The heavy metal gate clanked shut behind them, and Elkor let go of her. Rubbing her wrist, Pyralis scowled at him and then turned to take in her surroundings.
They were standing on a wide gravel path with bright green grass on either side, and flowers and trees a little father away. The path led up a slope at the top of which stood a large, very gray and yet quite posh-looking house. She presumed it was Black Manor - the golden plaque on the gate had told her as much.
"Don't bother trying to shimmer away," Elkor was telling her, starting to make his way up the path. "No forms of instant transportation are possible within these walls."
It looked like "within these walls" was quite a big space - Pyralis could only see one of them. She pondered trying to escape for a minute, but soon decided against what would most likely be a fruitless effort anyway. Besides, by the look of the sky it was going to rain any second. So instead she stuck her hands in her pockets and hurried after her abductor.
They went up to the house at a brisk walk. A strong wind was starting to blow around them, making the distant trees rustle in this otherwise eerily silent place. Shivering, Pyralis picked up her pace, even though she didn't know that what she would find inside wouldn't be worse.
She examined the huge old-fashioned oak door as Elkor opened it, took one last look at the sprawling grounds, and stepped inside.
She was standing in a wide, dark but comfortably warm hallway. It was (sparsely) lit by torches, there were paintings on the wall and sculptures in the alcoves. The floor was made of dark marble, their footsteps echoing on it as she followed him into a narrower passage on the right. He stopped in front of an open door through which faint voices could be heard. Then he looked at her pointedly.
Glancing at him hesitantly, she took a deep breath and entered.
A dining room. There was a fireplace next to the doorway where she was standing, two armchairs and a red rug in front of that. Floor and walls were made of the same dark wood as the front door. A window, looking out on the greenery she'd just left, the gate just visible in the background. Next to the window, a table. And sat at the table... Them.
He was sat at the head of it, she next to him, both wearing those cold, mirthless smiles Pyralis remembered so well. It wouldn't have surprised her if they hadn't known how to smile in any other way anymore. They were both dressed in black, and were holding hands across the table. And they were staring at her, oh-so-confident and self-assured.
Pyralis stared back.
"Pyralis," Phoebe said, still wearing that unnerving smile. "We were just about to have lunch. Care to join us?"
"I've already eaten," she replied coldly.
"At least have something to drink." It was Cole's turn to talk.
She stayed rooted to the spot.
Cole shrugged, an amused grin on his face. "Very well." He snapped his fingers and looked expectantly at the door. Within moments a youngish looking woman entered, put plates of food in front of Cole and Phoebe and withdrew into a corner without a word.
Phoebe, ignoring her servant completely, speared a piece of carrot with her fork. "So, how've you been?"
"I was fine until he came along." Pyralis inclined her her towards where Elkor was still standing, just outside the door.
"Elkor, you're dismissed," Cole said, without so much as a glance in his direction.
Regarding her parents and then mentally shrugging, Pyralis sat down at the table, albeit as far away from them as possible. "What do you want?"
"We wanted to see you," Phoebe said. "We missed you. Is that a crime?"
"No crime, no," Pyralis responded, scrutinizing her mother. "No, I think 'lie' would be a more appropriate word for what you just told me."
"What makes you think that?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you haven't shown the slightest interest in me in over a decade? You don't even send me birthday cards."
"Sweetie..."
"Why are you here, anyway, and not in the Underworld?"
"Because after our friend Jackson's betrayal we didn't feel safe there anymore." Cole looked up, grinning, and shrugged. "We've always liked this place better anyway. So much more... peaceful."
Phoebe wiped her mouth and looked at Pyralis. "If you're not hungry, why don't you take a look around? Theresa will show you your room." She nodded in the direction of the servant woman.
"My room?"
"Surely you don't think we'd make you sleep on the couch?" Cole asked. "Go on, go see what you think of it."
Raising her eyebrows, Pyralis got up and followed Theresa out of the room.
Phoebe turned to Cole. "What do you think? Will it work?"
"I don't know." He shook his head. "It's too soon to tell. But I think it's definitely possible."
He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. Then they kissed and just concentrated on each other for a while.
* * *
Theresa opened the door for Pyralis and then left. Pyralis stepped in and closed it again before turning to look around the room.
It was big. The floor and walls and furniture, again, wood. In the center of the room stood a large four-poster bed with black sheets. Next to that were full-length glass doors with black curtains, leading onto a small balcony. On the polished wooden floor was a black rug. The armchairs in the far corner were black. In fact, everything in the room seemed to be either black or made of wood.
It was quite nice, really.
Not really expecting her parents to have left an escape route in her bedroom, of all places, Pyralis nevertheless went onto the balcony to see what could be done.
She was quite surprised to find herself almost falling off a cliff.
Grabbing hold of the railing to steady herself, she shook her head and looked down again.
Yup. Definitely a cliff face. In fact it looked like the house had been built at the very top of the highest cliff.
How cliché.
No escape there then, obviously, unless she wanted to test her non-existent rock climbing skills.
She went back inside and over to the large wardrobe opposite the bed. There were a lot of clothes in it. All black, and all - apart from a jacket or two and what llooked like some pajamas - dresses. Very nice dresses, for sure, but still a little monotonous.
She closed the closet again and looked at the bed. If she lay on that she would be asleep in two seconds. So she probably shouldn't risk that quite yet.
Instead she decided to take a look around the house. That was what Phoebe had told her to do, after all...
Closing the door to her room behind her, she snuck off down the hall. Why she was sneaking she wasn't sure, she had been given permission after all, but somehow it just didn't feel right to saunter around the place casually.
There was a bathroom across the hallway from her room, and another door, which was locked. Nothing very interesting. She went over to one of the two staircases and looked up and down. If she went down she ran a higher risk of bumping into Phoebe or Cole, not something she particularly wanted to do. Upstairs it was, then.
A longer corridor, this time. And one open door. She walked toward it curiously and looked inside.
The master bedroom.
Although Pyralis didn't think going through her drawers what exactly what Phoebe had meant when she had said to look around the house, it would certainly prove interesting...
Shrugging, she entered the room. It was essentially a larger, more extravagant version of her own... but with a personal touch. For example the huge, framed, black-and-white picture of Cole and Phoebe which hung on the wall, or the book - a trashy romance novel, by the looks of it - on the nightstand, or the jewelry on the vanity.
She picked a diamond necklace up and held it up to the light. It was perfect. And, like everything else in this house, probably unbelievably expensive. As was the gold bracelet she picked up next. There was a message engraved on it... "Love you always, Cole"
Pyralis pushed up her sleeve to reveal her own bracelet. It was practically identical. Idly, she ran her fingers over the writing. The bracelet was a source of eternal frustration for her. Even though she had convinced herself that it didn't, couldn't mean anything to her, she couldn't bring herself not to wear it. It just didn't feel right. She guessed it was hard to break the habit of a lifetime; she couldn't remember a time when she hadn't worn it every day.
She pulled her sleeve back down and surveyed the rest of the jewelry. It was just more of the same. She decided to move on to the drawers.
The first one held make-up, the second hair accessories.
The third was locked.
Glancing at the doorway, Pyralis put out her hand and used her telekinetic abilities to open it.
Inside were a few photos and a pair of pink baby booties.
Frowning, Pyralis picked up the photos. Why would anyone want to hide these? And as for the booties... well, that made even less sense.
But, as she looked through the pictures, she thought she might be beginning to understand.
The first was of Phoebe and her grams. Then a baby Phoebe and her mom. Phoebe and her sisters.
Phoebe and Cole smiling down at a baby Pyralis.
And one of just Phoebe and Pyralis, both grinning and pointing at the camera.
It looked like Phoebe hadn't completely let go of her past, and she didn't want anyone to know.
Pyralis put the things back and re-locked the drawer. She was having a hard time processing this information.
It got worse when she found another picture, hidden at the back of one of Cole's clothes drawers. It was in a nondescript brown envelope, and showed Cole, Phoebe and Pyralis having a picnic in a park.
What the hell did this mean?!
Severely spooked, Pyralis left the room in search of something less mind-bending. A library or a torture chamber or something.
She found both, though she didn't actually go in the torture chamber (it was... occupied.)
So she spent the rest of the afternoon in her bedroom, pretending to read while she tried to sort her head out and formulate and escape plan.
When it was starting to get dark Theresa came in and said dinner would be served in thirty minutes. She also heavily implied that Pyralis should change clothes for this event.
Sighing, Pyralis hauled herself off the bed (sleep would be so nice...) and went over to closet to examine the black dresses more closely. They all looked pretty much the same to her. She could, of course, refuse to change... but she was too tired to make a fuss over a little thing like that. So she randomly chose a dress, put it on and went downstairs to see what would happen next.
Phoebe and Cole were already there, in the same seats as they had been in earlier. Pyralis briefly entertained herself with the though that they hadn't moved in all this time. Thankfully they didn't notice her smirk.
"So what do you think of the house?" Phoebe asked as their food was served.
"It's... interesting," Pyralis replied, staring at the food on her plate. She was starving.
"Yes, we think so." Cole smiled. He paused to look at Phoebe, then continued when she nodded. "How would you like to live here?"
"Not much." Pyralis was digging into her food eagerly.
"Oh." Cole looked down.
"Wouldn't you like the chance to get to know us better?" Phoebe asked.
"Funnily enough... no."
"But don't you think you'd be much happier with your parents than with Piper and Paige?" Phoebe practically spat her sisters' names.
Pyralis looked up from her food, a stony expression on her face. "You're not my parents." There was a long silence while they all stared at each other. Finally Pyralis stood up and threw her napkin on her plate. "I'm going to bed."
Phoebe stared at Cole as their daughter ran out of the room, her expression unreadable. He took her hand.
"Don't worry," he said. "It's early days yet. And if it doesn't work out..." He shrugged. "Then it doesn't work out."
And Pyralis threw herself on the strange, unfamiliar
bed and cried herself to sleep.
Author's note: Nervous? Me? About what other people will think? Never... Okay, just bit. After all, I know how much you've all been looking forward to this, what if it doesn't live up to your expectations? Well then I guess I'll have to make the rest pretty bloody good instead. Anyway, I'm rambling. Reviews are, as you know, highly valued :)