Wrongs Darker than Death or Night

Disclaimer: Same as before…

"Mister Godfrey?" Lady Chatterjee's voice felt like a jackhammer going off inside his skull as Godfrey's eyes opened.

"Yes." Godfrey growled.

"Mister York is at the door." Chatterjee replied.

"Tell him I'll be there presently." Godfrey replied, folding the blanket that had been draped over him and setting it down by the laundry hamper and walking into the downstairs washroom.

Prue walked towards the front door in time to see a slim bodied English man, about twenty-six years old, with straight brown hair, blue eyes and a longish nose. Lady Chatterjee headed towards the foyer and said, "Mr. Godfrey will be out soon, Mr. York."

"Thank you Lady Chatterjee." York replied curtly.

Godfrey looked at the mirror and realized he looked like hell. His eyes were bleary and there was a ragged stubble of a day's worth of beard on his face. He couldn't do anything about that just yet, so he splashed cold water onto his face, straightened his uniform and put his cap back onto his head, straightening it to make sure he had it on correctly.

He heard a knock on the door just then and said, "I'll be there presently, Edward." Godfrey replied, wincing as he heard the knocking at the door which felt like the entire Pinkot Rifle regiment was marching through his skull.

The voice he heard on the other side wasn't Edward York but Prue Halliwell, "I guess whiskey isn't your poison."

"I'm never attempting to match drinks with Poole ever again." Godfrey muttered as he walked out of the bathroom.

Godfrey checked his watch; thank God he wasn't due to be at work until his shift at noon. It was ten-thirty AM as he checked his watch.

"What's going on Edward?" Godfrey asked York.

"Lockwood's been honking about noise complaints he's been getting all week regarding all the firing range time you've scheduled. Not to mention the emergency drill that trapped him in the marketplace for three hours." York replied, "My section was on the range and we got kicked off."

"Edward," Godfrey began, "Get back to training, and don't reschedule any more drills. If Lt. Lockwood has a problem, tell him to speak to me about it."

"Yes sir." York replied.

Godfrey walked out of the front door towards the police station, thinking all the while, Just what does the Pig want with me this time?

Prue walked back upstairs, wanting to find Daphne. These guys need time to prepare. I may not be able to stop Daphne being attacked altogether but I can delay it at least. Prue thought. Damn it, she must have left already.

She was about to head to the hospital, which was her best bet for finding Daphne when she saw that Daphne left her closet ajar. Prue opened it fully and tried to remember what color dress Daphne had been wearing when she noticed the blue one was just a bit crooked on the hanger, as if Daphne had been in a hurry to get that dress on their quickly. Prue dug around in the pockets of the dress before she came up with a scrap of paper that had been torn from a notebook of some kind.

Prue read the note: "Bibighar, 7:30 PM."

Obviously it was a place, wherever this Bibighar was and the time would be at 7:30 tonight. Time to find out what and where this Bibighar place is. Prue thought and walked downstairs, meeting Lady Chatterjee along the way.

"Lily, have you seen Rahim at all?" Prue asked.

"Rahim is praying right now, he should be finished in an hour." Lady Chatterjee replied, "He usually doesn't see the fakirs on Wednesdays. Are you still doing your research?"

"Yeah." Prue replied, remembering the cover story she'd invented on the fly two days ago, "Would you happen to know where Bibighar is?"

"It used to be a great manor owned by a respected Englishman named Sir Nigel. Almost no one goes there now. It's been abandoned for quite some time." Lady Chatterjee replied, "During the Mutiny of 1857, the rebels attacked the estate, killing Sir Nigel and all of his servants. When the Scots Guards retook Mayapore a year later, they showed the rebels no mercy, killing them to the last man even those who surrendered, and buried the bodies in the Bibighar Gardens. Many say the gardens are haunted by the ghosts of those killed during the Mutiny. But that is simply silly superstition…"

Prue processed the information and then made a connection. Sir Nigel? As in my new Whitelighter Nigel? Maybe…But will Daphne's attacker be human or some kind of supernatural being. Thank you Nigel, because if ever the power of three were needed, now would be the time.

"Prue?" Lily asked, noting Prue's newly paled complexion, "What is the matter. You look like you've seen a ghost…"

"Lily…I just may have." Prue replied, "Thank you."

Before Lady Chatterjee could reply, Prue was out the door, hoping to catch up to Daphne. Desperately hoping she wasn't too late, Prue all but ran to the hospital. She ran into a raven haired but slightly graying woman with a petite frame in a nurse's uniform. Judging by her demeanor, the woman had to be the hospital matron.

"Excuse me, miss." Prue began, "Would you happen to know where Daphne Manners is?"

"Daphne's on duty right now." The matron replied, "Unless this is a medical emergency, the nurses don't have time to be bothered. You're the fifth person I've chased away from bothering my nurses."

Prue figured this was a brick wall when the woman smiled slightly continued, "…But you're the first woman I've chased off. Usually I've been chasing off paramours and suitors, you're a welcome change."

"When does Daphne's shift end?" Prue asked.

"She'll have a lunch break at noon and she'll be done with work at 4 o'clock." The matron replied.

Poole's voice echoed from somewhere inside the two story hospital building, "Mrs. Godfrey, I need help distributing the medical kits."

"I'll be right there doctor." Nurse Godfrey replied, "I'd best be going, the good doctor's obviously had a bit too much last night."

"Don't let me keep you." Prue replied and left the hospital. She had about an hour's wait, so she walked across the street, making sure there was no one around.

"Nigel?" Prue began, expecting any minute to see the shimmering of orbs that would herald his approach.

She wasn't disappointed when she saw Nigel appear. "I see you're still hell bent on messing with destiny. That, my dear, is a futile endeavor." Nigel replied.

"I may not be able to stop Daphne from being attacked, but I can try…" Prue began.

"Try and delay it, I know." Nigel replied, "Prue, I can see you live up to the reputation of the Charmed Ones as incorrigible and unorthodox. The Elders did warn me about that side of you, but I know you'll get the job done regardless of your attempts to meddle with destiny."

"Daphne's going to be attacked in the Bibighar Gardens. Can you tell me what is going to be attacking her?" Prue asked, "Is it human or supernatural?"

"One need not look to the supernatural to find evil intents and deeds." Nigel replied.

"Human." Prue replied, "But isn't the Bibighar…"

"Haunted. So they say." Nigel replied.

"And I'm looking at one of the ghosts." Prue exclaimed.

"Perhaps, my dear." Nigel replied.

"Lady Chatterjee told me the story of Bibighar and said that during the Mutiny of 1857 someone named Sir Nigel owned an estate in that area and was brutally murdered by the rebels." Prue replied,"Is he you?"

"Yes." Nigel began, "I'd always been the fair sort to all. Apparently the rebels didn't like the fact that I would help the Untouchable castes from time to time and during the mutiny they broke into the manor, slaughtered my servants before my eyes before they turned their attention to me."

"I'm certainly glad that the Charmed Ones live up to the reputation they have amongst the Elders." Nigel continued, grinning.

I didn't think that man could smile with that stiff upper lip of his. Prue thought.

"To be honest, the Elders questioned the idea of bringing you back but I convinced them you were perfect for the job." Nigel continued, "Not only are you one of the Charmed Ones, you were the firstborn and thus the most powerful. Evil seeks the soon to be conceived child of Daphne Manners and the Heartless will not stop."

"Where did these things come from?" Prue asked.

"So many questions, you will find the answers in due time." Nigel replied.

"How do you expect me to fight something that I don't know anything about?" Prue asked.

"Prue, you will find the knowledge you need, but you do not need it now. What is important is you protecting Daphne and her unborn baby." Nigel replied, "Do not let her out of your sight during the battle. She is the innocent you were sent here to protect. If nothing else, insure Daphne survives tonight."

With that, Nigel orbed out of the conversation, leaving Prue standing there with the fact that Daphne's rape was inevitable and that Daphne would be pregnant after this incident. And this would trigger the invasion of Mayapore. Prue hoped she would be strong enough for that upcoming battle.

"Godfrey, have you any idea the amount of complaining you're training on the firing range has had?" Lockwood began.

"Yes sir." Godfrey replied, though of equal rank Godfrey still had to address Lockwood as sir because Lockwood was the force's executive officer.

"Then why was my order countermanded." Lockwood replied.

"We needed to train." Godfrey replied, "I've been scheduling drills..."

"Godfrey, couldn't you at least warn people about these things." Lockwood replied.

"The Heartless will strike with little warning." Godfrey replied, "The exercises I've been doing, while disruptive, are preparing our men to repel the Heartless invasion."

"I do think it's rather disconcerting to Mayapore's citizens to see constables armed with rifles herding them off to the emergency shelters suddenly. And you don't even have the courtesy to tell them it's a drill until the exercise has ended." Lockwood began.

It took all of Godfrey's self restraint to not jump across the desk and strangle Lockwood until the porcine man's eyes popped out of their sockets and his tongue bulged blue. Lockwood continued on, "I happened to be paying a social call to Governor Sir Harris' bungalow when you rushed us out in the middle of tea time. Could you not have defended the bungalow…Simply created a perimeter around it?"

"Sir, we agreed on emergency shelters for all citizens. If we had defended the governor's bungalow we would have been overrun." Godfrey replied, "It's on one of the flattest points in Mayapore, the walls aren't quite high or thick enough and the gates could be broken fairly easily with a couple coordinated assaults. A squad of constables does not have the firepower to fight off a concerted effort. That's why I insist on mobile teams and sudden ambushes as well as fortifying key buildings."

"And then there's the matter of your so-called knowledge about the impending assault." Lockwood replied, "Where did you get such intelligence? Why did Captain Merrick approve it?"

"To the first, a good officer of the law need not reveal his sources." Godfrey began, "And to answer the second question you'd best ask Captain Merrick."

"Godfrey, you're dismissed." Lockwood replied, and with a two millimeter grin he added, "From my office, but not the force. Not yet at any rate."

"Yes sir." Godfrey replied, barely suppressing the urge to substitute the word 'cur' in its place.

Finally, Prue thought as Daphne walked out of the hospital for her lunch break. Her astral self had projected inside the hospital at intervals, keeping an eye on Daphne. Maybe if she could find out whom Daphne's paramour was, she could tail him and find the most efficient route to the Bibighar Gardens.

"Mrs. Godfrey said you were looking for me." Daphne said.

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried into your personal business." Prue replied, "I shouldn't get in the way of true love."

After all I did my share of interfering with my sisters' relationships, especially Phoebe and Cole. Prue thought, but pushed that out of her mind, Daphne was her chief concern right now and she couldn't afford to miss any details of this.

Daphne said, "I accept your apology, Prue."

"So why not just marry him? Why sneak around to avoid Merrick?" Prue replied.

"It's not that simple Prue." Daphne replied, "Society wouldn't approve of our love…"

Why do I get the feeling this is going to sound like Leo and Piper or worse Phoebe and Cole all over again? Prue thought.

"Daphne, I'm sure polite society wouldn't mind you and Godfrey marrying. He might be a bit of a stick in the mud but…" Prue replied.

Daphne let out a small laugh, "Godfrey? You think I'm being courted by Godfrey of all people?"

"Then who…" Prue began, as she ran through the list of people she had met since arriving in Mayapore three days ago. Then it struck her like a ton of bricks, "Kumar. You're seeing Hari Kumar?"

Daphne remained silent, nodding just barely perceptibly. "Now you see why I can't simply marry him. I'll be an outcast."

"Daphne, don't give up on him or this romance." Prue replied, "Let's just say I know that things like this work out."

"I know my mother will disinherit me if this comes to light." Daphne replied, "I don't know who else could support me."

"Lady Chatterjee? Your aunt?" Prue suggested.

"You don't know my aunt, Prue, or whether she'd approve. Lady Chatterjee would risk being ostracized by her countrymen if she supported me." Daphne replied.

"What does Hari do for a living?" Prue asked.

"He's a journalist at the Mayapore Gazette. Why?" Daphne asked.

"I'm going to see if his family knows and if they'll support you two." Prue replied, "If he talks like he was educated in England, then his family has to have some means to help you guys out."

"Thank you Prue." Daphne said, embracing the other woman, "I can't believe you'd go through all this trouble for a stranger."

"It's the least I can do." Prue replied, "You gave me a place to stay, I wanted to return the favor."

Daphne headed off to a small café to go and eat, and Prue, feeling the grumbling in her stomach followed suit.

Hari Kumar was glad for once that he was getting out of work early, and that one of his coworkers would be closing the place. As he walked outside into the cloudy afternoon he saw the woman he'd met in the marketplace, named Prue or something like that.

"Hari," Prue began, "I'm not sure if you remember me from earlier…"

"Yes, I'm not the sort to forget a beautiful woman." Hari replied.

"Thanks for the compliment, Hari." Prue replied, "But I'm here to talk to you about Daphne…"

At this Kumar froze. Had he been found out? Had his long affair with an Englishwoman of proper society been found out?

"Who else knows?" Hari asked her, knowing there was no way out of it, but like any proper gentleman he would be poised right to the end.

"As far as I know, just Daphne and I. And you of course." Prue replied, "First off, you don't sound like many Indians I know."

"I was educated in Britain." Hari replied, carrying himself with a certain pride that obviously affronted people like Merrick, "My father had a business associate who paid for him and I to live in England with him. I was only three years old at the time and I spent the next twenty-two years there. Obviously I was raised with all the perks of high class English society, being educated at Chillingborough, one of England's finest public schools."

"You mean private school?" Prue asked.

"I keep forgetting the American definition of public school differs from the English definition. Yes, a public school in Britain is like a private school in America." Hari replied, ruefully, "In England I could be seen by my public school colleagues as an equal. Sadly, here, to them I'm no higher than the servants that clean their bungalows and serve their drinks."

"Why did you come back?" Prue asked, "Why didn't you stay in England?"

"I couldn't stay. My father died, and his associate fell on hard times. Even worse was the fact that his associate's family was nearly as bad as the 'socialites' of Mayapore." Hari replied.

"But Daphne's different?" Prue replied.

"Obviously you believe that, or you wouldn't be speaking to me about her." Kumar replied.

"Yes," Prue asked, "I wanted to see if your family knows…"

"They don't." Hari replied, "And I intend to keep it that way. Some of the more extreme members of Quit India might want to take action if they found out."

"Against who? You or Daphne?" Prue asked.

"Both of us, most likely." Hari replied.

"So why the Bibighar then?" Prue asked.

"The locals think it's haunted. Certainly a useful superstition. Most, save some untouchables, won't go anywhere near the place." Hari replied, "Thanks for your offer, but I'd best be going."

Great, so now he wants to use the Bibighar Gardens as a place to consummate the affair. I guess cheap motel owners also discriminate by race here too. Prue thought. She was going to be their regardless, but she was ready to face a supernatural foe at the Bibighar just in case Daphne and Kumar awakened a vexed spirit or two by their consummation on a gravesite.

Lieutenant Edward York turned to see the other four constables in his patrol behind him. Sergeant Mason, the communication's sergeant, walked behind him and three riflemen accompanied. They passed otherconstables were rigging crude jars of gunpowder covered with nails and ball bearings, andplacing them in hidden locations.York smiled to himself,the idea of putting explosive booby traps around Mayapore to coincide with Godfrey's strongpoints had been his idea, and he was glad that it had some support.His triumphant thinking was interrupted asa shape moved down the street.

"Halt!" York called.

Busted. Prue thought. Time for Plan B.

"It's dangerous to be out at night, miss." York replied.

"I was on my way home." Prue replied.

"Donalbain, accompany the lady home. The rest of you stay with me." York replied.

About two blocks and I'd be right at Bibighar. Damn. Prue thought.

As soon as Donalbain and Prue were out of hearing of York, Donalbain said, "I know you can take care of yourself, but the lieutenant gave me his orders."

"No need to apologize." Prue replied.

"My granny told me stories of witches and sorcerers of great power." Donalbain replied, "And I know that you can take care of whatever is out there. As soon as we get 'round that next corner, go where you need."

"Thank you, Mr. Donalbain. Not that I'm ungrateful, but why are you doing this?" Prue asked.

A grin crossed Donalbain's twenty-year-old face, "A Welshman knows better than to mess with the supernatural. Godspeed."

As soon as they rounded the corner, Prue ran back towards the Bibighar Gardens. As she ran, she heard a scream carried on the wind. It was the cries of a woman. Daphne! Prue thought, and quickened her pace. She wasn't going to stop this assault, but she could at least protect Daphne.

As the Bibighar's crumbling walls came into view, she could see a disheveled and near hysterical Daphne, her blouse missing buttons. Already Lieutenant York and his men had reached her. Daphne hugged her arms close to her and Prue grabbed a blanket off of a clothesline nearby and draped it over Daphne's shoulders.

Her eyes were rimmed red and sobs escaped in choking, staccato bursts from. "I can take her back home." Prue replied.

"We'll need a statement from her first." York replied.

"Of course." Prue replied.

"Tell us what happened?" York asked.

Bibighar Gardens, approximately one hour earlier: Hari Kumar smiled when he saw the lone figure on the bicycle heading his way. Daphne leaned her bicycle against the wall. Hari took Daphne into his arms and kissed her fiercely.

"I'm glad you were able to come." Hari began, "I missed you."

"As did I." Daphne replied.

The lovers entwined, kissing once more as Hari fumbled with the buttons of Daphne's blouse. Daphne kissed at his neck, as she began to unbutton his shirt, holding him close to her, feeling the warmth of his body. They were unaware of five pairs of eyes watching from the undergrowth. They were unaware of sounds of feet pounding noiselessly against the dirt.

Suddenly five men were upon them. They were Indians that was as much as Daphne or Hari could tell. They pried the two apart and one of the man punched Hari in the stomach as two others held him. He fell to the ground when the two that held him let go. As soon as Hari was on the ground one of the men kicked him in the stomach.

"Stop it! You'll kill him!" Daphne shouted, as two of the men held her down. One of them leered at her, his face obscured by black ash and red paint.

They forced her to the ground and Daphne let out a scream. She screamed again and again as two men held her down while another took his turn. Two others were still kicking and striking Hari and she was helpless to do anything but watch…

Ankur sat at his post in the radio room. He was receiving radio reports from the small transmission station a few miles east of Mayapore. Suddenly he heard the tapping of the telegraph. The radio had gone dead, but before that had happened he could hear shouts and sudden gunfire as well as inhuman cries. The radio may have been dead but the telegraph wasn't, and he heard the distinctive beats for S.O.S. After twenty years of communication service, the older Indian policeman knew what that meant, the radio station had just been attacked and had fallen.

"Sanjay!" he shouted.

Sitting behind the telephone switchboard, nineteen year old Sanjay worked as an orderly for the Indian Constabulary Service. The boy stood as he saw old Ankur, with his omnipresent off kilter headphones (the better to hear gossip or commands in the building).

"Run and get Lieutenant Godfrey, now! It's an emergency!" Ankur shouted.

Godfrey heard the commotion downstairs as he sat in the night duty officer's shed and he stood up as he saw Sanjay running up the stairs. "What's going on?"

"Sir, Ankur has something important to tell you." Sanjay said, nearly breathless.

Godfrey checked to make sure that his pistol was still in its holster before he grabbed his cap and ran downstairs after Sanjay.

"Ankur, what is it?" Godfrey said, feeling the acid dread welling inside him.

"The Heartless just overran our transmitting station." Ankur said, "We received an SOS from their position."

"Sanjay, wake Captain Merrick." Godfrey ordered. He knew that the attack on Mayapore would be imminent, "Sound the air raid siren."

"Yes sir." Both men replied and went about their tasks.

As Prue sat on the couch, she watched the distraught Daphne sipping at a cup of scalding tea, with the blanket draped over her shoulders. Her sobs and shuddering hadn't stopped and shehadn't stopped askingabout Hari and what had become of him. Just then theyheard the sound of an air raid siren.

"The Heartless." Daphne began, "I must get to the hospital."

Prue was about to caution the young nurse, but stopped herself. Thinking of the emergency and the work to save the wounded innocents would definitely keep her mind off the trauma. Daphne hurriedly threw on her nurse's uniform and hopped onto her bicycle, peddling towards the hospital.

If nothing else, she had to not let Daphne out of her sight. Prue ran outside past a couple constables, who were escorting a group of frightened citizens to the club. In the initial confusion, she was able to slip by and get into the hospital.

The reckoning was soon to be at hand, and Prue prayed silently that Mayapore's defenders would be able to ward off the Heartless…

TBC