"Paige, what's wrong with you?" Phoebe asked.
"Don't play games with me," Paige cackled. "You have something that belongs to me. Give them back or what happens to you won't be pretty."
Phoebe looked at her family suddenly realizing what was going on. Leo was jumping at every little sound, scared of anything that moved. Piper was acting uncharacteristically optimistic and convinced that everything would work out. Paige was acting like an evil warlock bent on recovering something she believed Phoebe had. Leo was the cowardly lion, Piper was Glenda the good witch, and Paige was the Wicked Witch of the West. They were all changing into characters from the movie "The Wizard Of Oz".
That would also explain Cole's recent behavior. If he were changing into the scarecrow he would be incapable of making a decision. The scarecrow didn't have a brain and couldn't make up his mind.
Cole. Phoebe brushed past Paige and ran into the living room. The wicked witch in the movie had threatened to stuff a mattress with the scarecrow. She had even set fire to him near the end of the movie. If Paige was converting to that character there's no telling what she might have done to Cole before coming into the kitchen. Phoebe found Cole still sitting on the sofa flipping through the TV channels. She grabbed him and hugged him close.
"Thank goodness you're okay," Phoebe said.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Cole asked. Suddenly Cole saw Paige who had followed Phoebe into the living room. "Dorothy, the witch."
"You called me Dorothy," Phoebe said.
"That is your name, isn't it?" Cole asked.
Phoebe's head was starting to swim. This could not be happening. It had been months since their encounter with that warlock. He had cast a spell that had put them in the movie "The Wizard Of Oz". But they had escaped the movie and vanquished the warlock. And they hadn't even known Paige yet. How could this be happening now?
Phoebe moved hurriedly to the front door. She hesitated for a minute and then opened the door. The sight that greeted her chilled her blood. She no longer saw Prescott Street. Everywhere she looked she saw tall green spirals and pillars. They were in the Emerald City from the movie.
People walked the streets but they weren't the normal type Phoebe was used to seeing. Many were no more than two feet tall dressed in gaudy, outlandish clothes. Overly exaggerated colors and overly emphasized clothes could be seen everywhere. They all looked exactly like the Munchkins in the movie.
There were no cars but there were several carriages being drawn by horses. One in particular drew Phoebe's attention. As Phoebe watched, the horse changed from green to blue to purple to yellow and finally to orange. The horse of a different color from the movie.
Phoebe looked around. Everywhere she looked she saw the Emerald City from "The Wizard Of Oz". Everywhere except the manor. For some reason it remained unchanged. Phoebe wasn't sure why the manor was unaffected but at least for the moment it remained unchanged.
But why had her sisters, Leo, and Cole been affected when the manor wasn't? She knew why she had not been affected. Her precognitive ability had partially protected her from the warlock's spell. She had been sucked into the movie like everyone else but her special sight had kept the spell from changing her into Dorothy. Presumably it was also protecting her from this whatever this was. But that didn't explain why the manor was unchanged but the people weren't.
"Give me the slippers," cackled Paige. "Only I can use their magic. They're of no use to you."
"Stow it, sis," said Phoebe. "No one gets anything until I figure out just what the hell is going on here."
"My, my a bit testy this morning, aren't we?" asked a voice from the living room.
Phoebe spun to face the living room. A man was on the edge of the sofa sitting on the arm. The man appeared to be about thirty years old. He had blonde hair and mustache but was otherwise clean-shaven. He was dressed in a suit but wore no tie. Phoebe recognized the man instantly. It was the warlock that had trapped them in the movie. A warlock she had believed been vanquished once the movie had ended and the warlock was still trapped in the movie.