"You will be punished with the worst punishment for never have the intention to have him."

5. Punishment

7:00

"CHRIS!!!"

Piper woke up on her bed. The number on her alarm clock just jumped to 7. 7 in the morning of Sunday. Sweat wet her clothes. She jumped out and rushed to her children's rooms.

"Chris!"

"Mom, it was Sunday…" He said sleepily and hid his head under the pillow. Piper found her nearly plunge to her son. She held him tightly with his blanket still around.

"Thank God. I'm so sorry, Chris. I'm so sorry."

"Okay, okay, mom. I'm up. Let me out. I need to breathe." Chris struggled inside the blanket and Wyatt woke up in his bed.

"Mom, what were all the noises?"

And immediately he was pulled into his mother's arms.

"You two know that I love both of you the same, right? So does Melinda, right?" Piper whispered and kissed all over her sons' faces. It's just a nightmare. It's just a nightmare. She repeated in her mind.

"Yeah, yeah. We know, mom." Wyatt returned her hug without any hesitance. Inside the blanket, Chris stopped his struggling for a second. But with all the excitement, that moment didn't catch Piper's attention.

5:00 PM

Piper whistled a song while cooking her special soup on the fire. As always, Chris helped her with preparing the table. And the other two children played in the living room.

"Mom?! Can I ask you a question?" He put the dish on the table and turned to her, said timidly.

"And what is it, honey?" Piper continued mixing the soup.

"Why you never look into my eyes?"

All of the sudden, the wave of memories wrapped her mind, whipped her heart with the feeling of guilty and failing. The spoon on her hand fell and bumped to the pot, causing a loud noise.

"MOM! DEMON!"

Mel shrieked from the living room. Without thinking, Piper rushed to her. The moment she reached to the door of the living room and saw the woman without a face was the moment she knew she had took the wrong action. Wyatt had already activated his shield around him and his sister even the no-face woman just standing no harm in the center of the room.

"Mom, where's Chris?" Wyatt asked her.

Piper turned her head just to see the soul piper with its fully opened eyes lock with her own eyes. Chris stood next to it with eyes full of unshed tears.

"Why you never look into my eyes?"

The gate to hell opened again with all the frightening screaming. Piper said under her breath, begging quietly.

"It's not like that, Chris. I love you. Please believe me."

With his head shaking, thousands of iron chains came through the gate tied up his small body. Chris closed his eyes and let him fall down into the hell.

Piper dropped to her knees. The scene around her swirled around and disappeared. She lifted her eyes to find herself in the blackness. Not alone but with the no-face woman. She stood over her, looking down at her.

"Please, please don't hurt him. Please give him back to me. Please!"

Piper gripped the panel of her kimono and wept.

"I won't. But you did. You betrayed him."

"No, no. It's because you tricked me. It's you who wants him believe that I don't love him." Piper backed off with her eyes burning with rage. She waved her wrist again and again but the no-face woman just simply came closer to her. Finally, she gave up, let the demon lift her head up. They faced each other and Piper stunningly glued at the face gradually forming. Her own face.

"Face the truth, Piper Halliwell." Her own voice sounded.

"I said you had brought me here. You don't remember, do you? You past by my picture and I could feel it. I could feel your disappointment about your second son. Your feelings brought me here. Your feelings about Chris. The son always reminds you of how horrible you had treated his older version, of how you would fail your children in a possible future, how you had lost to your horny instinct in one night stand and then conceived him. He is the shape of all your failure. You're afraid of looking at him, looking into his eyes. Even he can notice it. So face it."

The demon transformed fully into Piper's figure while she was talking. Looking down at the pathetic face of the defeated witch, she said venomously.

"I gave you a second chance but just as I knew, you failed him again. You pushed him to hell, not once, but twice. While I was weeping over my children's death, you betrayed your own blood. While I was writhing with the pain of losing my children, you denied of becoming his mother. You threw away the greatest right that human can ever have, the right of becoming a mother."

She stood up and walked away. Piper could see a light from the end of the dark becoming bigger and bigger.

"No, please give me a chance. No, no."

She touched her face with her two hands.

"NOOOO!!!"

Blackness swallowed her silent screaming. She plunged her body toward, crying in her mind.

"GIVE ME BACK MY FACE!!! GIVE ME BACK MY CHILDREN!!!"

The woman with her face turned her head one last time.

"Piper Halliwell, you were punished for never have the intention to have your own child."

She took the step out of the square of light, left the new nothing woman scratching her own face. Blood wet her fingers and ran down on her face. She crawled on her knees and hands to the only door to the world outside. Invisible wall stopped her. Outside she saw the woman with her face playing with her children at the ground. She lifted Chris up high and looked into his shining green eyes.

"I love you so much, Chris. All of you."

They walked together, away from the weeping woman in a world full of guilty and darkness.

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Sorry for the delay. I was busy with going to Japan, moving out of my old room and moving in a new one. Hope that this final chapter still keep your attention. Thank you for all your supports.