Episode Three: Halloween Horror

"Hello? Anyone home?" Piper came into the manor late at night after having closed at P3. It had been a long night with a band playing and the place being packed. Now Piper just wanted to get some sleep. "Hello?" she called again, hanging up her coat.

The house was silent. Yet there was a sudden crashing sound that came from the living room and the house suddenly went dark as all the lights suddenly went out.

"Oh great," Piper said. "I can't see a thing." She made her way into the living room and from the light of an outside street lamp she could see that one of the windows was broken. "Now how did that happen?"

Piper's foot hit something on the floor. "What the...?" The lights then came back on and Piper let out a scream. Phoebe and Paige were lying on the floor, their eyes wide open, yet lifeless, blood seeping out of stab wounds that each of their chests held. Piper backed away, tears streaming down her face. But then she bumped into someone who was standing behind her. She screamed again and spun around to see a person standing there, draped in the infamous costume from the Scream movies.

A laugh emanated from behind the mask. "And now it's your turn," the person's deep voice said, holding up a bloodied knife. He swung his arm, slashing the knife at Piper. But she ducked under his swing and ran towards the door to the sun room.

Piper grabbed the handle to the door as she reached it and tried to open it. Yet the door wouldn't budge. She turned to look back at the costumed figure who whipped his arm, sending the knife flying through the air at Piper. She threw up her hands and the knife froze. She stared at the blood on it for a second, knowing it was the blood from her sisters' bodies, and then turned back to the door to the sun room. "Come on, open!" she screamed, pulling on the handle as the masked person laughed and strode towards her.

The door finally opened and Piper ran into the next room and around to the dining room. She glanced behind her for just a moment and then ran for the foyer. As she got there the figure jumped in front of her from the living room, once again holding the knife. "You can't escape," he said, advancing towards her.

Piper didn't respond, but just turned on her heal and ran up the staircase. She felt the man latch onto her ankle and she fell with a yelp of pain. Piper turned over onto her back and kicked her attacker in his masked face, sending him falling backwards over the stairs. Tears streaming from her eyes, Piper scrambled to her feet and ran the rest of the way up the stairs, going to her room and slamming the door shut. She backed up across the room and glanced around for a place to hide. She went to the closet and left the door to it open just a crack. Piper then held her breath, hoping that she wouldn't be found.

The creak of the hallway floorboards showed that the killer was coming. The noise of his footsteps stopped at the entrance to Piper's bedroom and the door slowly came open. Piper watched through the small crack of her closet as the man searched around the room.

As he bent down to look under the bed, Piper quietly opened the closet door and then ran past the man and towards her bedroom door. She then screamed out in pain as her hair was grabbed and she was pulled back into the killer's grasp. "Don't struggle," he whispered into Piper's ear. "This will just hurt for a minute." A stinging pain then went through Piper as the knife that had killed Phoebe and Paige stabbed into her.

"No!" Piper yelled, lurching up in bed, a cold sweat coating her body. She glanced at the calendar that was on her bedroom wall to see that it was October 31st, the day of the first Autumn holiday. "I hate Halloween," Piper muttered to herself and laid back down to try and get back to sleep.

---

Deep in a cavern of the Underworld a demon stood at an altar. His name was Zolta, an upper level demon. His dark hair was a mangled mess and his clothes were ragged. At that moment he was checking to make sure he had what he needed for a spell he was going to do that night.

"It's almost ready," Zolta said to his minion, Cralor. "Tonight, on this hallow night, I will open a portal that will release evil spirits into this world and create chaos. No one will be able to stop me!"

"Sir," Cralor said meekly. "Not to rain on your demonic parade, but... there may be someone who would be able to stop you."

"Who?"

"The Charmed Ones. Powerful witches they are. If they get word of your plan then they could destroy you. And they very well could find out, for one of them is said to have the power of premonition."

"Ah, yes. The Charmed Ones. I have heard of them. Well to make sure they don't interfere we will just have to kill them before we start tonight."

"Kill them?" the minion repeated. "That's not really an easy thing to do..."

"I have the power. And we will attack now. It's early morning for them. They will just be getting up and won't be prepared for an attack."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. Now come. Let's go." Zolta then shimmered out, followed after a moment by a reluctant Cralor.

---

"Piper," Leo whispered to his sleeping wife. "Wake up."

"No."

"Come on, I have a surprise for you."

"If it doesn't involve food, I don't want it."

Leo laughed. "You'll like this surprise. Now come on, get up."

"Fine," Piper said with a sigh, pushing herself out of bed. She wrapped her robe around her and then followed Leo out of the room and down the stairs. "Leo, what is it? It's way too early in the morning for surprises. Can't this wait?"

"Not when I stayed up all night making the final touches," Leo said, stopping next to the new nursery door.

"...You finished it?"

Leo nodded. "Yep."

"Well open the door, let me see!"

Leo laughed and opened the door, letting Piper step inside.

"Oh, Leo, it's beautiful." She stopped next to a crib that Leo had built. "This is just so great. I want to have the baby now so it can sleep in here tonight."

"Well having the baby now wouldn't be a good idea. It's only about three inches long at the moment."

"You know what I mean," Piper said, playfully slapping her husband on the shoulder. "We have to wake up Phoebe and Paige so they can see this."

"Phoebe stayed at Cole's last night and Paige had a late night of work. I saw her go to bed around three in the morning as she passed by the nursery. I think we should let her rest."

Piper nodded. "Okay." The two stepped back out of the nursery. "Now how about you go get some rest and I will make a big breakfast. You need a reward for what you did."

Leo smiled and kissed his wife. "All right. Thanks." Leo started to go up the stairs when two demons suddenly shimmered into the room; it was Zolta and Cralor. "Demons!"

Piper ducked as Crolar threw an energy ball at her. "No!" she screamed as the energy ball sailed into the nursery. She threw up her hands and the energy ball exploded, harming nothing. "Paige! Help!"

Paige orbed into the foyer a moment later, in her pajamas and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "What's all the noise about?" She then caught sight of the demons. "Oh." She orbed out as Zolta shot a lightning bolt at her and orbed back in inside the dining room. She caught sight of an athame in Zolta's belt and held out her hand. "Athame!" The weapon orbed from the belt and started to reappear in Paige's hand. Yet before it could fully form she redirected it back at Zolta. The demon stepped out of the way and it instead hit Cralor, vanquishing him.

Piper used her power on Zolta and an explosion ripped across his chest, sending him flying back into the living room. "Damn," Piper hissed. "That was supposed to kill him."

Zolta got to his feet and looked at the scorch mark on his chest. "You haven't seen the last of me," he said, just before shimmering out.

"Why do they have to say that?" Piper asked. "Why not say, 'It was nice meeting you, yet we just don't get along, so I'll go somewhere far away and never come back'?"

"Because they're demons," Paige said, coming in from the dining room. "If they don't like you they decide to come back and kill you."

"Evil."

"Yeah. And why are they attacking this early anyway? Don't demons sleep?"

"Yeah, they sleep," Leo said. "Yet there is no sun in the Underworld, so they don't really have a set sleeping time frame."

"Well we do have one," Paige muttered. "And they should learn that..."

"I don't think they care," Piper said.

"Well whatever. I'm going back to bed." Paige then started up the stairs.

"What about the demon?" Piper asked.

"If he attacks then you can wake me up. But I won't be much help otherwise. So you can call Phoebe and she can help with the research."

Piper sighed. "The research can wait. I'm going to get started on that breakfast."

"Do you want me to go talk with the Elders?" Leo asked.

"No. No, you go get some rest. I'll call you when breakfast is ready."

"Okay."

As Leo went up the stairs Piper turned and looked into the nursery. "That one energyball could have done so much damage," she mused. With a sigh she closed the door and headed down the stairs.

---

"Cralor was right," Zolta muttered to himself. "The witches are too powerful. I'm going to need more help." He waved his hand and a demon appeared.

"You summoned me?"

"Yes. I know that you are one of the demons that has access to a lot of information."

The demon nodded. "This is true. What would you like to know?"

"I need soldiers. Powerful ones. I have some very special plans that need to be carried out, but I can't do them with the Charmed Ones around. I need soldiers that can help me take them out."

The demon looked thoughtful for a moment. "I may be able to help you. There is a band of goblins in the Ronaian caves of the Underworld. They are not particularly strong, but there are quite a few of them. Maybe enough to take out the Charmed Ones. At least keep them busy long enough for you to... carry out your plans."

"Are you sure of this?"

"Pretty sure."

"Good. Then I will go there. Thank you. You may go now."

The demon shifted his weight. "I usually require some sort of payment for the information that I give."

"How about I don't kill you right here and now. How's that for payment?"

"Perfect," the demon said, shimmering out.

---

Phoebe opened her eyes and let out a joyful sigh. She loved waking up next to the man she loved. Cole was still sound asleep, looking so peaceful. Sun rays streamed in through the large window to flow over the bed.

Phoebe smiled and rolled over to look at the clock. "Oh my god!"

Cole was startled awake and he sat up. "What is it? Demons?"

"No! It's almost ten o'clock! I was supposed to be at work at nine!" Phoebe bolted from the bed and grabbed her robe and flung it around herself. She tied her hair back with a rubber band from the bedside table and started to snatch up some clothes.

"Phoebe, slow down," Cole said, yawning. "It's not the biggest deal in the world."

Phoebe stopped cold and stared at Cole. "Not the biggest deal? We are talking about my job here. My career! This is the best job I have ever had. It's a huge deal!" She then started running around again, pulling on clothes while she tried to find her purse.

"What about breakfast?" Cole asked.

"Don't have time." Phoebe finished dressing and found her purse on a chair in the corner of the room. She dug through it and took out some makeup, putting it on as fast as she could.

"Are you sure? Because there was something I wanted to talk to you about and breakfast is the best time to do it..."

"I'm sorry, Cole, but I can't. If I get fired from this job then my life is over."

"I think that's an exaggeration."

"Okay, it is. But still I really have to be at work right now." She took the rubber band out of her hair and threw it aside, combing her hair as best as she could. "Okay, I love you." She gave a quick kiss to Cole and ran out of the room. "We'll talk later tonight!" she called behind her. "There's a Halloween party at P3! Meet me there!"

Cole sighed and laid back down.

---

Phoebe entered the Bay Mirror bullpen and looked around. "Good. Elise is no where in sight." Phoebe quickly snuck into her office and let out a big sigh of relief. "Made it."

"Phoebe!"

"Ah crap." Phoebe turned around and put on a huge smile. "Hi Elise! How are you this morning?"

"How am I? Well let's see. This morning I spilled coffee all over my best blouse, I'm swamped with work, three of my evening edition employees called and said they couldn't come in tonight, and you are late!"

"Just a little..."

"You call an hour and a half just a little? Phoebe, I don't know how time works in your own little world that you spend so much time in, but at a professional newspaper an hour and a half is a lot!"

Phoebe sighed. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. I just woke up late and I didn't have time to eat breakfast or take a shower..."

"Well I can see that," Elise said, crossing her arms and eyeing Phoebe's hair.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Anyways, I am going to get right to work on my column. You have nothing to worry about, Elise. I have everything under control."

"Uh huh. Well before you do get to work I have something I need to tell you."

"Is it good news?" Phoebe asked, pleadingly.

"Well I haven't had any today, so why should anyone else?"

"Uh—"

"Rhetorical question," Elise said, cutting Phoebe off. "Anyways, for some reason my bosses decided that it would be good for promotion if several of our employees took groups of children out for trick-or-treating tonight."

"Oh that's great!" Phoebe said with a smile.

"And you are going to be one of them."

The smile faded. "Oh, that's not. Um, Elise, I can't take children out for trick-or-treating tonight. There's a party at my sister's club that I am going to."

"Well the list for people who can't do it has already been filled. And certain people who were late... get stuck with the job."

"But—"

"No buts! You are doing this, Phoebe. Be here at six o'clock tonight. Now I suggest you get to work. Deadline is in a couple hours." Elise turned and started to walk out of the office. She then stopped and looked back at Phoebe. "Oh, and would you wear a costume? And when I say 'would you' I mean 'you will'. Got it? Good."

Phoebe slumped down in her chair after Elise had left. "This Halloween sucks."

---

Zolta shimmered into the goblin cave and looked around. There were piles of ash all over the place. "It seems as though that demon didn't get the memo of these creatures being vanquished." He glanced at the many piles. "And someone quite powerful must have done this."

"It was the Charmed Ones," came a voice.

Zolta turned to find a mirror hanging on the cave wall. Inside the mirror was a wispy, shadowed form. "Who are you?"

"A demon, trapped in a hellish dimension for hundreds of years, my only company being my two siblings. And my only way to see out into the world is through this mirror."

Zolta smirked. "That is a sad tale," he said, sarcasm in his voice. "Sorry, but I must be going now."

"Wait," the demon in the mirror said, stopping Zolta from leaving. "You came here looking for something. For help; I assume the help of the goblins."

"Yes, I did. I needed them to help me defeat the Charmed Ones."

"Well, as I said, it was the Charmed Ones who killed the goblins. Tell me, why do you want to go up against those three?"

Zolta sighed. He didn't really have time for this, but he decided to tell the demon anyways. Maybe he could help. "I have been preparing to do a ritual for months. One that can only be done on this hallow night. I plan to open a portal which will release evil spirits into the world and create havoc. Yet the Charmed Ones are bound to interfere, as is their way. So I need help to kill them, or at least keep them occupied until I can complete my ritual."

"Ah, a fine plan," the demon said, intrigue high in his voice. "One I can help you with. But if I help you then you must help me."

"Help you do what?"

"Escape."

Zolta shook his head. "I don't have time to do that."

"But you are opening a portal to a demonic realm. It would not be hard to also open one to this dimension that is holding me. I could tell you how to do it."

"And what do I get in return?" Zolta asked.

"I know of some demons that will be able to help you. They are called Skull demons. They look like skeletons. They aren't the most powerful warriors... but they are very resilient. Should be enough to distract the witches long enough."

Zolta thought this over. Releasing this demon was risky. He might just turn on him and then take control of the world himself. On the other hand, who knew how powerful this demon really was? Zolta was an upper-level demon himself, strong enough to hold his own in demonic circles. And this demon might be very grateful for Zolta's help that he might become Zolta's servant. It was an intriguing idea.

"All right," Zolta said with a nod. "I help you, you help me."

The shadowed demon's eyes glowed a dark red. "Good..."

---

Piper took the Halloween cookies she had made out of the oven and started scooping them onto a cooling rack. Leo came in and saw the cookies, instantly grabbing for one. "No, Leo, these are for the party tonight."

"But will it matter if I just have one?"

"Yes. I have planned out this whole system to make an exact amount of cookie dough, to make an exact amount of cookies, for an exact amount of people."

Leo grinned at his wife's obsessive compulsive behavior. "Piper, you don't even know how many people are going to be there."

"Oh yes I do. It's Halloween and people love parties on Halloween, so enough people will show. But I'm only going to let a certain amount of people in. That way everyone has a cookie."

"You're crazy," Leo said, kissing Piper on the forehead. "By the way, that was a great breakfast this morning. Thanks."

"You're welcome. But now we have left overs since Paige didn't get up to come down and eat. She's just been so tired lately with her boss working her so hard. I think she has found out how much work a social worker has to do."

"Speaking of work... shouldn't she be there by now?"

"Yeah, she should. But she's so tired. I think we should let her sleep some more."

"Can't sleep," Paige said, rushing into the room. "I'm late for work. And my boss said that as a social worker I can't be late anymore." She grabbed her keys and stuffed them into her pocket. "Mug," she called, and a mug appeared on the table in front of her. She pointed at the coffee pot and said, "Coffee" then quickly pointed at her mug. A portion of the coffee from the pot orbed out and reappeared in Paige's mug.

"Why couldn't you just get the mug from the cupboard and pour the coffee yourself?" Piper asked.

"No time," Paige said, pulling on her jacket. She took a large swig from the coffee mug and then hustled out the back door.

"Uh, bye," Piper called after her.

"Well, that was the fastest I have seen anyone leave for work," Leo said.

"Yeah... Man, I hope her work load lightens up some. I'm not really liking Paige this way."

"Well we can help with that work load. Part of it anyway; the demonic part. Did you look in the Book of Shadows for the demon?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "No, Leo. If you haven't notice I have been busy cooking you a huge breakfast and baking goodies for the party tonight."

"Doesn't vanquishing demons trump having parties?" Leo asked.

Piper sighed and turned away. "I don't want to go after the demon."

Leo frowned. "Why not?"

"Because maybe Paige and I scared him enough this morning to make him stay away. And if we go after him then it will just motivate him to come back and try to kill us. If we leave him alone he might leave us alone."

"But Piper," Leo said, "he vowed to come back."

"Demons always say that," Piper said, turning back around.

"And they usually mean it. Piper—"

"Leo, I'm busy today. I don't have time to go chasing after demons. If he attacks again then fine, we'll vanquish him. But otherwise I don't want to go making unnecessary trouble for us, okay?"

"Fine," Leo huffed, giving up.

"Okay then. Now I need you to—"

The slam of the front door and Phoebe's call interrupted Piper. "I am so mad at her!" Phoebe came stomping into the kitchen and threw down her purse on the table.

"Who?" Piper asked.

"Elise. She knows that my column takes up a lot of my time. And also that I have a lot of family emergencies. But she goes and decides to make me take kids trick-or-treating tonight."

"Her kids?" Leo asked.

Phoebe bit her lip. "I don't think she has any kids." She thought for a moment and then shook her head. "But that is not the point. See, someone in the administration thought it would be good for promotion if employees from the paper take kids trick-or-treating tonight. And at first I thought it was a great idea. But then Elise told me that I had to do it."

"That sounds kind of... selfish," Piper said, though hoping not to up her sister's temper.

"No, no, no. That's not what I meant. It's a great idea for employees that have kids of their own and are going trick-or-treating anyway, but I have that party of yours to go to tonight. And I have to meet Cole there. He said this morning that he wanted to talk to me about something."

"Oh. Well why didn't you tell Elise that you already had plans?"

"I did," Phoebe said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "But she said that the list for people who couldn't do it was already full. And since I was late... I got stuck doing it."

"This family sure seems to be late to work a lot," Piper mused. "Not that I'm surprised, with what we have to deal with and all."

"You know, usually I would do it," Phoebe continued as if she hadn't heard Piper. "I like kids, I really do. And I think that this is actually a good idea. But I already have plans."

"I don't think the trick-or-treating will go that long," Leo said. "Parents won't want their children out too late. Especially on a night like this. And Cole will understand, I'm sure."

"Besides," Piper said, "this party is going late into the night. Maybe all night. So you won't miss much."

"Okay, you're right," Phoebe said, giving up. "It's just that I'm a little peeved that Elise didn't give me a choice in the matter." She pushed herself up from the table. "Well, I'm off."

Piper checked her watch. "Wow, you had a short lunch break. Elise say that you had to be back early since you were late this morning?"

"No," Phoebe said, shaking her head. "It's the same. I just have to go to the costume store."

"Why?" Leo asked.

"To buy a costume, of course. Elise said it was mandatory."

"Oh, that sucks," Piper said, making a face.

"Yeah. I haven't dressed up for Halloween since that time you, Prue, and I got sent backwards in time."

"Yeah, that wasn't fun. Oh, but I wouldn't wear the same type of thing you did last time."

"Why not?" Phoebe asked.

"Well it was a little... slutty. I don't think the kids' parents would be thrilled if you showed up wearing something that showed off your cleavage."

Phoebe pursed her lips. "You have a good point. Okay, I'll reign it in this year."

"Great. See ya."

"Bye." Phoebe turned and went back out the way she had come.

"Okay, as I was saying," Piper said, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. "I need you to go to the store for some things." She handed Leo the list.

"Okay, what are you going to do?"

"Go pumpkin shopping. Meet me back here in about in hour. You can help me make some jack-o-lanterns."

---

Phoebe browsed through the racks of costumes at the costume shop, trying to find something that wouldn't make her look like a total whacko. She pulled a hippie costume off the rack and examined it.

"Hmm. It's nice... but it's too cold out to be wearing something like this." She sighed and put the costume back.

"May I help you?" asked a clerk, coming up to Phoebe.

"Do you have anything that won't make me look like an adult acting like a kid?" Phoebe asked.

"Well... you are dressing up for Halloween."

"Yeah, well it's required," Phoebe said. "See, at my work we are taking groups of kids out trick-or-treating and having a costume is mandatory. Why? Because my boss is being evil and making me do this, even though I already have plans for the night, not including anything that could pop up out of nowhere like always and... you don't care about any of this," Phoebe said, seeing the look on the clerk's face. She sighed and continued. "I just need a costume that won't cause me to get laughed at."

"Well there's the witch costume. Lots of people wear that so you wouldn't be too out of place."

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah... but the witch thing is pretty common for me. ... I mean, I used to wear that one a lot. Anyways, this year I want something else." She then spotted the perfect costume and grabbed it up, a big smile on her face as she looked it over.

"Ah, the Cinderella costume. That's a good one. Doesn't look too kid like. I think it would look good on you."

"Thanks," Phoebe said, grinning. "Cinderella was always my favorite fairy tale."

"So are you going to buy that?"

"Yeah, definitely." Phoebe then followed the clerk up to the register, the costume under her arm.

---

"Alright, that does it for the Henderson case." Mr. Cowen shuffled some papers and then set them aside. "Now for the Mcnaley case. Paige, do you have the file?" He looked across the conference table at Paige, who had her head down. "Paige!"

"Blow him up!" Paige yelled, bolting up in her seat. She looked confused for a moment and then looked around. Everyone was staring at her.

"What did you say?" Mr. Cowen asked.

"Uh... Donuts. I was saying we should get donuts," Paige said with an innocent smile.

"Well, not right now. Right now we should all pay attention and get to work on the next case. Do you have the file?"

"Uh... which file?"

"The Mcnaley one, Paige," Mr. Cowen said, his voice beginning to fill with frustration.

"Oh, that one. Um, I think I left it on my desk. I'll be right back." She then got up and sped out the door. Once out of the room she leaned against the wall and yawned, closing her eyes. "Ugh, I'm so tired. Wish I had something to wake me up." Paige's eyes then flew open and she smiled. "Why not a little spell? Couldn't hurt. And if my boobs balloon up, I'll just reverse it."

Paige slipped into the women's bathroom and made sure no one was in there. Once satisfied, she started going over rhymes in her head, trying to think up a spell. Finally she went over to the mirror and said to her reflection, "Awake is how I need to stay, coffee and sugar just aren't enough. Any personal gain I can later pay, for this magical sugar rush."

A golden glow washed over Paige and her eyes went wide. "Wow, that works fast." She sped out the bathroom and went back to her meeting. "Okay, I got the file, I'm ready to go. Are all of you ready? Well you better be, because this is going to go fast, fast, fast!"

"Paige," Mr. Cowen said, "are you alright?"

"Fine and dandy! I just needed a little coffee to wake me up. Okay, let's get started, shall we?"

---

"Look, ma'am, that is the best pumpkin I have. And you've already looked at all the others. Please, just make a decision."

Piper stood in a small field that was filled with stacks of hay, on which pumpkins sat. In her hands was one of the large fruits and she was turning it all around, examining every inch of it. Next to her stood an annoyed farmer, dressed in layers of flannel.

"Look, buddy, any pumpkins I choose will be on display at my club. If they look bad, then the club looks bad, which means that I lose business. Do you want me to lose business?"

"No," the farmer sighed. "But I would like to keep business myself. So you just keep looking and I'm going to go help some people who might actually buy something."

"I doubt they will," Piper muttered as the man walked away. "With the state these pumpkins are in, who would want to buy them?"

She set the pumpkin she was looking at down and picked up another, holding it up close to see if there were any bruises. Finding one, she lowered the pumpkin, revealing the skeleton that was standing right in front of her.

Piper screamed and dropped the pumpkin, backing up against a hay stack. The thing was obviously a demon, but it looked just like a human skeleton. In its literal bony hand was a large sword that glinted as sunlight hit it. With that sword the demon slashed downward at Piper, who flung up her hands, freezing the demon and the sword. Stepping to the side, Piper got out of the way just in time, for the demon suddenly unfroze and its sword sliced down through where Piper had just been, cutting a pumpkin in half.

"Okay, freezing doesn't last long with you," Piper said, glancing at the ruined pumpkin and thinking of how that could have been her head. "So, I'm just gonna go." She turned to leave, but found another skeleton demon standing just a mere ten feet away, this one holding a mace. "Oh, so there's two of you. Did you die together?"

She backed away from both of them, who were silently and slowly advancing towards her with their raised weapons. Not a sound came from them; not a growl, a grunt, or a threat. They were, punningly, as silent as the dead.

"Not talking, huh? Well, you'll die together now." She raised her hands, but instead of releasing a freeze, Piper used her other power to blow them up. Flames did not consume them like most demons when hit with Piper's power. No, these demons really exploded, sending bits and pieces of their bones all over the field.

"Well that's different," Piper said. She sighed and started back towards her car, repeating the phrase that she had used that morning. "I hate halloween."

Several minutes after Piper left, the farmer came back. "Did you find anything yet?" he said in annoyance. Yet he stopped when he saw that Piper was gone. "Oh well. I didn't want her money anyways."

He started to walk away when he saw two weapons on the ground, surrounded by what looked like pieces of bone. Before he could investigate further the bones pieces were swept into the air by an unknown wind. They whipped around into two columns, the pieces coming together to form ribs, joints, fingers, and the like, until two skeletons were standing before the farmer, who backed away with stuttering gasps.

The demonic skeletons picked up their weapons and the one with the mace moved towards the farmer. The skeleton swung and the farmer fell back onto the ground. Moments later the farmer's stutters were silenced, following the downward swing of the mace.

---

Phoebe entered the main office of the Bay Mirror, dressed in her Cinderella gown. White silk gloves covered her arms up to her elbows. Her brunette hair was pulled back into a loose bun. And the famous glass slippers adorned her feet, though they were actually plastic.

Elise, dressed as a witch and not looking happy about it, spotted Phoebe and made her way through the crowds of costumed kids and their parents. "Phoebe, thank god you're here."

"Well, you pretty much ordered me to be here," Phoebe said lowly.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." She turned and pointed to five children that stood together. "That's your group. All you have to do is take them out around town, keep them happy, and make sure they don't get killed. The lawsuit would be humongous."

"And that is the worst part about a kid getting killed. The lawsuit."

"Just have them back here by seven." Elise turned on her heel and stomped off towards one of Phoebe's coworkers who had also gotten stuck with this job.

"That costume sure fits her," Phoebe muttered as she walked over to her group. She smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Phoebe. Are you guys ready to have some fun tonight?" The kids nodded. Phoebe saw that one of the kids was dressed as a prince and said, "Hey, looks like Cinderella doesn't have to go to the ball alone tonight."

The kid made a face. "I don't have to kiss you, do I?"

Phoebe laughed. "No, you don't."

"Good. 'Cause I haven't gotten my cootie shot yet."

"Well you don't have to worry. I've got my own prince to kiss."

"Where's he?" asked a little girl dressed as a fairy.

"I'm not sure. But I'll be seeing him later tonight. Okay, so everyone grab their candy bags and let's get a move on." The kids screamed with glee and ran towards the exit. "Hey, no running!"

---

"Leo!" Piper called as she barreled into the manor.

"In the kitchen!" came the response.

Upon entering the kitchen Piper said, "I'm sick of demons!"

Leo, who was putting away groceries, said with concern, "Did the one from this morning attack again?"

"No."

"Okay..." Leo glanced at Piper's empty arms. "Did you get pumpkins?"

"No."

"Didn't have any you liked?"

"No, they didn't, but that's not the point here. I was attacked by two demons that looked like skeletons."

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, moving over to Piper to see if she was hurt.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I blew them up. I just hate how demons are always attacking us. And what is it going to be like when the baby comes? How are we supposed to raise a baby when demons are wrecking this place all the time?"

"Hey, calm down. We'll figure it all out then. But for now you have to focus on these demons."

"Why? I vanquished them."

Before Leo could respond, Paige came in through the back door. "Hey, hi, what's up?"

Piper frowned. "Why are you so perky?"

Paige shrugged. "No reason. But hey, I have some news. I totally whipped through all my work today and I got to leave early. But on the way home there was this report on the radio about a murder that just happened. This farmer guy was killed in a pumpkin patch. Police say it looks like he was killed with a mace. Now I don't really know of any normal people that walk around with a mace, so I think this could be demonic. So come on, we have some vanquishing to do!" Paige started towards the kitchen door.

"Wait, hold it," Piper said, getting Paige to halt her rapid walking. "Did you say a farmer was killed in a pumpkin patch with a mace?"

Paige nodded. "Yep. Mace. Dead farmer. Let's go!"

"Oh god," Piper wheezed, ignoring Paige. "I was in that pumpkin patch. And one of the skeleton demons had a mace."

"So you saw the farmer get killed?" Paige asked.

Piper shook her head. "No, he wasn't there when they attacked. And I blew them up, so how could they have killed him?"

"Well your power doesn't always vanquish demons," Leo said. "Even when it seems to."

"Okay, so we have to find a better way to vanquish them," Paige said, already leaving the room.

"Should we call Phoebe?" Leo asked.

"No, she's out doing that trick-or-treating thing. Paige and I can handle this."

"Do you want me to check with the Elders?"

"No, we don't need them. You just keep it up with the groceries. Oh, and can you go get some pumpkins for the club?"

"But—"

"No buts. I am not going to let a couple demons ruin this party." Piper then turned and went up to the attic after Paige.

---

"Okay guys," Phoebe said. "It's getting late, so we should probably be getting back."

"Nooo," the kids all moaned in unison.

Phoebe smiled. "Okay, we'll get this next house around the corner and then we're going back." The kids gave reluctant mutters of agreement. But as they turned the corner, the mutters turned into screams of terror. A skeleton stood on the sidewalk, brandishing an ax.

"Demon," Phoebe whispered. "Kids, stay back." She moved to meet the demon as it came at her and ducked as it swung the ax. Phoebe latched onto the demon's wrist with one hand and onto the ax with the other, wrenching the weapon out of the demon's grasp. Then with a well placed kick, the demon's head disconnected from the rest of his body and clattered to the ground.

"Cool!" several of the kids yelled. "That was awesome!"

Phoebe didn't say anything. Her eyes were still on the rest of the demon, which was still moving. It grabbed the ax from her and started swinging, not caring that its head was lying on the pavement several feet away.

"Kids," Phoebe started, backing away. "We are getting you back right now. I know you want to say thank you to the man for the cool show, but I think your parents are going to start worrying." And with that she grabbed up one of the smaller kids and started to run, the other kids following.

---

"Paige! Piper!" Phoebe made her way up to the attic. She held a washcloth in one hand and was pressing it against her chest. She found Paige and Piper standing at the Book of Shadows, Paige bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Hey," Paige said. "What's up?"

"What's up is that I was attacked by a demon," Phoebe said.

"Did it look like a skeleton and carry a mace or a sword?" Piper asked.

"Yes and no. It had an ax. But this demon was tough. I knocked its head off and it just kept coming."

"So what's with the washcloth?" Paige asked. "Did you get hit? Are you hurt? Do we have to call Leo to heal you?" She opened her mouth to call their Whitelighter, but Phoebe stopped her.

"No, I'm fine. It's just that when we were running back to the Bay Mirror, the little girl I was carrying threw up on me."

"Ew," Paige said. "That's gross. Babies are gross. Piper, you should rethink having this kid of yours, because it is going to be gross."

"No," Piper said. "And what is with you? Everything you say is very fast and you can't keep still. Are you drunk?"

"Nope, not drunk. Just had a lot of coffee today is all. Anyways, Phoebes, let's fill you in. These demons are called 'Skull demons'. They are henchmen type demons who have to be summoned by the demon that they will be working for. And they can't be vanquished. The only way to stop them is to vanquish the demon who summoned them."

"Okay," Phoebe said, nodding. "So who summoned them?"

"Probably the demon who attacked us this morning," Piper said.

"He said he would be back," Paige said, nudging Piper.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Wait, you were attacked this morning?" Phoebe asked, concern high in her voice and on her face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I had decided I didn't want to deal with it today and besides, you had your own problems."

"Yeah, but—"

"Look," Piper said firmly, "can we just deal with this? I have a party to run tonight and I know that I am already going to be late. Ray said he could handle it, but I still want to be there to make sure everything goes well."

"Okay then," Phoebe said. "Let's find this demon."

Piper nodded, already turning the pages of the Book. "Here he is," she said after a few minutes. "Zolta. Upper level demon, hundreds of years old, has the power to shoot lightning bolts."

"Is there a vanquish?" Paige asked, still bouncing on her feet and looking over her sister's shoulder.

"Yeah, Power of Three spell. And would you stop that? It's annoying the hell out of me."

"So how do we find him?" Phoebe asked. "We don't know what his intentions are, so we don't know where to look for him."

"His intentions are to kill us, obviously," Piper muttered.

"Yeah, but demons usually have a bigger plan in the mix than just killing us. Usually they just want to kill us because they have some big plan that they don't want us to stop."

"Phoebe's right," Paige said. "There's got to be something else on this demon's mind. Maybe the Elders know something. We should call Leo."

"No," Piper said. "He's out buying pumpkins."

Phoebe laughed. "Piper, come on. Pumpkins or demons. Which is the bigger issue here?"

Piper sighed. "Fine. Guess we wont have any jack-o-lanterns at the party tonight." She took in a breath and called for her husband, who orbed in a moment later. "We need you to go see if the Elders know what a demon by the name of Zolta could be up to. We need to find him, but without knowing what he's planning..."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'll go see what I can find out." He orbed out.

"I'm going to go change," Phoebe said, already heading for the stairs. "Tell me when he gets back."

---

"So what did they say?" Paige asked when Leo had returned. She was sitting on the old couch in the attic, tossing a pillow in the air. Piper was at the Book, copying down the vanquishing spell. And Phoebe was just coming back into the room, now dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

"Well they said that Zolta is the kind of demon who tries to keep off of their radar. But rumors have it that he has been working for several years on a spell that will open a portal that will release demonic spirits into this world. The spell can only be done on Halloween and he has tried and failed several times already. But they think he might be able to do it this time. And if he succeeds..."

"Let me guess," Piper muttered. "Chaos?"

Leo nodded. "Yep."

"Of course." Piper set down her pen. "Well I have the spell here. Now where do we find him so we can use it?"

"He has to do the spell in a cemetery."

"Which one?" Phoebe asked. "We have quite a few."

"In the past he has always done the spell in the same cemetery. He'll probably stick with that one. It's the Cliver cemetery."

"Well then let's go!" Paige said, jumping up. "We go in, say a little rhyme, and bam! Dead demon."

"Right." Piper closed the Book of Shadows. "Well then, Ms. Perky, let's get a move on. Leo, I want you to go to the club. Make sure nothing goes wrong." She and Phoebe then took Paige's hands and the three of them orbed out.

---

"Now, once you free me, I can help you with your ritual. I've done several of them before, so I know I can help you with this one."

Zolta stood before the mirror with the shadowed figure in it, which was propped up against a tombstone. The three skull demons stood around him, keeping their guard up. The one with the ax had gotten his head back on.

"I hope you can. I've been trying to get this ritual right for years. I'm not going to fail again." He then started the spell, speaking in an ancient demonic language.

Not minutes after he had begun, the Charmed Ones orbed in. Zolta didn't stop the spell. If he did, he would have to start over. But he wasn't worried; the skull demons were already advancing on the three sisters.

Piper shot out her hands and blew one of the demons up. But before all the bone pieces had even settled on the ground, they began to reform. "Great, this is just great," Piper muttered as the fully formed demon came after her.

Less than twenty feet away, Phoebe had her own demon to deal with. It was the one with the ax. "So, we meet again," Phoebe said. "How's your head?" The demon responded by swing the ax. Phoebe levitated, avoiding the attack, and then kicked out, knocking off the demon's head once again. "You should really find a way to keep that thing on," Phoebe said, coming back down to the ground. She ducked another swing of the ax and gave a sweeping kick, taking the demon down.

"Paige!" Piper called to her sister, who was taking on the demon with the mace. "We have to take out Zolta to take out these guys!"

"Yeah, I know!" Paige called back, avoiding a swing of the mace.

"Well we can't get to him with these guys attacking us, so can you do something to send them away?"

Paige nodded. "Good idea." She held up her hand and called out, "Skull demons!" The three skull demons dissipated into orbs. "Ocean!" Paige yelled, waving her hand in the general direction of the ocean.

Once the skull demons were gone the sisters came to stand next to one another. They stood behind Zolta, who was just finishing the spell. A portal was opening. From inside it came a victorious roar.

"Okay, spell time," Piper said, pulling out the piece of paper with the spell on it. Just before she and her sisters were about to read it, Paige suddenly glowed and fell to the ground. "Paige!"

Phoebe knelt down next to Paige and felt for a pulse. "She's alive. She's..." Phoebe raised her eyebrows as Paige started to snore. "She's asleep."

"Asleep!" Piper yelled. "But we don't have time for this." Piper knelt down and shook her sister. "Paige, wake up!"

"Piper," Phoebe said. "Something's coming out of the portal."

Two large, reptile like, hands were reaching out of the portal. And scarlet eyes, burning with happiness, could be seen.

"What do we do?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know," Piper responded, panicking.

Zolta turned to them. "I won't let you stop me." He raised his hand to fire a lightning bolt, but Piper used her power first. The blast knocked Zolta into the air and sent him hurtling into the portal, slamming in to whatever was coming out. A scream of rage came from the portal, just before it closed.

"Wow, good thinking," Phoebe said.

"Thinking had nothing to do with it. I did it on instinct."

"Well it was good instinct." Phoebe looked down at Paige. "So what do we do about her?"

Piper sighed. "Let's call Leo so he can orb us home. We'll figure out what to do once we're there."

Phoebe nodded and knelt down next to her sleeping sister as Piper called for Leo.

---

Zolta looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He was obviously in another dimension, but he didn't know which. All he knew was that he was on a large, floating rock. A red sky was overhead and lightning lanced across it every few seconds.

A large shadow suddenly enveloped Zolta and he looked up to see the demon who he had been talking to in the mirror. He was filled with fear, just with the sight of the beast before him.

"You failed," the demon hissed. "You failed... so you die."

The last thing Zolta saw was a flash of fire.

---

"Paige, what were you thinking!"

They had finally been able to wake Paige up with a really stinky potion and were now all in the kitchen, giving Paige the third degree.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stay awake at work and if I hadn't cast that spell then I might have gotten fired."

"And because you cast that spell we almost got killed," Piper said, crossing her arms.

Paige looked at Phoebe, pleadingly. "Will you help defend me?"

"Sorry, can't. If I try then Piper will get on me about all the personal gain spells I have cast."

"And remind you of the consequences," Piper said.

"Anyways," Phoebe said. "So your sugar rush spell had the affect that most sugar rushes have. It keeps you going for awhile, but it fades in a second and leaves you worse off than you were before."

Paige nodded and sipped the coffee they had given her. "Which is really bad when you're in the middle of fighting demons."

"Yes," Phoebe agreed. "But we got rid of the demons and all is well again."

"Everything may be well here, but what about at my party?" Piper said. "I sent Leo back there right away to keep an eye on things, but he's probably just sitting at the bar eating candy."

"I'm sure everything is fine at the party," Phoebe said. She got up from the table and continued, "But we should get over there. I told Cole I would meet him there. He said he has to talk to me about something."

"Oh, hope it isn't bad," Paige said.

"Yeah, me too. So, you going?"

Paige shook her head. "I think I am going to go catch up on some sleep."

"Okay. We'll see ya later."

---

Piper and Phoebe came down the steps of P3, stepping into a party that was in full swing.

"Well," Piper said, "everything seems fine... Oh no!"

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"I told Ray to put the cookies on the left side of the table and the punch on the right! I have to go sort this out."

Phoebe laughed as Piper rushed off. Looking around, Phoebe spotted Cole sitting at the bar, sipping on a drink. "Hi," she said, once she had made her way over.

"Hey. You look great."

"Thanks." Phoebe sat at the bar and ordered a drink for herself. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well I don't really know how to build up to it..."

"So don't. Just tell me."

Cole nodded and gulped down the rest of his drink. "Okay... I'm leaving."

"What!"

"Not for long," Cole said, holding up his hands to try and calm Phoebe. "Just for a little while."

"But... why?"

"I think I may have a lead on how to get rid of these powers."

"Really? Cole, that's great." She paused. "Wait, this isn't going to be dangerous, is it?"

"It... might be."

"Do you want me to come with you? I could get my sisters, too. The Power of Three to back you up."

Cole shook his head. "No, that's not needed. Really, most demons are afraid to go up against me now."

"Oh. So... when will you be back?"

"I'm not sure. But I'll come back as soon as I can. And when I do... I may very well be free of evil magic." Cole smiled, obviously excited about the idea.

Phoebe smiled too. "I love you." She kissed him, but the kiss was interrupted by a scream from the other side of the room.

"Red napkins! Red is for Valentines Day, this is Halloween. I told you to use the orange and black napkins!"

"I'm guessing that's Piper," Cole said.

"Who else? But ignore her and kiss me." The two smiled again and kissed each other, enjoying it since it would be their last for awhile.

End of Episode Three: Halloween Horror