A/N: Hey guys, I'm sure all of you have seen the new "Review Response" feature, which means I'm no longer allowed to write a personal review to you all in this chapter (or any others). I'm really PISSED about this new feature, as I loved writing to all of you and in order to do that now, it'll take up more time! I think we should protest, because with this new rule, we can only respond to those who aren't anonymous reviews (and for some of us, those people are the most important). I'll be looking around for an e-mail address or something that I can ask FFN about, concerning their new policy. And before I forget, "Corona Heights Park" is a place from the Charmed book, Survival Of The Fittest. I liked the idea, so I took the place and tweaked it to fit my own purposes, but I did not invent/create it. And this chapter is a play on, "Baywatch". (P.S. Charmed, Season 1 was updated. Chapter 21 is now up and ready to read!)

Change Happens

Chapter 2: Baywitch

Pearl viciously tore her arm away from the young male witch as soon as her feet fully materialized upon hard ground. The whitelighter-witch's face was contorted in a mixture of rage and anguish. Without thinking, she immediately ambushed her young friend with a barrage of exploding balls of light.

Brandon, quick with instinct, rolled to ground to avoid the first blast and teleported to avoid the second. Within only moments, he'd reappeared behind his friend and slammed her arms against her sides, barely holding them.

"Where are we?" She hissed asked vehemently.

"Don't you recognize it?" Brandon asked, his voice irritatingly calm. "You and I, we come here all the time to get away from the rest of the world." He slowly edged her around in a circle, to survey the entire scene.

A blanket of lush, velvety green covered the ground for all of what one's naked eye could see. Various thick, leafy trees dotted the area along with large patches of small yellow flowers which could almost be mistaken as being painted onto the landscape. The line separating where the sky and grass met was almost non-existent, as it seemed to naturally fade from one to the other. There was even a small fountain in the center of the greenery. The light trickle, along with the perfume breeze, made it fairytale worthy.

"Corona Heights Park," Pearl murmured. She closed her eyes, allowing the sweet breeze to rustle her hair and dry her tear streaked cheeks. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I wanted you to give you an escape from life," Brandon replied, loosening his grip upon his friend's arms. "You're hurting and that hurts me." He drew his index finger along the side of Pearl's arm. "Come on," he whispered, gently encasing her hand in his and leading her to the trickling fountain.

In the fountain's center stood Anahita, the Persian Goddess of Water. From her cupped hands sprung the shimmering water, which poured freely into the large marble basin that was shaped as a pentacle. The outer rim of the pentacle was about a foot thick, just enough to make a temporary seat out of.

The fountain itself ran from an untapped, underground spring which flows under Corona Heights. Knowing that, a large community of Pagans and Wiccans had pooled a large lump sum of money together to buy and donate the fountain to the park so that all the natural elements that the park harbored could thrive freely above ground.

"I should be home, trying to find my aunt," Pearl protested.

"You weren't doing that anyway," Brandon gently reminded. He pulled his black sleeves to his elbows and thrust his hands into the cool, clear water. "I have an idea," he whispered quietly. The male witch cupped his hands, filling them with the pure liquid, and surfaced them to Pearl's face. "I want to cast a spell."

"A spell? Brandon, the last time-"

"No, we were stupid then. This is serious. You've said your demon harbors the elements of water and air, which is why we should cast an elemental spell. And what a better place than to do it than here, in Corona Heights? This place radiates the elements, which is why so many people come here to celebrate the Sabbaths!"

Pearl began to absently chew her lower lip, considering the possibility. After a few long, tense moments, she finally relented. "Okay. Where do we start?"

Brandon threw his arms to the air, allowing the sparkling droplets to rain down upon him and Pearl. He dried his hands on his black jeans and then pulled a piece of white chalk from his left pocket. "Here, draw a pentacle and I'll prepare the spell."

----

Phoebe stared down at her powder white knuckles, as she clutched the golden handle of Prue's bedroom door. Slowly, the door creaked open as the Charmed One made her way inside. She blinked back the salty darts behind her eyes and quietly shut the wooden door behind her. The psychic was determined to find out what had happened to her older sister and how to get her back. She had tried locator spells, scrying, translocation spells, good old fashion searching the Underworld, and interrogating demons. It had gotten her nowhere. Now she turned to her last hope, her premonitions. What a better place than Prue's room? She thought, casting her gaze upon it.

The room was just as the eldest Charmed One had left it. The bed was perfectly made, as Prue had done every day since their mother drowned. Prue's half of the closet was open, revealing rows of perfectly placed shoes. Heels on the left, gradually switching to less casual and more comfortable, ending with tennis shoes on the right. In the same fashion, her clothing was also perfectly aligned on color coded hangers and several boxes were neatly arranged on the top shelf. A floor length mirror sat in the corner of the room and a pair of Prue's blue slippers sat next to it. A terry cloth robe was nicely laying at the edge of the bed, just above the slippers. Prue's black leather jacket hung on the corner of the mirror, clearly Prue had been planning to wear it later that day. Several pictures of the family lined the walls and placed on a dresser near the bed was an immediate family portrait of Prue, Andy, and Pandora just after Pandora's Wiccaning.

Andy, who'd takenthe abductionalmost as hard as Piper, had not even been able to go into Prue's room after the incident. So until now, nothing had nothing had been moved since that fateful day eight months ago. This had resulted in a fine layer of dust which now covered everything in the telekinetic's room.

Phoebe lightly crossed the carpet, crossing over to the bed. She placed her hand to Prue's pillow, but nothing happened. She brushed her opposite hand across the top of the bed, still nothing. The psychic grabbed for the rough terry cloth bathrobe and pulled it close to her chest, silently praying for a premonition to strike her. "Come on," she breathed, soaking up the scent of her sister's strawberry shampoo. Angrily, she cast away the bathrobe and grabbed the picture from the dresser. Nothing. "Come on, damnit!"

Phoebe leapt to her feet and stalked over to the closet, angrily swinging her hand over the blues and blacks and grays of Prue's many suits. Then she bent down, tapping at the shoes. Why? This should be working! She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry. It was as if all her emotions were caught in a doorframe, all trying to squeeze out at the same time, and so she couldn't express any of them. The psionic slid to the floor and began to viciously bang her fists against it. "Prue! Just give me a sign!" Then her breath seemed to catch in her throat, her heart began to pound, and she grasped at her chest as psychic energy pummeled its way into her mind's eye.

----Premonition----

"Come forth, Huldra."

A familiar eight foot tall beast arose from the shadows and sauntered towards The Source. "I've kept her preserved, just as you've asked."

"I'm proud of you, Huldra. You've served me well."

Prue's abductor flashed her Master a wicked grin, before bowing low to the floor again.

----Premonition----

Phoebe's eyes seemed to electrify as she was thrown from her premonition. The witch looked around. She hadn't touched anything but the frail carpet. Her mind raced with questions as she replayed the scenes in her mind. Phoebe's full lips began to move in a slow motion, full of concentration. "Huldra. Huldra." She couldn't even understand what the premonition had meant. She knew it was a demon, one in which she'd never seen before. Then her mouth went dry as realization backhanded her across the face. "Piper!" The Charmed One pulled herself from the floor and eagerly raced at the door. "Paige!"

----

"Help!" A young African-American man stumbled forward, barely avoiding tripping over his own feet as he ran for his life. "Help!" He screamed again, swerving around a corner and running down a long alley way. Dirt coated the air behind his feet, clouding the vision of his attackers. Blackish-brown water sloshed beneath his feet as he darted through a puddle, awaking a sleeping bum next to a rusted and overflowing dumpster. Suddenly he grinded to a halt as he came to a rust covered chain link gate, blocking his way out of the alley.

"We got you now," a snarly demon grinned, approaching the young African-American. His face was a mass of mutilated gray-brown tissue, dotted with several irregular moles. Leathery red scars were visible from the side of the demon's right cheek on down to the base of his throat. His eyes appeared as tiny black holes and rustic colored saliva seemed to spray from his lips as he spoke.

The young man backed against the gate, locking eyes with the deformed demon. Suddenly the gate behind him began to rattle and the granules of dirt beneath his feet began to levitate. "Help!" He screamed, skywards. The young man had faced many demons, both mortal and magical, but he knew that he couldn't defeat the entire gang that stood before him on his own. "Please," he begged, as the gate finally blasted from it's foundations. The boy flung back, losing his balance and toppled helplessly to the ground.

The mutated demon held out his three fingered, crumpled hand and a dark plume of smoke appeared. It began to shift and manipulate itself into a dark shape of a dagger as he advanced on his victim.

About a foot between the young man and the demon, glowing angelic orbs began to congregate in mid air and take shape into the young and vibrant form of Paige Belland. Her dark hair fluttered in her face from the distress of the flustered orb. The whitewitch took a moment to realize the danger of the situation and then thrust out her arm in much the fashion of her older half sister. "Demon!" She shrieked, forcing the mangled creature to dissolve into a burst of angelic light.

The mass of humming whitelighter orbs coursed backwards like a shooting star in reverse, crashing directly into the web of demons that had accompanied their leader. If the danger hadn't been so real, it would've been almost comical, as all the demons toppled like bowling pins to a bowling ball thrown by its skilled master. Jumbled moans, screams, and even profanity pierced the rancid air just moments after impact.

"Finally," the young male hissed. "I've been calling you!"

"I'm new at this," Paige lashed out in retaliation. She sunk to her knees. "Are you hurt?"

"Just get me out of here!"

Paige narrowed her dark eyes in a menacing manner, before gripping the young man's wrist and dissolving them both in a burst of orbs.

----

"Leo! Leo!" Piper yelled, staring expectantly at the ceiling.

A moment later, Leo dissolved before his wife. He still looked as jagged as he had just days earlier, with the exception that he had managed a few minutes to shave the golden shadow from his face and change into plain blue cotton t-shirt. "What?" He asked, his eyes glowing with eagerness. Every time Piper had called him, he hoped to the heavens that it would be information about how to save his sister-in-law.

"Look," Phoebe exclaimed, proudly shoving an intricately pencil drawn picture into her brother-in-law's hands.

"What is this?" Leo asked, curiously gazing down at the hand drawing of the hideous monster that had taken Prue.

"It's the beast that took Prue," Piper spat. The witch's hands were literally trembling with a plethora of emotions.

"Her name's Huldra," the psychic Charmed One continued as she jabbed the center of the drawing with her index finger. Her pooling eyes seemed to enlarge with each word she spoke. "I got a premonition, Leo! She's working side by side with The Source! He sent her to take Prue, I know it!"

"And you got all this from your premonition?"

"I sketched her from my premonition, just like I did with the crystal sword of the Lord Of War. But that's beside the point. I heard The Source call her by name, Leo. We need you to take that sketch to The Elders and get any and all the information you can about her. I've already given a copy to Cole and he's in the Underworld right now."

"Phoebe-"

"Go!" Piper roared, the sound of her voice literally blasting a hole in the ceiling. Powdery dust and plaster seemed to careen down around the two middle Charmed Ones. Piper raised her hands in fury, causing the plaster and dust around them to suspend in mid air. "Hurry!"

Fearing destruction more catastrophic than the last, Leo took his cue to flee the Manor with the sketch. A small flicker of hope still burning within his heart.

No sooner had the whitelighter left, did a shrill voice scream from the attic. "Piper! Phoebe!"

Without further ado, Phoebe charged up the stairs, her dark ponytail flailed behind her. For some reason, she'd taken to only pulling her hair back in Prue's absence. Possibly because it was easier to keep the hair from her face when she thought about what her older sister might be going through. Possibly because it was easier to look over her shoulder. Whatever the reason, it was uncharacteristic for the young witch and that worried the second oldest.

----

"My ankle," the young man moaned, reaching for his lower leg.

Paige raked her hands through her deep colored hair, examining her newest charge with suspect. "Your glasses," she said, gently adjusting the boy's askewed spectacles.

"You look familiar," the young witch said suddenly. He chewed his lower lip, his eyes roaming Paige's face curiously. "What's your name?"

"Paige," the witchlighter replied. She held out a porcelain hand. "What's yours?"

At that moment, the attic burst open, followed by the clomping of two pairs of feet across the worn hardwood floor. "Paige, what's going-"

The young man craned his head to look at the two sisters, his eyes practically bulging from their sockets in shock and surprise. His mouth drooped into a loose 'o' shape.

"Oh my god!" Piper gasped, wringing her hands together in surprise.

"M-Max?" Phoebe gaped at the young African-American man.

TO BE CONTINUED...