Chapter 2- Kyle's apartment-mid morning
Phoebe felt her breath catch in her throat as she watched Zankou, knowing that he had full control over them, knowing that there was a chance that they wouldn't come out of this alive. She felt like collapsing, as if she weighed as much as an elephant and her legs would no longer hold her up. The sight of Paige's blood made bile rise in her throat, made her eyes swim, and her heart being to palpitate.
Piper didn't get sad when she saw what Zankou was doing; she got downright furious. How dare he involve her baby sister in his plan, as a way of getting to all of them. How dare he hurt Paige and seem to enjoy it so much. Her baby sister was suffering and this demon was going to make them watch her die. She felt anger bubble in her stomach and wanted noting more than to blow Zankou up again and again and again…
Paige felt like her world was being ripped apart, piece by piece. Her entire body hurt, such a mind-blowing pain it hurt to blink, hurt to breathe, hurt to live. Her eyes kept closing, and she felt as if she was being enveloped in a cloud of peaceful darkness. She heard her sisters voices and she wanted to call out to them, wanted to warn them about Zankou and help them fight, but no matter how hard she tried, her mouth wouldn't open and her head wouldn't stop spinning. She felt Zankou's knife bear down on her neck, but it hurt more to react then it did to sink under the black. So she let go…and her world went dark and she didn't hurt anymore.
Piper watched in horror as Paige went unconscious, suddenly dropping her head to her chest and letting her body slump. Phoebe screamed, thinking Zankou had killed her once and for all.
"It seems our little witch gave up." Zankou said with a grin, yanking Paige's head up again by the roots of her hair. A few strands of red fluttered to the floor, and a sob burst from Phoebe's throat. She had never been this scared before, not in her entire career as a witch. Zankou threw Paige in to the corner of the room, and her body made a sickening thud as it collided with a wall.
Piper glared at Zankou and stepped foreword, knowing he was trying to get a rise out of them, but too angry and scared to care. If Zankou was going to kill them, any of them, he would have done so by now. He just wanted to make them suffer, and Piper had to get Paige to Magic School before she…died. It was Piper's job, now, to protect her sisters, and she would protect them with everything she had.
"What. Do. You. Want." Piper said through clenched teeth, emphasizing each word with a blast to Zankou's arm. It began to bleed, but he was too strong to be vanquished in such a way.
"Don't rush me, witch." He glared at her and a fireball grew in the palm of his hand. He raised it as if he was throwing it straight at Piper, and she didn't even bat and eyelash. She knew what she had to do; she had to stand up to this demonic bastard and get Paige out of here before they lost another sister. She was more scared of loosing Paige than she could ever be of a measly fireball.
Zankou laughed, amused with the witch's bravery, but his interest in this aspect of the plan was ebbing. Paige was fading fast, and he had to get her back to his lair and keep her alive. She would be dead soon enough, but she had to stay alive for his plan to work. The Charmed Ones would not fight for a dead sister, but they would fight like hell for a live one.
"Here are my terms. I am going to give you the names of some upper level demons who I want vanquished. You kill them for me, with this," he pressed an athame in to Piper's hand. She shocked enough to drop it, but instead her fingers curled over the new weapon. He wanted to laugh again, but he knew that he didn't have time for the delay. As if that athame would do any good in the hands of a witch. "And I, in return, won't kill your sister. You fail to vanquish a demon with the specific requirements I gave, or come within throwing distance of either of us, and she will burn in hell for all eternity."
Piper blinked, and Phoebe let out a snort. There was no ways he had heard what she thought.
"You want us to become your personal assassins." Phoebe said, fear and a hint of amusement in her voice. She was terrified for Paige, but she was amused that he had the gall to expect the Charmed Ones to kill as he ordered.
Zankou shot her a steely glare and focused his demonic eyes straight on to her. The remaining Charmed Ones would be under his control, he knew how they worked, but he didn't have time to deal with the mechanics of it all. He had to go prepare to become the new Source.
"Yes. You are to do as I say, exactly as I say it, or your sister will suffer for the rest of her natural life. Her afterlife shouldn't be so much fun either." Piper's eyes grew hard and steely, knowing in her heart that this was real and terrifying, but also knowing that she had to find a way to save Paige. "You better succeed, as well," Zankou stated, as he began to pace around the room. "It won't be so easy, without the Power of Three, but every time you disobey me, your sister will be punished for it."
"How do we know that you won't kill her immediately, and we will be fighting for nothing?" Phoebe asked, knowing quite well how demons work. They aren't exactly known for being honorable.
Zankou smiled his evil grin. "Trust me, witch, you'll know. Now, do you agree to the terms, or shall I just kill her now?"
"We agree." Phoebe said quickly. She didn't want to fight for a demon, but she definitely couldn't let Paige die. He smiled his evil grin and shimmered out suddenly. Piper and Phoebe raced to Paige in the corner of the room. Maybe he forgot about her?
They had taken three steps before reappeared in front of them and thrust them both in to the back of the room with one arm. They watched in horror as he shimmered out, carrying their injured baby sister in his arms.
The two remaining Charmed Ones looked at each other and felt their entire world go down the tube. Their sister was gone, half-dead in the arms of a demon that they were now indebt to. If they didn't help him gain totally control of the underworld, which they knew was his final goal, they would be killing their own sister. They had just become Zankou's assassins, and Paige's life rested in their hands. Even as it was, they would never see their sister again.
