Chapter 5

He sighed as he landed on the stack of mattress. It felt as if it were only yesterday that he was in a lovely mansion with servants, a bedroom large enough to be an apartment and closets filled to capacity with all kinds of stylish clothes, even if they were mostly black. It was a far cry from his current surroundings. Everything was dirty, no matter how much they tried to clean it and there were at least 6 people to a room which didn't help much at all. But there was not enough magic any more to help ward off evil, so all of the protection that came from the magical creatures was used on this one space. Chris shook his head at the terrible conditions in which those who opposed Wyatt lived. It wasn't fair that the ruler of evil (no matter how much he protest there is only power and good and evil no longer exist) got to live in the lap of luxury while good men women and child had to leave in a filthy condemned building. As angry as he was, there was something in him that was jealous of his brother. He could imagine Wyatt sleeping in his king size bed covered with black satin sheets while Autumns breathing becomes timed with his. As much as he loved his brother and thought daily about going back to the comforts of home, he had to put the idea out of his head. He even wondered if it was all worth it. Losing his brother for the sake of witches who wanted to kill him, the thought made him cringe. Something about it all didn't seem right to him. Not to mention the fact that he hurt like hell, how could he ever face his brother again knowing that he had joined the Alliance, a group of witches and mortals who wanted him dead. No matter what he did, Wyatt was still his brother. He knew deep down that he could never hurt his brother, but he was also aware that he could not let him keep hurting innocent people. This was clearly a no win situation.

Fortunately for him he had her. Amber had become Chris's everything. She was his lover, his friend and everything in between. Even though they've only known each other a short time, the time that they have spent together has been magnificent. She's been his rock right from the beginning. On all the days when he thought about going back to the mansion and taking her with him, she would be his voice of reason. She would remind him of the awful things Wyatt had done and how he needed to be stopped whether it meant binding his powers or killing him. The truth cut like a knife through his heart. Until he remembered the events of the week before. Gina and her son Kevin were out trying to find food for the others when his brothers' demons captured them, Chris's spies told him the horrid details about the torture of the mother and son before the demons were kind enough to kill them. He felt that it was all his fault. The demons started with the boy, asking him if he knew of Chris's whereabouts, when the boy said that he didn't the demon dipped his hand in acid. The 13 year old cried out in pain as his mother watched from eight feet away. When asked again, the boy still refused to give him up. It was at this point that the demons stripped the boy of all his clothing and doused him in the rest of the acid. They watched in amusement as the boy's skin melted from his body. His mother was their next target, waking her up as she had passed out from the horror of seeing what a cruel fate had dealt upon her son. After being put on her knees in front of the group, she too was asked the question. When she simply cried and cursed the demons for what they had done to her only child, they simply laughed and decided to teach her a lesson. Taking out his athame the demon grabbed the bounded woman by the face he proceeded to cut off her eye lids, when she still refused they peeled the skin from certain parts of her body and poured salt over them. Finally they realized that they weren't going to get anywhere they disposed of them both with energy balls. The thoughts were too much for Chris to bare, he had to get out of there, he orbed out to go for a walk.

As he walked along the streets, he couldn't help but think of the good times. He loved his brother so much, not to mention his friend Autumn who happened to be his brother's girl friend. At one point he thought it would have been he who hooked up with the girl, but like always Wyatt had won. But he wasn't too hurt by this; after all she was still his friend and practically a sister to him anyway. Remembering the good times made he think about the potion he was working on to free his brother. He knew it would not be easy since the man was so powerful but he knew that he had to try. His thoughts were interrupted by screams; those screams lead him to a Tessa, a young witch and member of the Alliance. Two of his brothers' demons had the girl backed into the corner, at that second Chris sprung into action. He used his telekinesis to fly one of the demons into a wall while he threw a potion at the other, vanquishing him immediately. When he saw the other coming to he formed an energy ball, seeing this the demon conjured up One of his own. Both throwing them at the same time, but only one connected with its target. Chris was thrown back severely feet, landing hard on the ground. He could barely see the demon heading towards him, then out of nowhere the demon exploded and right behind him holding an athame was Tessa. After shaking of the effects of the attack Chris thought that it would be best if they headed back to the heaven. They orbed out unaware of the fact that they were being watched. As the demon crept out of his hiding place he knew Lord Wyatt was going to be less then thrilled about his brothers joining the Alliance, he just hoped that he wouldn't take it out on him. Because the last demon that gave Wyatt bad news never even saw what hit him.