Paige orbed into her room, ready to be greeted with the welcome sight of familiarity. What she did not expect, though, was what she came upon once the orbs disappeared.

A teenage girl was sleeping in her bed. Her curly, brunette hair fanned out across her pillow, and she was wearing bright blue pajamas. Paige stared at them for a moment and realized that they were her pajamas. Wondering who the hell this strange girl was, Paige came to the first obvious – though not necessarily sensible – conclusion.

"Demon," Paige growled under her breath. Thinking of the martial arts moves that Phoebe had been attempting to teach her a few months back, Paige leapt into the air with her right foot out, intending to hit the 'demon' squarely in the chest.

However, unnoticed by the now airborne Paige, Sierra had opened her eyes halfway, curious about the sudden sense of another's thoughts in her mind. As the bare foot was headed towards her, Sierra freaked.

"Gah!" she screamed, and rolled out of the way. She didn't even think of fazing or shimmering, she simply reacted on gut instinct. After landing promptly on the floor, Sierra fumbled out of her bedcovers as Paige looked around, wondering where she had gone. As Paige spotted Sierra, now free from her restricting sheets, she decided she needed some help.

"Piper, demon!" Paige screamed out of instinct. She turned towards Sierra once again, not realizing the look of horror that had come across the latter's face.

Does my aunt really think I'm a demon? Sierra thought, staring at her youngest aunt. Again, this went unnoticed to Paige, who promptly used her powers.

"Lamp!" Paige shouted, holding out her right hand. She then flipped her wrist so

that her bedside table lamp would fly into the other direction. The porcelain light fixture hit its target, immediately sending Sierra to the ground, unconscious.

Just when Paige was prepared to celebrate beating a demon while being weeks out of practice, Piper showed up at the door, and she was ready for battle. Her clothes were a bit dirty for that early in the morning, and her face was covered with soot. Paige, of course, took notice of this.

"Piper, why is your face all black?" Paige asked, raising her eyebrows at her eldest sister. Never mind that she had just fought a demon, she had done it a million times before – the fact that her neat-freak older sister would be so messy this early in the morning was more interesting at the moment.

"Paige!" Piper shouted, grinning widely. She seemed to be ignoring Paige's question completely as she hugged her sister. Okay, so it was a bit uncharacteristic of her to do so, but she had just about had a mental breakdown the night before and she needed a reason to be cheered up. Paige gratefully accepted the hug, knowing that she hadn't had true contact with her sister in quite a while.

However, just as soon as the sisters pulled apart, the happy atmosphere diminished.

"Paige, what are you doing here?" Piper asked, raising one eyebrow and placing her hands on her hips. Paige seemed to shrink where she stood and bit her lip.

"Richineyebroku." Paige spoke too quickly for Piper to decipher her meaning, so the elder continued staring questioningly at the younger one. Paige rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke again. "Richard and I broke up."

"Oh, Missy Paige, I'm so sorry," said Piper calmly, and she reached out to put her hand on Paige's shoulder comfortingly. Paige, however, jerked away and mimicked her older sister's stance. She definitely wanted to avoid receiving condolences from the sister she felt she had underappreciated recently, so she decided to change the conversation in the direction of a lighter topic.

"So, why do you look like that?" Paige asked again, eyeing her sister up and down. Piper looked confused for a moment, and then a look of realization spread across her face. She smirked jokingly at her sister for a moment.

"Oh, I just need a new toas- oh my God, what happened?" Piper's playful expression disappeared instantly as she spotted the unconscious teenager on the floor of Paige's bedroom. Paige was prepared to tell Piper how she had just captured them a demon when the oldest Halliwell reacted completely unexpectedly.

Piper dashed over to the Sierra's limp form, with the worry a mother would have for her child in her eyes. Paige watched as Piper frantically pressed two fingers against the girl's throat, then looked up to the sky, completely panicked. She then shrieked out a name that Paige thought would be the last one coming out of her sister's mouth.

"Chris!"

T:T:T

The cavern was dark and dismal, with only a small fire in the center of the large "room" to light it. The cavern's walls were made of brimstone, and the smell of it caused the entire place to reek of a smell that was a combination of a runner's feet and rotten eggs. A lone man sat in the corner, whittling away at a piece of wood. He was in the process of carving a head – a human head.

The wooden face was not the man's own, but that of another. The gentleman in the carving was middle-aged, with tacky glasses and some of the worst feature imaginable. However, the carver focused intently on his artwork, making sure that every bit was just right, that it all looked real.

As the man worked with his knife and wood, he looked over to a shelf full of carved heads. They were male and female, young and old. They were of all different shapes and sizes, and each one seemed to have its own personality. It was creepy, to say the least.

The man himself was also not looking the best. His long black hair was matted like a Brillo pad, having not been washed or combed in months, maybe even years. His blue eyes were cold and unfeeling, with a glint of intense happiness. He smiled as he worked, showing a mouth full of yellow and rotten teeth.

The man was so focused on his artwork, in fact, that he didn't notice a figure appear in the shadowed corner of the cavern. He was even more surprised when the figure spoke up in an unrecognizable voice.

"Hello, Loki, how are you on this unpleasant day in the Underworld?" The voice said. Loki squinted into the shadowy corner of the cave from which the sound was emanating, but could not make out a figure.

"Who's there?" Loki asked, his grimy hair whipping around as he turned his head frantically, searching for someone. Loki was an Okalshi – a demon that manipulated minds through his artwork. It was sort of like a voodoo doll - except not. They could simply control the mind, not the body. Okalshi were hired hands – low-level demons used by the upper-level ones to perform their dirty work.

However, this particular Okalshi was not one to be trifled with. Loki was paranoid and seemed to have a demonic version of a mental illness. He trusted no one, which caused him to be outcast from the tribe of his kind. That was exactly why the speaker wanted him, though.

"Who I am is not of your concern. What I want you to do, however, is." The voice said, jumping around to another corner. Loki put his hand to his head.

"Bad Loki, bad, bad!" He screamed, hitting his head frantically against the wall. As soon as he had started, though, he stopped and continued whittling away. "Wha-what do you want?" He asked timidly a bit later, as if finally remembering the conversation from the small attack of insanity he had.

"Your help," responded the voice frankly, and Loki nodded.

"Help… help. Loki help no one. Loki all by himself. Go to other Okalshi. Loki no want you." Loki said, and began to rock back and forth as he carved. His hand slipped in his haste to hurry the voice away, and the knife nicked his hand. Loki yelped in pain and held his bleeding right hand against his chest.

Suddenly, though, his hand glowed and the wound disappeared. Loki stared at it for a moment, as if wondering if all the pain and the blood had come from his demented mind.

"And I'm here to help you, Loki," the voice said, coming from closer that time. It was like the speaker was right behind him. Of course, it was impossible because of the wall standing right there, but still…

"Help? Loki no need help. Loki all by himself. Go to other Okalshi. Loki no want you."

"But I want you," the voice said, seeming to whisper in his ear that time. Loki gave a jump and suddenly stood up. He placed his head in his hands again.

"Loki no want voice, Loki no want voice!" He shouted, and attempted to block out the voice when it spoke again.

"Loki, I will reveal myself to you if you agree to help me." The voice said soothingly.

"Okay, okay, just stop bothering Loki!" Loki shouted, and a figure suddenly appeared before him. He opened his eyes and mouth wide in surprise.

"Now, Loki, I have a job for you…"

AN: Hey, guys! I'd just like to say that I REALLY didn't get a lot of reviews last time. I am NOT one to complain about reviews, I love you guys and I know you have really busy schedules, but this was REALLY pitiful. Could you please, please just press the button to review? I don't care what you say: you can say "I like cheese" for all I care, but I would really like to know this story is being read. Please? I"m SO sorry if you get upset that I'm asking for reviews like this, but please review anyway, saying that you're upset. I normally don't like it when authors chatise readers for not reviewing enough, but this is out of hand. I have midterms this week, so I won't be able to respond to any of your reviews this week, but could you please do it anyway? I'd love you guys for it (not that I don't now), but I'd love you even more.

Thank you very much.

Your humble Authoress