Chapter 3: New Discoveries
"Alright, so we are we going?" Piper asked as she drove through the city.
"I don't really know," replied Pheobe, "all I know is that we have to find them soon. I was thinking that there had to be a reason that I had the premonitions at the same time."
"And what's that?" asked Paige from the backseat.
"Well, the attacks must happen at the same time," Pheobe said.
"Well great. How are we supposed to prevent that?" Paige sat back in her seat.
Piper pulled over the truck. "We're going to have to split up," she said.
"But Pheobe doesn't know where any of the girls are," Paige commented.
"I know that." Piper turned to Pheobe. "Okay, can you remember anything specific about the surroundings?"
Pheobe thought for a moment. She let out a breath of frustration. "No, I was only paying attention to the attacks."
"Okay. Try closing your eyes and thinking really hard. Maybe there was something you missed," Piper said.
"Yeah, like the entire location," Paige murmured. Piper threw her a look over the seat.
Pheobe closed her eyes and tried to remember her premonition, hoping she could get something out of it. Piper and Paige waited anxiously for Pheobe to remember.
"Ugh, nothing," Pheobe said with clear distress.
"Okay, try again," Piper coaxed.
Pheobe closed her eyes yet again. This time when she did it, her body jerked forward as she slid into another premonition. It was the shortest premonition she'd ever experience. Only a second or two. She looked over at Piper.
"Well?" Paige said.
Piper understood what happened. "What did you see?"
"Two signs. One was the University of San Francisco sign and the other was…" Pheobe cut off mid-sentence.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Quake," Pheobe said. Piper's eyes went wide.
"My Quake? The one I used to work at?"
Pheobe nodded.
"Alright, now we can split up." Paige said.
"Yeah," Piper said, "Pheobe, you go to Quake and Paige and I will go to the University. Take the truck, we'll orb."
"Okay, meet back at the manor," Pheobe said as they got out of the car and she got into the driver's seat.
Piper and Paige watched as Pheobe drove off. Once she was out of sight, they went to a nearby alley and orbed to the campus.
Pheobe parked Piper's dark blue Jeep Grand Cherokee in the closest parking spot by the back door of Quake. Need a quick exit, she thought as she exited and headed for the front of the restaurant. When she entered, she looked around at the familiar place. Ah, the good ol' days, she thought. That's when she saw her. A young girl with dark hair walking toward the break room. Pheobe knew she had to act fast.
"Excuse me," she said as she made her way towards the back. A waitor stopped her.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Yes, what's that girl's name?" she said pointing toward the break room.
"The one who just went in there?" She nodded. "Oh, that Violet Peters. Would you like me to go get her for you?" the waitor asked.
"Um, no thanks. Where's your bathroom?" she asked, trying to create a diversion.
"Right over there," he replied, pointing a little off from the break room. Of course Pheobe already knew where the bathroom was.
"Thanks," she said as she began walking in that direction. When she reached the bathroom, she looked around to make sure no one was watching then she changed direction slightly and headed for the break room. She opened the door just in time to hear Violet scream.
Pheobe took off running to where she heard Violet. When she saw her, there was a large demon standing over her with a dagger. Just like my premonition, Pheobe thought. She ran over and grabbed a block of wood that was lying on the ground. As she went to nail the demon in the back of the head, she stopped dead in her tracks. The girl in front of her, Violet Peters, disappeared right before her eyes in a whirl of smoke only to reappear behind the shelf of glasses. Pheobe could tell the demon was just as surprised as she was.
Coming back to her senses, Pheobe whacked the demon in the head, causing him to stagger and drop the dagger (wow that rhymed). It was obvious the demon knew who Pheobe was. He grunted and shimmered out, leaving Pheobe alone with the girl.
Pheobe looked around the shelf but couldn't see Violet. She was hiding.
"Violet?" she called softly, hoping the girl would come around. "Come on, it's safe now."
Pheobe jumped at the sound of a glass hitting the floor. There was Violet, staring down at her body with a scared look on her face. Pheobe ran over to her.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Violet was shaking. "I…think…so. What happened? Who was that? And what happened to me?"
Pheobe could see the young girl's fear. She put her arms around her shoulders and led her to the back door, to the truck. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get you out of here."
Violet must have been really afraid because she walked along with Pheobe in a dazed state, not protesting in the slightest bit.
"Okay, now what?" Paige asked after she and Piper landed in a secluded area on the campus.
"Um, we split. You go find the girl in the lab and I'll go look in the alleyways," Piper said, looking around.
"Okay, and we'll meet back here when we find them?" Paige asked.
"Yeah," Piper said, walking away.
"Call my cell if you need me," Paige yelled as she began to orb.
Paige orbed into a building that she thought looked scientific.
"Okay…nice Paige, where the hell are you?" She began to look around. There was a girl at a receptionist desk who looked like she could use some business. Paige walked over to her. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the lab?"
"What lab?" the girl returned sounding not too pleased to be interrupted from her nothingness.
"Um, I'm not sure. That's the problem. I was supposed to be meeting someone, but I don't know what lab she's in." Paige quipped.
"Well, what's her name?" the girl asked.
Paige was silent for a moment. She was about to sound real dumb. "I…don't know."
"You don't know. Okay well the only lab that is still open is the one in the building next door. Room 313." The girl was obviously tired of Paige.
"Thanks." Paige said as she began to walk away. "And next time, try to sound like you don't have a pole up your butt." This made the girl give her a dirty look. Paige didn't care. She turned and continued to walk, heading for the building next door.
Paige entered the building and went straight for the elevator, pressing 3 as the doors shut. When they reopened, she stepped out and looked for a sign to tell her where to go next. Luckily, there was a board with classroom listings on it. Paige turned right and headed down the hall. She pushed up against a wall as a group of college kids came rushing past talking about which pizza parlor they wanted to go to.
Once they past, Paige continued on, noticing they had come out of the room she needed to go in to. Suddenly, a demon shimmered in right in front of her, before she could get to the door. He didn't notice her and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. Paige hurried to the door. She heard the girl's scream followed by a loud crash. Oh god, I hope I'm not too late, Paige thought to herself as she went to open the door. To her dismay, it was locked.
"Damn, when did demons get smart enough to know how to lock doors", she said to herself. She had to orb. When she appeared in the room, she saw the disturbing looking demon standing over the girl, who was now on the floor by the window.
"Table!" Paige called, orbing a lab table in the direction of the demon, sending him against the nearest wall. She ran over to the girl who was sitting halfway up with a scared look on her face. "What's your name?" Paige asked.
"Ronnie," she said with a shaky voice. "Ronnie Wilson."
"Hi, I'm Paige. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?"
"Okay, but how?" the girl asked.
"Um, I haven't quite figured that out yet," Paige said, causing the girl's eyes to widen. "Oh, don't worry. I never know what I'm doing, but it always works out in the end…well, usually."
Paige got to her feet, prepared to fight the gnarly beast.
"Move aside, witch. It's her that I want," the demon said, eyeing Veronica.
"Oh come on. You losers have been after me and my sisters for years. Now you have the chance and you're going to pass it up? What are you, chicken?" Paige said. The demon snarled. "Oh, that's attractive."
Paige screamed in surprise as the demon shot forward an energy ball. To her surprise, it never made it her way. It bounced back and hit the demon right in the chest, sending him back into the wall. Paige turned to see that Veronica had gotten to her feet and was extending her hands. She was looking as them as the shook like crazy.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Paige said.
"Wait, what just happened?" Veronica asked.
"I don't know. We'll figure it out. Come on before he wakes up."
That got Veronica's attention. She let Paige grab her arm and push her into a run out the door. She didn't think of looking back.
Piper must have searched at least 5 alleys and still she couldn't find a soul. If this is a college campus, where the hell are all the students, she thought to herself. She stopped in her tracks as she saw a large man walking slowly in to an alley across the street. Maybe, she thought making her way over. That's when she heard the scream. Bingo. Piper took off running in the direction of the alley.
She arrived just in time to see the girl being hauled back into the brick wall. The girl hit the ground with a thud. Piper watched, stunned, as the girl got to her feet. She staggered a little before the demon came forward and grab her by the throat.
"What the hell are you?" the girl spat in the demon's face.
"Something you need to be very afraid of," he replied.
"Ha! I doubt it," the girl said with confidence.
Piper was amazed at how fearless this girl was…or seemed. When she caught sight of Piper standing behind the demon, the girl's eyes went wide.
"Please, help me!" she screamed, coming out of her tough girl image.
The demon looked over his shoulder at Piper, clearly upset for the intrusion. He threw the girl back into the wall. Only this time, it was so hard Piper could have sworn she heard what sounded like thunder when the girl hit the ground.
Piper waited to see if the girl would move. She didn't. Piper sprang into action. She immediately threw out her hands as she began running toward the girl still on the ground, clearly unconscious. Without a second glance, she blew the demon up. She knelt down beside the girl.
"Crap," she said when she noticed an ugly gash on the girl's forehead. "I have to get you out of here, fast." She threw the girl's arm around her neck and began to lead her out of the alley, back to where she split with Paige.