40A/n: It's over. I think this is longest chapter. Some stuff is taken out of the episode but I've tried to keep it original. I came back from holidays yesterday and would've posted this then but I decided to edit the final paragraph. Which I spend way too much time on. Thanks to everyone who read this and to the people that reviewed. (Just as a question, has anyone in Ireland seen season six of Charmed yet? Is it even coming on?)
Chapter Eight: Evil
I survived the night but I hadn't slept well. I had nightmares about Shax and the Source. At least I only had a few hours left and then I was safe until the next danger. I didn't know if I could live like this. How did Phoebe and Piper do it?
I stepped into the bathroom, turned the shower on extra hot and stepped under the spray. It was the one place where my fears didn't enter. When I finally emerged I had no idea what time it was. I rubbed my hand across the mirror but it quickly fogged up again. I couldn't see myself but I saw a man. He appeared behind me. I didn't recognize him. There was something about him though. It was intoxicating,
"You know what you are now, Paige," whispered the man. His voice was deep, otherworldly. It sent shivers down my spine. "You know where your destiny lies. It's not with your aunt witches. It's not for anyone other than for you. This is what you've been searching for your whole life. This is why you have the power."
His words struck something deep inside of me. It felt so right but subconsciously I knew it was wrong but I couldn't fight it. It was too strong.
He waved a hand in front of the mirror. His reflection was replaced by my first set of foster parents.
"You killed us," said my 'father.
"We loved you and this is how you repay us," said my 'mother'.
"Selfish so selfish. You can't be good, you're evil. Don't try to fight it. You know your desires, use your powers for them. That's all you can do. You can't be good. You killed all your parents. You wonder why they left you? They were all good you tainted them," said the man, and my dead 'parent's in unison.
"No," I whispered and then repeated it. It was my mantra.
"Use your power. You were born to, you where born to hurt and cause pain," said the man. Then he and my 'parents' disappeared leaving no proof they'd been there. Except I felt something inside me that I hadn't felt before. It was power and it was killing me from the inside out and I couldn't stop it.
In autopilot I got dressed. The thing inside me was spreading and I wasn't trying to stop it. It was like cancer in away. I had to remove the blood to stop it but the blood didn't just live in me it was in Piper and Phoebe. I had to remove it. They would thank me.
I walk down to the kitchen and opened a drawer. No one was up. It would make them all the more easier to kill. I pulled out a gleaming butcher knife. The sunlight reflected of it. I smirked. I walked upstairs to Piper's room. Leo would die first. I couldn't have him ruin my plans and heal them.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I was screaming at myself to stop but the voice was unheard by my body. Leo and Piper were lying peacefully in bed. They were asleep. I raised the knife up to stab it into Leo's heart but stopped. I'd kill Piper first. Her blood was screaming to be released.
In olden days they used to do this if you were sick. Piper was sick. Really sick I needed to get rid of a lot of blood. I plunged the knife into Piper's heart or I at least was about to. Leo got in the way. He tackled me and orbed us onto the stairs.
The knife was plunging through thin air. It put me off balance. I would've regained balance except I was on the stairs. I tumbled head first down them. I felt a burning in my leg. Absently I noted that the knife must've have lost control of the knife. Then my head smashed against the ground and blackness took over me.
The noise woke Phoebe, and Cole-he had returned during the night- and they went to investigate it. They saw Paige and Leo lying unconscious on the ground. Then they saw the knife lying between them. They ran down the stairs for a closer look.
"There's blood on the knife," noted Cole.
"And there's a cut on Paige," said Phoebe. "Either she cuts herself in weird places or it was Leo."
"Why would Leo try to hurt her?" Asked Cole and then realized why.
"I think she started it," said Phoebe grimly. "The Source must have paid her a visit."
"Maybe, Piper heard something," suggested Cole. "You should check. I'll stay here."
"Why me?" Asked Phoebe.
"Because if she's wakes up in the mood for more killing you can't stop her," said Cole.
"All right," said Phoebe unhappily and went to check on Piper. The sheets were tangled. From what Phoebe could see and guess Paige came into the room and tried to stab Piper, Leo jumped across the bed and he might have orbed them. Which would explain the stairs. "Piper, Piper," said Phoebe and shook her.
"This better be good," mumbled Piper trying to get rid of her sleepiness.
"It's possible your niece tried to kill you when you were asleep and now her and Leo are unconscious," said Phoebe matter-of-fact.
"I'm awake," said Piper, her tiredness was gone.
Leo started to stir. Phoebe walked over to him with an ice pack. She handed it to him.
"What I don't understand is why you can heal innocents but not yourself."
Leo shrugged painfully, "It's hard to heal myself when I'm knocked out."
Phoebe rolled her eyes, "That's another thing, how is it possible for an angel to get knocked out? You are after all technically dead."
"Three years together and now you're asking me these questions?" Grumbled Leo.
"A better question is how a Whitelighter can become a father?" asked Piper giving Leo a look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Leo glaring at Piper.
"Gee, I don't know, Leo. What do you think?" Asked Piper glaring back.
"I really hate to interrupt this," said Cole dryly, "but we've got an girl with blood pouring out of her."
"What happened?" asked Piper. "I can't believe I slept through the whole thing.
"I just woke up and saw her with a knife over you. I panicked. I meant to just tackle her but I orbed her away instead. We orbed right to the stairs. We fell down the stairs," said Leo. He leant over Paige to heal her. "You two might want to leave," he told Phoebe and Piper, "she might try to kill you again."
"It's a family rite of passage. We never did mange to kill each other so we'll be ok," said Phoebe.
Leo healed Paige
I felt this weird feeling, magical. I wondered what happened. Then it all came back. The Source, Piper, Leo, the stairs. I felt an anger surge up in me, he ruined my plans. He had to pay. I saw the grandfather clock and my plan came into action.
I had no idea how I managed to move that thing but I did. I didn't aim it, I just flung it at the first person I saw. It was going at Phoebe. It didn't really bother me which one of them went first. Phoebe levitated up over it and just as it was about to collide with Cole but Piper froze it. Cole stepped out of the way.
"Cover her eyes," called Piper, "that how Prue used her power maybe she's the same."
Before I knew it my eyes were covered and my arms were held down. "Let go of me!"
"I'll get The Book of Shadow's," said Piper but I didn't hear move away. "Who are you?"
"Guess," growled some person. I recognized his voice from the guy earlier. I didn't know why he was here but it didn't bother me.
I heard a blast being thrown and someone crashing into something with a sickening crunching before I heard them tumbling down the stairs. It was Piper or so I guessed since Cole, Leo and Phoebe were still holding me down.
"Piper," Phoebe screamed and jumped of me. Instantly Cole's other hand clamped around the would-be-free wrist. It was weird not being able to see or use my powers, I felt so crippled.
There was another blast but no crash at least for a few moments and then there was a crash at the opposite side of the room than it should've been. What was happening? Meanwhile Leo abandoned me as well. I tried to pull from Cole but he switched his grip, now one hand held my two wrists together and the other hand blocked my eyesight. I struggled but Cole was too strong.
"Duck," I heard Piper yell. Phoebe began to whoop with joy but stopped. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach that I could ignore anymore. Something was wrong and I cared. It was strange switching from wanting to kill Piper and Phoebe to hoping they were ok. What changed?
"P-Piper tha-that's-" stammered Phoebe.
"I know," said Piper grimly.
Well I didn't. Someone care to fill me in?
"Your powers are strong but how strong will they be without the Power of Three?" said the man
I came completely back to my senses now. I knew the man was going to try and
kill them. I would loose another family.
"Kill them," the man hissed at me. The impulse to do so was strong.
"She's still got freewill. You can't force her too," said Leo.
"She's already chosen. Haven't you, Paige? Come with me and you'll be safe forever, I promise," said the man.
Cole took a step back and released his hold on me. They couldn't force me to choose. The man thought I had chosen they trusted me not to harm them. They didn't think I'd betray them. So many assumptions only one I could make come true. I wouldn't be safe with either of them I knew that.
"He's lying don't listen to him," Piper called to me. It's true he probably was lying.
"They only want you for your power," said the man. That was true too or was it?
There was only one thing I knew for certain, I didn't know. Pure and simply I was confused and if I chose the wrong choice there was so much at stake.
"He doesn't care about you. It's his fault all of this happened. He was the one who sent Shax after you. If it wasn't for him none of this would've happened," said Phoebe.
If I had to be a witch he was going to be dead. I made that promise to myself and I sure as hell wasn't going to break it. I couldn't vanquish the Source if I was on his side. I was on the good side but how could I escape the Source though? I wasn't strong enough to go up against him.
"Use your power," said The Source. I can't believe I hadn't realized he was the Source earlier only when Phoebe pointed it out to me.
"Against you? You know if you insist," I said. I didn't sound scared but I was.
He trusted his palm towards me and knocked me of my feet with an enormous blast of energy but he didn't let me crash into the wall he kept me suspended in the middle of the foyer, trapped in a vortex of pain. I had never felt pain like that before and I hoped I would never feel anything like it again.
Every part of me was burning and screaming. It wasn't just physical pain it was also emotional. With difficulty I could've handled the physical pain but not the emotional because when it comes to emotions I'm not strong. It's why I also kept them locked inside it's hard to get hurt if you do that but the Source got past all my defenses. Soon the pain stopped being burning agony but just a dull aching throb. I don't know how long the pain went on for but it felt like forever.
Eventually I fell to the floor. Leo rushed over to me and placed a glowing, healing hand on me. The pain decreased and disappeared. I was angry.
"Guess, blood is thicker than evil, huh?" said Piper with satisfaction.
"Round two," said The Source and lifted up his hand.
I cringed. Knowing what pain would come made it worse. "No."
"You can't force her," said Phoebe.
"I'm preparing her. She has two choices, she can either give the pain or receive it," said the Source. He turned to be, "wasn't it easier earlier? It was easier to be on the other side."
In fairness he has a good point. "You see I have this problem, it goes like this: For some reason I can never do things the easy way. For some reason I always end up doing things the hard way. I mean you wouldn't want me to break a pattern?" It was true.
"I've broken the power before. It will be easier this time," said the Source.
Why does everyone think I'll screw up? Ok do think that but it's different, it's me thinking that. It's always different with me. Which isn't always a good thing.
"Yada, yada, yada," said Piper sarcastically.
"You'll regret your decision. I will personally make you regret your decision. You don't know what you're getting yourself into little girl. You don't know her you're playing with. You will wish I killed you by the time this is all over."
He totally pulled that speech off without sounding like a corny super-villain on TV, that's what scared me. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
The man slumped to the floor as the Source's true self-stepped out of his body. The Source was dressed in a black cloak and had a faceless head. Ok now I had known I picked the wrong side. He was evil and powerful and I didn't know if I could kill him. Maybe I should've chosen his side, you know that saying keep your friends' close and your enemies, too late for that now.
The Source burst into a tower of flames and then disappeared. We were all silent for a moment, "If he's all powerful why didn't he just kill me now?"
"He has a reason," said Cole darkly, "and mostly likely you won't like it."
Come to think of it where was he a few minutes ago? You'd think he was hiding or something.
"I'll panic and freak out when the time comes," I said dismissively.
The last twenty-four have been strange, to understate things. It had taken me six years but I'd finally vanquished Shax. He couldn't hurt me anymore but there's probably lots of more evil willing to take his place. But Shax would always be the most personal. He had taken a lot from me but I was slowly getting it back. Sure my life is complicated but maybe that's not such a bad thing. Someone once said scars you can't see hurt the most. I've got quite a few of those but all scars will eventually heal. For now I'll just settle with them fading.