Disclaimer: I don’t own any Charmed characters. Just the story’s plot although technically it really belongs to Spelling Entertainment as well.

She looked at the photo again. It was several years old and had been folded until the creases made white lines through the picture. She glanced from the photo to the mirror again and again. The lights in the musty one bedroom apartment were dim. During the day it was almost tolerable in the rank building, but at this time of night it was unbearable.

She lived in the worst part of San Francisco. Despite her lack of income and the tough road she had traveled, the girl still loved to be alive. She was happy that their was a destiny for her out there. She was sad that she had been kept so long away from them but was glad the time had come.

She looked one last time from the picture to her reflection and was satisfied that they too would see the resemblance that she saw. She ran a slender finger across the faces of the three girls that stared back at her from the worn picture. She then ran her thin hands through her own long dark brown hair. Her deep brown eyes shined back at her. She smiled thinking about the possibilities that their meeting would hold. Finally, after 23 years of being alone she would have family. She would have three loving sisters.

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

“Phoebe, we have to carry on with this. You don’t think she would?”

“Piper, I know she would. It’s just that…”

Piper and Phoebe Halliwell sat around the table in the kitchen discussing witchcraft and the perils of saving innocents.

“It’s just that what, Phoebe? Are you still blaming yourself?”

“Piper, if I hadn’t read that incantation to make us the so-called Charmed ones three years ago then she’d…”

Phoebe hung her head low and Piper watched as tear after tear fell silently to the floor. Her own eyes watered as she watched Phoebe beat herself up internally. She too had blamed herself a thousand times. If only she could have frozen him. If only she could have…but she knew she couldn’t continue to think that way and neither could Phoebe.

“Okay. Phoebe, listen to me. You didn’t do this. It is not your fault. Shax did this. The Source did this.”

Phoebe’s mind took her away from her conversation with Piper and took her back to three months earlier when all Hell broke loose. She had traded herself for the life of her sisters. The underworld betrayed that trade. In the process, Leo managed to safely get Phoebe back to Piper and Prue just after Shax had left the manor. Leo and Phoebe found Piper and Prue side by side, eyes closed, seconds from death. He healed Piper and when he turned to heal Prue he couldn’t. Phoebe remembered hearing Piper whisper through heartbroken tears. “You can’t heal the dead.”

Phoebe snapped back to the present to hear Piper saying something about the Power of Three.

“Piper, even if we were to carry on for Prue’s sake, there is no power of three. Prue’s gone and that leaves us, that’s two.”

“I know that Phoebe but there has to be an answer. There has to be someone out there who can take Prue’s place next to us.”

“Did you hear what you just said, Piper? Take Prue’s place? It could never happen. She wasn’t just the third witch, she was our sister.”

“Phoebe, I know that. She was and always will be our sister, and we’ll probably even get to see her again on special occasions. Remember, Halliwells are never really gone, they’re just not here in the manor.”

“I know Piper, but I really miss her. I do.”

Piper shook her head in agreement and stood to wash the dishes from their barely touched breakfast. She looked out the window as she scrubbed the frying pan. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and then settled again. She creased her forehead in worry. She had felt the feeling before. The feeling of being watched. She looked harder out the window and saw a figure in an old beat up, Ford pick-up truck across the street. She couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman.

“Piper, what is it sweetie?”

Phoebe had heard the scrubbing stop and was now staring at the back of her sister’s head watching her watch something outside.

“Phoebe come here. Don’t be too obvious. Just come and glance out the window and tell me if you see this truck with someone in it.”

Phoebe walked toward the window and glanced quickly. She too saw the baby blue Ford.

“Who do you think it is?”

“Or what, you always forget to ask what, Piper.”

“Okay, but demons don’t usually work surveillance shifts do they?”

“Good point.”

The girls left the window momentarily to find binoculars. They wanted to see who was watching the manor. As they came back to the window, binoculars in hand, they saw that the truck was still there, but the figure inside was gone.

“Okay, where did it go?”

As if on cue the doorbell chimed throughout the house, startling Piper and Phoebe.

“You had to ask where it went didn’t you Phoebe?”

Phoebe smiled as they walked hand in hand, slowly to the door. Piper jerked the door open and she and Phoebe were both surprised to see a young woman standing on their doorstep. Phoebe looked her up and down and had a strange feeling. She eyed the girl carefully. The girl blushed under the scrutiny of the sisters. Piper extended her hand to the girl, as did Phoebe.

“Hi, I’m Piper, this is Phoebe. May we help you with anything?”

Piper shook the girls hand smiling. Phoebe also took the girl’s hand. When she did, a premonition like no other rumbled through Phoebe’s mind. Black and white visions cascaded throughout her world. A baby crying. A very young Prue touching a baby’s face. This girl before them, at a younger age, hiding in the dark. A thousand images passed through Phoebe as she held tightly to the girl’s hand. Finally like an ice cream headache soothed by a warm drink the vision stopped. Phoebe looked into the girl’s eyes and saw knowledge and confusion at the same time.

“Phoebe, are you okay?”

Piper was concerned by her now very pale sister. What had this girl done to her? Phoebe managed to shake her head in the negative and looked from Piper to the girl again.

“Who are you?”

The girl swallowed hard and bit her lip her trembling hand took the picture from her old worn-out jean jacket. She handed the picture to Piper, afraid to touch Phoebe again.

“I’m Price, Price Halliwell.”

“Excuse me? You’re who?”

“Piper, she said her name was…”

“Hush Phoebe, I want to hear her speak again.”

The girl, just two years younger than Phoebe, shifted uncomfortable in the doorway. Piper and Phoebe made no effort to allow her to come in.

“I know this is going to be strange for you to hear, but my name is Price Halliwell and I was told that I’m your sister.”

Phoebe stepped back in silence. Piper confused and wary pointed to the kitchen. She and Phoebe followed Price Halliwell into the kitchen giving each other the eye the entire time. They nearly sat on top of one another as they took the same seat. Phoebe realized they were both in shock and moved to the next seat. Price Halliwell sat on the opposite side of the table. They all took a deep breath and began talking at the same time. Piper realized they were not going to get anywhere so she whistled loudly and the two younger ones stopped.

“Okay, Phoebe you and I will remain quiet until…uh…Price is it…finishes her story and then we’ll see if she’s full of something wonky. No offense.”

“None taken. Okay, I know it’s hard to believe me…wait shouldn’t Prue be here for this. She’s going to need to hear this too.”

Piper and Phoebe looked at one another and frowned. This girl had no idea.

“No she doesn’t need to be here, please, continue.”

“Well, Piper, if you’re sure. Um…I was born November 1, 1977. I’m 23. I have no parents, at least none that I’ve ever known. I was raised in foster homes and pushed from place to place.”

Phoebe could see what she believed to be pain flash through the girl’s eyes as she mentioned foster homes and no parents. What did her vision mean, what was it that the girl before them had hid from in her life?

“So when I turned 18, I was allowed to have my birth certificate. It says that my father was unknown but my mother’s name was Patricia Halliwell. I came here then to this house. I wanted a family so badly. I knocked on the door. A lady answered. Penny. She knew who I was right away and welcomed me inside. I had never felt so loved, so warm. She told me that I couldn’t stay, that there would be too much danger for me. I told her that I couldn’t go back to where I was. She said that she would try to help me. To help keep me safe. She wrote once to tell me about my mother and father and explaining to me why everything was the way it was and then she never contacted me again.”

“That was our Grams. She passed away three and a half years ago.”

Piper saw the look on Price’s face. A look she knew too well. She had seen it on Phoebe’s face a hundred times growing up. It was the look a person got when they realized there was someone they’d never get to know, but should have known all along.

“Oh…Well, in the letter she told me how I came to be and told me as well when I should try to contact the three of you. I have been waiting so patiently. She gave me the picture when I visited here.”

“Do you have the letter?”

Price nodded her head and pulled the letter from her frayed book bag handing it to Phoebe. Piper took note of the girl’s thinness and of her worn-out clothes. Piper frowned. She knew that if Price was indeed their sister then they’d have to take care of her. Piper wasn’t sure she wanted to be close to anyone besides Phoebe. She had already lost Prue and didn’t want anyone else in her life that she could lose to the battle.

Phoebe read the letter out loud. Price listened closely devouring every word knowing they came from a grandmother she’d never hear or see again. A grandmother she was never really allowed to love in the first place.

Dearest Price,
Oh how I wish it were safe for you to be here but it isn’t. I know you must be sad that you can’t yet know your three sisters, Prue, your oldest, Piper, the next one, and Phoebe, the former youngest child. I suppose you are truly the baby Halliwell aren’t you? Price I need to explain why you aren’t here in our loving arms and why your mother isn’t there to hold you. First I am so sorry to tell you this through paper and pen but your mother died four months after you were born. She was killed in a horrible accident. You must know that she loved you as much as she did her other three girls. But you were the one that was the most at risk for harm. For you share your mother’s blood with your sisters, but it is a far greater blood that is your fathers. You see your father is what your mother and I refer to as a whitelighter. One day when you are able to come and settle into the manor. A whitelighter will be explained to you. Until then do not try to discover anything. In due time everything will make sense. You must trust me on this.
You must come to the girls but not until October of your 23rd year. Come two weeks before Halloween the girls will be able to explain everything to you then. Tell them the power of three will forever exist…

“Piper, do you realize that…”

“Grams knew when Prue would…”

Piper and Phoebe looked at each other, anger and sadness building quickly in each of their fiery eyes. They hadn’t been warned. They knew that it went against THEIR rules, but they could have at least said goodbye.

“I’m sorry, Piper, Phoebe, when Prue would what?”

Price suddenly got that very sad feeling again. And knew that she was about to be told that her sister was gone. The only sister she had actually ever met. Had ever hugged or been held by. She realized that Prue was gone.

“When? How?”

Piper saw the sadness in her eyes and knew that Price knew. She knew that Price was their sister. There was no denying the Halliwell fire in her eyes. She shared Piper’s eyes, Phoebe’s heart on the sleeve and Prue’s voice. She was a fourth Halliwell. Piper saw that Grams had been right to send her now when they need her the most. They need to reconnect the Power of Three.

“Phoebe, go get the book.”

Phoebe stood and knowingly nodded at Piper. She laid a hand on Price’s head and took off for the attic to retrieve the book of shadows.

“Price, Prue was killed several months ago by a demon named Shax.”

“A what named who?”

Three beers, 12 hours and a half a pack of cigarettes later Price Halliwell learned the truth about her family. She knew she was special growing up. But she would have never guessed Wicca was at play. She sighed another sigh and flicked her cigarette onto the ground.

“Hey, hey, Price Halliwell pick that up and dispose of it properly, missy.”

Price looked surprised at Piper. She wasn’t used to anyone telling her what to do. She really just wasn’t used to anyone caring what she did. She obligingly picked up the still smoking cigarette, scraped it out on the grass and then put it in the garbage can. Phoebe chuckled as she held onto her Perrier. Piper grinned and took another sip from her Miller Genuine Draft.

“Sorry Price I wasn’t snapping at you…”

“It’s okay. It’s actually nice to hear someone use my real name.”

“Was it hard for you? Growing up in those places?”

Price took a deep breath and looked at Phoebe. She could see the sympathy in Phoebe’s eyes and mistook it for pity.

“I’d rather not talk about it if it’s okay with you.”

Phoebe nodded her head and felt her heart pour out to this girl. A stranger who had instantly become family. Had become their sister.

“So, let me sum up what you’ve told me tonight. I am a witch. I have powers?”

“Well, actually, your powers are probably bound. We’d have to say the Power of Three spell to unbind them.”

“And that’s in that book there?”

“Right. And your father was a whitelighter like my husband.”

“Leo, right?”

“Right, and your father’s name was Sam. And just to let you know, he was an incredibly wonderful man.”

“So if whitelighters orb does that mean I can…”

Price’s words were interrupted by the sparkling blue lights that always announced Leo. She looked at him amazed and scared all at the same time. She moved quickly behind Phoebe and Phoebe could fell her hands trembling on her arm. She realized Price was both scared and freezing.

“It’s okay, Price, it’s just Leo. Piper’s husband and our whitelighter.”

Leo smiled his boyish smile and Phoebe could feel Price stop trembling. Leo stepped toward her with an outreached hand. Price took it warily and quickly let it drop again. Leo frowned a bit at the girl’s shyness but smiled again when he turned to Piper for a long hello kiss.

“Does he live here?”

“Only when he isn’t up there.”

Phoebe could feel Price shaking once again. She knew the girl had had enough news for one night. She looked drained and tired. She closed her eyes for a second and saw the images of Price as a young girl again hiding. The images of Prue with a baby. Suddenly Phoebe snapped back.

“Piper. Prue knew.”

“What? Prue knew about Price.”

Price shook her head yes as Phoebe and Piper looked at her.

“She came to me two years ago. Said she was my sister. I wasn’t sure if I should believe her but I was drawn to believe her. I felt as though she would protect me from…everything bad that had ever happened.”

“She would have too. But how did she know?”

“She said that Penny had told her. That she would have come sooner but that she wasn’t supposed to. Said she really wasn’t supposed to come when she did. She didn’t want to put me in any danger.”

“From demons. She didn’t want to lead demons to you.”

Price shrugged not knowing what to say about demons. She wanted to wait to be part of the Power of Three. She wasn’t ready to be a fill-in for her oldest sister. Wasn’t ready to have any part of her controlled by a power that she couldn’t handle. She yawned without realizing it.

“Price, honey why don’t you sleep here tonight. You’re too tired to drive home.”

Price nodded and asked to sleep on the couch. Piper and Phoebe had agreed because they weren’t quite ready to change Prue’s room. They tucked Price in and Piper said goodbye to Leo as he orbed away to another assignment. Piper and Phoebe stood in the doorway of the living room staring at their new sister. She was fast asleep and Phoebe knew that the months ahead would hold a lot. She knew Price had probably already been through a lot.

Piper pulled the covers to her chin. She closed her eyes and watched images of Prue floating behind her eyelids. She saw fresh new images of Prue holding onto Price and was glad that Prue had gotten to meet her. Piper knew that as much as she would fight it she was already loving her new sister more than she thought possible.

Phoebe finished the last chapter of the book she had been reading and rested her head against her pillow. She pulled the picture in a frame from the nightstand and let her fingers linger at Prue. She missed her big sister more than life itself but she knew that she needed to be here now with Price. That Prue would have wanted her and Piper to accept Price and take care of her the way Prue had taken care of them all their lives. She was about to turn out the lights when a small whimper echoed through the hall. She had left her door open to listen for Price if she needed anything. Phoebe stood and crept into the hallway. Piper’s door was still closed. Phoebe doubted Piper had heard anything. She heard the faint sound again. She crept down the stairs and was startled when, before she could reach the last one, a scream emitted from the living room. She rushed in to find Price sitting up on the couch, drenched in sweat, and clenching her hands tightly around the blanket that covered her.

Phoebe slowly made her way to Price and sat on the couch with her. Price looked at her determined not to cry. She never wanted to cry when she had the dream but she always did. She didn’t want to cry in front of her new big sister. She wouldn’t understand. She wanted them to be proud of her strength, but if she cried from a dream then how would they ever think her strong. She felt Phoebe’s arms around her. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. She buried her head in Phoebe’s shoulder and cried.

Phoebe’s heart pounded as she held her knew baby sister. The tears were like magical messages as each fell silently onto Phoebe’s shoulder. Images again flashed into Phoebe’s thoughts. She knew. When she pulled away from Price and looked into her sad, terrified, brown eyes, she knew. But she needed to hear Price say it, she knew that Price needed to say it.

Price felt Phoebe peering a hole into her. She wanted to tell her everything and her heart broke when Phoebe asked her the one question that would kill her, the one question that she never wanted to answer.

“Price, what did he do to you?”

Price stood from the couch and slipped on her jean jacket. She had been sleeping in her rumpled clothes. Phoebe watched her and once again took note of how thin she was. She knew that Price didn't have money. That much was obvious. She couldn’t let her newfound family disappear.

“Price, where are you going?”

“I shouldn’t be here, Phoebe. I should just go.”

“No Price, you don’t have to go. Please, please don’t go. I won’t ask you about it until you’re ready. Just don’t leave.”

“Really, Phoebe, with Prue barely gone you and Piper, you don’t need me. You don’t need this in your life.”

She pointed toward the couch and the rumpled blanket. Phoebe closed her eyes and heard Price scream again in her memory. It was more of a word than a sound. A word that had been screamed into the night. What had it been?

“I’m going to go. You have my number if you need anything. But please, don’t try to stop me, Phoebe.”

Phoebe stood back in silence, tears forming at the rims of her eyes, as she watched Price Halliwell step out the door. She was surprised to hear Piper’s voice behind her.

“Are you coming Phoebe?”

“Where?”

“To follow Price home.”

Phoebe nodded and grabbed her jacket. They quietly slipped out of the manor and made their way to the Jeep. They heard Price’s truck crank with a loud unmuffled roar. As soon as she turned the corner, Piper gunned the Jeep onto the street and began the chase. Twenty minutes later they stopped out side of the most broken down apartments they had ever seen. Piper sniffled back some tears while Phoebe let them flow. They couldn’t believe that their family had let Price live in such terrible conditions. Phoebe knew in her heart that these rundown apartments were a step above anything Price had been through.

Phoebe reached for the door handle and felt Piper’s hand on her arm. She looked back and saw the eyes of her very determined sister. She let her hand fall back into her lap.

“Piper you have to be careful with her. She’s been through…”

“Hell. Yes I know. I could see it in her eyes and in the way that she was so wary of Leo. I could tell it when she called out tonight. Did you hear what she said Phoebe?”

“I don’t know.”

“Help. That’s what she was screaming out. She needs help and she’s an innocent. We have to help her. More than that, she’s our new baby sister and we will not stand by and let her live the rest of her life alone will we?”

“Hell no. Get in there. Bring her home. For us, for her…for Prue.”

“For Prue.”

Phoebe watched as her now oldest sister walked toward the apartment complex. She looked up at the iron barred windows and inhaled. The cold air stung her lungs. She hoped Price at least had had heat in her place.

Price sat down on the couch. She allowed the last bit of tears to moisten her face. She began to shiver from the frost in the apartment. The heater had died the week before. She pulled the quilt around her and sighed. She was about to light a cigarette when there was a knock on the door. A knock that late in the evening and in that neighborhood was never a good sign. Price grabbed the baseball bat from beside the door and laid her hand on the knob. She jerked open the door and in unison she and Piper screamed in surprise.

“Piper?!? My God I could have killed you.”

“I see that,” she said as she grabbed the bat and threw it into the corner.

“I’m sorry but you can’t just knock on the door in this neighborhood in the middle of the night. Speaking of which, what are you doing here? How did you know?”

“We followed you.”

“We? Phoebe’s with you? Where is she?”

“In the car.”

“That’s not exactly safe you know.”

“She can handle the riff raff believe me.”

Price nodded and eyed Piper suspiciously. She offered her a seat on the torn sofa. Piper shook her head no. She had no intentions of staying that long and she had no intention of leaving without Price.

“We followed you because we aren’t going to let you go, Price. Whatever happened to you, whatever troubles you’ve had, we are here now and you aren’t going to go through them alone. We have an extra room at the manor…”

“Prue’s room?”

“Yes, Prue’s room will now be your room.”

“But I don’t want to take her place, and I don’t want you to think that I want to.”

“Listen to me Price. If Prue were here right now she’d be moving you in herself. She’d probably give up her stuff so that you could be part of us. Phoebe and I have already lost one sister, please don’t make us lose another.”

“Go tell Phoebe to come up.”

“Why?”

“Someone’s going to have to help me move my stuff.”

Piper smiled and hugged Price with all her strength. She could feel her ribs and pulled back, looking Price in the eyes.

“First thing we’re going to do, sweetie, is feed you.”

Price smiled a weak smile and knew that no matter how horrible she felt about the burdens she was about to bring the older Halliwell sisters, she had to be with them. She needed them and they in turn need her.

They woke in the same bed, Prue’s. It felt right that they should share their homecoming in the room of their oldest, gone, but not forgotten, sister. Price had slept soundly tucked in between Piper and Phoebe. Piper had been the first to wake and watched her younger sisters sleep. She was well aware that she now had to take on the hard and sometimes ferocious role of big sister. That it was she that would have to protect and keep together the newest Charmed Ones. Of course she had played the glue of the family role before. She thought back on the time when Phoebe first came back home from New York. Phoebe and Prue had come a long way in their relationship only to end up here, Phoebe without her oldest sister.

She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and she let her fingers twirl in Price's long brown hair. She had a different father, a magical father. That would make her even more powerful than Phoebe and Piper, but she felt that Price had the ability to handle what would be placed in front of her in the coming weeks. They would have to train her in fighting, train her in the use of magic and teach her THEIR rules. They’d have to teach her how important it was to fight for innocents.

Phoebe watched Piper as Piper watched Price. Phoebe loved the idea of having a new younger sister to watch over, but she felt a pang of guilt when she thought about no longer being the youngest. But she knew at her age that didn’t really matter. They had all grown up in a tough situation, but Price had apparently gotten the brunt of it. Phoebe wondered to herself what had possessed her mother and her grandmother to give up Price, to send her elsewhere. They had sent her to an elsewhere that was more evil and perilous than any of the hells that they had seen.

Price rolled over and sat up startled as she remembered that she wasn’t alone. She looked around and saw that she was still where she had fallen asleep, in her oldest sister’s room. Prue’s things were slightly dusty. Price could tell that no one had been in the room for at least a month. She felt Piper’s hand on hers and realized that she was incredibly hungry. Her stomach growled speaking her thoughts aloud. She heard Piper chuckle beside her.

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Me too,” said Phoebe from the other side of Price.

“So, Price, what do you say? Pancakes, bacon, toast and jelly, and orange juice?”

Phoebe almost laughed when she saw Price’s eyes widen with delight. She really was a beautiful girl and reminded her of their mother. Phoebe and Price followed Piper down the stairs and sat at the kitchen table. Price couldn’t believe that it had been just this time the day before that she had first knocked on the door to introduce herself to her sisters. Even more than that she couldn’t believe that they had accepted her so quickly, without question.

Phoebe watched Price in amazement as she devoured the contents on her plate. She laughed out loud without thinking and then stopped when she realized that Price was blushing in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, Price, I wasn’t really laughing at you, I was just shocked by your ability to shove so much food into that tiny little frame of yours.”

Price smiled a beautiful smile and then suddenly frowned when the blue lights streamed into the kitchen. She put a frail hand to her shirt top and closed it together. Piper and Phoebe both took note of the girl’s need to cover herself, and both felt the twist of the guilt knife in their hearts. They had such an easy life compared to whatever it was that Price had been through. Phoebe was more than ready to hear what Price was hiding, Piper wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Hi Leo. I missed you last night.”

“Ditto.”

He gave Piper a small but loving kiss on the lips and then directed his next statement to all three girls.

“Have you guys done the Power of Three spell yet?”

“Not yet, Piper and I thought it was better if we waited a few days. Let Price get used to being here with us. Besides the demon quota is down right now. With Prue gone they think they’re safe for a while and are on vacation.”

“Well, the vacation’s over. Shax is on the prowl again. He’s been bragging to the underworld about taking down the Charmed Ones. He’s sent some of his buddies up to wreak a little havoc on San Francisco.”

“What buddies, Leo?”

“Well Piper, really mean buddies. The kind of pals that would take an innocent woman just because she’s there.”

“So, basically they’re no different than most of the men on the streets?”

Piper, Leo and Phoebe turned in surprise to hear Price speak up. She was standing looking at the three of them waiting for an answer. Leo smirked and looked up.

“I have to go. There’s no time for the Power spell now. Go to 3rd avenue and 22nd street. There’s an alley. The elders said that’s where they will attack next.”

Leo orbed away and Piper and Phoebe ran out of the kitchen. Suddenly Price felt frozen to the kitchen floor. She wasn’t sure what to do. She knew that if an innocent woman was in harm’s way she wanted to help but she didn’t want to get in the way either. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and she turned to see Phoebe with the look of adrenalin pulsing through her eyes.

“Come on little sis. It’s show time and you can’t wear that to vanquish a demon.”

Price followed Phoebe upstairs and managed to find a pair of jeans and a long sleeve
T-shirt that fit her. Together, Piper, Phoebe and Price ran out of the manor, into the jeep and toward their intended point of battle.

Price was shaking on the inside but tried not to let her fear show through. She looked at Phoebe who was concentrating on the road signs and then to Piper who was concentrating on the road. She found it hard to believe that with the eminent danger they could concentrate on anything.

“That’s it on the left.”

Piper listened to Phoebe’s direction and whipped the car into an alley. They got out of the Jeep and saw the demon attacking a young woman. She screamed for help. Price’s stomach flipped with squirrels as she saw that the demon was human in form. She wasn’t sure what she had expected but human-form was not it.

“Let her go.”

Piper yelled out to the demon.

“Oh well lookie here if it ain’t the Charmed Ones…oh wait, I’m sorry there’s only two of you now, who’s the third you got there girls? Little Orphan Annie. How did you find her?”

Piper and Phoebe looked in astonishment at each other. The demon knew about Price, yet Price didn’t know about demons. They found the new development quite interesting. What else did the demons know about them.

Price moved toward the demon and the girl. She locked eyes with the woman and the woman seemed to calm immensely. Piper and Phoebe stared on with eyes wide open.

“Price, be careful. What are you doing?”

“We save innocents right? That’s what I’m going to do.”

“So, the scrawny one here wants to fight? So be it.”

The demon threw the girl he held to the side and came after Price. Before she could think about what she was doing she was shoving her foot in his face via a roundhouse kick. Her moves were effervescent. Her mood was tight-lipped and grim. She no longer saw the demon in front of her but instead saw the face that had haunted her for years. He was there in front of her smirk leering at her, hands reaching for her, and she pummeled that hallucination until her hands hurt.

“Whoa, whoa whoa, Price, honey, back down now. We got it from here.”

Price watched as Piper flicked her hand and suddenly the demon burst into a million molecules disappearing in the breeze. She was amazed by Piper’s power, frightened by her own anger and strength. She looked down at her bruised and bloodied knuckles.

“We have got to get you into an anger management course.”

Phoebe was trying to make light of the situation but she noticed that neither Price nor Piper was laughing. They helped the innocent up and she thanked the three of them as she left. Price hadn’t removed her eyes from her hands.

Price walked back to the Jeep silently as Piper and Phoebe followed her hand in hand. They had a lot of work ahead of them. And knew that the elders test, this first demon, was not a test for them but a test for Price. She would pass or fail on her own but they were intent on helping her along the way. Piper looked in the back seat with worry spread across her face.

“Sweetie, are you okay?”

“I think so. I didn’t realize I was so…”

“Strong?”

“No…dangerous.”

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

They had returned home from the vanquish four hours earlier and were sitting in the conservatory enjoying the warmth that the afternoon sun brought them. Phoebe wanted so much for Price to talk about herself so she decided to play a game of 20 questions.

“Hey guys. Listen. Since all we know about you, Price, is that you are our sister and that you grew up in foster homes, and since all you know about us is that we fight evil, I think maybe we should try to get to know each other better. What do you say?”

“I don’t know, Phoebe, there isn’t much to tell you about me.”

“I would stick around and play but I have to get to the club.”

“Club?”

“See, Piper, Price doesn’t even know that you own a nightclub. It’s called P3 by the way.”

“Power of Three?”

Phoebe nodded her head yes and then saw the look of sadness cross Price’s face. She looked at Piper and winked letting Piper know that it was okay, she would get Price to talk and tell her about it later. Piper knew the code wink because she used to use it with Prue. When Phoebe needed to talk without Prue around and only wanted to talk to Piper, Piper would wink at Prue letting her know that she’d tell her everything later. Piper smiled at Price and gave her a hug before walking out the door.

“So, just you and me Price. Want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

Phoebe hated pulling teeth and this conversation was going to be just that.

“Okay, let’s start with easy stuff. How did you get that woman to calm down so fast out there in the alley?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always been able to communicate with people through my eyes. I mean I can’t hear what they’re thinking or anything but I can sort of feel it and then when I look at them I can somehow reassure them that it’s going to be okay. “

Maybe that’s your power. Sort of half-empath, half-telepath.”

“Half what and half- huh?”

“Never mind that for now. Tell me things about you Price. What kind of music do you listen to?”

“Mostly whatever is on the radio although I have noticed that I listen to more country than anything.”

“Country music? Oh boy. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I guess when you grow up with some of the people I’ve seen you turn to music that can match your world. I mean nothing says Price Halliwell like the Dolly Parton verse that goes, ‘And she sings like a bird and she cries like a baby whenever she turns out the lights. She’s a whole lot lonesome and a little bit crazy, from mem’ries and miseries and dreams gone awry.’”

Phoebe listened as Price sung the verse. She was amazed by the voice she heard.

“So you sing too?”

“And write. But only for me.”

Phoebe shook her head and inhaled deeply. She knew she was dealing with one incredible person.

“What else Price? Favorite color? Favorite movie?”

“I love blue and strangely enough my favorite movie is Practical Magic.”

“Now there’s an amazing coincidence for you.”

“I’m beginning to think there are no coincidences, Phoebe.”

“You’ll soon see how right you are when the demon hunting becomes a regular occurrence. So did it scare you out there today?”

“I scared myself.”

“Who did you see when you were beating the demon down?”

Price looked cautiously at Phoebe. Phoebe looked back knowing she was treading into uncharted territory, but she wanted Price to talk.

“Come on Price. I know we’ve known each other less than 48 hours but the sooner we talk about this the easier it’s going to be for you to trust us.”

Price was visibly trembling. She stood and paced the conservatory floor. She wanted to tell Phoebe. She was being drawn to tell Phoebe. But she wasn’t ready to trust her. She wasn’t ready to trust anyone.

“I can’t.”

“Can’t tell me or can’t trust me?”

“Both.”

“Listen to me Price. Please. You have been alone far too long. I know you’re probably used to being a loner. Used to fighting it out by yourself. But around here we do things as a team. We stick together because that ensures our survival.”

“Then how did Prue die?”

Price regretted her words the second they left her mouth. She slowly turned to Phoebe and saw the tears flowing softly from her older sister’s eyes.

“Phoebe, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No Price. That’s okay. It’s a good example really. Prue died because I was too caught up in Cole to be there when she and Piper needed me the most. I wasn’t being part of the team and I got her killed.”

“Phoebe, I doubt that. I see the way you look at Piper. I see how much you love her and I know that is straight from your heart. I see how you want to protect her and I know that isn’t something that came about because of Prue being gone. You love her and you want to take care of her…”

“That’s right Price. I do. Just like I want to take care of you.”

Price sighed and knew she was about to be overcome by Phoebe. She took a deep breath and decided to start from the beginning. She sat down on the wicker sofa next to Phoebe and began her story.

“I was born at a hospital not far from San Francisco. Your mother…our mother couldn’t keep me because she was poor. At least that’s what she told the social workers. The real reason was now obviously something magical. Anyway, I was put in foster care and it was there that I went from home to home until I was 8. When I was 8 I was sent to live with him.”

“Him? Him who?”

“A man named Walter. The man that almost killed me and almost made me something evil.”

Phoebe listened as Price explained her first 8 years of foster care. She heard about a kind-hearted woman who cared for Price her first 4 years and then the agency wouldn’t let her adopt Price because of a mere technicality. Then she heard about the couple who kept her during her 5th year and taught her the virtues of a clean house. Price had to clean and scrub floors, do laundry and help cook dinner at the age of 5. The next two years were spent with a miserly old woman who wanted nothing more than someone to yell at.

Price shivered inside as she and Phoebe moved from the kitchen to the living room with their fresh cups of coffee. Price sat on the couch knees drawn to chest. Chin resting on her folded arms. Phoebe sat with her and laid her hand on Price’s cheek. Price closed her eyes and accepted the comfort Phoebe offered. She felt the air fill every empty part of her body as she inhaled deeply. She could smell Phoebe’s perfume. She etched that sense memory into her mind and then exhaled loudly. She wanted so much to replace the old, stale, horrible memories with fresh, happy ones of her new family.

Phoebe waited patiently. She watched Price breathe in and out and held her hand when she parted her lips to speak. At first nothing came out but when the words began to free themselves, so did the tears.

“I was 8. I was sent to yet another foster home, a supposedly Christian man in a three-bedroom house. He had no wife, nor children. The house was spotless and I though that was a good sign because it meant he knew how to clean and wouldn’t just use me as some sort of slave labor. Phoebe he was such a wonderful man at first. He took me to church my first week there and then afterwards he took me shopping and bought me dresses and clothes for school. I was so happy there that first few months. And then he decided he was going to adopt me. I was so happy about it. I was going to have a father and a home. And I thought maybe one day Walter James would get married and then I’d have a mother. So the adoption wen through without a hitch and we had gone out to celebrate at his favorite place to eat. I was 9 by this time. And we ate plates full of spaghetti. I noticed that he was drinking a lot that night. To celebrate like an adult he said. He even offered me a sip and I was a little afraid not to take it because I didn’t want to disappoint my new father.”

Phoebe’s heart sank further in her chest as she listened to the beginning of what she knew was going to be a nightmarish story. She watched Price stop talking and breathe again. The silence tore a hole in Phoebe’s stomach as she waited for the rest of the story. She knew the outcome of the story. That whatever had happened had left Price, scared, alone, poor and damn tough.

“So we finished dinner and drove home. He was so drunk he could barely stay on the road. I was sick from what little I had drank. When we got to the house. He was acting more than strange. He turned angry for some reason. I don’t even remember what it was. I just remember being scared to death. He was in a rage and he hit me. Made my nose bloody. I started to cry of course. Funny, in those first 8 years of my life I had never been hit by any of those horrible people. But Walter was the first person I had trusted heart and soul, and I loved him. I thought of him as my father. And that night he cracked that trust. I kept asking myself what I did wrong. But I do know now that it was all him and not me. Things got worse as time went on, more beatings, I’d hide in the closet scared to death of when he came home.”

Phoebe remembered her vision of the tiny little Price hiding in the closet. She felt another bout of tears swelling in her eyes as she continued to watch the thin girl beside her speak hearing every word with the utmost concern and anguish.

“Then on my 12th birthday.”

“Wait, you went through three years of abuse? You didn’t tell anyone?”

Price shook her head no and straightened her back and shoulders. Phoebe saw her attempt to be brave and it made her tear up that much more.

“I couldn’t tell anyone because I thought I’d end up back in foster care, and anything was better than going from family to family. At least I thought it was. On my 12th birthday, Walter took me out to the mountains for a camping trip. He had been very nice the month or two before that and I thought that maybe things were going to be okay again. I was so excited about the trip. He even bought me new boots and some new jeans. I was ready for our outdoor adventure. We got to the mountains where we were camping, set up our tents, and spent the day fishing and talking about things like what I wanted to be when I grew up or what sort of family I had always wanted. He was being so nice. But then night came and we settled into our tent. Every girl is supposed to feel safe and warm with their father figures, but that night he…he took my world away.”

Phoebe knew then beyond a shadow of a doubt what Hell that man had put Price through. The guilt rose steadily in Phoebe’s chest tightening it so that she could barely breathe. She held on to Price’s hand and decided at that moment that regardless of what happened she would never let go of Price. She thought about Prue and how Prue had held her so many times when she was lost or hurt as Piper had. Price had never had that, never had anyone to save her from the evil that was present in the mortal world.

She had been abandoned by Halliwells, and left to fend for herself among the terrors of the night. Phoebe let the tears fall as Price described the most horrible event Phoebe had ever heard. The man that Price had trusted and called dad had first sexually abused his adopted daughter on her own 12th birthday, just 3 days before Phoebe had turned 14..

Price couldn’t believe the things she told Phoebe. She couldn’t believe that she was freeing her soul so quickly after meeting them. She couldn’t believe that she had made it this far, alive.

“So he continued to come to me at least once a week until I was 15. I couldn’t take it anymore so I ran away. He found me and dragged me back and he almost killed me then. He told me that he was adopting another little girl and that he would do to her what he had done to me and it would be my fault. The foster people did come with another little girl. A beautiful little blonde-haired girl named Jenny. She was 7 and so torn down already. You get to read these things after a while you know? I couldn’t let him touch her. I had to protect her so I finally told someone what had been going on. They didn’t believe me so I told someone else and I kept talking until finally a teacher at school listened to me. She called the welfare people and they came and took Jenny away. I was glad that he wouldn’t have the chance to hurt her, and soon they’d be coming to take me away too. I didn’t mind that I’d probably spend the next few years in the care of the juvie hall. It didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t there to hurt me.”

“You said he almost turned you evil? How is that?”

“Because I killed him.”

“You killed him?”

Phoebe raised herself slowly from the sofa and walked to the window. She was afraid to look at Price for fear that Price would crumble. Phoebe felt that Price needed the moment to be strong and free of comfort because she felt as though what Price was going to say was going to take all her strength.

“Yes, I killed him. The courts found me not guilty. I was 15. The court-appointed doctor that looked me over found extensive…um….damage, as a result of the abuse. They were appalled when I told him the things he did.”

“How…?”

“…did I kill him? With his own gun. He was pointing it at me. It was the day before my 16th birthday. He said he wanted to celebrate our four years of being…together.”

Phoebe turned away from the window to see the paleness reach over Price’s face. She hated every word she had to hear, but she hated every second that Price had had to spend with that man.

“I refused, I always refused. I knew it was wrong. I knew he was a monster. But he had the gun…”

“He threatened your life?”

Price nodded. She felt her stomach tighten with knots as she realized how disgusted Phoebe must be with her. She could barely turn from the window to look at her. She felt that Phoebe was thinking that she was weak and she was a damaged little sister. She thought that Phoebe would want a sister who was pure and innocent and untouched.

“Yes. So when he laid it on the nightstand and turned his attention to me I picked it up and shot him in the chest. Point blank range.”

Phoebe watched Price lower her eyes to the ground as though she were reliving those last few seconds when Walter James breathed his last breath. She realized how important it was to make sure Price knew that she was still wanted and still good.

“Price? Are you listening to me?”

Price continued to stare at the ground below. Phoebe moved from the window and kneeled on the ground in front of Price slipping her hand into Price’s trembling, pale one.

“Price, look at me please.”

Price lifted her eyes to meet Phoebe’s. She saw her own brown eyes when she looked at Phoebe. She wasn’t sure any longer what she saw in Phoebe’s expression. Maybe not pity. Maybe not concern. Maybe not anything. Than Phoebe spoke.

“Price. What happened to you should never have happened. You should have been here with us, safe and loved. You shouldn’t have gone through all of that and I still don’t understand why you weren’t allowed to be here. But let me be sure you know something.”

Price swallowed hard. Here it comes, she thought, the part where she tells me I’m not good enough to be a Halliwell, where she tells me that I am a horrid person and I shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near them.

“You aren’t evil Price. You did what you had to do. You saved that little girl, Jenny. You made sure nothing would happen to her. You sacrificed yourself for her. Do you see that? You make me so proud by your strength and your strength of character. And killing him was a necessary act of survival. The things that he did to you were too terrible for any soul to handle but you did. You survived and I could see it in your face today that you were more than ready to fight for that innocents life.”

“He was going to hurt her.”

“That’s right and you stopped him. In time we’ll work on your powers, We’ll train and you’ll learn all you need to know about vanquishing and spells and potions. But right now we need to spend time getting to know you and you need to know us. You need to know that no matter what we’re going to stick by you. We’re going to love you. Do you think you can handle that?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure what love feels like Phoebe.”

“Believe me Price, with me and Piper there’s not a day that will pass that you won’t feel what love is like.”

“Are you going to tell Piper what I’ve told you?”

“Piper wants to know. And she will be okay with it Price. Not okay with him doing what he did to you, but okay with you. Trust me on this if you can’t trust me on anything else.”

Price and Phoebe stood and Price felt her first taste love when Phoebe wrapped her arms tightly around her. A voice behind them startled them.

“Hi sisters. Can anyone join this hug or is it private?”

Price opened her arms to Piper and Phoebe smiled. She was glad that the Power of Three would soon be operational again. Price looked to the sky, mouthing the words, ‘thank you’ to the heavens above. She knew that whoever had led her here to this house to these sisters was watching. Phoebe looked over her older and younger sisters’ shoulders to the mantel above the fireplace. A picture sat in a bright brass frame. Phoebe looked at the image of Prue and knew she was watching. She whispered three words to her oldest sister, “I love you.”

THE END