Running down the dark alley, the dark figure breathed deeply, slamming his feet on the pavement as he ran for his life. Jumping over trashcans and dodging chained dogs, he comes to a wooden fence and climbs over it; His bloody hands staining the satin wood as he grabbed the top and dropped to the other side. Scurrying away, he ran across the yard towards a large house occupying the property.
Searching for a place to hide, he sees a basement window. Looking inside for any signs of movement or people in the basement, he grabs the window and opens it. Sliding his way through the window he falls to the cement floor with a thud. He winces in pain as his soar bloody hand slam onto the floor. He cradles them, kicking his way into a dark corner.
"Paige! Would you mind checking the water main? I think it might have shut off or something" Piper Halliwell called too her younger sister. Life in the manor had taken a dive when things were not working so great. Right now, the sink would spout water and piper really wanted to make some tea.
"Yeah hold your horses women, I'm coming as fast as I can" Paige called as she walked into the kitchen. Her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail with two long strands on either side framed her face. "What do you need again?" she said checking herself in a compact mirror.
"Can you check the water main for me please? I can't leave Wyatt and Chris up here alone" She said holding a towel and pointing to her two sons. They were both in high chairs apparently it was the zoo animals feeding time. Paige smiled and put away her mirror.
"Yeah just give me a second, I gotta find a flashlight" she said as she walked into the laundry room. The washer was on the fritz again, as well as the showers. She was dying to use her lupa. At last finding one, she walks to the basement door and flickers on the light. Slowly walking down the stairs, she shined it onto the floor.
She made her way over to the water main, the dial had fallen all the way to off. "Great, just great" Sighing she grabs the wrench underneath and clamps it to the dial, and pulls with all of her might until it reaches the other side. A dull sound of water returning to the pipes made her jump as it surged up the inside of the brick pillar and through the maze of piping in the manor.
As she turned around, she shined the light into a corner and for a split second though she saw someone move. "Hello?" she called out into the basement. She waved the light around the walls, over boxes of Christmas decorations and old junk of furniture. Just as she was ready to give up, something fell over behind her and she swung around and the light of the flashlight fell on a figure huddled in the corner. "Hello?!" She said again.
The figure was small, and huddled in the corner. He or she was covering their face as though not wanting to be in the light. "Who are you?" Paige said standing her ground, still shining the light on the person. They looked up from under their arm and she could see it was a young boy. He looked up at her, his long blonde hair in his face, matted from running and sweat. He was shaking, scared to death of something. Paige inched forward, "Hey, its ok, I'm not going to hurt you."
The boy darted into another corner to hide but all he could do was keep his back to her. Paige watched his body shake in terror. She continued forward till she was just a few feet away. "Hey, are you ok?" she asked kneeling down. He looked at her confused.
"I wasn't stealing anything I swear" he said quickly. Paige looked at him confused and concerned.
"I didn't think you were going too" Paige replied to him. Just then the basement door opened and Piper started walking downstairs.
"Paige, what are you still doing down here?" She said as she reached the floor she looked at Paige and saw the young boy in the corner. "Who is that?" she asked Paige cautiously looking at him in the corner. The boy looked from Piper to Paige and then hid his face again, still shaking.
Paige stood up and walked over to her. "I think he's a runway. The window is open over there, and he's scared to death of something. Whatever you do don't scare him" Paige walked back over to the boy in the corner. "Hey, my name is Paige and this is my sister Piper" she said crouched down to his level.
He just looked at them, wondering whether or not he should trust them. Piper on the other hand came over and knelt down as well.
"Hey, it's ok. We are not going to hurt you, we just want to help" She said looking into his blue eyes.
He slowly uncovers his face and looks at them, hiding his bloody hand from them.
"What's your name?" Paige asked him in concern, but smiling at the same time.
He hesitated and finally answered her. "Joey, my name is Joey" he said still hiding his hand from sight.
Paige looked at Piper and then back to Joey. "What are you doing down here Joey? Shouldn't you be home in bed?" she asked.
"I don't have a home to go back to" he said not looking at her. Tears had welted his eyes and his shaking was now down to jitters.
Piper stood up. "Well, is there anyone we can call? Your Mom perhaps?"
"I DON'T HAVE ANYONE LEFT OKAY!" he screamed at her, the tears returning to his face. Paige jumped backward and Piper stood her ground.
"What do you mean? Did you and your family have some sort of fight? I am sure they are worried about you" she said, trying to keep him calm.
"Look, I said I don't have anyone left in my life. They are all dead" he was choking up on his words, the tears were affecting his speech as he tried to get it through to them that he really had no where to go.
Piper's mouth dropped a little from shock, Paige couldn't help but shed a tear. How was she going to help this poor kid out? She stood up next to Piper.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up ok?" she said holding out her hand. Joey looked at it, unsure of whether or not to trust her. Finally grabbing hold of it he stands up and follows her to the kitchen, Piper behind them. He squinted his eyes in the light of the kitchen, having been outside in the dark and in the darkness of the basement.
Paige could clearly see him now. His face was smothered with dirt, his mid length blonde hair was bit matted, and he was covered in dust from the basement. She grabbed a wash cloth and soaked it up with hot water and rang it out and handed it to him. He reached for it with his bloody hand.
"Oh my god what happened to your hand?" she cried, causing Joey to jump and making him send an energy bolt at the phone. The phone exploded in a loud snap crackle and pop. Paige jumped a mile high, Piper stood frozen in shock in the doorway of the basement. Joeys face went from calm to scared again as he ducked under the table out of sight.
Paige took a deep breath and knealt down under the table.
"I am so sorry, I am just really jumpy right now" Joey said huddled under the table. Paige reached out and touched his shoulder.
"Don't worry its okay. We have accidents like that all the time. That's a scratch compared to what goes on here" she smiled. Joey looked at her and then followed her back out from under the table. "Lets fix that hand of yours okay?" she went to the sink and grabbed the first aid kit. It was jam pack full of bandages and ointment.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to go and put Wyatt and Chris to bed" Piper said picking them up and walking out of the kitchen. She made her way upstairs to the bedroom. Just then the front door opened and Phoebe Halliwell walked in tossing her keys on the mantle by the door and hanging her coat up.
"Piper? Paige? I'm home. I swear that women Elise is gonna run me down with all of these meetings" Phoebe said walking to the kitchen. "Is anyone ho-"she stopped as she saw Paige and Joey in the kitchen. "Who is this?" she said looking confused and worried.
"There you go, is it too tight?" Paige asked Joey. Joey shook his head.
"It's fine" he said rubbing his other hand over the bandage.
"Hello. Some one want to tell me what's going on?" Phoebe said irritated. Paige motioned for Phoebe to follow her into the next room.
"Joey I will be right back okay? Don't go anywhere. Help yourself to anything in the fridge" she said scooting Phoebe into the solarium.
"Who is our new little friend?" Phoebe asked as the walked into the middle of the solarium. Turning around to look at Paige, who was now sitting in a chair rubbing her temple.
"We, as in Piper and I found him in the basement" Paige explained.
"Ok I can understand rats and mice in an old house, but a teenager?" Phoebe said confused.
"No, he ran away to save his life. Some one or something killed his mother. He was hiding in the basement, probably trying to find a place to sleep" she said, shivering, the idea of it scared her too.
"Oh my god, is he okay?" Phoebe asked her, sitting down next to Paige.
"Yeah for now, but we need to help him out, otherwise he is going to get hurt or even worse dead" She stood up and walked back into the kitchen. Joey was still sitting at the island, he hadn't moved at all since they left him in there.
"Okay Joey, lets talk" Paige said sitting at the kitchen table.
"Are you going to have me arrested? I am really sorry about the phone and sneaking into the basement" he said just as Phoebe and Piper walked in.
"No hunny we're not calling them on you, you haven't done anything wrong" Paige said with a look of sadness on her face. "But we need to talk about what happened. What happened to your mom?"
Joey was looking at the floor; Phoebe was making some tea and grabbed some coca for Joey. Piper sat down next to Paige.
"Here you go Joey" Phoebe handed him some coca. He held it in his good hand and stared into its chocolaty depths.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you" he said not looking up.
"You're wrong. We know you're a witch, we are witches too. We protect good people and get rid of the bad ones. You can trust us" Piper spoke up.
Joey looked up and looked at her. He sighed and then finally told them. "A demon killed her. He killed her because of me"
"Because of you? Why do you think that?" Phoebe asked him.
"I don't think it, I know it. The demon as far as I know kills mother witches who gives birth to witches with my powers. The more they collect the powers I have, it doubles its effects" he was standing now, leaning against the wall, avoiding eye contact, tears swelling up in his eyes. "And now she's dead and I don't have anyone else to go to, he's going to kill me too" Joey suddenly burst into tears, sitting on the floor.
Paige stood up and walked over to him and gave him a tight hug.
"We won't let that happen okay? I promise" Paige told him, hugging him still.
"Uh, Paige, a word, out here please, now" Piper said walking into the foyer. Paige followed her to the foyer.
"What can't it wait?" Paige asked her.
"Look, I know you think we can kill this demon, but I'm a mother here too you know, with two very powerful babies, I don't want to end up dead you know!" she said brushing her hair out of her face and waving her hands around like she does.
"Piper, how can you say that? He needs our help! If we don't do something about the demon that killed his mother then it will come after you anyways" Paige shot back at her.
"How do you know? I mean we don't know anything about him, what if he is lying?" she said irritably.
"Well, for one thing demons don't bleed red, and they usually don't cower in a basement. I'm helping him, end of story" she said before storming off back into the kitchen. Sighing, Piper follows her back into the kitchen. Joey is sitting at the table; Phoebe was making him a sandwich.
"Joey, I am going to help you kill this demon, but I am going to need your help. Do remember at all what it looked like?" She said, feeling the power over take her as she got into demon hunter mode.
"Yeah, I do, but how is that going to help you?" He asked confused taking a bite of the sandwich, relaxing more.
"Well, let's see. Book of Shadows!" she called. White and blue orbs appeared in her arms as the book materialized into her hands from the attic. The ancient green leather tome rested in her hands as she then put it onto the table between her and Joey. "This is our Book of Shadows; it helps us find out about evils and the things that go bump in the night"
"You mean other than me?" Joey said with a half smile. Paige Smiled back at him, and just laughed.
"Ok What I need from you is a description of what you saw" Paige said. Piper walked into the room and grabbed a pot and poured some water into it, then grabbed herself some left over coffee. She figured she would be up while they got a vanquish ready. Paige began to flip through the pages of the book while Joey told her the description of the demon.
"Well, he had a spiked tail, horns, sort of looked like a mix between Diablo and a Stegosaurus"
"Diablo?" Phoebe asked him.
"It's a videogame reference, basically the devil. Big curved horns, except his were smaller" he said looking over at Phoebe who had just joined Piper's side. Page flipped through the book and came to a beastly creature.
"Is that him?" She asked turning the book so Joey could see. He looked over the page and shivered.
"That's our demon alright" he said.
"Well it says here all we have to do is stab it in the eyes with a spike from his tail" she said reading over the calligraphy for words.
"Well good because I did not feel like standing over a hot stove" Piper said dumping out the water and putting the pot away. Paige closed the book a little too hard and went to the cupboard and grabbed some chocolate chip cookies and put them on the table between her and Joey.
"I think we need some chocolaty good ness" she said smiling. Joey smiled meekly and looked over at Piper and then back to the book then Paige.
"So what do we do till then?" he asked confused. He grabbed a cookie but only held onto it, unsure if he should eat it or not.
"Well, we use the summoning spell in the book and then vanquish its sorry ass" she said then taking a bite of her cookie.
"And how do you plan to get a spike from its tail?" Joey replied now taking a bite of his cookie. He was both intrigued and scared at the idea they were going to summon his mother's murderer into the living room.
"Like this, APPLE!" Paige called for the apple and it disappeared in white orbs and reappeared in her hand. Smiling she set it down on the table.
"Whoa" he said staring at the apple. He poked at it making sure it was real.
"Alright so are we going to do this people or are we just gonna stand around here and eat me out of house and home?" Piper said sarcastically. Phoebe laughed but stopped short when Piper glared at her. Paige stood up brushing off any possible cookie crumbs.
"Alright keep your shirt on women" she said. "Okay Joey, we need you to stay here while we call for the demon and vanquish it" she said kneeling down.
"Why though? I want to see him pay for what he did to my mom" he asked both confused and fuming.
"Because we don't want you hurt that's all Joey" Phoebe said from the other side of the kitchen.
"And we don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt either" Piper said coming over and putting her hand on his shoulder. Just then the kitchen window shattered over them. The Demon jumped in and landed on top of the table and let out an ear piercing scream. Jumping, Joey shoots an energy bolt at the ceiling causing the light to go out. Screaming Piper and Phoebe duck; Paige grabbing the book.
The demon's claws dug into the table as it eyed Piper and went to lash out at her throat when Phoebe out of no where levitates and kicks it in the chin, knocking it off balance as it hits the floor. Hiding under the table, Joey scrambles away.
"Piper what are you waiting for freeze it!" Paige yelled as its foot collided with her arm leaving a deep gash. Piper getting to her knees threw out her hands and the demon freezes for a moment, but comes right back out of hit and back hands her across the room.
"Piper!" Phoebe calls to her.
"Demon, scale, thingy!" Paige called. A spike off the demons tale disappeared and reappeared in a ball of orbs as Paige threw it straight between the demons eyes. The demon Screamed for its life as it lay limp on the kitchen floor.
"What the hell was that?!" Piper screamed as Phoebe helped her up. Paige helped Joey up as well.
"That, was the Vanquish from hell, my ears are still ringing from it" Phoebe said wiggling a finger in ear.
"Well I suppose I should get rid of him somehow, I'll just orb it off somewhere" She said walking over to it.
"Wait" said Joey asking Paige to move away. Confused, she moves out of the way and stands with Piper and Phoebe.
"What is he doing?" asked Piper.
"Shush, hang on!" Paige whispered. Joey stood over the demon's lifeless body. He stared at it for moments on end, as if berating it with his thoughts. And then, just as Paige was going to ask what he was doing, Joey let out a loud Shout, screaming madly at the dead demon and waved his hand over it. A Long and powerful bolt of energy escaped his hand. The demons body began to shake from the energy passing through its dead body before it finally turns into ash on the floor. The yelling stops and Joey just stands there, heaving deep breaths as to where the body used to lay.
The three sisters stood frozen in their tracks in the corner of the kitchen. Finally Paige walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Its okay now, he's dead" she said softly in his ear. Joey just stood there, looking at the spot more and more, as though it might spring back up at him. But it didn't, the demon was gone. Burnt into a crisp.
"Um, I should probably go, I've troubled you enough already" he said looking back the sisters. He turned to go the door and ran out of it down into the street and into an alley. Paige running to the door loses him. Piper and Phoebe come up behind Paige.
"Paige?" Piper said looking out the front door.
"Where did he go?" Phoebe asked her, looking out the door as well.
"I don't know" she told them, lost and confused as they were. Joey was no longer in site.