Everything was quiet. Not just your average quiet, no this was an eerie silence. One of those situations void of any sound that sometimes can be just a loud as an alarm to tell you something is wrong. It's when your sixth sense kicks in and you get the strong feeling of terror and want to back out and run for your life, even though you don't even know what is following you yet. And as much as you want to run, you find that you are totted to the ground as if you had been growing there your entire life. Even the slightest little breath or hint of a sound sends your heart racing until the silence is filled with the beat of your own heart. That's exactly how Melinda felt at this very moment. She couldn't see two inches in front of her face but she knew she wasn't alone in the room. To prevent herself from bumping into anything she didn't dare move, not wanting to scare whoever or whatever it was away. Melinda drew in a deep breath and held it to calm herself and steady the beating of her heart. There was a small crash, a dish breaking on the floor somewhere near the dining room or the kitchen. Problem was Melinda was in the parlor and would have to go through a few rooms, dodge some furniture in order to get there probably just in time to realize that whatever it was had moved on. Instead Melinda stood there silently, trying to form some sort of plan in her head arguing with herself over each one. At this moment she wished that Wyatt and Chris were here, of course she could call for them together they would be able to take on whatever was in the manor. Then again, this could be her chance, Melinda's one chance to show her older brothers that she was no longer a baby and could handle the demon, warlock, or dark lighter. Naturally Melinda's mind raced over the different scenarios in case it was actually one of those three. Then again, just a demon didn't narrow down the scenario enough for it to actually play over in her mind. If it was a demon what kind was it? Big, small, human in form, or some kind of hideous monster with sharp claws that had a poison to them?

With the next crash, again from the kitchen or dining area, Melinda realized she couldn't stand here and do nothing for much longer. Wait, what if she just orbed to the kitchen? Then again the power was out, and orbing without being able to see what kind of creature and possible demon may be around you wasn't a very smart idea. Before Melinda could change her thoughts over, there were sounds of fast footsteps across the floor on the other side of the house and they were coming closer. In a flash Melinda felt something brush across her arm lightly and the next second she was flying through the air hitting the opposite wall and landed crashing down to the small table she knew sat there with a pot of flowers and an antique doily. She pushed her self up off the ground, as soon as she stood up the creature flew at her again and grabbed her by the neck with it's hand of four claws pushing her hard against the wall. Melinda struggled against it's grip, and in panic didn't think of orbing out until after it took her from the wall and proceeded to throw her into the front hall. Melinda could blood trickling down her neck, the claws had cut her a little, but there was no burning sensation that would lead her to believe they were poisonous. What the demon was it was clear it could see in the dark, otherwise how would it have been able to see Melinda in the pitch-black room with the curtains drawn so to not let the streetlights to flood the window. She heard the demon shriek and hiss as it came at her again, any second now it would be on her. With a stroke of luck Melinda saw two figures orb in and the familiar voice of her brother Chris spoke.

"Why are all the lights off?"

"Wyatt! Chris!" Melinda gasped and tried to warn them of the demon but it was too late, Wyatt and Chris were knocked backward into the front doors by the demon. The next moment the lights flickered back on in the entire manor and the three siblings were left alone in the front hall, their new demon friend no where to be seen. Wyatt and Chris picked themselves up confused about what just happened, they looked over to their sister who was sitting on the floor a few feet away holding her neck, hand covered in blood.

"Melinda, what hell just happened?" Wyatt asked, "Oh my god are you okay?" as he and Chris both rushed to help her to feet. Melinda winced a little as Chris gently pulled her hand away to examine the wound.

"I'm fine, it just scratched me that's all."

"Yeah okay, but what the hell were you doing?" Wyatt asked placing his hands a few inches from her neck and healed the gash.

"We're gone for three hours come back and you're here getting your ass kicked by a demon. It was a demon wasn't it?"

"What else would it have been Chris?" Melinda said annoyed, she walked away from her brothers and headed to the kitchen to wash her hand off. Wyatt and Chris both hurried after her,

"What did it look like, did you see it?" asked looking to Chris who shook his head.

"I don't know I couldn't see it. I was just sitting there reading a book, when all of a sudden the lights go out on me, just as I was getting to the good part too."

"Melinda this is serious." Chris said crossing his arms.

"Everything is serious to you." Melinda scoffed turning off the faucet and reaching for a towel.

"Melinda reality check here, you were just attacked, inside the manor by an unknown and unseen demon. That by the way is pretty strong."

"Chris it was just a scratch and besides Wyatt healed me, no major damage done, end of story."

"Melinda. I don't think you understand how serious this is. A demon entered the manor, and somehow cut the power or drained it which seems more likely seeing as how it was restored after it left. Not to mention attacked you, we don't even know if it had some kind of poison to go along with that scratch, short term or long term--"

"Wyatt!" Melinda said raising her voice in order to catch her brother's attention, "Listen to yourself. Both of you, worrying about every little detail. I understand that the whole demon breaking into Halliwell manor is a big deal, but it's happened before right? And look at me I'm fine okay so let's just focus on something besides me."

"Melinda this is the third personal attack on you this month alone." Chris said, "I don't think this is something to over look."

Melinda cracked a smile and scoffed, but after receiving a serious stare from each of her brothers, those type of "I'm dead serious" looks. The smile faded from Melinda's face, "You're not suggesting that I'm just like some sort of demon magnet?"

"More likely that someone in the underworld had a price on your head."

"That's ridiculous Wyatt, why would they come after me and not you two?"

"Cause you're the weakest of the three of us." Chris said, to which he received a rightful smack across his right arm from Wyatt.

"Excuse me?" Melinda's mouth dropped at Chris's comment, grant he was true but it's not like Melinda wanted to hear it. "I am not weak."

"He didn't mean it like that Mel. What he means is, you're the youngest, more vulnerable than the two of us." Wyatt said trying to make what Chris said hurt a little less. Either way you spun it, Chris and Wyatt's reasons were one and the same in the end. It all meant that Wyatt and Chris were superior to her making her the baby once again. Melinda starred at her brothers in disbelief and threw the towel down into the sink and stormed out of the room without saying another word to them. Wyatt sighed and rolled his eyes, "Mel, we didn't mean it personally. You're not weak, Mel!" he called up the stairs after her. Chris stood back in the archway from the dining room to the front hall. The door to Melinda's room slammed shut above them, Wyatt turned to Chris. "Nice job."

"Don't act like you didn't do anything." Chris said, "What you said was just a nicer version of what I said."

"Maybe I should try and say something--"

"You think she's going to let you in, please we'll be lucky if she even acknowledges our presence in the next century. Oh and don't try orbing, it makes it worse. Dad tried it with me once, I don't think I talked to him for a week after that."

Wyatt looked up the steps and let out a frustrated sigh and sat down on the stairs. He placed his head in his hands, "What are we going to do? It's clear that someone, or something is after her. And we can't be around her all the time, I mean we have other demons to worry about." Chris opened his mouth to speak but before he could get a word out Wyatt continued, "And if you're going to suggest we take her with us the answer is no. She's not old enough yet, she just turned 18, I don't want her facing these things yet. I mean, Mom and Dad won't want her out demon hunting." Wyatt added trying to cover up his concern. He did worry about Melinda a lot, and with their parents out of the house it fell on his head as the oldest to look after Melinda, even Chris and make sure they didn't end up dead.

Chris scoffed, "Actually I was going to suggest we try and get her a whitelighter. Think about it, Melinda can't heal yet, orbing is still causing her problems." That was true, Melinda always had a hard time when it came to her powers. Wyatt was still a baby when he could orb, and Chris was just as young when he was able to. But Melinda, well her powers liked to come and go for some reason. Orbing called for her to concentrate hard, which shouldn't be the case. "We can't always be orbing back to protect her, a whitelighter is a perfect solution. You can't disagree with me there."

Wyatt looked at Chris for a minute thinking it over. Chris did have a point, with the two of them off now and then fighting demons it only seemed logical to leave someone who was able to aid Melinda when necessary. Chris stood there with the face expression that had "you know I'm right" written all over it.

Meanwhile Melinda stomped angrily back and forth in her room, the room that used to belong to her aunt Phoebe years ago. Paige's room now belonged to both Wyatt and Chris, which was interesting when the two were fighting. The past couple of weeks her parents room lay empty, her parents along with her aunts and uncles were off on a cruise. Something they much needed which lead to Wyatt and Chris taking over the demon hunting and control for a while. Their cousin's were at their own homes with assorted babysitters. Seeing as how Wyatt was 23 and Chris 22, it didn't really call for Melinda to have a babysitter. Although her brothers were treating her like a baby, at least in Melinda's eyes. With a disgruntled yell she began to vent out loud directing her attention to the large worn teddy bear on her bed, hers since she was a baby. The obvious irony being that as much as she hated being treated like a kid, Melinda still held onto the one piece of her childhood and constantly released her anger to it instead of taking to writing in a journal.

"I'm sick of it Ronald!" yes, the old dirty thing even had a name. "Every time anything goes wrong it's always 'You should have been more careful Melinda. This is serious Melinda.' I'm not serious about being a witch? Maybe I would be more 'serious' if they started to treat me like the adult that I am and not some lost little 10 year old child!" Melinda flopped down on her bed, grabbing her pillow and placing it over her face she let out a scream muffled by the feathers inside. After she finished she tossed the pillow aside and starred up at her ceiling. "It's not just them you know." she muttered with a side glance to the bear Ronald. "Mom and Dad do it too. Every time I try to mention working on my magic mom always and I mean always finds a way to change the subject. It's starting to get ridiculous. I mean how can they expect me to grow up if they keep treating me this way."

Melinda rolled over on her side and took the bear in her arms and held it tight. She closed her eyes and tried to forget about the events that happened just about an hour prior. Inside Melinda knew that her brothers were just trying to look out for her, but she was just so angry at them at the moment that she couldn't make herself think clearly. If she could only have heard the conversation that went on below her, the plans being made by Wyatt and Chris alike. Something that would inevitably change the lives of the three Halliwell siblings forever.