him as if he had just shot someone's mother!
'What is this? I thought you loved Prue? Now I come up here and find you moving in on another one of my sisters?!'
'Piper that is not fair!' Paige yelled. 'I have had feelings for Andy for quite some time! And Prue is dead!'
'You shut-up!' Piper hissed, pointing a finger at Paige. 'If Andy isn't dead, then neither is Prue, is she, Andy?'
Andy stepped forward.
'Piper, you know she's dead. I'm dead.'
Piper rubbed her forehead in frustration!
'I understand that, Andy! But I could go to the book and call her right now if I wanted to! So she's not 'dead' like I can never see her again! You've seen her!'
Andy nodded slowly, but grabbed Piper's hands.
'Piper, I will always love Prue. But even in the afterworld, we live separate lives. I don't know what to tell you except that I love Paige.'
Piper stared at him. She then looked at Paige.
'How could you do this to Prue?'
'Piper, my God! I'm not doing anything to Prue! I didn't mean to fall in love with Andy...I never figured it would upset you this much!'
'Yes you did. Otherwise, the two of you wouldn't have been sneaking around like this!'
Piper turned and walked out of the bedroom. She whipped past a confused Phoebe, who looked at her back, before walking into Paige's room. Paige turned away. Andy's jaw tightened.
'What?' Phoebe asked.
Andy shook his head.
'I'll explain it later. I went to see Cole.'
'What did he have to say for himself?'
'I didn't give him much of a chance to talk. But he made it clear that he doesn't intend to leave any of you alone. We have to vanquish him as soon as possible.'
Phoebe nodded.
'Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I have a plan.'
'A plan?' Paige asked.
'Yeah. I think if I go over to his apartment, by myself...'
'No!' Andy vetoed.
'Hear me out,' Phoebe said. 'I pretend I want him back, get him to let his guard down, then the three of you orb in, and Paige, you cut a piece of his flesh off of him. We say the vanquishing spell, and that's that!'
Paige frowned.
'I'm worried that that might not be enough anymore.'
'What do you mean?' Andy asked, reaching out and rubbing her shoulder. Phoebe eyed them.
'I mean, we had a lot of trouble vanquishing him before, because he was so powerful. The only way we were able to get rid of him, was because of a spell he cast, manipulating time and our reality. He could be vanquished there. Here, I don't know.'
'We won't know until we try.' Phoebe said firmly. 'So, let's get ready to go over there.'
She looked at Paige.
'Are you ready, honey?'
Paige nodded.
'I'm ready to send that sonofabitch back to where he came from.' Paige answered calmly. Phoebe hugged her, smiled at Andy, then left the room. Paige looked at Andy.
'Piper hates us.'
Andy pulled her into his arms.
'Piper doesn't hate us. I just think we remind her of what she lost.'
Paige leaned her face on to his shoulder.
****
Cole walked through the dark alley, that Detective Darryl Morris had been attacked in, that fateful night, years ago. He walked up to Phoebe and Prue, and introduced himself as A.D.A. Cole Turner.
It took every bit of willpower he had in him, to ignore Phoebe's lavascious glances towards him. Cole remembered what he was here for, and focused all of his charm and attention, on Prue. Phoebe, seeing that Cole was in to her sister, backed off, looking more than a bit disappointed. Prue tossed some of her shiny, black hair, and gripped his hand firmly, when he introduced himself.
Cole paced the floor of the underworld. He had a plan to cause even more trouble between the Charmed ones. So much so, that it would give him time to think of a way to keep them from getting a piece of his flesh, for banishment, once again.
Cole had done his homework, asking around about the Charmed Ones new Whitelighter. What he had learned, had made him absolutely giddy with glee! My God! For all of their power, the witches seemed to have a bad habit of forming personal relationships with beings that they shouldn't! Whitelighters, demons...
A lower-level demon, wearing a brown robe, approached him. He looked at him with reverence.
'Belthazor. Word in the underworld was that you had been vanquished by the Charmed Ones.'
'Well, obviously, news of my demise was premature.'
The demon nodded respectfully, but secretly thought he was pretty sure he had heard of it, from a reliable source.
'What can I do to serve, such a powerful and revered force such as yourself?' he asked Cole.
Cole smiled thinly at him.
'You can stop sucking up, for one. Second, I understand one of your many 'talents' is that your are able to manipulate the past?'
The demon nodded.
'Indeed. I was actually an apprentice of Tempest, for a good number of years before striking out on my own.'
The demon that brought his hands up quickly from under his robe, and made the equivalent of a big-screen TV, appear.
'What is it that you need?' he asked.
Cole walked up to the contraption. He then turned back to the demon.
'I need to go back into the past and bring someone into this reality.'
The demon said nothing, as he secretly searched his memory, for the exact details of Belthazor's earlier demise. He believed, it too, had something to do with the manipulation of time or reality. Something like that. And the demon that had helped him, ended up paying for it in the worst way imaginable.
But the demon swallowed his doubts.
'Demon? Warlock? Or...'
'Witch. I need to bring a witch into this reality. And before you ask who, I'll just come right out and tell you. I need to go back to the night I was first introduced to Prue and Phoebe Halliwell. Then, I need to bring Prue, into this reality.'
****
Phoebe looked at Piper.
'I'll stay down here and take care of this Ms. Parker. You go upstairs and see if Paige is up to vanquishing Cole tonight.'
Piper smiled at her.
'You don't trust me?'
Phoebe sighed.
'No, Piper, I don't. I think we both know how much Jarod meant to you. He told us this ice-queen would be showing up here, looking for him. Now here she is, frozen, outside of the door. She's going to wonder what happened. I think I can give her a somewhat rational explanation, without casting suspicion on us.'
'I don't care if she's suspicious of us, Phoebe! Jarod isn't here!'
'No, but we don't need strangers hanging around, suspicious of what's going on in this house! She may be after Jarod, but...look, we just don't need any outside trouble, not now! So, go and check up on Paige.'
Phoebe pointed towards the stairs. Piper stared at Phoebe, then threw her hands up in surrender. She then walked up the stairs.
The doorbell rang again. Piper's freeze must have wore off, Phoebe thought. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Ms. Parker did not look pleased!
'Did you slam the door on me?' she asked, her tone hard.
'Excuse me?' Phoebe asked, looking her up and down.
'Look, don't play games with me, little girl!'
Phoebe's eyes widened.
''Little girl?' Is that what you think I am?'
'No, what I think you are is one of Jarod's 'fans'. What, did he tell you some sob story about how big, bad people were chasing him or something? Maybe he's the big, bad person. Did you ever think of that?'
Phoebe leaned forward.
'Lady, I have never seen you before in my life! You rang the doorbell, I answered to you...some strange woman giving me grief! You said something about Jarod...that would be the guy that lives next door, right?'
Phoebe then pointed over next door for good measure.
'He lives over there. Bye!'
Phoebe tried to close the door, but Ms. Parker stuck her foot in inside. Phoebe flung the door back, jumped up in the air and kicked Ms. Parker in the face! She went flying back onto the lawn! Phoebe came out onto the porch and pointed a finger at her.
'I don't know where Jarod is! But, I would have to guess that he probably high-tailed it out of here, once that black sedan began showing up in front of his house!'
Ms. Parker, struggled to get up, holding her face. God! How did such a little person learn a move like that?! She would love to be able to do that to someone!
But, then the impudent girl's last words sunk in.
'What? What did you say?'
'I said a black sedan has been parked in front of his house!'
Ms. Parker looked away. Someone else from The Center had been here before her! For all she knew, Mr. Lyle could have Jarod by now!
Ms. Parker looked at the girl on the porch. This neighbor girl had told her everything she needed to know. Either Jarod had been caught, or had managed to escape an earlier recapture attempt, and fled the area again!
Ms. Parker turned and walked down the drive-way and across the street to her car. She gave Phoebe, one last hateful glance, before getting into her car and driving off.
Phoebe did not go back in the house until she saw the hateful bitch drive off. She prayed Andy had dropped Jarod off somewhere very far away! She then went back inside and closed the door.
****
'What the living hell is going on here?!' Piper practically screamed.
Paige, who was still firmly being held in Andy's arms, off of the ground, and was still kissing him, pulled away. Andy lowered her back onto the ground.
'Piper, I can explain...' Andy began.
Piper stared at him as if he had just shot someone's mother!
'What is this? I thought you loved Prue? Now I come up here and find you moving in on another one of my sisters?!'
'Piper that is not fair!' Paige yelled. 'I have had feelings for Andy for quite some time! And Prue is dead!'
'You shut-up!' Piper hissed, pointing a finger at Paige. 'If Andy isn't dead, then neither is Prue, is she, Andy?'
Andy stepped forward.
'Piper, you know she's dead. I'm dead.'
Piper rubbed her forehead in frustration!
'I understand that, Andy! But I could go to the book and call her right now if I wanted to! So she's not 'dead' like I can never see her again! You've seen her!'
Andy nodded slowly, but grabbed Piper's hands.
'Piper, I will always love Prue. But even in the afterworld, we live separate lives. I don't know what to tell you except that I love Paige.'
Piper stared at him. She then looked at Paige.
'How could you do this to Prue?'
'Piper, my God! I'm not doing anything to Prue! I didn't mean to fall in love with Andy...I never figured it would upset you this much!'
'Yes you did. Otherwise, the two of you wouldn't have been sneaking around like this!'
Piper turned and walked out of the bedroom. She whipped past a confused Phoebe, who looked at her back, before walking into Paige's room. Paige turned away. Andy's jaw tightened.
'What?' Phoebe asked.
Andy shook his head.
'I'll explain it later. I went to see Cole.'
'What did he have to say for himself?'
'I didn't give him much of a chance to talk. But he made it clear that he doesn't intend to leave any of you alone. We have to vanquish him as soon as possible.'
Phoebe nodded.
'Yeah, I've been thinking about that. I have a plan.'
'A plan?' Paige asked.
'Yeah. I think if I go over to his apartment, by myself...'
'No!' Andy vetoed.
'Hear me out,' Phoebe said. 'I pretend I want him back, get him to let his guard down, then the three of you orb in, and Paige, you cut a piece of his flesh off of him. We say the vanquishing spell, and that's that!'
Paige frowned.
'I'm worried that that might not be enough anymore.'
'What do you mean?' Andy asked, reaching out and rubbing her shoulder. Phoebe eyed them.
'I mean, we had a lot of trouble vanquishing him before, because he was so powerful. The only way we were able to get rid of him, was because of a spell he cast, manipulating time and our reality. He could be vanquished there. Here, I don't know.'
'We won't know until we try.' Phoebe said firmly. 'So, let's get ready to go over there.'
She looked at Paige.
'Are you ready, honey?'
Paige nodded.
'I'm ready to send that sonofabitch back to where he came from.' Paige answered calmly. Phoebe hugged her, smiled at Andy, then left the room. Paige looked at Andy.
'Piper hates us.'
Andy pulled her into his arms.
'Piper doesn't hate us. I just think we remind her of what she lost.'
Paige leaned her face on to his shoulder.
****
Cole walked through the dark alley, that Detective Darryl Morris had been attacked in, that fateful night, years ago. He walked up to Phoebe and Prue, and introduced himself as A.D.A. Cole Turner.
It took every bit of willpower he had in him, to ignore Phoebe's lavascious glances towards him. Cole remembered what he was here for, and focused all of his charm and attention, on Prue. Phoebe, seeing that Cole was in to her sister, backed off, looking more than a bit disappointed. Prue tossed some of her shiny, black hair, and gripped his hand firmly, when he introduced himself.