Hello everybody! Thanks for going back to re-read chapters. I'm sorry that I'm going to complain now, but I only got 2 reviews about the story and I did post 3 chapters. I know that it's late at night (or at least it is when I post it) and you may be tired or you don't feel like reviewing, but it means a lot to me, and it means that I'm doing something that people care about. So please review.
ilovedrew88: Ok so back with the original chapter 8 you thought Chris served alcohol to minors. I didn't clear that up. He didn't serve it to minors, another club did. Daryl and Andy had to do random check-ups on a bunch of clubs. Remember how Darryl told Andy that the club was clean? Also, I'm happy you understood it better. I like it much better this way.
Gomay: I'm really glad you like it!
Jade-eye Halliwell: I'm relieved that you guys aren't too mad at me!
Chap. 29
"How is she?" Phoebe asked the doctor as he walked out of Kat's room.
"She's awake, but she's a little out of it. Can you think of anything that could've caused this?"
"I don't know she's been under a lot of stress lately. Is she ok?"
"She's very weak and she'll have to get a lot of rest."
Phoebe nodded. Prue impatiently asked, "Can we see her?"
"Certainly."
Prue, Phoebe, and Wyatt walked into the room.
Kat raised her head to see. "Hi," her face brightened.
"See? I told you she's a Halliwell, a fighter. Aren't I right, Kat?" Prue said lifting Wyatt on to the hospital bed.
"Hey buddy. Of course, I'm okay."
"What happened?"
"I saw the worst thing on Seer TV. Where's Chris?"
As if on cue, Chris busted through the door. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. Are you ok?"
"Did you just run here?" Phoebe asked.
"I can't orb."
"Chris, I had a premonition that is strikingly similar to the last time our powers didn't work. Remember right before your birthday."
"How could I forget? Wait…define similar."
"I'm thinking same demon and quite possibly the same person only younger."
Chris seemed shaken. "It's too soon."
"But this time we have the power," she replied as they both glanced in Prue's direction.
Chap. 30
"You're the best attorney that we have here, but you're also the least dependable," Jason Dean flipped through Cole's file. "You've left without a trace twice now. How do I know that you won't up and leave again?"
What am I supposed to say? Cole thought. Sure, he could just see this guy's face fall as he explained that twice his ex-wife vanquished him because he was evil, but he promises to be a good boy and never be evil again. Cole would be branded crazy and would be fired so quickly it wouldn't be funny.
Before Cole could answer, his secretary entered. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Turner, your ex-wife is on the phone. She said something about your daughter being in the hospital."
Cole jumped up. Jason nodded for him to go, but wrote it down in his notes.
Walking into his office, he grabbed the phone and told his secretary thanks. "Phoebe, what happened?"
"Kat's all right. We were shopping, and she ran into somebody. She had a really bad premonition it knocked her out. She's awake now, everything is fine…"
"But?"
"Today's not my day."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Cole answered confused.
"Kat likes to think ahead, as she calls it. I guess she's what we would call clumsy. By that I mean, she lands herself in the hospital often and she knows it. So, she rewrote her file to make sense while she's in this time. Mostly years, but she also added that we're divorced with joint custody. Today is not my day and they won't let me sign the papers. Either we can fax it to you or you can come down here and sign them. If you came here, maybe you could pry some information out of her. Chris seems to know what she's talking about, but they won't tell us."
"I'm on my way," He said hanging up
Chap. 31
Prue sat watching Kat squirm uncomfortably under her gaze. They were left alone in the room. Chris took Phoebe's car keys, drove Wyatt, and himself back to the manor. Phoebe had Cole on a pay phone out side, asking him to come to sign Kat out and then shimmer them home. Kat knew Prue was upset.
"Aunt Prue, I promise that if this was my story to tell I'd tell you all right away, but it isn't, and I can't. This is Chris' story, and I don't know if he can handle telling it once let alone twice, so you and Mom are going to have to suck it up and find out with everyone else!" She sighed. This time was just too much to deal with; she couldn't wait to go back to her own time. She knew where things stood in the future and there was so much less drama that went along with it. There would be very little she would miss.
Cole entered, "Hey, sweetie, how are you feeling?"
Kat reconsidered; she would definitely miss a few things. "I'm fine, Dad," she smiled.
"Good, let's get you home."
Chap. 32
The family gathered in the conservatory. Kat sat in between her parents on a couch while Piper and Leo sat together on the love seat. Paige, Prue, and Andy had grabbed some chairs from the dinning room. Leaning against Wyatt's playpen, Chris shifted uneasily.
The room was eerily silent waiting for Chris to begin. He drew a deep breath. Addressing Piper he said, "Remember when Grandpa came and you had him talk to me?"
She nodded. Knowing what came next, she prepared herself. Chris continued, "Well, a week before my 14th birthday, Kat and Phoebe went shopping to buy clothes. Grams, Grandma, and Leo were coming so you made everybody dress up that year. Phoebe had the impossible task of putting Kat in a dress. That never goes well. From what I understand she and Wyatt were fighting and he pushed her into a lady," Chris began.
Kat furthered, "She was probably in her early fifties so it'd make sense that she's the same woman that I bumped into today when we were shopping. I had the same premonition all over again. It was horrible. I felt hate, fear, suffering, hate, pain, hate-Oh and did I mention hate?"
Chris rolled his eyes, "Yes. Anyway, whatever that demon was it wasn't in the Book of Shadows. We had Paige go 'up there' to see what They knew. She found Leo. He told her that they were battling the Demon of Hate. It plants seeds of hate in good people-"
"The best," Andy interrupted.
"Essentially," Kat nodded.
"The better the person was the better the 'meal' is. It feeds on the wasted good," Leo described. "The demon slowly corrupts the infected human, and it grows as the person commits more and more hateful actions."
"How do we vanquish it?" Paige asked.
"The Power of Four, all of the Charmed Ones, but thanks to Shax we were one short. The Elders weren't willing to send us Prue," Chris explained bitterly. "There was a 2nd option, though. A Power of Three spell with the sacrifice of a Charmed One." His fists tightened and he turned away from his family as a single tear fell from his eye.
Leo watched his son's pain. It dawned on him that Piper was the sister to sacrifice herself. Chris must have believed that Leo was responsible for the Elders' actions. In turn, Chris blamed Leo for Piper's death.
Kat could tell that Chris was cracking. She continued for him, erasing any traces of denial, "At the time Aunt Paige was pregnant with our youngest cousin. She obviously couldn't sacrifice herself without killing her daughter. So it was up to our mothers and…originally my mom was gonna do it, but at the last second Aunt Piper pushed her out of the way…" Kat grew silent. Cole put his arm around her like a protective shield while Phoebe pushed the hair out of her now reddened and tear-stained face. That was only the beginning, neither of them would be able to tell the entire tragic tale when it was so close to happening again.
Chris had regained his self-control. "The worst part was we didn't have any powers otherwise four of us are stronger than the four of you. None of this would've happened," guilt dripped from his voice as he spoke.
"We won't let it happen this time. Everything will be all right because all of us are here now," Prue comforted. She had finally salvaged her take-charge persona. She used it to mask her sorrow as she volunteered, "I'll look in the Book of Shadows."
"I'll scry," Paige announced. They were going to save their sister no matter what took.
"I'll see if I can find out any more about the riots at the station," Andy offered.
