Inanely insane
Chapter 3 – Identity
A/N: Somehow I didn't really like to write something for the last month. I didn't really feel like fanfiction. But some of my favorite stories had really great updates over the last few weeks so I decided I could do a little bit myself now.
On a different note, I still don't really know where this story is going.
Disclaimer: No, not even the long time that has passed was enough to change it. Charmed
Still doesn't belong to me. Why do you even bother asking?
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For a moment Phoebe could do nothing but stare at the arm of her whitelighter at a complete loss of words. She couldn't figure out anything sensible to say, but the silence that had claimed the kitchen right now was very uncomfortable to her. The man who was glaring at her did absolutely nothing to ease that tension.
"Did some demon…?", she started in a hushed voice, even though she had the very distinctive feeling that this was in fact not the work of any demon but inner ones. She had no real idea what led her to that assumption but these cuts all had a similarity to them which made this strike her as the only logical conclusion.
"No", Chris answered coldly and glared at her in a way that made her want to disappear in an instant. Pity that she didn't have a power like that. Only now she became very aware of the huge height difference between the two of them. He was a very tall guy…
"But then…", she stuttered, even though this felt like pushing her luck too much. She was afraid that if she actually demanded an explanation he would explode somehow. She had no idea how that would express itself, but truth to be told, she wasn't eager to find that out.
"It's none of your business", he hissed and snatched his arm out of her hands. She realized that it was still covered in hot coffee, but he didn't even flinch. Some of the scars were very fresh, how could he not care about the hot liquid spilled on them?
He pulled back his sleeve to cover the recently revealed secret and kept on shooting his aunt nasty looks. "This doesn't concern you, so I strongly suggest you don't worry about it anymore. You get that?", he demanded in a menacing tone that gave Phoebe the sudden urge to grab the counter to steady herself. She had never before realized that this dark haired young man could be so scary.
Without saying another word but with his eyes still transfixed on those of the witch he orbed out.
When all the bright blue lights had finally dissipated Phoebe let out a sigh of relief. Maybe she really shouldn't look into this matter any further.
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Piper scolded herself mentally for her bad lying while she made her way back to her bedroom. Toothpaste! Couldn't think of anything more stupid, now could you?, she asked her mental self frustrated. Well she sure hoped Paige hadn't picked up any suspicion. If she was going to keep her pregnancy secret for a while she had to get better at this, otherwise everyone would be wondering about what baby clothes were in this season by tomorrow.
She entered her room just to be met with yet another challenge to her lying abilities. Completely unexpectedly she saw her former husband sitting on their formerly shared bed.
"Leo, what are you doing here", she asked confused. Especially that he was sitting were he was sitting was very unsettling to her. Did the Elders have some way of watching her and he already knew? She tried to convince herself that this was not the case, but somehow the uncertainty remained. He had after all said something about watching over her, before he had become an Elder, hadn't he?
"I was going to babysit Wyatt today, so you are free to do the set-up for the band you booked. Don't you remember?", Leo asked in a friendly tone. Piper instantly searched her mind but discovered nothing except for a big blank. It was true, there was a band in today, but had she really told Leo to watch Wyatt today? When was that supposed to have taken place?
"Right, yeah", she said with a slightly forced smile, while she still couldn't remember asking her ex husband for anything lately. Still, she decided to play along. He probably knew why he was here, after all it wasn't too easy for him to get off Elder duty, so it had to be right. "Well, he's asleep right now, but he's already had breakfast. I'll come in around noon to check on you two, is that ok?", she asked.
"Yeah sure. Should I orb to the club and pick you up?", he offered.
She shook her head, "No Leo. It isn't too far and I have a car, and how am I ever supposed to get a normal life if I can't even drive home like everyone else?"
She turned around and got her jacket. It actually came in kind of handy that Leo was here, because Piper hadn't really determined yet who to dump the babysitting on, since both her sisters were going to be at work today.
So it was a lucky coincidence that had gone by without any secret spilling. Nice start for the day.
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Chris noticed himself reappearing not on the Golden Gate Bridge but in the Golden Gate park. He had actually not really planned where to orb, only to get away from his annoying aunt. The incident with the coffee had made his mood drop considerably, not that he had been in any good mood before. He sat down on a bench and made sure no one was watching, then he pulled up his sleeve. The arm was still wet, but oddly enough it hadn't hurt even when the hot coffee had been poured down on it. Maybe he was going numb or something.
He felt incredibly angry at Phoebe, even though he knew it was an accident. She simply should keep her nose out of business that wasn't hers. She liked messing with other people's life, which was a reason for her doing that advice column every week, and it annoyed Chris to no end. Even though she had always expected the family to read the crap she stumped out every week, he had never bothered to, because it was boring him way too much to care.
He looked around. It was cloudy, but not exactly bad weather. Pity, he would have preferred it to be raining. He decided he needed to cool down a little, to get in a better mood. After all there was a Power of Three vanquish on his schedule today. He hoped that Phoebe would not mention this to her sisters, so he just had to appear normal.
He got up and went for a walk. He barely spent any time not chasing demons and this solitude felt unfamiliar to him. Some yards ahead there was a mother with her daughter. He couldn't hear what she said, but he could see the happy grin on the small girl's face. He immediately despised the girl for no apparent reason. Or well, for being happy.
The mother picked her daughter up and spun her around in the air. Chris rolled his eyes at the pair and walked past them. The girl immediately stopped giggling when he passed them. Maybe it felt a little of his anger.
The happy feelings she had held seemed further from him than Neptune. He didn't care to visit either. For a moment though he tried to remember being happy like her, but he couldn't find anything in his mind. In his memories there was only death, despair and hatred. And that didn't bother him.
While he kept on walking in the gentle breeze he wondered why he was even doing this. Going to the past and all. His mission was to save the future, to preserve the world that existed nowadays. But during the time he had spent in the past he had discovered that he disliked this state of the world more than the one he had left. He wasn't saying that destruction and death were something he liked, but at least they didn't frustrate him as much as everything he met in this world every day.
Yet he knew he couldn't just give up. He was stuck fighting for a cause he had long stopped caring about. But what good would it do him just to give up? Absolutely nothing.
Good… He was fighting for it and yet he didn't really like it. It seemed to him like a huge monster, always demanding to get more and more, more sacrifice, more death, and never, ever giving anything back. Still, he would never join up with his brother, he would never turn evil. He didn't even really know why, but he had this strong instinct inside of him telling him, whatever he did, he could not turn. So here he was, trying to change the world he didn't even want to be changed.
He stopped and looked at the clouds that were moving faster now. Apparently the wind was getting upset where he had just calmed down. He still felt frustrated, but for the lack of alternatives he knew it was useless. He sat down on a piece of grass and kept observing the clouds, tangled in a furious dance with the wind. Well, his little thinking had maybe calmed him down, but still it didn't stop him from pulling his knife out of his pocket.
He absentmindedly flipped it open and started the same procedure he had done for so many years now, every time he had nothing better to do. And somewhere, deep in the back of his mind he wondered why he barely even noticed the blood flowing.
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"This toothpaste thing is evolving to be a real problem", Paige exclaimed walking into the kitchen again, because she had forgotten her purse.
Phoebe, who was totally caught off guard stared at her without comprehension. "What toothpaste thing?", she asked confused.
"Well, there is none left. And now I have to go with one of these chewing gums that are supposed to clean your teeth, and I don't know if it's actually doing that, but the thing I do know is that it tastes awful", Paige explained, without noticing how upset her older sister was right now. But she had other things on her mind, like where that stupid purse was. "Have you seen my purse?", she asked Phoebe who just shook her head.
Phoebe looked around the kitchen in case the purse was anywhere in her sight and meanwhile she was wondering what she should do about that incident with Chris. Maybe she should really not do anything about it, after all he was right, it didn't concern her, but she felt the need to help. She didn't have her psychology degree for nothing and it hurt her seeing someone in that state and not trying to help.
Maybe she should tell her sisters about this so they could figure out a way to stop their whitelighter from doing that to himself. What would even drive a being of good to doing something like that? Maybe the future was even worse than she had believed so far.
While she had been thinking Paige had found her purse. "Well, I'm off then, bye!", she told her sister and rushed out, followed by Piper who was hurrying to get to the club. The door slammed shut behind the two and Phoebe realized she had to leave as well.
Whatever she decided about telling her sisters or not, she definitely didn't have time to do that now.
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When the sound of the door slamming shut for the second time this morning echoed through the manor the Elder who had been standing next to the crib of the sleeping Wyatt picked up his son. He knew that the manor was empty now.
Sadly there was no one around to witness the two of them dissipating into tiny black orbs.
TBC…
A/N: Well, here's the new chapter, I hope you like it, so please review and tell me what you think.
Also, if I don't get a chance to update one of my other stories before New Year's Eve, let me tell you, that I wish all my readers a happy new year.