Chapter Five
"Wyatt, catch!"
The blond young man turned just in time to catch a large box of Halloween ornaments heading his way. "Whoa, Chris, watch it!" he complained, dumping the items into the shopping cart, which was already full to overflowing. The box started to slide off the cart, and Wyatt sighed and steadied it. It refused to stay put, though, and, frustrated, he then grabbed the box and jammed it between a large plastic skull and a witch's hat.
Wyatt's headache had abated in the long while that he and Chris had been seeking out everything on their mother's shopping list. He was grateful for this, but, despite being pain-free, he couldn't help but notice that his thinking still remained a little fuzzy, and he kept zoning out at random moments. It was better than the massive hangover he'd had, though. What might have helped was that he'd quietly whispered a spell to ease his pain as soon as his younger brother had been out of earshot. Technically, he wasn't supposed to use magic for personal gain, but, Wyatt had reasoned that if he was feeling better, he would be able to be more alert and able to protect innocents.
Chris turned up, pushing another shopping cart that was almost as full as Wyatt's. He was holding the long list that Piper had sent with them. A pen was between his teeth, and he struggled to push the shopping cart, hold the list, and pull the cap off the writing utensil. He wasn't quite watching what he was doing, and as a result, nearly ended up banging both carts together, which would have resulted in absolute chaos had Wyatt not stopped it at the last moment.
"Is that it?" Wyatt asked tiredly. He'd spent so much longer than he'd originally hoped shopping for decorations, and even if his headache was gone, he was starting to want to leave the store. In fact, he was wondering whether he could even avoid going home and having full-frontal family time by orbing to the other side of the planet. He sighed. It would probably not work, as his mother would send someone to look for him.
Chris squinted down at the list, trying to decipher Piper's cramped handwriting. She'd managed to squeeze every single item onto the sheet of paper, but had only made her writing nearly impossible to read in the process. "Yeah, I think that's it," he said, glancing down at the carts. He mentally went through the items, comparing them to those on the list. As he looked through the items, he raised his eyebrows. "Wow, I thought we'd never be done," he muttered.
"Awesome," Wyatt stated, his voice declaring the fact that he was thinking that the situation was anything but the adjective he'd just pronounced. "So let's just pay and get out of here." He began to push his cart down one of the aisles, not looking to his sides so as not to be reminded of the torture he'd just gone through while seeking out every item his mother insisted on having.
"Um, Wyatt?" he heard his younger brother's voice, and he turned, one eyebrow raised. His expression was silently sending a warning to Chris, begging him not to say that there was something missing in their carts. "The registers are the other way." Wyatt pursed his lips and simply turned his cart around, following Chris towards the exit. He was most definitely not having a good day.
-)-(-
The bags wouldn't fit in the trunk of the van. Chris and Wyatt had been moving things around for the past five minutes, but they weren't able to stuff everything in. Finally, they had to give in. "We're going to have to fill up the backseat too," Wyatt said, stepping back and looking at the trunk, which was stuffed completely. There was still half a cart of items left, and there was not even a spare inch of space in which to put them in.
Chris frowned slightly, and he walked up to the side of the van, pulling at the door to open it. He hadn't wanted to open it because they would somehow have to arrange the bags all around so they wouldn't shift around and spill the many decorations all over the place, which involved belting bags in without crushing them.
He looked back at Wyatt, expecting his brother to push the cart up close to him so he could start loading the stuff into the van. Wyatt was doing that, but Chris could only focus on the person standing right behind his brother. It was his neighbor, and Chris didn't know him very well. Mr. Jameson, or something of the sort. However, the last time he'd seen the man, he'd had dark eyes, not silver ones. Also, the expression on the neighbor's face was one that wasn't natural and neither was the way he was reaching for Wyatt.
As a mist began to come out of the man's mouth, Chris yelled, "Wyatt, watch out!" Without a single moment of hesitation, he launched himself forward and pulled his brother down onto the ground. As he did so, he felt a tingle in his throat, and he coughed slightly. For a moment, his eyesight blurred, and he blinked his suddenly bright eyes until they returned to their regular green. He looked up to see Mr. Jameson standing in front of him, a confused look on his face.
Suddenly, a woman sprung out from behind one of the cars. Her strawberry blond hair swished around her face as she pulled a dagger out of her pocket. In a fluid motion, she stuck it into the man standing before Chris, and with a surprised "oh," he collapsed to the ground.
Instinctively, Chris waved his arm and pushed the woman away with his telekinetic abilities, while Wyatt finally reacted and knelt next to their neighbor, holding his hands above the wound and watching as the skin stitched itself back together. Mr. Jameson was healed, but fortunately, he'd been knocked out so Wyatt and Chris wouldn't have to explain their magical abilities.
The woman rose from where she'd fallen on the sidewalk, and with a snap of her fingers, vanished into thin air. Chris and Wyatt looked around for a minute, expecting her to reappear somewhere nearby, but she didn't. The young men turned to each other, slightly confused as to what had just happened. Wyatt had just opened his mouth to say something when he gasped and grabbed at his neck, choking on his words. Chris's eyes widened and watched as the woman became visible once more, holding his brother around the neck while pressing a dagger to his skin.
"I don't know who you are, but if you don't surrender that man on the floor right now, I'll cut this guy's throat," she said in a chilling voice. From the seriousness in her tone, both Wyatt and Chris could see that she meant business, although they didn't understand what she would want with their neighbor, Mr. Jameson.
Chris held his hands up, letting her know that he wouldn't harm her. "What do you want him for?" he asked cautiously. It didn't quite make sense; the poor man was a mortal. And yet, just a few seconds ago, a strange silver mist had left his mouth, and the young Halliwell was certain that it had something to do with the reason the woman wanted to kill him.
Chris stepped away from the man, and the woman tossed Wyatt to the ground without any hesitation before kneeling next to Mr. Jameson. Wyatt sucked in a breath as she held the knife dangerously close to the mortal's chest, but, instead of plunging it in, she forced his eyes open with what had once been a well-manicured hand. All at once, she stopped and stood up, now glaring at Chris and Wyatt. She looked angry enough to kill.
(A/N) Uh oh... crazy lady alert! Well, crazy young woman... Anyway, looks like the moment has finally arrived! Chris and Wyatt have fun into the strange woman. But, they still don't know who she is, although, it's pretty obvious she was the power of invisibility. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, What do you guys think? Is she good or evil? Will she help or hinder the brothers?
As usual, thanks to all the people who read this story, added it to their Favorites or their Alerts. Special thanks to my reviewers, who I may or may not have hypnotized into giving me reviews... hmm... I should try that more often. I got so many! Thanks to the awesome people: DarcieBiffo, Guest, onlysemiclueless (your review was so flattering, thank you so much), NoseInANovel, Guest2, and Fanycharmed. You guys are so lovely!
Now, please guys, leave me a review to know if you liked this chapter or didn't. Since hypnotism worked nicely last time, I thought I'd try something similar: If this chapter you did love/leave a review below/make the writer very happy/as your opinion you show... Bah, I'm worse at writing spells than Wyatt. Maybe I should get PJ to help me out, even if her spells do end up sounding like they're from the 15th century. Maybe Mel will be a bigger help. Anyway, you are now under my spell, so you have to review! I look forward to seeing all your wonderful opinions, and see you next week!