Author's note: Thank you for the positive feedback. I really appreciated
it. This story was meant to be a character sketch, but it keeps turning
into a story and I don't know how I feel about that yet.
Piper sat at the table, alone. Dinner had been a complete disaster. Chris had refused to leave his room, and her sisters had spent the entire meal telling her that she couldn't let Chris get away with hiding his secrets any more. Sooner rather than later, she realized she was going to have to force some answers from him. She couldn't keep ignoring what was going on, hoping it was going to get better on its own. She had to find out what her youngest child was up to. Most worrisome was the apparent return of his active powers, powers she had sworn he'd never have to use again.
Piper got up and walked into the living room. She headed over to the mantle where an array of photos was placed. Looking at them, Piper felt nothing but sadness. Her family was in ruins, and the blame lay entirely on her. She picked up the picture of her, Leo, and Wyatt; then replaced it and fingered the picture of her and Chris. What she wouldn't give for a picture of all four of them together. Turning away, she headed upstairs. She'd do the dishes later. There were some people she needed to call.
In his room, Chris was going through the items he had stored in his backpack. He had to hide them before his mom finally tired of his refusal to eat and barged in with some food. Several of them were books, normally nothing that would arouse suspicion-- unless one looked close enough to read the titles. Mostly, there were several books on magic, including one on potions. Chris knew quite a lot about this as his mom occasionally let him help make vanquishing potions. Surely nothing that should raise his mom's suspicions, except for the fact he wasn't allowed to take magic outside of the Manor. Mom didn't even think he was capable of doing this difficult of magic. If she found out the truth, he'd never regain her trust and Chris has spent his entire life trying to gain his mother's trust.
The remaining book was from school. No one would think it was out of place in his backpack either, except that it was a geometry book. What made it stand out was the fact that Chris was too young to be learning such advanced math at school. Yet Chris needed the information now in order to make the astrology charts. He was incredibly smart, despite his failing grades. He could teach himself anything. Rounding out the contents of the backpack were some scrying crystals, a couple of maps, a notebook, and some potion ingredients. There was also a small box which Chris took care to make sure couldn't be opened by anyone but him. He'd put a spell on it. Yet another reason for his mom to distrust him, since Chris wasn't known to be able to write spells by himself either.
Chris reluctantly gathered up all these items and went into his closet where he cleared his shoes from the left corner. There was a small cubbyhole he had created when he first started his current endeavor. Mom may be a clean freak but even she didn't feel the need to clean the corners of closets. Returning back to his bed, he brooded over what he was going to do now, since all his plans today had fallen apart. All the lies he'd told his family, everything he'd done, were all for nothing. The new powers he was experiencing were incredibly difficult to control, and something was going on that he didn't understand. Today's failure had confirmed it. Yet there was no one to turn to, especially not his family. The last thing Chris wanted to do was disappoint them again.
Ever since he realized his powers were growing, he knew he'd have to keep them hidden. Chris knew full well that his mother and aunts prevented him from learning too much about witchcraft. They wanted him involved in magic as little as possible. Therefore, they did much of their work while he was away at school. He assumed the reason they were so overprotective was because of what had happened to Wyatt, although he didn't know why they bothered. Chris knew he was no match for Wyatt in the power department. It wasn't like he could conjure a dragon that terrorized a city, like his big brother did before Chris was born.
Miserably, Chris realized that what he needed most right now was money. His mom refused to give him an allowance, though. She said that if he needed anything then he was supposed to ask. This made things especially difficult as that just meant he'd have to bother her with his problems, and she already had enough problems to deal with. He supposed that was probably the reason she put down the rule, but all it did was make Chris more reluctant to ask. There was only really one place he could go where he wouldn't be questioned or judged. With a heavy sigh, he got up to walk to her room.
"Aunt Paige?"
Startled, Paige whirled around to see her nephew standing in her doorway. Well, not so much in the doorway as hiding halfway behind it, with a look that plainly wondered if he was intruding. "Geez, Chris! Scare a lady to death!" She smiled.
"Are you going demon hunting?" Chris asked.
"Only if they're of the male variety," Paige answered lightly. Paige watched Chris closely. It was obvious he wanted something, but didn't feel he could ask yet. She watched as he shuffled his feet, trying to gather his courage.
"You look very pretty," he finally mumbled. A pause, then: "Do you need any help?"
Puzzled, Paige briefly wondered why he asked that. She was already dressed and her room was spotless. Then it dawned on her: He needed money, but as usual, felt he needed to earn it first.
"Come here," she said gently, as she sat down on her bed. Chris walked into the room and sat beside her, never looking at her once. This killed Paige. Where did he ever get the idea he needed to earn his keep? He was constantly helping, often without being asked and frequently when no help was needed. Paige didn't think any other child on the planet did their chores as easily as Chris. That is if you could call them chores, as he was never really asked to do anything. It was worse when he came to her with these problems. Paige knew Piper would give Chris anything he asked for without question, but Chris never wanted to bother his mother. Wrapping her arms around her youngest nephew, she pulled him against her as she lay back against her backrest.
"You going to be the man of the house while I'm gone?" Paige felt him resting his head on her chest. "Phoebe's going out too, and we really need someone to watch your mom while we're out. I know you're not a big bad teenager yet, but do you think you can handle it?"
Chris smiled. "Yeah."
Paige smiled too. "Well, I suppose such a job can't go unrewarded. Does $20 sound like enough?"
Chris' smile vanished. He pulled away and sat up, once again failing to meet her eyes. "Sounds right." He got up and headed to the door. With his back still towards her, he quietly said, "I won't let you down." Then he left without another word.
"I know," Paige muttered after he was gone.
Piper sat at the table, alone. Dinner had been a complete disaster. Chris had refused to leave his room, and her sisters had spent the entire meal telling her that she couldn't let Chris get away with hiding his secrets any more. Sooner rather than later, she realized she was going to have to force some answers from him. She couldn't keep ignoring what was going on, hoping it was going to get better on its own. She had to find out what her youngest child was up to. Most worrisome was the apparent return of his active powers, powers she had sworn he'd never have to use again.
Piper got up and walked into the living room. She headed over to the mantle where an array of photos was placed. Looking at them, Piper felt nothing but sadness. Her family was in ruins, and the blame lay entirely on her. She picked up the picture of her, Leo, and Wyatt; then replaced it and fingered the picture of her and Chris. What she wouldn't give for a picture of all four of them together. Turning away, she headed upstairs. She'd do the dishes later. There were some people she needed to call.
In his room, Chris was going through the items he had stored in his backpack. He had to hide them before his mom finally tired of his refusal to eat and barged in with some food. Several of them were books, normally nothing that would arouse suspicion-- unless one looked close enough to read the titles. Mostly, there were several books on magic, including one on potions. Chris knew quite a lot about this as his mom occasionally let him help make vanquishing potions. Surely nothing that should raise his mom's suspicions, except for the fact he wasn't allowed to take magic outside of the Manor. Mom didn't even think he was capable of doing this difficult of magic. If she found out the truth, he'd never regain her trust and Chris has spent his entire life trying to gain his mother's trust.
The remaining book was from school. No one would think it was out of place in his backpack either, except that it was a geometry book. What made it stand out was the fact that Chris was too young to be learning such advanced math at school. Yet Chris needed the information now in order to make the astrology charts. He was incredibly smart, despite his failing grades. He could teach himself anything. Rounding out the contents of the backpack were some scrying crystals, a couple of maps, a notebook, and some potion ingredients. There was also a small box which Chris took care to make sure couldn't be opened by anyone but him. He'd put a spell on it. Yet another reason for his mom to distrust him, since Chris wasn't known to be able to write spells by himself either.
Chris reluctantly gathered up all these items and went into his closet where he cleared his shoes from the left corner. There was a small cubbyhole he had created when he first started his current endeavor. Mom may be a clean freak but even she didn't feel the need to clean the corners of closets. Returning back to his bed, he brooded over what he was going to do now, since all his plans today had fallen apart. All the lies he'd told his family, everything he'd done, were all for nothing. The new powers he was experiencing were incredibly difficult to control, and something was going on that he didn't understand. Today's failure had confirmed it. Yet there was no one to turn to, especially not his family. The last thing Chris wanted to do was disappoint them again.
Ever since he realized his powers were growing, he knew he'd have to keep them hidden. Chris knew full well that his mother and aunts prevented him from learning too much about witchcraft. They wanted him involved in magic as little as possible. Therefore, they did much of their work while he was away at school. He assumed the reason they were so overprotective was because of what had happened to Wyatt, although he didn't know why they bothered. Chris knew he was no match for Wyatt in the power department. It wasn't like he could conjure a dragon that terrorized a city, like his big brother did before Chris was born.
Miserably, Chris realized that what he needed most right now was money. His mom refused to give him an allowance, though. She said that if he needed anything then he was supposed to ask. This made things especially difficult as that just meant he'd have to bother her with his problems, and she already had enough problems to deal with. He supposed that was probably the reason she put down the rule, but all it did was make Chris more reluctant to ask. There was only really one place he could go where he wouldn't be questioned or judged. With a heavy sigh, he got up to walk to her room.
"Aunt Paige?"
Startled, Paige whirled around to see her nephew standing in her doorway. Well, not so much in the doorway as hiding halfway behind it, with a look that plainly wondered if he was intruding. "Geez, Chris! Scare a lady to death!" She smiled.
"Are you going demon hunting?" Chris asked.
"Only if they're of the male variety," Paige answered lightly. Paige watched Chris closely. It was obvious he wanted something, but didn't feel he could ask yet. She watched as he shuffled his feet, trying to gather his courage.
"You look very pretty," he finally mumbled. A pause, then: "Do you need any help?"
Puzzled, Paige briefly wondered why he asked that. She was already dressed and her room was spotless. Then it dawned on her: He needed money, but as usual, felt he needed to earn it first.
"Come here," she said gently, as she sat down on her bed. Chris walked into the room and sat beside her, never looking at her once. This killed Paige. Where did he ever get the idea he needed to earn his keep? He was constantly helping, often without being asked and frequently when no help was needed. Paige didn't think any other child on the planet did their chores as easily as Chris. That is if you could call them chores, as he was never really asked to do anything. It was worse when he came to her with these problems. Paige knew Piper would give Chris anything he asked for without question, but Chris never wanted to bother his mother. Wrapping her arms around her youngest nephew, she pulled him against her as she lay back against her backrest.
"You going to be the man of the house while I'm gone?" Paige felt him resting his head on her chest. "Phoebe's going out too, and we really need someone to watch your mom while we're out. I know you're not a big bad teenager yet, but do you think you can handle it?"
Chris smiled. "Yeah."
Paige smiled too. "Well, I suppose such a job can't go unrewarded. Does $20 sound like enough?"
Chris' smile vanished. He pulled away and sat up, once again failing to meet her eyes. "Sounds right." He got up and headed to the door. With his back still towards her, he quietly said, "I won't let you down." Then he left without another word.
"I know," Paige muttered after he was gone.