Disclaimer: Don´t own them, but they are going to get thrown away by their owners. So maybe soon...?
Chapter six: Concealment
Walking down the deserted roads they reached the shelter.
It was really anything special, but Chris reminded himself: Warm, dry, and away from the streets, which were, in this time, luckily not ruled by demons.
Compared to the Resistance hideouts, this was luxury.
The shelter consisted mainly of two rooms. The first, smaller one, was furnished with metal benches and tables. It conduced as a refectory. The second one must have been the dormitory, as Chris surmised out of a short glance into the dimly lit hall. There were some small side rooms too, which were labeled as beeing an office, storeroom and bathroom, in big, colourful, in some-ways unfitting letters.
'Carry!' Chris thought, inwardly grinning.
"So here we go with the sandwiches, tea will take a few minutes," Carry said, placing a plate with a little "mountain" of different sandwiches before Chris. She must have guessed how long he'd gone without eating.
"Ok, make yourself comfortable", she said, and Chris began to eat without any attempt at conversation.
Soon the silence became everything but comforting, but Carry waited patiently.
Minutes were ticking by till Chris could no longer sustain the silence.
„I never realized how hungry I actually was," Chris said.
Meanwhile Max brought a pot of steaming hot tea and some cups, before he disappeared into the office again.
'Okay,' Carry thought, 'the ice is broken, so let's see if we can get something out of the kid that could be useful to help him.'
She really didn't know Chris.
He was acquainted with all the ropes, every one of her little talking tricks recoiled on his built-up protective-wall.
And so it came to be that by the time he was going to sleep, the boy knew half the life of Carry, while she only knew that he was called Chris.
Max allocated Chris a bed in the big dormitory, in which bed was lined up by bed. Most of them were occupied. He got a bed near the door, so he did not disturb the already sleeping people.
'Feels like home,' Chris thought as he dropped fully clothed on his bed. It appeared strange to Max, but the boy must have had his reasons. So he wished him good night and closed the door silently.
The air in the room was stuffy, and Chris could hear snores in various pitches.
The first thing he did was pull out the vial from beneath his shirt. In no way would he forget the potion for the second time that night. He eyed the contents of the little vial hopefully. After shaking it providently, he took the first drop of the sleep potion. Thereupon he took a second one, just to be sure, and curled up underneath the scratchy rug. Chris wanted to think some things over before drifting into sleep, but it was as if someone had pushed the off switch. One second he was there, and the next…
…three year old Chris was in the kitchen with his mom.
"Mom, what will we do for dinner today?", he asked, whilst he attempted to tie up his little apron by himself with the utmost concentration, complete with a protruding tongue.
Piper smiled as she looked at her youngest.
"Here comes my little chef," she said kneeling down to help her son with the apron.
"Will you become a cook like mommy?" she asked teasing.
The boy knitted his brows.
"Hey, what's up Peanut, what are you worried about?"
"I don't want to disappoint you!" Chris´ light eyes clouded.
"You could never disappoint me sweetie, so what's up?"
"Would you be upset if...if I'd like to become a Whitelighter like daddy?" he asked wary.
Piper laughed. "Of course not. I think you would be a wonderful whitelighter. Shall I tell you something?…You could be my Whitelighter till you are grown up and have your full powers?"
"But Wyatt will laugh at me. He always says I will never be a Whitelighter with only orbing and telekinesis," Chris said sadly.
"You know what? You will be my secret Whitelighter! The greatest Whitelighter any witch ever had!" Piper said, while lifting the small boy high up in the air. His smile lit up the whole room again.
Suddenly, loud screams filled the manor. Leo came into the hall, wearing an obviously strained smile, six year old Wyatt fidgeting under his arm. He asked "A little help here, honey!"
"No, darling, the elder thing was your stupid idea, so you will handle the consequences!" Piper said with her most bewitching smile.
Wyatt, meanwhile, screamed at the top of his lungs getting into a full grown flush of anger. "I won't go with you Up There, no way. It's boring! The whole time they lecture me or investigate what powers I have! I'll become gaga Up There. Please, Dad, let me stay here; I want to play with Chris. Or he can come with me Up There, please!"
"You know the elders wouldn't let me," Leo said in a honey-sweet elder voice, which could only hide half of his annoyance. "You know that your special powers need particular attention…!" And with that, father and son orbed away.
Piper's smile widened as she thought how Wyatt would stage hell Up There in the elders"heaven".
But this was fair punishment for the elder's worst and most stupid idea ever: Special training for the Twice Blessed.
Wyatt was, at the moment first and foremost a playful little boy, who didn't give a damn about any prophecies. And in Pipers not so humble opinion, things should stay that way, at least for the next few years.
Chris stood in the doorframe looking with wide, green eyes that took more in than his parents would have thought possible, at such a young age.
He stared thoughtfully at the place where his brother and father had stood seconds before.
Most of the time, he enjoyed it, when his brother was Up There, because it meant having their shared room all to himself, meaning he could play with all of Wyatt's favourite toy, and if Wyatt stayed overnight or longer… well Chris could sleep in his dad's bed, by his mom's side whenever he felt alone at night.
You could say Chris enjoyed the extra time with his Mom much more than Wyatt did with their father.
But every time Wyatt returned home, he was more than happy to have his brother and best friend back.
Without Wyatt, his life simply wasn't the same. And - not to be forgotten - being the only target of their dearest aunties "love attacks" could be very hard sometimes. He really hoped that he would never have to miss his brother for longer then a few days.
When Wyatt came back, he was usually upset and told Chris in secret how much he hated, that they thought he was 'special' and how his prophesied 'special fate' served only to make him feel sick.
He had to stay Up There, had to endure endless speeches from the elders and was put through rigorous training for his powers till finally, at the end of the day, he'd simply collapse with exhaustion.
Apart from that, his schoolmates looked at him like some alienated freak when he returned to school. And he'd have to catch up on everything he'd missed in afternoon lessons, which made him 'special' once more.
Chris realized that, even if he subtracted that Wyatt surely acted the big shot in front of his little brother by bloating the facts, he had, from little Chris' point of view, a horrible life of loneliness and unwanted duties.
Chris felt ashamed and guilty that he enjoyed the extra time with his mom so much, while at the same time his brother seemed to be suffering.
There was one thing his young, clever mind learned from his brothers situation: Never be too special! And having his powers developed like Wyatt's would mean just that.
Horrible times Up There, away from his mommy and aunties and all his friends from nursery school? No way! He swore to himself that he would never become that special at all, no matter what it would cost him!
Chris felt soft, caring arms embrace him from behind. He leaned on his mommy taking in all her warmth. "Why so pensive, sweetie?" Piper asked, stroking his cheek tenderly.
"No reason!" Chris answered while he still seemed to be miles away "But mom…?"
"What?"
"I think I would rather become a cook, if it's possible!"
"Anything is possible, Peanut, Anything you want to …!"
Chris drifted out of the dream with the smiling face of his mom still in his mind. Her soft words resounded in his ears …Anything is possible, Peanut, Anything…!
He felt so warm, so comforted……he wanted that dream to last forever. If he remembered his situation…if life was like that, he'd rather stay in his dreams…
Half asleep he grabbed the vial and got ready for another peaceful dream.
This time he wanted the big thing, even without a screaming Wyatt. For that he took three drops…
…
He felt like he was embedded into a soft cloud, floating within the big, light nothingness. Around him, vapours of sparkling dreams were passing by. When such a vapour came in touch with Chris he could snatch up passing images of his past…
… six year old Christopher right before his first day at school…everyone was there for a bombastic family breakfast…even his dad…
"Hold that!" Too late, it was already slipping away!
…first grader Chris doing homework… faithfully, the little boy painted C A T into his exercise book, then returned to his original edition of "Peter Pan"… D O G, he painted… first years stuff was so boring…he'd been able to read and write since he was three…learned it secretly along with his brother, but this gave him time for better things…back to "Peter Pan"…proudly, his mum eyed his exercise book…"Well done Chris!"…both were smiling…she didn't know, and it was good that way…never be too special…
…playing orb and seek with Wyatt and Aunt Paige. Wyatt helped Chris to find their aunt by using his sensing powers. They both shared a guffaw as they saw Paige's mock-pout. "You two cheat", she said before joining in with the boys' infectous laughter…
… snuggling with mum…Chris never felt so safe and comfortable in his whole life again…
…the first own bike…light blue and silver shining…little Chris always felt like he could fly, when he raced down the sidewalk…
…Wyatt and Chris laying in the garden, looking into the clouds, inventing their fabulous Whitelighter future…
…family picnic…
…martial arts training with Phoebe…
Wait I hated this…Ok not really!…
…running with his track team…just running…the world is nothing…just running…
…Chris and Victor at one of their great cooking-happenings…laughter and chattering…total chaos in the kitchen…
…Bianca…!… warm smooth skin…soft lips…first kiss…
He awoke with a beaming smile from ear to ear.
"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Carry greeted him as he shuffled drowsily out of the dormitory.
Chris felt that he had never slept so good in the last…maybe five years.
Carry immediately fell for the boy's charm again. His tousled hair and sleepy eyes gave him the perfect impression of an adorable little boy.
"Where is everyone?" Chris murmured wondering.
"Its eleven a.m.´, and the shelter closes at nine. We decided to let you sleep in, after you had such a rough night," Carry declared looking over her coffee pot.
"That's an absolute exception, mister!" Max added.
"Good morning to you too, Max!" Chris mumbled.
"Coffee?" a young woman Chris didn't know asked. He nodded.
"Morning-morose, mh?" she asked amused. "OK, have your coffee and relax. By the way, I'm Lucy." Chris nodded again.
"And as for you two: your shift ended two hours ago, you have seen he's up and sound, so you can go home. NOW!" Lucy added with an amused grin.
"I think first we will have a cup of coffee with our mister mysterious here, before we go," Max said.
"So what have you planned to do for today?" Max asked hopefully.
"I will go and talk to my family," Chris sighed after a moments contemplation, partly to delight Carry and Max, but largely because it was actually his true intention. There was no reason to defer the confrontation any longer than neccessary.
After finishing his coffee, he said goodbye to the three, and walked out into the bright sunshine. The street workers looked thoughtful after the boy.
Soon after Chris had left the shelter, Lucy came laughing out of the office with a form in her hand. "You can not be serious, Carry!"
The only entries filled in at the form were in the space for first-name: Chris, and a cross at gender: male.
Lucy was close to roll around the floor laughing. She had to hold her sides to speak on:
"Nosy, I'll–drive-you-up–the-wall–with-my-questions-Carry's interrogation skills failed. That I can experience that, in my old age!," Lucy said beaming from ear to ear, and Max and at least Carry too, started to laugh with her…
TBC...