Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the television show Charmed. All characters belong to Spelling Television, and The WB.

This is my first Charmed fic. I apologize if I get any of the show's details wrong. I'd love to get feedback! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. Please continue to review the story or e-mail me at jeff_langdon@hotmail.com!

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Anguished Soul - Chapter 26

"I guess he hasn't shown up yet?" Piper asked as she emerged from the kitchen.

"Nope," Phoebe answered as she finished up her column. "Didn't he say he was coming around at four?"

"That's what he told me," Piper called out as she tended to the stove.

"Thank god we're not being attacked by demons right now, because our Whitelighter doesn't seem to be answering our calls."

"Is Chris here yet?" Paige called out as she joined Phoebe in the living room.

"Not that I know of," Phoebe answered. "Shouldn't you know more than we would?"

"He said he was going to come by after running some errands this morning," Paige replied, sounding a little worried.

"Well, maybe his errands took longer than expected. I'm sure he'll show up on his own time. We're talking about Chris here, remember? He doesn't follow schedules," Phoebe offered, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Paige orbed in to the apartment in hopes of finding her boyfriend. Not finding him in the living room, she moved into the bedroom. She was met with his still form lying on the bed, his eyes open and staring at the ceiling.

"Chris?"

Silence.

She sat down on the bed and took his hands in hers. "Chris? Are you alright? I thought you were coming by the manor after your errands?"

"Just leave me alone," Chris answered, his voice expressionless.

"You know that's not going to happen," Paige answered. "Now tell me what's wrong?"

Chris simply sighed and turned to face the window, away from Paige. The young witch simply got up and moved to the other side of the bed, which again caused Chris to turn tack back towards the door.

"You're my Whitelighter, Chris," she began. "Not to mention the fact that you're my boyfriend. Shouldn't that mean we can tell each other what's on our minds?"

"Please, Paige," Chris pleaded. "I'm really not in the mood right now."

"That's your problem, Chris. You always have to be in the mood," Paige retorted with frustration. "That's not how things work. You can't always wait to be in the mood."

"Are you quite finished?" Chris asked as he resumed staring at the ceiling.

By now, Paige was getting angry. "What is wrong with you? One minute you're all happy and now you just act like you don't care about anything. How can you be our Whitelighter like this? What if we were attacked by demons at this moment?"

Chris finally got up from the bed and glared at Paige. "Maybe I wasn't born to be a Whitelighter," he yelled. "Maybe this is their way of punishing me for my wrongs!" Chris' voice trembled as he slid off the bed, falling to his knees on the bedroom floor. His body shook and tears streamed down his face.

Paige's anger quickly subsided as her heart ached. Kneeling down, she pulled Chris close as he cried on her chest. "Chris, everything will be okay. Please tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."

"You can't," he sobbed. "No one can. It's too late."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Chris sat in the sofa in the Halliwell manor as the three witches looked on. "I don't think I can be your Whitelighter anymore," he said softly.

The statement was met with audible gasps of shock. "What did you just say?" Phoebe asked even though she heard exactly what he said.

"I can't be your Whitelighter," Chris repeated as he stared at the floor.

"You're kidding, right?" Paige asked as she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"What do you mean you can't be our Whitelighter?" Piper spoke for the first time.

"I just can't, okay?" Chris replied as he looked up at met the eyes of the Charmed Ones. "I can't protect you three."

"You're not making any sense," Phoebe cut in. "You've proven many times you can. What makes it any different now?"

Chris angrily got up to summon an energy ball and a blue light formed around his hand. But instead of an energy ball, the light slowly faded and disappeared. "That," he spat, "is what's different now!"

The Charmed Ones looked confused and shocked. "What just happened?" Paige asked as she tried to fathom what she just saw. "What happened to the energy ball?"

"There was no energy ball," Chris answered. "I can't summon them anymore."

"That's impossible. How could this happen?"

"I don't know," Chris answered softly. "But all I know is that I can't protect you girls anymore. I can't even protect myself."

Piper got up with a determined look. "We'll find a way to reverse this. The Book of Shadows must have the answer."

The three Charmed Ones dragged a reluctant Chris into the attic as they searched for an answer. As Piper searched through the Book of Shadows, Paige and Phoebe tried to put together some logical explanation.

"Wait," Paige began. "Did you encounter anyone out of the ordinary since you left this morning?"

Immediately, Chris thought back to his encounter with Arkon in the park earlier in the day. "No," Chris lied. "I spent the most of the day at the studio and then I went back to the apartment."

"Then that's really strange," Paige continued. "How can your powers just disappear like that?"

Before she could come up with an answer, a loud crash could be heard downstairs. Running downstairs, the Charmed Ones were met by a legion of demons. As they tried to fight them off, several demons snuck up from behind and struck the three witches, sending them crashing against the wall.

Piper struggled to get up as she noticed Phoebe and Paige both unconscious. Chris looked on helplessly as he tried to summon energy balls to save his charges. No matter how hard he tried, he could get little more than a weak blue light to form. As the demons prepared to attack a shocked Piper, Chris lashed out his hand, instantly immobilizing the demons. Grabbing his charges, Chris orbed out of the manor and back to his apartment.

Piper paced the room as she tried to recollect herself while waiting for Paige and Phoebe to regain consciousness. After several minutes, they began to stir, causing Piper to sigh in relief.

"Ugh," groaned Paige, "what just happened?"

"I think we were ambushed," Piper offered.

"And how did we end up here?" Phoebe asked.

"Chris orbed us here," Piper answered.

"And where is Chris?" Phoebe inquired again as she looked around the apartment.

"Good question," Piper replied as she headed towards the bedroom. Paige and Phoebe followed as they searched for their Whitelighter. The three entered Chris' bedroom and gasped at the sight that greeted them.

~ to be continued ~