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Part 05: What's A Witch To Do? Prue's black sports car flew down the rain soaked streets of San Francisco. There was quite of bit of traffic on this dreary Monday, but Prue, being the expert driver she was, carefully evaded the main thoroughfare and prospected down the side streets. She was halfway to Bucklands Auction House when flashing lights erupted in her rearview mirror. Damn. She was already late as it was. She'd be lucky to still have a job once she reached the office... if she ever did. Racing through a puddle, the motion splashed a bucketful of grime onto her windshield. Momentarily, there was a sensation of panic when she couldn't see the road. It passed a second later as the wipers whooshed the grime clean. Unfortunately for her, the lights were still present behind her. As she slowed to the side to let the driver pass, she realized that the other car was curiously tailgating her. Her eyes squinted to see the driver in the pale darkness. As they passed a streetlight, the operator of the car behind her was awash in pale illumination. Immediately she recognized the driver. It was Andy. It figured. Once again here she was at what appeared to be a crime scene. Andy was going to love this. She'd say she wasn't involved and he'd say, yeah right. Maybe one day she could tell him the truth. Maybe one day she could reveal exactly why she couldn't be with him. The memory of the day Andy told her he couldn't handle her being a witch flew across the landscape of her mind. The memory hadn't faded with time. She didn't know if it ever would. All she could feel was Andy's immediate rejection of her once he knew the truth. That's why she could never tell him. Not again. Not ever. She was glad the spell had erased his memory. At least she had a sort of second chance. A chance to be his friend instead of his girlfriend. Sometimes she wondered if she was even that. A friend. Andy had acquired a darker edge lately. An almost hollowness inside himself. He wasn't the Andy she remembered and fell in love with. He was almost like an Alt. Andy. Like he was keeping a secret as big as the one she was latched onto. A secret that could change everything. This new dark side of Andy pushed her away almost as quickly as he tried to pull her in. Lately, he was a wealth of contradictions. What was going on with him, she wondered. *** Officer Andy Trudeau pulled alongside the car of his partner, Darryl Morris and released an exasperated breath. What was Prue doing in this neighborhood? Once again she was in the middle of everything. What did that woman have? A murder/death radar gun attached to her dashboard? Shaking his head he released the thought. He couldn't concentrate on her right now. Right now he had a job to do. With amazing speed he detached himself from the worry of what was Prue Haliwell and her ever increasing file of bizarre occurrences and focused on the job at hand. Andy whipped out of the car, produced his badge to the blue coats on the scene and walked over to where Darryl was hunched over the body. "What do we have?" Andy asked. "A surprisingly normal death for a change. Looks like the victim took a swan dive out of the second floor window." Darryl pointed out the broken window pane. Glass hung in an abstract pattern far overhead. One small piece detached itself from the rest and fell to the ground landing around the feet of the victim. Andy stepped back then noticed something odd. Darryl caught his partner's unusual expression. "Don't *even* give me that look," he said. "I'm going to pretend like I never saw you do that." "There's something wrong here." Andy's tone was firm. "Isn't there always? This is a simple suicide. Let's keep it at that." Darryl knew that it wasn't so simple. He too had sensed something strange about the scene. He just didn't want to express it verbally. Just for once couldn't they have an easy case that solved itself? A case that didn't call for him to drag out the occult dictionary? The lingering answer seemed to be a resounding no. Bizarre Cases R Us. He cringed at the thought. Was this how his life was going to be? One strange case after another? Andy snapped on latex gloves as he ascended the stairway to the second floor. His expression was particularly grim. They entered a room that was an odd mix of cool blues and warm reds. Nothing seemed to go together but in a strange way it did. It was a room of contrasts. It almost vibrated the life of the person who had lived here. Like the person was still alive somehow through her possessions. The floor nearest the window was covered in glass fragments. Andy stood outside of the circle of shards careful not to disturb the placement of evidence. "What's wrong with this picture?" Andy asked Darryl calmly. Somehow their two brains became one as Darryl read Andy's mind. "I see what you mean. The glass. It's inside the room." "So tell me Darryl, why is the glass in here and the body out there? It doesn't make sense." Darryl felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "I don't know Andy, why?" "Because she was pushed into the window from the outside in, not the inside out." "That's impossible." Darryl knew there was going to be no way to explain this one to the chief. "It's not only possible. It's happened. Now all we have to figure out is why." "Oh, no, not again." Darryl shook his head in argument. He wasn't going to do this Andy's way. Bad things always happened when they did things Andy's way. Andy stalked out of the room and down the stairs. Darryl helplessly followed after him. "Prue Haliwell, here we come," he said with disgust. "I'm going to get suspended. I just know it!"
Part 06: Caught In The Act Prue Haliwell knew she shouldn't be doing this. Chastised herself even for her curiosity. But still she pulled her car into an empty parking space up the road from the crime scene. Stealthily, she slipped through the trees trying to get a glimpse of the body. When she was as close as she could possibly get, she peered at the long form lying half on the grass and half on the stone walkway. Blood oozed out from under the sheath which now covered the lifeless figure to protect any evidence from the elements of the returning storm. The pine tree before her blocked her view and when she reached out to move the obstacle, it pelted her with a shower of water droplets. She tried to hold in her shriek at the coldness of the water but a small sound emitted from her mouth. Quickly, she stifled the noise. She certainly didn't want Andy to catch her at yet another crime scene. That would definitely not look good to the brass. A light mist began its descent on the city of San Francisco and inwardly, Prue groaned. Rain on top of the tree relieving itself on her. It only served to deepen her already poor mood. She tried not to verbalize her annoyance, her disgust at getting herself into yet another compromising situation. Prue could feel the water seeping into her new black suede jacket. "Damn," she whispered to herself. "I'll never be able to get the spots out of this." Why was it that when you forgot to spray the water resistant compound on your garments that you ended up in a winter rain? It just went to prove Murphy's Law. A law she was getting to know rather personally lately. A lot of things had been going wrong in her life and this was only one of the few. Live and learn, she thought to herself. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Noises up ahead brought her attention back to the matter at hand. The body. She focused on the body and realized that she wasn't seeing anything unless she moved the tarp. Using her mind muscle, she mentally commanded the sheath to reveal the victims face. She didn't want to draw attention to the act so she concentrated on moving it only slightly. She used not the force with which to slay a demon but the careful touch she would use to caress her boyfriend's face. Mentally, she checked herself. The thought immediately conjured up Andy's warm caring features onto the landscape of her mind. Ex-boyfriend, she reminded herself.Why was it so hard for her to accept the ex part? She knew why. It was because she was a witch. A witch with a responsibility. A witch who couldn't compromise or endanger those closest to her. So for now Andy had to remain at arms length no matter how much it hurt. As the tarp silently slid from the face of the victim, a mass of red-gold curls revealed themselves as did the top portion of a lime green jumper. Focusing her eyes, she stared intently at the face of the woman. With a gasp, her hand found its way to her lips. She knew that woman. In fact, she was going to go and see her tonight. "Oh, no... Gabby." Prue verbalized the words though she didn't realize it. Before she could turn around and start back to her car, something stirred behind her. She readied her hand to inflict mental force on the intruder. As she spun around, the trees erupted again with a shower of cold water. She grunted at the surprise then grunted again when strong hands captured her shoulders. "Looking for something?" the voice said with calm warmness. His voice was immediately recognizable. It was Andy. Prue slowly turned and her eyes met his intense, dark gaze. "Andy," she said evenly. "Fancy meeting you here Ms. Haliwell. You were just the person I was looking for." "Fancy that," she said. "Mind coming with me to the station? I'd rather not do this in the rain." "Not at all," Prue said trying to remain calm. "Lead the way." "Oh, by all means," Andy motioned with a sweeping hand. "Ladies first." He gestured toward a break in the tree line and Prue followed his lead. Morris appeared behind Andy like a magician's rabbit from a hat. His eyes narrowed into an annoyed, somewhat puzzling stare. "Andy," he whispered once Prue was out of ear shot. "I hope you know what you're doing." "Don't worry, Darryl," he said, somewhat coldly. "I know exactly what I'm doing." Darryl wasn't so sure. He watched silently as his partner ran head long into yet another case with Haliwell blinders on. Was the man ever going to learn? *** Nervous energy jittered through Phoebe's body. How had this gotten so out of hand? And what was she going to do about it? For hours these were the only questions her mind pondered. Piper was continuing to act really bizarre and Prue hadn't returned any of the messages she left on her voice mail. This was truly not a good day to be Phoebe Haliwell. As a last resort she copied the strange text from the Book of Shadows and headed down to the nearby witchcraft store she liked to frequent. The rain had started up again and Phoebe carried a multi-colored umbrella to reflect the water. Dominga Sanchez, a small elderly woman, sat in precisely the same place Phoebe had seen her the last time she visited the Craft Shoppe. Phoebe peered around the counter hoping to catch Dominga's attention. At first her attempts weren't successful and patrons glanced at her with surprised or annoyed expressions. She ignored them and continued to wave to Dominga. Dominga seemed to be either in a deep trance or so thoroughly immersed in a book that she hadn't seen her come in. "Hello," Phoebe called. "Mrs. Sanchez? I don't know if you remember me. Phoebe? Phoebe Haliwell?" The woman's reaction was instantaneous. Dominga's gaze, which had been fixed on a spot near the ground, lifted her eyes as if someone had placed a red hot poker on a particularly sensitive part of her anatomy. At first her stare was almost zombie-like. Then life returned to her eyes. It was followed by recognition. "Miss Haliwell," she said with a slight Spanish accent. "How nice to see you again. What can we at the Craft Shoppe do for you today? Herbs? A potion, perhaps?" "No," Phoebe said stiffly. "Nothing like that. But I am looking for answers. You think you could help a fellow witch in need?" Dominga nodded as if she had been expecting Phoebe to ask her such a question. "Yes, my child. Come back and we will discuss it in private." They walked through a curtain just behind the counter. It seemed to be a small storage closet with two chairs and a sofa. "Sit. Tell me your troubles." Phoebe related all that she could about what she'd done with the spell, Piper and Andy and everything. Dominga nodded her head in agreement. "Yes," she said. "This is very bad. Very bad indeed." "So is there a way to reverse the spell?" Phoebe seemed desperate. "No, I am afraid not. For it was not you who cast the spell over Piper. It was Andy." Dominga sat in a shadowy corner and appeared more like an evil fortune teller than a good mother witch. "What are you talking about? I cast the spell. I did this to her." Phoebe was near tears. "Prue is going to kill me." "You must understand, Phoebe. For this spell to work you must have the blood of both your sister and the intended. Did you use either Andy's or Piper's blood in the spell?" "NO!" she said in defense of herself. Then the word from the spell invaded her mind. "Sangre." "Yes, sangre. You need blood for the spell to be cast correctly. If you used neither's blood then the spell was never cast. I'm afraid Andy has cast this spell over your sister, Piper." "But... but... Andy loves Prue." "It seems, my friend that you area mistaken. Andy loves another. And the other loves him." "No, no. Piper would never do that to Prue." Phoebe said sternly. "Love is a strange thing, Phoebe," Dominga said. "It makes people do strange things. It even makes people who were once in love with one sister turn to the other." "What are you saying? Did you have a vision?" Phoebe knew that Dominga like herself was blessed with the "sight." "Yes, before you arrived. I sensed a middle sister. A middle sister in love with a man and the man in love with her. Then the older sister revealed to the middle her own love of the same man. With the love of her sister in her heart the middle sister convinced the man she loved that they could never be together. Then said man turned to the older sister. This is how my vision went. Like I said. Love is strange. And you can't stifle it forever. The truth always reveals itself in the end." Dominga inhaled a long breath. She seemed tired after their long conversation. "So this isn't my fault?" Phoebe said in relief. "No, Phoebe. The only spell cast was the spell of true love." Phoebe shook her head. What was she going to tell Prue? Oh, by the way, while you were out. Andy proposed to Piper and she accepted. They're in love. Oh, and how was your day? It somehow didn't seem like the ideal conversation. She knew that when Prue got home tonight... heads would roll. To be continued.
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