I TOLD YOU SO - CHRIS HALLIWELL

EIGHT

Sage sighed as she leaned her elbows onto the counter of the store. The only thing she could think about was going home and curling up in her pile of blankets and pillows. She enjoyed her job very much, but her bed was absolute heaven.

Sage worked at a little rundown bookstore called Aurelia's Nook. To be fair, it was a complete coincidence that the owner had the same first name as her. Mrs. Aurelia was actually a very sweet, old lady who just so happened to be a soothsayer which is why the shop was always filled with beautiful plants. The older woman spent her time maintaining her plants whenever she didn't have a customer that wasn't just there for the books.

Truthfully, not many mortals walked through the doors. If there was, Sage would normally be able to sense them immediately. They would typically browse the aisles of the small store before finding a book of interest and making their purchase before bidding the young woman a good day. But when Sage sensed that the customer wasn't a mortal, she would know where to guide them.

Mrs. Aurelia had a hidden room located behind a wall of hanging wisteria vines. It was the room that she always said "those who seek new beginnings will find." Sage's job, other than selling books, was to inform any supernatural beings like herself to open their hearts in order to find what they seek. The door to the hidden room would only open for those whom were ready to hear what Mrs. Aurelia would speak.

Sage had never been in the wisteria room. Ever. She had seen no reason to seek a new beginning. At least, not since she had gotten the job. If she had known of this place when she had first come into her powers, she was sure she'd have visited it before.

She sighed again as she flipped a page of the book that she had lying in front of her on the counter. Her eyes wondered over it aimlessly while her brain thought of her sweet bed. The door to the wisteria room opened and Mrs. Aurelia hobbled out. The older woman had a smile on her face as she glanced over Sage.

"Business is slow tonight. I think it's time you go home, dear." She smiled as she trotted over to the girl. Her voice quaked with age.

"Are you sure?" Sage questioned, despite the urge to want to run out the door and straight to her bed.

"Yes, I do believe that your family needs you a bit more than I." Mrs. Aurelia inquired with a mischievous grin. Sage gave the woman a nod and gathered her things before heading to the door. The older woman stopped her when her fingers wrapped around the knob. "And remember, dear, Christopher believes every word you say. I think that will come in handy for you tonight and the future."

Sage furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before bidding the woman a good night. On her drive home, she couldn't help but question what the woman had meant. She tried to stop her mind from spiraling. One thing that always gave her a headache was trying to understand the future. And that was something that Mrs. Aurelia knew. The woman truly knew everything.

She was thankful that the store wasn't too far from home and sighed in relief when she threw the door open. "I'm home!" She called out as she always did when she entered the manor.

"Sage! We need you!" Phoebe's voice echoed through the manor causing Sage to drop her things on the table next to the door and run through the house to where her friend's voice had come from.

Just as she turned the corner into the conservatory, Chris orbed in right in front of her causing her to run into his back. She let out of huff of air when her chest collided with him and frowned up at him. He did the same to her before glancing over to the sisters. "You wouldn't happen to know any gremlins, would you?"

"Uh, it's about time." A redhead in front of the two exclaimed with an attitude.

Sage grabbed Chris's arms and moved him to the side by just a step so that she could get a look at the three women who stood in the room with them and the sisters. Sage raised an eyebrow at them when the one with a pixie cut spoke up, "Sage, Chris, thank god. Look at them, look at them, they're impostors. They stole..."