The rain continued to fall on him like tiny little blades as the cold tore through the immortals body. Duncan was finally starting to relax and it had already been an hour since he had "returned" from whatever spiritual experience had ripped him from this reality earlier.
The tall, guarded man had finally found his breathing and the shock was wearing off. Clearing his mind, he concentrated on the world around him and grounding himself to the natural elements around him. Somehow, someway, focusing on the physical kept him there in the moment. Strong. Duncan had a feeling that he was going to need some strength if he were going to have to get used to scenes like the one that had just unfolded.
"Why haven't you found me yet," the aberration cried. "Find me, my Prince," the raven haired beauty asked the man, tall and fair with hair as white as the purest light.
"I search," he yelled out to her but he couldn't see her through the fog and mist of the forest. "Every day since and every day forward I search for you," he called out, his breathing ragged as he tried to follow the sound of her voice.
"My Prince," she seemed to whisper in his ear and for a moment he felt her so near to him but in an instant –the briefest of moments that it took him to turn in hopes of having her in his embrace again—she was gone.
Turning and twisting, he began to run and call out for her, "Sa—"
Her cup of tea fell from her hands as the vision pulled at her. Prue couldn't describe how it felt other than that it was like her soul was being ripped through her body.
Prue was a smart woman. She realized that her death had traded one life of dangers for another, and while she continued to practice and maintain her craft a certain part of her had never expected to be pulled by magic like this ever again.
It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and Prue had been unable to sleep after her experience earlier. Now it seemed as if she would remain sleepless for the foreseeable future. There was no way to predict how long the visions and this magic would last, or what she would have to learn before she was given any piece.
Getting up, Prue walked through the dark of her house. Oddly, she felt safer hiding among the shadows than being exposed in the light. This had never been her nature before. Light illuminated all things and provided answers; knowledge. She used to crave the light. Now she was fearful of what she would find.
Lighting a single candle, Prue allowed only the smallest source of light guide her as she painted what she had just seen.
"Hey kid," Richie yelled out as he ran to Billy. "Geesh, you move fast!"
Billy laughed. "Sorry, I just got out of a final and I'm heading back to P3. What are you doing here?"
"I take some classes here. Keeps me in touch and, well sane. Besides, what's the point of having forever if I do nothing with it?"
Billy screwed up her face in a strange type of smile and nodded her understanding. "I guess. Well, are you done for the day 'cause if you want you can help me set up the bar for tonight. It's Friday night and every kid on campus will probably be there so Paige has everyone coming in early to set up and prep for the rush. We could use the help," she prodded.
"Sure," he grinned. "How is Paige, by the way?"
"Oh, you know her. Never stopping for a moment. The twins are only three days old and she's micromanaging everything from home and keeping all of us in shape. I don't know why she was so worried about being a mom. She's like wonder woman!"
"Well, from what I've seen of the Halliwell women it seems to be a family trait," Richie said as he walked Billy to student parking. "Speaking of Halliwell women," he steered the conversation, "what's all this about there being a fourth sister?"
"Ooh," Billy hesitated and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "See, Paige wasn't raised with Piper and Phoebe. She was given up for adoption because their mom was afraid that if anyone knew there were four daughters that they would all be denied their powers. Prue was the oldest and apparently she bore the brunt of everything."
Richie's face clenched and his forehead wrinkled. "How so?"
"Well, their mom died when Prue was only six or seven and their dad had already split. Their Grams raised them but she was especially tough on Prue. Demanding that she stay home and raise her little sisters and all that junk. She wouldn't even let Prue go away to college or study what she wanted; Prue had to study history/ fine arts. I guess their Grams was trying to prepare them for when they got their powers."
Reaching Billy's car, the two stood there for a few minutes talking. "What do you mean by when they got their powers? Weren't they born witches?"
"Well yeah, they were born witches," she explained, "but their mom and Grams bound them in order to keep them safe until they were old enough to protect themselves but the old witch died before she gave them their powers back and basically left them defenseless. They had to learn the craft themselves and it apparently wasn't an easy road."
"So what does this have to do with Mac? He's been moping around for three days now and I can't get him to do anything. He's acting really strange."
"Well, the artist that you guys were looking for who turned out to be our mystery woman…it's Prue. She was killed eight years ago protecting an innocent and her sisters. Apparently the gene for immortality must run in their family. The sister's are pow wowing at the manor to try and figure things out."
"That is quite the bombshell," he replied. "Maybe I can drop by and see if I can help you guys figure anything out, seeing as Duncan's probably gonna be out of commission for a few days."
"Yeah, that'd be great. Listen, you know how to get to the club, right? Otherwise, you can follow me there. It's only a four hour shift and we can go back to the manor after and see what they've figured out."
Richie smiled at her. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'll see you in a few minutes."
The club was pumping and the band was awesome. It was exactly what she thought it would be when she had convinced Paige to book her favorite band, Jack's Mannequin. The lead singer, Andrew McMahon, was the front man for two bands and was wildly popular in Indie Rock/pop circles. He was such an energetic performer and the crowd loved him.
The shift had changed and the new waitresses were coming in for the closing shift. Billy grabbed Richie who she had roped into bussing tables and they went to the employee quarters to change.
"So, how do you like Piper's club?"
"I thought it was Paige's?"
"Well, it's Piper's and she built it from the ground up but she brought her sister's on as partners. Now that she's opening the restaurant she hired Paige to be the acting manager but I guess it's really a family business."
They walked out to the parking lot and were off to the manor. When they got there the sisters were seated at the dining room table, the entirety of it covered with old books that were family biographies and keepsakes.
"What's going on guys?" Billy put her bag down on the floor by the stairs.
Paige had Priscilla in her arms and jiggled the fussy baby until she choked back her sobs and fell asleep. Payton was asleep in a portable crib that was set up in the foyer.
"We have been researching every possible family member in hopes of figuring out how it's possible that Prue was able to become an immortal. Apparently no one else in the family line ever turned and it seems unlikely that she should have inherited the genetic mutation."
Phoebe walked up behind them and handed Paige a cup of tea. "We have no idea where to look now," she added to her sister's answer. "We decided to take a small break for the mommy here and Piper is just finishing a late supper for us to eat."
"Um, guys," Richie said. "I don't mean to overstep any boundaries but I might know why you haven't found anything."
The three women looked at him, intrigued. "Well, what do you think it is," Phoebe asked.
"You've been looking at your family for answers which is good," Richie said, "but you made one tiny mistake."
"Oh," Paige murmured. "And what might that be?"
"You're only looking at one side of your family. The maternal side. What if the answer is on your father's side?"
All three scrunched up their face and as only women could with very close friends and family, they all turned their heads to the kitchen, scrunched up their noses and closed their eyes as they all called out in unison, "Piper!"
"So, I just called dad," Piper told them. "He still doesn't know about Prue and I don't want to tell him until we find her. There's no reason to hurt him before we have to," she added. "He's gonna stop by tomorrow for lunch and to see the boys.
"I still can't believe we never thought to look at your father's side of the family," Paige said in disbelief. "How could we overlook something like that?"
"Wait, you mean you guys don't have the same father," Richie asked.
"My father was our mother's whitelighter," Paige explained. "They got together after our mom and Victor divorced so I'm really only their half-sister."
"Don't say it like that," Phoebe told her. "You're as much my sister as Piper or…"
"Go ahead," Piper said when Phoebe hesitated. "She's as much our sister as Prue was and still is. No matter how mad we are at her right now."
"I just…I don't understand," Phoebe stopped as the tears began to spill and Paige wrapped an arm around her.
"You don't understand how she could leave you," Paige said for her, "and maybe you never will but you won't know for sure until we find her. I can't believe that there's no reason for what she did," the youngest continued. "Everything you've ever told me makes me absolutely certain that there was a reason for what she did, even if we don't think it's a good one."
"Yeah, well one way or another she's going to give us an explanation," Piper said and rubbed her belly.
Duncan sat in the storage unit as he read through his old journals. He had kept them ever since he first turned. Before that he had no interest in chronicling his affairs because he was a boisterous young Scot with the rest of his life ahead of him. He had no idea at the time how right he was.
It had been a week since the dreams or invasions had started and Mac still had no idea what they were or what they should be called. The sisters had tried reaching him and he knew Richie was becoming worried about his mentor. Still, Duncan couldn't bring himself to face the torment of his past love. Not yet.
He had hoped his journals would shed some light on what he was experiencing. Unfortunately they did not. Standing, he grabbed the box of journals and left the storage unit. Suddenly, he felt the familiar feeling of another immortal and he braced himself for the attack.
When the stranger grabbed his shoulder, Duncan turned and used his arm to separate himself from his attacker by breaking the embrace and was surprised at the face smiling back at him. "Connor?"