Helter Skelter Part 1

The cave was expansive, bigger than any cave Meris had seen before. She spun around, inspecting the numerous metal cages that adorned the rocky walls. Gideon stood silent, a pleased smirk on his face, waiting for her to speak.

"What is this?" she finally asked.

"My plan," Gideon answered with a tinge of pride in his tone.

"I'm afraid I don't follow," she breathed, running a finger over the man's cheek.

"Allow me to explain," he purred, pushing her hand away.

"I will kidnap the young children. These cages restrict magic, like the one the seer used to imprison Phoebe when she stole the Source's child," he began.

"Continue."

"I will imprison them all, except for Wyatt. The loss of his family will lure him down here and then I shall make my move and destroy him once and for all," Gideon finished.

"I like it. Will we just kill the rest once he is gone?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"You can do with them as you like once he is gone," Gideon assured her.

"Good. Well what are you waiting for!" she hissed at him. With a small bow, Gideon disappeared in purple orbs. Meris sighed and shimmered out of the cave to wait.

Above the Underworld, the Halliwells were going about their daily lives. Paisley was sitting on a swing at school, alone. She never really liked recess. Her promotion power was sometimes difficult to control and it made it hard to play with the other kids. Thankfully, despite what her teacher said, Phoebe understood her daughter's dilemma. From the corner of her eye, Paisley saw what looked like a man in the trees bordering the playground. She leapt off the swing, landing with a soft 'thud' and began to make her way in that direction. She ignored the call to go inside. Whatever this was in the trees she felt compelled to see what it was. As she brushed against a leaf she was hit with a premonition.

It was dark and there were cages all around. Chris lay across from her, barely breathing and it looked like there was a stain on his shirt.

As quickly as it had come, the vision passed and Paisley moved on. She finally found the black material that had caught her eye and before she could do or say anything a hand covered her mouth and she was surrounded by orbs. The next thing the seven-year-old knew, she was being tossed into a cage in a cave.

"Let me out!" she cried at the figure that had his back to her. He slowly turned around.

"I'm afraid that isn't an option," he sneered at her before disappearing in orbs once more.

Paisley looked around her but there was no one to be seen. Perhaps her vision was wrong. Chris wasn't here.

"Somebody, help me," she called out softly.

In her office, the phone rang and Phoebe picked it up.

"Phoebe Halliwell," she answered.

"Ms. Halliwell, it's Mrs. Jackson, Paisley's teacher," the young woman replied.

"Hi. Is she alright?" Phoebe asked, starting to feel knots in her stomach.

"I'm afraid we can't find her. She never came in from recess," Mrs. Jackson answered, sounding nervous.

"Excuse me. Did you just say that you lost my daughter?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes. We're doing everything we can," the teacher assured Phoebe.

Phoebe couldn't speak. She just hung up and got her coat. She walked out of the office and straight to her car. She was in shock as she drove home. She walked in and sat down at the kitchen table where she finally burst into tears. As if on cue, Coop appeared.

"Honey, what's wrong?" he inquired immediately.

"Paisley's missing," his wife finally managed to croak out.

"Missing? How can they lose her! It's not like she can orb…and she doesn't have a ring to teleport," Coop railed.

"They said she never went in after recess," she sobbed.

"We'll find her," Coop murmured.

"Do you think it's demonic?" she asked.

"It could be. Why don't we go over to the Manor and let them know," her husband suggested and she nodded. Little did they know that Paige was about to receive a similar phone call.

Chelsea walked out of the bathroom and checked her watch. She still had a few minutes before she would be late for class. She headed towards the stairs. They were completely empty, that is until she collided with a tall figure.

"I'm sorry," she apologized and bent down to pick up her books. As she stood up, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You won't need those," the figure whispered, knocking them out of her hands once more before orbing out of the stairwell. They appeared in the cave and he shoved her into a cage, far away from Paisley.

"Enjoy your stay," Gideon snickered. This task was proving to be too easy. There wasn't even any challenge.

Shortly afterwards Paige hung up the phone and with tears in her eyes orbed to Henry's office. She was careful not to be seen orbing in and she rushed towards his desk.

"I'm sorry Ma'am but Office Mitchell is busy," a woman in a blue blouse said.

"Yeah and I'm his wife so get out of my way," Paige spat and marched up to Henry's desk.

"Paige honey….what are you doing here?" Henry asked, looking confused.

"The school called and Chelsea is gone," Paige said.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" he questioned.

"They found her books in a stairway but she was gone. It looked like there might have been some kind of struggle," she answered, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go to the Manor and let your sisters know," he murmured and ushered her out of sight so they could safely orb. Phoebe and Coop nearly collided with Paige and Henry as they walked into the Manor.

"What are you two doing here?" Phoebe asked.

"Chelsea's gone missing from school," Henry answered.

"Paisley too," Coop added.

"Piper!" Phoebe shouted.

"In the kitchen,' Piper answered. The group of four rushed in.

"Paisley and Chelsea are missing," Paige told her older sister.

"That's not good," Piper murmured just as the phone rang.

"Halliwell residence," she spoke into the receiver.

"She is….you're sure?" Piper breathed.

"Thank you….yes I understand," she finished and hung up.

"Apparently Melinda is missing," she gasped.

"Leo!" she shouted.

"He can't orb," Phoebe commented.

"You go get him," she ordered Coop. He disappeared and reappeared with his brother-in-law.

"This can't be good. All of you here in the middle of the day," Leo commented.

"Paisley, Chelsea and Melinda have all gone missing," Piper told her husband.

"I'm calling the school. I want all the rest of the kids home," Piper muttered and picked up the phone.

"We think it might be demonic," Phoebe offered.

"I'll go check the book," Paige murmured and orbed upstairs.

"Chris…get your cousins and come home right now," Piper ordered.

"I don't care that you have a test. Your sister is missing now come home!" Piper ground out before hanging up.

"That's just going to scare him," Leo breathed, pulling her to him.

"It worked," Phoebe muttered as a mass of orbs deposited Chris, Henry Jr., Melissa and Rachel in the living room.

"Mom, are you ok?" Chris asked, rushing forward and embraced his mother.

"You didn't see anything did you…about your sister?" Piper sniffled.

"No…but we'll find them. I'll go get Wyatt," Chris offered and disappeared. He rematerialized in his brother and sister-in-law's apartment and looked around. The kitchen and living room were empty and as he moved towards the bedroom he started to hear noise. Tentatively he knocked on the closed door. There were rustling sounds and low voices as the inhabitants scurried around. The door was pulled open shortly thereafter to reveal a very annoyed Wyatt.

"Sorry to interrupt…and I swear I didn't see or hear anything," Chris began.

"But we have a huge ass emergency. Paisley, Chels and Mel have all gone missing," Chris informed his brother.

"Let me just finished getting dressed," Wyatt muttered and orbed his shirt off the floor.

"Hi Pen," Chris greeted, giving the woman a small wave.

"Hi hon," she said back.

"I'll be back in a bit babe," Wyatt murmured to his wife.

The brothers orbed out and returned to the Manor. They found the rest of the family setting up crystals in every conceivable corner of the place.

"So do we know anything about what or whoever took them?" Wyatt inquired.

"There's nothing in the book," Paige sighed, her arms draped over her two remaining children.

"Hannah, have you tried to sense Chelsea?" he addressed his younger cousin.

"I've tried but its like my powers won't work or something," she answered, her voice sounding tired from crying.

"Well the crystals are a good idea," Wyatt asserted.

"Glad you think so," Piper muttered dryly.

"I didn't mean it that way," her oldest murmured.

"We're all on edge right now so let's just take a deep breath," Leo suggested.

"Why don't we go talk to the Elders...I mean they have to be useful for something, right?" Wyatt suggested.

"Have fun with that. I'm not going," Chris remarked.

Without another word, Wyatt disappeared. He returned moments later, looking extremely pissed off.

"Weren't home?" Chris teased.

"No…they told me I had no right to go up there and that they wouldn't tell me if they anything anyways," he spat.

"So I flipped them off, said 'screw you' and they kicked me out," he concluded.

"We don't need the Elders. We can do this together," Phoebe countered.

By now the sky had grown dark and stomachs were growling with hunger. Piper, too emotionally exhausted to cook, ordered pizza. Far below in the Underworld, Gideon paced back and forth until Meris shimmered in.

"Where have you been?" he snapped.

"Tending to other matters," she answered coolly.

"Have you killed him yet?" the queen of the Underworld queried.

"No. I have only taken three of them," he replied.

"Work faster, I don't have all eternity here," she hissed.

"Do not rush me. It had to be perfectly executed to work," he shot back.

"If you don't make a move soon, then I will," she threatened and disappeared.

With a sigh of frustration, the former Elder orbed out and reappeared in the Manor. He became invisible and observed the family. He noted the crystals covering every surface of the perimeter of the house and had to stifle a chuckle. His gaze fell upon Wyatt but he had to focus. He couldn't have Wyatt until the others were out of the way. He watched Hannah move towards the bathroom and silently followed her. He waited until she was washing her hands to reveal himself.

"Who the…" she trailed off as she tried to orb and couldn't..

"I wouldn't scream if I were you,' Gideon simpered, flashing an athame in the mirror. With that he grabbed her and orbed down to the cave. He carefully chose a cage, far from her sister but close to Paisley.

"Paisley," Hannah called, seeing her cousin.

"Hannah?" Paisley whispered.

"Did he get you too?" the child asked.

"Yeah. Are Melinda and Chelsea here?" Hannah wanted to know.

"I don't know. I didn't see them," Paisley responded. Just then a shout rang from the other end of the cave.

"Hannah!" Melinda shouted.

"Mel!" her cousin replied.

"Chelsea's over here," Melinda called.

"Are you guys alright?" Hannah inquired.

"Yeah but we can't use our powers," this time it was Chelsea.

"Well everyone is at the house. They'll realize I'm gone and they'll come find us," Hannah assured her sister and cousins.

Back in the Manor Paige went in search of her daughter. She'd been gone a while and she heard the water in the bathroom running. She opened the door to find her daughter gone. She turned off the water and walked numbly down the stairs.

"Paige?" a chorus of voiced echoed.

"She's gone…how can she be gone…we have crystals up everywhere," Paige babbled.

"Honey," Piper murmured, pulling her baby sister to her in a hug.

"No one leaves this room," Phoebe ordered.

"But what if we have to use the bathroom?" Melissa questioned.

"Take a sibling or cousin " Henry replied.

"Well…Mom will you come with me then?" the thirteen-year-old questioned of her mother. Phoebe nodded and the pair headed up to the bathroom. Phoebe waited outside the door. Gideon watched her from his position hidden just around the corner. The pair headed downstairs once more and was greeted with several sighs of relief. The rest of the evening passed with no more disappearing children. The family set up make-shift beds in the living room and the sun room. Crystals were placed around each sleeping offspring just to be extra safe. Once everyone was asleep Gideon moved in. Grinning wildly he stuck his hand through the barrier created by the crystals and silently disappeared first with Melissa. He returned to find Chris sitting up.

"Nice try asshole but you're not getting anywhere near me," Chris hissed.

"You were always trying to put on a big show," Gideon hissed and as he disappeared with Chris, stabbed him with the athame that he'd used to threaten Hannah. Gideon deposited Chris' bleeding form in the case across from Paisley. The child gasped as her vision came true.

"Chris!" she cried out. He lifted his head slightly.

"Pais…you ok?" he asked hoarsely.

"I'm ok…but you're hurt," she murmured.

"Chris?" Hannah gasped.

"It looks like whoever this guy is that's kidnapping us is doing it with some sort of pattern," he rasped.

"Shut up. Save your strength," Hannah ordered sharply. He nodded and laid his head back down.

Back in the Manor, Piper sat up and let out a scream. Leo turned the lights on and they all looked at what she was screaming about. Not only were Melissa and Chris gone but there was a large blood stain on Chris' bed.

"Oh God…" Piper wailed.

"Not again," Leo breathed, a thought starting to click in his mind.

"What if we're not dealing with a demon," he suggested to the shrinking family.

"What else could it be, Leo?" Paige asked.

"Dad, it has to be a demon," Wyatt countered.

Gideon watched them argue, resisting the urge to use the same athame on Wyatt as he'd just used on Chris. How it brought back memories. But this time, Leo couldn't kill him. Rachel looked in his direction and shuttered.

"What if it's a demon we can't see," she muttered, shivering.

Henry Jr. looked in the direction that his cousin was looking and Gideon flashed them a smile before placing a finger to his lips as he walked towards them. The pair stood up and back away but he reached out and grabbed them before they could get away.

"Shit!" Wyatt cursed loudly.

"What!" a chorus of voices shouted.

"It got Henry Jr and Rachel," he said.

"Which means…I'm next," he breathed.

"It's not going to get you," Leo assured his son.

"You're right, Dad. Because I'm going to find it first," Wyatt stated purposefully and stood up. He began to head up the stairs and the adults followed. They found him scrying and almost instantly the crystal dropped.

"You're not going alone," Leo stated sternly.

"We're all going," Phoebe added.

"Then let's go," Wyatt urged and they all disappeared. They reappeared in the cave and the first thing Wyatt saw was his baby brother lying in a pool of his own blood. He rushed forward and fell to his knees.

"Chris…can you hear me?" Wyatt called frantically.

"It's a trap….get out," Chris gasped.

"Hell no. I'm not leaving you here," Wyatt retorted and reached through the bars, trying to heal Chris.

"The cages prohibit magic," Hannah called from behind him.

Angrily Wyatt charged the cage, hitting it with as much power as he could. Nothing happened except the bars bent a little.

"You won't reach him in time," a voice called out, a voice that the Charmed Ones had hoped they'd never hear again. Gideon stepped from the shadows, smiling wickedly at the Halliwells.

"Hello Leo," he greeted the former Elder and Avatar.

"You aren't going to get away wit this. I lost my son once because of you. It's not happening again," Leo shouted angrily.

"I'm afraid you can't stop me this time," Gideon taunted.

"We can," Piper spat, Phoebe and Paige joining her.

"You'll have to catch me first," he snickered and disappeared, leaving the family to stare after him, torn between what to do.