"Dad? Are you awake?" Chris whispered, giving the man a slight shake. He had not yet opened his eyes- but Chris knew that he was alive. He could sense it.
"Dad?"
Much to his relief, Leo gave a small groan, and slowly regained full consciousness.
"Chris. You're okay."
"Yea, so are you. Now hurry, get up there are still a few alive, we can save them…I need your help." Chris replied, helping Leo to his feet.
The older man surveyed the room, and found it difficult to fight back tears- his friends, his colleagues-they were all dead. It was almost too much to handle.
Wyatt.
He had heard Wyatt.
"Chris," he began, turning towards his youngest son, "Is Wyatt here…I thought I heard him as I was waking up."
Chris drew a deep breath, and looked down to avoid his eyes. "Yea, he was here-" He paused, obviously reluctant to continue. "I know you won't believe me…but he planned this, Dad…Wyatt is the one responsible for this…he is the new evil…"
Leo's heart almost stopped beating. It wasn't possible…not Wyatt…not his perfect angel…Chris was lying.
He opened his mouth to protest. To tell Chris that he had to be mistaken- but then it hit him.
The voice. Wyatt.
'You shall all be rewarded in due time…' he had said 'return to the underworld, I will meet with you later'
Leo felt ill. Wyatt had been talking to a darklighter- rewarding him for what he had accomplished today.
Rewarding him for the deaths he had caused.
"No." he gasped, his eyes wide, his body shaking. "No."
"I don't want to believe it either." Chris muttered beside him. "I don't know how it happened…he dark orbed out…he has turned."
His head was spinning. How could his son- a child born out of the union of two good beings- possible commit such an act? How had he not noticed? He had seen Wyatt recently…there had been no indication…none at all.
"Dad." Chris said, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder "We can figure this out later…right now we need to heal as many whitelighters as we can."
Yes, Chris was right.
Some were still alive…they needed to work quickly.
Chris stepped over yet another lifeless body as he made his way up the blood soaked bleachers. He could sense that someone was still alive, just a few feet away.
They had managed to save five so far.
Five, out of nearly a thousand.
That was nothing.
He heard a quiet moan, and he instantly turned towards it to see a girl, not too much older than himself, curled on the floor with an arrow in her side. Her face was deathly pale, but he could see that her chest was still rising and falling.
Orbing the arrow out of her, Chris knelt down and slowly but surely healed the wound.
She suddenly began gasping for breath.
"What happened?" She whispered, looking around the room, her brown eyes wide with fear.
Chris sighed, and gave her a sympathetic look. "There was a darklighter attack…you almost died…most did."
A tear rolled silently down her cheek as she realized what he had said, and she looked sadly up at Chris. "Thank you for saving me," she began quietly "You're Chris, right? Sam's friend?"
The boy froze.
Sam.
"I have to go…" he stuttered, standing up abruptly and racing towards the top of the room where he and Sam had been sitting.
He was going to save him.
He had to.
Chris reached the top. He sensed nothing- no life. His heart was pounding; he wouldn't allow himself to believe it.
It couldn't be true.
"Sam." He cried in anguish as he caught sight of his mentor's mangled body.
The man slumped limply in his seat- blood had soaked his white shirt, and two arrows were lodged deeply in his chest.
It was too late.
Chris flung the arrows out, too over come by his grief to realize that the man had long since passed on. He held out his hands, and focused harder than he ever had- hoping desperately to see even the faintest glimmer of gold.
None came.
Sam was gone.
"No." Chris sobbed, grasping the man's lifeless hand tightly in his own.
It wasn't fair. Yet another person who had actually meant something to him- who had actually cared- had been taken away.
Wyatt.
The word now filled him with a burning hate. He had to stop Wyatt.
Wyatt was the reason Sam was dead.
"Chris." A gentle voice said from behind him.
The boy turned his head to see Leo standing there, looking somber. "We need to go. We've done all that we can."
"No!" Chris cried, tears beginning to escape his green eyes. "Heal Sam. You're an elder, you can heal him damnit!"
" I'm sorry, I can't." Leo replied, looking genuinely sympathetic. "Come on son, we have to go."
Chris eyes flashed with rage. "Don't call me son." He shouted his grief turning suddenly into anger. "Sam was more of a father to me than you ever were. He taught me every thing while you just sat on your mighty ass and pretended I didn't exist."
The older man took a few steps back, stung by his son's words. "We have to go" he stuttered "…they may come back to make sure that everyone is dead…it's not safe here."
Chris took several deep breaths to calm himself- he realized that this was no time to be mad at Leo- there were much bigger issues to deal with. He needed to stop Wyatt- and he needed to be alive to do it.
"Okay." He whispered, standing up slowly.
He looked down at Sam's body- trying to memorize every detail of his face.
The face he would never see again.
"Thank for everything, Sam." He said, leaning down and giving the man a gentle kiss on his cold forehead. "Say hi to Aunt Paige for me."
With that he turned back to Leo, and the two left the room in silence, both consumed by their own dark thoughts.
Bianca pulled her last batch of oatmeal cookies from the oven. She gotten a little carried away and had made more than three dozen that morning- but she knew that Chris would appreciate it, they were, after all, his favorite.
She closed the oven, and turned off all the dials, savoring the smell of the freshly baked goods. Looking up at the clock she gave a small frown- it was only 10:30, and by the sound of it, Chris still would not be home for several hours.
"I guess he won't get any warm ones then." She muttered with a smirk, taking a soft cookie for herself.
'They aren't bad' Bianca thought smugly as she grabbed a magazine off the counter and headed towards the living room. She had never been the best at cooking, and she knew that her cookies were probably noting compared to the ones Chris had had in his childhood- but over all she was pleased with her effort.
She stepped out of the kitchen, and was stunned by the unexpected sight before her.
Chris had returned, but he wasn't alone.
Victor and Leo stood behind him, looking grimly down at the floor and Bianca gave a small gasp as she realized that Leo and Chris were both covered in spots of blood.
Chris' eyes were blood shot and red.
"Chris? What happened?" she whispered, as she tried to make sense of the scene before her. It didn't make sense…Chris had been at a meeting, hadn't he?
Instead of offering a reply, Chris wordlessly pulled her towards him and gave her a deep kiss.
"I was worried that I'd never see you again." He muttered as they drew apart.
Bianca's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?" she asked confusedly "What's wrong?"
"I think maybe we should all sit down." Victor cut in, glancing between Chris and Leo "I want more of an explanation too."
Chris nodded, and took Bianca's hand. Together they headed to the living room, Leo and Victor following closely behind.
A/N A little less eventful, I know, but no worries, more action to come. Muhahahaha
I was so touched by the reviews of the last chapter, they were the best yet! You are all so awesome.
Chris Drew Lover- Thanks for the enthusiasm, it made me smile ;)
Jojo- awww, thanks! In my opinion there is no greater compliment than to be called creative!
Sickle Sword – fast enough up date for you, lol? Yes, I have updated a lot, but that's because my work load hasn't been bad for the past week…be warned that exams are fast approaching:( cries
teal-lover- glad to hear that this is understandable! Thanks for another wonderful review, I love getting your input.
phoebe turner- glad you loved it, hope you liked this one too.
mizunderstood writer- thanks again!
