Post by StoryGirl83 on Nov 6, 2011 21:42:30 GMT -5
Chapter Seventeen – Sisters
Vicki Trudeau pulled an encyclopedia off the bookcase and started flipping through it. She stopped on one entry and brought it over to her sister, Pat. “Think Mom will take us with her?”
Pat shook her head. “We really aren’t much use, you know. As happy as I am that you have your power back, whatever it is . . .”
“I’ve been looking into that,” Vicki interrupted her. “According to the book I read, I might be some sort of dreamwalker, though the fact that I can apparently see all this while I’m awake, too seems to go counter to that idea. Clearly I can see both alternate dimensions and time lines, since I saw the twins before we ever got here and . . .”
“Yeah, you helped save those kids,” Pat interrupted this time. “It’s not that I’m not glad you did, and it’s not that I’m not glad we didn’t lose you. I am glad you helped with those kids. And I am glad that you came out of the whole thing unharmed. It’s just you bring it up at every possible opportunity and it gets old. Something like that shouldn’t be treated like that. It . . .” she shrugged and hugged her sister from behind. “Look, Vicki, I don’t ever want to lose you, but sometimes you could talk less.”
White orbs circled around the room and formed into their aunt, Paige Matthews-Mitchell.
Pat grinned over her sister’s shoulder at her. “And I really wish I could still do that.”
“Hi, girls,” Paige greeted with a smile. “Do you know where your mom is?”
Vicki nodded, silently.
“I’ll go get her,” Pat offered as she left the room.
Paige looked at her remaining niece. It seemed kind of odd to think of this girl she had met only two months previously as her niece. “Hi, Vicki.”
“Hi, Aunt Paige.” It was easy for Vicki to see the relationship. She’d known it her entire life.
“How do you like it here?” Paige asked, trying to get her to talk.
Vicki shrugged. “It’s not really what I’m used to. And may know the landscape, but I don’t know the people. I kind of wish we’d moved to San Francisco, but people will freak out when they see Dad and Mom.”
Paige smiled at that. “Yeah, well they’ll have to get used to that eventually. No one’s trying to keep you a secret.”
“You’re wrong about that,” Vicki informed her. “We still haven’t met Dad’s parents or Aunt Sarah. It’s not that we knew them in the other time line. They were dead, so we have no history to get in the way. The problem is that apparently in over two decades Uncle Ben never told his parents or his sister that his wife was a witch and so they know nothing of magic.”
Paige chuckled. “Yeah, that’s not an easy conversation to have. It took me years to tell my Aunt and Uncle. And sometimes it just seemed easier to not mention it, but when I faked my death and my aunt and uncle didn’t come to my funeral, it hit something in me. It still took a while, but eventually I talk to them, told them what was going on in my life and all about finding out I was a witch. They came to Henry and my wedding. And they were there for the twins’ christening and for Hanks, too. I’m glad I told them.”
“I don’t think it would be that easy for us,” Vicki admitted.
“My case was a little different,” Paige admitted. “I faked my death, not actually died. I was only gone for a few weeks, not decades. And they’d always known there was something different about me. They didn’t know it was that different, but they always knew there was something.”
“You got here faster than I thought,” Prue Halliwell-Trudeau announced as she entered the room.
Pat stood behind her.
“I orbed here,” Paige commented, amused. “How long did you think it was going to take me?”
Prue shrugged. “You said you need to get something before you came.”
Paige nodded. “And I did. You ready to go?”
Prue nodded. She looked at her daughters. “Tell, your dad that I left with Paige.”
“Can we come with you, Mom?” Vicki asked.
Prue shook her head. “You have a lot of homework and no experience. There is no evidence of alternate planes, so your powers are not needed, either.”
“But how do I get experience if I can’t come?” Vicki protested.
“Sweetheart, you’re thirteen,” Prue reminded her younger daughter. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” She placed a kiss on Vicki’s forehead. “I’ll call if I’m going to be late. Be good for your dad.”
“Ah, mom,” Vicki complained, ducking away. “I’m not a little kid. I’ll be fine.”
Pat giggled. “Mom, we’ll see you when we get back. I know you’re trying to help Aunt Piper’s boys, but have fun with your sisters.”
Prue smiled and planted a kiss on her older daughter’s forehead as well. “Be good.”
Pat nodded. “We will. Don’t worry, Mom.”
“Come on, Prue,” Paige urged.
Prue walked over to Paige and let her hug her as Paige orbed them out.
As soon as they were gone, Vicki went back to her book. She didn’t see Pat go over to the bookcase and pulled out some books.
Pat pulled out a small stack of papers and took them over to a small desk. In small careful writing she continued a sentence she had written. At the top of the page were the words “Missing People”. This was followed by a short list of names. “Karma. Mehgan. Trace.” Under the names were the words “Time of day?” Pat looked at the paper frustrated and closed her eyes. After a moment she added a date. February 2, 2000. She sighed and looked at the paper frustrated. There was more. I know there was more.