Charmed: Spirit From the Other Side

CHAPTER 1

"I am light
I am one too strong to fight
Return to dark where shadows dwell
You cannot have this Halliwell
So go away and leave my sight
And take with you this endless light"
Phoebe Halliwell, "Charmed", Episode:- "Is there a woogy in the house?"
It was a beautiful summer's day, and the sun was shining elaborately over San Francisco bay. The golden gate bridge gleamed brightly, as industrial, American cars sped along the glorious structure.
All looked absolutely fine.
On the contrary however, San Francisco was anything but fine, because San Francisco was known as the supernatural capital of the world.
San Francisco was the home of the charmed ones, the most powerful witches in existence.
That and their many demonic foes.
The charmed ones consisted of sisters Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell.
Omitting a select few mortals (namely copper Darryl Morris), and a whole array of magical relations ( half- demon Cole Turner/ Bethazar, and white lighter/angel Leo Wyatt) they lived in complete secret.
Until know.
Know an evil assassin called Shax had exposed their every magical move, and the whole magical community was in turmoil waiting, just waiting for an answer.
Phoebe, and her boyfriend Cole were in the underworld ( demon central) pleading to the source of evil, for time to be changed back just one single day.
Tempus, the demon of time had the power, but only the source of all evil could tell him to use it.
A mob of angry protesters ( who incidentally thought that the Halliwells were the evil Witches) were standing outside the Halliwell manor waving tacky, homemade signs, and screaming every profanity under the sun.
Fortunately Daryll was trying to referee the crowd.
Unfortunately he was not having much success.
Piper and Prue were trying to protect their sanity and pride, by barricading the main door to Halliwell manor.
They stood in the beautiful conservatory, with sun pouring in through the elaborate windows, and throwing chairs, and a table against the door.
"I don't know why we're bothering to do this" said Piper exasperatedly.
Prue retorted quickly, and efficiently, as she always did in a panic situation. "In case time doesn't reset itself" But it will work, she told herself over and over again in her head. She threw another chair against the door, almost in frustration.
It was hard thinking too much about the predicament, she didn't tend to do it often - not good for the confidence levels.
It's cool, Piper told herself, Prue's always in control. Everything is gonna be brill. "If time doesn't reset itself, then this table against the door is not gonna help much.
Regardless of this facetious comment, Prue persisted on stacking chairs against the expansive doors; "Yeah, well, then we better start thinking about what would, okay? Because if Leo doesn't succeed then we're gonna have to figure out what we're gonna do"
Looking around the room they saw that there was nothing at all left to throw against the doors, so the two sisters moved into the lounge and started pacing restlessly.
Prue's air of control was practically swimming around the room, ensuring that every part of Piper's mind was clear, and confident, making her feel better about the situation. This was always the case in the middle of a crisis.
"We're gonna go on talk shows and book signings, and movie deals" Piper said optimistically, before adding "and then taken by the CIA and dissected"
Unfortunately Prue's calm personality did not stretch far enough to accommodate this all- too gory joke, so she moodily picked up the book of shadows, and started flicking through, "Yeah how can you be joking about this, Piper?"
Her sister retorted depressively; "Who's joking?"
Prue was finding it difficult to stomach any of Piper's facetious attitude today. "Well I'm not. Alright, I'm scared, and you should be too. Okay our lives Piper, everything we've ever worked for , could be completely destroyed with, with one stupid mistake. Our entire future, our destiny could be wiped out just like that!"
On the last word, Prue clicked her fingers, and simultaneously, a bone shattering gunshot erupted from the outside of the house. The conservatory door shattered.
"What was that?" Prue asked looking terrified. She looked down, and saw the one thing she was pleading every spirit, God, and every other superstitious being that held any degree of control over how the world worked, not to show her.
Her beloved sister Piper was covered in blood.
Outside of the conservatory, a young girl called Alice, was lowering a rifle. She stood on top of Darryl's own van. Screaming in triumph, she yelled: "I killed the wicked witch! The wicked witch is dead! I Killed the wicked witch!"
Viciously (especially from Darryl, a dear friend of Piper), the police dragged Alice of the top of the van, cuffed her, and took her and took her away.
Far away from the commotion of protests , and angry mobs with rifles, Penelope Halliwell woke up from a deep luxurious sleep, lying on top of a cloud. She stood up, and stretched her transparent back.
Penny looked around and the room was filled with swirling, translucent clouds, which blocked her vision. Mist spread between all the gaps, and she squinted, trying to make out any kind of picture through the visual barrier, but there was nothing to sustain such a desire.
"Why's it always like this in this particular part of heaven?" She thought aloud to herself. She waved her hands, and the misty clouds slowly disappeared this took all of about ten seconds.
"If only telematerialization were my gift" she muttered "It'd be gone in an instant."
"That's better" she said when all of the clouds had dissolved into the air, "I can see clearer now."
In the distance the pearly white surface of the expansive room stretched for what looked like miles and miles, as an image spread softly in the distance.
The image wa of Piper, Penny's daughter lying bleeding on the floor, whilst Prue held a damp towel over the bullet wound.
Penny jumped backward, eyes wide, and stumbled over. The image scared her, it couldn't be Piper, not know, not yet!"
The cloudy- white mist of the room caught her, and cushioned her fall.
She got herself back upward
CHAPTER 2

Penny stared at the unveiling scene, hoping against hope that it wasn't Piper- even though she knew it was.
"Perks of being dead" Penny grunted" You get to see what you want" she paused " and what you don't want.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then the events of the image filled her mind, and became all too real.
"I know, I Know it's okay" Prue started to sob as she kneeled over her dying sister. "Leo!"
The call was not heard.
"Okay we have to get you to hospital- come on "
She struggled as she tried to lift her sister of the floor. Piper's weight was almost embarrassingly overwhelming, but with a little telekinesis and a lot of will power, Prue carried her out of the room.
She practically ran down the hallway, and out of the hallway.
"not know- please not know" Prue begged to herself knowing that nobody was listening.
The mob was relatively clear, around the door and driveway, and she managed to get Piper into the black car, with minimal stress. Minus Elana and her tedious team of cocky press reporters.
"Miss Halliwell, please, what is going on" Elana asked viciously, clearly expecting a quote.
Burning anger took hold of Prue as she struggled to get the rest of Piper's body in, she realised that with Elana and her reporters in front, she was unlikely to be able to escape.
"Miss Halliwell, Please" Elana asked with sickly sugar coated sweetness.
As if it wasn't perfectly obvious what was going on.
Prue climbed inside the front seat of the car, and started the engine. "Leo", she yelled, as she drove to the end of the driveway. Unfortunately Elana and the rest of the mob thickened toward the end of the drive.
"Move!" Prue yelled, honking the horn, but nobody move s square inch. She clambered back out of the car, agitated, and hollered for everybody to move.
"Miss Halliwell" Elana presses on, "What is going on?"
"Move- Move out of my way!" The resentment continued to grow and grow inside her, and she shouted even louder.
"I need to get her to a hospital , move! Move out of my way!"
The frustration that bubbled up inside her started to show on her face, as the mob screamed in even louder protest, and Elana continued with her almost angelic voice.
"What's wrong with you people?" Prue wailed " Leo!"
Her bottled up anger erupted, as her head semi consciously flew through the air, with an immense speed worthy of a martial artist, Prue's instinctive magic, and overwhelming hand movements sent Elana hurtling through the air, and slamming onto the pavement. Her cameraman flew backward with a blast of telekinetic energy.
Like a rocket exploding from the earth, spectators thinned, and ran in every direction.
Prue continued on, waving her hands around, with red-hot anger, Blast after blast propelled from her palms, as everyone within a twenty foot radius of her flew in every direction – crashing onto the street pavement, and onto car roofs; slamming against house windows and hurtling into the far distance.
With the road clear, Prue clambered back into her car, and tore off down the road.
CHAPTER 3

Penelope opened her eyes and breathed heavily.
The image was to much to comprehend , she couldn't believe how much of a disaster that had been created.
The whole magical community had been exposed , and her beloved granddaughter was about to join her on the other side.
Up here .
In the after life.
"Everything happens for a reason", Penny told herself, through tears.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes she was in a completely new surrounding.
There was now a floor .Albeit still pearly white and soft , but it was a floor just the same. a ceiling too darkened and grey , unlike the rest of the room. Windows lined the walls and tall elaborate structures decorated the rest of the room.
White lighters orbed in and out taking an anxious glance towards the windows that showed only cloud.
The windows usually the windows showed the future. sunny if the future looked bright dark and gloomy if the future looked poor.
Oh and cloudy if the future was unsure .
Today looked very unsure.
Penny groaned because she knew exactly why the future looked unsure.
A charmed one was about to join the after life and leave the power of three broken.
Time for plan b, she thought-''Patty where are you ?''
Patricia Halliwell, Penny's daughter,-did not appear. Penny groaned, and stopped a few wandering white lighters,
''Excuse me have you seen my daughter anywhere ?''
They shrugged shook there heads and with a final glance toward the looming window, orbed away.
''Stupid good for nothing white lighters'' she grunted.
She searched all around her, trying to locate her tumultuous daughter, but she knew in all this upper world hustle and bustle, there was little chance of locating her, minus a little magical help.
Just as she was about to call upon another well rehearsed spell, her fellow deceased mother Priscilla Bowen walked, or rather appeared, into the room.
"mother" Penny yelled.
Prissy glided over to her with the usual finesse of a young 1920's woman. "Penelope, she called, arms outstretched- it's been absolutely ages since I bumped into you"
"Have you seen that wretched daughter of mine?"
"Patricia?" Prissy enquired – "Yes- she's maki… she's in that white lighters' room again"
Typical, Penny sighed, she started to glide away.
"Penelope darling" Prissy called after her, "Don't leave yet."
"c'mon", Penny yelled, "I'm in rather a hurry!"

CHAPTER 4

Back down in San Francisco, piper's bloody torso was bleeding on a stretcher. Four doctors, wearing gleaming white coats, were dragging it along a narrow corridor at top speed. Prue was running alongside it.
"Hang in there" she tried to reassure her semi- conscious sister.
Or was she trying to reassure herself?
Prue's air of intense confidence had dissolved, the minute she heard the gunshot. "Where's Dr. Griffiths? He should have been here by now"
Nobody answered.
Oh hurry up Phoebe, she begged over and over again in her head.
Suddenly as if by magic, Dr. Griffiths appeared at the end of the hallway, At top speed, he ran toward them. "How'd this happen?" He demanded, whilst creases of concern etched their way across his face.
"Some idiot in front of our house" Prue grunted, through gritted teeth, the amount of resentment she felt toward the mad lady with the rifle was phenomenal.
They reached the end of the hallway, and carried Piper's stretcher into a theatre room.
"What do we know" Griffiths asked urgently.
"Pulse seventy; weak" the doctor on Prue' s left answered.
"I need some numbers people"
"one, two , three, go" the doctor on her right replied , as they all lifted her onto a surgery bed. Prue held out her hand.
"Smaller entry wound, upper right back"
"Larger exit wound, abdomen."
"Lungs failing. Start an i.v., two units- stat!"
"Right away"
Prue was confused, it was an alien feeling to her; not being in control. All these trained doctors around her, talking in there ridiculous techno- babble. She felt alienated.
"Leo!" She yelled, to the doctors' surprise. She was hoping that her brother-in-law/ white lighter would turn up, at this critical moment, and heal Piper.
It was her way of not feeling helpless and confused .
"Get 40cc's of adrenalin"
"yessir"
"whilst Prue was finding it hard to establish who was speaking what, and what everything meant, Piper spoke weakly:
"He can't hear you. Leo. Something must have gone wrong."
"Piper don't you dare die on me," Prue's eyes were sparkling with tears, whilst she retorted, she couldn't bear to see her sister like this.
"Prue, I'm cold. I_I_I can't feel my legs."
"Pulse is dropping, a doctor was fussing around with loads of useless technical equipment.
"Don't go- I love you" Piper muttered. Suddenly, Piper's heart stopped beating, as she went into full arrest.
"Oh God" Prue moaned. Hurry up phoebe, she begged inwardly. It's these darn demons, she thought. I bet they're enjoying this.
"Full arrest- paddles", Dr. Griffiths practically screamed. Two of the doctors brought the machine over to them, and Dr. Griffiths picked them up one in each hand, clenching them like pistols.
"Gel" he yelled, as he squirted some murky- yellow gel on the paddles. He started rubbing the two together, bracing to give Piper a shock.
Prue stood backward, staring at Piper's limp body, and cried even harder.
Suddenly as tears welled up in her eyes, and the sound of sobs- her own sobs- filled her ears, prue lost all sense of consciousness.
For a minute, a glorious minute, emotions, feelings duties, all lifted up off Piper's back. Doctors were shouting around. Talking about the girl.
The dying one on the bed.
It meant nothing to Prue.
Suddenly, her astral consciousness floated away, soared from the room. Clouds surrounded her, as she hovered in nothingness. With nothing at all to worry about.
The clouds swirled around, but Prue took no notice. The sheer utter, weightless bliss clamped in on her, traversing every single cell in her body. She closed her eyes, and embraced the wonderful feeling, absorbing her very self. Every thought and emotion dissolved, leaving only emptiness .
She relaxed even further, as her consciousness began to fade away.
Fading.
Blinking out of existence.
Prue's astral consciousness disappeared.

CHAPTER 5

She woke up staring into the face of her dead mother: Patricia Halliwell.
"Mom?" she asked surreptitiously. "Where am I- what happened-Piper!"
"Shhh" Patty ushered, pressing her finger towards Prue's lips. "Everything's fine."
The room was an almost sinister fluffy white colour, with walls, that looked as if they were made out of cotton wool, and a ceiling that seemed to last forever.
Patricia's golden gaze reflected this unique style, beautifully.
Another man, stood ashen- faced next to Patty, looking incredibly sheepish.
"Where's Piper- why's Sam here", Prue asked, for the man standing next to Patty was indeed the white lighter Sam Wilder.
Looking apprehensive, patty shot a glance at Sam, and said, tentatively, Sam's just helping out with a few things"
"Mom- you're dead" Prue pointed out, ever the blunt persona.
"You always were the one to point out the blatant obvious weren't you" Patty replied, smiling slightly.
Patty took her daughter's head in her hand, and stroked her forehead.
"You look as beautiful as ever- don't you", Patty stated.
" I hadn't noticed", Prue said, icily." Look mom- as much as I'm enjoying our heart to heart here, my sisters dying downstairs, and I seem to be the one in the land of the dead. She paused. "What's going on?"
As abruptly as Prue had appeared, so did Penny and Priscilla, moments later.
Except this time through the door.
"Darling, when you two have finished- we have a situa…" Penny broke off, as she saw Prue leaning against Patty, looking just as confused as she was herself.
"Okay- what's going on here?" Penny enquired supremely.
"Isn't Piper supposed to be the dead one?" Priscilla asked, clearly missing the awkward situation, with an enormous lack of tact.
"What is this- some kind of death day party?" Prue yelled aggravated, " I'm sorry I'm not Piper okay!"
Penny was the first to retort; "no darling- we didn't mean it like that, you're great grandmother here, was just.. slightly confused." She turned around to face Prissy, with clenched teeth. Staring daggers, she said; "Wasn't she mother?"
"Oh" Prissy replied giggling slightly, "yes."
"Grams, could you take Sam outside a minute please", said Patty, "we need a moment."
Moodily, Prissy stalked out, with her nose in the air. Sam followed her solemnly.
"Now can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Prue's impatience was beginning to shine through, she stood up, and glared at Penelope.
" Yes Patty, what is going on?" Penny reflected her granddaughters questioning gaze, back to Patricia.
Patty breathed slowly, and looking Penny in the eye; said: "She needs to know, mother" a look of sincerity spread across her face, "I think it's time."
"What are you transparent little liars keeping from me?" Prue butted in.
"Well there's something you should know darling," Patty stood up to face Prue. And put an arm around her shoulder.
"Wait a minute- did you bring me here- that swirly sensation" Prue accused, referring to the emotionless experience she had had, in the clouds, just five (odd) minutes ago. "You pulled me from my body!" Prue wrenched Patty's arm from hers, and stalked towards the rear of the room.
"Hey- I had no part in this!" Penny retorted.
"I'm too busy for this right now- pull me out of my body some other time alright," Prue sounded aggravated, as she spoke to her forbearers. In a flash of light, her astral body disappeared from sight, for the second time in five minutes.
"Well that went well!" Penny snapped.

CHAPTER 6
Back down on the hospital, Prue awoke with a jolt, as she stared at Dr. Griffiths holding the paddles, while a nurse squirted some gel on them.
"Time really does go fast up there," Prue thought recessively, trying to delay the inevitable.
"Clear" The doctor yelled , as she pressed the paddles into Piper's chest.
The sting of tears felt fresh, yet old at the same time, due to the awkward time lapse. It felt as if Piper had once again flashed her palms, and conveniently stopped time, like she often did during an emergency.
Now was an emergency.
However Piper's limp body stayed still, barely even moving to breath, erratically.
Leo didn't suddenly appear to heal his decaying wife.
Pheobe didn't suddenly emerge from nowhere, having turned back time, with a broad grin etched across her face.
Even Grams ( all seeing and all knowing) was absolutely no help whatsoever.
A tiny niggling voice entered the front of Prue's mind.
The voice of reason.
The bearer of bad news.
"Everything happens for a reason."
Dr. Griffiths looked down at Prue's tear- stained brow.
"I'm sorry," he said.
That's all he could say.
"I'm sorry."
CHAPTER 7

Deep down in the underworld, Prue's younger sister Phoebe, and brother-in-law Leo, were quietly discussing a matter of great importance, turning back time.
It was in a compact, isolated cavern; Phoebe looked terrified, whilst Leo merely looked anxious.
After a few tense moments, Cole Turner, Phoebe's demon boyfriend appeared, in a shimmering contour of his natural body. She ran over to him, embracing his muscular torso in a meaningful hug.
"Cole, where have you bee? We've been worried. What's the matter?" Phoebe cooed over him, like the fussy younger sister she was.
Phoebe's dark- blonde hair was draped over her shoulders, as she stared into her boyfriends shadowy complexions.
Cole's dark personality was reflected by his stunning facial features.
He had jet-black hair, and clothing, with a blood- red accent, for a shirt.
Even his lips lacked the usual bulging pink, most mortals possessed, instead a pale peach glinted, over the visage.
"He knows. About you, about us." Cole struggled to say it- knowing that Phoebe would be shocked and worried, beyond belief.
She did however, need to know. Everything. It would be an insult to their
-somewhat shaky- relationship if they were not honest with each other.
"So" Phoebe replied with surprising calm, " What does that mean?"
It hurt Cole even more, to see Phoebe so conceited. He knew that it was going to be hard for her to understand.
It was in times like these, that Cole really understood the darkness and despair, that radiated of every wall, every ceiling, every floor, in every square centimetre of demonic land under the earth. It angered him that people around him, people he could once call brothers and sisters, were now taking advantage of their relationship, at a crucial time like this.
It sickened him even more to think that barely a year ago, he would have done exactly the same thing, no strings attached.
"He's offering us a deal. He'll get Tempus to reset time if you…" He paused for a second; unable to bring himself to say it, right here-right now.
"Stay here", the words slipped out of his mouth, almost unwillingly. He groaned, however much ii had been the right thing to do, it was just so hard…
"What, down here? He's crazy" Leo, the pedantic whitelighter butted in.
Typical of Leo to be so cocky and doubtful at a time like this, Cole murmured to himself.
Hardly.
"Yeah, well we're desperate but not that desperate."
Pathetic do goody whitelighters; Cole's bitter attitude continued to rage war against the humane (ish) person he was trying to become.
For Phoebe.
"Why would he think I would accept an offer like that?" Phoebe entered the engagement.
Cole cringed, as much as he appreciated Phoebe finally picking up on the tense atmosphere, rather than Leo, it meant he had to finally explain, Phoebe is gonna make one great empathy one day, Cole chuckled to himself evasively.
"Because it's the only way to bring one of your sisters back to life."
Phoebe gasped, "What?"
"It's a trick, he's lying," said Leo quickly.
Too quickly for Cole's liking. Leo Wyatt, ever the evasive angel.
"No, it's not."
Phoebe was scared.
As she paced from one end of the cavern to another, the thought, even the prospect of losing a sister seemed unbelievably impossible to her.
They'd cheated death enough times before, and she was going to do it again. Her mind flashed back over a year, when Piper had caught a life threatening disease. Ironic, she thought, that after all they'd been through, the closest to death any of them had of them had ever got was a stupid fruit. The Kiwana
They had cheated it that time as well. After spreading an epidemic across the whole hospital, but that was a minor detail, an occupational hazard, if you will.
Then she remembered the time when Prue had been trapped on the astral plane, with one of the four horsemen, desperately trying to warn Piper and herself of the upcoming fate. They thought they would have to sacrifice Prue's life to save the earth.
Save the earth from the apocalypse.
No self respecting human being should have to say those words, she thought rashly.
Phoebe was always the young, naive sister who thought magic was a blessing, not a curse, but when it came down to it, to this, what was the difference.
One and the same.
She saw Cole pacing impatiently across the room, thinking of exactly the same anxious thoughts that were crossing her own, worried mind.
The wait for Leo to return was agonising, how could it take this long just to check, a quick to and fro. What is…?
She stopped herself in mid thought, trying to bear in mind the fact that this was not any old to and fro. It was life and death.
The words rang around her head, reminding her of the terrible fate that could become of her, if they were unable to turn back time.
Life or death.
Life... or … death.
At that moment, Leo, appeared, ending the agonizing wait, Phoebe's heart skipped a beat.
Then her heart sank, at the pained expression, across his face.
She ran towards him, and took his head in her arms. She hugged him close, tightly, and muttered, "Piper."
Leo didn't even have to nod. "You don't have to do this." He was trying to justify the guilt he felt by saying that. He felt awful that Phoebe was giving up so much for Piper. For him.
"Yes I do," Phoebe replied promptly. Leo's tears were reflecting in her own eyes now. Phoebe let go of him, and turned to her own boyfriend; Cole. "So will resetting time affect us down here?"
Cole looked genuinely quite scared, he tried to talk, to reply to her, but all that came out was "No." Even his instinctive hate for whitelighters couldn't stop him feeling sorry for Leo. After all him and Piper had gone through, fought for, and begged, it all came down to this, right here, right now.
"Good" Phoebe retorted, confidently, trying to stay strong for Leo. She turned back to him, and addressed him serenely, "I only have one condition. You must warn Prue and Piper, before the demonic hit man attacks, otherwise they're dead anyway."
Leo nodded purposefully, for nod was all he could do.
"Look, I know all this sounds incredible, but it doesn't make it any less true." Prue broke off, staring around the manor. An odd sensation spread through her, as the manor suddenly seemed different to what it was, moments before. Something seemed different now, vague images of mobs, cameras, and hospitals flashed in and out of her mind. She shrugged it off, and pressed onward. "Alright you're a healer, you do good, now either you've saved too many lives, or you're about to save a life that they don't want you to save.
Prue was in the lounge, with piper, trying to explain to a sceptical Dr. Griffiths, why he was in supernatural mortal peril.
"They?" Dr. Griffiths muttered, utterly bewildered.
"Yeah, demons," Prue replied as if she were speaking to a three year old. "Uh, more specifically, Shax. He was the sources assassin."
All of this was just too far fetched, for Dr. Griffiths to comprehend. Sources, Demons, assassins, what next- wicked witches, and black Siamese cats?" For goodness sake, he was a doctor, a believer in science, medicine; he shouldn't have to be involved in all this superstitious rubbish.
"Hold it, I get it. This is a practical joke, right?" Do you have a hidden camera here? My second wife put you up to it? Ah, it's just like her. Laughing, he began to understand the joke.
Except it wasn't a joke.
"O-o-kay Dr. Griffiths, listen to me. This stupid doctor I s o ignorant, Prue thought privately.
"This is anything but…"
Prue cut off abruptly, a s a chilling wind crept, subtly around her.
"What?" Piper asked, finally engaging in the conversation, by picking up the blank expression upon her older sister's face.
"I don't' know," Prue explained quietly, "I just felt ... a chill" She looked around, suddenly noticing the absence of her little sister; Phoebe. "Phoebe," she called. "Phoebe, were are you?"
There was no reply.
Suddenly, the front door burst open, as a tornado of energetic wind, stormed over the threshold.
"Phoebe where are you?" Prue screamed, terror gripping her insides.
The tornado moved towards piper and Prue, knocking them off there feet, effectively stunning them, for a few crucial seconds.
The tornado calmed down, as a clap of thunder revealed Shax staring wildly at Dr. Griffiths.
"Dear God," The doctor muttered to himself.
"No!" Prue yelled, getting herself off the floor, long enough to throw Dr. Griffiths out of the way.
Shax's head span around to see Prue. A wild glint flashed in his eye, an instant before a ball of sparkling blue energy erupted from his palm.
Then embedded itself into Prue's chest.
The force of the blow threw Prue into the air, and flying into a wall. It crumbled beneath her.
Piper rose swiftly, and elegantly, and was rewarded by her own energy ball, before she could even wave her hands. She soared backward, and landed roughly next to Prue.
Satisfied, Shax averted his gaze toward his original, but far less satisfying target; Dr. Griffiths.
"What are you?" the shell- shocked doctor gasped.
"the end."
Another energy ball burst from Shax's palm, into Dr. Griffiths, who went hurtling out of a window, with a bone shattering crash.
Shax looked around at the three dead bodies, and with a gust of wind, disappeared.
His last words echoed around the room: "The end."
CHAPTER 8

Prue Halliwell was lying at the foot of a boat.
It was a small brown one, just big enough for two people, Prue, and a decrepit old man, standing at the top, with a long, rotting oar.
The simplicity of the primitive vessel, made it look almost picturesque; a young woman, an old, old man standing in a boat, just rowing.
The man didn't talk, not at all. He seemed not to even notice Prue's presence, as if she were just the latest in a long line of passengers.
The man stood with his back to her, a greying cloak stretched over his head, to ensure that Prue could not see a bare inch of his body. He was slumped, like a typical eighty year old man would be, but his attention never wavered, never faltered
The row was steady, but constant, the gentle swish, swish of the water, steady, and relentless.
He held the oar with gnarled fingertips, his nails overgrown, and unkempt. His right hand clenched the tip, his left clasping the middle.
Swish, swish. The oar continued to row, swiping the left side, then the right, moving back to the left, like a continuous sequence.
Prue stood up, and stretched her back, feeling as if she had been asleep for centuries. The old man didn't even seem to twitch at her apparent movement. He had seen it too many times before, to really care.
She scowled; she was annoyed at this man, yet somehow revered his presence. She finally decided to try and engage in idle conversation, if only to work out who this man was, and where he was taking her. Images of demons, and warlocks flashed in her as the prospect of a kidnapping suddenly occurred to her. It didn't seem possible; this man seemed so old, wise, even forgiving.
Swish, Swish, the oar continued on.
"Who are you?" The words jumped out of her mouth, fuelled by aggravating desire to find out who the old man was.
He jumped straight into the air, at the sound of her voice. It surprised Prue, that this man was so surprised to hear her speak. He looked experienced, as if he had seen everything and anything. Hard to believe that he hadn't heard so much as somebody's voice before.
He turned around nevertheless, somehow still managing to row the boat whilst doing so. "Me?" He wheezed, sounding as if he were a hundred, "Who are you?"
His face was hidden by a drooping grey hood. It draped over his mouth, and nose, completely shielding them from sight. His lips were a greying pink, and his teeth were brown and rotten.
"Prue" she replied sourly, annoyed that he was avoiding the question.
"Prue Halliwell."
"I know that?", he retorted mystically.
"Then why did you ask," she said trying to make the man seem like an idiot, he seemed as mad as he was old.
She didn't bank on the latest in his vocabulary of fort Knox phrases: "Because you didn't."
Does this man always have a cryptic retort? she caught herself thinking.
Her attention switched back to the surrounding area, or rather the lack of. They seemed to be in a jet black river that stretched along for miles and miles. It didn't stop, there was no source and no mouth. No beginning and no end. No alpha and no omega. That seemed to represent something for her, what did it mean, no start and no end…
"Where are we?" Prue asked, hoping to get at least somewhat of a decent retort. The banks of the river had no grass; whatever was there was swamped in a dense white fog. An opaque fog, which made Prue feel like she would be swallowed up by it, if she got off.
"Ina boat, on a river." The man had a twinkle in his eye when he said this.
"Are we in San Francisco?" Prue thought it would be hard to get a enigmatic retort for that question; it was closed, yes or no."
"We are everywhere, and we are nowhere."
"That makes sense. She said sarcastically.
The ferryman turned around and started rowing. It looked like hard work.
Swish, Swish; the ferryman somehow turned back around, whilst still rowing the boat. Prue began to wonder if he would ever have the capacity to stop the tedious process. Would this man exert himself to death.
She figured however, that if this man were ever to die, his old age would have taken his life already.
Prue glanced at her watch, the thought of a telltale sign of at least the time, striking her as a blessing. The watch seemed to be being as facetious as the crippled old man barely a metre away. The watch was spinning. Like you would expect it to if you were setting the time on it. Except faster…
Much faster. The hands seemed to be everywhere at once, on all the times, every hand, telling every single time possible.
She closed her eyes, and breathed in heavily. She exhaled slowly. This meditation process helped Prue to keep her cool; her air of confidence.
She pondered on the events of what seemed to be bare minutes ago, even though it could have been hours.
Days even.
Time seemed to have no effect whatsoever where Prue was. Most people have some concept of time, she reasoned. Everyone knows how long an hour is; if you put a man in a room for five minutes, they would know they hadn't been in there for hours, days.
This place was so different, the notion, perception, even vague observation of time, was completely gone from this place.
As she thought of the short, but eventful battle in the manor, the thought struck her that she might actually be dead.
Was that possible, wouldn't Leo have healed her, after that crippling soar into the wall.
He would have. Definitely.
Wouldn't he?
What about Shax, Piper would have at least got rid of him temporarily , with her new exploding power.
It all happened so fast.
She knew one thing, if Leo had a choice to heal Prue or Piper, there was no doubt whatsoever who he would have picked.
So that was why she was here…
She was...
She was…
Dead.
Prue took a really deep breath, almost gasping.
"Am I dead?" She asked the ferryman opposite.
Suddenly he stopped rowing. The oars seemed to drop down falling into the river.
It didn't phase him whatsoever.
"Death is but the next part of life," he said, using the popular cliché.
"What's your name?" The appearance of such a personal question, out of Prue's very own mouth surprised her.
"You're a curious one, aren't you."
Prue grinned, she prided herself on her ability to see things different to everybody else.
Prue relaxed slightly, and began to think back, over the short life she had lived. It saddened her, to think that she was dead already, but she was more worried about the dissolution of the power of three. It would leave her sisters unprotected.
As she thought back fondly of her years in high school, a thought suddenly struck Prue.
She reflected back, intensely on laboured history lessons in high school, and the idea seemed apparent.
After all the things she had seen, was it really that unlikely.
She squirmed, and spoke tentatively toward the ferryman "This is the river Styx, and you're... Charon." Look of shock etched it's way over her face, it all added up, the timelessness, lack of beginning or end.
Charon grinned. "I think this is where you get off."
The statement surprised her, as she expected the journey to last much longer.
"What happened to penny for the ferryman?" The myth seemed to be clear in her mind now, all the odds and ends seeming simple, and ineffectual.
Charon winked "You can pay me back."
With the last word, Charon waved his hand, and her vision was filled with darkness...