Prue burst through the back door of the manor. Gary was in the kitchen, making himself a cup of tea. "Evening, Prue," Gary said with a smile. His smile faded when he saw Prue; she looked as if she'd just been hit by a bus. "What happened?"
"Leo. He's kidnapped Phoebe." Prue slammed her crossbow down on the kitchen table. "I need to find her."
"Where do you propose we should look?" Gary asked, immediately setting down his teapot and turning off the stove.
"The Underground," Prue replied. Gary swallowed painfully: that was the home of the most of the city's vampires. Hunters who went in there didn't come out.
"Prue-" Gary paused to think. How could he convince her this was suicide? "You can't. It's too dangerous."
"You don't have to help me." Prue went into the living room and came back with a fresh quiver of arrows. She slipped them over her shoulder "You can stay here and sit by the phone, wait for your little girlfriend to call."
Gary was about to comeback and say something nasty at her, but instead tried to stay calm. "Prue, this is ridiculous. The Underground is where the Vampire Queen lives. She is the most powerful vampire in the world, and she's surrounded by her children. They will kill you."
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child, I know all that," Prue snapped as she crossed over to the door, her back to Gary. "But I need to save my sister." Her voice dropped. "I couldn't save the last one. I need to do this."
"Please, Prue, don't do this," Gary begged her, his voice harsh. "They will kill you."
Prue paused. "Well, what's so great about living anyway?" She walked out of the house and slammed the door.
Piper carried Paige's limp body into her chamber, calling for her lover. "Leo!" The vampire ran down the hall, into the chamber. "What is it, sweetheart?" he asked her. Piper only stared at Phoebe's body. "What is my sister doing here?"
"A sacrifice is needed for the ritual," Leo reminded her. "Blood must be shed for the Queen to rise. Plus, it distracts Prue while you sire the seer's girlfriend. You know the plan."
Piper sighed and lay Paige down next to Phoebe. Her eyelids flutter. The two vampires crowded around her, watching Paige open her eyes and stare at them.
"Who are you?" she murmured, barely moving her lips. "Where am I?"
"The Underworld, sweetheart," Leo told her, not noticing the furious glance from Piper. "Home of the Vampires."
Paige looked at him, and touched her neck. She turned to Piper. "You. You did this. You sired me."
"Hope you're not upset." Leo grinned at her, grabbing Paige's hands and helping her sit up.
Paige smiled. "I feel more alive now than I ever did before. I can see everything, I can hear everything, I can smell everything…" Her canine teeth lengthened to razor-like points. "And I want to taste everyone."
"Remember your little seer man-child?" Leo asked. Paige nodded. "You can start with him. We'll take you there."
"Just you, Leo," Piper informed him. "The Queen wants to see me." Leo nodded and kissed his mate. Piper shapeshifted into a bat, and left the chamber. Paige watched with wide eyes. "Alright, I definitely want to learn how to do that."
It was midnight. Prue was on the outskirts of San Francisco, following a vampire she'd watch shift into bat form. "Where are you going?" Prue whispered to herself. She watched the bat duck into an open manhole. The vampire hunter nodded to herself and ran to the manhole, climbing down the ladder slowly.
Gary drummed his fingers upon the Armai'ach. It was strange, how one stone could cause so much destruction. He sighed and pushed the stone away, sipping from his teacup and looking through the Book of Shadows. He couldn't stop feeling so helpless.
A VW Bug pulled up in the driveway, and two vampires stepped out of it. "Are you ready?" Leo asked Paige as they went up to the door. She nodded, putting her hand on the knocker. "Just distract him while I get the stone."
"OK," Paige said obediently. She banged the doorknocker just as Leo leaped onto the attic windowsill, and climbed through the open window.
Gary swung open the door. "Prue! Oh, Paige," he said, half-letdown, half-relieved. "It's you."
"Thanks for the warm welcome," Paige said, trying to sound hurt.
"I'm sorry," Gary told her, pulling the door open and letting Paige in. "Prue left here about fifteen minutes ago. Leo kidnapped Phoebe, and now she's trying to find the entrance to the Underworld."
Paige felt ill. Leo! she shouted in her mind. Did you hear what Gary just said?
I heard, he replied grimly. Paige could feel his presence, only a flight of stairs away. I'll make sure Piper knows.
"Paige, are you all right? You look pale- paler," Gary noticed. Paige smiled quickly.
"I'm fine. Just a little nauseous. I thought you might have a- an herbal remedy I could try."
"Oh, of course." Gary let her in. Paige could hear Gary's heart pound away, the blood circulate through his body. She wanted it to drink from him so badly.
"I just brewed some tea, and if you mix it with some cinnamon and honey you'll feel much better," Gary told her as he began to head into the kitchen. Paige followed, and watched him grab a teacup and saucer. He began to pour her a cup. "So, um…I had a lot of fun tonight, Paige. But, uh…" He blushed. "I guess that's, uh, that's not too hard when you're spending time with someone like you."
Paige looked at him, and her desire for him became more than physical need. "Oh, Gary…" Paige could hear footsteps coming from the foyer. Leo was coming. The vampiress stepped closer to him, taking her teacup. "You're so sweet." Gary just shrugged, and dropped a spoonful of sugar in his teacup.
What are you doing? Sweet-talking your prey? Paige could hear Leo say in her mind. That's my kind of approach, yes, but right now we need him dead.
But he's so sweet, Paige told Leo. She remembered how he'd treated her in her life, like something precious. Gary had saved her life.
I'm entering the kitchen now, so kill Harry Potter or I will, Leo informed her. Gary took a sip from his teacup. Paige's eyes were locked on the veins in his throat, covered only by a thin layer of skin.
"Gary," Paige said, not trying to hide her pained expression, "I'm so sorry."
"For what?" He looked up at her, his brown eyes so innocent and naïve.
"This." Fangs burst from Paige's gums, and she immersed them in Gary's neck. He cried out in pain, his soft eyes filling with terror. Paige ignored it, lost in the taste of her first kill. She let his blood roll over her tongue, down her throat, quenching the thirst that she didn't even know she had.
"Good job," Leo murmured to himself, watching Paige drink. He turned his attention to the Armai'ach, which sat upon the kitchen table. The vampire picked it up, and could feel the ancient power pulsing in the marble.
He heard the sound of a body collapsing to the floor. Gary lay on the ground, his eyes wide in shock. Paige pulled herself from his neck. "Sire," she said heavily, sounding both exhilarated and exhausted, "I need a dagger."
"Paige, we don't have the time for you to make yourself a boyfriend," Leo snapped impatiently. "And I'm not even your sire."
"Please?" Paige begged, licking the blood off her lips pathetically. The elder vampire looked down upon her face with pity. He sighed and pulled out his dagger, tossing it to Paige. Leo waited while she cut her arm, and made the seer drink from it.
"No…" Gary muttered, his words barely audible. "No…"
"Just do it," Paige whispered. "We can stay together, live forever." Finally Gary drank her blood. Paige watched him until his chest stopped rising. She licked her arm where she'd cut herself. Her wound sealed. With ease Paige picked up his body.
"Let's just get out of here," Leo told his childe, and they left the manor.
The smell of dried blood and undead flesh stung Prue's nose. The lower she climbed down the ladder, the less sewer-like the manhole was, and more cavern-like it became. She pressed her face against the ladder when a group of bats came at her, heading towards the open light above. When they passed her, Prue continued downwards.
At the end of the ladder, Prue dropped soundlessly onto the floor. The room was empty except for a vampire sleeping as he guarded two large iron doors. It didn't take long for Prue to figure out that that room was the Queen's throne room. Silently she crept over to the doors. She never even noticed another person in the room.
"Prue," Piper greeted her sister as she entered the foyer. "How funny, I don't remember you being invited down here." The vampire hunter's head snapped around to look at Piper. Prue gritted her teeth and grabbed the crossbow that hung on a strap around her neck. She wanted to find Leo first, but killing Piper wouldn't exactly ruin the evening.
Before Prue could fire, Piper leaned her hand against the wall. There was a metallic clang from the ceiling, and a steel cage fell down on Prue, trapping her instantly. The crossbow disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Piper smiled as the crossbow rematerialized in her hands.
The vampire guard awoke suddenly, snapping to attention. Other vampires came pouring out of their chambers into the main hall, staring at and chattering about the human in their midst. Prue grabbed the bars and pulled, but found them too strong. She attempted to use her telekinesis to lift the cage off her, but it was far too heavy. Vampires crowded around her, glaring at her; most recognized Prue, from late night hunts she'd ruined or the loved ones she'd murdered.
The doors opened, and behind two red-cloaked vampiresses came the Vampire Queen. Ebony curls cradled an exotic face of ageless beauty. She had dark eyes, darker than night and more deadly than any vampire Prue had ever met. Her crimson lips met amusedly as Piper handed her Prue's crossbow.
"Ah, Prue," the Vampire Queen said with a smile. "I was hoping you'd join us." She looked at her brethren. "Is anyone hungry?" The room was filled with the sound of licking lips and snarls.
Paige peered at herself in the passenger seat mirror, trying to apply Piper's liquid eyeliner. Leo's eyes were on the road, but he kept glancing over at Paige. He hummed a familiar tune.
"What song is that?" Paige wanted to know, twisting the eyeliner bottle closed.
"Just a hymn," Leo replied under his breath.
Paige laughed. "Hymns? The vicious Leonus likes church hymns?"
"I remember a few, from when I was alive. You'd be surprised how…" He paused, looking nauseous. "How human I used to be." The vampire glanced back at Gary, his limp body on the back seat. "Did he drink enough? The more he drinks, the faster he wakes."
Paige nodded. "Plenty. Plus, he's a witch. Doesn't that help?"
"Witches do tend to rise a lot faster." Just as Leo spoke, Gary blinked his eyes. Paige turned around in her seat, and watched with fascination as her witch slowly awoke.
"Where's Phoebe?" demanded Prue as Piper approached the cage.
"My bedroom," replied Piper. "She's the sacrifice for the Queen's release spell." She grinned, amused by Prue's horrified look. "Oh, and by the way, Leo and Paige are on their way here with the Armai'ach."
Prue stared at Piper. "But Gary has the Armai'ach. And Paige- why would Paige help you?"
"I sired Paige. And then she killed Gary."
Oh my god, Prue thought, feeling like her chest was shattering. Gary and Paige. Prue didn't even like Paige, but they were the last two humans Prue had come close to being friends with.
Piper laughed at Prue's heartbroken look. "Aww, is wittle Prue gonna cry?"
"Shut up," Prue snapped, rattling the bars on her cage. "Shut up!"
"Temper, temper," Piper said with a laugh. Her laughter stopped when she saw the lost-puppy look Prue was giving her. "What are you looking at?"
"God, I used to think I could save you," Prue said softly. "That if I killed Leo, you'd come back to me, and use your powers to fix Phoebe. You'd still be a vampire, sure, but we could be a family." Prue looked solemn. "But I can see now my sister is dead, and you're just inhabiting her shell."
Prue hoped that something she said would maybe trigger a reaction in Piper, something to show she wasn't fully corrupted. But instead, she got a wide smile and a condescending laugh. "Good to see you finally understand then." Piper turned around and walked to her Queen without another look at Prue.
"Paige," whispered Gary, his eyes squinting through the San Francisco lights that shone so brightly. "Paige…"
"I'm here," Paige told him, crawling into the back of the car where Gary lay. She sat beside him, putting his head on her shoulder. "I'm here."
"My vision…came true," he said, a strange smile on his face. Paige gasped as ivory fangs poked through his lips. "You're a vampire. I'm a vampire."
"I just wanted us to stay together," Paige said, stroking his cheek. "Are you upset?"
Gary placed his hand on hers, and kissed her with all the intensity he could muster; something he never would've done as a human. "Not at all," he whispered in her ear. The car stopped abruptly. Both vampires looked up to the driver's seat, where Leo grabbed the backpack with the Armai'ach.
"We're here," he told them. "The Queen's waiting."
"Leo," Piper greeted him as two bats and a blond vampire descended into the cavern. She ran up to him, kissing him. "You got it."
"I got it." Again he kissed her, then took her hand and walked to the Vampire Queen. He removed the Armai'ach from his knapsack. Leo knelt down before her. "Your prize, my Queen."
"Leonus," the Queen said sweetly, taking his chin and lifting it up. She smiled at both Leo and Piper. "When I rise from this tomb, you two shall be at my right hand." The Queen passed the Armai'ach to a servant and clapped her hands. "My children! Leave this cavern. Go and feast upon the city! Not too long from now, I will join you!"
There were cries of joy and exhilaration from the crowd, except for Prue. She turned back to the sewer entry, where she watched the two bats transform into Paige and Gary.
"Gary," Prue gasped. She could see the changes in her friend; he didn't slouch, or avoid eye contact. His arms were wrapped around Paige's waist, his lips met hers passionately. Prue looked away; it was too painful.
Hundreds of vampires formed hundreds of bats, flying through the manhole up into the city. Once they were gone, the room fell silent. The Queen clapped her hands again; a square formed before her, drawn in the dusty floor. Five black candles marked each point. Leo, Piper, Paige, and Gary each took a point, as the Queen put herself in the middle and stood, facing the ceiling. The Armai'ach left Leo's hands in a tuft of black smoke and reappeared in the Queen's hands.
"Lamia caedes maleficus indolentia saxetum," the Queen read from the tablet. "Lamia caedes maleficus indolentia saxetum." The ground began to vibrate. Prue clung more tightly to the bars, watching the ceremony with both fear and astonishment.
Leo left the circle as the Queen began the words again, turning down a hall Prue could not see. When he returned, a babbling Phoebe was in his arms. Her voice was hushed, but her face was filled with fear.
"No!" Prue screamed. "Please, don't hurt her!"
Leo passed Phoebe to the Queen. "With this sacrifice, I am freed!" cried the Queen, ripping into Phoebe's neck like a wild animal. Phoebe screamed; blood gushed freely from her neck.
"NO!" Prue cried. Her voice fell upon uncaring ears. She watched her sister be fed upon, just like she had four years ago when Piper had stolen her mind. The vampire hunter tried to scream again, but her voice was gone. The Queen tossed away Phoebe's dead body as Leo stood on his point on the square.
The square the Queen stood in began to rock and burst up from the ground. She laughed wickedly as she rose in the air, her vampire disciples beaming as they watched her. "Oh, fun," Piper sighed wistfully, her eyes locked on the queen.
The earth began to shake more violently. Gary's vision, thought Prue. The earthquake would destroy the city. Prue felt anger and sadness rip through her as the cavern ceiling parted to admit the Queen though. The quaking stopped, and there was silence.
"It is done," Leo said with a grin. He then looked over to Prue's cage. "Oh, I almost forgot you were here," he remarked sarcastically. The vampire snapped his fingers; the cage became dust, piling itself around Prue. "Who's hungry?"
Prue looked at Gary, who had a particularly famished look on his face. He hasn't fed yet, Prue realized. The vampire hunter ran from the vampires, jumping onto the ladder that led into the caverns.
The vampires transformed into bats, swarming around Prue, nipping at her bare shoulders and neck. She screamed, and with one hand pulled a bottle of holy water from her pocket. Prue squirted it upon the bat closest to her, soaking it entirely.
The bat fell to the ground, and transformed back into Gary. The holy water had soaked him entirely. His scorched skin sizzled, and he shuddered in pain. "Help me," he moaned as his body broke down into dust.
"No!" Paige cried, landing on the ground and transforming back into her vampire form. The vampire picked up a handful of ash and let it stream through her fingers like a sieve. She looked at Prue, who had an equally horrified look on her face. "You killed him," she spat, his brown eyes murderous.
Prue didn't waste time, and continued to climb to the top. Sweat dripped down her forehead, stinging her eyes. The sweat on her palms loosened her grip on the bars. "No," she whispered fearfully as she felt herself start to slip. She was only a few feet from the top. "No!" she cried throatily. Prue fell backwards, onto the ground.
No one caught Prue. Her body slammed into the hard dirt. Piper watched her sister cry out in pain as she broke her collarbone-again. Paige looked down upon Prue's body with bitterness. "I really hope this hurts," she snarled as she kneeled down and bit into the vampire hunter.
Leo turned to Piper. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go see what the Queen is up to." They transformed into bats, and flew out of the caverns, into the dark night sky. Fire raged from city buildings; people ran amuck through the streets; and the vampires feasted openly, not even trying to conceal their identity.
The two vampires landed upon one of the few standing apartment buildings. "Mmm," Piper said, pressing her body against Leo's. "I love a happy ending."
"Me too," Leo replied, kissing her forehead. "Me too."
Prue felt Paige digging her teeth through her neck, drinking her dry, but she ceased to care. Paige was going to kill her, which was all she wanted. She could go to Heaven; be with her mother, Grams, Phoebe and Piper. Her vision faded into darkness. It's over, Prue thought happily. It's over now. I'm coming to see you all.
Through the blackness in her mind, she heard Paige's voice. "Your thoughts, I can hear them. You want death."
Yes, yes, pleaded Prue silently. She took in what she thought would be her last breath- and tasted coppery blood flowing into her mouth. "I don't want you to have the satisfaction," Paige spat. "You can live forever. Become the one thing you hate."
No! Prue screamed her mind as she swallowed the blood that overflowed in her mouth. The sound of her heart grew distant, and her breathing ended. And then there was nothing else.