NINE

Prue and Van White had been talking for only a short time when he suddenly got a phone call. He took out his cell phone and answered it.

"Are you sure? . . . Do you know who it is? . . . So why does it concern me? I can't see how this is of the slightest interest to me. . . . I see. Yes, well that does make a difference. I'll take care of it as soon as I can. Goodbye."

"What was that all about?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh nothing really important. Just some business I'll have to attend to eventually. Considering the current circumstances I'm sure it can wait. I'm feeling a bit fatigued. Would it be possible for me to lie down for a while? I'm afraid all this excitement is beginning to take its toll."

"Sure," said Prue. "You can use my bedroom. It's the first door on the right at the top of the stairs."

"Thank you," said Van White.

"You sure it's a good idea to have him in your room?" Phoebe asked after Van White had gone upstairs. "We really don't know that much about him."

"I don't think he'll be much of a problem up there. Besides, he'll be okay for the time being. We need to decide what we're going to do and we can't do that with him hanging around."

"Where's Van White?" Piper asked coming out of the kitchen.

"He went upstairs to lie down," said Prue. "It will give us a chance to talk and decide what we're going to do."

"Good," said Piper. "Leo told me some things you need to know." She told them what Leo had told her. "He's going to check with the Elders and let us know what he finds out."

"Any idea what these rings do?" Phoebe asked.

"Not yet," said Piper. "But if he was really wanting our help with a demon it doesn't make any sense that he'd hold anything back. Whatever he's hiding I'm betting it's not good. So it would seem that we not only have an unknown demon to contend with but Van White as well."

"We could just ask him what he's really up to?" suggested Phoebe. "He'd be crazy to go against us here in the manor."

"He'd just tell us what he's all ready told us," said Prue. "He'd feign ignorance and pretend he had no idea what we were talking about."

"So why come to us in the first place?" Piper asked. "We had no idea who he was. And like dad said, with his money he can pretty much do whatever he wants. Why bother with us? What's he after?"

"I don't know," said Prue. "But whatever it is we probably won't have long to wait until we find out. It might be just as he said. That he wants us to get rid of this demon for him. Maybe for some reason he can't do it himself. At any rate we know we have one demon to deal with. Whatever he's planning probably won't happen until we deal with the demon. So just be ready once the demon is vanquished."

"Let's just hope Leo finds out something," said Piper. "So that we can at least be prepared when he does make his move."

"I'm sure he'll find something," said Phoebe. "If he recognized those symbols on Van White's rings the Elders will probably know exactly what they are. That should at least tell us what he is and it might tell us what he's after."

"I hope so," said Prue.

Leo wasn't gone very long. Van White had been upstairs barely ten minutes when Leo suddenly orbed into the living room.

"Anything new?" Prue asked.

"Not on the demon," said Leo. "The Elders still don't have enough information to determine what type it is. But I do have some news on those rings that Van White is wearing. Where is he anyway?"

"He's resting," said Prue. "What do you have?"

"Well," said Leo, "just as I thought, the designs on the rings are actually ancient glyphs. They're used to enchant items such as rings and imbue them with special abilities. Whoever wears the rings has full use of whatever abilities they're imbued with."

"Any idea what kinds of powers are in Van White's rings?" Prue asked.

"Not without getting a closer look at the glyphs on them," said Leo. "Those particular types of glyphs were used predominantly by alchemists centuries ago."

"That's the second time alchemists have come up,' said Piper. "Could Van White be an alchemist?"

"It's a possibility," said Leo. "There aren't that many still around. Alchemy was the forerunner of chemistry. It was replaced by chemistry sometime in the 19th century. Most alchemists are of a magical nature but the Elders don't have an exact count of just how many there are."

"Are they demons?" Phoebe asked.

"Technically, alchemists are like witches," said Leo. "They're human just with special abilities. But they aren't inherently evil like demons. Many are evil but there are a number who are also good. But I don't think it's likely that Van White is an alchemist. Like demons, alchemists prefer anonymity. He's not likely to draw attention to himself as Van White has. I think it's more likely that he has contact with an alchemist."

"Well, I for one have heard enough," said Prue. "I don't think it's coincidence that Van White and this supposed demon are both using things created by an alchemist."

"Assuming Van White was telling the truth," said Piper. "We've never even seen this so-called demon. It all might be an elaborate ploy."

"That's very possible," said Prue. "But we aren't going to get any answers down here. I say we go have a chat with Mr. Steffan Van White and make him tell us exactly what's going on here."

"Sounds good to me," said Phoebe.

"And just how do you propose to do that?" Leo asked.

"We're witches," said Prue. "I'm sure between the three of us we can manage to persuade Mr. Van White to come clean."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," said Leo. "We still have no idea what those rings of his do."

"Then I say we go find out," said Prue, heading for the stairs. "Anyone care to join me?"

Everyone followed Prue upstairs to her room. She didn't hesitate but swung the door open wide and stepped inside.

"Okay, Mr. Van White," she said. "I think it's time we had a little chat. And we have some questions we'd like you to answer."

She was met with silence. The room was quite empty. Prue noticed that the bed was not mussed showing that no one had lain on it since Prue had made it that morning. A quick search of the remainder of the house proved futile. Steffan Van White had simply appeared to vanish from the manor.