NO SOUVENIRS

by

Piper Merlyn

Chapter 9

The Chapters

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

The four of them headed once again down the corridor to the bank of elevators and Joe pressed the down arrow button. The doors of the nearest elevator parted and a tall black man stood there looking rather harried, a small notepad and pencil in one hand and a harried expression on his face. His eyes widened as he saw them.

Joe recognized the man from yesterday. "You're Detective Morris."

The man arched an eyebrow, an odd look on his face. He looked around the corridor  like he was surprised to be there and then nodded to the four of them. "Wait a minute. Who was it that called in the break-in yesterday?" 

"I did," said Frank.

"Downing look into it? Anything taken?"

"For all of five seconds," muttered Joe. "Nothing was taken."

Morris arched his other eyebrow. "Any reason why someone would break in?"

Frank nodded. "They were after this." He looked at Vanessa. "Show him."

Morris looked at the pendant. "Would you mind taking it off, young lady?"

Vanessa removed the necklace and handed it to him. "Macey sent it to me about two months ago. I was supposed to give it back to her when I finally got out here, but I was so excited to see her, I forgot – and then..."

Morris gazed at the pewter object. "Hmm...we should probably do this someplace a tad more private."

Joe nodded and led the way back to their room. He unlocked the door and let everyone enter. He looked around the room as he pulled the door shut but didn't see anything. Frank sat down on one bed and Callie sat down next to him. Joe joined Vanessa in sitting on the other bed. The detective chose to stand. He nodded to Vanessa. ""All right, what do you know about this symbol?"

Joe cleared his throat. "It's a triquetra – a Celtic symbol for three."

Morris nodded. He stood for a moment longer, then sat down in one of the wizard chairs rather cautiously. "Sat down in one of these once and fell out on my rear." He handed the pendant back to Vanessa. "I thought I told the four of you to play tourist, and enjoy the convention."

"We can't, Detective. We know something is going on," said Frank.

"Look, I don't want any civilians getting hurt on my watch."

"We can take care of ourselves." Frank gestured to Callie and she handed him the address book. He gave it to Morris. "This is Macey's address book. We're trying to find the missing women as well. But without a list of those missing, we don't know where to start."

Morris scowled. "Where'd you get this?"

"Um...in Macey's apartment—" began Vanessa.

Morris nodded as he flipped through the book. He narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Frank. "Look, thanks for this. I'll make good use of it." He started for the door. "And thanks for your time."

"Not so fast, Detective," said Frank, standing up. "Something is dreadfully wrong here. Five women missing, possibly all Wiccans. Three years ago, seven women were killed in one day, also all Wiccans. I think the Halliwell sisters may be behind this."

"Frank!" Vanessa shook her head. "You don't know for sure if they're behind it or not."

Frank had thrown out the suspicion for an entirely different reason. He suspected Morris was good friends with the Halliwells and might even know about their abilities.

Morris shook his head. "You're barking up the wrong tree there. If anything, they're trying to help."

Joe looked over at him. "If they're trying to help, why can't we?"

Morris just shook his head again and went to the door. Frank frowned. "What if the pendant is a reference? A reference to the Halliwells. What if all this is just an elaborate trap to get to the sisters?"

Morris' eyes went wide. "Oh God...I have to go." He yanked open the door and left the room.

Joe heaved a sigh and looked over at Frank. "Well, that went over well. What do you suggest we do  now?"

"We need to talk to the sisters. Let's go."

*****

Frank drove again to the Halliwell home, finding it much faster this time. He parked on the street, noting that a black SUV was parked in the steep driveway. "Someone's home."

Joe grunted. He'd wanted to drive the car but Frank had gotten the key from the valet first. "Let's hope they talk to us."

The Victorian's coral color looked warm and inviting rather than garish in the mid-morning sun. Flowering vines curled around the columns that held up the porch roof. Intermittent rays of sunlight made the stained glass sparkle. The four of them got out of the car and walked up the steps to the porch. Before they could knock, the door swung open. Paige stood there looking at them, a startled expression on her face.  "What are you doing here?"

Frank took a deep breath. "We need to talk. Now."

"Now's not a good time." Paige moved to close the door but Frank  put out a hand and stopped her. She frowned. "It's not nice to be rude."

"Paige! Now's not the time to banter with salesmen," came a frantic sounding voice. Joe thought it sounded like Piper. "Come on."

"I have to go. It's important." She glanced over her shoulder and then back at them. "Family crisis." She gave Frank a pleading look. "Please."

"Let us help," said Joe, stepping forward.

"Paige, get your butt up here," came another voice. That one sounded like Phoebe.

Paige gave up trying to shut the door and spun around. She darted up the stairs and quickly disappeared from view. A few moments later, there was an odd sound that seemed to swell up around them, more felt  than heard. As if from a long distance, they could hear the faint sound of someone screaming but it seemed almost too far away to make any sense. Then the first sound collapsed in on itself with a strange whoosh and the faint scent of something burning filled the air.

Joe looked around but the neighborhood seemed peaceful and pristine. "What the heck was that?"

Frank found his gaze drawn to the stairs. "Maybe we should go check." He stepped into the foyer and started for the stairs. Joe, Vanessa and Callie followed right behind.

The stairs were steep and led up to the attic. Frank thought he saw a flicker of flame, a flash and then the doorway above him, possibly the attic entrance, went dark. "Everyone okay up there?"

Paige appeared in the doorway and her expression was pure shock. "What – No....Um, I mean yes. We're fine...we're just..."

Piper came to the doorway and frowned. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," said Joe. "Look, we heard some weird noises, wanted to make sure you and your sisters were okay."

Piper glanced over her shoulder, sighed and then came halfway down the stairs. "Thank you for your concern—"

"It's a trap." Frank couldn't shake the feeling that as long the four of them tried to be polite and dance around the truth, they wouldn't get very far. "It's all a trap."

"Well, of course it is." Piper carefully made her way down the stairs until she was only one tread above them. "What else would it be?"

Joe frowned. "Well...if you know it's a trap, you must have some sort of plan."

"Well, not one that involves the four of you." She paused a moment, gave Frank a look and he moved to let her pass. "Now, it's best you go on and enjoy  the rest of your stay here in San Francisco. It's a beautiful city."

"Are you always this stubborn?" asked Vanessa. The sudden anger in her voice surprised even her. "My friend Macey could be dying or...or dead and you won't let anyone help you—"

Piper's shoulders stiffened and she spun around, a hard look in her brown eyes. She walked back up several steps until she was nearly even with Vanessa. "I've lost too much..." She swallowed hard. "I lost my mother when I was very young, my grandmother, my...sister..." She cleared her throat. "I've lost too much to risk losing more innocents. We'll deal with this."

Joe stood there for a long moment and then stepped past Callie to look at Piper. "I was there once...where you're at right now. I'd lost my girlfriend and I was afraid, so afraid I'd lose someone else, that I pushed everyone away. It doesn't work that way. It never does."

Piper looked at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. "I never asked for this," she said in a whisper. "But I've accepted that..." She halfway turned around. "I've accepted that I'll never have a normal life." She looked back at Joe. "But I've also accepted the fact that it's part of my duty to protect innocents. I can't let you—"

"Let?" Frank joined his brother on the stair to look at Piper. "We choose to want to help. You're not letting us do anything. We found Macey's address book. We found out that symbol on your wrist is the triquetra – the symbol for three..."

"Piper..." The soft voice had everyone turning around. Phoebe stood there, her eyes only for her sister.

Piper slowly shook her head, making her long dark hair ripple slightly. "Phoebe, no."

Phoebe stepped past the four teenagers and faced her sister. She grasped Piper’s hands and sighed softly. "The other day...the premonition...I was afraid to say anything because I didn't want to seem like I was forcing you..."

Piper shook her head a little more forcefully, tried to pull her hands free. "No."

"We have to trust them."

Piper took a step backward. "No." Suddenly, she jerked her head up. "Paige, damn it, no."

Paige took a deep breath. "We're witches, yes.." She waited until the four teenagers turned to look at her. "We're the Charmed Ones."

Callie frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Phoebe glanced over her shoulder. "We are descended from a long line of witches, each generation more powerful. We are the most powerful witches of all time. I'm not saying that to brag. It's not something to brag about because it brings the warlocks and demons out in droves."

Joe  decided not to comment on the word demons, warlocks apparently were bad enough. "So..." He looked at Vanessa. "Your necklace...I think it was meant to be."

Phoebe turned around to face them. "Necklace?"

"It's the triquetra symbol.  Macey asked me to keep it for her..." Vanessa's voice trailed off as a swirl of glittering blue lights filled the foyer.

Piper turned to see Leo and groaned. "What now?"

Leo nodded to Vanessa. "She's right. Macey knew Vanessa's friends through their correspondence..."

Paige took a deep breath. "She sent the necklace as a clue."

Leo nodded again. "Yes. Piper. It's okay; this time it will be okay."

Piper finally managed to pull her hands free of Phoebe's grasp and nearly fell into Leo's arms. He held her close and she rested her head on his shoulder. Phoebe sighed. "I think we need to sit down and talk this out. Maybe even get started on a plan. Kitchen's back this way."

Joe followed Phoebe to the big airy kitchen, with the others trailing behind him. After a minute, Leo and Piper came into the kitchen as well. It was large, with plenty of cabinet space. An island was in the center, complete with a countertop stove while a large wooden table took up the rest of the space in the kitchen.

Piper swallowed hard and began to get out glasses from one cabinet. She grabbed a pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator and poured the liquid into the glasses. Phoebe didn't say anything but started bringing glasses of tea to the table as everyone else sat down.

Joe fiddled with his glass for a moment, waiting for Piper to join them at the table. "So...you are super witches."

Piper winced. "Not exactly." She took a sip of tea and then sighed. Although she was staring into the glass, she seemed more to be gazing at something only she could see...something very sad. She sighed softly. "There are witches...and there are witches. Most people who claim to be witches are in the former group. They can recite spells and they know the history and what to use but they have no real power. Then there are witches who do have power. Power to do good or ill. When they choose to do evil, they're warlocks."

Frank nodded. "Yes, you mentioned that. But why would anyone try to set a trap for you?"

"When warlocks kill witches...they absorb their power," said Leo quietly. He gestured to the three sisters. "The power of three is much more powerful than you can imagine."

"Okay," said Vanessa, looking just a bit confused. "How can it be more powerful?"

"It can change the world," said Paige. She shifted in her seat. "Individually, our powers are nothing special. I can orb things, Piper can freeze, Phoebe has premonitions. But together – the power of three...well..." She shrugged. "Like I said, it can change the world."

Leo leaned forward. "Imagine for a moment, you were the president," he said nodding to each of the teenagers. "Now imagine you had a button situated on your desk. You hit that button, you can make the world change – no more wars, no more fighting, everything would be perfect but there's a catch. No one would have free will anymore. Would you hit the button?"

Joe shook his head. "No."

"Don't answer so fast. Think about it," said Leo. "Would you?"

"It would be tempting," said Callie. "But one person doesn't have the right to choose for everyone."

Leo nodded. "Okay, now think of someone who wouldn't be bothered with the niceties. Someone who wouldn't care about that. What would happen if he or she were president? They'd be tempted but unlike you, they'd succumb and suddenly the world is different, no wars, no fighting but you don't have the free will to choose either."

Frank narrowed his eyes and studied the three sisters. "So what you're saying is if a warlock  got your powers, we'd be doomed."

"Something like that," said Phoebe, looking pale. "That's why your friend and several others have been kidnapped. To lure us into a trap, to kill us and claim our powers."

"Then we don't let that happen," said Joe. "Let us help you."

"Help us?" Piper looked over at him. "Why? You don't know us. Why do you care?"

Joe took a deep breath. "It all boils down to one thing, right? Good versus evil. We're against evil whether it's...warlocks or Assassins or anything in between." He pushed his glass to one side. "You see, in our eyes, you are the innocents, you need help. And we help innocents."

Piper blinked, startled to have her words thrown back at her. "I..." She swallowed hard and blinked again. A single tear traced her cheek. "You know...I don't think you could have convinced me any other way," she said softly. "Okay, let's plan."

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