"Demon!" Reese cried out as yet another fireball flew threw the attic, exploding against the far wall. She clung to the back of the overturned couch, her shoulder blistered and bleeding as she flicked out her hand, sending the next fireball hurling back into the demon's face, where it erupted and he disappeared in flames.
"Watch out!" Wyatt hollered as he peeked around the doorway into the attic, raising his arms and blowing up two of the demons that had just shimmered into the room but the other two were faster and shimmered out before one shimmered in again behind Reese. She instantly smelt the foul stench of the demon behind her and she swung with her leg out in an arch and tripped him, sending him slumping into the floor where she smashed a vial of potion against his face and he exploded into fire. It wasn't long after though that the second demon shimmered in beside Reese who was still crouched on the floor behind the couch but he didn't move to attack but only smiled at her evilly and said, "Compliments of Barbas" and shattered a vial against the wooden planks of the attic. A vapour lifted from the floor and slivered up Reese's nose and down her throat and was gone in an instant. She coughed as the foul smoke rose into her face before astral projecting behind him and grabbing another vial of potion from the side table and throwing it at him. It shattered across his back and he shrieked and exploded into fire. Reese returned to her body and turned in time to see Wyatt blow up the last demon before he helped Chris to his feet who rubbed his bruised temple with a grimace.
"Everyone okay?" She asked, trying to steady her breath and moving her burnt shoulder awkwardly. Both Wyatt and Chris nodded as Wyatt raised his glowing hands to Chris' temple until the pain in his eyes and the cut across his head were gone. Reese looked around the room and sighed at all the damage, overturned chairs and broken vials scattered across the floor, potions spilling out and some now completely empty from being used in the attack. When she looked up again she noticed a strange woman standing beside Chris with her arms slung around his neck, rubbing his chest seductively and smiling up at her and her brows furrowed deeply at Chris' unchanged stance and asked, "Who the hell are you?" Her voice was loud and angry, jealousy ringing true in her voice before she could stop herself. Wyatt was observing all of this by Chris' side, a perplexed expression crossing his face.
"Me? Reese, don't you know who I am?" Chris wondered, thinking maybe she had bumped her head or been put under some kind of spell that had caused her to forget who she was.
"No! Her!" Reese spat, biting back some seriously foul names that she wished to call this snake of a woman draped all over Chris. But as soon as she pointed to the seductress who had begun to kiss his neck, she was gone and both Chris and Wyatt were looking at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Who? Reese, there's no one here! Maybe you bumped your head..." Wyatt said, coming toward her and noticing the blistered wound on her shoulder and the absent look in her eyes.
"Chris, she's been hit." Wyatt explained, turning to Chris as he walked quickly over to Reese and winced at seeing the burns across her shoulder.
"She. Stopping talking about me like I'm not here! I'm not crazy, I know what I saw!" Reese said all at once, clearly angry that neither Wyatt or Chris believed that she had seen someone. Chris of all people should definitely have been more trusting.
"Here, let me heal that for ya." Wyatt said casually, placing his hands over her wound before she could even comply.
"I don't want to be healed!" Reese fought back, pushing Wyatt's glowing hands away from the gradually smaller wound across her shoulder.
"I saw a woman standing beside Chris with her hands all over him. What I want is for you to believe me!" She continued, her voice still rising til she was almost shouting at them.
"Ree, of course we believe you if you say you saw something. But let Wy heal you just in case, okay?" Chris offered and she glared at him.
"You two are unbelievable." Reese said with a shake of her head then turned on her heels and exited the attic.
Reese turned on the faucets and let the hot water flow into the tub, causing copious amounts of steam to fill the cosy bathroom and she breathed in deeply, hissing as the pain in her shoulder flared up at her movements before removing her jacket and observing the wound in the mirror. It didn't look as painful now, having been half healed by Wyatt but it was still enough to cause Reese a considerable amount of discomfort. She sighed and returned to the tub, leaning over to turn off the taps absently, instantly feeling hands erupting from the water and pulling her down. Reese plunged into the tub, her shoulder colliding harshly with the faucets and causing her to scream in a combination of pain and terror as the hands pulled her under. Fingernails felt like fire against her skin as the water began to cloud with her blood and she screamed again, bubbles rising from her mouth as she tried to suck in air and felt the searing burn of water down her throat, her chest on fire as she thrashed beneath the surface, trying desperately to push herself up and escape. Reese struggled to open her eyes, the hot water stinging as she desperately tried keep her eyes open, to not give in to the black spots dancing in her vision. Suddenly she felt the hands retreat and her body rose to the surface and she realised Chris had his arms wrapped around her back and Wyatt had a firm grip on her legs and collectively they pulled her out of the bath, her legs slipping over the rim where she crashed in a heap on the floor, Reese hacking and choking up mouthfuls of water as Chris knelt down beside her.
"What the hell happened, Ree?" Wyatt burst out, concern washing across his face at how close one of his best friends had come to drowning. Chris on the other hand had pulled her into a sitting position and wrapped his arms protectively around her as she huddled with her legs up against her chest, shaking wildly.
"Something pulled me under. There was something in the water." Reese blurted out, her voice shaky and her eyes terrified. Wyatt peered into the tub sceptically and said, "There's nothing in here, Reese."
"Just like there was no woman in the attic! Clearly you can't see what I'm seeing but I definitely didn't pull myself into a tub full of water and almost drown. Something is happening to me, I don't know what..." Reese explained, trailing off as she shook her head then her brows furrowed and she muttered under her breath, "Barbas."
"Barbas? He's dead, Ree. Mom, Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige vanquished him even before I was born." Chris explained but he saw Reese's eyes well up with tears and she merely shook her head and said, "No. He was the one who killed my Mom. I just never told you..." He looked at her then as if he had been slapped in the face and she saw the betrayal written clearly across his face and it made her stomach drop.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me Barbas was still alive!?" Chris spat at her, turning her shoulders to face him completely, his eyes glittering with anger.
"Chris, I couldn't. I-"
"You couldn't!? All this time, everything we've been through and you couldn't tell me that one of the most powerful, manipulative demons in the Underworld is still alive!?" He continued, his voice rising in rage as he clutched tightly to Reese's shoulders and shook her.
"Chris, stop it!" Wyatt bellowed, watching as Reese shrugged Chris' hands from her shoulders and got to her feet, her eyes frightened and filled with a deep sadness.
"Why the hell should I, Wyatt? She lied to us, she lied to me. How could you!?" Chris erupted, his voice loud in Reese's ears as he rose also and she flinched back at the overwhelming hate radiating from him.
"You want to know why I didn't tell you? Why I've kept this a secret for so long?" Reese queried, her voice angry, determined and filled with pain. Her question was rhetorical but her answer stung Chris deeply.
"Because if he finds out what my greatest fear is, he'll kill you!" Reese watched as her words made Chris' face soften and she saw the hate and anger disintegrate from his eyes.
"That's partly why I left too. I knew his power was increasing, I knew he would be after me next. I couldn't risk losing you because of what he would do to torment me." Reese explained and both Wyatt and Chris saw the determination in her eyes. All those years she had been protecting them and they hadn't known.
"You were protecting us? Babe, we're the Halliwell's, we could have handled it!" Chris said, a half cocky smile playing across his lips and Reese couldn't help but smile back.
"I couldn't risk it. And now he's been in hiding so long I just assumed we were safe from him. I should have known better." Reese explained with a shake of her head, clearly trying to think of what his next move would be now.
"I'm sorry but I'm still stuck on the fact that you just called Reese babe. What is going on with you two!?" Wyatt queried in exasperation and he saw the sheepish look come across Chris' face and Reese bit her lip nervously.
"Um, well, you see bro, we..." Was all Chris managed to get out before Wyatt's eyes lit up with shock and his eyebrows rose considerably.
"Ew!" Wyatt replied, his face scrunched up in disgust and Reese stifled back laughter.
"Oh yeah, Wy, again and again." She said sarcastically, winking at him.
"And again." Chris chimed in, seeing the completely mortified look on Wyatt's face.
"I don't want to know! Stop talking!" Wyatt demanded, putting his hands over his ears and leaving the bathroom where both Chris and Reese were smiling and laughing. He poked his head back in momentarily and said, "Congratulations!" before disappearing again.