As Chris ran in the direction his sister had pointed through a thick and seemingly unending collection of trees he began to suspect that this was the time his cunning had finally run out. Already a minute had passed out of his sister's promised two and he couldn't see a single cabin and, even supposing he found his Aunt's hut before the deadline, he had no idea the level of complex spells that would surround the pendants and as he was without powers he had little hope of breaking down the protections before he was discovered.
Finally he reached the other side of the trees and, as promised, there stood a loan cabin sat on a private section of the beach. This had to be the right cabin- but how much time could he possibly have left?
As if on que; alarms suddenly blared out on every side- presumably across the island- alerting every inhabitant of his escape. Cursing his own impatience for not being able to wait slightly longer to make his escape; Chris bolted for the cabin only to find to his dismay that it was locked. He attempted a few unlocking charms, but without his full powers he had no way of breaking into a space protected by Charmed magic- however depleted the Power of Three was in this time.
In frustration he hit and kicked the door several times before sinking to the sand. This had been his only window for liberation. Once the resistance re-captured him they would take no more chances on his security. He would probably be stuck in that cell until Wyatt's armies inevitably found their way on to the island.
It was the second time in the past twenty four hours Chris felt completely helpless. It was a new experience for him and not one he was greatly appreciating. Indeed, he was so caught up in his self-pity that he failed to hear the door opening behind him and only became aware of this development because of the sound of his cousin's voice.
"Chris?" She murmured still half asleep, "what's with all of the banging?" She blinked a few more times and as she awoke more she became more aware of her other surroundings. "What's with the alarm… wait, how are you here?" Chris had no time for these questions and instead of responding, he pushed past her into the cabin and hurriedly slammed the door closed, leaning against it for a few seconds to listen for any nearby searchers, but for now it appeared he was back in luck.
"P, I don't have a lot of time. Where does your mom keep the pendants?" Parker was waking up much faster now, but she still seemed confused at Chris' words.
"Pendants?" she repeated. "What makes you think they are kept here? Prue and I both share the room and I promise you that mom wants to keep them as far away from us as possible."
Chris shook his head in dismay. Surely after all this he wasn't about to be taken down because his little sister had deceived him. I mean, she was on his side; but she wanted him gone as much as he did- surely! Melinda didn't have the… he couldn't even complete that thought. Of course it was something his sister would do.
Forgetting his young cousin's age, Chris let out a stream of curse words. He was trapped and it had to be seconds until the resistance guard was on him. He knew Melinda wasn't dumb enough to lead them straight there- that would implicate her- but he also knew she wouldn't wait too long.
"Where are they kept then?" He asked urgently, grabbing his cousin's shoulders.
"I…I don't know." stammered Parker. "After I ran away to look for dad they changed all the hiding places to make sure I couldn't do it again. I know less than you!" Parker frowned for a few seconds and then her eyes lit up. "I do know of one place…" she began, "but…" Chris grit his teeth- it wasn't hard to tell when a Halliwell wanted something.
"What?" He demanded.
"I want to come with you." said Parker without hesitation- she too was aware of the pressing time limit the alarm signalled.
"No chance."
"Fine. Then no pendant."
Chris growled with frustration.
"Parker. This is serious. I can't help find your dad if I am trapped on this godforsaken island."
"I don't believe you will look for my dad." countered Parker. "Not without me reminding you any way."
"I will! You have to trust me! But before I can I need to go back to Wyatt for one more day and you won't be safe."
Parker was unswayed.
"So then leave me in a safe house." Chris began to deny that he even had access to any safe houses, but Parker simply put up a hand. "Please Chris, don't insult my intelligence. You fortified your tree house when you were eight with a spell mostly of your own creation. You expect me to believe that in the past seven years you haven't made a few hideaways from big brother?" Chris rolled his eyes but wasted no time with denials.
"If I take you with me than I lose the trust of the resistance forever. Your sister will never forgive me for putting you in any danger- she has already lost her father and I don't think she could handle losing you too."
Parker scoffed at this.
"Oh please… since when did you care about being friends with-"
But before she could finish her sentence there came a knock at the door; they were out of time. Eyes suddenly wide, Parker pushed Chris through the corridor and into the bedroom.
"Get in the bed!" she ordered, pushing him towards the only un-made bed in the room which was adorned with Spiderman patters.
"You do know I was lying when you were six and I said hiding under the covers turns you invisible, right?" Parker stuck her tongue out at him but there was no time for retorts because she could hear keys jangling on the other side of the door.
"Just stay curled up and silent." she ordered. Chris couldn't help being sceptical about this plan but he was hardly in a position to argue. As he complied she ran out of the room again just in time to great Prue and Phoebe as they entered the cabin, shadowed by three resistance guards. "What's up?" she asked casually, trying to mask her breathlessness.
"Our cousin's loose on the island." explained Prue shortly.
"Melinda? Why, she's been here for years!"
"I'm obviously not talking about Melinda."
"Wyatt?" suggested Parker with fake horror.
"Parker, this is serious."
"Sorry. So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out there looking for him?"
"Melinda thinks he ran in this direction. You haven't seen him have you?"
"Sadly not. At least he has a sense of humour."
Clearly not willing to take her sister at her word, Prue pushed past her and into the bed room. Her eyes scanned quickly around the room until they came to rest on Chris. He froze. Surely she had spotted him. But then she turned away back towards her sister.
"You're astral projecting rather than getting out of bed?" she asked incredulously. "It's almost the middle of the day."
Parker shrugged. "Why should I get up when you are just going to keep me cooped up in here anyway?" Prue didn't respond but instead meticulously searched the rest of their room. Parker turned indignantly to Phoebe. "Mom, you don't really think I would help him do you? I went looking for Dad one time! I didn't defect to the dark side!" Phoebe didn't seem to register her words instantly as she had her attention trained on where Chris was lying. "Mom!"
"What… oh, no. Of course I don't! Your sister doesn't either but we have to check everywhere. Prue is just doing what she thinks is best, but I think we can be satisfied that he isn't here. Don't you Prue?" Quite clearly, Prue wasn't satisfied, but with no evidence to proceed, she was force to back down. "Fine," she stated through gritted teeth. "I guess Melinda was mistaken. I'll leave a guard outside just in case he does show up."
"No need." said Phoebe. "I'll stay. I am feeling a little tired any way."
Parker's eyes flicked to Chris but Chris fought to stay calm. The Charmed Ones were on his side. He knew this. Of course; Melinda had seemed to be on his side as well until she very swiftly stuck a dagger in his back, but that was neither here nor there. Prue was clearly uneasy about leaving and Chris suspected Melinda had told her everything of their conversation.
"Seriously sis. You should go. I promise I will scream if Chris gets within five feet of this place, and your powers are going to be needed if the resistance has a hope of catching him." Prue bit her lip but nodded. She didn't believe her sister would willingly harbour resistance enemies but she had insisted on searching the cabin herself to make certain she wasn't under Chris' spell and now that she was satisfied there were no immediate dangers she knew she was needed elsewhere. With a terse nod, therefore, she turned sharply around and left the hut- followed by the guards.
Phoebe and Parker stood still for a few minutes after Prue left in silence. Every now and then Phoebe's eyes seemed to drift to the bed, but Chris didn't want to reveal himself even though he suspected Phoebe already knew where he was. He knew that although Phoebe might be willing to help him get of the island this charity certainly wouldn't extend to Parker and right now Parker's assistance was of far more value. Eventually Phoebe seemed to catch on. She sighed.
"I'll be back in a few minutes." she said, finally tearing her eyes away from the projection of Parker on the bed to look at the girl herself. "I just have to… err… find one of my sisters. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She then walked out of the cabin without another word though Chris could have sworn she shot him a wink as she shut the door.
Once he was certain they were alone, Chris sat up and through the sheets off him, feeling slightly disconcerted by the projected image of his cousin that still covered his torso and rested on the pillow for a few more seconds before Parker removed it.
"Oh my goodness! Help! It's Chris Halliwell!" she cried, feigning the quietist scream possible to keep her promise to her sister before bursting into laughter. "That was too close! You're welcome by the way." She stated smugly.
"Wow, little sisters really are all traitorous liars, aren't they?"
"Pretty much." said Parker with a shrug.
Chris rolled his eyes.
"I have to admit though; astral projecting yourself over me was a pretty smart bit of magic."
"Thanks! I use it all the time to sneak out. Just project my face on some pillows and I can be gone for days."
"Come on; let's go get that pendant before Melinda comes to check for herself."
Parker's eyes lit up.
"So you'll take me with you?" she clarified; her grin now spreading from ear to ear.
"Only if you swear you'll stay in the safe house and give me a day to sort things out with Wyatt."
"And then we look for dad?"
As she spoke, she began to rearrange the pillows on her bed to create the shape of a body under the sheets and closed her eyes for a second as she focused on once more astral projecting herself onto the bed, but this time to last for a greater distance.
"And then we look for Coop." agreed Chris. He wasn't exactly lying to her. He had enough supplies to launch some sort of magical search for his uncle even if he had no intention of venturing into the underworld for a direct pursuit.
Not wanting to give Chris any time to change his mind; Parker reached under her bed, pulled out a duffle bag and then with the other hand; she grabbed Chris' wrists and pulled him towards the door; pulling it open a jar and peeking out. Once she was certain the path was clear the pair ran out of the hut and back toward the thicket of trees in the direction of the large cliff side. Every now and then ducking behind trees or crouch in ditches to escape the frantic search party.
"You do have an actual plan, don't you?" enquired Chris breathlessly after their sixth narrow avoidance of patrols.
"Of course! We're almost there."
The pair kept going until they reached the jagged stones of the cliff face itself.
"Ok, so I know for a fact that somewhere around here is where my sister and Mel hide their secret pendant- they stole it during the final battle. I've followed them here a few times when they've been acting suspicious but I've never gotten close enough to see exactly where or what spell they use to reveal it."
"No problem; my sister has used the same concealment spell since she was 6 and mom taught her how to keep her dolls hidden from my potion experiments. Just give me your hand, I need to channel your magic."
"My magic? Surely your powers are enough."
"They would be if I had them."
"Wait. You don't have your powers!? Then what the hell use are you to me? You can't go into the underworld powerless!"
Chris didn't even bother to answer; instead he took his cousin's hand and began to speak a few lines of an old, familiar spell. It felt so right to have Halliwell magic flow through him again even if it wasn't as matured or tamed as his own. After three recantations; a small section of the cliff face a few metres away at ground level began to glow faintly yellow. Now focusing all the power at that spot, Chris kept chanting, syphoning a little more of his cousins power until the glow changed from yellow to orange and then finally glowed a deep red just before exploding, leaving a gap in the cliff face just large enough to fit a small green pendant. Chris walked over to retrieve the coveted item and then held it up to his cousin triumphantly.
"That's why you need me."
"I'd be more impressed if you didn't have to hold my hand to make that work."
"Ok look; I have the pendant and I run way faster than you so if that's how you really feel than I can just leave you behind…"
"No! Ok, fine! Good job! You're my hero! You're a magical genius and Gandalf himself would bow down to your majesty! Now can we please get out of here?"
"Well since you asked so nicely…"
Chris pressed down on the pendant, focusing hard on his intended destination. A green portal appeared before them and although Chris had seen dozens of them in his life, it was only now that he noticed the beauty of the swirling emerald door way. He didn't have too much time to dwell on this realisation however as the minute it had ben conjured their location had been given away, and shouts and approaching footsteps were already uncomfortably in earshot.
Of course, Chris couldn't take the pendant itself off the island. Despite the many advantages it could bring he couldn't risk it falling into Wyatt's hands or the resistance using it to track him down. He therefore let Parker go through first and as he followed on through he strategically left his right arm till last, pressing the pendant at the last possible moment and dropping it to the island floor before pulling his hand to his side as the portal shut.
A cool early morning breeze welcomed him to his first slice of freedom in seven months and Chris allowed himself just the smallest moment to savour the sensation.