INT. MANOR - PAIGE'S BEDROOM - MORNING

With most of the contents of her closet spread out on her bed, PAIGE is trying to get ready, but all of her clothing dissatisfies her. Someone knocks on the door.

PAIGE
Yeah?

Piper enters.

PIPER
Hey, I'm going to Chinatown to pick up some herbs and I was
wondering if you wanted to go with me...
(taking in the disarray)
Uh, Paige, why is your entire wardrobe on your bed?

PAIGE
I don't seem to like anything I own today.

PIPER
Well, if you want you can borrow something of mine. Or you could
brave Phoebe's closet. I can't guarantee you'll come out alive
though.

PAIGE
No, it's okay.
(pulling on a shirt)
I'll just wear this.

PIPER
Uh, that is mine. I've been looking for that top.

PAIGE
Oh yeah. I think I borrowed it when you were pregnant.
(beat)
I'll give it back to you later.

PIPER
Sure.

Paige begins to put her clothes back in her closet.

PIPER (cont'd)
Paige, are you okay?

PHOEBE comes rushing into Paige's room, stopping short when she sees Piper.

PHOEBE
Uh, hi, Piper. I thought you went to Chinatown.

PIPER
Well, I'm going to Chinatown. I haven't left yet.

PHOEBE
Oh.
(beat)
Paige, are you going to be free around lunchtime?

PAIGE
No, I'm meeting a friend. Why?

PHOEBE
Oh, no reason. I just wanted to chat.
(beat)
You'll be around tonight, right?

PAIGE
I guess.

PHOEBE
Okay.
(looks nervously from Paige to Piper)
I'll see you guys later.

She leaves hastily.

PAIGE
Your sister is weird.

PIPER
You've noticed that too? Do you know that she did the laundry
last night? That might explain why some of your clothes don't
appeal to you.

Paige barely acknowledges Piper's comment with a forced smile.

PIPER (cont'd)
She really is trying.

PAIGE
I know she is.
(beat)
Have you forgiven her yet?

PIPER
I don't know. I think I had all ready forgiven her for a lot of
things she apologized for.

PAIGE
Oh?

PIPER
I've known Phoebe all her life and there are certain things
about her that I've come to accept. They still bother me and on
occasion piss me off, but I realized a long time ago that I had
to just let them go.

Paige persists in not responding to Piper.

PIPER (cont'd)
Paige, what's bugging you? Is it Phoebe?

PAIGE
No. I don't know. I've been thinking about Mom and Sam a lot
recently... It's nothing. I'll be okay.

PIPER
Well, if you wanna talk about it...

PAIGE
I know. Thanks.

PIPER
I should probably get going. Are you coming?

PAIGE
No. Thanks. Maybe next time.

PIPER
Okay. I'll see you later.

Piper leaves. A beat then Paige picks up the phone and dials.

EXT. PARK - DAY

Young children and their parents are playing in the park. Paige and JAVIER are walking together.

PAIGE
Thanks for coming. I know we weren't supposed to meet until
later, but I really needed some company.

JAVIER
No problem.

PAIGE
So how have you been?

JAVIER
Uh, I've been okay. Packing has provided a nice distraction. How
have you been?

PAIGE
Okay, I guess.
(beat)
Are you still planning on moving in with your sister?

JAVIER
Yeah. In the next couple of days.

PAIGE
Angela's your half sister, right?

JAVIER
Right. My father remarried a few years after my mom died and
both of my sisters are from that second marriage.

PAIGE
But you grew up together?

JAVIER
Uh huh.

PAIGE
(a little sadly)
It must be nice to be so close to them.

JAVIER
You seem pretty close to your sisters too.

PAIGE
I guess. Piper and I have gotten closer, but there's still a
little tension between Phoebe and me at times.

JAVIER
How come?

PAIGE
It's kind of a long story. Let's just say I was never too fond
of her ex-husband. And I think she still kind of holds it
against me that I was right about him.

JAVIER
Does she get angry with you?

PAIGE
No, not exactly. She just keeps herself distanced from me.

JAVIER
But Piper doesn't?

PAIGE
Piper does too. She was really close to Prue, and I think she
feels that if she gets too close to me she's allowing herself to
forget Prue or allowing Prue to be replaced. But at least with
Piper I feel like I have her friendship, you know?
(beat)
I'm sorry. I shouldn't be complaining to you about my stupid
sister problems.

JAVIER
Don't worry about it. Really.
(beat)
Have you ever tried talking to your sisters about any of this?

PAIGE
No. I don't know what to say... I don't want them to think I'm
not grateful for what they've done for me.

JAVIER
I understand your hesitancy, but if you don't tell them they may
never know that...

Javier trails off as he notices Paige is staring past him at something behind him.

JAVIER (cont'd)
Paige?

Paige walks past Javier and begins to run when she realizes what she sees-- a woman lies motionless on the ground amongst a cluster of trees. Her clothes are dirty and torn and she has deep cuts all over her body. Paige kneels beside the woman and checks for a pulse. Javier kneels next to her.

PAIGE
Oh my god. We need to get her to the hospital. Quick.

Javier picks up the woman in his arms. ANGLE ON the distinct symbol carved into the woman's arm.

INT. BAY MIRROR - PHOEBE'S OFFICE - DAY

Phoebe is sitting at her desk, typing away on her computer. Piper appears in the doorway with WYATT.

PIPER
Knock, knock.

Phoebe looks up, startled.

PHOEBE
Piper. What are you doing here?

PIPER
Well, since Paige was busy I thought that we could have lunch
together.

PHOEBE
(trying to come up with an excuse)
Lunch? With you? Gee, I don't know. I didn't write as much of my
column this morning as I thought I would, so I was just going to
order some lunch so I could eat and type. You know?

PIPER
We can do that. I'll go pick something up and bring it back.

PHOEBE
But, but, but-- You wouldn't want Wyatt to stay in this
environment for that long. I mean some of the reporters out
there have some pretty filthy mouths on them. So why don't you
and Wyatt go on home and we can have lunch in a much baby-
friendlier atmosphere on, um, Friday.

PIPER
Phoebe, what's going on? Two days ago you were saying that you
realized you needed to pay more attention to your sisters, but
ever since then you can't seem to spend more than two seconds in
the same room with me.

PHOEBE
I know. It's just that-- You know how terrible I've always been
at keeping secrets? Well, I'm keeping a secret from you now,
which is why I've been avoiding you.

PIPER
Oh.

PHOEBE
It's not a secret that I want to keep, and I want to tell you.
But I really need you to trust me that now is not the right
time. Please.

PIPER
(beat)
Okay.

PHOEBE
Thank you.
(beat)
Do you still want to have lunch? I can call the deli down the
street and order some sandwiches.

PIPER
That's okay. I'm actually not that hungry. I really just wanted
to, um, talk.

PHOEBE
What did you want to talk about?

PIPER
I-- I've been having dreams about Leo.

PHOEBE
(beat)
Really? What kind of dreams?

PIPER
Oh, you know, just that he's here and not off being an Elder.
It's nothing. I'll just talk to Paige about it.

Phoebe receives a premonition.

EXT. PARK - DAY - PHOEBE'S PREMONITION

Paige and Javier kneel by the woman they found.

IN PHOEBE'S OFFICE Phoebe picks up her phone and starts dialing.

PIPER
Phoebe? What did you see?

PHOEBE
Paige.

PIPER
Is something wrong?

PHOEBE
I'm not sure.
(on the phone)
Paige?

INT. MANOR - ATTIC - AFTERNOON

Paige walks into the room followed by Phoebe and Piper who is holding Wyatt. Piper puts Wyatt in a playpen. Paige heads for the Book of Shadows. As soon as she reaches the Book she begins flipping pages.

PIPER
Is she going to be okay?

PAIGE
The doctors think so. When I left the hospital they said she was
stable.

PIPER
It's lucky that you found her.

PAIGE
I don't think it was luck at all. I think I was supposed to find
her. It looked like she had been attacked by a demon.

PHOEBE
Why do you think that?

PAIGE
This weird symbol was cut into her. I think it's some kind of
rune maybe.

PHOEBE
A rune? Was it on her forehead?

PAIGE
No, her arm. Why?

PHOEBE
We faced some demons before that had runes cut into their
forehead and so did all of their victims.

PIPER
A rune doesn't necessarily mean demon. A lot of human killers
will carve symbols into their victims.

PAIGE
I know, but it won't hurt to check the Book. And something about
it just feels demonic to me.

PHOEBE
(beat)
You guys keep looking in the Book.
(backing out of the attic)
I'll be...right back.

INT. MANOR - PHOEBE'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Phoebe shuts the door quietly.

PHOEBE
Chris?
(beat)
Come on...
(a little louder)
Chris?

CHRIS ORBS IN.

CHRIS
What?

PHOEBE
Where have you been? I've been trying to call you for the past
two days.

CHRIS
I was busy. I do look after other people besides you guys, you
know.

PHOEBE
You do? But I thought you were-- Never mind. I had a
premonition.

CHRIS
Good for you.

PHOEBE
(annoyed but ignores his comment)
I had a premonition of Leo and he was not Up There where he's
supposed to be. And I think he was in trouble. Do you know if
Leo's okay? Have you heard anything about him being missing or
something?

CHRIS
None of the Elders I've spoken to have told me anything, but
they're not ones to over-share. Are you sure it was a
premonition and not a vision of the past?

PHOEBE
I'm sure. With all the premonitions I've had recently I've
learned to distinguish between the two. This was a future event
and not very far in the future.

CHRIS
Have you told your sisters about this?

PHOEBE
No. I've been trying to tell Paige, but she's been with Piper
every time I've seen her the past few days. And I didn't want
Piper to freak out if there's nothing for her to worry about.

CHRIS
Well, I'll see what I can find out. Until I can confirm
something one way or the other, maybe you should keep this to
yourself.

PHOEBE
(beat)
Why?

CHRIS
Because Piper might act very...drastically if she thought Leo
was in trouble. The more people who know the more likely it
becomes that she'll find out about it. So just for now, why
don't you keep this quiet?

PHOEBE
(beat)
Okay.

CHRIS
I'll let you know when I find something.

Chris ORBS OUT. Phoebe looks thoughtful.

INT. CAVERN – ETERNAL NIGHT

Chris MATERIALIZES, he does not orb. He looks around until he sees a MAN in a black suit standing a shadowed corner. With his back to Chris, the man's eyes are closed, his arms spread. His face remains in shadow throughout the scene.

CHRIS
Where is he?

MAN
Your whitelighter? I do not know.

CHRIS
And why don't you know? He supposed to be with the others. If
he's out in the open, the baby can sense him. He's all ready
alerted one of the sisters that Leo might be in trouble.

MAN
The whitelighter is not my concern. However, the one he helped
to escape--

CHRIS
Another one escaped?

MAN
Yes. Because you would not kill him--

CHRIS
I told you why I need him alive.

MAN
And I understand. But because you did not take care of your
responsibilities, our entire existence has been jeopardized.
Therefore, you need to take care of the exposure risk.

CHRIS
I need to find Leo first. I'm the only one who can--

MAN
No. He is not the immediate threat. He's still here somewhere. I
can sense his presence. But the girl has crossed over. Find her
and take care of it.

INT. MANOR - ATTIC – MORNING

Yawning, Paige is leafing through a book about Middle Eastern art. She has spent the entire night researching and she is still wearing her clothes from yesterday. Other books about Celtic symbols, Hindu symbols etc. are open in front of her. Phoebe enters the attic all ready dressed for work and carrying a cup of tea. Phoebe sits next to Paige and offers her the tea.

PHOEBE
Do you want?

PAIGE
(accepting the mug)
Thanks.

PHOEBE
Did you sleep at all?

PAIGE
I dozed for a little while.

PHOEBE
(hesitantly)
Did you try calling Chris to ask him about the symbol?

PAIGE
No. I know he's our whitelighter now, but I have a hard time
trusting anything he says.

PHOEBE
You may be right not to.

Paige gives her a questioning look.

PHOEBE (cont'd)
Okay. The other day when I touched Wyatt I had a premonition of
Leo and I think he was in trouble.

PAIGE
What? Why didn't you tell me?

PHOEBE
I've wanted to, but it seems like you've been with Piper
constantly, and I didn't want her to freak out. So I thought I
would ask Chris about it first to see if he knew anything, but I
think that was a bigger mistake than telling Piper would have
been.

PAIGE
Why? What happened?

PHOEBE
First of all, it took him two days to respond. And when I told
him about my premonition he told me that I shouldn't tell anyone
about it. Even you. And what's even stranger is this.
(holds up a pair of sunglasses)
I tried for two hours last night to get a premonition off of
those, but I couldn't.

PAIGE
These are Chris'?

PHOEBE
Yep. Maybe there isn't enough psychic energy attached to them,
but you know how my powers have been acting recently.

PAIGE
Have you tried to get another vision about Leo?

PHOEBE
I managed to get a couple of past events, but none of the
future.

Piper enters, in her pajamas, carrying Wyatt, who is all ready dressed. Phoebe and Paige quickly stop their conversation.

PIPER
Paige, were you awake all night?

PAIGE
Yes, mom.

PIPER
Well, are you still up for going to the hospital?

PAIGE
Yeah. Totally. I just wish I could find this symbol before I go
talk to this woman. I'd feel a lot more comfortable asking her,
"Hey, were you attacked by demons?" if I had any proof that she
was actually attacked by demons.

PIPER
Why don't you go get dressed? Phoebe and I will keep looking.

PAIGE
Let me just finish this book.

PIPER
(concerned)
Paige, you went through that book yesterday.

PHOEBE
(to Paige)
And that was after I had gone through it.

PIPER
Why are you so obsessed with this?

PAIGE
(angered)
I'm trying to do our job. That is what witches do, right? Help
people? Or do I have that wrong too?

PIPER
(surprised)
Paige, what--

PAIGE
I'm sorry. I'm just cranky because I didn't get much sleep.

Paige goes back to flipping pages. Piper and Phoebe share concerned glances.

PAIGE
Wait a minute.

Paige stares closely at a picture.

PIPER
What?

PAIGE
It's upside down. I've been looking at the symbol upside down.

She flips the paper on which she had drawn the symbol and matches her drawing to an illustration in the book.

PAIGE (cont'd)
(reading from the book)
"The Mark of Ahriman."
(recognizing the name)
The Mark of Ahriman... I think I remember something like that in
the Book.

Opening the Book of Shadows, she flips to one of several pages marked with post-its.

PAIGE (cont'd)
Here. There is a description but no picture. "Origins in Persia"
blah blah blah... "Symbol of power" blah blah blah...
"Supposedly used in certain demonic ceremonies." I knew this was
demon-related.

PIPER
Good call. But I wonder what kind of demonic rituals we're
dealing with here.

PAIGE
Well, we can find out. I'll get dressed and we can go to the
hospital.

Paige heads for the door. Piper hands Wyatt to Phoebe.

PIPER
(to Phoebe)
Could you look after him while I get dressed?

Piper leaves.

PHOEBE
But I need to get to work...
(looks at Wyatt)
I'll meet you guys downstairs!

INT. HOSPITAL – WAITING ROOM - MORNING

Javier emerges from an adjoining hallway.

PAIGE
(o.s.)
Javier!

Javier stops as Paige, Phoebe and Piper, who's holding Wyatt, approach him.

JAVIER
Hey.

PAIGE
Hey. Are you here visiting--

JAVIER
Julie. Her name is Julie.

PAIGE
So she's awake?

JAVIER
Yeah. She seems fine actually. She's a nice lady.

PAIGE
Did you ask her about what happened?

JAVIER
No, I thought I'd wait to see if you found anything about the
symbol. Did you?

PAIGE
Not much. It's called the Mark of Ahriman. Does that mean
anything to you?

JAVIER
No. But I'll try to research it because I have to get going.

PAIGE
Okay. Well, thanks for all your help yesterday.

JAVIER
No problem. Paige, if you ever want to pick up where we left off
yesterday, just give me a call.

PAIGE
I will.

He says goodbye to Piper, Phoebe and Wyatt and leaves. Paige turns to her sisters who are smirking at her.

PAIGE (cont'd)
What?

PHOEBE
You're going to pick up where you left off, huh?

PIPER
You two smoochin' all ready?

PAIGE
Let's go, Wyatt.
(taking her nephew from Piper)
I think you might be my most mature relative at the moment.

Giggling, Piper and Phoebe follow Paige into...

INT. HOSPITAL - HALLWAY – CONTINUOUS

PAIGE
Her room should be right up--Oh!

A man coming around the corner runs into Paige.

PAIGE (cont'd)
I'm sorry. I--
(beat)
Sam.

To her surprise, the man who just ran into her is her biological father, SAM.

SAM
Paige. It's been a while.

PAIGE
Yes, it has.

SAM
How've you been?

PAIGE
Good. I've been good.

SAM
Good.

Sam greets Piper and Phoebe who greet him in return.

SAM
(indicating Wyatt)
And this must be the baby I've been hearing so many stories
about.

PAIGE
This is Wyatt.

PIPER
(to Sam)
What kind of stories have you heard?

SAM
(backpedaling)
Oh, you know, good things.

PAIGE
So, uh, what brings you to San Francisco?

SAM
Actually, I'm here to find you.

PAIGE
Me?

SAM
Well, all of you. I was told that you found a woman yesterday.

PAIGE
I found her. We're going to visit her now actually.

SAM
Right. Good. Which is why I'm here. Julie, the woman you found,
she's one of my charges.

PHOEBE
She's a witch?

SAM
No, not quite.

PIPER
But she's magical?

SAM
Yes, very. Which is why the Elders have been so worried that
she's been missing for a month.

INT. HOSPITAL - JULIE'S ROOM

JULIE is lying in bed as a nurse scurries around her room, checking monitors. Soon the nurse leaves and seconds later Chris MATERIALIZES. Julie regards him warily, but she is not frightened.

CHRIS
(matter of fact)
Tu n'as pas peur.
Translation: You're not afraid.

JULIE
Je sais que tu apportes la mort. Je ne la crains pas.
Translation: I know you bring death. I do not fear it.

Chris approaches her slowly.

JULIE (cont'd)
Mais ce n'est pas ton destin.
Translation: But this is not your path.

CHRIS
Je le sais.
Translation: I know.

Chris places a hand on Julie's chest and she begins to gasp for air.

INT. HOSPITAL - HALLWAY

Sam is still speaking to the sisters.

SAM
She just disappeared. One day I couldn't sense her anymore and
neither could the Elders. And she's not the first person to go
missing either.

PIPER
Who else is miss--

PHOEBE
(realizing Sam might say Leo is missing,
interrupts)
Uh, so the Elders think we can figure out where these people are
being taken?

SAM
Well, they're hoping that with your premon--

Sam suddenly grabs his chest in pain.

PAIGE
Sam? What's--

Sam bolts down the hallway, running toward...

INT. HOSPITAL - JULIE'S ROOM

Chris regards Julie's lifeless body with mild curiosity and wonder at what he has done. At a noise in the hallway, Chris DEMATERIALIZES just before Sam and the sisters rush in. When Sam sees Julie he realizes that she is dead and visibly sinks. The sisters stare in amazement.

END OF ACT ONE