Damon watched from afar, skeptical of the witches claims that they could summon Bonnie from the dead. They had debated which spell to use, talking cryptically as one or the other finished the third's sentences. "What's the hold up," he demanded as he became frustrated by the three girls.

"Just a difference of opinion," Denny responded. "We're deciding whether we want to summon her which is what we typically do or if we want to use a spell that's a little more...grounded," the sixteen year old struggled to find the right word.

"What do you mean," Stefan walked forward; his lips puckered as his eyes searched theirs for a deeper meaning.

"Well," Payton explained, "usually we cast a spell that allows the presence of the spirit to manifest within our realm without taking a physical form. It's quick, it's easy and the spirit can be relinquished from the physical plane quickly."

"And the other spell," Caroline ventured.

"Well, it's a blood to blood spell that allows you to summon the spirit of a relative in a corporeal form but since Bonnie isn't a relative we would have to rework the spell in order for it to work," Phyl jumped in. "It would give Bonnie a stronger foothold on our plane and she would be here until we reversed the spell. Theoretically, she could stay long enough to help us with our plan to set the witches free from Klaus's law but we would need a piece of her hair or body."

"So do that," Elena implored. "Bonnie is a Bennett witch; one of the strongest witches out there. If anyone can use their magic to loosen Klaus's control-"

"A Bennett witch? Can't be that strong if we've never heard of them," Denny muttered under her breath and received the stink eye from Caroline.

"She was a stronger witch than you could ever hope to be," the blonde threw back, extremely emotional and not her usual friendly, compassionate self.

Laughing, Denny moved to the couch and slung her arm over the back, the other hand playing with her hair. "You guys really are clueless to the world of magic, aren't you? I would have thought living in a town full of the supernatural would and being vampires and all, you would actually know a little something about the subject."

Phyl swatted her, reprimanding her to be nice as she let her sister explain it to them. "Your friend may have been a strong witch compared to the ones you've come across, but the fact of the matter is that the strongest line of witches the world has ever known originated here in this town," she paused, "with the birth of our ancestor Melinda Warren."

Damon chuckled while Stefan sat on the edge of the coffee table, intrigued by their story. "You're saying that not only are you stronger than the Bennetts' but you are the strongest witches- ever?"

"Well, some of the strongest," Phyl blushed as Stefan stared at her. "Melinda was blessed with three powers; the ability to move things with her mind, see the future, and freeze time. These powers have been passed down through our line for generations, evolving into other abilities. Anyway, Melinda was accused by a lover of practicing witchcraft and she was convicted of the charges; sentenced to burn at the stake."

"In Salem," Caroline remembered from the research she had done for them two days earlier. She stared off distantly, not ready to let go of the hurt and anger that had risen up when they had told her they could summon Bonnie. While there was nothing in the world Caroline wanted more than to see her friend again, the vampire didn't want to let her hopes get the better of her if they were lying. She couldn't go through losing her childhood friend again.

"That's right," Payton smiled and sat next to Denny. "When they executed her, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would grow stronger until the arrival of three sisters who would be known as the Charmed ones. Together they could tap into the power of three. They're our mothers."

"Wait," Caroline said and stood up, "when I compiled your family tree I distinctly remember that there were four sisters born the generation before you; Piper, Phoebe, Prudence and-"

"-and Paige," Denny stared at her manicure; bored with the conversation.

"That's an awful lot of P names," Damon remarked snidely, sipping his bourbon.

"It's a family tradition," Denny smiled maliciously and Payton and Phyl snickered.

"If there were only supposed to be three Charmed ones then how were there four sisters," Stefan asked.

"There are other kinds of supernatural beings that you've never heard of or come across here," Payton continued. "Aunt Prue was the oldest and raised our Aunts Piper and Phoebe after their mother was killed by a water demon. They didn't know about our mother, Paige. Their mother gave her to a church after she was born and asked the nun to find her a good home. Grandma asked that her name begin with a P."

"Why did they give her up?" Elena couldn't imagine giving up a child when you already had three.

"Well, the thing is, Grandma Patty had an affair after her marriage to our Aunts' father dissolved," Phyl took over. "Remember how we said there are other kinds of supernatural beings? Well, witches tend to work hand in hand with whitelighters. They're like guardian angels for witches; humans who have done a lot of good in their lives and are offered the opportunity to protect witches after they die. Anyway," she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, swallowing as she watched Stefan staring at her, "it used to be forbidden for witches and whitelighters to be together -still is, actually- but Grandma fell in love with her whitelighter Samuel, and the rest is history."

"Having Paige," Payton picked up, "was something that scared our Grandma and Grams. They were afraid that if the Elders knew about her that they would strip the Aunts of their powers and take Paige. That's why they gave her up; why they never told Patty's daughters about their sister."

"So how did they find about her," Elena was intrigued by somebody else's family drama.

Denny sat up straight. "Aunt Prue was killed and the power of three was broken. The spirits must have decided to send her a sign, because she showed up at her funeral. The power of three was reconstituted and Aunt Paige took Prue's place in the circle. Piper, Phoebe and Paige each had three kids and we form our own power of three."

"Tipping the scales of good versus evil dramatically in our favor," Phyl added. "I mean, we keep increasing three fold and our powers with it, though some of us are stronger than others but not by much."

"How are some of you stronger and please," Damon begged with his eyes boring into them, "don't tell me we got stuck with the weaker ones."

Payton narrowed her eyes at him and before anyone knew it he was flying across the room, held to the wall by an invisible force. "Do you want to talk about who's weak now?"

"No," he struggled to voice as he felt a pressure on his neck and suddenly he was released, falling to his knees.

"To answer your question," Payton glared at him, "each generation is stronger than the last; the firstborns are always the strongest. Once aunt Prue passed away aunt Piper was the strongest; her son Wyatt is the most powerful of our generation, followed by his brother Chris and their sister Melinda. The rest of us are on about the same level as Chris and Melinda, with Denny being the most powerful of her siblings and me and Phyl are pretty even; what with being twins and all."

"And are these relatives going to help us neutralize Klaus," Stefan asked them.

"When the time comes. Bonnie explained to us about the laws here," Denny spoke. "We don't want to risk tipping anyone off by having so many witches here; especially a group that gives off a huge concentration of power."

"Do you really think you can stand up to Klaus," Caroline asked. "After all, we've tried it before and it never really worked out in our favor."

"There's just one little difference between you and us," Denny told her. "You're all weaker then him. We're not. We might not be able to kill him but we can certainly stop him."


"This is our only option right now," Payton persuaded Caroline and Elena. "She's been dead for a decade and her father sold their house. Until we can find some physical link to draw her forward we can only summon her spirit."

The three girls walked closer to the middle of the Salvatore attic where the other witches were setting up the candles. The boys stood back and watched as the cousins congregated in a circle, clasping each other's hands before chanting; surprised to hear them casting in English instead of Latin.

"Hear our plea; hear our cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, we summon thee; cross now the great divide," they cast and twirling lights appeared, at first blinding and then illuminating as Bonnie appeared in her ghostly form.

Elena reached for Caroline's hand as tears pooled in both their eyes. There friend had come home, if only for a short time.