A/N: And now, as an All Hallows Eve treat, the thrilling conclusion!

Chapter Six

"You don't wanna use too much," Prue said as Phoebe moved the lipstick container back and forth across her lips. If it hadn't been the one she'd smushed up already, it wouldn't have survived this very well.

"Why not? This is how Madonna wears it," Phoebe said.

I tried not to laugh at how silly she looked, and instead focused on putting eyeshadow on the way Prue had shown me. Since we were all grounded, we really shouldn't have been doing this at all, but whenever Grams went upstairs, we found ways to get around our punishment.

"Try putting on just a little," Prue instructed, taking the tube from Phoebe, "then go like this." She rubbed her lips together. "And then if you still want to add more, you can." She tried to add some extra color to her lips, but gave up. "This is so hard to do left-handed!" Prue complained, eying her cast.

I was about to ask if she needed any help when we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Grams!" I warned. We scrambled to clear off the table before she saw and added more time to our punishment.

Instead of Grams, however, a man in a plaid shirt and jeans came around the corner.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Wyatt," Prue said.

"Hi girls," he replied. "I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to worry about noises in the attic anymore."

"Did you get it open?" Phoebe asked eagerly.

"No, it's sealed up pretty tight," Mr. Wyatt answered. "You'd have to knock out a wall to get into it. But, I did find some critters who were making themselves a nice home in your crawlspace."

"Critters?" Prue asked.

"Yeah, y'know. Raccoons, things like that," Mr. Wyatt explained.

"And they live in the walls?" Phoebe asked, grossed out by the idea.

"They did, but not anymore," Mr. Wyatt replied. "Like I told your Grams, everything should be okay now. No more strange noises for you girls to worry about."

After all of that, I almost felt disappointed that an animal was all it was. Also a little embarrassed. "Thank you, Mr. Wyatt," I said. He smiled at me.

"And thanks for helping me too," Prue chimed in. "When I fell out of that tree."

Mr. Wyatt. "I'm just glad everyone was okay," he said. "And now, it looks like my work here is done. Bye, girls."

"Bye, Mr. Wyatt," Phoebe answered as he walked away. Looking at her brightly-painted face reminded me that we were all still wearing our makeup, and I suddenly felt very embarrassed about how we must have just looked.

"Now can we stop worrying?" Prue asked when we were alone again.

"I think so," Phoebe said, taking the makeup back out.

"I meant about the attic," Prue corrected.

"Oh."

"I guess so," I shrugged. "It seems so weird, that all of that was just from an animal."

"Well, the boys at school are animals, and you know how noisy they are," Phoebe joked.

Prue laughed. I laughed along with her, but I was still thinking about the attic in the back of my mind. I guess Grams hadn't been going up there after all. But I still wondered what kinds of things could be hidden in that space...

Penny Halliwell walked through the upstairs hallway of her family manor, carrying a basket of laundry which she intended to bring downstairs for her granddaughters to fold. Instead, her feet slowed as she walked past the staircase leading up to the attic. She glanced to her left and to her right before putting the basket down and gently climbing up the steps.

She paused in front of the heavy, old door, and held out her hand.

"Door against all forces sealed
Open again, your secrets revealed."

Without a touch, the door clicked open. Penny stepped inside, where a treasure trove of antiques, mementos, and plain old useless junk sat in piles spread throughout the vast room. Despite the clutter, the center of the room was perfectly clear, empty except for a strange circle of crystals and a book on a pedestal.

Penny approached the book and began to flip through it. Behind her, a sudden swirl of white lights appeared out of nowhere, quickly taking the shape of a person. As the lights disappeared, the figure became more solid, revealing that it was the handyman who had just talked to the girls downstairs.

Penny turned around and jumped at the sight of him. "Oh, Leo!" she exclaimed. "You scared me! I thought it was one of those demons trying to get the Book again."

"Sorry, Penny," he apologized.

"The Elders are sure we're not going to have any more problems with them?" she asked. "Because I can only come up with so many protection spells..."

Leo nodded. "I just checked, your theory about all of their power being connected to their leader was right. That vanquishing potion you used should have weakened them so much that they won't be able to attack again for years."

"Oh, good," Penny said. "With all of the activity up here I was starting to worry that the girls were going to find out."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that anymore," Leo answered. "I told them all the noise was an animal in the crawlspace. But if anything else happens, I can always use memory dust on them."

"I think one of my spells will be more than capable of erasing their memories," Penny bragged. "But still... they're getting persistent."

"Trapping that demon was pretty loud," Leo reminded. "They were just reacting like any normal kids would to noises like that."

"Still, it's a good thing you heard their call when Prue fell out of that tree."

Leo nodded. "I healed her as much as I could without it looking suspicious. She'll be in the cast for a while, but her arm will be good as new after."

"Thank you, Leo," Penny said. "Hopefully things won't get this bad again." She closed the book and ran her fingers over the three-pointed symbol on the cover. "At least not until they're ready to know what they are."

THE END

A/N: And there you have it! I feel kind of bad because the ending is kind of an anticlimax, but I also didn't know how much more material I could get out of the girls just hearing noises. Obviously, them actually finding out what was in the attic wouldn't really work, since they don't know about magic yet. If I ever get any better ideas, however, I'll rewrite this (or maybe other Goosebumps-themed stories... there are so many possibilities!) Anyway, even though it was short and kind of silly, I hope you all enjoyed it!