6x11: Invasion of the Baby Snatchers

[The Virtual Series]

CHARMED: RESET REALITY (A new Alternate Universe series brought to you by Daniel, 4Ever, Drama, Xenith, and a host of others!)

STARRING:



SHANNEN DOHERTY...Prue Halliwell
HOLLY MARIE COMBS...Piper Halliwell
ALYSSA MILANO...Phoebe Halliwell
ROSE McGOWAN...Paige Matthews

CO-STARRING:



BRIAN KRAUSE...Leo Wyatt
DORIAN GREGORY...Darryl Morris
CHELSEA BRUMMET...Melinda Halliwell
DREW FULLER...Chris Halliwell

CHARMED: RESET REALITY is a concept conceived and copyrighted by Daniel Taylor and cannot be copied without his permission.

Based on the television show "Charmed" created by Constance Burge and featuring characters created by her and Brad Kern.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If we owned Charmed, the last few seasons would be more like this! All characters and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. We only own the characters listed as "Original characters" within the credits. All others are products of the old WB and the new CW and belong to them and Aaron Spelling Productions. This work was not written for sale and is meant only to be read by visitors to websites for the fans of the television show, Charmed.

6.11 INVASION OF THE BABY SNATCHERS

GUEST-STARRING:
EMMANUELLE VAUGIER
ARIEL WALLER
JENNIFER RHODES
ALISEN DOWN

Script written by...CAMILLE (FOUREVER CHARMED)

Script edited by...DRAMA (ASSASSIN WITCH)

Script proofread by...CAMILLE (FOUREVER CHARMED), DRAMA (ASSASSIN WITCH), DTAYLOR (ASTRAL ECHO)

Executive Producer...DTAYLOR (ASTRAL ECHO)

Produced by...DRAMA, FOUREVER CHARMED, XENITH

Directed by...Kevin Inch

[The Virtual Series]

Invasion Of The Baby Snatchers

Teaser

[Scene: Recreational gym. A sign near the door says, “Prenatal Yoga: 5:00 – 7:00.” The gym is filled with pregnant women in all stages of pregnancy. PRUE HALLIWELL is at the back of the room, wearing a stretchy black workout suit. She’s sitting on a blue mat with her legs stretched out like the rest of the women. At the front of the room, the Japanese instructor is the only one wearing a bright yellow workout suit and sitting on a red mat. She leans to the right and stretches her arms down her leg.]

INSTRUCTOR: Now stretch as far as you can, try to touch your toes, and hold it for three breaths. (The class follows the instructions to the best of their abilities.) Now exhale, (a sea of exhaling noises fill the room) and slowly pull yourself back up. (She nods.) Good job. (She leans to the left.) Now repeat the same process with this leg. (She stretches.) Try to touch your toes and hold for three breaths.

(At the back of the room, PRUE barely brushes her fingers across her toes. She holds for three breaths, then exhales in unison with the class, and pulls herself back up.)

PRUE: (murmuring to herself) It’s like pregnant cheerleading warm-ups. (A woman in front of PRUE looks back at her. PRUE gives the woman a fake smile.) Hi. (The woman turns back around and PRUE gives the back of her head a dirty look.)

INSTRUCTOR: Okay, great job today class! (She stands up.) I’ll see you again next week. (The women in the room get up and begin to file towards the doors.) And don’t forget! There are refreshments for you in the lobby.

(PRUE heads out of the gym and begins to head down the hall when she passes the entrance to the lobby where she sees several of the women from her class crowding around the refreshments table. She starts to walk away when her stomach growls. She groans.)

PRUE: Ugh, I really should just get home… (Her stomach growls again. She touches it.) Fine! (She wanders into the lobby and over to the table, where she finds the table lined with fruit cups. She picks one off the table and grabs a plastic spoon and takes a bite.)

WOMAN's VOICE: Aren’t these the greatest?

(PRUE turns around to see an extremely pregnant woman in a striped purple workout suit, SAVANNAH NORTON. She’s digging her spoon into her fruit cup and devouring the spoonfuls.)

SAVANNAH: They are just so (she takes another big spoonful and swallows it) yummy! I don’t know what it is about these things, I don’t even like fruit, but they’re just so delicious! (PRUE barely nods. She looks down at her fruit cup and takes another bite.) Don’t you think they’re divine?

PRUE: Uh…they’re okay. (She shrugs.) I actually prefer ice cream.

SAVANNAH: (worriedly) Ice cream? Have you been craving that during your pregnancy?

(PRUE nods.)

PRUE: It started a few months ago.

SAVANNAH: Oh, that’s not good. (She tosses out her empty fruit cup and grabs another from the table.) Well, craving ice cream is often a sign of a vitamin or calcium deficiency. (PRUE opens her mouth.) But don’t worry! It’s only pregnancy induced, so it will go away post birth, but you do need to get it checked out by your doctor where you can get supplements prescribed for you.

(PRUE nods.)

PRUE: Thanks for the tip.

SAVANNAH: No problem. (She polishes off the rest of her fruit cup and tosses it out.) Oh, (she holds out her hand) I’m Savannah, by the way.

PRUE: Prue. (They shake hands.) Nice to meet you.

(A beeping noise begins to sound from SAVANNAH's watch.)

SAVANNAH: Oh shoot! (She presses a button to make the noise stop.) I’ve gotta get going, I still have to get home in time to read my daughter her bedtime story. (She smiles.) I guess I’ll see you next week. (PRUE nods.) It was nice meeting you!

PRUE: You too.

(SAVANNAH leaves. PRUE looks down at her fruit cup, which is only half eaten, and tosses it out before heading off to leave.)

[Time lapse. The glowing green numbers on PRUE’s digital clock read “10:00 P.M.” PRUE is tucked in bed, sleeping on her left side with her arms wrapped around her pillow. She moves her head and snuggles it deeper into the indent in her pillow.]

[Dream: PRUE is seated on her and ANDY’s swing. She’s swaying her legs back and forth, but everywhere around her is surrounded by rolling white mist. She suddenly hears something like the soft patter of footsteps and stops swinging.]

PRUE: Hello? (She looks around, but doesn’t see anything. She starts to swing again, only to once again hear the pattering noise, but louder. PRUE gets off the swing and begins to wade through the mist.) Who’s there? (The pattering turns to a shuffle and then full blown running. PRUE holds up her hands.) Tell me who you are!

LITTLE GIRL's VOICE: Help me!

(PRUE’s face turns to a worry and she picks up her pace, running.)

LITTLE GIRL's VOICE: Please, help me! (The sound of running stops and so does PRUE. She turns around and a little girl, about eight-years-old or so, steps out of the mist. She has bright blue eyes, just below shoulder length dark hair that’s nearly black, and bangs. She stares at PRUE.) Help me Mommy!

[Cut back to the present. PRUE awakes with a gasp.]

Clickable Credits.

[The Virtual Series]

{SCENE: The song “In My Daughter’s Eyes,” written by James Slater and sung by Martina McBride, is heard as stock shots of San Francisco are shown while the Guest Credits are rolled.}

Act One

[Scene: Piper and Leo’s house. Backyard. PRUE is sitting at the red picnic table as PIPER HALLIWELL walks out of the sliding glass doors with a pitcher of lemonade and two glasses in her hands. She sets the glasses down and begins to pour the lemonade.]

PIPER: It was just a dream, Prue.

(PRUE takes a drink of her lemonade as PIPER sits down.)

PRUE: I’ve never felt this way after “just a dream” before. (She leans her elbow on the picnic table and props her head in her hand.) Her face, it was just so vivid.

(PIPER smiles.)

PIPER: What did she look like?

PRUE: Uhm… (She nods.) Like me. A lot like me, actually…back when I used to have bangs, that is.

PIPER: Well, that’s no surprise. (She sips her glass of lemonade.)

PRUE: I still think it might be a good idea to bump up my appointment with Ava. (She absently swirls the juice in her glass.) Savannah did say that my ice cream craving might be something to be worried about.

PIPER: That’s probably what prompted your dream in the first place.

(PRUE raises a questioning brow.)

PIPER: You know, your subconscious being worried about what she said and it spilling over into your dreams. It’s probably nothing, (she pats PRUE’s stomach) but if it makes you feel better, then I agree, maybe you should bump up your appointment if only for peace of mind.

(PRUE’s eyes flutter lightly as she takes a drink of her lemonade. PIPER frowns.)

PIPER: You look exhausted.

PRUE: I feel exhausted. (She absently draws her finger in circles on the picnic table.) I’d barely gotten to sleep when I had that dream and afterwards…I just couldn’t-

(A loud explosion sounds from inside the house. PIPER and PRUE exchange looks, then get up and scurry through the sliding glass door.)

[Cut to the kitchen. A thick billowing cloud of black smoke is blocking everything from view. The silhouette of an arm waves in the midst of the smoke.]

CHRIS's VOICE: I told you not to mix the crushed troll bone with the gremlin saliva!

PIPER's VOICE: (angrily) What is going on in here?

(The silhouette of the arm waves and a few moments later, the smoke finally clears, revealing CHRIS HALLIWELL and MELINDA HALLIWELL standing near the kitchen table, pointing at each other. PIPER places her hands on her hips. PRUE raises a questioning eyebrow.)

PRUE: Gremlin saliva?

(MELINDA shakes her head.)

MELINDA: You don’t wanna know. (She gathers up a scorched pot and various jars of potion ingredients and tries to scoot around her mother, but PIPER blocks the doorway with her arm.)

PIPER: Oh no you don’t! (She points to the black smoke spots around the kitchen.) I want you both to clean this up!

CHRIS: It was her fault!

MELINDA: Was not!

(PIPER claps her hands.)

PIPER: Spit spot. (She grabs the pot and potion ingredients from her daughter.) And no magic, either.

MELINDA: (whining) But Mooom! (She waves her hand.) I was right in the middle of making a vanquishing potion!

PIPER: Then I insist you take a break.

(MELINDA and CHRIS grunt simultaneously. PRUE holds back a smirk as she motions to the sink, telekinetically throwing CHRIS and MELINDA a sponge and rag respectively. PIPER glares.)

PRUE: What? (She shrugs.) Grams did say to practice my powers.

(PIPER rolls her eyes as the Twins begin to reluctantly start cleaning the kitchen. PRUE glances back at her adult niece and nephew.)

PRUE: Have fun!

(PIPER suddenly notices a small jar of what appear to be miniature fangs. She wrinkles her nose in disgust.)

PIPER: Ew! (PRUE smirks. PIPER cringes and looks away.) I don’t want to know. (to PRUE) Come on, let’s go set up that appointment.

(They disappear down the hall, leaving MELINDA and CHRIS to bicker in the kitchen.)

[Scene: Tae Kwon Dojo. PHOEBE HALLIWELL is dressed in a white cotton taekwondo outfit, tied with a black belt, and her hair is pulled back into a high ponytail. She is standing in a blue mat in front of a hanging black punching bag, which she is alternating between punching and kicking. Her face is slightly flushed and beaded with sweat as she scrunches her brow and concentrates on her aim.]

PHOEBE: Hiiiyah!

(PHOEBE spins and jumps, kicking the punching bag and landing, before throwing a series of four sharp jabs at it. At the front of the room, PAIGE MATTHEWS walks in. She’s wearing a white cotton outfit identical to PHOEBE’s, but hers is tied with a yellow belt with a green stripe running through the center. PAIGE is holding an ice pack to her shoulder as she walks up to PHOEBE. PHOEBE strikes the punching bag again before finally noticing her half sister. PHOEBE’s face instantly softens as she sees the ice pack. PAIGE takes a cross-legged seat in a nearby mat.)

PAIGE: Ugh…

PHOEBE: Oh, honey… (She sits down next to PAIGE and leans over, gently pushing away the ice.) Ouch.

PAIGE: It’s gonna leave a mark, isn’t it?

PHOEBE: What happened?

PAIGE: I tried to do a spin kick but I slipped and landed on my shoulder. (PHOEBE cringes.) Ooh, (she squints her eyes) this taekwondo stuff is such hard work…I don’t know how you ever got that black belt.

PHOEBE: I worked my butt off. (She wipes her wet forehead and stands up, walking over to a large black duffle bag in the corner of the room.) Prue and Piper always had the most useful powers and I felt left out. (She unzips the bag.) A big part of my motivation was to have a special skill of my own, even if it wasn’t magical. (She pulls out two bottled waters and proceeds to close the bag.) It was one of my first goals after moving back here (she hands PAIGE a water and then begins to twist the cap of hers) and probably the first one I successfully completed. (She takes a long drink of her water and PAIGE does the same.)

PAIGE: So,, I should blame my lack of fight on my semi-active powers?

PHOEBE: I wouldn’t call the ability to control time semi-active.

PAIGE: You know what I mean.

(PHOEBE rolls her eyes.)

PHOEBE: Paigey, (Paige makes a face) you’ll get the hang of it; it just takes time. (pause) Pun not intended. (She grins and holds out her hand. PAIGE takes it and PHOEBE helps PAIGE up.) You just wanna head home now?

(PAIGE rubs her ice pack against her shoulder.)

PAIGE: Yeah, I’m thinking two aspirin and a nice long nap sounds super appealing right now. (They head for the doors.)

[Scene: Bay General Hospital. Room #547. PRUE is sitting on the bed wearing black stretchy pants and a strapless lime colored baby doll top. She pulls up the top to reveal her swelling stomach and gently rubs it. PIPER is nervously tapping her foot as she looks at her watch.]

PIPER: They must be really busy…

PRUE: Well, Ava did say she was squeezing me in. (She shrugs.) Apparently they’re swamped and understaffed today.

(The door opens and DR. AVA NICOLAE walks in. She has a clipboard in hand and she’s smoothing a strand of stray black hair from her face. She looks flustered.)

AVA: I’m so sorry about the wait! (She shuts the door.) There was this huge bus crash today and we’ve been severely understaffed all week, so they were trying to pull in any help they could get from other areas of the hospital. (She sets her clipboard down.) Okay, (she takes out her stethoscope and begins to check PRUE’s heartbeat) so you mentioned on the phone that you were concerned about a vitamin deficiency?

PRUE: Or calcium…or something.

(AVA moves the stethoscope to PRUE’s back and PRUE breaths in.)

PIPER: She’s been craving a lot of ice cream lately. (She shrugs.) I guess someone at her prenatal yoga class said it’s something to worry about.

AVA: Not necessarily. (She sets her stethoscope aside.) You sound fine. (She turns to a cupboard and extracts a packaged needle, some alcohol, and a cotton ball.) It’s possible that you simply crave ice cream, (she dabs the cotton swab in rubbing alcohol) but there is a chance you could have a deficiency, in which case we’ll need to draw some blood and test for it. (She drabs PRUE’s arm with the swab and PRUE lays back on the bed.)

PRUE: Is a deficiency serious?

AVA: Usually not. If that’s the case, I can just prescribe you supplemental vitamins which should easily take care of things.

(AVA presses the needle into PRUE’s arm and PRUE winces. As AVA begins to draw the blood, a licking wisp of yellow electricity snakes up the needle and shocks AVA's hands, causing AVA to jump back with wide eyes. She looks down at her hands, where a small mark from the electrical attack remains. PIPER’s jaw drops open.)

PIPER: And I thought my kids were bad. (She stares at the needle, half filled with blood, sticking out of her sister’s arm. She moves to extract it, but PRUE holds up her hand.)

PRUE: Don’t. (to AVA) How much blood do you need?

AVA: Well… (She rubs her hand.) Generally we fill up the needle, but-

PRUE: I got it.

(PRUE squints her eyes and the needle begins to fill up by itself. PIPER turns her head queasily. Once the needle is full, it slides out of PRUE’s arm and hovers in the air. AVA hesitates, then snatches it out of the air. PRUE leans her head back into the pillow, looking more tired than she had when she walked in. AVA stares at the needle.)

AVA: (cautiously) Do incidents like that happen very often?

PRUE: Not really-

PIPER: Yes! (She folds her arms.) She’s got a severe case of supernatural static cling; sometimes Prue accidentally channels electrical bolts instead of telekinesis, and whenever the baby thinks she’s in danger, Prue tends to become a human lightning bolt.

(AVA lightly taps her chin.)

AVA: Is this a recurring theme when you’re in pain?

(PRUE bites her lip.)

PRUE: Sometimes…I guess the baby just senses it.

(AVA nods.)

AVA: You know, I usually don’t recommend this, but given your - charming - circumstances, I’m thinking that perhaps you might want to consider a…home birth?

PRUE: What?! (She sits up and shakes her head.) Are you kidding? (She suddenly closes her eyes and places her hand to her head.) Oh-oh!

(PIPER moves to her side.)

PIPER: You sat up too fast. (She helps PRUE lay down.)

PRUE: (stubbornly) I’m not having a home birth!

AVA: Given your child’s powers, it might be wise. If she attacks at the prick of a needle, just imagine what could happen during contractions. (pause) Not to mention, you wouldn’t be the only person here, Prue. She has electrokinesis, correct? (PIPER nods.) That power, given the right voltage, could potentially put nurses in danger, not to mention damage equipment, the delivery room, and perhaps even cause a hospital blackout if timed right.

PRUE: But what if something were to go wrong? What if…what if-

(PIPER touches PRUE’s arm.)

PIPER: Prue, I think maybe you should think about it.

(PRUE’s eyes darken.)

PRUE: Would you have given birth to the Twins at home?

PIPER: I…well…that was a different situation.

PRUE: Oh and how is that?

(PIPER points her finger.)

PIPER: Don’t get all mood swingy on me. (She folds her arms.) The Twins didn’t have potentially dangerous powers.

AVA: (to PRUE) Why don’t you at least consider the idea? You still have a while before you need to have anything set in stone. (She picks up her clip board and scribbles something down.) Research your options. (She hands PRUE a piece of paper.) Here, this is an herbal supplement I’d like you to pick up while we’re waiting on the results of your blood test. (She looks at her watch.) Is there anything else you needed while we’re here?

(PRUE shakes her head as she examines the paper AVA handed her.)

PIPER: Thanks for getting her in, Ava.

AVA: No problem. (She smiles and reaches for the door.) Sorry to rush, but I’m extremely booked, so I’ve got to go. (She nods.) Make sure to call me if you need anything else though. (She holds up the red filled needle.) And I’ll have this for you ASAP.

(AVA leaves. PRUE climbs off the bed and grabs her black purse from the table as PIPER opens the door. They walk out into the hallway and begin to turn the corner when three nurses and a doctor come bulldozing in front of them, pushing a screaming woman on a hospital bed. PRUE does a double take.)

PRUE: Oh my god…

PIPER: What?

PRUE: I know that woman. (PIPER raises a brow.) That was Savannah.

BREAK

[The Virtual Series]

Act Two

[Scene: Piper and Leo’s house. Garage. PIPER and PRUE are getting out of the car.]

PRUE: I didn’t think anyone in that class was even eight months, let alone nine. (She shakes her head.) She didn’t look nine months.

PIPER: Well, you know, (she opens the door leading into the house) everyone does fill out differently.

(PRUE follows PIPER into the kitchen.)

PRUE: But it just seems so strange…

PIPER: Early labor isn’t uncommon.

PRUE: It seems kind of ironic though, don’t you think?

PIPER: Not really. (She drops her purse on the table and looks around, inspecting the now spotless walls and overall kitchen.) She was pregnant and now she’s in labor…it seems like a natural progression to me.

(PRUE sits down at the table with a grumping noise.)

PRUE: I don’t know…it just seems so sudden.

(PIPER pulls a banana cream pie out of the refrigerator and removes the plastic wrap.)

PIPER: I think you’re just letting your worries about what she said get to you again. (She pulls out a knife and cuts out a triangle of pie.)

PRUE: Maybe I should go see her?

PIPER: We just left the hospital, Prue. (She reaches for a second plate, then stops.) Do you want any pie?

PRUE: No, thanks.

(PIPER drops the knife in the sink and covers the pie back up.)

PRUE: Maybe tomorrow then?

PIPER: For what?

PRUE: To see Savannah.

(PIPER groans as she slides the pie into the fridge.)

PIPER: You’re overreacting.

(PRUE stands up.)

PRUE: Look who’s talking.

PIPER: (grumbling) Prue!

PRUE: Oh, just blame it on the hormones. (She frowns and touches her belly.) Ooh, someone is sleeping on my bladder. (She heads for the hallway.) Maybe I should bring her a little baby gift or something too?

(As PRUE disappears down the hallway, PIPER shakes her head as she sits down at the table with her plate of pie and takes a bite. LEO WYATT orbs in with the twin stroller containing BABY MELINDA HALLIWELL and BABY CHRIS HALLIWELL. A bright smile shines on PIPER’s lips.)

PIPER: Hey! (She gets up.) I was wondering when you guys would be back. (She and LEO kiss and then PIPER bends down to inspect the Twins.)

LEO: We were going to come straight home after our Daddy & Me class, but I got called by one of my charges.

PIPER: (worriedly) And you took the Twins?

LEO: It wasn’t anything dangerous; he just needed my advice about something.

(PIPER scoops BABY MELINDA out of the stroller and bounces the child on her hip.)

PIPER: Oh. (She strokes BABY MELINDA's silky brown hair as LEO unbuckles BABY CHRIS and takes him out of the stroller.) Well, it still would’ve been nice if you’d told me. (LEO sighs. PIPER frowns a little, but hides it by looking at BABY MELINDA.) So, how did your class go?

(LEO grins as he holds BABY CHRIS in the air. BABY CHRIS lets out a loud giggle.)

LEO: It went great, didn’t it Chris? (BABY CHRIS giggles again. PIPER smiles in spite of herself.) It’s too bad we they don’t have a coed class, because I think they’d like it if both of us went with them.

PIPER: It’s funny that you mention that; Wendy was just mentioning to me the other day how some of the parents were thinking of forming a petition group in order to get a Parents & Me class up and running. (She nods.) I’ll have to mention to her that we’re interested.

[Scene: Manor. Paige’s bedroom. PHOEBE pokes her head in to find PAIGE cozying herself up on her bed. Her hair is wet and she’s wearing a spaghetti strap night shirt, revealing the darkening bruise on her shoulder. PHOEBE winces as she walks in, carrying an ice pack.]

PHOEBE: Are you sure you don’t want to call Leo? (She hands PAIGE the ice pack and the latter rests it on her bruised shoulder.)

PAIGE: It wasn’t exactly a demonically inflicted wound, Pheebs.

PHOEBE: You know he’d heal it anyway,

PAIGE: I know, (she yawns) I just don’t want to trouble him. (She rests her head on her pillow.) If he happens to drop by, though, maybe I’ll ask him.

(PHOEBE shrugs.)

PHOEBE: If that’s what you want.

(PAIGE nods and yawns again. She looks up at her alarm clock.)

PAIGE: Just make sure to wake me up in time for dinner, okay? (She closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.)

[Time lapse. PRUE’s room is dark and her digital clock once again reads “10:00 P.M.” PRUE is sleeping in bed, but she is much more restless than the previous night.]

[Dream: PRUE is kicking up swirls of mist as she runs through a dreamy version of Golden Gate Park.]

LITTLE GIRL's VOICE: Mommy! (crying) Mommy, help me! Please, make them go away!

PRUE: (yelling) Where are you?!

LITTLE GIRL's VOICE: Mommy, please! They’re going to take me away!

(PRUE turns into a clearing and finds the LITTLE GIRL cowering on the ground with her head tucked under her arms as a pulsating mob of black creatures, almost like a swarming colony of ants, moves in around her. PRUE swings out her hand and the swarm is picked up and violently flung through the air. PRUE runs to the girl and drops to her knees as the LITTLE GIRL starts to cry.)

PRUE: It’s okay, shh, it’s alright, I won’t let anything happen to you. (She wraps her arms around the child and the LITTLE GIRL clings tightly to PRUE as she cries.)

LITTLE GIRL: (whispering) I’m scared, Mommy.

[Cut back to the present. PRUE wakes up, hugging her swollen belly. She’s breathing quickly as she looks around the dark room and sits up.]

PRUE: (yelling) Leo!

[Scene: Hawaii. Georgia Dunn’s house. Bathroom. MELINDA has elastic gloves on as she opens up the medicine cabinet, but finds it almost empty except for a bottle of eye drops and a tube of deodorant.]

CHRIS's VOICE: (telepathically) Did you really think an immortal would actually have medicine in the medicine cabinet?

MELINDA: (annoyed) Get out of my head.

CHRIS's VOICE: (telepathically) You can dish it but you can’t take it?

(MELINDA picks up a tube of toothpaste and examines it.)

CHRIS's VOICE: She probably doesn’t lick the tube, you know.

(MELINDA rolls her eyes and drops the tube on the counter.)

MELINDA: Who asked you? (She begins to open up the drawers.)

[Cut to Georgia’s bedroom. CHRIS is also wearing white gloves as he leans over GEORGIA’s pristinely made bed. He picks up one of the pillows, holds it to his face, then turns it over and puts it back. He begins to move around the bed.]

CHRIS: I still don’t see how this is going to get us anywhere. Even if by some miracle we were able to come up with a potion to neutralize Volac, testing it on something of Georgia is irrelevant. He was made from The Source and Georgia, which means he’s more powerful than her.

MELINDA's VOICE: (telepathically) Which is why whatever we come up with-

CHRIS: Which probably won’t be anything-

MELINDA's VOICE: (telepathically) Can you please stop with the pessimism? It’s not a potion ingredient we need.

CHRIS: I’m not being pessimistic, I’m being realistic.

[Cut back to the bathroom. MELINDA sits down on the toilet lid and grabs the waste basket. She tilts it one way then shakes it and turns it the opposite direction.]

MELINDA: Well, excuse me. (She rolls her eyes.) With you it all sounds the same. (She spots a clump of hair in the trash.) Aha! (She grabs the clump of hair and sets the waste basket down. She hops off the toilet and enters the hallway. At the end of the hallway, CHRIS walks out of the bedroom. MELINDA waves the hair clump at him.) I knew I’d find hairbrush leftovers if I looked long enough.

CHRIS: That’s disgusting. (He pinches his lips together in repulsion.)

MELINDA: True, but I’d rather deal with a clump of dead keratin instead of a decimated Grand Design, but that’s just me. (She reaches to grab her brother’s shoulder, but CHRIS grabs her wrist.)

CHRIS: You need to wash you hands.

MELINDA: They’re gloved!

CHRIS: (dryly) Doesn’t matter. (They orb out.)

[Scene: California. San Francisco. Manor. Prue’s bedroom. PRUE, LEO, and PHOEBE are there. PRUE is on her bed, dressed in cream silk pajamas, with her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach.]

PRUE: I know it wasn’t just a dream, Leo. It didn’t feel right. There was this sense of foreboding about it.

(PHOEBE shakes her head.)

PHOEBE: But I don’t get it, if this is more than just a bad dream, shouldn’t I be experiencing it? Premonitions are my specialty.

(LEO rubs his head.)

LEO: This seems like déjà vu to me. (He closes his eyes.) I think I remember Natalie once having a situation similar to this with one of her early charges.

PRUE: So, then I’m not just crazy?

(LEO shakes his head.)

LEO: I can’t be sure of anything right now, but let me go check with The Elders. (He nods.) I think your dreams could definitely be magically induced.

(LEO orbs out. PHOEBE pulls her legs up to her chest and wraps her arms around them.)

PHOEBE: How are you feeling?

PRUE: Shaky. (She leans her back against her headboard.) I know she’s in trouble, I can’t explain how, but I do…and what scares me is that I don’t know who is after her or why.

PHOEBE: Do you think it’s Lillith? (PRUE tilts her head to listen.) Maybe she’s somehow trying to psychically link to the baby and that’s why you’re getting visions?

(PRUE purses her lips in thought.)

PRUE: I’m not so sure about that. The dreams don’t seem like premonitions…not totally.

(PHOEBE folds her arms.)

PHOEBE: But you don’t know that.

(PRUE shakes her head stubbornly.)

PRUE: Phoebe, I’ve had your power before, I know how it works. Whatever these visions are, they aren’t of the future.

[Time lapse. PRUE and PHOEBE are sitting in the kitchen at the table. The tea kettle begins to yowl. PHOEBE walks over and lifts it off the stove.]

PHOEBE: Do you think we should wake Paige?

(PRUE shakes her head.)

PRUE: No need to wake her until we have to.

(PHOEBE begins pouring the steaming water into cups with chamomile tea bags. She sets the tea kettle down on the back burner and carries the mugs over to the table, where she hands one to PRUE and then sits down opposite her sister. As PRUE lifts the mug up and blows over the top of it to cool the tea down, LEO orbs in. PRUE and PHOEBE turn to him expectantly.)

PHOEBE: Do They know what’s wrong?

(LEO takes a seat next to PHOEBE.)

LEO: (to PRUE) They believe you’re having extremely rare natalpathic visions.

PHOEBE: Natalpathic visions?

LEO: In short, Prue and her unborn child are experiencing a psychic connection in which the child is transmitting distress calls telempathically and Prue is receiving them in the form of psychically tainted dreams.

PRUE: Are you saying my child is a telepath?

(LEO shakes his head.)

LEO: Telempathically means that you’re sharing a mixed telepathic and empathic connection. (PRUE and PHOEBE look confused. LEO sighs.) With normal mortal pregnancies, the mother and child are connected through the umbilical cord. They share vital, life sustaining fluids as well as a latent psychic bond. In magical pregnancies, the bond usually isn’t latent. In fact, it most often appears in the form of the child activating its powers to protect its mother when it senses her pain and danger or the mother (he motions to PRUE) being able to tap into the powers of her unborn child.

PHOEBE: But I still don’t get the whole visions thing.

LEO: I was getting to that. (pause) There have been extremely rare cases where the psychic bond is taken to an extreme level; in the past, this has only ever happened between very unique and powerful beings.

PHOEBE: I guess a Charmed One pretty much fills that category. But…why now?

LEO: Usually it’s provoked by extreme duress to either the mother or child, resulting in prophetic senses, tainted visions, or even full on premonitions. In Prue’s case, The Elders think that she’s experiencing the visions in the form of dreams which aren’t technically premonitions, but they have an underlying psychic warning from.

PHOEBE: You mean like the ones Cole sent me of The Queen?

LEO: Yes. (He eyes PRUE’s stomach.) The difference is that the baby is the one sending them.

(PRUE holds her stomach protectively.)

PRUE: My daughter is in duress right now? (She jumps up.) Well, what is it? (furiously) What’s after her then?

LEO: They don’t know. (He also stands up.) What, exactly, did you see in your dreams?

PRUE: She was calling to me, begging me for help…to save her. (She rubs her temples.) And then I found her, surrounding by this swarm of ant-like creatures.

(PHOEBE waves her hand.)

PHOEBE: You guys head to the Book, I’ll go wake Paige and we’ll meet you in the attic. (They all leave the kitchen.)

BREAK

[The Virtual Series]

Act Three

[Scene: Piper and Leo’s house. Kitchen. MELINDA is pinching her nose as she stands over the stove, stirring a pot of black liquid.]

MELINDA: (nasally) I really think this is going to work! I mean, it’s magic, you know? There’s always a way to vanquish somebody, you just need to be creative.

CHRIS: Oh yeah, because that line of thinking really got us far in the future.

MELINDA: (nasally) You know you wouldn’t be helping me unless you didn’t have at least a little bit of hope. (She turns down the heat on the burner.) We have a lot more resources here, Chris. Magical creatures that are extinct in the future, our knowledge, and of course…the Power of Three. I have faith.

(PIPER walks in, holding her nose.)

PIPER: (nasally) Do I smell burnt hair?

(MELINDA spins around, standing in front of her potion. She takes her hand away from her nose and smiles cheekily.)

MELINDA: No?

(PIPER narrows her eyes and pushes MELINDA out of the way of the stove.)

PIPER: What is this? (She looks at CHRIS.) What’s going on in here? Why do you two keep making all these potions?

CHRIS: Mom-

(PIPER places her hands on her hips.)

PIPER: Don’t you give me that tone! (She points to the table.) Sit! (Obediently, MELINDA and CHRIS sit down.) Now, why don’t you tell me what you’re up to? (She sits down with them.) I might be able to help, you know. I may not be Charmed, but I don’t think I’ve lost my knack for potion brewing.

[Scene: Manor. Attic. PAIGE is seated at the table looking tired as LEO stands behind her, healing her bruised shoulder. PHOEBE and PRUE are at the Book of Shadows.]

PHOEBE: (to LEO) But you said that Prue’s dreams are only symbols, right? I mean, what if this so-called swarm of demonic ants isn’t even real? What if it’s just meant to symbolize that an evil is after the baby?

PRUE: (angrily) Well, it sure did its job then.

PHOEBE: I still think we should consider the pretty big possibility that it’s Lillith.

LEO: We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, though, last time we did- (PHOEBE looks away. LEO bites his lip.) I didn’t mean-

PHOEBE: I know. (She exhales and then slaps PRUE’s hands away.) Let me take a look, perhaps a new set of eyes might help. (As she reaches for the Book, the back of her hand brushes across PRUE’s belly.)

[Premonition: A baby girl is lying in an incubator in the Bay General NICU. She’s waving her tiny arms and on her wrist is a band that reads, “Norton, I.” The baby is screaming at the top of her lungs, but nobody is around to hear her. Her stomach seems to bubble as if something is trying to escape from it. The baby exhales a wispy white mist swirls out of her mouth and nose. Her crying stops and her eyes turn to small black holes, then blink yellow and cat-like, before returning to their normal blue.]

[Cut back to the present. PHOEBE looks at PRUE with wide eyes.]

PHOEBE: We need to get the Bay General Neonatal Intensive Care Unit right now! (She heads for the door.)

LEO: It’s ten-thirty at night!

PHOEBE: Doesn’t matter, we’ve got an innocent there. (She disappears out the door. PRUE, PAIGE, and LEO get up to follow her.)

[Scene: Ava’s apartment. AVA is fast asleep in bed when her phone begins ringing. She groans and rolls over as it rings again. She pulls her pillow over her head as the phone rings three more times before the answering machine picks up.]

PHOEBE's VOICE: Ava, it’s Phoebe. We need you to get to the hospital right now. I just had a premonition and one of the babies in NICU is in grave demonic danger. Please, call me back as soon as you get this.

(AVA scrambles out of bed and grabs the phone.)

AVA: Phoebe? Hello? (The line is dead. She hurriedly dials PHOEBE’s cell number while simultaneously trying to grab for a pair of jeans that have been haphazardly thrown over the back of a chair.) It’s Ava…what’s going on?

[Scene: Piper and Leo’s house. Kitchen. PIPER and CHRIS are sitting at the table as MELINDA walks in with the cordless phone. She holds it out to her mother.]

MELINDA: It’s for you, it’s Aunt Paige.

(PIPER takes the phone.)

PIPER: Paige? (MELINDA sits down. PIPER’s face squeezes sourly.) Prue and the baby, are they okay? (pause) Well, do you want me to meet you there?

[Cut to inside Prue’s black BMW X5. PRUE is driving with PHOEBE in the passenger seat. PAIGE is in the backseat, on her cell phone.]

PAIGE: No, you stay there with the Twins. We’re not even quite sure what we’re up against yet. But we just wanted you to let you know. (pause) We also sent Leo Up There to ask The Elders about Phoebe’s premonition. (She covers the mouthpiece and leans forward to poke her head between her sisters’.) Do we want Piper to send the Twins as backup?

(PHOEBE shakes her head.)

PHOEBE: We’ve got the Power of Three…and Ava. She’s our ticket into Neonatal and once we’re there-

PAIGE: But we also don’t know what we’re up against.

PRUE: Ask Piper to ask the Twins if they know what this demon might be.

PAIGE: You know Chris isn’t that fond of sharing future knowledge.

PRUE: I. Don’t. Care. This is my daughter we’re talking about, Paige! Tell her to ask him.

(PAIGE nods and leans back into her seat. She uncovers the mouthpiece.)

PAIGE: Piper? (pause) Prue wants you to ask the Twins if they know anything about our demon. (pause) No, I already told her that. (pause) Alright, thanks. (She hangs up.) She’s going to call us back after she talks to them.

(From the front window, the sisters see the lit up Bay General sign comes into view. PRUE steps on the break, slowing down the car before making a sharp right turn into the hospital parking lot.)

[Cut to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Ear piercing crying can be heard. A nurse walks in, looking alarmed. She moves to one of the wailing infants and picks it up, but as she does, it starts to unnaturally twist its head. The nurse gasps as the baby’s eyes turn pitch black. She looks down at her hands and sees that they’ve turned crimson and large boils and blisters are forming on them as they burn. She screams as the same burning sensation runs up her arms, appears on her neck, and finally her face. Her screams echo above the cries of the newborns as the demonic infant is dropped from her hands back into its bed and the nurse falls to the ground, quite literally smoking. The black eyed infant coos contentedly as its eyes change to a serene blue. The crying babies around it don’t seem to faze the child.]

[Cut to the hospital entrance. AVA rushes in, attempting to pin on her nametag as she’s walking. She sees the Charmed Ones at the front desk and walks past them.]

AVA: Follow me! (The sisters hurry single file behind her as she bursts through the swinging doors, leading them towards the NICU.)

PAIGE: (to PHOEBE) Do you think the baby in your premonition could be a demon?

PHOEBE: Babies are innocent, Paige.

PAIGE: Well, demons have to start out somehow.

PHOEBE: (firmly) This is an innocent.

(AVA swipes her electronic ID badge through a scanner, opening up a pair of electronic doors. The sisters follow her inside and the doors close behind them. AVA jets around the corner and a sign in the hallway lists “NICU” with an arrow pointing straight ahead. The four women arrive at the end of the hallway and once again she swipes her security card and opens up the NICU door. As soon as the door opens, they stop cold in their tracks as the smell of barbequed human flesh permeates their nostrils. AVA sees the body of the nurse on the ground. PAIGE covers her mouth and nose.)

AVA: (gasping) Oh my god! (She runs over to the nurse and bends down, checking the woman’s neck for a pulse despite knowing she’s already dead.)

PAIGE: (to PHOEBE) Still think we’re dealing with an innocent?

PRUE: (snapping) Stop it! We have to focus on finding the child from Phoebe’s vision. (She eyes the room, full of incubators and tiny infants hooked to machines.) What was the name?

PHOEBE: Norton. The first initial was an “I.” (PRUE looks at the wristband on the infant she’s closest to. It reads, “Crumbwell, C.” PHOEBE shakes her head.) No, the baby I saw was in one of these.

(PHOEBE motions to the incubators. AVA rises from the dead nurse’s body. She, along with the sisters, spread out to the different incubators. The baby PHOEBE is looking at is “Hazelhurst, K.” She moves next incubator. AVA suddenly motions her hand.)

AVA: Over here! (She starts to open the incubator as the Charmed Ones crowd behind her. As she gets it open, the child’s stomach begins to bubble.)

PHOEBE: It’s starting!

MELINDA's VOICE: Get out of the way!

(The sisters and AVA turn to see MELINDA and LEO standing behind them. MELINDA forcefully waves her hands, pushing aside her aunts and AVA so she can reach the baby. She lays her hand over the infant and she, as well as the moving bubble under her skin, both freeze.)

AVA: (to MELINDA) Do you know what that is? (MELINDA stares at the frozen infant. She nods. AVA looks frustrated.) Well?!

MELINDA: Read her chart. (The sisters and AVA look confused.) Read it! Out loud, now!

(AVA pulls the baby girl’s chart from the side of the incubator and opens it.)

AVA: “India Norton, born Thursday, September eleventh, two-thousand-three, at four-fifteen A.M. to the parents of Liam and Savannah Norton. India was-”

PRUE: (interrupting) Did you say “Savannah”?

(AVA looks up from the chart.)

AVA: Yes, why? Does that mean some-

PRUE: I knew something was wrong when I saw her today! (She looks back at the tiny babe.) How early is she?

AVA: Six weeks.

(PRUE turns to MELINDA.)

PRUE: What are we dealing with here?

LEO: A Hiru.

PAIGE: A what-u?

LEO: A Hiru, it’s a race of creatures akin to magical leeches, who originated in ancient Japan.

PHOEBE: So, what is an ancient Japanese demon doing in modern day San Francisco?

LEO: A Hiru isn’t a demon, it’s just a creature that feeds on and possesses life forces whether good, evil, or neutral…and until now, The Elders believed them to be extinct.

PAIGE: Well, that’s a pretty big blunder on Their part if this is really what you say it is.

AVA: What makes Them believe this is a Hiru?

(LEO looks over at the body of the dead nurse.)

LEO: Hirus feed off of life forces in one of two ways. One, they devour their host’s life force from the inside and take over the body and two, they suck out a life force through physical touch, which literally burns out the victim’s body.

(PHOEBE flips her head back and forth between the nurse and the frozen baby, INDIA.)

PHOEBE: Wait, if that’s the first way… (She stares at the bubble protruding from INDIA’s stomach.) Then that means…that thing is inside of her right now? (LEO slowly nods. PHOEBE curls her fist.) How do we get it out?

(LEO doesn’t say anything.)

PRUE: You can’t be serious.

LEO: They attach themselves to their host’s body; you can’t just take it out.

PHOEBE: Leo, this is a baby we are talking about here! You should know how important those lives are; you have two of your own! (She motions emphatically to MELINDA.) There has to be another way.

LEO: None that They know of.

PHOEBE: Well, Them not knowing anything has never stopped us before. We will save this child! (to MELINDA) You’ll just have to keep her frozen until we can find a way.

(PAIGE eyes the burnt nurse warily.)

PAIGE: (to LEO) Is life force leeching their only ability?

LEO: I…think so, why?

PAIGE: I’m not so sure it’s safe to keep that - baby - with us if it can do that (she nods towards the nurse) to us.

PHOEBE: (to LEO) But didn’t you say that they do it through physical contact? (LEO nods.) So, if India was in the incubator, how did she do that to the nurse, who’s all the way over there? (She looks around for answers.)

AVA: Phoebe’s right. It doesn’t make sense unless they also have some sort of teleportive or telekinetic powers. (pause) And I also held her, yet I didn’t end up like that.

PAIGE: (worriedly) You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking…are you?

AVA: There’s another one in here. (She slowly turns around, surveying the neonatal infants.) Melinda, would you…

(MELINDA raises her hands, freezing the entire room. AVA walks over to the dead nurse and looks between the beds that the nurse has fallen between. She eyes the way the nurse’s head is facing - left. She peers over into the bed, staring at the frozen blue eyed infant within. She wiggles her hand towards PHOEBE, who walks over. PHOEBE closes her eyes as she bends down and briefly brushes her fingers over the nurse’s blistered hand. Her body jolts and her shoulders tighten before she opens her eyes again. PHOEBE rises to her feet and peers into the bed with the frozen blue eyed infant.)

PHOEBE: (quietly) It’s already taken her over…

BREAK

[The Virtual Series]

Act Four

[Scene: Bay General Hospital. Hallway. PRUE and LEO are following AVA down the hallway. AVA comes to a stop at room #400.]

AVA: Tilda Tyler. (She opens the door.) She’s been in a coma since- (She stops, shocked to see only an elderly man in the room. She turns around to see PRUE and LEO equally confused. AVA steps back outside and shuts the door.)

PRUE: Is this the wrong room?

(AVA checks her folder again.)

AVA: No, this should be it. (A male nurse is walking down the hallway. AVA grabs his arm.) Don, did you work this hall this morning?

DON: All week, actually. (He glances at PRUE and LEO and then back at AVA.) Why? Something wrong?

AVA: Do you know where Tilda Tyler was moved to?

DON: Tilda Tyler…

AVA: The woman in this (she motions her hand) room. She was in a coma.

DON: Oh… (He shifts his eyes.) I’m sorry, Ava, but she passed away this morning…complications from the birth, I heard. (AVA, LEO, and PRUE share worried looks. DON looks sympathetically at LEO and PRUE.) Was she a friend of yours?

LEO: She was just someone we were trying to help.

DON: Oh…I’m sorry. (There’s a pause, then he looks at AVA.) Is here anything else you need?

AVA: No, thanks.

(DON leaves.)

LEO: Who is the father listed as?

AVA: There is none. (She touches her hand to her forehead.)

LEO: This was probably a side effect of the baby’s possession. When the egg hatches-

PRUE & AVA: Egg?

LEO: The Hiru egg.

PRUE: You didn’t say anything about an egg earlier.

LEO: That’s the way they get inside their victims. The victim digests a Hiru egg and once inside the body, it hatches and grows until it’s big enough to drain a life force and take over its host body.

AVA: That must be why these things have chosen infants. Somewhere along the way, the mothers have ingested these eggs and they were sent to the fetus where they has hatched and lived off of the fetuses and their mothers until birth, and in this case, after the birth it stole the baby’s life force and took possession of the body.

PRUE: Okay, so if these Hiru creatures are ingested…where do we begin looking for them? You said they’re of Japanese origin, right? So (she shakes her head) do we just start with local Japanese restaurants?

LEO: Well, if we can’t talk to Tilda, maybe we should try talking to Savannah? Perhaps she could give us some hints as to where and what she’s eaten lately?

(AVA slips a second folder out from under TILDA’s and the name reads, “Norton, Savannah G.” She opens it and scans the papers.)

AVA: That would be a great idea if she wasn’t in a coma as well.

(PRUE shakes her head.)

PRUE: No…she was admitted just yesterday, right? (AVA nods.) What about Tilda?

(AVA checks TILDA’s file again.)

AVA: Three days ago.

PRUE: And they were both in comas and…Tilda died today…if the symptoms are the same that only gives us until tomorrow to save Savannah! (PRUE suddenly gasps and grasps her stomach. LEO grabs his sister-in-law to support her.)

LEO: What is it?

(PRUE winces.)

PRUE: Cramps. (She swallows painfully.) Really painful cramps!

LITTLE GIRL's VOICE: Mommy!

(PRUE looks around.)

PRUE: Did you hear that?

LEO: Hear what?

PRUE: It was her!

AVA: Who?

PRUE: My daughter! I heard her, she just cried out for me.

[Scene: Manor. Attic. A circle of crystals is surrounding the cart containing the possessed infant in the middle of the attic. In BABY MELINDA’s old bassinet next to PHOEBE, INDIA is lying frozen inside. PHOEBE slams the Book of Shadows closed. PAIGE jumps.]

PHOEBE: There’s nothing in here about these creatures!

PAIGE: Probably because none of our ancestors were frequent visitors of ancient Japan.

PHOEBE: Now is not the time to joke, Paige.

(MELINDA walks in with PHOEBE’s laptop.)

MELINDA: Good news, Mom just instant messaged me a URL for some information she pulled up online.

(MELINDA sits down at the table and clicks on the link in the instant messenger window. A separate window pops up and begins to load. PHOEBE walks up behind her and anxiously peers over her shoulder as the website comes up. MELINDA begins scrolling down as her eyes rapidly move across the page. PAIGE looks over her niece’s other shoulder.)

PAIGE: Oh look, “hiru” is Japanese for “leech,” no surprise there.

PHOEBE: This looks like a page of myths.

MELINDA: And myths generally tend to have root in some sort of reality. Besides, we’ve been deserted by the Book of Shadows, so this is as good a place as any to start.

PAIGE: Are you sure you don’t know more than you’re letting on? I mean…you wouldn’t intentionally withhold vital information from us, would you?

MELINDA: That’s Chris, not me. (Paige stares suspiciously.) Okay, look, when I asked Dad to orb me down there, I knew what was coming and that’s how I knew I needed to freeze her before the Hiru could steal her life force. But, I don’t know the details about the Hirus because, as you can know, I’m not even a year old in this timeline. Given that the Book doesn’t have an entry in the future, I really don’t know anymore about these things than you do…other than you did find a way to defeat them in the future.

PAIGE: Well, thanks for the tip, we’ll be sure to make an entry in the Book when this is all said and done.

PHOEBE: Wait, (she holds up her hand) stop! (She leans in to the laptop screen.) Look, “If the mother Hiru is killed, all of her un-hatched spawn are said to perish with her.” (She looks back at her sister and niece.)

PAIGE: Well, that would be great if we could actually find the mother.

(LEO and PRUE orb in. PRUE's clutching her stomach.)

PHOEBE: Prue! (LEO helps PRUE over to the sofa to sit down.) Oh my god, what’s wrong?

PRUE: I don’t know. (She’s clutching one hand to her head and one hand to her belly.) I just keep hearing her voice in my head, begging for me to help her…save her.

(PAIGE and PHOEBE look at each other.)

PAIGE: Do you think-

PHOEBE: Prue ingested the eggs too. (She takes PRUE’s hand.) Come on, you need to think. Where have you eaten anything Japanese lately?

(PRUE shakes her head.)

PAIGE: Maybe you went somewhere with Savannah?

(PRUE shakes her head again.)

PRUE: No, I barely knew her. (She winces.) I just met her that night.

(PHOEBE’s cell phone rings. PHOEBE pulls it out of her pocket and the screen reads “Ava.” She holds up her finger.)

PHOEBE: Ava?

[Cut to Ava. She’s at Bay General, sitting in front of a computer.]

AVA: I was looking over Tilda Tyler’s file and I found something interesting. I’m not sure if it’ll be useful but-

PHOEBE's VOICE: (urgently) Found what?

AVA: Like Savannah Norton, Tilda Tyler was also admitted due to early labor. Four weeks early, actually. (pause) It says here she was brought in by her sister who said she’d gone into labor on her way home from her yoga class-

[Cut to Phoebe. She looks at PRUE.]

PHOEBE: Yoga class? (PRUE lifts her eyes.) As in, prenatal yoga class?

AVA's VOICE: Yeah…is that significant?

PHOEBE: Yeah, actually, I think it is. Ava, I need to talk to Prue, I’ll call you back. (She hangs up.)

PRUE: What about the yoga class?

PHOEBE: Ava says the third victim also went it. I highly doubt that’s a coincidence.

PAIGE: Neither do I. It has to be someone in that class!

PRUE: No, (she swivels her head back and forth) it’s not…

PAIGE: How do you know?

PRUE: Because it’s not one of the people taking the class…it’s the instructor!

PAIGE & PHOEBE: What?

PRUE: She’s of Japanese descent. She’s the only one in the class of Japanese descent. (She raises her finger.) It was the fruit cups! (She starts to wave her hand.) Savannah couldn’t stop eating them the night I met her! She was downing them like candy. And I (she looks down at her stomach) oh my god, I ate part of one! (Her hands start to shake.) This is my fault, I put my daughter in danger! (She starts to stand up, but PHOEBE forces her to sit back down.)

PHOEBE: You and I both know that’s not true. (She sits down next to PRUE and flexes her fingers.) Just sit still.

MELINDA: Are you trying to summon a premonition?

PHOEBE: Right. (She lifts PRUE’s shirt just enough to reveal her belly and then places her hands over sister’s stomach. Nothing seems to happen at first, but then PHOEBE’s jaw clenches.)

[Premonition: PRUE is being wheeled down the hall of a hospital. AVA, PIPER, and a couple of nurses are around the bed as PRUE is screaming.]

[Cut back to the present.]

LEO: Did you see the Hiru?

PHOEBE: No, (she pulls her hands back) but I did see Prue going into early labor.

(MELINDA looks to the center of the attic, where the possessed baby is still trapped inside the crystal cage, in her hospital cart.)

MELINDA: What better way to find the mother than with the offspring?

PAIGE: You mean use her to scry with?

MELINDA: Exactly.

LEO: But you can’t touch her without getting scalded.

(MELINDA places her hands on her hips.)

MELINDA: Not if we use our powers.

(MELINDA moves to the Wicca chest and pulls out the scrying map and crystal and then walks over to the crystal cage. She lightly kicks away one of the crystals with her foot, deactivating the cage.)

PAIGE: Melinda!

MELINDA: Sorry, but I need access to her. (She peers into the cart at the frozen infant. Her face grows grim as she looks up.) Aunt Prue, levitate her out of the cart.

PRUE: She’ll unfreeze.

MELINDA: Just trust me. (PRUE raises her hand, telekinetically lifting the baby out of the cart. The infant unfreezes and begins to wail as she realizes she’s hovering in mid air, then her blue eyes turn black. MELINDA quickly wiggles her fingers and the baby begins to move in slow motion. MELINDA winks.) See, I knew what I was doing.

(MELINDA wraps the chain of the crystal around the infant’s hand, careful not to make skin to skin contact, and then holds the map up under the crystal. The crystal begins to spin rapidly before coming to a hard stop on the paper and literally ripping through it. MELINDA winces and attempts to smooth the hole.)

PAIGE: Nice going, Mel.

(PRUE makes a swift motion of her hand, returning the infant to the cart with the power of her mind. MELINDA smiles sheepishly as she takes the crystal and freezes the child again.)

MELINDA: You probably needed a new one anyway. (She steps away from the cart and nudges the crystal back into place before holding up the map.) Looks like your mother leech is-

PAIGE: At San Francisco Memorial.

(The Charmed Ones exchange looks. MELINDA winces.)

MELINDA: That can’t be a good thing.

(PAIGE holds out her hand to PHOEBE.)

PAIGE: Let’s go. (PRUE starts to get up. PAIGE raises her hand.) No, you stay here. We’ll deal with this.

PRUE: You might need the Power of Three.

PHOEBE: Prue, I just had a premonition of you going into early labor. I think we need to keep you away from the hospital for at least another couple of months. PAIGE and I will go and if we do need the Power of Three, we’ll come back and work something out. (She grabs PAIGE’s hand before PRUE can protest and they orb out.)

BREAK

[The Virtual Series]

Act Five

[Scene: San Francisco Memorial Hospital. PAIGE and PHOEBE walk around the corner. PHOEBE stops at a directory sign and locates “Nursery” with an arrow pointing to the left. They follow the sign until they come to a pair of doors, which require either an I.D. badge or a pass code. PAIGE and PHOEBE look at each other.]

PHOEBE: Can you orb us over?

(PAIGE glances up at the corner of the wall, where a security camera is stationed.)

PAIGE: Not unless you want to get us caught using magic.

(PHOEBE bites her lip.)

PHOEBE: I’ve got an idea. (She heads back down the way they came. PAIGE runs after her.)

PAIGE: Where are you-

PHOEBE: Stay behind me!

(PHOEBE keeps walking. PAIGE slows her pace, but keeps an eye on PHOEBE. PHOEBE turns the corner and PAIGE waits a moment and then turns as well. She sees PHOEBE a little ways down the corridor, heading in the direction of a nurse who’s walking the opposite direction. PHOEBE bumps into her and feigns shock. PAIGE squints her eyes confusedly.)

PAIGE: (mumbling) What are you doing?

PHOEBE: (to the nurse) Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! (She rolls her eyes.) I’m such a klutz. (She frowns.) You wouldn’t happen to know where the restrooms on this floor are, do you?

NURSE: Just go back that way, (she points in the direction PHOEBE came from) make a left and you should run right into them.

PHOEBE: Thank you so much! (She smiles and hurries off. PAIGE makes a quick turn back around the corner until PHOEBE catches up with her.)

PAIGE: What was that all about? (As they’re walking, PHOEBE discretely opens her palm, revealing the nurse’s I.D. card. PAIGE gawks.) You pick-

(PHOEBE slaps her hand over PAIGE’s mouth.)

PHOEBE: It’s an old trick from my high school days. (They make their way back to the doors leading to the Nursery.) And anyway, it’s an emergency. We’re just borrowing it, okay?

(PAIGE exhales loudly to emphasize her dislike of the idea. Meanwhile, PHOEBE walks up to the door and slides the nurse’s I.D. badge through. A green light comes on and the doors slowly open. PHOEBE walks through and impatiently motions for her hesitant sister to follow her. PAIGE glares but eventually walks through also.)

[Scene: Manor. Hallway. The sound of a toilet flushing can be heard and then the bathroom door opens and PRUE walks out. She rubs her stomach as she waddles down the hallway and makes her way up to the stairs and into the attic, where she finds PIPER and CHRIS. She stops in the doorway.]

PRUE: (shocked) Piper? (PIPER looks up from the Book of Shadows.) What are you doing here?

PIPER: Helping my sister, that’s what. (She points to the sofa.) I think you should be sitting down, Prue. You don’t look so good.

(PRUE wavers in the doorway.)

PRUE: They should’ve taken me with them. (Her eyes roll lazily in their sockets.)

PIPER: Prue… (She steps away from the Book of Shadows.)

PRUE: I wanna vanquish that bitch myself! (Her eyes roll back in her head and she falls to the ground.)

PIPER: (screaming) Prue! (She and CHRIS run over to PRUE. PIPER points to the door.) Go get your father!

[Scene: San Francisco Memorial Hospital. NICU. PHOEBE is about to swipe the card when PAIGE grabs her wrist.]

PAIGE: We can’t just barge in there.

PHOEBE: Why not? We’ve got innocents in trouble.

PAIGE: There’s going to be a nurse in there, maybe even parents, and people are going to question your authority to just walk in with a (quietly) stolen card.

PHOEBE: Then what’s your brilliant idea?

(PAIGE scoffs.)

PAIGE: This was a bad idea. We should’ve listened to Prue and just brought her.

PHOEBE: So she could be in labor right now?

PAIGE: No, so that we’d actually have a plan. (She throws up her hands in frustration.) We were in such a rush to vanquish this thing and keep Prue and the baby safe that we ran off half cocked. (She waves her hand in a semi-circle.) We don’t even have anything to vanquish her with because Prue’s the only one with offensive powers and even worse, we don’t even know where in the hospital she is!

[Scene: Bay General Hospital. PRUE is on a hospital bed, screaming. A couple of nurses along with AVA and PIPER are moving alongside her as they push the bed down the hallway. PRUE clutches her stomach and screams. Electricity sparks on her fingertips, but goes unnoticed by everyone because of all the commotion. The bed wheels by an open room with a person in scrubs standing in the doorway, faced into the room. As the bed wheels down the hall, the person turns around revealing herself as LILLITH. She watches as they wheel PRUE into the elevator at the end of the hall and she sneers as the doors close.]

LILLITH: I’ve worked on this project far too long to have some petty parasite leech it all away. (She strums her fingers on the doorframe and then presses her index fingers to her temples in concentration.)

[Cut to Phoebe. She’s in the middle of talking when suddenly she freezes up and the nurse’s I.D. card drops from her hand. She presses her hands painfully to her temples.]

[Premonition: The MOTHER HIRU, PRUE’s prenatal yoga instructor, is wearing a nurse’s uniform. She swipes a card on the door and it opens, allowing her entrance. She moves to a cart and picks up a small baby boy. The MOTHER HIRU’s eyes turn black and so do the eyes of the infant.]

[Cut back to the present. PHOEBE’s eyes flash open.]

PAIGE: Are you back? (PHOEBE vaguely nods.) Was that a premonition?

(PHOEBE turns and looks down the hallway.)

PHOEBE: We’re not in the right place.

PAIGE: What?

(PHOEBE grabs PAIGE’s hand.)

PHOEBE: We need to be in at the nursery. (She and PAIGE start running and then PHOEBE stops, pulling PAIGE to a halt. PAIGE jerks forward, almost falling.)

PAIGE: What the hell?

(PHOEBE digs her hands into her pockets and pulls them back empty. She turns and sees the nurse’s I.D. card on the ground. She runs back to the card, grabs it, and then returns to PAIGE.)

PHOEBE: Hurry!

[Scene: Bay General Hospital. Delivery room. PRUE is on the bed. Her face is red and sweaty. She’s still screaming while PIPER is trying to calm her down. She reaches out to grab PRUE’s hand.]

PIPERP: It’s going to be okay, Prue. I’m right here with you!

(PRUE yelps and suddenly PIPER shrieks and pulls her hand back, revealing an electrical burn on her palm. Her hair is becoming infused with static electricity and beginning to stick out at odd angles and the bed sheets, too, are beginning to crackle. AVA is trying to set up an IV, but PRUE is flailing in the bed.)

AVA: Prue, I need your arm!

LITTLE GIRL's VOICE: Mooommmy!

(PRUE clasps her hands to her head.)

PRUE: (screaming) I don’t know what to do!

(PRUE throws out her arm as another contraction hits, inadvertently causing a stray wisp of electricity, unnoticed by the nurses, to leave her hand and hit a heart monitor. The machine combusts, shocking the nurses into a frenzy. AVA points.)

AVA: Get that faulty machinery out of here now! (All but one of the nurses scramble to roll the machine out.) You! Go get me another IV of Ritodrine!

NURSE #2: But Dr. Nicolae-

AVA: Now!

NURSE #2: Yes, Doctor. (She hurries out, leaving only PIPER and AVA with PRUE.)

AVA: We don’t have much time until they get back. We need to start her on the Ritodrine before the contractions become too far along to stop! (The door slams shut and the clock on the wall flies across the room like a throwing star. AVA and PIPER duck as it crashes and shatters into the wall.) Piper, you need to do something, fast!

(PIPER clutches her fists.)

PIPER: “This child’s power is cause for alarm,
Electricity is wrecking harm,
To help the panic quell,
Remove the powers of this unborn Halliwell!”

(The electrical sparks from PRUE’s hands disappear, but she continues screaming. AVA quickly grabs her arm and inserts the IV as the door finally opens again, allowing two of the nurses back into the room.)

[Scene: San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Nursery. PHOEBE swipes the stolen nurse I.D. on the door and it opens. She and PAIGE burst in to find the MOTHER HIRU reaching into the cart for the baby.]

PHOEBE: Oh no you don’t!

(PAIGE orbs behind the MOTHER HIRU and tackles her to the ground as PHOEBE weaves her way through the carts. She looks in the cart to see the baby boy’s stumble beginning to move like INDIA’s did.)

PHOEBE: Paige, we need a vanquish!

(PAIGE and the MOTHER HIRU disappear in a swathe of orbs.)

PHOEBE: Paige? Paige!

[Cut to the black night skyline above the Golden Gate Bridge. Bright blue and white orbs bloom in mid air and the MOTHER HIRU falls out of the orb cloud, picking up speed as she flails towards the bay and in a matter of seconds she crashes into the dark water with a hard splash.]

[Cut to the nursery at San Francisco Memorial. PHOEBE is anxiously watching the baby boy. The movement underneath his skin ceases and he begins crying.]

[Cut to Prue in the delivery room at Bay General. Her breathing begins to level. AVA grins.]

AVA: The Ritodrine worked.

(PRUE places her hands to her stomach. PIPER soothing rubs PRUE’s shoulders.)

PIPER: (whispering) Lie back and relax.

(PRUE leans back into her pillow and closes her eyes. AVA heaves a sigh of relief.)

[Cut to the nursery at San Francisco Memorial. Paige orbs in next to PHOEBE. PHOEBE is cradling the baby boy in her arms, lulling him to sleep. She looks expectantly at PAIGE.]

PHOEBE: What did you do?

PAIGE: Suicide by orb over the bay.

PHOEBE: That’s all? No magic vanquish?

PAIGE: No, actually, I was thinking that if these things possess human bodies as their own, then human deaths of those human bodies would probably kill them. (She peers over at the baby boy in her sister’s arms.)

PHOEBE: That was a pretty big risk. What if that hadn’t been the way to vanquish her?

PAIGE: I had a gut feeling that I was right. (She nudges her sister with her elbow.) Aren’t we supposed to trust those?

PHOEBE: But still-

PAIGE: It worked, Phoebe. We saved them. Rejoice in that.

(PHOEBE looks back down at the infant in her arms. The baby’s sleeping. She allows herself a small smile.)

[Time lapse. MELINDA is in the attic. The crystal cage is still surrounding the cart with the possessed blue eyed girl and INDIA is still frozen inside BABY MELINDA’s old bassinet. CHRIS walks in with the cordless phone in hand.]

CHRIS: That was Grandpa, he wanted to know if he needed to babysit all night or if Mom and Dad were coming back soon. (He sets the phone on the table.)

MELINDA: What d’ya tell him?

CHRIS: (sarcastically) What do you think?

(MELINDA rolls her eyes.)

MELINDA: You didn’t tell him about Prue, did you?

CHRIS: I’m not you, Mel.

MELINDA: Good. (CHRIS gives her an odd look.) What? I’m just saying, there’s no use in worrying him.

(PAIGE and PHOEBE orb in.)

MELINDA: Oh good, you’re back! (She motions to the infants.) I was wondering if I was going to have to ice them again or not.

CHRIS: Did you vanquish it?

PAIGE: Yes, which means we need to get them back to the hospital pronto.

PHOEBE: (nodding) Ava wasn’t sure how long she could distract people from realizing that they’re nowhere in the hospital.

(MELINDA looks over her former bassinet and waves her arm, unfreezing INDIA. The bubbles under her skin disappear and INDIA begins to cry. MELINDA smiles and scoops INDIA out of the bassinet, rocking her lightly as she walks over to the crystal cage and kicks a crystal out of the way. She winks at the baby in the hospital cart, currently with void black eyes, and the infant unfreezes but doesn’t cry. MELINDA stares.)

MELINDA: We have a problem.

PAIGE & PHOEBE: What?

MELINDA: This one’s eyes are still black.

BREAK

[The Virtual Series]

Act Six

[Scene: Manor. Attic. PAIGE, PHOEBE, CHRIS, and MELINDA are there. MELINDA is standing beside the hospital cart containing the hiru possessed child while holding INDIA.]

PAIGE: What? (She moves to the cart and sees the child moving around, but her eyes are just black holes.) How can that be? We vanquished the mother-

PHOEBE: It already hatched.

PAIGE: What?

PHOEBE: The un-hatched babies were killed when the mother was, but the ones that had already taken possession of their host (she motions to the child in the cart) were not.

PAIGE: Then that means… (She shakes her head.) I’m not vanquishing a baby.

PHOEBE: No, we’re not. (She moves to the Book of Shadows.) We have to de-possess it.

(CHRIS and MELINDA look at each other.)

CHRIS: That’s not possible.

PHOEBE: You don’t know that.

CHRIS: If there was a way to de-possess it, you would’ve used it on the mother. There is none!

PAIGE: (angrily) We are (raising her voice) not vanquishing an infant, Chris!

PHOEBE: Paige. (She motions her hand.) Look at this. (PAIGE stares down at a page labeled “Exorcism” with a large black pentagram underneath it and a spell at the bottom.) We could reword this and say it as a Power of Three spell.

PAIGE: Good idea, (nodding) that has to have enough power to work.

(PHOEBE pulls a pen out of her pocket and scribbles the spell down on the palm of her hand in black ink. She then takes INDIA from MELINDA as PAIGE presses one hand to the side of the cart and the other to PHOEBE’s shoulder and orbs all four of them away.)

[Scene: Bay General Hospital. Room #333. PRUE is lying in bed while PIPER sits in the chair by her side, holding her sister’s hand. LEO walks in, holding two cups of coffee. PIPER looks up as LEO rounds the bed.]

LEO: I thought you could use this.

PIPER: Yes. (She holds out one hand, accepting the coffee, but keeps her other hand bound to PRUE's. She sips the coffee and clicks her tongue.) Hot.

LEO: Yeah. (He pulls up a chair and takes a seat next to his wife.)

PIPER: Thanks, though. (She sets the coffee aside.)

LEO: How’re they doing?

PIPER: Ava said they’re both doing great.

(LEO lifts his eyebrow.)

LEO: But?

PIPER: But after what happened tonight, she’s even more insistent that Prue has a home birth.

LEO: Couldn’t you just keep the baby’s powers at bay and avoid that?

PIPER: The spell was only temporary and if we go for a binding that would last the duration of the pregnancy, it would also end up binding PRUE's powers.

(PHOEBE, PAIGE, and AVA enter. PAIGE is pushing the cart with the hiru possessed infant. PIPER narrows her eyes.)

PIPER: What’s going on?

PHOEBE: We need Prue’s help.

PIPER: She’s resting.

PAIGE: Piper. (She motions to the cart. PIPER finally releases PRUE’s hand in order to find out what PAIGE is talking about. She gasps.)

PHOEBE: We need her to perform a Power of Three spell with us.

PIPER: Why didn’t the baby turn back? (She looks at AVA.) And what about India? Where is she?

AVA: India’s fine. She’s back in the NICU.

(PAIGE pushes the cart near PRUE’s bedside, keeping it roughly two feet away. She eyes PIPER. PIPER sighs and moves to PRUE’s side, lightly shaking her.)

PIPER: Prue? (PRUE stirs.) Prue, we need your help.

(PRUE groans as she awakens. Her eyes open to find a bleary image of PIPER staring back at her, which momentarily clears up.)

PRUE: Piper?

PIPER: Phoebe and Paige need you. (She nods in her younger sisters’ direction. PRUE turns her head.)

PHOEBE: We need you to recite a spell with us.

(AVA shuts the door. PHOEBE holds up her palm, revealing her spell.)

PIPER: Are you up for that?

PRUE: For what?

(PIPER points to the cart. PRUE instantly sits up. PAIGE takes PRUE’s hand and PHOEBE rounds the bed and takes PRUE’s other hand. She holds up her palm that she wrote the spell on.)

PHOEBE, PRUE, & PAIGE: “A Hiru hides,
Behind an innocent face,
These three witches’ magick,
Cast you out of this place.”

(A black mist swirls out of the mouth and nostrils of the infant and vanishes into the air. Her eyes return to a serene powder blue, but she’s now so still she appears to be under MELINDA’s freeze again. AVA anxiously reaches into the cart and picks up the child, but the baby doesn’t move. Her face falls as she presses the back of her hand above the infant’s mouth to feel for breath, then she checks for a pulse. Ava devastatingly shakes her head. PHOEBE drops PRUE’s hand.)

PHOEBE: No!

(AVA gently returns the child to the cart.)

AVA: I’ll deal with this.

(AVA opens the door and wheels the cart away. PHOEBE wipes her wet eyes. PIPER wraps her arms around her little sister.)

PIPER: I’m sorry.

[Time lapse. AVA is standing in the doorway of SAVANNAH’s hospital room. She’s smiling as she watches SAVANNAH, no longer in a coma, sitting up on her hospital bed with her newborn daughter, INDIA, in her arms, and her four-year-old, MARIE NORTON, sitting on the bed beside her, gazing at her new sister with a proud expression on her face. Standing behind his wife and daughters is also SAVANNAH’s husband, LIAM NORTON. They’re all laughing and smiling and simply happy that SAVANNAH and INDIA are happy and healthy.]

[Scene: Tae Kwon Dojo. PAIGE is once again dressed in her taekwondo outfit. She is standing barefoot on a blue mat, before a large punching bag. She gets into a fighting stance with her fists out, her feet a good distance apart, and her eyes focused on her target. She suddenly twists her torso and kicks off her back leg. She spins in the air and slams her foot into the punching bag before landing back on her feet while the punching bag is still swaying from the attack. She grins confidently and folds her arms.]

PAIGE: Now that is what you call a spin kick!

[Scene: San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Reception desk. PHOEBE is waiting in line. The man ahead of her walks away and she steps up to the desk with a polite smile on her face.]

RECEPTIONIST: Can I help you?

(PHOEBE holds out the I.D. card she pick pocketed from the nurse the day before.)

PHOEBE: I was heading to the bathroom when I found this. (The RECEPTIONIST takes it from her hand.) I figured one of your nurses is probably going crazy looking for it.

(The RECEPTIONIST nods as she slips it into a drawer at her desk.)

RECEPTIONIST: Yes, of course. Thank you so much for turning it in.

PHOEBE: Anything I can do to help. (She walks away.)

[Scene: Piper and Leo’s house. Kitchen. PIPER is wearing an apron as she stands in front of the stove, stirring a pot of oatmeal. On the back burner is a pan of sunny side up eggs frying in bacon grease and to her left on the counter is a freshly made plate of bacon. The oven timer goes off and she taps her spoon on the rim of the pot and sets the spoon aside on a miniature plate in exchange for her oven mitts. She opens the oven and pulls out a tray of freshly baked croissants which she sets on cooling racks and then takes off her mitts and heads down the hall.]

PIPER: (calling) Chris! Mel! (She knocks on the doors as she moves down the hallway.) Breakfast!

(When nobody comes out of the rooms, she knocks again and then opens up the door to MELINDA’s room. She finds it empty and frowns, then moves to CHRIS’s room and opens the door, also to discover it’s empty. As she shuts the door with a puzzled expression, LEO comes out of their bedroom at the end of the hallway. He’s wearing a familiar flannel shirt, pale blue jeans, and carrying his red and silver toolbox. He grins at his wife and pecks her on the lips.)

LEO: Smells delicious.

(PIPER eyes his toolbox.)

PIPER: New charge?

LEO: Yep. (They head back down the hall towards the kitchen.) Which is why I’m going to need one of your gourmet meals this morning. (They enter the kitchen.)

PIPER: Well, feel free to eat as much as you want, (she moves to the stove and turns down the heat on her oatmeal) you and I are the only ones doing so.

LEO: Where’re the kids?

(PIPER grabs a bowl from the table and begins to spoon oatmeal into it.)

PIPER: The little ones are in their playpen and the big ones are who knows where. (She pulls a package of brown sugar out of the cupboard and sprinkles some onto the oatmeal.) Probably still working on that mystery potion.

LEO: What mystery potion?

(PIPER sprinkles some cinnamon onto the oatmeal as LEO retrieves the gallon of milk from the refrigerator.)

PIPER: Oh, I don’t know, (LEO hands her the milk) I thought they were about to tell me yesterday, but then I got that call from Paige and everything with Prue sort of hit the fan and then this morning, poof! (She caps the gallon of milk and sets the bowl of oatmeal down at the table in front of LEO.)

LEO: Thank you. (He picks up his spoon and takes a bite as PIPER begins to butter one of her croissants.)

PIPER: Something about everything just doesn’t seem right.

LEO: That’s a simple way of saying something.

(PIPER half glares at him as she sets the croissant down on a mini plate for him. She pulls out a chair and sits down across from him.)

PIPER: What I mean is I’m really worried about them.

LEO: You’re their mother, I think that’s normal. (He winks. PIPER playfully slaps his arm.) Look, honey, they’re clearly adept individuals. Apparently we’ve done well in the future. (He smiles.) When they can, they’ll share things with us. That’s what they came back for, right? (PIPER nods.) So I wouldn’t dwell too much on what they’re doing if I were you. (He leans in and kisses her.) I’ve gotta go. (He grabs the croissant.) I’ll see later.

PIPER: Bye. (LEO orbs out. PIPER sighs and hangs her head.) I wish I could be that confident. (The sound of crying begins from the other room. PIPER looks up.) Mommy’s coming! (She leaves.)

[Scene: Manor. Attic. Five lit candles are arranged in a circle and PRUE is standing before them with a book titled “Home Birthing for Dummies” in her hand. A swirl of white spheres of light is dancing within the circle. She holds up the book.]

PRUE: Can you believe-

(To PRUE’s shock, PENNY HALLIWELL appears. She blinks.)

PRUE: Grams?

PENNY: Hello, Dear.

PRUE: No offense Grams, but the cosmic call was to Andy.

PENNY: I know. (She folds her transparent hands.)

PRUE: So, why are you here instead?

(PENNY sighs heavily.)

PENNY: I’m afraid there’s a problem.

PRUE: What problem?

PENNY: You and Andy.

(PRUE stares.)

PRUE: What about us?

PENNY: You’re summoning him too much.

PRUE: Too much?

PENNY: Every day, every morning. (PRUE looks away.) I know you miss him, Prudence, but the fact is, you are alive and he is not. You can’t just keep doing this, just calling him down all the time as if he were alive.

PRUE: (angrily) Why not? Isn’t that what this spell is for?

PENNY: For specific reasons, yes. But not just to shoot the magical breeze.

PRUE: So, what are you saying?

PENNY: I’m saying…that I’m sorry. (She shakes her head.) You’re in the world of the living and you need to act like it. (She shifts her eyes to the floor.) You and Andy…can’t happen anymore. I’m sorry. (Silence sits between them. PENNY bows her head.) I have to go.

(Another twister of white lights engulfs PENNY and she vanishes, leaving PRUE by herself to stare at the empty circle.)

[The Virtual Series]

End Credits

Co-Starring
Saemi Nakamura --- Mother Hiru
Alyson Sullivan --- Savannah Norton

Featuring
Dan Woren --- Don
Charlotte McDermott --- Marie Norton
Jack Guzman --- Liam Norton
Monica Louwerens --- Nurse
Kate Sheldon --- Nurse #2
Deborah Estelle Philips --- Nurse #3
Sandra McCoy --- Nurse #4

Production & Design
Daniel (Astral Echo) - Co-Casting Director
Camille (Fourever Charmed) - Co-Casting Director
Alex (Combustion) - Video Editor (Credits)
Alex (Combustion) - Set Designer