"Oh god..." Piper felt sick to her stomach. She just stood there, watching as the woman stabbed him again. The priest struggled once more to get to his knees, then finally crumpled to the ground. He didn't move again. He just laid there, the blood starting to show through his clothes.
"Piper..." She could hear Phoebe whispering. But her sister's voice sounded far away. Piper suddenly felt disconnected from the world, as if she were drifting away from reality. Maybe this was a dream, just some terrible nightmare. But then she felt Phoebe tugging on her arm, pulling her down into a crouching position back behind the barn. Piper tried to breathe, but she couldn't get any air into her lungs. She felt like she was suffocating. "Piper." Phoebe shook her a little. "Are you okay?"
"I couldn't freeze her," Piper said after a moment. She looked down at her hands, unable to understand how her power could fail her. "I tried, but I couldn't."
"I know." Phoebe said. She was obviously terrified but she was trying not to show it.
Piper swallowed as her mouth went dry, then she glanced around the theater once more. But it was as if the entire world had become hazy. And she couldn't get the image of the priest out of her mind. He was so close, just lying there on the other side of the barn. But there was nothing they could do for him. They had failed and now they would have to leave him behind.
Piper glanced over at Phoebe, then started to inch her way back towards the wings. She had to leave. She had to get out of there.
"Piper," Phoebe reached for her arm and pulled her back abruptly. "She'll see us! We have to stay here."
"No." Piper's eyes widened as she regarded her sister. Phoebe didn't seem to understand the situation. They were in way over their heads and it was time to get out. "I can't stay here." She shook her head quickly. "We can't stay here!"
"Just until she leaves," Phoebe said.
"No, no way." Piper slipped out of Phoebe's grasp and moved over to the corner of the barn, leaning her head out around it. But it wasn't the stage that she saw, it was a bright red shirt a few inches from her nose.
Piper screamed and leapt back, but already the witch had latched onto her. Piper was lifted off of the ground as the woman dragged her up into the air. But she barely needed to touch Piper. Instead she let her power hold her there, as Piper floated helplessly a few inches from the floor. She's definitely a witch, Piper thought, and she's a whole lot stronger than Prue.
Piper tried to stay calm even as she noticed the dagger in the woman's other hand. And now Piper could see the blood on it, the blood of the poor priest lying there on the stage.
"You came to help him..." She brought the knife up to Piper's neck and the girl winced as the blade touched her skin. "Now you will die for that."
T:T:T
Prue felt her car bounce a little as the wheels hit the curb in front of the church. She backed up a few inches, then put the car into park, breathing a sigh of relief. She had finally made it.
But as she sat there a shiver ran up her spine. All she could hear was the rain and the slow rhythmic sound of her windshield wipers. The street was deserted at that time of night. She hadn't seen another car in miles, which meant that they were alone. The evil witch Phoebe had seen could do whatever she wanted and nobody would be there to stop her, nobody except Prue and her sisters.
It had been a bad idea from the start, she knew. Prue couldn't believe she had ever agreed to it. Splitting up was never smart. It was always better to stick together, to get there together and leave together. They were much more powerful as a group than they were individually. Still, Phoebe had never had a premonition that wasn't important. And so there was no way that they could ignore what she'd seen.
At the same time though, Prue had never had an auction that was as important as the one that Bucklands was having. And so they had compromised. By deciding to meet at the church she had been able to spend more time at her job. She had even managed to avoid the "leaving early" lecture her boss was so fond of giving. But as Prue shut off the ignition, she realized that they had made the wrong decision. They needed to be together on this one.
Prue pulled out Phoebe's directions, peering at the crumpled piece of paper under the streetlights. She had already checked it three times, but now she checked it a fourth. She was definitely at the right place. So far so good.
Prue carefully slipped the sheet back into her purse then checked to make sure that the spell was still there. It was, and Prue's heart beat slowed a little. Everything's fine, she assured herself. You're just catching Piper paranoia.
Stepping out of the car, Prue made a quick dash through the rain. Thankfully she'd passed up the parking lot in exchange for her spot on the street. That put her a lot closer to the theater. As soon as she was under the front overhang, Prue glanced around. The front door was over to her left, and as she stepped towards it, she saw the light underneath. Someone or something was already inside.
Prue knew she was late which meant that her sisters had probably been in there awhile. And they would need her, more importantly they would need the spell. Prue cautiously reached for the door knob, pulling the door open just far enough to peer inside. Even in the dim lighting she could just make out the aisle that ran from the door straight to the front of the stage. Row upon row of empty seats sat on either side of the aisle and everything was deathly quiet. She couldn't see either of her sisters. In fact, she couldn't see anyone at all. The entire place looked empty.
Please tell me I got the right place, Prue thought as she stepped inside. She slowly crept down the aisle, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement. She didn't want to be surprised. She was alone after all. She'd been so worried about her sisters that'd she almost forgotten that fact. At least Piper and Phoebe had each other.
As Prue came closer to the stage she saw a huge pile of debris in one corner. It seemed as if someone had built a manger scene there, only now it looked more like a war zone. The barn was in pieces and the wooden animal were scattered all over the place. There was a broken cradle over near the center of the stage and- Prue's eyes widened. She hadn't even noticed the crumpled forms lying amongst everything else.
"Oh god!" She felt her heart start to race as she ran the rest of the way down the aisle. She leapt onto the stage and knelt down next to the first figure. It was the priest Phoebe had described in her vision. His eyes were closed and his face had turned an ashen color. It took a minute for Prue to spot the pool of blood over on one side of his body. She stood slowly as she saw it, then turned her head in the other direction. Prue suddenly felt nauseous as she stumbled away from the man. She knew she should try to help him. But first she had to find her sisters. She had to know if they were okay.
"Piper!" She whirled around frantically, trying not to trip over the wooden lamb at her feet. "Phoebe?"
Prue quickly made her way across the stage and saw another form lying there on the ground. It was a woman she didn't recognize. Once Prue realized it wasn't either of her sisters she avoided looking any closer. Out of the corner of her eye she could already see blood on the woman's clothes. Cautiously Prue stepped around her then moved back behind the manger scene.
"Piper?" Prue's voice was starting to shake. Those two people she had come upon were dead, she was almost sure of it. And if her sisters had been there it was more than likely that they had suffered the same fate. Prue couldn't bare the thought. She had chosen some stupid auction over helping Piper and Phoebe. Her job wasn't worth anything when weighed against the two people she loved most in the world. If anything happened to them Prue knew that she would die herself. She couldn't live knowing that she hadn't been there to protect them.
"Phoebe!" Prue kicked aside the broken animals and took a deep breath, trying to push those horrible thoughts from her mind. But she was already on the verge of tears. She was terrified to look down now, worried that she might see one of her sisters lying there. And then as she came along the other side of the manger she saw a third crumpled form. Prue recognized her immediately and she felt the tears starting to fall down her face.
"Phoebe!" Prue kneeled beside her youngest sister. She checked her over in the dim light, but didn't see any blood. "Phoebe?"
Phoebe groaned and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, looking dazed, but otherwise unhurt. Prue felt herself start to smile as a wave of relief washed over her.
"Prue?" Phoebe squinted up at her.
"Yeah, it's me," Prue said gently. "What happened?"
"We found the witch," Phoebe mumbled as Prue helped her sit up. As she glanced around she seemed to notice the woman laying a few feet away. Phoebe's eyes widened in surprise. "I guess we killed the witch."
"Where's Piper?" Prue asked. "I checked the stage already."
"I don't know." Phoebe stood as Prue helped her up. From her previous position she hadn't been able to see the extent of the damage on the stage, but now as Phoebe looked around, Prue could see a little worry creep into her expression. Phoebe's confusion was quickly turning into fear.
"Phoebe, try and remember," Prue pressed on. "We have to find Piper."
"The witch grabbed her I know that, but then-" Phoebe's voice rose as she looked around. "I don't remember. But she was with me, Prue, I swear."
"It's okay," Prue said quietly, trying to ease Phoebe's panic. "I'm sure she's fine."
But even as Prue said that she wasn't completely convinced. She knew Piper would never leave Phoebe, not unless something had happened, and that something couldn't have been good.
"I'm going to go look for her." She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and handed it to Phoebe. "You call Darryl."
"Okay." Phoebe nodded and carefully stepped back towards the curtain, trying to get as far away from the bodies as possible. Prue glanced back at her as she made her way towards the wings. But Phoebe seemed to be fine. Now that she had something to do she looked calmer. The shock of the situation seemed to be wearing off.
Prue moved back behind the curtain, her hand trailing along the soft velvet. The backstage area was completely empty. Piper wasn't there. Prue had been so relieved to find Phoebe, but now as she searched for her remaining sister her worry had made its return.
Outside she could hear the thunder rumble and Prue shivered. She wandered along the back wall of the theater, opening the long row of doors across from the curtain. She peered into a number of dressing rooms and one filled with props. But she didn't see her sister anywhere.
Finally she spotted the stairs that led to the back room. She went down them two at a time, then made her way to the door. She threw it open and a sheet of rain hit her full in the face. In a matter of seconds Prue was soaked. The storm was out in full force and her clothes clung to her body as she glanced around.
"Piper!" Her voice mixed with another clap of thunder. Everything was shrouded in darkness. The moon had long since disappeared behind the clouds and all she could see was the parking lot that sat empty except for Piper's jeep. Prue wiped the rain from her face and turned back towards the building. Just then the lightning flashed and she saw someone huddled there against the back wall. It was her sister. She was sitting there, knees pulled to her chest, her face buried in the sleeves of her jacket.
"Piper!" Prue ran over and knelt down beside her rain soaked sister.
"Prue?"
"Piper, honey what's wrong?" Her sister's hair was plastered to her head and Prue quickly pushed it out of her eyes. She couldn't tell whether Piper had been crying, or whether her face was just wet from the rain. "What happened?"
"I killed her." Piper's voice was barely above a whisper. Her entire body shook as she looked up at her sister.
"Who?" Prue stared at her for a moment. "What are you talking about?"
"The witch," Piper wiped her eyes quickly, but it was pointless thanks to the rain. "I killed her."
It was then that Prue saw the dagger a few inches from where they were sitting. The blood had washed off in the rain and spread into the surrounding puddle, giving it a pinkish tint. She blinked, trying hard to picture her sister wielding a dagger, even against an evil witch. Piper rubbed her hands against her pants, and Prue saw the blood on them.
"I can't get it off." Piper dropped her head back into her knees. "I killed her."
"But you had to, Piper."
Prue turned her head up and saw Phoebe standing above them. She was shivering and Prue realized that she wasn't even wearing a coat. Never the less, Phoebe sat down in the puddle next to Piper and put her arm around her. But Piper didn't bother to look up. Prue watched Phoebe's efforts to comfort their sister and then their eyes met.
"What happened?" she mouthed silently nodding towards Piper. Phoebe didn't answer. She just stroked Piper's hair, hugging her gently. It was obvious that Prue had missed something important. She hadn't been there for her sisters and this was the price they were all going to pay. Prue bit her lip watching Phoebe and Piper.
"Piper, we vanquish bad guys all the time," Phoebe said softly. "She was evil; it's what we had to do."
"This is different," Piper mumbled, finally glancing up at her.
"No, it's not. She was going to kill me."
"We don't know that."
"We do know that," Phoebe insisted. "She attacked you, she attacked me, and she attacked that priest in there. We came here to vanquish her."
"No we came here to protect that priest," Piper said. "She wasn't a demon."
"But she was a murderer," Phoebe added.
"That doesn't make it okay for me to kill her."
"It might not make it okay," Prue said as Piper turned towards her. "But it certainly makes it justified."
"Where were you?" Piper asked suddenly. Prue expected to see anger in her eyes, but instead all she saw was sadness. "You were supposed to be here."
"I know." Prue looked down at the ground feeling horrible. She almost wished Piper would get angry with her for letting this happen. She wanted her sister to yell at her, to blame her. But Piper would never do that. Prue knew she would take all the guilt for herself. "I should have been here Piper," Prue said. "It's my fault."
"It's nobody's fault," Phoebe said quickly. "We can't feel bad about protecting ourselves. This was a bad witch who was hurting people and we came here to vanquish her. It doesn't matter how we did it."
"And at least the evil's gone."
Prue saw Piper nod a little. But she knew her sister wasn't convinced.
T:T:T
Piper leaned against the window, watching as the rain rolled down the glass in tiny droplets. Back at the theater she had agreed to let Phoebe drive them home. Her sisters' surprise had been obvious. Piper had been a little more possessive of her keys since Phoebe had backed Prue's car into a pole. But for once Piper didn't care about her little sister's driving skills. Things like that just didn't matter.
Everything was weird now, she knew. Her sister's couldn't understand her sudden demeanor. They had all been forced to kill demons and witches before. This wasn't anything different, and Piper knew her behavior had confused them, if not worried them. But there were things they didn't know, things she couldn't bring herself to tell them. There just wasn't any point.
Piper closed her eyes for a moment. She was completely exhausted. But she was beginning to wonder if she would ever be able to sleep again. Every time she shut her eyes she saw those people in the theater. The ambulance had come and taken the priest away. But it was already too late for the other woman. Of course Piper had known that all along. It still didn't make it any easier though. Piper opened her eyes again just as Jingle Bell Rock came back on the radio.
"You want me to turn it off?" Phoebe asked.
"No, it's okay," Piper sighed. She'd almost forgotten Christmas. It was only a few days away. Piper bit her lip and slowly reached into her over-sized pocket, careful not to let Phoebe see what she was doing. The little book was still in there. It was soaked, and she could feel the pages curling up. But at least it hadn't fallen out.
Piper swallowed hard as she thought about the picture inside. She knew she couldn't tell her sisters about it. They already blamed themselves for that woman's death, for what Piper had done. She didn't need to make it any worse. No, it had to be her secret. Prue and Phoebe could never know.
T:T:T
It was nearly dusk, but it was hard to tell with all the dark clouds that had formed in the sky. So far the rain hadn't come that day, but Piper was pretty sure it would make an appearance some time that evening. She pulled her scarf tighter and zipped up her jacket as she stepped out of her jeep. She hesitated a moment before she finally turned around and faced the theater. It looked different somehow in the last rays of daylight. It was almost as if nothing had happened there. But the long yellow lines of the police tape reminded Piper of the truth. It hadn't been some horrible nightmare. It had all really happened. The priest was probably still in the hospital and the witch was dead, all because of Piper.
She shoved her hands in her pockets, touching the little book with her fingertips. She'd come back for a reason. She'd come to make amends, or at least try to. Slowly she took two steps towards the church, then two more. With each step her feet moved a little easier, but her heart beat a little bit faster. She could see the witch, almost as if the woman were walking right beside her, watching her every move. Piper swallowed hard, willing herself to keep going. If she didn't do it now, then she knew she never would.
Finally she was only ten or so feet from the theater. But that wasn't her final destination. Instead she moved past it and walked across the long path over to the church. She tugged at her gloves, trying not to shiver in the blustery wind. The storm would be there soon.
Another minute passed and she finally reached the set of wooden doors. Piper suddenly remembered when she had discovered that she was a witch. She'd been terrified to enter a church for fear that she'd be struck down because she was evil. Now as she grabbed for the door handle, she held her breath, her fears momentarily renewed. There was a crash of thunder but the door opened easily as she pulled on it. She slowly let herself inside.
The moment she stepped onto the carpet, Piper's heart fell to her feet. Up at the front the children's choir was practicing for the Christmas ceremony. Their carols echoed through the building as Piper slowly made her way down the aisle. Taking a seat in a pew near the back, she pulled the little book out of her pocket. It was a tiny version of The Christmas Carol. She bit her lip then opened the cover, peering at the picture that was still tucked inside.
There was Faith Evans, the witch she had killed. She was young and smiling and cradling a small child in her arms. A long crease had been made down the center of the picture, and Piper ran her fingers over it methodically, trying to smooth it. But as she did, she couldn't take her eyes off of the little boy, the child who had lost his mother three days before Christmas. Piper could feel the tears stinging her eyes and she quickly wiped her face with her sleeve. Slowly she closed the book, leaving the picture inside, hoping that somehow that one act would erase what had happened. But it didn't.
Piper pushed the book away from her, sliding it across the pew. The tears were still coming and she closed her eyes, trying to breathe. She could hear the kids up in the front, still singing their carols. And now they had started singing her favorite one, the carol her mother had taught her.
Piper's heartbeat quickened as she listened to it. She actually hadn't thought about her mom's death in awhile, not since that day up at the lake when they had vanquished the demon that killed her. Piper sucked in her breath, remembering how hard that had been, how much she had hated that stupid demon and how much she had wanted to kill it. At least she had gotten her wish. The demon was gone. But that wasn't going to bring her mom back.
Piper opened her eyes, then reached over and grabbed the book again. She opened it and stared at the picture once more, running her fingers over its glossy surface. Then she let the cover fall closed and reached down, pushing the book under her seat. After a moment she straightened, trying to decide what to do next. More than anything else she wanted to go home. But Prue and Phoebe would ask where she'd been. And she wasn't ready with a good story just yet. So instead Piper lay down on the pew for a few more minutes and listened to the rest of her Christmas carol.