A Charmed Story - Part Eleven:
Enemy In My Mind
Chapter 8

Phoebe sighed as she walked down one of the smaller hallways of the school. She wanted to be alone, to clear her mind from all the emotions she had got while they had argued with those students.
She just needed a little break.
She knew she should be with the others, should look through book after book, but she couldn't... She knew she should scry, should write spells, brew potions or whatever... but she couldn't.
She just needed a little break.
She felt guilty, because she got the feeling that she would leave Chris alone with this huge problem. She felt guilty because she had left her family... but there was nothing she could do about that... she just couldn't bear this any longer. All those emotions... the pain, the worry, the fear, the desperation... it was just too much...
She just needed a little break.
With another sigh she sat down on the floor, leaning her head at the wall in her back. "Oh Chris..." she whispered as a single tear left her eye.
At that moment bluish orbing lights appeared in front of her, only a few feet away. She closed her eyes, she didn't want to face her family or any other Elder or whitelighter now. But then she heard a soft giggle which made her open her eyes again.
There at her feet was little Christopher lying on his stomach and smiling at her happily.
Phoebe sighed again and then picked him up. "At least one family member who's smiling," she said more to herself.
But the little boy's smile faded the same moment and his eyes seemed to look worried. Phoebe was concerned for a moment, because they were still not sure how far his powers were already grown. Maybe he knew already more about all that magical stuff than they would ever dream off... at least he was half-Elder...
But then her worries were washed away as Christopher rose his small hands to her ear to play with her long earring, giggling again.
"Ok, little boy," Phoebe said with a slight smile as she rose, "I guess I should go back to the others... Maybe I could help a little with the research, what do you think?"
And as she asked him that, there was again that kind of look in his eyes, as if he had understood what she was talking about. But then he just smiled again and giggled like all babies do...
"I see, you agree," his aunt said smiling at the cute boy and started to walk back with him to the library. And on her way she said: "But you will better get back to the kindergarten. I'm sure Miss Leenett is already freaking out because you're missing." And again Christopher giggled.

& & & & &

Nicki sat on a sofa in the corner of the library submerged into a book. Everyone could tell that she was anything else than happy when Elenia orbed down to them short after Phoebe had left. It wasn't that she didn't like her, of course not... No, it was only the fact that she had hoped to have Steve for herself at least one day... But that seemed so not possible... even if Elenia only came down to help...
"Where is Phoebe?" Elenia had asked.
"Out... I guess she needs a break," her son had answered with a sad smile.
Elenia had nodded and then she had looked at the others, her, Veronica, Tom and the remaining students who also wanted to help... Actually there were quite a lot of them... about fifteen, Nicki counted.
So Elenia had filled them in with those small information they had about Veenosh and after that they all started to search through the books of the library...
Yeah it was good that Elenia had informed them, so that they now could at least do something useful, but still... she didn't want her to be there, sitting next to Steve at the table... and she hated herself for those feelings... That was so childish, but she couldn't help it.
When Steve looked up from his book and their eyes met, Nicki quickly glanced down again avoiding his look.
Of course Steve had noticed the way she had looked at him. He sighed, and a slight smile rushed over his face. 'She's so cute,' he thought.
He walked over to her to sit down on the sofa and pulled his arms around her from behind, resting his head on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he whispered.
"Yeah," she replied in a soft tone.
Steve sighed: "You're lying... And you know that I know..." Nicki rolled her eyes. He smiled and kissed her cheek. "Do you know what... I really wish I could orb... or at least shimmer..."
Nicki turned around to him surprised, not sure what to think of this. But he just smiled, probably noticing her confusion. "Why?" she asked therefore.
Steve pulled her closer again and whispered lovingly to her ear: "Because then I would orb us home... just for a little while... only you and me..."
Nicki smiled. He was so sweet and she loved him so much. She was about to answer something, but suddenly all happened at the same time, destroying their moment of peace. Phoebe came back after she had brought Christopher back to the kindergarten, and was now ready to help.
But before she could say anything, one of the students rose. It was Drew, a young witch about 15 years. Still looking at the book in his hands, he exclaimed: "I guess, I've found something!"

& & & & &

"ODIN!! What the hell is this!!" That was the first thing the Elder heard as soon as he rematerialised. It was Jeremiah's voice, he thought, but he was too confused to understand why he was shouting at him that way. Why he had used that... word! 'Hell'?
Odin did not need too much time to realise what was going on. All the Elders were looking at him with their eyes widely open and some of them red in fury, and then he knew why... He had all the magic school at his back! And a couple of humans, to complete his exploit.
"Odin, are you crazy?" was Silas's voice, who had approached him slowly.
"Hmmm..." The Elder did not know what to say. He turned to look at Angela and Michael who, after having appeared there, had lost all their initiative and courage.
"Odin, for God's sake, I am talking to you! Are you in your mind?? Or is this the day of exposing everything which is secret to the world?? Is Chris conspiring against the world and has you as allies??"
"Jeremiah, please, think before speaking this way!" Silas exclaimed finally, making him stop yelling at the new comers.
The angry Elder sighed, and stared at Odin, as well as all the others did, waiting for a good answer. Angela and Michael looked at him too, expecting that he would fix the situation, but Odin was still shocked.
How had that human dare to do that? He would have never thought she would even try to orb with him on her own... Let alone bring all the other students! But she was a friend of Chris... of course... As if that explained everything! He was still trying to find the best words to clarify the situation, when one of the students stepped forward.
"We wanna help."
"Yeah, we are fed up with staying in the back, and Miss..." the girl who was speaking now turned to Angela, "well, Angela had an idea."
"But she's a human..." another Elder answered, staring at Michael and Angela confused.
"And does that mean that she cannot have good ideas??" the first student - Benny from 6th grade - asked, angrily. The woman and the Elder who had spoken blushed at the same time.
"Well, actually we don't wanna bother anyone..." Michael started, hesitantly. Odin glared at them, as if he wanted to say 'Look at the troubles you have put me in'. But he said nothing.
Benny then went on: "She had an idea that is worth listening to, at least. I don't think this is a day to worry about exposing magic to two people who already know about it, when magic itself has already been exposed to all the others down there."
Silas looked at the boy, raising an eyebrow in surprise about so much courage, and Odin shrugged and said: "Well... They have a point."
Jeremiah was still frowning, but finally he had to admit they did not have anything better. Actually they were just trying to gather all the Elders to start a meeting in which they would decide what to do. They had never been so lost before! So finally he sighed and said: "Alright... Speak."
Angela looked at Michael, expecting some support from him, and her husband paid her with a comforting smile. Then she took a deep breath and started: "Well... I guess... We can.. We can bribe the Cleaners..." Murmurs started to rise around the Elders, but she went on. It was then, or never. "Tell the Cleaners that, if they erase Chris's existence, we..."
But this Benny took the word again: "We all are gonna expose magic as we never did before. They will have to erase all the magic beings from the earth, and that's something they don't want."
After those words, silence wrapped up the room. The Elders were scared, surprised, shocked, and admired. Odin smiled slightly and Silas grinned. Jeremiah looked at them with an indecipherable expression, and Michael and Angela started to feel they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
"So??" A shy voice coming from the group of the students said, impatient for a reaction.

& & & & &

"Shhhhh... it's ok," Chris whispered into Bianca's ear while holding her close. She was still sobbing into his chest.
Belthazor had left with a sigh and went back to his room and books, giving the couple some space, while Julian took care of the kids. 'What a freaky situation,' Chris thought. And it was all his fault.
The Elder-witch pulled away a little to look his wife in the eyes, while his own were welling up in tears, too. He gently stroke her cheek and smiled slightly: "Don't worry... we'll get through this, I'm sure..."
"I wish... I had... your faith..." she sobbed, trying to calm down for him. She knew that he was more worried about her than about himself, and that felt wrong for her.
"That has nothing to do with faith, but with knowledge," Chris answered, but his voice almost broke.
"Don't lie to me," Bianca whispered, "you know, I know when you're lying."
He sighed pulling her close into his arms again. "I'm so sorry for what I've done to you," he said as the tears fell from his eyes now, too. "I'm so sorry..."
"I don't want to lose you..." his wife sobbed. "Not now..."
Chris closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. Then he pulled away to look at her again, with determination sparkling in his eyes. "You won't," he said, his voice calm but strong now, "I promise to you, you won't lose me... I will never leave you, nor Hope... never!" And right that moment Chris knew he would keep this promise, no matter what. That was what made him strong, what made them strong. Their love...
"I know..." she sobbed and kissed him.
Belthazor smiled at them from behind. He had read that paragraph in his book again, and now he needed to talk to them. But seeing them like this, it made his heart ache. He had have that kind of life, too, at least in a way... when he and Cole had been one and he had have Phoebe. He sighed, hoping that someday in the future he'll would also find someone to love like this young couple did love each other.
Then suddenly the door to Julian's room was opened, and the demonic witch appeared again. "The kids are sleeping," he announced.
Belthazor felt like caught but then relaxed, when he realised, that the couple didn't notice that he had been watching them.
Instead Chris turned to him with a embarrassed smiled, drying his tears. "So what did you found?" he asked then.
"An entry about Veenosh in one of the oldest books I have," the source said, putting the book on the table, showing them the entry. "It says that he enters someone's mind and make him believe things which aren't real." He turned his face to Julian. "And it seems your simple anti-magic-shield around this cave, should be enough to block that."
"That explains, why nothing else happened since we're trapped here," Chris said with a slightly relieved sigh.
Belthazor nodded and went on: "There is no way mentioned to vanquish him, but a way how to find him."
"That's good," Julian said.
Chris agreed: "It's a start."
Belthazor nodded, too: "The only problem is, that we could expose more magic than you already have. Because the only way to find him, is to sense for him when he's manipulating someone."
"Ok..." Julian said, "so I guess we need to find a way to talk to the Cleaners and explain them the situation..."
"You really think you can just talk to them?" Chris said nearly laughing about so much naivety, still remembering what had happened with Wyatt.
But before the demonic witch could answer something Bianca rose to speak: "So let me see... you wanna go out there, let that demon track you down so that someone else can track him and then?? We still don't know how to vanquish him for God's sake!"

& & & & &

All the faces in the room were now fixed on Drew, who had appeared very excited at the beginning, but now, feeling himself the centre of attention, was starting to hesitate. Some of them wanted to know immediately what he had found, and were asking without leaving him a moment to breathe. "Well, I..." he stuttered.
Veronica glanced at Tom, and then she turned to Drew, smiling. Standing up, she went to him and put her arm around his back: "Ok, let me see the book..." Drew nodded, and lifted the volume he had in his hands. "What do we have here...?" Veronica murmured, feeling all the silent eyes fixed on them.
Drew pointed with his finger at an entry on one of the pages in the middle of the book. "Veenosh is mentioned here... This book deals with..." He closed it just enough to see the title of it. "...with demons that were never destroyed and vanquished..." he explained.
Veronica leant slightly over the book, furrowing her brows, and Tom stood up to take a look personally. "Veenosh is here, next to... Zankou... Oh, someone should refresh that book," Veronica said, unaware of the slight shiver that this second name produced in Tom, who said nothing. "It explains the several attempts of killing him, and the success in confining him." continued Veronica. "But nothing about how to kill him..." She sighed, and looked at the others, who shook their heads.
Nicki and Steve shrugged and went back to their books again, as well as all the students, and Elenia looked at Drew sad, but the boy grabbed Veronica's and Tom's hands nervously, and made them look again.
"No, wait! Look... It says how to find him. There's a way to confine him again, and also we can..."
Tom took a deeper look at the entry, and read the small letters too.
"Veenosh not only attacks his victims, producing visions and a possible chronic madness in them, but also, if his victim's brain is connected to other magical beings telepathically, or in any other way, his effects will be transmitted as a plague from one to another..."
Tom raised his eyes, surprised.
"Do you think this is what happened to Chris?" Steve asked, going to him, followed by Nicki.
Drew looked at the two young teachers, expectantly, as Tom nodded: "Not just that, Steve... This could be transmitted to any person that can read Chris's mind too..." His friend frowned.
"But do you think Chris is connected to the source??" Nicki asked in a whisper so that just her friend could hear it, starting to doubt.
At that moment, Veronica opened her eyes widely: "But... Oh, no... This might mean that little Wyatt could also be affected..."
Silence grew in the room, and finally Elenia broke it, carefully: "It could affect any person capable of communicating with him, or connected to him..."
At that moment, Tom realised the meaning of those words, and when he looked at Steve he knew his friend had, too. They both had telepathy... Even though they had never been able to use it with Chris, if someone was in danger of being infected... that were them.
"Oh-oh..." Phoebe muttered suddenly, and when all the eyes turned to her, she smiled a little embarrassed.
"What's 'oh-oh'?" Steve finally asked.
"Well..." the empath hesitated a moment, "this morning... which could have been around that time when Chris... well... Wyatt's shield went up for a couple of minutes..."
"WHAT?" Elenia, Steve, Nicki and Veronica exclaimed, while the students looked at each other scared and Tom sank down to a chair, sighing.
"He had put it around himself and baby-Christopher for a couple of minutes. First I thought there would be an attack but nothing happened, and then his shield went down again," Phoebe explained quickly. "I thought it was nothing..."
For a moment no one said a word, some were looking to the ground, others were shaking their heads, but no one said anything...
Then Elenia broke the silence: "But you felt nothing?"
Phoebe frowned, trying to recall the situation in her mind, then she shook her head.
Now the Elder sighed: "That's good... that means the effect doesn't reach those who are not directly connected to Chris. So I guess I'll orb up there and tell the others to block Chris out, just in case..." With this she disappeared in bluish orbs.
At the same moment Phoebe left with the words. "I'll look after baby Christopher... Maybe he's in danger of being affected, too."
"The best would be, if you bring him here...!" Steve called after her.
Tom moved his hand over his tired face. Now they were alone... Well, not really alone, but... The Sisters had their own problems at the moment. So now it was their turn, his, Steve's, Nicki's, Veronica's... the student's turn, to find a way to end this. "Ok..." he sighed, "how do we vanquish him?"
No one answered. No one knew the answer. Again silence fell over the room.
"I... I..." Drew mumbled hesitating.
"Yeah?" Steve asked turning to him. He knew that student from one of his classes. He wasn't the best of the group he taught, but he was clever, he had 'potential'. He could astral project and was good in potion-making. But he was... well he was a teenager, and school was the last thing he seemed to care about.
Drew swallowed. Then he looked at Veronica who nodded, supportingly.
"I thought maybe we could... I mean, he's only a mid-level demon... we should be able to created a potion based on his blood."
"But we don't have his blood," Nicki sighed.
The young witch felt again all the eyes resting on him. He looked down to his hands which seemed really interesting at the moment. Then he mumbled: "Maybe I know a way around that..."

& & & & &

Julian sighed as he hit the send button. He had written an e-mail to the sisters. Now he leaned back in the chair and stared at the screen waiting for an answer. He sighed again.
"You don't have to be worried, they will be fine," Belthazor said.
Julian turned around surprised, to see his friend standing in the doorway in his back. "I'm not worried about them...," the demonic witch admitted then, turning back to the screen, "I mean... I am, but... I'm more worried about you."
The source was surprised by those words. He hadn't thought that Julian cared that much about him. He knew he did care, his friend had already proven that, but he didn't know how much... this much. This small sentence touched him more then he would admit. He never in a million years he had thought that anyone - except maybe Cole - would care this much about him. "Thanks," he said finally, sitting down next to him.
"For what?" Julian asked not understanding.
"For caring about me..." Belthazor said with a slight smile on his red face.
Julian grinned. "Of course I do... you're my friend..."
The source smiled: "Thanks." Hearing those words felt damn good, he had to admit in his thoughts.
Julian smiled back at him and said almost inaudible: "You're welcome..."

& & & & &

Meanwhile Cole read the e-mail which had arrived just a few moments ago. Checking the computer was the first thing he did when they went down to the living room again.
"Anything new?" Piper asked. And Cole read the message to them.
"We know how to find Veenosh. But before we can try to do that, we need an appointment with the Cleaners... and we still need a way to vanquish him. We hope you know a way. Julian"
"An appointment with the Cleaners?" Leo asked. "What is he thinking who he is? How shall that work?"
"Leo..." Piper said and put an arm on his shoulder, "they will have their reasons..."
"And I guess Chris agreed, otherwise he wouldn't ask," Cole added, knowing that Leo - even if he didn't trust the source - trusted his son.
The Elder sighed: "Ok... I see what I can do..." Then he turned to Paige: "You should go to the school and see if they found something there." The witch-whitelighter nodded and both orbed away.

& & & & &

Darryl was in his house, sitting on an armchair, but inclined forward, tense. The tv was on, and he had the remote in his hand. Sheila was sitting by his side, looking at in a complete silence, but from time to time glancing at their son who played in a corner of the room. Thanks god he was completely oblivious to what was going on.
Her husband had been behaving very weirdly since he had arrived. He had cancelled all the plans the couple had, and explained her very superficially what had happened. The rest, she had had the opportunity to hear it in the news. Chris and all his family were in real trouble.
After changing the channel for a long while, inspector Morris reclined his head on the back of the armchair and sighed deeply: "I don't know what to do..."
Sheila looked at him: "You did what you could and more... Kyle is there, risking his job. He could get fired because of this... Darryl, it's a magic problem, it's out of your hands now."
The man turned to her and shook his head: "I think I could have done more; not just staying here, sitting... The FBI is after him now." His wife sighed, and rolled her eyes, but he went on. "You have heard it!" He pointed at the screen: "They have started to relate him with all the paranormal cases in the town... In the country!!"
Sheila watched their son for a moment, who was still playing, and then looked at her husband again: "He's screwed, Darryl. Tell me, what do you wanna do? What can you do for him??" She paused, noticing that her husband was staring at her unbelieving. "Darryl, honey... They are in constant danger of exposition. You did all you could for them all these years. You did even have problems for that, for God's Sake!..." She shook her head: "You knew as well as I do that this would eventually happen." She remarked every single word, speaking in a low but convinced tone.
"How can you talk like that, Sheila?" he asked, shocked and sad.
She swallowed, and looked aside, and kept silent for a while. Then she said, with tears in her eyes: "Because I love you. Believe me, I appreciate what they have done for all of us and I wish them only the best, but... I don't want that anything bad happens to you for doing something which is not your business. They played with fire, Darryl... They have to put it off."
Darryl felt anger growing inside him, but he tried to calm down. He understood how she felt. He was also playing with fire, helping the Charmed Ones for so long, but he knew he had to. They were working for the safety of everyone, and they did it from the shadows. No one would ever thank them. No one would ever know. Or maybe that was actually changing... He shook those thoughts from his mind. No... People did not understand them. They would destroy their lives, if nobody did something to fix that.
Darryl raised his eyes to her, and took her hand lovingly: "Sheila... They would die for us. I am just helping. I'm doing not even the tenth part of what they do for us. They need us... I... I am sorry."
Sheila clenched her teeth, and tried not to cry. Darryl thought she would yell at him, and then she would just leave the room. But instead, she smiled weakly, and dried her cheeks: "Ok... Do what you have to do. But be careful, Darryl. I love you. I need you, more than they do. Help them, but don't put yourself in danger."
He smiled again and then nodded, standing up: "I promise nothing's gonna happen." He did not really know what to do, but he had to do something...
Maybe trying to deviate the attention from Chris, perhaps showing that those robberies had nothing to do with him... He'd come up with something. Darryl kissed her on the cheek, and left. He had to hurry and go to the office, to look at all those reports and try to find out more about those cases.

& & & & &

Drew swallowed. He didn't like to have all the attentions. He felt like in class when Miss Matthews chose him to come to the board. He hated that feeling.
"Ok boy... you have an idea? Then tell us..." Steve said getting impatient.
Drew swallowed again: "Well... there is a spell... in one of the books about black magic." Some of the other students began to whisper in his back. "I did a research for an homework," Drew explained, feeling like he had done something wrong - which he hadn't.
"So what kind of spell is that?" Tom asked, scanning the boy with his eyes as if this could tell him if he was lying or not.
"It's... it's a spell to make a miniature copy of someone," Drew said, "it's in one of the books here in the library."
Nicki and Steve looked at each other. Black magic isn't something a witch should play with. But what other chances did the have.
'Do you think that's a good idea?' Tom asked his friend in his mind.
Steve turned around to look at him then thought back: 'I don't know... we should at least talk to Phoebe or...'
At that moment bluish orbing lights appeared in the large room. Seconds later Paige materialised. "Anything new?" she asked.
The students looked at their teachers who looked at each other. Then Tom turned to the charmed one: "We have some information about that demon, and at the moment we discuss the chances of making a blood-potion without his blood to vanquish him..."
Paige rose her eyebrows: "Oh..."
"Drew, can you show us the spell," Steve asked turning to the teen. The boy nodded and went over to one of the shelves.
"What spell?" Paige asked.
"Well..." Steve sighed. How should he say it.
But Veronica interrupted him: "We're thinking about black magic to get his blood..."
"WHAT?" the witch-whitelighter exclaimed. "Are you NUTS? You can't use black magic..."
Steve listened to her carefully. He knew she was right. No one should use that kind of magic. It was too dangerous, at least for witches like them. But then his eyes grew wide as he turned to Paige, an idea forming in his mind: "And what if it's not one of us, casting that spell...??"
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked who just had come back with baby-Christopher on her arms. She had heard the last sentences which were spoken.
Tom looked at his friend confused like the others, but then he understood. "Julian..." he muttered.

& & & & &

Chris sat on Julian's bed, caressing the cheek of his wife, who lied there, her head in his lap. Hope and Wyatt were lying next to them sleeping deeply.
Bianca had closed her eyes, but she wasn't sleeping. She was just thinking... thinking about how they could fix this mess. She sighed.
Chris looked at her when she did so. Then he bend down to her and kissed her on her cheek. "We'll find a way," he whispered, "I promise we will."
She turned around to him, to look him in his eyes: "But what about the FBI?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "We can only hope that the Cleaners will help, when we can prove that it wasn't my fault."
Bianca nodded, but then she frowned again: "But what about the robberies?"
"Wha...Wh... which robberies?" Chris asked looking at her confused. Until that moment he thought it was all about his power-outburst. He had no idea what she was talking about.
"There were some robberies lately. The victims said it was a monster who bound them by a magical rope," Bianca explained. "And now it seems the FBI believes it had been you."
Chris sighed and leaned back against the back of the bed. "That's not good," he muttered. His mind was spinning. Why was he always getting into so much trouble? But then he had an idea. Looking at his wife again he said determined: "So we have to find the person who did this, or at least prove that it wasn't me."
Bianca rose to look at him. "And how?" she asked frowning.
Chris bit his lower lip, thinking hard, then he stood up: "I'll ask Julian. He has cameras all over the underworld, at the manor, at the school... maybe he has some on the streets, too, and if it's so, than maybe he has a record of such a robbery." With this he left the room.

& & & & &

"NO."
"Why not!?" Chris asked, feeling helpless as he watched Julian pacing in the room.
Belthazor stood aside, with his huge red arms folded on his chest.
"BeCAUSE!" Julian said, stopping right in front of Chris, and staring straight to his eyes.
"Well...!" Chris exclaimed, raising his arms helplessly, "that's not a good reason!"
Belthazor smirked. Damn, he was having fun. A lot of fun.
"Of course it's not a good reason, young man! It's not A reason at all!" Julian answered, gesturing exaggeratedly at Chris.
"What... Why, I just don't get it!" Chris looked at Belthazor looking for help with his eyes. Was Julian playing with him? Both of them? After all, he was not the boss down there. He did not have a word. It was clear that they wanted to make him feel like that. He was the protected one this time, and he had to obey, shut up and trust. But he was in the damned Underworld because if they did not fix all that mess, he would not have any life up there, let alone existence. So...
"If... If you are just playing with me, well... Stop it, because this is serious!"
Belthazor could not help laughing although his friends was more than grave. Chris turned to the red demon angrily, but kept quiet.
"We are not playing with you, Chris. We are giving you shelter, helping you, because if we had not done it, you wouldn't exist anymore by now. Do you understand?" Julian answered, staring at him, and watching how the boy turned paler and paler.
But the Elder-witch was too persistent: "You have cameras everywhere. You see me having lunch, dinner, when I pee and when I shit... And you see me when I..." Suddenly he turned his head to the entrance as if he was fearing that Bianca was coming. Then he cut himself off, feeling uncomfortable but ignoring as much as he could Belthazor's giggling. "Ok, man..." he said calmer. "You put all those cameras, didn't you?? So I just DON'T get why you can't put more!" Chris felt such a frustration when he had asked whether they had cameras in the streets or not... But then, when he had asked them to put some, since they were still on time, and they had answered NO, he went more than angry. And confused.
"I told you, Chris. BeCAUSE. Listen, this is my task, and even HE..." and he pointed at Belthazor, who raised an eyebrow, "... keeps away from it. You are here because you need protection. And your brother, and your wife, and your daughter need it too. So then, go with them, enjoy your free time, and let me do my job."
Chris opened his mouth, but after thinking just for a second, he snorted letting no word out of his mouth. Belthazor was now serious, but still silent. Actually, he knew that was Julian's job, and he had to handle with it.
"Are you trying to show me who's in charge here?" the young Elder-witch asked mildly and sadly. "Because I understand you are. I am not trying to be in the middle of anything. I just wanna help. It's because of me that you're having this problem. I just wanna help."
For a moment, Julian looked in his eyes and showed regret because of the way he had talked to him. Then he shook his head and sighed, trying to smile: "It's not what you think, Chris." He paused. "What would you tell me if I'd tell you how to teach your classes?" Chris looked aside and said nothing. "You see??" He put his hand on his shoulder. "I am just asking you to trust me, ok? That's all."
This time, Chris looked deep in his eyes, feeling defeated: "I was just asking you to help me find those robbers. If I can prove that..."
Julian hushed him, smiling: "I did not say I was not going to do that. But in my way." Then he left the room.
Chris stared at the nothingness for a while, feeling Belthazor's eyes on him. However, he didn't notice the red demon was approaching him and put his own hand on his shoulder, making him startle.
"You heard him. Just go to your wife, and relax. We're doing the job here. We're gonna find those demons, promise. Remember it's NOT only your problem. Actually it's probably my fault."
Chris shrugged, and tried to avoid his eyes. "Well, but he could have just told me why he is not ready to set all those cameras... That would have helped."
Belthazor smiled softly, and for a moment he felt so weird... He felt the same way Cole felt most of the time: Chris was just a very grown-up child, and his former other half was like a father for him. And now, he was his father, down there. The man tried to pretend that he was able to manage on his own, but some times he did really need people who supported him and made him feel safe. Actually, his last sentence... 'That would have helped...' Help what? Find those demons, if they put the cameras, or... Or that would have helped him feel better, to know why Julian did not want to do it.
The source winked slightly and patted his shoulder. "He doesn't wanna set those cameras because your house, we can control it. The Underworld is our environment. And the magic school, there we can also control it, through you. But set the cameras out there, in the non-magic world, and we're lost. If they discover them, and they will, they will discover everything about us, about the magic world."
Chris smiled sarcastically: "What does that matter now?"
Belthazor stared at him. "We're gonna fix that," he said, meaning the fact that he had exposed his powers, and ignoring his sarcasm.
"We could fix it with the cameras," Chris insisted. "I am sure they would not have to necessarily discover them. We didn't..."
"But we'd better be cautious. Besides, you never looked for the cameras, Chris." The young witch sighed, defeated. "As Julian said, trust us. We'll find the demons. It's easier than you think, they are demons, and they live here... And we DO have cameras here." He winked again.
It took Chris some second to process the information, but then he smiled weakly: "Okay..." He felt a bit better now. Relieved was the word. Then he frowned: "So why didn't he want to tell me?"
Belthazor burst into laughter: "He hates revealing his tricks! And he likes leading when it has to do with what he masters. Don't tell him that I told you all this, ok?"
Chris laughed softly again, and then nodded, biting his lip. "Thanks," he muttered, "for everything."
Belthazor looked him in the eyes with a grave countenance: "Don't thank me yet. Go back to your family, and keep your little brat silent. I hate babies."
Chris shook his head, smirking. "Sure..." he said, turning his back to him, in order to leave. But then he stopped: "What about the Cleaners? Will I be able to talk to them?"
Belthazor frowned and then nodded: "Your father is on it. That's what Julian told me. Are you sure you wanna do it?"
Chris smirked: "That's my job. No questions." Then he left the room, to see Bianca and the children.

(Chapter 8 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)