Disclaimer: You know what? This is hopeless! I give up! No more stalking Brad Kern! I don't own Charmed!!
All Alone:
Chapter Two
But death never came. He was safe.
For now.
As the orbs dissipated around him, he reached out his hand to steady himself. He found the hard tabletop of the deck in the P3 office before sinking to his knees in exhaustion and defeat. Orbing drained him so much...and it was so cold. He shut his eyes, still willing himself to stay awake. But there was no such luck.
"Chris...Chris, wake up! Chris, can you hear me? Chris!"
"Wh-what?" Her outline was blurry, but after a moment he could make out Catty's worried face hovering over him. He was still at the desk, where he'd collapsed after the orb. "Catty, what are you doing here?" he said in a strained voice. The pain in his head didn't fade, now fiercer than before.
"Chris, the meeting—remember? Are you okay?" She helped him to his feet. "What happened? One minute you're running out of school, and now...you look horrible, Chris! I'm scared. I need you, the Alliance needs you. We...we can't lose you, Chris," she choked out.
"I'm fine," he assured her gently. "It's not me you need to worry about. It's Wyatt." His face filled with a dark shadowy remorse at his brother's name.
Catty hated it when Chris talked like that. She knew that it was important to stop Wyatt, since he'd exposed witchcraft and killed so many innocents. And she knew that their own safety was at risk because, should they be discovered, they'd be burned at the stake with all the other found witches. But Chris talked as if he didn't matter, when in truth is was he that kept the Alliance going and had the idea to protect all of the kids that joined.
"What time is it?" Chris asked.
"Seven o'clock. They'll be here in a minute." Eyes watering, she faced him again. "Chris, I hate to see you like this. Freezing, starved, tired..."
"I said I'm fine," he repeated more firmly, trying desperately by now to ignore the escalating pain.
Alia was already waiting for them in an old bar chair. She was nine years old, with the same pale skin ad thin, straight blonde hair as her sister's. Chris had always found her interesting. She never said anything unless it was worth saying, and she always took a moment to think about her answers to somebody before saying them. Though she said little, her words seemed to be worth more.
And, as fate would have it, her vivid gray eyes had the power of premonition that so often helped them.
There was a loud SNAP noise from the back entrance, causing Catty to roll her eyes. In came Ollie, chewing gum and popping bubbles. Ollie had dirty blonde hair that she wore relatively short with her bright blue eyes. She was definitely the tomboy of the group, but also stubborn and occasionally too quick to make decisions. Her passion for stopping Wyatt, though that as big as Chris', sent her in the wrong direction at times. But otherwise he was smart, and the power of her low-voltage energy balls that came in handy for distracting most demons that attacked.
"Sup?" she asked casually, sliding into a chair and spinning on it. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder. "I've got homework," she explained with a sigh. "Hey, did either of you have Ms. Larther for seventh grade history? I'm stumped."
"Chris had her," Catty said quietly. Both she and Chris were staring at their feet. "He was in the advanced class, too."
"Which assignment is it?" asked Chris, doing his best to appear okay.
"Um....whoa, you look like you went to hell and back. What happened to you?"
"New power."
"I think there's more to it," Catty added, worried. "But he won't say."
Chris sighed. "Anyways, are you talking about the essay on different governments? Yeah, that is a killer. Hm...which government were you assigned?"
"Commun—"
A gust of wind spun all around them. "Watch out!" Ollie shrieked, giggling as her papers flew across the room.
"In coming!" yelled a voice. Around the tornado of wind appeared Brandon. "Sorry, I still have to work on that," he panted. "Sorry about your stuff," he said sheepishly to Ollie.
Ollie grinned. "It's okay. You can do the essay for me to make up for it," she joked, collecting her papers.
Brandon was in the same grade as Ollie at the same school. His power was to control the wind—in a way, it was like telekinesis, but only when there was wind to work with. He could transport himself by wind, and use the element against demons. He had fiery orange hair and a face splattered with freckles with pale green-blue eyes.
The front door creaked open, and the sixth and last member of the Alliance stumbled in. "I couldn't come till my room was clean. Am I late?" asked Tommy.
"No, don't worry," Chris laughed half-heartedly.
Tommy's brown eyes flashed with worry. "What's up with you?" he asked.
"Yeah, you look bad," Brandon agreed.
Tommy and Brandon were best friends, having known each other from the time they were toddlers. Tommy had a mess of brown hair on the top of his head and brown eyes, with the power of super-fast speed, which was probably why he managed to get to the meeting on time. The two friends were both goofballs and looked up to Chris as their role model, so seeing him like this made them both skeptical.
"Look, now that everyone's here, we're going to start," Chris announced. "Anyone got news to share?"
"Yeah, I do," said Tommy. "I think—emphasis on the 'think' part—I saw another kid witch...get killed." He gulped. "I was dashing home from school—"
"Tommy! Don't use your powers in public!" Catty scolded.
"She's right," Chris added, "it's dangerous. We don't want to lose you because of a silly mistake like that."
"That's not the point! There was a girl in an alleyway, and she was killed by two demons. The demons exploded on the spot—I don't know why. Anyways, I recognized the girl...I mean, I didn't know her, but she looked just like a girl I'd seen in the eighth grade with you guys. Black hair, really pale...well, the girl that was killed looked like a younger version of her. I could be wrong, but I think that she could be a witch, too. Should we contact her?"
"I have fifth period English with her," Chris suggested. "I'll run it by her then. But we'll have to be careful....it could be a set-up. And she could be grieving." The pain in his head grew even more, but he pushed it back. "Anything else?"
The room fell silent.
"Chris has news," Catty said after a moment. "Remember?"
"Er, I can orb now. Just not very well and not on command. I'm trying to get it under control."
"And....?" Catty prompted.
"And Bianca's still after me," he admitted. "I got away last night because I orbed."
"Bianca?" Ollie asked. "You mean that girl that's trying to kill you?"
"The one with the athame?"
"Yeah, that's her," Chris mumbled. "But I can orb now, so it's not that much of a problem. Does anybody have any leads on Wyatt's whereabouts? I think I've got an idea—"
"Wait, Chris. Why don't you explain to us why you ran out of school today?" Catty rounded on him. "You still haven't given me a reason."
Chris sighed. "It was...nothing."
"Chris, you have to tell us!" Catty exclaimed.
"It's personal and it has nothing to do with the Alliance OR Wyatt!" Chris burst. "Look, I don't want to talk about it because it doesn't matter. Okay? Now, let's move on."
Alia stood.
"What, Alia?" asked Catty.
Alia only nodded towards Catty, silencing her sister, before reaching out for Chris' arm. Chris flinched at the jolt of power she shot through him while searching through his past. He willed her intrusions away with a mental barrier that he'd created so long ago, causing her to squeak and jump back in surprise.
"Please, don't do that," Chris pleaded her in an exhausted tone. "It won't work. Remember?"
"Sorry," she mumbled, sitting back down.
"Like I was saying. Leads, anyone?"
"No," came the several mutters.
"Wyatt is hiding away from San Francisco. He's moved on," Alia said quietly.
"What?" Catty asked her.
She paused, considering her words. "I saw it when I touched his arm, since they're related," she guessed. "He's up north, in Seattle."
"Ooooookay," Ollie said, baffled like the rest of the kids were. "Well, the further he is from us, the better."
"He could be killing other witches," Brandon pointed out.
"It's our job to protect them, too," said Tommy.
"Exactly," Chris agreed. "We can—"
"Hey!" bellowed a voice. "Who's in here? Nobody's allowed on this property!"
"Run," Chris ordered. "Meet in the park tomorrow by the statues, same time. Go!"
The kids scattered, leaving Catty and Chris behind. "Catty, I'll deal with whoever it is," Chris assured her. "Go on. I'll be fine."
"But—but Chris...."
"You can't afford to get in trouble, Catty," Chris said with a grin. "You might get kicked off the honor roll!"
Catty shot him a last worried glance before dashing out through the back entrance to control the rest of the Alliance members in the parking lot. Chris held his breath as the pounding footsteps of their intruder became louder.
"Who's in here?" the voice demanded again, straining. "Show yourself! I know you're in here, you can't hide from me!" It was a man's voice, passionate and strong. It was familiar. He'd heard it somewhere before. Long ago, he'd found comfort in it....but now it seemed just vaguely like something from his past.
Chris stood. "Leo?" he asked shakily.
"Ch—Chris," Leo stuttered. "I..."
"Where have you been?" Chris asked, suddenly trembling. "Why did you leave us?"
"It's a long story, Chris. I'm...really sorry for all you've been through. I—"
"Like hell, you're sorry. Mom and the aunts are DEAD, Leo! You never came when I called for you, and now they're gone along with Mel and Jason!" Tears blurred his vision. "What makes you think that you can come back after two years?"
"Chris...please...I just..."
"I don't want to hear it," Chris yelled, running out the back entrance. Catty was still out there, waiting for him.
"Chris, what—what's the matter?"
"I'm sorry—just—I'll drop by your house tomorrow, I've gotta—" He shook his head, trying to hide his tears. "Bye."
"Wait up!"
He ran as hard as his legs would take him for miles until he was deeper inside the city. He turned into an alley, finally collapsing into sobs.
"Ah, my little victim...right where I want him," cackled a voice.
Chris looked up in shock just before Bianca held up the knife and stabbed. She shimmered away, laughing.
It was over...
TBC. Please Review!
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