Charmed
Season 4, Episode 12
I Am Light
By P3Nathan
Prue and Piper ran down the basement steps as Leo orbed in with an unconscious Phoebe before them.
"Thanks honey" Piper said as her husband lay the youngest Halliwell on the floor of the basement.
"You should get out of here. No offense, but this needs to be just the three of us, we don't know what's going to happen" Prue pointed out.
Leo nodded. "I'll see if the Elders have any more news about Cole… I mean, The Source. Call me if you need me." He kissed Piper and orbed out.
Prue turned to Piper. "You ready to do this?"
Piper laughed nervously. "On so many levels, no. But I want our family back, so yes."
Prue and Piper moved towards their unconscious sister. "This is the right point?" Prue checked.
Piper nodded. "I'm pretty sure."
They stood looking down at Phoebe and joined hands above her.
"We are light. For our sister's soul we fight. In evil's grasp she does now dwell, they cannot have this Halliwell."
Phoebe started to come to as the floor boards beneath her started to glisten and rattle with rays of light. She looked up at her sisters. She got on her knees "What are you doing?"
Before Phoebe could do anything else, Prue and Piper each grabbed one of her hands and held on as tight as possible.
"Get off!" Phoebe screamed.
Prue and Piper continued. "So bring her back, make her whole, so we can save our sister's soul!"
The light became so intense that it was blinding and filled the whole room.
Prue rubbed her eyes. Her vision was blurry from the blast, but she was stood in darkness now. As she started to regain clarity, she saw Piper was next to her. They were in a bedroom, but it was hard to guess who's due to the lack of light. However, thunder rumbled outside.
"Where's Phoebe?" Prue whispered.
"I don't know" Piper responded.
Suddenly the door swung open and Penny Halliwell frantically rushed into the room carrying a bunch of candles. She placed them all around the room and then ignited each one with a lighter.
"Grams? Grams!" Piper called.
There was no response.
Before they knew it, their mother was entering the room with their father's assistance. Patty was sweating and trying to breathe through her contractions, holding her belly as she walked. Victor looked both excited and terrified in almost equal measure. They helped her onto the bed.
"It's Phoebe's birth" Prue realised, overwhelmed at the sight of all the family members they'd lost.
"Oh!" Patty winced. "Why isn't this any easier the third time round?"
Victor rubbed her shoulders. "Hang in there sweetheart, our daughter will be here soon." He looked up at Penny, "Right?"
Penny went to check on her daughter's progress. "Alright, Patty," she confirmed "It definitely looks like it's time to push."
Patty squeezed Victor's hand with one hand, while squeezing the mattress with the other and gave it her all. Her face contorted into shapes almost impossible to replicate under any other circumstances, as she pushed through the pain. She stopped for a moment to breathe.
"She's almost here, she's almost here," Penny cheered. "One more should do it!"
Victor welled up as his wife gritted her teeth and pushed some more. "You'll be holding her before you know it"
Patty stopped pushing and gasped as she heard a baby's cries. She gave a smile that lit up the room more than any electricity could, as her mother rose from the bottom of the bed with a beautiful baby girl in her arms. "She is so beautiful" Patty beamed with tears in her eyes.
"Of course she is, takes after her mother" Penny handed the baby to the mom of three.
Prue and Piper looked at each other and smiled, overwhelmed at being able to see this; the arrival of their baby sister. "She is beautiful" Piper whispered, as if to avoid disturbing the baby despite their apparent invisibility.
"She is" Prue choked up a little.
As Penny went to get the new Mom of three some water, things took a sinister turn. Prue and Piper's view was blocked as three hooded figures appeared before them.
Prue and Piper gave a sigh of relief as their Grams ran back into the room.
"He will have the baby," the middle demon coldly stated to Penny. "If not tonight, then eventually."
"You will leave them alone and you will leave my house!" With that, Penny raised her arms and the demons were swept out of the room in a blur. The force of Penny's telekinetic magic blew through the room like a gust of wind that dissipated as quickly as it emerged.
Patty rocked Phoebe once again and managed to calm her a little. "Mom, will they come back?"
Penny sighed. "Not tonight dear. Not tonight."
Prue and Piper no longer looked so happy. They were disturbed and saddened to see such a beautiful moment tainted by evil.
Prue sighed. "Not even a full minute old and she had to the deal with this."
"Her family protected her. They were here for her. That's what we need to focus on" Piper replied.
Prue nodded.
Patty looked into her new daughter's eyes and it wasn't long before the horrible intrusion was practically forgotten about; lost in a mother's loving gaze.
The room blurred around them and shifted. Before Prue and Piper could react, they were in the basement again. It wasn't how they had just left it however; things were moved; it didn't seem quite right.
"Are we back?" Piper asked.
Prue looked around. "I don't think so."
San Francisco Police Department was bustling with activity. Darryl Morris struggled to keep up with calls as the phones rang continuously. The police captain came to his desk.
"Morris, we've got another hostage situation. This one's a local college" he informed.
Darryl sighed. "Tell me it's not another…"
"Wicca group? I'm afraid so. The gunman has apparently been shouting about protecting his kids from them. Just crazies attacking crazies; there's bound to be more riots nearby."
Darryl looked distressed. "Okay, just let me make a quick phone call."
"Morris?" another cop called before Darryl had a chance to dial.
Darryl walked over to his colleague, who was staring anxiously out of the window. Darryl looked with him. What they saw was a rather angry looking mob of around thirty people heading towards the precinct.
"What the hell is going on?" the cop asked as the mob moved closer.
"The world's going to hell" Darryl answered. "We'd better get ready."
(Opening Credits)
Prue and Piper remained stood in the basement, unsure of why they were there. Prue looked around and she saw that the basement floor was split. She immediately realised what part of the past they were in and right on cue, the shadow emerged from the floor. Prue and Piper looked nervously as the shadow began to wrap its tendrils around them.
"I am light" they chanted. "I am one too strong to fight…"
They were interrupted as the basement door swung open. Phoebe had much shorter hair and was holding a knife. "You are in no position to be telling me what to do" she said to Prue.
"It's no use, your sister's evil now" the deep voice of the shadow hissed.
Prue didn't know if she could even communicate with these apparitions, but she gave it a shot. "Phoebe we're here for you. Do you hear me? We're right here."
Piper pitched in. "You were stronger than the shadow Phoebe, and you're stronger than The Source too."
Phoebe's image began to flicker and shifted into her present day appearance. Her eyes sore and her skin protruding with dark energy. "I can't I'm not… I wasn't strong enough."
The shadow was engulfing Prue and Piper more and more, they didn't flinch.
"I'm sorry" she cried.
Prue and Piper looked at each other desperately.
Piper looked at her baby sister and began to sing quietly and a little embarassed. "If you're lost, you can look and you will find me. Time after time."
Prue nodded. "If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting…"
Phoebe looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Time after time" she whispered.
Prue nodded. "Careful, wise and together." She stated.
The shadow started to back away.
Piper looked Phoebe in the eyes. "You know the spell."
She nodded. "I am light; I am one too strong to fight. Return to dark where shadows dwell. You cannot have this Halliwell. So go away, leave my sight and take with you this endless night!"
The room filled with glowing white lights that spiralled around the three sisters and the shadow. The basement was engulfed in a brilliant blast of light energy.
Prue and Piper were back in darkness. They looked around and saw red tinted cave walls.
"The Underworld" Prue realised.
"What?" Piper sighed "But we got through to her, why are we down here?"
"Piper" Prue pointed. "This is where they held her."
Piper gasped as she saw a little girl on the ground of the cell.
"But Phoebe wasn't that old was she?" Piper asked confused.
"We're not in the past anymore. I think Phoebe has finally let us in" Prue responded.
Piper nodded, still not entirely sure she understood.
They moved towards the girl. As they got closer, Prue and Piper were both incredibly distressed. If Prue hadn't already worked it out, it would've been difficult to tell that the girl was Phoebe. She had been badly beaten and was covered in dirt. Little Phoebe came to, struggling to open her swollen eyes as Prue and Piper stood before her.
"Prue? Piper?" she whispered.
They knelt down beside her. "Yeah, sweetie, it's us" Prue stroked her hair, trying to stay strong.
"We're not going anywhere" Piper told her.
Prue gently touched her baby sister's face, trying not to aggravate her injuries. "Where does it hurt most?"
Little Phoebe looked at Prue with tear filled eyes. "My soul" she answered in a whimper.
Prue felt like she'd taken a blow right in the heart and a few tears escaped. She wrapped her arms around her and Piper did the same. "We've got you" Prue whispered. "We've got you. We've got you."
Almost instantly, the sisters were back in the present day basement, still holding each other. They had an intense golden light swirling around them as Phoebe wept in the centre of the energy. They released each other from the embrace and the golden magic funnelled down into the basement floor, causing the ground to shimmer for a moment.
Phoebe dropped to her knees and looked down at the floor. Her veins returned to normal; colour returned to her cheeks. The burns she had acquired in the Underworld however, still scarred her flesh.
"Phoebe?" Piper whispered.
"I'm so sorry" Phoebe wept.
Prue put her hand on her shoulder and Phoebe flinched a little, so Prue backed up. "You're okay now."
"I hurt people. I hurt you. It's not okay."
They remained silent for a few moments.
"I was going to kill Sinead" Phoebe continued.
"You were being influenced by evil" Piper defended.
"I made a choice. Our job is to protect the innocent; not to punish the guilty. I wanted revenge."
Prue and Piper looked at one another. "Protecting the innocent is exactly what you'll do… what we'll do. We can get you some help, we can stick together and you can remember who you are again, by helping others" Prue stated.
"Remember, you once told me that there was no way I'd have been given this gift if it wasn't to do good things with it. To protect the innocent just like the Book of Shadows said. Well now I'm reminding you of that." Piper gave a determined look into her baby sister's eyes.
Prue and Piper each held out an open palm. Phoebe looked at them for a moment, wiped the tears from her face and put her hands in theirs. She nodded. "Thank you."
The Source stood in the offices of The Brotherhood, watching several monitors. A female news reporter spoke on one of the screens.
"Several more crimes have been linked to occultists who many believe are trying to take over San Francisco, if not the United States. Riots are escalating and hate crime rates are soaring. Citizens are demanding that all occult stores be closed and even for people who identify as witches to be banned from schools and anywhere else where they may have contact with children."
The Source smiled as he watched another screen which showed a recording of a group of men. They were cheering in front of a bon fire as they threw books onto the flames. Close ups of the books before they were thrown showed that they were all books on Wicca, Paganism and even just general spirituality.
On a third screen, a priest spoke before his congregation. "We must exorcise the witches from our city. The bible says: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live! But we are not killers, these are different times! Love the sinner, hate the sin!" Certain members of his congregation nodded in agreement, while others seemed angry at his suggestion to love the sinner.
The Source let out a sigh of self-satisfaction. "Let them burn."
Sinead Griffiths approached him sheepishly. "Erm, excuse me, but I was just…"
"Ah Sinead, come in. What can I do for you?" he asked with a glazed smile.
"Um well you promised you'd…" she held up her hand and nodded to the burn.
"Oh of course. I am a man of my word." He held his hand over her burn and a tiny cloud of dark smoke emerged from her hand and was absorbed into his. The burn began to rapidly fade almost immediately.
"Thank you" Sinead began to leave the room.
"You know; I can't help but think you might be more at home here." The Source tempted.
Sinead stopped and turned around.
"It just doesn't seem like there's much for you out there anymore" he shrugged.
"I don't think…"
"Just think about it" he smiled.
Sinead didn't react. She turned back around and left the room as quickly as she could.
As the mob approached San Francisco Police Station, Darryl and several of his colleagues went outside to hold them off.
"We're not safe in our own town! The cops protect the witches before their own people. You've heard the rumours!" a man at the front of the crowd yelled.
"We need you to back away and disperse right now! We have a situation to get to" Darryl ordered.
"They cover for them. People disappear and nothing is done! We won't stand for it any longer."
The mob charged. The cops moved towards them. A brawl ensued. Some of the mob had knives and baseball bats. The cops fought them off as best they could without drawing their guns. Several mob members were wrestled to the ground and put in handcuffs as the riot continued around them. Darryl defended himself among the crowd, blocking attacks and wrestling a mob member down. He handcuffed him and got up. As Darryl rose, the guy he'd just handcuffed looked at him and smirked.
"I know you're the one most in their pocket Morris and I know where your family live." Darryl tried to hide his fear and turned away.
In the attic of Halliwell Manor, Piper and Phoebe waited patiently while Prue flipped through the Book of Shadows. Leo orbed in and smiled as he saw Phoebe looking more like herself again.
"You did it! I was praying that The Elders were right when they told me" he cheered.
"How exactly did you do it?" Phoebe asked her sisters, not sharing in Leo's enthusiasm.
"The Power of Three" Piper said.
"Remember the soul link we tried before?" Prue elaborated. "Well we tried it again and used it to reach out to you."
"But how did that get rid of The Source's influence?" Phoebe enquired.
Leo pitched in. "Once they reached your soul and you let them in, The Power of Three could take full effect again. It's the most powerful force of good magic there is. It purified the evil; got rid of the black blood."
Phoebe nodded, understanding. She looked around.
"What is it?" Piper asked.
"I don't see Dad anymore, I haven't since… since I was in his apartment."
"Well, you're better now" Piper smiled.
"I don't have black blood in me anymore, but I'm not sure we can say I'm better yet" Phoebe said.
"If the Source still has Dad's soul, we'll get it back. Maybe that'll be a good start. Plus, we need to get Sinead back, assuming she didn't just run off again. Not to mention kicking his ass for everything he's done." Prue suggested.
"We need to infiltrate the Brotherhood base of operations. Are you okay to do that?" Piper asked.
Phoebe nodded. "We'll need to be careful, they're not all demons. He has humans supporting his cause now."
"Right," Prue agreed. "Don't vanquish it unless it uses magic."
"Maybe we can get through to Cole" Phoebe suggested.
"Phoebe…" Piper started sceptically.
"A dispossession spell won't work on The Source" Leo pointed out.
"You did it for me" Phoebe argued.
"But Phoebe" Leo said, "The Power of Three purifies evil energy; whatever his allegiance, Cole is still half demon."
"He wouldn't survive it?" Prue asked.
Leo shook his head. "It's unlikely. It won't just target The Source; it'll target Belthazor."
Phoebe sighed. "Okay, then I'll try to get through to him, like I got through to you" she nodded to Piper. "Bombard him with visions of us; maybe it'll help him fight through."
"Okay" Prue agreed, even though she didn't really have much hope.
The sisters prepared for battle and as they left the house, Phoebe saw the photo that their Grams had taken all those years ago. A photo in which the sisters had been quite far apart before The Power of Three brought them back together. The photo, which usually brought her such happiness, made her feel sad.
The sisters entered the towering building. They were all feeling pretty daunted, which wasn't helped when they saw people protesting against witches on the way over. Piper had selectively frozen any nearby humans on the way in. It was clear that they needed to put a stop to The Source's plan before the world sank deeper into the darkness.
As they moved down the long corridor, five demons shimmered in.
"Get ready guys!" Prue cued. Two of the demons were about to throw energy balls at her, but before they could, Prue raised her arms and pinned them against the ceiling. She threw her arms downward and dropped them with force on the ground.
A demon charged towards Phoebe. She raised her arms and levitated into the air. The demon shimmered out and shimmered above her in mid-air. He dropped onto her back and grabbed hold. Phoebe dropped lower under the weight for a moment, but managed to rise back up with the demon on her shoulders. "You wanna ride?" she seethed. Phoebe began spinning in the air. The demon held on tight. Phoebe kept spinning, faster and faster until she began to create a gust of wind around herself from spinning so fast. The demon lost his grip and went hurtling against a far off wall. Phoebe slowed and steadied herself, waiting for the head rush to pass as she floated back down to ground.
Piper froze an energy ball heading towards her and then waved her hands at the sender, causing him to explode. Prue saw the frozen energy ball and telekinetically threw into the chest of the last demon; destroying him on impact.
"Everybody okay?" Prue asked.
The sisters gathered back together and nodded.
"Good. That was just the warm up" Prue led them down the corridor.
The Source stood in his office. There was a box on his desk. He smiled and pressed a button on his desk phone. "They're here. Allow me some time alone with them, but begin arranging plan B just in case."
The sisters entered. Phoebe was still taken aback by seeing her lover's face.
"Welcome back Phoebe, I see you've returned to fight the good fight. How disappointing" he mocked.
"It's over" Phoebe plainly stated.
"No sweet girl, believe me, it's only just begun" he grinned.
"You took my life from me, you took Cole…" she hissed.
He opened the box on his desk and revealed a white orb placed within. "Not just him…"
The sisters' anger built.
The Source laughed. "Oh but Belthazor should be proud to be a part of what I'm doing. I'll bring such carnage to this world, it'll make his work look like child's play."
Prue waved her arm and sent him flying against the wall. Piper followed and managed to slow him down slightly. "Go, try it quickly!" Piper encouraged.
Phoebe ran towards the body of her love and grabbed hold of his hand. She closed her eyes and focused her affection; creating a connection with the mind. Images of the time they'd spent together flashed through her mind and she channelled them into him; hoping for the best.
Piper's power stopped taking effect and he looked into Phoebe's eyes.
"Cole?" she asked.
He didn't answer, he just held her immediately and kissed her passionately. He smiled and Phoebe smiled back. Suddenly that smile turned into a callous grin and he hit Phoebe across the room, back towards her sisters. They helped her up.
"Stupid bitch. You really thought it'd be that easy. That you'd beat me with true love? Who the hell do you think you're dealing with?" He roared as a dark aura crackled around him.
The sisters held hands, nervous about what was about to happen. "Phoebe" Prue whispered, "I think…"
Phoebe wiped tears from her eyes. "I know."
Piper tightened her grip on Phoebe's hand. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, we need to be together on this." Phoebe said.
The Source doubled over in pain. "What the…" he squirmed. A voice came from him in a whisper. "Do it, Phoebe, use the power."
Phoebe's eyes widened. "Cole?" It seemed that her power had worked after all, even if it wasn't as effective as she'd hoped.
The Source regained control after that mere second and began to raise his power again. "Welcome to hell witches!"
"Now!" Prue demanded.
A sphere of golden light appeared around Prue, it glowed around her like a sparkling force-field. Piper did the same and the energy between the two globes connected creating one big sphere that surrounded the two.
The Source smirked as Phoebe was left uncovered. "Always the weak one, Phoebe."
Phoebe didn't react. A golden sphere surrounded her and she connected with her sisters. The sphere became a huge glistening beacon of light energy that encapsulated the power of three.
"You think you can beat me?" The Source spat.
"With our sisterhood working as one? Yes!" Prue replied.
They began chanting. "The power of three will set us free. The power of three will set us free. The power of three will set us free!"
The light moved towards The Source and he found himself unable to teleport out. He screamed in rage and agony as the power engulfed him and caused his evil to burn within himself.
Klea was in a dark room preparing a ritual space. She laid out several items on the floor and lit numerous candles. She poured a chalice of blood into the centre of the altar. The space was ready for her master to work his dark magic should he need it.
The Brotherhood office was rendered silent. The sisters still stood, hands held tightly together, but they were drained of energy. The body of Cole Turner led on the floor motionless. Phoebe ran towards him.
"Phoebe careful, what if it didn't work?" Piper cautioned.
Prue put her hand on Piper's shoulder as she watched their little sister. "It worked."
Phoebe held Cole in her arms. "Cole? Cole wake up. We did it, he's gone."
Prue and Piper watched sadly as Cole didn't respond.
Tears filled Phoebe's eyes. "Don't leave me. Come on, come back to me. I'm here."
Cole's eyes flickered open slightly. "Phoebe."
Phoebe smiled. "Hey. You did it, you got through to me and we got him."
"Good" he sighed.
"We have our life back now. All those things I showed you in the visions, we can have more of that. We can get married and have a really nice house in the country and have our first child. We're gonna be so happy together Cole" Phoebe sobbed, holding his hand tightly.
"That sounds nice" Cole whispered, his eyes getting weaker.
"Yeah, so you stay with me okay. We can have our dream now." Phoebe begged.
"Thank you" he said softly.
"For what?" Phoebe asked.
"You were my dream" he whispered as his eyes closed and his body surrendered.
"Cole? Cole?" Phoebe pleaded.
Cole's body slowly turned to dust in her hands and she cried as the air carried him away from her.
Prue and Piper walked over to the desk and picked up the box containing their father's soul. "I think it's time we gave the people we love some peace" Prue commented. Piper nodded in agreement as they watched Phoebe whimpering on the ground. They slowly moved towards her, far enough away to give her space, but close enough that she knew she wasn't alone.
The Source flamed in before Klea.
"Plan B is prepared my liege" Klea bowed, seeing her master in his usual domineering crimson appearance for the first time in months.
The Source stroked Klea's face with his feral claws. "Good work, Klea."
"Would you like some time to recuperate my lord?" Klea asked. "This ritual may drain you considerably."
"Oh I'll have time to recharge once it's done" he responded in his booming deep voice. "We need to strike while they're distracted by their grief."
Prue stood in the middle of the cemetery. She held an umbrella as rain bounced on the grass. Her dark hair tied back in a bun, she wiped tears from her eyes with her black leather glove, which matched the rest of her attire. In her other hand, she held a rose and slowly walked towards a coffin. As she drew closer, she struggled to keep herself together. The tears freed themselves from her eyes, but otherwise she managed to sustain her composure. When she reached the coffin, she fell to her knees next to it.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, her breath trembling from the grief.
She placed the rose on top of the smooth brown wood. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment to say goodbye to yet another person she loved. Half-expecting to open her eyes and realize it was all a dream, she sighed as she blew one last kiss to her father. She stepped back and joined her sisters, who had already paid their respects. Piper's eyes were blood shot from weeping, while Phoebe's expression seemed more haunted and withdrawn. Leo and Darryl stood close by as the sisters held each other and their father's coffin was lowered into the ground.
The Source's cloak shimmered with dark energy as he stood in the centre of a circle that Klea had arranged for him. He pointed to each item that made up the circle.
"The Mordred Blade; symbol of my dedication to the war for evil. Dust of the Cole Turner, soul of Benjamin Coleridge Turner, heart of Victor Bennett; symbols of good's losses and our victories. Let this day not be remembered for our failure, but for our vengeance. Take away their pain, but leave this mortal world unprotected!"
The items glowed and a cylinder of black energy erupted around The Source. He raised his blood red claws in the air and the energy burst through the ceiling.
"The Power of Three shall be extinguished! Let my reign on this earth begin!"
The funeral car pulled up outside the Manor. Prue thanked the driver as Piper and Phoebe headed towards the steps.
"Hey" Prue called to her sisters.
They stopped at the bottom of the steps.
Prue held their hands. "We're going to be okay, you know that right?"
Phoebe looked sad. "We've just lost so much this year… and the world's going mad."
Piper stroked her hair. "So long as we have each other, we'll survive like always."
"Sisters forever" Prue smiled.
The three shared a hug and were about to walk up the steps to The Manor entrance, when they heard a strange rumbling in the distance. They turned around and looked up at the sky. The clouds had suddenly gone unnaturally dark and the blue sky had begun to turn a threatening crimson.
"What's that?" Piper asked as a great darkness slowly creeped over the street.
Prue held onto her sisters, unsure of what was happening. The darkness blackened everything until they couldn't even see each other anymore.
-Three Months Later-
Phoebe sat in a bathroom waiting anxiously. She looked around at her surroundings. She couldn't believe she was there in that moment. How did I get here? She thought. What the hell am I doing? She just couldn't believe she had gotten herself into this situation. She finally worked up the courage to look. She checked the pregnancy test. It was positive. She let out a sigh of despair. She wrapped the stick up in toilet paper and threw it in the trash. Phoebe left the bathroom and went back down a long white corridor.
A nurse saw her. "Ah Phoebe, there you are. It's time for your meds."
Phoebe nodded. "What am I going to do?" she whispered to herself.
Outside the psychiatric hospital building in which Phoebe was staying, the noise of New York city blared undeniably. She couldn't deny that in a weird way, it almost soothed her.
In the Manor a party was being held. Prue wore a long black dress and several very wealthy people were talking about her beauty and success while munching on canapés. A large desk displayed her photobook, titled "To San Francisco, With Love".
Prue's publisher approached her and kissed her on the cheek. "Prue, this night has been fabulous. You deserve every bit of success you get and more. It's been a pleasure helping you get this book out."
"I couldn't have done it without you Arnold" Prue smiled.
"I'm flattered, but your work practically sells itself. Goodnight darling and congratulations."
"Night" Prue reciprocated as he left. "Oooh better not forget to pay" Prue reminded herself as she got out the money she's set aside for the catering.
Piper just finished up in the kitchen; Leo had helped her clear up. "Thanks sweetie" Piper said to her husband kissing him on the cheek.
She left the kitchen and Prue handed her the money.
"Thank you so much for all of this, the food was beyond fantastic" Prue complimented.
"Oh no problem, this is the nicest party we've ever catered for. Stunning house by the way." Piper responded.
"Thank you" Prue grinned. Her smile faded slightly as she felt a chill. "I'm sorry, have we met before? I mean before we started planning tonight. You just seem really familiar to me."
Piper shook her head. "You know, I thought the same thing."
The pair looked at each other for a moment.
"Did you go to Baker High School?" Piper asked.
"Yes! That must be it" Prue nodded, though not looking entirely convinced.
Piper smiled. "Well it was nice meeting you."
"You too" Prue reciprocated as she left.
With the party drawing to a close, Prue turned to the TV. Bane Jessup joined Prue and kissed her cheek. "I'm proud of you" he smiled. "I'm sure your parents would have been proud too."
"Thank you sweetie" Prue rested her head on his shoulder as an unsettling news report appeared on screen.
"In an increasingly volatile time for San Francisco where hate crime rates continue to soar and the protection of our children is top priority; parents have had even more disturbing and seemingly occult based problems to deal with. Several reports of children who in their parent's words 'seem possessed' have been made to police and social services."
A clip of a classroom of children flicked onto the screen. The camera panned the room of children who stared emotionlessly and then zoomed in on some of them scribbling onto paper, on desks and on walls. Each child was writing the same thing: "He has risen"
Prue watched as the news story continued, she looked worried as her eyes were fixed on the screen.
Bane sighed. "World's going to hell."
Prue nodded. "Yeah… sure seems like it."
-The End-