The Unknown Destiny

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Thirty-seven: Fighting to Survive

Keith was taken aback at his cousin's sudden loss of temper, shrinking back from the younger boy. He'd forgotten how scary he was whenever he lost it. Although it wasn't entirely the kid's fault; he got it from his mother. Normally, his aunt was calm and collective, but when she did lose her temper, she was a formidable opponent.

And it was a trait that she had given her son, who was glaring furiously at him in an uncanny reminder of his mother. It was bad enough that Chris looked just like Susan, but he had inherited a number of his mother's temperaments as well.

"What do you mean, what did I do?" he demanded, throwing a wary look towards his uncle and mother. "Chris, what are you doing here? What's going on?"

"What is going on?" Chris repeated, placing his hands on his hips. "Let me tell you what is going on, Keith Alan Scott! The future's just been completely screwed up! As though it wasn't bad enough as it was, but now Melinda's vanished, so have Penny and Laura! Not to mention, Wyatt's gone completely deranged and apparently you've got a twin sister named Peyton!"

Brooke's mouth dropped open at the end of this speech and Shawn frowned, looking between the two boys. Keith could only stare at his cousin, unable to believe his ears.

"Wait a minute, what did you just say?" he asked slowly. "I've got a what? How could I have a twin sister?" But he was looking at his mother now, studying her swollen stomach curiously. Was it possible? he wondered. His mother had wondered why he hadn't just been taken and raised in the Underworld when she was kidnapped. But what if, in some way, he had? Only instead of him, it was his unknown and unexpected twin that had.

Chris gave him an exasperated look, as though this was the least of their problems at the moment. "Well, you see, Keith," he said in an innocent voice, "when a man and a woman fall in love—"

"Oh, god," Keith groaned, shaking his head. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were a reincarnation of your mother at times." Chris grinned, but his look immediately faded. "All right, forget I asked. What was that about Wyatt?"

"He's gone mental," Chris told him, glad that his cousin was finally on the same page with him. "At least, that's my way of looking at it. He's joined up with Dan and using his powers to kill Innocents and witches." Chris's expression turned hard, one that meant he was trying not to lose it. "The entire city's been under attack for days. And—and he just killed Mom . . ." Chris's voice shook slightly and he looked away from his cousin, staring anywhere but at the rest of the family.

Keith's heart stopped for a minute at those words. "Oh, my god," he said, having trouble breathing. He had indeed changed the future, but it had changed so that everything was worse instead of better.

Chris stared up at the ceiling, his blue-green eyes glistening slightly. "We have to stop this," he said fiercely. "Stop it and stop Dan before he destroys anything else. I'm not going to let Mom die like that. She deserves better; she's been through enough already."

Had his attention not been drawn suddenly to his mother, Keith would have commented to his cousin. But Brooke, without warning, suddenly fell to the ground, groaning. "Mom!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her. Chris looked worriedly at his aunt as Shawn and Keith helped her up and herded her over to the couch. "Are you okay?"

Brooke nodded, her expression vacant. "Yeah," she said softly, looking at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little light-headed. The doctor said that might happen, though. Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Keith repeated. "Mom—"

"Okay, I think we've got bigger problems right now," Shawn said firmly, speaking for the first time since his son had arrived. "Your mom's fine, Keith. Don't worry, I've been around pregnant women and it's completely natural to have a dizzy spell. Stress can cause that."

Keith let out a sigh, making his bangs blow up, but surrendered. Chris looked around the room, suddenly realising who was missing. "Where's Aunt Haley?" he demanded.

"Uh . . ." Keith winced slightly, knowing his cousin really would explode at this point. And he probably wouldn't blame him. "Okay, for the record, I did not plan on this."

"Noted. Where is she?"

"The demon got him instead of Mom," Keith said quietly. "Little Wyatt threw up his shield when they attacked and Anderson must've realised that it was the baby who did it. I guess that he made the connection about the twice-blessed child. I mean, it was prophesised. Demons knew about his coming for generations. It's almost as well known as the Charmed Ones."

Chris opened his mouth, probably about to scream bloody murder at him, when Shawn interrupted, looking confusedly between the two cousin. "Wait a minute, a prophesised twice-blessed child?" he repeated. "What is that about? Why, other than being the child of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter, is your cousin any different?"

"No, do not even think about answering that question, cousin," Chris warned him just as Keith opened his mouth to explain to his uncle. "They're just going to have to find out on their own. We can't change history, Keith. You know that."

"Well, it's a little late for that now, isn't it?" Keith shot back. Chris, however, ignored him, walking over to the Book.

"Man, this thing is a lot thinner than we're used to," he commented, flipping through it. "Okay, I'm gonna be downstairs making potions. You guys try and find this Anderson guy and what kind of demons were with him. Since I wasn't here, I don't know who was with him."

Without another word, Chris walked out of the attic, heading downstairs to make the potions. Keith shook his head, wondering what else was going to go wrong before everything was okay again. His cousin and two sisters had apparently vanished, another sister had appeared, and his eldest-younger cousin had turned to the dark side.

He really hoped that his dad and aunt and uncle got back as soon as possible. Because he wasn't sure how much more he could handle before he lost it.

--

Susan grabbed her brother's hand as they held onto the railing, trying desperately not to look down. The past two hours had been the longest in Susan's life. At least she was sure that her mother was safe; she had seen Perry almost shove her into a lifeboat. Elizabeth was safe, for now, at least. Now, at least, she could calm her worries about her mother and focus solely on getting them back home.

Peyton, who was on her left, was dead white as she looked down at the water submerging the ship. Lucas looked over at his sister, his light blue eyes wide with fear. All three of them were asking the same question silently; how were they going to get out of this one?

At that moment, Susan was going to think seriously about talking to Brooke and Haley about binding their kid's powers while they were still in the womb. If nothing else, it would keep them safe for a time.

But then again, they would be in constant danger around them, with no powers to defend themselves. And Susan knew perfectly well that their powers weren't going anywhere.

Looking at Nathan, Susan tightened her grip on her brother's hand, giving him a reassuring look. "We're going to get back home, okay, Nate?" she encouraged him gently. "Don't worry; we'll save your wife. I promise." It was a pledge that she intended to keep.

Nathan nodded, his blue eyes focused on the ship as a cracking sound emerged. Susan immediately knew what was coming, having seen Titanic countless times. "Guys, hang on to the railing!" she yelled to them. Neither of her brothers nor her niece questioned her command, only tightening their grip the railing.

Susan felt as though she was going to lose what little was in her stomach as the end of the ship dropped down, lying level again and almost lost her grip, but instinct made her tighten her grasp. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm her stomach as she heard the terrifying screams that pierced the night. It was almost over . . . and it was about to begin.

As the ship began to rise into the air once again, Susan knew what was coming. "This is it!" she shouted to them.

"Oh, tell me when it's over," Peyton moaned. Her eyes were shut and her knuckles were white. "Just tell me when it's over. Wake me up and I'll be in my own room back home. This never will have happened."

"Peyton, try and get a grip, okay?" Nathan snapped. "Stay close to your dad, all right? Sue, you stay with me. No matter what happens, we do not—cannot—get separated. If we do, then the main thing is to just keep trying to find each other. Concentrate on that."

"We're going to get out of here and we are gonna get back home," Lucas agreed. "Just have to find something—a piece of debris and wait until morning before we cast the spell."

"Are you sure about that?" Peyton asked, opening her eyes and looking at her father. "Because right now, from my point of view, the situation isn't look too good."

"We'll make it and we're going to get you back to your own time," Lucas assured her. "You'll see your mom and brother again soon."

"Peyton, take your dad's hand," Susan ordered as Nathan grabbed hers. "It'll be all right, trust me." Let it be all right. We have to get back home, for Haley's sake as well as Peyton's.

Her niece did as she instructed as what was left of the ship sunk further and further into the icy cold Atlantic. Susan's teeth were chattering, but she ignored them. "Take a deep breath now!" she yelled, sucking in her own breath just before the ship was submerged. Then she was underwater, her brothers and niece beside her and almost taken underwater.

Keeping her hand clasped in Nathan's, Susan swam towards the surface, sputtering out water when she surfaced, gasping in the icy waters. All around her, people were screaming in terror and pain, pleading for help.

"Lucas!" she shouted, looking wildly around for her older brother and niece. "Peyton! Guys, where are you!" Nathan suddenly grabbed her jacket and started dragging her towards the very edge of the sea of people, where she saw Lucas and Peyton climbing aboard a large piece of debris.

"Sue, come on, climb on!" Lucas told her, helping her to climb on. Susan accepted his help, aware of how frozen her legs had gotten in just a short amount of time. "Here, Nate." Lucas grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him onto the debris. Grabbing his other arm, Susan helped him.

Nathan pulled his legs out of the water, blinking water out of his eyes. He was shaking as he looked around at the people in the water. "Now we wait?" His voice was quiet and grudging.

Susan nodded, pulling her arms around her legs, placing her head into her knees. "And now we wait," she whispered, sounding as broken-hearted as Nathan had ever heard her.