A Charmed Story - Part Nine:
I, Myself And The Elders
Chapter 5

The atmosphere while they had been eating was very relaxed. Everyone was laughing and joking. One moment Darryl thought Kyle would freak out. The man had asked for the salt. Paige, who sat next to him, summoned it to her hand and offered it him. But then Darryl saw to his surprise that Kyle took it without hesitation, even if he had a weird look on his face for a moment.
After the really delicious soup and some chicken for the main part, Piper announced that the dessert would need ten minutes to prepare, because it had to be fresh.
So Bianca went over to the living room to look after the sleeping babies, followed by Sheila and Darryl. Phoebe rose from her chair too, just to sit down on Cole's lap again, kissing him.
Paige shook her head, then she turned to Kyle: "Do you like to see the house?" He nodded, so she took his hand and pulled him to the stairs.
They walked around for a while and Kyle watched astonished all the things the sisters are working on at the moment. The whole first floor was a huge construction site. "Actually there will be build two completely new rooms... And downstairs, the sunroom will move a little, because we need a base for the enlargements up here, and so that we gain also a new room down there, too..." Paige explained, when she saw his wide opened eyes.
"Wow," Kyle muttered and then turned to her. "Why don't you just live in your own houses... wouldn't that be easier?"
Paige chuckled: "Easier? Yes... Safer? No!" He looked at her confused so she tried to explain: "Look... Me and my sisters, we're the 'Power of Three' we're very powerful witches... We're strong as long as we're together... and the demons know that... If we would separate from each other like that, they would try to gain an advantage out of this..." Kyle rose his eyebrows a little scared and worried about those revilement. But Paige went on: "It's not that they will kill us as soon as we're not in the same room... I mean, you know... But... Some of us tried to leave that house... and it never worked, we all ended up here again... So now, we've given up."
Kyle sighed: "So, that means if I ever want to marry you, I have to marry your whole family?"
Paige was kind of shocked by that question. She didn't know what to say... Could that be that he...? 'No...' she thought. They hadn't even kissed until now. But then Kyle began to chuckle and Paige joined him relieved.
"So where do those stairs lead to?" he asked then.
Paige hesitated a moment, then she said: "To the attic... our... 'magical chamber' if you know what I mean."
Kyle turned to her, but the witch-whitelighter couldn't see worry or fear in his eyes... only curiosity. "Can I see it?" he asked.
Paige smiled surprised. "Of course," she said and went ahead.
Up there Kyle looked around completely overwhelmed by all that magical stuff spread around there. There were books and little vials - empty and full ones. There was a map on the table and a crystal lying there too. And between all that where tons of old family-stuff like in every usual attic. The most outstanding thing through, was the huge old book standing in front of the window.
He smiled. "What?" the witch-whitelighter asked confused.
"Nothing," he said, "I think, I just expected a little more magic. It looks more normal up here, than I had expected."
Paige chuckled and before she even realised it, she said: "Oh man... That's why I love you, do you know that?" Then she froze and blushed. She hadn't meant to say that, she even hadn't realised that she felt like that... But it was the truth, she loved him.
Kyle just looked at her unsure what to do. Finally he asked shyly: "Do... Do you really mean that?"
She nodded looking as shy as he did. "And you?" she asked after a break of silence. 'God, what a stupid questions,' she thought to herself.
He sighed: "At that moment? I'm confused..." He turned away from her looking out of the window." Paige lowered her head. She had expected every reaction, but not that he was just 'confused'.
"But...," Kyle said, turning back to her, "yeah I love you, too."
Paige looked at him hesitating, then she went over and hugged him, leaning her head on his chest.
Kyle hugged her back for a moment, then he lifted her chin and looked her into her beautiful eyes. Slowly he moved closer to her and finally he placed a soft but intense kiss on her lips.
"PAIGE! KYLE! DESERT IS READY!" Piper yelled that moment from downstairs.
Both sighed. Then Paige started to go back to the stairs, but Kyle hold her back. Again he gave her a soft kiss and then said: "I think I should get used to your way of transporting so... if you like..."
Paige smiled, then orbed with him back to the dining room.

°°°°°°°°°°

Angela had agreed to talk to Chris about what had happened. And surprisingly she really remembered a lot. She told Chris about that place which was kind of dark, everything seemed dark there, but not that dark that she couldn't have seen anything. She told him about the cave she was in, and the things she saw there, the chains and the other horrible things. And she told him about the trees outside in the darkness... and the wolves...
Chris sighed and felt pity that she had to live all that... just because of him. But there was nothing he could do for her at that moment.
Finally he said goodbye and prepared to leave with his brother. He shook hands with Angela and Wyatt hugged her childishly.
"I'll come with you a little bit, need to take out the trash anyway..." Michael said. And so they left the house together.
On their way to the back of the house from where Chris and Wyatt could orb without being seen and without disturbing Angela, Michael turned to his friend with a worried look: "Ok, now we're not IN my house so... Please, tell me what's going on... What has happened that you're so... so not like you?"
Chris sighed: "It's nothing, Mike... I'm just..."
"No," his friend interrupted him, "I know you... and you would never talk like that... you would never say that you don't want your powers... you would never say that you wished things would be different, because I know you love the life you have!"
Chris took a deep breath: "Ok..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Nicki was on the phone for only a couple of minutes, even less... Too short for such a great transformation, something that could not pass unnoticed to Steve. She was paler now, and even shivering a little bit, and would not dare to look the man in the eyes. She hung up and passed by Steve in the direction of the door, muttering some incomprehensible words. The only thing Steve got was: "I'll be back right away... Veronica wants to talk."
Steve grabbed her arm as she passed by him, and stood up, looking at her worriedly: "What is it? What happened?"
Nicki looked aside and let go off him: "Girl stuff, you know... Nothing you need to worry about, she just needs to talk."
Steve took her chin smoothly and made her look him in the eyes: "Is it for Tom?"
She flinched a little bit, but got over it very quickly, and smiled nervously: "Well, every couple has its problems, and they are having a bad moment, but..."
Steve shook his head, stopping her once again: "They are not having that good time, and that is for me. But anyway... I don't believe you, Nicki, and I don't like that. You would never turn that pale just because Veronica and Tom are having problems. That kind of problems, I mean..."
Nicki kept his look for a moment, and then lowered her eyes. "Steve, it is ok... You don't need to worry, really, this is something that Veronica and I can solve, ok??"
He took her hand again, this time more softly, and shook his head: "Nicki. What is going on? You can tell me..."
She swallowed as she stared at him. How could she hide something from him? And especially now, that she herself was freaking out... But letting him know about it... Letting him know that, might lead him to another crisis, and she did not want to undergo that again. But he would persist...
"He's gone."
Steve frowned: "What do you mean, 'He's gone'? He left?"
Nicki swallowed again, and shook her head: "No... Or yes, actually, but..."
"Nicki, for God's sake, what is going on?" He was starting to lose his calmness.
She startled and looked in his eyes: "He disappeared. In the park. He cast a spell to..." She paused. "He wanted to find out something, and he just disappeared. But maybe we are worried about nothing, you know... It was a spell and it must have worked. So..."
Steve was petrified. Tom had disappeared... "W-w-what spell? What did he want to do?" he finally asked.
Nicki sighed: "Steve..."
"It is for me, isn't it? He wanted to find who did that to me," he whispered.
Nicki did not answer. She was frozen now, scared that he got crazy, or mad at him, or her, or that he started to feel bad again and tried something stupid, or...
"We have to find him," he added then, looking really determined.
Nicki could not believe her eyes: For a moment she had seen that bright in his eyes again; for a moment, Steve had been back. But maybe it was just a hallucination.
"He would have done that for me. He did. And he is lost now, because he was doing it again. I have to bring him back," she heard him saying again.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Tom finally realised that he had actually moved, that he was not in the Golden Gate Park, or at least that he wasn't in the one he knew, as he knew it, it was too late. Darkness surrounded him, and instead of the beautiful well-cared trees of the park, there was a deep forest whose trees were so tall and thick that they hid the moon and its light.
This was definitely not like he had planed this. He wanted to open a portal, but he didn't want to be pulled into that dark world like this... THIS was NOT good!
He heard the howling of wolves and other night-creatures, and turned scared, feeling a bit lost in the middle of the deepest darkness, when a hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"Welcome to my world, buddy. But you should know that I hate surprises..." a very well known voice said, making Tom froze out of fear.
The demon dragged him to a damp cold cave, and put him in chains before he could even scream.
"You're not gonna get what you want, you know?" Tom said, trying to sound confident.
An evil laughter filled the cave, which was in complete darkness. Tom knew he was talking to Rhashirk, but he could not see him.
"You think so, boy? You don't know... Last time they were prepared. This time, I have some aces up on my sleeves..." He lighted a torch, which was placed on the wall, and illumined the cave, so that Tom could see around him, but the boy was blinded by the sudden light, and closed his hurting eyes. Rhashirk grabbed his face violently and made him look around. "My aces..." he said.
Tom opened his eyes, scared and nervous at the same time, and he saw them... Two Elders, in their white and golden robes, lying unconscious, or perhaps dead, on the ground. Tom's eyes opened widely at that sight: "How did you...?"
"How did I get them?" he smirked evilly. "How did I contact Adam? Or... How could I hurt your friend?" Then he paused, feeling Tom's heart beating fast. "There's no place where I can't go, here or in any world, my friend... No place." And he laughed evilly.

°°°°°°°°°°

"So?" Michael asked sitting down on a bench in their garden.
"So... actually I have some problems with the Elders... and that made me realise how wrong all that is..." Chris tried to sum up everything, while sitting down next to his friend.
Wyatt looked from one to the other. He couldn't understand why his big hero-brother was still so sad, but it made him sad, too. So he climbed on Chris's lap, leaned his head on his brother's chest and put his thumb into his mouth. Chris sighed, caressing the boys hair.
"You don't block him out anymore?" Michael asked a little worried about Wyatt's behavior.
Chris sighed again: "Do you think I should?"
His friend shrugged: "I don't know...but do you think he can handle your current emotions?"
Chris nodded and closed his eyes, trying to build a wall around his mind. But it didn't work. Confused he looked at his brother who grinned weakly.
"Don't wanna be alone," Wyatt said.
Chris smiled: "But Mike is right brother, I don't want you to suffer just because of me."
"No," Wyatt said.
And Chris, knowing that his brother was born to be a telepath, knew that Wyatt was the stronger one in that case... He made the rules, even if he didn't know yet. He sighed and hugged his brother lovingly: "Ok, your decision... but never blame me for a sad childhood when you're older..."
Wyatt smiled not really understanding the sense of his brothers words. Then he rubbed his eyes and put his thumb back in his mouth.
"Wait..." Michael said confused, "are you saying that you can't block him out?... That he's more powerful than you????"
Chris chuckled: "In that case... yes."
His friend was frowning a moment, trying to understand that. Then he shook his head: "Whatever... That doesn't explain, what your point is... I mean, you have a great life, a wonderful wife and an amazing child, and... a brother who seems to love you with no end. You have a great job at the school and that great gift of being an Elder, which means that you can help people... like you saved us, for example... So I really don't get what could be wrong about that...???"
Chris sighed again. He could see the truth in Michael's words, but still he felt so much hurt by what Jeremiah had said... and then? What he himself had done to his own apartment...? He had lost control! What if that would happen again? What if he would accidentally hurt someone?
Then he looked at his brother again. Wyatt was sleepy. He had closed his eyes, his head still resting on Chris's chest.
"You know," the Elder-witch said then to his friend, "I really love him... I mean... as what he is now for me... as my cute little brother..." Again he sighed. "Some of the Elders think I'm too dangerous. That I could lose control... They are afraid because I already did kill one of them." Chris's eyes turned watery again.
"But you had to do it," Michael said, "otherwise your brother wouldn't be who he is now..."
Chris nodded: "Still it hurts..."
His friend sighed and put his arm around him. "I know," he said, "but still you deserve all this... this life... And if you ask me, those other Elders are just envying you, because you have the chance to grow older... and because you have Hope of course!"
Chris ginned. Then he nodded: "Mike you're amazing. I'm sorry that I cursed so much trouble between you and Angy."
"You didn't... If there is someone to blame, than that freaky clown that kidnapped us in the first place... You haven't done anything wrong."
Chris sighed: "Thanks." Then he turned to his brother: "Hey champ... do you want to sleep at the magic school tonight?"
Wyatt rose his head a opened slowly his eyes. Then he smiled and nodded.
"Alright," Chris rose with Wyatt in his arms, and turned to his friend again: "Thanks, to both of you... Have a good night."
Michael nodded and Chris orbed with Wyatt back to his apartment.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris reappeared in his apartment with Wyatt in his arms, he could not help sighing at the remembrance of the disaster he had caused before. Even after his father's and Michael's words, he still felt bad. He was scared of himself, and thought that Jeremiah might be right.
"Demon?" Wyatt asked looking at him with eyes wide open.
Chris smiled sadly: "No, buddy... Only anger."
Wyatt nodded, pretending that he had understood what he meant, and jumped on the sofa where he so much loved to sleep, near his brother... The best of all brothers in the world.
Piper had been kind of annoyed at the beginning, that Wyatt spent so much time at Chris's sofa instead of his own bed. But the Elder-witch had convinced her that she was still the best mother in the world and that there was nothing to worry about.
Chris chuckled, and went to get something for the improvised bed. "Don't sleep so quickly, Wyatt, I'll get something to make you more comfortable," he said as he disappeared from his sight. Wyatt kept sitting, looking around him with the curious eyes of every child.
It did not take a long time for Chris to get the blankets, but when he was back, he had to gasp in surprise. "Wow! What happened here?" he asked, dropping the blankets.
"Chris didn't like the room, so... made it clean," Wyatt explained, simply, staring at him innocently as he swung his little feet forwards and backwards, bouncing them against the sofa... The room was perfectly cleaned.
Chris shook his head and took the blankets, smiling. Then he went to his brother, and put them around the boy, who sighed in happiness as he adopted a foetal position in the sofa.
"What has mom said about personal gain, Wyatt...?" He wanted to tell him off, but it was more like a compliment. Chris was not able, and would never be, of reproaching him anything.
Wyatt giggled: "Was helping someone... Was not for me."
Chris kissed him on the forehead: "Ok... Thank you, man. I love you."
"I love you, Chris," Wyatt repeated, closing his eyes.
"Sleep well..." Chris said, separating from him and going to the door, to close it a little bit.
But Wyatt opened his eyes again: "Don't go..."
"I'll be right here, Wyatt, I'll never leave you alone," He said, smiling. Wyatt smiled and closed his eyes, and Chris finished closing the door, silently.
But at that moment someone orbed in.
"Dad... Shhh... Wyatt is sleeping."
"Daddy!!! Wanna sleep here with Chris and Anca!!!"
Chris sighed, at the voice of Wyatt. "Ok, too late. Can you tell mom, that..."
Leo ignored all this conversation, and just looked at him worried: "He can't sleep here, Chris. You neither. We are gonna close the school, and Odin went up there with Silas to tell the Elders that they should hide." Chris narrowed his eyes.
"But I want to sleep here..." Wyatt said, disappointed.
"Were Jeremiah and Andrew not helping Odin with the books? And what about Julian, did you get something?"
Leo sighed: "Jeremiah did not even bother to listen to you, Chris. He just left. And Andrew was helping for a while. Then he also left, he felt it was easier to try to find the two Elders on his own way... And as for Odin, he had the help of the family, so don't worry."
"But what about Julian?"
"Daddy... Can I stay, pleeaaaase?"
"He..." Leo started. "Ok, he wants something in turn. But we can't give him that now, so we thought it was better to protect everything at first, in case Rhashirk comes back."
"DADDY!!!!!"
Both men turned to look at Wyatt as the lights of the room turned off and on intermittently; Chris's heart beat strongly; none of them had expected such a show of power by the little child.

(Chapter 5 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)