Primal Hiding
by Salix
Innocent?
[reviews]
(Earlier that morning)
Phoebe woke up in a great mood. It was a lovely Friday morning and she had nothing to do. She liked this whole unemployment thing. Sure it had its bad points, like having to depend on her two older sisters for support, but she loved waking up at ten in the morning with nothing to do. Knowing that she could go for a walk in the park, or just watch T.V., or spend all day working on her spells. Sure she had grown as a witch, and they've all gotten stronger, a lot stronger, but she wanted to be stronger. She doesn't have an aggressive power like her sisters, so what she lacks in offense, she wants to make up for with power.
Prue was already gone, she knew that because the house was quiet except for the sound of someone moving around in the kitchen. She threw on her robe and she opened her bedroom door and was instantly hit with the smell of homemade cinnamon buns and coffee. 'Wow, gotta love Piper. She really knows how to motive a girl to get out of bed', she thought as she walked out into the hallway, the hardwood floors cold under her bare feet.
She stretched her arms high above her head, feeling and hearing her back bones pop back into place as she walked into the kitchen. She saw her older sister Piper sitting at the center island, reading the newspaper and sipping at a cup of coffee. She put the mug down and looked at Phoebe with this weird look on her face and swallowed the liquid in her mouth before talking. (Which is good because if you try to talk with liquid in your mouth things can get messy, my lack of intelligence and common sense has proved this many times.)
"That is so gross. Does your back have to be that loud?" she asked in a typical big sister voice. Phoebe just rolled her eyes and sat down on the stool across from Piper and quickly grabbed the coffee mug, earing a glare from Piper for her efforts.
"Well sorry if it offended you. Next time I'll tell it to be quiet," she said sarcastically and took a big swig of the warm coffee. She handed her sister back the mug and then swallowed the warm liquid after letting it sit in her mouth for a few seconds. There's just something about coffee (all food and drink items for that matter) that tastes so much better when it's not yours. She inhaled a large whiff of the delicious smell and her stomach started to rumble its request for food.
"When are those going to be done? I'm starving," she said and rubbed her belly. She saw her sister roll her eyes and then look over at the timer on the stove. While the other woman wasn't looking she stole another swig of coffee, smiling at the great feeling of knowing that it isn't hers but she's getting it anyway. You gotta love free stuff at the efforts of others.
"Ten more minutes. And how can you be starving. You ate a Chinese dinner that was large enough for three people by yourself. Prue had to order a pizza just so we could eat until we were full. Oh, there's left overs by the way. That can be your lunch if you don't want to go out because I have to go over to the club soon to make sure everything is set up for the rehearsal and I won't be back in time to make anything," she said and took her mug of coffee back. She downed the rest of it and took it over to the sink and rinsed it out.
"Well, what can I say? When I have a craving for something I indulge to the fullest. I told you to order more food but you said it would be enough. Guess you'll listen to me next time," she said and thought about getting up to get her own cup of coffee but decided that she was still too tired. She watched as Piper checked on the buns and then sat back down at the island.
"Yeah, or I'll just stack my plate with more food, or get a platter," she said sarcastically. Phoebe was about to say her witty comeback when something slammed against the front door, making the windows shake. The two sisters jumped up and ran out of the kitchen, being cautions they made their way into the foyer. They didn't see anything, but you never know if it's an invisible demon, they've already dealt with one of those. Phoebe pushed Piper forward, hiding behind her big sister as the older woman opened the door and there on their porch was an unconscious blonde. Her clothes were torn, her hair a frightful mess, and she looked hurt and really tired.
"Guess I'm not going to P3," Piper said as they continued to look down at the girl. The two sisters carried the girl into their home with ease. Phoebe started to walk over to the couch when Piper stopped her. She looked at her sister, a confused look on her face. She never fully understood the motives of her older sisters even though she knows them so well. She's just too different from them to really understand why they do what they do.
"Not on the couch. Let's get her cleaned up before we set her on any of the furniture," she said and Phoebe just rolled her eyes. Her sister could be so rude sometimes. Oh well, better then Prue. "What? This house gets dirty enough from demon attacks, if I can prevent another upholstery cleaning bill I'm going to. Besides she has some type of blue goo on her and I know nothing can get that out." So they took the stranger into the bathroom and cleaned her up. They put bandages over her wounds and took off her clothes. They cleaned up the scrapes and cuts she had on her stomach and back and legs before cleaning off the dirt and grit with a warm washcloth. Then they changed her into a pair of Prue's silk pajamas and put her in Piper's bed and then played the very annoying sit-and-wait game.
Phoebe was sitting outside of Piper's bedroom door. She was curious to learn about the innocent they had found on their doorstep. She also wanted to know if this woman was a witch or not. Since Phoebe has a psychic power she can read people a lot better then her other sisters, she's more in tune with their emotions and, if they have it, power. And she felt a very strong power coming off of that girl in waves. It felt old, like it was a part of history or something. But it also felt important. She stood up when she heard footsteps on coming towards her and she saw Prue, with an irritated expression on her face. 'Oh great, she's mad, what happened now?'
"You and Piper let a stranger into the house? What were you guys thinking? What if she's a demon? Did you two just forget that they've been coming after us a lot more lately? They've been going after the Nexus like crazy, we have to be extra careful," she said, bitching and complaining like normal. Phoebe just rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe Prue was acting like such a bitch about her and Piper helping somebody.
"She isn't a demon. And we found her unconscious and bleeding on our door step, what were we supposed to do, just leave her there? And we know that demons are after the Nexus like rich people at a Jimmy Choo shoe sale, so we put the cydarite crystals around the bed, and if she evil then she won't be able to leave the circle. We even blessed them again to give them an extra kick," she told her and she saw Prue relax but only a little bit. Even since the demons starting going after the Nexus she's been on high alert, which means she's been a lot grumpier and uptight then normal.
"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked and blocked the door when Prue tried to go into the room. The girl was still sleeping and she was not about to let Prue go in there and start with the questioning until she has gotten plenty of rest. Prue looked irritated again but she backed up when she saw the look Phoebe was giving her.
"I want to see what she looks like, God forbid that I'd be curious to see what the stranger who's sleeping in my younger sister's bed looks like," she said and then tried to open the door but again Phoebe stopped her and gave her the all-knowing look. Prue took in a deep breath of frustration and tried to calm herself down. Phoebe can be so damn infuriating sometimes.
"No, you want to wake her up and ask her a million questions and find out if she's a demon, which she's not. Just leave her alone. She didn't see her this morning, she looks like she walked through hell and back. She needs to sleep, and then I'm going to have Piper make her a big meal because, honestly, that girl is way too skinny. Looks like she hasn't eaten in a month," she said and Prue got pissed off all over again.
"Well sorry Phoebe for being worried about my sisters. She's been sleeping for a couple of hours according to Piper, that's plenty of rest for a potential demon. When we know that she's not evil then she can have all the rest and food she wants until she's better." Their voice were starting to rise. Phoebe shot back that she knows the girl isn't evil, she can just feel it, but Prue reminded her that they've all been deceived by evil before and that's when they heard it.
"Willow, help me!" the girl screamed at the top of her lungs. The two Halliwells were in there in an instant, only to see that the girl had passed out again. Phoebe had been right, this girl did look horrible. But with rest and some care she would get better and probably look a lot better too. They left after a few minutes, going back downstairs and into the kitchen to see Piper with the girl's shirt. She was dipping it into the sink that was full of what looked like pure white water.
"What are you doing?" Prue asked and leaned up against the counter looking down into the sink. She saw very large blue stains all over the shirt, along with blood and she wondered what the hell had happened. Maybe that girl was an innocent after all, maybe she had been attacked by a demon?
"Like I told Phoebe this morning, this blue stuff would not come out and I used like seven different cleaners. So, I whipped up this little brew that will tell us if this is demonic or not," she said and Prue raised an eyebrow at what she had said, and she folded her arms across her chest.
"'Little brew'? You've been hanging with Phoebe way too much. I think you need to get out of the house more often," she said, looking into Phoebe's eyes as she said it and smiling the entire time. They're sisters, it's in their nature to tease each other. Piper cast a glance up at the ceiling and then looked down at the shirt and pulled it completely out of the water and set it down on the counter. The stains started to change colors. The blood stayed the same, but the other went from blue to green to purple and finally to orange.
"Orange is not good, orange means demonic. Upper level too. Whatever it was she's lucky she got away with just a few scrapes and cuts," she said and then threw the shirt into the trash. There was no saving it now, they would just buy her another one. Piper looked back up at the ceiling, wondering how their patient was doing. She just hoped that she was the type of innocent that was trusting and believed them without much convincing that magic and demons are real. And she also hoped that the girl accepted their help to kill whatever it was that was after her.