Post by StoryGirl83 on Aug 30, 2008 21:42:53 GMT -5
Chapter Fourteen – Talking Yourself Cilly
On the other end of the phone Prudence Brianna Halliwell, fondly known as Ladybug and her two younger sisters, Cilly Halliwell, and Pearl Hope Halliwell, who went by her middle name of Hope, were watching a movie on TV. Since it was Cilly’s turn to pick it, the movie was The Littlest Rebel in its original black and white.
The phone started to ring, startling Ladybug. Cilly and Hope didn’t seem to notice. “Hope, would you get the phone?”
Hope looked at the phone and frowned. When she looked back at Ladybug she shook her head. “Not supposed to.”
“Why ever not?” Ladybug asked exasperated.
Hope shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just not. Mom’s orders.” Phoebe had a tendency to treat her youngest like a baby for all that Hope was ten.
“Orders?” queried Cilly, pulling her eyes away from the very young Shirley Temple on the screen. “Mom doesn’t really order.”
“Really strong suggestion with a threat,” Hope altered. Sounds like an order to me.
Ladybug gave her a skeptical look as the phone continued to ring. “Mom threatened?”
“No spell lessons for a month after they get back,” Hope informed her sisters.
“Fine,” Ladybug conceded, knowing how much her little sister loved spells since she hadn’t actually come into her powers yet. “Cilly?”
Cilly didn’t bother answering. She stood and walked over to the still ringing phone, wondering why Ladybug didn’t get it herself. “You got Cilly.”
Back in the attic, Wyatt smiled at his cousin’s words. “Good to know, Cil. Have your parents left yet?”
“Three days ago,” she confirmed.
“Any idea how I can reach them?” Wyatt pressed.
“Nope,” Cilly denied. “They didn’t leave contact info. Dad said there weren’t any phones anyway.”
“Not even a way to contact them in an emergency?” Wyatt returned a bit weary.
“Is it an emergency?” Cilly asked a little concerned. Ladybug and Hope looked at her, also concerned.
“Yes,” Wyatt confirmed. “A family emergency.”
Cilly cringed at the words. She never heard them used for an actual situation, but she knew what they meant. “Why are you talking in code? It’s not like the phone is bugged.”
“Trust me,” Wyatt assured her wryly. “This is a family emergency.”
“Someone dying?” Cilly asked, concern now lacing her voice.
Not wanting to try and explain the exact situation, Wyatt just said, “They will be if we don’t figure out a way to stop it. And they are family.”
“Is something wrong with Aunt Piper?” she asked, figuring his mom was the most likely if he was calling there.
“Mom’s fine,” Wyatt assured her quickly. “Dad and Chris are too before you ask.”
“Aunt Paige or any of her family?” Cilly asked. They were the only other family she knew of outside of Grandpa and that wasn’t to be born. Mortal family like Grandpa and Uncle Henry were not allowed to be harmed by magic since they didn’t have and never had any magic.
“Aunt Prue,” Wyatt informed her, his eyes casting across the room at his newly met aunt.
“Beg pardon?” Cilly was stunned. “That’s impossible. She died before any of us were born. She can’t be dying.”
“She’s not,” Wyatt admitted. “She’s here, though. It’s the people with her. They are the ones that are going to die if we don’t stop it. Except, it’s worse than death, to us. To them, if we fail, they’ll never know. To us, if we fail, we’ll forever know that we caused them to cease to exist.”
“You lost me a long time ago,” Cilly admitted, “but it sounds bad. “Is there anything we can do?”
“Find your mom,” he urged her. “Find her and get her here.”
“And if we can’t.” Even with as little of the situation as she got, the thought weighed on her.
“Then, get yourselves here, so you can at least meet them.” He didn’t want that to be all. He wanted them to save them. He barely knew them, but already they were become more than just innocents to save.
“You need the power of three,” Cilly said in realization.
“I don’t know,” Wyatt admitted. Maybe that would work. Maybe.
“I’ll try and find her,” Cilly promised.
Having obtained her word on the matter, Wyatt said, “Bye,” and hung up.
Cilly stared at the phone for a few seconds before she too hung up. She turned to her sisters.
“What’s wrong?” Ladybug inquired.
“Movie’s over,” Cilly announced unceremoniously.
“This must be bad,” Hope declared.
“I don’t know,” Cilly admitted, “but we have work to do.”