Grim Sight
The sun rose over the San Francisco skyline as the Halliwells began to stir. It was an early Sunday morning in mid-April and Prue was the first one up. She headed for the bathroom, shutting the door as softly as she could. She turned the water on, waiting for it to get hot before climbing into the shower. By the time she was done she could hear the TV on downstairs. Some ten minutes later she jumped off the last step, heading for the kitchen. Victor was seated at the table drinking coffee.
"Morning, Prue," he greeted with a smile.
"Morning, Dad," she replied. It was becoming easier and easier to call him Dad instead of Victor. That didn't mean that she completely trusted him. She grabbed a bowl of cereal and joined him. They contemplated their breakfasts until Victor finally broke the silence.
"Is something bothering you?" he asked, making the ten-year-old look up from her corn flakes.
"No," she answered. It wasn't something she wanted to talk to him about anyways. It was just gross to think about him knowing about her period.
"You sure? You can tell me, you know," he continued.
"No…I can't…you wouldn't understand," she retorted. He gave her a smirk.
"Try me," he said. Prue squirmed in her seat.
"It's almost….that time of the month," she muttered.
"Oh," Victor breathed, blushing. He'd forgotten he'd have to deal with this issue sometime with the girls.
"Can I get you anything?" he offered tentatively.
"Pads," she whispered. It was so soft he had to lean towards her to hear.
"Ok…um…we can stop by the drug store latter…unless you need them now," he proposed.
"Late is ok," she answered, standing up and rinsing out her bowl. Victor watched her head into the living room to join her sisters. He heaved a sigh of relief. It hadn't been so bad. At least she knew what it was. He hoped when the other two came to that stage, Prue could help them. Just then Phoebe came sprinting into the room.
"Daddy! Can we go to the park today? Please?" she begged, tugging on his sleeve.
"I don't see why not," he answered. She jumped up and down a few times before going to deliver the news to her siblings. Victor just smiled as he washed out his coffee cup.
In the living room Phoebe had wedged herself between her older sisters and was bouncing up and down happily.
"Phoebe, stop bouncing," Prue ordered.
"We're going to the park!" she squealed.
"Yeah…we heard already," Piper chimed in. Phoebe continued to bounce despite her sisters' griping. Finally Prue got fed up and sent Phoebe tumbling to the floor telekinetically.
"Daddy! Prue used her power on me," Phoebe wailed. Victor came running, looking quizzically at his three girls.
"She wouldn't stop bouncing after both Piper and I asked her to," Prue said in defense.
"Girls, we've talked about this. No using your powers on each other," Victor scolded.
"Prue's the only one who can," Piper muttered.
"Come on, we have some errands to run before we go to the park," he added. The girls got up and quietly followed him out the front door and climbed into the car. The drive to the drug store is quiet. Victor pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. He looked at Prue nervously.
"Piper, stay here with your sister," he finally decided, addressing his middle daughter. Prue unbuckled her seat belt and followed her father into the store.
"How come Prue got to go in?" Phoebe pouted.
"I don't know…probably because she's oldest," Piper answered with a shrug. As they sat in the car she started to wish they had gone inside. The car was starting to get warm. In the store Victor was waiting for Prue to join him at the front of the store with her items. She finally returns, clutching the bag to her chest.
"Is that everything/" Victor questioned and Prue nodded.
He took the bag from her and got in line. Ten minutes later they were back in the car and on their way to the park. Victor pulls into a free parking spot and they all disembark. Phoebe runs immediately towards the jungle gym. Piper heads for the swings and Prue follows. Victor finds a bench where he can keep an eye on all three girls without encroaching upon them. On the swings, Piper and Prue began to pump their legs back and forth, trying to gain altitude.
"I wish I could fly," Piper sighed.
"Witches don't fly, Piper. Not real ones anyways," Prue replied with a shake of her head.
"How do you know? Do you know all the witches in the whole world?" Piper challenged.
"Well no…but I mean flying on a broom is just dumb," Prue replied.
"I guess," the eight-year-old responded. The sisters lapsed into silence as they continued to swing. Neither of them noticed the two figures in the trees nearby watching them. The grotesquely pale figures with dark red eyes gazed at the two girls with anticipation. They would serve their purpose well. The Grimlock on the right turned to his companion.
"Should we take both?" he asked, eying the girls.
"We only need one. Take that one," the second answered, pointing at Piper. They shared an evil sneer and stepped back into the foliage. Over on the jungle gym Phoebe was perched on the top of the structure. She was swinging her legs over the edge when she was suddenly hit with a premonition.
She saw Prue racing towards the woods and a creature running from her. She saw Prue's mouth forming words but couldn't hear what they were saying. That was odd because all of her previous premonitions had sound.
As quickly as the vision came, it disappeared. She opened her eyes and had to clutch the metal structure around her to keep from falling. Once she had her bearings she climbed down and caught sight of Prue and Piper still on the swings. She debated whether she should inform her father or her sisters first of the vision. She decided to tell Victor.
"Daddy," Phoebe called out, sprinting towards him. He looked up as Phoebe came hurtling towards him.
"What is it, kiddo?" he asked.
"I had a vision," she whispered, climbing up onto the bench next to him.
"What happened?" he asked, pulling her close to try and minimize the projection of their voices.
"I saw Prue running after some thing into the woods over there. She was saying something but I couldn't hear it," the five-year-old answered, looking worried. Victor stood up; bring his youngest daughter with him. Across the park Piper jumped off the swing, landing gracefully on her feet. Just as she steadied herself a Frisbee went sailing into the woods. She turned to the boy who had thrown it.
"I'll get it," she offered, heading for the woods.
Prue leapt off her swing too, seeing Victor and Phoebe walking towards her.
"Good, you're ok," Victor breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why? Did something happen?" Prue asked, just as a scream rang out. The three Halliwells turned to see one of the Grimlocks dragging Piper deeper into the woods. Prue started running after Piper and the demon.
"Hey! Give my sister back," she shouted, squinting at the demon but it didn't do much. He only tripped for a split-second.
"Oh no…that thing got Piper," Phoebe whimpered.
"Come on, girls. We need to go find her," Victor said urgently, trying to head in the direction Piper had gone.
"No…Dad we can't. We don't know what it is and Leo says we should never go against something until we know what it is," Prue said, placing a hand on her father's arm.
"Prue…some thing just grabbed my daughter. I can't just sit here and do nothing," Victor retorted.
"We should go home and look at the Book," Prue muttered. She took Phoebe by the hand and started to head back to the car. She finally stopped and turned around to see Victor hadn't moved from the spot.
"Are you coming?" she called in annoyance. He nodded numbly and followed his daughters. Ten minutes and a narrowly avoided traffic ticket later they were in the attic pouring over the Book of Shadows. Prue slammed the book shut in frustration. She couldn't find anything about what had taken her sister. Just then the room was filled with orbs and Leo materialized.
"Where's Piper?" he asked.
"Missing…some thing…some demon took her," Victor answered harshly.
"What did the demon look like?" he asked the girls.
"I don't know…kind of ugly…really white," Prue answered.
"I only saw the back of its head," Phoebe added glumly.
"They didn't find anything in the book," Victor offered as calmly as he could.
"It could be Grimlocks," Leo suggested, opening the book and finding the page.
"They kidnap children to steal their eyesight. The eyesight lasts for twenty-four hours and allows the Grimlocks to strangle good people with their unique auras," he read aloud from the page.
"You're telling me that thing is going to turn my child blind?" Victor demanded.
"Well if we can find her before they hurt her, then no. But we need to be prepared. There is a vanquishing potion," Leo answered, his voice sounding less confident at the end.
"I sense a but coming," Victor grumbled.
"But…one of the ingredients must be gathered on a Wednesday of a waning moon. We have to wait until Wednesday to make the potion," he answered, not sounding pleased.
"She could be dead by then," Victor roared.
"They won't kill her. They never kill their victims. Piper is strong and she has the power to freeze. She can protect herself for now at least," Leo tried to reassure them all, including himself.
Down in the sewer system Piper sat up. She was in some kind of cage with a couple kids, mostly boys. The thing that took her didn't seem to be in sight. She scooted over to the boys.
"Are you ok?" she whispered to the boy closed to her.
"Whose there?" he asked. Piper caught sight of his face, his eyes were completely white. She cringed and backed away.
"What happened to you?" she finally managed to ask.
"It…it touched me and now…I can't see anything," he whispered, a tremor in his voice. Piper took a deep breath.
"I…I'll protect you," she promised, squeezing his hand.
Sunday slowly melted into Monday which slowly turned into Tuesday. Wednesday finally rolled around and everyone in the Halliwell household was growing anxious. Victor was going crazy. He had no idea if his daughter was going to be alright. Phoebe was scared and refused to sleep alone since Sunday. He was sitting at the kitchen table trying to focus on the sports page. Prue walked in and sat down.
"We'll find her," she said, knowing it was what her father needed to hear.
"I hope so," he breathed. Just then Leo appeared.
"I want to show you something," he said, addressing Prue. She got up and followed the whitelighter up to the attic. He had a map laid out on the table as well a crystal on a string.
"What is it?" Phoebe asked.
"We're going to scry for Piper,' he explained.
"What's that?" Prue asked.
"Well it is a way of finding someone. Your magic should be able to find hers," he explained.
"What do we do?" Phoebe inquired.
"Take the crystal in your hand and hold it over the map. It will swing around until it lands. Where it lands is where Piper is….I hope," he answered. Prue took the crystal and held it over the map. The crystal began to swing in a wide arc and slowly gained momentum. With a loud 'thunk' it landed on the map. Leo looked at the spot where it landed.
"She's in the sewer system," he breathed.
"Do we go now?" Phoebe begged.
"We have to make the potion first," Leo answered sadly. The afternoon dragged on but they finally were able to gather the necessary ingredients. Leo placed the ritual vessel on the center island in the kitchen and they boiled the Shisandra root. Leo siphoned it into a couple of vials.
"Ok, let's go make sure Piper is still in the same place she was earlier," he instructed the girls. They both sprinted up the stairs. Prue picked up the crystal and watched it spin. It landed on the red dot they'd used to mark her location earlier.
"She's still there. Let's go," Prue bellowed down the stairs. She jumped the last two steps in anxious anticipation.
Back in the sewer one of the Grimlocks was walking towards the cage. Piper felt a chill run up her spine as the door creaked open and he grabbed her by the arm.
"No! Let me go!" she protested, trying to freeze the foul thing. He just laughed at her as he slowly stole her sight. Just as the sight before her was replaced by darkness she managed to get her hand free and freeze the demon. She stumbled backwards in the haze, tripping over a pipe. Suddenly she heard the familiar sound of orbs and the voices of her sisters.
"Piper!" Phoebe shrieked, running to her older sister's side. Prue surveyed the frozen demons.
"Do I just throw the potion?" Prue asked and Leo nodded. She tossed a vial at each, causing them explode. The rest of the scene unfroze and Piper blinked, the sewer coming into full focus again.
"You did it!" she squealed, scrambling to her feet and hugging her sister. She turned to the two boys in the cage.
"I told you I'd protect you," she said proudly, helping them out of the cage.
Leo ushered the five children out into the sunlight. They all blinked a few times to let their eyes readjust to the light.
"Can we go home now?" Piper asked, holding Leo's hand as if ready to orb.
"We need to get these boys home first," he answered. She sighed but nodded. Leo quickly disappeared with the two boys, leaving the girls waiting for him to return.
"Were you scared?" Phoebe wanted to know.
"Yeah…but I knew you would find me…how did you find me?" Piper answered.
"We scried for you. Leo taught us," Prue replied just as Leo returned.
"Come on, let's get you home. You're Dad is going to get worried," he said, taking hold of the three girls. Upon arriving back at the Manor, Piper sprinted into Victor's arms.
"Thank God you're alright," he breathed, holding her as tightly as he could.
Leo just looked on as Piper and her father embraced. He'd tell them later that using something that the missing person cared for helped to find them too. Right now all they needed to know was that their bond as sisters and witches was enough.