Woogey Nights
The first two months of school had passed by quickly and so had Prue's eleventh birthday. Her party had been smaller than Piper's and had gone without demonic interruption. All three girls were finding the school work considerably more difficult than the previous year. Piper was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at her reading homework. Her eyes scanned the passage but nothing absorbed into her brain.
"This is stupid," she groaned.
"What is?" Prue asked, coming in from the sun room.
"This dumb reading," the nine-year-old answered with a huff. Prue walked over and picked it up.
"Oh I hate these. They're so boring and pointless," Prue agreed. Just then Victor appeared, carrying a large box filled with miscellaneous objects.
"What's all that stuff?" Prue asked.
"Oh just some stuff from the attic. I'm trying to clean it out. He set box down on the center island and Prue peered inside. It had a lot of candles and ritual bowls.
"You can't get rid of this stuff," she protested.
"Why not? It's just junk," Victor replied.
"It's not junk. It's magic stuff. We need all this," she explained. Victor raised an eyebrow at his daughter.
"You need all of it?" he asked. By now Piper had joined them and was looking at the contents.
"We need it all," she agreed with her older sibling. Victor finally conceded, letting them take the box back upstairs. They saw that their father started cleaning, trying to organize things. All he'd really done was made the attic a bigger mess than it normally was. Prue looked at the stuff in the box and around the room.
"We should organize," she announced.
"Ok. Where do we start?" Piper asked, starting to pull out the candles and bowls.
"We can put all the ritual stuff on this shelf. Candles right there and the bowls and stuff over there," Prue began, pointing to the top shelf on the far left all. Piper began methodically organizing the objects until she was satisfied with their placement. Meanwhile, Prue was digging through another of Grams' old trunks. She found some more ritual accoutrements. She sent them Piper's way and finally found the scrying crystals and maps just lying around on the table. She carefully folded the maps up, trying to label what each one was so they could find them easily if they ever needed them again. Neither of them noticed that Phoebe had come upstairs.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked.
"We're organizing all the magic stuff in here. Dad was going to throw stuff out," Prue answered.
"Can I help?" she asked.
"Sure. Look in that box over there and see what you find," Prue instructed. Phoebe complied, finding some more scrying crystals as well some knives.
"I'll take the crystals," Prue said and Phoebe handed them over. She turned to Piper.
"I guess I'll put the knives over here too," she said and took them carefully. By the time Victor got back upstairs the girls had managed to organize all of the magical paraphernalia in the room. There were however some toys strewn around the room.
"You girls work fast. I'm impressed," Victor commented.
"And we didn't even use magic," Phoebe said with a smirk.
"Well…only a little," Prue muttered.
"How about you clean up the toys and we go out for dinner," he suggested. The girls nodded and grabbed the various toys, bringing them downstairs and putting them in their rooms where they belonged. Five minutes later they were heading out for pizza.
The pizza parlor was crowded and loud. But that was the atmosphere of the place and it was welcomed. The girls got a chance to see some of their school friends with the relative confidence that there wouldn't be any demon attacks.
"Are you almost done?" he asked an hour later. Prue and Piper nodded. Phoebe was still eating her last piece. He threw some cash on the table and they headed out, Phoebe having to grab a napkin to take the slice with her.
"Thanks for coming. Have a nice night," the cashier closest to the door called after them. Victor waved in thanks and they headed home. Just as they pulled up to the last light before Prescott Street a news bulletin crackled on the radio.
"An earthquake warning is now in effect. Everyone please be advised to stay inside in a sheltered area," the newscaster reported.
"I don't like earthquakes," Phoebe whimpered.
"We'll be ok, Pheebs. Nothing is going to happen," Victor promised, pressing down on the gas as the light changed to green. Moments later they were in the house and Phoebe had calmed down a little bit. Victor turned the TV on to a news channel with the volume set to low so he could keep up to date with the conditions. The sisters pulled out shoots and ladders, setting it up in the living room.
"Do you want to play?" Piper addressed their father.
"No that's ok. You girls play," he said, hoping it would keep their minds off the impending natural disaster.
It managed to distract them for a little while, at least until the first tremor rolled through. The light fixture in the dining room rattled loudly as did some of the pictures on the staircase. Phoebe quivered in fear, diving into Victor's lap for protection.
"It's over, Phoebe. It's ok. See we're all ok," he murmured, stroking her hair gently.
Phoebe calmed down a little when there were no more tremors. She seemed satisfied that everything would be ok. Nothing bad had happened. The roof didn't fall in and nothing had come crashing down. However, none of them knew of the large crack in the basement floor, emitting a foul odor. The girls continued their game until another tremor rolled through. Phoebe dove into Victor's lap again, this time staying there even after the shaking had subsided.
"Do you smell something funny?" Prue asked after a while.
"It smells like gas," Piper added. Victor sniffed the air. Yeah, he smelled it.
"Stay here girls. I'll go see what it is," Victor said, setting Phoebe done on the couch. He stood and headed in the direction of the kitchen. Prue and Piper just shrugged, assuming he'd fix the problem. But Phoebe, still scared that there would be another tremor and Victor would not be there, went running after him.
"Daddy wait!" she cried, rushing into the kitchen. She stopped at the top of the stairs leading down into the basement. She didn't like the basement. It always gave her the creeps. Slowly she made her way down.
"Daddy?" she called out. Victor was standing petrified at the bottom of the stairs. A large shadow was hovering before him. Phoebe's eyes bulged out at the sight.
"Phoebe," the shadow beckoned. She tried to run but the shadow was pulling her closer.
"No!" she cried out. With one swift move the shadow had knocked Victor unconscious and was advancing on the five-year-old.
"Please, no," she begged.
"You will fight me at first but you cannot win," it chuckled, consuming her. Her body shuddered violently as the Woogey took over. Her eyes flashed black for an instant before she ran back upstairs to find her sisters.
"Where's Dad?" Prue asked, seeing Phoebe return but not Victor.
"Um…still fixing the stuff," Phoebe answered. Prue raised an eyebrow ignored her sister's odd behavior. Luckily for Victor, Leo happened to drop in. The whitelighter shook Victor until he woke up.
"What…what happened?" Victor rambled, sitting up slowly.
"I don't know. I think you got knocked out," Leo answered, helping him up. It suddenly registered with Victor.
"There…was some shadow thing…I think it has Phoebe," Victor gasped. The two men headed upstairs to find the girls playing the board game.
"Phoebe, are you ok sweetie?" Victor asked, sitting down next to his youngest daughter.
"I'm fine," she answered, flashing him a smile.
"You sure?" he pressed.
"Yes," she replied, her voice growing agitated. He backed off.
The night continued on, the tremors lessening until they had finally stopped. Leo and Victor were keeping a close eye on Phoebe. They both sensed something wasn't right. Phoebe got up, heading in the direction of the kitchen. She rooted around in the fridge, finding the milk. She poured herself a glass, spilling quite a bit on the floor. The next thing she knew she was holding a cookie in her hand. It had just appeared.
"Where'd you get the cookie?" Piper asked, having seen it appear out of nowhere.
"I…I don't know. I thought about how much I wanted a cookie and I have a cookie," Phoebe answered, going back into the other room.
"Leo, I think Phoebe has a new power," Piper informed the whitelighter.
"A new power? What do you mean?" Leo asked, suspicion in his tone.
"Go on and tell him," she said, nudging Phoebe. She rolled her eyes.
"I wanted a cookie and it just appeared. It's not that big a deal," she sighed.
"That seems a little odd. You're powers are supposed to grow, not just spontaneously emerge. And that type of power…" Leo began.
"It's my power," Phoebe growled.
"And that type of power is usually associated with bad magic," Leo finished.
"You're just jealous," Phoebe snapped, getting up and walking out of the room. Leo looked at Victor and sighed.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Leo murmured, disappearing in orbs. He reappeared with Book. He began to flip through pages, Piper and Prue situating themselves on either side of him.
"What are you looking for?" Prue asked.
"You Dad said he saw a shadow in the basement before Phoebe went down. I'm looking to see if it's in the book," Leo answered. He found nothing.
"Grams used to tell us a story about a shadow in the basement," Prue said, trying to think.
"Phoebe is afraid of the basement. And Grams told us a story about how to get rid of the shadow," Piper added.
"Do you remember the story?" Leo asked, sounding hopeful.
"Something about a shadow…and a light," Piper muttered.
"And going through a shadow " Prue added.
"Phoebe knows it really good. She memorized it," Piper commented.
"Well….unfortunately I think Phoebe is not herself right now. She is evil," Leo explained.
"My daughter is evil….again?" Victor groaned. Just then Phoebe's voice rang out.
"Help! Somebody help!" she cried out. Prue and Piper were on their feet, heading for the basement, Victor behind them. Leo stopped them.
"She wants to trick you," he pressed upon them.
"But we have to help her," Prue retorted.
"Maybe we can make her tell us the story," Piper suggested. The pair walked down the stairs in the basement.
"Phoebe," they called out. Footsteps echoed behind them and they turned to see their sister staring at them.
"You are so easy to trick," she snickered.
"Phoebe…remember that story Grams told us about the shadow…about the Woogey?" Prue asked.
"No!" Phoebe answered, her eyes flashing, as if begging them for help.
"Sure you do. You always remembered it best. Come on, tell us what it is. We want to hear it," Piper begged. Phoebe's body started to shake as she gripped the rail on the side of the stairs.
"I…I am light. I am one too strong to fight," she began to recite.
"No! Phoebe what are you doing?" the shadow roared, becoming visible to all three sisters.
"Return to dark where shadows dwell. You cannot have this Halliwell. So go away and leave my sight," she continued, her voice getting stronger.
"Keep going," Prue urged.
"And take with you this endless night," the five-year-old finished.
"No!" the Woogey wailed, being sucked back into the crack in the floor. The crack sealed itself and Phoebe heaved a huge sigh. Prue and Piper rushed up the stairs and wrapped their arms around her.
"That was so scary," Phoebe whimpered, resting her head on Prue's shoulder.
"But you were really brave. We couldn't have saved you if you didn't' save yourself," she murmured, holding her baby sister close. Victor appeared, wrapping his arms all three of his girls.
"Thank God you're all ok. You get me so scared when things like this happen," he breathed.
"But you always manage to fix it in the end. And that makes me so proud of you," he added as they sat there, happy that everyone was safe and sound once again.