The Hidden Page
Chapter Five
Book of Shadows Time
Piper made her way up to the attic after doing her best to try and
calm Leo. She stumbled a little bit on the stairs as tears blurred her
vision. Damn it, she hated to feel so weak and powerless. Here she was
supposed to be the most powerful of the "Charmed" ones now that Prue
had passed but she felt like a woeful failure in the job. Her husband
was now a donkey and her half sister was an irresponsible spoiled
child who seemed to have no idea of the danger she was placing them
all in or even the danger she was placing herself in. Piper had no
idea how to fix any of it.
As was often the way when she felt lost or confused she headed for the one place where she could usually find some answers, "The Book of Shadows." Phoebe called to her from the bottom step in the living room: "wait sis, I'm coming with you. As they always say two heads are better than one." When Phoebe reached Piper she wrapped her arms around her in a gesture of support and comfort. "It's going to be okay," she whispered. "Do you really believe that?" Piper asked. "I'm not sure but I keep trying to convince myself it will. I haven't had any visions to the otherwise so I take that as a good sign.
The two entered the attic arm and arm. They also let out a gasp in unison when they noticed that the book was not on its usual stand. "Oh no," Phoebe sighed. "I can't believe Paige would be stupid enough to try and remove the book from the house again. Surely she had to have learned her lesson the last time she did it." "Nothing about that girl would surprise me anymore," Piper replied. "And as for her learning her lesson, I'm really starting to doubt her ability to learn anything. I know, I know," she said holding up her hand when Phoebe would have protested. "She's our little sister and I shouldn't be saying anything about her behind her back. It's just that I've about reached the end of my rope with her and I seriously don't know, if I can handle her anymore. "
Phoebe didn't know what to say. She wasn't ready to give up on Paige yet, but she couldn't deny Piper the right to her feelings. Phoebe knew she'd be fuming too if Paige had harmed Cole in anyway. Phoebe was upset enough that Leo was the one bearing the brunt of Paige's goof. Leo was after all her one of her best friends and her brother not just by marriage but also by choice. Next to her, Leo had also been the family member most willing to give Cole a second chance and he had convinced Piper to do the same. He'd even been working on Prue before she died. Phoebe owed Leo big time for that.
Glancing around the attic, her eyes landed on the trunk in which she had first located the "Book of Shadows" just over four years ago. A yellow glow suddenly appeared around it. "Piper," she said. "Look at the trunk, my guess is the book is in there."
"That's strange. How did it get in there?" Piper mused. "I guess Paige must have put it there. "Maybe it's a symptom of progress being more responsible about the book, I mean," Phoebe hopefully suggested. Piper closed her eyes and shook her head. When she reopened them she looked directly at Phoebe and said, "If you start singing "the sun will come out tomorrow, so help me, I will not be responsible for my actions."
Phoebe smiled and laughed. "At least your sense of humor is coming back." "It won't stay that way for long if we don't find away to turn my husband back into a human being or should I say a "white lighter" posing as a human being. So why don't you start scrying to find our missing sister and I'll hit the book."
Piper crossed over to the trunk and opened it. She picked up the book with reverence and as she was lifting it out, her hand got caught on a sharp nail located on the inside lid of the trunk. It gave her a small cut. "Ouch" she cried. "How the heck did that get in there, I never noticed it before." "What?" Phoebe asked. "A nail," Piper answered. "That's odd, I don't remember a nail being loose either." "Do you think someone has been messing around with the trunk and the book?" Piper asked worriedly. "Nah," Phoebe dismissed that possibility. "Evil can't touch the "Book of Shadows. How many times have we had that drilled into our heads? Now let's get to work."
In a matter of moments the girls were acting like the well- oiled team they were. Piper quickly started thumbing through pages while Phoebe circled a medallion on a chain over a map of the city. They were so absorbed in what they were doing that neither noticed the demon enter the room until he was almost on top of them.
The minute Phoebe saw him, however, she launched into him with one of her karate moves. He doubled over for a second but then righted himself almost immediately. He threw himself at her and knocked her hard into the wall. Feeling herself smack against it, Phoebe felt the breath whoosh out of her and an intense throb in her shoulder. She crumpled like a leaf.
Piper then took her turn. She did her best to concentrate. She needed to blow up the demon and not just freeze him. "Whoever's listening right now," she whispered, "help me do this right." She raised her hands and luckily the demon exploded before her eyes. "Yes!" she shouted. Then Piper raced over to help pick Phoebe off the floor. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Well I'm alive but my pride's hurt not to mention the fact that I think my arm's broken." "That's okay sweetie we will get Leo to fix it, except Leo can't fix it, because he is a farm animal, damn it!"
"Come on and help me up," Phoebe instructed her sister. We need to start scrying again. "No, we need to get you to a hospital is what we need to do," Piper replied. "No, we have to find Paige. All of us, our whole family, are sittings ducks for the "Source" right now without the Power of 3 and without Leo to heal us. If the "Source" figures out how vulnerable we are right now, we're.... "Dead meat," Piper finished her sister's sentence.
"Exactly," was Phoebe's response. "We need to find Paige and we need to find her now. Besides she's half white lighter too, she can heal my shoulder. Piper took over scrying duties and within seconds they had a fix on Paige's location. They raced down the stairs and out the back door. They didn't want to take a chance on Cole seeing them. Not only would he be furious about Phoebe getting hurt, he would also try to stop them from leaving out of concern for their safety and as touching as that was, they just didn't have time to deal with that right now.
Chapter Five
Book of Shadows Time
Piper made her way up to the attic after doing her best to try and
calm Leo. She stumbled a little bit on the stairs as tears blurred her
vision. Damn it, she hated to feel so weak and powerless. Here she was
supposed to be the most powerful of the "Charmed" ones now that Prue
had passed but she felt like a woeful failure in the job. Her husband
was now a donkey and her half sister was an irresponsible spoiled
child who seemed to have no idea of the danger she was placing them
all in or even the danger she was placing herself in. Piper had no
idea how to fix any of it.
As was often the way when she felt lost or confused she headed for the one place where she could usually find some answers, "The Book of Shadows." Phoebe called to her from the bottom step in the living room: "wait sis, I'm coming with you. As they always say two heads are better than one." When Phoebe reached Piper she wrapped her arms around her in a gesture of support and comfort. "It's going to be okay," she whispered. "Do you really believe that?" Piper asked. "I'm not sure but I keep trying to convince myself it will. I haven't had any visions to the otherwise so I take that as a good sign.
The two entered the attic arm and arm. They also let out a gasp in unison when they noticed that the book was not on its usual stand. "Oh no," Phoebe sighed. "I can't believe Paige would be stupid enough to try and remove the book from the house again. Surely she had to have learned her lesson the last time she did it." "Nothing about that girl would surprise me anymore," Piper replied. "And as for her learning her lesson, I'm really starting to doubt her ability to learn anything. I know, I know," she said holding up her hand when Phoebe would have protested. "She's our little sister and I shouldn't be saying anything about her behind her back. It's just that I've about reached the end of my rope with her and I seriously don't know, if I can handle her anymore. "
Phoebe didn't know what to say. She wasn't ready to give up on Paige yet, but she couldn't deny Piper the right to her feelings. Phoebe knew she'd be fuming too if Paige had harmed Cole in anyway. Phoebe was upset enough that Leo was the one bearing the brunt of Paige's goof. Leo was after all her one of her best friends and her brother not just by marriage but also by choice. Next to her, Leo had also been the family member most willing to give Cole a second chance and he had convinced Piper to do the same. He'd even been working on Prue before she died. Phoebe owed Leo big time for that.
Glancing around the attic, her eyes landed on the trunk in which she had first located the "Book of Shadows" just over four years ago. A yellow glow suddenly appeared around it. "Piper," she said. "Look at the trunk, my guess is the book is in there."
"That's strange. How did it get in there?" Piper mused. "I guess Paige must have put it there. "Maybe it's a symptom of progress being more responsible about the book, I mean," Phoebe hopefully suggested. Piper closed her eyes and shook her head. When she reopened them she looked directly at Phoebe and said, "If you start singing "the sun will come out tomorrow, so help me, I will not be responsible for my actions."
Phoebe smiled and laughed. "At least your sense of humor is coming back." "It won't stay that way for long if we don't find away to turn my husband back into a human being or should I say a "white lighter" posing as a human being. So why don't you start scrying to find our missing sister and I'll hit the book."
Piper crossed over to the trunk and opened it. She picked up the book with reverence and as she was lifting it out, her hand got caught on a sharp nail located on the inside lid of the trunk. It gave her a small cut. "Ouch" she cried. "How the heck did that get in there, I never noticed it before." "What?" Phoebe asked. "A nail," Piper answered. "That's odd, I don't remember a nail being loose either." "Do you think someone has been messing around with the trunk and the book?" Piper asked worriedly. "Nah," Phoebe dismissed that possibility. "Evil can't touch the "Book of Shadows. How many times have we had that drilled into our heads? Now let's get to work."
In a matter of moments the girls were acting like the well- oiled team they were. Piper quickly started thumbing through pages while Phoebe circled a medallion on a chain over a map of the city. They were so absorbed in what they were doing that neither noticed the demon enter the room until he was almost on top of them.
The minute Phoebe saw him, however, she launched into him with one of her karate moves. He doubled over for a second but then righted himself almost immediately. He threw himself at her and knocked her hard into the wall. Feeling herself smack against it, Phoebe felt the breath whoosh out of her and an intense throb in her shoulder. She crumpled like a leaf.
Piper then took her turn. She did her best to concentrate. She needed to blow up the demon and not just freeze him. "Whoever's listening right now," she whispered, "help me do this right." She raised her hands and luckily the demon exploded before her eyes. "Yes!" she shouted. Then Piper raced over to help pick Phoebe off the floor. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Well I'm alive but my pride's hurt not to mention the fact that I think my arm's broken." "That's okay sweetie we will get Leo to fix it, except Leo can't fix it, because he is a farm animal, damn it!"
"Come on and help me up," Phoebe instructed her sister. We need to start scrying again. "No, we need to get you to a hospital is what we need to do," Piper replied. "No, we have to find Paige. All of us, our whole family, are sittings ducks for the "Source" right now without the Power of 3 and without Leo to heal us. If the "Source" figures out how vulnerable we are right now, we're.... "Dead meat," Piper finished her sister's sentence.
"Exactly," was Phoebe's response. "We need to find Paige and we need to find her now. Besides she's half white lighter too, she can heal my shoulder. Piper took over scrying duties and within seconds they had a fix on Paige's location. They raced down the stairs and out the back door. They didn't want to take a chance on Cole seeing them. Not only would he be furious about Phoebe getting hurt, he would also try to stop them from leaving out of concern for their safety and as touching as that was, they just didn't have time to deal with that right now.