Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the television show Charmed. All characters belong to Spelling Television, and The WB.
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The Pain of Future Wrongs – Chapter 49
Chris gasped as he tried desperately to free himself from Melanie's grasp. His struggles only seemed to encourage her further as she increased the intensity of her attack. She forced Chris to his knees and twisted her hand, choking him in the process. Just as Chris was about to run out of air, she release the hold and threw him across the attic. Chris struck the wall hard and crashed onto the floor. The young witch-Whitelighter found himself sprawled on the floor, his energy completely drained from him.
Melanie sauntered over and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up at her. "Now who's the most powerful one, huh?" She laughed as she saw how helpless Chris was. She lifted him off the floor and threw him around like a rag doll. By now, Chris had given up trying to defend himself, knowing that it was a lost cause.
Chris felt a bone crack as he collapsed on the floor once again, causing him to cry out in pain. He tried to get to his feet but ended up falling back down as he coughed up blood. "Well, it's been fun, Chris," Melanie taunted, "but I think you've served your purpose." She pulled out an athame and sneered at Chris. "Goodbye..."
Chris closed his eyes and braced for his demise. A million thoughts flashed through his mind. He remembered the things that he never had a chance to say to his family, all his regrets, all of his failures. None of that mattered anymore but it didn't ease his pain.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Melanie screamed as she flew across the room into the wall.
Chris was too weak to turn his head but he did notice another person in the room.
"You lay a hand on him and I'll make sure that you fry in hell!" Ryan yelled, his stormy eyes demonstrating his fiery anger.
Melanie quickly regained her footing. "And just how do you plan on doing that?" she laughed. "Your powers aren't exactly intimidating, Ryan. Besides, look at how easily I destroyed your much more powerful older brother?" she asked, referring to Chris.
"The only way you got to him was through deception. You wouldn't have stood a chance if this was a fair fight, Melanie," he shot back, feeling satisfied when he saw Melanie becoming enraged.
"You fool, I could end your life right here and right now!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ryan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "We hear those threats all the time."
"I intend to carry out my threats," she announced as he fired a massive energy ball from her hands. Ryan quickly orbed out of the way. Melanie began to unleash a major assault, using Chris' own powers against his younger brother, who was struggling to stay ahead of Melanie.
Finally, there was a brief respite from the war as Melanie and Ryan took a moment to regain their strength. Ryan was panting heavily, exhausted from trying to out-maneuver the enemy.
"You do know that you're fighting a losing battle, Ryan. Your powers are no match for mine."
"Leave him alone," Chris whispered, hoping that the crazed woman would at least have the heart to spare his younger brother.
Melanie ignored Chris' pleas and continued to focus on Ryan. "Too bad this time, your older brother won't come to your aid," she laughed.
"Well, I think you're forgetting that Ryan has two older brothers." Melanie turned to see Wyatt standing in the doorway.
"Another powerless Halliwell," she scoffed. "Perhaps you have forgotten that you're not the same Wyatt Halliwell of old. You're not exactly intimidating, you know."
"We'll see about that," Wyatt replied in an even tone. Ryan and Wyatt began their offensive against Melanie, managing to keep her off balance. In the end, however, Melanie's powers were just too great, considering she had taken on Chris' powers as well. The two Halliwells were eventually forced back towards the door to the attic.
"Like I said, your powers are no match for mine, even if both of you work together," Melanie screamed, any signs of sanity completing vanishing. "Prepare to..."
A silence filled the room as Melanie froze in the middle of her rant. "Add the Power of Three into the mix and you won't be so cocky," Piper said as she glared at the now-frozen Melanie. Paige and Phoebe immediately set crystals around Melanie to trap her while Piper rushed forward to Chris.
"It's okay, Chris. I'm here now," Piper whispered as she took in her middle son's condition. He looked so fragile and so lost, a side of Chris that Piper hadn't seen ever since they found out about his immense powers. "Okay, get the spell ready," she announced to her sisters. "We have some demon ass to vanquish!"
Wyatt looked pained as he heard his mother's words. True, it was clear that Melanie was evil but that didn't dull the love that he had for her. He had put his heart into the relationship and it hurt so much to find out that it was all a sham.
"No..." Chris cried out, his voice weak and hoarse. Everyone turned their attention to him, astonished that he would try to stop the demon's vanquish. Seeing the strange expressions on everyone's faces, Chris decided to explain. He struggled into a sitting position before beginning his explanation. "Melanie isn't a demon..."
"Honey," Piper answered soothingly. "We all saw what she was doing just a little while ago..."
"Trust me, she isn't a demon," Chris argued, more forcefully this time. The skeptical faces did not waver and the young Halliwell's frustrations grew. "She's possessed by a demon. If you vanquish her, you'll be killing an innocent."
"And you know this because..." Phoebe began.
"My research..." he answered, pointing to the Book of Shadows and a pile of paper beside it.
"And you decided not to tell us about this because..." Paige continued.
"Look, can we just get rid of the demon first and nurse my son back to health before the Inquisition begins?" Piper interrupted.
"Good point," Phoebe acknowledged. "And how do we vanquish the demon without killing Melanie in the process?"
Chris couldn't help but roll his eyes. He loved his aunts to death but sometimes they were just a tad on the slow side. "My research. Obviously I would've come up with a spell to vanquish the demon too..."
"Smart ass," Phoebe muttered with a smile before going to grab the spell.
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"How are you feeling?" Ryan asked as he sat down on Chris' bed.
"I feel like shi...hell," Chris corrected himself, eliciting a smirk on his younger brother's face.
"I'm not a child, you know. You can say the bad words in front of me," Ryan said.
"Yeah, and then Mom will bite my head off for swearing in the house," Chris retorted.
"True. But she won't do it when you're sick. She'll wait until you've recovered and then give it to you real good."
"Geez, you sound like you look forward to seeing your poor brother go through these traumatizing events."
Ryan laughed at the comment, happy to see that his brother was okay after the ordeal. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, when they said that spell and you got your powers back, you passed out for a good fifteen minutes."
"I'm pretty sure I'll survive," Chris answered. "It's not like I haven't been through worse."
Silence filled the room once again as both Ryan and Chris were lost in their thoughts.
"You know that it wasn't a good idea to instigate Melanie in the attic, right?" Chris asked after a while.
"There wasn't much else I could do, you know. I wasn't exactly going to stand there and let her have her way."
"Well, thanks for being there, kiddo. I owe you one," Chris answered with a smile. He was proud of his younger brother, seeing him slowly mature into a brave young man who wasn't afraid to put himself on the line in the fight against evil.
"Thanks..." Ryan said softly. "Just...just don't scare me like that again, okay?" he said, his voice trembling as he recalled the earlier scene in the attic.
The conversation was interrupted a light knock at the door. Both Halliwells turned to see Wyatt standing in the doorway, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, Chris...can we talk?"
- to be continued -