FOUR
"Well, nothing else in the house seems to have been disturbed," said Prue as the sisters ate dinner. "I couldn't find anything out of place."
"Neither did I," said Phoebe. "Except for those photo albums on the floor nothing else seems to be amiss."
"Weren't you looking through those the other day?" Piper asked.
"Yeah," said Phoebe. "But I always put them away when I'm done. I don't really have any memories of mom and dad. Looking through the albums helps me feel closer to them."
"I wasn't criticizing," said Piper. "I just find it odd that some kid, demonic or not, was looking through the same albums you were looking through, that's all."
"Maybe it wasn't coincidence," said Prue. "Maybe there's something in those photos that this kid is interested in."
"Like what?" Phoebe asked. "I looked through them real quick when I was in the attic. There really isn't much there. Just some pictures of us when we were kids."
"Then what was he looking at them for?" Piper asked. "What could he possibly learn from them?"
"Just what we looked like as kids," said Prue. "It doesn't make any sense. Other than stirring up old memories those pictures aren't really worth much."
"Yeah, but the memories they stir up," said Phoebe. "Some of them are very pleasant. That's why I look at them. They help me remember some of the good times when I was a kid."
"Like playing in your room for hours on end?" Prue asked.
"You guys wouldn't let me play with you," said Phoebe. "You kept saying I was too young."
"Well, we have to figure out what this kid wants," said Piper. "He must want something. We just have to determine what that is."
Suddenly the sisters heard a faint creaking sound in the distance.
"That's the door to my room," said Phoebe.
"Looks like our visitor might be back," said Prue. "Well, let's just go find out who he is. Pipers, as soon as we get up there freeze him. That way he can't vanish like he did on Phoebe in the attic."
"Then what?" Phoebe asked. "We aren't going to get many answers with him frozen."
"First we keep him from leaving," said Prue. "Then we figure out how to deal with him."
"Right," said Piper.
Together the sisters moved quickly up the stairs. As they reached the top of the stairs they all saw that the door to Phoebe's room was open slightly. Quietly they moved up to the door. Phoebe glanced inside and saw the boy who had been in the attic looking through the things on her dresser.
"He's in there," she whispered to her sisters. "He's right in front of the dresser."
Prue nodded to Piper who nodded back. Phoebe took hold of the door handle as Prue held up three fingers. Gradually Prue closed one finger at a time. When she had closed the last finger she nodded to Phoebe. Phoebe opened the door all the way and moved back to give Piper full view of the room. Piper moved up to the door and brought her hands up.
"Where is he?" Piper asked.
"Right there in front of the dresser," said Phoebe stepping up behind her.
Phoebe looked in the room and saw the boy looking at them with a look of surprise on his face. Piper was looking around the room. Prue stepped up next to Piper.
"I don't see him," said Prue. "Are you sure he was here?'
"He's right there," said Phoebe, pointing at the boy. "He's right in front of the dresser."
"Phoebe, there's no one here," said Piper, still looking around.
Before any of them could move the young boy vanished from Phoebe's room as he had from the attic. Phoebe just stared at her sisters in total disbelief. Neither of them had seen the young boy.
"I don't understand it," said Phoebe in the living room. "He was standing right there in front of the dresser. He was going through my things very slowly one at a time."
"Phoebe, we didn't see anyone," said Piper. "The room was empty."
"He was there, I tell you," said Phoebe, nearly on the verge of tears. "He was just a plain as you guys are now."
"Take it easy," said Leo. "There must be some explanation."
"Yeah," said Prue. "Little sister is imagining things."
"I am not," said Phoebe defensively.
"Calm down," said Leo. "You've certainly learned by now that magic can do a lot of things. We just have to figure out why Phoebe saw this boy and neither of you did."
"Could this be connected to her power?" Piper asked. "She does have premonitions of the future. And she's even had visions of the past. Could this be connected to those?"
"It wasn't a premonition or a vision," said Phoebe. "Those are different. It's like watching a movie. They have a certain feel to them. I didn't have that feeling this time. That boy was in my room just like he was in the attic."
"There is a possible explanation," said Leo nervously. "I'm a little hesitant to mention it. It's not a pleasant thought."
"What?" Phoebe asked. "This is driving me crazy. I have to know why I can see this kid and Prue and Piper can't."
"Well," said Leo, looking nervously at Prue and Piper, "it is possible that what Prue suggested is true. You might have imagined this boy."
"What?" Phoebe shrieked. "No, I didn't imagine him. He was real."
"He might have seemed real," said Leo. "But you haven't had your powers that long. It is possible that you weren't quite ready to get them. That maybe there's an imbalance inside you. And since you have visions the others don't it's possible this is how this imbalance is manifesting itself."
"You mean I'm crazy," said Phoebe. "My powers have made me mentally unbalanced. And that I'm loosing my mind."