She was alone. She didn't mean for it to happen, but it had. And it was all her fault. They had all disappeared. She kept trying to get them back, but it wouldn't work. All because she didn't think before she spoke. --- "Phoebe, wait, don't put that there!" Piper yelled across the club. Phoebe was about to set a large messy tray on top of the club's book keeping. Piper craned her neck as she clamped the phone between her ear and shoulder, balanced a tray with her left hand, and wiped off a table with the other. "Put it on the end of the bar." Phoebe complied, but she didn't notice that the tray wasn't completely on the bar before she let go of it. It started to fall and Piper noticed that. She dropped her wrag and tried to turn in order to freeze it, but she lost her balance with her tray and the phone fell from her shoulder. Everything came crashing down and Piper cried out in frustration while Phoebe and Prue cried out in surprise. Piper stood there, almost growling from her frustration as she stared at the mess at her feet and the mess at the end of the bar. "Okay, Piper, you just need to calm down," Prue said. "Your inspection isn't for another two hours. We will clean. You take care of the business end of it all." Piper took a deep breath and bent to pick up the phone. She told the person on the other end she would call back and then grabbed the club's books, taking them back to the office. "We really need to teach her some stress management techniques," Phoebe said with a smirk. "Well, you never seem to get stressed about anything. You can try it," Prue said. "I'm not going anywhere near her right now. She might drop another bookcase on my head." Phoebe just laughed and shook her head as she grabbed a broom and started sweeping up broken glass. --- Percy watched all this from the astral plane and smiled. 'So, the middle one is stressed,' he thought. 'People under stress often act and speak without thinking. This can come to my advantage.' He chanted an ancient spell and directed his magic toward Piper. She didn't even know what hit her. --- Prue and Phoebe sat at the bar, while Piper stood in front of them. They all watched the fire marshall checking over the club with great scrutiny. The health inspector had been in before him to make sure P3 wasn't violating any health codes. They had passed that inspection, but Piper was still on edge. Inspection time was always the worst time to be around Piper because she was always extremely stressed. Then out of the corner of her eye, Piper noticed something major that could possibly cause her to fail the inspection altogether. She gasped and wanted to fix it, but she knew the inspector would see. "Oh God," she said under her breath. He was getting closer to the violation and Piper crossed her fingers. "Please don't see it. Please don't see it. Please don't see it." Seconds later the inspector turned on his heel and approached Piper, scribbling on his clipboard. She thought he had seen it, and she cringed, waiting to hear him say that she had failed. "Well, ma'am, everything seems to be up to code here," he said. "Some of it's even above our standards." "Huh?" Piper asked, confused. Then she caught herself. "Uh, oh, of course. P3 has nothing but the highest standards of safety." "I can tell," he said with a smile. He signed a form and then passed it over to Piper. "You've passed inspection. See you in another six months." "Right," Piper said. Once he had left the club she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh my God!" "What?" Prue and Phoebe asked. "Hello, major code violation alert," Piper said. She walked over to the violation. There were several bare wires sticking out of the plug of a speaker. She unplugged the speaker and made a mental note to call someone to fix it. "I can't believe he didn't see that." "He was standing right next to it," Prue said, agreeing with Piper. "How could he not have seen it?" "Who cares? The point is, he didn't. Now, you can fix it, and you don't have to worry about inspections anymore," Phoebe said. "So, are we done here?" "Uh, I still have to go over the books. That's going to be so much fun!" Piper said sarcastically. "I would love to be on a beach right now." Prue and Phoebe's eyes widened when Piper suddenly disappeared out of the club. "What the...?" Phoebe began. "...hell?" Prue finished. They both looked frantically around the club for their sister, but she was nowhere to be seen. --- Piper looked around wondering where she was and how she got there. All she knew was that she had said she wanted to be on a beach and there she was, standing on beautiful white sands. She saw a young woman sunbathing and approached her. "Excuse me," Piper said. She suddenly felt out of place. She was wearing a long sleeve sweater and black jeans, and the young woman was wearing a string bikini. The woman looked up at Piper. "Uh, hi. What beach is this?" The woman looked at Piper like she was nuts and then replied, "Daytona." "Florida?!" Piper asked in surprise. "Yeah," the woman said. Then she laid her head back down and returned to her sunbathing. Piper tried to think back to how she had arrived there. She was in the club. She was talking to her sisters, and she had wanted to be on a beach. She thought back to the episode where she and Phoebe had turned into warlocks for a short time. They had gained the power to blink. Piper thought about P3, but nothing happened. So, she wasn't blinking. Then she remembered that she had said that she wanted to be on a beach. That was it. "Um, okay, I want to be in P3," Piper said, not expecting it to work. But sure enough a second later she was standing in P3 and finding her sisters calling for Leo. They both jumped when she appeared. "What the..." Phoebe began. "...hell?" Prue finished. Then she approached Piper. "What happened?" "I went to the beach," Piper said frankly. "Oh my God, you're blinking again," Phoebe said with worry. "No, I don't think it's blinking," Piper replied. "It doesn't work when I think about it. Only when I say it." "So, if you say where you want to go, you go there?" "Yeah, hang on a sec," Piper said. "I want to go to the attic at home." She disappeared and Prue and Phoebe just stared at each other, waiting for her to return. A few seconds later, Piper appeared holding the Book of Shadows. "This is too cool," Phoebe said, a huge grin spreading across her face. "You've got another new power. Man, when you get a growth spurt, you really get a growth spurt." "That's odd," Prue said. "You got two new powers in less than a month?" "Jealous?" Piper asked with a laugh. "No, just curious. It took over a year for Phoebe and me to get our second powers and it took you two years. Now you've got a third. It's kinda weird, don't ya think?" "Maybe," Piper said. "That's why I've got the Book. So, we can check." "It still weirds me out how much like blinking this is, though," Phoebe said. "Are you sure it's not blinking?" "I'm sure. Just help me look in the Book," Piper said. Immediately Phoebe grabbed the Book of Shadows and started flipping the pages like she was on a mission. Prue and Piper watched her, confused. "Okay, Phoebe, it's not that important. You don't have to look so hard," Piper said. Phoebe stopped and looked at her sisters. "All right, that was too weird," Phoebe said. "You told me to help you look and I felt like that was the most important thing in the world for me to be doing right now." "Hang on a second," Prue said. "Piper, say that you want a cow." "What? Prue, what are you...?" Piper began to ask. "Just say it." Piper sighed and rolled her eyes. "I want a cow," she said. Suddenly a cow appeared in the middle of P3. They all jumped. "Oh my, I don't want a cow. I don't want a cow. Go away cow!" Piper said frantically. The cow disappeared and Piper just stared at the spot where it had stood in shock. Then she looked at her sisters. Phoebe was equally surprised. Piper decided to test this out some more. "Prue, do a back handspring." Immediately Prue moved to a clear area and did what Piper told her. The sisters all just looked at each other, not sure what to make of this. Piper was the first to speak. "Anything I say happens." --- On the way back to the Manor, the sisters got stuck in traffic. They all waited impatiently in the gridlock. The guy behind Piper was laying on his horn. "Let's move it!" he yelled out his window. Piper just shook her head, thinking how ridiculous the guy was acting. Like his yelling would get traffic moving! Then she had an idea. Just as she was about to say the words, Prue stopped. "Don't do it, Piper," she said. "Until we figure out if this is actually a new power or not, don't use it. You have no idea what could happen." Piper sighed in frustration. The guy behind her continued to yell and lean on his horn. Finally Piper turned and looked back at him. "What is your problem, buddy?" she hollered. "You are, if you don't shut up," he yelled angrily. "Oh, you know what? You can just go to..." "Woah!" Phoebe said as she yanked Piper back into the car. "Do not finish that sentence!" Piper realized what she could have done and quickly closed her window. She stared straight ahead, trying to keep her temper in check. They sat in the same spot for nearly fifteen minutes. Finally, Piper couldn't contain herself anymore. "Ugh! I hate traffic!" She didn't think a simple statement like that would do anything. How wrong she was! All the cars around them disappeared, and the sisters looked around in shock. "Piper! Bring the cars back!" Prue cried, hoping in vain that no one would notice this. "I want the traffic back! I love traffic," Piper said, trying to fix what she had done. All the cars reappeared and they all breathed a sigh of relief. They looked around and waited for someone to cry out in alarm or something. But nothing happened. People continued to lay on their horns and yell. "Okay, Piper, just don't talk until we get home," Phoebe said. "You're frustrated right now and you can't be sure what something you say will do." Piper grunted in frustration and decided then and there that she didn't want this power, whether she was supposed to have it or not. --- They didn't even have to bother calling Leo. He was already there waiting for them. They didn't have to ask. "It's not a new power," he said. "They don't know where it came from, but they do know that it could be extremely dangerous. It's like the danger of the genie's wishes magnified by a thousand." "I don't want to hurt anybody, but how can I possibly know what my words can do? I can't possibly be that careful," Piper said. She sat on the couch next to Leo. "We'll figure out who did this to you and set things right," Phoebe said. Then she looked to Leo. "Okay, who could have done this?" "Pick a warlock, any warlock," Prue commented. Leo nodded his head. "A warlock or alchemist would be the only one capable of doing this, but alchemists rarely bother trying to take on witches," Leo explained. "All right, so verbal curses," Prue suggested. "Let's look in the Book." "I'm just going to, uh, make some tea," Piper said as she stood. "Hey, are you okay?" Phoebe asked. "Yeah, I just...I'll be back," Piper said, choosing her words carefully. She went to the kitchen alone and the others watched her, concern evident on their faces. They went to looking through the Book until they heard a cry coming from the kitchen. They all ran to see what happened. Piper was standing there clutching her left wrist and staring at her left hand. It was red and blistering. It appeared as if she had spilled boiling water on her hand. Leo quickly went to her and healed her hand. "What happened?" Prue asked. "I just muttered under my breath for it to boil faster and it splashed onto my hand," Piper explained once Leo had completely healed her. She turned and headed out of the kitchen. They followed her to the stairs. "Piper, wait," Phoebe said. "Where are you going?" "To my bedroom," she replied. "I just can't...I mean, everything I say has the potential to hurt me or someone else. And if I hurt you guys out of carelessness..." "Piper, it'll be okay. You're not going to hurt anyone," Leo said. "But I just did," she said. She continued to her bedroom. "Just don't...I need to be alone," she said as she swung the door shut. No sooner had the door slammed shut than she realized what she had just said. She turned and opened the door, but her sisters and Leo weren't in the hallway anymore. "Oh no. Oh God," she said. She rushed to the top of the stairs. "Prue! Phoebe! Leo! Are you there?" --- Percy saw what had happened and knew it was the perfect opportunity. He took back the power that he had given to the middle Charmed One and smiled with accomplishment. He had done it. He had broken the Power of Three. --- "No," Piper said. "Come on. Work. I don't want to be alone. I don't need to be alone. I want Prue, Phoebe and Leo back. Come on!" It wouldn't work. She knew now that the power had been given to her by some evil being, and apparently it had just been taken away. She paced in the foyer, trying to think of anything she could say to bring her family back. "Please, bring them back," she pleaded with no one. She sat on a chair and held her head in her hands trying to think of what exactly she had done. She had said that she needed to be alone. So, did that mean that she was completely alone? Had she caused her family to cease to exist, or had she done that to all people? Or was she just banned from having contact with other people? She didn't know how far the magic reached. She decided that was the first thing she had to figure out. Because if she could contact someone by phone she could possibly figure out if she had killed her sisters and her husband. She picked up the phone and dialed her father's phone number. It rang once and then she got a recorded message. "We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again." She dialed the number three more times, getting the same message. Then she tried P3. She got the same message. She decided that the phone wasn't available to her. Her next test was the front door. She reached for the knob and tried to turn it, but it didn't move. She kept pulling and turning, but she couldn't get the door open. She went to the kitchen and tried the back door, but that didn't work either. The patio doors wouldn't open as well. She tried the windows and they wouldn't move. She picked up a paperweight and hurled it at a window, but the paperweight just bounced off and fell to the floor. She decided then that she was trapped in the Manor. She collapsed on the sofa and stared at the floor. She didn't know what else to do. She had exiled herself from all human contact and she didn't even know how to fix it. --- Prue, Phoebe and Leo looked at each other and then looked at their surroundings. They were standing on the sidewalk across the street from the Manor, and they had no idea how they had arrived there. "Leo, did you orb us out here for some reason?" Phoebe asked. "No," Leo replied. The three of them crossed the street and headed up the front steps of the Manor. When they reached the door, Prue tried it, but it wouldn't budge. "The door's stuck," she said as she pushed on it. "Use your power," Phoebe said. Prue shook her head. "I'm not breaking the lock unless I have to," Prue said. She left the porch and walked around to the patio doors. They wouldn't move either. They went to the kitchen door, but it wouldn't budge. Prue tried to use her power on the back door, but she had no luck. They tried windows, but they wouldn't move. "This is really weird," Prue said as the three of them went back to the front porch. "We're locked out of the Manor." "She needs to be alone," Leo muttered, almost to himself. "What'd you say?" Phoebe asked. "She said that she needed to be alone," he replied. "She's alone now." "Wait, are you saying that Piper did this?" Prue asked. "Yes, she did," Leo said. He held up his hand, signalling for them to wait a moment and he tried to orb in to Piper. Seconds later, he was back. "Surely, she would have realized what she had done," Phoebe said. "Maybe. Maybe not," Leo said. "She was upset. She might not have caught on to it." "Well, she will eventually," Prue said. "She won't lock herself away in her room forever." "Yeah, but how long will it take her to notice and fix it?" Phoebe asked. "We'll just have to wait and see," Prue said. She sat on the porch steps and Leo and Phoebe did the same, the three of them waiting for Piper to fix the problem, not even knowing that she couldn't. --- Piper flipped frantically through the pages of the Book of Shadows, hoping to find some kind of warlock that could give her the power to make things happen with just a few careless words. But everything she looked at didn't seem right. She knew if Phoebe were there she would find the solution in a heartbeat. Piper really didn't know the Book of Shadows as well as she probably should. She grunted in frustration after twenty minutes of fruitless searching and flipping. 'Prue and Phoebe would know what to do,' she thought. Then she mentally reprimanded herself. She always knew in the back of her mind that there would come a time when Prue and Phoebe wouldn't be there to solve a magic problem, and she knew that this was that time. She was on her own. It didn't matter if she didn't know the Book of Shadows as well as her sisters. It didn't matter if she couldn't contact Leo. It was all up to her. "I can do this," she said, looking at the Book of Shadows. "It's just you and me. Let's do this." --- "It's been like two hours," Phoebe said as she paced back and forth across the yard. Leo was still sitting on the porch steps. Prue was looking in the windows, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of Piper inside. "Something's wrong," Leo said. "She would have realized by now that she was alone in the house." "Do you think something's happened to her?" Prue asked, turning away from the window to look at Leo. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe the warlock or whatever that gave this power to her, took it away. Maybe they saw what she had done and took the opportunity. Right now the Power of Three is broken." "And the Book of Shadows is inside with Piper," Prue added. "It figures that the one of us that knows the least about the Book is the one that's stuck with it," Phoebe scoffed. "You don't think she'll figure this out?" Prue asked. "Oh, I think she will. It'll just take longer," Phoebe said. She returned to sit on the porch steps. "So, what do we do until Piper figures out a way to fix this?" "It looks like we'll just have to wait," Leo said. "And your bosses know nothing about this?" Prue asked. "If they did, I'm sure they would have contacted me by now," he replied. "Well, we can't just hang around outside the Manor for however long it's going to take Piper to figure this out," Phoebe said. "I suggest we go to P3." "I don't have my car keys," Prue said. Phoebe sighed. Then she looked at Leo. He shook his head. "It's a major violation of the rules," he said. "Will they be able to detect if you orb us over there?" Phoebe asked. "No, but..." "Well, we won't tell them if you won't," Prue said. Leo tried to hold his ground, but he caved. "All right, but this is the only time," he said. He put his arms around Prue and Phoebe's shoulders and muttered under his breath before orbing out, "I feel like a cabbie." --- The one good thing about Pipers situation was that she had no disturbances while she looked for an answer. No phone calls. No work. Not even any demons. It was just her and the Book of Shadows. She was starting to get somewhere when her stomach growled at her. She hadnt eaten all day. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. She had spent four hours working on this problem. It was time for a break. As she headed downstairs she didnt see the pages of the Book of Shadows turning on their own. --- "Okay, guys, Im worried," Phoebe said, sitting at the bar of P3. The staff would show up soon to open the club, and nobody had heard from Piper yet. "I figured it might take her a little while to figure out how to fix this, but I honestly thought she wouldve had it by now." "We just have to have faith in her, Pheebs," Prue said, pacing behind the bar. "Logically, Piper is totally alone. So, at least shes safe. Nobody, good or evil, can get into the Manor." "One hell of a protection spell," Phoebe quipped. "But what if, just for the sake of argument, Piper never figures this out? Since she cant be around any people that means she cant leave the house. Theres only so much food in the Manor. In fact, I think we were in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store." "Okay, thats talking several days, though, that it would take for her to starve to death," Prue said. "I think weve got enough food to last her quite a while before that could happen." "Piper will figure it out," Leo said confidently. "In the meantime, I think we should try figuring out some way to break through the barrier and get into the Manor. I mean, you could try writing a spell or making a potion to get in." "Well, a potion is out," Prue said. "Unless you can figure out a way of making alcohol magical." "The only magic that stuff will do is guide you into a one night stand," Phoebe joked. "We can work on the spell. I just hope Pipers getting somewhere with this." --- She returned to the attic to find the Book of Shadows on a different page than what she left it on. It explained evil curses, most of which are associated with people who use voodoo for dark purposes. Like witchcraft, there was black voodoo and white voodoo. Piper read about some voodoo cults that disbanded. Most of the evil voodoo practitioners now worked alone. "So, it was a voodoo curse," she said to no one. "Now were getting somewhere." --- Percy sat in his chamber in deep meditation. The one problem with his little accomplishment was that he couldnt get into the Manor to take Piper out while she was alone. He had to build up the power to either break through his own magic that was set upon the Manor, or he had to find the other two Halliwells and get rid of them. He had his reservations about going after the youngest and eldest because he knew from his sources that they were the fighters in the family. He knew that once he was inside the Manor, Piper would be easier to defeat. He just had to build his strength. He slowly emerged from his meditative state and reached forward, grasping the cup that held the mixture inside. It was created from an ancient recipe, preserved over time even after his familys cult disbanded. He touched the cup to his lips, slightly hesitant, but then he drank it quickly, grimacing at the bitter taste. The warm liquid coated his throat and settled in his stomach. Then he felt a surge of energy and fell backwards. His body convulsed and his limbs thrashed about violently, knocking over a lamp and a table. This continued for almost a minute, until finally it stopped. He laid on the floor, breathing heavily. Then he stood and looked around. He felt a strength inside him that he hadnt felt before. It was surging. He believed that the potion had worked. He went over to the ornate mirror hanging on the wall and said a few words in an ancient language. The mirrors surface distorted momentarily until it showed an image of Piper looking through the Book of Shadows. Percys heart pounded at the thought of being in the same vicinity as the notorious book. He would go and kill Piper. Then he would take the Book of Shadows and use it to kill her sisters. He waved his hand across the mirror and it distorted back to its reflective surface. Then he turned on his heel and left to make history as the one who defeated the Charmed Ones. --- Piper jolted awake when her chin slipped off the heel of her hand. She realized she had deozed off shen she looked down at the table and saw all the books strewn about the laptop. "Im out of practice," she muttered as she rubbed her eyes. She hadnt pulled a witch craft all-nighter for quite a while. She stood and stretched, trying to work all the kinks out of her neck and back, and then she went to make some coffee. Knowing in her heart that her family was still alive, she was a little too relaxed as she searched for a way to fix her little problem. It hadnt occurred to her that the person who had done this to her could come after her. --- "All right, lets try this one," Prue said. The three of them had locked themselves away in Pipers office after explaining to the assistant manager that Piper was sick. The club would be closing in an hour and the three of them were growing more and more concerned that they wouldnt be able to break through the magic that was holding piper hostage in her own home. "This is like the tenth spell that weve tried," Phoebe said in frustration. "I have a feeling were not going to break through." "We cant give up," Prue said. "Theres got to be a way for us to get inside the Manor." "Just keep trying," Leo encouraged them. "Im starting to get worried about Piper." "Why? Shes safe for now," Phoebe said. "What if were wrong? What if the warlock that gave her that power has the ability to break through?" Leo asked. "What other reason would he have to make her this vulnerable if not to capitalize on it?" "It would make sense," Prue said, starting to worry as well. "Come on, Pheebs. Lets try this spell." --- Percy arrived at the Manor and just stood on the lawn for a few minutes, smiling in excitement about what he was going to do. Then he walked up the front porch steps and reached for the doorknob. He could feel the magic that he had created surrounding the house. His skin tingled as he slowly twisted the knob. With great effort he pushed the door open and then he stepped into the foyer. He carefully closed the door, sure not to make a sound. Then he pulled the knife out of his coat pocket and went in search of his prey. --- "Fight voodoo with voodoo?" Piper wondered aloud as she read from a website. She scrolled down the page. "I dont know voodoo." She had yet to find anything substantial to help her with her problem. Voo doo and Wicca were two very different magicks, and it was becoming apparent to Piper that they didnt mix well. Then she gasped as she read the words on the screen. To Remove A Curse. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever read. "To remove a curse, the administrator of the curse must die or the victim of the curse must do the following" Piper continued to read about a ritual that involved the burning of certain herbs, chanting and the blessing of a voo doo doll. It looked fairly simple to her, as long as she had the herbs to do it. "I love the Internet," Piper said as she copied the ritual onto paper. What she didnt know was that she was no longer alone in the house. --- She had all her supplies gathered in the parlor and she was ready to start. Piper poured the mixture of herbs into the ritual basin and dropped in the match. The herbs began to smolder and produce smoke. Then Piper consulted the instructions. "Say this chant to weaken the curse," she read. But before she could start, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and was shocked to see a man standing there. He was holding a knife. "Well, hello there. And what are you doing?" he asked with a sinister grin. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" "Names Percy," he replied. "And I just broke through my own magic. Nothing to it." He approached her and took a look at what she was doing. "Well, you figured this out faster than I thought you would. I under-estimated you." Piper threw up her hands in an attempt to freeze him. He froze for a few moments, but he soon broke through it. He laughed. "Seems that potion allows me to break through more than just my own magic." He lunged at Piper with the knife, but she managed to jump out of the way. She spun around, backing away from him and trying to think of a way to stop him. She didnt want to use her explosive power on him because she knew from her research that voo doo shamans were human. That was one mess she wasnt about to clean up. He lunged at her again and this time the edge of the knife sliced along her left side, cutting deep into her flesh. She cried out and then clutched her side as she hurried out of the room. He chased after her. She thrust out her left hand when she saw him rounding the corner and a piece of the wall exploded in his face. He was stunned long enough for her to stumble to the kitchen, where she had left the Book of Shadows and all her research materials. She shuffled through the books and papers, searching in vain for something that could help her. He appeared in the kitchen doorway and was near the island when she thrust her left hand out again. The explosion she caused was one that neither of them were ready for. As the stove exploded in flames, Percy was thrown over the kitchen table and out the window, while Piper was thrown out the back door, smashing hard into the washing machine. She slumped to the floor, unconscious and bleeding. She wasnt aware that Percy was dead, thus breaking the curse. --- It was past closing time at P3, and the three had moved back out into the general area of the club. Leo was pacing the dance floor while Prue and Phoebe worked on writing yet another spell. They both looked up when they heard Leo cry out. He was clutching his left side. "Leo? Whats wrong?" Prue asked as they stood and approached him. "I can sense Piper again," he said. He was slowly getting control over the pain he felt in his side and throughout his body. "Shes hurt. I have to go." "Wait, is the spell actually broken?" Phoebe asked. "It has to be," Leo said. He was about to orb out, when he stopped. "Shes not alone there." "What do you mean?" Prue asked. "Theres mortals there. Several mortals," he explained. "I cant orb in." "Can you orb someplace where nobody would see you?" Phoebe asked. "Too risky," he said. "All right, then were calling a cab," Prue said. She picked up the phone and hit speed dial for the cab company. --- "I heard an explosion, and when I looked out the window I saw the flames and that man lying on the ground outside the house," the Halliwells neighbor explained to Darryl. He nodded his head and took notes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a cab pull up and then he saw Prue, Phoebe and Leo get out. He turned to the woman. "Okay, maam," he said. He pointed to a uniformed officer. "Officer Keats will finish taking your statement. As Darryl approached, Prue, Phoebe and Leo couldnt help but be astonished by all the flashing lights around their home. The fire department, police and ambulance were all there. "Darryl, what happened?" Prue asked. "There was an explosion in your kitchen," he explained. The coroners employees then took that moment to pass by with a black body bag. Darryl noticed three sets of eyes widen in shock and fear. "Thats not Piper," he explained quickly. "That was a man by the name of Percival Benoit." "Wheres Piper?" Leo asked. "The paramedics are still getting her stable enough to go to the hospital," Darryl explained. "But they think shes going to be all right. Some minor burns and some bruises, and she had a cut on her left side. Seems Percival may have attacked her. That explosion probably saved her life." The group approached the house just as the paramedics emerged carrying a stretcher with Piper on it. She was conscious and when she saw them her eyes lit up. She lifted her left arm and waved to them. They hurried over. The paramedics paused for a moment and Piper removed the oxygen mask. "I dont ever want to be alone again," was all she said before the paramedic got her to put the mask back on. The other three just laughed, happy to see that she was going to be okay. "One of you can ride in the ambulance," Darryl said. "I can take the other two." "Go ahead Leo," Prue said. Leo nodded his head and he followed the paramedics as they loaded Piper in the back. --- "So you blew up the kitchen?" Phoebe asked as Piper finished explaining what had happened with Percy. "Well, an exploding stove is easier to explain than an exploding human," Piper said with a smirk. "Yeah, and that would have been really hard to clean up," Prue commented. The rest of them just shook their heads. "Im just glad this is over and that you guys werent hurt by that stupid power," Piper said. "Yeah, well we did have to put up with Phoebes stinkyness all night," Prue joked. "Well excuse me, but I didnt get to take a shower after we did all that cleaning," Phoebe said defensively. "And you didnt exactly smell like a bed of roses either, Prudence." "Uh oh, and the full name comes out," Piper said with a smile. She glanced at Leo. "Pretty soon the middle names are gonna fly." "Youre going to let them argue?" Leo asked with a smile. "Theyre just screwing around, and Im too tired." Then she looked at her sisters. "All right you two. Fight at home. Im tired." Prue and Phoebe smiled. They both gave Piper a kiss on the forehead. "Okay, were out of here." They turned to leave and Piper stopped them. "What?" Phoebe asked. "If you fight, just remember" she began with a smile. "Think before you speak."

Please read this introduction, as it explains the existence of a fourth sister Portia, for the purposes of this story. Phoebe, Piper, and Prue's mother did not die exactly when they thought she did, as Patty Halliwell faked her own death. The reason behind this was to avoid a warlock who would kill her along with the rest of the family. So she did the only thing she could: hide. No one else knew that she had faked her death except for Penny Halliwell, her mother. Patty managed to escape to New York, in hopes that she could lose the warlock in a large city, and two years later, Victor Halliwell (her ex-husband) ran into her. They had a short-lived, yet beautiful reunion, before he left Patty a second time. During this brief rendezvous, they conceived a fourth child: Portia, who is 8 years younger than Phoebe, and has the power of telekinesis (the same as Prue). Portia was told frequently of her older sisters and her grandmother and was instructed by her mother to "Tell the police that you have a grandmother who lives in San Francisco" in case the warlock found them.When Portia was 4, the warlock finally caught up with Patty and killed her, but Portia managed to escape. She made her way to San Francisco to locate her sisters. When this story takes place (the present), the original Charmed Ones are their normal ages (22, 25, 28), and Portia is 14. Portia awoke to the sound of the TV. It was Monday morning, and she wondered why she hadn't heard her alarm yet. It must be early, she thought, and looked over to the clock. She was shocked as she read the bright red numbers that glared at her. 10:00. She jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Phoebe, the youngest of her older sisters was on the couch, channel surfing. "Hi!" she greeted Portia brightly. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Portia asked accusingly. "Well" Phoebe began. "This had better be good," Portia said in a jokingly threatening manner. "Prue and Piper left for work early, and I know how much you don't love school, so... I turned off your alarm and let you sleep," Phoebe explained. "Thanks, Pheebs, you're the best," Portia said happily as she collapsed on the couch beside Phoebe. "What can I say?" Phoebe grinned. "To know me, is to love me." "Prue's gonna be mad," Portia reminded her. "Ah, you know Prue," Phoebe replied. "Deep down, she's a softie for all of us." The two sisters watched TV for a considerable amount of time, mostly soap operas. At about 1:00, Phoebe got up and went to the kitchen in search of something to eat. Portia was just about to yell at her to hurry up, because 'All My Children' was almost on, when there was a knock at the door. She looked regretfully at the inhabitants of Pine Valley as their faces flashed across the screen, and got up to see who was there. When she opened the door, the tall scary-looking man did't even give Portia time to scream as he grabbed her, and hit her forcefully with a metal pipe. She slumped and fell to the floor unconcious. The man grabbed her arm and quickly injected Portia with an unpleasantly long needle, before leaving as quickly as he had come. Phoebe walked briskly back to the living room, slightly worried by the noise she had heard coming from the entrance to the manor. "Who was at the..." she started to ask, but trailed off as she saw the unconscious body of her baby sister on the floor. "Portia!" she knelt down beside her sister and shook her gently. Portia moved slightly and opened her eyes. "My head..." she murmured. "Oh, it hurts, Phoebe it hurts." Tears ran down her face. "Shhh, it's going to be ok," Phoebe said, stroking Portia's hair gently as the young teenager choked with angry sobs. She knew she shouldn't try to make Portia think that everything was going to be work out just fine, because Phoebe didn't even know what had happened to her - but she couldn't bear to see anyone she loved suffer. Portia's tears gradually subsided and Phoebe helped her to the couch, before frantically dialing the number of Buckland's Auction House. She was sure Prue would be there - workaholic that she was, she never took a lunch break. "Please pick up, please pick up," she pleaded with the phone. As if Prue had heard her, she answered. "Hello, this is Buckland's, Prue Halliwell speaking." "Prue, there's a major emergency." "What did you break this time?" Prue asked accusingly. "It's not me, it's Portia." Phoebe was slightly annoyed. Every time she called Prue at work, her older sister always assumed she had broken something, or done something stupid, and that was never the case. Almost never. "OK then, what did Portia do?" Prue was starting to get impatient, Claire was on the warpath, and she had so much work to do. "No, Prue." Phoebe glanced anxiously at Portia, who was rubbing her head in a futile attempt to force away her headache. "Someone's after us, and he attacked Portia." Prue's eyes went wide, and her heart skipped a beat. "Call Piper and tell her to come home, I'll be there as soon as I can." Prue didn't give Phoebe time to respond before she hung up the phone and ran out of her office. Ten minutes later, Prue was home. She had broken all speed limits, and disregarded everything she had ever learned about safe driving, but she was home. Piper, who in her hurry to get home had forgotten to leave anyone in charge of P3, soon joined her and her two younger sisters. "I'm fine," Portia kept insisting. Her tone was so convincing that her sisters almost believed her, but when she tried to stand up she couldn't, and fell back onto the couch. Piper, who had always been the worrying type, was almost in hysterics, Phoebe was pacing the floor, Prue was trying to rationalize things, and Portia kept saying that she was sure she'd be fine though she really wasn't sure. "Come on, stop worrying, nothing's going to happen to us," Portia attempted to reassure her sisters, but they had sprung into full 'Book Of Shadows mode'. The search was fruitless: they didn't even know what Portia's assailant looked like. Meanwhile, Portia was getting weaker by the minute. Deep down, she knew things were looking bad for her, but that wasn't the greatest of her worries. What she was really worried about was when the guy who attacked her was going to come back. He had probably wanted her power - it wasn't like warlocks had no motives. Portia didn't have to wait terribly long for him though, because he soon came crashing through the door of the manor. Not very inconspicuous, she thought but maybe these warlocks didn't have much time to work on conspicuity, what with plotting the deaths of witches. Prue took quick action, and made a quick, powerful motion with her hand. The warlock went flying and landed hard against the wall. Hard enough to break his neck. "Rookie," she said as the dead warlock slumped to the floor and exploded in a cloud of dust, shocked at how easy it had been to get rid of the threat. "Oh good, no cleanup," Phoebe said gleefully. "Hey guys," Piper said, looking up from the Book Of Shadows. "I think I've found something. That was a Drainer. They infect a good witch with a poison that makes them weaker and weaker until they die - after which, their power is transferred to the Drainer. It seems that Prue stumbled upon the only way to kill it, breaking its neck. Unfortunately" she paused, a panicked look crossing he features. "What, unfortunately what?" Portia asked frantically, her voice lacking its usual lilting, happy tone. "Unfortunately, when he dies, his draining spells are not reversed. There's a reversal spell that can be performed after the Drainer is killed, but it will not work if the draining of the witch's strength has progressed too far." "We have to hurry then," Prue said decisively, running to the kitchen to get the ingredients for the spell. Phoebe, Piper, and Prue quickly mixed the herbs and sprinkled them lightly on Portia, but it had no effect. "Are you sure it isn't working?" Phoebe asked nervously. "Maybe you just have to wait awhile." Piper shook her head. "the book says that the spell is supposed to take effect immediately." "Okay, all this means is that we have to try the spell again," Prue said, trying to mask the worry in her voice. They cast the spell twice more , but to no avail. Portia's breathing was shallow, and she knew that she didn't have much time left. "You..don't have to keep trying for me," she told her sisters. "Maybe it's... maybe it's better this way. All the wicca books say that three is the most powerful number. You'll... be stronger," she smiled weakly. Piper and Phoebe were crying miserably. Prue was trying to be strong for all of them, especially Portia, but she couldn't keep her bitter tears from falling. "No." she said firmly. "We have to keep trying the spell. We can't lose you." "You were always the tough one," Portia said playfully, reaching out for Prue's hand. Prue took it gently, while Phoebe held her other hand and Piper stroked her hair softly. "It's my fault," Phoebe said mournfully. "Phoebe, this isn't anyone's fault but the warlock's," Piper attempted to console her. Phoebe spoke slowly and quietly. "If I hadn't let Portia stay home from school today he never would have infected her." "I don't blame you," Portia told her. "You know as well as I do that I could never be mad at you, and besides, it really wasn't your fault. It's just..." she trailed off. "What is it?" Piper asked gently. "Come on, sweetie, you can tell us." Portia half smiled. Piper had always reminded her of Elinor from the movie 'Sense & Sensibility', who called everyone "Dearest". "It's just that I'm... scared," she whispered. "I don't want to leave you." The tears she had been trying to force away were falling full stream now, and Phoebe, Piper and Prue were still weeping. "It's not fair." "You're not going to die. We're going to do the spell until it works," Prue refused to give up. You've tried it three times already," Portia spoke softly. "If it was going to work, it would have the first time." The three oldest sisters knew this deep down, but they loved Portia too much to let her go. Portia spoke again, her voice barely audible, for she was getting so weak, it took almost all of her strength just to keep her eyes open. "Keep all our memories. Never let them go, and I'll be with you... forever." "Like when you first came to us," Phoebe remembered fondly. "I was 12, and so used to being the baby of the family. Then you came along, and suddenly, I had someone who would look up to me." Prue smiled. "I was 18, and I could hardly bear to leave you for college. I had to go just months after you came." Piper looked at Portia with immense pain in her eyes. "I remember you cried harder than any of us when she left." Portia smiled and closed her eyes, and with that, she was gone forever, leaving her beloved sisters behind. Disclaimer: Yeah, Yeah, the characters aren't mine, blah, blah, blah, with the exception of Portia, who I have the privilege of creating. Send Feedback to Dharma427@aol.com, Please write back, tell me what you think. Dedications--- Beth, Ellie, Meagan, and Katie~~ my best buds and fellow TV maniacs

Chapter 7 Elena put her diary back into her purse. She heard excited whispers and suddenly people were running out of the library. She followed curiously. "Whats going on?" she asked somebody passing her. "Someones just been found dead in the gym," the girl said. "He got his head bashed in apparently." "Any idea who did it?" "Nobodys got a clue. But it cant have been done long ago. Hes still bleeding." Elena followed the crowd of curious students to the gym. Paramedics had already been called and were putting the body in a body bag. The cops were there, trying to shoo the students away. Elena felt a sudden surge of panic when Prues boyfriend Andy, one of the cops, suddenly looked directly at her, a suspicious expression on his face. Elena turned around and walked back to the schools entrance. There was an announcement over the loud speaker saying classes had been cancelled. Elena heard somebody calling her name, but ignored them and walked on. She seemed to have lost any sense of what was going on as she walked home. Her mind was a humming blank. She opened the front door and found the house was silent. Being the middle of the day, no one was home, not even Phoebe. Good, Ill have the house to myself for a while, she thought. She headed upstairs to her room, and then spotted the stairs that led to the attic. Shed never been up there before, the door was always locked, and shed never found the key. But today, the door hung open. Someone had forgotten to lock it. The attic was large ands gloomy, lit only by one large window in the rear end, full of old things. And something else. There was a book on a stand by the window. Curious, Elena dropped her purse and went to the book. In calligraphy-like handwriting, the words Book Of Shadows was written on the front in gold lettering. Elena flipped through the pages. Spells, charms, rituals, ceremonies. Its a spell book, Elena realised. Theyre witches? I knew they were hiding something. But this? This is unbelievable. She picked up the book and took it back to her room, where she sat there reading the spells, charms and rituals. Power raising, protection, all sorts of things. A power raising spell caught her eye. It seemed simple enough She cleared the hardwood floor of her room, and moved around the house, collecting things she needed. She was headed back upstairs when she heard voices. "dead for six months." That was Prue. "Thats impossible. Are you sure?" Piper. "Of course Im sure. Look at these." There was a pause, and Elena heard in-drawn breaths. "Where did you find these?" Phoebe. "In the back of my car. " Prue again. "I was reaching for my phone to tell work Id be late and I found these. And that knife inside." "You think theres a connection to the keys?" Phoebe. "Yes. It couldnt be a coincidence." "At least we know it wasnt me." Phoebe. "But what does this have to do with Elena being dead for six months?" "We dont really know anything about her. Am I the only one whos noticed her mood swings?" There was a pause. Elena didnt know where they were, but she didnt want to get any closer so she stayed put. Listening. "Well I decided to do a little snooping. I searched for police records on the Net, and found no file on Elena, no record. Then I contacted her high school in Fells Church, and apparently, she supposedly died in a freak accident but then something else happened, it turned out she wasn't dead but died, supposedly for real with causes of death unexplained." "Again I return to whats this got to do with bloody knives and keys?" Phoebe. "I dont know. But I think there's definitely a connection between this and Elena." "How do we prove it?" Piper. "Her friends are supposed to be coming next week, so maybe they can tell us." Phoebe. "Actually, I called and told them something was wrong with Elena and theyre on their way here right now." The phone was ringing. "Hello?" Prue had answered it. "Oh, Hi Andy." A pause. "What? Wheres Elena?" Another pause. "I dont know. Well keep an eye out for her. Bye." "Well?" Phoebe. "Andy just called. Theres been a murder at Elena's high school. One of her friends." "Wheres Elena?" "Shes not at school. Something happened in her psychology class. She made this weird speech about serial killers, as if she were speaking from the point of view of a serial killer. Then she stormed out. No ones seen her since. One of her friends ran after herhalf an hour later hes found dead, his head bashed in with a baseball bat." Elena couldnt help the involuntary little giggle that escaped. The glow of triumph at getting rid of Tom spread all over her again, warm and nice. She began to rock back and forth as she sat on the stairs, giggling to herself. This was so much fun, getting away, playing dodge with the cops. Theyd never catch her, she was too smart for that. "Did you guys hear that?" Piper, sounding confused. Footsteps coming closer. Elena jumped up and hid in her closet in her room, an insane smile still plastered across her lips. Cant catch me, she thought gleefully. They might suspect something, but who in their right minds would believe them. Everyone would think craziness ran in the family. She didnt have to stay here, of course. All she needed to do was go somewhere else. Kill different people in different places. God, this is getting obsessive, she thought, trying hard to stop laughing. * * * Chapter 8 The doorbell was ringing. It was annoying. Elena groaned, feeling awful and foggy, not sure why she was home in the middle of the afternoon and why she was in the closet. She didnt remember anything from that morning. She pushed open the door and stumbled out, looking in confusion at the pentagram drawn in chalk on her floor, the black candles set out, incense and a few herbs. Even more confusing was the big brown book lying on the floor just outside the circle of the pentagram. It looked like one of Bonnies spell bookswhat did she call them? Books of Shadows? This one wasnt Bonnies. It wasnt hers either. Where did it come from? She had a vague memory of finding it in the attic upstairs. Shed better get it back before someone noticed it was missing. The door bell was still ringing. Whoever it was wouldnt go away. Annoyed, she hurried down the stairs and opened the door, a little surprised to find Bonnie and Meredith standing therewith Stefan. He looked anxious and worried. His face brightened when he saw Elena. "ElenaI missed you." He started to move forward. Elena stared back, a sullen statement on her face. "I thought I said I didnt want to see you until I was ready to. Im not so go away." She started to shut the door, but Meredith pushed it open. "And a big nice to see you too, Elena," she said dryly. "Your cousins called us. They thought you were sick." "Im not sick. Im fine." "You dont look it," Bonnie offered. "Do you want to see a doctor or something?" "I dont want to see anyone," Elena said crossly. "Go away." She turned and wandered off, heading for the stairs, leaving the door open. She sighed, she thought she'd made it clear to these people how she felt about everything that had happened. She didnt know what was wrong with her, or why shed say such mean things. But she couldnt help herself, It was that thing inside her again. Making her feel out of control. She dreaded to think what she'd done this time. * * * Chapter 9 Bonnie and Meredith exchanged glances. Stefan looked as if Elena had slapped him. He looked stricken and miserable. "That was not Elena," he said in a stunned voice. "No kidding," said Meredith, walking into the house. Bonnie followed. Stefan was hesitating. "Come on Stefan," Bonnie said impatiently. "Elenas probably just in a bad mood. You know how she feels about you. Stop hesitating." Meredith cast a glance heavenwards. "Come in Stefan," she said with a sigh. "Oh," Bonnie said. She'd forgotten vampires had to be invited in. Stefan came in and she closed the door. "Nice place," she said, looking around the large living room. "So where are her cousins?" "Right here." A girl about Bonnies height with short brown hair was coming into the room. She stopped, her eyes widening as she focused on Stefan with his classic Italian features and amazing leaf green eyes. She gave him a bright smile. "Hi, Im Phoebe." He smiled wryly. "Im Stefan. Elena's boyfriend." "Oh." Phoebe looked a little disappointed. Then shrugged. "Cant blame me for trying." Meredith grinned at Bonnie. "I think you've met your match." "Oh ha, ha," Bonnie said. Two other girls were coming into the room. One was tall dressed in a business suit, the other was only a little taller than Phoebe, dressed in a black and white uniform like a caterer, with a chefs hat on. Anyone could tell the three girls were sisters from the first look. There were a few brief minutes of introductions while everyone got themselves comfortable. Prue explained Elenas behaviour, the two dead bodies, the bloody car keys, the knife in the stolen purse. "What we need to know is what happened before, why Elenas" Prue trailed off and shrugged, not sure how to finish the sentence. "Gone completely psycho," Phoebe finished for her. Bonnie, Meredith and Stefan exchanged glances. Finally Bonnie sighed. "This is going to sound a little crazy, but its all true. It all started the beginning of the senior year at school. Elena had been away over the summer, and she was a little different when she came back. And then Stefan came. And Elena was sort of" Bonnie looked to Meredith. "Obsessed," Meredith supplied. "She wanted Stefan and would stop at nothing to get him." "I didnt know that," Stefan put in. "You werent meant to," Meredith said. "For months she thought of nothing but you. Then, there was the Homecoming dance." "What happened at the Homecoming dace?" Piper asked. "Nothing much," Stefan said. "Elena went off with some drunk idiots, I followed and stopped one of them from hurting her." "And it was the beginning of their relationship," Bonnie added. "But this other girl Caroline got really jealous, and stole Elenas diary and almost read it in front of the whole school but we foiled her and - " "Youre leaving something out," Prue interrupted. "I can understand why its embarrassing to have your personal thoughts read out to a bunch of strangers, but you keep looking at Stefan." Bonnie stopped, and glanced from him to Meredith and back to Stefan. Stefan sighed. "Go ahead Bonnie. Youd better tell them." Bonnie sighed and shrugged. "Okay. Fine. This is going to sound a little weird. But well, Im descended from the Druids and I have psychic powersand Stefans a vampire." There was a silence as eyebrows went up. The three sisters exchanged glances. "Its not actually all that surprising," Piper said. "After all the things weve seen, what does one more weird thing matter?" "And on the subjects of secrets," Bonnie interrupted. "Elena said she felt sure you guys were hiding something." The sisters exchanged glances again. Prue looked uncomfortable. "Oh come on," Phoebe said impatiently. "Theyve told us theirs." Prue sighed. "Oh all right. Were witches. Phoebe has premonitions of the future, Piper freezes time, I can move objects with my mind." "I hate premonitions," Bonnie muttered. "The feeling of someone taking over your mind..." She shuddered. "The story?" Piper asked. "Oh, right. Well there were a few strange attacks from September onwards, the school thought it was Stefan - which it wasnt - we thought it was his brother Damon." "Brother?" Phoebe looked interested. It was Prues turn to look heavenwards. "Anyway, we thought it was Damon, but it turned out it wasn't. After the Founders Day ceremony - the underground plot we foiled, Elena had an argument with her aunt, she ran off in someones car and there was an accident on the bridge. We all thought she was dead then, but she wasnt." "They never found a body," Meredith said, picking up the story. "Because Elena had exchanged enough blood with both Stefan and Damon that she woke up a vampire. It turned out that there was another Power attacking us. An old force from Stefans past." Meredith looked at Stefan. "Do you want to tell this bit or shall I?" "Ill tell," Stefan said. He walked away from the group a little. "I lived in fifteenth century Florence. Both Damon and I were in love with a girl named Katherine. A vampire in her German village had changed her into a vampire to save her from dying when she was ill. Damon and I hated each other, and we hated having to share her and told her she had to choose between us. So she made us both vampires. Only then we hated each other even more. Katherine pretended to expose herself to sunlight and left a note for us, saying she was selfish wanting to have both of us and hoped we wouldnt hate each other if she wasnt there anymore, but it didnt work and we fought and killed each other. We woke up in our tombs and avoided each other ever since until we both wanted Elena. Katherine had faked the whole thing and became evil and hated us and hated Elena as well, when she found out we both wanted her. She lured us into an underground crypt and tried to kill us. Elena died again stopping her." "And now, shes alive again, for a third time," Piper said, sounding a little confused. "Six months later, the vampire who had made Katherine came back and attacked us. He killed a few of our friends. Elenas spirit talked to us, tried to warn us about him," Bonnie explained. "His name was Klaus. He was going to destroy our town. He had issues with Stefan. We forgave Caroline eventually, and Klaus kidnapped her, telling Stefan to come alone to a woods were hed let Caroline go if he went there alone. So he went and we followed in secret. There was a big fight. It was the summer solstice, a day when the line between the living and dead is thinnest. We called for Elenas held, and she brought back a whole army of ghosts that had fought in the Civil War. Its a little complicated to explain the whole story of how that happened, but Klaus was defeated. Elena was going to go away, to be at peace. But she didnt want to go, Stefan shouted her name as she disappeared, something happened, there was some weird sort of energy flash and Elena came back to us. Alive. Human." "At first she was thrilled to see us all and everyone was really happy," Meredith said softly. "Then Elena said she was really completely overwhelmed by the experience." "After dying twice and coming back twice, who can blame her?" said Phoebe. "She said she wanted to finish high school, then she could come to college with us, go away with Stefan or whatever she wanted to do," Meredith went on. "She couldnt stay at home because everyone still thinks she's dead and buried. Soshe came here." "And now shes changed completely," Piper finished. "Somethings wrong with her and we dont know what." "It could be that all thats happened to her has had some negative effect on hershe cant deal with it and its made her crazy," Bonnie suggested. "The question ishow do we get her back?" Stefan said. "The question is, should we? Or should we find some way to send her back where she came from?" Prue said. "What do you mean? Make her dead again?" Bonnie said, her pixieish face angry. "I think youre right about the effect this is having on her. Maybe theres another solution, I dont know. She's already hurt two people. We have to find some way to stop her before she kills again. Or before she hurts herself without meaning to." * * * Chapter 10 Elena sat on the stairs listening to the conversation below. Her supposed best friends and her boyfriend were blurting out her secrets. The story of her life. If she had wanted to tell her cousins, she would have told them herself. How dare they betray her like this. She stood up and went into her room. She picked up the Book of Shadows on the floor. Maybe she could put a curse on them or something. There was something here about stealing other peoples powers She picked up a few things from the floor and stuffed them in her sock draw. Something silver and shiny caught her eye. She pushed the socks aside and pulled it out. It was a gun. A small, neat little gun. She checked the holder. There were bullets inside. She didnt remember buying thisor stealing it. She didnt really remember anything about the last few months. She certainly didnt remember killing anybody. But something inside her was talking, whispering, telling her she could end this. End this now. Make them pay for betraying her. She also pulled out a piece of sharpened wood. A wooden stake. Surely Stefan and Damon weren't the only vampires in the world. And in a big city like this there were bound to be plenty, so it wouldnt hurt to arm herself against them. Holding the loaded gun in one hand, and the stake in the other, and the Book of Shadows under her arm, she made her way down the stairs. * * * In the San Francisco PD Morris dropped a manila folder on Andys desk. "It seems our sweet little Elena isnt so sweet after all. Check this out." Andy opened the folder, and the first thing he saw was a form labelled Coroners Report. "What? Thats impossible. According to this she's dead." "And we have witnesses to the dead boy at high school. After the girl stormed out he went after her. Several people saw her heading for the gym. One person saw her with a baseball bat." Two girls were approaching the desk. They both looked worried. "Were worried about our friend Elena Gilbert," one said. "We think she has something to do with the murder of Tom Locke. And we think shes going to do something she shouldnt. She's been acting really crazy lately." "Where is she?" Andy asked. The girls shrugged. "We dont know," the other said. "We cant find her at school. They sent everybody home, so we think thats where she is." "I called her house and Prue said she wasn't there." Andy frowned. Then looked at Morris. "I think wed better get over there. Someones going to get hurt." * * * Chapter 11 "If youre going to say something about me, say it to my face." The group in the lounge stopped talking and stared in shock at Elena, who stood there quite calmly, gun and stake at the ready. She looked terrible. Her normally shining pale gold hair was limp, her skin was sickly pale and there were dark smudges under her eyes. Her eyes, usually soft and happy, were glassy, doll-like. They seemed to stare without really focusing on anything. She seemed capable of anything. Everyone was on their feet. "Elenathis isnt you," Stefan said, starting towards her. "Put the weapons down. No ones going to hurt you." "Really?" She sounded distant. Flat. She didnt even sound like herself. It wasn't even her. She obviously didnt believe them. "I heard you before. Saying you were going to make me dead again. Is that not hurting me?" "Elenajust put the gun down," Meredith said slowly. "We can talk about this." Elena didnt even seem to hear her. "Witches huh?" she said to her cousins. "I knew you guys were hiding something. What are you going to do? Turn me into a frog?" "Green isnt really your colour," Phoebe offered, trying to advance a step. "Am I missing something here? Im holding a gun, I could blow your heads off at any minute, and youre all still moving?" She let out a crazy giggle. "I think you guys are the screwed up ones, not me." "Come on Elena," Bonnie insisted. "Fight it. Theres something inside thats telling you - " "Oh shut up you useless bimbo!" Elena snapped suddenly whirling on Bonnie. Bonnie shut up and sat down again. Stefan was moving now, trying to get behind him, but filled with insane rage and strength, she whirled round, faster than he did, firing the gun to take him by surprise, and then plunging the wooden stake into his heart. "Elena?" he whispered, shocked. There was a moment of stillness, before Stefan burst into a fine cloud of dust and ash and crumbled to the floor. Bonnie screamed. Prue focused her powers on Elena, knocking her back, sending her flying, the gun falling from her hand, along with the Book of Shadows that had been tucked under her arm. Elena landed on her back, stunned hitting her head on the hardwood floor. Meredith made a dive for the gun before Elenas head could clear. Elena sat up, looking dazed, not sure where she was. "Bonnie?" she said in a small voice. "Where am I? Whats going on?" Nobody moved. Was this really Elena? Or was this the other side of her trying to fool them, trick them? It was impossible to tell. "Meredith?" Elena appealed, looking to her friend. Her eyebrow raised. "Why are you pointing a gun at me? Youre my best friend." Merediths hands on the gun were shaking. She didnt know what to do. She looked over at Bonnie, who was shaking and crying. She glanced at Prue, and Elenas other cousins. They just looked back at her. "Oh come on! Shoot me you dumb bitch!" Elena snarled suddenly, her face twisting in anger and hatred. "Shoot me! You scared? Of course you are! Youre nothing"! You act so cool and together, youre really just a complete, useless waste of space!" Merediths eyes closed. She didnt know what to do. Elenas other personality was pushing through, overriding the Elena she knew. Even if Elena did win this time, was there any help for her? Shed killed two people already. She could snap again. If she was mentally unbalanced like she was now, who was to say this wouldnt happen again in another six months time? "Meredith?" Elena again. She was crying now. Her voice was pleading. "Meredith please" she sobbed. "II cant control myself. I dont know what to do. Pleasejust shoot me!" "II dont think I can." Meredith couldnt control the wobble in her voice, couldnt stop the tears flowing down her cheeks now. Everything was going completely to hell. But she just couldnt bring herself to use the gun on Elena. Suddenly Elenas face twisted again. rage and anger and hatred all twisting together in an ugly mask. She sprang forward, reaching for the gun. In a panic Meredith shut her eyes and fired blindly. Not aiming, just shooting. There was a scream. Suddenly it was cut off. There was a sickening thud of flesh hitting wood. Meredith opened her eyes. Elena lay on the floor, blood pouring from a wound in her head. It was over. Bonnie crawled over and reached for her and they sobbed together. Prue knelt down and felt Elena's pulse. She shook her head sadly, and closed the open eyes. * * * By the time Andy had arrived, theyd cleaned up. Elenas body was in the basement, the blood wiped away. "There were gun shots," Andy said flatly. "I heard them a mile away." "Elenas gone," Prue said. "She ran before we could stop her. She shot at us and ran. We dont know where shes gone." Why did this always happen? Every time Prue and her sisters were involved with something everything was all tidied up nice and neat by the time he got there. She was obviously hiding something from him. But what? And why wouldnt she talk? He could only imagine what it would be. *** Chapter 12 They buried Elena in backyard, along with Stefans ashes. They could now be together forever. Bonnie stood alone at the gravesite. She and Meredith were leaving in a minute. She just wanted to say one final goodbye to Elena. No one would really know what had been going through her mind these last few months. Maybe Prue had been right. Elena just hadnt been able to deal with all her traumatic experiences. Shed been so happy that night in the clearing. They had all been. Now, nothing would ever be the same again. Bonnie remembered how unhappy shed been the first time, this was the third time Elena had been buried and it never got easier to say good bye to your best friend. Part of her had died along with Elena now. It was going to be hard to accept she was finally gone for good this time. At least now, Elena was at peace. Bonnie knelt down and placed a single rose on the gravesite, covered up by fresh grass so no one would get suspicious. "Ill never forget you," Bonnie whispered. She turned and walked away, and for a moment, it seemed a ray of sun was shining on the site. "Wherever you are Elena," Bonnie said softly, "I hope youre happy." And that ray of sun seemed to brighten, as if to say Bonnie was right. The End