Disclaimer: I own no Charmed characters, but I do own the plot. My thanks to Spelling Television and Constance Burge for characters that people love to read about and I love to write about.

I found myself awake. It was as though I just started. Just began at that moment. The lights above me burned my eyes and made them water. I took a deep breath to prove my existence and felt the burning in my throat. I began to focus on my surroundings and realized that they were stark white, or perhaps it was the light in my eyes. I heard voices in the distance. A muffled word or two like the scratching of an intercom.

I wanted to know my body was still there so I took inventory of the sensations in my body. First I sensed my feet. They were cold, but I could feel them. I wiggled my toes. They worked. Then I thought of my hands. Something about my hands, I thought, as I began to think again outside of the physical level. My chest felt heavy. My mind was clouded. But there was something itching in the back of my head to free itself.

I wanted to lick my lips because the dryness made them hurt, but I wasn’t able to. I looked down with my eyes and saw that a tube protruded from my mouth. This large tube was blocking my throat and yet I was still breathing. My heart skipped a beat as I took note of the tube. I thought about my heart. It was still beating. That was a good sign. But yet there was something wrong with it, as though it had been broken, but still I couldn’t think.

I looked again toward the ceiling and tried to remember where I was. And suddenly that’s when I realized…I had no idea WHO I was.


The Halliwell manor was quiet as Phoebe gazed into the refrigerator. Piper was at work, Prue was at work and Phoebe was looking for work. Or she had been before she decided to watch television and grab a snack. The newspaper was spread out with the employment section facing up. Phoebe sighed as she opened a cup of yogurt and dug in with the spoon. She wandered slowly into the living room and plopped lazily on the sofa.

The morning news was on and Phoebe thought she should learn something interesting so she turned up the volume and listened as she ate her yogurt. Various traffic reports from the morning and news events for the day passed one by one barely holding Phoebe’s attention. It wasn’t until she saw P3 appear in the background behind the reporter that she was completely mesmerized. At first she couldn’t believe she was seeing P3 and then she wondered why Piper hadn’t told them about coverage of the club. Of course Piper had been up and had gone to work by the time Prue and Phoebe rolled over to hit the snooze. When Phoebe finally saw the fire trucks and the policemen she truly heard what the reporter was saying. She turned the volume up again.

“Again that’s reports of an explosion here at this nightclub downtown, that occurred sometime around 3 this morning. There are various injuries, and at last count 12 fatalities. Stay tuned to channel 4 live for more coverage.”

Phoebe’s heart was racing as she blindly reached for the phone. Prue answered half-heartedly.

“Prue. It’s Phoebes. Have you heard the news?”

“No Phoebe I haven’t what’s happening?”

“There was an explosion at P3 last night.”

“What?! How come we weren’t notified, does Piper know about this?”

“Well, Prue I was wondering, Did Piper even come home last night?”

“Phoebe? Are there any…”

“Deaths? Yeah 12.”

“Why hasn’t Daryl called us?”

“He and his wife are on vacation.”

“Meet me outside Pheebs, I’m coming to get you.”

Phoebe hung up the phone and returned to the television. She continued to watch as edited footage of the blaze in the middle of the night was aired continuously. She prayed Prue would hurry and she prayed that Piper was okay.

I knew I was in the hospital, but I didn’t know why or how or how long I had been there. All I know is that I opened my eyes and I was just suddenly alive. A nurse came in while I was trying to figure it all out. She asked me how I felt. I just blinked at her. I wasn’t sure what to say. I knew that my lungs hurt and that my legs were sore, but I was breathing and I knew that was something. My head hurt from trying \to remember who I was. No matter how hard I thought about it nothing came to me. I was lost. And I wasn’t sure where “found” would be.

The nurse was nice enough. She carefully slid the tube from my throat. I gagged and coughed. The pain was almost as unbearable as that ache in my heart, that ache that I couldn’t quite place. That wouldn’t seem to go away. I knew that whatever I couldn’t remember was something that was everything to me. But I couldn’t even remember my name so how was I supposed to remember anything. The endless confusing circle was tearing my brain apart.

The nurse asked for the third time what my name was.

“I…I can’t remember.”

“You can’t remember your name, honey?”

I nodded. I just couldn’t remember. Nothing registered.

“How did I get here?”

“Well, ma’am, we were hoping you could tell us. You were dropped on our steps around 10 o’clock this morning.”

“Dropped on the steps. No one brought me in? Where am I?”

“I don’t know who dropped you off. And as far as where you are, well you’re at County Hospital.”

“Fine, but where is that?”

“Well, ma’am you’re in Gabbs, Nevada.”

“Gabbs? Nevada?”

I knew that didn’t sound right but what did I know, I didn’t even know my name. The idea that someone just dropped me off hurt me, even though I didn’t even know if anyone cared in the first place. I cried. I couldn’t help it but I cried. I knew that whatever information was stored in my head it was slipping away. I was losing me. I had actually already lost me.



Prue and Phoebe stood outside of P3 talking to the police. They had obtained a list of fatalities. Prue’s hands were shaking as she looked down the list. All 12 people had been identified. Phoebe’s heart stopped as Prue’s hand, shaking uncontrollably, pointed to the fifth name on the list. Piper Halliwell screamed off the paper. Phoebe instinctively covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a scream. She felt Prue’s arms wrap around her as her knees gave way. They couldn’t believe it was true. But there was her name on the list.

Prue kneeled on the ground with Phoebe in her arms. Together they cried. Prue surveyed the smoke.

“Phoebe? You don’t have to go with me but I have to see her. I won’t believe it until I see for myself.”

Phoebe stopped crying long enough to nod in agreement with Prue.

“Okay Prue, Okay.”

They stayed there on the filthy ground until they both had the strength to stand. Prue approached the nearest officer.

“Where do we go to identify the body?”

“Excuse me ma’am?”

Prue repeated her question, “Where do we go to identify the body that your team is saying is my sister’s?”

The officer bowed his head sympathetically. “County morgue ma’am.”

Phoebe and Prue ran to their car and drove in the direction of the morgue. Both remained silent on the road holding onto the slim hope that the body labeled as their sister was some other person, anyone but their sister.

I didn’t want to talk to anyone, not the nurses or the doctors. I didn’t know what to say. I only wanted to think. I only wanted to remember. The things that flashed through my mind were only small pictures. Their meanings were lost upon me. I saw blue lights. I saw red eyes. I saw everything and to me it was nothing. With every strange thought I had, a thousand more tears fell. I knew I was mourning something or someone but I didn’t know what. I didn’t know why. I just didn’t know.

They told me that I was pretty much okay. I had bruises everywhere and a few burns on my hands. I had a cut or two on my face and a few really sore ribs. They said they believed the cause of my being unconscious was smoke inhalation. I didn’t remember there being any smoke and I thought hard about it. They said the reason my memories were not with me was from the huge hit I had taken on the back of my head. I didn’t recall that happening either.

The doctor on afternoon duty that came in during my phase of complete silence was very kind. He told me that it was still early in the day. That my thoughts, my memories could become clear at any time. For some reason, I didn’t believe him. He touched my leg to check the bruises that had appeared. I flinched at his touch. He looked at me worriedly and I could only turn my head away. I had no idea why I flinched. It did not hurt. It was his touch. As though…I couldn’t remember.

******************************************

Phoebe’s tears had ceased as they entered the cold silent morgue where the bodies from the explosion had been taken. A very tall, shy young man escorted them into an exam room. He left them there to wait for the coroner. Prue never removed her arm from around Phoebe’s shoulders. Her hand never left her baby sister’s. They remained silent as they waited. Phoebe began to cry again. Prue wiped away a tear.

“Phoebe. We don’t know it’s her. There could be some mistake, some awful mistake. So don’t think the worst yet, don’t do it.”

Phoebe nodded. She loved that Prue was still being strong and protective. It made her believe in the hope she felt that Piper was okay and just in another place, maybe another hospital. Phoebe was thinking about the last few minutes she had spent with Piper the night before. Piper had been complaining that Leo had been gone all week and…

“Oh God…Prue? We have to tell Leo.”

Prue’s eyes narrowed as the realization dawned on her. The love of Piper’s life had no idea that his wife could possibly be lying on a cold table in the morgue. She nodded at Phoebe and found it difficult to access her voice. After clearing her throat she looked toward the ceiling.

“Leo! Leo!”

The call was louder than a whisper but softer than a yell, and every ounce of fear in Prue’s voice slipped through. The sound of the call made Phoebe shudder inside. It made it so real. The possibilities were so real.

Leo did not appear, so Prue called again. And Phoebe shuddered more. Finally blue lights appeared and Leo, dazed and confused, was standing before them. Prue could tell by the look on his face that he already had heard the news. He looked toward the ground and Phoebe watched as a single tear fell to the ground from Leo’s face. Phoebe blinked. She felt it rise within her, the terrible uncontrollable anger. She looked at Leo eyes ablaze. She let go of Prue’s hand and jumped at Leo fists swinging.

“Why?!? Why didn’t you help her? It’s all your fault Leo. It’s your fault!”

Prue was at first stunned and watched as Phoebe tried to pummel Leo as he stood still and took it. Phoebe slid to the floor crying and Leo stepped back. He looked to Prue and was relieved to find caring, blameless eyes. He breathed out letting go of air he had been holding. Perhaps he had been trying to ease the ache inside. But it was apparent in his frown that it didn’t happen.

Phoebe felt Prue pull her off the ground and pull her into her arms. She held on tightly and felt as though she was a baby again. She didn’t care. She only wanted Piper to be there. Healthy and laughing at the mix up.

“Leo,” Prue started in a calm voice. “Leo, what happened and is that her in there?”

Leo took a deep breath and searched carefully for his words before he began to speak. Phoebe looked at him apologetically and reached for his hand. The presence of the comfort willed him to speak.

“Last night the explosion was heard all the way up to the elders.”

Prue and Phoebe looked at Leo, confused. Leo continued.

“When elders hear things like that it means magic was involved. Apparently, last night, demons, under the guise of partygoers, entered P3 and began to immediately trash the place. These demons, 8 in all, have no real powers, except for one, Wilhelm. He has a power that we don’t have knowledge of yet. It’s new and last night was obviously the first time he used it because there was a force felt in the Heavens when it happened. That’s how we know he used it on another magical being.”

“Piper?” Prue asked softly.

“Yes. At least we think so. I orbed in right after the explosion and saw the 8 demons. And I saw Piper and she looked so…I can’t.”

Leo paused and took a deep breath. Prue and Phoebe both felt the sadness pour from his heart and into his voice.

“It’s okay Leo we have to know, please.”

“Phoebe, she just looked so lifeless. And I tried to get to her but they surrounded her and there was a girl on the floor next to me. She was hurt I could tell, but alive and breathing and awake. She looked at me and I don’t know why but I was drawn to help her but before I could they saw me and I had to orb out quickly for they had darklighter weapons although they had no powers.”

“So Leo, what happened to that girl?”

Leo shrugged. The only thing he was concerned about was finding out if his wife, the love of his life was the body that they were waiting to see. With every second, his heart broke further.
*********************************

I looked at the clock on the wall. Tick, tick, tick. It was driving me insane. I didn’t know who I was but I sure knew that I didn’t like sitting still that long. I watched the clock as though I was in a trance. As though it had hypnotized me. And that’s when it happened. A flash of a smile, a handsome face. His face. Who was he? I couldn’t remember. And then it happened again another face, a girl I knew I had known well, brown eyes and a gorgeous smile. A beautiful woman laughing, I knew her before too. I had heard the sound of her laughter. And then another flash of pictures happened. A dark and stormy night, me crying. Hurt. Something horrible. How long ago was that? I asked myself a million questions and I wanted answers. I didn’t remember. All I know is that my heart was racing and that I knew I didn’t belong in Gabbs, Nevada. I needed to be on a beach. I needed to be near him, and with them. If only I could remember who he was, who they were and how I came to be hurt in a hospital bed alone and without memory. If only I knew my name.

I wanted to see my face I wanted to see what I looked like so that perhaps my own name would come to me. I felt so strange as I looked for the nurses’ button and she finally came in. She handed me the mirror at my request and to my astonishment the face staring back at me was completely and utterly unfamiliar. I was alone even in the mirror.

The wait seemed to last forever as Phoebe, Prue and Leo held onto one another. Finally they heard footsteps approaching and an older man with graying hair and a thin beard entered the room. He looked at them sympathetically.

“Hi. I’m Dr. Neal. I’m the county coroner. I understand that one of the bodies brought in this morning might be the body of your sister?”

“We just want to know for sure.”

Prue’s voice was already filled with certainty. She gripped Phoebe’s hand tighter and felt reciprocation from her baby sister. Leo stood close behind them. Dr. Neal nodded and he waved for them to follow him to the back rooms. The corridor winded back as they walked on. Their footsteps sounded heavy and hesitant. Their breath was shallow and distant.

Phoebe noticed how much colder the rooms got as they passed them. It reminded her of ghosts and she wondered how many ghosts occupied the halls of the morgue. She pushed passed the thought as they stopped outside very heavy steel double doors. The coroner turned to face them. His face filled with signs of professionalism and humanity.

“Okay, I want you to know that this will not be easy. I’m sure you know that already. But once you’ve identified this woman as your sister or not as your sister I need you to move out of the room. There’s still evidence to be collected and I apologize for that abruptness, I really do, but it’s what we have to do to find out who perpetrated this crime.”

Leo answered for the group, “It’s okay Dr. Neal, we understand.”

They entered the room. Tables were lined against the wall. Phoebe mentally counted each cold stainless steel table. Fourteen in all. She looked to the floor, terrified of having a premonition. The doctor stopped in front of one of the last tables in the line. He waited for Prue, Phoebe and Leo to catch up. He looked at them again as if to ask if they were ready. Prue nodded. He pulled the sheet back and together they gasped at the sight. The woman had apparently been beaten. Bruises covered her face so that it was beyond recognition. Her lip was split. Bruises covered her collarbone. There were no burns and for that Phoebe was thankful. She looked at Prue and Leo and saw that they were crying. Why were they crying, Phoebe wondered to herself. And then she followed their gaze. One of the woman’s hands had slipped from the table. The ring that shined upon the ring finger of her left hand had been Patty Halliwell’s. It was Piper’s wedding ring. Phoebe felt her world closing in. There had to be some mistake didn’t there. But she looked again at the girl’s face. The eyebrows. The long, dark hair. The earrings in her ears were the earrings Phoebe had given Piper for her last birthday. The world closed in further, darkness setting in. She couldn’t believe it, their sister, gone, with no hopes of ever returning.



The afternoon was waning. I could feel it. I didn’t know what time it was because I had tired of the clock on the wall. My memories had not yet surfaced and I began to fear that they never would. I was becoming angry at the faces in my head. They were people that I should have known. I knew at least that much. Faces that talked to me, but never said my name. I continued to look at myself every few minutes hoping I would catch myself off guard and recognize the reflection but it didn’t happen. So I decided I would study the reflection and see what would happen. My eyes were blue. Unimaginably blue. I liked my eyes even if I didn’t recognize them. My hair was light blonde, shoulder length. My skin was pale. Again all very unfamiliar to me.

My head hurt looking at this person in the mirror so I put it down and turned on the television. I watched the news. Funny how anything that had to do with me was completely unremembered, but everything I saw on the TV was recognizable. I remembered George Bush and I remembered how California was having problems with power outages. California…a voice was irritating the back of my head. I needed to be in California. Whose voice was that? Was that my voice? It didn’t sound familiar. Why California. That’s when another segment of the national news came on. A nightclub in San Francisco had been the target of a bombing killing 12 people. Suddenly a flash of memory in my mind exploded. There was a fire. A face, that beautiful handsome face. His eyes so worried, so kind. There were people screaming. Then another flash. Men everywhere. Eight of them, surrounding and then attacking. It didn’t make any sense. No sense at all. I just couldn’t remember who these people were. But I knew that whatever I was remembering had everything to do with California and the nightclub that was bombed.

I decided that after the next nurses check up I would leave without them knowing. I would make my way to California. I had to know what was going on.

Phoebe slowly pushed open the door to the manor. Her feet wouldn’t lift from the pavement. The thought of entering their home without their middle sister broke Phoebe’s heart more than she imagined possible. Prue took Phoebe’s hand and led her inside. Together they sat on the sofa. Stunned and wordless they looked to Leo who had followed in closely behind them. They didn’t know what to say to one another. They weren’t sure if they should even speak.

Prue made the first attempt. Her words were soft yet determined. She didn’t want to sit back and except Piper as a lost relative. She didn’t feel in her heart that Piper was gone. And yet she knew beyond doubt that it was Piper’s body they had identified.

“Leo, she’s not gone is she? I mean you don’t feel it either do you?”

Leo looked to Prue and then to Phoebe. He shook his head trying to gather his thoughts.

“I know that was her body. I know that. But I don’t feel like she’s gone. I feel as though she’s alive.”

Phoebe interrupted trembling and sobbing, “How do you know that it was her body. There could have been a mistake.”

Prue looked at her sister with apologetic eyes. She wrapped her arms around Phoebe and smoothed her hair.

“Sweetie. You know as well as we do that Piper would never, never, take her ring off for anything, and that body, that ring on that table was her.”

Prue could feel her sister’s entire body shaking as Phoebe buried her head into Prue’s shoulder. Prue continued to hold her closely and began to rock her back and forth as she used to do when they were young. She looked to Leo this time with thought and with a mission.

“Leo, I know it’s hard to think right now but we have to. If we both have this feeling about Piper then something strange and magical is happening. Go to the elders and see what they know about this Wilhelm. See if they’ve come up with any ideas as to what this new power is and if he used it on our sister. Phoebe and I will gather all the information we can about the other victims of the bombing.”

“Okay. And Prue…find out about the girl I saw. There was something about her.”

“Right. What did she look like?”

“She had light blonde hair and these blue eyes, unimaginably blue.”


Prue nodded as the thoughts traversed through her mind. She kissed the top of Phoebe’s head and pulled away to look in her sister’s eyes.

“Okay, Phoebe. We have to pull ourselves together now. We have to figure out what happened and I really need you now. Can you help me now?”

Phoebe looked deep into Prue’s eyes. She could see the determination and the fire in them. It was that look that made Phoebe rise from the couch, catching her breath. She looked from Prue to the mantle. She touched the picture of Piper and looked once more to Prue.

“Yeah, let’s find out what in the hell is going on and how we can get back our sister.”


My head was pounding. I knew I shouldn’t have left the hospital but I knew I had to. Something waited for me in San Francisco. I looked again at my reflection in the window of the bus. I could see the unfamiliar blonde hair, those unfamiliar blue eyes. And I looked past my reflection and saw the ground rushing past. I had been on the bus for an hour. It was getting dark. I had some trouble when I left the hospital because I had to get my clothes. All I had in my drawer at the hospital was a pair of faded jeans and a long sleeve red t-shirt. No purse, no wallet, no jewelry, nothing. Just the jeans and the shirt.

Before I left I cleaned up a little in the bathroom. My legs had ached standing on them. The bruises were bright and ugly. I slid my jeans on. They fit perfectly so I knew they belonged to me. Even though I wasn’t sure I did. I put on my shirt and combed my hair out. I like my hair, blonde and bright. But I liked it in a way that I admired it on someone else. It didn’t suit me. The red looked good on me although it clashed with the bruises on my wrists. But it went well with the bandage on my forehead.

I had boarded the bus in Gabbs, Nevada. Nothing bothered me more than having to steal money. A woman had been sitting in the station in Gabbs and I took her wallet and took $100 from it before slipping it back in. She never noticed me. For that I was glad. I only knew that I wanted to be in San Francisco.

The bus wasn’t crowded. A few people up front a few in the middle and just me in the back. I took the very back seat so I could think without disturbances. I needed to try to remember more. Anything. A name especially. But still nothing came. As dark drew closer, my eyelids grew heavier. Before I knew it I had fallen asleep. I began to dream a horrible dream. Flashes and pieces thrown together in a violent mosaic of a life I did not recognize. A girl, the face I saw in the mirror, crying and screaming for help. A man, a vile man, I had not seen or at least did not recognize. He did something to her, to me. The faces of those I was running to but still did not know. They flashed through the darkness of the nightmare. The man was there again, breathing on my face and neck. I could feel his hands and then strangeness in abundance. Creatures vanishing into thin air. Things just paused in time. I woke, startled and out of breath. The bus had stopped. San Francisco was written in big letters above the bus station. I was there. Now I had to figure out where I was going and to whom I was going. I got off the bus and started walking. The city was dark and frightening. But for some reason I knew I wasn’t far from where I should be. I still remembered nothing, but I felt as though I was in the right place, the right time.

I had walked for hours. I was tired and hungry and scared. I looked at a clock in a store window. It was close to midnight. I trudged on, still not sure of where this need was leading me. And then I saw something that made me stop right there on the sidewalk. A street sign. Simple and green it called to me. Something about it. Prescott Street.

Phoebe and Prue sat on the porch stairs looking up at the night sky. Prue wondered what happened to Piper. Phoebe wondered what happened to that girl Leo had described. Together they wondered if they would ever find out or if they would be forced to mourn for their sister. A sister that neither believed, nor felt, was truly gone. The darkness blanketed them as they continued to sit, hand-in-hand, thinking silently their thoughts. Wanting Leo to return with information. As if on cue blue lights sparkled and Leo formed in front of them.

“Leo! Did they know anything?” Prue asked hoping against hope.

Leo nodded his head, “Phoebe. Prue. I can only tell you guys so much. Otherwise I’ve been forbidden to speak with you until all is resolved.”

Phoebe and Prue looked at Leo jaws open and eyes wide. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“Then tell us what you can, Leo.” Phoebe said harshly.

“Okay, they know the demon Wilhelm’s power. They know what it did. But I can’t tell you that part. You’ll have to figure this out on your own, and it is for the greater good and it is for the good of Piper.”

“So then she’s alive.”

“Yes and no, Prue.”

Prue looked at him as though he were a demon himself.

“Okay, I know that the blonde haired blue-eyed girl is extremely important in all of this. She will be the key. The elders told me to give you this clue and then I can say no more: When two are one and one is two, which one is me and which one is you.”

With that Leo disappeared into the air leaving behind only the darkness and a very agitated Prue and Phoebe.

“Okay, how in the hell is that supposed to help us?”

“I don’t know Prue, how in the hell are we supposed to find this girl that Leo is talking about? This alleged key.”

“Do you think it’s possible to look for something and have it walk past your house?”

“What?”

Phoebe turned to look at the street to where Prue was pointing. A girl dressed in faded jeans and a red shirt stood staring at the manor. Phoebe looked at her for what seemed like forever. She had never seen the girl before and yet something about her seemed very comfortable, very familiar.

*********************************

I stopped walking on Prescott Street only to find myself looking up at an old Victorian style manor. There were two women on the front porch. They were looking at me and I was looking in their direction. They must have thought I was crazy because they looked at me for the longest time. And when I finally focused on their faces I knew that I recognized them. I had seen them in my dream and in the small flashes of memories I had. Somehow I felt as though I was home. And yet I knew I had never been to this place before, this house on Prescott Street. I knew I had never met these two women with their long, dark hair.

We all stood staring for what seemed like hours but surely was only minutes. And then for some reason my feet felt compelled to walk toward them. And I did. First slowly, one or two steps at a time, and then quickly, as though my life depended on it. I could see their faces. They looked at me as if I were a stranger, so I knew they did not recognize me anymore than I knew who they were.

And there I was. I was face to face with these two women. One had soft, caring brown eyes. The other had deep blue eyes that stared at me like I was evil. I wasn’t sure which to speak to. I knew the brown-eyes girl would be more likely to be kind and understanding. I didn’t think the darker-haired girl would be open to the fact that I was just sort of led here. It was as if it was…

“Magic.”

I heard the word come softly from the lips of the brown-eyed girl. She was staring at me still. Her eyes searched mine for some answer. I hoped that she would find one and then share it with me.

**********************

Phoebe had let the word out before she even realized it. She could feel Prue’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the blonde’s. She knew that there was something about her. Something about this girl that was special. That was amazing. That was family.

She felt Prue’s hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at her. She knew the girl standing before them made Prue nervous. She could feel the tension in the air. Before she knew it she was jerked away from the girl, off the porch and into the yard.

“Phoebe!” Prue whispered, “What are you doing? Don’t say anything about magic in front of this person.”

“But Prue didn’t you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Prue had felt it and it made no sense. She had felt Piper’s presence when the girl had approached but it made no sense to her so she pushed it away.

“When that girl walked up, Prue, it was…it was as though I felt Piper was home.”

Prue swallowed hard. There could be no way.

**************************

I watched them argue in the yard. I couldn’t understand any of it. I wish I had something to tell them but I couldn’t remember anything. I didn’t even know my own name. I didn’t recognize my face, or my voice. How could I convince these girls that, somehow, I knew them. And then the flashes came again like a tidal wave sweeping the beach. There were pictures of those two girls. Sitting in a nightclub. The letter P again. Like Prescott Street. But that wasn’t it. Flashes of dark and flashes of light. A flash of faces. Theirs and the angels. His smile was so sweet and caring. His kiss was so gentle. And then another face. The face of the evil man. The one that had hurt her, or me. Then fire, so much fire. The loud explosion. And then another face. A woman, my age. Her face looked familiar as though I was looking in the mirror. What were they doing to her? They had beaten her. They had…what had they done to me.

The flashes stopped as I looked up into the eyes of ice blue. The darker-haired one had her hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t even realized that I was on the ground, crying. The flashes must have been too much. And then as I looked up into those eyes, those very familiar eyes a voice I recognized sounded in my head, and a name passed through my mind. Without thinking I let it slip from my mouth.

“Prue…”

I must have passed out because the next thing I knew I was lying on a couch in a living room. I assumed the house was the girls I had just came into contact with. I could hear them talking in the kitchen. There voices were muffled so I averted my attention to the mantle above the fireplace. There were pictures of the two girls with a third, a girl who looked like them. As I got closer, I realized that the face of the girl in the picture was that of the girl I had seen in the pictures in my mind. I knew her. At least I thought I did. I couldn’t be sure of it. I just couldn’t. I could hear them coming into the living room. I turned to them still wrapped in the blanket they had obviously given to me to keep warm. I had noticed immediately that I seemed to be frozen to the core. My hands were trembling.

They sat on the couch and looked up at me. The gentle one motioned for me to sit in the chair across from them. I did. She was so pretty. They both were. I waited for them to speak. I would have said something but I was afraid what familiar but never spoken before word would come out of my mouth.

“How did you know my name?”

It was the blue-eyes girl. So, “Prue” was her name. How had I known that? She was asking again. I shrugged. I wasn’t really sure how. I looked at the ground, at my feet. The boots…where had I bought these boots? And then Prue’s voice again, soothing and at the same time, intimidating. I looked at her to hear what she was saying.

“Okay, you know my name. What is her name?”

She was pointing at the nice one. The nice one smiled at me. I felt the warmth of the smile in my soul. It was comforting and again, familiar. Her eyes burned through me and I just stared back. I could feel the tear on my cheek. It burned against my cold skin. Her name. It was there somewhere. And the flashes came again. Like bolts of electricity sparking through my mind. It hurt and yet seeing things that might be part of me felt good until I saw the evil man again. His name eluded me as did hers, until I saw another flash like lightning, but not as frightening. It was calm and soothed like the ocean past the sandbar. I looked at her again, my tears falling harder. Her name?

And the calm, non-frightening flash sailed into my vision and I saw her. Her smile was bright and real. She had hurt herself. Her ankle. The angel and I, or was it me, we helped her to the couch. A voice. That familiar voice spoke her name and in the flash the nice one asked, “Why does everyone always Phoebe me?” The voice laughed and it seemed to belong to me but sounded nothing like the voice I repeated the name with. I looked into her soft brown eyes and I stopped crying.

“Phoebe…”

*******************************

“Great, Prue, she passed out again. It’s obvious she knows our names, but do you see how she’s struggling. As though she can’t remember. Or…I don’t know…something.”

“Yeah, whatever is going on is extremely strange. We have to keep her here and we have to keep her safe because Leo said she would be the key to finding out what happened to Piper.”

The sisters moved to the kitchen so that the stranger could sleep.

“Prue. Do you think she knows her own name?”

“What?”

“Well, do you think maybe this girl has some sort of amnesia or something from the explosion?”

“It’s possible I guess. I mean this is no Aaron Spelling show. Sammy Jo and Alexis aren’t going to come busting through the door talking about how Fallon isn’t really Fallon…”

“Okay, Prue, I think that must have been before my time, let’s get back to the girl in our living room.”

“Right. Well, It think it’s more than possible and I think maybe Piper told her a little about us before the explosion and that’s why she knows us. You know, freshest memory in her mind kind of thing.”

“Maybe. I just, I think it’s more. I mean what about what Leo was telling us?”

“What? That lame riddle: When two are one and one is two, which one is me and which one is you? What are we supposed to do with that Phoebe?”

Phoebe thought for a while about the rhyme and thought about both Piper and the girl in their living room.

“Okay, Prue let’s just talk this out. I’ll say a part of the rhyme and you ask me questions.”

Prue sat half-heartedly in the kitchen chair and waited impatiently for Phoebe to begin.

“Right,” Phoebe sat next to Prue, “Okay, here it goes. When two are one.”

“Which two?” Prue asked.

“Me and you?”

Prue’s eyes begin to narrow as she began to think about the little game they were playing. She thought about what answers could lay in the riddle and she played along.

“How about Piper and that girl?”

Phoebe looked at Prue. She nodded and thought it made sense.

“Okay when Piper and that girl, we really have to give her a name.”

“Okay, how about for now we just call her Liz?”

“Liz? Why Liz, Prue?”

“I don’t know it fits. Continue please.”

“Okay, when Piper and Liz are one, and that one is Piper and Liz, which one is Piper and which one is Liz?”

“This is a stupid idea Phoebe, I’m getting a ferocious headache.”

Phoebe nodded as she stared down at her hands. The two sisters heard a door shut. They ran into the living room to find the blanket on the floor and the girl gone. Prue ran and opened the front door. She had come on foot, they knew she hadn’t gotten far. Prue felt her heart beating thunderously in her chest. She couldn’t lose her. She wouldn’t lose her. She yelled out into the night for the girl.

“Piper! Piper!”

Phoebe laid her hand on Prue’s arm and Prue stopped calling, She looked at Phoebe frantically.

“Phoebe, what are you doing we can’t let her go out there all by herself. She needs us. Piper needs us.”

“Do you hear what you’re saying Prue? You’re calling her Piper.”

Prue looked at the ground. The thunder in her heart slowed and calmed. She had indeed been calling for her little sister. She shook her head trying to decipher the coded feelings within.

“Phoebe, what in the hell is happening?”

I ran until I heard her scream that name. I don’t know why I ran in the first place. I just know that I woke up and I heard their voices in the kitchen and I felt this pull for me to get out of there as fast as possible before they realized the truth. What the truth was I had no idea but I didn’t want them to know it first. So I ran. I could hear Prue yelling for me as I ran. And it was when she screamed for her, when she used that name that I stopped, cold and numb in my path to God knows where. I turned slowly out of their sight and watched as Phoebe led Prue back into the house. I wanted to know why she called me that name, and who Piper was. But I already knew that somewhere in my head was the answer waiting to be freed.

*****************************

Phoebe and Prue sat down on the couch. Prue’s head ached at the confusion she had caused herself as she had scream out for Piper. She could not understand why a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, who looked nothing like her sister, could bring about that kind of confusion.

“Maybe it’s just because we only found about Piper today Prue. Maybe that’s why.”

“I don’t know Phoebe. There’s something about this girl. I mean obviously there’s something but…ugh…I just don’t know!”

Prue stood up and paced the floor of the living room. Her frustration was apparent in her gait. Phoebe looked only at the clock on the wall. Tick. Tick. Tick. It made the hair on her neck stand up as she glanced at the window. That’s when she felt as though they were being watched.

“Prue. Don’t act differently at all,” she whispered, “But I think someone is at the window watching us.”

“Do you think it is her?”

“Who? Liz?”

Prue nodded. She hoped that it would be the blonde again. She hoped that the girl really did hold the answers to finding Piper. She wanted to talk to her without having the girl pass out again. She thought about the bruises that were visible on the girl’s wrist and face. She imagined that there were more bruises that couldn’t be seen.

Prue took her seat next to Phoebe and they waited, hoping the girl would knock on the door. Within five minutes a soft, desperate knock was their reward for patience. Prue and Phoebe raced each other to the door and when they opened it they were shocked by the person standing in front of them.
****************************

I was standing across the street hidden in a small group of trees. The night protected me from sight. I was preparing a speech to give the two sisters when suddenly he appeared from nowhere. I watched him watch them through their living room window. Then he walked to the door. It was him, the monster from the flashes of memories. I had no idea who he was but something about him frightened me terribly and I knew without knowing that he was dangerous…more than dangerous. I could see their faces as they opened the door. They must have thought it was me returning.

He pushed his way inside and then the door slammed shut. I could hear glass breaking and yelling from inside. I knew there was a battle inside. I ran across the street to stand under the window and look in. He held Prue with her hands behind her back. Phoebe stood across the room from them. I could tell she was scared. I knew she was scared because I was outside looking in and I was terrified.

Then something strange happened. Phoebe shook and fell to the ground. I could hear Prue calling out to her. Then Phoebe stood again. She was out of breath but she was alright. Then I heard her use the word premonition. Was it possible that these sisters were something more than that? Something, perhaps, magical.

*******************************

Phoebe stood shaking and out of breath. Her premonitions were rarely that powerful but the one she had while taking in the current situation had proven quite strong. She looked at Prue and then to the man that held her. He had Prue’s hands behind her back. Phoebe knew there was no chance for Prue to use her powers. The premonition felt like acid on her mind. The images of the man before her, the man that held her sister was sickening. And it was all about the blue-eyed, blonde-haired girl who had disappeared only minutes before. The flash of the girl struggling beneath the man and screaming out for help rattled Phoebe. What else had he done to her? She thought to herself as she quickly scrambled for a plan.

She looked at Prue. Her face was red from anger. Her arms were red from the more than tight grasp the intruder had on them. And then he spoke and it sent Phoebe reeling into another premonition.

“You witches know nothing. You think she’s some stranger? You think you can save the innocent and the entire time you have no idea that she is hiding your sister. No idea.”

Phoebe’s black and white world filled with flashes of pictures of she and Prue with Piper, pictures of Leo and his sweet smile. They were flashes of darkness and screams. The explosion. Phoebe saw it all and as she came out of her second premonition she saw her at the window. The blonde was looking in. Phoebe could tell immediately that the girl was terrified of the man that held them in the manor. Then she looked at Phoebe.

****************************

I had just come out of the flashes thinking what an inconvenient time to remember anything when I felt those warm brown eyes on me. I looked up and saw Phoebe looking at me. Pleading with me for help. I had heard him tell the sisters that I was hiding their third. I had no idea what he meant by that and if I had any idea as to the whereabouts of their sister, I didn’t remember. But then I thought of the flashes and of how I could so clearly see her face. I thought of how hearing Prue call out her name made me stop in my escape. And I knew that for whatever reason I was somehow responsible for their sister’s disappearance. I knew I had to save them. Even if it meant coming face to face with the monster inside the manor. And the monster within.

I crept quietly away from the window and walked around the house. I saw the back door and took a chance that it would be unlocked. I was thankful that it wasn’t but then somewhere in my head a voice, that familiar, yet unknown voice reprimanded the sisters for being so careless.

I silently slid a knife from a cutlery holder on top of the counter and walked to the dining room just out of sight from the evil man. Phoebe could see that I was in the house and I felt my heart surge at the look of relief that washed over her face. She knew she would have to distract the man long enough to get his back toward me. And she did it so smoothly. She began to walk and to talk slowly making him turn with her.

“So, who is this girl anyway? Does she even have a name?”

I listened hoping he had an answer and he did.

“What? She didn’t tell you her name? Surprising. Elizabeth always loved her name. But she hated nicknames you know. She liked it best when I said it. Elizabeth.”

My stomach turned as he spoke the name. The name felt familiar. It felt right. But when he said it, it felt filthy. It felt like someone I tried to forget. The realization dawned on me. I knew what was happening. I remembered why Piper’s name felt right and good to me and why Elizabeth did not. And then his back was turned toward me. And it was time. I would have only seconds to get him. I raised the knife and I plunged it into his back. He turned and I was face to face with the man that hurt me. That changed my life for the worse and yet who may have changed it for the better. He said my name one more time and reached out and grabbed my arm. I couldn’t believe his strength. Even though he was bleeding, possibly bleeding to death, I could feel the pressure around the top of my arm where he squeezed me too tightly. He swung me around and I hit a wall, back first. And then I knew the three of us were in trouble when suddenly the hole in his back disappeared and the knife dropped to the floor. He backhanded me and before my world went black for the third time that night I saw him fly across the room. Then darkness.

When I woke it was hard for me to swallow. It was hard for me to even see. The lights above me burned my eyes. I heard voices in the distance. A muffled word or two like the scratching of an intercom. I knew that I was in the hospital. I knew my name. I knew my life. I knew what I was supposed to look like and who my family was. The events I remembered from the past 24 hours jumbled in my head. I felt a hand on my shoulder, another on my forehead. I focused. They were there, standing by my side. The sisters. My sisters. I knew them. I remembered everything about them. They looked perplexed. I remembered the blonde hair and the blue eyes of the girl that had stared back at me from the mirror. I remembered the name Elizabeth. Was I still her? Was she still me?

I tried to speak but Prue told me to stay still, that everything would be okay. She told me that the explosion caused it all. The mix up, the confusion. It was all caused by the explosion. I tried to tell her that I knew. I wanted to ask her if there was a way to switch me back. To get me back to my body. But they wouldn’t let me speak.

Phoebe held my hand. It felt good to have her hold my hand. She smoothed my hair. I wondered if it felt odd t her to touch the hair that was not mine. I touched my hair as well. It was strange. It felt like it normally did. Maybe I never realized before that all hair feels the same. I wanted a mirror. I wanted to see her face one last time. I wanted to ask Phoebe and Prue how they vanquished that demon, Wilhelm.

**********************************

Prue and Phoebe looked down at the girl in the hospital bed. Prue sat in the chair and sighed into her hands. She was acutely aware of the fact that they had almost lost their sister. She had been unconscious the entire time. The explosion had taken place only 10 hours before, but a lifetime seemed to have passed.

Phoebe sat next to Prue. She thought about the tumultuous sleep Piper had had. Her middle sister had called out several times for a girl named Elizabeth. She wondered to herself who Elizabeth was and why Piper needed her.

*********************************

They were sitting next to my bed. I turned my head and looked to them and they stood immediately. I think they were ready to hear me talk so I did.

“Mirror. I need a mirror.”

They looked at me with bewilderment. Prue was the first to speak.

“What? Sweetie listen your face is fine. You weren’t burned at all in the explosion.”

“What? Burned? No I want to see her face.”

“Piper, what are you talking about?”

“Phoebe, a mirror. Please.”

“Okay, okay, I got one right here.”

She pulled the mirror out of her purse and handed it to me. I took a deep breath and looked into the looking glass. I gasped at what I saw. Deep brown eyes stared back at me. Brown eyes framed by messy brown hair. It was my face. I was home again in my body. I didn’t understand. I made Prue and Phoebe listen to everything. I told them everything that had happened including waking up with amnesia in a hospital bed in Gabbs, Nevada.

“Wait, Piper. Did you say Gabbs, Nevada?”

I nodded yes. Phoebe looked as though she had heard something.

“There’s a girl down the hall in a coma. She was brought in two days ago. I was talking to a nurse and she said the girl had been attacked and beaten. Apparently she hadn’t woken yet. I believe they said her ID said that she was from Nevada.” Phoebe explained to me.

I wanted to see her. I needed to see her. I made Prue and Phoebe help me up and lead me to her room just three down from mine. We went in and there she was. Blonde hair. I read the name on her chart. Elizabeth. My mind was feeling cluttered with the craziness that I felt. I explained to Prue and Phoebe that I had been this girl. I was Elizabeth for at least 24 hours. Or at least I was a combination of the two of us. They couldn’t understand. They led me back to my bed and I curled up not knowing what to think.

“Prue, Phoebe, there was a demon that did it all. Wilhelm. He switched our memories. Our lives. I was in her body and I had her thoughts and feelings as well as my thoughts and feelings. There has to be something in the Book of Shadows.”

“Okay, tell you what baby girl. Phoebe and I want you to get to feeling better first and then when we all go home, we’ll check it out. Okay?”

I nodded. I was tired. And as my eyes got heavy and I felt sleep coming on. I heard her voice calling to me. It was Elizabeth. She was telling me to move forward. I didn’t understand at first but then I realized, as I slept, what it all meant. She had somehow been communicating with me through dreams. It had all been a dream. I was meant to find Wilhelm. I was meant to find the man who had hurt her and put her in her barely alive state. She explained to me what I needed to do.

When I woke, Prue and Phoebe were getting out my clothes. Clothes they had gotten Leo to bring to me. Leo?

“Where’s my husband?”

“He’s fine Piper. He had to orb up for a little while but he was here with us all night. He had to go find out why you wouldn’t wake up and why they wouldn’t let him heal you so that you would wake up.”

“Because I have a mission to do for an innocent.”

“You do? Who? Elizabeth?”

I nodded yes. I told them how we could find Wilhelm and then I got dressed and we went home. Wilhelm was not a demon. He was a man. A basic, evil man. And we, the Power of Three were going to bring him down. Elizabeth had told me where to find the videotape of her beating. Wilhelm had taped it. He apparently had a collection. I called Daryl when we got to the manor. He told me he would handle it. He knew not to ask questions when I told him it was a magic thing.

Later that night we got a call. Wilhelm was in jail. I wanted to go to the hospital and spend time in Elizabeth’s room. So, Phoebe drove me while Prue told Daryl the reason we knew everything.

She was lying there. Eyes closed. She looked so peaceful. So at rest. I held her hand. The nurse worked around me removing the tubes and needles from her. I asked her what she was doing and she told me that Elizabeth had no hope. She was brain dead. It was her wishes according to a living will. I was sad. I wanted to know her more than I had. I continued to hold her hand while she breathed on her own. I watched her face. No tension. No worry. No fear crossed it. She was going home now. Where ever that was. I had played my part in her life. The beeping of the heart monitor slowed steadily. She was losing. I was losing the part of me that was for a brief time hers. As I felt Phoebe’s hand on my shoulder, and as I looked up at her tear stained face, I realized that I was sad that Elizabeth wasn’t going to get a second chance. But I was not sad that Prue and Phoebe weren’t losing me.

The END