Post by StoryGirl83 on Sept 20, 2008 19:01:56 GMT -5
Chapter Eight – News a Father Just Doesn’t Get
Piper left the kitchen and walked right on through the sitting room. Much as she didn’t want to leave Prue for a second, it was getting tense in there and Prue was right. It wasn’t every day that one got a sister back from the dead, especially a sister who had been dead for almost thirty years, but Dad would want to know. Their relationship had never been the best, especially since Dad left, but Dad had long regretted never being able to fix things with Prue. It was clear from what Prue had said that she, too, regretted never fixing their relationship.
Piper walked into the hall, stopping in front of a small table containing only an old, corded, spin dial phone and an answering machine. She picked up the phone, curling her fingers around the cord as she pondered what to say. What did one say when one was telling someone over the phone that their dead daughter was in fact no longer dead? Her fingers started shaking as she spun the dial. The phone pressed to her ear, she waited.
On the other end, Victor Bennett heard the phone ringing, just as he was getting out of the shower. He didn’t bother to dry his hair as he wrapped a towel around himself and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Dad,” Piper’s voice came out just above a whisper.
“Can this wait, Piper?” Victor asked, looking down at the towel.
Piper shook her head. “I rather think it shouldn’t. It’s important, Dad.”
“Who’s hurt?” he asked, at once apprehensive.
A sad sigh escaped Piper’s lips in acknowledgement that important for them usually was bad news. “It’s good news, Dad, really good news.”
Victor seemed to hear the importance in her voice. “All right. What is this about?”
“Prue.”
There was silence as Victor stares at the phone for several seconds, trying absorb this. Prue? How can there be good news about Prue? Prue is dead. What kind of good news? What kind of good news can their possibly be for someone for who is dead? My daughters are witches. Could they have done something? Could magic actually do something good for a change? When the questions piling up in his mind started to boggle his brain, Victor decided he’d better ask, but first he wanted to verify that he had heard her right. “Good news? About Prue?”
“Yes, Dad,” Piper told him, a smile on her lips.
“What kind of good news?” Victor demanded. “Were you finally able to summon her?”
“No,” Piper informed him, regret in her voice for all the failed attempts over the years. “I think the elders or whomever it is who is keeping us from summoning her would be quite content to keep us from doing so forever.”
“Then, what?” Victor couldn’t think of any other way there could be good news about his oldest daughter.
“She’s here,” Piper told him, “from an alternate reality.”
Victor’s spirits fell. “Then, she’s not our Prue.”
“She has all but the last two years of Prue’s memory,” Piper argued. “That’s when the realities separated. She’s our Prue, Dad. She’s just lived longer.”
Piper’s last words reverberated through Victor’s head. “She’s alive?”
“And wants to see you,” Piper added.
Surprise sounded in Victor’s voice. “She does?”
“Yes,” Piper smiled. Her expression became serious as she added, “In her reality, you’re the one who’s dead.”
“Oh.” It wasn’t the kind statement a person usually had to respond to. What did one say to that anyway?
“There’s more,” Piper informed him, “but the rest is kind of mixed news.”
“Now, you give me bad news.” Somehow it didn’t surprise him that there was bad news.”
“You’ve got to admit the timing works,” Piper teased.
Victor shook his head, not to deny her words, for bad news after good, usually was more palatable, but because he didn’t need the stress of the waiting. “Just tell me.”
Piper conceded easily. This was one conversation that didn’t need to be drawn out. She liked talking to her dad, but for so many reasons, now the conversation needed to be over soon. “Prue didn’t come alone. There are four other who came with her and if don’t find a solution they will cease to exist. They cannot go back. They have nowhere to go back to.”
Four others, Victor repeated in his mind. “Who are the other four and does this mean Prue can stay alive?”
“She can stay alive, is she chooses,” Piper informed him, hoping that even if they failed, Prue would make that decision to stay alive. “The other four are her husband, her two daughters, and my daughter.”
“Your . . .” Victor began.
“Just come, Dad,” Piper interrupted. “Your daughter and your granddaughters want to see you.”
“I’m coming,” Victor agreed with a smile.
“I’ll see you soon, then,” Piper informed him. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too, Piper,” Victor told her. “Tell Prue I’m heading over.”
“Bye,” Piper said, a smile on her lips.
“Bye,” Victor replied before he hung up. He headed back to his room to get dressed. He didn’t understand how, but he was going to get to see his oldest daughter, again.
Mission accomplished, Piper headed back to the dining room. While she was gone, they had brought in extra chairs to seat everyone, so everyone was sitting at the table. Piper entered the room and unceremoniously announced. “Dad’s coming over.”
Prue smiled, glad for this chance. “Thank you.”