Aro held up the t-shirt towards his best tracker. "Find her."
He nodded and took the shirt. He inhaled it and ran out.
Bella sighed and rested her head on her hand as she looked at her cousin. "Every demonic clan we could think of."
"And nothing." he finished.
The two hovered over the lists of demons. Bella took the pen out behind her ear and crossed one off the top.
"Every demon is a suspect." Chris said. "They'd all love to have Wyatt on their side. What are we going to do?"
Bella sighed and shrugged helplessly. Her back thumped up against the P3 couch. Chris followed her lead and the two stared at the poster littered walls.
"Tell me about the future?" Bella requested.
Chris didn't feel like drawing up an argument about future consequences. His powers were burnt out and he was burnt out emotionally too. He nodded and stared up at the ceiling blankly. "It sucks."
Bella chuckled. "How about the future before it went bad?"
"It was nice. People were always relatively happy, not fearful. You know? Wyatt was a good kid. Sure, he had a bad streak, but so did every sixteen-year-old. Dad was hardly ever around. If he wasn't with Wyatt, he was with some charge in Paris. If he wasn't in Paris, he was fighting with mom. If he wasn't with mom, Wyatt, or Paris, well, he wasn't with me, that's for damn sure."
"He's missing out."
Chris smiled. "It wasn't all bad. Sure, I hardly had a father, but I had a mother. She taught me how to cook and make potions. Aunt Paige taught me how to cast spells, to the best of her ability. Aunt Phoebe would have, but she was always a little busy with her own family."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's around this time where Phoebe becomes lonely. She still has heartache from Cole, though she doesn't want to admit it. She wants someone to love her and someone to love. She wants a kid. She spends a couple of years trying to conceive. She can't adopt, and she's too picky to get sperm. She even tried to get someone to hold a baby for her, out of simple desperation. The couple that held the baby for her, had a miscarriage. All of Phoebe's potential boyfriends weren't good enough." he chuckled. "She really went crazy with all of the single men that's names started with a C."
"Why a C?" Bella asked. "Last time I checked, things didn't work out so well with a certain Cole."
"She went to the past once, where a man peeled the skin of an apple and told her whatever the skin made the shape of, that was the letter her true love started with, a C. So, she ignored her witch duties. She wouldn't kill a demon or even make a potion to kill a demon. She gave up on writing spells and using her powers. She wouldn't scry or even listen to her sister's calls. That was when the Elders got desperate. They gave her a husband and fed her this crap about them feeling guilty about putting her through so much."
Bella raised her eyebrows. "A husband?"
Chris snorted. "Yeah, a husband. His name is Coop. He's a cupid."
"Those are real?"
Chris nodded. "After getting married after a couple of dates and then getting pregnant three times, she was finally content. She paid some attention to her duties, but not much. Her life revolved around her kids. Which, I suppose I could admire. But...You see, she barely ever used her powers, they were really out of practice. You would think it would be like riding a bike, but it's not. The longer you don't use them, the weaker they get. Sort of like muscles. The immunity to magic lowers, also. Aunt Phoebe's powers are passive, anyway. That's what got her killed."
Bella jumped up in shock. "Killed?"
Chris let out a tiny humorous laugh as he nodded. "Wyatt killed her off first. Coop wasn't there to protect her. I mean, I get it. He didn't love her, the only reason he was with her was because of the Elders. He was off screwing some chick while Phoebe tried to protect her children. It wasn't that hard, really. Her powers were weak and all Wyatt had to do was throw and energy ball at her. He killed her kids, too. They weren't taught how to use their powers."
"You don't sound so sad." Bella acknowledged.
He shrugged. "I hardly knew them. But anyway, Aunt Paige taught me all she knew, along with Mom. Aunt Paige was just starting to teach me how to heal one day when Wyatt Orbed in. He smiled at us politely, as if it were just a normal day. Mom was furious. She yelled at him for not being home, for scaring the hell out of her. He ducked his head and apologized. She, of course, melted. One look into his bright blue eyes (Leo's eyes) was all it took. She accepted the apology and hugged him. He winked at me over her shoulder, conjured a dagger, and plunged it in her back.
"Aunt Paige called for the dagger as she ran over towards Mom. A Darklighter Orbed in behind her. He pulled out his crossbow and arrows and shot at her. It was all a very elaborate plan, really. He had been up in the attic moments before casting a spell for a magic shield. No Orbing in, or out. The Darklighter had been up there with him. He smiled at me and grabbed the Darklighter, Orbing away. He could get out of course, because he cast the spell. I didn't bother calling for Leo, he wouldn't have come either way. So I sat there, trying to heal them, but ultimately...watching them die."
Bella blinked back the tears. She stared at him. "I said something happy."
He chuckled and shrugged. "Sorry."
She waved it away but observed how he wasn't crying. "You aren't sad?"
"My tear ducts don't work."
She slapped his arm and he grabbed a pillow. She shimmered across the room before he could whack her with it. She smirked and he sent the pillow towards her anyway. She jumped to the side and watched the way he moved his hands. She mimicked his motions and the pillow flew towards him.
He Orbed away, leaving Bella alone in the room. Bella observed the area around her, waiting for something to move. After a couple of minutes, she relaxed and Chris Orbed in and tackled her to the floor. She let out a screech of protest and he stuck his tongue out after standing up.
"I win."
She rolled her eyes. "This time, kid."
Piper opened her eyes groggily as she stared at the clock beside her. Six in the morning. She groaned quietly and tried to stand up, but noticed that an arm was weighing her down. Her eyes traveled up the arm and to the shoulder. Then the neck...then the face.
She let out a gasp and flew out of her bed. The blankets flew off her body and she looked down to find herself naked. She shook her head and scurried off the floor.
"No, no, no. Oh no. This can't be happening!"
Leo rolled over on the bed and opened his eyes at the noise. Once Piper wasn't a blob, he sat up and looked at her. He barely reacted to her naked body, but then he noticed that he was indeed, nude too.
Piper stared at him and hurried to grab the blanket and cover herself.
He couldn't help but laugh. "I've seen you naked before, Piper. There's no need to cover yourself up."
She narrowed her eyes at him and demanded. "What happened?"
He shrugged. "How should I kn–," he paused and looked at her. "Oh..."
Previous night...
"He's not evil, sweetie." Phoebe soothed. "Don't worry."
Piper didn't say anything and Phoebe sighed. Paige had already gone up to bed, after Phoebe pushing her up the stairs after she yawned. She stood up and cast one more reluctant look towards her older sister before sighing and walking up the stairs herself.
Piper sat on the couch, curled in a blanket. She watched the muted TV blankly and hardly looked over when the screen was illuminated by blue lights.
"Piper?" Leo questioned hesitantly. He walked over to her and sat down. "Are you alright ? I felt distress..."
She looked at him silently. She turned away after a minute and unemotionally recapped him what Chris said. Leo wasn't sure whether he should Orb over to Chris and kick his ass, or stay there with Piper. He opted for sitting on the couch with her. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly.
She looked at him and fell into sobs on his shoulder. She had failed as a witch, and a mother. Leo ran his fingers through her hair, mumbling soothing words. She finally looked up at him and he wiped her eyes. He smiled gently and her face pulled towards his...
Present time.
The vampire stood in the middle of the vacant house. Her scent was everywhere. He followed it to where it was strongest, her room. Nothing was there. Nothing to hint where she had gone. He growled and his fist slammed through the wall.
He searched the rest of the house, his last stop, the kitchen. He searched through the cupboards and every nook and cranny. He tore out every drawer and landed at his last one. He opened it and dumped the contents on the counter.
He picked up a receipt and looked at the back of it after smelling the led from a pencil.
San Francisco, California.
1327 Prescott Street.
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