Something Wiccan This Way Comes

by Emma Harrison

  “We have to help her,” Leo said, straining to remain calm.

  Before Phoebe could respond, a powerful female voice filled the room, seeming to infuse the air with its timbre. Phoebe glanced at Paige, surprised. She thought Christian’s coven was made up entirely of men.

  “We have gathered here for a great purpose,” the voice began. “Our ascension will mean the end of eons of clashes, of struggle, of strife. We will bring order to the earth. We will bring the order of hell.”

  A chill raced over Phoebe’s skin and into her heart. The two cloaked figures turned around and swept their hoods from their faces, and Phoebe almost fell to her knees herself.

  It was Tessa and Taryn. Their pale, dewy skin seemed to glow in the light of the candles as they stared dead ahead as if entranced. Taryn stood straight and tall, her chin held high, appearing strong and in perfect health. She looked like a completely different person.

  “Paige…,” Phoebe said, her voice coming out as a squeak.

  Paige stretched her neck and looked around the corner for the first time. Just as she did the speaker stepped out of the shadows and walked up to the altar. She was dressed in flowing black and purple robes, her long, straight blond hair falling over her shoulders like a shimmering blanket. Her eyes were the exact same piercing blue as Tessa’s and Taryn’s. Phoebe had no doubt in her mind that she was looking at their little sister, Tina. The one who had supposedly disappeared.

  “Christian and Tessa and Taryn?” Paige said throatily. “But how?”

  “We wish to thank you, our Wiccan brothers and sisters, for making the ultimate sacrifice,” Tina bellowed, an eerily reverent look in her eyes as she made eye contact with each and every one of her victims. “And Piper Halliwell, our single Charmed One,” Tina said, staring straight at Piper. She stepped out from behind the altar, her hands folded in front of her. “It seems you are no longer alone.”

  Before her words had sunk into Phoebe’s reeling mind, Tina looked up, directly into Phoebe’s eyes. Her first instinct was to jump back, but it was too late. Tina had seen them. Both Paige and Leo stepped out from their hiding place, and the three of them stood there defiantly.

  “Your sisters have come for you, just as I predicted,” Tina continued, a sneer curling across her lips. “And your man is here as well! How sweet.” Piper turned her head and looked at Phoebe, her expression a mixture of relief and anger. Relief that they had found her. Anger that they had put themselves in danger.

  “We’re glad you could make it, girls,” Tina said, opening her arms to her sides. “Once we’re done with Piper, you’re next.”

  She glanced at Christian and tossed her hand nonchalantly in Phoebe’s direction. “Seize them,” she said casually. Then she grinned and clapped her hands together. “I’ve always wanted to say that!”

  “What a wacko,” Paige said under her breath, rolling her eyes as a few of Christian’s coven members advanced on her, Phoebe, and Leo.

  “Tell me about it,” Phoebe replied.

  “We don’t want to hurt you…yet,” one of the attackers said, approaching Phoebe slowly.

  “Well, luckily I don’t have the same issues,” Phoebe said.

  Just as he and another, skinnier guy lunged at Phoebe she vaulted herself into the air, executed a flip over their heads, and came down on her feet behind them. Before they had a chance to turn around, she landed a kick in the small of the first guy’s back, sending him sprawling into the skinnier guy.

  All at once Damon lunged at Leo, and Leo easily landed a punch to the shorter guy’s jaw, sending him reeling backward, but it didn’t take long for a few of his friends to come to his aid. Just as a beer-gutted guy grabbed Paige from behind, holding her arms back, three guys managed to do the same to Leo. Paige looked at Leo, then lifted her chin toward the altar.

  “Got it,” Leo said.

  They both disappeared in their swirling lights and reappeared on the far side of the room in opposite corners. Tessa, Taryn, and Tina whirled around to face them, and Paige saw that Damon, the beer-gutted guy, and their friends were all standing near the shelves, confused. Meanwhile, Phoebe head-butted a guy who had managed to get a hold on her from behind, then launched herself into the air and quickly flattened Damon, Beer Gut, and two other men who tried to grab her. So far Christian’s coven wasn’t turning out to be quite as powerful as his friends had originally boasted.

  “Get them!” Tina shouted, pointing at Leo and Paige. Christian and more of his friends moved toward them, and Paige looked at Leo.

  “Just get Piper!” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

  Leo orbed out again and reappeared in the center of the circle, where he helped Piper to her feet. He was just untying the rope that held her hands together when Paige’s view was blocked by Christian and another meaty coven member. Christian grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, which sent a shooting pain through her shoulder, but Paige refused to let it show in her face.

  “Sorry, guys,” she said. “See ya!”

  Then she orbed out again and reappeared over by Phoebe, who was fighting hand to hand with two men who were having serious trouble with her. The room swirled before Paige’s eyes, and she leaned one hand against the shelves, dizzy. She wasn’t used to orbing so much in such a short span of time, and it had an effect on her. She pressed her eyes closed, took a deep breath, and opened them to find Beer Gut advancing on her once again.

  “Not this time, pal,” Paige said. She thrust her palm straight up into his nose and heard a satisfying crack. That self-defense class I took in college just paid off.

  “You broke my nose!” he shouted, grasping his face as he fell back.

  “Baby,” Paige said under her breath. Then Phoebe flipped one of her assailants over her back, and he landed at Paige’s feet, knocked out.

  “Nice one,” Paige said. “Need some help?”

  “Sure, why not?” Phoebe replied, out of breath. She looked over her shoulder and reeled around, landing a left to one of the guys’ jaw and sending him stumbling back a few yards.

  Paige wasn’t the most experienced fighter, but she’d watched Phoebe enough to know what worked. As one of the guys turned on her Paige kicked him as hard as she could right in his gut, and when he doubled over, she kneed him in the face. Just as he fell back, stunned, Paige was grabbed from behind again.

  “No more disappearing acts,” Christian growled in her ear.

  “Sorry, Chris,” she said. “I can do this all day.”

  Paige orbed over to the altar again, ready to fight, but the moment she hit ground, she was suddenly flung off her feet and soared through the air. All the air flew from her lungs as she vaulted across the warehouse, flailing helplessly. She didn’t even have time to think about orbing before she hit the wall and the wind was knocked right out of her. Pain radiated through every inch of her body. Paige threw her arms out to break her fall as she crumbled to the floor, coughing uncontrollably.

  “What the heck was that?” she muttered once she caught her breath.

  As she pushed herself up with her hands, mentally scanning her body for broken bones, she felt someone staring at her. She looked up to see that Tina was smirking at her from across the room. The girl turned toward the circle, where Leo and Piper were untying the other Wiccans, and flicked her wrist casually. Suddenly Leo was flying through the air as if he’d just been hit by an invisible cannonball. But at least he had the sense to make himself orb before he was seriously injured. He reappeared next to Phoebe, and then Paige saw something that she couldn’t believe.

  Phoebe’s arms were pulled back and held there—but there was no one behind her. Phoebe struggled and broke free, but the second she whirled around, her jaw snapped back as if she’d been punched. Then her legs went flying out from under her and she hit the floor on her side—hard. Paige pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the protests her many bruises made. What was going on here?

  She looked over at Tina and Taryn, who were both laughing as
they watched Phoebe attempt to get up. Phoebe was flattened and apparently pinned to the ground. Each time she tried to rise, something shoved her down again.

  “What are you doing to her?” Piper shouted.

  “Don’t look at me,” Tina said through her mirth. “It’s Tessa. She does so love this trick.”

  Suddenly Tessa appeared over Phoebe, her foot holding her down at the center of her back. Paige swallowed hard. Tessa had the power to make herself invisible? And Tina could toss them across the room with the effort it took to flick her wrist? How was this possible?

  Piper rushed over to Phoebe, and Leo dived into Tessa, tackling her into the shelves full of crates. The moment he did, however, Tessa disappeared, and then Taryn ran across the circle, which was now half broken up, and flipped through the air, heading for Piper. She defied gravity just as easily as Phoebe ever had.

  “Piper, look out!” Paige shouted.

  Piper ducked, huddling over Phoebe and sending Taryn hurtling past them and into the crates. She crumpled to the floor next to Phoebe and Piper, stunned. Tina glared furiously at Paige and lifted her wrist, but before she could be flung again, Paige orbed over to her sisters and Leo.

  “Where’s Tessa?” she asked, turning to Leo, who was just getting up.

  “I have no idea,” he answered.

  “What is going on around here?” Piper asked, rising from the floor and pushing her hair out of her face. “What’s with all the crazy power?”

  “I don’t know,” Phoebe answered as she brushed herself off. “But I have a feeling that this isn’t going to be as easy as vanquishing the Anubi.”

  Tessa suddenly reappeared next to Tina, and those members of Christian’s coven who hadn’t yet been knocked out gathered around them. Paige felt her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. This was going to be one hell of a showdown.

  “I’m gonna free the rest of the innocents,” Leo said. “You deal with your evil twins over there. Sound like a plan?”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Taryn said shrilly.

  Paige turned slowly to see Taryn rise from the floor and hover over her and her sisters, her arms outstretched, her eyes burning with hatred.

  “Okay,” Paige said, “this is really not good.”

  “Taryn, I’m bored!” Tina called out in a pouty voice. “Can you just deal with them, already, so we can get on with this?”

  Piper looked at her sisters and narrowed her eyes. “I really don’t like her.”

  “Join the club,” Phoebe said. She rose into the air to the same level as Taryn and curled her hands into fists. “You wanna go?” she said nonchalantly. “Then, let’s go.”

  Taryn threw out her arm, and Phoebe easily blocked her, then landed a punch in the girl’s stomach. As they fought, Piper and Paige turned toward the pentagram and saw that Leo had successfully freed most of the captives, who were now fighting Christian’s brethren. The place was complete chaos as a full-on battle erupted.

  “You know, you people are really screwing up my plans,” Tina said, taking a few steps into the melee, which somehow went on around her without harming her or even touching her. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked down at her nails as if she was inspecting her manicure. “I hate it when that happens.”

  She lifted her hand toward Paige, and Paige squealed and orbed out, reappearing right behind Tina. Before either of the sisters could react, Paige thrust out her hand and yelled, “Rope!” One of the lengths of cord that had bound Piper disappeared in a swirl of light and reappeared in Paige’s hand. But just as Paige was about to grab Tina’s wrists to bind them Tina turned on her and flicked the rope out of Paige’s hand with her power.

  “Did you really think you could get away with that?” Tina asked, amused.

  Then Piper watched as Paige was grabbed from behind by Inviso-Tessa, just as Phoebe had been. Piper couldn’t take much more of this. How were they supposed to fight someone they couldn’t even see? Suddenly Taryn flew by overhead and landed with a thud at Tina’s feet, unconscious. Tina’s jaw dropped as she looked at her prone sister, and Phoebe walked up next to Piper.

  “One down,” she said, clapping her hands together.

  “You so didn’t want to do that,” Tina said. She flicked her wrist and sent Phoebe flying into the far wall, then Paige was suddenly released, and seconds later Piper was being pinned to the ground right in the center of the pentagram, her face flattened into the red paint by an invisible Tessa.

  “Why are you resisting so much?” Tina asked, walking over to Piper, looking down at her serenely. Piper managed to turn her head and look at Leo, who was standing near the left wall. The other Wiccans had gathered Christian’s men into a group and were standing around them, guarding them. Leo, Paige, and Phoebe all took a step toward Piper, but Tina raised her hand to stop them. “Don’t bother,” she said. “I’ll just keep tossing you around.”

  Piper looked up to see Paige and Phoebe exchange a glance and stay where they were. Leo stopped as well. Piper was glad of that. The last thing she needed was for both of her sisters and her husband to get crushed trying to save her.

  “All we want is to glean the powers from you and from these other witches,” Tina continued, walking in a circle around Piper. Piper pulled at her hands, but Tessa had them tightly in her grip, and from what Piper could tell, the girl’s knees were digging into her back. “We knew that once we did that…and killed you, of course…we could take your place. We could be the Charmed Sisters.” She paused and kneeled down, her long hair grazing Piper’s cheek as she leaned into her ear. A chill of disgust and fear traveled down Piper’s spine, and she struggled against Tessa’s grip to no avail. “Of course, we won’t waste our time saving innocents who mean nothing to us anyway. We will use your powers for that which they were intended—to make all humanity bow to us and cater to our whims. Who knows?” she said, standing again. “Maybe we’ll even take over the underworld.”

  Tina walked over to Taryn’s prone body, knelt next to her, and lifted her torso, letting Taryn’s head hang back.

  “Taryn, honey, wake up,” Tina said, smacking her sister’s face so hard it made Piper wince. “It’s time to kill, and you have to be awake for that.”

  Okay, if I don’t blow this girl to bits, I’m sending her straight to the loony bin, Piper thought.

  After a couple more slaps Taryn finally shook herself awake and blinked up at her sister.

  “It’s time,” Tina said, helping Taryn to her feet.

  Tina sauntered back over to Piper as Taryn walked shakily to the altar. She slid a huge knife off the top of the altar and brought it over to Tina, holding it out on her palms like it was some kind of blessed sword. After she handed the weapon to her sister, she bowed slightly and took a few steps back.

  “Well, it doesn’t have all the candles and circles and hoopla, the way I wanted it, but the ritual will still work,” Tina said, turning the knife over for inspection and letting the blade glint menacingly in the candlelight. Piper held her breath and closed her eyes as Tina knelt before her again. She couldn’t move, and her sisters could do nothing to save her. All Piper could do at that moment was hope that her death would be quick and that Phoebe and Paige would manage to escape.

  “Piper!” Phoebe shouted. “No!”

  Suddenly Piper felt Tessa flinch. It was only for a split second, but she loosened her grip. A surge of strength rushed through Piper, and she wrenched her eyes open. Using every ounce of energy she had left, she tossed herself over onto her back, sending Tessa flying. Tessa suddenly reappeared and scrambled over to her sisters as Piper pushed herself to her feet. Paige and Phoebe rushed to Piper’s side, and the six of them stood there, facing one another down.

  Slowly Tina turned around and replaced the knife on the altar. “You can’t win,” she said, facing them again. She reached out her hands to her sisters, who gripped them firmly. “There is more than one way to skin the Charmed Ones.”

  The sisters started to recit
e a spell, and Phoebe rolled her eyes, looking at Piper. “I can’t believe you liked these girls,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Yeah, well, not anymore,” Piper replied.

  She lifted her hands and Tina’s eyes narrowed.

  “What’s she doing?” she asked, breaking off the spell.

  “Uh, you can’t just keep freezing us,” Tessa said. “Sooner or later we’re gonna complete the spell.”

  Piper looked at Phoebe. “What, they don’t know what else I can do with my hands?” she asked.

  “No, I think they were fake crying and fainting during that demonstration,” Phoebe said.

  “Huh. Well, lying will get you nowhere,” Piper said. With one powerful thrust she blasted the three evil witches into the atmosphere, cutting off their surprised screams.

  “Well done,” Paige said, leaning against Piper’s arm.

  “I can’t believe it,” Phoebe said incredulously. “They did all that work, and they managed to miss the one most important detail—our major firepower.” She slung her arm around Piper’s shoulders and gave her a little squeeze. “See? You are the most powerful.”

  “Yeah, well, it didn’t stop me from getting kidnapped,” Piper said, rubbing at her raw wrists. She flexed her hands and shook out her fingers. “It feels good to have my hands back. All day long all I’ve been thinking about is sending those witches where they belong.”

  Suddenly Piper was wrapped up in Leo’s arms, and she pressed her face into his shirt, inhaling his fresh, clean scent and trying not to think about the fact that a little while ago she’d been afraid she would never see him again.

  “It’s over,” he whispered into her ear. “Everyone is safe now.”

  “No thanks to me,” Piper said, turning her face so she could speak and resting her cheek against him. “It’s a good thing you guys made me stay, or we would never have figured out that there were two sets of kidnappers out there,” she said to Phoebe and Paige.

  “I guess our whining is good for something,” Paige said with a grin.