A/N: Everyone, I am so sorry that it took me months to update again.. but I do hope you like this next installment. I am so sorry. Please review? Thank you..
"Ugh…What? Where am I?" Paige groggily opened her eyes, pain shooting through her head like lightning. Her vision was blurred, and she saw nothing but darkness. "Hello?" she called out to nothingness, her voice trembling as fear crept into her.
Where am I? she thought. She was about to reach forward and massage her throbbing head when she realized, with dread, that her hands were tied behind her; she was trapped. No!
Sluggishly, Paige tried to pull at the ropes, yanking at them and hoping that it would somehow loosen. Come on, come on, she coaxed the rope that bound her hands. But all her efforts were in vain as her weakened strength could not free her. Finally, Paige decided to use her magic.
"Rope," she called out, visualizing the rope and calling her powers to make it dissolve into tiny orb particles. "Rope!" Again, her efforts were all in vain. The rope remained untouched. Frustration mounted her, as her power couldn't free her. Closing her eyes once more, Paige tried to orb away, calling on her Whitelighter half.
Nothing. Not as much as single cell in her body turned into a blue-white spark.
"What?" Paige was panicking now- she was gravely weakened and her powers did not work. Pain shot through her again, and she winced in agony.
I'm too weak to use my powers, Paige thought uneasily. Maybe a subtler trick would work. Paige closed her eyes and muttered a simple incantation.
"Rope loosen,
Path open!"
Nothing.
Suddenly, "Paige?" a voice called out to her weakly. "Paige.. Is that you?"
Paige could barely hear the voice; it came to her faintly, like a whisper. "Who's there?" She tried to look around, searching for the voice, but her eyesight could not permeate through the darkness that enveloped her. "Hello," she called out in despair, "Is anyone here? Help me!"
"It's me," the voice called back in another faint whisper, "Leo."
"Leo?" Paige strained to listen and checked if what she heard was right. "Leo? Is that really you?" Paige was shocked. Her brother-in-law-slash-Whitelighter was supposed to be in another dimension. "But...But I thought that your soul was being cleansed? What are you doing here? Who brought you here?" Paige's mind buzzed with questions, and her head ached once more.
"I...I.." Leo began, but before he could continue, a stray gust of wind blew in unexpectedly from within the darkness.
And then silence. The wind abruptly withdrew, disappearing as if it had never really existed.
"My, my, my" another voice boomed out from the shadows, metallic, cold, and ruthless. "What a touching scene. The young witch and her Whitelighter. Reunited at last! If I had a heart, I'd cry." The voice cackled out and the laughter echoed maniacally inside the dark room.
The sound was like fingernails scratching and clawing through a blackboard, and it made Paige's skin crawl. She tried to block out the voice, but she couldn't- it entered her body and filled her with dread. She steeled herself, and finally, mustering enough courage, she screamed, breaking the treacherous laughter, "Who are you? What do you want from me? From us?"
Gathering her strength, Paige tried to turn her head, searching through the haze and ignoring the blinding pain shooting from her head.
Paige called out to the darkness and summoned the voice from the shadows. Her voice quivered, yet she forced herself to be steady. I'm a Charmed One, she told herself. "Show yourself!"
The laughter stopped, and suddenly, a torch erupted from somewhere in the center of the shadows. Then another torch erupted, and another, and another, until there were five lit torches formed in a pentagram. Orange flames leapt into the air, licking at the ceilings and lighting the entire room. Its bright luminosity momentarily surprised Paige, and she had to squint through the light, waiting for her eyes to adapt to the brightness.
When her eyes had adapted, Paige cried in horror as she saw Leo, lying almost lifelessly to her left. He was tied to a post, naked, his skin wet and shiny through the glow of the torches. He was covered in dirt and was nearly unconscious- his eyes were diluted and his body slumped motionless, his head dangling sluggishly. "LEO! LEO!"
"I'm afraid your Whitelighter can hear you no longer, child. There is not much life in him anymore," the voice called out. Paige turned and followed the voice, and saw that there was a figure standing inside the pentagram- the cloaked figure. "So much life in him, so much vigor. Delicious." The cloaked figure laughed once more.
How dare you? How dare you hurt and desecrate Leo this way? Paige could feel anger and frustration bubbling inside her. "YOU!" She directed the cloaked figure that had been hunting her for days, "What did you do to him?"
"Do not worry, child," the figure said in a slow tone, "you and him share the same fate. Soon, you shall receive your punishment. But first, introductions must be made." The cloaked figure snapped its fingers, and suddenly, the torches parted, creating a pathway for it to walk through. "I am certain that you are wondering who I am, witch. All those nights, I have hunted you. You have been a most playful prey. You've been very, very elusive. I expected nothing less from a Charmed One."
The figure took deliberate steps towards Paige, its heels trudging through the wooden floor heavily. "Did you enjoy the chase? Did you find thrill in running around in mazes, blinded and unsure? Did you enjoy the trail I blazed, Charmed One?"
The figure neared and stopped inches in front of Paige, whose gaze never left the cloaked figure. "I know I did. I have tasted your fear, reveled in it, fed upon it. It was… enticing, seductive." The figure finally stooped down and knelt before her. Paige was staring into the dark shadows of the cloak, searching for the face beneath it. "And now, the chase has ended and the hunter has captured the prey." The figure's voice fell into a whisper, "Are you ready to face your new master, witch? Are you ready to bow down to your mistress? You should."
Paige felt the breath of the figure- it was cold. Mist blew from within the cloak, which made Paige shiver. Yet, her gaze never wavered, as if daring the cloaked figure to reveal what lies beneath.
A hand thrust forward from within the cloak, rising steadily. And as if time had slipped into slow motion, the hood of the cloak slowly pulled back, revealing a face that made Paige's heart skip a beat.
"YOU!"