Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of its characters. They all belong to Brad Kern and whoever. I do own Amarie, Melissa, Heather, and Grace. Please don't steal them.

A/N: Just one or two more chapters to go. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

"Why would someone want to kill me?" Disbelief and fear colored Helen's tone. "Five of you went on a trip, only four came back. Of those four, you're the only one left alive."

"You think I killed them?" Her voice nearly rose to a shriek.

"No. We think you may be the next victim."

"Todd and Rick committed suicide."

"Marcy certainly didn't. And we're not too sure about Todd and Rick either."

Helen looked down, and Chris felt her fear intensify.

"Helen," he softened his tone, "what happened on that trip?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened, ok? Erica ran off and never came back."

"Helen, you're in danger."

"Get out! I can take care of myself! Go!"

"Well, that went well," Wyatt commented sarcastically when they returned to college.

"So we're pretty sure that Kacela is killing these people."

"Yes."

"Wyatt, there's one slight problem."

"What's that?"

"She's human. A murderer, yeah, but a human one. We can't vanquish her."

"We can find evidence that links Marcy's death to her. And anyway, right now we need to figure out a way to protect Helen."

"How can we do that if she won't listen to us?"

"We'll keep watch on her. If something goes wrong, we go in and stop it."

They spent the next several days keeping a distant eye on Helen. The boys weren't sure if she sensed their presence or if their questions had unnerved her, but she was very clearly frightened. Chris shifted position, stretching his leg muscles. It was his turn to watch after Helen. Distracted by the antics of a kid on a skateboard, Chris nearly missed a familiar figure headed towards Helen's house. Kacela was here.

Chris moved closer to the house, ducking down behind a bush. He saw Helen standing at the door talking to Kacela. She hesitated for a minute, then stepped back to let Kacela enter. Chris moved around to a window in the back of the house. He could see the girls standing in the living room, talking. Kacela leaned casually against the wall, while Helen sat on the couch. Chris frowned, studying Kacela's posture. He had spent weeks watching her and knew her mannerisms very well. The young woman was standing with a confidence she had never before possessed-except for the time he had introduced her to Wyatt. His eyes moved to Helen, and he swore out loud. She was holding a knife to one of her wrists.

Kacela whipped her head around when Chris orbed inside. "Get out unless you want to die," she hissed. Chris orbed the knife away from Helen and into the wall. Shaken from her trance, Helen gripped her left wrist tightly.

"I'm not going to let you kill her."

"It's none of your business, Halliwell. Oh yes, I know your name. And I won't let you stop me!"

A blinding pain stabbed behind Chris' eyes, and he doubled over. He fought for air but couldn't breathe. Just before he blacked out, the pain ceased. Kacela angrily threw Helen against a wall. Chris orbed to Helen, grabbed her, and orbed out before Kacela could react. An enraged shriek echoed in his ears as he disappeared.

"I don't understand," Helen managed to say. "What are you?" Wyatt and Chris had put up wards to protect them after they brought Helen to their dorm room.

"We're people who are trying to help you. It's a little complicated to explain."

"What did Kacela say to you?"

"At first she wanted to ask about her sister's disappearance. I told her…that Erica got into a fight with Todd and Rick. That she ran off and we didn't see her again."

"What happened then?"

"She…she started talking about stuff. Stuff that only Erica would know."

"They were twins," Wyatt pointed out when she paused.

"I know…but…she knew stuff that Erica would never have the chance to tell her."

"Helen. We need to know what happened on the trip."

Helen stared down at the wrist that she had cut with a knife. She had seemed dumbstruck when Wyatt healed it. Chris couldn't blame her.

"Erica and I were supposed to go to the beach that week. Marcy told me about the camping trip, and kept asking me to go. I don't really like going to the beach, so I told Marcy I would go, but only if Erica could go too. So all five of us went."

"Erica didn't run off, did she?"

"There's an old rope bridge across a gorge. There are signs up warning to avoid it, because it isn't stable. Todd and Rick bet that Erica was too chicken to cross it; they wouldn't shut up about it. Erica told them that she would go if they went first. They wouldn't, so we all went back to camp."

"Then what happened?"

"We were going to find a different camping site the next day. We went up to the gorge." Helen's voice was slow and halting. "Todd grabbed Erica's pack and threw it across the gorge. She tried to go across the bridge to get it…it broke halfway through. We couldn't do anything." Helen began to weep harshly, shoulders shaking.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I don't know! We were all so scared, and the boys argued that we would be blamed for it. We decided to pretend we didn't know where she had gone."

The boys exchanged glances. "Maybe it's not Kacela, not exactly."

"You think it's Erica?"

"Erica possessing her sister's body. Could her power be mind control? She could have used it to make Todd and Rick commit suicide, like she planned to do with Helen."

"Why did she stab Marcy?"

"Marcy was a witch, remember? Maybe Erica's power didn't work so well on her."

"So what do we do?"

"Get rid of the ghost."