Note: While this primarily takes place in the Real World, some scenes may take place in the Parallel World, such as the previous chapter. In the future, these scenes will be written in italics.
Ellibsniknej: Thank you very much for your review and I'm very happy to know that you enjoyed it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or anything Charmed related.
"Christopher Perry Halliwell! Get down here now!"
Piper Halliwell was not impressed. The mess in both the parlor and the kitchen was horrifying, or at least it was to her. It consisted primarily of toys—action figures, trucks, and the like—but there was also candy wrappers mixed in. She had just returned from visiting Phoebe at her condo and when the witch had walked in through the front door, she slipped on a toy car. And at that moment a warlock shimmered in. Piper had always been a bit of a conspiracy theorist and she definitely believed the Elders had something to do with this. Even if they were powerful forces of good. The memory of them interfering with the first attempt at her marrying Leo was still fresh in her mind and she didn't plan on trusting those angelic bastards anytime soon.
She began to tap her feet impatiently as her middle child did not come bounding down the stairs. He knew he was in trouble and he knew what the punishment would be. First, Piper would make him clean the mess without magic and then he would not be allowed to watch television for the next three days. This was the fourth time that he had left a mess like this around the house and this was the third time that Piper had slipped on one of his toys. Finally, after a minute and a half of waiting, Chris orbed onto the bottom step. "What's wrong, Mom?"
"What's wrong? You're asking me what's wrong, Chris! I slipped on one of your toys right before a warlock tried to attack me. That's what's wrong!"
Chris looked up at his mother and it was evident by the twinkle in his eyes that he was holding back a smile. "You wouldn't have slipped if you looked down." He let out a chuckle but stopped when he saw the expression on Piper's face. "Do you think you're being funny? Does it look like I'm laughing?" Even at this age, Chris knew why his mother was nicknamed Surly.
"He's right, y'know."
Piper whirled around, her hands ready to blow whoever, or whatever, it was. Her sister, Paige, immediately fell to the floor and put her hands over her head, closing her eyes. Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled Paige to her feet. "You almost gave me a heart attack, Paige!"
"I almost gave you a heart attack? You almost blew me to bits, missy!" Chris snickered and immediately orbed upstairs when Piper gave him the 'look.' "Don't get mad at the poor kid, Piper. And besides, if you had looked down, you wouldn't have slipped." Piper placed her hands on her hips and looked at her sister, clearly searching for an answer. But before any words could leave her mouth, Paige pushed her to the ground as an energy ball whizzed over their heads and left a scorch mark on the wall. "I just cleaned!" Piper exclaimed.
Both sisters rose to their feet and watched as the demon began to approach them. Paige waited for her sister to deal with the situation but when there wasn't an explosion, she turned towards Piper. Her face had been drained of colour and was pale as…well, a ghost. Paige orbed the demon across the room and shook her sister as he stood up, creating another energy ball in his right hand. "Piper, snap out of it! Blow his demonic ass out of here!"
Piper blinked several times and quickly flicked her hands, causing both the demon to fly through the glass window and the energy ball to explode. He stood up and Piper flicked her hands once more, finally vanquishing the Upper-level demon. She slowly walked over to the staircase, as if she were in some trance, and sat down on the bottom step, running a hand through her hair. "That demon seemed really familiar. Who was he?"
Piper looked up at her sister and cleared her throat several times before speaking. Her voice was a hoarse whisper and Paige was forced to lean down. "That…that was Inspector Rodriguez. The demon…the demon that killed Andy."