ACT II
INT. DEMONIC UNDERGROUND, ETERNAL NIGHT
Melinda opened her eyes slowly, but stopped when she felt a wave of pain wash over her. From what she could see, however, she realized that she was in a storage room of some kind. She tried to sit up, but soon realized that her waist was tied to a wooden board on the floor, and the board had been nailed to the floor, trapping her.
"HELP!" she called out, her voice weak and pained. At that instant, someone or something shimmered in, holding an athame. The figure bent down and looked her in the eye.
"No one can help you, witch. The only ones who can are your relatives, the Charmed Ones, but if they do they'll meet the ugly end of this athame," the figure snarled. "Then we can feed on them and gain enormous power!"
Melinda gasped, just as the figure struck a blow to her head, knocking her unconscious.
INT. MANOR, SAME DAY
Piper paced frantically as Leo tried yet again to sense his daughter. Paige orbed in a minute later, a worried look on her face.
"I looked at her school, the mall..." her voice trailed off.
"Where could she be?" Piper said.
Leo placed a comforting arm around his wife's shoulders. Then he tensed, as if alarmed. Piper saw the look in his eyes and knew that it was Melinda. Melinda was in trouble, and as both her father and her Whitelighter, he could sense when she was in danger.
"What? What is it? Is it Melinda?" Piper asked, slightly panicked.
"Yeah," he said. "But wherever she is, it's protected from detection, so it must be an upper-level demon."
Piper took a deep breath to calm herself and looked to Phoebe. "Listen, you go check the Book, I'll go to Darryl, have him, I dunno, do something! We'll meet back here in an hour, okay?"
They all nodded in agreement.
INT. SAN FRANCISCO POLICE, A WHILE LATER
"Darryl!" Piper screamed, running into the police station. She was in hysterics now, with many tears streaming down her face. Darryl Morris, a police officer and family friend, raced from his office to her side, a look of concern on his face.
"Piper, what happened? Are you okay? Are Phoebe and Paige okay?" he asked.
"It's Melinda, she's missing!" Piper cried, not bothering to lower her voice. "We fought, and I sent her too her room, and she ran away, and was probably kidnapped by a demon or - "
Darryl pulled her into his office, slamming the door. "No creepy talk!"
Piper nodded, realizing, and he gestured for her to sit down in front of his desk.
"Do you think maybe she was taken by someone, or something?" Darryl asked, pulling out a pad and pen to take notes.
"I'm not sure, maybe. I mean, maybe it's the usual thing, you know, trying to get to the Charmed Ones." Piper replied, sniffling.
Darryl picked his phone up and punched in a few numbers. "This is Inspector Morris over here at SFPD," he said into the phone. "We need a full inspection and search of the perimeter surrounding Prescott Street."
Piper took a tissue from the box on his desk and blew her nose.
"Uh, a child was reported missing, and she was last seen at 1329 Prescott," he said. After talking for a few moments, he gave the person on the phone his fax number and hung up. Then he walked over to Piper and bent down to look her in the eyes. By this time, she had a faraway look on her face and her eyes looked empty and forlorn.
"This is strange. She's the second child to go missing in the last week. Could be connected, but it's hard to say. But we'll find her, Piper, I promise you that, okay?" he said, walking her out of the building. "You should go home and talk to your sisters. They'll comfort you more than I ever can, okay?" Piper nodded mindlessly and walked out of the police station and towards her car.
INT. MANOR, A BIT LATER
"Paige? Phoebe?" She called to her sisters, walking into the Manor fifteen minutes later. Her sisters came running into the foyer, sympathetic looks on their faces.
"Darryl called us, oh, Piper!" Phoebe said, hugging her sister. Paige hugged Piper as well, and they stood there for a moment, hugging each other.
"Darryl said that after you left, he drove around the surrounding neighborhoods and asked residents if she was seen around there, but no one saw her," Paige said.
"I have a feeling it's something supernatural. I'm gonna check the Book," Phoebe said, walking up the stairs to the attic, with Paige and Piper following her. As they made their way up the stairs, Piper lost her footing and bumped into Phoebe, who in turn bumped up against a picture Melinda had drawn that was now framed and hanging for all to see and admire. Phoebe convulsed, and Paige and Piper knew she was having a premonition...
INT. PREMONITION
Melinda walking down a hallway; A demon grabbing her and shimmering out; Melinda and another teen her age in a dark basement, somewhere; Two demons sit in a corner, laughing as Melinda whimpers softly; each demon has one of the teens and they're sucking the life force out of each child; the demons throw the now lifeless bodies into a hole in the corner of the room...
INT. MANOR, STAIRS, RESUME FROM EARLIER
Phoebe gasped as she came out of the premonition and tears streamed down her face. The picture she had bumped against fell to the ground, smashing the frame. Phoebe's knees started to give way, but her sisters caught her before she fell to the ground.
"What? What did you see?" Piper asked.
"I saw - I saw Melinda, and a few others. They were being killed by two demons," Phoebe said, regaining her composure. "I'll find the demons in the Book." Her sisters nodded and they continued up to the attic.
INT. MANOR, ATTIC, SECONDS LATER
When they got up to the attic, Phoebe walked right over to the Book and flipped through it, trying to find anything she could on the demons in her premonition. Paige sat Piper down on a chair nearby and walked over to Phoebe.
"What did you see in the entire premonition?" Paige whispered to her sister, glancing in Piper's direction to make sure she wasn't listening, but the poor girl was staring into space, a look of pure pain and confusion shown on her face. Phoebe pointed to some writing in the Book and Paige looked at what she was pointing to as Phoebe read it aloud:
"These demons are part of The Demons of The Collective, a group of demons who exist to take the innocence out of young children. They thrive on the innocence to live and to be able to use their human forms as disguise. Beware of these demons, for they are crafty, and their main purpose is to destroy the Charmed Ones."
"Oh, now there's a surprise!" Piper scoffed, looking at them, then looking back out the window. Phoebe and Paige glanced at each other before looking at the Book again.
"It says we can use a potion and this spell to be able to identify them even in their human form, and be able to destroy them," Paige read, looking over Phoebe's shoulder.
"But only one can use the potion and spell," Phoebe said.
"I'll do it," Piper said suddenly, standing up and walking over to them. "She's my daughter."
Paige and Phoebe nodded sympathetically, but both were worried of what the potion did in order to help lead them to the demons. Phoebe, specifically, remembered the spell to track a Banshee that had turned Prue into a dog! Then there was the time Prue was turned into a man when she cast a spell to attract a Succubus. At that memory, she gave a small chuckle, but stifled at the thought and horror of Melinda's disappearance.
"I'll get the potion ready," Piper said, looking over the ingredients carefully before heading downstairs.
INT. MANOR, KITCHEN, A LITTLE WHILE LATER
Piper stood at the stove, adding herbs and things to a pot that was already
bubbling. She still had a blank stare on her face, and as she added the ingredients, it was clear that she was trying not to cry...
INT. MANOR, PARLOR, SAME TIME
Paige and Phoebe were talking about things when they heard a big boom that seemed like it came from the kitchen. Paige looked at Phoebe, and they both ran into the kitchen...
INT. MANOR, KITCHEN, SECONDS LATER
... Where Piper was lying down on the floor, motionless, and the potion pot was next to her, its contents spilling towards her. Paige pulled the pot from the floor and Phoebe used a towel to mop up the potion. Piper stirred a bit and mumbled, and Paige looked at her sister with a look of concern and worry on her face.
"Piper, honey, wake up, you have got to wake up, sweetie," Phoebe said, shaking Piper's arm gently.
"What? What happened?" Piper said groggily, trying to sit up. She groaned in pain and lay down again.
"We heard a loud sound, we came in and found you laying here, and you weren't moving. We thought something had happened. What happened?" Paige asked.
"I was making the potion, and the next thing I knew it had exploded in my face, and it knocked me out, I guess," Piper said, standing up slowly.
"You might have lost control of your powers, or you might have dropped the pot, causing the potion to explode," Phoebe surmised, looking around at the stove and the surrounding area.
Paige sat Piper down at the kitchen table and brought her a cup of hot water, then grabbed a teabag from the cup in the center of the table and handed it to Piper, who stuck it in the cup mindlessly, her tears drying on her face and giving her a blotchy look.
"We'll get Melinda back, okay?" Paige said, handing Piper a tissue. Piper blew into it and threw it into the nearby trashcan. "But first I think I'll make the potion, okay?"
Piper nodded, and drank her tea, while Paige set to work making the potion.
INT. MANOR, ATTIC, A WHILE LATER
Paige and Phoebe stood nearby as Piper held the potion in one hand and the spell in another. She took a deep breath and read the spell:
"Magical forces, I call unto thee,
Hear this rhyme and hear my plea.
To find the demons I need special sight,
Give me power to make the wrong right."
Piper downed the potion, and for a moment, there was nothing. Then, there was a crack of thunder, and smoke rose around Piper. When the smoke cleared, there stood a teenager that looked about Melinda's age. At that moment, Leo orbed in, and the now-teenage Piper gave a scream. She looked from Paige to Phoebe with a panicky look on her face then took off.