Yikes! It's been that long since I've updated? Sorry, work, finals...you know the drill.Thank goodness finals are over for this semester! Now, I have more time to update and work through my writer's cramp. Anyway, to answer a question: Prue is the cousin's Whitelighter, but was only filling in for her sisters until March could get enough training to become their Whitelighter. Hope that clears up the confusion. Next chapter: The plot thickens...

Chapter 8

Premonitions and Secret Thoughts

Phoebe glanced at the piled letters on her desk and sighed. Her pile was getting gradually smaller, but still towered a foot on the desk. She had found one letter to repond to, but needed to find a few more. She grabbed a few off of the stack and sifted through them one by one.

This continued for half an hour, Phoebe was continuously tapping her fingers on her desk in boredom. After a while, she decided to take a break and stretch her tired muscles.

She took off her glasses and laid them on her desk. She reached for her now cold latte, her fingers just grazing a picture of her family...

A premonition hit full force, causing her to tighten up once more.

Human like demon with glowing eyes hurling fireballs at Piper and April

April ducking

A swirl of orbs forms into March and Prue.

A shot of electricity...

A scream from someone she couldn't see.

Pain...

Fireballs shooting toward Prue from behind...

Phoebe pulled out of the premonition with a gasp. "Oh, god. I've got to get to the Manor!"

She hurriedly scooped up the rest of the letters on her desk and hurried out of the office startling her boss, Elise.

"Elise, I'm working at home for the rest of the day." She bolted without waiting for a response leaving Elise dumbfounded.

She looked for her keys as she ran to the elevator. Minutes later, she sped away in her silver Mini.

"I hope I'm not too late," she though desperately as she took a sharp left turn.

Aprill flipped through the Book of Shadows. She had hoped that the ancient tome would somehow have a calming effect as she flipped through the pages. No luck so far. She was about to give up when she found a very interesting spell...

"'To Hear Ones' Secret Thoughts,'" April said. "Cool. Sometimes I'd just for once want to know what goes on inside of my big sister's head." She took a deep breath and recited the words, not knowing that her cousins had tried the same thing many years before to find a warlock...

"That was easy," she replied moments later. "I don't feel any different though. Did the spell even work?"

Only one way to find out, she thought to herself. Try it out and see.

She walked downstairs to the living room where her sisters were practicing their powers.

"Hey April," March greeted tentatively. "God, I hope she's not mad at me anymore."

"No, I'm not mad at you," April replied instantly.

"What?" March asked.

"You said 'I hope she's not mad at me anymore.' I'm not."

"I didn't say anything. I thought it. Can you read minds or something now?"

It worked! Hooray!

"Wow! She's telepathic!" May exclaimed excitedly. "Why can't I have cool powers like my sisters?"

"Cause you're the youngest," April answered her.

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

"This is not normal," March replied exasperatedly. "Prue!"

April heard her think. "Prue will know what to do with this."

Prue orbed in in a stream of orbs. "What's going on?" Don't see any demons...What's going on?

"I have a question. Are powers supposed to grow at random? I thought that the Book said that they would advance over time."

"You're right. What happened, did someone get a new power?" Prue asked.

"April's a mindreader," May replied.

"That's not connected to your other power." You cast the "Hear Secrets" Spell, didn't you?

"What? Okay, I did cast the spell. I wanted to know what makes my big sister such a pacifist. No big deal!"

"No big deal? April, you just used your magic for personal gain. There are always cosequences for your actions. They're not always good either," Prue ranted. I should know. Piper and me cast the spell.

"Wait, you and Piper cast the spell once before?"

"What spell are you talking about?" March interrupted.

"I cast a spell to hear secret thoughts."

"Oh," March replied. She's completely lost it.

"I heard that!"

"Stay outta my mind Lightning Rod!"

"What's going on down here?" Piper asked from the archway.

"April just broke a big Wiccan rule," Prue replied.

"Cast a spell for her own personal interests," May added.

"April! You should know better than that."

"I do now, but I was so mad at March."

A demon shimmers in at that moment. He is human like in appearance, April notices quickly. But he has the strangest eyes. They are glowing yellow.

"Duck Piper!" April screams as she pulls her cousin down with her to prevent a fireball from colliding with her head.

More fireballs are thrown at the Whitelighters. They orb themselves out of the way.

"No you don't you bloody demon!" April exclaims hearing his thoughts to attack her little sister. She shoots electricity at him, creating a gaping wound in his leg.

He roars in pain, thrashing his muscular arms about.

"Look out!" Too late. May in invisible mode is hit in the stomach with a painful "Omphh!" She had heard her sister's thoughts as she approached the creepy demon.

He shimmers out and reappears behind Prue. He strikes up another fireball-

The front door slams open and Phoebe runs in launching herself at the demon.

"Hiyah!" she exclaims, kicking the demon in mid air.

"Nice timing," March replied as she concentrated.

A conjured athame flew at him, but she lost her focus-

Just grazed him on the shoulder blade!

April nearly laughed out loud as she heard her sister issue an array of expletives that she didn't dare mention.

The demon sneered at them menacingly. "I'll be back witches!" he hissed in a reptilian sneer.

He shimmered out on that note.

"That was interesting," April commented. "I never want to be inside a demon's head again! Such...evil!"

March laughed. "Yeah. Wait a minute. Did you...?"

"Yeah, I never knew you had such an creative vocabulary."

"I never say them out loud."

"I've noticed. You're secret is safe with me. Jeez, I need to reverse this spell. It's giving me a headache!"

"There's your consequence, Sis. It came in handy, but there are always issues with personal gain spells."

"All right. I'm reversing it when we look up our glowing eyed demon. Happy Mein Schwester?"

"Ja, April." When did she learn to speak German?

"I didn't. I've just heard you say it enough," April replied as the six Charmed ones climbed the stairs to the attic.

"That is just so weird," March replied shaking her head.

There you go people! Nice long chapter to make up for lost time. The spell comes from season two of Charmed when Prue and Piper were trying to figure out if Jack and Dan(gagging, hated him) were warlocks. Anyway, let me know what you think. Catch you later for the next chapter.

Astronomygirl85