Chapter Three
"The Darkness Within"
Chris stood in the attic in front of the Book of Shadows. His hand hovered over the open tome and he occasionally flicked his fingers to telekinetically move the pages. His eyes poured over the knowledge open in front of him, desperately searching for something. Chris' gaze was ripped away from the book as he heard footsteps grow louder and louder from beyond the Attic doorway. The footsteps stopped and Attic door opened to reveal his smiling mother.
"Aha! There you are," Piper exclaimed happily, "I thought you'd be up here. Since you're doing less than nothing today, would you mind giving me hand delivering my cookies to P3? There's a baby shower booked for tomorrow and I've got a hundred things to do… Oh, and don't tell your father I've been working, especially at the club! – I'm supposed to be taking a day off, not working two jobs!" Piper ceased her rambling and shot Chris an inquisitive look. "… Are you looking for something in the Book?"
"Oh, no," Chris said, suddenly moving back from the book and flipping it closed with a wave of his fingers, "just passing the time."
"Speaking of passing the time… Cookies?" Piper said as she gave her son a cheeky grin.
"Yeah, sure thing. I'll be down in a minute."
"Okay then," Piper smiled. She turned on her heel and left the Attic, making her way down the stairs before moving out of sight.
A sly smile formed on Chris' lips as a thought sparked in his mind. He moved his hand over the Book of Shadows and it opened once more. The book fell open on the desired page and Chris followed the text on the page with hovering fingers. He quickly scanned the information on the page before his fingers came to a stop. His smile broadened and he focused his sight on where Piper had exited the attic just a moment before.
"Matriarch…" Chris said in a deep and husky voice. The Book of Shadows slammed shut and Chris' body burst into a spiral of black orbs.
The male-witch reappeared in the basement. He scowled at the light pouring into the room from the open door at the back room and waved his hand to force it shut. He sighed in delight, stretching his muscles and breathing in heavily as the darkness engulfed him. Chris turned to face his neatly made bed and snaked his arm under his pillow, clasping the hilt of the athamé he had hidden there hours before. He withdrew the weapon from its hiding place and slipped it up his sleeve. Focusing his sight on the steps up to the kitchen, Chris slowly made his way up the stairs to the still-open door leading into the kitchen.
Chris entered the kitchen and saw his target. Piper stood in next to the fridge with her back to him wearing oven mitts and holding something in front of her. Chris made his move and crept towards her silently.
Piper turned around, jumped in surprise and let out an ear-piercing scream. "You scared the crap out of me," she said, laying the hot tray of freshly baked cookies on the counter in front of her and placing a mitten-covered hand on her chest as she breathed heavily. "If any cookies had fallen on the floor, I'd've killed you," Piper joked, removing the oven mitts from her hands.
"You won't be killing anyone," Chris replied in the dark, throaty voice as he stared into his mother's eyes.
"Chris?" Piper eyed her son inquisitively; "are you alr-" her sentence was cut short as the breath was ripped from her lungs. She looked down at the blade sticking into her gut and the blood seeping onto her clothes. Piper clutched her stomach as Chris forcefully withdrew the athamé from his mother's body. She began to shake as she leaned back against the counter behind her, slowly sliding down to the floor. She looked up to the looming figure of her son with tears forming in her eyes.
The male witch brought the blood-caked blade to his face and laughed at the image of a teary-eyed and frantic Chris in the reflection of the blade's metallic surface.
"Oh, would you look at that? You just killed your mother," The Woogy said, smiling in delight at the misery of the broken witch who screamed at him from the weapon's reflection.
An arched door faded into sight on the bottom half-landing up the past the first dozen steps of the Halliwell Manor staircase. The door swung open and out stepped a smiling Melinda. She raced down the few steps before her and stepped across the airy dining room. As she stood before the door into the kitchen she heard a thick, echoing voice:
"Oh, would you look at that? You just killed your mother."
Melinda stepped through the open kitchen doorway and her bright smile dissolved.
"Chris?" she said, seeing her brother standing over their mother who was slumped on the floor. Her brother spun around and she noticed a bloodied weapon in his hand.
Chris growled and raised his arm and motioned to throw the athamé at his sister. Melinda screamed and instinctively threw out her hands. She stood still, amazed by what she saw. The room was frozen still – but so was her brother. Her face was laden with confusion and despair. With a flick of her wrist she carefully unfroze Chris' head.
"Chris, what the hell did you do?" she screamed, her eyes darting between the weapon in her brother's hands and the wound in her mother's body. Melinda's hands instinctively snaked into her pocket and she found the vial of potion.
The male witch's head moved from side to side in an attempt to break free from the magical containment. "Release me, witch!" Chris exclaimed, his echoing voice confusing Melinda further. The white-lighter's face darkened and his eyes flashed pitched black as focused beams of dark, smoky energy streamed towards Melinda.
The youngest witch launched the glass vial from her hand and the dark power was met head on with a burst of explosive energy. Melinda was flung backwards through the kitchen door as the collision of magical power erupted in front of her. The dark energy exploded outwards and filled the room with a thick, black smoke. Chris' hand began to move slowly, still gripping the blood-drenched athamé, as his sister's magical freeze rapidly began to wear off.
Melinda steadied herself and stumbled to the kitchen door, covering her mouth and coughing as the smoke tried to fill her lungs. She looked up to see the dark yet unmistakable blur of her brother break free of her magical hold. Melinda readied her hands but Chris' body swiftly morphed into a flurry of dark, swirling orbs and disappeared upwards as a trail of thick, black smoke followed him, clearing the room of the magical darkness.
"Mom?" Melinda said softly as she hurried over to her mother and slumped to her knees. "Mom?" she exclaimed again, tears streaming from her eyes. "It's gonna be okay – It's gonna be okay!" She held her mother's hands and looked upwards, "WYATT! Mom's hurt! She really needs you!" Melinda let go of one of Piper's hands and flicked out her fingers repeatedly. "I can't even stop the bleeding! – I can't stop the bleeding!" the young witch cried, burying her head into her mother's slumped shoulder.
The sound of a bell ringing and the shop door opening drew Wyatt's attention away from the books he was scanning. The door swung to a close and a tall, dark-haired and smartly-dressed man approached Wyatt at the desk.
"Hey there. I phoned earlier and reserved a copy of a book."
"Oh, yeah. I have it right here, Black and White Magic: Through the Ages," Wyatt said, retrieving the book from a drawer next to him. He scanned the book and packaged it into a paper bag. "That'll be ten ninety-nine."
The customer paid for the book and looked down at the watch on his wrist. "Gah, time really isn't on my side today." As the man talked, mostly to himself, Wyatt noticed that he had a long, thin scar that ran down the left side of his neck. "Right - I'd best be off now. Thanks for the reservation," he a said, picking up the paper bag and smiling.
"No problem. Take care now," Wyatt replied.
No sooner had the bell rang once again and the door close behind the male customer did a loud voice invade Wyatt's mind.
"WYATT!" the witch jumped with fright at the sudden boom of his sister's voice that echoed in his mind. "Mom's hurt! She really needs you!" Wyatt moved to the front of the shop and re-taped the 'Be back in 5 minutes' note he had written earlier in the day to the door. He locked it, slipped the key into his pocket and swiftly headed to the 'Staff Only' part of the store.
"I can't even stop the bleeding! – I can't stop the bleeding!"His sister's dire words forced him to move quickly. He stepped into the Staff Toilets and locked the door behind him before disappearing in a shower of white and blue lights.
Wyatt reappeared in the kitchen behind his crying sister. "Melinda? What happened?"
"Heal now, questions later!" she quipped, motioning to their bleeding mother.
Wyatt knelt down besides Piper and hovered a glowing hand over her wound. "What happened?" he asked again.
"Chris stabbed her-"
"WHAT?"
"But," Melinda continued, "I don't think it was really Chris. I mean, why would he attack mom? And he used these weird powers-"
"What kind of powers?" Wyatt cut across.
"He shot these dark beams from his eyes – I've never seen anything like it before. Then he orbed out like a darklighter." She glanced over her brother's shoulder to see her mother's clothes still bloodied. "What's taking so long?"
"Don't worry – she's almost there," Wyatt replied, calming his sister's nerves. The blood on Piper's body slowly faded from her clothes as the wound in her gut finally knitted together.
Piper opened her eyes and was greeted by her son's smiling face. "W-Wyatt?"
"It's okay, mom. You're okay now," he said as he and Melinda helped their mother to her feet. "Melinda," he turned to his sister, "will you be okay to look after Mom – in case Chris comes back? I have to head back to the store."
"What? Wyatt, you can't leave now! Mom was just attacked by our dark-powered brother who's orbing around doing God-knows-what!" Melinda objected.
"I know that, and as much as I'd really like to help, I have a responsibility to my do my job. I can't just drop everything that I'm doing every time something evil interrupts our lives. You focus on whatever the hell's going on with Chris and I'll focus on bringing money into the household." He turned to his mother and gave Piper a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He said before disappearing in a whirl of lights.
"Are you okay?" Melinda asked, bringing Piper into tight embrace.
"Yeah, I'm fine – just a little shaken up … Chris was acting a little weird today … well, weirder than usual… and I just couldn't put my finger on it. I had no idea he wanted to-"
"Mom – Chris would never hurt you, you know that!" Melinda stressed.
"Yeah, I know… I just… I should have known something was wrong. I'm his mother for God's sake," Piper sighed.
"You can't be right all the time, mom. Now, let's run through all that's happened today with Chris and hope we can figure this mess out." Melinda suggested as she prepared Piper a cup of coffee.
The book store bathroom was filled with spinning lights before Wyatt materialised into view. He reached out for the bathroom lock but stopped himself suddenly. Something was wrong. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment to sense the surrounding area. His eyes shot open in realisation: someone was in the shop. Following his instincts, Wyatt moved to the toilet, flushed it and then washed his hands in the sink. After drying his hands he unlocked the door and slowly opened it, trying to avoid any creaking sounds. He slipped through the door and tip-toed his way to the door that lead into the front of the shop. Wyatt noticed that his sign had been removed from the front door and that a man dressed in the same attire as him at his front desk.
"Oh, hey Todd," the young witch said to his manager, "I didn't hear you come in."
"Yeah, I'm like a ninja." Todd smiled, "Where were you?"
"Oh, I've been feeling a bit off all morning. It must've been something I ate," Wyatt lied, holding back a smile, "so I just put that message up on the door while I was in the bathroom."
"You're a real trooper, you know that, Wyatt? I mean, you've catalogued the entire delivery in the majority of a single shift while fighting through being ill. Hell, I couldn't've finished all that cataloguing in the same time frame – I don't know how you do it. Don't think your hard work doesn't go unnoticed here, Wyatt. You're an asset to this store."
"Gee, thanks Todd."
"No thanks needed for the truth. I tell you what, if you're still feeling off why don't you take the afternoon off?"
"Really?" Wyatt asked, taken aback.
"Of course. You covered for me this morning so let me cover for you now."
"Uh… Okay – if you think I should. But before I do," Wyatt slipped in between the store shelves and picked out a book, "I'll have this," he said, moving to the front desk and pulling out his wallet.
"Black and White Magic: Through the Ages…" Todd raised an eyebrow, "You're into this kind of stuff?"
"Not into it, per se. I just find it fascinating."
"Alright then, that'll be seven ninety-nine."
"You gave me discount?" Wyatt asked.
"Yes."
"But I never take the discount," the whitelighter argued.
"I know you don't – and that's your problem, Wyatt, you're too generous. If you added up the all of the discounts that you haven't taken that book would pay for itself ten times over. Now, take the damn discount and take afternoon off. Go home already," the manager smiled.
"Thank you," Wyatt replied as he handed over the money in exchange for the book.
"No problem. You take care now," Todd said, almost verbally shooing his colleague out of the store.
Wyatt left the shop and walked towards the mall exit. He looked back and saw Debbie frantically serving customers at her food stand. He smiled to himself before turning to the exit and making his way to his car.
Black swirls drifted through the sky before settling in front of a small stone building surrounded by gravestones in every direction. As Chris eased into sight, a thick, black tornado of smoke furiously spiralled around him. He threw out his arms either side of him and cast out the smoke in all directions, shrouding the cemetery in a dense fog.
He set his gaze on the structure before him and walked forward to the steps that lead up to its gated entrance. Chris gripped the athamé tightly and jammed the blade into the earth before the steps. The barrier around the structure flashed a strong pink and then dimmed. The young witch forced his hands forward and pushed on the wall of light with his mind. Once again the shield bubbled inwards against Chris' invisible will. He focused his power, straining his body against the magical resistance. As Chris pushed against the wall he noticed a hole form in the barrier. Excited, the witch pushed harder still, wanting nothing more than to break through the wall that stood between him and his prize. His body began to shake, struggling to keep up with the amount of magical power needed break through the building's magical defences. Chris' arms relaxed, not able to keep up with the strain of maintaining his magic and the barrier rebounded against him, knocking him flying backwards and landing with a thud in the long grass once again.
He got to his feet, his face twisted with anger and frustration, and motioned the athamé to him, telekinetically ripping it from the ground and catching it by the handle. "Damn it, Astrid! You're not making this easy." He growled before disappearing in a spiral of black orbs.
The Halliwell Manor fell quiet as Piper and Melinda were sat at the kitchen table thinking over cups of coffee.
"So… what exactly happened while I was out of it?" Piper asked her daughter.
"I don't know how long you were unconscious for. I came home from Magic School, made my way into the kitchen and there you were on the floor with him standing over you."
"I mustn't have been out that long then if he hadn't left by the time you walked in."
"Thankfully. But, what really worries me is what happened after I walked in. I called his name, he turned around and went to throw the blade at me and I jumped and froze the room. But the thing is that Chris was frozen too… he was evil." Melinda sighed, drinking a mouthful of coffee, "I unfroze his head and asked him what the hell was going on… and then he attacked me with a power that Chris doesn't have."
"What kind of power?" Piper asked.
"He fired black energy beams from his eyes. I blocked it with my trusty exploding potion and then the room was covered in this thick smoke. He unfroze fully and then orbed out like a Darklighter, taking the smoke with him."
"Hmm… This doesn't make any sense. No possesser demon has that kind of power," Piper pondered.
"You think he was possessed?"
"I really, really hope so, Melinda," the mother witch answered.
"So – rewind. Run through everything that happened with you and Chris this morning."
"Well," Piper began, "I was cooking and Chris came out of his bedroom. We talked, watched the news and after I turned the oven on I looked up and he was gone. Later, I found him in the attic looking at the Book of Shadows. I asked him to help me deliver some cookies to the club and he said he'd be down in a minute. I came down to the kitchen and started to move the stuff when all of a sudden he's behind me, scaring me to death. Then there's an athamé in my gut."
"Did he speak in a weird voice by any chance? Sort of… dark and echoey?" Melinda asked.
"Yeah, twice actually - once this morning and then again before he stabbed me."
"What about this morning after the earthquake stopped? Did you speak to him then?"
"Ah, that's right – the earthquake. I went down to see him and he was already up. He said he was fine."
"I wonder what all this points to. The earthquake, new powers, weird voices and Chris trying to kill you and catching you off guard… how exactly did he do that? You're not the easiest person to surprise," asked Melinda.
"I didn't hear him come into the kitchen – and you know how involved I get with my food."
"Maybe he orbed in behind you?" Melinda suggested.
"I don't think so. I can usually sense Wyatt and Chris' presence when they orb near me. Motherly instincts," her gaze was drawn to the open basement door, "he must have sneaked out of the basement – those stairs barely make a sound." Something clicked in her mind. "Ah, crap."
"What is it, mom?"
"If this is what I think this is then we're potentially screwed," Piper said getting up from the table. "But before I jump to any conclusions I have to check one thing." She moved through the open basement door and flicked on the light switch on the wall next to her. She made her way down the basement stairs and peered into the huge illuminated room. "Yep! Definitely crap!"
Melinda followed her mother down the steps. "Why? What's wrong?"
"You see that gaping crack in the floor? That was also there twenty seven years ago when an earthquake released the Woogyman who possessed your Aunt Phoebe and took over control of the Manor. I didn't see it this morning when I came to check on Chris as he was stood in the way."
"You think that the earthquake this morning released the Woogy again and it possessed Chris?"
"Precisely!"
"But… I thought that the Woogyman was vanquished when you destroyed the Nexus?"
"That's what I thought too," Piper replied, "but unfortunately for us that doesn't seem to be the case."
"What about that earthquake a few years ago? Why wasn't the Woogy released then?"
"My best guess is that the earthquake a few years ago just wasn't powerful enough. It was only a three-point-two while today's was a four-point-seven. Magic can only go against Mother Nature for so long. Come on, we need to sort this out." Melinda and her mother ran up the basement stairs and stepped into the kitchen.
The sound of the front door to the house echoed through the manor and a familiar voice called out.
"Mom! Melinda! I'm home."
The two female witches moved out of the kitchen and crossed the dining room to meet their new arrival.
"Wyatt! You're home early," Melinda noted.
"Yeah, my boss let me have the afternoon off-"
"That's handy," Piper quipped.
"Yes, but he almost caught me using magic. I had to orb back to the store, remember? Thankfully I'd orbed from the staff bathroom so he didn't see me, but I had to lie about feeling ill all day." Wyatt suddenly shot his gaze upward.
"Now that you're here: we think the W-" Piper began.
"Ssh!" Wyatt cut across. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment before opening his eyes again. "He's here." The young whitelighter disappeared in a shower of bright lights.
Melinda shot her mother a confused look before the two of them began climbing the stairs.
Wyatt reappeared in the Attic to find his brother pouring over the Book of Shadows. "Chris?" Chris' head snapped upwards and he fixed his gaze on his older brother.
"Hmm, you'll do perfectly," Chris hissed before moving over towards his brother.
"Chris, I don't want to hurt you," Wyatt said, extending his arm out defensively.
The younger witch let out a sinister laugh, "You won't have a choice." Chris' eyes began to pulsate with a dark aura and streams of billowing, black smoke were ripped from his eyes and open mouth. The streams twisted and converged before swiftly engulfing Wyatt whole. The darkness seeped into Wyatt's body and his features changed: his hair grew dark, matching facial hair sprouted along his jaw line, under his nose and chin and his eyes oozed with an evil, black power.
"Wyatt?"Piper called from the floor below.
The limp, seemingly lifeless body of the younger whitelighter fell to the attic floor. Wyatt smirked and opened his palm. The athamé that Chris held moved to Wyatt's open hand in a swirl of dark orbs before he too disappeared from the room in the same manner.
Piper and Melinda quickly moved up the remaining stairs and into the attic to see Chris sprawled on the floor. "Chris?" Piper exclaimed, kneeling down by her son as she tried to wake him up.
"But what if he's still evil?" Melinda asked.
"Well there's only one way to find out," Piper flicked out her hands and froze the room in place and examined Chris' chest, "he's still breathing - our power doesn't affect good witches so he must be okay." She gently rocked her son's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up. "Chris? Chris? Come on, kiddo, wake up."
Chris groaned and gradually opened his eyes. "Mom!" he said, surprised. He threw his arms around her and hugged her tight. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop it."
"It's okay, honey. You can thank your brother and sister for fixing me up. Speaking of Wyatt – where'd he go?"
"He took him…" Chris said as he picked himself off of the floor.
"Hold on a second. Chris, please orb," Melinda chimed in, unconvinced of her brother's sincerity.
"Melinda, I-"
"Just do it!" the youngest witch commanded. Chris sighed, disappearing and reappearing in a shower of twirling white and blue lights. "Oh, Chris, I'm sorry," she dived on her brother and tightly clamped her arms around him, "I just had to be sure."
"It's okay, Mel. I know I haven't exactly done many good things today," he said, freeing himself from his sister's embrace, "but now we have to figure out whatever the hell is going on. I think I was possessed by the Woogyman."
"No crap, Sherlock," Piper gave an annoyed laugh, "we're one step ahead of you there. But Chris, seriously, did I teach you nothing? How could you not know that some big scary shadow demon thing was trying to possess you?"
"Are you really blaming me for all that's happened today? Excuse me for not instantly knowing that a demon that you told us had been vanquished years ago was trying to use me for its own ends!"
"Can it!" Melinda interjected, pointing a finger at her mother and brother. "We need to figure out what the Woogy wants with Wyatt. Bickering like this is not going to help," She turned to her brother, "Chris, do you remember anything that happened today while you were possessed?"
"I remember hurting mom - he made sure I'd remember that… but other than that I don't remember much… however, I do vaguely remember a cemetery with some small building in it. Other than that there's not much to tell."
"Hmm, that isn't much to go on. We could scry for him?" Melinda suggested.
"No – going in there without a plan could be bad. We need to know what we're up against," Piper said, walking over to a cupboard and pulling out some large candles, "and I think I know someone who will know a few more things than we do."
She set the five candles into a loose circle on the floor, lit them and said:
"Hear these words,
Hear my cry,
Spirit from the other side,
Come to me, I summon thee,
Cross now the Great Divide."
A gentle wind blew within the Attic and a beacon of bright light shone outwards from within the candle circle. Sparkling lights danced around the funnel of white and soon enough a familiar face stepped out from beyond the other side.
"Piper?" Grams asked as she looked around the attic, "Melinda and Chris too? Oh it's so good to see you!" she said as she tightly embraced her two great-grandchildren. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you all?"
"Unfortunately, Grams, we need to skip the pleasantries this time. We need you to tell us everything you know about the Woogyman."
Author's Note:
Wyatt possessed by the Woogy? That can't be good! And what does he want with this stone structure that Chris describes? All in due time…