Chapter Six – The Bonds of Family
Fire roared past there ears, Chris gripped onto Josh's body, has his burned. Josh screamed in pain, as Chris gritted his teeth, as the pain burned his skin; his clothes were incinerated within seconds. "I love you." Chris gritted, his teeth, "I always will." Then Chris feel limp. Josh was too much in feeling the pain, he didn't notice his fathers body become motionless; the fire then increased in heat and height. The fire raised high above him, burning Josh like never before. He screamed in pain, his fathers body fell off him; and he was now on all fours screaming into the snow. The Blizzard kick up strength and blew harder, the cold wind was piercing knifes on Josh's body. The storm clouds above opened up, showing through the sky above, it was blood red, and not sky blue. The fire, grew hotter and higher, through the clouds, and then something jerked Josh's body vertical, and he was no longer screaming, but looking at the fire. He was now completely swallowed in flame, he put his hand up and watched it danced on his hands and body. Then an orb of red light, came from through the sky and it swirled around the towering fire and then down into Josh. Josh watched the orb hover in front of him outside the fire, he looked and saw his reflection. His eyes were glowing red and yellow, the color of fire, and then without warning the orb slammed into his chest knocking him out, knocking him out of the fire.
Josh opened his eyes, for the first time in days he wasn't hot, but freezing cold. It felt like the snow had completely frozen the back side of his entire body. The blizzard was still going strong, and he was at a blank for who he was or where he was for a moment. He heard someone coming, he shot up, and then he noticed he was still completely naked. He used his hands to cover his nudity, and he looked to his father. He was unburned, amazingly, but too was nude. Josh found this almost somewhat distributing, he crawled over, and pushed his fathers shoulder.
"Dad, come on. You need to orb me home." He said. His father was motionless. "Dad, wake up." But nothing. Josh lifted his eye lids, his eyes were grey, then he felt his pulse, nothing. "NO!" He moaned, he pushed fathers body, nothing happened.
"Oh god, please. No, don't be dead." He looked at his father limb body, and tears clouded his eyes. "NO!" He screamed. He bent over into himself and cried. His father, his best friend, his whole world was now gone. "No!" He yelled, pounding his fist on his fathers chest. "You're not dead! You hear me!" He pounded his chest, "YOU'RE NOT DEAD!" He screamed, by this point his voice was getting horsed and tired. "Please wake up!" He pounded again, "Wake up." Before he knew it, a flash of white light, and thick warm jackets and clothes appeared on Josh and Chris' limp body.
"I forgot how hard it is to find Chris." Wyatt said orbing in. Then he looked down and saw his nephew crying into his baby brothers chest. He walked over and knelt down. Josh looked up, his face was soaked with tears, "He can't be dead!" he cried to Wyatt, "I need him, I am nothing without him."
Wyatt was speechless, he was at a loss for words. He touched Chris' limp hand and for one of the few times in his life, he was pulled into a premonition…
…Chris
watched as Josh screamed from the heat, Then he hugged Josh.
"I
love you!" The flames engulfed them, and then Chris falling from
the fire…
Wyatt opened his eyes, he was near crying himself. His brother was dead, he could nothing about it. He watched helplessly, as his nephew pounded his brother's chest. But he did not forget the fact that Chris died of the love for his son, he remembered then what Bianca had said before she left, "Only love's true form will save him from this hell." Was that loving someone so much they risked their own life for it?
"Wake up!" he yelled, "Wake up." He stopped, with his fist on his father's chest. "I need you please wake up, please."
"Daddy!" Cried an eight year old Josh, "Owwie! Daddy!" Josh cried. He was sitting in their back yard, when a young Chris came running.
"Hey, buddy. What happened?" He said running to Josh on the ground.
"My arm, its broken! It's Broken!"
"What happened?"
"I was swinging and then I jump and then I fall and then I hurt! It's hurt Daddy!" He cried. Chris lifted his son onto his feet, and then hugged him. "Its okay buddy, we'll get you to a hospital, come on."
Then Josh's memory was then blinded by fire, and heat, and then he heard his father's last words echo through out his mind, "I love you, I always will."
Josh was pulled back into reality, and he felt his uncle knelling next to him, touching his shoulders. Josh had a hand over his face, as he cried into it.
"Come on Josh, we'll take him home." Wyatt said pulling him back, as he fought his own tears.
"NO!" Josh said pushing forward away from his uncles grip. "Wake up Dad, please. I love you." But then nothing, Josh pushed his forehead against his fathers, and cried. Tears fell from Josh's face and onto his father's body. "I love you so much. Please come back." Josh wiped the tears from his face with his hands, and then took his fathers hand, and sat on the ground sobbing, and before he knew it orbs filled all around him.
Josh opened his eyes, he looked around him, he was laying on his bed, back at his house. But it didn't matter, his father was dead. That's all he needed to know. He laid on his bed, exhausted, and defeated, for once in his life he had no answers. His life was school and books, that's all; it wasn't magic and it wasn't powers, now he had a new life set before him ready for him. He looked at his wall above his desk, on the other side of his room; it was his wall all decorated for Yale and the one next to it Princeton. What was the use now, his father was his drive for those dreams, and that's all what they were, dreams. He didn't noticed the two tears falling from his eyes, as they slipped onto the pillow. He turned onto his back, and looked at the ceiling above him, it had those little sticky glow in the dark stars that little kids love. He remembered how his father put them up for him when he was only nine years old.
"No!" Josh said watching his father put the stars up, "That's Orion's belt, I need it took look like this, the Virgo constellations."
"Okay, okay, hold on." Chris said looking at the paper which the stars were all on, and he made it. He arranged them accordingly. "How is that?"
"Great!" Josh replied, smiling, "Now, do the seven sisters and the bear!"
"Okay, what do they look like?" Chris asked, grabbing the second bag of plastic stars.
Josh sat up in his bed, he looked was still in the jeans and the heavy winter jacket. He took the jacket off and he had a white shirt on underneath, he felt something hot and warm. He looked down into his shirt, and saw the phoenix tattoo. He suddenly remembered everything. He got up, and walked into the bathroom, and pulled his shirt up, and got a better look at it; it looks like a burnt reddish color, with a birds body and wings extending, curling almost to it's head. He lowered his shirt, he was the reason his father had died, this whole mess was his fault. He rested his palms on the marble stone sink in the bathroom, he felt like he was going to vomit.
He then walked down stairs, and looked around, it was quiet and empty. Normally this wouldn't effect him, but he wondered where his uncle had gone too. He probably went back to San Francisco, to tell the rest of the family. He then lost it, falling to his knees he cried.
"DAD!" He screamed out, the tears fell from his face, as he cried. He wanted it all to end and he wanted it all to go back to the days before his mother came into the picture ten years ago, she started all of this! He wiped his tears on the back of his hand, he looked around, he had to stay strong, he had to get things done. Then he heard footsteps, someone was in the house. Josh was scared, suddenly without warning, a ball of fire appeared in his hand. He looked at it with shock and awe, how he did it he doesn't know, but he was going to use to his advantage. He stood up, he heard the footsteps again. They were behind him, coming from the room by the stairs, the one leading to the basement, he turned and waited, he heard footsteps on the stairs. Josh raised his hand with the fireball and waited for the door to open; the doorknob turned. And then as the door open, he raised the ball of fire ready to throw.
"Come out slowly." Josh gritted, trying to feel brave. The door, stopped, and then it fully opened, slowly. Josh was shocked at what he saw, "Dad." He said bewildered.
"Hey, coming into you're powers already, that's my guy!" Chris said smiling, and closing the door behind him, "Nice, 'Come out slowly' thing, I liked it."
The fireball vanished in his hand in a puff of smoke. "What-how?" Josh said trying not to get too surprised, perhaps this was a dream. "You were-"
"Dead?" Chris said, "Yeah, you saved me. It was the first time I had an encounter with death since I was 15, right before I had you."
"I saved you, what? How?"
"You're tears."
Josh was now even more confused.
"In Phoenix's tears have amazing healing powers, and sometimes if their purpose is true, they can do more than heal."
"Purpose is true?"
"If they lost like a love one, the true feeling of loss."
"So you're alive?" Josh said, "I am not dreaming or anything?"
"Uh, no." Chris replied. Instantly his son claimed on him, giving him the biggest hug Chris had ever gotten. "Oh wow."
"I was so scared." Josh replied letting go, "The thought of it was-"
Chris smiled, "its okay, I am alive."
"Why were you down in the basement?"
"Oh." Chris said, then he swung an iron skillet, "Dinner, we're kind of out of food, so I thought we make omelet's." He smiled.
Josh who was overwhelmed with joy, look at his father of a 'Who You Kidding?' kind of look. "Um, how about we order Chinese." Josh said.
"Or we can do that." Chris said, "but you cost me a spider bite from looking around in all those boxes."
Bianca looked up from a glass bowl where black liquid was in, and she smiled and looked up. She just watched her son earn his rank has a phoenix, and fully inherit his Witch and Whitelighter powers. She smiled, she looked around as she stood in a cave of an Apothecary. Tables full of potion bottles, scrolls, books, charms, and athames.
"Tell him he's ready," Bianca said still looking at Josh in the black liquid.
"Tell who?" Said the Apothecary in his high pitched voice.
"Him! Don't be stupid, my son is ready to lead us to war." She smiled.
(Author's Note: I will be updating Fallen Angel's Next….Thanks for everyone for Reading Hollow's Hill! Hope you're enjoying it!)
