Piper was sitting at the kitchen table on a Saturday afternoon amidst a mass of paperwork. She heard the front door open and close. It must be Prue and Phoebe getting back from shopping she thought. She had wanted to go but knew she had better stay on top of the billing for her club P3. It was the end of the month and she had a lot of paperwork to take care of. Prue must be wearing off on me, she thought. She had really enjoyed owning her own place but getting it started was more than she had bargained for. The finances were definitely looking up with the recent performances of Dishwalla and the Cranberries but there was a lot of paperwork remaining from just having those two bands play at her club. But, boy, it was really something to host those big name bands at her place! What a blast that night was when she and her two sisters were dancing to the Cranberries with their respective significant others! With that thought, Piper's attention shifted to her significant other, Dan. Dan, what a wonderful, sweet, thoughtful person he was. Piper was so comfortable around him. Plus, he was good looking. No, not good looking, he was hot. Almost perfect she thought. But not quite. Leo was perfect. Piper still couldn't help thinking about Leo. She enjoyed being with Dan so much but she didn't think their relationship was as significant as the relationship she had had with Leo. Will I ever get over Leo she thought? Piper looked back down at the mess in front of her with a sigh. She had not gotten very far and thinking about Dan and Leo was not helping. It was then when she realized she had not heard anyone come in through the door.
"Prue?" she called. "Pheebs?" her voice trailed off. Piper got up and headed toward the foyer. The door was wide open. That's strange she thought. She shut the door and started walking back to the kitchen to her mass of papers. How could the door have opened by itself? It wasn't even windy outside. I've seen stranger she thought. Just as she was about to forget about it she felt the air around her grow cold and unkind. Its just my imagination she thought. When will I ever…
Piper was in mid thought when she felt a blinding pain in the back of her head. When she woke she was on the floor in her house, right where she had been before she had been attacked. She slowly pushed herself up on her hands and knees. She tried to look around to see if anyone was still there. Everything was completely still. It was eerily quiet. Piper felt an ominous presence but she couldn't see anybody or anything in the house. Whatever it was must have gotten what it came for. A panic came over her when she thought it may have taken the Book of Shadows. Her sisters would have her head for that. She tried to get up to go check but found she couldn't. It seemed she was stuck in place on the floor. That was when she knew something supernatural had invaded the Halliwell house. And if she couldn't get up, it must still be here. And it was in control. Great. She felt like her own power was being used against her. The air temperature around her began to drop. She shivered and hugged herself into a ball. Well, at least she wasn't completely immobile. OK, I'll just wait here until Prue and Phoebe get back. But then the air got thin. Oh god. I'm gonna die here she thought. She began to take deep breaths. Stay calm. Stay calm. Phoebe and Prue will be back any minute. They will take care of this. The room began to dim. Piper shrank down further into a ball. Fear took over. It was harder and harder to catch her breath. She closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself.
* * * Meanwhile, Prue and Phoebe were just about to head home from the mall when they passed the Wiccan shop.
"Oh Prue, we gotta go in here!" Phoebe exclaimed. Phoebe loved being a witch. She couldn't believe she had almost forgotten about going into the Wiccan store. The more she and her sisters knew about being witches the better she thought.
Prue reluctantly agreed. She liked having the powers she had but she was not into learning all about Wicca. We have everything we need to know in the Book of Shadows. She followed her young, jubilant sister into the store and watched in amazement as Phoebe proceeded to pick up nearly everything in sight.
"Come on Pheebs. Let's go. Piper could probably use a hand with all the bills. Afterall, it is our club too." Prue stated. Phoebe barely heard her sister. She noticed a necklace on a rack which looked just like one Piper used to have a while ago but had lost.
"I bet Piper would like…" Phoebe was suddenly shocked by a vision. She saw her sister hunched over on the floor in their house shivering and scared. The vision left as quickly as it came.
"Phoebe! What did you see?" Prue asked concerned.
Phoebe turned to look at Prue. "Piper," she said slowly. "I saw Piper. She was all huddled over on the floor in our house Prue. She was shivering and scared."
* * * Piper didn't hear the door open the second time. She didn't hear her sisters burst in or grab her in concern.
"Piper! Piper? Prue asked as she grabbed her sister who lay motionless on the floor. Piper didn't respond.
"Oh my god Prue! Look!" Phoebe pointed to a spot on the back of Piper's head where there was an ugly gash. The blood seemed to have dried for the most part but it didn't look good.
"Call 9-1-1." Prue said. "Piper, Piper," Prue urgently tried to wake her sister up.
"Piippeerr, Piippeerr," Piper heard her name being called as if someone was trying to speak to her through water. It seemed distant and barely recognizable. "Piippeerr."
Piper slowly opened her eyes. She had no idea what was going on. All she could see was a brownish something directly in front of her face. She kept hearing voices but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She must be dreaming because her senses were on the fritz. The brownish fuzz in front of her gradually cleared into a golden brown color that looked familiar. Oh, that's the floor she thought. Oh my, I'm on the floor. What am I doing on the floor?
"Piper," This time the voice was crystal clear and very loud. In fact, she sensed her older, stubborn sister sitting on the floor right next to her. This was definitely strange. Piper looked to her side and winced as she felt pain shoot through the back of her head.
"Don't move," Prue commanded urgently.
"What happened?" Piper questioned. She felt nauseous and weak.
"I don't know. Someone must have attacked you. Phoebe had a premonition at the mall and we rushed home. You were on the floor."
"Oh." Piper slowly reached her hand to the back of her head and probed the injured area. "Oh. That hurts. Where's Leo when you need him?" Piper half joked but Prue could hear in her voice that she had meant it. Where was Leo Prue wondered. Maybe this was a random attack and not "whitelighter" business.
"I'm sure he would have been here if he could. Do you think you can move?" Prue asked.
"Yeah," she said resigned. "Just help me to the couch."
Phoebe walked in from the kitchen at that moment as Prue was linking her arm around Piper's waist. Piper was sitting on the floor not looking like she should be going anywhere. "Prue, are you sure we should move her?" Phoebe asked, concerned. "The ambulance is on its way."
"Ambulance! Phoebe! I don't need an ambulance. Now get over here and help me." Piper commanded.
No use arguing with your sister when she got like this. Phoebe locked her arm around the other side of her sister's waist. "Ok, on three," she said. "One, two, three."
Prue and Phoebe hoisted Piper to her feet. She felt like a dead weight.
"Oh god." Prue and Phoebe both looked at their sister who they were supporting fully. "Oh god. I'm gonna throw up." All of the sudden Piper heaved past the point when there was nothing left. She was too exhausted after that effort to even make a joke of it. Phoebe and Prue looked at each other in concern. Prue was quietly gracious that Phoebe had called 911. Piper needed some medical attention.
"Oh sis, who did this to you?" Phoebe questioned.
"I don't know," Piper mustered quietly. "Some bastard. A hit and run in my own house," she commented dryly.
With no further ado they brought Piper over to the couch. Phoebe realized that Prue must have been using her power of telekinesis because she didn't feel Piper's weight anymore. Prue telekinetically laid Piper on the couch. She looked at her pale sister. It seemed just getting up was more than Piper could handle. Piper let her head roll back on the couch pillow and moaned softly. That blow had taken more out of her than she thought. Prue sat down on the edge of the couch next to her sister and brushed the bangs out of Piper's face. She was going to give the bastard who did this to Piper one nasty headache of his own.
"Look at me Piper," Prue commanded in a comforting, motherly tone. "You need to stay awake. The ambulance is going to be here any minute."
"Prue, I don't need the ambulance," she said quietly with her eyes closed. "Please, let me just stay here with you and Phoebe," she pleaded.
Prue knew Piper hated hospitals. She had always been afraid of them since she was little. But she was afraid Piper needed some medical attention. "Lets just see what they say when they get here," Prue temporarily compromised.
* * * Two hours later Phoebe was pacing back and forth in the hall in the ER waiting room. The doctor's were taking care of Piper and had said that it would take Piper a few days to be pain free but that she would be fine. They had put 6 stitches in the back of her head to close up the wound and had given her some sedatives to help her rest. She was to stay off her feet for 24 hours and stay off work for the next three days. They would keep her overnight for observation and discharge her in the morning if the swelling had gone down.
But Phoebe was still concerned. Her premonition had not matched what she had actually seen when she and Prue had come back from shopping. Had her premonition been wrong? She was hardly ever wrong. Had her premonition not happened yet? That was what worried her most. Piper may not be out of the woods yet.
"Hey sis, slow down, you're making me dizzy." Phoebe recognized Prue's voice and the concern in it. Phoebe stopped and looked at her older sister who was sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the ER waiting room drinking bitter coffee out of a Styrofoam cup.
"Prue, that's not what I saw in my premonition. Piper was conscious in my premonition. And there wasn't anybody else there. She wasn't knocked out on the floor with a huge gash in her head. What if there is something more going on here that we don't know about? After all, why would someone come in and attack Piper and leave?"
They both thought and voiced the same thing at the same time, "The Book of Shadows." They stood still staring at each other for a moment. "I'll go back and check. You stay here with Piper," Phoebe said.
"No. If anyone goes, it should be me. I have the active power. But no one is going anywhere now. We're not splitting up and we're not leaving Piper. We'll check at home later."
"Prue, you know as well as I do that they/it/whatever may have done something to Piper on purpose to get her and us away from the house. Our house is an open book right now, no pun intended."
"Phoebe, you're getting as paranoid as Piper normally is. If it even exists, it would have taken the book already. Lets stay with Piper. They are about to transfer her to an overnight room. When she's settled, we can take a look around the house. Anyway, Darryl is over there now. He'll see if anything looks out of the ordinary."
Phoebe sat down with a hurrumph. She hated it when her sister was right. Whatever it was would have already taken the Book of Shadows. If that was even what they were up against. It could have been a normal robbery. But Phoebe didn't think so. She knew there was more here than was meeting the eye.
* * * It was late afternoon when Phoebe and Prue walked into the house together for the second time that day. Piper had just been given a sleeping pill and the docs expected her to be out for at least three hours. Prue and Phoebe seized the opportunity to check out the house. They were both ready for anything that might still be lurking inside as they opened the front door but nothing presented itself. Darryl hadn't noticed anything abnormal when he had looked around earlier. The sister's searched thoroughly for an hour and could find no trace of anything amiss. The Book of Shadows was safe in the attic. Everything was in its place. They were perplexed.
"Prue, I have a bad feeling about this. It doesn't make any sense. It would be less worrisome if they had taken the Book of Shadows."
"I know," Prue confirmed. "Let's go back to the hospital. I'm worried they may be after Piper for some reason. We shouldn't have left her alone."
* * * "Ha. I have her now." The demon, Svene had entered the middle Halliwell's body through the open gash in her head he had created. His supernatural ability allowed him to enter the minds of witches and wreck havoc on them. He would put thoughts in Piper's head until she went crazy. His ultimate goal was to overtake all three Charmed sisters. But first things first. Svene had an oath to fulfill that he had automatically inherited long ago when the demon Jeremy, the first demon the Charmed sister's had ever faced, had released Svene from a spell. In return for Svene's release, Svene was bound to avenge Jeremy's banishment, were it ever to occur. Svene had to fulfill that oath or risk banishment himself. And I have all the time in the world, he thought. Now that I am inside Piper Halliwell, there is nothing that can stop me. I will spend as long as I need to make Piper go crazy.
* * * The sister's arrived back at the hospital at 6:00. The nurse in charge told them that Piper had not woken up yet. Prue was relieved. Piper would have been nervous if neither of her sisters were there when she woke up. They both went into the room and sat next to her bed. "The sleeping pill should be wearing off anytime now but she'll be pretty groppy when she wakes up." It was another hour before Piper started to stir. Phoebe had drifted off herself but Prue was immediately alert.
"Hey Piper," Prue asked gently. "How are you feeling?"
"Prue?"
"Yeah. You've been out for a while. You're at the hospital. We needed to make sure you were ok."
"Oh," Piper didn't argue. "I'm tired."
"Go back to sleep sweetie."
* * * The next day Piper was discharged from the hospital. Phoebe drove the sisters home in Piper's jeep. Piper denied any help getting out of the car and into the house much to her sister's dismay. She even went back to the kitchen where she had started her bills the day before.
"You've got to be kidding," Phoebe said in shock.
"Nope. Might as well get some work done since I am going to be home for the next couple days." She saw Phoebe still staring wide eyed at her. "I'm ok, really." Phoebe seemed content enough with that reassurance and decided to go get some exercise. Prue offered to help Piper with the bills so she could secretly keep an eye on her sister. Piper didn't last long before she excused herself and went to her room.
As she walked up the stairs she noticed the pain in her head again. Good thing I have some painkillers she thought. She took her medicine and got into bed. She was exhausted but somehow knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep. It felt chilly in her room but she was too tired to check the thermostat. She eventually dosed off.
* * * "Piper, Piper, wake up!" Prue was standing over her sister and shaking her. Piper's eyes shot open.
"Oh my god Prue! I just had a horrible dream but I couldn't see anything. I just knew there was someone out there after me."
"Its ok. It was just a dream." Prue tried to comfort her sister. Prue decided to take the opportunity to see if Piper could shed any light on what happened yesterday. "Piper, do you remember anything about what happened to you yesterday?"
"I don't know Prue. I don't know what happened. I've been trying not to think about it because it doesn't make any sense. Why would someone come into the house and knock me upside the head and then leave?" Piper had rolled over onto her side in bed and scrunched up into a ball. The sweat that had developed during her dream was turning into a clammy cold.
Unless they are after you, Prue thought and knew Piper had thought of that already too. No use in confirming her sister's worries. "You just get some rest. I'm not going anywhere." She gave her sister a light kiss on the forehead and exited the room.
* * * Monday morning rolled around. Prue came downstairs to see Piper already fixing breakfast.
"What are you doing up so early? You should be resting."
"I know Prue. I kept tossing and turning. I'm not going in to work today so I'll take it easy."
Prue was concerned that her sister wasn't getting the rest she needed to fully recover. I'll make a mental note to call her today from Buckland's. "I'll give you a call later and see how you are doing. Phoebe is going to hang around to make sure you don't need anything."
"Thanks Prue," Piper smiled while pouring coffee for her sister. Prue took it thankfully and headed out the door to begin another long week at Buckland's. Piper had a couple sips of her own coffee but wasn't hungry for breakfast. Truth be told, she really wasn't feeling that well. She couldn't seem to get a good rest anytime she went to bed. And, there was still a dull pain in her head despite the medication she was taking. Next time I'll have to be more careful when I am home alone she thought.
Phoebe ambled down the stairs about an hour later to find Piper watching TV.
"Hey Pipe! How are ya doing?" she said cheerfully while making her way to the kitchen.
"OK."
"Anything for breakfast?"
"Nope, you're on your own this morning," Piper said with a smile. She didn't feel bad about not cooking breakfast. After all, she practically cooked for her sisters everyday.
Phoebe returned shortly with a massive bowl of cereal and plopped on the couch next to Piper.
"Is there something you need to tell me?" Piper joked, implying the Phoebe must be pregnant and feeding two with that huge bowl of cereal. Phoebe just smirked. The jokes about how much she ate never ended.
The two sisters watched TV for about an hour when Phoebe got bored. "Hey, do you feel up to go over to the shelter? I need to check on Maria and see how things are going. I haven't been in two weeks."
"Alright," she agreed after mulling it over for a moment. She didn't really want to go but it would be good to get out of the house for a little bit.
Phoebe and Piper arrived at the shelter an hour later. Maria happily greeted Phoebe when she saw her come through the door.
"Phoebe, it's always so wonderful to see you. You are such a big help to the people at the shelter."
"Thanks Maria. I brought along my sister, Piper today."
Piper and Maria shook hands and exchanged courtesies.
"So how are things?" Phoebe asked.
"Well, let me show you this." Maria excitedly led Phoebe and Piper to one of the rooms at the shelter. The room was filled with donations of clothes and toiletries and all kinds of items.
"Wow," Piper and Phoebe exclaimed at the same time. "Who donated all this stuff?" Piper asked.
"I don't know," Maria shrugged. "It showed up in boxes and boxes in the mail. A kind soul who wishes to remain anonymous. Anyway, we haven't had time to sort all the stuff. It would be great if you could help out with this."
"We'll get started right away," Phoebe agreed congenially.
Two hours later they were both exhausted. "Phoebe, lets finish up later. I'm bushed."
Phoebe looked at her sister who was paler than normal. "Yeah, me too." Phoebe hated to leave a job unfinished but knew Piper was her first priority today. "How about we pick up some lunch on the way home?"
"OK."
Piper stayed in the car while Phoebe ran in and out of Subway.
"Got you your favorite Pipe! Pipe?" She looked over at Piper who had no color left in her face whatsoever. "Piper, are you ok?"
"Let's get home Phoebe. I don't feel well."
Prue is going to kill me Phoebe thought as she pulled into the driveway. I shouldn't have taken Piper anywhere today. Piper hadn't said one word since they left Subway. She didn't even move when the car stopped at their house. Phoebe got out and opened Piper's door.
"We're home Piper." Phoebe reached in the jeep and put a hand around Piper. She helped her inside and up to her room. Piper seemed to fall asleep as soon as she hit the bed. Phoebe had not left the room when she heard the phone ring. She ran downstairs. It was Prue.
"Prue, I'm really worried about Piper. She's really pale and doesn't have any energy. She's not doing well at all. She came with me to the shelter today. I know I shouldn't have taken her there but I thought she was ok. She seemed ok this morning. I don't know what happened."
"Phoebe, Phoebe, calm down. You're talking a mile a minute. I'm leaving right now and will be home in 20 minutes." With that, Phoebe slumped in the kitchen chair, exhausted.
* * * Piper was sleeping fitfully and dreaming. She was in Jeremy's car. He was going to show her something to make her feel better. She had been overwhelmed that day because of what she had learned about her and her sister's powers. She had started to tremble in the car. He reached over to comfort her but his hands were as cold as ice. She turned to look at him but it was if the Jeremy she knew wasn't there any more. He turned as if in slow motion to look back at her. His eyes flashed evilly and a sick smile grew on his face. His touch on her hands turned into a tight grip. Piper's eyes grew wide with fear. It was dark all around her and she had no idea where they were. Jeremy stopped the car. He put his other hand on her head and grabbed her hair, yanking her out of the car.
Piper awoke with a scream.
Phoebe and Prue, who had just walked in the door, rushed upstairs. Piper was sitting upright in bed with a terrified look on her face. Prue rushed to her side and sat down next to her. She put her arm around Piper's shoulders.
"Its ok. Its ok." She waited for Piper to talk.
Piper was too shocked to speak at first, she was sure her dream had been real. She sat there while her heart pounded out of her chest. Her head was throbbing. "I had a nightmare about Jeremy," she began. "It was so real. I was sure it was real. It was like I was reliving that night when he found out we were witches." She closed her eyes.
Prue looked up at Phoebe who was watching her two sisters. "Do you think he has something to do with this?"
"Prue, we've vanquished Jeremy, twice," Piper said with still closed eyes.
"Piper, honey, this doesn't make any sense," Phoebe commented. "There has to be some demon or warlock behind this, I can feel it. I could feel it in my premonition the other day. Something is not right here."
Piper didn't know what to say. Maybe Phoebe was right. It didn't make any sense not to be supernatural. Maybe she was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. No, she needed to get a grip. She was just attacked in her own house for no apparent reason. Things like that seem to happen all the time nowadays.
"Let's go over what happened the other day Piper. We need something to go on," Prue urged her sister.
Piper was drained. She put her head in her hands. She didn't feel like dealing with this right now. "I don't know. I don't know. All I remember is I was sitting in the kitchen when I heard the door open. I figured it was you two so I didn't think twice about it. A moment later I realized I hadn't seen either of you come in. I went to the foyer and the door was wide open but I didn't see anyone. I shut the door and turned around and felt this blinding pain in the back of my head. Then you guys came in. That's it. Caput. Nothing more."
"Do you remember anything supernatural about it?" Phoebe asked.
"Besides the fact that I never saw anyone and nobody took anything?" Piper remarked sarcastically. Her sisters just waited. And then in a flash it hit her. When she had felt the temperature drop but she couldn't move. When she had trouble breathing. When she felt petrified. It was a demon. She looked up at her sisters who knew she had remembered something. "I was trying to get off the floor and I couldn't move. It was like I was stuck to the floor. I felt like my power was being used against me..."
"That sounds like the premonition I had," Phoebe interrupted, excited.
"I remember being cold and scared and alone. The house was empty and I couldn't do anything…but I never saw anyone…I never saw anything.
"That was exactly my premonition," Phoebe exclaimed, excited they might be getting somewhere. "That's what I saw!"
"But what does it mean?" Prue questioned.
"I'll go check the Book," Phoebe said and rushed out of Piper's room.
Prue took her arm back from around her sister and faced her. She knew her sister was shook up. "Piper, are you ok?"
Piper avoided her sister's concerned gaze. She wanted to be strong but she had to admit she was scared. She felt like the warlock was targeting her and that made her very uneasy. Why wasn't it going after all three sisters like normal? "Prue," Piper couldn't help it, her emotions were getting the best of her. She started sobbing but it only worsened the pain in her head.
"Come here sweetie." Prue enveloped her sister in a hug. "I know, I know, shhhhhhhh. Phoebe and I will find out what we're up against. I want you to rest."
"I can't Prue. I'm afraid of what I might dream about. And my head is killing me."
"Piper, you need to sleep so you are strong enough to face this demon. Pheebs and I will be right here. I'll get you some of your medicine to help you rest."
Piper didn't object this time. She slowly lowered herself in bed and shut her eyes. She was asleep by the time Prue came back.
* * * Prue joined her sister up in the attic. "Did you find anything Pheebs?" Prue was concerned.
"Nothing," Phoebe said dejectedly.
"Let's let the book do the talking, Phoebe." Phoebe looked at her sister, questioningly.
"Let's put it on the podium and see what it tells us," Prue said.
Phoebe couldn't think of any objection so she complied. They watched as the pages started turning on their own. The two quickly went to the podium when the pages stopped moving.
"Rosh," Phoebe read. "This page wasn't here before."
Prue ignored her and picked up where she left off. "Enters witches from an opening created in the skin. Proceeds to weaken them by conjuring up memories of the past. Usually attacks because of a commitment made with another warlock who has been banished by the witch being victimized. There is no known way to get rid of this warlock." Prue read the last sentence slowly, in disbelief.
The two turned and looked at each other. "That's impossible," Phoebe said. Every warlock can be defeated.
"But we have to figure this one out on our own," Prue said.
* * * Piper awoke abruptly for the second time in two hours. Her head was pounding. She sat up in bed. Her room was cold. She pulled the covers around her but couldn't get warm. It seemed like the air was rushing out of the room. It was that same feeling she had had when she checked the front door of her house yesterday. Or was that two days ago? She couldn't remember anymore. Was she at home alone again? Her breaths got shorter and shorter. "Prue?" She called out. "Prue?" "Phoebe?" Silence. The temperature continued to drop until she started shivering uncontrollably. She felt alone. She tried to get up and realized she was paralyzed again. She started to sob.
* * * "Lets go check on Piper," Prue said.
"OK."
Prue cracked the door and peered into Piper's room. She could barely hear Piper sobbing. "Piper?" Piper didn't respond. Prue opened the door fully and looked in. Piper was curled in a fetal position with the covers pulled tightly around her. Prue went and sat on the bed for the second time in what seemed like only a matter of hours. She gently shook Piper who she realized was freezing and shivering. "Piper, Piper."
Piper's eyes shot open and she stared at Prue in shock. It was then that she realized she hadn't woken up at all. She had been dreaming about waking up and having no one around and not being able to move. She was tired of this and frustrated. She couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. She sat up in bed but had to stop because of the sudden pounding in her head. She closed her eyes and winced.
"I'm tired of this," she said completely frustrated. "Did you find anything?"
Prue didn't have the heart to tell her. She paused for a second trying to think of something to say.
"What? You didn't did you," Piper said looking at her.
"Not exactly. We found something Piper but we don't know how to vanquish it."
Piper continued to look at her. "Oh." Piper very slowly got up. She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked terrible. Pale as a ghost with hair everywhere. God. She put her head in her hands and leaned against the counter.
"Piper?" Phoebe questioned from the doorway.
"Just leave me alone for a sec ok?" Piper pleaded. Piper wasn't sure if this was reality or not. Afterall, maybe she was still dreaming. Who could she trust? Maybe her sisters were the warlocks. Maybe the warlocks had taken over her sister's bodies. She should probably get out of the house. No, she would go no where fast considering the condition she was in. She shut the door and locked it to think. I need Leo.
As if on que, Leo orbed in at that moment. "Leo," Piper said surprised.
"Piper, you can vanquish this demon. It can't turn good people into bad people in your dreams. Your sisters are real. You have to trust them. All you have to do is repeat the same spell you used to vanquish Jeremy. Piper, I know you can do it."
Piper could hear one of her sister's banging on the door. How did she even know Leo was real? Had she conjured him up in her imagination?
"Piper, Piper! Open up!" Phoebe yelled.
Piper put her hand on the doorknob, unsure of what was on the other side of the door. She opened it to find Phoebe and Prue looking at her in concern.
"Piper, what happened in there?" Phoebe questioned.
"Nothing Pheebs." Piper said. She brushed by her sisters and walked out of the bathroom to sit down on her bed. She put her head in her hands again. She was thoroughly exhausted. She looked up at her sisters who were looking at her. Are they real? She thought. I guess I don't have much of a choice. "We need to repeat the same spell we used on Jeremy."
"Who..Wha.." Phoebe started. But Prue and Piper were already on their way out the door. Phoebe followed them downstairs to the kitchen. Piper sat in the kitchen chair while Prue and Phoebe prepared the ingredients. "We need something that represents this demon…" Piper said not knowing what they could possibly use when she had never even laid eyes on whatever was messing with her brain.
"Here, we'll use this," Phoebe produced the necklace that she had seen in the Wiccan store the other day. Prue looked at her with a big question on her face.
"It's when I had that first premonition of Piper in the mall. It oughta work."
The three sisters sat around the table with their bowl of ingredients in between them. They held hands and repeated the first spell they had ever used. A glow enveloped the three of them and then seemed to focus on Piper. A rush of energy and light emerged from the wound in the back of her head and started spinning faster and faster until it disappeared into nothingness.
The three released their grips on each other and slumped in their chairs. Prue and Phoebe looked to Piper for confirmation that the demon was gone. Piper nodded, tears showing in her eyes. Sometimes things got too close for comfort. Her sisters saw her pain and got up to hug her. The three embraced tightly knowing they had successfully defeated another demon.
