Chapter 5
A few hours after Nathan had been told of the warlocks' plot, Vin and JD were happily playing with cars on their bedroom carpet. They'd already forgotten about the earlier incident on the stairs. Suddenly, JD slumped forward from where he sat on the floor. The little boy had fallen unconscious; startling his half-brother.
Vin crawled over the floor the short distance to JD and checked his wrist for a pulse as Gloria had taught him. JD's pulse was faint and Vin felt sure he wouldn't be much good in trying to heal his brother alone, as his half-Whitelighter healing power was very limited. He stood up and called for Nathan - the Potters' Whitelighter would be able to heal the youngest brother.
Orbs appeared in the room, and then disappeared, leaving the Potter's kind Whitelighter, who always kept the appearance of his Old West self at twenty-six years old, standing there and looking concerned. To hide the fact he was from the Old West, he always wore clothes that fitted the time-period he was currently living in. "What's wrong?" he asked, not seeing JD lying on the floor.
"JD's fainted an' his pulse is weak," answered Vin hurriedly. "Ya got ta heal him." The boy was shaking with fear because he was worried his younger brother was too far gone to be healed.
Nathan moved to the youngest boy and crouched down to work his healing magic on JD. The Whitelighter put both hands over where the little boy's heart was and thought of his love for the child - love was the trigger for all Whitelighters' healing power.
After a few minutes, the healing glow still hadn't appeared under Nathan's hands, meaning that he couldn't heal the child. "I'm sorry, it's not workin' - you'll have to help me lay him on the bed - then we'll find another way to make him better."
After Nathan and Vin had laid JD on his bed, a gentle ringing like wind chimes was heard, that indicated the Elders were calling Nathan to them in the heavens.
"I better go and see what they want," said Nathan, upset that he couldn't stay and help JD for longer. "Vin, you go and quickly get Gloria here and tell her I'll be back soon as I can."
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
In the Potters' Magic Room and waiting for Nathan's return, Chris and Ezra were getting impatient, not knowing that their Whitelighter was helping their little brother at that moment.
"We'll have to work this out ourselves," said Chris, "Nathan's obviously too busy." The blond picked up the history book from the floor and closed it.
"What are you doing?" asked Ezra, unsure of why his brother had closed the book when they should go further into it and see if there were any more premonitions to be had from further old photographs.
"When I touched individual pictures, I only got a vision about each one. By closing the book and touching it, I might get a vision that links all the previous ones," explained the blond, surprised that his usually smart brother hadn't worked it out before him.
"Oh," said Ezra, feeling at a loss for words at his embarrassment for not being the one to think of that method to help them.
Chris held the book and waited until he received a new premonition. He didn't have to wait too long before he felt the premonition coming on, and then he closed his eyes to see it.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
Morning had dawned on Four Corners and the sun shone down on the early risers in the town's main street. Among the early birds, a beautiful young woman with long, loose, blonde hair was strolling up and down the street handing out copies of a newspaper to the townsfolk. Looking at the cover, she smiled at the photograph in the center of the page.
"Mornin' Mrs. Travis," greeted a grinning young man with short, tidy, dark-brown hair. Strangely, he wasn't wearing a hat like he usually did outside.
"Good morning, JD. The barber did a great job with your hair."
The young man ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks. Casey's not so fond of it unfortunately."
"How is she this morning?" asked Mrs. Travis. "I hope she's recovering from that stomach flu."
"She's feeling much better, thanks, Mrs. Travis. Looks like we won't have to call off the wedding after all."
The woman smiled. "Good, I expect she's relieved about that. Paper?"
JD accepted the paper with a polite "Thanks," and studied the story Mary Travis had written about his upcoming wedding to Casey Wells. The date on the newspaper was clearly visible. "I'm glad you decided to include that photo after all - Casey looks so pretty in it."
"Yes, she does, JD. If you'll excuse me, I have to hand out the rest of these. I'll see you later."
Mary left JD standing there, reading the article that accompanied the picture. It was a quality article describing the couple as fine upstanding citizens of their community. JD smiled.
"Ya've come a long way, Kid," said a man who was slightly older looking with shoulder length, mid-brown hair. "Jus' look at ya now - all grown up an' gettin' married t'morrow."
"I've always been grown up, Vin," retorted the younger man.
"We gotta go an' saddle up - Chris wants us ta ride ta Eagle Bend fer somethin'."
The men walked to the stables that weren't far away. Once inside, Vin closed the door behind him and JD. Then he morphed into a large gray demon. A large double edged knife appeared in his hand and he thrust it into the younger man's chest where his heart was. JD collapsed on the ground, dying.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
Chris re-opened his eyes a few seconds after the premonition ended, looking upset by what he'd just witnessed - it was terrible that a demon had traveled back in time and killed JD's ancestor.
"Judging by your expression, I presume you just viewed something far less pleasant than your previous visions?" questioned Ezra. He was desperate to know what upsetting scene his brother had witnessed.
Chris was trembling, scared of what implications the historical premonition could have on their present. He was pretty certain that what had happened was a real event, but since their JD was still there to his knowledge, maybe the ancestor's present had only just been changed. Chris got the feeling that all the ancestors in his premonitions were the ones who started the branches of family trees that culminated in the adopted Potter sons.
Ezra was scared by his brother's shivering - it wasn't behavior he'd seen in Chris before. "Chris? Should I get Mrs. Potter?"
"He k-killed JD!"
A stunned expression appeared on the half-demon witch's face. "Who killed our youngest brother?"
"No, not that JD - the Old West one," said Chris, managing to calm down slightly, realizing that being scared wouldn't help anyone.
"Oh my! That's awful - but why would you get a premonition of how he dies?"
Chris began to nervously pace around the room. "He wasn't married to Casey yet - the demon tricked him into the stables by posing as their Vin with his glamour power, and then killed him. That photo I saw in the book is of JD Dunne AFTER he married Casey Wells." Suddenly, having an idea, Chris walked to the history book and began to flick through the pages. He continued to flick through until he reached the end of it. "It's not in there - their wedding photo's gone as well as the info on them!"
"Oh crap!" swore Ezra; the latest development making him realize that something seriously terrible was happening relating to his adoptive family.
Then, both of them feeling concerned about their own JD, they rushed out of the room to Vin and JD's shared bedroom. They found a distraught Vin and Gloria there, staring at JD's empty bed.
"What happened?" asked Chris. He hoped that JD was just out of the room for the moment and the others were upset about something really minor.
"He just vanished," revealed Gloria through her crying as she pointed to the empty bed of JD Dunne. She was clearly extremely distressed by the latest development, as she started crying loudly. That was something she didn't usually do, so the seriousness of the disappearance hit Chris hard.
Chris quickly walked to his mother and put his arms around her, turning her to face his chest, where she cried into it. "We'll fix this - we'll bring him back, I promise."
"How can you bring him back when he's vanished?" asked Gloria, looking up at Chris.
"Mom, I had a premonition of a past JD Dunne. He was killed by a demon before his wedding day. I got it from that history book you got from the library. I've had some others, but those events were all happy ones..."
Before Chris could continue, Nathan orbed into the room. Everyone was too shocked and upset by JD's disappearance to notice that he'd appeared there quicker than usual. "There are two teenage warlocks behind this - they've sent a Time-changer demon back in time to alter history so that it ruins the present for at least one of your sons or me. Everyone in the Underworld knows that we're a formidable group who have done a lot of good in this world and will do even more in the future, so they want to divide us in any way they can. If someone permanently destroys any of your sons, Gloria, the evil responsible will be promoted next in line to the Source."
"Chris - you and Nathan should go to the past to before when their JD was killed, and vanquish the Time-changer demon so he never has a chance to kill their JD. Then our JD will come back," commanded Gloria, regaining her composure as she realized that JD would come back if things in the past were put right. They needed to start acting straight away before the demon could indirectly threaten any more of her sons' lives.
Chris nodded in agreement. "We'll find the demon in The Book and take whatever we need to vanquish him when we travel back."
The Whitelighter then shook his head, keeping a blank expression to avoid making the sons or mother suspicious of him. "Ma'am," he began, instantly receiving a glare from Gloria, "I mean, Gloria; I should remain here to help take care of the rest of your family in case anyone decides to attack or we have to protect any innocents. Ezra's responsible enough to go with Chris instead."
"Indeed I am, thank you, Mr. Jackson," agreed Ezra, happy that at least Nathan accepted how responsible he was. Nathan usually had a lot of faith in Ezra - sometimes more than the boy's family. When Ezra had first come to the family, Nathan had been wary of the boy because he was a half-demon as well as a witch. There were very few half-demons around, and as Nathan had never known any before, he hadn't known if half-demons could be trusted.
Since coming to the family, Ezra had gone off on many secret missions and single-handedly accomplished feats for the side of good. Most of the missions still remained secret from the rest of the family, except for the few Ezra had told Chris about; so the Potters didn't know how responsible the boy really was.
Nathan nearly always monitored Ezra because he was worried that a half-demon still had some allegiance with whole demons and might betray the side of good for them. The Whitelighter could always sense where Ezra was, as Whitelighters could sense all their charges, so could sense if the boy wasn't where he said he was going. Witches or Whitelighters couldn't be contacted or sensed if at least one of them was in the Underworld. If Ezra was there, then Nathan would know because he would be unable to sense the half-demon witch. Whenever Ezra returned from his missions, he was cornered by Nathan and then given the third degree. That way, Nathan learned just how trustworthy and dependent the boy was.
Sometimes Nathan and Ezra fell out because of differences of opinion due to their very different backgrounds. The boy's mother, Maude, who liked to con people out of their money, rather than work hard to earn it, had raised Ezra. During his time with his real mother, the boy had learnt several skills that truly good people didn't use much, if at all: lock-picking, lying, showing no emotions, and cheating at cards. Nathan's background was far more pure - more so since he'd become a Whitelighter.
"Ezra can't heal Chris if he gets hurt though," argued Gloria, thinking that Nathan's excuses were very feeble - there must be some other reason why the Whitelighter didn't want to go back in time. "I'd prefer you to go with him as I'd rather keep my younger sons here where I can see them, after what happened to JD."
"Gloria, I'm quite capable of protecting us both from harm," said Ezra, really wanting to visit the past and see their ancestors. He had always been quite independent and felt certain that he and Chris would be able to fix the past easily enough if they traveled back without an adult.
"I can understand that you want me along to heal Chris if he gets hurt, Gloria; but I can't go back there; and Ezra could still disappear whether you can watch him or not. Anyway, I'm sure they had people with enough medical knowledge back then to take care of Chris or Ezra if they get hurt - both are careful enough to make sure they don't get hurt too bad." Nathan knew there was a medical person in the town of Four Corners at the time of Chris's premonitions, as he'd been their unofficial doctor then.
"NATHAN! Why are you trying so hard to avoid helping fix history - meaning I can't get my little boy back?" asked Gloria. She wanted to make the Whitelighter feel so guilty that he'd agree to travel back in time with Chris.
"History is very fragile, Gloria," said Nathan sternly. "The slightest change there could have a major impact on the present AND future. I don't want to be responsible for an event that ruins your family's present."
"But you don't mind if Chris is responsible for that? He'd be less likely to change history with you there to guide him. He's only eighteen and I just can't send him so far away without an older adult." What was wrong with the usually brave Whitelighter?
"Then send Josiah," snapped Nathan, before he orbed away from the room to escape being persuaded to go. The truth was that he couldn't risk seeing his past self there - if he did, he could accidentally do or say something that would stop him becoming a Whitelighter after he died. That would stop him from helping the Potter family, and he didn't want that.
"I can't send Josiah - he'd be more useful against any attacks here," answered Gloria belatedly, as Nathan had already disappeared seemingly faster than usual. She realized she should call Josiah soon - he was at home and had no idea what was happening at his parents' house.
"Chris, you'll have to travel back with Ezra to before when you saw their JD die. First, you'll vanquish the demon responsible, and then you'll make sure history is put right. You may need to write your own time-travel spell if there's nothing suitable in The Book, and word it so you go back to the right time. I'll keep a close eye on the others and watch for any signs of trouble. If they start fading like JD did, I'll try and get a premonition from something of theirs and send Terrence and Josiah back to that time." Gloria was then reminded that her husband still hadn't arrived home from the garage, and wondered what was keeping him.
"Mom," addressed Chris, who'd been waiting impatiently for his mother and Nathan to stop talking. "I had previous premonitions that all took place in the same Old West town. And I saw an 'Ezra Standish', a 'Josiah', a 'Nathan', a 'Vin' and the son of a 'Chris Larabee'!"
"You'd best make sure those men don't get attacked as well then," instructed Gloria, surprisingly not startled by the news that men with the names of her sons were in the same town in the past. "If you come into close contact with them, you may get premonitions to tell you if they're going to get attacked as well."
"Mrs. Potter, you could act a little more surprised by the news that we had ancestors with identical names in the same location around the same time," commented Ezra. The boy was amazed by Gloria's calmness to Chris's shocking revelation.
"Anything's possible in this world, Dear. EVEN towns in the past where our ancestors all lived together; nothing surprises me anymore. You'd better hurry and get that time-travel spell written." Gloria ushered both brothers back to the Magic Room - she was worried that if they didn't go soon, more of her adopted sons would start to disappear.
Chris and Ezra went into the Magic Room and began to look through their magical volume for the Time-changer demon.
Gloria remained in the bedroom with Vin, the boy now sat on her lap on the bed, still very upset that his brother had disappeared before his eyes, straight after his pulse had stopped. Now JD was as good as dead, and Vin feared that wouldn't be the end of their troubles that day. All thoughts of the Halloween party had disappeared from Vin's mind - if even just JD was wiped out of their lives forever, no one would feel like celebrating that Friday.
To be continued...