Part 7
When Leo was orbing back to Magic School, he sensed that the sisters were no longer there. It took him a second to sensed that they were now back home, upstairs in the attic. He changed direction and took solid form before them. He could tell from Piper's expression that he was going to get an earful from her. The other two merely looked curious. Paige's curiosity was clearly killing her inside, from the way she fidgeted about.
"Where were you?" Piper demanded, springing up from the couch. She marched right towards him, planting her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at him with an expression that could kill.
"I had to follow a hunch," he replied.
"A hunch," she said.
Phoebe quickly stood next to Piper, a smile on her face as she jabbed her sister in the ribs. "Piper," she said.
Piper huffed, but backed down a little, folding her arms across her chest.
"What did you find out?" Paige asked.
"An old friend of mine who went through a similar situation like us now," Leo said. "Shamala Leila's daughter was kidnapped the same way Chris was years ago. I was her Whitelighter that time, and I arrived too late to help." He noted their brief sympathetic looks which soon turned business-like. "The demon that attacked her and took Sarala is the same demon that took Chris."
"But that still doesn't give us much clue as to why and who," Phoebe said, slight frustration in her face. "So, it's connected to something that happened many years ago and you were a witness to it."
"Hey, wait! Back up a bit," said Paige. Her eyes grew suspicious at Leo. "If you were there, how come you didn't remember it any of it until just now?"
"Yeah, Leo, how come?" Piper gave him a look.
"I had a walk down memory lane," was Leo's cryptic answer.
They stared at him, then dismissed his answer, knowing they won't get anymore out of him.
"Whatever. I‘ve been trying to sense any other attacks the demon could be making since this morning," Paige said. "But no luck. Since you are Elder and all, maybe you can sense better than me?" It wasn't a question but an order.
Leo obliged, closing his eyes and spreading out his senses. Numerous voices and emotions filled him, from those who were around him in their neighborhood to those downtown to the city and the entire state of San Francisco. He carefully sifted through the many voices, sorting them, blocking out those he didn't need.
A scream echoed in his head, making him snap his eyes opened.
The sisters gave him an expectant look. Paige opened her mouth to say something to him when he once again orbed off without a word.
Paige closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth, then gave her sisters a helpless shrug and a don't-look-at-me' look. Phoebe merely shook her head, heading towards the Book.
Piper let out an exasperated growl, tilted her head upward, and shouted, "Leo Wyatt! You get back here this instant! LEO!"
Michelle Carts skidded on the rug, nearly tripping herself to the floor, but righted herself just in time and continued with her dash towards the living room. She cursed inwardly, wishing that Michael was home but no such luck. Her husband was still thousands of miles away in Chicago and wasn't going to appear anytime soon .
A sharp cry from the child in her arms reminded her of the situation they were in. She soothed Melanie as best as she could in her frazzled state, reaching the living room and quickly ducking behind the sofa, her breaths ragged and loud in her ears. Melanie was shaking in her arms.
The day had started out normal enough. Michelle had left Melanie in the playroom while she was in the kitchen downstairs, baking cupcakes. She had been halfway through when she heard the loud crash coming from upstairs and she immediately teleported up there, only to find a monstrosity that was going to harm her daughter.
Melanie's room was a mess. The princess-pink shelf Michael bought for her last month looked as if it had been eaten away by some sort of slime or liquid which was still smoking. Mel's books and toys were scattered around the room, most which were around the creature. Mel had apparently tried to defend herself by throwing those things at it, but to no avail.
Michelle was in front of her daughter in a flash. She looked around for something to be used as a weapon and found a plastic baseball bat in her reach. It won't do any damage to the demon but it made her feel much better wielding it in her hand.
"Stay away from my baby," she snarled at the demon, waving the bat threateningly.
The demon - reminding her of a squat, hairless bulldog - opened its maw, revealing razor-sharp teeth that gleamed with saliva. Michelle had a split second to realize what it was going to do. She grasped hold of Melanie and they teleported away just as the demon spat the acid.
Michelle had teleported back outside the hallway and began to run, at first dragging Mel along with her until the girl started crying and she finally picked up her daughter. The playroom was at the end of the hallway, and the stairs suddenly seemed like a long way to go. She had dashed down the stairs, nearly falling in her haste and reached the bottom when the presence of danger alerted her.
She teleported out of the way and into the kitchen. The demon followed suit, led by her in a mad-dash chase around the house before she finally ended up in the living room. She huddled further down behind the sofa, shushing Mel while listening for any sound behind her.
Melanie stopped her crying, but was still shaking in her arms.
There was an utter stillness and silence behind her. It made Michelle feel tense, her heart beating twice as fast as if it was going to escape from her ribcage. She adjusted her grip on Mel so she would hold her more securely, carefully and quietly rising up from behind the sofa.
She met the demon face to face. Frozen in terrified shock, Michelle could only stare as if transfixed with a morbid fascination as the demon opened its mouth, tendrils of saliva stretching from its fangs.
A sound like music but not quite was heard in the room. It reminded Michelle of those chimes which she'd seen sold at gift shops or a sound like the jingles of a music box. Whichever it was, its lovely tones were enough to make her snap out of her stupor and to turn in the other direction. The sound distracted the demon as well.
A man stood there, after the lights had faded away, dressed in ordinary clothes. Michelle blinked at the sight before recalling something she had heard about before but never given much thought. He was one of those Whitelighters. Before she could react, the demon recovered quickly and was preparing to spit acid at her. She clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable only to be surrounded by those familiar chimes and lights.
In an instant, she disappeared from where she had stood before.
The acid ate away at the floor. The demon turned its head back at the spot where the man had been and snarled, furious that it had been cheated of its prey. It sniffed the air and flashed after them.
"Here we are!" Sheila caroled as they pulled into the driveway of the Morrises' home. It was lovely, red-brick, two-story house at the corner. Though unlike the Halliwells' Victorian house, this one was just as quaint.
Darryl said nothing as he got out of the car, watching as Sheila reached to the backseat and unbuckled Wyatt from his chair. She set him down on the ground, taking his hand.
"Robbie isn't home today," said Sheila as she followed Darryl up to the house. "He's away at his grandparents' place with his cousins."
The place was a lot less cluttered than the manor itself. While there were certainly toys, books and crayons lying around, it wasn't as messy as at the manor. Robbie's toys were all piled in a corner, out of the way. His crayons and books were on the coffee table. There was a yellow jacket flung over the back of a chair and forgotten; a pair of sneakers lay by the legs of the chair. Robbie's red backpack sat crumpled on the sofa forlornly, the zipper halfway unzipped, the books peeking out from the gap.
It was a typical family home - three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, and even a white picket fence. It was the kind of house Piper had never failed to admire for its normalcy whenever she came to chat with Sheila and to let Wyatt play while Darryl was at work. Wyatt was familiar with this place, having been here many times. His memory was remarkable as he could recall where things used to be or where the bathroom was or what the color of the wallpaper had been last year.
"Would you like a drink, Wyatt? Or maybe a cookie?" Sheila was asking.
Wyatt shook his head. "No, thank you."
"All right. You can play with Robbie's toys in here." Sheila ruffled his hair fondly before heading to the kitchen.
Wyatt sat down on the sofa, looking over the books and coloring pages on the table. He hardly ever indulged anymore in coloring, even at home. The games he played with his brother to entertain themselves had once included coloring books. That was until he brought the unicorn in the book to life. He was now forbidden from ever using a coloring book or going near one. Their games were now orbing around the house in a game of tag or hide-and-go-seek. The orbing annoyed his mother but it amused his aunts.
"Uncle Darryl?" he said, after a beat.
Darryl had been about to follow Sheila to the kitchen but paused, half-turning. "Yes, Wyatt?"
"Why do you hate Mommy and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige?"
It was an innocent question. That was all. But Darryl froze, unable to think of anything. The question shocked him. He didn't think the boy would have noticed the avoidance or hear about it from his family. He doubted that Piper or anyone could have talked about it in front of him.
And yet, Wyatt was looking him with all the solemnity that he always found rather unnerving on a face of a toddler.
"I... don't hate them, Wyatt," he managed to answer.
"But you don't want to come to Chris's party," Wyatt said, giving him a puzzled look. "You don't come over to visit us anymore. Don't you like us?"
Darryl was astonished. He came into the living room, kneeling down to eye level with the boy. For all the understanding he had in magic and everything around him, Wyatt was still very much a child. And right now, he was looking at Darryl with all the bewilderment of a child who looked like he had just been told he wasn't liked.
"Of course I do, little guy," Darryl said. "You and your brother both."
"But why don't you come over to our house anymore? How come you never want to talk to Mommy or Daddy?" Wyatt persisted.
Darryl paused, trying to collect his thoughts on how to answer those questions. The best way was often to speak to Wyatt as if he was a small adult instead of treating him like a child.
"Wyatt, I don't hate your mom or dad," began Darryl haltingly. "I don't hate your aunts either. But they - your Aunt Phoebe and Paige - did something a couple years ago. You see, it got me into trouble, and while they helped me out of the trouble, I was just too angry and afraid to trust them anymore."
"Like the trouble Chris and I got into when we stole the cookies?" Wyatt asked.
"Weeeell, no." Darryl couldn't help it; he chuckled, reaching out and ruffling the blond hair. "It was bigger trouble than taking a cookie from a cookie jar."
"But you like us, don't you, Uncle Darryl?" Wyatt blinked up at him, the solemn expression replaced by a hesitant smile. One that said he was unsure and a little confused. "Daddy said that people shouldn't stay mad for long. He said that if they're sorry, then we should say okay."
"Your dad told you that?" Darryl asked softly.
"He told Mommy," said Wyatt in a matter of fact voice.
"Your dad's a wise man," said Darryl absently. "And he's right. I'm not angry at your parents or your aunts. I'm just... You're right; your father's right. They did apologize and I held on for so long to that anger that I forgot what it is to forgive."
It amazed Sheila that someone like Wyatt had made Darryl saw the error of his ways. Perhaps, Leo had known what would happen when he asked them to take Wyatt. It was about time for the nonsense to stop.
Wyatt simply smiled.
"Leeeeoooo!" Piper hollered, growing madder and madder by the minute.
"Forget it, Piper," Phoebe said from her spot on the sofa. "He probably put us on mute."
"He's got a thing coming for him if he thinks he can put me on mute!" Piper snapped crossly. She prepared to yell again when Leo suddenly orbed in. She jumped back in surprise.
He wasn't alone.
There was a young woman and a child with him. Both looked like they had just run through a hurricane. They looked terrified, as if they'd just seen a ghost or worse.
"What? Who?" Piper stuttered, eyes growing round as wading pools, disbelief on her face.
Paige simply goggled at the sight. Phoebe opened her mouth to say something but something flashed into the attic.
It was the same demon that had taken Chris earlier, and it looked even madder than before.
And pandemonium struck.
TBC...