Chapter Fourteen

As Chris closed his eyes, waiting for his inevitable doom, memories came up to the surface.

So it is true, he thought to himself, when people are about to die their whole lives flash before their eyes.

The Source was oblivious to the Charmed son's thoughts as he prepared to launch a fireball at the cowering boy. He was convinced that, finally, the witch would be vanquished, and he'd be able to take on the most powerful creature of them all, the Twice-Blessed. This blow would cripple him beyond aid, and not allow him to reach for his almighty magic in his time of need, allowing the demon to have the upper hand and send him following his brother into death. This was easier than he'd thought it would be.

Chris didn't see the demon, as he was immersed into a strange array of memories, some of which he didn't even remember he possessed. There he was at Mikey Morris's birthday, and his mother was hectic with worry over the marble he'd swallowed. Then, he was at school, watching Wyatt dealing with the bullies who'd been bugging him earlier. As he remembered this, Chris's mouth twisted into a grimace. All his life he'd been protected by his brother, his mother, his aunts, everyone. When would he finally protect himself?

The memories kept on coming. His mother nursing him back to health after an unusually severe flu, his first demon fight, his sister's birth. The memories were in no particular order, and they varied from good ones to awful ones, such as the scare Chris had when his grandfather had had to be put into the hospital after his lung problems were detected, or watching demon after demon show up at the house and try to kill the family off.

Chris's thoughts were partially focused on these memories, but he couldn't stop thinking about how he was never able to stand up for himself. In fact, today was probably the first time he confronted a demon alone.

Nice way for a first time to turn out, he said to himself sadly.

But then, a new thought entered his tired mind. What if he used the spell and weakened the Source just long enough for his aunts to come and take care of everything themselves? He didn't have the power to kill this demon himself, but, if his aunts arrived, he could definitely do it. He'd be saving himself, even if he was counting on someone else to come in the end. Chris was going to finally be able to call himself a Halliwell.

Chris opened his eyes. All these thoughts had barely taken a few seconds, and, as such, the Source's fireball was still heading towards him.

Without barely a second thought, Chris sent the fireball heading towards the demon, to distract him, while he ducked down and frantically pulled back his sleeve to start saying the vanquishing spell, which would save him.

The Source recovered quickly, and stood up, growling unintelligibly. However, Chris was ready for him. Standing up straight, the young man held one hand out and began reciting the spell he'd scribbled onto his arm earlier that day.

"Prudence, Penelope, Astrid, Melinda," he chanted.

As he did, the Source realized what he was doing, and laughed. "You really think that you, all alone, will be able to defeat me?" he asked. "You're not that powerful, only your brother is," the demon taunted.

Chris didn't stop his chanting, as he continued reciting his ancestors. The Source's taunts only served to fuel his magic, which he felt pooling into his hand, readying the spell. "Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace," he said, focusing all of his strength into defeating the Source. Suddenly, from his wounded shoulder, he felt a new energy. It wasn't exactly magic, but, brighter, somehow. Chris knew instantly that it was his life force, but, without pausing, added it to the magic in his palm.

The Source launched a fireball, but Chris simply dodged it and continued with his recitation. He only had a few lines left. "Halliwell Witches, stand strong beside us," he said, his voice faltering slightly when he used the last plural pronoun. There was no 'us', he was alone.

The Source felt the slight hesitation, and tried to approach the young witch. However, there was a strange barrier of magic around him, which the demon couldn't penetrate. The ruler of the underworld gasped as he realized what was going on, and quickly tried to conjure up another fireball.

He was too late; Chris was already reciting the last lines. "Vanquish this evil from time and space."

The Source was engulfed in a wave of flames, and he screamed as he felt his body burning away. He couldn't believe that he'd been defeated by the younger Charmed boy, and he growled at the witch one last time before he was entirely consumed.

The flames exploded outwards as the Source was completely vanquished. Chris, too weak to do any more, was thrown against the walls of the room. He felt his head crack against the unforgiving stone, and he groaned, unable to make a louder sound.

The shockwaves then stopped, and Chris fell to the ground. He could barely look up to see his handiwork, but he struggled to get back to his feet, so he'd be able to leave this terrible room. He stared at his hands as he got to his knees, and then to his feet. He straightened as much as he could before taking one step, and then another.

-)-(-

Wyatt had been leaning against the cold and filthy wall, feeling like there was absolutely no hope in the world. His aunts and mother were busy discussing their next step, Piper perilously close to tears. He, however, couldn't even bring himself to cry about his little brother. He felt so lost and empty, as if Chris's disappearance had left a gaping hole in his soul.

"We could always try the 'To Call a Lost Witch' spell," Paige was saying.

"But, if you can't sense him, doesn't that mean that there's a magical barrier stopping us?" Phoebe answered. "We can't get him out from out of there that way."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Piper exclaimed, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "We have to find him."

Wyatt barely listened to the women talking, as he buried his face in his hands, grateful for the darkness that soothed his mind.

Suddenly, a tiny spark flared to life on his radar. It was Chris, Wyatt knew it. He watched the little spark carefully, terribly aware that Chris's energy seemed much diminished and he looked very close to death.

Gasping, Wyatt stood up, and quickly, without any explanation, grabbed the sisters to orb away.

-)-(-

The orbs reformed in a dark room, whose walls and floor had been scorched by flames. There was a place near the middle where an extremely black spot was, probably the source of the whole burning.

Wyatt looked around the room, before noticing a person making his way towards them. His head was down, his hair was obscuring his face, but it was obviously Chris, his little brother.

"Chris," Wyatt whispered, and his mother and aunts gasped quietly beside him.

Piper began walking to her son, her arms out, her face showing the amount of worry she was feeling. "Peanut," she said tenderly. "Are you ok?"

Chris thought he was hearing things when he first heard a whisper say his name. But then, when he heard his mother's voice call him the childish nickname, he looked up to see her, his brother, and his aunts standing there, not too far away from where he'd vanquished the Source.

Too tired to do anything else, Chris managed half a smile, before he felt a darkness intrude upon his sight. Wounded and in pain as he was, Chris gratefully threw himself into the black.

Piper had seen the little smile on Chris's face, and had been looking over his wounds, when suddenly his eyes rolled up in his head, and he collapsed. Piper rushed forward and caught him, staggering a bit under his weight.

Wyatt approached, and helped her lower Chris onto the ground, where Wyatt placed his hand over Chris's limp body to start healing him. There was no warm comforting glow.

"What's wrong?" Piper asked, looking at her son, her brow creased and tears threatening to gush forth once more.

"I don't know," Wyatt said, his face contorted in a grimace as he used every ounce of his will to force his healing powers to work. He could feel them there, but he couldn't access them. "Come on," he muttered, as he held his hands over his brother's body. "Come on," he said in a whisper.

Paige, dreading the very worst, knelt by Chris's side and placed two of her fingers on Chris's neck, to check his pulse. After a few seconds, she looked up, her calmness almost eerie as she said only two words. "He's dead."

(A/N) What a cliffhanger! Can you guys believe that I just did that? Well, yes, I did... sorry... don't kill me! Wait until the next chapter before doing anything drastic!

Anyway, I want to thank the many people who reviewed the last chapter, this story has reached over 50 reviews! I am so excited! Thanks to: Drunk, Nosside, Xander (I wish I could respond to you personally), Patry (still in love with your reviews! :D ), gracelovesglitter, and Funnie. You guys are the best! And thanks to all those who put this story on their Favorites or Alerts. You're the reason I keep writing!

BTW, whoever catches the reference to a Charmed season seven episode and lets me know where the reference is and which episode it comes from, will get a special sneak peek of the next chapter! (send it in a pm, and I'll respond with the sneak peek!)

Please review if you can! I'll see you all next week!