HALLIWELL 2024

"What do you mean you let them take the boy!"

In the dimly lit attic of the Halliwell Manor, the demon Zarkon, another of Wyatts highest ranking demon gaurds, got right in Jeremy's face as he demanded details.

"You idiot! How could you let this happen? You had strict orders!"

Jeremy closed his eyes and turned his head. He wasn't afraid, but Zarkon was so close he could smell the foul stench of the demon's breath as he stood inches from his face, and it was enough to make one nauseous.

Meanwhile, across the room, Wyatt was staring out the window, trying desperately to block out the squabbling behind him so he could concentrate and sense his brother. Usually, it wasn't this difficult, but he did have to concentrate, which at the moment, was impossible to do.

"Sir, you're not going to let him get away with such failure. Are you? He's incompetent!" Zarkon addressed him.

Wyatt rolled his eyes and turned to face his guard.

"And you're trying my patience!" Wyatt informed him coolly. "Do you ever shut up?"

His response elicited some chuckles from a few lower ranking demons standing off to one side. Wyatt, however, was not amused.

"Do you find this funny?" he asked them.

"No sir." They replied in unison.

"Wyatt, I tried." Jeremy said taking a step forward. "Believe me I tried. But Daryll and Sheila were not going to let me take Chris without a fight."

"Then you fight!" Zarkon interjected.

"No you don't!" Wyatt said raising his voice. "Jeremy's was right. Hurting Sheila or Daryll would not help my situation with Chris!"

"Then what do you propose." Zarkon asked, losing his patience.

"I've decided to try a different approach." Wyatt informed them, shaking his finger in the air for emphasis. "I've been going about this all wrong. I need to get Chris' trust before I can convince him to join me."

"And you're going to do that how exactly?" Jeremy asked quizzically.

"You'll see…eventually." Wyatt teased. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

Having said that, Wyatt orbed from the room leaving Jeremy and the demon guards behind.

"What do you think he's up to," one of the demons standing off to the side asked Jeremy, as if he should know the answer.

Jeremy shook his head.

"I have no idea. I gave up trying to figure him out a long time ago." He said and then turned and walked out of the room.

When he was gone, the two demons approached Zarkon.

"This is getting ridiculous," the first complained.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" The second asked.

"Patience! Patience!" Zarkon said. "It's just a matter of time. We'll let Waytt bring his brother to us and then we'll make our move."

"I don't get why we need the kid anyway," the first said. "He's no match for Wyatt. He is not nearly as powerful as his brother."

The second demon nodded his head in agreement.

Zarkon laughed out loud.

"Ah…you two are as deluded as Wyatt! Chris Halliwell is very capable, and possibly the only one capable, of overthrowing Wyatt. It's his destiny. It has been since the day he was conceived."

Later that evening, Chris Halliwell sat at the Morris' kitchen table and took small sips from his glass of ice water. He had just arrived back at the house with Sheila and Daryll

a short time earlier and the pain medication the doctors had given him was starting wear off. As he pondered whether or not it was too soon to take some more, Darryl entered the kitchen…

"Mom's fixing up the spare bed for you. Why don't you go try to get some rest" he suggested as he crossed the room.

"I don't think I could sleep." Chris sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Besides, I shouldn't stay here anyway. It's not safe.

"Don't be stupid Chris. You're not going anywhere."

"Look Daryll. Shelia's not around. OK. You don't have to pretend like you want me here." Chris shot back.

"If I didn't want you here, I would have left you back at the club! " Daryll responded, clearly annoyed. "Listen to me," he said, lowering his voice and taking a seat beside Chris at the table, "I don't hate you. OK? I know that's what you think and it's no wonder the way I've treated you lately. It's just…I'm just concerned about my mom. That's all"

"I am too." Chris said. "She shouldn't have come to the club today. Neither of you should have. Jeremy could have really hurt you!"

Daryll scoffed.

"I'm not afraid of Jeremy. I've known him since he was five years old!"

"Yeah," Chris replied, "and if I remember the story correctly, he sliced you up pretty good the first time you met."

Daryll smiled. He remembered the incident Chris was referring to even if Chris didn't.

It was Chris' third birthday party and Piper had invited Jeremy and his father, as well as the Morris', to the special event. Jeremy and Wyatt had become friends and Piper felt it was important for Chris and Wyatt to have other magical friends in their life, even if Jeremy was half demon. But Jeremy was only five and had not yet learned to completely control his powers or his anger. So when Darryl, who was nine at the time, stepped in to retrieve a toy that Jeremy had take from a tearful Chris, the small boy unleashed his powerful claws and slashed Daryll good across the chest. It was purely a reflex reaction. Jeremy hadn't meant to hurt him and he was actually just as upset when it happened as Daryll was. Fortunately for both of them, Wyatt was able to heal him, with Leo's help, and everything turned out OK. But Jeremy's father Derek was very upset about the whole situation. He begged Piper and her sisters to bind his son's powers so there would be no more "accidents", but they refused. Looking back on it now, Daryll wondered if the sisters would have made the same decision if they had known how he ended up.

"If he could do that much damage at five, imagine what he could do to you now!" Chris' voice interrupted Daryll's thoughts.

"Jeremy wouldn't hurt me." Daryll insisted. "He doesn't have it in him. No matter what Wyatt thinks."

There conversation was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Chris jumped at the sound and looked fearfully at his friend.

"Don't worry," Daryll reassured him as he got up from the table. "I don't think demons ring doorbells."

Daryll left Chris in the kitchen, and made his way to the front hallway. He was met by Sheila, who had just rushed down the stairs.

"You expecting company?" he asked her.

"As a matter of fact I am." She said, brushing by him.

She opened the door and smiled at the handsome, older gentleman with the familiar smile, who was standing before her.

"Victor," she sighed. "Thank God you're here."