A/N: Warning: The contents of this chapter contain my version of the "Event" and may be found to be potentially disturbing by some. Charmed was written for a PG-13 audience, but as fan fic writers we can take a few liberties. I believe that for a demon to be truly evil, they'd have to commit heinous crimes. Most of what will be described will be implied, rather than going into graphic detail, but it may still be upsetting.

Chapter 7- Three Days

"What is it? What happened?" asked Piper, starting to feel really nervous about what LEO was going to tell them. He was still staring at the place Chris had been standing before he orbed out, lost in his own thoughts. When he didn't respond for a long while, she tried again. "LEO, what happens in 14 years?"

He turned to look at her with such despair that she felt truly afraid.

"You will die…" he said, a tear cascading down his face as he remembered that awful day.

* * *

They had no way of knowing that on that happy day- Chris's 14th birthday- that all hell would break loose. There was a big dinner planned for later that evening and the whole family was going to be at the manor for the special occasion.

Knowing that the festivities wouldn't take place until later that day, Leo felt no qualms about orbing "up there" with Wyatt to confront the elders about an issue that had just come up.

"Jonas, you can't be serious. Wyatt is only sixteen. He can't possibly take a charge yet," he had argued.

They had just recently learned that that they wanted Wyatt to take on a charge, and Leo was trying to protest it. He knew that this day might come, but he had never expected it to be so soon. Although he would like his son to eventually follow in his footsteps, he didn't want it to take priority over everything else going on his Wyatt's life. And he certainly knew Piper's feelings on the subject.

"We've given this a lot of thought-"

"I'm sure you have but you can't just come down when you feel like it and drop this on him like this, especially without his mother or I present. He's just a kid!" Leo argued.

"We feel that the time is right, Leo. You can hardly deny that Wyatt is more than prepared to take on such a worthy role," Jonas explained. "Besides, his charge is a young boy that hasn't come into his powers yet. We feel that Wyatt would be a good influence."

"I don't doubt that, but Wyatt has enough to worry about right now. He is attending both high school and magic school, and is thinking about college," Leo said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not to mention that he is training with Excalibur and learning to control his powers."

"It's alright, Dad. I think it's cool," said Wyatt, unable to hide his excitement over having a charge.

"It's not cool," he said. "You shouldn't have to stretch yourself thin."

"Leo… you must understand that his duties as a Whitelighter take precedence," Jonas said firmly.

Leo shook his head. "He's not a true Whitelighter! He never died nor was he given the choice to become one. Just because he happens to carry Whitelighter blood in him doesn't give you the right to thrust this upon him."

"Dad…"

"It should be his choice when he feels that he is ready," Leo continued, ignoring his son.

"Dad," Wyatt tried again, tugging on his father's arm.

"What?"

"Something is wrong…" said Wyatt, frowning deeply.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't know. It just feels as though something isn't right."

Leo listened carefully but found that he couldn't hear anyone's call help. "I don't hear anything. I'm sure everything is okay."

"I don't hear anyone either," Wyatt muttered, still not satisfied.

"Well, you wouldn't," said Jonas, sighing irritably. "I made it so that we could have this conversation without being interrupted."

"You put us on mute?" Wyatt questioned, looking puzzled.

Jonas shrugged. "So to speak."

"You did what?" asked Leo. "Why?"

"Your family should not take precedence over your Elder duties, Leo, nor should they interfere with Wyatt's destiny to be a whitelighter. I felt it was important to speak of his new assignment without being interrupted."

"You had no right!" Leo argued. "And for your information my family does come first. Now undo it!"

Jonas sighed and then nodded. With a wave of his hand, he released the "mute" on the two whitelighters.

Leo strained to hear anyone's call but found that all was quiet. "I still don't hear anything…" he said softly. But he knew better than to question his son's instincts. He reached out with his mind and tried to sense for his family and became alarmed. "I can't sense them either!"

"Neither can I!" said Wyatt, his eyes growing wide with fear.

"Let's go!" said Leo worriedly. "This conversation is over anyway."

They quickly orbed to the manor with trepidation in their hearts. As soon as they reformed in the foyer, a terrible pain ripped through Leo's chest, nearly doubling him over. Something must have happened to Piper because he was feeling that she was in pain, or at least had been recently. Overwhelmed with the sensation it was all Leo could do to gain control of his own faculties.

"What is it?" Wyatt asked, his hand resting on his father's shoulder in concern.

"I don't know… but I think you're right. Something is wrong!" Leo said tightly, staggering towards the living room as he clutched his chest.

The entire room was in shambles and it was clear that there had been some sort of fight here. It appeared as though Piper had attempted to blow up her attackers and the furniture got in the way instead. One of the couches had spewed it's cotton batting on the floor and the grandfather clock lay in splintered pieces all over the floor.

Unable to find his family among the wreckage he continued to the conservatory, his heart pounding loudly.

Thankfully Wyatt had paused to survey the damage in the living room and hadn't come with him. The sight that confronted Leo as he entered the conservatory was the most horrific thing he had ever witnessed. His breath caught in his chest and it was all he could do to bite back the primal scream that wanted to rip from his throat. Leo knew from the condition her body was in that there was nothing he could to bring her back. She was gone now- her soul free now of whatever tortures her body bore in those horrific last moments.

As much as he wanted to crumple to the floor in despair at what he was seeing, he instinctively thought of his son. He couldn't let Wyatt see this. If he had been alone he would have allowed the grief to swallow him then, but he had to be a parent first.


As he whipped around, Wyatt crashed into him. Leo quickly placed his hands on his son's shoulders and pushed him back into the living room, shaking his head. He knew he should say something, but the lump in his throat was making it difficult to say much of anything.

"Dad, what's going on? What is it?" Wyatt asked, fearfully when he saw the tears cascading down his father's face. "Tell me!"

"She's gone…" he whispered, still trying to make Wyatt move farther away from that awful scene.

"What? Who?" he asked, pushing back against his father now.

"Your mother," Leo whispered.

"NO! What are you saying! That's not true!" Wyatt yelled, trying to squirm from his father's arms.

"She's gone…"

Knowing he had to stop Wyatt from seeing his mother at all costs, he began to bear hug his son. He would have orbed them both away, but he still needed to assess the situation. There could still be demons in the house and he needed to find Chris. For now all he could think to do was to stop Wyatt from seeing his mother.

"Let go of me!" Wyatt yelled, trying to wrestle himself from his father's grip.

Wyatt was taller than his father at sixteen and possibly stronger, but Leo had adrenaline on his side and he was putting up a fight. When he wouldn't let go, Wyatt used his telekinesis to push his father away. Leo fell onto the other couch as his son ran out of the room and into the conservatory.

"Wyatt, stop! Don't go in there!" he yelled after him.

Wyatt ignored the plea and turned the corner, only to skid to a stop. "No!" He screamed. "Oh God! NO!"

Leo ran in to find his son kneeling in a pool of blood, desperately trying to heal his mother, whose body was splayed in an awkward pose in the middle of the brightly sunlit room. Wyatt began to sob uncontrollably as he realized his healing powers weren't working.

Leo's legs were so unsteady beneath him that it felt as though he was moving through a pool of water. He slowly moved towards his son, unable to process what had so horribly gone wrong. Sobbing now himself, Leo knelt down next to his son, allowing himself to really look at his wife's mangled form now.

She was dead, that much he already knew. Her unseeing brown eyes were staring up at the ceiling. Her clothing, a pretty blue sweater and a brown skirt that had been picked out for the special day, was shredded in various places. Her body, although cold now, was still seeping blood from her numerous wounds. As Leo examined the grotesque nature of the wounds, he slowly began to realize that it looked as though something had feasted upon her. There were huge chunks of flesh missing from her lifeless corpse bearing teeth marks. He could only pray that she was already gone when the morbid feast had begun.

"Why isn't this working!" Wyatt yelled through his sobs. "Help me!"

"I can't," said Leo, grabbing his son's hand. "We can't heal the dead."

"No, no, no… no, please no," Wyatt sobbed, staring into his father's eyes. "She can't be dead!"

"I'm so sorry, son… so sorry…" Leo cried.

All he wanted to do was to lie down beside his wife and lament his grief to the heavens, but he knew there was still much to do. With strength Leo didn't know he could muster, he helped his son up and led him away from his mother's body. When they were out of eyesight of Piper, he pulled Wyatt into a fierce hug and held onto him while his son sobbed mournfully. Their clothing was covered in her blood, but there was nothing that could be done about it right now. Leo gave him a few minutes before finally pulling back. There was still someone else to consider.

Taking his son's face into his hands, he said, "We need to find Chris…"

Wyatt pulled back in shock when realization set in. A member of their family was still missing. "Oh no…"

They both tried sensing for the younger boy, but couldn't feel him anywhere. Calling for him didn't cause him to appear either. Together they searched the entire manor, just in case Chris had cloaked himself or something, but couldn't find him anywhere on the premises.

Wyatt was noticeably distraught with grief and worry, wringing his hands anxiously as the minutes ticked away. Leo was faring no better. "Dad, where is he?"

"I don't know," Leo said, wiping the tears from his eyes and trying to think clearly.

"What if he's dead too-"

"Don't think that. We'll find him!" Leo said firmly.

"How? Where?"

Leo shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they took him to the underworld?"

"The demons?" Wyatt asked in horror.

Leo nodded, wondering how they were ever going to find them. "We need your aunts… they need to know about-" Leo couldn't even finish that thought. "They'll be able to find Chris, I know it."

Wyatt nodded in agreement. "Aunt Paige?" he called. "Paige!"

When his aunt didn't orb in right away, Wyatt sighed. His aunt wasn't always punctual these days, caught up with her own family, magic school, and her many charges. "I'll go get them," he offered.

Leo nodded, knowing that it was probably for the best. "Maybe you should…" he began, gesturing towards Wyatt's bloodstained clothes. They had the rest of the family to think about it, and it was probably best not to orb in front of them with his clothes looking like that. It would only frighten the little cousins more than necessary.

Wyatt looked down and saw that his hands and pant legs were indeed still covered in his mother's blood. His face looked like it might crumple in despair once more, but he quickly recovered. He quietly chanted a quick spell.

"Let the object of objection, become but a dream, as I cause the scene to become unseen."

The blood quickly disappeared from both of them and Wyatt orbed away, looking quite despondent.

After his son left, Leo shakily moved back towards the conservatory. He sank down in one of the white wicker chairs near Piper's body, lowered his head into his hands and began to sob once more. He couldn't believe the pain he was feeling. It felt as though is heart had been ripped out of his chest, and in many ways it had.

He sat there for a long while, only because it felt like he couldn't even move with the shock of it all. But eventually he got up and grabbed a blanket that had been draped over the back of one of the couches in the living room. He first closed his wife's eyes and then carefully laid it over Piper's body. He hadn't been successful in preventing his son from seeing her like that, but he could at least try to spare Piper's sisters.

When her disfigured body and all the blood was hidden beneath the thick woolen fabric, Leo sat down on the floor and grabbed his wife's hand, which was extending from beneath the blanket. He held the cold hand in his own, tracing her fingers and knuckles gently, remembering how beautiful she had been before the demons had decimated her body. Some of the blood had begun to seep through the blanket. He desperately tried to ignore it, but soon became too overwhelmed. He allowed himself to grieve while he waited for the others, trying to think about what he would say to them when they arrived. In the end, he could think of nothing. He was too numb.

What seemed like hours later, but was probably only a matter of minutes, Wyatt finally returned.

Alone.

Leo heard the sound of his orbs and went to investigate when he heard nothing else. Wiping the tears from his eyes he went into the kitchen and found Wyatt seated at the table, his head buried into his arms.

Fearing the worst, Leo sat down beside his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Wyatt? Where are your aunts?"

Wyatt broke down once more and began weeping as he covered his head to hide his despair. Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Leo tried again. "Wyatt?"

His son finally raised his head and Leo could see that his eyes were bloodshot and swollen. "They're gone."

All the breath left Leo's chest and it was all he could do utter his next word. "What?"

"They're all gone," Wyatt said miserably. "The demons struck them all at the same time, knowing that they weren't as strong without the power of three."

"No," Leo said, shaking his head sadly. He tried to reach out to Paige and Phoebe and found that he couldn't sense them either. "Oh no."

Wyatt sniffed and quickly told his story. He had orbed to Paige's place first, and found a despondent Henry, clutching the twins and crying helplessly. Both Paige and Junior had been struck down by the demons, while Henry had been picking the girls up from ballet practice. They had returned home to find them lying on the floor with large burns covering most of their bodies, having been killed by energy balls. They could only assume that Junior had gotten in the way while trying to protect his mother. Henry had already called Darryl Morris and he was handling the "situation."

Wyatt had then orbed to Phoebe's condo only to find a similar scenario. On his wife's orders, Coop had transported all three girls to Grandpa Victor's apartment when the demons had arrived. He had returned to find his true love lying dead on the floor. The loss had nearly killed Coop himself, and Wyatt had reluctantly left him begging an Angel of Death for mercy.

The pair sat there crying quietly for a few moments, still trying to understand the devastating loss they had just suffered.

"We need to find Chris…" Leo said again, rising from the seat.

"Where are you going?" ask the sixteen year old boy.

Leo shrugged and said the only thing he could think of, "To check the Book." It was something he had heard the girls say time and time again and it somehow seemed appropriate now.

They tried everything they could think of to find Chris. They tried calling for a lost witch, summoning spells, speaking with the Elders, and scrying, but nothing seemed to work. They searched each of the three households for clues but found nothing that would give the identity of the band of demons who had wreaked such havoc in their lives.

In the end, Leo and Wyatt both went to the underworld and did the only thing they could… they began searching. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Three days, Chris was missing.

Three days of searching endlessly under various disguises.

Three days of tracking every potential lead.

Three days of unimaginable pain and horror.

Three days of hoping beyond hope that they would find him.

Unfortunately, three days was much too long.

For in three days… a lot can happen to a young boy…

* * *

"I'm going to die?" Piper asked.

LEO nodded miserably, still shaken from his memory. He wiped away his tears. "You all will."

The three sisters looked at each other in alarm. They knew how dangerous it was being witches. Even with all the good they did, there was still the chance that it would never be enough. Prue was poof enough of that. They had long ago accepted how fragile their existence was here on earth, but never did they imagine all three of them dying at once.

"How?" asked Phoebe, her eyes shining now.

"You will be attacked simultaneously in three different locations by a clan of demons," he explained simply, his voice sounding hollow. He decided to leave out the gruesome details.

"Which clan?" Paige asked stiffly, shifting baby Wyatt in her arms so that she was more comfortable.

"I don't know," LEO said with a shrug. "I wasn't there."

"Well, that's not very helpful," Paige muttered.

"There's something I don't understand," said Piper in confusion. "I know you said Chris was a friend of the family… so why didn't he want you to tell us this?"

LEO took a shuddering breath. "Because he's afraid… he was taken by the demons during the attack…"

"Oh no…" said Phoebe. "Did you find him? Was he alright?"

"It took us three days," LEO explained, still unsettled by the memory of it. "He wasn't the same afterwards."

"That's awful," said Piper, finally realizing how important Chris was to her family in the future. "Why didn't Chris ever suggest these demons to us?"

LEO sighed deeply. "He probably doesn't want to relive any of that over again… or he may not remember…" he said softly, knowing just how traumatized his son had been.

"Or Chris might not have suggested it simply because he thought that he had to find a demon that gets to Wyatt before he turns two," offered Leo, remembering Chris's argument earlier. The girls all nodded, realizing that it made sense.

"And this 'event' is what causes Wyatt to become evil?" Piper asked, still trying to understand.

LEO nodded. "Wyatt felt guilty that he wasn't there when the attack took place," he explained. "He was traumatized by the things he saw and what happened to Chris. Eventually he began to believe that if he wanted to prevent something like that happening ever again, then he needed to be in control. He became consumed with revenge and power. It corrupted him over time until the lines between right and wrong began to blur."

"But why?" she asked, as she took her son from Paige and clutched him close to her heart. "I can't imagine my precious angel being evil. There's so much good in him."

"Like Phoebe, Wyatt was born in the manor over the Nexus. Both of them are more susceptible to be swayed by good or evil," Leo reasoned.

Piper nodded, finally allowing herself to believe the awful truth. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to stop it," Paige said determinedly. She rose from her seat and strode towards the Book of Shadows, flipping through its pages.

"But how?" asked Phoebe. "LEO said he doesn't know which demons were responsible."

"I don't know," she said, with a shrug. "But we'll figure it out."

"I hope so…" LEO whispered.

The future that will result if they didn't was just too horrible to bear.