Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. I only own the story. Enjoy!
Piper abruptly awoke and jumped out of bed fast, hearing screams coming from her baby sister's room. She instinctively turned into Phoebe's room, wanting to get her so Paige could have both her sisters with her, then swore, remembering that Phoebe was with Jason that night. She quickly went to Paige's room. She turned on the light, to see Paige sitting up in bed, trembling. Frightened eyes met hers as Piper moved to sit down next to Paige. She wrapped her arms around her baby sister and looked at her worriedly.
"What's wrong, sweety," she asked. She got no answer as Paige clung to her and started to cry. Piper rubbed her back and comforted Paige as best she could, just letting her cry everything out.
Finally, Paige looked up. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping her eyes. Piper took no notice of her words asking, "Are you ok sweety? What's happened?"
"It was just – a bad dream," Paige told her. Piper stroked her hair sympathetically.
"Want to talk about it?" she asked.
"No," Paige answered, then added, "It's not that I'm trying to shut you out. I just – I mean -,"
"I know," Piper said gently. "I understand. Do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?"
Paige bit her lip. On one hand, she did want Piper to stay, but on the other, she thought it would be kind of childish. Piper, taking her silence as a no, stood up. Paige grabbed her arm.
"Wait," she said. "I mean, will you stay? For a bit?"
Piper smiled and sat back down. She pushed Paige gently and Paige lay back down. All was quiet for a moment. Then, "Piper?" Came Paige's voice.
"Yeah sweety?" Piper said.
"Thanks," Paige said simply. Piper smiled. She looked down at her baby sister, to see her fast asleep.
"Wow, that was fast," Piper thought. She considered leaving but stayed where she was, watching Paige sleep.
(Paige's POV)
I am sitting on the beach. The air is chilly as I sit on the sand, hugging my knees to my chest and shivering, staring over the water. It looks so peaceful. The waves ripple over the shore, almost running up to my toes. I watch them creep in and out, noticing the froth on the top and the small bits of seaweed they bring in with them.
I pick up a sea grape and toy with it absent-mindedly. I drop it and as I go to pick it up the edge of the waves touch my feet. As soon as the water touches me I suddenly feel zoned out, as though I'm sleep walking. Feeling like I'm in a trance, unable to stop myself, I walk into the water.
Soon I'm out of my depth. Still, I keep swimming. I feel nothing, no emotions, no physical feeling. Where a minute ago I was cold, I now feel as though there is no such thing. I don't feel fear that I'll go too far or that something will attack me. For the moment, I'm not a person, just a robot that somebody else is controlling, programmed to feel nothing.
Then I feel a pulling at my feet. In an instant I'm me again. I'm scared and freezing while I fight against whatever's pulling me. Peering down, I think I see something, or rather, someone there but I blink and it disappears. A powerful pull tugs me under. Water fills my eyes, nostrils and mouth as I gasp for breath.
I surface again and am shocked at how far I have drifted from the shore. I remember the brief sight of whatever it was, feeling shivers that have nothing to do with cold run down my spine. Then the thought is driven from my mind as I realise that the tugs are getting stronger. Soon I'll be sucked under completely.
I begin struggling wildly, trying to keep myself submerged. I take a deep breath and then get sucked under the water. I try to breathe and can't. My lungs are bursting; I have to get air. I fight as hard as I can and surface. I take a huge gulp of air and open my eyes. What I see horrifies me. There's a person in front of me. A person I know very well. My mother. But I've never seen the expression on her face before. She's wearing a hideous grin, her face so thin it could be a skeleton.
"Join is," she whispers, her face never losing the radiating evil. I scream. She stretches out a bony hand, digging in her fingers till it hurts and pulls me under.
Piper woke with a joke from her doze. Looking around she saw she was still in Paige's room, half-lying on the bed. The sun was shining through the window, falling on her face. Paige was screaming and thrashing about on the bed. Piper gently shook her baby sister to wake her. Paige sat bolt upright, her eyes wide, filled with terror.
"It's ok," Piper soothed. "It's all right, Sweety, it's over. Your safe." Paige turned to her, wrapping her arms around her big sister and burying her face in her shoulder. Piper heard her whispering something and strained to hear what it was.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…" Paige was muttering. Piper stroked her hair.
"Ssshhh, Paige," Piper said softly. "It's ok, Paigey-girl. I've got you." Slowly, Paige began to calm down. She looked at Piper weakly as they heard the door close downstairs.
In a minute, Phoebe was upstairs. "Morning, guys," she said brightly then, seeing Paige's face, she frowned.
"What's going on?" she asked. Piper quickly filled her in.
"Oh, Sweety," Phoebe said, hugging Paige. They looked up as they heard orbs. Chris orbed in looking worried.
"What," Piper asked, looking at him with hostility. Chris glared at her.
"You have a new demon," he informed them. Phoebe sighed.
"Again?" she asked plaintively. Chris ignored her.
"His name is Aspixus. He attacks during dreams, where his victim is most vulnerable. He will target one of you and try to kill you while you sleep."
Piper and Phoebe gasped and looked at Paige. Chris raised his eyebrows at the youngest Charmed One. Paige squirmed uncomfortably. She wasn't sure if she liked Chris staring at her, though she definitely liked staring at him.
'Stop it, Paige," she scolded herself mentally. 'This is no time to be thinking about Chris's looks!' With an effort, Paige dragged her mind back to the immediate problem.
"I've been having nightmares," she told Chris, not meeting his eyes. "My parents were trying to kill me." He paled a little.
"He's chosen you then," he stated. "You're in trouble."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Piper snapped at him.
"Piper, be quiet," Phoebe said. She turned to Chris. "What do we do?"
"You've got to make a potion and a spell for him," Chris began. "He tricky to vanquish. Once you've got that you have to enter Paige's dreams to vanquish. As a dream-demon, he has the power to control the dream. You could be in the middle of vanquishing him when suddenly you're chained to a wall with Scarecrows tickling you. He can do that. And also," he looked at Paige. "You can't go to sleep. If you do he will kill you." Piper looked worried.
"It's ok," Paige assured her sisters. "I've just had a full night of sleep. I'll be right."
"Actually," Chris broke in. "Aspixus will use his power to make you tired. However tired you get, you cannot go to sleep," he warned. Paige nodded.
Suddenly, Chris looked up. "A charge is calling me," he told the sisters. He orbed out, leaving the Charmed Ones looking awkwardly at each other.
"Let's go look at the book," Phoebe said. Her sisters silently agreed and followed her. It wasn't till they reached the attic that Paige realised that Chris didn't have any charges other than themselves. So what was he really doing? Paige suddenly felt wary. What secrets was Chris hiding?
A/N ok, now it's all demon-y. I know, not much is happening but it will! Thanks for reading!