Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the television show Charmed. All characters belong to Spelling Television, and The WB.

This is my first Charmed fic. I apologize if I get any of the show's details wrong. I'd love to get feedback! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. Please continue to review the story or e-mail me at jeff_langdon@hotmail.com!

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Anguished Soul - Chapter 4

There was no response to Chris' question, which did little to calm the Whitelighter's fears. Despite his pounding heart, he forced himself to move towards the intruder. "This can't be," he whispered as he buried his face in his hands. "Why are you doing this??" he asked as he broke into sobs.

"I missed you, Chris."

"No! No! Stay away from me!!"

"Chris.why did you betray us?"

"I didn't.I didn't know." Chris began to back away as the intruder moved towards him.

"We showed you nothing but love and yet you."

Chris fell on his knees, clutching his head, trying to shut out the voice of the intruder. "Stop it! Stop it! You're not even supposed to be here."

"You can't run from me forever, Chris."

"Help me." Chris cried out, but his throat was dry and only his call of help came up as more of a whimper.

"No one can help you on this, Chris. You have to pay for what you did."

"NO!!!!!!!"

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"Chris?"

The Whitelighter felt his body being shaken. His eyes slowly opened and upon seeing a pair of eyes looking at him, he pulled away immediately as he tried to assess the identity of the intruder.

"Are you okay?"

"How did you get in here?"

"You left your door unlocked," Paige answered. Her eyes narrowing as she took a good look at Chris. "Is everything okay?"

Chris ran his hand through his hair as he tried to clear his mind. "Yeah.why do you ask?"

"Well, first of all, you fell asleep on the couch."

"I was too tired to make it to the bedroom," he answered quickly - a little too quickly.

"And you were mumbling and writhing. Not to mention your face was covered in cold sweat."

"Look, is there a point to all of this?" Chris snapped. "What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?"

A look of hurt flashed across Paige's face before she got up and headed for the door. "Well, I'm sorry for caring."

Chris got up and grabbed Paige's arms before quickly releasing it. "I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I just want to help if something's wrong, okay?"

The young Whitelighter gave a feeble smile and nodded. "It's nothing. I just had a bad night, that's all."

"Seems like that's turning out to be a regular occurrence now, isn't it?" Paige quipped, recalling his similar response to a similar question just a day earlier.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chris asked, his guard rising once again.

"Nothing!" Paige answered, frustrated with the young Whitelighter's behaviour. "Someone's on edge today. What ever happened to chill out and relax?"

"Don't even go there," Chris warned as he felt a massive headache coming on. "You wouldn't happen to have a Tevanox, would you?"

"Excuse me?" Paige asked with a thoroughly confused look.

"You know.the pill?" Chris responded with a hint of sarcasm. "The one you take if you want a headache to disappear instantaneously?"

Chris' mood did not improve as he saw Paige trying to suppress her laughter. "I'm sorry, Chris, but I'm afraid that technology does not get discovered for a few more years. For now, you'll have to do with Tylenol."

Grabbing the bottle from her, Chris proceeded to read the description on the bottle. "Relieves pain in less than an hour," he read. "Can these drugs work any slower? What's the point of taking a pill if it's going to take an hour for it to work?" he complained.

"I hate to say this, but you're in one hell of a mood today," Paige observed. "Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today?"

Chris just glared at her.

"Oops, bad joke."

Putting down his glass of water, he turned his attention back to Paige. "So what exactly are you doing here so bright and early anyways?"

"I came to see you," she answered, before realizing how strange that sounded. "I need your help with something," she added. Paige took Chris' silence as her cue to continue. "What do you know about Xacrons?"

Chris walked to the couch and sat down as he contemplated the question. "Xacrons as in the demons that take on the form of animals whenever they attack?"

"I guess that's the one," Paige answered, impressed with the quick answer that Chris gave to her question.

"What about them?"

"I think they're prowling for victims in the city."

"Impossible."

"You just said that they take on the form of animals. And that fits the description of the Xacrons."

"They haven't roamed the earth for thousands of years. They were banished by the gods during the last Great Battle. Why would they attack now? Better question is how could they have escaped?"

"So what are you saying, exactly?"

"It's some other type of demon that's taking on the characteristics of the Xacrons."

"And I'm supposed to believe you on this?" Paige questioned.

Chris looked at her with a strange expression. "Can I ask you something? Why do you come over first thing in the morning to ask me a question if you're not going to believe me anyway?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"Doesn't matter," Chris cut her off. He grabbed her hand and orbbed them back to the Halliwell manor before Paige could protest. They orbbed into the kitchen where Phoebe was just getting ready for work.

"Chris!" Phoebe exclaimed in surprise at his sudden appearance. "Do you always look this bad in the morning?"

The young Whitelighter just ignored her as he marched upstairs, leaving Phoebe somewhat bewildered. "What's with him?" she whispered, turning to her sister.

"Don't ask," she answered as she followed Chris upstairs. She finally caught up with him in the attic. "Just what exactly are we doing here?"

"Why don't you look in the Book of Shadows under Tekenogs?"

Grudgingly, Paige opened the Book of Shadows. "There better be a point to all this," she muttered. After a couple of minutes, she found the entry and began reading it. "Tekenogs are relatively unknown demons that escaped after the Great Battle. Originally allied with the Xacrons, they were betrayed by their allies and narrowly escaped extinction. From that day onwards, they vowed to avenge the treachery and destroy the Xacrons. Tekenogs have the ability to take on the appearance of animals."

"So that's what they are," Paige answered excitedly, only to find that Chris was no longer in the attic. Running downstairs, she found the Whitelighter at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea.

"It would be nice to let the other person know if you are leaving," she began with a clearly annoyed voice.

"Do you mind?" Chris responded. "I'm trying to read the paper here."

"Okay, I've about had it with you," Paige yelled. "You really have a major attitude problem, you know that? Is it any wonder they we want Leo and not you to be our Whitelighter?"

"Well, the feeling is mutual," Chris shot back before orbbing to who knows where, leaving a fuming Paige in the kitchen.

The rest of the day was a drag for Paige, still furious from the encounter with Chris earlier. She was still fuming when Phoebe came home from the office.

"So how was your day?" Phoebe asked as she put some groceries in the kitchen.

"Crappy."

"Oh, someone sounds pissed," Phoebe answered, obviously interested in getting more details.

"Argument with pretty boy Whitelighter?"

"What did you just call him?" Paige exclaimed in horror.

"Calm down, Paige. It's obvious you have feelings for him."

"That is so not true," she denied. "You have way too much time on your hands, Phoebe."

Before the conversation could continue, there was a knock at the door. Eager to get away from Phoebe's questioning, Paige got up and headed to the door. "This is the third time Piper has forgotten her keys this week," she laughed. Opening the door, she was about to crack a joke when she realized that it wasn't Piper at the door.

~ to be continued ~