Shadows Of the Night
part 24
A faint chill seeped through Cole, as he felt the water consume his entire being, effortlessly filling his lungs with air. He blue eyes opened themselves reluctantly to the abyss below, as he felt his hands still slung tightly around Sterling's neck. The other man growled deeply, as he fought to break the ex-demon's tireless grip, his pleas fading ever so slightly. There it was again- all too familiar...strangely real. His childhood... something he still couldn't quite place...at least not right then and there.
A flashback of the time already past, had only just begun to surface. Cole winced briefly, his strength threatening to abandon him, his mind wandering aimlessly.
"You must never disturb those waters again. Do you understand me?"
"Why?"
"I shouldn't have to tell you why," came the hushed whisper, as his mother's tone snapped at him quite roughly, her hand yanking his from the ground below. "A boy like you should know better, Coleridge."
"What's there?" echoed the innocent response.
"Come, you're embarrassing me. Just...nevermind. We have to-"
"Mother?"
"He dwells beyond, where no man can find him."
"Who?"
"It's not your concern." She shrugged helplessly, a hand curling absentmindedly into a tight fist. "You are honestly too much like your father, Cole. Always....putting your curiousity where it's better left unspoken."
"He waits, doesn't he, Mother?"
"For centuries," she murmured. "He wishes to be one of us, but his destiny has already been set in motion. It's not a calling, but more of an obligation. He clings to it, because it's the only thing that desires him."
"The ocean?"
"Yes."
"I almost died....didn't I? That time you-"
"You're a little young to be thinking so foolishly," she observed. "Because, as true as it is...you're not meant to die here, Cole. In fact, I oddly predict great things for you in the future."
"What kind of things?"
"Power," she whispered.
Cole pulled himself out of the trance, traveling back to reality as a hard blow came to his jaw, sending him up towards the surface. Sterling had broken out of his relentless grasp, coming at him with the agenda of a madman, his eyes wild with a deep embedded fury.
"You stupid, stupid man," his opponent hissed, as the water streamed down his face. "You really can't see how-"
"I know who you are," Cole whispered, having gotten in a punch to Sterling's chest, sending the older man sprawling backwards, the soft current threatening to take him away.
"Oh really?"
"You're the demon children everywhere fear. You're the man everyone locks their doors from at night." He paused a moment. "You're the one who lies in wait, hoping you'll unexpectedly get a break in life, and become what you've wanted from the beginning."
"And what's that?"
"You were Lowell, weren't you?" Cole raised his eyebrows, his eyes probing his rival for an explanation. "You wanted- you got the one chance you needed for her to save you. If she gave you just-"
"Lowell was a different matter entirely! All I ever wanted was a kiss!" He shouted angrily, his hands fighting to gain a grip upon Cole's shoulders, attempting to shove him deeper within the waves, his face a clear mask of confusion.
"Because that kiss would have made you human!" he called back. "Wouldn't it? You were just using my wife to-"
"Your wife needs someone like me!" he snapped. "Ever since you shed that demonic past and became....what you are- dammit, you haven't got the guts to kill me!"
"Oh no?" Cole tossed another fist his way, as Sterling tumbled headfirst into the water, his hands flailing wildly about him, as he tried to regain a sense of balance.
"Try as you may, you will never be any match for me," he hissed.
"You're the reason I wouldn't go near this ocean as a kid, weren't you? All along....it was you. Just you. No Lowell- nothing....just you."
"I made Lowell become me," he whispered. "Figured if I could transform him demonically, I'd take-"
"But it didn't work, did it? You never even came close. He never survived, because his body couldn't handle the water. Not the way yours could."
"Turner, your death could just make me the happiest man in the world right now," he mimicked, his voice eagerly switching to Cole's- in line with his tone exactly.
"So you knew about the baby. You-"
"Oh, the little miss might just surprise you yet."
"What?"
"I know she still wants me. I can sense it in her eyes. The way she looks at me, is more than she'll ever look at her own husband."
Cole growled, leaping towards him, as his uneasy grip slowly forced his opponent's head below the surface once again, his teeth gritting themselves together in pure rage. "Don't talk about my wife!" he screamed.
Sterling escaped the tight hold fairly easily, his strength starting to increase a bit, as he shoved Cole away, laughing cruelly in his throat, his hands shifting themselves through the water, gently wading through the waves. "I only want what you did. It's not much simpler than that, really. She saved you, you ungrateful bastard, and all you can do is sit there and complain about it! Day in and day out, you struggled with your new humanity like it was a disease. Like it was just something given to you to make you suffer your way through life."
"It doesn't mean-"
"I wanted it all the time. I wanted to have it for my very own." He sighed defeatedly for a moment, his eyes directed heavenward, a smile creeping across his lips. "Then I saw her. No, she wasn't the most powerful, but she was able to be content in what she was. Was able to be completely at ease with it. It inspired me, Cole. Suddenly- there was so much more to my long history. Suddenly, I felt like I mattered. It was a if a light had clicked on, and I was able to have some hope. They told me it was all I'd need- that it had to be true love this time, because it was the only thing demons hated with a passion. But you know- how is it that you can passionately hate, when passion is the one thing that drives us? It makes us who we are. We just have to feel."
"If you want to be human, why do everything in your power to harm them? Why try and take a life?"
"What's one, when there are so many?"
"Typical."
"Mr. Turner, you know nothing of the years I've lived. Or of the one love denied to me...that I'd worked so hard to keep."
"You can't keep what you never had," he reminded him softly.
"You're like your mother so much- in...so many ways. She prepared you for this day, you know. Prepared you for a fear you think you've conquered." He pursed his lips rather briefly. "When Lowell came from the Mary Celeste, he destroyed everything. Everything. Just didn't realize what he was getting into. Then again, neither did Jessica. I swear, if fate would have it, those two would have been perfect for each other. Afterall, I know she must have cared for him a great deal more than a friend- her expressions always gave her away."
"And again- you did this for love?"
"It makes you crazy, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, if you're headed towards the asylum," he quipped, rolling his eyes.
"I think we can get to the bottom of this without fighting, don't you? I mean, how do you put it- cutting to the....heart of the matter?"
Cole closed his eyes, a faint smile falling over his lips. "I guess I'll have to catch you later then." Instantly, he'd disappeared in a clear shimmer, rapidly fading from view.
**********
"Please! I know you can hear me. Lis- look, I need your help. Whether you like it or not, you're still a big part of this. And if you don't come out and talk to me, everyone is going to die. Is that really what you want?" Phoebe sighed, her hands laying restlessly at her sides. "I know you're out there! Just...give me a sign! Please. I need to talk to you."
A moment of silence continued to pass, as a brief hue of transparent color shifted about the air, the thin shape reluctantly starting to take form, emerging from the curtains to her right. Her troubled gaze adjusted itself to the light, her face drawn up in a great frown. "It's up to you now."
"But you brought us here, didn't you? You took us here- made sure Paige's-"
"Phoebe, he's the only one who can save us now. Surely, you know as well as I do, that it takes someone of tremendous strength to overcome this. Didn't you once tell him that? Didn't you once tell him you'd trusted him to do whatever it took?"
"You know, maybe you shouldn't even be here," the Charmed One snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
The girl took on a solid appearance, as full color drifted through her cheeks. "I did it for my sister...and for Lowell. They can rest if-"
"I saw what he did to you, you know. I saw everything, Jessica. You don't have to be scared of him anymore. You don't have to sit there, and pretend you're still under his-"
"Phoebe, you love him, don't you?"
"Cole's not-"
"Do you love him?!" her voice rose louder, as she violently turned over a chair.
"Yes," she hissed, a tear finding its way down her pretty face, her hand gently reaching for it, as her gaze saddened rather deeply. "More than anything."
"Then you'll let him go into battle with your heart in his hands. I know for a fact that he cares for you completely- that if he could, he'd make all of this go away in an instant. But he stays because the world sits on his shoulders. Because there are others whose fate is determined by whether or not he succeeds. You have to understand that, no matter how much you-"
"He let you drown, didn't he?"
"I-"
"He wanted to see you punished for what happened to Jackie."
"Funny, I used to try and convince myself the ship just had a mind of its own before. Now it feeds on all of us- just waiting in the wings to make our next nightmare come to pass."
"And maybe you just haven't faced the reality of it all yet."
"You haven't a clue about what I-"
"The ship suffers, because you all do. It's not about whether you let it all happen again, or even if we lose. It's about righting wrongs. Making things- making peace with them..."
"I have no way to make peace," she whispered. "My murder went unsolved, just like Jacqueline's. They all- of course they all tried with everything they could to find her killer...but I was the one always left in the dark. I was the one they never even thought would know the truth. The reason why he did what he did."
Phoebe took a step closer to her, her face softening. "I know it wasn't because of love."
"He would want you to believe that."
"No one like Sterling could love," she protested. "The only thing-"
"The only thing he could never face was himself. Don't you see? That's what they have in common. And that is exactly what shall make it possible for Cole to fight him."
"I don't-"
"Phoebe, Cole knows he's got you. He knows you are rooting for him, even right at this very moment. Your love is that special- you should never waste it. He will always be there, and he is going to be there. For however long eternity lasts."
"You could never have that...could you?"
"It's not about me," she reminded her. "I've- I'm only determined to set what's right."
"And what was his true reason then? Why did he do it?"
"It's just as I told you. Jacqueline proved she was at the top of his game. She saw right through it all. Of course, back then- well here...who would have believed demonic presence is allowed, much less tolerated? She knew he wasn't like us, although she'd never say it. Orin did love her, in spite of everything. It was only jealousy and his unending hatred for me, that drove him to kill her. It was Sterling who brought us all down, and I was last in line."
"So you called out to me, because you knew I'd been here before, hadn't you?"
"In the sense that you fought The Source when the man you loved was inside of him, yes. You know of lost love, and how the pain continues to simply linger, even when you'd rather it did not. Though, I still know not why I am here, when you should be with your husband right now. I see grim shadows ahead in your future, and time is still running out. You shant have called me."
"What? What do you mean?"
"What are you waiting for? The ship is said to take her cargo down with her in less than ten minutes. I'll simply be dust, as human as I may appear to you now. I won't matter when it's over. But you and Cole will. Fire is still burning, and the cries of the dead will be heard. All of them."
Phoebe blinked, as a slight vision of worry began to take her over. "All of them?"
"Sterling went mad that night, you know. He went around killing everyone in sight. He knew his plans for Lowell had gone terribly wrong, and longed to carry out his own kind of justice. There were so many screams, so much blood. It was unspeakable that one man could be full of so much harm." She frowned. "I'll never forget that night."
"He said he wanted us to join with the demonic-"
"Once he has a race to do his bidding,, he simply intends for them to wipe us all out," she explained.
"And that definitely sounds-"
"You had best hurry," she whispered.
"Jessice, I don't know if I can ever- you're a very strong person," she whispered back. "I know there's something waiting for you up there....but I can't help but feel you never really found what you were looking for down here. Sterling obviously doesn't know what he got himself into, you know?"
"You'll have to leave him. Even if only for a little while."
"Who?" she returned, confused, her hand immediately settling protectively around her belly.
"Some things are meant to be- others aren't. You have to keep believing you'll do what your heart tells you to, no matter how much it may break. You'll have done the right thing."
"How do I-"
"You'll just know," she replied simply.
"Jessica-"
"This is the part where you must act," she said quietly. "Find him."
She was gone then, offering one last look at the witch, before she vanished entirely from sight.
**********
"Get her out! Now."
"Oh, so now you're just going to give me orders, is that it?! I am not leaving my sister-"
"You're going with her," he interrupted, as his hands found the ropes hanging tightly against the side of the ship, quickly shifting them a bit with an extreme carefulness, as he slowly fought to untie them.
"But what about-"
"No. Listen. I've made up my mind, and-" Piper gently put an arm on his shoulder, as he abruptly lifted his hands from the task below, his blue eyes meeting hers rather intently, softening a bit. "If I don't get you and Paige out now, you'd only be in my way. I'm not going to risk Phoebe losing another sister."
"And what about Phoebe? You're only-"
"She's going with you," he assured her. "You're going to get on this boat, and you're going to get as far away from here as possible. Do you understand me?"
"Look, I may have been wrong in the past, but-"
"He's coming," Benjamin stated calmly, his tone indifferent. "I can sense his presence growing nearer."
"He's transforming," Cole offered, nodding, as he shrugged rather briefly. "Guess I pissed him off pretty bad now, huh?"
"You mean you deliberately-"
"He let me get away. It was all supposed to be a part of his master plan, okay? The point is, everything was there- and I chose to ignore it."
"Something tells me he's no Ursula," she commented in agreement.
"No, he only wants to steal...oh, I don't know- my entire life?"
"He said that?"
Cole shook his head. "He didn't have to."
"So not only is he evil, but strangely sleazy as well? Wonderful."
"You'd better go," he advised. "The ship might blow at any second, and I-"
"If I know Phoebe, she'll probably want to stay right here with you."
"And if I told you Phoebe can't stay with me because of a certain situation and or event, would you hold it against me?"
"What kind of event?" Piper shot suspiciously, a frown building on her face.
"I wanted her to tell you," he added. "I mean, she'd already in love with the idea completely, and-"
"Cole."
"She's pregnant," he whispered.
"By you?"
"I'm sorry?"
"I-"
"No...Piper, by the guy who just moved in across the street. Of course me. I'm her husband, for God's sake." He laughed, in spite of himself, his gorgeous features brightening a bit. "You know something? If I didn't know better, I'd think you and Paige have been comparing notes."
"So..."
"Look, I only just found out myself. So if you really wanted to help? I'd say the best thing you could do right now, is take that boat and go. I don't care where, you just need to be out of-"
"Is everybody okay?" a familiar voice asked, nearly out of breath, as a brief hint of sparks traveled through the air, clothed in a bright blue hue. Leo Wyatt stood there in a mass of uncertainty, his eyes finally landing on his wife, as another low growl transpired in the distance, getting closer by the minute.
"Where are the girls?" she asked quickly, a hand falling over her heart, as she offered a small smile in glimpsing him, taking a small step forward.
"I know they could probably be of use-"
"Leo-"
"But...they're with your dad, instead. I think it was a good decision though, all things considered. If what I found out about Stephen is true..."
"So you've been with the Elders all this time?"
"I had to make sure we knew what we were dealing with here. It's not as simple as you think," he offered.
"No, honey- it's only the fact that we could have used that information ages ago. By now, I think it's safe to say all the pieces to the puzzle are complete."
"Yes, I would believe you are just a tad too late," Benjamin spoke up softly, his gaze taken by the sea, as his eyes noticed the water move ever so slightly, the waves fluttering to the surface.
"Get out now!" Cole advised them. "Go!"
The flames were spreading full force to the deck now, eagerly consuming the wood below, building with intense speed- the air around them subsiding to a deep warmth. Piper coughed, her eyes searching her brother in law's one last time, as she put a hand across her mouth, allowing Leo to lead her away. "Paige is hurt," she choked, the smoke beginning to fill her lungs. "The glass...after we vanquished Elizabeth- I think it cut her...I...she's...not moving."
"I can't orb out," he protested, almost tragically, as his expression fell at the sight of the fallen Charmed One. "We'll have to try and-"
"The boat's ready!" Cole yelled. "Go!"
Piper shot Leo a worried glance. "You should stay here with him. Try to-"
"Cole! Cole, wait! Cole!"
"Dammit," he breathed, his expression instantly falling, now torn at the sight in front of him, her dress dragging behind her, as Phoebe met his scruffy visage with a wounded concern, her face masked with a layer of fresh tears. She bit her lower lip, as she watched the fire continue to swirl around them, the space fading beneath her bare feet. "You can't be here," he told her, his voice cracking. "You can't- you have to get on that...look, just go with them. I'll be right behind you, I promise. We'll all go back together."
"No," she stated defiantely. "I'm staying."
"Don't be so stubborn!"
"Me? Look who's about to get himself killed when he's going to be the father of our second child! If you're staying, so am I!"
"Phoebe, don't do this. Don't...your life is supposed to be saved. You have to-"
She gently fingered the fabric of his sweater, sniffling briefly, as she fought to keep away the tears. "And you're much too important to me to let that ever happen."