A/N: This story deals with child abuse so if you're bothered by this kind of thing then please DO NOT READ THIS STORY. You have been warned so from this point on read at your own risk. Piper is also the bad guy here so if you worship the ground she walks on then this is not a good story for you to be reading.

Summary: Pain, confusion and darkness ruled his world. He was being abused and hated by his own mother for reasons he didn't know about or understand. This child, this poor boy was simply living in the shadows.

Teaser

He could hear her coming. The unmistakable sound of the floor boards creaking and the steady pounding of her high healed shoes against the hard would floors warned him of the approaching danger. He suddenly felt his bottom lip start to quiver at the mere thought of being alone at this time of night with her. For when no one was around the woman would commit the most heinous acts of violence against her young child and would torture him for reasons he didn't know or understand. All he knew was that his mother hated him and cursed his very existence and now she was coming for him yet again, to cause him more pain and despair and the time of night did nothing to ease the boy's fears as he knew what she had in store for him.

He never liked it when his mother would visit him at this particular time of darkness because every time she did, she would always find a new way to hurt him. A new way to put buries on his body that she would tell him to remain quiet about before dishing out threats about would occur if he were to speak a word of the abuse that he was suffering at her hands. Every night after the attacks the boy would close his eyes tight and prayed to whoever was listening to spare him this and to make his mother love him, just as she loved his sibling.

The sudden stillness made the boy's skin crawl, knowing that she was standing right outside his bedroom door, lurking and waiting for the perfect opportunity to inflect more pain upon him. Knowing this the child did the only thing that came to mind and quickly rose from his bed and walked ever so quietly over to his bedroom closet and opened the door. He then eased himself inside, inching further and further into it's darkness, hiding himself from the immanent threat as well as he could. Tears ran down his reddened cheeks as the door to his bedroom sung open with an extreme amount of force, sending something crashing down to the floor in its wake at the exact moment a crack of thunder rattled the ground beneath him. The small child trembled as he closed his eyes and held his breath, hoping and praying that she wouldn't be able to find him.

"I know you're here you little bastard" the woman called out to him in a voice he had come to fear.

At the sound of her tone the boy instantly began to sob heavier but still managed to remain silent. He knew the longer he stayed hidden the worse her mood grow to be and with it would come sever stinging blows that would take days for his body to recover from, but he didn't care. All he knew was that he didn't want to feel any more pain and staying out of her reach was the only way to accomplish this, even if it was only going to work for a little while.

Suddenly the sound of water running filled his ears. He wondered just what was going on and what his mother was doing in his bathroom and what she was planning to do to him next as his eyes remained fixated on the thick piece of wood separating him from the danger on the other side as his heart raced in anticipation.

Then it happened.

The door was yanked open, causing the child to retreat further into the darkened depths only to be pulled roughly to his feet.

"Mommy, no, please, don't" the boy pleaded with his mother as she started removing his clothing.

"Shut up!" she yelled as she dragged him into the bathroom where he could now see the bath tub that was filled with scorching hot water.

The boy could literally see the steam rising off of the clear liquid as his breath became lodged in his throat. For a split second he couldn't move or even blink. He couldn't or rather didn't want to believe his eyes or what his mother had intended to do to him.

Was she really going to do this?

Could his mother really be that cruel or unfeeling?

Did hate him so much that she would scold his flesh?

Unfortunately didn't have to wait long for the answer to his questions as he was lifted off of the ground and thrown into the water that burned his flesh the instant it came in contact with it.

The pain was unlike anything he had felt before as he screamed his lungs out and fought to get away from the current hell his mother had placed him in.

"You deserve this! You deserve every bit of pain for what you did!" she yelled at him before yanking him from the tub and if it weren't for the fact that he had passed out from the trauma he would have been relieved.

After casting a spell to remove all traces of her heinous acts from her son's body she quickly dressed him and laid him back down in his bed as if nothing had happed. Most mothers would at least feel some guilt after hurting their child as much as she had just done, but not her. The woman hated this child. He was the reason for all of her pain and the reason she didn't have him any more.

He had to pay for making his life a living hell and for causing his death at such a young and tender age. He was the reason her son never made it back to a happier future. He was the reason her boy died and now it was his turn to suffer for all the pain he brought about just by being born and she would make sure he got exactly what he deserved and then some.

"Piper" the sound of her husband's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"Not much. I was just going to put Chris to bed. You should have seen him Piper, he had such a good time at light show" the man said with a smile.

"That's good. I'm glad my little angel had such a good time" the woman responded as she made her way over to the two. "Well listen, why don't you sit here with Wyatt for a little while and I'll put my special boy to bed"

"Piper" the man spoke with a warning tone.

"What?" his wife questioned as she tried to bat her eyes innocently.

"Don't you what me. Every time I let you put Chris to bed he always ends up in our bed" the man smiled amusedly at his wife's inability to let their youngest child grow up.

"So? He's still a little boy Leo and he gets scared in the middle of the night sometimes anyway, so I save us both a lot of trouble when I put him in our bed"

"Piper he's four years old. He has to sleep in his own bed at some point"

"And he will, but tonight is not that night" the woman continued as she took her younger child into her arms.

"Ok, but soon Piper" replied Leo as he gave both his wife and his son a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you both so much"

"Don't you mean all three of us?" the man said as he looked over to his eldest son.

"Yeah…goodnight" Piper answered back before heading down the hall

"Goodnight sweetie. I'll be in, in a minute" Leo said as he walked over sat down next to his younger son. The man spent a few minutes with his little boy before leaving the room and closing the door shut behind him.

And the instant he was gone and out of hearing rang the child that he thought was sleeping started to whimper before becoming hysterical and crying him self to sleep.