Great apologies for the long wait but I have been sick, then my beta was sick and then I was sick again, you get the picture. But I won't have you miss the final chapters of the story.
I really hope you enjoy this one and I promise I have chapter 50 up before the weekend as well.
Thanks again for everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
Thanks to Ann!
Chapter 49
Wyatt checked his watch again. He was used to his brother being late but he really didn't want to stay with Rachel and her bridesmaids alone. All the giggling made him go crazy. Finally, he saw his dark haired sibling along with his little nephew. He could finally get out of there. Even the environment was girly, consisting of a café with little elves on the wall. He sat at the bar away from the women, but he still heard them well enough.
"Where have you been so long?" Wyatt asked.
"I needed to meet with an real estate agent."
"Why?"
"I'm buying a house."
"You don't have any money."
"But I will as soon as I sign the contract with the publisher."
"Publisher? Why publisher? What did I miss?"
Chris shrugged.
"I have a really great room, Uncle Wyatt. And daddy said he builds me a tree house," Josh said excited. "Daddy bought me ice cream to celebrate." He said and ate some more from his ice pop.
The blonde witch frowned. "You are really buying a house? What do you want with a house for just the two of you?"
"We want the house, Wyatt. Do you want to see it?"
"You'll make yourself miserable," Wyatt replied. "But yes, sure. I just need to tell Rachel that I'm leaving."
Chris considered not even saying hello to her, but he thought he should be a bit of a better role model for his son.
Rachel obviously was not amused that they were heading off. In front of her and her friends lay catalogues with bridesmaid's dresses. There was really no need for Wyatt to stay and discuss that with them. But she still needed to make a scene, of course.
Josh tried to look at the colorful pictures on the table. He stood on his tip toes and was quite disappointed when he saw nothing but dresses. He wrinkled his nose and wanted to eat some more of his ice cream but had to find out it had melt from the stick and dropped onto one of the catalogues. He wondered a moment if he could hide his mistake but was sure he couldn't. Moreover, he had no more ice cream now.
He pulled at his daddy's shirt who was standing near his uncle looking bored while waiting for Rachel to finally be done with her speak.
Chris looked down at him and sighed. "Girls," he whispered to his son but saw that the 4 year old was not looking happy. He picked him up. "What's wrong with you?"
"My ice cream fell," Josh said quietly and pointed towards the soaked catalogue.
Of course, that caught Rachel's attention. Wyatt sighed relieved that she had stopped already. She was going nuts with the wedding. It was only a wedding.
"Just great. Can't you keep him away?" Rachel asked. Chris frowned at her.
"Sorry, I forgot the leash today." Josh leaned his head against his father's shoulder. Rachel could not yell at him when his daddy was there.
"You know some kids have manners," Rachel said.
"You know some women are bitches," Chris replied. He stroked over his son's head. "It's not bad. Daddy's going to get you a new ice cream, okay?"
Josh nodded. He looked guilty at his uncle's girlfriend. Looking guilty always worked when one of his family members was angry at him. But Rachel was not family and it didn't work on her. She was really upset. Josh wasn't sure why. He didn't even let the ice cream fall on her dress or anything, it was only paper.
"The wedding needs a lot of preparation and I can do without you boycotting me," she told Chris.
"Do you really think I have other worries than your wedding? The way you act you boycott it yourself."
"I have tons of stuff to do until everything is perfect. And you are no help at all."
"Thank God, I don't want to help."
Rachel looked like she was going to attack Chris at any moment. Josh didn't want his father to get into trouble because of him.
Chris really wished he could just hit his brother's fiancé. It had been such a good day, but now she had to ruin it. He felt Josh sobbing at his shoulder and rocked him lightly.
"Hey, no need to cry. Daddy is not angry and Rachel is silly, okay?"
Josh nodded but still looked really unhappy.
"I am not silly. I am stressed."
"Take some Valium," Chris said. "And get a grip. It's not all about you." Rachel put her hands on her hips but before she could say anything else, Chris turned around with Josh still placed against his hip. "I don't care about people who make little kids cry, but I hope you did your job for today."
Chris had spent two weeks writing down as many stories as he could remember plus a few new ones that he made up. When he went back to Mr. Anderson, he was pretty impressed. They stoke up a quick contract, noting to enough money for Chris to be able to but his new house which was a pretty fair price. The numerous renovations were something he was actually looking forward to. The house had become a family project. Everyone had promised to help, so it would probably only take him half a year to make it a place that could be lived in.
For the first time in years, Chris was really comfortable with his life and even happy. The only thing that still didn't turn out right was Amy. Although, Chris had to admit he hadn't even thought about her for weeks. Well, that was not true. He thought about her all the time but it was quick thoughts. He wasn't really thinking about her. The missing feeling wasn't that painful anymore either. But a constant one.
Chris needed to find out what it would take if he tried to get her back now, though. The possibility that she took him back was close to zero but he had to at least try. That was a thing he was starting to learn, everything was worth a try.
Wyatt fled into the attic away from his mother and fiancé who were driving him crazy with all the preparations for the wedding. He wouldn't mind if the wedding was right now, just to have it all over with.
"You can't run away from them, Wyatt, you know. You are doomed to stay together," Chris said not looking up from the piece of paper he was writing on.
"But at least Mom won't be part of it," Wyatt sighed.
"Can you be sure about that?"
The blonde brother tried to see what Chris was writing down but was blocked out. "Now, they want me to look through some catalogues to find a tux and every single one I point at they don't like."
"Don't worry about that. I'll buy you one. It's my present as your best man. That's if you still want me."
"Actually, I haven't asked anyone else. I knew you'd change your mind."
Chris scrunched his nose. "Really? Well, as I jumped over my shadow I think you owe me."
"What do you want? I think the typical present for the best man is a hip flask. No chance you'll get that."
"We don't do typical. You can help me vanquish a demon."
"Anything to get out of here for a while. What demon is it? Hopefully, one that isn't vanquished easily."
"I'm not sure yet. I found a spell to have the vision I had before again. This time I will look at the demon and then we vanquish him right here."
"Hold on, what vision? The one Amy and the boys get killed."
"The boys? One of them isn't even born yet."
"Yet? You say yet? That's good. I guess you're trying to make up with Amy again."
"That's the plan but to do so I need to make sure this demon will never appear. You will help me, right?"
"Of course. I'm just not so sure about this 'seeing the vision again'. I mean there still is the possibility that it was just a nightmare after all. I really don't want your mind being trapped somewhere in nirvana."
"Don't worry, if it really was just a nightmare, which is wasn't, the spell won't work. Go and tell Mom and your wife that they shall stop looking for clothes for you. It's taken care of. I'll wait for you with the vanquish."
"Okay. I'm back in a moment. I rather not leave you alone while you are searching around your imagination."
Chris rolled his eyes. He read the words he had written down a few minutes ago.
Chris found himself outside a school building. The large clock over the front door of the school showed a few minutes to 3. Soon a bunch of children would come running out. The 22 year old decided he rather should get out of here before that. Unfortunately, the spell was written so he couldn't end it without seeing what he needed to see. How was he supposed to identify the demon while standing around on a playground?
He heard someone approaching him. "I have been waiting for you." Chris frowned at the sound of the voice and turned his head to look into his own face.
"How is that?" he asked.
"Because a few years ago it was me standing where you stand now."
"Right. Then who are you talking to right now?"
"Do you need to question everything twice?" the older version asked.
"It's my personality," they said simultaneously.
"I know. I know how I am or was when I was that age."
"Tell me how to get out of here," the 22 year old said. "I guess the spell didn't work."
"The spell did work. It was a good spell. You wanted an answer, that's what you will get."
"No, I wanted to identify the demon."
"There is no demon."
"Maybe not yet. Did you forget about the vision?"
"No, of course not. But there is no demon. There won't be a demon. There is just you."
"And you."
"I got over it and so will you."
Chris sighed. "What am I doing here?"
"What you asked for. There won't be a demon. Trust me. The only demon was our own, you need to fight him off, and then the fear of what could happen won't block you. We can be happy. Only you need to allow it. Don't waste any time. You can still make sure all this is will happen."
Chris frowned. "What will happen?"
The bell signaling the end of the school day could be heard. Kids were running out, yelling and joking around.
The older Chris stepped forward and welcomed a young boy around 8 years old.
"Dad, I need to tell you something. When they first tried to execute someone on the electric chair and didn't know how much energy they needed, the guy's veins started to blow up and his skin burnt, there was smoke coming from his body. And he was still alive. Isn't that cool?" he said excited.
"Cool. Don't tell that while dinner," Chris answered. He took the boy by the shoulders. "Go to the car. I'll be right there."
The 8 year old nodded. He stared at the 22 year old version of his father a moment but only shrugged.
"See, he doesn't question too much," the present Chris said. "You have blown away the second chance you got. This is the last option. That is something you don't want to miss believe me. I won't lie to you there will be more painful events but you will also have reasons to deal with them and then go on. Because that's what it is all about. Overcoming the bad stuff that happened in the past to be ready to live the good things in the present. Don't think too much about the future."
"And the demon?"
"You can vanquish every demon in the underworld but there will never be complete security for any of them. Don't waste your time finding a demon you made up."
"I swear it was not a nightmare."
The older Chris shrugged. "Tell yourself whatever you want but if you mess this up I go back to the past and kick your ass."
"Dad! You coming?" the young boy called from the nearby parking lot.
"I need to go and so do you. Just let it happen. Whatever it is that will happen." Chris watched himself walking away a few steps. He turned around once more. "Oh and tell Wyatt…tell him good luck."
"No, Mom, Chris said, he would get me a tux. It's a present. So we can move on to the next point on the list," Wyatt said rolling his eyes.
"Honey, I rather see what you will look like. Who knows what your brother will get you," Rachel replied.
"You said I can't see you in your dress before the wedding, so you won't see me."
"But…"
"No, no buts. It's done." Wyatt'd like to hit his head against the table top.
"I need to go out for a while," Chris said entering the dining room. He eyed the many papers and catalogues on the table. "Josh's watching cartoons at the moment. Later."
"Wait. I need to know what kind of tux you are going to get for Wyatt because it needs to fit to my dress," Rachel said.
"I can't. I don't know yet. I got to go." Chris gave his brother a sympathetic look. "Good luck, Wy. We can go on the vanquish later."
"A vanquish? You can't go on demon vanquishes this close to the wedding," Rachel said.
Chris didn't listen to the reason for that but left the Manor taking his mother's car.
He arrived in the restaurant and looked around. Amy was standing by a table talking to two girls.
"I need to talk to you," he said interrupting the women.
"Chris, I'm working. You didn't feel like talking to me for over two months. Why now?"
"Because I haven't been talking to you for over two months."
"Great flowers," the dark haired woman at the table said motioning to the large bunch of flowers.
Chris placed them down on the table. "Thanks. Please. It won't take long."
Amy sighed. She took him by the arm and pulled him behind the bar. "You have one minute."
"Okay. I know I messed up. You were really great giving me another chance and I messed up. And I totally take the blame for how it ended between us. I know the way I acted I didn't even deserve the second chance and I don't even expect a third one. But what do you say if we start all over again."
Amy crossed her arms over chest. "Chris…"
"I know I really hurt you but if it makes you feel better I was hurting too. But I know if we had met now that I worked out a lot of things it would have been different. I'm sure of it. Please. No more chances. A new start and if I blow it again I will never ever come near you again."
"A new start means no lies, no games, and no kept away emotions. You will be open to me and vulnerable. Because I won't be the one in the lower position."
Chris nodded. "I know. So, you are okay with that? We start fresh."
"Depends on what you offer me."
Chris thought about it. "I don't have much. I'm 22 years old, not that bad looking, unemployed, I have no money, no car, no apartment of my own, and I live with my parents. I never attended college, so my chances to change all this are not so good. I'm ex-alcoholic. A widower, single parent of a 4 year old son. What else do you want to hear?"
The blonde woman let her arms drop. She stared at a far away point a few seconds before facing him again. She held out her hand. "I'm Amy. It's nice to meet you." She smiled at him and Chris found that he had missed her smile a lot over the last weeks. "Oh, I forgot my flowers. Those are my flowers?" she said suddenly and walked back to the table. She picked the bunch up. "They are really beautiful, thank you."
Chris shrugged. "I didn't know what you liked most, so I just got you one of every kind they had."
"I like orchid and sunflowers the best. But this is great, though."
The young man nodded. He knew he should say something else. But everything seemed out of place and the only thing he really wanted was to kiss her. But that probably wasn't the best idea either. "Do you want to come to Wyatt's wedding with me?"
"The wedding from hell? Sure. I love weddings. Especially weddings of other people."
Josh rather play outside instead of watching TV but there were a few things he loved to watch. Those were his favorite cartoon with the shoes, documentaries about Africa and Mickey, Goofy and Donald. Especially Goofy was really funny. Josh and Willy had a lot of fun watching him while his daddy was fixing them dinner. His grandfather was also home and was reading the newspaper in the conservatory.
Josh was totally focused on the show in TV that he never noticed the black man that had shimmered in behind him until the light blue bubble Willy could do to protect them stopped the fire ball from hitting them.
The 4 year old turned around and saw the demon behind him. He wasn't that scared of demons as he knew that his force filed would keep him safe. He considered calling for his father but then the demon could attack Chris as soon as he came to the living room.
The demon aimed another fireball at him but Josh orbed into the kitchen.
"Daddy, a demon is in the living room. He threw a fireball at me but Willy protected us," Josh explained calmly.
Chris bent down. "A demon? Are you sure it was a demon?"
Josh nodded and in the same moment they could hear the sound of breaking glass. Chris remembered his father was already home as well and Leo hadn't a stuffed animal to protect him.
"Josh, you stay here."
The little boy nodded but ran after his father. Maybe he could help, too.
Chris used his telekinesis against the demon and threw him against the grandfather clock smashing it. While the demon was unconscious he healed his father's shoulder. But his attention was already back at this son. "Josh, I told you to stay in the kitchen."
The little brunette nodded trying to look guilty. "I wanted to help."
"No, you don't help."
"Chris." Leo found there were more urgent issues as the demon was already back on his feet.
Chris tried to vanquish him with an Elder bold but missed. "Josh, you take your grandfather and orb out. Hurry."
Josh nodded glad to be able to help indeed.
"This is so typical," Chris said flipping through the ancient Book of Shadows. He was looking for the demon hat had attacked them earlier and had managed to flee. "Finally, everything is going smoothly in my life and now there is a demon."
"I thought you liked hunting demons," Wyatt smirked.
"But I don't want them to come to the manor trying to kill Josh."
"They always try killing one of us."
"They can try killing me but not my son."
"Hey, I was much younger when the first demon tried to kill me."
"Do we keep scores or what?"
"I'm just saying. Don't worry. Find the demon, we vanquish it, that's it."
"If you think it is that easy then why don't you do it on your own?"
"If you don't want to come, sure. Just tell me where I can find him."
Chris turned another page. "Got it."
After mixing a potion the brothers orbed to the underworld following the way the scrying crystal had shown them. They were welcomed by piles of bones and a bowl with some stinky liquid that stood on some kind of podium in the middle of the lair.
"Demons get uglier every time I come down here," Wyatt said.
"At least, they improve in one thing then. Okay, now where is he?"
Wyatt shrugged when suddenly the liquid in the bowl started to bubble and the demon surfaced.
"What do you want?" he asked his mouth full with yellow teeth.
"To vanquish you," Chris replied throwing the potion.
The demon used a fire ball making the vial explode in the air. He then used telekinesis to throw the younger brother against the stone wall knocking him out.
Wyatt tried to blast the demon but it would do nothing to him but cause a wound on his shoulder. He smirked at Wyatt who was loosing his patience. He hated demons that won't be vanquished easily.
"I didn't think there'd still be demons down here that didn't know not to mess with my family. Especially with my brother and my little nephew."
"It's always worth a try."
The blonde threw his vial at the demon but the evil being hid behind the podium. Wyatt orbed the broken vial at the demon and also used an energy ball when the flames started to lick at the demon's feet. The energy ball hit the bowl as well and the liquid started to bubble more before it suddenly exploded.
Don't forget to review on this chapter, you won't have a lot more chances to tell me what you think.
