Thanks for your reviews! It's always so nice to get them.
Siamese, I'm glad that you like both of my stories.
Chickadee smile: Yes, I also like this pairing and it surprised my, that it was easier to write than Cole and Phoebe.
Charmed -Snow: Your questions will be answered sooner or later, I hurry up I promise. But I already can tell you, that I really don't like such superpower babys, who are able to do everything.
And now the next chapter.
42. Chapter
Soon later Prue and Cole arrived in front of a big wrought-iron gate, which blocked the way to Belva's house. Prue stopped the car and got off. They had been tongue-tied on their way and it seemed as if they became estranged from each other, although they felt the same fear and anxiety.
"Do you look for a bell?" Cole asked ironically and got off too. He went around the car to sit down on the driver's seat. If necessary, he would drive against the gate as long as it would be broken.
"No." Prue explained calmly. "I don't need a door bell." She reached out her hand and the gate opened at once. "As you can see." She said cooly and got in the car again.
"Mm, I'd have thought, that Belva has protected her property." Cole said thoughtfully.
"Well obviously not, so let's go." Prue ordered him.
But Cole hesitated. "It could be a trap."
"I know, but we must take the risk. Or do you have another plan?" Prue wanted to know.
"I thought, if you could stay here..."
Prue cut him short. "No way!" She said firmly. "I won't wait for you here. You shouldn't dream of it."
Cole looked at her thoughtfully and nodded finally. He drove onto the property, where a wide road led through a park to the Maison. It was a pretentious villa, which was built recently but in an old Southerner style.
Cole parked the car in front of the entrance and they got off. Prue looked at the veranda and the numerous windows on the first floor, but she couldn't make out anything. She had no idea, what she should be prepared for.
"Let's go inside." Cole decided and went upstairs to the entrance. He didn't care, what was waiting for him. He only wanted to find Danny.
Prue followed him and wanted to open the door again with her magical powers, when she noticed, that it wasn't necessary, the door wasn't closed. "The door is open." She wondered.
"Obviously Belva is waiting for us." Cole said very composed on the surface. He didn't ask Prue once more to wait in front of the house, because he already knew her answer. So they entered the hall.
They expected the worst and looked around in the imposing hall. It extended to the top of the hall, where they could see a beautiful ceiling fresco and an oversized chandelier. They felt as if they would be in a castle hall. Marble columns propped up the staircase leading to the first floor on both sides of the hall. And straight on the ground floor a huge door was wide open.
"She wants us to step in." Prue said thoughtfully and entered the room carefully. There was a big writing desk and a chair with a high back in front of the window.
"Then we'll do it to please her." Cole said fearlessly and entered the room. The door closed behind them the minute they stood inside of the room. And as if by magic, the blinds swished down and darkened the windows. It was dark inside of the room, although the sun was shining outside. Suddenly the chair behind the desk started to move slowly.
"I knew that you'd search for me here." They heard Belva's voice and a strange light shone from her place into the room. When she had turned around entirely, Prue and Cole saw why. It wasn't the Voodoo Priestess Belva in person, who was sitting in front of them, no it was just her projection. She was transparent and shimmered in a light shade.
"What's that supposed to be?" Prue wondered and looked around searching for a projector unsuccessfully.
"Well I decided, that I won't leave you in the dark about my plans." The projector-Belva said rather satisfied. "No, I want you to know, what's going on. Because you can't do anything against it." She smiled and looked at them as if she would really sit in front of them. "I'll conjure up Ayida." She explained with a rapt smile on her face. "I know most of the Voodoo disciples think Ayida is only the female part of Damballah, but that's wrong." She pronounced daring.
"Unfortunately that doesn't mean a thing to me." Prue answered sneering.
And as if Belva had expected her answer, she added. "Oh, you don't know, what I'm talking about?" She wanted to know with a smug smile. "Ignorants! Well I'll make it more accessible to you. Damballah, our snake god is the divine king, the creator of magic and the ruler of time. He is considered to be the epitome of good. His love is for everything alive. His companion was Ayida and he lived with her happily in the kingdom Dahomey." She stopped for a moment. "But then Erzulie, queen of Ife, stepped into his life. She was the queen of heaven and earth and she became his lover."
Cole looked around. "I'm not the least bit interested." He said with clenched teeth. "I want to know where my son is."
But nobody could stop Belva and she continued her lecture. "When Ayida confronted him, he has vanquished her. He destroyed and assimilated her. Most of the Voodoo disciples consider this act of brutality to be a deliberate union, a unity and Ayida only stands for the female part of Damballah. Yes, a lot of people want to forget his scandalous act of their beloved God." She explained in disapproval. "But I won't do that. I'll get her out again. And then she'd like to take revenge as I do. She'll wreak havoc, her only aim is to destroy the world."
"And where does Danny come into it?" Prue wondered.
"If I conjure up Ayida, I'll need a special sacrifice to appease her." Belva explained and as if she had heard Prue, she pointed with her hand at the desk. A light shine turned up in front of her and transformed into a projection of Danny.
When Cole saw his son, who was at Belva's mercy, he couldn't breathe anymore. He was filled with icy cold, because to become certain that Belva had Danny under her thumb was virtually impossible to cope with for him. Furiously he built an energy ball and threw it at the Voodoo Priestess. "Bitch!" He let out, but only the chair was damaged by a burning hole, Belva's projecting picture didn't change.
"Stop it. What's that for?" Prue snapped at him, although her heart missed a beat and she wanted to wring Belva's neck herself, when she had seen Danny. But it was just a picture, nothing else and they had to find out everything about Belva's plans. If Cole destroyed her projection, they'd be worse off than before. "We must hear, what she'll tell us." She explained firmly.
"It's a great honor for your son." Belva continued. "A more glorious end, than you gave my son." Her face turned into a vicious grimace. "My poor David, but you'll get your revenge, I swear." She turned aside and breathed laboured.
Prue watched every gesture intently, probably it could help her afterwards. Suddenly a carafe with water, a perfume bottle, a powder compact and a cloth appeared as a projection on the table.
"I'll prepare the child for his ceremony, after it he'll be worthy to become Ayida's sacrifice." Belva explained. "I'll wash him and he'll eat holy food and drink holy drinks." A pot appeared on the desk. "I know, that Ayida will follow my request and she'll accept his blood as sacrificial offering. And then she'll rule the world, she'll destroy everything and you won't have a chance to do anything against it." Belva started to laugh nastily, the laughter got louder and louder and filled the whole room.
It seemed familiar to Prue and while the projection disappeared into thin air, Prue couldn't hold back anymore. Furiously she threw the chair against the window. The pane broke and the chair got stuck in the blinds rising slowly.
"And what was the use of it?" Cole wanted to know with a weary smile.
Prue shrugged her shoulders and looked at the broken window rather satisfied. "I feel better now." She explained plainly.
Cole nodded, he could understand her very well and he also knew, that she loved Danny as much as he did. But nevertheless she would never understand, what he meant to him. He failed again, he was incapable to protect anyone. "I can't bear the thought of losing him." He admitted.
"He's alive, Cole. That's important, nothing else." Prue explained firmly and walked to the desk to search it. She had to find something to go by.
"But how long?" Cole wanted to know, while he sat down on another chair and watched her useless searching. He went through it once before, he had already lost everything. His life, his luck had slipped out of his hands and he had never got the chance again to get hold of it. He still wondered, where did he go wrong in the past? What else he could have done, but he didn't know the answer. Unlike today, this time he knew that it was his fault, he had left his son unsupervised and now Belva had him in her grip.
"Stop talking this way. We'll rescue him." Prue snapped at him angrily and went on searching the desk. She opened a drawer and took out some paper. "I won't allow that Ayida destroys our world."
"We need a plan." Cole said, he didn't care about the Voodoo Goddess Ayida, as long as his son wouldn't be her sacrifice.
"Perhaps we can find a book about Voodoo, about her plans about ... about something." Prue said restlessly. She had to do something otherwise she would start to think about everything and that would mean that she'd see a helpless Danny who was at Belva's mercy.
"Mm." Cole let out sceptically, he tried to think about a plan, but his mind was in a daze. He simply couldn't think straight. Thoughtfully he watched Prue and noticed that her hands were trembling. "Prue stop it, I hardly believe, that she had left something, that could help us to destroy her in her desk."
I know, I know! Damn it." She leaned her hands on the desk and hung her head. "I may not fail once again. I have to protect him, I've promised him."
Cole stood up and walked to the desk, opposite to her. He looked at her and noticed that she was tensed up completely. "You didn't fail." He said calmly. "Belva didn't win yet, nowhere near."
"I shouldn't have left him alone." Prue shook her head unwilling and looked up. "We knew, that Belva is dangerous, how could I be so careless?"
"Well that's what I'm wondering all the time." Cole admitted, surprised that she felt as guilty as he did.
Prue turned aside angrily. "What do you mean? That I could be so careless."
"No, why? I don't know why I've left him with Judy, although I instantly had a bad feeling about it. But I didn't listen to it." Cole said thoughtfully.
"We thought, that he would be safe. We couldn't know it." Prue thought and knew that she was right. It wasn't her fault, it had happened and now they'd find a solution, nothing else counted. "I won't allow Belva to hurt Danny. She'll be in trouble with me, if she dares to sacrifice him to this Goddness." She said belligerently.
Cole smiled gently. "That's the Prue I know." he said and looked at her. "And who I love."
Prue grimaced lightly and walked around the desk to wring her arms around his neck. She didn't know, how much she needed this. She wasn't alone and that gave her strength and hope, she had nearly lost before. And she owed it to him. "You mustn't take everything I say so seriously in the heart of the moment." She explained firmly. "Sometimes I don't mean it like that."
"As long as you mean, what you've just said, it's alright." Cole said and held her tight.
"You can get your bottom dollar on that." Prue explained and suddenly she didn't feel as discouraged as before. She had already dealt with difficult situations, she was strong and this time she would survive, too. She looked up slowly. "I love you." She said from the bottom of her heart and she smiled as far as it was possible under the circumstances. "And I really mean it."
"Thanks, that you said it." Cole said, he had known it, but to hear it from her was even better. Although why had she chosen even this moment? Slowly he lifted up her chin to kiss her gently. "But this moment is somehow..."
"You're making great demands on me." Prue said smiling, she'd really like to stay here forever and enjoy the moment. But then Belva would win and Prue would never allow that. She let Cole go reluctantly and looked at the desk again. Belva was no fool, they wouldn't find anything important in this room. "You're right, it's useless to search this room." She finally said. "But perhaps we should take a close look around upstairs."
Cole nodded. "It's worth a try." He explained and they walked to the door, which stood open again after Belva's performance.
But in the moment, they wanted to leave the room, the door closed again. The blinds shut and although the chair didn't stand at the desk anymore, the projection of the Voodoo Priestess sat on it again. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, that I've sealed this room escape-proof. Even your magical powers won't help you to escape, the door and the blinds will withstand." She explained and smiled nastily.
"Because although nobody knows, where I am, you'll stay, where you are. The boy will die and the world is doomed. And you'll have to bow to the inevitable. You'll have to wait and see without a chance to do something against it. That's what you got for killing my son." She laughed again. "And should you think that you can shimmer away, a prepared thunder stone is already waiting for you in front of the house." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well it's your decision, what you prefer." Belva's laughter grew louder and filled the room.
"Well Belva, you're wrong." Prue said coldly, when the projection Belva was gone.
"Yes, you don't get rid of us so easily." Cole agreed and looked at Prue smiling. "Something good comes out of your vandalism." He said and walked to the place where the chair had destroyed the window pane and obstructed the blind to block the way to the garden completely.
"A bang for the buck." Prue explained with a shrug and added rather self satisfied. "As if I knew it." She knelt down and examined the gap. "Do you think you can manage to crawl through it?" She asked and gave him a sceptical look.
"What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm too fat?" Cole wanted to know sneering.
"Well in any case you don't have a slight frame." Prue said, while she sat down and started to wriggle through the narrow gap to the other side.
"But I'm nowhere near too fat to pass through this gap." Cole said confidently and looked sceptically at the free space, what was left over for him to get out of the room. It was rather narrow, but nothing would stop him from leaving this house. Confidently he laid down on the ground and tried to squeeze through the gap with his head first.
Meanwhile Prue arrived on the other side and laid on the lawn. She was relieved and wanted to relax in the sun for a moment. Then she sat up and looked back at the blinds. Only Cole's torso was through yet and he didn't budge anymore. "Won't you come off?" Prue asked and stood up to walk to him.
"No, it's only my belt. I'd say, it has got stuck." He explained and held his belt in his hand minutes later. "Could you hold it for a while?" He asked and reached it out for her. Prue took it and watched him curiously. She was amused and wanted to see what was going on.
Cole propped up at the blinds and worked his way to the other side slowly. When he had finally managed it, he just laid there on the lawn exhausted. He didn't want to budge, probably he was off form.
Prue stepped beside him and watched him shaking her head. "Come on, stand up. We have no time to hang around here."
"Why can't you give me only one second to relax?" He asked angrily. Cole sat up and reached out for his belt. "Please give me back my belt."
"Mm, why? I'd say, you don't need it anymore." Prue said grinning.
Cole decided to keep his remarks to himself and stood up. But finally he couldn't hold back and said. "Perhaps I should join Wingrove's country club."
"Do you really think you have to do it?" Prue took a close look at him and wondered. "What gives you that idea? Everything is just perfect." She explained with a satisfied look.
"Oh." Cole gave a nod to the blinds. "Not long ago it sounded like something else."
"Don't you listen to me?" Prue walked to him shaking her head. "Did you forget, what I said inside the house?" She wanted to know.
Cole grinned. "No, you said, that you love me."
"Not only." Prue said smiling and stopped in front of him. "There was something else."
"I know." He got closer and hugged her tight. He loved every second he was with her and he enjoyed to be around her. Everything was just perfect and he wouldn't allow Belva to destroy it, never! Together they would find Danny, without any doubt, but therefore he had to let her go and that was incredibly hard. "But unfortunately I can't count on Wingrove's references anymore." He explained finally and looked at Prue intently. "How about a registration for you and me?" He asked with a broad grin.
"You must be joking." Prue snapped at him angrily and pushed him away so powerful that he fell on the ground again. She sat astride of him and gave him a furious look. "How dare you! It didn't take much effort on my part to crawl through the gap there."
Cole was still grinning. "I never had any doubts about it." He explained. There was admiration in his eyes, like always when he looked at her. "It was just a thought. Because Wingrove would be happy, if he bumped into us every time."
"Sure!" Prue said not very convinced and finally she couldn't help laughing. But soon she kept a straight face again. "What are we doing here?" She wondered uncontently and stood up. "We are joking although we are in a serious situation."
"Gallows humour, I suppose." Cole said and got up, too. Then he took her hand and looked back at the house. "Come on, let's go, we'll get nowhere here." They walked around the villa until they reached their car.
"Mm." Prue stopped in front of the villa thoughtfully. The main entrance was closed now. "If we should try to enter the house again?" She wondered and walked to the door to try to open it with her magical powers. But it didn't budge.
Cole shook his head. "I'd say it's useless."
Nevertheless Prue tried it again, but it was a fruitless enterprise. She sighed and turned around. "If we knew, where we could find Belva." She said thoughtfully. "She won't be in her house in the country, otherwise she wouldn't have cleared up the cellar."
Cole considered. "Let's go to Zadie's house. Perhaps we can find something important among her chaos." He said and looked at her asking. "She could have a book or whatever, that could help us along. What do you think?"
Prue nodded. "You're right. She's her sister and a Voodoo Priestess, too. Who knows." She explained. She wasn't very hopeful, but she couldn't think of anything better. They got in the car and set off.
Soon later they arrived in the come down quarter and Cole's car attracted attention once again. But they had other problems and didn't care about it. When they arrived at Zadie's house, they saw some men in front of it. They carried Zadie's belongings out of the house and loaded them into a car.
"Stop!" Prue opened the door rather exited. She got off and rushed at the men, to bar their way. '"What are you doing here? You may not do this. You have no right to clear out the house." She hissed at them.
One of the men stopped and put down a box with pieces of junk. "Of course we have the right. All this junk will end up at the bulky waste pickup." He explained Prue, while he wiped away sweat from his forehead.
"But on whose instruction are you doing this?" Prue asked resolutely.
"The owner of this house, she wants to pull down the old house." The man explained and picked up the box again. He looked at her asking, obviously he was waiting for her to go away. "It's my job, so please step aside." He urged her.
Prue did him the favour and looked around searching for Cole. "Did you listen?" She asked, still confused.
Cole nodded and took her hand. "Come on." he said and they walked to the house. "If this guy is right, then we'll find Zadie somewhere in the house."
The walked around the house to the garden. The pane of the garden door was still broken and made it possible for them to enter the study. It seemed as if the workers hadn't been here before, because it still looked the same like before. Zadie's Voodoo utensils were lying around everywhere.
Thoughtfully Prue looked for Zadie's books, when the door opened and one of the workers came into the room.
"What are you doing here?" He wondered.
"We're looking for Zadie." Prue said politely. "Is she at home?"
The man looked at her sceptically. "Madame, there is someone searching for you."
Cole and Prue looked at each other sceptically, when Zadie was suddenly standing in the middle of the room.
"I don't expect any visitors." she explained in a monotonous voice.
"Of course you do." Cole contradicted and pushed her back into the corridor. "You asked us to come today. Don't you remember?" He asked indignantly.
Prue gave the worker an excusing look. "Well Zadie is rather forgetful lately." She said with a shrug.
"Yes, she's getting older." Cole explained and pushed her towards the kitchen. Zadie was cold and incredible strong, but obviously she wasn't able to make her own decision. Therefore Cole seized his opportunity and pulled her along into the kitchen. Prue followed them and closed the door quickly.
"Salt, we need something with salt." Cole explained and tried hard to hold Zadie, who wanted to go back to the corridor.
"Who do you think I am? Of course I know." Prue rushed at the cupboards.
"Let me go, I have to keep an eye on the workers." Zadie explained in tinny voice.
"Just one moment." Cole tried to convince her. "I'm sure you are hungry."
"No, I'm not allowed to eat anything. Let me go, I have to keep an eye on the workers." Zadie tried it again.
"You've already told us." Cole had to muster up all his strengths to hold her. "Prue, hurry up."
"Yes, of course. What do you think I'm doing here?" Prue searched the kitchen cupboards desperately, but she couldn't find any food. Finally she stumbled on a salt shaker. "What did I tell you?" She took it out and walked back to Zadie.
"A salt shaker?" Cole asked sceptically. "Not very inviting."
"Come on, open her mouth." Prue said and stepped beside Zadie, so that she couldn't escape.
"Easier said than done." Cole told her, he tried to open Zadie's mouth and held her tight at the same time. But Zadie closed her mouth desperately and wanted to escape Cole's embrace. Cole took his hand from her mouth to hold her tight with both hands again. "Nothing doing!" Cole explained. "You can try it."
"Okay." Prue decided. She loosened the stopper of the salt shaker and lifted it up, while she tried to open Zadie's mouth with her other hand.
Presumable an ordinary person would have bitten into Prue's hand, but Zadie couldn't think straight. She went on telling in her monotonous voice. "Let me go, I have to go to the corridor to keep an eye on the workers."
But when Zadie opened her mouth to start to talk, Prue took the opportunity to pour the salt into her mouth. Zadie cried out and somebody opened the door immediately. Cole let her go instantaneously and Prue stepped aside, too.
A worker appeared in the kitchen and looked around in alert. "What's going on here?" He wanted to know and walked at Zadie, who stood at the sink rinsing out her mouth hastily.
"What did you do to her?" The man asked Prue and Cole, who shrugged their shoulders and gave him a look of innocence. He stepped beside Zadie. "Are you alright Madame?" He wanted to know.
Zadie nodded. "Yes, don't worry, everything is ... alright." She let out and turned to the worker with a friendly smile. "You and your colleagues can finish work for today."
The man looked at her rather surprised. "But we've just started." He wondered.
"Well I know, but now I've changed my mind." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm already old, it can happen to elder people, that they change their decision. But don't worry, you'll get your payment, the whole amount."
The worked looked at her sceptically. "Well, if you really think so." He said slowly.
"Yes, I think so. Finally this is my house." Zadie confirmed.
The worker nodded and left the kitchen, still rather surprised. "Okay, it's your decision."
Zadie sighed and turned to Cole and Prue. "My own sister did it to me." She explained and shook her head. "She
condemned me to the worst punishment Voodoo knows, she turned me into a zombie."
"I'm very sorry." Prue said sadly.
Zadie nodded and hung her head. "I was under her control." She said and looked up in horror. "Oh my God, I took the boy to her villa."
Cole nodded. "Yes, but how did she know, where he is?"
Zadie shook her head. "I don't know, she ordered me and I had to obey, like a slave, ... my own sister."
"Where is she now, Zadie?" Prue wanted to know resolutely.
"I've no idea. She didn't talk to me about her plans." Zadie said sadly and put her hand to her forehead. "There's an old house in the country, nearby a river, there she ..." Zadie stopped.
"Turned you into a zombie." Cole ended the sentence for her. Zadie looked at him in surprise. "We were there yesterday, but everything is cleared out." He said.
Zadie nodded. "I wish we'd know, what she has in mind." she said thoughtfully.
"Oh, we know it." Prue explained, when they heard some noise on the corridor. "There is someone." She said and looked at Cole and Zadie.
"One of Belva's people. Probably a demon or a zombie, who should keep an eye on Zadie." Cole supposed and turned to the door. "No problem!" He was prepared for everything and opened the door. It was dark in the corridor, obviously the workers had turned out the light. The intruder stubbed his shin on a stand for umbrellas. He cursed and didn't notice Cole, who got hold of him easily.
The man got a fright "Hey! Stop, what are you doing." He let out and tried to wriggle out of Cole's hold. But obviously Belva hadn't sent a demon to look for Zadie, because although the man put up a fierce struggle, it was easy for Cole to pull him along to the kitchen. "No way." Cole explained coldly and pushed him into the room.
The intruder stumbled into the kitchen and Prue recognized him at once. "But that's Amy's bus driver." She wondered.
Cole closed the door and turned around to Josh. "Where is my son?" He asked in a voice cold as ice.
Josh gave him a confused look. "Your son? How shall I know?"
Cole stepped closer and screwed his eyes up furiously. "Where did Belva take him to?"
"Who?" Josh looked at Cole completely terrified. "Listen, I ... I ... I don't know anyone called Belva."
"Oh really?" Cole said and smiled ominously. "And what are you doing in the corridor of this house?"
Josh looked around beseeching. "I only wanted to look around, nothing else." He tried to explain.
"Oh, of course. Tell me another one." Prue said sneering. "I thought you are such a law-abiding citizen and now you break into an unknown house?"
"The door stood open." Josh explained and smiled at Zadie in excuse. "Your house always holds a great fascination for me. So I had to seize this opportunity."
"Well that's a wonderful excuse." Prue said ironically.
"And very plausible." Cole would like to plunge the knife, lying on the kitchen cupboard, into Josh's chest. He forced himself to turn aside and looked down reluctantly, when he saw the thunder stone, where he had been locked up. It was lying on the ground and Cole bend forward to pick it up thoughtfully.
"But it's the truth." Josh confirmed meanwhile. "I lived in this quarter when I was a child and this house of a witch held a great fascination for me even then. Always when I passed by, I 've got a strange feeling."
"You're wrong, this isn't a house of a witch." Zadie told him, shaking her head. She took a close look at him. "But I think, that I haven't seen your face before. And I'd say, that I know everyone living in the neighbourhood."
"I left this quarter a few years ago, but my mother is still living here. Mrs. Miller, you should know her." Josh said and looked at her hopefully.
"A lot of people name Miller." Zadie shook her head. "I suppose we can't answer this question now." She explained and turned to Cole and Prue. "I think we should vanish here, if Belva finds out, that something went wrong, she'll come and check what's going on."
"You're right, we should go home, she won't search for us there." Prue supposed and looked at the other. "Finally she expects us in her villa."
Cole nodded. "Okay, let's go." He decided and gave Josh a sinister look. "And you'll come with us."