Shadows Of the Night
part 12
"Aunt Paige, why aren't they back yet?"
"Well, your Uncle Cole always feels the need to overanalyze things as best he can, so I figure another hour, and we should be good."
"Why?" Melinda Wyatt asked, as she gently propped her elbows up onto the small table in the cabin, glancing at her with a curious expression.
"Because that's just the way he is. Look at it as if you were evil for over a hundred years, and see how you turn out."
"I thought you trusted Daddy now," Alex started, shooting Paige a worried gaze.
"I do," she emphasized. "But I know he's definitely itching to start a fight with Sterling, and we're not exactly in the position to do that just yet."
"But we're going to?"
"I didn't say that either."
"Daddy always comes through. If he's in trouble, he can get himself out of it."
"You really do have faith in him, don't you?"
"I never take it away," Alex said sofly. "He's never let me down, Aunt Paige."
"He did bind your powers though last year," she reminded her. "I'm sure you weren't too happy about that, were you?"
"But he says that's what Mommy wanted then," she protested.
"Of course it didn't stop The Dark from singling you out as the all powerful witch either, but...."
"What do you think my mom is doing now?" Melinda wondered aloud.
"Well I don't know, honey. I imagine they're still up in the clouds somewhere."
"What do they do up there?"
"They talk with the...important people who are supposed to be in charge, but still fail to tell us when evil's on our trail. Yep. Think that about sums it up. The Elders, The Powers That Be..."
"And you're just mad 'cuz you can't go," her niece pointed out.
"Did your mother tell you that?"
"No....maybe."
"They give me all of these advanced powers, and then I have no one to thank. All in all, I really got the bad end of this deal. I guess it's all part of being the new sister."
"But I've known you six years," Melinda cleared up proudly.
"Not everyone wants to though," she explained, shrugging. "Hey, I'm used to it by now."
"So how did you get to be a Halliwell?" Alex beckoned excitedly, plopping down in the seat next to her cousin, as she offered her aunt her full attention.
"Well...technically I'm not. I'm still a Matthews. But your grandmother had me with a man named Sam. He was a Whitelighter."
"Like Daddy?" Melinda piped up.
"Bet you don't know the story of how your dad got his wings," she challenged, smiling at her.
"Wings? Dad has wings? How come I never saw them?"
"Well, not literally. He was made an angel from doing some real good after he died. It's actually a pretty impressive-"
"So if you're a whitelighter too, Aunt Paige, does that mean you died too?"
"No. See, I'm only half of what Leo is. I don't have some of his abilities."
"Like what?"
"He can shapeshift," she suggested. "Though it's not something you'll catch him using too often."
"He never uses his powers in front of me," Melinda countered. "Mom's been teaching me everything."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"I guess you're in trouble then. Because your mom seems to have a thing with going back and forth with her destiny quite a bit. Just ask Aunt Phoebe. She'll tell you about the time we were allowed to be free from being The Charmed Ones. We almost didn't have our powers when everything was all over."
"But you still wanted to be magical?"
"Yep. Well, I was always one to embrace it. So I can't really say I always agreed with every decision we were about to make."
"Dad's just been so busy lately though, you know? Last week, he even forgot to come and get me at school like he was supposed to."
"His charges," she concluded, nodding. "Yeah. That makes sense."
"Will I have charges?" Melinda asked hopefully, raising her eyebrows.
"Me too," Alex spoke up. "I want charges too, Aunt Paige."
"You'll have to talk to The Powers," she told them. "That is beyond my control."
"Will we ever get to meet them?"
"Well, I don't know, sweetie. They're pretty picky, like I said. But...maybe sooner than you think."
"Have Mommy or Daddy met them yet?"
"Nope. Like I said, Piper and Leo seem to be-"
"Miss Matthews?" a voice then echoed at the doorway, the figure lazily folding his hands upon his chest, as he leaned against the wooden frame.
Paige immediately raised her eyebrows, quickly giving each of the girls a look. She propped a hand to either side of her face, and looked up at her opponent with a forced smile. "Um, yes...Mr. Crane? My nieces and I-"
"You know, you really should be locking your doors around here," he advised, shooting her a brief grin.
"And why is that?"
"Well...you do have two young girls with you, and I think it's best to pay attention to their safety. I mean...don't you, Miss Matthews? I'd really hate to see anything happen to them, wouldn't you?"
"That depends, Mr. Crane. Has anything ever happened to any of the kids around here?"
"You know the story of Jacqueline," he offered, shrugging. "That's probably as close as you'll get to some proof right there. It's not safe."
"Oh, but you'd be surprised at what else I found out.....all on my own."
"Oh?" he asked, absentmindedly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Is it something you can relate to your art as well?"
Paige lifted herself from the armchair, slowly taking a couple of steps toward him. She slowly narrowed her eyes, as she silently pursed her lips. "She had a sister, didn't she?"
"A sister?" Crane returned, offering a soft chuckle. "Listen, Miss Matthews, I don't know who you've been talking to, but Graves was an only child."
"Really?"
He considered her a moment, briefly scratching his chin. He then held his hand to one side, gesturing toward the hallway before him. "In that case, would you like to take a walk? We could talk about it some more in private, and-"
"Are you...asking me out, Mr. Crane?"
He gave her a half smile, shoving the hand into his jeans pocket, as he carefully rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Maybe."
"Well, maybe I'd be willing to accept."
"Maybe?"
"I'll just be a minute-"
"Your sister's girls should be fine," he assured her. "I'm sure no one will bother them."
"But you just said-"
"Said what, Miss Matthews?"
"Look, just give me a minute, alright?"
**********
"Alright. I know what I'm about to tell you is going to be a little difficult to process right now, but...you have to stay calm, okay? I know it's not the best thing to say-"
"Not the best thing to say?! Well, geez Cole. Here I am freezing my ass off, and there is more water getting in here every second. Just how can I try and be calm now, hmm?"
"So you think Paige was right about me all along? Fine."
"You thought that monster was actually our daughter."
"Oh, no, correction, Mrs. Turner. You spoke to her first. I thought there was something odd about her as soon as she came out of here. What would Ally be doing in a room full of water, when she could be back at the cabin? Weird, yes. For our family, no."
"Then why didn't you say something?"
"Because I didn't want to be yelling at my own daughter."
"But you have to draw a line somewhere-"
"Phoebe, you know what? I'm really not in the mood for this. We have to find a way out of here, and in case you didn't notice, we're going to drown in less than ten minutes. So if you want to bicker at me when we get out of this, I'm all for it. But now we have to work together, alright? We have to help each other."
"Did you check for a possible escape route under the water?" she asked then, her hand still clutching the bar attached to the steel wall. "That's what they always do-"
"No. Once again, this isn't like the movies. We're actually going to die, and there is actually a demon out there, going right for Ally right about now. And once again I'm put in a position where I can't stop them."
She sighed, shivering briefly from the chill once again. Closing her eyes, she could feel her teeth chattering in her mouth, as she continued to maintain her steady grip. Finally taking a deep breath, she looked at him with a gaze full of warmth, as she watched him make his way toward her. "Am I going to lose you?"
He placed a cold hand upon hers, and used his other to gently remove a strand of long brown hair from her face. "No. Because I won't let you."
"What...what if you don't have a choice?"
"It's just like you told me once- there's always a choice. Of course, it wasn't exactly under the most pleasant of circumstances, but the point is, you were right. I can choose to get out of this, just as much as I can stay here and do absolutely nothing. It's not a question of whether you could lose me, it's whether or not I'm going to lose you. And that's a risk you sometimes have to take."
"Remember our wedding?" she whispered softly, smiling as her lips shook, her other hand falling on top of his. "Remember how we actually got to have the one we'd always wanted? Remember how everybody was so willing to come again, even after we went through with the divorce? I think...I think it was the happiest day of my life. Just to see you standing there as Cole Turner- Cole, the man I love. You were really you, and we were really doing it. Remember that?"
His handsome profile offered a slight wince, as he recalled the memory. "Paige kept trying to look for any sign that I really wasn't possessed all that time, and even tried those spells on me. Sure. The best day for me too."
"And if it wasn't so cold, I'd hit you right now."
"But you looked so beautiful in that dress...just...amazing," he sided, nodding, as his face lit up into a smile. "And I still mean it when I say everything was worth it. To know that I'd won you in the end, just made it all worthwhile. And you know, back when we'd separated- back when we had that disagreement about Ally's powers....I just...I somehow knew we'd be okay. That despite my leaving, we'd work things out. And we did. Of course it took some time, and a kidnapping to do it, but we did it. Even if your sister still hates me."
"She doesn't," Phoebe insisted.
"But that demon was right though," he agreed softly. "I'm not going to be able to make it through this, if I don't let myself get over this fear. I have to do this."
"So you have to kill yourself?"
"Phoebe-"
"I'm slipping," she whispered.
"What?"
"I don't know how much longer I can hold on."
"Try...try and stay afloat instead, alright? Just-"
"Cole, it's so cold."
"I know...I know."
"You can still shimmer, right? Can't you-"
"Actually, I have a confession to make about that, and if you'll just...I'm going to say something else that's not going to make you too happy, and I don't want you to overreact."
"Oh. Wait. The dream took your powers away, didn't it? I mean, ever since you had it, we've been having nothing but problems.I knew there was more to this. Dammit."
"I lost them after I attacked the demon," he admitted, frowning. "I...I didn't know it at first. But I don't...I can't do anything, anymore."
"Okay. Well, that's just great. Alex is probably next, and the only who'll even be able to remotely try and save us, is Paige."
"Look, it's not my fault. I came here thinking we'd have some time alone. It's just like I told you before. I did this for us. So we could finally share some quiet time away from work and demons for awhile. Granted, this was almost expected, but I couldn't have planned on expecting my father to come into the picture. Which, by the way, will probably not be in that mausoleum for very long. She's figured us out from the beginning, Phoebe. She's known everything all along."
"Then why don't you just wake up, Cole?"
"Wake-"
"All of the clues are pointing directly to your father. Everything seems to be directly connected to him. Maybe...maybe it's all too obvious by now."
"I'm not following," he offered, shrugging. "There's- there was no way I could've known anyone my father knew. It wasn't possible at that point in time. My mother never let him live long enough."
She stared at him with wide eyes, as she parted her lips ever so slightly, another shiver seeping through her spine. "So you know..."
"I always have," he whispered. "She killed him, Phoebe. I mean, I just...I don't like to talk about it. But I knew, yes. I knew all too well of the things my mother did."
"Then why can't you see it?"
"I'm sorry?"
Her hand fell from the bar then, as she miserably tumbled back into the water, her hands spilling out around her, trying to keep herself afloat. "It's your mother," she angrily hissed. "It has to be."
"Okay, and you decided this when?"
"Look, it's not something I really want to keep talking about while we're trapped in a room full of water. I think the more important thing is getting out of here, before we're short a Charmed One."
"But you already are. Piper's not-"
"Piper's probably having a much better time than we are," she surmised. "The Elders aren't exactly trying to kill her and Leo, remember?"
"Alright. Just stay there, alright?"
"Where am I going to go?"
He carefully pulled himself beneath the pool of water, quickly removing his sweater up over his head. Resurfacing just as quickly, he easily twisted it, watching as the droplets began to fall. Sighing, he gently slung it around a portion of the bar, securing the knot tightly among the dampness. "Grab ahold of that."
"Cole, I-"
"I'll be fine, alright. Just take that."
She worriedly placed a hand upon it, glancing back at him with sad eyes. Her face had grown extremely pale, and her hair lay soaked about her shoulers, her shirt completely drenched. She nervously looked around her, as her eyes suddenly caught a random patch in the ceiling. A small light had found its way into the room, and its glare reflected off the small waves, as they began to wildly lap about. A space just big enough for one of them to fit through. She had no idea where it would lead them, but the cold was growing. And if they expected to survive this, they needed a means of exit, and fast. She squinted, as the water began to cloud her vision. "There."
"There?" he asked, confused.
"Up there. Do you think we can make it?"
"It's too small," he argued, shaking his head. "We need a bigger-"
"I can try," she mumbled hopefully.
"Phoebe, I can't...I mean, I don't think I can get there. We'll have to-"
"Cole Turner, since when have you ever been afraid of anything in all the time I've known you? This isn't any different. What you mother did to you is long past. You don't have to concern yourself with it anymore. You're alive, you...you made it. You're here now. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"The water's going to start spilling out of there, and with luck-"
"You've always had luck," she whispered, her voice fading, as the water began to cut off her speech. "Use it. Don't be afraid."
He glanced at her one last time before he dove underwater again, pulling her hand before she knew what was happening. A set of bars neatly aligned the opposite wall, and formed a small ladder leading upward. He pushed his wife toward it, urging her to climb up, willing himself to pull her along beneath the surface. She latched onto it, as the waves still struggled to pull her away. "I can't make that!" she shouted. "I'm too weak, Cole. I can't-"
"Go! Yes, you can. I'm right behind you. I'm right-" But a wave cast him aside, throwing him back into the wild mess, driving him down and consuming him completely. Phoebe screamed, as she fought to cling to safety. She continued to make her way up, until she had nearly reached the small hole that greeted her at the very top. "Cole!"
He emerged once more, nearly out of breath. Fighting the current, he slowly swam towards her again, his hand reaching for the bar. Climbing onto it, he used all of the strength he had left- all of the strength that still worked its way inside of him. Phoebe was nearly out now, and he continued to brush past the water that now covered every square inch of the room from top to bottom. He saw smaller objects drifting among the chaos, straying to the surface, their outlets filling themselves and preparing to sink. He shut his eyes. He didn't want to see any of it anymore, didn't want to feel the way he was. It was almost over. A few more steps, and it would all be over.
As he finally slipped in through the hole, he fell to his feet onto a dry stretch of carpeting, as Phoebe's heavy breathing could be heard next to him, her hands attempting to ring out her hair. He smiled, as painful as it was, and tried to regain his composure. Water continued to seep from the vent, but he still couldn't move- couldn't move himself away from the horror. He saw Phoebe making her way to him, tugging off the sneakers she wore on her feet, emptying them out as much as she could.
"Are you okay?" he asked hoarsely, as he brought himself to his knees.
But she didn't answer. She ran into him, throwing her arms around his neck in her bare feet, hugging him as tightly as she could. Immediately, there was once again a warmth between them, as their bodies clung to one another, entirely reluctant to part. Cole gently smoothed out her hair, as he ran a hand gently through it, his other pressed softly against the small of her back. He could hear her tears, as she began to let them flow freely now, a quiet laugh echoing from her, as if it were a pure sense of relief. She planted kisses all over his face, never hesitating for a second.
"I'll take that as a yes," he whispered.
"We made it," she told him. "You made it. Cole, you made it."
"I never doubted it," he breathed into her hair.
"But it showed you that the water isn't out there to hurt you. It was the evil all along."
"I knew," he mumbled. "I just.....I guess I finally saw it for myself. I didn't know what was down there, Phoebe- but the whole time, all I thought about was you. I needed to save you. That was all that mattered."
"And I don't think she wanted to kill us."
"What?"
"Don't you see? It was done to shake us up. To prepare us for what's to come. She never meant to kill us. She knew we'd get out of there without-"
"She...."
"Her. That woman. It really was all a test. She knows you, Cole. She knows you so well. She knew you'd be able to make it through there, even with taking away any powers you might've had. You're strong, and she sees it."
"Phoebe-"
"It's your mother," she repeated. "It has to be. I mean, yeah, the ship has a story. But she saw this as her chance. And for her to succeed in this now, she needs you alive."
"But you-"
"I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But-"
"Phoebe, my mother shouldn't even be- no. It's just not possible. I'm not about to- no..."
"You have to," she insisted. "She's going to come for us again, and if she doesn't get that soul, all hell is going to break loose. You know that, as well as I do."
"I'm not giving it up."
"Well, I hate to say this, but if we're going to try to beat her at her own game? You just might have to."
"Ally," he whispered. "She's going for Ally. We have to get back to the cabin."