-O-charmed-freak-O-, Charmedgirlalyssa-phoebe, Charmed1979, and 1treehillcharmed: thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you guys are still enjoying this story.
Sorry. I realize some of you would like for me to update alot sooner. Lol, I wish I could too but right now I'm basically writing as my free time permits me. Plus, I'd rather have the chapters done to my satisfaction instead of just throwing them out there to you. I just think that you, as the audience, deserve better than that. So hopefully that doesn't scare you away.
Chapter 26: Demon Frenzy
Halliwell Manor (2 Months Later)
An energy ball zig-zagged its way through the air, heading directly for its target but the woman smiled smugly before fading out altogether. Instead, the demon's energy ball impacted the wall, leaving scorch marks in its wake.
"What the hell?" the demon roared.
"HEY! Looking for me?" a female voice, laced with confidence, sounded from behind.
The demon turned around only to come face to face with Prue. Instantly, she waved her arm and used her telekinesis to send him flying through the air. The coffee table in the living room crashed into pieces as it broke his fall. Before he could get up, she walked over and jammed her right foot against his windpipe, cutting off his air supply.
"Are you the best the Triad could do?" she mocked him. "I think I had more fun when the Source was in power."
"Let me go!" the demon pleaded in a raspy voice.
"But you didn't say please," Prue cracked.
At the same time, Phoebe and Paige were attempting to ward off other demons. All three of them had been attacked simultaneously, without much time to react. Recently, these attacks had been increasing in number.
Paige, still inside of the dining room, ducked as a fireball nearly skimmed the top of her head. Phoebe got distracted and while glancing at Paige to make sure she was okay, her demon slapped her and sent her down to the floor. With some quick thinking, Phoebe used her legs to wrap them tightly and securely around the demon's. She then pulled at him and it sent him toppling to the floor in front of her. Paige watched Phoebe take down the demon but quickly reverted her attention back to hers. After failing with his first attempt, he was advancing on her again.
"Chair!" Paige yelled. It impacted the demon and he exploded.
"Paige! Get to the Book and see if there's a spell!" shouted Phoebe.
Paige quickly orbed out and Phoebe did a quick spin, kick-boxing her demon and sending him flying across the foyer towards the front door. Taking a brief glance into the living room, she immediately caught sight of another demon approaching Prue from behind. He was carrying an athame in his hand. Phoebe shouted out a warning.
"Prue! Behind you!"
Reacting instantly, Prue spun her head around, saw the approaching demon, and squinted her eyes. The demon flew back through the air, hit the wall, and instantly exploded. After the athame dropped to the floor, she used her hand to bring the knife to her. It slid across the floor and she picked it up, plunging it into the demon below her. Another explosion of dust was left in her wake.
Prue smirked. "Good. Well, that's two down and one ..." she was cut off by the sound of Phoebe.
"Uh, Prue?"
Prue turned around and stammered out the rest of her sentence. "To go?"
"Make that six!" Phoebe corrected her sister. "Paige, hurry!" She looked up towards the ceiling.
The demon that Phoebe had kicked into the foyer of the manor now totaled six. Six identical matches of himself. Somehow, he had managed to clone himself within a matter of seconds. This powerful display of dark magic signified to them that vanquishing this particular demon would probably require the Power of Three.
"Ooh not good. They look pissed," cracked Prue.
"Nah, ya think?" Phoebe mocked. "Do something and fast!"
The clone demons began to encircle them. Prue used her arm to try and move them away but her attempts were unsuccessful as her power barely made impact on any of the six demons approaching them.
"They're immune to our powers, are you kidding me?" Prue reacted.
The clone demon to their right laughed. "Give it up witch. Your powers are no match for the likes of me."
"Paige!" Phoebe hollered louder.
Suddenly, Paige orbed back into the living room next to her sisters. She got a quick glance at the cloned demons who approached them. Thank god she had guessed right. She had gotten a quick glance at Phoebe's demon before orbing out of the dining room. His picture was found inside the Book of Shadows.
"Here, I think I got it!" she exclaimed.
"You think?" Prue mocked, glancing at her sister quickly, while moving the couch with her hand so that she could put a block between the three of them and the clone demons fast approaching. "Hey! Just so you know, if we die, I'm coming after you in the afterlife."
"And I'll be next in line!" cracked Phoebe giving Paige a look.
One of the demons tried to circle around and approach her from the side so Phoebe quickly levitated into the air and offered a swift back kick to the chest. The demon went flying backwards into the wall.
Paige rolled her eyes at Prue's remark, while at the same time waving her free hand to telekinetically orb and send vases and picture frames hurdling at the demons. "Hey, just remember, my orbs can beat your astral projection anytime."
"Hurry and lets do this!" Phoebe sang.
Prue and Phoebe both huddled beside Paige as all three of them began to recite from the paper found in her hands. "Power of Three and we sisters three; Call forth the power in this day and hour; An evil so great a demon did sire; So banish these six through brimstone and fire!"
"No!" the clone demons wailed.
A heavy wind picked up, blowing the sisters hair around. The three sisters watched the six demons being pulled back together as they reformed back into one. Then, he turned to solid lifeless rock before exploding into fire. Finally, there was nothing.
Prue waved her hand in the air against the dusty aftermath. "Phew. That sure was a whole lot of demon," she joked.
"Our first Power of Three demon," Paige clarified. "Together."
"Yeah, thank god it worked," sighed Phoebe.
"Gideon and the rest of the Triad must be getting pretty desperate," surmised Paige.
Prue nodded. "Which is probably why they sent him. To see if the Power of Three still stood a chance. Especially with Piper ..." she trailed off.
"Right," nodded Phoebe. "If they could confirm that the Power of Three was broken again, they'd probably make their own move against us."
"Well, luckily for us you catch up pretty fast," Paige addressed Prue.
"You honestly had doubts?" cracked Prue. "No, but seriously, it may buy us some time but not much. The Power of Three may hold them off for awhile but we know their real game plan is to get their hands on the Ultimate Power."
"Right. Which we won't have without Piper," Phoebe reminded them. "So I don't get it. All this time they've been sending these average lower-level demons to take us on and yet they haven't tried once to take us on themselves. I find that kind of odd."
"Well, not if they want the power?" Paige shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, why take us out before we have it to take?"
"Or maybe it's not us they want but the incantation," Prue suggested. "Didn't Billie say something about evil being able to use it?"
"Yeah, if it's read backwards or something?" Paige tried to recall. "I think. But the incantation is safe. We have it hidden away until Piper ..." She let her voice drift off.
"Comes home? We shouldn't be afraid to say it. She will come home," Prue sounded determined.
There was a moment of silence.
The sisters took a moment to reflect. Piper had remained comatose with no change since the accident which was two months ago. They had no choice but to celebrate the start of a new year without her but visited the hospital daily, remaining vigilante by her bedside. Everyone tried hard to keep up appearances for the sake of the boys. Sometimes they weren't sure about anything but they knew they had to believe.
Wyatt and Chris were mostly confused by the absence of their parents. However, Chris being two, took everything in stride a little bit better than his brother. His young mind was unable to rationalize the events. It was Wyatt, who would be four soon, that was effected by it more. With the help of some familiar faces like Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige, and Billie, the boys had adjusted to Prue but that didn't stop Wyatt from asking questions. The sisters opted on telling him that their daddy went away to help their mommy get better so she could come home but it might be a little while.
"Where's Billie?" Prue questioned, changing the subject. "She's supposed to be back with the kids so she can make her next class."
"Beats me," shrugged Paige. "Besides, I may be her whitelighter but she's your daughter. The honor of keeping tabs on that girl passes to you now," she joked.
Prue just smirked and rolled her eyes. "Thanks."
"Actually, thank god, the kids weren't here," reflected Phoebe. "How do we know whether or not some of these attacks are to get to them?"
"We don't. I'm just glad you two showed up when you did," Prue sighed.
Paige arched her brows at her sister. "Eh, I don't know about that. You looked like you were doing fine to me. And having fun while you were at it."
Prue smirked. "Yeah, I was kicking some serious demon butt, wasn't I?" she nodded in agreement. "I actually forgot how much I missed this."
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she laughed. "Give it another few years; you'll be choking on those words, Prue."
The sisters surveyed the mess the recent demon vanquishes had caused.
"Yeah, Prue. How much did you miss the cleaning detail?" Paige rested her hands against her hips and made a face.
Prue laughed. "Probably about as much as I miss my old life in Salem," she reflected. "I mean, having a normal life for awhile was nice and all but lets face it, it was hardly real."
Phoebe and Paige detected the change in tone.
"Honey, of course it was real," Phoebe reached out for her sister's hand to offer support. "You may not have remembered who you really were but it was still a part of your life."
"No, I mean, I definitely don't regret everything about that life," Prue folded her arms. "I do have Molly because of it and I wouldn't ever, ever," she stressed a second time, "want to give that up but I don't know. It was still a life based on lie because I was pretending to be somebody I wasn't."
Phoebe listened before Prue started to clam up.
"It's okay, I don't really expect you guys to know what I'm talking about," Prue shook her head.
"No, Prue," Phoebe shook her head back at her sister, "I get it. I mean, I haven't experienced exactly what you have, but we tried faking our deaths last year to achieve a normal life. It definitely felt strange to be living as somebody else."
"Yep," Paige nodded in agreement. "Try looking in the mirror after casting a spell to change your entire appearance. It literally gives new meaning to identity crisis."
Phoebe smiled. She appreciated Paige's attempt to mix in some humor.
"Seriously, though?" Paige voiced her thoughts. "Of all the places for a witch with amnesia to end up living."
Prue and Phoebe shot her contemplative looks.
"Hello?" Paige threw out at them. "Can you say witch trials? What were the Elders thinking? You mean to tell me that living in Salem didn't give you the heebie jeevies even a little bit?" she narrowed her eyes playfully at Prue.
Prue thought about it. "Well," she shrugged. "Things did feel off at times. But now I think that had more to do with my memory being blocked then the people living there."
"Hm," Phoebe hummed.
"It kind of almost feels like a dream," Prue shared. "I now remember not remembering, if that makes any sense. It's weird."
"Right," Phoebe nodded. "See, now, if I had agreed to live thousands of miles away and to not remember who the heck I was, then I probably would have demanded the matching bank account to go along with it. Preferably one with lots and lots of zeros," Phoebe smiled at Prue.
"And definitely not Salem," Paige gave a dramatic nod. "There are so many more desirable locations to choose from."
Prue smiled and closed her eyes. "Okay, it didn't exactly work like that. I didn't get to choose anything."
"Yeah, neither did Melinda Warren apparently," Phoebe shuddered. Then she glanced at her watch. "Okay, so much for my lunch break. I better get back to the office before Elise starts spinning cartwheels."
Prue and Paige looked to each other.
"Uh, spinning cartwheels?" Prue repeated.
"Figure of speech," Phoebe clarified. She walked towards the door, pointing her finger at both sisters. "And no making fun. Either of you. I happen to work for a newspaper advice column. That means I'm allowed to be creative."
"Hm. Yeah, well, how about shifting some of that creativity into helping me over at P3 later on," Prue smirked. "Actually, I'm going to head over there right now," she grabbed for her jacket and purse. "Dad's at the hospital and we need to finish getting ready for tonight. The last thing Piper needs is to come back to a failing club and a house in shambles. Uh, Paige, do you mind keeping a watch on the kids when Billie gets back?"
Paige sighed. "Sure, why not? Just what I wanted to be doing on my day off."
Prue paused at the door and turned around, ready to reconsider. Paige just rolled her eyes.
"Kidding!" she stressed. "Go." She waved her hands.
Prue smiled. "Okay. Thanks. See ya later."
"Bye!" Phoebe shouted over her shoulder, stepping out the door ahead of Prue as both sisters left.
Paige just smirked and shook her head as the door closed. Then turning in the direction of the messy living room, she observed the many pieces of broken table spread across the floor. Way beyond the point of repairing, surmised Paige. Feeling lazy, she waved her hand.
"Eh, garbage!" she called out, removing the rubbish out of sight.
The scattered pieces of table and other debris disappeared and deposited into the trash outside. Paige threw herself onto the couch and grabbed for the TV remote.
X
The orbs materialized near the big stone structure and that was exactly where he had found her waiting for him.
JD appeared and cautiously approached Lana, who stood waiting on the sidewalk in front of the building. He watched her with some interest while she was distracted with taking in her surroundings. If one didn't know any better, she gave off an appearance of a lost child. Someone that looked out of place and didn't belong there. Her head turned from side to side, observing each passerby with a subtle air of suspicion.
A part of him regretted having agreed to do this but he was a man of his word. So he would at least try to help and lead her in the right direction, hopefully uncovering her mortal origins. Then he'd be gone. But he would remain careful. After all, she was still a demon. Which meant that she was not to be trusted. Billie was right about that.
"Okay, I'm here. Let's get this over with!" he announced, stepping up to her.
"Why here?" she questioned the young whitelighter.
"It's a public library. I figured we could start by scanning the archives. See if there's any type of newspaper coverage and go from there. But you're sure you don't have any kind of childhood memories with your parents or any other family members?"
JD was recalling bits and pieces of information she had shared with him just before they had rescued Billie from the clutches of the Underworld.
"No. Just Dumain," she answered.
"Okay. Well, it narrows it down a bit. We probably should be looking for any children that went missing under the age of three. Babies, especially," he reasoned. "Now, you're sure about your age?"
"Yes!" she snapped. "Now can we get on with it!"
Lana headed in the direction of the steps leading to the front entrance. JD sighed and shook his head before turning to follow her. While jotting up the stairs, a middle-aged man was in the process of walking down them. As he brushed by her, he knocked into her shoulder.
"Watch it!" she turned around and shouted back.
Turning around and holding up his hands, the man mumbled an apology. "Sorry."
Lana retreated back down a few steps until she was standing in front of the man who had turned around to address her. There was a venomous gleam inside of her glare and the tone of her voice was enough to send a chill through its recipient.
"You're sorry? Next time you'll be more than sorry!" she seethed in anger. "Do you have any idea what I can do to you?"
People began to stop and stare. After witnessing the confrontation with the stranger, JD rushed up the steps beside her, grabbing a hold of her elbow.
"Hey! Let go of my arm!" she seethed.
The man continued down the steps and people started to break away from the scene. JD pulled her along and hissed against her ear.
"Listen! If you want to find your mortal family, I strongly suggest you try acting a little more human so you don't draw any unwanted attention to yourself. I don't even care if you have to fake it. Just do it. Otherwise, one little mistake of the demon variety, I'm outta' here. You'll be on your own. Do we understand each other?"
Lana pulled her arm free from his tight grasp without responding. She continued in her journey to reach the front door of the library as JD watched her from behind. Really, the last thing he needed was for a demonic side show to break loose with flaming fireballs and electrically-charged energy balls. He continued to follow her.
Down on the sidewalk, the middle-aged man watched with interest. He continued to watch until they disappeared into the library. It was something worth reporting back but he also had a new idea formulating in his mind. Hopefully, something that would get the Triad off his back and make them very happy. The man turned and walked down the side of the building so that he couldn't be seen. Then, he allowed his appearance to transform back into its natural state.
The darklighter with his dark hair disappeared amidst his dark orbs.
X
He reappeared inside the Underworld.
Like a moth to a flame, the Triad immediately sensed the presence. A single flash delivered the three members into the lair.
The darklighter stood confident within the presence of the one evil in the Underworld that could be responsible for decimating him in a milli-second. He had been on the run ever since Billie had managed to escape Gideon's clutches two months ago. Naturally, it had been assumed that he had betrayed them and somehow secured her release since he was the only other demon aware of her location. After all, he had been the one to bring Billie to Gideon and the rest of the Triad.
The darklighter had other suspicions. At the time of Billie's capture, he had suspected the lingering presence of another but had dismissed it, only now, with the spreading news of Lana missing from the Underworld he had an idea where to direct those suspicions. While avoiding the Underworld, the darklighter attempted to use his sensing abilities to track Lana down. If she used her powers, he assumed he would be able to track her through the dark magic. However, much time had passed without any success. That was until now. He had been able to sense the shimmer and then had tracked her to one of the many big buildings found in the city of the mortal world. A library. Then he had sensed the whitelighter's presence too.
"Do you have a death wish?" the FIRST Triad declared.
The SECOND Triad brought a fireball to life in his hand. "How dare you show your face around these parts after your betrayal?"
"Wait, my lords!" He brought up his hands to thwart his pending demise. "It wasn't me. I swear. But I think I know who it was if you will just allow me to explain," he pleaded.
"That's preposterous," the THIRD Triad bellowed. "Nobody else knew the location of the girl but you! It was you who betrayed us!"
The other two Triad members produced fireballs and prepared to aim them with the other member who had already created one.
"No! No," the darklighter begged. "Please, I've located Lana!" he blurted out as a last resort.
The Triad immediately ceased their attack.
"What do you mean you've found Lana?" the FIRST Triad demanded. "How?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you. I believe Lana was in the lair too when I brought you the Charmed One's daughter. I think it was she who freed the girl. With the help of a whitelighter. She's been biding her time up in the mortal world and I waited until she used her powers. Then I was able to track her. When I found her, she was with the whitelighter."
"Impossible! If she had been there when the girl got away, then we would have been able to sense her," objected the SECOND Triad.
"Not necessarily," the FIRST Triad interjected. "Not if she cloaked herself from the collective."
"But how? There's no way she's strong enough to pull that off on her own," the THIRD Triad member pointed out.
"Or we just underestimated her!" declared the FIRST Triad. "Which only reinforces what Gideon has been stressing all along. We need to find her and banish her from this collective. She has become a grave threat to it."
The darklighter balked at that revelation. No, they couldn't get rid of her. Not yet. He needed her to make his plan work. She needed to be kept alive a little bit longer.
"But our focus needs to be kept on the Charmed Ones until we acquire the Ultimate Power," the SECOND Triad stressed. "We can't afford to be distracted from our goal!"
"Pardon me, my lords," the darkligher interjected. "But one of the Charmed Ones is now out of commission. Without her, the other sisters don't stand a chance at obtaining the power. Why not take advantage of the situation and take the rest of them out of the equation?"
"Because they still have their Power of Three to back them up," the THIRD Triad member seethed. "Which means we still don't have enough power to stop them!"
"Yes, it seems that the return of the eldest Charmed One has secured that power. Even with the other sister gone," the FIRST Triad elaborated. "Which means, they operate much like us. The Power of Three is interchangeable. All four sisters can use it."
"How do you know this?" inquired the darklighter.
"Because we've tested it out ourselves," the THIRD Triad added. "We've sent other demons after them to grasp the extent of their strengths and weaknesses and we just sent a Cloner!"
"Which would require the Power of Three to take him out," the FIRST Triad interjected.
"And none of them have returned. Not even the Cloner!" the THIRD Triad finished explaining to the darklighter before them.
The darklighter swallowed nervously before continuing. "I have a proposition, my lords."
"And what might that be?" seethed the FIRST Triad.
"I have a plan to help secure the capture of the next generation for you. But, I'll need Lana to remain around a little while longer," he began to explain.
"Absolutely not ..." the SECOND Triad began to object, but was thwarted when the first TRIAD put his hand up to silence the protest.
"Continue!" the FIRST Triad ordered.
"I promise when I'm done, I'll be the one to bring her to you myself. This way you can keep your focus on the Charmed Ones and the Ultimate Power. Please, just allow me this one opportunity to prove to you it was not I that betrayed you. I am loyal, my lords!"
A long silence ensued.
"Very well!" announced the FIRST Triad. "But we are placing the responsibility of Lana on you, darklighter. And if she interferes with our plans again, you'll be the one to pay the price for it! Are we clear?"
The darkligher bowed his head before them.
"Now go! And don't fail!" came the final instruction. The darkligher watched as the Triad flashed out before him.
X
She could feel the tiny pelts of water collide with her face and then felt them gently glide down the sides.
Confusion.
At the same time there was a strong sensation of peace.
That was the aura this place gave off. Wherever here was. She felt like she was in this perpetual state of peaceful confusion.
Then there were the voices. Pleading, tearful, begging for her to return to a place that felt just out of her grasp. They would return on a consistent basis. In the beginning, she made unsuccessful attempts to make contact with them. At first, she thought she recognized the voices but then all recognition began to fade. Her consciousness slipped into her surroundings and she started to block them out, treating them as if they had all been a part of her imagination. She no longer tried to recall how she had come to be here nor did she question for how long.
Piper was sprawled out under the clear orange canvas that presented itself in the form of a sky. It was bright even as the rain came pouring down all around her. She opened her mouth to allow entry and swallowed. A warm healing sensation proceeded to course throughout her body after doing so.
Then she heard the familiar sounds of giggling.
Abruptly, Piper sat up. Her eyes surveyed the beautiful landscape in search of the two smaller figures who had been appearing, disappearing, and reappearing on occasion. A few times, she had gotten herself within reach but then their forms would just fade, taking their child-like laughter with them.
"Wait, come back!" Piper would plead in vain.
Once again, Piper spotted the same two figures. One was of a little boy and the other of a little girl. Through the long strands of grass, she spotted them running in the distance. The length of the grass helped to shield their identities. She began walking and picked up her pace in order to catch up.
The rain had merged with the shiny golden grass and the moisture glistened in the sunlight. Faster. And faster. Her pace picked up with the sounds of the beating coming from her heart. She was almost there. She would reach them this time. She had to reach them before they vanished into thin air. Finally, she was there.
The two figures had stopped running. All sound had ceased and silence ensued. There was no more laughter. No more sounds of conspiratorial giggling from the two children. Yes, definitely, this was the same little boy and little girl with their backs turned to her. Amazingly this time, they stayed. They did not disappear.
Gently, Piper reached out her hand and placed it against the little girl's shoulder. Slowly, she turned around until she was facing Piper. The little boy also turned around.
"Who are you?" Piper's voice trailed to the little girl's ears, as a sudden jolt of familiarity struck her.
But it was gone just as quickly.
X
The men hustled around with boxes in hand, stumbling over each other in the process.
"Oh my god, please be careful with those," Prue panicked, reaching out to grab one of the boxes about to meet the floor. "No drinks, no people. No people, no nightclub. No nightclub, one pissed off sister when she gets back! Got me?"
"Yeah, I got'cha, lady," the man uttered. He turned around to carry on with his workload.
Prue let out a deep breath and set the box down on the counter behind her. It was part of the remaining shipment needed for tonight.
The sisters had been forced to close down the club temporarily, for the last month or so, until they got some affairs in order. With everything going on all at once, it proved to be stressful. Between taking care of the boys, remaining close to Piper, the increasing demon attacks, and even with Victor helping out, it all just became too much to handle. However, the sisters knew that keeping the club closed couldn't continue indefinitely. Especially not with Piper's medical bills pouring in. So tonight was reopening night.
"Hey, lady, where do you want these?" the voice called out from behind her.
"Here, I'll take it," another voice volunteered.
As Prue turned around, she was greeted by the sight of Billie taking a stack of boxes from another worker. While attempting to walk, she struggled to balance them.
"Uh, wait, gimme," Prue rushed forward to grab the top boxes, which helped to even out the weight and Billie's balance. "Got it."
She walked back to the counter and placed the other boxes with the one she had retrieved moments before. Billie followed and proceeded to do the same.
"Thanks. What'cha got in there anyway? Glasses made out of granite?"
"Haha. Funny," Prue cracked. "No, it's for happy hour. And aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" She turned around to address her.
"Uh, yeah, well the professor was a no show so I decided to pay a little trip over here," Billie explained cheerfully. "Oh, and to see if you needed any help since Phoebe won't be able to make it," she finished, gritting her teeth.
Reaching over the counter, Prue grabbed for the sheets being used to keep inventory of the new shipment. "Uh-huh. Of course. Great," she muttered.
"Oh, but don't worry, she promised to still be here for the reopening," Billie quickly reassured her. "I guess things just got a little crazy for her over at the office."
"Well, things are about to get a little crazy here if we don't get this all sorted out in another couple hours." Prue glanced at her watch. "It's already past four."
Billie watched as Prue threw herself against the counter in defeat. Within the past two months, their growing relationship remained pretty neutral. Prue was just as uncomfortable with being thrust into a new mother role as Billie was uncomfortable with the idea of having another mother. Billie opened up with a few things about herself but there was still alot of ground to cover. On both ends.
Prue collected her bearings and then backed away from the counter. "And the kids?"
"Oh, they're with Paige. But I think she took them back to her place for awhile. Something to do with Henry. I think she's making him dinner or something to make up for all the time they've been apart. And to ask him to keep an eye on the kids so she can make the reopening in time."
"Right," Prue sighed. "Well, at least she has someone to go home to."
She knew she wasn't meant to, but Billie heard it anyway. The one thing she had been able to observe in the short time she had been around Prue, around her 'mother', was that she definitely had this tendency to keep feelings bottled up.
Billie smiled. "I'm sure Leo knows what he's doing," she tried to offer reassurance.
Leo had also been summoned away two months ago and the sisters hadn't seen nor heard from him since. This created some extra emotional baggage for Phoebe as well, who was separated from Coop because he too was absent.
"Yeah, let's hope," Prue smiled. "Because Wyatt and Chris need him back here soon. So does Piper."
"Right," Billie nodded.
"Right," Prue also nodded in agreement.
That hadn't been what Billie meant and it amazed her how fast Prue could spin something around and take attention off herself. She had been trying to offer some hope around the situation regarding Andy. Billie took it as a sign to leave it alone. So she dropped it. "Anyway," she sighed, "what can I do?"
"Okay, well, help me start to unpack these and I'll keep count," Prue changed the subject back to the immediate task at hand. "We need to hurry."
Billie pulled one of the boxes towards her and opened it. Inside, she found numerous glasses set in rows. She started to remove them with caution, while performing a mental count. Billie counted, Prue listened and recorded.
"Four more," reported Billie.
"Prue Halliwell?" came an unexpected voice from behind them.
Billie turned her head to give the man a glance over but Prue didn't turn to look at all.
"You can just put the boxes on the floor," instructed Prue, assuming the man was just another one of the many workers assigned to the shipments P3 had been expecting.
"No, I'm not here on account of P3," the man corrected her. "Well," he smirked, looking around. "Not in the way you may think."
This caught Prue's attention. "Well, how can I help you?"
"You just did."
Prue's face was beginning to show signs of the confusion she no doubt felt.
"This is Piper Halliwell's club?"
Scrunching up her brows from slight annoyance, she answered him back again. "Um, yes. Once again, who are you and how can I help you?"
The man smiled. "You've been served," he reached out and handed her a piece of paper that Prue accepted. "Thank you. Have a nice day."
"What was that about?" Billie asked, looking at Prue.
Silence ensued as Prue proceded to read the document. A few moments later she slammed the document against the top of the counter. "It's a lien. The hospital is coming after Piper's assets. Because of all the medical bills," Prue groaned, fighting back the migraine that was threatening to take over.
"Oh. They can do that?" came Billie's surprised reaction.
"They just did!" Prue answered.
"Why are they serving you?" Billie was confused.
"Because I applied last month to be power of attorney," Prue grabbed the document off the counter and began walking away.
"Wait! Where are you going?" inquired Billie. "What about the rest of this stuff?"
Prue continued to walk in the direction of the back room without turning around. "I'm making a quick call. Just pick up where I left off and I'll be right back."
Okay, thought Billie. She quickly wondered if things could get any worse but then quickly decided to amend that idea. Of course it could get worse, she answered for herself. It seems like the universe gets some sick thrill out of answering that question for people by showing them just how much worse it could actually get.
Billie busied herself with the task at hand.
X
JD sat in front of the computer screen, dazed and confused.
This was proving to be more of a challenge then he would have liked. When he had made the suggestion to scan the archives, he was thinking back to his time when one could actually scan the newspapers themselves. He didn't anticipate modern technology standing in his way as he sat there blankly observing the flat-screened contraption with a variation of symbols and words sitting across the screen. He had no idea what to do.
Lana sat beside him. "What's the problem?" she hissed into his ear.
"The problem?" he mimicked. "The problem is that I've never seen one of these in my life. Let alone tried to use one. Maybe we should wait for Billie and come back?"
"No!" she objected. "I don't have that kind of time to be wasting. The rest of the Triad is going to be coming after me. I need to do this now!"
"But I don't know how!" he countered in a harsh whisper.
"Well, then, figure it out," she countered back. "How hard can it be?"
Impatiently, Lana raised her hands as an electrical current came to life. Placing her hand against the computer, her energy generated sparks until it blew causing the screen to go blank and smoke to erupt from the connecting wires. The lights over head began to flicker. Suddenly, they drew everyone's attention.
"Oh, no! What did you do?" hissed JD, in a panic.
"What seems to be the problem over there?" a stern female voice could be heard from the background.
A librarian was approaching them from another direction and JD's instinctive reaction was to jump to his feet and pull Lana up with him.
"Ow!" she wailed. Lana threw him a glare and rubbed her arm.
"No problem here," JD answered the woman in a casual manner. Then he turned to Lana. "Move. Now. And I mean fast!" he instructed.
The two of them turned around and ran as fast as their feet could carry them out of the building.
X
The little girl with brown hair and a bright smile had a freckled face and stared intently at the woman standing before her. However, the little boy appeared a little more timid and he took a few steps backwards.
Piper smiled back at both of them. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," she tried to reassure them after the little boy's sudden reaction.
The little boy with the big blue eyes stood staring at the woman who had addressed them. At first, she thought she had only recognized the girl. That feeling had passed but now it returned as she stood observing the boy at a closer distance and she picked up on that same odd sense of familiarity she had felt when she used to listen to the voices.
"What are your names?" she asked them.
"Melinda," the little girl answered her. She turned to look at the little boy beside her but his only response was to shrug his shoulders and look down. "Okay, I'll tell her for you," the little girl responded. "His name is Seth."
She flashed them both a smile while she observed. It was almost like the little girl child could read the little boy's thoughts.
"Oh," she replied in a calm loving voice. "It's very nice to finally meet you. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Piper looked to both children.
The little girl looked to the little boy as if to seek his approval. Then, she turned back with her bright smile still in place. She nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Sure," her sweet voice sang. "It's okay to ask us both the question."
"Good," Piper laughed. "Do you know where we are? And why are you here all by yourselves?"
"That's two questions," the little boy suddenly blurted out, holding up two of his fingers to demonstrate.
The little girl giggled.
Piper broke out into a smile of her own. "Yes, I guess you're right."
"Besides, we're not here by ourselves," his young voice objected. "You're here with us."
Guess he got over the shy factor pretty quickly, surmised Piper. "That's true. I am here with you. Do you know where here is?"
The little girl nodded. "We're in the In-Between realm. Alot of us come here until it's our time," she explained.
Piper's brow furrowed. "Time for what sweetie?"
"Time to be born," she answered. "But you need to go back mommy or else I'll never get to be born." Her voice turned sad. "Seth will leave me and get born and I'll be here all alone.
Piper's eyes widened in shock. Mommy?
X
Phoebe kicked in the door to her darkened apartment, the tension and built-up frustration from another day taking its toll.
She knew she needed to get herself ready for the reopening of the club tonight because Prue and Paige would be expecting her there. She was just returning home after another long visit at the hospital. A part of her felt guilty for lying to Prue when she told Billie to tell her sister that work at the office piled over but she just needed to be with Piper. She was dreading being at the club tonight because none of it felt right without Piper.
Her thoughts were immediately put on hold.
Something didn't feel right. She used her hand to find the light switch on the wall, she flicked it on, but was then instantly greeted by a forceful blow to the face that sent her flying through the air and onto the small table in front of her couch. She thrashed around in the smashed pieces of table before taking note of her assailant.
"Let's see what you got witch," the demon sneered.
Damn, Phoebe, think, she told herself. Quickly, she gazed around the apartment until her eyes landed on the balcony doors. Then, she scrambled away from the debris, crawling around the couch as fast as her body could move. At the same time, the demon menacingly followed and she continued to crawl until she had him in the position she wanted: In front of the balcony doors.
"The incantation, witch? Where is it?" he bellowed.
"What incantation?" she played dumb.
The demon brought an energy ball to life, preparing to throw it in Phoebe's direction.
"No, wait! I know where it is. I'll tell you were it is!" she lied.
"Where?" snarled the demon.
Nodding her head in the direction of the balcony, she answered him. "There!"
While the demon distracted himself and turned around to look, Phoebe used the moment to lift herself off the floor. As the demon turned back to look at her, she immediately levitated herself into the air allowing her foot to make contact with the demon's face. She kicked him and sent him crashing through the glass doors and over the balcony. Phoebe lowered her body back to the floor. Slowly, she approached the balcony edge, careful to avoid the shards of broken glass lying everywhere beneath her feet. Peeking over the side, she witnessed the demon disintegrate after impacting the ground.
She glanced around nervously. "I really hope nobody saw that."
Suddenly, the stinging sensation coming from her face grabbed her attention as she made her way back inside and into the bathroom to tend to it. As she gazed into the mirror, a huge black and blue mark was beginning to show down the side of her face. Evidence of a very nasty bruise.
Great, she thought.
X
Henry sat around the kitchen table with the kids. He was keeping a watch on them so they could finish dinner and Paige could get ready for the reopening of P3.
Suddenly, Paige came around the corner in a fitting knee-length dress. She was in the mist of trying to pull her hair up when Henry took notice.
"Wow," he complimented her. "You look amazing."
"Are you sure?" she asked, feeling insecure. "Because I wasn't sure whether I should wear the black or the white one?" Paige glanced over at the clock. "And now, of course, I'm running late. Prue's going to be mad."
"Prue's going to be fine. Phoebe will be there with her," insisted Henry. "Just give her a call on the way out the door and let her know you're on the way. Besides, you had the kids with you, I'm sure she'll understand."
"I know, but still ..." Paige's voice drifted off.
Suddenly, their entire conversation was interrupted by the unexpected appearance of three demons, shimmering into the kitchen. Startled, everyone turned to look.
X
The dark atmosphere, with the rotating lights, filled P3 as the multitude of dancers swayed to and fro. A mixture of blue, white, and red flashing reflected off of both the patrons and the dance floor.
Anxiously, Prue glanced back and forth awaiting the arrival of both Phoebe and Paige. Where the heck were they, she wondered. They were already forty five minutes late past opening. Then, she noticed Billie squeezing through the myriad of dancers.
"Any sign of them?" Prue raised her voice, to carry it over the loud beat of the music.
"No," she answered back as she reached the counter. "I tried calling but they're not picking up the phone."
"Great, where the hell are they?" asserted Prue.
"Don't worry, I think everything's going great," Billie insisted. She looked around. "I mean, look. Everyone's having a great time." She noticed the worried expression that still graced her mother's face. "They'll show. Maybe they got stuck in traffic or something?"
"Maybe," Prue relented. She wanted to relax but she had this gut-wrenching feeling telling her that something was wrong. Or was about to go wrong.
Billie reached out for the glass on the counter as Prue swatted her hand away.
"Hey, I was just looking," she insisted.
Prue smirked. "Right. Well, let's hold off on the 'looking' until you're twenty-one, shall we? I may not remember when you were born but I can certainly do the math." She yanked the glass away.
Billie responded with a simple roll of her eyes.
Suddenly, everyone in the club was alerted to a loud booming sound that penetrated everywhere. Next, Prue and Billie were alerted to the breaking sounds of screaming coming from the dancers on the dance floor. Masses of people began to panic and run for the exits, while bolts of fire made their way up the walls. Electrical sparks could be seen overhead as the lighting attached to ceiling began to break away.
The music stopped.
"Uh-oh!" Billie shouted as her eyes scanned everywhere, searching for the cause, a cause she was almost certain to be demonic in nature and that's when she spotted him. "Hey!" she shouted, instinctively moving forward to try and stop him from escaping.
"Billie? Duck!" shouted Prue, as the light structure dangling from the ceiling finally came flying down. The cord had snapped.
Instantly, Billie looked up and then took a deep dive onto the floor, sliding into the masses of people trampling over her. The light structure barely missed her as it crashed onto the floor, shattering everywhere. Prue pushed through the crowds of panicking people to reach her. Grabbing a firm hold of her arm, she pulled her up from the floor even while others still roughly pushed past them.
"Over there!" Billie pointed and coughed from the growing smoke that was now filtering into her lungs.
Prue scanned the crowd. Then she caught sight of who Billie was referring to. The demon released an evil sneer before shimmering out of P3. Next, Prue's attention was drawn to the growing flames that were engulfing the walls throughout the rest of the club. The fire was spreading and spreading fast.
"Since when do demons risk exposure?" questioned Billie.
"They don't. Not without a very good reason," Prue answered. "But come on, we need to get out of here. This place is gonna go up."
Prue and Billie pushed their way back through the people until they reached the back room and the emergency exit leading to safety.
X
At the sight of the three demons standing inside her kitchen, her immediate thoughts drifted to the kids and their safety.
"Bedroom!" Paige called out.
The three kids were telekinetically-orbed out and then reappeared safely inside the bedroom. Once there, Wyatt immediately lifted his shield in order to protect Molly, Chris, and himself. However, startled by the sudden demon attack, Chris had begun to cry.
Unfortunately, because of Paige's urgency to protect the kids, one of the demons had been able to grab Henry without much trouble. An athame was being held tightly against his throat, drawing a small amount of blood.
"Let him go!" she demanded.
"Paige, go on! Get the kids and get out of here!" Henry insisted. However, the end result was for the grip on the knife to tighten against his neck. "Aah!" He gritted his teeth against the painful infliction.
The demon laughed. "How romantic. And here I thought chivalry was dead," he sneered some more. "But I'm afraid this one's going to cost you, witch!"
"I said let him go!"
The demon kept his sneer directed at her. "The incantation. For him!" they ordered.
All three demons shimmered out of the kitchen with Henry in tow.
"No!" Paige pleaded, as she took an instinctive step forward.
But it was too late. They were gone and she hadn't had enough time to react and save both Henry and the kids. Now Henry would pay the price. She knew being married to him would only hurt him in the end. There was only one thing left to do.
Get to Prue and Phoebe.
To Be Continued: Thanks for reading and don't forget to review because they do help me to know that people are still reading and interested. The Christmas holiday is coming up and I'm going to try and see if I can get another chapter done during that time.