DISCLAIMER: This story is based on the W.B. series Charmed. All characters found in the series are property of Spelling Productions. The writer created additional characters such as Presly Halliwell and Kryzech. All rights to their use remain exclusive.

(In the Halliwell Manor)

"Phoebe! Quit messing around in my wardrobe! Get your own!"

"I have my own, Prue…. it just doesn't have YOUR new, expensive, not to mention SEXY, black dress… bound to get Cole's head spinning a couple of times…"

"Well then get YOUR OWN new and expensive…"

"and sexy…"

"BLACK DRESS!" Prue cut Phoebe short in annoyance, glaring at her little sister. Thank goodness Piper never does this to me, she thought. One younger wardrobe snatcher was as much as she could bear. Phoebe knit her brows together and gave her sister the classic 'I'm such a poor little thing' pout, pivoting from right to left for 'further emphasis'. "Oh come on Prue, don't you wanna see your little sister happy?"

Prue's hands came up to rest on her hips as she shut her eyes for a moment in bid to relax herself and hopefully curb the impending headache. She frowned before heaving a sigh of defeat.

"Pheebs…sooner or later I'm going to have to put a lock on my closet-

"THANK YOU!" Phoebe lunged forward, flinging her arms round her sister's neck, nearly knocking the both of them over. As quickly as she had done so, she released Prue who had let out a short gasp, before running out of the room.

"-door." Prue finished, putting her hands back on her hips and staring at the floor in disbelief. "I can't believe I let her do it again." She mumbled.

No sooner had she said this, Phoebe's head popped back round her room door. "Did I mention how much I love you?" she said, her face breaking into the sweetest most sincere smile you'd ever seen. That was enough to make her sister break into a sheepish grin. With that, Phoebe disappeared down the corridor once more.

"Pheebs! I want it back in one piece!"

"Don't worry Prue… I'm only gonna add a couple more slits to it!"

"WHAT?!"

"KIDDIN'!"

* * *

Piper was stirring the dinner on the stove with one hand. With the other on Leo's cheek, she pulled him into a kiss, his grip tightening around her waist. I've got the perfect man she thought, and could be little bothered with the bickering she heard coming from Prue's room. She had gone though so much to be with the man she loved, and she was not about to waste any of the little and precious time they had together. It wasn't always that he time off from the council, not to mention the fact that his time off had to coincide with her rare 'demon-free' hours.

Engrossed in dreamy bliss, Piper hadn't noticed that her sisters' little argument had come to and end, and that Phoebe had been watching her and Leo from over the counter for a while now.

"A-HEM!"

Piper's eyes flew wide open as she quickly extricated herself from Leo's hold, giving Leo a slight shock. She flushed red, and turning back towards her pot, stirring faster than before, avoiding her sister's cheeky gaze. Leo turned the other way, back against the stove, looking at the ground uneasily, stammering, "Err…I…em…I'm going into the…the...living room! Yup…." He didn't move for a second, his mind still numb with Piper's kiss. "Me." He pointed at himself. "Living room." He pointed to the doorway looking at Phoebe for a while as if to ask if that was his next step. Phoebe nodded, letting out her hard contained laugh just as he left the kitchen.

Just then Prue came in holding a photography magazine, casually asking as she positioned herself at the counter, "What's for dinner?"

Before Piper could reply, Phoebe volunteered an answer," Leo…"

Piper turned slowly, glaring at her youngest sister. Prue looked up, eyes peering above her glasses for a while before returning to her magazine.

There was a pause.

"Caught her making out with 'dinner' again did you?" She said quietly to Phoebe before both broke into laughter.

Piper took a deep breath and turned to face her sisters, "Don't you two have something else to do? Like get into another fight or something?"

"Nope, we're just waiting for 'dinner' to be served." Phoebe quipped before Piper chased both out of the kitchen.

Prue and Phoebe both emerged in the living room consumed with glee. But their laugher was interrupted by a loud thud in the attic.

"Leo."

"I'm right behind you, Prue." They headed up the stairs.

"Piper!" Phoebe called.

"What? " Piper came into the living room with the stirrer. But as soon as she saw Prue and Leo heading toward the stairs she understood, and started close behind Phoebe, mumbling, "So much for dinner."

* * *

Leo cautiously approached the door, standing behind the left post, while Prue stood behind the other. He listened intently for a moment, before his concentration was broken by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Phoebe and Piper came up to them, and instinctively, Leo reached back protectively around Piper's hip. Piper felt her boyfriend's anxiety, and placed her hand gently on his elbow. Leo let out a little sigh, his hand dropping to his side.

"You ready?" Prue looked at him. He nodded.

Prue raised her hand and the attic door flew open with the four charging in.

Piper's hands immediately came out in front of her, prepared to freeze anything they were about to encounter, but before she did, everyone stopped in their tracks, and Piper's hands were still before her.

Huddled in front of some crates, was a girl, about sixteen or seventeen, cradling an older man who looked about his mid thirties. He looked pale and weak, barely breathing.

"Frank?" The three sisters turned to look at Leo, who began toward the strangers, kneeling next to the dying man.

Piper and Prue exchanged glances before heading towards Leo, who had put his ear close to the man's lips in bid to hear his painful words. "Take my hand…" He whispered. There was a clear look of agony on Leo's face as he slowly took the man's hand. Their hands glowed, and Leo jerked back as though he was having a premonition. There was a moment of tension on his face, but it dissipated into sadness. Leo opened his eyes slowly, releasing the man's hand. "Oh Frank…how…?" He shook his head lightly, and the man, 'Frank', turned to the girl cradling him. "He'll take care of you from now on…" She trembled, shaking her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. "…n-no…Frank,….you promised…..no…."

"I know….I know….I'm sorry…"

"Frank….no….don't leave me…you promised…." She broke into sobs, and her grip on him tightened.

"Honey….listen to me now…." He groaned a little," …you know I love you….and I'll be around….just in a different way…."

She attempted to hold back the tears, continually shaking her head, unable to accept his words. He reached up to caress her cheek, but that only served to deepen her sorrow. She closed her eyes, tears hot on her face, placing her hand over his.

"No, Frank…. don't you dare leave me alone….no-n-no…."She said, rocking him to and fro.

He smiled with painful sadness, mouthing the 'three words' back, his tears streaming down. Then, closing his eyes, his whole body began to glow, and disintegrate into spheres of rising light…till he was no more. The girl broke into huge sobs that wracked her body, and Leo reached forward to hold her, knowing her pain.

"Nooo…..Frank! You lied….you lied to me! No…."

* * *

The next few days were long and frustrating. Leo had refused to fill her in on what was going on, conveniently 'disappearing'. As for the girl that had 'appeared' in their attic, she had lapsed into silence, cooping herself up in the extra bedroom. Piper was getting restless and irritable. Unusual since Prue normally played that part. Her two sisters had gone docile, somewhat taken aback by the recent happenings, but both spoke little on the matter. It was as though all three sensed an impending turn of events. For some unexplainable reason, all three felt a connection, but couldn't begin to put a finger on the matter. Piper had tried to persuade Phoebe to touch something, but Phoebe had refused, giving any excuse she could think up to avoid doing so. It was as though there was a fear of finding out something she didn't want to know.

Prue did little to help her middle sister in persuading Phoebe. In fact, Prue had been more melancholic of late. Not that this was out of the ordinary for Prue, but Piper could not figure the trigger of such a disposition. The oldest seemed lost in thought a lot of the time, but of the three, she had been most patient with Presly (her name was as far as Leo would go), checking on her from time to time. The night before, Piper had peeped through an opening in the door, to see Prue pulling the covers over, sitting next to her bed for a good long while. watching. She and Phoebe had dismissed it as their sister's usual need to be the responsible one, the one to look out for everyone. They thought that maybe Frank dying had triggered some feelings about Andy.

Piper was sitting on the sofa reading the morning paper when she heard Leo orbing in near the front door. She looked up for a moment, deciding whether or not to go over. On one hand she has missed him, but on the other hand she was angry about the way he had been the past few days, not speaking to her, not explaining things to her. She heard Leo walking towards her from behind and she closed the paper, putting it down on the coffee table, all this while not turning around to face him. Leo knew she was angry. He breathed deeply and stood two feet from the sofa. Piper rose slowly and turned to face him. No uttering a word.

"Hey."

Piper glanced briefly at the ground before looking up. "Where've you been?" She said calmly, not allowing herself to lose her cool just yet.

"I had to report back to the council…" Piper remained unmoving. "And now I'm back." He attempted to reach for her, but Piper avoided his touch.

"Some people appear in our attic, then one disappears, then you disappear, not even telling me what's going on, leaving me to worry about how you're doing and with a girl whom we have no idea is… or what she is for that matter, and that's the best you can do? I'm back? You owe me more than that Leo!" By now Piper's hand were waving around in exasperation and Leo was listening in silence. "You owe me more than that." Her hands fell down to her sides with a clap against her thighs.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it Leo." Piper turned from him and sat back down on the couch. At this point her sisters were coming into the room. They had heard Leo's voice and wanted to know what was going on. Phoebe had put herself in one of the chairs while Prue remained standing.

"So what's happening? Which bad guy are we up against this time?"

Leo's eyes reluctantly left Piper to face Prue. "I think you'd better sit down for this one."

* * *

(In a dangerous area of the city)

It seemed like she had been walking for hours. By now, she was cold and hungry. She had eaten little the past few days, her heart overcome with grief. He was all she'd ever had, the only person who had ever loved her. And now he was just gone. Just gone. She couldn't believe it. Her heart was a mess of confusion. She felt anguish, yet so much anger. She wanted to kill person, the 'thing' that had done this to her. But then again, it was her fault, it was her fault that this had happened to Frank. All her fault. No. It was the council's fault. She tried to accord blame to anyone and everything to alleviate her guilt. How could Frank have left her? Why does everyone leave her?

Walk Prissy, keep walking, don't stop.

Her eyes were already swollen from long hours of grief, but even then she found it hard to keep herself from crying some more. All her life people she loved had left her. When she had asked her dad why her mom had left her, all he had to say were a string of vulgar accusations. That she was a dirty, ungrateful whore who had been unfaithful to him. He said that she had Presly all alone, and that she should never forget it. She remembered how cold her father could be, till he eventually left her. She had been instructed by him to wait for him while he went to get some provisions, he left her standing on the sidewalk alone. She waited. He never came. She was only nine then.

Everyone always leaves me. Always.

Presly shivered with silent sobs wrecking her insides. She turned into a dark alleyway, shutting her eyes as tight as she could to hold back the tears.

* * *

(In the Halliwell Manor)

"…w-what?" Phoebe stammered in disbelief.

Piper lay stunned against the sofa. "It can't be." There was a period of silence.

"How is it possible Leo?" Phoebe stood up, unable to accept all that she had just heard. "It can't be!"

Prue stood up, her eyes filled with deep emotion, "Why Pheebs? Why can't it be? Is it so hard to believe after all we've been through?"

"Mom would have told us!"

"Maybe she didn't have the time to tell us….before she got killed by that damn water demon!"

"She would have told us! We would have known!"

"Why can't you just accept that Presly is who she is?"

"Because its not true and it will never be true!"

Prue was disgusted with her sister's inability to accept the truth and stormed up to the attic. She sat down on the hard wooden floor, leaning against the old musty smelling walls. She looked thoughtfully at the Book of Shadows, staring at the ancient symbol gracing its cover. She wondered for a while. The power of three? If so, was Phoebe right? Then she remembered what Leo had said, it wasn't supposed to be. Such things were never supposed to be. As she though upon all that Leo had said, she became more confused at how to feel. But slowly, she became more focused on Presly, trying to recall the past and what had happened that day. She slowly slipped into her subconscious, whispering to herself, "Remember, Prue. Grams….help me to remember."

It was as though sixteen years of the past had suddenly flashed across her mind in a split second. Prue jerked back suddenly. She found herself in that place, that place sixteen years ago. She was just a young child. The image around her seemed to run in slow motion, even the sounds…some things were clear to her eyes while others were muffled. She was lying in her bed and could see Piper on the bed across the room, sleeping soundly. Phoebe too, she was still in a crib, hardly a toddler. She heard a baby crying, she looked around. Sam. He was giggling a baby in his arms. Prue knew. It was Presly. Her mom came in. She brought a bottle with her. She was trying to calm the baby so as not to wake them. In the vision, Prue dozed off to sleep. When she opened her eyes once more, she was behind the railings in the stair well. She was scared. She could hear shouting. Her dad's voice. Victor. She could hear a baby crying. She heard a slap and saw the shadow of her mother falling to the ground crying out. "No! no!" She cried. Prue heard struggling, then she heard her dad shoving her mother to the ground once and the door slamming shut. The baby's cries were no more. Then she heard Sam's voice. "Honey? Where's the baby? Where's the baby? ….NO!!!"

"Prue." Prue startled awake. Piper was standing across the room.

"Hey dear, what's up." She tried to appear as composed as possible, but she knew she could not escape Piper's perceptiveness. She looked down at the ground in guilt. The silence between them seemed to go on forever.

"You knew didn't you?"

There was a pause and Prue nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Prue looked up. "I wasn't sure. Its was just a gut feeling. Like I remembered something from the past…yet I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe I knew but I just couldn't come to terms with it. Or maybe I….I don't know. I don't know…..I'm sorry." A tear rolled down and she quickly wiped it away.

Piper scooted over and sat next to Prue, making sure their sides touched. She wanted Prue to know that they were in this together, and that she knew her feelings. One by one more tears came tumbling down her cheeks and Prue put her head in between her knees. Piper put her arm round Prue, leaning into her sister's pain.

"I can't believe it Piper…..I can't believe we have a sister."

Tears welled up in Piper's eyes as she held Prue. She didn't know what else to do. They were all in shock, the new had struck a hard blow. It had raked up old hurts to do with their parents, and each sister didn't know how to respond. It had left them stranded. All Piper knew now, was how to be strong for both her sister's sakes. Prue was dealing with the pain of not being able to protect Presly all this time, while Phoebe was struggling to come to terms with Sam having been their mother's lover, and why Victor had left them but taken Presly. There were just two many issues that came attached to the matter. Piper had decided. She was going to be the pillar of strength. There was no time for her own tears. Everyone was in pain.

* * *

(In a dark alley)

Presly walked pass a couple of delinquents roughing up a young man, choking slightly as she let out of tiny laugh.

Two years after Victor had left her, and she had made a mental note never to call him father ever again, even in her thoughts. She had lived on her own for a couple of months, learning to survive on her own, stealing the occasional little grub here and there. But when she realized that she was getting pretty good at it, she had taken to running off with other people's wallets, which was successful…for a while at least, till she had gotten caught. They had put her in the care if a juvenile home, where she had been made to attend school, which she relished thoroughly. But it wasn't long before she learnt that such a keen desire would do little to help her avoid the attention of other, not-so-passionate mates. She had become the target of many attacks.

After a while however, decidedly, she had had enough. Her compatriots had cornered her as she walked to her seat carrying her morning breakfast tray. Whatever she had on hands had quickly been swiped to the floor. She had done a good job of holding back though, her eyes remained unmoving, staring into air ahead of her, until 'Big May' had spit into her face.

She remembered the scene clearly. She had opened her eyes slowly, and looking intensely at the enemy standing in front of her at two o'clock. It was like the world had gone into slow motion at that time. She could Big May's taunts flowing on and on, and her anger rising, boiling inside.

She pulled back her right arm, and it instinctively flew forward.

Big May fell with a loud bang, tray and all. She lay still. The hall grew deafeningly silent. She paced forward slowly, not even checking on her opponent. The crowd that had gathered around to witness the commotion inched back slightly. Presley stopped just after passing one of Big May's 'gang members', turning to take her tray to replace her own. She said nothing, but here eyes spoke all, touch me again, and you're dead. She continued on, sitting at the furthest end of the hall to consume her meal. Her friends silently joined her, giving her nothing but slight smiles. She smiled back to them only for a moment. Things were going to change, she thought.

* * *

(Present time. The Halliwell Manor)

Phoebe lay against the sofa, looking out towards the street. She saw a young couple locked arm in arm, pushing a stroller with a baby in it. She smiled only slightly. If only life could be that simple for us. She looked down and sighed.

In her hand, she held the letters that her mother had written to Sam. She let her hands feel the paper in her hands, her thumb tracing in particular a certain phrase,"…kiss the girls goodnight for me. I love you guys so much." When she had found out that Sam had been her mother's lover, for a while she had been consumed with a detest for him, but secretly, she had also longed for what he had written in the letters to be true, to have someone, a father, that really loved them. But now, all she could think was that Sam had only loved Presley, not her, not Prue, not Piper.

"Why?" Phoebe whispered silently. A tear had hardly gotten halfway down her cheek when she reached up to wipe it away. She felt a hand come to rest gently on her shoulder. She could smell the familiar sweet scent Piper wore, and reached back to cup her sister's hand. Each one's grip tightened. Phoebe shifted her weight as Piper slipped into the chair to sit behind her. Piper cradled her little sister, resting her head on her back as she did so.

"We've got each other you know?" Piper whispered.

Phoebe sighed a little, then replied, "We just don't seem to have normal parents that's all. No normal loving parents, no normal simple lives…. everyone we love either ends up leaving us or us them…. or dead…. if they're still around, they are of course, NOT normal…like your boyfriend…. and now we have another sister…but of course, she can't be real normal either! Great! The list of NOT normal just goes on and on….."

"Pheebs…"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry honey…..I just…I just don't know what to make of everything. I can't help feeling that my life is messed up because I'm a witch. Dad left, mom died, grams is gone, and our love lives can be Oh SO messed up. And all because we're witches. I don't wanna be a witch anymore. It sucks."

Piper caught hold of Phoebe's cheek and turned her little sister's head to face her. "You know that's not true… even though there are trying times and life does really suck because we have to play super heroes, there are good things too. And I know you, becoming a witch was the best thing that ever happened to you. Deep down inside, you wouldn't trade it for the world." Piper stroked her sister's face lightly, "...and besides, 'I don't wanna be a witch' is supposed to be my line." Both grin a little.

"I love you," Piper gives Phoebe a tight squeeze.

Phoebe lets out a deep sigh,"What would I do without you?"

Piper laughed, as she squeezed tighter, "Oh suffer endlessly no doubt."

Phoebe broke out grinning, "Hey! Now that's my line!"

Still entwined in one another's arms, they swayed from side to side, giggling.

"I love you too, sweetie…" Phoebe finally said.

And both went quiet.

* * *

Presley observed light coming from round the bend of the alley and quickly headed towards it. There were a couple of homeless men and a woman standing around the drum, hoping to warm up in the light of its fire. They shifted slightly to make room for her to join them, empathizing with her being one of 'their own'. She said nothing as she walked into their circle, and from her they demanded nothing either.

She watched as the flames danced around in front of her hands. Flickering in and out of one another. In her state of numbness, the image was almost soothing. Yet, it possessed a certain hypnotic quality, drawing her into their warm frenzy…

(Back a couple of years)

There it was, the flames were dancing in the little cauldron they had gotten from that newly opened store selling all sorts of supernatural paraphernalia. With the help of her not-so-level headed friends, she had managed to shake her probation officer's tail. Silently she thought, thank goodness she had found them. It had made life more bearable.

A dark secluded alley. Five crazy friends sitting in a circle, what could be more cliche than this? She thought. It was like something out of those stupid poltergeist episodes. For the fun of it, she reminded herself. Anyway, they'd always been intrigued by the supernatural, it was a common interest all five shared. They had found this witchcraft manual lying around in the park and had thought to make some good fun out of it, if for nothing but a laugh.

She had felt a wee bit of apprehension about the matter, but that feeling quickly left as everyone began the 'ritual'. Carol said something about it being to awaken sleeping powers, she couldn't really remember. Anyway, nothing happened, all she remembered was a slight breeze, and thinking she saw a shadow disappear around the corner. They went back that day, disappointed. To top it off she got detention for a week.

However, strange things began to happen to her. She had been back in class the next day. The electricity had been cut off that afternoon, leaving everyone without air-conditioning to counter the smoldering summer heat. She was next to Carol and both were complaining about the situation,

"If only there was a breeze or something…" Carol had said.

"Breeze? I wish there was a gale blowing so it wouldn't be so hot!"

No sooner had Presley uttered those words, a massive wind began to blow in the classroom, destroying the windows, knocking over tables and scattering papers. Presley watched helplessly as he teacher and classmates were crouching towards the wall in bid to keep themselves from being flung around. She on the other hand, somehow managed to stand her ground with not too much problem, but her mind was thrown into frenzy. Had she done this? Had she wished this? Stop! Stop! As soon as she had thought those last words, the winds died down and all was as per normal, but all were shaken up, especially Presley.

Little did she know that across the road from her classroom window, a man stood, watching.

Over the next few days, Presley began to experiment with her newfound powers. She found that she could manipulate any element so long as it was within a certain distance. These included things like fire, and water, and electricity. Air of course was never a problem since it was in abundance around her.

She never allowed anyone to see her trying out her powers, except Carol. She knew better than that.

But within the next few days, things grew even stranger, and scary. She had been to the bathroom late that night when a man had appeared to her. Immediately she saw he bore ill intent, but before she could open her mouth to scream he gave a wave of his hand and all that broke was silence. She tried again, but nothing came out. He lunged forward suddenly, grabbing her, "I have you now! Ha ha ha…the source will be pleased, the not-so Charmed one…ha ha ha ha…" Presley struggled, but could not break free. Then, her eye caught the tap she had left running, and remembered her newly acquired asset.

Immediately, a long stream of water rose behind her assailant. Presley squinted, and the water began to swirl around the man. Startled by the turn of events, the man released her. She pulled free from his grasp as the water began to form a cylindrical chamber encompassing him. Then, turning to face him, she squeezed her eyes tight shut, letting out a cry, "Arghh!" And immediately, the once liquid prison, turned into ice.

The man began to bang his fists hard against the ice, but before he could get through, Presley though it best to get a head start. As she left the room, She caught a glimpse of a bright light illuminating in the chamber behind her. She spun round to see what was happening. That was the first time she had caught a glimpse of Frank. He had his hands around the man who was now screaming, "No! No! I won't let you take me! N-nooo……!" With that, the both disintegrated in a spectacular display of light. The ice chamber now returned to its liquid state and fell with a splash, creating a sizable puddle on the ground, leaving Presley disoriented at what had just happened.

The next few days were incredibly trying. Presley was irritable and distracted. Already two other fellows had followed the first attacker, and she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder in fear. They never appeared unless she was alone. Life was an agony. She had ransacked every witchcraft store and every book she could get her hands on, but she couldn't find a way to reverse what had happened to her. Each time she would trap her attacker, and each time as she turned to run, Frank would appear and disappear with her assailant. But he never said anything.

Then one night, Presley had pulled Carol into the janitors' room with her, hoping to tell her best friend all that had happened. But as soon as she had locked the door behind her, another man appeared, followed by another two behind him. "Good evening, Presley. My name is Kryzech." There was an evil smile on his lips and immediately Presley pulled Carol behind her.

"It appears that you're giving our hit men a little more trouble than anticipated. The master has sent me, to take care of that." He was twirling a metal contraption of some kind in his hand. It looked very much like a hollow knife handle, and the opening on one side began to glow.

Carol made a dart for the door, but as she caught hold of the handle, a red beam shot out of the metal gadget, striking her in the back. She fell dead instantly.

"Carol!" Presley had run to her side, but was devastated to find her friend dead. Her eyes were red with a mix of sorrow and anger. Her body trembled. She stood up with such a determination in her eyes. They reeked vengeance, "You're going to regret this."

"And you'll what? Witch reject? Without your precious white lighter you can't even defend yourself. It because of him that our previous attempts failed. And do you see him here to save you?"

"Whoever he is, I don't care, I don't need him to take care of the trash!" Presley leapt up to a loose electrical cable she had seen hanging from the ceiling, ripping the cord apart. She was overwhelmed with emotion, as such it took little focus to harness her powers. Flashes of light flew out of the cable straight at Kryzech's accomplices. Both wailed in agony, convulsing as they decomposed into nothingness. Kryzech's hand shot up, his weapon sending out another beam, But Presley was too quick, and swiftly moved out of the way. She immediately released another crack of electricity of lower voltage, causing Kryzech to drop his weapon. He stepped back in fear.

"No one!" Presley released a blast causing Kryzech to fall to the ground.

"No one!" She let loose another causing Kryzech to wrench in pain on the ground.

"…ever hurts my friend and gets away with it." Presley gave out a long hard blast. Kryzech screamed out loud, and was no more. With that, she fell to the ground in tears, crawling back to Carol's side to hold her.

Another loved one lost.

Then from the side of her eye, there was a bright flash. She turned to find Frank standing there. She jerked back in fear.

"Don't be afraid, Prissy. I'm not here to hurt you." Frank had said.

Presley remembered such gentleness in his voice.

Frank laid his hands on Carol and there was a glow. She was breathing again. Presley held on tight, fearing that she would lose her again. But Frank slowly pulled her away, and she was too tired to resist.

"We have to go now…" Presley looked up questioningly, "Trust me. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not going to let anyone else either." She nodded. Then Frank had looked up as though talking to someone, "You'll take care of everything?"

Like he had heard an answer, he took hold of Presly, "I'm never going to leave you. I promise." and they disappeared into a display of light.

(Present time. Back in the alley.)

Frank had been good to me. He was like a father I never had. …

* * *

"Ok. We can do this. We can." Phoebe was trying as hard as she could to convince herself of what they were going to do, more than she was trying to persuade her sisters anyway. All three were lined up in front of Presley's room door looking nervous and jittery.

"Ok, and how exactly are we going to do this? We can't just waltz in there and say, 'Hi, we're your long lost sisters. Its nice to meet you?'" Piper blurted out. She had been the steadying factor for the three in the past few hours, but now she too couldn't contain her nervousness. Truth is, she was just as excited about the matter as the other two. "Think girls! Think!"

"Er….OH oh! We don't have to, Pipe! We have an older sister remember?" Phoebe grabbed hold of Prue and shoved her in front of them both. "She'll do the talking..."

"Phoebe!" Prue face was a twist of anger, but mostly panic. The youngest and oldest broke into a frenzied argument once more. Piper tried to separate them both but with little success.

"Stop it you two! …enough!…will u listen?……SHUT UP!" Piper's outburst silenced them both for a moment, but then the two turned to look at one another, then turned back in unison, "Piper will do it!"

"W-WHAT?! NO!" And the argument started up all over again.

Suddenly, Presley's room door opened, and all fell silent. There in the doorway, wasn't their little sister, but was in fact, Leo.

"Erm. We have a problem." He said with his hand still on the doorknob.

"What honey?" Piper gave him a look of concern.

"Presley's gone."

* * *

(Back in the dark alley)

He watched her. He wouldn't make the same mistake as those other fools. He would play this game slow and steady. That was the beauty of the game; inflict as much torment as possible. He snickered to himself. He prided himself for showmanship. He'd leave all in envy of his prowess. He'd been following her all day. He wanted to take his time, to relish every moment. But now he thought, he had had enough for the day; it was time to get on with the program. His eyes glowed red and he took his right hand from its place in his trench coat pocket. A dark ball of black fire began to form in his palm,

"Kaas-in-thwarta cuum…
Minosaur-Ra…
Kry-ze-um tul…
Cazak, j'alem Kum!"

The dark ball flew from his hand and struck Presly. She felt a slight chill, and frowned at the sudden sensation.

He stood and watched, menacing to himself, it's incredible what knowledge and power one could gain by killing another demon. He marveled, muttering, "I should do this more often."

From behind the wall he could hear their conversation,

"Are you ok?" a man said to Presly.

"..yah… just a chill I think," Presly looked troubled by what had just happened, but it never crossed her mind that the sensation was anything more that what it was.

"Stand closer to the fire, dear. It'll get you feeling just fine in no time." An old woman reached out to pull her closer to the drum.

He smiled to himself, "That's right, little one, Lo-Ruhamah of the Charmed Ones, you shall be your own undoing, and your sisters'."

He looked on quietly for a moment, then he turned and walked away. There was an evil fire in his eyes.