A Kind of Magic
part 6
"Phoebe, I want you to take Ally, and get out of here."
"But I can't exactly shim-"
"That's the point. Go out through the bedroom window. Take my car keys, and get my Explorer. I'll stay here with the others, try to hold her off."
"Um...maybe that's not such a good idea," Paige whispered. "I haven't really used-"
"It's our only chance," Cole interrupted. "And you're either with us or you're not."
"Mommy, I don't want to leave," Alex protested.
Phoebe gently picked her up, placing her securely within her grasp. "We have to."
"But I don't want to."
"There are bad people after us, sweetie."
"Mommy-"
"Alex, don't do this. Just listen to me, all right? We won't be safe if we stay. They’ll come and they’ll take you, and I’m not going to watch it happen."
"I want Daddy to come," the little girl spoke up meekly.
"Your Daddy has to be here," she explained. "He has to help your aunts. You'll be seeing him again soon."
"Daddy?"
Cole gently took his four-year-old's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Go with your mom. It's okay. I promise."
Alex wiped away a tear from her face, slowly nodding.
Phoebe hesitated a moment, glancing at her husband. Her hands shook as she tightened her hold on her daughter. Alex put her hands around her mother's neck, moving closer to her. "Be careful," she whispered to him.
"Don't suppose I get a-"
Without warning, she took a step forward, a hand gripping the fabric of his sweater, impulsively bringing her lips to his. Cole raised his eyebrows out of complete surprise, responding wholeheartedly, as he was briefly caught in the moment. Neither of them broke away.
"Witch!" a voice sneered downstairs. "I have come to collect the girl! Where is she?!"
Cole pulled away reluctantly then, throwing her a hopeful glance. "You better go. Now. Hurry."
She nodded, her expression filled with a smile.
"But, see, she can do kickboxing or whatever. Me? I can't fight for the life-"
"Use your sparkles, Aunt Paige," Alex whispered.
Cole brought Phoebe's hand to his, pressing the pair of car keys firmly into her palm. "Go."
"I'll orb you down," Paige quickly volunteered.
Cole frowned. "But that's not-"
The three of them were already gone though, leaving nothing but vacant air in their place.
"Maybe she really does care about me," he concluded, his eyes still fixed in Phoebe's direction. "Either that, or I'm more confused than I was before."
"Where is the girl?!" the female voice repeated.
"Cole! Paige! Get your butts down here!" Piper shouted. She glared at the demon before her, carefully eying up the long horns that protruded from her long blonde hair. The girl growled, taking a swipe at Piper with one of her claws.
"Blow her up," Leo hissed.
"Easier said than done, honey," she snapped. "I'm not exactly willing to put my sister's furniture at risk anytime soon. They're antiques."
"So freeze her, Piper," he said quickly, rolling his eyes.
"I tried. She's not freez-"
A lightning bolt cascaded down the stairwell, catching their perpetrator by surprise. She angrily whipped around, shooting a series of red sparks at him. Cole ducked just in time, as they tore into a picture frame on the wall, watching as it rapidly caught flames.
"What the hell are those?" Piper asked, clearly out of patience. "And where the hell is Paige?"
"She's an upper level demon!" Cole called out. "Probably one of the best! And Paige...is conveniently missing in action!"
"Oh. Well, that's just great."
"So someone sent-" Leo began.
"Already one step ahead of you," Piper filled in, as some sparks shot her way.
"She's not The Dark, but-"
"Do not speak of the one I serve," the she demon snapped forcefully.
Cole flung another bolt at her, this time succeeding in smartly touching upon her shoulder blade. She glared at him, longer claws extending themselves to their full length from beneath her fingernails. "Oops," he whispered. "That can't be good."
"On the other hand," Leo objected, "maybe if we got her to reveal her true form-"
"She might be easier to vanquish," Piper echoed. "You know, I think that's the most sense you've made all day."
"The girl," the demon said again, almost mechanically. "My master demands her alive and in one piece."
"See, I don't like your attitude already," Piper added.
"What's to like?" Cole quipped.
"Bring her to me," she threatened. "Or else-"
"Or else what? You can't stand there and tell me you weren't going to kill us, because that’s just not happening," Piper threw in.
"Oh really?" she questioned quietly. At once, an identicle shape took refuge alongside hers, its arms across its chest. The first demon smiled, a snicker escaping her lips. "You underestimate my powers, witch."
"Wait a minute. What just happened?" Cole asked, scratching his head in bewilderment.
"She just regenerated," Leo explained, his face a clear mask of shock.
"That's impossible," Piper accused. "...Isn't that impossible?"
Cole slowly made his way down the stairs, squaring off with the new replica. Her eyes glowed in his direction, a smile matching that of her twin's, sliding eerily across her face. "You will lose this battle," she taunted briefly, her hand raised, the claws catching the gleam of the light.
"Why do you want her?" he asked, his voice low. "Does The Dark see herself trying to take the world again?" He smiled. "Because it isn't going to happen."
"The Dark can see more than you ever shall," came the response.
"Yes, but as you've just indicated, she needs my daughter to complete her plan."
"You catch on quick."
"Call it a hunch."
"Where is she?"
"Aren't you getting tired of asking me that?"
"Cole!" Piper hissed, as the other demon began to circle her and Leo. "We need to finish this. Now."
"The girl isn't here," the twin growled.
"What?" her companion asked, perplexed.
"They're...protecting her. I can feel it."
"Well, you're feel wrong," Cole added. "Because the girl is here."
"The Master would not want us wasting our time here," the first demon replied, ignoring him.
"Um...what are they doing?" Leo asked, edging forward.
"You go. Locate the girl. She must still be close."
"Hey, wait. You don't want to do that," Piper protested.
"And why not? For we no longer have business here."
"Oh, but you do. Like...what about trying to kill us? Hmm? That's a biggie."
"If you want her, you'll have to go through us," Leo chimed in.
"We have done nothing but buy you time," the twin retorted. "And it has not worked to our advantage. We are sure to fail."
"Isn't that the point though?" Cole quipped. He looked at Piper, an annoyed expression plaguing him. "Don't tell me there's no spell in the Book that can easily take care of these two."
"We'd have to know what they are," she snapped back. "And as of now, my muse is on vacation. Besides that, the Book is back at the Manor. Not exactly doing us any bit of good here, is it?"
"Then like Hell am I going to wait around to find out." He was gone instantly. The two demons, having been caught completely off guard, immediately followed the disappearing act in a cloud of smoke.
Piper just stood there, frowning at her husband, hands propped on her hips. "Great help, honey. You could have at least made an attempt to orb for the Book."
"What?"
"The Dark sent that demon because she obviously knew well in advance that she was perfectly capable of replicating herself. She knew exactly what to throw at us. And we just took it. Because we weren't ready."
"We have gone awhile without using our- we're still alive, aren't we?"
"Wrong. You haven't, Leo. And you could be-"
"What? I could've what, Piper? The fact of the matter is there was nothing I could have done in this situation."
"Leo, we're not hiding anymore. I'm not hiding anymore. And I can't believe that you would even-"
"You heard Cole. The Dark is very unpredictable. She knows what she wants, and nothing is going to prevent her from getting it. And right now...she wants Alexandra."
"So just staying here like this is automatically going to make it all better?"
"Piper, I don't want to see anything bad happen to them anymore than you do. They're family."
"Yes, and with or without you, Leo, I'm going to help my family. So orb me, or get out of my way."
He sighed. "This goes deeper than you could possibly imagine. I've never once heard the Elders speak of The Dark. She must-"
"And she's my sister...and with her- is my niece."
"Mom, guess what, guess what? Grandpa Victor got me out of school! Isn't that great?!"
Better late than never, Victor Bennett entered through the tarnished front door, his granddaughter running frantically ahead of him, her eyes oblivious to the damage.
Piper simply put a hand to her head, closing her eyes. "Just wonderful..."
**********
"You should've stayed back at the house," Phoebe muttered, shaking her head.
Paige made a quick right, edging the Explorer down a deserted dirt road, bringing it to an abrupt stop. "Yes, and coming from a girl who basically loathes her sister's husband, I honestly think they were better off without me."
"Don't say that."
"But it's true. Do you know that Piper hasn't even invited me down in over a month? It's like she thinks I'm going to curse the Manor or something. I was actually starting to convince myself I wasn't part of the family anymore."
"She's just been preoccupied," Phoebe filled in. "We all have. And Melinda's quite the handful. I also don't exactly think she and Leo are having a charmed marriage, as of late. She hasn't said anything, really, but I just have this feeling that there's a lot she's keeping inside."
"It's no different than you and Cole though," Paige pointed out.
"Cole and I- there's so much I'd like to tell him, you know? Then...then my stupid temper takes over, and....everything goes to hell."
"And what about her?" her sister asked quietly, indicating a sleeping Alex in the back seat.
"Alex adores Cole," Phoebe whispered. "I saw it the minute she was born. And when he took her in his arms...if it's one thing we did- if it’s one beautiful thing we made when we were together, it was Alex. It was the one thing we always agreed on."
"And now she knows who we are."
"But she really doesn't have a problem with it. When I overheard Cole talking to her about us, you almost knew she'd believe in the possibility of magic, no questions asked. And...and I think she'd be ready to use it, if need be. I really do."
"Are you going to unbind her powers?"
"At the moment? I don't think it would be the answer. Not until-"
"Witch!" a voice called out. "Oh, witch, would you mind coming out to play? We know you have the girl."
Phoebe froze. She looked at Paige, her face clouded with a sudden fear. "Drive."
Paige closed her eyes. Opening them once again, she quickly glanced back at her sister. "Um...I can't," she whispered.
"What?! What are you talking about? Drive."
"Looking for these?" the twin asked, absentmindedly waving the car keys directly in front of the windshield.
"Oh crap," Paige countered. "This is not happening. This is so not happening."
"How did they find us?"
"What, I can suddenly read minds now?"
"Mommy, what's going on?" Alex asked, her voice filled with sleep.
Phoebe carefully climbed over and into the back seat, clutching her daughter to her. "It's all right, sweetheart. It's okay."
"Come out, come out," the first she demon chanted.
"All right. That does it. Keys," Paige emphasized.
The car keys flew from the demon's hand, fitting securely into Paige's own.
"And why you didn't use that before?" Phoebe asked, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, quiet," Paige added. "I kind of panicked and forgot, okay? So sue me."
"So drive," her sister echoed impatiently.
"But wouldn't it just make more sense to orb?"
"Mommy, I wanna go home," Alex complained softly. "I'm scared."
"Don't worry," Phoebe assured her.
"Hmm. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" a sarcastic tone added, as a figure shimmered into full view.
"Daddy!" Alex yelled, a smile falling over her features.
"Quiet," Phoebe silenced her, but she felt her heart beat just a little faster at the entrance of her husband, the corners of her mouth slightly twitching.
Cole narrowed his eyes at the two demons. "Now...I'm done messing around. You didn't hurt any of us, and I'll give you points for that. But if you don't leave, things are only going to get worse. See, after awhile, I don't feel like cooperating. In fact, I get slightly crankier than I'd like. So I'm presenting you with a choice. Get out of here, without the girl, and beg to The Dark to spare your life...or you can save her the humiliation, and be vanquished right on the spot. Not very appealing, I'll grant you, but at least I'm giving you options..."
The first demon smiled. "But as you can see, we are not ready to give up our lives just yet. And we're still going to get the girl."
"Take your best shot," he taunted, a slow smile covering his handsome face.