Chapter 5 - Escape Plan

Penny Halliwell twisted her hands together to stop them from shaking, and looked up at the policeman in front of her.

"They won't find them. Not until they come home." She stated, and the police man looked at her sympathetically.

"Ms. Halliwell, I'm sure your granddaughters will be home soon, safe and sound." He said, although he didn't know what would happen.

"Patty - my daughter, the girls' mother, she always used to say that one day they'd be back together, that they'd come home." Penny said. "She used to say that they had such a bond, nothing could keep them apart."

"Did you believe it?"

"Yes. The girls... they were so young when he took them, but they were so close. They'd seem to know what the other was thinking, and they always knew when the other was upset... She made me promise that if anything ever happened to her, I'd make sure the girls new about their sisters, and that I'd keep them safe. I did the first one, but... they're out there all alone and I can't know if they're safe or not."

"They have each other." The policeman said, and Penny nodded.

"Yes... they have each other, and they'll look after each other..."

----

The atmosphere at the bus stop was tense. Very tense. It wasn't just the fear there that caused it; it was the fact that the four teenager girls who were sisters, family, who shared the same blood and DNA, were virtual strangers. Even the way the stood echoed the awkwardness - Paige and Piper at one side, Paige holding Piper's arm tiredly, and Prue and Phoebe at the other side, sat on the small bench, their arms linked. None knew what to say, and each was studying the rest intently.

It was only natural that it would take time to adjust, but at that moment neither pair could imagine ever being as close to the other two as they were to each other. It was too late, too many things had happened, they were separated...

Phoebe shook her head slightly, trying to get the words out of her head. A natural pessimist - or maybe it was life that had made her one - she was imagining things much worse than they were. Sure, things were awkward, and sure, not a word had been spoken in the last half-hour, but what to you say to the family you haven't seen in thirteen years, the sisters you don't remember?

"What time will the bus get here?" Phoebe asked, trying to make some conversation, any at all.

"Soon." Piper said, searching for something else to say. But the only thing she could think of, she didn't want to say. She wanted to ask about Victor, what he was like, but didn't want to upset them. It could wait, right?

"What's our grandmother like, then?" Prue asked. "I can barely remember her... I remember she used to teach us songs and nursery rhymes that no one else knew..."

"The woogy." Piper remembered with a smile. "She used to tell us about the woogy man all the time, and how to get rid of it."

"The boogieman?" Phoebe repeated. "The monster that lives in the basement?" She suppressed a shudder - strange that a childhood fear would still affect her now.

"Yep." Paige smiled. "There was a song in that too. Grams must have been very musical."

"What's Victor like?" Piper blurted suddenly, and wished she hadn't, as both Prue and Phoebe's faces hardened.

"I don't think you want to know." Prue said quietly.

"That bad?" Piper murmured.

"Only sometimes." Prue amended. "Sometimes he's fine... but when he's been drinking he gets mad, and... in the last few years he's been drinking a lot."

Piper and Paige looked at each other, neither knowing what to say.

"I can't believe how much we've missed out on." Piper siad after a few seconds, trying to change the subject. "We've grown up, without each other..."

"And mum." Prue murmured, wrongly thinking her sisters wouldn't hear her.

"She never gave up looking, you know." Paige said quietly. "She never gave up hope..."

"I wish she was still alive." Phoebe mumbled. "I wish we could go home to her..."

"I'm sorry... I wish it too." Piper murmured, and Prue glanced nervously around. The street was empty, but the whole idea of being her, in daylight, it scared her. Was he home yet? Did he know they were gone?

"It's here!" Phoebe exclaimed suddenly, and Prue jumped, before realising she was referring to the bus that was pulling up. They were really going to get there, home, the place Prue had all but forgotten.

"Come on." Phoebe tugged at her arm, and Prue followed the others onto the bus, shaking with fear and apprehension.

----

Victor walked into the bungalow, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He walked straight through to the small kitchen and put away the food he'd bought. Just the basics, he was planning on them moving again soon. It had been risky coming so close to San Francisco, back to Patty. But he'd been pretty sure they wouldn't be looking for him here... at least he hoped so.

Sometimes, he wished he'd never started this whole thing. He hadn't even been drunk at the time... just scared, desperate. He'd gone to the house to tell Patty he was going to stop the drinking, that he'd been sober for a whole two weeks now. She had said he was addicted, but he wasn't, he'd given it up for her. He'd asked her if she'd think about taking him back, now that Sam wasn't around anymore. Penny had explained to him a few months before that Sam's bosses had given the two of them an ultimatum - either Sam and Patty stay away from each other forever, never see each other again, or they take the baby away.

It hadn't bothered him that Patty had another kid now. He'd get used to it, she was still just a baby and he'd bring her up as his own. Patty had never really loved Sam anyway, had she? They were meant for each other.

But then when he'd gone to the house and told Patty about the program he was on, and that he wanted them to try again, she'd told him she didn't love him anymore... that she didn't care what he did or didn't do, she wanted him to stay away from her and the girls. And then he'd gotten scared, and the next thing he knew he was driving off with them. It had been a stupid decision, but he was too scared to go back on it then. He'd thought about just dropping them off somewhere, a police station, or a supermarket, somewhere they'd be safe and returned. But he did love them, and it was tearing him apart to be away from Piper, his little girl, the one who'd sat on his knee and sang songs to him. He couldn't face not having Prue and Phoebe with him.

He'd been scared, and worried, and drinking helped him forget it all, how much trouble he'd was in. But he'd always had a temper problem, and under all this stress it was worse... he knew he hit out at the girls sometimes, although he didn't always remember it. But the hate and fear he saw in their eyes when they looked at him, it upset him, which made him drink more...

He'd stop, he had to. They were older now, would want to be moving out soon. And he didn't want to just be left behind, he wanted them to come and visit him...

Yes, he'd stop drinking, and make everything better. And then he'd apologise, properly for everything. And he'd take them back to San Francisco, they could see Patty, and Piper, and the other one, Paige. Patty would understand, she'd always been understanding of him. She wouldn't call the police on him, and they could share the girls. Maybe they could even get back together...

He moved back into the living room, and looked at the half-full bowl of cereal on the floor. That was weird. And... something didn't feel right...

"Girls?" He called, and, now filled with dread, he moved into their bedroom. "Prue? Phoebe? Gir..." He trailed off, noting the emptiness of the room. They weren't here. And neither were their bags. They were gone... they'd gone... He'd lost them, and with them his last chance.

So he did what he always did when things got bad. Filled with misery and dread, he walked back into the kitchen, and took a bottle of beer from the small fridge.