Disclaimer: - I say I don't own, you say that you won't sue and we all live happily ever after until you find some poor unsuspecting person who forgot their disclaimer and dump a law suit on them. Because you're evil! Let that be a warning to y'all out there in ff.net land.
Pixie Wildfire: - It's ok, it won't be too bad! I always get the feeling that you know exactly what's going to happen before the chapter comes up on ff.net… Hm… I wonder how that happens? ^_~
buffspike: - I'm glad you read it and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
cherry7up56: - Thanks for always coming back! It means a lot to me. Ok, I will hide then… Where? *Dives under desk* There… Now I feel safe…
MerlinHalliwell: - Yes, Leo will help. Wyatt intends to make Chris very brainwashed. Thanks for your review.
Queen of the Elven City: - Lol, ok. I guess I'll stop going on about it now. Thanks for reviewing!
X3: - I will, don't worry. Thanks for reviewing.
princesscatie21: - I'm sorry about the wait for an update. Yes, Wyatt does suck and he EVIL… Ya, anyways thanks for reviewing.
Dark Fires: - Sorry for not updating with much speed… Sorry about the cliff-hanger, it's just that I like to end things on cliff hangers… Not 100 % sure why… Thanks for your compliments.
Ginger: - Uh-oh, sorry for the distinct lack of updating… Thanks for your compliments.
Piper15: - Whoa! Ok, that's a long review. I hate tests and projects, they all suck. Spring vacation rules and I am currently on it now. Thanks so much! I know, it seemed odd writing it, but I think that Chris kinda had a sucky future, so maybe that's how life was for him. It's sad to think it, huh? I took Leo's 'Blessed Be' from some spoilers where he says that to her, and it seemed appropriate, kinda like he was detached from the real world from being Up There too long.
I speak most European languages (my parents made me learn, ugh…) but I can only really speak French and English fluently. I'm pretty good at Spanish and German, but most of the others I can only speak enough to get by, so I used that very limited knowledge to dredge up that name. I like the name too; it seemed suitably evil for him. Yeah, I'm trying to make Wyatt get it across to Chris that Wyatt always liked him whilst Piper and Leo didn't… It's to do with the whole later plot… The demons did what they were told, attacking a defenceless witch. ^_~
And the title isn't mine at all, it's Pixie Wildfire's she great. A biro? Ok, being from the UK I knew things were slightly different language-wise, but I never thought about biro… I should have put that in. A biro is a pen, made by the company Bic? A Bic Biro? Basically it's a pen, but it's always been a biro or a Bic, because there are lots of different types of pen, like a roller ball or a fountain pen of a biro, so yeah… A biro is very cheap, costing around 22 pence (about 40 cents) so yeah… Anyways before I get too hung up on that… I'm sorry for my lack of updating speed, but it's here now!
Yeah, you wrote a lot, but then I just kept writing and writing in reply, so I think we're even now… Thanks for your review and taking time to do all that work for me!
Karone Evertree: - Yes, for a little while. ^_~ Thanks for your review and I know Wyatt's evil. But that's that and there's not much anyone can do… Yet… ^_~
M J Rosemary: - Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to take so long! I seem to be paying a lot of hospital bills lately, with my cliff hangers and not updating quick enough… Hm…
darla101: - Wow, thank you so much. Your review really made me feel great as a writer.
darkdestiney2000: - I know! Sorry, but I felt like writing an angst fic… If you thought that was sad though you might find this chapter even sadder… Sadder? I didn't even know that was a word… Thanks Grammar check!
Magicgrrl: - Ok, another huge review… I must be doing something right… Are you sure that your mental health isn't already gone? So if I continue will it make much difference? *wonders* Yes, I saw that episode and it was before I'd discovered spoilers so I thought they were actually going to kill him… That would have ruined my fic, huh? The world? Well luckily it didn't blow up because I didn't update very soon at all… Yeah, I know Leo's being evil. I hope he feels bloody guilty as well. Ranting is good, I don't know anyone in real life who likes Charmed… Well ok a few people but they're not as good as all of my Net buddies! Spongy! Wheeeeeee! I like spongy… Did the men in white coats use Persil? For whiter than white whites? I hope so, then they can sparkle like in all of the adverts…
Alcandre: - Lol, still with the issues, huh? I know he's a cute baby it makes me wonder how the hell he's evil in the first place. Thanks for saying you'll keep reading, I'll hold you to that!
Claddagh Ring: - I like cliff hangers too… Just not when people (like me) spend far too long updating after one. Oops, sorry about that.. Really? Thanks so much, I really liked your review. I try my best to take in everyone's ideas and criticisms (as long as they're not flames – then I don't even bother looking twice) and use them to make my work better. That's what reviews are for, to help me get better. Thanks a lot, I hope the same can be said about this chapter.
Nautica7mk: - Yeah, I know… Unfortuantely it's about to get worse…
Hot-pepper96: - Thanks so much!
denna5: - I know it's sad, but this is my first real go at writing angst and I'm glad to see that people think that it's turning out so well…
Starlite919: - No problem, I love giving reviews… Almost as much as I like getting them lol. Sorry for the wait…
Faith: - I know it is, and that's what I was aiming for, so thanks for getting it. Sorry for not updating.
Ok, at least one majorly sad piece coming up in this chapter and the ones after. Don't say I didn't warn you, my betas said that it made them feel like crying… You have been warned.
Thanks for all of your reviews and support, they all mean so much to me.
Charmed Leo
**********
Paige awoke with a start to find herself encased in Wyatt's protective blue bubble. The toddler was looking around confused as Piper and Phoebe fought off two demons. Piper ducked behind her chair, screaming in anger as it was blown to pieces, sending blackened stuffing and melted plastic into the air.
She jumped around the ruined chair and flicked her hands at the demon attacking her. The jackal rolled, sending himself hurtling into another plane and reappearing behind Piper. The oldest witch shrieked and turned too late, claws raking millimetres from her eyes.
"Letter opener!" Paige cried, still behind the shield. She sent it orbing into a bulbous yellow eye, causing the jackal to snarl with pain. He clawed at his ruined eye, eventually pulling out the blunt knife and turning it on Piper. She blew him up and the blade hit the carpet with a thud.
Phoebe was sparring with the other demon, matching every punch that he threw with a block, every kick with a duck. But the demon was faster, taller and heavier than she, and even though she was blocking she had no time to attack.
"Wyatt, honey, let Aunt Paige out…" Her nephew just blinked at her. "See the demon? See the nasty demon? Aunt Paige has to kill it…" Wyatt looked at the demon, then back at his aunt. To Paige's horror Wyatt orbed away. "No!" She hissed, the shield disappearing. Behind the demon orbing lights crept into view.
Phoebe jumped into the air, levitating and kicking the demon. The jackal raised a forearm, blocking the kick but staggering backwards.
"Wyatt!" Piper and Paige yelled, watching the demon trip over the toddler. Wyatt put his shield up, and the demon fell back onto it, bent backward and allowing Phoebe to whip out one of the chopsticks she was using as a hair ornament and ram it through the jackal's throat. The jackal gurgled and died, disappearing into a fiery vanquish.
"That was a new one…" Paige commented as her sister slid the accessory back into her hair.
"No one suspects the pointy chopstick," Piper agreed as Phoebe finished fixing her hair. "How did it go at the Manor?" She crossed the room and picked up her son, shifting him to her hip.
"You called us away, you tell me!" Paige said, slightly cross.
"You looked like you were in trouble!" Piper protested.
"Yeah, well… It made Wyatt realize that we were just astral projections…"
"Oh… So is going back in that way out of the question?"
"No, not really, because he won't block entries from other planes, because that's how his demons get in. He'll just be waiting this time…"
"What about an astral distraction then? One of us goes in, distracts Wyatt, while the other two get into the house and-"
"The house shocks us, Paige."
"Well yeah, but that's because there's always something in the way. The doors shocked us, the windows and any other way of keeping people out. But what if there was a place where there was no door, no window? Would the ward extend over them?"
"So what you're saying is as long as there's a point of entry where there's no door or window covering it, it should be ok to get in?" Phoebe said slowly, running it through her head. Paige just shrugged.
"It's reaching, Paige. And it's not as if there's gonna be a giant hole in the-" Piper stopped, looking suddenly worried. "There's not a giant hole anywhere… Is there?"
"Well…" Paige and Phoebe looked at each other; their astral forms had shattered a window each.
"You know what? I don't wanna know. Let's call Darryl, drop Wyatt off and then go and do this thing, ok?"
"Ok." The sisters disappeared in a swirl of orbs.
**********
Wyatt thought that it was time to turn up the power. Give Chris a few more memories, in a shorter space of time. He had grown up with his Mom and aunts – at least up until they were killed – and knew that they wouldn't give up. They would be coming again soon, this time maybe in their real bodies, with their real powers. Phoebe's martial arts had been impressive, but not as impressive and the three real witches could be.
Chris was breathing heavily, his face contorted with pain. Wyatt couldn't distinguish between the beads of sweat rolling down his brother's face and tears. His younger brother's eyes were closed tight, trying to block out the images that were being displayed in his head. Wyatt concentrated, allowing himself to be drawn in and see what it was that he was showing Chris.
**********
Chris hit the floor, dropping his binder and scattering papers everywhere. He sighed and began to pick them up, stuffing them back inside the folder. He reached out for another paper and someone stepped on his hand.
"Hey!" Chris expected someone to remove the sneaker from on top of his hand. Is didn't move. His eyes travelled up a jean-clad leg to the face of a sneering senior, someone from Wyatt's football team.
"Hey Halliwell. What's up?"
"I was picking my stuff up…" Chris muttered, wrenching his hand free and standing up. He looked around the hall, which was eerily deserted, save three of Bade's fellow ignorant jocks. He wasn't in class but then he had been delivering a note to the office, something his history teacher had picked on him to do.
The senior, Bade, knocked the binder in Chris' hands, sending it crashing to the floor again. Chris was tempted to collect it all telekinetically, but knew that exposing magic would be a disaster.
"What do you want?" Chris asked wearily, looking the taller teenager in the eyes. He was now seventeen, but Bade was still taller by at least half a foot.
"I've just found out something interesting about your family, something that you can do…" Panic started to build, but Chris kept his face composed.
"And what's that?"
"Witch," Bade said, smirking at Chris.
Chris snorted and pulled a face. "You mean pointy hats and black cats? Yeah, sure, Bade… You do realize that it's May and Halloween isn't for another what, five months?"
Inside, he was terrified about the exposure, but outside he knew he had to keep a cool calmness about him. If he made the slightest wrong move, he would be proved a witch. And he had no one to turn to now. His family were all dead; all that was left was Wyatt… And he didn't really want to talk to him about any of this…
"Black hats? Cats? What about disappearing and making things fly, huh, Chris?" Bade pushed him, but Chris only staggered and didn't fall.
He glared defiantly at Bade. "If you're done making up fantasies, than I have a class to get to," He said, bending down and stuffing all of his paper back into the binder and pushing past Bade, walking off down the hall.
"Wyatt said you'd deny it." Chris froze in his tracks.
"Wyatt said what?" He asked, fighting hard to keep the alarm out of his voice.
"That you'd deny it. That you had some crazy idea that it all needed to be this big secret - that it's something all for yourself that wasn't made to help out normal people with…"
"That's…" He stopped himself. "You know what? Wyatt's playing a joke on you, ok? He's being a dumb brother and a major pain in the ass. Get over it. He's probably laughing at you right now…"
"Wyatt showed me what he could do. It was really cool. He said it's in his whole family, so that means you."
"You've been whacked in the head too many times." Chris bit out tersely. "Been playing football without padding again? Wyatt probably had invisible string or something…"
"And how did that help him disappear?"
Chris couldn't answer that. From the way that Bade was describing it Wyatt had exposed his magic to his teammates, and not only that but he had exposed Chris too… By the sounds of it on purpose. Bade was asking him something, pulling him from his thoughts.
"So what can you do, Halliwell? Whip up a love potion for me?"
"I can't do magic," Chris said, trying to sound tired.
"Wyatt said you could."
"Well Wyatt is wrong, ok!" Chris exploded. "If you think he can do magic, fine. Go ask him for a stupid potion..." He turned and walked off down the corridor.
Suddenly he was being tackled to the ground and then slammed up against the row of lockers on his left, a forearm being forced under his chin. His breath hitched as he felt his windpipe being constricted.
"Watch what you say. You're a freak, Halliwell, a mutant freak. And we all know it so just admit to it and do what I ask." Chris spat in Bade's eye and the senior let him go, swiping it away in disgust. Chris walked off down the corridor, collecting his stuff as he went.
"We'll kill you!" Another football player yelled, his voice making Chris wince as it echoed down the corridor.
**********
"Mutant freak. That's what everyone thought you were, Chris. A second born, second best, mutant freak,"
Chris stared Wyatt down, his green eyes frosty. "You made them do that. That was the start of your whole scheme about showing the world magic. It had nothing to do with me."
"Hi, nephews!" A chipper voice said, coming from the doorway. "How's it all going?"
They both turned to the new voice. "Aunt Phoebe," Wyatt greeted coldly. "So is this the real you? Or another astral projection?"
Phoebe shrugged. "How about you come and find out?" She beckoned to him and he walked over to her, leaving Chris alone.
**********
"Damn it!" Paige's theory appeared to be incorrect - just because there was no glass in the pane apparently didn't mean that there was not a shield there. Paige was pacing, a frown marring her features.
"Reversal spell… What was it?"
"Which one?"
"Phoebe used it to get rid of my boobs…"
"Excuse me?"
"You were a Fury or a Siren or some magical beast…"
"Oh…"
"Guided spirits,
Hear my plea.
Annul this magic.
Let it be." Paige picked up a rock and threw it at the window; it bounced back, smoking, to fall at Paige's feet. "Damn it!" She yelled, kicking it in frustration. She continued pacing again, running ideas through her head that all collided with dead ends.
"You know maybe… maybe Leo could help…" Piper murmured, looking down into her lap and twisting her fingers, weaving them like basketry.
"You sure, sweetie?" Piper paused before nodding slightly.
"As I'll ever be…" Paige took Piper's hand for support and together they called for the Elder. He orbed into view, and was about to turn towards them when he froze.
"Piper! You… you froze our only way in!" Paige said, gesturing to her immobile ex-brother-in-law.
"I can't do it! I can't show him my stomach, I mean what if he…"
"Let the object of objection become but a dream,
As I cause the seen to be unseen," Paige recited, watching as little white lights engulfed Piper's stomach and made her pregnancy disappear at once.
"You vanished Chris!" Piper shrieked, poking at her stomach.
"Well, yeah… But we can get him back…" She pointed through the sunroom window. "Look, big Chris is still visible, magic can't get in there so he's not affected."
Piper made a suspicious noise and started looking at her new, flat stomach. Was Chris still in there? Had Paige just vanished the bump or the whole baby? If she had vanished the whole baby then where was Chris? What happened to vanished things? Did they go into a kind of magical storage place?
She felt a little nudge and was relieved to realize that Chris was kicking. He was still there, it was just that there was no evidence of him outwardly. She gave a small sigh of contentment and unfroze the Elder in front of them.
"Piper, Blessed Be. What is it?" He sounded so serene, so calm as he stood there in full Elder garb.
"Ok, long story short, your other son-" Paige began.
"My what?"
"Oh…" She winced, feeling Piper's glare slice through her.
"You know what; I'll let Piper tell you that tale…" She sat down on the low garden wall, suddenly very interested in an ant out for a night time wander.
"My other son?"
"Oh, ignore her," Piper said dismissively. "She meant Wyatt-"
"Wyatt? Where is he? What's the matter with him?" His cool Elder composure dropped and panic filled his eyes.
"Not that Wyatt…" Leo's panic quickly turned into confusion.
"Huh?"
"Well you know Chris came back from the future?" Leo nodded. "And you know that on my birthday he let slip that Wyatt was turned evil, and we found out that he was a tyrant?" She paused but this time didn't wait for Leo to nod. "Well Wyatt found a spell, made a spell, whatever - and came back to get Chris."
"Why?"
"Chris is obviously having too great an affect on the timeline," Paige put in. "He's had us vanquishing all sorts of demons and it's got to be taking effect in the future. Maybe Wyatt thinks that one too many of his henchmen have cone poof or something…
"So he's come back…" Leo said slowly, glancing through the windows for the first time and seeing Chris. "And he wants to kill Chris? Turn him? Take him back to the future? What?" Paige and Piper just shrugged. They didn't know.
"We don't know. We just need you to get us into the Manor so we can get him out…"
"Where is he?" Leo asked, referring to Wyatt. Piper stepped to one side to reveal Phoebe slumped awkwardly on a garden chair. "Phoebe's creating an astral distraction,"
"Her powers advanced?"
"No, it's a spell. Like the one she used to go to Cole in the Wasteland."
"Ok… Well I take it that you can't orb in there, right? And you would have tried breaking in already…" Paige stole a quick glance at the small sea of flowers built up by the door, now slightly brown around the edges. "So what else is there to do?" He went quiet, a frown contorting his features downwards. Suddenly he looked up. "I've got it!"
"Are you going to share?" Piper asked, irritable and impatient.
"What if we can get adult Wyatt to let down the barrier?"
"Leo, that's not gonna work… He won't do it. The idea of the barrier is to keep us out, and he's not going to readily let it down so we can get in…"
"No, listen, maybe he will. If we play on the part of him where he likes taunting people then maybe he'll do it. Plead with him to let us in, and my guess is that he'll open up a gap and then close it… Hopefully that would be in his nature…"
"It might work…" Behind her Phoebe gasped and woke up, shaking out a crick in her neck.
"He's coming back," she informed them, just as Wyatt appeared in the sunroom. Piper and Paige looked at each other and then went to put Leo's plan into action.
"Wyatt!" Paige yelled, careful not to get too near and get shocked. "Let us in, please. We just want to talk…"
"Come on, honey. We only want to see you, let us help…"
Wyatt looked back at Chris and saw the tiniest amount of hope appear in his brother's eyes. He smirked, thinking it over. "You want them to bust in, don't you Chris? Come in and rescue you?" Chris said nothing but Wyatt knew that was what he wanted.
"Wyatt, let us through. We won't hurt you…" Wyatt held out a hand, making a small portal near the door. Paige and Piper crossed to it, and Wyatt could feel without looking the desire within Chris for the sisters to get in and for everything to go back to normal.
Piper tentatively reached out for the door handle, only for Wyatt to lower his hand and have the shield spring back up. Piper got a shock that sent her staggering backwards whilst Chris cried out in pain. Wyatt smirked, realizing that baby Chris was affecting the adult sitting in the corner.
"Wyatt!" Paige chided, helping her sister up. "What are you doing!?"
"I slipped, Aunt Paige," he said innocently, although his face showed he had done nothing of the sort. "Come through, then," He made the move with his hand again, opening up another hole in the barrier. This time Leo was standing there, arm out, palm thrust towards the door.
"Go!" He muttered, sounding strained. Paige, Piper and Phoebe stepped forwards, and Piper pulled the door open. Wyatt made the move with his hand to close the gap again, but it didn't close and the Charmed Ones carried on through. Finally Leo stumbled through after them, breathing heavily as the shield sprang closed.
"Wow, Dad. Didn't know you had it in you," Wyatt said calmly, watching three demons appear beside him.
Phoebe looked at Chris, then at Wyatt, and felt her knees buckle. She fell to the floor, the sunroom blurring around her as she was overwhelmed. There was so much pain radiating from Chris, and anger and hatred towards his brother.
And from Wyatt… He seemed devoid of most human emotions, a sort of black hole filled with cruelty, malice and the desire to hurt. And power, he hungered greatly for power. She thought she had some arms supporting her but she wasn't sure, forcing the room back into focus as she let the waves of emotions pass through her. Slowly she tried to will herself back up, breathing heavily and trying to seem unaffected.
Wyatt looked amused as he watched Phoebe struggled to stand, tears surging down her face as she was forced to confront it all. She stood finally, leaning on her sisters for support as the demons advanced on them.
Phoebe let out a scream, a mixture of the pain; hatred and rage that she felt inside her and a few explosions and a large fireball later the demons were smouldering scorch marks on the floor. Wyatt looked mildly shocked before summoning more demons to his side. Phoebe started dealing with them much in the same way, using explosions and weapons of a kind of dark fire generated from the highly emotionally charged room. Piper, Paige and Leo ran to Chris' side, only to be blocked by Wyatt.
"Don't try it…" He took hold of Chris's upper arm, dragging him from the floor. Chris' eyes glazed over, reliving another memory.
**********
"Mom!" Chris yelled, fear etched into his face, eyes wide. His breath came in quickened gasps, worry tearing at the strings of his heart. She stood there, the last of the Charmed witches, so bold and defiant. She faced her foe with her back straight, brown eyes hard and cold.
"Stay down, Chris," She replied, not turning to him but keeping her eyes on the demon in front of her.
He wanted to orb, to take her away to safety, but of course he couldn't. A victim of Wyatt's cruel joke he could only watch as Piper fought and stay hidden under the dining room table.
Wyatt lay behind the demon, cuts marring his face and arms and a smouldering burn weeping a yellowy discharge on his chest. Around him the TV lay in a smoking ruin, the table beneath it splintered.
"Wake up, Wyatt!" He pleaded quietly, willing his brother back to consciousness. Wyatt stayed motionless.
The demon threw a fireball but Piper matched it, blowing it to pieces in an outward burst of flame. She raised her eyebrows at the demon but said nothing. Behind her back she held the corked vial, already knowing that it wouldn't be enough. Knowing that throwing it would be useless, but it was all she had to protect her sons. She knew that she needed her sisters to kill the beast in front of her, and they were both dead. Murdered…
She threw the vial.
It spun, urged on by hatred and grief. A lone ray of sunlight filtered through dark clouds outside and fractured inside the glass. It began a graceful arc, the descent reflected in Chris' eyes. The vial impacted, shattering in a blaze of shards.
The demon staggered and Piper threw out her hands and the very air seemed to sing, molecules separating and tearing as the power streamed towards her enemy.
Their enemy.
The world's enemy. The power hit the demon, throwing him backwards, and sending him skidding across the floor to land against the wall.
"The best you have, witch?" He inquired, standing up, thick fingers probing the burn on his shoulder, his face twisting into a grin when he realized that all he had received was a flesh wound.
"No, my best is to come," Her eyes stayed steely, but fear welled up in her breast. She had no way of vanquishing him, no way of saving herself and her sons. Her calls to her husband were falling upon deaf ears and she was the only one left…
She stood in the foyer, the one beam of light hitting her hair and shimmering around in its dark depths, giving her an ethereal look as she faced the demon once more. Her chin held high she stared the demon down, seeing nothing but malevolent hatred in his black stare.
Chris thought that he heard Wyatt stir and it seemed that he was facing a different way to what he had been moments before. Piper noticed too, her mothering instincts making her flick her eyes to her fallen son.
An energy ball appeared, a mass of thrumming blue power in the demon's palm. With Piper's mind split between the fight and her two sons she never noticed the demon take aim. She never noticed it pulsating, searing a path through the air.
"Mom!" Chris yelled, and the shout seemed to echo for an eternity. Piper turned, raising her arms to blast the ball.
The power never left her outstretched hands.
It hit her full on in the chest, and time seemed to slow. The scene blurred into one terrible moment for Chris, Piper's back bending, limp arms and legs trailing as she was hurled through the air. She hit the wooden floor, skidding towards Chris and the force rolling her over, russet eyes gazing at her youngest son. A frail and shuddering hand reached out and Chris gripped it with his own, hanging onto the faint pulse he could feel beating under the skin.
"Wyatt?"
"It's Chris. I'm Chris. Dad! DAD!" No orbing lights appeared, Leo wasn't even coming. He looked back at his mother, her breathing coming in ragged gasps now, her eyes going glassy.
"I love you, Wyatt," She whispered, no louder than falling autumn leaves.
"It's Chris," He insisted, biting his lip. "I called for Dad, he's coming… Hold on, Dad's coming… He'll come, he has to…" He was rocking slowly back and forth, clutching at his mother's wrist and feeling her body going cold.
The demon took three steps towards them and Chris waved an arm frantically only to have nothing happen. Wyatt's magic still existed; the binding potion was still in force… Desperately he tried again, failing to use any of his powers.
"Wyatt!" Chris yelled, hoping to rouse his brother. Piper's grip was becoming limp as he held on, trying to cling to her, and trying to get her to cling to life… He drew another breath into his lungs to call out for his brother and Piper's torso hitched. As he released the air in a shout Piper released hers. Her last breath shuddered from her lungs and left her still. Her lips parted and she went limp, her head lolling to one side.
Chris scrabbled at her neck for a pulse and found none. A single tear escaped down his cheek and he gritted his teeth, reaching out and closing Piper's eyes. He stood up, facing the demon with sorrow and grief emanating from him, swirling together to turn into dark into anger and hatred.
He forgot that he was a normal teenager now, a fourteen-year-old without powers and that the demon standing there had all sorts of power at his command; ready to bend to his will. He picked up a vase and gave an angry scream, hurling it at the demon in a rage.
Tears poured from his face and outside a roll of thunder rumbled around the Manor. The vase hit the demon, shattering on his chest. He looked at Chris with amusement and then used his powers to throw the teen over his shoulder.
Chris landed on the coffee table, going through the plate glass top. He thudded to the carpet, shielding is face from a cascade of falling glass, now cracked and white. He felt the shards bite into his flesh, tearing it and drawing blood. He didn't notice, nor would he have cared if he had.
"Wyatt, wake up!" Chris moaned, rolling over. "Mom's hurt, Wyatt! Now wake up, damn it!" He put his head in his hands, grasping his dark hair. "Mom's hurt…" He said quieter, sniffling as tears soaked into his sleeves.
The demon came closer, making a fist and picking Chris up by the throat using telekinesis. Chris gagged, clawing at the invisible force that was crushing his windpipe and squeezing life from his lungs. In the corner of his eye he thought he saw a swirl of blue orbs, but at the edges of his vision all he could see was black, so he wasn't sure…
He heard an anguished cry and then it stopped. He dropped to the floor, climbing to his hands and knees, drawing in deep rattling breaths and looking up. Where the demon had once stood Wyatt now was, the ashes of a crushed heart in his hand. He let them fall to the floor, each charred grain blowing away and disappearing into nothing.
"Bastard!" Wyatt yelled, his eyes flashing dangerously. Chris could tell that Wyatt knew about their Mom, knew that Piper was…
Again a thunderclap echoed around outside, rolling over the house in great waves. A streak of lightening seared across the sky, splitting the storm clouds and tearing through the grey. Wyatt ran to Piper's side and grabbed her hand. His eyes turned from blue to a cold wintry grey.
"Is she…?" Chris couldn't bring himself to ask couldn't bring himself to say it… But Wyatt's face was the only answer that he needed. "She's dead, Wyatt!" Chris said, getting up to walk over to them. "She's dead…" He shook his head.
A river of tears coursed down the youngest Halliwell's face. He put the heels of his hands onto his forehead, kneading the flesh there. Wyatt stood up, his anger radiating over Chris in stomach-turning waves. Not a tear escaped, he got up and walked over to Chris.
"I know she's dead. It's over… It's all over…" He turned on his heel, taking a few steps away from his brother. "It's all over…" He repeated again, shaking his head. "And you know why?" He spat savagely, spinning to face Chris and giving him a glare that he would never forget. "It's all because of you." Suddenly an energy ball formed in his palm. Chris froze, confused about how it had got there. Wyatt threw it the way he might a baseball and it blew Chris backwards.
He hit the wall hard. Wyatt smirked, taking time to walk over to Chris. "Do you know what you did? You killed her… She's dead because of you! You were distracting her, and then when she go hurt you couldn't even heal her! You never learned to heal because you're USELESS!"
"You bound my powers!" Chris screamed. "You thought it was a joke and would be funny, but it wasn't. I couldn't help her… I couldn't do anything…" Fresh sobs rose in his throat.
"Don't blame this on me, Chris," Wyatt said, allowing his magic to fade and giving Chris back his powers. "It's all your fault." He orbed away, leaving Chris alone.
Chris led there in shock, then suddenly leaping to his feet and breaking into a run. He wrenched open the front door and fled down the steps. His legs were wobbly and he felt sick, but on he kept going. Kept running into unknown. He had to put distance in between himself and the Manor, he had to…
Sweat began to pour down his sides and he felt sticky in the before-the-storm heat. The perspiration matted his hair to his forehead and ran down his face, mingling with tears and dripping off of his nose and chin.
The air was heavy and his lungs worked hard until eventually they were fit to burst. He collapsed, realizing that he had run to the lake – a favourite picnic spot for Piper and her family in Golden Gate Park – and sobbed again, hurling rocks into the still water with his magic and not caring who saw.
She was dead; he had watched her die and hadn't done anything… His mother was dead, his brother was turning evil and he had nowhere to go… Grief surged through his veins, overpowering him. He screamed in pain, guilt overcoming him. He slumped sideways.
Another roll of thunder, another streak of lightning. He looked up, eyes unseeing, dirt and dried leaves sticking to the wet tears and sweat on his face. His clothes were torn and his t-shirt was lifted up, allowing a breeze to send shivers up his sweat-coated back. He was covered in scratches, but he didn't care.
His mother, his wonderful, beautiful mother… Chris felt his word shatter, tumbling in pieces around him.
Slowly, fat raindrops began to fall, shattering the summer heat to pieces.
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"What did you do to him?!" Piper cried, grabbing Wyatt's arm and turning him away from his brother.
"You'll see, mother. You'll see."
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Ok, was that a long chapter or what? It went into 12 pages! I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for all of your reviews so far! I don't know how long this story will go on for, but I expect there will be another 5 chapters or so… Maybe… I don't know, we shall have to see.
Charmed Leo