CHAPTER THREE

Piper blinked, and looked around. "Where are we?" She asked. A sudden wail picked up. She looked to see Wyatt sitting on the ground of a cobble street. She picked him up and pulled him closer.

Phoebe spun around several times, trying to get a grasp on what was going on.

"Wow, I don't know where we are, but its awesome!" Paige exclaimed.

"Sort of bleak, don't you think?" Piper asked, taking in the sinister clouds above.

"Oh no," Chris mumbled.

"Chris, what happened?" Leo asked.

The young man leaned over, and picked up the ring which was lying at his heels. "Um, Paige activated the ring," Chris replied.

"She what?" Piper demanded.

"She activated the ring," Chris repeated. "We're back in 1888."

"Why are we back in 1888?" Piper demanded. She stopped as she heard cackling around the corner.

"The master commands a trade. The monster … for the princess," The shrieking dark voice said.

Leo started forward. "Do you think we should go check with the elders?"

"You don't want to do that," Chris said, looking back at him. "Chances are they won't understand what's going on."

"And what is going on, Chris?" Piper demanded.

"Hey, hey!" Phoebe exclaimed. She pushed past them, followed by Paige. The two darted around the corner.

"What is going on!?" Piper demanded. Chris shrugged and then followed his Aunts. Leo glanced at Piper.

"We should go as well," He said.

Piper's shoulders sagged, and she nodded, following after her ex husband. She looked up as a heinous laughter filled the air. A woman in pink and white was quickly shifting into a bat type thing. She raised her arms to blow her up, but Chris hastily pushed them down.

"You don't want to do that," He told her.

"And why not?" Piper demanded. She looked up but the woman was gone.

"Do we know anything about what just happened?" Chris questioned. He peered around the corner to see Phoebe and Paige talking with a friar, a man hidden by a strange cape, and another man with a hat and trenchcoat.

Piper pulled away, and looked to Leo. "We don't know anything about what's hoing on," She admitted.

"Are you coming!?" Phoebe called.

"You have to meet these guys!" Paige exclaimed.

Piper rolled her eyes, and the foursome approached the others.

"Frankie, Carl, and Van Helsing, this is our sister Piper, her son Wyatt, husband Leo -."

"Ex husband," Piper put in with irritation.

"Not for long," Phoebe muttered under her breath as Paige continued. "And Chris, our … guardian angel. Of sorts."

"An angel?" Carl asked, nervously. "Er, Van Helsing, perhaps he is here to help us?"

"I'm not an angel," Chris snapped.

"Finally, some truth is uttered from that mouth," Piper mumbled under her breath. "Leo is an angel. But what's this all about. Why are we here?"

"Where did you come from?" The man from under the cape asked huskily.

"The future," Paige said with a grin. "We're here … for some odd reason. But first explain what was up with that creepy woman?"

"Her name's Aleera," Chris filled in. "She's the last remaining bride to Dracula."

"How did you know that?" Van Helsing asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

"I know my legends," Chris snapped.

"Legends?" Carl squeaked. "This is a legend? Any chance you know the ending?"

"Carl," Van Helsing said warningly.

"Right," Carl replied.

Paige turned to Chris. "Alright future boy, fill us in," She said.

"Fill you in on what?" Chris asked plainly.

"On our purpose. You obviously know something about this," Piper said.

"Piper's right. What do you know?" Leo asked.

Trapped, Chris thought dramatically. "First, there was a problem when we came through. The fact of the matter being this wasn't the time you were supposed to go. Second, I can't tell you the reason because I didn't tell you the last time it happened," He explained.

"Could you be just a little bit more useful!?" Piper fumed, blowing up a statue nearby.

"Eep," Carl said, trying to hide behind Van Helsing and Frankenstein.

"You're supposed to stop what originally happened from happening," Chris relented.

"Which was …?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Of course you can't," Piper grumbled.

"So, are we going to this party the bride was talking about?" Phoebe asked no one in particular.

AN: yes, yes, bad me, short chapter, long wait. Sorry. Please bear with me. I'm having some, err, technical difficulties with this story, in the fact that I have no clue where it's going. Please review!