WINTER BLAZE - Thanks, and, hmm.
LILLYNILLY - You're STARTING to feel bad for Piper? I have been feeling bad for her since the second chapter, and I'm writing the darn fic! How could you just be starting? Oh, well. Thanks for the review, though!
MYSTERIOUS MIDNIGHT - Agreed. You cringed? I LOVE it when facial expressions are in response to my fics! Thanks so much!
KK241289 - Closer and closer and closer and closer. Yup yups! Okay, thanks so much for the compliment! Ur so sweet as well! Indeed! Yay, I love that word! Teehee... Thanks for the review!
CHUB - Thanks oh so much!
SYAD YNAIR - ? Okay. Um... thanks?
PIPERLEO4EVA - No duh. Thanks!
MAGICAL PRINCESS - Yup yups! Thanks!
CHARMEDMILLIE - Well, that's half right. Yup yups! Thanks!
CHARMEDCHICK8407 - Wow, I think you are the first person that has reviewed that actually LIKES cliffies. Kewl. Thanks for the review, and, just to let you know, you will be held in suspense quite a lot from this fic, no worries!
VERSATILECUTIE - Well, he kinda needs her, so he can't kill her. Damn it, huh? Well, it's okay to get involved in the fan fictions, I do it quite a lot. Especially with the stories from the author about... um... 7 responses up? Yup yups! Thanks for the review!
Now, chapter 13...
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That weekend was hell. All weekend, Piper had been forced to clean the house until it was absolutely spotless. She would have to scrub away at the floors, despite the unbearable pain every time she moved. If Piper displeased Daniel in the slightest, he would press his hand onto her back, causing pain to shoot throughout her body. Every night, he would beat her horribly, and the only area he would avoid was her face. After she was barely conscious from the pain, he would bind her wrists to the railing again, and leave her there all night, just as he had done the night of the whipping. He would leave her in the darkness, just kneeling on the floor. He would leave her in her pain and fear; pain from her injuries, and fear from what he might do to her since she was completely and utterly defenseless. She would also have her regret, sadness, and sense of loss. She would have all night to think about what would happen when she broke it off with the only true friends she had ever had.
The Halliwells also went through hell, though not exactly the same type as Piper. They stayed up at all hours, searching the Book of Shadows about twenty times, and Leo repeatedly going to the Elders to ask questions. Most of the questions, though, the Elders couldn't answer. Phoebe's dreams were the first premonitions that they HADN'T sent her. They did not have a clue what was going on, completely shattering their image of all-knowing beings. But, they were also very intrigued by the mystery, so they were researching 24/7 as well. Down on earth, the sisters and Andy took turns searching for answers in the book and on the internet, two people being awake while the other two slept.
But, Phoebe may have well gotten no sleep whatsoever that weekend. Every time she would float into a state of unconsciousness, she would drift back into the body of whoever the innocent was. She would experience what the girl did, not really being able to get any more clues about the girl's identity. She had only received on clue about the girl's whereabouts, as the man had slipped it. He had pressed on her back, as she had displeased him by missing a spot on the floor, and pain had surged through her body. "Now, you listen, and you listen good." he had said. "The only reason you are still breathing is the fact that you serve a purpose to me, as you do all the chores and dirty work. If you fail in either of those tasks, I will not hesitate to throw you off the Golden Gate Bridge, which as you know is not far from our lovely abode." But, otherwise, all the dreams had done for Phoebe was cause her unbearable pain and interrupt her sleep.
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Piper walked slowly, very slowly up through the school parking lot and onto the lawn. She knew what she had to do, and she dreaded it. She didn't want to break it off with the Halliwells, Andy, and Leo. She knew that they had all gone through a lot of emotional pain, and she didn't want to put them through more. But she had to. She had to save their lives. She had to save them from Daniel, although she herself could not be save from him.
She hoisted her backpack further up her shoulder. She was carrying it only on one shoulder, as she didn't want it on her back. She had tried that morning, and it had hurt too much. She couldn't do anything for the marks on her back, as she couldn't reach them. They just had to heal on their own, although it was a very painful process. She had a hard time wearing her bra and shirt that morning, as her back was filled with such an unbearable pain, from both the beatings and her back.
Ahead of her, she spotted her friends under their traditional oak tree. As it loomed closer, she grew more anxious, more depressed. As her friends watched her coming, she knew that it was the last time they would even look at her. She knew she would have to break all of their hearts to save their lives.
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"So, anything else happen in your dreams last night?" Prue asked, turning away from their slowly progressing friend for a moment and focusing on her younger sister. "Not much. There were just flashes of darkness, stiffness, fear, and pain. I think he left her bound all night, again." Phoebe answered, her tone downtrodden.
"Hey, Alexa!" Paige said cheerily as Piper joined the group. Piper's heart broke in half when she saw her youngest friend's peppy smile, knowing that she would soon be the cause of it being wiped off her face. "Hi." Piper said coldly. "What's wrong?" Phoebe asked calmly. "What's wrong? Why do you always expect something to be wrong with me? Have you ever considered that something is wrong with YOU?" Piper asked, her voice raising.
"Alexa, it was just a simple question." Leo said, coming closer to his girlfriend. "Oh, so you're on her side? Why aren't you on my side? I thought you loved me!" Piper yelled. "I do." Leo defended, completely confused about why she was acting this way. "Are you sure? Because you sure cancel on our dates enough!" Piper screamed. "Alexa, he has important reasons." Prue said, stepping up to her. She was getting a bit mad at her friend. How could she dare to be so rude? "Oh, and here comes the almighty Prue to the rescue! Have you ever thought that people DON'T need your help?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, but have YOU ever considered how bitchy you're being?" Prue asked. "Maybe, but how can the grand bitch determine that? Is it that I'm actually insulting her petty, little family? Or is it because I did this?" Piper reached out, and slapped Prue across the face. She then turned to Leo. "It's over, babe. Not sorry." she said, and kneed him in the balls. She then turned and stalked off, not looking back even once. She didn't want her now ex-friends to see the tears running down her face.
Prue, Phoebe, Paige, Leo, and Andy watched as Piper stalked off. "What the hell just happened?" Andy asked. He received no response, as everyone was too shocked to speak. They were all just staring after them, hurt in their eyes. Prue was holding her reddening cheek, and Leo was still bent over.
"That bitch." Prue whispered. "How... how?" Phoebe asked. "I knew we couldn't trust a mortal to be friends with us." Prue proclaimed angrily, becoming the first one of them to actually look somewhere else. Andy cleared his throat. "I mean a mortal who doesn't know our secret." Prue corrected, not losing her icy tone. "Yeah, right, Prue. You trusted her too." Paige said. "How could she do this?" Phoebe asked, sitting right down on the ground.
"I don't know." Paige said, sitting right down next to her, staring straight ahead. "I guess we shouldn't have thought that she wouldn't crack under the pressure of being friends with the mysterious Halliwells." Prue answered, sitting on her other side. "But we were so close. How could she act this way?" Phoebe asked, her eyes starting to well up. "She was the best friend I ever had! How could she throw away our relationship like that?" "I don't know. But, I'm gonna miss her too." Paige said, leaning on her older sister. "It'll be okay, sises. We've been through worse things than this." Prue said reassuringly, pulling both of them into her.
"But has Leo?" Paige asked, looking over at their trusted whitelighter. He was still staring at the spot where his girlfriend walked off. He had broken quite a few rules to be with her, and she had just dumped him. He loved her, yet she had thrown it in his face. That made all the girls angry at her. They knew that she had broken his heart, as well as theirs. They could not believe anyone could be so heartless.
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"Now, the Shakespearean Era was very interesting, as the dialect..."
As Phoebe's history teacher droned on at the front of class, Phoebe's mind wondered to the events earlier in the day. She was still asking the same question. How could she do that? 'At least she's not in class now.' Phoebe thought. Since the two had all their classes together, Phoebe had been seeing her quite a lot. They had avoided looking at each other, and her friend had asked for a different lab partner. Phoebe had been furious at that, because it meant that her ex-best friend had no intention of apologizing for her earlier actions.
Thinking of her ex-friend, Phoebe knew that she had to get out of the classroom for a moment or she would burst. Her hand shot up in the air. "Yes?" the Ms. Cosby asked. "May I please go to the bathroom?" Phoebe asked, sweetly and politely. "Fine." Ms. Cosby said, and handed Phoebe a pass. "Thank you!" Phoebe called as she walked out of the door.
In the hallway, Phoebe felt much freer. She knew that the teacher would expect her to head straight for a bathroom, and then straight back. That was exactly what Phoebe intended to do. Except, she would go to the bathroom farthest away from her history classroom. She needed some time to breathe, and some time to think. She had to decide what she would do now that she didn't really have a best friend. She had fared fine before she had come, what would be so different now? The difference was, she knew what it was like now. To have someone out of the family that she could tell anything, and do everything with. Someone that she wasn't related to that she could just plain old goof off with, or be completely serious with. She now knew what it was like to have a true best friend, someone that didn't HAVE to be her friend.
As she entered the bathroom, she could make out a faint noise. She concentrated a bit harder. Was it... crying? Phoebe stepped cautiously further into the bathroom, passing each of the stalls on the way. The noise got louder and louder as she advanced through the bathroom. She was now definite that she was hearing crying. Not just regular old crying, but crying accompanied by heart-wrenching sobs. It was the kind of crying someone did when they had lost all hope.
When Phoebe reached the end of the stalls, she finally found who was crying. It was her ex-best friend. Piper was sitting on the floor, her knees curled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her face was buried into her knees, and she was crying her heart out. Phoebe was just standing there, torn between comforting her and just walking away. She didnÕt know what to do, as she was still mad at her, yet she wished she would be back.
Slowly and surely, PhoebeÕs anger triumphed over her compassion. She turned around, and quietly sighed. She thought that Piper might be seeing the error of her ways, which meant that she still somewhat had a heart. Phoebe hoped that she would come around, but didnÕt know whether or not she would accept her as her best friend anymore. She was complete bitch to all of them that morning.
Phoebe went up to the sink, and decided to fix herself up a bit, as she didnÕt really have to go to the bathroom. She straightened her hair a little bit, and checked her make-up. She smoothed the minuscule wrinkles out of her shirt and skirt. When she reached to straighten out her fashionably-worn belt, she was sucked into a premonition.
iThe guy from her dreams was standing there, pulling back a whip. He snapped it on some girlÕs back. The view shifted to the girl. She screamed out, her chocolate eyes filled with terror and glistening in pain.i/
Phoebe suddenly found herself back in the bathroom. ÔOh my God.Õ she thought. ÔThe girl from my dreams is Alexa.Õ
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AN: DonÕt worry, I wonÕt leave you guys hanging for much longer. I have the next chapter almost completed, and will be updating soon. Yay! Phoebe has found out! Yayness, huh? Please, please review!