I am soooo sorry. I havent updated for absolutely ages n ages n ages. I'm not quite sure what happened there but i've just been really busy lately.
Anyway, lots of thanks to JadeAlmasy, Nathy1000000, Sparkling Cherries, tima and Kitty-Witty-Kate for reviewing!
And yes this is set in the original future.
Hope y'all enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter 7: The Second Surge
"What the hell happened down there Morris?" the voice angrily demanded.
"I don't know, sir." Darryl replied down the phone, as civilly as he could, "Terrorist attack, gang warfare, we just can't tell. All that we know is that a lot of people were killed yesterday, brutally."
"The thing is, a fact that almost disturbs me as much as the murders, is talk that the perpetrators were, how shall I put this…? Not human."
"I've heard the rumours sir." said Darryl carefully, "And we are looking into them."
"Hmmm. Discreetly I hope. The media is having a field day with this already, let not fuel their appetite anymore shall we?"
"Yes sir." Darryl agreed woodenly.
"Good. I shall expect reports when anything new comes up. Immediate reports."
"Yes sir." replied Darryl again.
Darryl dropped his head into his hands for a brief moment, his eyes closing in tiredness. It was all getting out of hand. Magic and demons were on the verge on being exposed and he had no idea what to do.
Actually that wasn't quite true, Darryl mused, he always used to call on the sisters when something…strange, came to his attention. Hopefully Chris would know what to do.
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"Lord Wyatt?"
The demon answered the summons with his head slightly bowed.
"Ah, Dracnis, come in." instructed Wyatt, raising his head from the parchments covering the smooth marble desk in front of him.
"How may I serve, my Lord?" enquired Dracnis in his customary oily tone.
"I have a job for you." Wyatt told him, suppressing a shudder at the demons grotesque, bulbous eyes that scanned the room, his watery gaze looking everywhere but at Wyatt.
"A job?" Dracnis repeated, his flickering tongue slithering over his lips appreciatively.
"Yes." Wyatt fixed his gaze on Dracnis for a moment. The demon was about as repulsive as they got and Wyatt could never tell if he was being disrespectful or not. Not that that mattered. With any luck Dracnis would be vanquished during the takeover, saving Wyatt the problem of disposing of the demon should he get above his station.
"I want you to take your troops and position yourselves so that you are ready for instant transportation to the city hall at my word." commanded Wyatt.
"Of course, my Lord." Dracnis' eyes focused sharply for a moment before resuming their constant darting, "May I enquire as to the purpose of this order?"
Wyatt clenched his teeth to stop himself from cursing the impertinent demon. "Your orders for now are to do as I say without questioning." Wyatt ordered harshly, "Further instructions, should I wish to disclose them to you, will be relayed when necessary."
"As my Lord wishes." replied Dracnis, dipping his head slightly, though Wyatt thought he could detect traces of amusement in Dracnis' face.
"Leave." barked Wyatt, trying not to display the revulsion he felt. He wanted to get rid of Dracnis as soon as possible; he didn't trust the demon, although he had been recommended as a good fighter and a witch hater.
Dracnis nodded before exiting the room, a guard from outside closing the door behind the demon.
Wyatt clenched then relaxed his fists, trying to dispel his anger. 'Soon.' he consoled himself, 'Soon, nobody will dare disrespect me.'
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Chris eyed the murky potion apprehensively. "Are you sure this will work?" he asked, "I mean…it looks a little…"
"Yes?" Prue placed her hands on her hips, indignant, "It looks a little what?"
"It looks quite disgusting, to be frank." Chris wrinkled his nose, as the fumes wafted towards him.
"Well if you want to become invisible then I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with it." retorted Prue unsympathetically, "Unless you can come up with a better idea to find the book."
"Uh." Chris began, before hearing the phone ring from downstairs, "Let me just get that." he finished, hurriedly escaping from the attic.
"Hello?" he asked into the mouthpiece.
"Chris? It's Darryl. We have a problem."
Chris groaned, "Got quite enough to deal with here, thanks." he told Darryl.
"Well this one is big. And I mean huge." replied Darryl grimly.
"Go on." Chris sighed.
"I had a report from one of my officers. He attended an incident with his partner where neighbours reported hearing sounds of a fight. Inside he found a demon attacking a young woman. Both the woman and his partner were killed."
"That's terrible." Chris said, "But this has been happening all over the city, what…?
"It's not so much the actual incident, although that's bad enough," cut in Darryl, "It's that one of my officers now knows about magic and demons. And so will everyone else who witnessed an attack yesterday. And everyone who they told. And…"
"Ok, ok." Chris stopped Darryl, "I can see where you're going with this. Magic will be exposed. But I don't get it. Why aren't the cleaners erasing their memories?" he thought aloud.
"The cleaners? What now?" sighed Darryl.
"Oh, never mind." apologised Chris, "So how…"
A loud crashing sound accompanied by a chorus of screams and shouts could be heard over the line.
"What the…?" exclaimed Darryl.
"Darryl?" Chris listened with growing horror as the screams got louder and even through the phone, Chris could hear the fear in them.
"Darryl!" Chris almost shouted into the phone.
There was no answer.
Prue appeared at the top of the stairs, "Chris? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
"I don't…" Chris stopped short as the noise from the police station was cut off by the dial tone. "Darryl's in trouble." he told Prue grimly, replacing the phone in its cradle.
Chris ran up the stairs and grabbed Prue's hand. "Let's go."
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"The second stage has begun." stated Wyatt, his cold eyes travelling the circle of demons standing in front of him. "You all know what to do. Orders have been passed down. There is nothing stopping us this time. This time we will attack and conquer. Fully."
"Forgive me, my Lord." A demon spoke up nervously, "But the Elders…"
Wyatt let out a derisive snort. "The Elders?" he mocked, "The Elders have been weakened by our earlier attack. They are confused and leaderless. They cannot stop us. But do not for a moment think that we are leaving them be. Their deaths will come. Once we have secured our place in San Francisco then their time will be up." Wyatt lifted his head to the rocky ceiling, "Let them try to stop us!" he called challengingly, "My plan has been too long in the making for their paltry defences to stop me. Let them try. And let them see how futile their efforts are!"
"Hear, hear." the words echoed throughout the circle, issuing from the evil grins twisting the faces of the demons.
Wyatt lowered his gaze to encompass the circle before him. There was a wild light in his eyes. "So go." he hissed, "And bring me San Francisco."