chyp: Thanx!
Jordan lay completely still on the couch. He could not believe that the spell had actually worked. There he sat, just a few feet from his father and uncles. The only trouble was, to him, that he felt that he had to do this alone. He hadn't meant to cross paths with them just yet; even the idea of seeing them alive again might distract him too much to do what he came to do.
He slowly moved upright against the couch. Every little movement sent a searing pain through his body. Sarah's fireball had obviously done more damage than he thought, although it could have been much worse. He painfully craned his neck to check his surroundings. He heard Matthew's voice in the kitchen. He was still on the phone. He looked back to the front door. He could still hear James speaking to whoever rang the doorbell. He focused his ears carefully, trying to tune in to Wesley's whereabouts, but heard nothing. He took a deep breath and stood up, wincing from the pain. He quickly scanned the living room. He was alone, which meant that Wesley was upstairs. With a look of concentration, he closed his eyes and with much effort glimmered out of the house.
"Well," James said, slyly looking away, "that's who I am. My brothers don't have anything on me…"
"You know," Sam said, "I also think it's sweet how the three of you can get along so well."
"It's me," James said proudly. "They'd fall apart if I weren't around to keep them in line."
"Of course," Sam said as her cell phone rang. She took a quick glance at the number and slid the phone back into her pocket. "Uh oh."
"Trouble?" James asked.
"Yeah," Sam said, "at the power company. You'd think these people could handle things by themselves. I'm sorry, baby. I'll catch up with you later. And don't forget about tonight."
"Okay," James said, planting a small kiss on Sam's cheek. "I guess I'll get back to my cousin."
James momentarily lost himself as he watched Sam walk away before snapping back into reality. He wondered if Sam really did have a problem at the power company. There seemed to be so many of those "emergencies" that he couldn't help but feel that maybe she was into something else. Whatever it was, though, he had no idea. Even if he did, he still had to consider the times when the shoe was on the other foot and he was the one breaking dates. Either way, he felt, his reasons for ending a date early were far more unique than hers had to be.
He cleared his mind and closed the door, putting his mind back on the situation at hand. As he looked at the couch, though, he found himself to be in a state of confusion. The boy was no longer there. He looked around for any kind of signs of him. Perhaps he went to the bathroom or something. He quickly ruled it out; the boy had never been here and wouldn't even know where the bathroom was.
"Matt! Wes! Get in here!" he shouted as he took a seat on the couch.
"What is it?" Wesley asked, rushing down the stairs. "Demon?"
"Not this time," James answered, pointing to the vacant space next to him. "Our friend's gone."
"Gone?" Wesley repeated. "Where could he go looking as busted as he was?"
"I don't know," James said. "Matt!"
"So I guess we have to find him, huh?" Wesley asked. "Any clues?"
"Nope," James sighed. "This sucks. I have a date tonight with Sam and I can't break it. I've broken too many as it is."
"Don't worry, big brother," Wesley said, walking over and patting James on the shoulder, "you'll have time for your date."
"Matt!" James shouted.
"What?" Matthew's voice traveled back into the living room from the kitchen. "I'm on the phone!"
"Who's he talking to, I wonder?" Wesley said. "He's been on the phone a lot lately."
"Could be Kathleen," James said.
"She broke up with him on Christmas," Wesley reminded James. "He hasn't seen anyone else since, or at least not that I know of. Come to think of it, he's been a lot sneakier about stuff for the past few months."
"I think you're right," James agreed. "I thought it was because he was sick of me and you arguing, but now that you put it that way, I think there might be something going on."
"Should I investigate?" Wesley offered.
"Won't you do it anyway?" James asked. "You're the nosiest person I've ever known."
"A little knowledge never hurt anyone," Wesley responded.
"Let's take things one at a time, though," James said. "First we need to find the boy and figure out what he's up to."
"What is it?" Matthew asked as he emerged from the kitchen, stifling a smile.
"The kid's gone," Wesley said, pointing to the empty space beside James. "You didn't see him, did you?"
"Of course not," Matthew said. "I've been in the kitchen the whole time. What do you mean, he's gone?"
"We all split up and left him here to sleep," James said, "then when I came back in he wasn't here anymore."
"This is bad," Matthew said. "If he came here for our help, and he's somewhere out there, then whatever's after him won't have any trouble finding him, especially in his condition."
"We don't know who's after him, or even if he needs our help," Wesley said. "I'll go get the Book."
"Who were you talking to on the phone?" James asked in a more quiet voice so that Wesley couldn't hear. "What's been going on with you?"
"What are you talking about?" Matthew asked. "That was just my English professor, Dr. Schultz. She's setting me up to tutor some more high school kids."
"Oh," James said. "That makes sense. I didn't know you tutored."
"Yeah," Matthew answered. "I've been tutoring since the semester started. I haven't been around as much as usual. That's why."
"Well that answers the question," James said as Wesley returned with their oversized tome.
"Answers what question?" Wesley asked.
"Matt's been tutoring since January," James explained to Wesley.
"That's nice," Wesley said, plopping down onto the couch and opening the Book of Light.
"Anyway," Matthew said, changing the subject, "I think that since Jimmy was at the front door, and I was in the kitchen next to the back door, and if Homeboy didn't see him go upstairs, then we can assume that he didn't walk out of here."
"How did he get out, then?" Wesley asked.
"With everything that we've seen," Matthew thought out loud, "it could be anything. He could've glimmered out, or blinked out, or flamed out, or anything."
"If he blinked or flamed or whatever," James said, "then that would make him evil, since those are warlock and demon things."
"And if he glimmered," Wesley added, "then he'd be a Guardian, since they're the only ones who can do it, you know, except for me, since I'm special."
"Yes, you are," Matthew said dryly. "But he looked kind of young to be a Guardian. And can't Guardians heal anyway? If he could heal himself, I doubt he'd come here looking like that."
"Unless he had no choice," James suggested. "Let's face it; anything could've brought him here, and for any number of reasons."
"So after all that, we're back at square one," Wesley said, slamming the Book shut. "There's gotta be a better way."