"What the hell happened!" asked Piper. It didn't take long for her to unfreeze, but she was left confused as to how the demon had escaped and how her sisters had suddenly appeared beside her. She was used to being the person to freeze other people. She'd never been on the receiving end before. Prue and Phoebe gently led Piper over to one of the sofas and forced her to sit down.
"You were frozen," replied Prue. "Although, we're not exactly sure how that happened."
"The demon must have my power," said Piper. "I was about to freeze him, but he must have beat me to the punch." Phoebe looked over at the Book of Shadows, which was still on the floor. She stood up and walked over to retrieve it, then placed it back on its pedestal.
"Do you know which demon it was?" asked Prue. Piper shook her head.
"I've never seen him before," replied Piper. "But he's definitely a threat. He kinda got to the Book of Shadows. He grabbed me before I could freeze him and read one of the spells from the book."
"What?" Phoebe gasped. "Demons aren't supposed to be able to get to the book. How did he manage to read one of our spells?"
"He must have had really good eyesight," replied Piper. "He got as close as he could before the book could move and read the spell."
"Do you think it worked?" Phoebe asked. "What kind of spell was it?" She walked back to the sofa and sat beside Piper.
"Well obviously it worked," replied Piper. "He has my power, doesn't he? But it was an identity spell that he read, so I don't understand why he got my power and not my identity."
"It must have backfired," replied Prue. "He may have read it wrong or maybe our spells don't work the same when they're chanted by evil."
"Did he take your power away or just clone it?" Phoebe asked. Piper looked around the room for something to freeze. The room lit up with blue and white orbs as Leo orbed in. Piper took advantage of her target and froze Leo in place once he had completely materialized.
"I still got it," Piper grinned. She wiggled her fingers and unfroze Leo.
"The Elders don't seem to know anything about the attack," said Leo. He obviously had no idea that he had just been frozen. "They have no idea who attacked Piper or how she ended up frozen."
"What a surprise," Prue grumbled softly under her breath.
"As much as I would love to start demon-hunting," said Piper. "Everyone is tired and I think it would be best if we got some rest before hitting the books. It's probably not a good idea to go after demons on no sleep."
"Good idea," said Prue. "We'll figure out who this demon is first thing in the morning. For now, let's all go back to bed." She stood up and looked back at Piper. "All of us." Piper nodded and followed everyone back downstairs. She and Leo crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, sleep came easier for Leo than it did for Piper. The second Leo had fallen asleep the room became filled with the sound of his snoring. Piper rolled onto her side and let out and exasperated sigh.
The three sisters stood in the attic, staring down at the book – a common occurrence in the Halliwell household. Prue flipped through the pages, waiting for Piper to pick out one of the demons that could match the description of the one she had faced the previous night. Having had very little sleep, Piper was having a hard time focusing on the book. Her head began dropping forward as she started to fall asleep, but she quickly snapped back to attention. Phoebe looked at her and frowned.
"Honey, did you sleep at all last night?" Phoebe asked. She walked over to Piper's side and wrapped her arms around Piper's waist.
"No," Piper groaned. "I tried, but his snoring is getting worse." She let her head fall back against Phoebe's shoulder. "I need sleep!" she pretended to whine.
"We'll just look through the last couple hundred pages of the book, then you can go back to bed," said Prue. She tapped the open book impatiently. Piper groaned and stared down at the pages of the Book of Shadows as Prue continued to flip through the pages.
"Is that him?" Prue asked. She stopped turning the pages and pointed at an illustration. Piper glanced at the picture and crossed her arms.
"Sure," she replied, completely uninterested. Prue looked at her sister and frowned. Piper quickly avoided eye contact. She knew a Prue-lecture was coming.
"Piper," Prue snapped. "Can you at least try to focus for a second. This is important. A demon was able to come into the attic and read from the Book of Shadows, not to mention clone your power. This demon could pose a serious threat to us. He…" Piper quickly cupped her hand over Prue's mouth to stop her from talking.
"I know. I'm sorry," said Piper. "Let's continue, shall we?" Phoebe grinned and let go of Piper. She took over for Prue, turning the next couple of pages in the book. Piper looked back at the book as images of demon-after-demon flashed passed her. "Wait!" she said suddenly, startling both of her sisters. She went back a few pages in the book and pointed at the picture of the demon that she had faced the previous night.
"That's him?" asked Prue.
"Yep, that's him," replied Piper happily. "Corr, an upper-level demon with the ability to throw fireballs and energy balls. Blah blah, blah. No vanquishing info."
"Blah, blah, blah?" Prue asked. "Do you think you could have a little more enthusiasm?"
"No," replied Piper abruptly. "I'm tired and I'm starting to get a little cranky." Prue looked through the information about Corr and stopped to examine his picture.
"You go to bed," said Phoebe. She walked behind Piper and forced her toward the door of the attic. "We know who we're up against now, so Prue and I will work on a vanquish while you get some rest."
"Thank you," said Piper. She looked back at Prue. "Is that all right with you?" Prue looked up from the book and nodded.
"Sure, no problem," replied Prue. "Have a nice sleep." Piper stared at Prue, making sure she wasn't going to be pissed off with her leaving, then turned and walked downstairs to her bedroom. She flopped onto her bed just as Leo orbed into the room. She looked back at him and groaned.
"I am not in the mood to go fight any demons or warlocks or whatever it is the Elders sent you to have me do," said Piper. Leo smiled and slid onto the bed beside Piper. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"I kept you up again, didn't I?" he asked. Piper nodded. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wish there was something I could do."
"I bought you a pack of nasal strips," Piper suggested. She turned her head to look up at him with a huge, pleading smile on her face.
"Yep, I really wish there was something I could do," said Leo, completely ignoring Piper's last comment. Piper elbowed him in the stomach, just hard enough to prove a point. Leo laughed and squeezed her tighter.
Phoebe walked quietly downstairs and into the parlor. She had left Prue to come up with a vanquish on her own to avoid butting heads. She and Prue didn't work well together without Piper to mediate and Phoebe figured it was best to just stay out of the way. She flopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV. As she flipped absently through channels, Corr shimmered in beside her.
Startled, Phoebe jumped off of the sofa and put her fists up; ready to attack him as soon as he stood up. Corr stood up and grinned deviously at Phoebe.
"That's it?" he asked. "What, you're going to hit me? What kind of witch are you?"
"One that can seriously kick your ass," replied Phoebe. She stepped forward and kicked Corr in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall and causing him to break one of the coffee tables. Corr got back to his feet and wiped himself off, completely unfazed by the attack.
"Didn't even hurt," he chuckled. "This definitely proves my suspicions."
"What are you talking about," asked Phoebe, her fists were still raised and ready to attack again.
Upstairs, Piper leapt off of the bed and gasped for breath. She felt as though something had just knocked the wind out of her. She grasped at her dresser and desperately tried to catch her breath. Leo quickly stood up and walked over to Piper. She instinctively pushed him away and tried to walk out of the room. Leo grabbed Piper by the wrist and pulled her back into the room.
"Don't touch me," Piper gasped. The expression on her face was full of panic. Leo forced her to sit on the bed and tried to heal whatever it was that was wrong with her. Unable to heal her, he stood back and waited for Piper to start breathing normally. Once she was feeling normal again, she looked up at Leo and frowned. "What the hell was that?" she asked. Leo shrugged and sat beside her.
Back downstairs, Phoebe was interrogating the demon, which was looking far more entertained than she felt was necessary. He crossed his arms and smiled maliciously.
"Come on witch," he mocked. "Do it again." He held his arms out and gestured for her to attack him again. Phoebe looked at him with disgust. Noticing the stand of fireplace tools next to her, she grabbed the poker and threw it at him. The poker pierced through Corrs abdomen with little difficulty. The two of them heard Piper cry out upstairs. Phoebe looked back at Corr and watched as he smiled and examined the end of the poker that was sticking out through his back.
Upstairs, Piper stared in shock at her shirt, which was becoming saturated with blood. She grabbed her stomach with one hand and looked up at Leo, who was in just as much shock as she was.
"Oh my god, Piper," Leo gasped. He forced her back onto the bed, pulled Piper's hand away from her stomach, and lifted her shirt enough to see the wound. Trembling, Piper raised her hand and stared at her blood-soaked fingers. Leo held his hands over the wound and watched as they radiated with a bright, white light.
"Dammit!" he snapped angrily when his powers refused to work. He looked back at Piper, who was beginning to lose the colour in her face. He took her hand to keep her from looking at it and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "It's going to be ok," said Leo as calmly as possible.
Corr examined the poker that was piercing through his body. "Nice one," he chuckled, looking back at Phoebe. "I'll bet you were expecting me to burst into flames and disappear, weren't you?" Phoebe looked completely confused. Corr grabbed the handle of the poker and quickly pulled it out. Phoebe flinched as Piper screamed from upstairs.
"What did you do?" Phoebe asked. Corr tossed the poker to the floor and pulled his shirt up to examine his abdomen. It was completely flawless with no sign of ever being pierced. There was no sign of blood anywhere.
"Don't look at me," said Corr. "You did it." He smiled and shimmered out of the room. Phoebe looked around the room to make sure he was gone, then ran upstairs to check on Piper.