Author: Adri
Email Address: adri@psouth.net

Had it really only been a month ago, when her whole world had changed? She had meet a man who she could love, a man with the same quality's as her lost love. A dark haired, greened eyed, wonderful man.

Afriad of her feelings, she sat there that night, staring into the flames of the fire, sorting them out. As she sat there, Piper came down and sat with her. Pipers simple little phrase, spoken from the heart, had helped her make her dissision.

"Follow your heart" and so she had.

As she rushed through the doors of the emergency room, guilt overcame her agian. For the last 8 hours, ever sence she got the call she had been thinking the same thing. If only...

Arriving at the desk,tears forming in her eyes agian, she almost could not talk. Looking up, the nurse asked "Can I help you?" Standing there she just wanted to scream 'can I help you', how could anyone help her anymore.

"I'm Prue Halliwell," she said, "I recieved a call" she couldn't go any further, her fear at what she might find out, stopping her voice.

"Yes, Ms. Halliwell, if you would just wait over there I will get the doctors to come and talk to you." the nurse said softly, looking at the woman before her. She looked like she was ready to crumble an any second, her blue eyes, red and bloodshot, tear tracks flowing down her cheeks.

Sitting in the hard plactic chairs, she buried her face in her hands, guilt building in her heart agian 'I should have been there for them.'

She heard somone walking towards her, and looking up she saw two men in surgical scrubs approach, their faces in the light making her heart race.

'Follow you heart' Piper had said.

So why did she feel like her soul had just shattered into a million pieces.

Part 1

It had been two days since the Charmed sister's, Prue, Piper and Pheobe had managed to over come a group of mortals, the Inquasition, who wanted them dead because they were witches. Never having faced the sort of situation, the were glad for the assistiance of Morgan Long, a Mitchellen, and a magic tracker.

Prue had also found some thing she never expected, she had fallen it love with this stranger. She had spent a restless night thinking about him, and the advice she had recieved from Piper.

'Follow your heart', it seemed so simlpe, but she was torn between two parts of her heart. One part pulled her towards her sisters and the other to Morgan.

She had spent the next two days in Morgans company, seeing the world he had grown up in and talking long into the night about there hope's and dreams. As they spent more time together, She could not help but notice how different he was from all the other men she had know.

He was very open about himself, and she could see he loved nature and all it had to offer, often stopping on their walks to point out animals and natural rock formations. He had even taken her to a waterfall deep in the forest, just to show her the beauty of it.

They had all decided to go to a local dance bar for the night, and as the sisters got dressed, they were happy for the chance at a relaxing evening with their respective dates. Cole and Leo had both managed to stick around for a few days with out any magical influnces sending them elsewhere.

"How are thing with Morgan?" Pheobe asked.

"So far its been very nice, but I'm not ready to make any plans for a future yet." finishing dressing.

"Just remember, Piper and I will support you no matter what you decide. We want you to be happy."

"Thank you Pheebe's, that means alot coming from you, considering how I was with you and Cole."

"I have to say, you were hard to convince that he had changed."

"I'm sorry I wasn't more supportive of you. I love you baby sister, and I don't want you to ever forget that." 'Prue told her, pulling her into a loving hug, reaching out, she pulled Piper in as well.

"Enough of this" Piper said after a few minutes, "lets go have some fun.

The four couple that walked out of the house, Bria and Kyle had joined them, climmed into the black Durango and Kyle's truck and headed out to the local hot spot, Ruby's Tavern.

Ruby's was a country western club, but reminded the sisters of their club back home, P3. The group chose a table in the back corner surrounded on three sides by high wooden walls holding pictures of cowboys and wildlife.

They all chatted comfortably throug out dinner as if they had know each other for years instead of meer week's. For the next several hours they all danced to the sounds of the local band that was headlining for the night. As the hours passed, Piper, Leo Bria and Kyle left to head home, leaving the others to enjoy the rest of the night.

Sitting down and pulling her to him, Morgan could not help but think things could not be more perfect then they were right then. Looking down into Prue's eyes, he had to smile.

"What?" she asked.

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"About us. I have not known you that long, But I am already in love with you."

"And I think I feel the sameway. Can we talk about something else, We are leaving soon to head back to San Francisco. I dont want to ruin this night by crying."

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

Getting to her feet, she looked back at him "Yes, a moon light stroll would be the perfect way to end the night."

Strolling along the rivers edge, the two felt complete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He watched the couples trying to decide who would be the easiest to go after. The demon, known to humanity as Stroud, had gained his aid by giving him the mortal he had brought with him. As a demon who thrived on desrtoying love, Shantrax had found the humans twisted thoughts a wonderful treat. His only regret was it did not last long enough.

As he stared at the photo's in his hand, his face light up with a evil grin. "I should beable to do a lot of damage with these two. He then shimmered out to begin his plans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, after a filing breakfast, it was time for the Charmed one's to head home. Both Leo and Cole had left by there own mean's early that morning, Leo called by the Elders and Cole to keep hidden.

During the drive to the airport, the youngest two noticed the mood there oldest sister was in. Morgan had not come to say goodbye and even though she had acted like it didn't matter, they could see she was hurt.

"Prue? do you want to talk about it?" Piper asked.

"Not right now." came the soft reply.

"It will work out." Bria said so only Prue could here her. "He has never been good at goodbye's."

Giving Morgans sisters hand a slight squeeze, she turned her attention back out the window. Suddenly her attention was caught by several large signs set up along the road. As she read them, her mood was lifted.

'I love you Prue Halliwell'

'I will see you soon'

'All my heart belongs'

'To you'

'Look for me'

'Never goodbye'

"That's my brother," Bria said, "always having to have the last word."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few weeks past fairly quickly, with only two demons rearing there ugly heads. Each night, Prue and Morgan would call each other, talking about little things, and the more they talked, the more she wished she had stayed with him.

Piper had told her to follow her heart, and it had lead her home,to the one's she thought needed her the most. Her sisters meant everything to her, and she had to be there for them. Her soul told her Morgan was the one for her, but her mind was not ready to accept that.

Then one night, she recieved a call from Kyle, Bria and Morgan had been attacked by something, and they didn't know if Morgan would survive.

Packing a bag, she headed for the airport.


Part 2

The doctors came over to Prue "Ms. Halliwell?" Getting a shake of her head as a reply," Why don't we go to the lounge were we can talk." the first one said, looking around at the other people in the room.

Fearing the worst, she wished she had waited for her sisters to get home before she had left the house. She had a feeling she would need there support before this was over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knowing that both of her sister had been working hard, one at the club, and the other school, Prue had sent them both off with their men, telling them she would enjoy the peace and guiet of having the manor to herself.

Arriving home at the same time, Piper and Pheobe shared a look of understanding, smiling at the great times they had both had. Going inside, they called out to their oldest sister. Getting no response, they sat down in the living room and shared some time with each other talking about their love lives.

"I'm going to go make some tea, do you want any Pheebe's"

"Only if it's your special blend. Why don't we start some supper too, I'm sure Prue will be home soon." she replied, standing up, the two headed for the kitchen.

"I think I will make that pork dish she likes" Piper said, trailing behind, she didn't notice her sister stopping in the doorway.

"Don't stop so fa.." then she to noticed the mess in the kitchen. There was a half bowl of cereal, and a bagel sitting on the table. Scattered around the counters were photo's of a shoot Prue had finished before they had left and the stool was tipped over on the floor.

Looking at the mess, they both had the same thought. "PRUE!" they both shouted, rushing to check the rest of the house.

"Did you find her?"

"No, Now what?"

"LEO!" Piper yelled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ms. Halliwell," the doctor started.

"Prue"

"Okay, Prue, I'm Dr. Shaw and this is Dr. Marsten. First let me say, Bria is doing much better. Her injurys, though serious, are not as bad as her brothers. They were both mauled by, what we think, was a very large bear."

"A bear?"

"Yes. They both suffered magor blood lose ans multipal deep laceractions and bite's on there arms, legs and torso's. Morgan, however is worse off because of the number of injurys. The next few hours will tell us more."

"Can I see them?"

"Yes, even though your not family, Morgan has been asking for you, so we will make an exception."

Calling a nurse to rake her to see them, Dr. Shaw waited untill she hsd left to speak to Dr. Marsten.

"Do you think we should tell them what we found?"

"Not yet, I want to wait for the rest of the tests to come back first."

"It's just hard to imagine, why did we find human saliva in the wounds?"

"I dont know, but if a human was behind this, I hope they catch him before someone else gets attacked."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What?" Leo asked, orbing into the manor.

"Prue is missing." his wife told him,starting to get angry at his casual attention.

"There are no demon's or worlocks involved," he replied after a silent inquary to his bosses.

"Then where is she!" the sisters said together.

Just then,the phone rang. Running to answer it, Pheobe picked it up.

"Prue, where are you?" she asked, hearing her big sisters voice.

"Oh my god, are they alright?" making a shhing noise at Piper who wanted to know what was going on.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Piper was about ready to yank the phone out of her hand at that moment. Hearing one side of this conversation was wearing on her nerves.

"Okay, sweety, if you need anything, call at any time. We love you too. Bye"

Turning ariund, she was meet with the anctious stare of her older sister. Talking swiftly, she filled her in, and they both felt there heart go out to their sister.

"Please let him be ok, it would destroy her if anything happend to him, especialy after Andy,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's working pefectly Stroud. The oldest is too far away to help her sisters, and after what my 'pet' did to her new lover, she will be to distacted to notice what is going on."

"Excellent work Shantrax, but why did you make that 'thing'" he said, pointing to a misshapened figure crouched at his side.

"His hatred for them was his only focus. In this form, he will be able to inflict more damage then he could as a man."

Looking up at his master, the creature that was once Dan Gordan, felt nothing for his lost humanity. The only thing in his mind was the thought of killing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Awaking at the sound of her name being called, Prue was at first unsure of where she was. Looking around in confusion, her blue eyes encountered the bright green eye's of Morgan.

"Your awake." she said quietly. "I was afriad you would never wake up."

"How long," he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "Bria?"

"She's going to be fine. She is in the room next door worried about you. It's been a day and a half sence you were attacked. Are you in any pain?"

"No. Must tell you, not natural."

"What?"

"Magic did this. Stroud." he managed to say before the pain medications in his system took him back to the oblivion of sleep.

Damn, she though, reaching for her cell phone and calling her sister.

"We got trouble," she said when Piper answered, "seems Stroud was more then he appeared. How soon can you get here?"

Part 3


After recieving the call from Prue, Pheobe headed for the attic to look through the Book of Shadows, while Piper started calling the airlines. Managing to book two seats on a midnight flight, she headed upstairs to pack, calling to her baby sister to let her know.

"I can't find anything about him in the BOS" Pheobe said, coming down stairs an hour later.

"He must be like Cole, only his demon name is in the book." Piper replied,as she closed her suitcase. "You had better get packing, our flight leaves in a few hours."

"Did you contact Leo?"

"No, he's with another charge right now. What about Cole?"

"He should be back in a day or so, I will have to leave him a message."

"Are you as worried about Prue as I am?" Piper said, changing the subject.

"Morgan WILL be fine, I have to believe that for her sake. Every time she starts to open up to a guy, something happens and she pulls back. This time it's different. She realy loves him, even if they have not addmitted it to each other yet."

Amazed by her baby sisters insight, Piper could not help but agree. "I guess you realy are learning something in those psych classes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We will have to strike soon if we want to get them while thhey are seperated." Shantrax told Stroud. "She has already called her sisters and they should be here in the morning."

"Then, if you expect to continue living, you had better live up to your end of the bargian. I will deal with the youngest two!" the larger demon said menicingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After haning up with Piper, Prue went next door to Bria's room to see what she knew. Walking in, she found Kyle in the same position she had occupied in Morgans room. Looking up, Bria smiled slightly at the dark haied woman.

"Hi, how are you doing?" Prue asked.

"I have been better, but they said I will beable to go home at the end of the week. How's Morgan?"

"Not as good. He was mauled pretty badly. Do you remember what happened?"

"No, but I don't think it was a bear like they say. We were hit from behind, and I was knocked out right away. There was no warning, no noise, like an animal would make. Why?"

"Morgan thinks it was magical, and he mentiones Stroud."

"Stroud? But he despises magic."

"I know, but he fell asleep before he could tell me anything else."

"Maybe," Bria started

"Maybe what?"

"We know he was there when we attaced the house, but we never found him."

"Where were you attacked?"

"Why? You shouldn't go there alone."

"We need to check it out, besides, I don't acctualy have to 'go' there to check."

Seeing Prue's idea, Bria had her find a map and showed her a spot that she recognized from one of the walk's she hsd taken with Morgan. Going back to his bedside, she sat by him for a few more hours trying to calm her emotions. Leaving a note for her sister's, she went to the hotel acrossed the street and rented a room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the airport, the sisters checked in for their flight and then headed for the restroom's to freshen up. Walking in, they did not notice the two men watching them. Getting up and looking around, they followed them. Taking up positions on either side of the door, they waited for the women to come out.

As Pheobe came through the door, she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. Reacting on instinct, she grabbed the man beside her, flipping him into his partner. At her sisters sudden movements, Piper stepped back, and as the two men landed, she froze them both.

"Who are they!" Piper demanded.

"How should I know! They just tried to jump us, I really didn't have time for introductions." Pheobe shot back at her.

"What are we going to do with them?"

"Turn then over to airport security, there both human, so it should be safe. We have a plane to catch."

After talking to the gaurds, the youngest Halliwell's boarded the plane and settled back for the long, cross country flight to Maine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Your men failed." Shantrax told Stroud. "But we might still be able to stop the oldest. She plans to visit the sight where the Mitchellen's were attacked."

"Then we should get ready, I don't want this one to get away. Is your pet up to facing her?"

"More then ready, he is also immune to her powers. I will send him to wait for her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early the next morning, as her sisters plane was landing at the Bagor airport, Prue was getting ready to go to the sight of the attack. She had never tried to project for as far and as long as she would need to and was hoping it would not take to long to find any proof that she needed.

Laying down on the bed, she concentrated on her destination, the waterfalls Morgan had shown her. It was slightly disorientating to go from one spot to another, and in a red glow she appeared at her destination, blinking her eyes to focus on her surroundings.

Wishing she knew more about reading trackes, she started searching around for anything to point her in the right direction. Looking at all the scuffed up dirt from the rescue team, she headed out into the bushes, hoping to find a clue.

Scanning the ground, she did not see the thing following her, it's eye glowing at the thought of tearing her to pieces. Dan no longer remembered his humanity, only his hatred of the person before him, and the ones he knew where her sisters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Entering the hospital, Piper found what floor Morgan and Bria were on and, getting into the elevator heading for the thrird floor.

"Exscuse me," Piper said to the duty nurse, "We are looking for our sister, she should be with either of the Long's?"

"Are you Prue's sisters? She said you would be here and left this note for you."

After reading it,Piper passed it to Pheobe. As soon as she touched it, her world started tumbeling into the familiar black and white of a premonition. As her eyes snapped open, she found Piper standing in front of her, worry evident on her face.

"What is it?" the middle sister asked.

"Prue's in trouble." Pheobe said, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the elevator.

"What did you see?" Piper asked her as they decended to the first floor.

"What ever attacked Morgan and Bria is after her. The weirdest thing about it was that I could have sworn it looked like Dan."

"She should be alright, she's at the hotel."

"Then lets go see her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was starting to feel the effects of projecting for so long, her body was trying to bring her back. It had already been 20 minuted and so far she had not found anything. Turning around, she could not shake the feeling that something was there, in the shadow, watching her.

He could wait no longer, his need to kill the witch was overpowering. He started to creap silently forward.

After getting their room key from the desk, Prue had put them in with her, Piper and Pheobe unlocked the door and went in.

With the witches back to him, he leapt at her, long claws aimed at the tender skin.

Hearing a faint sound, Prue spun around, raising her arms defensivly. The creature coming at her was something she had never seen before. As it slammed into her, she gave a short scream, and willed herself back to her body.

Approaching the bed were there sister appeared to be sleping, they both jumped back when she gave a startled scheetch and sat up.

"Prue?" they both said, rushing to her. "Are you ok?"

Sitting there catching her breath, Prue noticed a sharp burning pain on her shoulder. Looking down, she was surprised to see blood seeping through her shirt, right where the creature had slahed at her with it's claws.

"Not really," she replied, showing them her bloody hand.

Part 4

"What happened?" Piper asked, digging into her suitcase for the first aid kit.

"I don't know, I was projecting, this never happend before." Prue told her, looking around, just as shocked as her sisters.

"Thats where you got hit in my premonition." Pheobe told her, getting on the bed for a closer look. "Hand me the kit so I can clean this up."

Handing the kit to her youngest sister, Piper went into the bathroom, coming out a minute later with a wet towel to wash the blood away. "What were you doing?" she asked Prue.

"I projected to the spot where they were attacked to look around. Something jumped me, but I'm not sure what it was." as she was talking, her body started to shake, a reaction from over stressing her powers. Noticing her shivers, Piper held her as Pheobe finished cleaning and dressing the scratches.

"You better lay down for a bit, I got your shoulder fixed, the cuts are not too deep, but you are suffering from major magical exsaustion." her baby sister ordered her, mockingly, "This is about the only time I get to tell you what to do. I'm going to look in the BOS for the creature."

"You brougjt the book here!" Prue said, sitting up.

"Yes, now lay back down. We had a feeling we would need it, and it does no good in the attic where we cant go through it."

Prue laid back, knowing they were right. As she drifted off to sleep, she caught sight of her baby sister, sitting cross legged on the floor,
flipping the pages of the book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Your 'pet' failed." Stroud was more then happy to inform Shantrax.

"Yes and no, she was astral projecting, witch we didn't expect, but he was still able to injure her. That could prove very usefull."

"So what is your plan now."

"We go after their soft spots, their weaknesses." Shantrax replied. "The one's they can not foresee." and told him what he was going to do.

"I like that idea." Stroud replied, laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prue awoke an hour later feeling stesdier, yet still tired, ready to go back to the hospital and see Morgan. Pheobe was sitting in the chair, still trying to find the creature she had seen in her vision, with no luck so far.

"Any luck, Pheebe's?"

"Your awake? How are you feeling?" She asked, concern in her voice.

"Tired, but better. Did you find anything?"

"Close, but nothing definate. Look at this." Flipping back a few pages, there was a picture of a Hellhound.

"Your right, it was a lot like this, but it was more feline then that. And it's claws were retractable. Is there such a thing as a Hellcat?" As she said this, the pages started flipping by themselves. "I guess gram's know something."

When the pages settled, there was a drawing of a Hellcat, "There is such a thing, I was just joking when I said that." Prue said quietly. The book told how they were made from humans, transformed to seek revenge agianst their most hated enemy's, and the only way to stop them was to first destroy the one who created it.

"Sooo, it really could have been Dan. S who or what demon made him?"

"I don't know Pheebe's, but will will find out and vanquish him!"

Putting the BOS back into her hard sided travell bag, Pheobe reactivated a protection spell. "Let's go catch up with Piper, she left 10 minutes ago for the hospital."

Piper was sitting with Bria when they found her, talking softly so the nurse's would not hear the nature of the conversation. Filling her in on what they found, Prue headed for Morgan's room while Pheobe stayed with Bria.

"Have the doctors told you anything more about how he's doing?" she asked.

"No, they won't tell me, and that scares me. I know he's strong, but from what I have been told, it's not good. How is Prue handeling it?"

"She wont talk to us about it till she's ready, and it does no good to force it. We learned that with Andy." Piper answered looking after her departed sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Was it done?" Stroud asked Shantrax.

"Yes. It should not take more then 24 hours to do its work."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking at the sleeping Morgan, Prue's heart seemed to skip a beat. She had just found him, and she did not want to lose him. It was too much like Andy. She had not exspected to fall in love, and now she could lose him to a demon as well.

Sitting in a chair next to the bed, she took his hand, noticing how warm it felt. Looking at his face, she noticed he seemed to be sweating. Starting to worry, she pressed the call button and summoned a nurse.

The nurse checked his temprature, and then summoned the doctor on call. Prue just backed up, scared at what she did not understand. As they started pumping antibiotics into his IV, they raised an oxegen tent around him.

"What's wrong?" she managed to ask.

"He has developed a sever infection from his wounds. It seems to be very fast spreading, so we are going to issolate him and hope for the med's to kick in."

Walking back to Bria's room, she just keeped repeating in her mind 'no no no'.Seeing her walk in, Pheobe and Piper both knew right away that something was wrong. Getting up they both enfolded her in an embrace.

Stepping back after a minute, Prue's eyes locked with Bria's, "He's getting worse. But he is fighting," sitting down, the two women shared a look of understanding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's time. Get the youngest, the others will follow."

"Are you sure it should be her. Why not the oldest, she is more of a threat."

"Without her they will not know our plans. no go!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The waiting was the hardest, Waiting to hear if the fever had gone down. Waiting to know it was all over and that he was out of danger. Just waiting.

Prue had fallen asleep agian in one of the chairs while Piper paced nervously about the room. Looking at the scene before her, Pheobe felt a small smil tug at her lips. Seeing this, Piper raised one eyebrow questioningly.

"Our role's seem a little reversed. I'm usually asleep while you sit looking at everyone and Prue paces."

"Your right. I guess it just didn't seem normal with out 'someone' pacing. I need to get out of here. Do you want any thing from the cafe?"

"A coffee would be great."

Leaving the room, she did not see the faint shimmering appear behind Pheobe. Hearing a noise, half way between a scream and a curse, she ran back in to see her little sister dissapear in the arms of a tall coal black demon.

"PRUE!"

Jumping to her feet Prue looked all around the room, not aware of what had just happened. "What?"

"A demon just took Pheobe, thats what!"

Part 5

Rushing into the hotel room,Prue and Piper started franticaly searching for the demon who had taken their sister. 20 minutes later, they had not found anything and were starting to get a little panicked.

"LEO!" piper finaly yelled, "LEO we need you now!"

Orbing in, Leo drew his wife into a tight hug. "Iknow. I was just talking to the Elders. They know who this demon is, but"

"Why is there always a 'but'" Prue interupted, her blue eye's flashing

"But" Leo continued, "he's not working alone. His name is Trolbin, you know him as Stroud. We think his 'partner' is Shantrax. They are both very powerful and they also work well together."

Looking through the BOS, they found both demons. Shantrax tried to destroy love, by any means, and Stroud liked to spread hatred. There was a vanquashing spell, and a potion for each, but they needed the Power of Three.

"Okay, you two orb back to the manor and make the potion, I will try scrying for Pheobe." Prue said, her mind reacting to the threat on autopilot. "Meet back here in 2 hours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Welcome witch!" the demon who had grabed Pheobe said. "Don't worry about the accomidations, you and you sisters will be dead soon anyways."

"Why are all you demons so cocky, if I had a dollar for each one that thought that I would be rich." this earned her a backhanded slap.

"If you would rather die now, we can arrange it."Trolin said calmly, and that more then anything else chilled Pheobe to the bone.

Searching her surroundings, she spotted another demon, short and pale yellow, with the Hellcat at his side. 'at least I think I know who created that' she thought to herself.

Shantrax came forward, followed by the Hellcat, Dan, and pushing her back into a crude cave told him to guard her.

She prayed her sisters would find her soon, as the beast started drooling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in San Francisco, Piper practicaly flew around the kitchen, adding a little of this or that to each of the potions she had cooking on the stove. Leo had left to go see the Elders agian and, she thought, to get away from the oder.

Just once she wished for a vanquishing potion that called for things like lillac's or roses or 'anything that did not smell like a sewer. Putting the last of the potions into a bottle, she gathered them up, each in a seperate pouch and waited for Leo to return.

Appearing in a blue glow, Piper could tell by the look on his face that he had bad news.

"What?" she asked

"Morgan was given a poison made from the demons blood mixed together. If they are not vanquished in about 12 hours he 'will' die."

"There's more to it then that, What aren't you telling me."

"It might still kill him anyways." he replied looking at her with saddness in his eye's

"We can't let him die, Prue would die with him. She could not survive that agian."

"I know." he said, taking her into his arms. Wiping the tears from her face, he orbed them back to the hotel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you have them?" Prue asked, not looking up when the tell tale blue glow appeared.

"Prue." Piper said softly. "I need to tell you something."

Looking up, she saw the tear tracks on her younger sisters face. "No. I don't want to hear this now!" she said, throwing the wall up around her emotions.

"But.."

"NO! no distractions, not now, Pheobe needs us, and I WILL NOT let her down!" and she turned back to the map layed out before her.

Knowing she would not get her to listen, she sighed in defeat. "I have the potions. Any luck finding her?"

"She's some where in this area," Prue said, "but I can't get to close. She is some where near the Ripagimas dam (real place)."

"Relax Prue, we will get her back."

"If anything happens to her..." she said, starting to cry.

"She WILL be fine, you just have to trust in that." pulling her big sister close, she let her cry out her pain, knowing that if she told her about Morgan, Prue would break down completly.

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Waking up, Pheobe's entire body ached from the cold dampness of her prison. Looking up, she found the Hellcat looking at her still. "Dont you need a litter box" she said in frustration, seeing he had not moved. Checking her watch, she saw she had been here for 5 hours so far.

She had not seen either of the demons agian yet, but she knew they were not far away, planning on what to do when her sisters arrived. 'Think Pheobe, think.' she thought, 'how am I going to help them with that overgrown throw rug watching me.'

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"They know where we are, Trolin, and they will be here soon."

"They don't know are exacact location, I was able to block that much from them. We will just set up a few little 'surprises' for them. After all thay 'are' city girls."

"I like the way you think." Shantrax replied and blinked out to get to work.

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Pulling to a stop beside the huge dam, the three got out of the truck Kyle had lent them and looked around. They were in the middle of the largest forest in Maine, with no sight of anyone for the last 2 hours.

It had already been 7 hours since they took Pheobe, and Prue had not said a word in 4 of then.Lost in her own thoughts, she could not help but think that she should have prevented it.

She was the oldest, and it was her responsability to watch over her sisters, and once agian, she felt like she had failed. She just wanted her baby sister back.

"Lets try scrying agian," Piper said, pulling out an area map. "Maybe now that we are here, we will have better luck." Holding the crystal over the map, it just continued to circle a small area about a mile into the woods. "Looks like we hike it now."

Holding a compass, Leo took the lead, with the sisters close beside him, as he headed into the woods.

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"Is everything set?"

"Yes, Trolin, it is. Why?"

"They have arrived. Send your 'pet' out to play, while I keep an eye on our 'guest'"

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It was almost time, she could feel it, the Hellcat had been called off and given instruction that she could not hear, and the tall black demon was sitting there, smirking at her.

"What, you think I'm going to go somewhere? I'm not leaving till your a pile of ashes."

"I had heard you were the fiesty one, but I am not going to fall for your taunts. so save your breath, while you have it. Soon now, very soon."

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Picking herself up off the ground, Piper looked around for Prue and Leo. 'Booby traps, they set booby trap' she thought. Spotting the other two near by, she saw they were both fine, just winded and a little scrapped.

"Leo, I think you had better start watching where you put your feet from now on, that branch almost took your head off." Piper scolded her husband, more in relief then anger.

"Hey, we never ran into demons who set trap's like this before," he protested.

"Just be a little more careful from now on, that goes for all of us." Prue said standing up. Just then, something very large came charging out of the bushes, straight at her, throwing her arm reflexivly, she stood there, stuned as it keeped coming.

Just as surprised, Leo reacted quickly, throwing himself at Prue and shoving her out of the way. As the Hellcat was about to land on him, Piper shot up her hands, freezing it in the air.

"What happened," she asked Prue as she once agian stood up, "why didn't you power work on it?"

"I don't know, but that 'thing' is going to be busy for awhile." saying this she summoned some nearby vines and tied the Hellcat in them, wrapping them tightly several times.Then she pulled Leo out of the way and Piper unfroze the scene.

Landing roughly, it started to struggle, trying to get at them, but the vines held it. Casting on last look at it the trio headed out agian.

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Pheobe sat, waiting for the moment to run, knowing she would only get one chance. The demon who was watching her suddenly stood up, roaring in fury, Shantrax!" he screamed and left.

Taking the oppertunity, she bolted out the door, finding herself in a series of tunnels. 'Now what?' noticing the floor seemed to slant up slightly she took the middle tunnel and hoped for the best.

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"I can sence her agian," Leo said suddenly, stopping and looking around. "There" he pointed to a dark cave entrance.

Sprinting up the hill, the two oldest Halliwell's were knocked over when a figure came dashing out. "Pheobe!" they both cried.

"No time, there right behind me!"

Getting quickly to there feet, they were all thrown back down the hill as the two demon's came out, one throwing a fireball at Prue and Pheobe, the other at Piper and Leo.

As the four crashed to the ground, Piper and Leo's heads slammen together knocking them both out. Swaering under her breath, Pheobe ran over to them while Prue started fending off more fireballs.

The demons stood there, side by side, looking at the Charmed One's, "You might as well give up now witches, you can not defeat both of us. Not at the same time, we are too strong for you."

"They haven't learned yet," Pheobe said to Prue, taunting the demon's, "They always run their mouths too much." Standing up, she threw the potion she had taken out of the pouch Piper carried at Trolin, at the same time, they both froze in place.

"Piper, your awake," Prue said in relief.

"Yes but I have a king size headache, so lets toast these two." Pulling out the spells they had brought the recited the first one and watched as Trolin burst into flames.

Turning to Shantrax, Piper prepared to throw the second potion, just as the Hellcat landed in front of them. The raw hatred in the creatures eye's startled them all, causing Pipers throw to go wild.

Lashing out, the beast managed to hit all three, sending them to the ground. Recovering first, Prue reached out with her powers and sent a fallen tree branch slamimg into it, pinning it to the ground.

Pheobe, menwhile, grabbed a second bottle of potion and headed for Shantrax. Just as she threw it, Pipers freeze wore off and he lashed out with a wild swing, hitting her and knocking her headfirst into a near by tree.

Screaming out, Piper froze him agian and ran to her sisters aid. Grabbingthe still groggy Leo, Prue followed close behind. Dropping down beside her injured sister, She saw blood flowing from a deep cut on her head.

"Heal her Leo," she practical screamed. As he lifted his hands over the prone Pheobe, and the yellow glow of his healing powers took affect relief washed over them all.

Sitting up, Pheobe glared at the frozen form of Shantrax, "Time to waste him" she said. looking at the second spell.

Standing up the three weary sister moved over to him and recited the spell. As he unfroze and started to disintagrate, he shouted out, "You may have beat us, But your too late to save the other."

"Morgan" Piper whispered.

"What about him," Prue demanded.

"Thats what I wanted to tell you before, but you wouldn't let me. They poisoned him."

Not waiting to hear anymore, Prue cast out her astral form, appearing in the room with him. As she stood there, she heard the sound of his heart monitor flatlining, and saw the hospital staff rushing in.

Unable to watch, she fled back to her body, screaming out in grief, before crumbeling to the ground in a dead faint.