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Chapter 13: Blazing Inferno

Paige, Leo, and Phoebe were orbed to safety out of the building. Leo looked at Paige and asked "Where's Piper?"

"She ripped her hand out of mine! I have to go back for her!" Paige began to orb but an explosion rocked the ground beneath her. The warehouse had just caught fire, with Piper and the little girl inside. Paige watched in horror as the fire kept getting larger and larger, gaining more power.

"Piper!" Leo screamed, attempting to orb back in for Piper, but was stopped by Paige and Phoebe. "Let go of me!"

"Leo, you can't do anything now," Phoebe said, tears streaming down her face. She didn't want to believe it. Not Piper. Piper couldn't be dead. Leo broke down crying in her arms and she just held him, looking at the Blazing Inferno that Piper was in. As she looked at it, she saw something odd. She knew what it was and she happily exclaimed, "Look! Over there!"

Leo and Paige looked into the direction she was indicating and saw a portion of the fire wasn't moving. It was frozen.

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Piper saw the Menatar materialize behind them, and as he took a breath to breath fire, Piper threw herself and the little girl to the floor, making sure the little girl was safely underneath her. As the Menatar blew out a stream of fire, making the oxygen tanks explode, Piper froze the fire that raged over them. The little girl screamed, but Piper but a hand over her mouth and indicated the little girl to follow her as she crawled to the exit. The smoke was stinging her eyes, making them water and difficult to see out of. The smoke was thick, making it hard to breathe. But Piper pressed on, determined to find the back door. Just as she was going to turn around and see if they missed the exit, her hand touched something scorching hot, burning her hand. Piper felt up a little higher and felt the doorknob. They had found the back door, but it was too hot to touch. So Piper made sure the little girl was safely behind her and flicked her wrists. The door exploded, Allowing Piper and the girl to stumble into breathable air and into the wait arms of Leo.

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"Piper!" Leo cried out, running to the building, Paige and Phoebe close on his heels. They ran to the back of the building, and as the reached the door, it exploded open and Piper and the little girl stumbled out, coughing. Leo wrapped Piper into a huge hug, almost suffocating her.

"Leo?" she asked, coughing.

"Yeah?" he replied, hugging her closer.

"I can't breathe."

"Oh," he said, releasing her. "Sorry."

Paige and Phoebe were kneeling next to the little girl, who was continuously coughing. Piper looked at her and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She let out a cough. "Thanks."

"No problem. Let's get out of here. I have a demon to vanquish."

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When they orbed back to the manor, they discovered Chris, who they asked to keep an eye Steve, arguing with the innocent on the stairs.

"What is going on here?" Piper asked.

"Someone," Chris said pointedly at Steve, "insists on trying to escape while you guys were out trying to save his ass."

"I told you guys, you can't vanquish it," Steve shouted. For the first time since their arrival, Steve looked at the group that just orbed in. His eyes settled on the little girl and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Melanie?" he asked, astonished.

The little girl replied, "Hello, Dad."