C.C. McKenna

BLOOD ON THE FIELD

Chapter one

The Comeback

"Ladies and gentlemen, both teams have played the two official 45-minute periods. And finished tied up at 3 goals per team. As you can see, right now we are about to find out which team will hold the West Coast Conference Soccer League Championship Title; The Dons from the University of San Francisco or the Waves from Pepperdine. Each team has a chance to kick five penalties. Pepperdine has kicked 5 times but missed one penalty kick, so that gives them a total of 7 goals. USF has kicked only four times; also has 7 goals, but The Dons are now ready to kick their last penalty shot. Phoebe Halliwell is preparing herself to kick. If USF scores, they will automatically win; if she misses, we will have to enjoy another round of 5 kickers per each team. Here she comes ladies and gentlemen; Phoebe Halliwell takes a few steps back and stares at the goalkeeper; the goalie yells a few nasty words at her but she nods without taking her eyes away from the nervous keeper's gaze. Phoebe Halliwell takes a couple of extra steps back and shoots. She scores! Ladies and gentlemen, the ball is inside the goal! Goal!.........GOAL...GOOOOAAAAL!!! U.S.F. wins!! USF WINS!"

Suddenly, Phoebe Halliwell was surrounded by all of her teammates, some danced, some screamed and some of them raised Phoebe on their shoulders. Phoebe couldn't help to stare at the crying girl who was kneeling on the green grass; she was covering her face with both hands while the ball slowly bounced inside the goal line. She felt sorry for that girl, but she was happy for her team. She shook her head and went back to the celebration. Piper and Prue roared and shouted joyfully from the stands; they were extremely proud of their sister. Piper raised her hand up high and Prue gave her a "high five slap" Both sisters smiled widely, enjoying her sister's moment of glory.

The celebration continued while the father of the crying goalie slowly approached his daughter and hugged her understandingly, at least that's what everybody thought; After a few seconds he wiped away a few tears from his daughter's face and slowly turned around to see the happy winning team. He released his sobbing daughter and walked slowly towards the cheery girls, pulled out a gun, and started shooting unemotionally to the joyful girls. Suddenly the soccer field was turned into a living nightmare; a few girls fell on the lawn, their white uniform tainted red, while a few others ran for their precious lives. Screams and fear were heard and sensed in the air. Everybody ran without knowing where to hide, they just bumped into each other's alarmed, frightened faces; And pushed themselves through the overcrowded halls. They were terrified.

Prue and Piper held each other's eyes for a second and quickly jumped inside the field. They ran fretfully to the mad fanatical father and lunged themselves on his chest, knocking the gun away from his hand without using any kind of power. The man fell hard on his back and Prue quickly moved the gun away from him with her telekinetic eyes; she quickly turned around to look him and kicked him harshly on the jaw; sending him immediately into a heavy slumber. "Where's Phoebe?" Prue shouted to the air while she hastily searched around for her baby sister. "PHOEBE!" she kept searching; suddenly her world started spinning around when she saw Piper kneeling down beside the limp body of the youngest Halliwell. Her head completely covered with blood; her white uniform soaked in the precious red-hot liquid of her baby sister. Prue stumbled and fell on her knees.

"NO!" Phoebe kicked away her bed sheets and stumbled out of bed. She fell on her knees, completely unaware of her surroundings. She grabbed her bed and pushed herself up. A few tears started trickling down her cheeks but she wiped them dry with the back of her hand, hardly paying any attention to them. "Not again" She slammed her hand on the bed. "When are these stupid nightmares going to stop?" She carefully walked to the door and headed for the bathroom. She didn't turn on the lights; there was no need for that anyway, her eyes were still empty. She carefully entered the bathroom and silently turned on the faucet. The room was quiet; not a sound could be heard, except for the sound of the running water. She bent her head and put a little pressure on the bridge of her nose, just between her eyebrows. She closed her eyes tightly, splashed some cold water on her sweaty hot face, and relaxed for a minute before she cautiously returned to bed. "Oh God, I can't believe it; It's been more than 8 months, EIGHT MONTHS! Since that stupid incident and here I am, still having these dumb nightmares as if I were a 5 year old kid" She slowly leaned back on her pillows and rubbed her empty, void eyes. She released the air of her chest and stared blankly at the ceiling. "I'm just glad Piper and Prue didn't hear my scream, or I would have been feeling guilty all day tomorrow if they had decided to stay beside my bed tonight, monitoring and watching over my dream." She shook her head and shut her eyes, trying very hard to go back to sleep.

-o-

"Come on Phoebe, I promise it'll be ok" Prue grabbed her purse, tossed it over her shoulder and waited impatiently for an answer. Staring at her baby sister, she tapped her foot on the floor and glanced at her wristwatch. "Phoebe?"

"I don't know Prue" Phoebe slowly got up from the sofa and stared blankly at the wall. "I'm very nervous"

"But you'll be among friends, and...And...you can always stay home tomorrow if you still can't...I mean, if,..If you...."

"If I still can't see...say it" She smiled weakly. "You've been asking me to take this one day at a time, and that maybe tomorrow my sight will be back" She shook her head and sighed. "But we know this is not going to happen"

"Phoebe!"

"What? She turned to where she thought her sister would be but spoke to an empty space. "I know" - "You know" - "We all know that I'm right; It's been more than eight months Prue! What do you want me to think? I'm staying blind forever! I won't get my sight back, not now, not ever!" She kept yelling to an empty spot.

Prue silently approached her baby sister and stood in front of her. "No missy, you are wrong; you are getting your sight back, just wait and see"

"Yeah, wait and see, wait and see; I wish I could! That's what I've been trying to tell you all along, ..... I mean, ,,,,,,, oh, forget it!"

Prue lowered her head and quickly raised it back to meet her sister's sad eyes, and to try to fix up her own thoughtless words. "Phoebe, honey, I didn't mean to upset you; what I really wanted to say is,...is that.."

"I know," Phoebe sighed deeply. "Believe me, I really know Prue" She tightened her lips and nodded. "And maybe you're right; it's been quite a while since I lost my sight, and frankly I don't think I'm ever going to get it back" She smiled again but this time a little bit of resignation was finally displayed upon her face.

"Phoebe; I didn't, ...You...."

"Let me finish Prue" Phoebe cut her sister's words off. And please, let's be a little bit more realistic about this, shall we?" She forced a small weak smile. "I know how you want me to act; You want me to be optimistic; and to tell you the truth, I think you are right,.... but I can't; This is just beyond me; I can't control my feelings, I wish I could, but I can't" She took a deep breath before bending down her head. "But I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself; So, once again you are right Prue, I think it's time for me to move forward; I might as well grab the bull by the horns, right?" She raised her head and walked slowly towards her sister; stretching out her hand to get a hold of her. "Can you hand me my folding cane please?" She sighed before releasing her last words. "I'm going to school!"

"What?! Prue was shocked with her sister's little speech.

"Don't make me think twice about it!" Phoebe warned her.

Prue was ready to give Phoebe a lecture about hope and courage but Piper entered the room and motioned her hand to hush her. Prue nodded and sat on the sofa for a while to allow Piper to speak freely to their baby sister.

"Here" Piper unfolded the stick and placed it on her baby sister's hand. "Are you sure you are ready for this sweetie?" Piper folded her arm, grabbed Phoebe's, and gently placed it underneath hers.

"No, I don't think I'm ever going to be ready to accept my blindness; but I'm willing to give it a try" She smiled nervously and scratched her temple. "Come on, walk me to Prue's car before I change my mind"

Piper shrugged as she glimpsed at Prue; A little mixture of surprise and concern revealed within her eyes. Prue smiled triumphantly; she was proud of her younger sister; very proud indeed.

-o-

"I said no Prue! , please... I can perfectly go by myself" Phoebe opened the car's door, put on her sunglasses, and skillfully unfolded the cane with one single stroke.

"But !..." Prue's apprehensive mode was quickly turned on.

"Stay!" Phoebe threatened her big sister with the stick. "If you move, I'll smack it on your head; and I'm not kidding Prue Halliwell!"

"Prue smiled; she wanted to insist, but the determination in her sister's voice was very convincing. After a short moment she decided that it was best for her to keep her mouth shut; so she smiled again and bit her lower lip to avoid any kind of argument "Ok,..ok, I'll stay, but be careful honey....just be careful"

"I will, don't worry" Phoebe got off the car and was barely able to get the door closed, so she pushed it again with her butt. Prue smiled and shook her head, acknowledging the distinctive technique of her sister. Phoebe started walking slowly, being extra careful because she knew her big sister was staring at her like a hawk. Prue waited patiently for Phoebe to get inside the building and as soon as she saw her disappear from her sight range, she stepped on the gas pedal and drove her shiny black convertible, a beautiful Miata, away from campus.

Tbc