Chapter 6

Chris in the Underworld

Chris put a pillow on his chair and started flipping through his Romeo and Juliet novel. God how he hated Shakespeare! He wondered around his room with the book in his hand. He was going to avoid sitting for as long as possible; but he did have to complete this paper or deal with Wyatt. That was something he REALLY didn't want to face again. He looked through the book. Maybe he should write a 'what if' approach. What if the two lovers didn't die; instead had a couple of sons? With everything against them and their union they would eventually have to abandon their boys. This would cause their youngest son to hate his father and really miss his mom.

He was brought out of his musings when Wyatt came to his door. "You know you are going to have to sit down and write it eventually." He said as he watched Chris wander around his room with the book.

Chris had his back to Wyatt and didn't turn around. "I know and I will. I already armed myself." He pointed to the chair and then covertly wiped the tears in his eyes that were caused by the thoughts of his missing mother as Wyatt checked out the seating arrangements.

"Ahhh, always prepared. You shoulda been a boy scout." Wyatt said as he crossed the room. He ruffled Chris's hair and said, "So long as you get it done. I'm going out for a while."

Chris blushed at Wyatt's comment. "Ugh, I will, just go already." He told him as he watched Wyatt walk out of the room.

"Don't be up too late." Wyatt called up to him.

Chris yelled back, "Ok, Dad!" and then immediately regretted it.

He inhaled quickly, ready to apologize when Wyatt yelled back, "Funny, Chris, very funny." And then he heard the door shut. Chris breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to readdress the earlier conversation.

Chris looked back at the desk chair and sighed again. He smiled when he had his next thought. He picked up the pen and put it to the paper and said the words:

"Secrets of two whose love was so bright

My ideas of a story you will now write."

With that the pen began to write the story that Chris had just thought up. He watched as the words filled the pages. He should have done this from the beginning! He certainly wouldn't be nursing a sore butt right now if he had turned this paper in. As the pen dropped and he looked over the finished work another thought occurred to him. If Wyatt knew he had used his magic to complete homework he would never sit again! Oh well, what Wyatt didn't know wasn't going to hurt Chris! He straightened the pages and set them back down. He went and got out the clothes he would be wearing for the night and messed up his bed making it look like someone was sleeping in it. If, by chance, Wyatt made it home before him then he needed to make sure that it looked like he was there.

Chris headed downstairs to get something to eat. His grandfather was already in the kitchen. "Hey, Grandpa," he said as he headed to the fridge.

His grandfather set down the newspaper he had been reading and said, "Chris. How did your day go?"

Chris smiled, he loved his grandfather. Grandpa always made time for him. Chris gathered the ingredients to make a sandwich and said, "Not bad, glad it's over though! This has been a long week. You want a sandwich?"

Victor agreed to one and the two talked about everything and nothing that had happened during the previous week; he didn't even say anything when Chris ate his meal standing. He could see the red rims around Chris's eyes and considering he had already seen the note from Chris's teacher he figured out that Wyatt had handled the issue. There was no need for him to add to it.

"So, what do you have planned for this evening?" Victor asked him.

Chris considered for a moment telling him that he was going out with Seth but figured it was safer if Grandpa didn't know. What if he innocently brought up Chris not being there? Chris was supposed to be working on that paper, so that is what he said, "Ahh, I would rather go out but I need to finish my English paper."

Victor nodded, he thought so. As much as he would have liked to take the responsibility off Wyatt's shoulders he had to admit that Wyatt did a good job with Chris. No doubt the boy would have that paper written before morning. He picked up the newspaper again and said, "Ok, just don't stay up too late."

Chris was already walking out of the room when he said, "Ugh, not you too, Grandpa," then he laughed as he walked up the stairs. Victor smiled and then went back to reading.

Chris quickly changed his clothes and called Seth. "I'm on my way over right now."

Seth paused then said, "Oh hey Chris. Dad, Chris and I are going to meet at the library to get what we need for that English Lit paper."

Chris waited for the reply from Derek and then Seth said, "Ok, I'll meet you there. Bye." And the line went dead.

Chris laughed as he waited. He shut his door, really thankful that Wyatt wasn't home. There was no way he could hide the noise of him orbing out of his room from him. It sucked to try to get around Wyatt.

As he was musing the phone rang again, it was Seth, "Hey, sorry, my dad was in the room all wanting to chat. Ugh! Anyway, meet me at the park."

Chris agreed and orbed to the park by Seth's house. They couldn't hide the noise of the orbs from Derek either. Chris pushed down the bit of jealousy that wanted to rise thinking about Seth having a dad that cared. I mean, really, Chris had an awesome Grandpa and if he had to admit it a pretty great older brother.

Seth came up behind him and punched him in the shoulder, "You ready?"

Chris smiled and said, "Yep! I got the potions in the bag," he lifted the shoulder strap of the duffel bag he was holding and dropped it again. "Let's go kick some Flamer demon ass!"

The Flamer demon they were going after was a lower level demon that had the ability to throw flames. Not as powerful as one that could throw an energy ball more like strong enough to set a piece of paper on fire from across the room. Chris had researched them in the Book and had the vanquishing potion ready. This was more about having fun and kicking ass then actually causing any damage to the underworld. He and Seth would play around with him for a while before they actually vanquished him. They had been hunting lower level demons like him for years. Chris wished Wyatt would take him on vanquishes but there was no way he was going to 'put him in that kind of danger'. Yes, that was a direct quote. Please, he had plenty of powers and he could be an asset if Wyatt would just let him go! But no, Wyatt wanted to keep him safe so instead Chris and Seth would come down to the Underworld to play at vanquishing.

They were done playing and had just thrown the vanquishing vial at the Flamer demon. He wasn't very much fun, too stupid or too preoccupied to play.

"Well, well, well," They heard a voice behind them. "That wasn't very sportsman like."

The demon was closest to Chris. He looked human; a tall white man with graying hair and dressed in all black. He raised his hand to Chris and looked at him for a moment before saying, "What would your brother say?"

Shit! He looked over at Seth and mouthed, 'go!'

Seth shimmered out without another word but the demon said, "I don't think so." And Chris looked over towards him. Instead of seeing the demon he saw Wyatt. As Wyatt was walking towards him his look began to change, his hair became longer, his clothes turned to black and his facial expression hardened. He heard the demon say, "This is what your nightmares are about, aren't they? That your big brother will turn evil. There will be no way for you to stop him. He will destroy the world and kill the woman you love. That is what wakes you in a cold sweat." The demon continued to taunt him with what actually was Chris's biggest fear.

Chris watched as this older, scarier version walked towards him and he heard Wyatt say, "After everything I have done for you, you betray me?" With that Wyatt raised his arm and began to close his hand into a fist. Chris grabbed at his own throat, he was choking! Wyatt was going to kill him! Oh my God, he had dreamed this happening for as long as he could remember.

He fell to his knees saying, "Wyatt, please…" He couldn't get anything more out. The world was fading…

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Seth had shimmered out of the cave. They had seen that demon before in the Book of Shadows; he was the Demon of Fear. When Chris told him to go he knew just who he needed to get. He focused all his thoughts on Wyatt and shimmered to him.

Wyatt had just finished his meeting with a group of darklighters. Imagine his surprise upon seeing Chris's best friend shimmer to him in the underworld! He walked away from the darklighter group, grabbing Seth's arm and dragging him along.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Wyatt asked angrily. Wyatt's heart was racing; he had had a bad feeling earlier but figured it was just because he was worried about Chris. He hated when he had to close their bond but Chris would sense him going to the underworld if he had left it open.

Seth only said one word, "Chris…" and with the look on Seth's face Wyatt knew his baby brother was in trouble. He reopened their bond and nearly fell to his knees with the fear that was coursing over it.

He looked at Seth and said, "Go home."

Seth did as he was told, knowing it would be safer for both he and Chris if he did so.

Wyatt orbed to his little brother. What he saw broke his heart. Chris was clutching at his throat begging some invisible force to stop hurting him. As he ran up to him he heard Chris whisper, "Wyatt, please…" but Chris wasn't looking at Wyatt, he was staring at something Wyatt couldn't even see.

Wyatt saw Barbas and realized what was going on. He raised his hand and threw an energy ball at Barbas hitting him square in the chest. The voice that spoke was a deep commanding sound, nothing like the usual Wyatt as he said, "I would advise you to leave now."

The demon stared for a second then flamed away. There were easier prey out there to find and he was running out of time.

Wyatt got in front of Chris and grabbed his arms saying, in his normal voice, "That's not me, Chris; you know that I would never hurt you."

Wyatt shook him and said, "Come on Chris."

Chris blinked and looked at Wyatt and whispered, "Wy?" The scary evil Wyatt was gone and his big brother was in his place. He took in a deep breath and then hugged on to Wyatt. Wyatt hugged him back and petted a hand through his hair.

Chris started to cry saying, "You were evil and trying to kill me."

Wyatt hugged him tighter and said, "It's okay now. I'm not evil." Then he paused and pulled Chris away to look at him before he said, "Though I'm not so sure about the killing you part, what the hell are you doing in the underworld?"

Chris stepped back and said, "Oh God, Seth…"

Wyatt reassured him, "Don't worry, he's home, where we are heading." And with that he grabbed the back of Chris's collar and orbed them home. He orbed them right into Chris's room.

Wyatt flipped on a light while Chris was saying, "Wy…"

But Wyatt wasn't having it, "No, bed now. You can explain all this," He pointed to the unmade bed with a pillow masquerading as a body covered with a sheet, "to me tomorrow."

Chris said, "But Wy…"

Wyatt interrupted him saying, "You know, you should take me up on the offer because right now I would actually rather just skip to the punishment phase but I don't think you're really up for another round over my knee."

Chris blushed furiously and crawled into bed, pulling his pillow out as he made himself more comfortable. Chris could feel the anger and disappointment flowing over their bond. It was like Wyatt had actually amped it up just to make sure he knew.

"Goodnight, Christopher." Wyatt said as he got to the door.

"Wy…" Chris called out before he shut the door.

Wyatt paused, and Chris said, "I'm sorry."

Wyatt looked back at him sadly, "Uh huh, but not as sorry as you're going to be." And he shut the door.

Chris dropped his head on his bed. Man he was in so much trouble. What had he been thinking? Wyatt had all but told him to stay home due to their earlier altercation. Instead he went down to the underworld to play around and Wyatt had to save him from the Demon of Fear. Ugh, this was so not good.

His next thought was Seth.

He picked up his cell phone. The call was answered up on the first ring, "Chris, are you ok?"

Chris nodded even though he knew Seth couldn't see it, "Yeah, I am now. Thanks for getting Wyatt."

Seth took in a deep breath and said, "Man, I have never been so scared! You sure you're going to be alright?"

Chris winced, "Well, I am tonight, but I'm not so sure after Wyatt gets done with me tomorrow."

Seth answered jokingly, "Oh, man, I wouldn't want to be you!"

He had no idea, Chris thought.

"Give me a call later to tell me how long you are going to be grounded for," Seth told him.

Chris laughed, "I will if I can but if not I will see you Monday. Glad the demon didn't get ya!" he said and hung up. He lay back down on the bed. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed the morning would never come.

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Wyatt paced in his room. He had never been so scared in his life. Not only did he feel Chris's fear but Wyatt knew that his own worst fear was losing Chris. Nothing else even compared to that fear. He paced some more. It was good that he decided to wait until tomorrow to discuss this with Chris. If he had to deal with him now he would kill him. He really needed to wait and think about this tomorrow. He needed to allow himself to calm down so he could rationally and thoroughly beat the hell out of his brother for defying him like he had just done. The underworld! He was playing around in THE UNDERWORLD! He got caught by Barbas and almost DIED! If Seth hadn't gotten Wyatt, Chris would be dead. Wyatt put his fist through the wall. He put his hand back down and tried to calm himself. This wasn't going to help, he needed to stop thinking about what had happened with Chris and refocus his energy on the meeting he attended.

Once he had everything in place he would be able to keep Chris safe. Tonight the Darklighters showed that they could be organized. He felt himself calming as he thought about his plan. His mother and aunts had it wrong. It wasn't about good and evil. No, it was all about power and whoever had the most power won! He was going to have the most power. He was the Twice-Blessed, heir to Excalibur and he would have the power to keep his baby brother safe! With those thoughts he lay down on his bed and fell asleep, secure in the knowledge that he had everything under control. He would deal with Chris tomorrow.

TBC