thanks goes to those who have reviewed my work - keep going with it, and i promise, more will come of it :)
Just to let you all know - i own no one and nothing apart from the character of Prestyn.
sorry if this chapter lags - hopefully the rest will not!
Luv you all:)
Chapter nine
"This is ridiculous!" Piper screamed throwing her hands up in defeat. "This hasn't helped us, this has hindered us! We've been at this damned area for two days now and we have still turned up with nothing! Not a damned item of her clothing, a toy, a strand of her frieking hair or demon flesh, not even a damned scorch mark!"
"Leo there's got to be a better way at doing this," Paige said, completely ignoring her sister.
"We already tried using the map of the industrial area to try and get further help and that turned up zip; I'm not sure there's anything else that can help."
They were back at Halliwell Manor trying to figure out their next move. They were in the conservatory; Paige and Leo were sitting on the couch and Piper was pacing back and forth mumbling incoherent words.
Piper blew up door after door to see if anyone was inside and had found nothing and heard nothing. They had nothing to go on, no clues to follow… there was nothing and it scared them.
"Damn you Phoebe," Piper mumbled. "We could really use you right now." She hugged a teddy and sat on the couch next to Paige, squinting her eyes to hold back tears.
"That's it!" Paige exclaimed with a smile on her face, jumping up out of her seat; Piper's head snapped up to look at her sister. "Leo, bring Phoebe down, now!"
Leo didn't want to risk being yelled at so he orbed out as soon as he had been told to.
"Paige?" Piper asked; her eyebrows furrowing in. She stood up so she was on Paige's level – even thought Paige towered over the eldest Halliwell sibling by, about, a foot.
"I'll be back down in a minute!" She called, running out of the conservatory. Piper sighed and shook her head. She sat back down again.
"Let me go!" Cries filled the manor.
Piper rolled her eyes. "Here we go."
Little Phoebe looked at Piper in unmistakable disgust. "You again!" She screamed. "What is this crazy place!" She yelled, tearing her arm out of Leo's grasp.
Piper groaned and froze her.
"Sweetie," Leo laughed. "You can't keep doing that to her."
"Yeah I can," Piper scoffed with a serious look.
Paige came running into the conservatory. "I got what I was looking…" Paige got a glimpse of frozen little Phoebe and looked at her sister. "For. What happened?"
"She got a little too much to handle," Piper answered quickly. "What's with the bedspread?" She asked raising a brow and pointing to it.
"Premonition. We are going to use this to get a premonition off of." She motioned towards little Phoebe's direction.
"Hold it." Piper put her hand up to stop her sister. "Powers were never activated when we were younger."
"But magic is still in her." Leo countered.
"And how do we explain to her the images in her head?" Piper asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Um… She's crazy?" Paige tried with a big smile planted on her face.
Piper glared at her sister. "No. You are!"
"Do you want to find Prestyn?"
"Of course I want to find her; she's my damned niece for God's sake!" Piper flared.
"So stop arguing with me about it. There are going to be sacrifices we're going to have to make and risks we are going to have to take in order to find her. Whether that means we blow the future for little Phoebe or not! If we do, we can just dust her from what she sees, or even this entire thing that has happened with her turning into little Phoebe and all. If it helps us find our niece, then I'm sorry, I'm going against you and doing what I have to do in order to find her and get Phoebe back! Now unfreeze her."
Piper stood in thought for a few minutes; how sure could they be that little Phoebe would get a premonition? How would they explain this all to her? She sighed and unfroze her little, little sister.
Little Phoebe looked around and noticed Paige standing in the conservatory – she was not there before!
Little Phoebe jumped and gasped upon the sight of Paige. "Wh… Where did you come from?" She screamed
"Yeesh! Enough with your screaming! We are in earshot; just speak to us like normal would you?" Piper snapped.
Little Phoebe looked stunned; she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the woman.
"And uncross those arms and wipe that look off your face. My God, what's wrong with you? Show a little respect and some manners."
"You sound exactly like my sister."
"Well she is right."
"You don't even know her," she mumbled looking to the floor.
"Wanna make a bet?"
Paige elbowed Piper hard in the ribs. "Why don't I try to talk to her?" She turned to her eldest sister.
"I don't want any of you to talk to me," Little Phoebe answered for Piper. "I wanna go home," she sobbed.
Paige walked over and squatted down to her older sister seemingly trapped in a ten-year-old's body. "We're trying to help you get back, sweetie, but there are things that you need to do to help us first before we can let you go back."
Little Phoebe shook her head 'no' and backed up into the conservatory wall.
Paige sighed a little and inched closer towards her little, big sister. "Honey, how else can you get home if you don't trust us?"
"I've been told about people like you… I'm not supposed to talk to them," she mumbled.
"Grams told us about evil people, we aren't evil," Piper stepped in.
Little Phoebe's eyes went wide. "How do you know who Grams is?"
"We're her… cousins; her distant cousins. And we're the only ones who know how to get you home. So you need to do what we say," Piper said, creeping towards her sister. She tried to lighten up, maybe it would loosen her up – she even smiled; amidst all of what was happening.
Little Phoebe shook her head again. "I don't buy it."
Piper rolled her eyes and grunted. She stood up as Paige did and slapped her hands onto her hips. She turned to Paige. "We don't have time for this, Paige. We need to find Prestyn and we need to find her now!"
Paige nodded both to herself and to Piper. She turned towards little Phoebe and started towards her slowly before squatting down to be on her level again. She smiled at her little, big sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know that your Grams said you're not supposed to trust us, but just for a minute can't you trust us?" Paige persuaded. "We haven't done anything for you to not trust us have we?"
"No, but a lot of crazy stuff is going on! And it doesn't take a genius to figure out that something is very wrong with you and your friends." Phoebe had finally gone down a step from yelling to talking normally, but with alert still in her voice.
"Sister. Piper is my sister, and Leo is my brother-in-law."
"And it is creepy that you have a sister named Piper."
"Two people can't have the same name?" Paige cocked a brow with a small smile.
"I didn't say that. It's just your sister looks a little like my sister and my sister's name is Piper too. It's scary."
"Well if I ask Piper to leave, would you be okay?"
Little Phoebe looked at Piper, and looked back to Paige, nodding her head. Piper rolled her eyes, barked a sarcastic 'you've got to be kidding' laugh and stormed out of the conservatory, muttering explicit words under her breath. Little Phoebe trudged over to the couch and dropped in the seat. "You're nicer than her; is she always this mean?" Phoebe whispered.
"Nah," Paige said with a smile, glad to see that she could make her sister cave yet again. "She's just a little cranky."
"Why?" Phoebe asked.
"Well our five-year-old niece is missing and we can't find her anywhere; she's a little upset – and you not cooperating isn't making her any happier either, missy."
"She's so rigid! She's like my sister."
"Piper?"
Little Phoebe shook her head. "No. I have another sister too – she's also older than me."
"Well like I said sweetie, she's a little cranky and upset."
There was a beat of silence. Little Phoebe noticed the bedspread in Paige's hands and arched in her seat.
"Why are you holding a bedspread?"
Paige looked at her hands. She was so busy persuading little Phoebe to trust her, Piper, and Leo, that she had completely forgotten that it was in her hands and what she wanted with it. She silently laughed at herself.
"This?" Phoebe nodded. "This is going to help us find our niece; and once that is done, we can concentrate on getting you home."
"How is it going to help you find your niece?" She part scoffed.
"Well…" Paige began slowly… "I was kind of hoping you could do something for me actually…" she led on.
Little Phoebe retracted and scrunched her face up. She looked at Paige questioningly.
--------
Piper was pacing around the foyer in impatience. "Who does the little witch think she is?" She squeaked.
Ever since she had practically been forced out of the conservatory by little Phoebe all she had done was pace back and forth and babble. Sometimes incoherently, sometimes coherently, sometimes grunting, sometimes growling, or sometimes just making sounds because she couldn't form words let alone a sentence. Leo found this amusing to watch.
"This is ridiculous! She can't have a premonition, her powers were bound at that age – they all were!"
"Just because they're bound doesn't mean she can't summon them… Premonition is a power that one can summon, just like telekinesis or astral projection – you don't need a spell to get them. If you focus and concentrate it'll happen."
"And we explain that to Phoebe how? How do we explain the images to her in her head? We are breaking, like, a huge, huge, huge rule! We are not first on the elders list… and now this is going to throw us completely off the list!"
"Honey, they'll understand –"
Piper laughed. "No they won't. They don't understand, they'll never understand! They'll never understand that we have to break the rules in order to do our jobs! That in order to save one, someone always has to die; that in the battle for the finish, the big fight, someone will inevitably die and we can't break the stupid rules to do something about it because we get punished! It all comes down to rules! Rules that they know we have to break in order to save the day!"
Leo looked skyward and gave a look that both apologized and knew what was to come; he needed to go. Piper saw red, but decided to hold her breath and count to three before releasing her breath.
Piper closed her eyes tight, trying to contain her anger. "And they keep taking you away every second of the day… what if something happens and we need you?" Piper coolly and calmly asked. "They could have you in some meeting, because you're near elder material, and we could need you and they won't let you go because you're in the meeting…"
Leo grabbed his wife, and pulled her into his chest, kissing her. The two felt like they were the only ones that existed in the world, and for that one instant, Piper felt safe and normal. It was intense and it left her wanting more when they finished the kiss… back to reality! Piper snapped at herself. Leo held Piper in his arms. "Nothing is going to happen. If you call, I will come. If you need to break a rule in order to make progress, then do it. They can't do anything."
Piper buried her head into his chest. "They can take you away again. They can take away our powers like they did with Phoebe – they're in control. The ones in control always win… why do you think Prestyn was taken? Cole was in control, and we were following rules… rules that got us no where."
Leo looked skyward again – he knew the Elders were getting impatient; even worse was that he knew his wife was going to be upset and angry if he went during the middle of a crisis.
Piper sighed. "Go. It's twice they've jingled you now – if they have to do it a third time there'll be hell to pay."
"What about –"
"We will do what we always do – find some way around it to save the day –"
"I meant about us."
Piper sighed. "We will also do what we always do –"
"Talk about it later." He nodded to himself and orbed out.
Piper sighed and strolled back into the conservatory; she watched as her little sister held onto the bedspread with her eyes closed and listened as Paige coaxed little Phoebe into trying to get a premonition. She looked over at little Phoebe and was amazed at how she missed how smart Phoebe was at that age – Piper was too busy either bailing her out of her troubles or busy yelling at her for not doing things or not caring. She felt a little guilty at how she snapped at her before – she was only doing as she was told by not being trusting of Piper or Paige. She realized that most of their pre-teen years were spent at each other's throats, rather then being there for her when she needed it the most – especially the age that this Phoebe was, for it was a year of much turmoil – too many people walked out of the girls' lives that year. I should have been there for her, Piper snapped at herself. That was one of the many reasons why little Phoebe wasn't trusting of Piper or Paige, or really anyone new that walked into her life – she was far too worried that they would walk out on her. Little Phoebe felt eyes on her; she opened her own and saw Piper. She looked at Piper and let go of the bedspread.
"You can keep going, I'm not going to distract you or yell at you," Piper spoke.
Little Phoebe looked at Paige. "It's not working. I'm really sorry, but I can't help you find your niece."
"Yes you can – you have to," Piper jumped in.
"Why do I have to? I don't even know you – why is my help so important to you?"
Piper hesitated, and remembered her conversation with Paige earlier… 'sacrifices'; 'blowing the future'; 'risks'; 'dusting'… she then remembered her conversation with Leo… 'break the rules to save the day'… "Uh… Well, you're the only one who can."
"I don't get it."
"Yeah, you won't get it for a long while yet," Piper admitted while shaking her head.
There was a beat of silence. Piper looked to Paige in a silent, but desperate, plea.
Paige swiped a piece of her auburn hair out of her eyes. "Sweetie, please just try for me one more time. I promise just once more and then no more."
Little Phoebe sighed. "So I need to do what?"
Paige smiled at Piper. Piper was amazed that Paige could persuade Phoebe so easily.
Paige looked at little Phoebe and pushed the bedspread into her direction. "I just want you to tell me what you see in your head when you touch this."
"And one more time, why me?" Little Phoebe asked.
"Because I trust your instincts."
Little Phoebe took a deep breath, closed her eyes and held onto the bedspread. Paige looked at Piper with hope gleaming in her eyes. Little Phoebe opened her eyes and looked at Paige.
"Help," she said.
"You need to concentrate and clear everything out of your mind." Little Phoebe closed her eyes and concentrated. "Steady your breathing and when you get an image, tell me what you see."
Halliwell manor fell silent; Piper and Paige looked at each other with worried glances. Piper was picking at her cuticles – a nervous habit she had developed, while Paige had held her breath.
After what felt like forever, Phoebe finally opened her eyes and looked at Paige with a tiny smile.
"Did you see anything?" Piper asked eagerly and anxiously.
Little Phoebe nodded. "It just popped into my head out of nowhere."
"It's called an instinct. What did you see?" Piper half snapped. Paige glared at her oldest sister.
"A building. A big, tall building."
"Anything in particular you saw about the building?" Paige asked.
Little Phoebe looked to the roof and scrunched her face up, recalling what she saw. "All the windows were boarded up…"
"Okay, what was near the building? Cars? People? Signs?"
"Well, I didn't see an actual building – I saw an empty lot… the building next to it was the one I saw, but the first thing I saw was the empty lot."
"Okay, describe everything."
"Well there was nothing about the empty lot that I can point out, but there was an 'abandoned' sign on the boarded up building… and a dump on the other side of the empty lot… I think."
Piper's heart skipped a beat and relief washed over her face. This was the chance she had been hoping for… she just hoped that it wasn't wrong. She wondered why the Elders sent her the premonitions. Wasn't it breaking, like, a hundred million rules? She would take whatever she could get at this point, and flowed with it.
"We have the son of a bitch cornered!" Paige let out.
"Leo!" Piper called. She waited a minute, before calling for her husband again. "Leo! It'll only be a second or two." There was nothing. Piper sighed and shut her eyes tight and, again, counted to three before opening them again. When she opened them, Leo was standing before her. Piper smiled slightly. "Take Phoebe to school with the boys, we've found Prestyn."
Phoebe listened to what Piper was saying and raised a brow.
"Are you sure?" Leo asked.
"Judging by what we've been told from what she saw, yeah, hopefully."
"If not?"
"Then I don't know what we do from there."
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