It was 5pm and Chris found himself seated in the great hall of magic school. It was free of students at this time and his only interactions would be with the occasional teacher who would pass by and enquire as to his presence.
Chris had stuck to his promise the night before about not going demon hunting alone. However, early in the day he had discovered some information in the book of shadows on the demon with the stray energy ball that had injured him. Curiousity had led him to the schools library to pick up the needed book for research further.
He didn't want to break his promise to his brother but the temptation was there still. He had claimed to his brother that the burn was caused by getting caught in the crossfire between two demons. He had failed to mention that they were both actually targeting him as apposed to one another.
The sound of someone making an entrance via orbing caused him to quickly shut the book and push it under the seat he was sitting on. The disappearance of orbs revealed his brother.
"You weren't at home when I got in?" Wyatt questioned before raising an eyebrow sceptically, "…did you even go to school?"
Chris nodded slightly over enthusiastically. When Wyatt failed to remove his glance from him he looked away and sighed.
Returning his glance to his older brother he continued, "I don't like it there Wyatt, I stayed till break and then I came here…"
When Wyatt continued to look at him disapprovingly he quickly continued, "…It's not like I haven't been to A school…" he tried to reason, unsure as to why he needed his brothers approval.
Wyatt let the subject slide for the moment as he sat down next to his brother.
"So how come you're here past normal school hours?" he asked casually.
"Uh Oh," Chris thought to himself.
Shrugging, he simply answered, "I guess we should probably go home, mom will be back soon." Convinced by this change of subject, Wyatt obliged as they orbed home.
It was 3am and despite trying to sleep the demon lingered on his mind. The book had said it was a lower level demon, an easy vanquish he told himself. He looked over at Wyatt, asleep on the other side of the room. Convincing himself it would be wrong to wake him and knowing he wouldn't rest until he'd sorted it, he picked up the vanquishing potion he had made at the school earlier and prepared to leave.
Reappearing from the mass of orbs he found himself in the cave like place from the morning before. It was dimly lit and he struggled to suppress the need to vomit at the odour. It was quiet; eerily so. As he felt the shimmer in the air not far behind him he turned round a moment to slow. The released bladed object pierced his upper chest, causing him to drop to the ground with a suppressed whimper.
The menacing creature was different from the night before, it stalked forward, towards its fallen prey. Chris doubted he'd felt such an agonising pain before, weakened and unable to defend himself, he closed his eyes tightly whilst attempting to form some sort of plan.
The next thing he felt was the warm sensation of healing flow through him. Glancing up cautiously, he saw Wyatt standing above him, now concentrated on a fearful looking demon. In moments the creature had exploded into fiery pieces.
Chris then received his brothers attention, suddenly preferring the demons. He was certain he was getting a darker look than the demon had received and he felt he should probably be looking more fearful about now too.
"Home." was the simple demand he received but it was coated in a wealth of emotion, he doubted he had ever seen Wyatt look or sound more angry.
Wyatt clutched his shoulder in a less than gentle manner and Chris allowed him to orb them back without any protest. He appeared directly onto his bed and quickly turned to face the wall.
He felt Wyatt stare as though it burned into the back of his head but he didn't move a muscle. He waited a few more moments until he heard Wyatt go to his own bed. At that, he shrunk further into the bed, making himself as small as possible. He shuddered at the thought of Wyatt's reaction in the morning.