TWO

Phoebe finished dressing and was feeling a lot more comfortable. Looking for a job was hard work. She had to be dressed perfectly and she always had to present a happy, upbeat attitude to prospective employers. Then there were the applications to fill out, despite her rather sparse resume, the interviews, all the trappings associated with job hunting.

Life had been so much simpler just a few short years ago. All she had to worry about was school and getting decent grades. Not that she had worried a whole lot about such things. There was always a party to go to or friends to visit or shopping to do. Anything but what she was supposed to be doing.

Now, all that had changed. She was a respectable member of society, or so she told her self. Of course, being a witch, there were always those who wouldn't see her as "respectable". But she could live with that. She and her sisters did a lot of good as the Charmed Ones. And no one could take that away from her.

Prue had come home some time while Phoebe was changing. Even Prue had seemed to mellow a bit since she had come back to the manor. Fighting demons every day probably had given Prue a different perspective of her sisters. Just as it had given Phoebe a different perspective.

Dinner should be just about ready. Phoebe left her room and headed for the kitchen. As she did she casually glanced up the stairs toward the attic. She stopped for a moment. The attic door was ajar. That was odd. They never left the door open.

Well, almost never. Prue and even Piper were constantly scolding Phoebe about not closing the door. Half the time she forgot to close it after being in the attic. And with the Book of Shadows up there, there was plenty of opportunity to be there. Deciding she didn't want another lecture on keeping the house secure, Phoebe climbed the stairs to the attic.

More out of habit than anything else Phoebe glanced into the attic for a moment before she closed the door. As she did she stopped cold. Sitting in the center of the room was a figure. It was a small boy about eight years old. He was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and his blonde hair was somewhat ruffled. As Phoebe watched, the young boy seemed to be looking through a photo album.

"Hello?" Phoebe questioned, opening the door to the attic. "Who are you?"

The boy looked up at her, surprise in his face. Then, without saying a word, the boy suddenly vanished from the attic, leaving Phoebe all alone.

"Prue, Piper," Phoebe called out, looking around the attic, "get up to the attic now."

Prue and Piper came running up the stairs immediately. As they rushed into the attic they looked around to see what was amiss.

"Phoebe, what is it?" Prue asked. "You sounded almost frantic."

"Someone was just here," said Phoebe. "It looked like a small boy. But when I approached him, he just vanished."

"Vanished?" questioned Piper. "As in disappeared into thin air?"

"Just like that," said Phoebe. "He was looking through this." She picked up the photo album and showed it to Prue and Piper. "It's one of our old photo albums. The ones Grams used to fill with pictures every chance she got."

"You think it was a ghost?" Prue asked.

"I don't think so," said Phoebe. "He wasn't transparent. And ghosts usually glow. He wasn't glowing. He looked like any other kid. But like I said, he just vanished when I spoke to him. I seemed to have startled him. Like he wasn't expecting me."

"It could be a demon," said Piper. "Maybe trying to learn about us."

"It's odd," said Phoebe, "but he seemed familiar somehow. Like I knew him from somewhere. But I can't for the life of me remember where."

"Maybe it's a shape changer," suggested Prue. "Like the ones that dad was with when they tried to steal the Book of Shadows."

"Speaking of the book," Piper said, "is it okay?"

"Yeah," said Phoebe. "He didn't seem interested in it. Just this photo album. And from the looks of things he's been looking through more than just this one."

"Well," said Prue, flipping through the photo album, "you'd better check the Book of Shadows and see if you can find out who or what he is. Piper and I will look around the house. He might not have restricted his activities to up here. If this a demon we need to find out who and what he is."

"I'll see if he did anything else up here," said Phoebe.

"Good," said Prue. "Meet us downstairs when you're finished. If it is a demon he's up to no good. And I don't want to be caught unawares."

"Right," said Phoebe. "It shouldn't take long. I'll see you downstairs in a bit."

As Prue and Piper left the attic to check the rest of the house, Phoebe began to look around the attic. Nothing seemed out of place except for several photo albums sitting in the middle of the floor. And they apparently hadn't been damaged in any way.

Phoebe checked the book for any reference to demonic children. It seemed odd that demon might have children. But there was so little they knew about demons. And demons had to come from somewhere. She finally decided that it was perfectly logical that demons had children just like humans did.

She didn't find anything in the book that was even remotely similar to the small boy she had seen. Not even the references to shape changing demons were of much help. Unable to find anything useful she decided to meet her sisters downstairs. Maybe they had found something.