Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of the characters present on the show. I also, technically and legally, don't own any of the characters I've made up or anything to do with this story. The Archers, their boyfriends and girlfriends, the O'Reillys, none of them are legally mine, nor are the phrases, quotes, or anything else in here, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would ask me before using my characters and/or quotes. Thanks!
Okay guys, here's the next part of the first chapter. I know this sucks but… well, just read on, review as quickly as possible and I'll have the last part up as soon as you do.
Carry on the Heritage: The Next Generation of Halliwells
Chapter One: The Whitelighter Trials Part Two
"I swear I'm gonna need a new ass by the time this is over and the Elders are paying," Patience mumbled after landing on her bottom for the third time that day. She stood up and realized that she was once again back in the white room, only this time she was alone. "Well if the third task is rest and relaxation, then I've got this one in the bag."
"If only it were that simple…"
Patience spun around to face the person to whom the voice belonged. She knew already who it was. She had heard the voice a million times over. And yet she couldn't help but be surprised when she met the crystal blue eyes with her own.
"Mom?" she asked curiously. Prue smiled.
"Although, I've got to admit you've inherited the Halliwell sense of humor well," she continued.
"What are you doing here?" Patience questioned, quickly becoming annoyed.
"I'm not your mom. She's down there somewhere, completely clueless as to what's going on up here. I'm just a messenger made to look and act like her," Prue explained.
"Wow, I guess the Elders really do want to make this hard, sticking me in a room alone with you," Patience commented.
"You know, now that you're older, it really is amazing how much you look like me. I mean, you've got the eyes, the hair, the mouth, the nose, even the cute little freckle there. But it goes deeper than that. You don't just look like me, you practically are me!"
"I am not you. I would never do some of the things you did," Patience said defensively. She had already forgotten that this wasn't really her mother. She didn't even care. If it looked like Prue and talked like Prue, it might as well be Prue.
"What have I done that's so bad? What have I done that you haven't already or won't someday? Nothing. I married my high school sweetheart. I killed hundreds of thousands of demons. And most importantly, I led the ones I loved into unknown danger knowing that they might die because as the oldest, that was my job," Prue said.
"I am not you!" Patience protested. "I'm different! I'm better."
"Really? How?" Prue asked, clearly enjoying this already.
"For one, I'm not a bitch," Patience said smugly.
"Wrong! Don't you remember trying to kill Piper? Don't you remember all of those horrible things you said to Kyle?"
"I was under a spell!"
"All spells need something to go off of; some initial starting point," Prue reminded her.
"Try genetics," Patience spat angrily.
"We have to be a little bitchy sometimes. We have to know how to be strong. We're the oldest," Prue said.
"Bullshit! You have to be a bitch because that's just who you are." Prue grinned evilly.
"Then what's your excuse?"
xxxxx
Parker groaned as his whole body slammed on the ground. He didn't feel as much pain as he had expected to though. As he lifted his head, he realized that they had healed his wounds during the two seconds that it took to transport him. He stood up and looked around the white room, happy to be out of the maze finally. He was disappointed, though to see that he had no companions this time.
"I guess this is the part where I'm all alone," he said.
"And now you know how it feels to be me," a voice said. Parker stopped immediately. He knew that voice. It had haunted him in his nightmares ever since Kelsey's death. Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet the owner of that voice and all of his nightmares came to life.
"Alex," he growled, his voice laden with hate heavier than a thousand tons of steel. Alex grinned.
"Huh, I can't believe you remember me. Must have made a damn good impression. Now what was it I could have done to make you remember that well? Hm… nope, I'm drawing a blank. Maybe you can refresh my memory," Alex said.
"You bastard!" Parker yelled, charging at Alex, who stood his ground with a knowing smirk. Parker meant to run straight into Alex, but instead he found himself running straight through him. He stumbled and caught himself on the wall.
"Sorry Dad," Alex said, turning around. "It doesn't work that way. You can't hurt what doesn't exist. And you made sure that I didn't exist."
"Go to hell."
"Already been there. Everyday of my life was hell. And then to top it off, you sent me there personally. Now that's love right there. But don't worry Dad, I'll save you a seat when I go back," Alex promised.
"You're sick," Parker seethed.
"Runs in the family," Alex shot back.
"No. I may of done some bad things in my time, but I never killed anyone," Parker pointed out.
"You killed me! Or doesn't that matter to you? You know, I always found it funny that as high as you hold family, your own son was the least important person in the world to you," Alex said.
"You're not my son," Parker said.
"Oh no? See for yourself…"
xxxxx
Preston looked around the big white room that he suddenly found himself back in. A minute ago he had been trying to see if Parker was okay, and then Patience had touched the pink crystal. Those stupid ass crystals that they had gone through so much trouble to get just to end up back here. What the hell was wrong with this situation? Something had to be up. His suspicions were confirmed as a familiar redhead appeared in front of him.
"Hello Preston," Heather said.
"Oh shit. I must be in hell. They made me think that we had actually made it through the maze, but we must have actually gotten killed by the sphinx and now I'm in hell," Preston said. Heather glared.
"This would be a decent punishment for you, Preston Halliwell," she said angrily.
"Yeah right! An eternity with you? I'd rather have my liver pecked out by crows everyday for the rest of my death," Preston taunted.
"You know, I think you could be a little nicer to me considering the fact that you let me die!" Heather exclaimed. Preston suddenly became serious.
"I didn't let you die. There was nothing I could do," he said.
"Right. That's why when the warlock blinked in all you could do was stare at him while he stabbed me! You probably wanted me to die. You never loved me anyways," Heather said dramatically.
"You're right, I didn't love you, but that doesn't mean that I wanted you dead. I tried to save you, but I didn't have enough time," Preston explained.
"Yeah Preston, you're so noble! You're a demon and everyone knows it," Heather spat.
"I'm not a demon! I'm half witch. I'm an Archer," Preston pointed out.
"No Preston, part of you, a big enough part, is demon. You'll never be fully good because you'll always have a little evil in you. They all know it. All of them but you, at least you won't admit it. I seem to be the only one sensible enough to say anything. You've got evil in you, Preston. Your dad has evil in him and his mother before him had evil. It runs in the family. I don't know why you're so oblivious to that fact," Heather said.
"I'm not oblivious! How do you even know that word? Your IQ is like, what? Ten?" Preston shot. Heather grinned.
"Cracking jokes at me to try to cover up the fact that I'm right isn't going to help. You don't seem to understand-"
"No, you don't understand! I am not evil damnit! I've never been evil. You're a mortal! What could you possibly know about magic? You don't understand demons or witches or anything," Preston said, cutting her off.
"I understand good and evil. I understand that demons are evil and I understand that since you're part demon, you're part evil. Come on Preston! You have to have thought about it before. Felt that part of you, the demon trying to claw its way out and do some damage. Everyone else has thought about it. Everyone else is afraid," Heather said.
"Bullshit. They're not afraid. They know me better than that," Preston said.
"Exactly. They do know you better, better than you know yourself. Which is why they're afraid that you might be evil. Your whole family was, some of them still are. Your parents are. They were so afraid that you'd come out wrong that they considered binding your powers to make sure that you were okay until you were old enough that you wouldn't be able to be turned evil," Heather informed him.
"You're lying. This is all a part of the game. Well guess what, I'm not playing," Preston said.
"It's not part of the game, Preston. It's the truth. Want to see?"
xxxxx
Percy gasped as she landed in the white room and, out of instinct, used her bad hand to brace the fall. She was surprised though when she felt no pain. She also noticed that her head wasn't pounding anymore. The Elders had done something good for once and healed her on the way. Thank god. As she looked around, she was kind of disappointed to see where she was. She was sick of this room. Nothing good ever happened here and it was because she had come here that she was in this situation in the first place. Sometimes she swore the Elders had to be evil somehow.
"So I guess I'm back where I started," she said to the empty room.
"Not exactly." At first, Percy had almost thought that she had said it. It was her voice, that was for sure. But when she turned around, she was no longer the only one in the room. Standing in front of her was an exact copy of herself… again. Percy rolled her eyes.
"Oh great, you again," she commented. Her twin ignored her.
"We're never exactly back where we started. The location may be the same, but everything else is different. The things in it are different. Different things have happened to them. The people in it are different. Sometimes the place itself is different. But most importantly, you're different. You're older, sometimes wiser. You've been through more since the last time you were there," she said.
"You know, I am so glad that you can talk now," Percy said sarcastically. Her twin smiled.
"I mean, the first time you were here today, there was a big glass table and you and your cousins were sitting here talking to Oden. Now you're a few hours older and two tasks down. All you need is one more and you're only a step away. Then again, that's all you've ever been is one step away," she said.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Percy asked with a frown, her arms folded across her chest.
"Well, I just mean that you always had it kind of easy," her twin said. Percy's eyes went big in disbelief and she scoffed.
"Excuse me?" she asked. "Easy?"
"Yeah. If you think about it, you haven't been through half as much as your cousins have. Look at Patience. She almost disappeared from existence! And after that she and Kyle broke up and she was possessed by a demon. Preston had to go back in time to save his father from death and he ended up losing his ex-girlfriend anyways. And Parker! Don't even get me started on him! He lost the love of his life for God's sake! But you… well, you really haven't been through all that much at all, have you?" her twin pointed out.
"What are you talking about? I've been through a lot! I almost went insane because I could hear the thoughts of the whole city. My graduation was sabotaged by demons!" Percy exclaimed. Her twin rolled her eyes.
"Stupid personal gain spells, boyfriend troubles and breaking a nail to get a diploma. Yeah, you've been through hell alright," she said.
"With the exception of Parker, my cousins haven't been through anything worse than I have," Percy protested.
"Oh no?" her twin asked. "Why don't we just take a look and see. Maybe then you won't be so sure."
xxxxx
Patience looked around the huge kitchen that she was in. All around her were beautiful appliances, all top of the line. The walls were a cheerful yellow that was accented by a deep blue tile on the counters. The cabinets were a deep cherry wood and in the center was a large island. Off to the side there was a huge round table with at least ten chairs placed around it. Only one of them was occupied though. She glared when she realized who it was.
"God, that was when I was young," Prue said from beside her. Patience turned to her.
"Great, you're still here," she said sarcastically.
"Of course I'm still here! I'm your guide. Now pay attention. This is important." The younger Prue, only about twenty-seven, sat there quietly, clearly in deep thought. A few minutes later, though, a young girl, about twenty or so with hard brown eyes and chestnut colored hair came in. Patience immediately recognized her as Tristan O'Reilly and it dawned on her that this must be the O'Reilly mansion. Prue's head snapped up at the sound of footsteps.
"Sorry," Tristan whispered, "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh that's okay. What's up?" Prue asked.
"Nothing really. I couldn't help but notice that you were a little stressed... and scared, and worried, and-" Tristan started.
"Okay, I get it," Prue cut her off.
"Well anyways, you have the highest running emotions of anyone in this house. I mean, Paige and Frisco are a little unbearable, but you're the only one who's really feeling the pressure of this. I kind of understand, though. I'm a big sister too and knowing that I'm about to lead my younger siblings into a battle that they may not come back from is scary as hell. I honestly don't want to do it, but I know I have to. It sucks feeling it for the both of us. It's hard to be a big sister. We have to be strong and make sure the others are safe. If it weren't for you, your sisters would be so much more worried than they are now. They would be freaking out like we are. I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone in what you feel. This nervousness is natural," Tristan said.
"Thanks. I feel better, though, you should know," Prue said. Tristan smiled.
"Come on, you can't lead an army to battle if you're exhausted," she said, helping Prue up. The scene dissipated and Patience and Prue returned back to the white room.
"What the hell was the significance of that?" Patience asked in annoyance.
"To show you that I went through the same thing that you're going through. I know what it's like to be in your position," Prue said.
"You know nothing about what it's like to be me," Patience argued.
"You're not fighting me here. Fighting me just means that you're fighting yourself," Prue told her.
"Whatever. Are you done now?" Patience asked. Prue shook her head.
"Not yet." The two were transported to the attic in the Halliwell/Wyatt manor. Patience wouldn't have recognized it had it not been for the Book of Shadows on the pedestal in the center of the room. Standing there looking through it was again Prue. This time she looked to be only about twenty-four. She was flipping through the book slowly, stopping to read almost every page. Her eyes were red from exhaustion and she looked worried. Patience let her guard down for a second, watching her mother. She had never seen her like this, vulnerable.
"What's she doing?" she asked quietly.
"She's reading the Book of Shadows. Read the whole thing that night. It was the night after she and her sisters got their powers. They had just found Paige and she was worried about them all. If the three of them knew how many sleepless nights she spent thinking about how to keep them safe…" the older Prue trailed off. Once again, the scene disappeared and the two found themselves in the white room again. Patience shook her head.
"Making me feel sympathy for her isn't going to make me feel sympathy for you. She was different," she said angrily.
"Sure she was different. She was young, inexperienced, weak. You didn't know her and even if you did you would still hate her because you would realize that you are exactly like her, just like you are exactly like me. Everything you hate about me is everything that you hate about yourself, Patience. As soon as you realize that, your life will be ten times easier. Now, where were we? Oh yeah! Your cousins," Prue said.
"You leave them out of this," Patience demanded.
"It's too late for that. They're already in it. They were in it before they were even born, before any of you were. You all were. See, the only difference between you and that woman sitting in the O'Reilly's kitchen, that woman flipping through the Book of Shadows is age. You're the same person. You've got the same worries. Think about it. You're going to be leading your cousins into the biggest war in the history of magic. They might die! Each and every one of them. You might die. And if that happens, the world is screwed! You know it. They know it. And yet you're the only one who seems to be feeling the pressure of it all. Why? Because you're the oldest. Because you're the only one strong enough to handle it all. Because you're the only one bitchy enough to take it," Prue said.
"I am not a bitch!" Patience yelled.
"You are. You're a bitch just as much as I am. Don't believe me? Watch."
They appeared in a hospital room. This time there was no Prue. There was Patience and Kyle. Patience knew immediately what this was. She remembered it well. But it was odd to see it from an outsider's point of view; to go through it again without the anger and evil coursing through her body. It made it worse. The silence was horrible and the bleak walls of the hospital room had done nothing to improve her mood. But none of that mattered once the talking started.
"Is there something you want?" Patience finally asked.
"Just to make sure you were okay… and to ask you why you wanted me in the ambulance, why you called me your boyfriend," Kyle said.
"Because I was hurting and the pain was fogging my head," Patience responded quickly.
"Oh. So you don't want to get back together?" Kyle asked. Patience laughed cruelly.
"Just because I have a broken arm, doesn't mean I need a big strong football player boyfriend to protect me. I'm fine single thanks," she said coldly. The pain and disappointment in Kyle's eyes was evident, but the anger was worse.
"You know, I don't know what your problem is lately, but I hope I didn't cause it. As far as I know, I didn't do shit to you. In fact, we were doing pretty good. Then, after we made out, you flipped and everything went to hell from there. It's not like we haven't kissed before, Patience," he pointed out.
"It's not that," Patience said angrily.
"Then what is it?"
"It's that I'm sick of you, okay? It's that I don't want to be near you. I don't want to see you, hear you, or ever hear your name again! Now get out!" Patience yelled. The anger was almost visible now, coming off of her in waves. The real Patience remembered sadly what it was like to feel that anger, to feel the athame form in her hand. Kyle just stared at the past Patience in disbelief.
"Okay," he said quietly, and with that he walked out. Patience and Prue didn't go back to the white room this time. Instead, they found themselves once again in the Halliwell/Wyatt manor, this time in the living room. Again, Patience knew instantly what was happening. Her past self was sitting on the couch while the rest of the family filled in around her. It was the intervention. She watched as she and Piper said horrible things to each other before they knocked her out. Then she had to watch as she woke up and cut herself from her bonds with an athame and tried to kill Piper. Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered this. She felt guilty. But as she and Prue returned to the white room again, all she felt was anger.
"You bitch, that doesn't count. I was under a spell!" Patience seethed.
"And again I remind you that all spells need something to go off of. You wouldn't have been such a bitch if you weren't already one to begin with," Prue said.
"Is the point of all this to show me that I'm a bitch? Is that what this is about because all it's really doing is showing me why I can't stand you," Patience said.
"No, the point of this is to show you that you're not bitch enough. The whole time we've been here you've been fighting me, denying everything that I say. If you can't lead, if you can't embrace that bitchiness, then you and your cousins will die," Prue warned. Without warning, the two were whisked away to an area that was completely flat and gray. All around them demons and soldiers battled each other. Screams of pain and death could be heard, flashes of energy and fireballs lit the sky. Bodies littered the ground. And amongst all of the chaos, four figures stood out in full color. It was the Archers. They were older. They looked fierce and ready to lead, but their soldiers were being decimated by the demons and they knew it. Still they fought on.
"What is this?" Patience asked.
"This is the battle that's to come. This is what you will lead your cousins into. Look at them! They're all dying and there's barely a dent in the demonic side," Prue pointed out. A particular energy ball caught Patience's eye as it headed straight for Parker. Before he could move out of the way, it collided with his chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Parker, no!" Patience yelled, trying to run to him, but she was rooted to her spot. The others were too busy to notice what had happened and after a few gasps of breath, Parker was dead.
"He didn't even fight. He felt there was no reason to. Kelsey's dead. Why should he fight?" Prue asked. Hot tears leaked down Patience's face as she looked at her dead cousin, a sight that she never wanted to see. All around him, the battle raged on. "How do you know that you've helped them enough? Obviously you didn't help Parker because he's dead. If only you'd taken a little more time to help him deal with the loss of Kelsey, maybe he'd have had a little more reason to fight." Patience shook her head.
"No. I helped. I-I talked to him. I tried. He didn't want to talk and he just got mad and stuff," she stammered.
"How hard did you really try? You sent Preston to do the job. One cousin does not the Archers make, Patience. Did you really think that just having one of you talk to him would help? Sure it made him feel a little better, but come on! How would you feel if you lost Kyle the way he lost Kelsey?" Prue asked. Patience said nothing as she watched on, trying to hold the tears back. She couldn't let this break her.
She watched as she and her cousins fought on with little success. More and more of their soldiers were dying with almost no progress to show on the demon side. The screams seemed to grow louder, pressing in on her as she tried to block them out. She directed her attention to Preston, who was fighting as hard as he could, launching fireballs left and right. As he turned his attention to one demon, another came up behind him and grabbed onto his head firmly. Preston's eyes went wide and even through the deafening noise of the battle, the sickening crack of his neck snapping could be heard far and wide. His eyes still open in fear, Preston Halliwell fell to the ground dead. Patience let out a sob, squeezing her eyes shut tight as the tears spilled out of them.
"No, no, no, no, no, you cannot just turn your head away from this. These are your cousins and they're dying around you one by one. Look at yourself! You're not even giving a two second glance to their dead bodies. Two of them are dead now, two! You have yet to even notice. Preston fought with anger. Maybe if you had taught him a little better, maybe if you had shown him how to keep his head in battle he would have lasted just a little bit longer," Prue scolded. Patience shook her head, her eyes still closed. "The battle's not over yet sweetie. We've still got the rest of the show to watch."
Reluctantly, Patience opened her eyes. As if finally sensing that something was wrong, Percy's head snapped up and she looked over to both Preston and Parker's dead bodies. She screamed for them and the horrible feeling in Patience's gut told her what was going to happen next. Her youngest cousin got a glint in her eye, a glint of revenge. She turned around furiously and charged at the nearest demon, lighting her hand on fire and pushing it straight through him with ease. Without even stopping, she moved to the next demon. This time she wasn't so lucky. As she lunged for him, he brought out a long sword and ran it through her. The screams of both Patience and Percy combined were deafening and resounded throughout the whole battlefield. It almost seemed as if the battle came to a halt as future Patience finally looked up, her eyes filled with tears.
"And Percy… So young, so naïve. If only you would have warned her not to fight with revenge, it could have saved her life. If only you would have spent a little more time on all of your cousins instead of worrying about yourself you could have saved them all. Now they're all dead and it's all your fault," Prue taunted. Patience fell to her knees, head in hands and sobbing. Suddenly the noise stopped. The battle was no longer going on. But when she finally looked up, she wasn't in the white room like she had expected. Instead she was in complete darkness. All around her she could just barely make out the faces of her cousins, her aunts and uncles, her parents, Jeff, Kyle, Leah, Atli, and Kelsey. They closed in around her and started a chant. It was soft at first, barely audible, but Patience could hear every word.
"It's all your fault," they chanted over and over again. Patience shook her head.
"No," she whispered. Slowly the chanting grew louder until it was almost a deep roar. Patience's eyes flew about, resting on each of the faces, hauntingly white and ghastly. Their eyes bore into her, scrutinizing every inch as they chanted louder and louder. "No. No, no, no. NO!" Then it all stopped. Patience looked up again, coming face to face with her future self.
"It's all my fault," she whispered.
"No!" Patience screamed. "I'm doing my best! I've done all I can! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"
xxxxx
Parker looked around in confusion. He had been yelling at Alex and then suddenly he was in a strange place. It was definitely a strip club. There was no doubt about it. The black walls were accented by blue and pink neon signs and there were girls dressed very provocatively everywhere. But what caught his attention the most was a man sitting at the bar, his back turned to the commotion of the club. He was the only one not paying attention to all the girls. He was simply drinking his beer, clearly in thought. The man did, however, turn his head just far enough so that Parker could see who it was and the realization caused him to gasp. It was him. It was Parker sitting at the bar. He looked a little worse for wear and definitely depressed about something. Parker looked at his future self, confused about why he was here.
"You and Kelsey had just had a fight. I don't know what it was about. I really don't care, actually," Alex said, coming up beside him.
"Get the hell away from me," Parker growled, his eyes still fixed on future Parker.
"Sorry Dad, no can do. You're stuck with me, unfortunately," Alex replied. "Oh look, this is where it gets good."
Now Parker's attention was brought to one of the girls, a very pretty one with long, dirty blonde hair and pale skin. She was dressed in a small, lacy corset with knee-high leather boots. She walked up to Parker and put a hand on his right shoulder, slowly sliding it down his front. Parker stayed still as she drug it back up and then swung his seat around so that he faced her. She straddled his hips and ran her finger across his lips before leaning in and placing a smoldering kiss on them. Present day Parker cringed in disgust as he watched his future self just give in to this. He was obviously very drunk. His eyes were bloodshot and cheeks were red. The girl grabbed his hand and pulled him up, leading him into a back room.
"Pretty, isn't she?" Alex asked with a smirk. "The most beautiful one in here. And you didn't give a damn. All you cared about was getting a piece of ass for the night. That kept you satisfied."
"Shut up!" Parker yelled angrily, turning to Alex. "This is made up. I would never, ever cheat on Kelsey."
"Well you did. This isn't made up, you arrogant asshole. You can just get off of your high horse right now because this all happened and eventually you're gonna have to own up to it," Alex shot back angrily. The two of them were suddenly transported to a bathroom where the same girl was looking down worriedly at something. Parker looked at the reflection in the mirror to see that it was a pregnancy test. Tears streaked down her face as she threw it angrily in the trashcan and sat on the toilet seat, sobbing. As he glanced down into the trashcan, Parker could see the pregnancy test that read 'Pregnant' in blue letters. His eyes went wide as he looked back up at the girl who was still crying at the news.
Before he had time to process this information, he and Alex were transported again to a new location. This time they were in a hospital, obviously about nine months later. The girl was lying on the bed, screaming as doctors and nurses rushed around her telling her to breathe and push. Parker turned his head, unable to witness the agony that she was going through. He turned to look again though as he heard the sound of crying. What he saw was a baby boy, still covered with the maternal fluids. He had the raspy cough that all newborn babies had, but what Parker noticed was the little tuft of thick brown hair perched atop his head. He was handed to his mother, who was lying back in an exhausted sweat.
"Do you know what you want to name him?" the nurse asked gently. The girl looked up at her.
"Alexander. His dad looked like an Alexander," she said hoarsely. Parker looked at the two of them in horror. She had named him after what she thought was Parker's name. Alex was supposed to be named after him. Once again, without having really processed the information, Parker and Alex were taken somewhere. This time they went back to the strip club. The door of the club opened and Alex's mother looked up hopefully. Parker guessed that she probably did that every time the door to the club opened and he felt sorry for her. But this time her wish was granted as Parker walked into the club for the first time since Alex's birth. The girl ran over to him and grabbed his hand, leading him to the back again. She told him to wait there while she went inside quickly. Parker watched himself carefully as they all waited for the girl to return. Only a few seconds later, she did. In her arms was a bundle and she handed it to the future Parker, her eyes wide and hopeful. Future Parker looked at her in confusion, but as he looked at what was in the bundle, his eyes darkened in realization. He thrust the baby back to his mother and backed away slowly, shaking his head.
"That is not my child," he said gruffly.
"Yes it is! You were the last one before… it has to be you," she said sadly. Future Parker glared at her with disgust.
"If you come near me again, I'll kill you both," he threatened. Parker looked at himself in disbelief as his future self stormed out the door, leaving the girl in tears holding a now crying Alex. And with that the trip was over. Parker fought to hold his balance as he and Alex were brought back to the white room abruptly. He brought his gaze up to meet Alex slowly, looking into his son's dark brown eyes filled with so much anger and hate, yet streaked with an immense pain that almost matched his own. And for the first time since they had met, for the first time since Alex had killed Kelsey, Parker felt sorry for him.
"So, what have you got to say for yourself now?" Alex asked angrily, very obviously trying to fight back tears.
"I'm sorry," Parker whispered.
"What?" Alex snapped.
"I'm sorry," Parker repeated.
"Sorry," Alex said, a quiet rage building in his voice. "You're sorry? After all you've said, all you've done, the only thing you can say is sorry?" Parker winced as Alex's voice boomed throughout the room. He deserved it. Whatever this boy had to say, he deserved it. "You should be begging me for forgiveness! You should be on your knees with shame! You don't deserve to be alive! You're scum!" Parker fought back the tears that were stinging his eyes. He deserved it. "I can't believe that you can sit there and watch all of that and then just hang your head and say you're sorry! You disgust me!" The walls were practically shaking from the volume of Alex's voice now as he screamed, his face a shade of red that Parker had never seen before. And he deserved it. "Look at her! Look at her!" Alex ordered, pointing to his left. Parker looked, seeing the blonde girl that he had given a child to. Her face was streaked with tears and she looked as if she might die if only death would take her. "There wasn't a single day of her life when she didn't cry for you, wishing that you would have helped, wishing that her son had a father that cared!" Parker stared at her, the tears breaking their barrier now as her blue eyes drilled into his own with a pain and sadness unlike any other. "And Kelsey, what about her? You lied to her for all of my life. You cheated on her and then you lied to her, acting like nothing ever happened. You hid your son from her all that time and because of that, she ended up dying for you!"
"I'm sorry!" Parker sobbed, falling to his knees. "I'm sorry for cheating on Kelsey, I'm sorry for being such an asshole, I'm sorry for leaving you and your mom to fend for yourselves, I'm sorry for being the reason that Kelsey died, I'm sorry for everything!"
"Sorry just doesn't cut it this time, Dad. You ruined the lives of everyone important to you or everyone who should have been important to you. You screwed up. You should have been the one to die, and yet you're still here!" Alex yelled, his gaze fixed maliciously on Parker. "Everything that happened, it's all your fault!" Parker sobbed on the floor, unable to respond with anything else. "Look at you! All this pain you caused and you're the one crying? You saw what you did! You shouldn't be crying, you should be groveling for all that you've done!"
"It wasn't me!" Parker screamed. Alex fell silent as his father's screams echoed around the room. "It wasn't me who cheated on Kelsey, it was someone else! I'm different! It wasn't my fault!" Father and son locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity and with one last look of pain and disgust, Alex vanished from sight.
Alright guys, like I said, review quickly and well get this last part up ASAP. Tell me what you think!
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