Chapter One
Screams in the Night
The music thumped up through the very floorboards of the club, the incessant pounding of hard, hip hop bass. Above the private underground rooms, scores of mortals danced to the beat, unaware of what lay below them. Six Darklighters and three Warlocks kept vigilant watch over their prisoner, whose golden eyes were swollen shut from a recent beating. Soft, shimmery skin seemed one big bruise as opposed to many, and hair the color of sunshine, was matted with blood. "Never knew they could bleed." One of the darklighters laughed crudely.
"They have to on the material plane, lest they arouse suspicion." Another responded.
"How much longer do we gotta stay here, Rix. This noise is really irksome." A pugy warlock whined. "I want this to be done so we can get our powers and go home."
The one addressed as Rix, turned to him. "Don't you ever shut up? That thing has been in captivity for a thousand years already. We're only the last shift to watch over it. If we can keep it away until the next Harvest moon, we'll be done. You can stick it out for another month, Trellan."
The darklighters snickered. "How do you think we feel? Some of us have been on this detail for a century at a time." One of them said, going over to the prisoner. He ran a hand over the angular features. One of the eyes opens just slightly. The darklighter, too busy making lewd comments to his buddies, fails to notice. That is until, a mouthful of teeth take on a large amount of his hand, and win. Howling, he jerks back, knocking a pair of headphones from the figures head. One of the others, spring forward to replace them quickly, but not quick enough, the prisoner was ready. A high-pitched shriek emits from the slender form. Knowing much pain will follow this little spark of defiance, the captive's mind races to make this worth it, and hopes silently that someone will hear the plea for help.
Across town, the Halliwell manor is quiet. Phoebe, Paige, Piper, Leo, Wyatt, and baby Chris sleep soundly. Leo holds Piper close to him, her soft breath on his chest had lulled him into a deep sleep. Wyatt and Chris had been sleping soundly all night, and everyone was getting a much-deserved rest. That is until the pain-wracked cry woke him. The sheer horror behind it made him sit bolt upright, suddenly drenched in a cold sweat. Piper, awoken not by the scream, but by Leo's reaction, turned on a lamp. "Leo, what the hell are you doing?" Seeing his reaction, she changed to worry. "What's wrong?" She didn't get much further, a cry from Paige, then the screams of her children caught her attention. Phoebe came rushing in, adrenaline making her fully awake.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. Leo just sat up from sleep, and then Paige and the babies." Piper held Leo close. "Can you go see of you can calm Wyatt and Chris?"
"Aunt Phoebe's on it." She rushed from the room. The two children were screaming loudly, leaving Piper torn between who to care for first. Finally, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Leo visibly relaxed.
"Go check on Paige and the kids, I'll be alright now, it's stopped." Needing no other words, Piper went into her children's room. Phoebe was cradling Chris, who had calmed considerably. Piper went to Wyatt and scooped him up. "We need to go see if Paige is alright." They padded barefoot down the hallway to Paige's room. "Paige?" Piper called, knocking on the door. "Paige are you alright?" The door pushed open easily. Paige was on the floor, white as a sheet, holding her head, fingers rubbing at her temples.
"What the hell happened?" she asked groggily.
"We don't know, honey." Phoebe replied. "Do you think you can stand?" Paige nodded and shakily got to her feet. Supported between her sisters, they made their way back to Piper and Leo's room.
Leo was up and standing with his arms crossed, deep in thought. "Leo, what the hell is going on? What happened to you?" Piper asked, handing him Wyatt, while taking Chris from Phoebe.
Holding his son, he frowned. "I think I know, but, the occurrances are very rare. So I can't be sure." He sat on the edge of the bed. "Did either of you hear anything?" He looks between his wife and Phoebe. Both shake their heads no. "Paige? What did you hear and feel?"
She sinks into a comfy chair, still white as a sheet. "It was like a scream, but I felt it more than heard it. Almost like my body heard it rather than my ears."
Leo nodded throughout her statements. "It was the same with me. Most likely with Wyatt and Chris too, causing them to cry out along with it. If it is what I think it is, we have a big problem."
"Then get to the point so we can figure out what to do. Don't just keep avoiding the subject!" Piper cried, exasperated with her husband.
"It's called the Scream of the Seraphim, or an angelic cry for help. Only whitelighters, and those of whitelighter blood can hear it." He frowned again.
"Angelic cry for help? So does tha mean a whitelighter is in trouble?" Phoebe asked.
Leo shook his head. "Not a whitelighter. It would have to be one of the higher beings, what are pictured in churches and such as divine beings."
"Do you mean that came from an angel?" Paige seemed shocked. "Angels are real...?"
"Demons are, so why not angels? After all aren't whitelighters a form of angel?"
Paige nodded slowly. "I guess you have a point there. So what do we need to do?"
He shrugged helplessly. "I'm not really sure. This have never happened before, at least since the records were made." He got up and took a now sleeping Wyatt back to his bed, Piper following with Chris. They closed the door a ways, so their voices wouldn't wake them again.
"Look," Phoebe said with a yawn. "let's try and get some sleep. We'll be better to deal with this fresh in the morning." They all agreed and retired back to their own beds. The sisters fell asleep easily, but Leo remained awake until dawn, lost in thought.