Chapter 3
The Power Of Four
Everyone walks down the stairs of the manor and get startled by Cole, who suddenly appears in the middle of the room. His attire is ripped and shredded, and he is bleeding from his lips.
"Cole," says Phoebe, quickly running up to him and hugging him. "How did you…We didn't leave you…"
"Shhh," says Cole as he examines the room with his demon tracking powers. "They're tracking me."
"Tracking you…" asks Phoebe.
A demon suddenly appears and throws a knife at Cole. Cole ducks and the knife strikes the back wall of the stairs. Prue pulls the knife out and knocks the demon aside.
"You're not very good at avoiding them," says Prue to Cole.
"I've got it," says Cole as he blasts the demon.
"I don't think so." Another demon appears and Prue throws the knife at it.
"Not bad."
"Okay, Cole, what happened?" asks Phoebe. "We waited for you to come back…"
"The Source knew that I was asking this for you. To save your sisters."
"But you escaped."
"Yes, but he's sending bounty hunters after me. Every time I use my powers, they can track me," says Cole.
"How about shimmering as far away from here as possible? There are enough demons that attack us here without you bringing yours over."
"Prue," says Phoebe.
"Phoebe, she's right. I'm endangering all of you."
"I agree with Prue," says Sam. "You should leave. Being in league with a demon is the craziest thing I've ever heard."
"And a white lighter and a witch isn't crazy, too?" says Piper. Everyone looks at Piper, surprised that she would make such a comment.
"Look, you guys, if it wasn't for Cole, you'd be dead," Phoebe says.
"No, Sam saved us," Prue says.
"After time rewound because of Cole. You still would have died if he hadn't ask the Source. He took a big risk for me. For all us."
"All right, calm down everyone," says Patricia, getting in-between the sisters. "Phoebe, I understand your concern for Cole, but he is right. He is putting you in danger, and the bounty hunters will not stop coming for him."
"I don't care," says Phoebe.
"Phoebe…" says Prue.
"No, Prue. I almost lost you and Piper. I won't lose Cole."
"Are you going to condone this Patty?" asks Sam, not liking that the girls will be risking themselves more with a demon with a bounty on his head.
"I have no choice. Besides, I'm dead. I can't do much about it," says Patricia. "But I do know my girls and I trust their judgment." Patricia holds Phoebe close.
"Your mother is a good judge of character," says Cole.
"Why thank you," says Patricia.
"Oh, there is one thing." Cole walks over to look in the next room, then he turns to the girls. "The Source's assassin isn't dead."
"What?" Phoebe says. "We saw him get vanquished. We said the spell together like last time."
"It wasn't strong enough."
"How is that possible?" asks Prue, walking over to Cole.
"I saw him with my very eyes." He chuckles lightly. "I'm just glad he's not after me. That wind thing that he does is…"
"How was the power of three not strong enough?" asks Prue.
"Oh, no," says Patricia. "Maybe the power of three has been threatened."
"How can that be?" asks Sam. "The three of you are alive."
"Maybe it is because we're messing with fate or death," says Prue. "And believe me; you do not want to deal with death."
"We've done it before," says Piper. "Why does it affect us now?"
"I don't know, but we are going to figure this out without involving her." Patricia looks at Sam.
"Maybe we should call Le..o" Leo appears before she could finish her sentence. They all turn to him. "Where is Dr. Griffiths?"
"In a safe place," Leo replies. "Did you vanquish Shax?"
"Not exactly, according to Cole," Prue says as she glares at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Means we've got a demon to track and vanquish, and figure out what's wrong with our powers." The Charmed ones head up the stairs to search in the Book of Shadows for some answers.
"I'm leaving. I'm not needed here," says Sam.
"Sam, wait," calls Patricia, but is too late as blue orbs disappear. She sighs and turns to Leo and Cole. "All right, this demon's mission is to kill Dr. Griffiths, and the best way to track him is to bait him. Leo, go get Dr. Griffiths, and you." Patricia turns to Cole.
"Cole," Cole says.
"Yes, get a change of clothes. You smell like ash." Cole smells himself and shrugs. Patricia heads upstairs with the girls.
"Go to the laundry room. There should be some clothes there you can barrow," says Leo as he orbs out.
Meanwhile, morning catches up with them and Sam follows a brunette woman to her work. She enters the South Bay Social Services building. Sam waits outside for a minute, then decides to enter the facility.
Inside South Bay Social Services, the young brunette woman, named Paige Matthews, sits down at her desk, lights a scented candle, and pops in a CD into her computer. She turns around in her chair, her back to the entrance of the office where Sam enters. As she turns her attention to the computer screen, she is facing the entrance and she glances at Sam.
"Social services. May I help you?" says a woman answering her phone next to Paige's desk.
Paige returns her attention back to her computer, where she is finishing up something for her boss.
"Printing!" She notices that a mysterious wind blows out her lit candle. She gets up from her chair and takes a few steps to her right. Paige's back is turned, when a newspaper mysteriously appears, landing on the floor next to Paige. She turns and bends over to pick up the newspaper. She looks around.
"May I help you, sir?" asks a woman to Sam, who seems too be fixated on Paige. He ignores the lady and walks away.
Paige reads the newspaper which reads 'Renowned doctor missing'. Paige begins to scan the article and reads aloud.
"Dr. Griffiths was last seen doing his rounds when he mysteriously did not appear for an important appointment. Sources have said that they saw him exit through the emergency room doors with three women, who were unidentified." Paige wonders why three women would kidnap a doctor. "An anonymous tip leads us to the identification of the three women who spotted Dr. Griffiths entering a home on 1329 Prescott Street, the house of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell." Paige looks up and feels drawn to that surname.
Sam walks around the office, trying not to look too suspicious, but with a watchful eye on Paige. Suddenly, he bumps into someone, but the person rudely says nothing and walks towards Paige. He looks at the person and sees a strange aura around him.
"Damn it," Sam says quietly.
"Paige, you find that study yet?" asks Paige's boss as he emerges from his office and sees her reading a newspaper article. He goes up to her. "Paige, did you hear me?" Paige continues to keep her eye on the name 'Halliwell' and grabs her jacket.
"Yeah. It's in the printer," replies Paige. "I'm sorry, I have to go." She begins to leave.
"What do you mean go? Go where? Paige! Hey, Paige!"
The being with the dark aura follows Paige out, and so does Sam. Paige makes her way to her car and as she arrives to it, she is confronted by the person with the dark aura. He startles Paige because it looks like he appeared out of nowhere.
Back at the Manor, Leo appears with Dr. Griffiths, who is still out of the loop of all this demonic talk. A circle of crystals surround where he stands and when Piper places the last crystal to seal the circle; a large force shield surrounds him.
"Dr. Griffiths, try not to touch the grid," say Prue. "I promise you this will all be over soon. We'll explain everything." The doctor inside the force shield nods his head. "Okay, I looked everywhere in this book. There is nothing but this spell that Phoebe found."
"With the power of three it should have been sufficient enough to vanquish him," says Patricia, taking a look at the Book of Shadows where the spell Phoebe had retrieved before.
"What do we do?" asks Piper. "We can't make a potion. I don't think that guy would stand still long enough to get a piece of him."
"Piper, you can freeze him," Prue suggests.
"It won't work," says Phoebe. "We've tried it. Our powers don't affect him."
"Now what?" asks Piper.
"We stick to our plan," says Patricia. "We say the spell. The four of us."
"All right, Shax, come on down," says Phoebe as she grabs one of the crystals, but before she lifts it up, the door bell rings.
"I'll get it," says Leo as he heads downstairs. Cole goes pass him as he enters the attic, dressed in somewhat normal attire.
"So, when is the big battle?" says Cole. "I want to throw my curb ball at this…"
"Cole, don't," says Phoebe. "You use your powers and the bounty hunters will find you."
"I'll handle them. You are what's important to me." Phoebe smiles and kisses Cole on the lips. Prue coughs. The two look at Prue and separate.
Leo reaches the door downstairs and opens to see a news reporter asking for the sisters. He tries to push the door close on them, but the reporter is persistent.
"We have sources that lead us to believe that the Halliwell sisters know the whereabouts of a prominent doctor gone missing, a Dr. Griffiths," says the reporter, pushing the microphone close to Leo to hear his response.
"The sisters aren't home," says Leo. "Please leave."
Suddenly, a cold chill comes over Leo. The wind begins to pick up, and Leo pushes the reporter to the ground as Shax enters the house, knocking the camera crew down.
Upstairs, the girls and Cole hear the breaking of the door. Piper is the first to rush to the door, but Patricia stops her.
"Stay here," says Patricia. "Cole, protect them." Cole nods his head; he watches Patricia head down the stairs. She finally makes it to the first floor and sees Shax blowing everything in its way to the side. Patricia tries to use her powers to freeze the demon. It slows him down a little. "Leo."
Shax breaks through her power and tosses her like he did Prue and Piper before. Patricia hits the wall of the stairs and is knocked unconscious. Her eyes are closed, but she manages to mumble, 'Sam'.
Back at the parking lot, Paige meets with the stranger that was following her from her work. Sam follows close by and sees Paige talking to the stranger.
"Shane, what are you doing here?" asks Paige. "I thought our date was tonight."
"Change of plans," says Shane. "Come with me, Paige."
"Right now, I kind of have something I've got to do."
"You trust me, don't you?"
"Yes, but…"
"Then come with me."
Sam is about to intervene, when he is stricken by an unbearable pain inside him, making him crumble to the ground and yell in agony. It caught the attention of Paige, who quickly passes by Shane to help the injured man.
"Patricia," yells Sam.
"Oh, my gosh," says Paige. "Sir, are you all right? What's wrong? Shane, call 911." Paige looks back at where she left Shane, but he was gone. She quickly tries to reach for her phone in her purse. "Don't worry, sir, I'm going to get you some help."
"There is…no time." Sam grabs Paige's hand and orbs with her to the Halliwell Manor.