Chapter 54
Paige and her friends had gotten through one week of the changed Magic School. It was now Friday evening, a half hour to six. They rushed down the emptying corridors toward the library. The librarian greeted them and asked what they needed. Hadley was the one who had come up the story they were to tell.
"I'm looking for a cookbook, with the Wonderland recipes," Paige said, "My sister noticed they were missing from my Grams, Penny Halliwell, book. She just wants them in case of an emergency." She put emphasis on her grandmother's name. The librarian started flipping through a catalog and then grabbed a key out of a desk drawer. She walked over to a shelf and stuck her key into the protective wall. The glow disappeared and she handed a small book with a lock on it to Paige.
"Sign here," she said handing Paige a clipboard. Paige scribbled her name down. The lock clicked open and then she was told once the due date was her the book would lock back up. Paige nodded and a warning bell rang throughout the school, they had an hour to get to their room and to the Manor and back. She flipped through the book and told her friends that they would shrink because of the icing. The roommates received looks from several guards on their way back. Most students retired to their room right after dinner was finished which ended fifteen minutes ago. Melanie told the guard that they had to stop at the library for a book on Barbas.
He stepped back into the shadows and Paige gave her friend a curious look.
"Who's Barbas?" she asked when they arrived back at their room.
"Demon of Fear," Melanie said, "You don't want to go up against him. Not many witches have survived him."
"I'm sure the Charmed Ones can vanquish him," Paige said.
"You can't vanquish fear, it's always there," Hadley said softly.
"We need to get this recipe to your sister," Melanie said after a moment of silence. When they arrived Piper was in the kitchen, dozens of sugar cookies sat cooling on the island.
"It's the icing," Paige said showing Piper the recipe.
"Alright, get started on the drinks, there are empty vials on the table. Store the cookies in a cabinet in the dollhouse kitchen. The potions don't need to be refrigerated so you'l be fine there," Piper said flipping the page to see the drink mix. The girls got out a large pitcher and started adding the ingredients.
"I can't believe you have all these ingredients," Melanie said looking through the cabinets.
"Grams always liked to be prepared," Piper said spreading the icing on the cookies. She poured a semi-clear green liquid into an icing pen. The potion infused gel shimmered as she spelled out 'Eat Me', 'Take One' or 'Try Me' onto several cookies. After forty-five minutes Piper had at least a dozen cookies covered and Paige, Hadley, and Melanie were corking a couple dozen bottles with blue potion that were labeled with 'Drink Me'.
Paige stored the bottles in her purse while Haldey held the container of cookies.
"You've got the recipe written down right?" Paige asked.
"Yeah, you should hurry back," she said as Melanie grabbed the book from the table. Paige stood on the landing and pushed her key through the wall. The friends looked back at Piper once more as they stepped through the portal.
"Ten minutes, till curfew!" a voice boomed through the hallways. The girls waited fifteen minutes before they each took a vial of the potion. They started to shrink and Paige was the first to step into the Manor dollhouse. She placed the cookies in one of the cabinets in the kitchen.
"What now?" Hadley asked as she flipped some lights on.
Phoebe glared at Piper when she left with Leo for dinner.
"Cheer up Pheebs. Piper hasn't dated since the whole Jeremy thing. Come on let's watch a movie."
"Kill it Before it Dies?"
"Fine," Prue groaned as they left the Manor.
Paige flipped through a miniature Book of Shadows in the attic. She stopped when she saw Barbas' page. She went downstairs to find Hadley and Melanie in the living room sprawled out working on homework.
"What do you know about Barbas?" Paige asked sitting next to them. Melanie looked at Hadley.
"He's a demon you don't want to cross paths with," Melanie said.
"The book didn't have a lot of info on him."
"He kills witches, humans, anyone, by using their greatest fears against them. Most die," Hadley said. She sighed and told her friends what had happened to her when she was young.
"Hadley! Vanessa! Michael! Dinner's ready," their mother called up one whole family was celebrating because Vanessa had received a full scholarship to a school in Maine.
"This time next year, you won't be here," their father said.
"I have to finish senior year dad," she smiled taking a bite of her food.
"Are you sure you want to continue going to Magic School, Hadley?You could go to the high school Vanessa's at," their mother asked.
"I'm sure," she said. This was the last dinner the family had together. The following evening Vanessa was in a small book shop when the shop keeper doors became bolted shut.
"Hello?" she called out. She didn't see the demon of fear but she heard him.
"Such a powerful witch, and throwing everything away," he said, "It'd be a shame if something happened before you could achieve your dream."
"Show yourself," she said. Suddenly several shelves of books burst into flames.
"Fire, many people fear it. Burning alive,well, that's just good fun," he laughed as Vanessa started to cough. She yanked on the door handle, trying to escape.
"Help! Somebody help! Fred!" she called for her whitelighter but no one came. The flames came closer as she tried to shatter the glass. She kept waving her hands at the window but nothing happened. The demon continued to chuckle as she screamed when the flames licked at her clothing. No one heard her screams, no one saw her or the burning building.
"Vanessa's late," her father said looking at the clock.
"I'm sure everything is-," but she stopped.
"What is it?"
"Something's wrong, very wrong." The whole family froze. Everyone looked at Michael, Vanessa and Hadley's brother. Then there was a knock at the door.
"Are you Vanessa Smith's parents?" a police officer asked.
"Yes, is something wrong? Is she okay?" her father asked.
"We found Vanessa's body," he said, "She was caught inside a burning building. We're very sorry for your loss." Hadley's mother started crying and their father closed the door. The timer in the kitchen went off as the food finished cooking. No one bothered to get the food as it started to burn.
"I don't understand, I- I didn't have a premonition of this. Why didn't I have a premonition?" Michael asked sitting down. Hadley felt numb.
"She should've been able to get out. She has a power and a whitelighter. Why didn't she use her powers?" she asked her mother.
"Vanessa feared fires," her father said, "Barbas must have somehow escaped purgatory."
"Barbas, the Demon of Fear? That's impossible," Hadley said and she called for their whitelighter. He went to talk to the Elders to confirm their suspicions. Several experienced witches went to find Barbas, only to see that he was still trapped in purgatory but his powers grew stronger as his 1300 years of possible freedom grew closer.
"It was three years ago, I was fourteen, Michael sixteen. I told you that I hadn't come here till last year but I actually started coming in eight grade. Michael did have that premonition of me dying, which is why I came. I didn't return here until the following year. I had been roommates with Melanie and was glad that she still kept the spot open for me while I was gone." Melanie put her arms around her friend. The clock in the Manor chimed ten o' clock but the girls didn't bother to eat the cookies. They slept in the living room of the dollhouse making sure that the lights were out.
A/N: Please review with your thoughts!