Chapter Six

Halliwell Manor

'You fool! How hard can it be to track a demon with a baby and a white lighter on the lamb?'

Chris slammed his fist on the pedestal that usually held the Book. Breaking cleanly in two, the pedestal crumbled. Pacing a newly worn path on the hardwood floor in frustration, he warred with himself.

'No wonder they were sneaking around behind your back. Just look at you.' Chris turned and faced the full length antique mirror.

He didn't think he looked any different. He leaned forward a bit, but still couldn't find any major flaw. He studied his dark, closely cropped hair, the light blue eyes, straight nose and thick eyebrows. Normal. Perfectly normal.

The image in the mirror blurred into something hideous. Shocked into hysteria, Chris fell back on his butt, screaming, 'NO!' The inky blackness was winding its way further into his system. He could literally feel the extra weight of it in his stomach. He clawed and scratched, leaving bloody lines on his abdomen. Then he stopped, listening for any sign of it.

'Please! Do you think you can get rid of me so easily? Instead of wasting time marring your beautiful body, why don't you find that pathetic wife of yours and her lover; your brother!'

The voice in Chris's head laughed deeply as he scrambled to his feet. For a fleeting second he'd thought this all a nightmare and then the thoughts were gone. There was nothing, save for the deep and engulfing chasm of evil inside.

Chapter Seven

P3

The music was beating a steady rhythm as Wyatt orbed into Chris's office. Careful not to draw attention to himself, he quickly went about locking the door. Satisfied that what he needed to find was somewhere buried in the office, Wyatt went about shuffling papers, going through drawers and looking behind pictures.

It was no easy task either. Just being in the place was hard enough. Every nook, every cranny held some far away distant memory of Wyatt's childhood. Painful even now after so many years, he could still see his mother sitting just there at the desk doing the books, and his father orbing in from helping a charge; embracing his mother, patting him on the head and lifting Chris onto his shoulders.

The large heavy furniture in front of the drapes, where his mother used to make the boys sit when they were being disciplined for getting under foot at the club; his mother's never ending attempts at being normal; hanging large ornately framed pictures of old ships at sea and English hunting scenes. He briefly looked at these now, lost momentarily in his thoughts.

He shook off the familiar reverie. He could feel it, some remnant of evil lurking in the office. Thoroughly discouraged and in a fit of momentary anger he shoved the desk in frustration. The carpet folded back and although it was not the least bit obvious to the average eye, Wyatt fell to his knees and began to pull on the planks. On his third try the floor opened up.

Wyatt couldn't believe his eyes. 'A hidden passageway!' He took a step forward. Before his foot even touched the first step someone jerked him back by the collar of his shirt and threw him in a heap on the floor. His head struck the corner of a table and his vision blurred.

Wyatt shook his head to clear it, but it was no use. The throbbing was horrendous. He heard the planks fit themselves back into place, the desk scrape against the floor to cover it and then he blacked out, the pain in his head too intense.

Chapter Eight

Up There

"Enough is enough!" Prue slammed her fist on the pristine white marble surface of the table. It was fashioned in their symbol and had been presented to them upon their arrival. The table and their place in the order of things was pre-ordained and quite prominent.

"We can not sit idly by as another member of our family is killed."

Piper was disconsolate; sitting to the right of Prue she kept her head down in sullen silence. It was obvious to any observer that her spirit was crushed into a million pieces. Phoebe was seated across from Prue, feverishly scribbling on a piece of parchment with quill. She only lifted her head when Prue spoke, nodding in agreement; occasionally glancing over at Piper and then lowering her head back to her paper.

Paige never liked to sit still. She paced back and forth behind Phoebe, interjecting supportive grunts acknowledging Prue's points. Every time she cut a glance at Piper it only fueled her resolve.

"I say we use everything we have at our disposal to assist them, even if it means contacting Leo and going against the elders."

Piper sniffled and looked up to address her sisters. "We can't. Leo was banished. We just can't go against the elders every time things 'down there' aren't going the way we want them to." She sighed.

Any hope she ever harbored that her children would be safe and happy had just left her body. Her beloved husband was eternally banned from returning and claiming his rightful place among the elders and she and her sisters were all dead. Every good they ever accomplished was for not.

"I personally don't care what the elders think. It's not like they had our best interests at heart when they didn't back us up on several occasions. I mean come on, look where we ended up anyway and not from old age either! No, they are entirely too passive. We need to have a plan of attack and we need to strike now."

"You know Paige, I sometimes think you still have a bit of the war Goddess in you." Phoebe shook the quill in an attempt to get it to work correctly.

"You'd think they could get us some modern writing utensils up here. These things are a pain in the butt." Phoebe shook the quill again. Frustrated she threw it across the room and stood.

"Count me in. Besides this whole being dead thing, it's just not good for my complexion."

Prue grinned in spite of herself. Phoebe always was hilarious. She shook her head in amusement and pointedly looked at Phoebe.

"Your attempt at levity has not been lost on me sis. I know this is just as important to you as it is to the rest of us."

"Yeah, well." Phoebe smiled a little sheepishly. "I provide the comic relief. That's my thing. Besides I always get to wear the crazy costumes." They all laughed, including Piper.

"Remember that one time when I had to dress up in black leather to blend in with those dominatrix demons. I got great use of that thing the following Halloween."

Piper giggled a little at the memory; picturing Phoebe trying to blend in with the blond wig and all. She did look pretty ridiculous, but it had somehow worked, it always did.

Prue knew that Phoebe was trying to get Pipers' mind off her children and Leo. It was smart, but then again Phoebe could never be accused of being stupid. Prue walked back over to the wall of water raising her hands. She turned and looked over her shoulder.

"Ok, let's get started."