Disclaimer: Has anyone seen my other sneaker? Oh--I mean, um, I don't own Charmed. Yeah. Heh. But I need my sneaker...want to go running outside, yet no sneaker...maybe I shall check the basement...don't worry, I'll post first! Lol.
By the way, though, is anyone else wondering WHAT IN THE HECK THE PRODUCERS WERE THINKING WHEN THE CHARMED ONES AND LEO WENT COMPLETELY AWOL? (Deep breaths...) I DON'T UNDERSTAND! WHAT'S HAPPENING? THE VERY FOUNDATION I'VE BUILT MY STRANGE, TWISTED WORLD UPON IS CRUMBLING APART! AHHHHHHHHH! Okay, no more ranting, time for the story.
Chapter Five
The rest of his night was dreamless, much to Chris' disappointment. He sighed at the small ray of light coming from the window. The house was completely silent, since it seemed pretty early. But then again, how would he know? He barely even saw the sun. To him, the sun rising just meant another insanely warm atmosphere like the one he faced yesterday.
Now he thought about the dream carefully, without Wyatt there to distract him. The dream—these visions—they were all like pieced to some big puzzle. But how did they fit together? Who was that little boy that claimed to be dead, and where had he met him before? Did the visions he had in his new targets' presences really mean anything, or were they just nonsense?
He sat there a while, considering this, but nothing hit him. There was no exciting moment of revelation where everything came together and made sense, so he pushed it aside in frustration. Or at least he tried to. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the one task ahead of him, the mission, his mind kept drifting…
"You awake?" asked Phoebe with a rather large yawn.
"Oh, hi," said Chris. "Yeah, I'm up."
"It's, like, seven in the morning," Phoebe moaned. "How can you wake up by choice at seven in the morning?" She sauntered into the kitchen, motioning for him to follow. "I gotta get to work on my column—I'm the advice columnist on the Bay Mirror newspaper. You've read that before, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I have. It's a good paper. I haven't seen your column, yet, though." He bit his lip. The only newspapers he ever saw were the occasional rare copies of USA Today that could be smuggled in every now and then.
"So, did you get any more of those visions last night? You're powers seemed to be going totally haywire on you," Phoebe commented.
"They were a little freaky," Chris admitted, surprised that someone would acknowledge something that happened in his life when he was so used to be ignored. "But I didn't have anymore last night." I think, he added to himself. That dream…
"I know how you feel," said Phoebe with a sigh, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I have premonitions and I'm an empath as well."
Chris froze. "Does that mean you can, like, read thoughts?" he asked as casually as he could.
"No, but I can read emotions," Phoebe told him. She grinned at his reaction, which he wasn't able to stifle effectively. "Don't worry. I hardly ever use those powers—causes too much conflict, you know?
"Hmm." Chris didn't let his guard down, though. He wasn't quite sure if he believed her.
"So, Cole tells me you two sort of got to know each other last night," Phoebe mused, trying to change the subject.
"Oh. Yeah," Chris acknowledged, swallowing on reflex. He wondered what he told her. Did he mention that he thought he was hiding something? Did she have reason to suspect him now?
"He said you looked familiar." Phoebe cocked her head, surveying him. Chris felt himself tense. "But I don't really see how…well, maybe you look a little familiar. Sort of like Leo."
"Who's Leo?" asked Chris, pretending not to know.
"Wyatt's father. He's an elder Up There, so we don't see very much of him."
"Wyatt must be pretty powerful," said Chris. Maybe he could trick her into telling him all of Wyatt's powers. That kind of information would benefit him if he was to find out if Wyatt really was the murderer of Cassandra.
Phoebe nodded. "I suppose so. But he worries me."
"How so?"
Phoebe sighed. "I don't know. I guess…sometimes…he gets a little too angry for his own good. He has a lot of power." Her nose twitched. "Oh, well, that's not any of my business," she said, laughing awkwardly. "Let's focus on your demon problem."
"Oh, that's okay, I—" He stopped. "I mean, yeah, that'd be nice." Stay on topic. There was plenty of time to learn things about Wyatt later without sounding too suspicious.
"Well, Paige and I leafed through the book a bit last night, and we couldn't find any demon matching your description. He must be fairly new in the Underworld." She took a last swig of her coffee. "But don't worry about it, Chris, we'll find him. Hey, do you…well, this is a stupid question, but do you go to a school?"
"Um, no…" Chris blushed. Everything he'd ever learned was from Owen or Pete or trial-by-error underground. There was no "school" for a little kid that got in the way. "But I won't, like, stick around too long. I can just come back later if—"
"No, no—of course not! You're perfectly welcome here, anytime, any day."
For the first time, he felt like he mattered to somebody. Phoebe had this way of making people feel that way. But what if she knew the truth—that he was trying to prove whether or not her nephew killed people? Would she feel the same way she did right now? "Thank you," he managed to say.
"Would you like something for breakfast?"
"Yes, please." Chris realized just how hungry he was, having missed dinner the day before.
"What would you like to have?"
The question threw Chris off. There was more than one breakfast food? All they got underground was cornflakes, and milk at the beginning of each month when it could be spared. What else did people eat for breakfast up here?
"Anything is fine," Chris said honestly. At this point, he didn't care if it oozed slime—he was hungry.
He was shocked when Phoebe took miniature pancakes out of a package from the freezer and stuck them in the microwave. Was this normal? To make pancakes in a microwave? He'd never actually had a pancake before, but he was pretty sure they were made in pans on the stove or a griddle or something. In several minutes, however, she stuck the plate in front of him.
"Voila," she said in fake sophistication. "Your slaved-over meal."
He decided not to ask questions. "Thanks!" He ate it slowly, trying not to cause suspicion. "These are good," he said.
"What can I say? I'm a fabulous cook."
Paige walked in. "Your lying to the kid this early in the morning? I can't believe you, Pheebs."
Phoebe scoffed playfully. "I'm a better cook than you, so there."
"Nuh-uh!"
"I am!"
"Are not—"
"Give that back, Wy! It's mine!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not—"
Chris snapped out of it before anyone noticed him space out. "Tell her, Chris," Phoebe laughed. "Tell her how you adore the pancakes I labored over."
"I adore them," said Chris dutifully, smirking.
"Traitor!" Paige stuck out her tongue and grabbed a pancake from Phoebe's plate. "Payback," she explained with through a mouthful of food.
Chris suddenly had the odd impression he was being watched. He'd never gotten a feeling like that before, having been ignored most of the time. Instinctively, he raised his head towards the kitchen entrance.
There stood Piper, eyes narrowed, observing him.
Her face changed immediately upon eye contact. "Good morning," she greeted him quickly. "How'd you sleep?"
"Fine, thank you. The couch was comfortable." He felt awkward, like he was out of place in this house all of a sudden. More so than he had felt that way before.
"I'm glad." Piper reached for the paper and flipped through it idly, not really pausing to read it. "So, Chris. Do you know anybody out on—well, wherever you live?"
"Know anybody?" Chris asked. "Sure. I guess I know a few people."
"Who?" Her eyes flashed towards him. Their brown color no longer seemed warm and inviting. They seemed suspicious.
"I don't know any names; there are just people I run into sometimes."
"I see. So, you're not, like, affiliated with anyone?"
Chris frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Just wondering if you had any other…intentions." She said the last word carefully and precisely, watching with a sort of satisfaction as it sliced through him. "We didn't find any demons matching your description last night, you know."
"Piper…" Phoebe said, "Why are you acting so weird? He's just a kid."
"Kids are capable of a lot more than you may think, Pheebs," said Piper. "I mean, look at our kids. They're practically superhumans. What are the chances that a kid with just as much power or more than your guys' daughters?"
"Piper, don't be ridiculous. I'm sure Chris is powerful," she said to lessen the sting of the admittance, "but I don't think he's capable of overcoming any of our kids. He wouldn't. Cole trusts Chris and I do, too."
"He's been in the house for—what, eight hours? And after like, two conversations, you're all best buds?"
"I'm sorry," Chris apologized sincerely. "I didn't realize that you…I didn't mean to—" He was sweating. The mission had to be accomplished. He didn't know enough about Wyatt! But at the same time, he wanted to be gone as fast as he could. The rejection in her eyes…it was so familiar. He hated it. Something, some anger from a lifetime ago, seemed to rise up inside of him. He wanted to leave—he needed to leave—
And then he was gone.
The orbs, so similar to Paige's, overcame him. He was dancing out of his own body, for the first time feeling free. There were no boundaries…he could keep floating in this shapeless wonderland forever…
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
"Wait!" Phoebe cried out.
"Oh my god," Paige said in a little squeak. "Did he…? Tell me he didn't just…?"
"The elders must have sent him!" Piper raged. "Of all the god damn, inhuman things to do—they're sending snot-nosed SPIES to us—"
Phoebe winced.
"What the hell happened?" asked a pregnant Paige weakly, righting herself into a kneeling position. All around her were clouds.
"We're…Up There," said past Phoebe in awe, Mel in her arms, crying. "How did we…?"
"Wyatt—Chris—" Piper whipped around, clutching Wyatt with one hand and searching frantically with the other. "Where's Chris? Chris! Chris—"
"Chris did it, Mommy—Chris orbed us here—" Wyatt stuttered. "Mommy…Chris is dead." His voice said these words with such finality that Piper collapsed to the floor in tears. The two other sisters were shocked into silence. Chris? How could cute little Chris be dead?
"He can't be…" past Phoebe muttered in disbelief.
"Who can't be what?" asked Paige, abruptly ending the scene in Phoebe's mind with her interjection. "Who are you talking to?"
Phoebe rubbed her head. "I've never had a vision quite like that before," she mumbled.
"What'd you see?" Piper demanded. "What's that boy going to do, hmm?"
Phoebe's brown eyes grew wide with realization. "I…I think I know who he is."
I'm so, so, so, SO sorry for not updating! I've totally been a space case lately what with all the Standards of Learning tests and all the final exams in the high school courses I'm taking early...(shudders). Just a French and an Algebra test left to go, though, and only fifteen more days of school! (Or is it fourteen?) And that's not counting weekends. I promise I'll update insanely during summer though. I'll have nothing else to do! Besides swim team...can you believe that it's gonna be, like, two and a half hours a day if I go to both swim practices? EVEN ON SUNDAY! (But that's only an hour.) I think it's cruel and unusual. Lol. And the water in the outdoor pool (I swim indoor in a heated pool in the fall and winter and early spring) is sooooooooooo freaking cold. I got totally sick, which is why I have the time to be typing up this story rather than swimming or school or baby-sitting or community service or--you get the point. Now I'm infecting the keyboard, though...I shall try to remember to threaten my siblings with this fact...MWAHAHAHA! I AM THE KEYBOARD-INFECTER!
OMG--Who's seen Star Wars? IT'S NOT FAIR! MY ANI WILL NEVER BE EVIL! PLEASE, NOOOOOOOOOO! Lol. It's--it's--SICKENING. The kid that played Anakin in Phantom Menace back in 1999 was like, totally my first crush ever. I was seven or eight at the time and his face was on the cover of Nickelodeon Magazine. I was enraptured (isn't that weird?) lol. But now, of course, I've moved onto bigger and better things--LIKE DREW! Which reminds me...a couple of months ago he appeared in a Lindsay Lohan video. I forgot what it was called, but it was REALLLLY sad. Watch it, though! Lol.
May the force be with all of my fellowstrange, Chris-obsessed people.