Third Time Charmed

Charmed Again (Part 5)

His patience growing thin, the Source materialized in a fiery display to check on his oracle's progress. "Anything?" he asked at once.

The Oracle, still coiled around her smoke-filled crystal ball, looked up from it. "Unfortunately, since the last attack, Belthazor has been very elusive," she answered.

"Leave Belthazor to the bounty hunters," he instructed. "What about the other?"

The Oracle waved her hand over her crystal ball, and a pouty grin stretched across her attractive face. "Herfuture's becoming much clearer," she said, "and it appears...short-lived." The cloudy contents of the crystal ball morphed into the image of a dancing woman.

***

At P3, a nightclub she had been frequenting for some time now, Paige danced along to a pretty decent band with her newest beau, Shane. Cute and funny, with perfectly sculpted brown hair that probably took more time than hers did, not to mention a great dancer and snappy dresser, he was shaping up to be a promising prospect.

When the song ended, the crowd cheered, then Paige and Shane drifted over to their table. Wearing a sleeveless burgundy dress and tan Go-go boots, Paige looked distracted as they took their seats.

"You alright?" Shane asked, noticing a change from the girl's usual bubbly disposition.

"Me? Yeah, why?"

"Well, you seem...a little quieter than usual. That's all."

"What makes you think I'm not like this all of the time?" Paige challenged.

"Well, we've been dating for a month now. So, I think I'd know," he said, flagging down a passing waitress. "Uh, hey, can we get a couple of long necks?"

"Make mine a mineral water, please?" Paige corrected. "So much for how well you know me, cowboy. I don't drink. I used to have kind of a problem with liquids. A lot of problems, actually, but that's all behind me."

Looking apologetic, Shane asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else.

"No, no, no, I like it here," she insisted. "Gosh, I should. I've been coming to P3 for the last year or so, on and off. I mean, ever since that...."

"Ever since what?"

"Oh, never mind. It's boring," said Paige, but she changed her mind upon seeing the genuine interest on the boy's face. "All right, but if I tell you all about Paige, and you use it against me, I will get out my voodoo doll and make you sorry you're a man."

Shane smiled.

"So, my sad story is that I'm adopted, only it's not so sad because I loved my parents, God rest. So, after they died, I went searching for my birth mother, hoping to get some answers. I went to the police, found the church I got dumped at... I checked around. I figured she must've lived near here, you know? They even thought I might've been related to the Halliwell sisters for a minute, but their mom died a long time ago, so I gave up on that."

"Well, did you ever meet the sisters, ask them about it, or...?" Shane enquired.

"Yeah, right," Paige guffawed as she absentmindedly doodled on a napkin. "'Hi! I think your mom might've abandoned me at birth. What's for dinner?' No, I don't think so."

The waitress returned at that moment, giving Paige a much-needed reprieve from this conversation. "Here you are," she said, placing their drinks down as they thanked her.

Still interested in Paige's story, Shane prodded, "That still doesn't explain why you keep coming here."

Paige took a sip of her water before elaborating, "Well, one of the sisters owns it, so...I don't know... I guess I just kind of feel...connected somehow? That's why I went to the funeral today. I just felt like I had to. Okay. I sound certifiably insane. Good job, Paige. Way to go."