FOUR
The three sisters instantly moved between Marcus and the cloud. Piper brought her hands up and the cloud froze immediately. Phoebe moved over and grabbed Marcus by the arm.
"Get him out of here," Prue said. "We'll take care of this thing."
"Phoebe dragged Marcus past the frozen cloud into the entryway toward the kitchen. She pushed him through the door into the kitchen and then turned to face the creature with her sisters. She wasn't sure what she could do against it with no active powers but she knew they were stronger together.
As Phoebe turned to face the creature, Piper's freeze wore off. It continued it's forward momentum for a moment and then suddenly changed direction. It began to move toward the kitchen directly for Phoebe.
Prue squinted her eyes and used her telekinetic power on the cloud. She pushed the cloud away from Phoebe toward the front door. The cloud moved under Prue's power toward the door and then simply passed through the door as if it wasn't there.
The girls moved immediately to the front door. As Prue flung the door open they all saw the cloud hovering on the front porch. It hovered for a moment and then simply faded from sight.
"What the hell was that?" Piper asked.
"I don't know," Prue said, "but we'd better find out fast. Piper, go check the Book of Shadows and see if you can find it in there. Phoebe, get Marcus and bring him back in here. He might be able to tell us some more about it.
"Right,' Phoebe said.
As Piper headed for the attic, Phoebe headed for the kitchen. Prue stepped out on the porch. She scanned the neighborhood to see if any of the neighbors had witnessed what had happened. No one seemed to be outside just then.
"He's gone," Phoebe said as Prue went back into the house.
"What do you mean he's gone?" questioned Prue.
"He must have gone out the back door," Phoebe said. "That cloud thing had him terrified."
"Let's go see what Piper has found out," Prue said. "If that thing comes back I want o be ready for it."
As they walked into the attic they found Piper flipping back and forth through the book.
"Did you find anything?" Prue asked.
"I'm not sure," Piper said. "The only thing I can find on a cloud-like creature is a listing for a disembodied spirit. But that doesn't sound like what Marcus described."
"What's a disembodied spirit?" Phoebe asked.
"Apparently it's the spirit of a person who dies a violent death," Piper said. Some times the spirit is forced out of its' body and it can't move on until it can reunite with the body. But Marcus didn't say anything about any deaths until after this thing showed up."
"If he told us the truth," Prue said. "We have nothing to go on except for what he told us. Things may not be the way he told us."
"What about that bag Marcus was holding?" Phoebe asked. "Maybe we can learn something from it. Is it in the book?"
"I was just looking for it," said Piper, still flipping through the book. "Ah, here it is."
She read the entire entry and got a perplexed look on her face.
"It says here," Piper said, "that's it's called an Essence Bag. It's used to hold the life essence of another person."
"For what purpose?" Prues asked.
"Apparently it can be used for many purposes," Piper said. "It doesn't say specifically what the essence is used for."
"That doesn't sound like the one Marcus has," Phoebe said. "He called it a protection charm not an essence bag."
"If he was telling the truth," Prue said. "Well, whatever's going on he seems to think we're the only ones who can help him. I'm betting he'll be back as soon as he thinks it's safe to return."
"I'll keep looking through the book," Piper said. "I might be able to learn something else."
"Good idea," Prue said. "Let us know what you find no matter how remote it might be."
"We'd better find something," Phoebe said. "If that thing is after Marcus and he comes back it's a safe bet it will be back, too."
"I know," Prue said. "I know."