ACT I

INT. MANOR­, DAY

           Piper knew Melinda couldn't miss school, so she gave her permission to orb there, as long as she wasn't seen doing so.  Then she went about her usual daily activities, and before she knew it, 3:00 had come and Melinda was bounding through the door.  However, to Piper's mild disappointment, her daughter didn't give her the usual hug; instead, she went straight to her room, slamming the door behind her.

           Melinda didn't come down for dinner, and both Phoebe and Paige questioned this, but Piper just shrugged it off, saying she was probably busy or something.  Paige had a movie date that night, so she was out the door in a flash after dinner, but Phoebe offered to help Piper clean up.

INT. MANOR, KITCHEN, NIGHT

           "You know, maybe you're being too hard on Melinda," Phoebe said, putting away the dinner leftovers as they talked.  "She's only 15."

           "Phoebe, I don't do it for kicks, I do it to protect her, okay?"  Piper said, then realized she'd been very harsh, "I'm sorry, I'm just stressed, that's all."

           "It's okay," Phoebe said.  "Listen, I have some letters to read and try to respond to, so I'm heading up to my room."

           "Okay," Piper said.  "See you in the morning."

INT. MANOR, A BIT LATER

           Piper carefully carried a tray of food up the staircase and towards Melinda's favorite studying place: .  Just as Piper thought, she was there, and Piper could see her bent over a notebook, writing with much concentration.  Holding the tray steady, she used her foot to "knock" on the doorframe.

           "I'm not really in the mood to talk, Dad," Melinda said, turning around to face the door.  When she saw her mother, she scowled and turned back to her work.

           "Go away," she said, not once looking at her mother.

           "I brought you some dinner.  Your favorite, chicken and mashed potatoes," Piper said, trying to show enthusiasm.

           "Leave it and go away!"  Melinda said forcibly.

INT. MANOR, MELINDA'S ROOM, SECONDS LATER

           Piper set the tray on the dresser and walked towards Melinda.  "We should talk."

           "There's nothing to say, so leave me alone," Melinda replied, still not looking at her mother.

           "Melinda, I'm sorry for yelling at you, okay?  I'm very sorry," Piper said gently, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder.  Melinda jerked away and stood up, facing her mother.

           "Just... save it, okay?"  Melinda said, and Piper felt as if she'd been slapped across the cheek.

           "Melinda..."  Piper said, but decided just to leave her daughter alone for a bit, to let her cool off.  Fighting back tears of a mother's pain, she retreated to her and Leo's bedroom.

           After her mother left, Melinda walked over to the tray of food and looked at it.  Her mother had, indeed, made her favorite foods.

           "But that doesn't matter," a voice in her head said.  "She was trying to butter you up, trying to make you forgive her."

           Melinda carried the tray over to her desk, and while she ate, she thought about the whole situation.  Finally, she knew what she had to do.  She had to prove herself.  She went over to close her bedroom door, locking it for the added assurance that no one would barge in.  Then she took a large duffel bag from a high-up shelf in her closet and set to work packing it.  She was going to go away for a while, and she wouldn't come back until she'd proved herself!

INT. MANOR, PIPER AND LEO'S ROOM, LATE NIGHT

           Piper sat in the rocking chair in her and Leo's bedroom, watching one of those late night talk shows.  Her husband, Leo, hadn't come home yet, and normally she was patient with his long hours, but she was stressed over the morning's incident, and wanted his advice.  She flicked off the TV and stood up, gazing up at the ceiling.

           "Leo!"  Piper called.

           "Piper, what is it," Leo asked, concerned, once he'd orbed in.

           "It's Melinda,"  Piper said, sighing.  She went over to her closet and began putting away the clothes from the laundry that was theirs.

           "What this time," he said.  "You're always yelling at her for something..."

           "She's using her powers for her own reasons!"  Piper said, throwing on a nightgown as she talked.  "She's freezing the school bus so she's not late!  She's - "

           "She's a teenager, Piper.  You grew up without powers, so you didn't do things like that cause you couldn't," Leo said gently, as he too got into his nightclothes.  "But she's just being a normal witch, trust me!  I may be a guy, I may have never been a witch, but I have plenty of charges who are her age."  Leo said, smiling at his wife and walking over to their bed.

           "Do they use their powers for their own needs?  Do they also use them in front of mortals?!"  Her husband didn't have a response to that as he climbed into bed, and she sighed, frustrated.  "I just don't want her getting exposed, or for that matter getting us exposed!"  Piper said, joining him in bed.  "I saw the future.  Witches aren't safe in the future, and even though it's changed because of our actions, who's to say that the witch hunts won't happen anyway?"

           Leo stopped her rambling, then said, "Honey, you don't know that, okay?  Besides, she's a responsible young lady, and a responsible witch, for that matter," Leo reassured his wife.  He gave her a flirtatious look and turned the bedroom lights out.

INT. MANOR, MELINDA'S ROOM, MID-NIGHT

           "I'm gonna show Mommy that I'm responsible.  I'm gonna make her realize that I'm a big witch, and that I can make my own decisions!"

           Melinda thought this as she gazed at a photo of her family, then shoved it in her backpack.  With one last look around her room, she orbed out, leaving behind a note that fluttered to the floor.

INT. DEMONIC UNDERGROUND, ETERNAL NIGHT

           "Dammit!"  Krevnik said, throwing an energy ball furiously at one of the rock formations.  It exploded into smithereens.  Another demon, Yaren, shimmered in, and the first demon looked to him.

           "What're you pissed off at now?"  Yaren asked sarcastically, leaning against a wall casually.

           "I want more power!  The children we feed off now are simply a temporary hold, but I'm getting sick of them.  I want something... tastier..."

           "I was thinking the same thing earlier," Yaren said.  "And I think I know where to get it..."

           He gestured to the opposite wall, and a moving image appeared, of Melinda walking somewhere, alone...

INT. SOUTH BAY HIGH, HALLWAY, MID-NIGHT

           Melinda wandered the halls of her school, heading towards her locker.  It was after school hours, so she didn't need to worry about questioning friends or prodding teachers.  Suddenly, she heard a whisper.

           "Melinda..." the voice said, causing her to turn around suddenly.

           "Hello?" she called.  "Who's there?"

           She knew from her mother and aunts that being alone in a big building was a very bad idea when you were, or had blood relations to a Charmed One, but that didn't stop her.  Thinking fast, she said a spell her Aunt Phoebe had taught her when she was younger.

           "Reveal the hidden one's true form,

           Reveal the being where the air is warm."

           Melinda gasped as a gruesome demon appeared before her, and he immediately threw an energy ball at her, but she dodged it.  She gestured to blow him up, but he was one of those annoying types that were immune to her powers.  Luckily, she had learned some martial arts moves from her Aunt Phoebe, and she thrust out her leg, catching his and making him lose his balance.  Once he regained his balance, he thrust another energy ball at her.  Every energy ball he threw she dodged, and after a while, he seemed to have given up, but he suddenly got a devilish look on his already devilish face.  He gestured towards her, and a bolt of lightning shot from his hand towards her.  The lightning bolt caught her by surprise, and she was unable to avoid it.  before she realized what was happening, the lightning hit her, knocking her to the ground and causing her to lose consciousness.

INT. MANOR, PIPER AND LEO'S ROOM, NEXT MORNING

           The alarm clock went off as it always did at 6:00am, and Piper groggily reached over to hit the snooze button, blowing it up on accident.  This was what usually happened on school mornings.  She lazily climbed out of bed and went to make sure Melinda was up.  Melinda's door was closed, so Piper knocked before opening it, to respect her daughter's privacy.

           "Mel?  Time to get up," Piper said, peeking in.  The bed was nicely made, so Piper figured that her daughter was already up and getting ready for school.  She walked downstairs to the kitchen, prepared to face the roaring beast called Melinda Wyatt.  However, when she entered the kitchen, there was no sign of Melinda.  Her nerves tingling a bit, she searched all throughout the downstairs, then checked the foyer to see if Melinda's backpack was there, as she left it there until she left for school every morning.  Seeing her daughter's backpack, she became alarmed, and ran upstairs to alert the rest of the family.  As she was walking down the hallway leading to the bedrooms, she stepped on something.  Hearing the crumble of wrinkling paper, she looked down to see what she had stepped on, then saw the note.  She folded it and read its contents, an expression of worry forming as she read more and more of it...

INT. MANOR, SECONDS LATER

           Piper frantically ran into her bedroom and shook Leo awake.  He went to search for Melinda while Piper woke Paige and Phoebe.

           "What?"  Paige said, rubbing her eyes as she walked out of her room.  Phoebe joined them in the hallway a few seconds later, looking equally groggy.

           "Why'd you wake me?  I was dreaming about Justin - " she started, but was cut off by Piper.

           "It's Melinda, she's missing!  She – she- she ran away!"  Piper stammered, then broke into sobs.  Paige and Phoebe gasped in horror.