Chapter 3 – Ghosts are dead, right?
A/N: Thank you those who did review. You're the greatest. I'm almost done chapter 4, so you'll get a quick update.
Anime-obssesed:p: I mentioned you again! You know a lot of what's going to happen next, cause I told you. History/French is bearable now, since I have this to write. The people are indeed crazy. You're the best for typing this for me. Love you Carmix! (As a friend)
Phoebe turner: The answer to your question is yes, but much later.
darkVlight: Sorry to leave you hanging. Enjoy the chapter.
JadeAlmasy: My head hurt writing Patience thinking about the charmed one's ages. Keep reading and reviewing!
Having Leo in the house certainly had its uses. After Melinda found out what I had told her father, I knew that a big lecture was coming up. Uncle Leo, being an angel (literally), agreed to erase his own memory the moment he helped us return to out time. I know he would do it. He even helped with the problem of explaining away what Phoebe had seen. Having told a number of colorful lies myself, I could tell that his story was masterful.
He put a glowing hand over her head, and she woke up almost instantly. "W-what happened? L-Leo?" my mother stammered. I couldn't head what Leo said next.
"Well you see Phoebe…" Leo said slowly. I could tell that he was going to make this up as he went along. "Melinda was feeling a bit ill, which is of course the reason she fainted," he said. I suppressed a laugh. I could tell this was going to be good.
"You were feeling sick as well, which of course, can occasionally make people see things that aren't there. Well. You then had a dizzy spell, and you fainted. Your Grams was so worried that she called me. I arrived just before you woke up." Leo finished quickly.
It took all my will power not to burst out laughing. The story was so ridiculous that it was almost believable. Almost. To my surprise, my mother accepted the story without question. I would never, ever, be able to pull off a story like that. "Yes, that's what must have happened. I'm just going downstairs now," Phoebe said. I wondered how Leo had done that. Melinda, however, was eyeing her father suspiciously. She had figured out what I had not.
The moment Phoebe was out of earshot, Melinda yelled. "You used it, didn't you?" I was, for the first time, completely lost. I had not idea what my cousin was talking about. Leo apparently knew exactly what she meant.
"Only a little", Lea said defensively, "just enough to make things a bit hazy."
"You still shouldn't have done it!" Melinda yelled back. I had a pretty good idea what they were arguing about now. As it turned out, Grams knew what they were talking about as well.
"You gave my grandchild memory dust! How dare you!" Grams yelled ferociously.
No wonder mom had no trouble accepting that ridiculous story. For a moment u had thought that my mother really was that gullible. I thought that Uncle Leo would be able to calm Grams down. I was very far from the truth.
"I had to!" Leo bellowed "She couldn't find out about magic! It's too early!" This Leo was really different than the one I knew. Rather than end this stupid fight, he had just mad it worse. Someone would have to speak up and make everyone see reason. That someone would have to be me, since all of this anger was making my head hurt.
"Listen", I said in the most calm, rational voice I could muster, "All of this arguing isn't helping anything. We have to work together to find a way to send Melinda and I back." To my surprise, my relatives started at me, open mouthed. They mumbled apologies. Finally, they were able to concentrate on the task at hand. There was silence for a moment.
Melinda suddenly jumped up from her chair. An excited light shone in her eyes. Living with her for 13 years, I could tell that she had an idea. Sure enough, she said in an excited voice, "Patience, I've got it!"
I pretended not to understand where she was sudden outburst was coming from. "What have you got?" I asked, with only a hint of sarcasm in my voice. Melinda rolled her eyes. She got realty annoyed when I had fin of her habits (which was often).
"I've got an idea that will help us get home". Melinda said in what I call her school teacher voice. When Melinda was angry at me, she would talk to me in the way you might talk to a four year old. I hated it. Leo, however, shocked to find out that he had a daughter, spoke to Melinda with a strange politeness.
"What is you idea, Melinda", Leo said kindly. Melinda beamed proudly at him. "Well, we know that we can't go to out time ourselves. So, why not use a spell to call for a little help?"
So that was my cousin's big idea. It was so ridiculously simple that it had a real chance of actually working. Melinda opened the Book of Shadows, and flipped to an old looking spell written in flowing calligraphy. I took a look at the spell. It was admittedly simply enough. "Okay let's try it", I said.
The ingredients and equipment was very similar to the spell to summon a ghost. Grams, with the plan to guide her, was back in super-witch mode. She took a quick glance at the page, and began gathering all the ingredients, and throwing them in a large copper pot. Leo, not really able to help, stood guard at the door. I took several white candles and arranged then into a large summoning circle.
"We ready?" Melinda asked, glancing at the preparations we had made.
"Definitely", I said confidently. My cousin got on my nerves sometimes, but I loved it when we worked together. Melinda concentrated on the candles and they all lighted. That girl had too many powers for her own good. Not the time to be jealous, I reminded myself. Melinda took my hand, and we formed a circle around the copper pot. I smiled, as I felt the power in me swell, as it always did when combined with my cousins'. "The spell should only be done by the ones who need the help," Melinda explained, seeing the confused faces of Uncle Leo and Grams.
Melinda and I took a deep breath, feeling the power inside of us grow, and we chanted.
"Spirits from the other side,
Hear your daughter witches plea.
The hidden secrets that doth hides
Are those which we seek!
Elder ones send help to we,
As we desire, so mote it be!"
After the first recitation, thick, white billowing smoke billowed from our make-shift cauldron. We repeated the spell twice, and then thrice. On the third repetition there was a loud boom, and we automatically backed out of the circle. When the smoke cleared, we were shocked at who we saw.
It was Chris. He was 23 years old, just as he was in our time. Right away I could tell that there was something different about him. His bright green eyes looked more somber, older…haunted somehow. Chris looked at the group in the attic with interest and said, "Who are you people?"
"Chris, its Melinda, your sister", Melinda cried. She seemed a little hurt by that. I couldn't blame her. She idolized Chris, even more than Wyatt. If Prudence ever said something like that to me, I probably would have hit her. Unlike Melinda, I wasn't startled by Chris' revelation. I could tell he was different.
Chris, or whoever he was, backed away, with a look of disgust on his face. "This is some sick joke. He must have done it. I won't fall for it. Not this time." The man who looked like Chris had gone shock white. He was stammering, panicking. Something that Melinda said had stuck a cord.
"Chris…what's wrong? Umm…we're in 1987 now, and Melinda really is your sister." I said cautiously. A sudden thought stuck me with a force of a speeding train. "I think you may be from an alternate reality or something", I said, ignoring how strange it sounded. "What's the last thing you remember?" I asked.
The man who was so similar to Chris sat down. His face strained in concentration. It was like he was really struggling to come up with an answer. "It's all kind of hazy", Chris said slowly. "I was in the manor…and…I think…I died!" Melinda's eyes went wide. I couldn't think of what to say.
How could Chris have died while we were gone? We can't have been gone more than a day. I felt something I hated feeling; confusion. "Chris…how…" I began. I put a hand on his arm and gasped. I pulled away, instinctively shutting my eyes as I was bombarded with images.
I saw a teenage Chris, huddled over the prone body of Aunt Piper, crying. Another flash and a slightly older Chris, holding Melinda with the imprint of a fireball on her chest. Chris as I knew him, standing in from of a glowing time portal, kissing a beautiful young lady.
I stumbled, stunned at how fast the premonition ended. It took me a moment to realize that I was crying. I looked at the man who was so different than cousin I knew. The Chris that was my cousin looked so young and carefree. I looked into his green eyes, which were somber and filled with such obvious pain. In a flash, I understood.
"Oh, Chris, I'm so sorry", I whispered. I looked around and saw that Grams and Melinda were still around me. They had not understood what I just did. Once again, it was up to me to explain. "This is my cousin Chris; only he's not Chris…he's from different future. A horrible future that he needed to change. That's why the spell sent him to us, he's time traveled before."
Chris' eyes went wide. He looked at me nervously. "What exactly did you see?" Chris asked his voice trembling. I paused a moment before answering. "Death", I admitted finally, "I saw lots of death." I rarely had premonitions and this had been one of the scarier ones. Chris just looked at me sadly.
"I'm sorry that you had to see that", he said finally. He looked really concerned. Melinda, Grams. And Leo were staring, still wide-eyes, still staring, still speechless. It was like Chris imitated them. I couldn't understand it, I felt perfectly comfortable talking to him.
"Do you think you can help us?" Melinda asked. I thought that was a silly question. Of course he could help us. Magic may work in mysterious ways, but it always works. I tried, with my empathic abilities to see if Chris was going to tell Melinda the truth. I couldn't, it was as if he was blocking me somehow. That never happened before.
"I don't know", Chris answered, "I've never traveled forward in time…but I'll try." Melinda smiled when he said this, and Chris tried in vain to return it. He was having trouble looking Melinda in the eye. I couldn't really blame him. If my sister Prudence had died, it would be so hard to see her again when I knew it would be the last time. I could empathize with Chris, even without my power. My sister's alive, thank goodness but I knew how much it would hurt to lose her.
After being uncharacteristically quiet, Grams finally spoke up. "I'm sort my dears", said Grams, in the polite voice I'd always hated, "I still don't quite understand." Uncle Leo said nothing but he looked deep in thought. I could tell he wanted to know, but he didn't want to pry.
"I'll try to explain…" Chris said slowly.
Explain is exactly what Chris did. For nearly a quarter of an hour he spoke into almost rapt silence. Both Melinda and I could tell that what Chris told was a greatly abridge version of the truth. While he talked both Melinda and I searched through his mind. We were surprised that he told Grams and Leo the truth, or at least most of it. Chris knew the risks but he ignored them.
Grams and Leo's reactions were horribly predictable. Grams clucked in disapproval when she leaned that Piper was to have two boys. Her disappointment quickly turned to a mixture of horror and pride when one of those boys would be the evil overlord of the world and the other would be the hero. Leo cried openly when Chris told them about his mother's death when he was 14. It was kind of weird that Leo already loved Piper when in this time, she was only 14.
This torrent of emotions was all around me, and I was having trouble blocking it all out. I tried my best to ignore them as Melinda and I once again had a conversation that no one else could hear.
'Poor you', Melinda thought sympathetically. 'Some people have a little trouble concentrating.'
I empathetically thought, 'I know. It's like they forgot that we really need to get home.' I glanced over at Chris, Grams and Uncle Leo. They were still deep in conversation. The speed at which their emotions changed and the intensity made me feel a bit nauseous.
'So…Your spell went well", I thought sarcastically.
'Shut up!' Melinda thought vehemently. Her cheeks had turned red, a clear sign that she was truly angry. Melinda was rarely angry, and I was one of the only ones to make her so. 'Besides', Melinda thought her normal calm composure slowly returning, my mom says, magic may work in mysterious ways, but it always works.'
I stuck my tongue out at her. 'I don't really care that your plan didn't work.', I thought. A small smile crept up on Melinda's pale face.
She thought, 'What is it you have in mind, my dear cousin?'
I smiled too; glad that my cousin had finally caught on. My mom sometimes said that Melinda and I were like two peas in a pod. She was right, of course. Melinda and I always thought along the same wavelength. 'I'm going to go interrupt the grown ups, so I can tell you all my marvelous idea', I thought.
I walked up to where Chris, Grams and Uncle Leo were sitting, Melinda followed behind me. Finally they had stopped talking, and their extreme feelings were much less intense, for that I was grateful. I cleared my throat loudly, and everyone looked up. "Everyone I have an idea. Firstly, I need a large basin filled with water. The larger, the better." Too stunned to speak, Grams complied. She returned moments later with a larger copper pot, often used for spells.
"Great", I said. I loved the feeling of taking authority.
'Can you at least tell me the plan?' Melinda thought telepathically.
'Fine', I thought grumpily, 'I'm going to scry so I can see our family in the future. Melinda shot me a questioning look, but I ignored her. Unlike her, I knew what I was doing.
Now you…Leo, get me a scrying crystal", I said authoritively. Leo just like Grams, looked flabbergasted. There was nothing else he could say, so he rummaged around the cupboards until he found a clear crystal hanging from a long string.
"What exactly are you going to do?" Grams asked suspiciously. Just what I needed, a suspicious grandmother. I had thought that she trusted me.
"I'm going to drop this crystal into the water, along with this bracelet that happens to belong to my sister. I'll chant a handy little spell my aunt taught me, and I'll be able to see exactly where and when she is," I said. She still looked a little skeptical. It was time that I offered her a little proof.
"I dropped the crystal in the basin, and then the bracelet. The clear liquid within turned a shinning crimson, and then the purest of whites. Melinda's uncharacteristic look of confusion was replaced with understanding and a touch of excitement. Her clear blue eyes shone in the dim light of the attic. She too had learned this spell, and she knew exactly what it could do. I looked into the swirling white substance, a bit nervous at what I would see. Would my family miss me?
I cleared my throat, and chanted the spell that I had long ago memorized.
"Ancient ones, hear my rhyme,
And help me in this dire time.
To find the one I wish to find,
See where they are, in place, and time!"
The spell worked instantly. The pure white liquid instantly returned to its clear state. We all crowed around the basin in time to see an image of this very attic. It was different, however, just as I remembered it. It was crowed with people. There was my mother, my older sister Prue, Melinda's brothers, Chris and Wyatt, our mutual cousins Charlotte and Patricia (or Charlie and Patty as they preferred), Uncle Kyle and even Uncle Leo. I fell a bit ashamed to admit it, but I was really happy that they were all really worried about me.
TBC…