The hunched demon shimmered into the shade of trees. The thickness of the trees left him invisible to his quarry. He hated being 'topside' during the daylight hours, but what Master commands must be done. As he waited for his master's 'bride' to come within grabbing distance he remembered when he first met his master.

Tricked into servitude by Master centuries ago, he was tired of being bound to the demon. The Yickem demon was not exceptionally strong but he had an ally, a soothsayer. Master was as gullible as mortals, afraid to leave their homes until they'd read their horoscopes. Master refused to make a move until he had the soothsayer's blessings. When the soothsayer was right, Master felt extreme confidence. When the soothsayer was wrong, Master blamed the slight demon who was bound to him. Master should have a more powerful servant, he would rant, he should have tricked a mightier demon. Yet, Yickem would never let Bradas leave his service, not unless the soothsayer suggested it. Bradas knew that demons could steal a witch's power easily enough, if you were stronger than Master, that is. He couldn't fathom why the soothsayer insisted he marry the young fire wielder first, unless that was the only way Yickem could steal powers, still, he'd never heard of such a thing. Either a demon had the power to absorb a power, or had an athame enchanted to absorb the power – a very rare thing- or the demon didn't. As far as Bradas knew, Yickem didn't. But, he'd be a good minion and get the girl.

(X)

"Oh, you're home. Mom invited us for dinner, again, tonight." Wyatt said as he entered the loft and spotted Chris pacing the floor. "She said she's only inviting us because you didn't show up last night."

"She didn't mention it when we saw her earlier. Hope she makes enough for 'plus one'," Chris mused to himself.

"Are you bringing a guest? Taking a girl home to meet mom?" Wyatt teased, erroneously thinking it was time to get some of his own digs in at his younger brothers expense.

"I might as well be." Chris mumbled.

"Hey, Chris, what's wrong? You seem a little different." Wyatt asked his brother in concern. Chris was a smart ass and an occasional pain, but he was never moody.

"Yeah, Wyatt, so do you." Chris replied, "You'd better call me at P3 to tell me about dinner."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Wyatt demanded, confused.

"Just call, I'll be better at explaining everything…trust me." Chris insisted.

Wyatt headed to the phone and dialed Chris' number. He did a double take when Chris appeared on the video screen. He looked from the Chris standing beside him and the Chris on the monitor.

"Chris, what is going on?" Wyatt asked, puzzled, directing his question at the Chris on the phone.

"I'll let you two talk in private," Chris 2 said magnanimously as he left the room.

"I see you've met me." Chris rolled his eyes, "Neurotic little s.o.b…" noticing Wyatt's darkening look, Chris answered his question, "Alright Wy, Paige cast a spell to help me get rid of the headaches that I've been having and it resulted in a split. Does this qualify as a personality disorder?" Chris quipped.

"What's he doing here?"

"Possibly helping me work out the jigsaw puzzle in my mind or helping overcome issues…" Chris winced.

"I told you that we needed to work that out! Wait, what do you mean 'possibly', you don't know?"

"No, but things happen for a reason. We'll merge when I don't need him anymore."

"Chris, this isn't like when you commandeered my 'wuubie'. Our teddy bear had a much better personality than this guy."