"We-uh-I mean-" Piper stammered.
"It was my fault," Paige said suddenly. "I talked her into leaving. She didn't want to but-but I thought it'd be fun to go walking around alone. She always has someone watching her and we never get alone time."
Piper stared at Paige in amazement.
Miss. Matthews, my office now. Miss. Halliwell, you have a session with Mrs. Diaz.
Piper gave Paige a looks of thanks before each girl was escorted away.
In Mrs. Diaz's office, Piper sat silently in her seat. Mrs. Diaz stared at her.
"Miss. Matthews was lying. Something else happened. You look like you've seen a ghost. What's happened?"
Piper kept her mouth shut.
"Piper, I might be able to help if you tell me what's going on."
Still, Piper was silent.
The session was like this the whole way through. At the end of it, Piper was escorted back to her room.
In a rare moment of privacy, Piper was allowed to close her door. Minutes later, Paige appeared.
"That's freaky, you know," Piper told her.
"You freeze people," Paige argued.
"True."
"Look, I have a feeling someone else is going to come after us. They won't stop until we're dead. We need to come up with ways to defend ourselves and get out of here as soon as possible. I've stopped cutting for good, and I'm trying to act sane when I'm with the staff. I'm not crazy . . . I'm not. So I should be able to get released soon."
"And I've stopped cutting, so I might get out early on good behavior – if they stop catching us running around," Piper replied.
Paige nodded. "We need to start preparing ourselves. The next attack could be totally unexpected."
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Piper was awoken by her name being called. A glance at her clock told her it was two in the morning,
She sat up. "Who's there?" she slurred, her eyes half open and her vision blurry.
"It's Mrs. Diaz. You need to come with me right away. Someone tried to break into your room and Miss. Matthews room. We need to take you girls to safety."
Piper stood, fully alert now. "Is Paige okay?"
"She's fine. She's waiting in my office."
Piper nodded and followed Mrs. Diaz into the hall and to Mrs. Diaz's office. But once inside, she saw no sight of Paige or anyone else.
"Paige isn't here . . . Mrs. Diaz?"
Mrs. Diaz locked the door and laughed. She turned around to look at Piper, laughing manically. Piper backed up into a wardrobe and the door banged open. Piper backed off it and out fell – Mrs, Diaz! Piper screamed and backed away.
The imposter suddenly transformed into a man with shoulder length blonde hair.
"Finally. You're mine, witch."
Piper dodged his lunge, then froze him. Gasping for breath, she unlocked the door and ran down the hall, screaming for help. But no one came. The place was deserted.
She ran to Paige's room and burst in. A sleepy Paige sat up and mumbled eligible words.
"Paige, get up," Piper said, near hysterics. "Mrs. Diaz is dead. This place is deserted. And we're next. We have to get out of here."
Paige sat up. "Dead? Deserted?" She looked panicked.
"Let's go. Leave everything. We have to get to the Manor."
Paige got up and followed Piper into the hallway. They looked around.
"Cost is clear," Piper whispered. They left the room and made a run for it, heading for the exit.
But one of the men appeared in front of them and blocked the way.
"You're not getting out," the man said. He raised his hands and they heard several locks and clicks. Then big, steel bars came down on every window and door they could see.
"You're trapped," he said, grinning.
"This way," Piper cried, dragging Paige around a corner. "The basement! He might not have bolted it."
"I could try my blue light thing.," Paige said. They stopped and held hands. Paige closed her eyes and they were engulfed in the lights, but a second later they were thrown back down and landed in a heap on the floor.
"What happened?" Piper asked, rubbing her arm, which she'd landed on.
"I can't do it! It's like something is blocking me."
"Then we need to find a way out of here."
They continued to make a run for the basement, found it open, and ran inside, closing and locking the door. They were both covered in sweat and shaking. Piper's legs felt ready to give out.
Down in the basement, they paused to catch their breath.
"We need to get out of here now."
Paige nodded and followed Piper around the basement.
It took minutes of searching but they found a storm door that went outside.
"This way," Piper said giving it a good strong push. But it wouldn't budge.
"Paige, help me."
Piper and Paige pushed, tugged, and kicked. But it wouldn't budge.
"We have to go back up there and find another way out," Piper said finally.
"Back up there? Piper, you're insane! They'll kill us!"
"Do you have a better idea?" Piper snapped.
Paige shook her head and they went back up the steps and to the first floor.
Piper looked out, then nodded. "Cost is clear," she whispered.
They exited the basement and closed the door.
"Let's go before they- AH!"
Someone swooped behind Piper and grabbed her around the middle. She kicked and thrashed, but couldn't tug free.
"PAIGE, RUN!" she cried, but a minute later, someone had grabbed Paige by her wrists and tugged her armed behind her back.
The two girls struggled but to no avail. They were caught.
The man with the shoulder length blonde hair appeared, grinning.
"Looks like we bagged ourselves two Charmed Ones."