Charmed Illusion
Prologue
Piper sat thinking in her room next to her dresser. She looked into the mirror silently pleased to be alone. She ran a brush slowly through her long brunette hair as if time didn't matter. When she was finished she put the brush down in front of a picture. She turned her gaze to the picture sadly. She picked the frame up gently in her hands as if it would break. "Prue," she whispered pain evident in her voice. Just mentioning her older sister's name brought tears to her eyes and caused the grief to well up inside of her. Losing Prue was a horrible incident that haunted her every waking moment. She had grown up with her oldest sister and to lose her now was like dieing herself. She shut her eyes as tears found their way down her cheeks. She remembered how her beloved sister had died, and knew, in her heart, she would never forget.
She and Prue had been waiting in the foyer for Phoebe to come down with the spell from the attic. They were protecting an innocent from a demon called Shax, an assassin sent by the Source. Phoebe had run up the stairs moments ago as the sisters prepared to fight the demon. Each thought it would be a piece of cake just as every demon before Shax had been. However, none of them knew how wrong that assumption would prove to be in the end.
Prue and Piper had been waiting in the foyer for at least five minutes unaware that Phoebe wasn't in the attic. Their youngest sister was in the underworld with Cole. She remembered just before Shax attacked, Prue had gotten a chill. Before they could acknowledge the warning, the front door was blown in as Shax whirled into the room in a gust of wind. The doctor stepped backwards fear in his eyes. Prue moved forward quickly to protect him and her sister from the demon that had invaded their home. Shax waved his hand at her sending a ball of electricity whirling from his hand. Piper watched as it struck her sister in the chest sending her flying backwards through a wall. Prue landed in the sunroom motionless. Piper ran forward to block the path of the doctor but had the same result occur as with Prue. She was struck in the chest and sent flying backwards through the wall. She landed hard next to Prue. The doctor watched him terrified as he asked, "What are you?" "The end", Shax answered in a deep and menacing voice before killing the doctor. Shax had stood there a moment his gaze falling on his three victims knowing the Source would be very pleased with him. He whirled out of the room breaking the windows as he vanished into the wind.
The next thing she remembered was waking up to see her husband kneeling over her, his eyes held a sad tint to them. She slowly sat up, watching him carefully as he shifted a bit to give her some room. "I'm sorry", he whispered to her. Her heart had stopped at thoughs two words and her blood seemed to grow cold. "For?" she asked confused. He just shook his head and stood taking a few steps away from her. She could hear Phoebe crying nearby and wondered what was bothering her baby sister. She learned two seconds later what had broken Phoebe's heart when she turned her head to look at the form next to her. Prue lay still a bit of the wall beneath her and a bit of blood seeping from her nose. Her sister looked peaceful in a strange way as Piper turned to Leo quickly. "Heal her!" she shouted as if he had hurt her himself. "I… I can't honey... She's… she's gone", he stammered out as he turned his gaze away from her. She shook her head and moved to Prue's side. "Prue, get up", she told her sister as she reached out and shook her shoulder. When her sister didn't respond she repeated her words. Her voice began to crack with each failed attempt to wake her sister until she broke down. She pulled Prue's limp form to her and held her close as she cried. She squeezed her eyes shut as the grief set in. She buried her face in her sister's raven colored hair taking in the scent of her sister's shampoo as she cried. She wished so much that her sister would wake up and put her arms around her. That her sister would hug her close with the strength that had meant so much to her on so many occasions when she thought she would fall apart. She had never felt so alone in her life…
As the memory ended she sniffled and put the picture back on her dresser. The funeral had been a week ago and in that time so much had happened. Phoebe and Piper had gone from only having each other to finding out they had a half sister. Paige had moved into Prue's old room and Prue's things had been moved to the attic. She stood and moved to her door as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She was the oldest now; she had to be strong, for herself and for her sisters. Like Prue.