Chapter Nine
Today you were wearing forget-me-not blue,
I held you and said, "I'll never forget you,"
You smiled at me and stroked my hair,
But you were never really there.
The cold wind blows and death seems near,
But I don't feel scared with you right here,
You hold my hand and I find the strength,
To keep us alive at any length.
Piper's POV
"Oh my God…" I couldn't bring myself to say anything else; I just grabbed Prue's hand and ran towards Phoebe's bedroom where we had left the Book last night. I started flicking through the pages frantically, trying to find something – anything – that would help me get my little sister back.
"Piper!" Prue grabbed my hands to stop my desperate search.
"This isn't the time, Prue, I have to get her back!" She nodded, but didn't let go.
"I know, sweetie, look at the page you're on." I glanced down and saw the title "'To Call a Lost Witch'. Do you think it'll work?"
"We might as well try." I nodded in agreement.
"Okay, so we need…"
We sat on my bed after finding everything hidden in the cupboard behind the wine – I couldn't help smiling at how well Grams had hidden everything from us – even spell ingredients!
"Okay Piper, are you sure you're okay with the whole blood thing?" She looked at me worriedly.
"If it gets Phoebe back, I'll do anything." She nodded and we began to chant.
"Powers of the witches rise,
Course unseen across the skies,
Come to us who call you near,
Come to us and settle here."
She reached over the small yellow pot between us and pricked my finger with a small knife from the kitchen. I closed my eyes and squeezed the blood out into the pot as she did the same.
"Blood to blood, I summon thee,
Blood to blood, return to me."
"Stupid witches!" I looked up and saw Phoebe and Truco- it seemed that he had seen our spell working and grabbed hold of her before she could leave.
"You know, most people ask before they hitch a ride," I informed him. Then I froze him. "Phoebe, get over here! You remember how that spell went?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Every word." I grabbed onto hers and Prue's hands and started the chant.
"The Power of Three will set us free,
The Power of Three will set us free,
The Power of Three will set us free…"
He unfroze and started screaming – I think it was the first time he had ever felt real pain. And I was glad. Minutes later there was nothing left – he was gone for good.
"Well, we kicked his ass," Phoebe announced happily. Prue and I looked at her; I knew what my big sister was thinking – where had that bastard taken Phoebe?
"Pheebs…" she began.
"Later, Prue. I'll tell you later." Her eyes held the remnants of panic she must have felt and I felt the guilt taking residence in the pit of my stomach – we had failed her. How could she even stand to be with us? How could we have stood by and let her be taken… "It's not your fault Piper," she said quietly, taking my hand and smiling weakly. "None of this was your fault." I wished I could believe her but I still felt responsible – I was the one who had brought Truco into our home, maybe if I hadn't Grams would still be alive…
Prue's POV
It seemed that Piper had finally broken. I think it was because she had nothing to distract her now – no vengeance to reap. Now there was just us and my sisters needed me. I moved towards them and pulled them towards me and immediately felt like I couldn't breathe: they were holding on so tight.
"It's okay, we can get through this," I said into Piper's hair. "I don't know how, but we will."
"How can you say that, Prue? We've lost everything." I sighed at Piper's words – she was right. How could we be okay after all this? Grams was dead and so was Mom. Dad was gone and we were left completely alone with no idea what was happening…but, wait…Truco had said something about us being 'The Charmed Ones', maybe that would help. Or at least it would help Piper and Phoebe, even if it only does a little.
"Hey, you remember what he said we were?" They just stared at me, confusedly, before realizing what I was doing and playing along. I could tell that they needed to take their minds off things for a while.
"The Charmed Ones? Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that – didn't do me much good." She rolled her eyes and smiled a little, but that was enough. Piper just nodded, indicating that I should keep talking.
"Well, I was thinking. We should look through the Book to see if there's any mention of them and what they are – what they do. Maybe then we could start understanding all this and prepare better the next time a warlock or something attacks."
"You mean this is gonna be normal for us?!" she exclaimed. "I don't want to have to go through all this again!"
"I know sweetie, but I don't think we've got a choice." She sighed resignedly but I knew it was only over for now – she may never want to be who she was, who we all were, but I felt that she would accept it.
"So, Book of Shadows?" Phoebe almost looked excited.
"Yup, Book of Shadows," I replied quietly.
"Here, look! The Charmed Ones…" Phoebe pointed at the page and I could see the excitement and fascination dancing in her eyes – she had really managed to put Truco out of her mind.
"What does it say?" I walked over, holding Piper's limp hand tightly in mine.
"'In 1695 a powerful witch named Melinda Warren was burned at the stake, but just as the flames reached up to kill her she was given a premonition. She vowed that each generation of Warren witches would get stronger and stronger culminating in the arrival of three sisters…' Hey, that sounds like us!"
"Keep reading."
"Okay, 'These sisters will be the most powerful good witches the world has ever known.'" Phoebe's voice trailed off on the last line, in either awe or shock.
"We can't be those sisters: we're not powerful! We just have some freaky stuff happen to us that's all – I don't feel like I'm one of the most powerful witches of all time…I'm just me. This must be some kind of mistake." Piper spoke so quickly, nearly tripping over her words with the need to bury this idea.
"Piper, this is all too much of a coincidence to be a mistake – I'm sorry but I think Phoebe's right," I said. I really didn't want to force Piper into all this but we would be endangering all our lives by ignoring it and I couldn't do that. She shook her head desperately and I just had to hold her.
"Sweetie, I saw you today: you were strong and filled with conviction and you were amazing. You can handle all of this – you have it in you, you just need to tap into it."
"Okay, Prue. Just give me some time because right now I can't handle it." I nodded slightly and looked over at Phoebe who smiled sadly at me. It seemed we had started out on a long road and I didn't know what was at the end of it.