Chapter 2: The Attic Visitor
"Merry meet!"
A young female greeted the group that gathered in front of her. She couldn't have been more then fifteen. Her face was smooth and sweet and it bore a distant familiarity. Her light brown hair rolled off her shoulders in long ringlets.
There was a peaceful atmosphere in the outdoor setting. The sun shone brightly, the birds sang sweetly. A warm breeze danced endlessly through the forest trees. It was a complete paradise, but still the girl's expression changed to almost absolute terror. A collision of screams overlapped all sounds that were present before.
The girl remained entirely still, standing in front of the altar. Aside from the fear in her youthful features, she seemed to be the calmest of the group. Silently, unmoving, she stayed, as the others violently rushed around her. Protecting her. Using magickal powers against some strong force. What was it that scared them so?
Every power imagined was being used. Telekinesis, astral projection, freezing, deflecting, flying. Even with the power of all eleven Witches put together, nothing seemed to stop or even slow the force that was attacking them.
One by one the Witches dropped and the terror in the young girl's eyes grew to an unbearable feeling. Only then did she move. Running, forcing herself not to look back. Chanting some sort of spell that flowed unheard from her lips.
Running. Fleeing from whatever horrible entity that chased her. Running. Her eyes clouded with fear. Unable to see properly, her foot slammed hard against an old tree root that poked out of the mossy forest floor and slowly, ever so slowly, she fell. She reached out for someone, calling their name. Then the forest hushed to an eerie silence. The young girl collapsed farther onto the ground, letting one last breath escape her lungs.
---
Phoebe Halliwell slowly opened her eyes and peer around her bedroom. Sunlight poured in from the window. There was movement in the house. One, if not both of her sisters were already awake.
She sighed, thinking about the young girl in the dream and how helpless she seemed. Eleven…and the girl makes twelve…people died by the evil doings of some powerful demon or warlock. How could something have so much power?
"Phoebe? Are you planning on getting up or spending the day in bed?" Piper's voice called from somewhere close. Phoebe rolled onto her side and didn't answer. She still had a tough time talking with her sisters. Ever since she informed them that Cole was still alive, she felt distant from them. Especially from Prue.
Piper gave two gentle knocks on Phoebe's bedroom door, before she opened it and casually walked in.
"Phoebe?"
Phoebe let a tear fall down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away and sat up, hugging her knees like a little child. She looked at Piper for awhile but still didn't say anything.
"What?" Piper continued to coax her younger sister to say something. Her expression changed when she saw tears in Phoebe's eyes.
"Phoebe!" Piper's voice turned to a comforting whisper and she moved in closer to her sister.
"Twelve witches died or are going to die! Some…force…strong enough to stand up to all their powers."
"Premonition?"
"Dream...premonition…I don't know!"
---
Prue was having another one of her bad days, so Phoebe didn't even bother saying something to her. She sat down at the table, across from her eldest sister, hoping that Prue would make the first move into a conversation. She brushed a strand of her light brown hair behind her ears and looked over at Piper for reassurance.
"Good morning to your too!" Prue uttered, not even looking up from her work that was spread out in front of her. Phoebe let out a frustrated cry and stormed out of the house. She was not sure where she would go, but she needed to get out. "What's up with her?" Prue looked up at Piper, who was standing at the counter in the kitchen.
"She's upset, Prue! Which you would have known if you spent a little time talking with her." Piper rolled her eyes and started for the front door. Prue followed close behind. "You're leaving too?"
"I've got work to do at p3."
---
"She's different, Piper!" Phoebe leaned over the bar counter, watching Piper on the other side.
"We all are." Piper put a coaster in front of her sister and began preparing a drink.
Phoebe looked down at it, raising it a little with her fingers. She let out a short gasp of surprise.
Slowly, ever so slowly she fell.
"Help me!" The young girl reached out for someone and collapsed farther onto the ground, letting one last breath escape her lungs.
"Phoebe? What did you see?" Piper asked. They were the only ones at the club, so she didn't have to worry about keeping her voice down.
"The girl...she's still alive!"
Piper took the coaster from her sister and stared at it. She held it out and looked at Phoebe puzzled.
"You got that from a plain, flat, plastic coaster?" Piper questioned.
Phoebe shrugged and grinned. It did seem sort of odd. Her premonitions were always related to the things she touched. "It's what I saw."
---
Piper entered the Manor's attic, looking for some peace and quiet. It had been a long day. Phoebe's premonitions were getting more and more detailed and closer together. Who ever the girl was, she was desperate.
Prue and Phoebe were in the living room, having a private chat. Prue eventually agreed to listen to her, but only because Piper kept nagging her to.
Piper looked over at the Book of Shadows that sat silently on its stand and watched as the pages started flipping.
"Leo?"
Piper thought back to the time when she and her sisters had first discovered that it was either Leo or the Elders who scanned the pages of the book and not Grams. The pages kept turning, but slower then Leo usually does it. There was something odd going on.
Faster and faster the pages flipped. Piper cautiously walked towards the book.
"Leo? Are you here?"
The book stopped on an empty page near the end.
"Prue! Phoebe!" Piper called, her eyes glued to the Book of Shadows with confusion as the pages started flipping again. "Prue! Phoebe! Get up here!"
She listened as her sisters came rushing up the stairs. Piper looked up at them as they entered. Prue and Phoebe joined their sister as the book stopped again on a blank page. Phoebe turned a few pages in uncertainty. Why a blank page? As she placed the pages down her ears began to ring and she gasped.
Slowly, ever so slowly she fell.
"Free me! The power of three…spell…please help me! The young girl reached out for someone and collapsed farther onto the ground, letting one last breath escape her lungs.
"Phoebe?" Prue sounded concerned.
Phoebe looked down at the blank page as an incantation wrote itself on to it. She looked at her sisters.
"This spell will set her free."
"Free from what?" Prue asked unsure.
"What ever she's running from, I guess."
Together, the three of them read the incantation. All of them unsure what they were unleashing. Good or...evil.
FROM OUR PRESENT AND YOUR PAST
YOU'LL BE SAFE AT LAST
WITH THE POWER OF THREE
WE'LL SET YOU FREE
There was a moment of silence. An agonizing silence as the three sisters waited patiently to see what they have freed. Phoebe became more and more restless as a consuming regret built up in the pit of her stomach.
"What's going on?"
In unison the sisters looked up at their Whitelighter who had just orbed into the attic.
"What?" Piper's voice barely came out.
"You called me?"
Before any of them could answer, a gush of cold, damp air swirled around them. The Book of Shadows slammed shut in unison with the attic door and a fifth figure appeared in the room. Male or female the four weren't sure, for it was covered in a long black silk cloak. A hood completely covering its face. Even when it looked up, the figure appeared to be faceless. "There are four of you?"
A female. The figure's voice indicated a young female. The girl?
"Who are you?"
The sisters looked at the girl with great confusion. Prue stepped up slightly.
"Isn't that a question we should be asking you?"
The female figure perked up. Her eyes glowing blood red in the shadowed hood. With one brief flick of her hand, she sent the sisters flying backwards. Slamming into the wall. Leo orbed to a different location in the attic to avoid her blast. The girl turned to him abruptly.
"A Whitelighter?"
She took one step towards him and raised her hands, which now held a Darklighter's crossbow.
"Leo!!" Piper panicked and froze the girl before she fired. "Leo, get out of here!"
As the Whitelighter orbed back to his domain, the girl unfroze. She stared angrily at the sisters, her eyes still glowing red in the black hooded cloak.
"Don't do that again!" With one swift movement she shimmered over to Piper. Her hand pressed firmly on the Charmed One's forehead, draining the powers out of her. Draining the life out of her. Prue swung her arm and flung the girl away. Phoebe ran to her sister's aid as Piper collapsed.
The girl shimmered again towards the three sisters. Prue swung her hand again, but this time, the girl was ready. She deflected Prue's powers with one hand and sent Prue flying back again with the other.
"Piper?" Phoebe brushed her sister's dark hair, ignoring whatever else was going on. Piper's eyes were closed and she lay there motionless.
Phoebe rose. Anger filling every feature of her face and posture. The girl turned to her confrontationaly.
"Who are you? Why have you asked us to free you?"
"Free me?" The young girl backed up, feeling threatened by Phoebe's stance. She raised her hands, prepared to attack.
"Phoebe!" Prue had made it over to where Piper lay, still motionless.
At the sound of the younger sister's name the girl froze and her eyes dimmed back into the blackness of her hood. "Phoebe?" She pulled her hood back, revealing her face for the first time since she appeared in the attic. She was the girl in Phoebe's premonitions. "Phoebe Halliwell?"
The whole atmosphere of the room changed completely. Without the hood, the girl was just a frightened child.
Prue stood up, ready to use her powers to their fullest.
"Who are you?" Phoebe asked, still quivered with anger.
"Please forgive me. I didn't know that you were the Charmed Ones."
"What did you do to her?" There were tears in Prue's eyes. Her voice was shaky. "Is she…"
"Where's your Whitelighter when you need him?"
"You shut-up! You almost killed Leo."
The girl backed up, holding her hands out to prove that she won't harm them again.
"Leo!" Both sisters yelled returning to Piper's side. The Whitelighter orbed in shortly after and immediately was at Piper's side, trying to heal her. Light flowed out of his palms and around Piper's body. Leo looked down at his fiancée, then up at Prue and Phoebe.
"She's dead!"
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