Chapter 4
The gathered group stood stone-silent, not daring to move too much. Finally, Prue broke the silence.
"Darryl, get him out of here!"
"He's a cop, Prue. And he's got a search warrant," he told her, painful as it was.
"And believe me, I've found what I've been searching for," the inspector smiled to himself. Cole started to move toward him, but Cortez didn't let him get too far, pointing his gun at him. "Ah-ah-ah-ah. Don't move. I'll shoot."
"Then so will I," Cole threatened coolly.
"Cole..." Leo stopped him.
"Okay Inspector, just put the gun down. There is a very good explanation for all of this," she started, then noticing no one else was speaking, "Feel free to chime in anytime, guys."
"My whole life, I suspected evil magic was real, that there was something more. I've seen too many horrible things in the job to suspect otherwise, not the least of which are the two murders that happened here." The implications of what he was saying infuriated Prue to no end.
"Are you accusing us... she was our sister!"
"I've just begun to accuse you, lady!"
"All right, fine. You caught us. Congratulations. So what are you gonna do about it? Shoot us?" Grams defied him in a grand air.
"Easy, Grams. Not all of us are dead, remember?" Phoebe reminded her uneasily. Leo stepped up.
"Alright, look, you can't arrest us, especially not them. Nobody will believe you."
"Maybe not at first. I'm putting this whole place under constant surveillance. I'm taping your every move. Sooner or later, I'll catch you doing something uh, supernatural, and then..." Before he could continue in his tirade, he was knocked unconscious to the ground by Darryl.
"I think you've been through enough today, huh?"
"Thank you," Prue smiled weakly.
"Darryl, go, get out of here. We don't want you to take the fall for this," Phoebe approached their friend.
"No, it's okay."
"No, it's not. This is our problem. He wants to expose us, not you. Let us take care of this, please?"
"If you need me, you know where to find me, huh?" Phoebe nodded and turned to Cole as Darryl left.
"It doesn't solve your problem. He's gonna wake up eventually. You've just bought yourself some time," he reminded her.
"What you're gonna need, especially if you're gonna save your..." Leo started, and Phoebe finished, much to Prue's shuddering.
"Sister?"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Just write a spell. Get rid of him," Grams instructed her granddaughter.
"Uh, get rid of him?" Phoebe asked, confused about just what she meant.
"Well, you know what I mean. Dump him somewhere. Anywhere. With all the witches in this room, we oughta be able to do something with him. I mean, just start rhyming. Uh, take him away. Remove him now. Don't let him stay." Phoebe nodded and started to think.
"Oh. Uh. We call the... spirits... to help undo and send him off to... Timbuktu!" she spoke with much hesitation, the last part accompanying Cortez' disappearance. "Whoa. It worked."
"Yeah, but... Timbuktu? Phoebe!" Prue started on her.
"Alright, well, it was the only thing I could think of that rhymed with undo," she almost blushed.
"Peru, Pheebs?" Prue suggested, and for a second things were normal. But then...
"Don't worry. Uh, I'll find him," Cole told them before shimmering out.
"This... this is just too much, I can't..." Prue started, shaking her head.
"Nobody can blame you for being angry, sweetie," Patty told her eldest daughter.
"Angry? Yeah, you got that right. This is all just not making sense, and guess what, it sucks. After all these years you come in here and announce we have another sister and we're supposed to accept this? Damn it, Mom... Why... why today?" Prue asked, eyes shaking.
"I know it's a lot, sweetie. More than anybody should have to deal with, but you're going to have to deal with it the best way you know how. Losing Piper, learning about another sister... this is your path. This is your destiny. Get angry at it, cry about it, but don't fight it. Or it'll consume you."
"Come on, Patty. The rest is up to them," Grams told her daughter and the two disappeared in the same cloud of light they'd arrived in. All remained as they were for a few seconds before Prue started leaving the attic. The other two followed.
"I can't sense where she is because she's technically not a witch yet," Leo told the sisters as they went down the stairs.
"Alright, so all we have to go on is that church that Mom mentioned and the nun," Phoebe spoke.
"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I am only doing this to save her. I'm not remotely interested in reconstituting... The Charmed Ones..." Prue stopped, and Phoebe and Leo looked up to see what she had. There she was, the girl, standing just past the open door, looking all kinds of nervous.
"I, the door was open," she started, fidgeting, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here," she started to leave, but Phoebe ran after her and turned her back toward the others.
"No, no, no. No, no. We were just coming to look for you."
"You were?" she asked, surprised. Phoebe held on to her arm and led her toward Prue and Leo.
"Yep. Come on in. Welcome. I'm Phoebe. And this is..." she started pointing to her sister, but before she could speak her name...
"Prue. I know. I've been to the club. Pretty great," she spoke, still as uneasily as ever.
"Thank you," Prue smiled courteously. "And you are?"
"Paige. My name is Paige," she told her, barely breathing.
"Hmm. Another P. Imagine that," Phoebe looked at Prue, who couldn't say or do anything at that.
"It's nice to meet you," she held her hand out though.
The moment Paige's hand touched Prue's, with Phoebe still holding on to the newcomer, a bright blue light came down on them from the chandelier. Paige looked around in shock.
"Okay. What was that?" she asked as it stopped.
"I think that means you're supposed to be here," Leo explained just as the doors slammed open, a strong wind knocking the newly reunited sisters to the ground. Shax appeared, his menacing self bearing down on them. He goes to strike as Leo jumps on his back. "Run! Get upstairs!" he instructed the girls, trying to hold on.
"Leo!" Prue hesitated briefly, but finally the three ran off as told. Up in the attic, they closed the door, even if they knew it wouldn't hold him back for too long. They ran to the book, Paige following more as a need for companionship in this confusing moment.
"What are we doing? What is that thing?"
"We'll explain later," Phoebe told her as she and Prue paged through the Book.
"Okay, just say this spell out loud with us, okay?" Prue told her.
"Spells?" Paige repeated, "What are you guys, witches?"
"And so are you. We hope," Phoebe told her. Before the shock could hit Paige, the wind broke through the door and Shax materialized, the image of her recent nightmares. Almost instinctively, though she had no idea what instincts those could be, she began to recite with the others.
"Evil wind that blows,
That which forms below.
No longer may you dwell,
Death takes you with this spell."
Shax was instantly affected, and he exploded at last, leaving the three bewildered sisters to gaze at the spot where he'd been.
"It's not enough. Shax was just the messenger," Phoebe started. "We gotta get the Source."
"The Source of what?" Paige asked, out of breath.
"Of all evil..." Prue completed hesitantly. Finally, the last few minutes resonated in Paige's mind... and she didn't like it.
"What have you guys turned me into?" she asked before running out of the attic.
"Paige?" Prue asked, but Prue stopped her.
"Wait..." they stared at each other and sighed. So they really did have another sister...
The gathered group stood stone-silent, not daring to move too much. Finally, Prue broke the silence.
"Darryl, get him out of here!"
"He's a cop, Prue. And he's got a search warrant," he told her, painful as it was.
"And believe me, I've found what I've been searching for," the inspector smiled to himself. Cole started to move toward him, but Cortez didn't let him get too far, pointing his gun at him. "Ah-ah-ah-ah. Don't move. I'll shoot."
"Then so will I," Cole threatened coolly.
"Cole..." Leo stopped him.
"Okay Inspector, just put the gun down. There is a very good explanation for all of this," she started, then noticing no one else was speaking, "Feel free to chime in anytime, guys."
"My whole life, I suspected evil magic was real, that there was something more. I've seen too many horrible things in the job to suspect otherwise, not the least of which are the two murders that happened here." The implications of what he was saying infuriated Prue to no end.
"Are you accusing us... she was our sister!"
"I've just begun to accuse you, lady!"
"All right, fine. You caught us. Congratulations. So what are you gonna do about it? Shoot us?" Grams defied him in a grand air.
"Easy, Grams. Not all of us are dead, remember?" Phoebe reminded her uneasily. Leo stepped up.
"Alright, look, you can't arrest us, especially not them. Nobody will believe you."
"Maybe not at first. I'm putting this whole place under constant surveillance. I'm taping your every move. Sooner or later, I'll catch you doing something uh, supernatural, and then..." Before he could continue in his tirade, he was knocked unconscious to the ground by Darryl.
"I think you've been through enough today, huh?"
"Thank you," Prue smiled weakly.
"Darryl, go, get out of here. We don't want you to take the fall for this," Phoebe approached their friend.
"No, it's okay."
"No, it's not. This is our problem. He wants to expose us, not you. Let us take care of this, please?"
"If you need me, you know where to find me, huh?" Phoebe nodded and turned to Cole as Darryl left.
"It doesn't solve your problem. He's gonna wake up eventually. You've just bought yourself some time," he reminded her.
"What you're gonna need, especially if you're gonna save your..." Leo started, and Phoebe finished, much to Prue's shuddering.
"Sister?"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Just write a spell. Get rid of him," Grams instructed her granddaughter.
"Uh, get rid of him?" Phoebe asked, confused about just what she meant.
"Well, you know what I mean. Dump him somewhere. Anywhere. With all the witches in this room, we oughta be able to do something with him. I mean, just start rhyming. Uh, take him away. Remove him now. Don't let him stay." Phoebe nodded and started to think.
"Oh. Uh. We call the... spirits... to help undo and send him off to... Timbuktu!" she spoke with much hesitation, the last part accompanying Cortez' disappearance. "Whoa. It worked."
"Yeah, but... Timbuktu? Phoebe!" Prue started on her.
"Alright, well, it was the only thing I could think of that rhymed with undo," she almost blushed.
"Peru, Pheebs?" Prue suggested, and for a second things were normal. But then...
"Don't worry. Uh, I'll find him," Cole told them before shimmering out.
"This... this is just too much, I can't..." Prue started, shaking her head.
"Nobody can blame you for being angry, sweetie," Patty told her eldest daughter.
"Angry? Yeah, you got that right. This is all just not making sense, and guess what, it sucks. After all these years you come in here and announce we have another sister and we're supposed to accept this? Damn it, Mom... Why... why today?" Prue asked, eyes shaking.
"I know it's a lot, sweetie. More than anybody should have to deal with, but you're going to have to deal with it the best way you know how. Losing Piper, learning about another sister... this is your path. This is your destiny. Get angry at it, cry about it, but don't fight it. Or it'll consume you."
"Come on, Patty. The rest is up to them," Grams told her daughter and the two disappeared in the same cloud of light they'd arrived in. All remained as they were for a few seconds before Prue started leaving the attic. The other two followed.
"I can't sense where she is because she's technically not a witch yet," Leo told the sisters as they went down the stairs.
"Alright, so all we have to go on is that church that Mom mentioned and the nun," Phoebe spoke.
"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I am only doing this to save her. I'm not remotely interested in reconstituting... The Charmed Ones..." Prue stopped, and Phoebe and Leo looked up to see what she had. There she was, the girl, standing just past the open door, looking all kinds of nervous.
"I, the door was open," she started, fidgeting, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here," she started to leave, but Phoebe ran after her and turned her back toward the others.
"No, no, no. No, no. We were just coming to look for you."
"You were?" she asked, surprised. Phoebe held on to her arm and led her toward Prue and Leo.
"Yep. Come on in. Welcome. I'm Phoebe. And this is..." she started pointing to her sister, but before she could speak her name...
"Prue. I know. I've been to the club. Pretty great," she spoke, still as uneasily as ever.
"Thank you," Prue smiled courteously. "And you are?"
"Paige. My name is Paige," she told her, barely breathing.
"Hmm. Another P. Imagine that," Phoebe looked at Prue, who couldn't say or do anything at that.
"It's nice to meet you," she held her hand out though.
The moment Paige's hand touched Prue's, with Phoebe still holding on to the newcomer, a bright blue light came down on them from the chandelier. Paige looked around in shock.
"Okay. What was that?" she asked as it stopped.
"I think that means you're supposed to be here," Leo explained just as the doors slammed open, a strong wind knocking the newly reunited sisters to the ground. Shax appeared, his menacing self bearing down on them. He goes to strike as Leo jumps on his back. "Run! Get upstairs!" he instructed the girls, trying to hold on.
"Leo!" Prue hesitated briefly, but finally the three ran off as told. Up in the attic, they closed the door, even if they knew it wouldn't hold him back for too long. They ran to the book, Paige following more as a need for companionship in this confusing moment.
"What are we doing? What is that thing?"
"We'll explain later," Phoebe told her as she and Prue paged through the Book.
"Okay, just say this spell out loud with us, okay?" Prue told her.
"Spells?" Paige repeated, "What are you guys, witches?"
"And so are you. We hope," Phoebe told her. Before the shock could hit Paige, the wind broke through the door and Shax materialized, the image of her recent nightmares. Almost instinctively, though she had no idea what instincts those could be, she began to recite with the others.
"Evil wind that blows,
That which forms below.
No longer may you dwell,
Death takes you with this spell."
Shax was instantly affected, and he exploded at last, leaving the three bewildered sisters to gaze at the spot where he'd been.
"It's not enough. Shax was just the messenger," Phoebe started. "We gotta get the Source."
"The Source of what?" Paige asked, out of breath.
"Of all evil..." Prue completed hesitantly. Finally, the last few minutes resonated in Paige's mind... and she didn't like it.
"What have you guys turned me into?" she asked before running out of the attic.
"Paige?" Prue asked, but Prue stopped her.
"Wait..." they stared at each other and sighed. So they really did have another sister...