Sisters Bound

Part 2 – Another P

By: Silverstar

Thanks to those who reviewed! It means a lot

Feeling the sun on my face, I realized that it was morning. Thank God. I had had the most horrible dream. After rubbing my eyes with my hands I stretched up my arms and then squinted my eyes open. Jolting up in surprise, I starred at the room around me…This was not my room…Oh God…It was true…it hadn't been a nightmare. Placing my hands over my face, I leaned down and shook my head. No…This couldn't be happening…it just couldn't…

"I heard you crying last night." Startled, I quickly looked up to see a young girl standing with her back against the wall next to the door. That had to be the little girl that Jamie had spoken of. She was skinny with wavy shoulder length dark brown hair, pale skin, and large brown eyes.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I brought my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around them.

"Who are you?" the little girl then asked as she took a few steps forward.

"My name's Piper," I replied as she climbed onto the bed and sat in front of me. "Piper Halliwell."

"That's a pretty name," the girl replied, and I was surprised that the comment made me smile.

"Thanks," I told her. "What's your name?"

"Me?" she said with a look of amusement, and I nodded. "I'm Paige. Paige Mathews." I smiled at this and laughed. "What?" she asked, looking almost hurt at the sound of my laughter.

"It's another P," I simply stated, and received a blank stare from my younger friend. "My name starts with a P, and so do my sisters' names: Phoebe and Prue."

"Oh," Paige replied, now smiling along with me as she continued to stare. But my smile didn't last as I thought of my sisters. "Where are your sisters?" Paige then asked me, and I looked down at her question.

"I don't know…" I whispered, but was spared having to explain anything to the girl by the entrance of her mother.

"Paige? Are you in here?" she said softly as she opened the door all the way to find us sitting on my bed. "Oh, Piper, I see you've met my daughter Paige," she stated with a smile, and I nodded. "Come on Paige, you have dance class in an hour," she said to her daughter, and I watched as she quickly ran out the door, waving as she did so. "I'm so sorry Piper, did she wake you?" Jamie asked, and I shook my head. "She's only eight, and wheels are always turning in that head. I never know what she's going to do next." I just smiled as Jamie continued to stand there. "So, I have to drive Paige to class, but if you come down in the next 45 minutes I can get you some breakfast."

"Thank you," I replied as she smiled at me and then shut the door. I felt exhausted…but it was already past 10, and sitting around in bed wasn't a way of showing my appreciation to Mike or Jamie. After taking a deep breath, I got out of bed, grabbed my bag, and headed for the bathroom. A hot shower made me feel a lot better, but even as I let the water wash over me, I could feel the tears threatening to pour from my eyes. I told myself that I had to be strong…Prue would want me to…Grams…Mom…I had to stay strong. After getting out of the shower I wiped my eyes with a towel I had brought from home and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. The small silver pendant still hung around my neck. I looked down at it for a moment before shaking my head. Focusing on the moment was the only thing that was going to get me through this…thinking about the future or the past only made me feel depressed and alone.

Soon I had brushed my hair back into a pony tail, brushed my teeth, and packed up my things back into my bag. After placing my bag back in my room I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. There I found Mike sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper. Jamie was rushing around putting some dishes away, and Paige was sitting at the table eating some cereal.

"Oh, Piper!" Jamie said with a smile as she saw me walk in. "What can I get you for breakfast? We're running a little late this morning, but I can make you anything you like. Eggs? Toast? Waffles?"

"Cereal is fine," I said softly as I sat down across from Paige and next to Mike.

"Sleep okay?" Mike asked, putting the paper down and looking at me with his gentle eyes.

"Oh…yeah, I slept fine," I said quickly back, wondering if he knew that I was lying. "Thank you so much for having me."

"It's our pleasure," Mike said back after a moment. He smiled gently at me again before looking back at his paper as Jamie brought a bowl of cheerios, a glass of milk, and a banana over.

"Thank you," I told her as she put it down. I could sense the whole family staring at me, even Paige, and I felt like there was nothing I could do except keep my head down, be polite, and eat the food that they had so graciously given me. As soon as I picked up my spoon and put some of the cereal into my mouth, Jamie rushed over to put some dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

"Come on Paige, we have to go," she said quickly as she picked up Paige's bowl and ushered her off to put on her shoes and her jacket. "Piper, Mike here has to go into work later, but I should be back before then. You're going to be alright?" I nodded to her as she smiled and then ran out the door with Paige. The front door slammed shut and the house went quiet. I stared back down at my cereal before slowly taking another bite. I couldn't look at him…It took all of my energy just to keep my mind off of the events of yesterday, but whenever I looked at Mike, they all came rushing back. It seemed as if he didn't know what to say to me either. I could see him looking at me over his newspaper, but he remained silent as I sat trying to eat the rest of my breakfast. I just wasn't very hungry.

"May I be excused?" I finally said, looking over at Mike. He looked surprised, but then nodded his head.

"Yeah, sure…Here, let me get your dishes-"

"Oh, no! I can get it," I said quickly, standing up and grabbing my bowl. I then hastily threw out the remainder of my cereal, put my dishes in the dishwasher, and headed for the door.

"Piper?" I turned at the sound of Mike's voice. "Would you like to talk?"

"No thank you," I replied softly, before looking down and leaving the room. I just couldn't take it! Running up the stairs, I shook my head as I replayed everything that had gone on in the past 24 hours. How could I talk to anyone about it? I didn't even believe what had happened myself. Angry and confused, I threw myself onto my bed and buried my head into the pillows. How was life going to be from now on?

When I finally opened my eyes I found that it was one o'clock. I had fallen asleep. Rubbing my eyes with my hands, I got up off of the bed and looked at myself in the dresser mirror. I saw a pathetic scared and lonely 12 year old…not the person that Prue would want to see. She had always been strong for Phoebe and for me. She always made sure that we had the support that a mother would give. Would she want to see me like this? No…she wouldn't. Taking a deep breath, I brushed my hair back out of my eyes and headed for the door. When I got downstairs I found Paige sitting in the family room watching TV…cartoons of some sort. Sighing, I headed into the kitchen to find Jamie making some sandwiches.

"Piper!" she said warmly as I entered. "I was just making sandwiches. What kind do you like? Turkey?"

"That's fine," I replied as I sat down at the table. A few minutes later a sandwich and a bottle of water was in front of me. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied before going back over to the counter. "Paige! Lunch!" she then called, and I jumped in surprise as the girl ran quickly into the room and sat down across from me.

"Hi, Piper," she said, smiling at me as her mother set her lunch down in front of her.

"Hi…" I said back before looking down and taking a bite of my sandwich. Every time I looked at Paige she made me think of Phoebe…Phoebe was…is only two years older than her, and still has some of that innocence. Well…she might not anymore…not after…I shook my head to clear my mind and then continued to eat. I knew Paige was staring at me as she devoured her lunch, but I couldn't look at her.

"Piper?" At the sound of Jamie's voice I looked up, my thoughts broken. "A social worker is going to come by the house this afternoon. I just wanted to let you know, so there aren't any surprises."

"Oh…ok," I said as the realization hit me…my life would change forever.

I guess Jamie could sense my mood, because a minute later I heard her say "Paige, why don't you take Piper into the family room. You guys can pick out a movie."

"Okay," Paige agreed, and I watched as she jumped out of her chair, her lunch finished, and ran into the other room.

"Don't worry honey, it will be fine," Jamie said to me as I got up and headed out of the kitchen.

"I guess…" I replied, not really convinced. When I stepped into the family room Paige had a pile of movies on the table and was sifting through them.

"Which one do you want to watch?" she asked me, popping her head up at the sound of me entering the room.

"I don't care," I replied, sitting down on the couch and watching as Paige put some Disney movie into the VCR and turned it on. I watched as she quickly became absorbed in the movie, but I couldn't get into it. A half hour later the doorbell rang and I walked over, a few feet behind Jamie, as she welcomed the social worker.

"Hello, I'm Susan Baine, and you must be Piper," she said to me as I nodded.

"Why don't we go into the kitchen," Jamie said, motioning towards Paige, who was looking over at us with curiosity. Susan nodded, and I followed both into the kitchen, dread and fear weighing down on me. Once there Jamie busied herself making tea as Susan sat down next to me and started pulling papers out of her briefcase. I waited in silence for a few moments before Susan began to speak.

"Piper," she finally said, looking over at me as she leaned forward on the table. "I am so sorry for your loss." She looked so genuinely sorry, but I couldn't stand the feeling that I was being pitied. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Th…Thank you," I replied, casting my eyes down as she looked at me. It felt awful to know that everyone around you felt pity for you… I sat silently for a minute, these thoughts running though my head, before Susan spoke again.

"Okay Piper, I'm here today to just let you know what's going on. Firstly, the police are still looking for your sisters. They're not going to give up." I looked up when she said this, a small amount of hope in my eyes, but saw that hers had none.

"But…but its unlikely that they'll be found..." I said softly to her.

"No, no, that's not it at all," Susan replied softly. "It's just that there wasn't much evidence to go off of. The police are trying their best to find your sisters with what they have." I nodded at this. "I want to give you my number," she then said, handing me a card. "If you remember anything else about what happened, I want you to call me. Okay?" I then nodded again as I slipped the card into my pocket. "I also wanted to talk to you about your situation." As she said this I saw Jamie set down our tea and sit down next to me. I let her place her hand on mine and squeeze it in comfort, because that was all I had. I smiled slightly as she did so, and waited for Susan to continue speaking. "Piper…the truth is that you don't have any other relatives…With your grandmother gone, you no longer have a guardian. There's also the fact that your grandmother…well, in her will she left everything to you and your sisters." My eyes went wide at this statement…I hadn't even thought about Grams' will.

"Everything?" I asked, still in shock.

"Yes…and with your sisters missing…right now the law says that it all belongs to you. However…you're only twelve…"

"What about the house?" I interrupted. "That house has been in our family for generations-"

"The house is yours as well," she said softly. "But the fact is that you're not old enough to be living by yourself in that house. You still have school and have no source of income. Your grandmother had money, but you won't be able to live off of it for long, and I know that most of it was being saved for you and your sisters' college educations."

"So…what do I do?" I then asked, staring up at Susan with anxiety as the overwhelming news started to sink in.

"For the time being, Mike and Jamie have said that you can stay here. I'll be looking for a foster home where you can stay permanently." A home…I didn't want a new home. I wanted to go home! But…I knew I wouldn't be able to go back there, at least not to live. And…it probably wasn't safe. Not with those…monsters running around. I slowly nodded to Susan as I looked back down and sunk into my thoughts. I could hear Jamie walking Susan out, and when I looked up I saw Paige standing just outside the door frame looking in at me. I had no energy to run out or yell at her to go and leave me alone, so I again lowered my head and sunk back into my thoughts.

Later that night I didn't go downstairs for dinner. I knew it wasn't polite to do so, but once I had stumbled into bed earlier, I didn't have the strength or drive to get back out. The world I knew was gone, and I didn't want to participate in the world that had taken it's place. Instead, I sat staring at the yellow stone on the last thing my grandmother had given to me. I'd cherish it always.

To Be Continued…