Charmed: Heritage – 114 – When Two Wrongs Make a Right

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 6, 2017 13:05:58 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

Oha, so this package is for Wyatt. Not good for him, if even the demons are afraid of this package. I take it one of these three will also attack Chris.

Nope. They don't want to get near Wyatt of Chris, so no direct attacks from them. I think. At least one goes rogue, so I'd have to double check what he does.

---

Chapter Twenty-One – The Invader

Addison stood in the hallway of Wyatt and Chris apartment building. She looked at the door and concentrated on it. She heard a click and smiled as she turned the knob and walked into the apartment. “Easy as pie,” she commented as she walked through the door and shut it behind her. “I am surprised they do not have better security.” She chuckled. “I suppose when someone can just appear into their place they are not too concerned about the front door. That is all the better for me.”

She glanced into the room on her left. She blinked in surprise at the disaster it appeared to be. Clothes were tossed everywhere and the bed was unmade. “Astounding. Grown men and they live like this. I suppose I should be glad I do not have any brothers.”

The room on her right was a living room of some sort. It seemed to be in much better shape, though there were some papers strewn around on the coffee table surrounding a lap top. She walked into the room and looked at the papers. They appeared to be for a college class on Psychology. At the top the name “Christopher Halliwell” was written in neat letters.

“Interesting,” she commented as she put them down. “My new co-worker is a psychology student. I wonder if that is by his choice or that of the college.” She smiled and headed out of the room. She saw the kitchen through the doorway, but decided to take a look at the rest of the house first.

There were two more doors in the hall. The one in the middle proved to be a tiny bathroom. There was a wet towel hanging from the shower rod and the soap had fallen onto the floor. She rolled her eyes before she closed the door behind her. Such a mess.

Then, she opened the last door and her eyes widened just as much as before, except for a very different reason. There might be papers on the coffee table, but in Chris’ room, nothing was out of place.

She just stared for several seconds. This was not at all what she expected after seeing the rest of the apartment.

Deciding it was time to get on with it, she took the vial out of her pocket and headed into the kitchen. She pulled open the refrigerator and looked around. There was a neatly packaged sub sandwich with the letter “C” written on it. Hoping that stood for “Chris” she took the sandwich out and put it down on the counter. She unwrapped it and pulled out the vial. She looked at it. “How did I get into this mess?”

She pushed her conscious aside. She didn’t need nor want it anyway. It was much more fun without one. She opened up the sandwich and tipped the vial, letting the contents drip onto the sandwich, watching as it blended in with the sandwich. “I hear you are smart. You had better be.”

She closed up the sandwich and rewrapped it to look exactly like it had before. Then, she put it back in the fridge, adjusting it until it sat within a millimeter of where it had been before. She looked at it carefully and nodded quietly. “That will work.” She closed the fridge and headed back into the hall. Once she was out the door, she closed it behind her and turned around. She looked at it and concentrated until she heard a click. She tried the door. The knob turned, but the door didn’t budge. The bolt in place, she concentrated again until she had heard another click.

With a slight smile on her face she walked down the hall toward the elevator. She was about halfway there when her smile fumbled. You want to keep your powers, you’ll figure it out. I’m not risking Arielle. A little voice in her head rang back a warning, Who says demons will keep their word? Addison ignored it and kept walking toward the elevator. She was through here and she hoped never to see this place, again.

[Chrisaholic]

Oh my! So she was in the boys' apartment and it seems that the dirty room belongs to Wyatt and the clearer one to Chris. Addison seems to be impressed and we will see if she assumed right - with the sandwich. It could also happen that Wyatt is the eater.

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 7, 2017 8:09:19 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

Oh my! So she was in the boys' apartment and it seems that the dirty room belongs to Wyatt and the clearer one to Chris. Addison seems to be impressed and we will see if she assumed right - with the sandwich. It could also happen that Wyatt is the eater.

Yep, she certainly was impressed by that. We will see soon enough about that sandwich, but the boys aren't home yet, so for now, back to what they are doing.

---

Chapter Twenty-Two – Internal Strife

Brianna was waving a scrying crystal over a map. She looked very tired.

“Maybe a bigger map,” Aka suggested.

Brianna glared at her. “You want to do this?”

Aka wrinkled her nose. “You know I can’t.”

“I can take over for you, if you’d like,” Wyatt suggested.

“It wouldn’t matter,” Brianna informed him, dropping the crystal on the map. “They’re not in San Francisco. And they’re not in the surrounding area. They’re probably in the underworld.”

“That’s a big leap,” Wyatt reminded her amused. “After all, we may think San Francisco is the whole world, but it’s not really true.”

“Maybe so,” CT announced coming in, “but I did use a globe and whenever I got something it was always here, in this area. So they’re around or they’re in the underworld as she suggested.”

Wyatt looked at the three of them. “If you two are witches, what are your powers?”

“Empathy,” Brianna informed him with a shrug. “You are seriously uptight, by the way.”

“I’m not used to this,” he informed her.

She glanced around. “This what?”

“He means your relationship with Max, in case you are curious,” CT informed her. “And the fact that I’m part witch, part demon. They make him nervous.”

Wyatt frowned, his eyes narrowing.

“Why?” Brianna looked Wyatt surprised. “After all, his best friend is a demon and he’s a witch.” She paused and looked over at CT with a glare. “And what relationship with Max do you mean? We’re barely speaking to each other. Why does everyone assume we’re dating or something? Even Devia called him my boyfriend. We’ll in case you missed that, I’m not dating . . . Max.” Her voice had been escalating with every word until she noticed Max standing in the doorway.

For a moment there seemed to be hurt in the man’s eyes, but it was gone almost before anyone noticed, but CT noticed it and interpreted it correctly. Wyatt saw it and wondered. Aka was perhaps more watchful than one might think, but in that moment her back was turned and she knew nothing of what went on.

And Brianna only saw only what she wished to see and pain in her friend’s eyes was not one of those things. She did recognize that she shouldn’t have said that quite the way she did. “You know what I mean, Max. Don’t you ever get tired of everyone assuming we’re dating?”

“Is that what they think?” he asked in a monotone. “Because it’s not or at least not from what I see. It’s not that they think we’re dating. It’s that they think we should be.” He glanced at CT before looking back at her. “And they’re wrong. You should never date me.” Without waiting for a response he turned around and left the room.

CT scowled. “He was here for a reason. I’ll be back. Aka you know what to do about the scrying.”

“But I can’t scry,” she protested.

CT shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They,” he waved his hand at Wyatt and Brianna, “can and you know how to deal with the map issue.” He headed for the doorway.”

“Wait.”

CT turned to look at Wyatt. “Yes?”

“He said she shouldn’t date him,” Wyatt pointed out in a voice low enough that Brianna couldn’t hear him. “Did he word it that way on purpose?”

CT looked at him for several seconds, debating how to answer. Finally, he dipped his head in a quick nod and left the room.

Wyatt turned his head and looked at Aka. “He said you know what to do about the scrying. Do you?”

Aka sighed. “Yeah, sort of. I’ll be back. I need to talk to his dad.”

“You could just bring his dad here,” Wyatt suggested as he walked over to Brianna and her scrying crystal.

Brianna glared at him and pulled the crystal away.

“She’s kind of possessive of her witchcraft,” Aka commented. “Since the rest of us don’t have any, it’s her thing and she doesn’t like others to interfere.”

“What about CT?” Wyatt asked confused. “I thought he was a witch, too.”

“Yeah,” Aka agreed hesitantly, “but he . . . it’s complicated. Sean’s the only witch influence any of us have. B . . . CT simply doesn’t spend that much time with Sean, so he doesn’t really know that much about his witch half. He . . .” she laughed as she finished, “. . . is miserable when it comes to trying to cast a spell, so instead of trying to learn better, he just let’s Brianna deal with that stuff. His witch power is one of those they call a nonactive power, so between the two, he’s pretty sad when it comes to witchcraft.”

“That’s not really true you know,” Brianna interrupted. “Since magic came back and he actually had access to his powers, again, he’s used that nonactive power to save our lives more than once and the lives of those we protect.” She gave Aka a look. “A little like your nonactive power. It’s quite useful. It just can’t be used to injure an enemy.”

Aka chuckled at that. “As if yours can.”

“I never claimed it could,” Brianna reminded her. “I’m well aware that my power is nonactive. I eagerly await the day we fix CT.”

Aka laughed harder. “Yeah, what will he be left with?”

“You have too much time on your hands,” Toby informed them as he entered the room. “I believe CT had something for you to do, Aka.”

“On it,” Aka grinned as she vanished in dark orb lights.

Toby shook his head. “It amazes me how fast she get’s sidetracked.”

“She wasn’t sidetracked,” Brianna informed him. “She just knew it was pointless.”

“It’s what CT asked her to do.”

Brianna rolled her eyes. “Do you always do what he tells you to?”

The quick shake of Toby’s head had Wyatt biting his lip to keep from laughing.

“And I suppose you don’t have someone who you would follow pretty much without question?” Brianna queried. “Your parents? Your brother? Your best friend?”

Wyatt nodded slightly. “I see your point.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You?”

Her eyelids fluttered closed, her head bows slightly away, and her teeth nibbled at her lips. When she opened them and looked up she said in a whispered voice, “Max.”

Toby looked at her startled. “Are you kidding me? You would . . .”

Wyatt pulled him around to look at him causing the words to die on Toby’s lips. “Really? Why?”

Toby frowned, not sure what the question was.

“If she trusts him,” Wyatt commented looking at him confused, “your friend, why should you question that?”

“You don’t know Max,” Toby reminded him. “He doesn’t always think rationally.”

“And when it comes to her?”

Toby frowned and his breath hissed between his teeth. He nodded. “Yeah, okay. “

“Tell me something,” Wyatt requested letting Toby go. “Do you usually lose your temper?”

Toby shook his head. “No, you’re special.”

Wyatt chuckled. “I am pretty sure I can take that to not be a compliment.”

“You got that right,” Toby agreed.

“Did you have a reason for joining us?” Brianna asked, sounded a might impatient.

“His friend,” Toby announced pointing at Wyatt, “decided to go check the underworld for clues. Doesn’t he realize they eat nice guys for breakfast?”

“I don’t know,” Wyatt commented thoughtfully. “He pretty much lived there for about four months. I think he’ll be fine. Is he looking for something specific?”

“Their identity to start with,” Toby admitted, taking in Wyatt’s words, “and maybe their location.” With a curious look at Wyatt he asked, “You think he can?”

Wyatt shrugged. “He didn’t do so well with the last demon he tried to track there, so who knows. Stranger things have been known to happen.”

[Chrisaholic]

Mmh, so Wyatt can be friends with this strange group of friends. And they got to know each other better - with all this knowledge which is useful in that case. Let's hope for the best here!

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 12, 2017 10:39:51 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

Mmh, so Wyatt can be friends with this strange group of friends. And they got to know each other better - with all this knowledge which is useful in that case. Let's hope for the best here!

The potential is there. We'll see what happens.

This next chapter has a fun spell.

---

Chapter Twenty-Three – A Spell to Make a Map

Dark orbs swirled around the room and Aka reappeared. In her arms was a small stack of paper and a pencil was tucked behind her ear. She sat the papers down on top of the map Brianna had been scrying with. “It is difficult,” Aka commented, “to get your average witch to talk to a darklighter.”

Brianna snorted. “Someone from my coven?”

Aka nodded. “And I wouldn’t have even gotten that far with them except Daemon was their playing basketball and he recognized me.”

Brianna smiled fondly. “But what were you doing there? That’s not where CT sent you.”

“No,” Aka agreed, “but it’s where his dad sent me.” She pointed a finger at the papers and pulled out the pencil. “Cast that spell on me.”

Brianna raised an eyebrow and examined the spell. She frowned and looked up. “What’s it do?”

“It allows someone to be able to draw a map of any part of the underworld that they’ve seen.”

Brianna’s frown grew as she shook her head. “Then, you are about the last one I would cast this spell on. Of all of us, you have probably seen the least amount of the underworld, myself included.”

Aka shook her head. “You’re wrong you know. I’ve spent a lot of time down there trying to figure out my power. How better to learn to identify darkness levels and colors then to spend time in some place that only has dark colors?” She smirked a little as she added. “Except it’s not all darkness down there. I guess I’m not the only one with reason to go down there other than evil intent. And you’d be surprised at some of the dark colors I saw, things you would never think of as evil.” She shrugged. “The point is that I have seen a large amount of the underworld.”

“Max is probably our best bet though,” Toby commented, “seeing as he didn’t even leave the underworld until he was thirteen.” He walked over to the table. “If you don’t mind I’ll take this stuff to Max and CT. CT can cast the spell, I guess.”

“Have you ever seen him cast a spell?” Aka asked, sounding amused.

Toby nodded. “Sure. I’ve never seen him write one, but I have seen his cast spells written by others. It’s not like it’s hard to cast a spell so long as you are a witch or warlock and he’s definitely a witch, for all that we almost never see evidence of it.”

“Is she really that bad?” Aka asked, softly.

Toby shook his head. “I don’t think even CT thinks that. He’s never been able to confront her about it, so the hurt is pretty deep, but I think he intellectually understands what she did.”

“She who?” Wyatt asked, confused.

Toby looked at him startled, clearly having forgotten that he was there.

“Did a witch hurt your friend?” Wyatt looked at them both. He saw that Brianna was trying hard to ignore all of them by studying the spell.

Toby frowned and blew out a breath. “I’m not really supposed to talk about it. It happened a long time ago and isn’t really relevant to what’s going on right now.”

“Except because of it your friend won’t use his witch powers,” Wyatt returned.

Toby shook his head. “I don’t think his witch powers would be much use in a battle and if things stay on this track, we aren’t going to have a battle anyway. You can’t have a battle if you can’t find the enemy. And he’ll cast this spell on Max, because he’ll know what will happen if he doesn’t.”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What will happen if he doesn’t cast it?”

Toby glanced at Brianna. “Brianna will cast it.”

Wyatt frowned. The answer didn’t make sense. Remembering the conversation earlier, he wondered if maybe it did.

[Chrisaholic]

What kind of secrets are these guys hiding? It's certainly confusing Wyatt since he doesn't know their history and all but he has to trust them in this case. What is Chris doing, by the way?

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 13, 2017 13:10:50 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

What kind of secrets are these guys hiding? It's certainly confusing Wyatt since he doesn't know their history and all but he has to trust them in this case. What is Chris doing, by the way?

You know, I'm not really sure what Chris was doing in those last couple chapters, but he's back in this one, so my guess is he was standing in a corner being very quiet. It's possible he was in another room, but I'd say definitely in the house.

All manner of secrets and there's more coming in this chapter. Wyatt is trying to figure it all out and eventually he will, but for now this is where they are at.

---

Chapter Twenty-Four – Map of the Underworld

It was an hour later when Max finished the humungous map spread out on the floor. The spell had worked quite well, but it had Aka bursting into laughter as she looked at one very blank spot surrounded by passages.

“Okay, I have to ask,” Aka had informed the glaring demon. “Do you know what’s in there?”

Max nodded as he stood. “Does that help, Bennett?”

Wyatt and Chris both noticed the collective intake around them as Toby, Brianna, and Aka stared at him.

CT merely raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever called me that before?”

“I’m not in the mood for games right now,” Max informed him.

CT shook his head. “I guess I missed something. This isn’t about, well . . . what is it about?”

Max appeared to consider the question and then he stood and walked over to a coffee table that had been pushed to the side of the room to make room for the map. He picked up a newspaper and handed it to CT.

CT took the newspaper and looked threw down the front page. After a moment he looked up and said one word. “Go.”

Max frowned. “But . . .”

CT shook his head. “Go.”

“What’s going on?” Toby looked between the two worried.

CT ignored him. “Max, go.”

“You’re sure?”

CT nodded.

Max straightened up and in a shimmer of air he was gone.

“What was that about?” Toby asked taking the paper from CT. He scanned it until something made him pause. He looked up and in a questioning voice said, “River?”

“My guess would be no,” CT replied as he looked over the map. “For all his tough act and grant some very evil acts, he’s only seventeen and doesn’t really have the expertise for this. However, I would guess that’s it is one of Max’s siblings since it clearly concerned him and it looks to be the work of a snake demon.”

“Puncture wounds could mean a spider demon, too,” Toby reminded him.

“Spider demons wouldn’t get him so concerned,” CT reminded him.

Chris looked at Wyatt. “Do you have any idea what they are talking about?”

“I’m beginning to,” Wyatt admitted. “Get that scrying crystal. I’ve never tried with a map this big, but I rather doubt they’re going to be much help right now and if they are right and these demons are trouble, then I don’t really want to waste time.”

Chris nodded and headed out of the room. He was careful not to step on any more of the map then was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately as big as it was, it was impossible not to step on some of it.

Aka plopped down on the couch next to Wyatt. “Sorry about all this.”

Wyatt glanced at her, not sure how to respond.

“I’d say we don’t usually have this much drama going on, but . . .” she shrugged. “It would be a lie. Yet another good reason for us to avoid the magical mainstream.”

“Can you answer a question?” Wyatt requested.

She wiggled her lips around, though it was clear she was actually trying to move her nose. “Maybe,” she hedged finally. “What’s the question?”

“Max is a demon, full demon unlike you and Toby,” he glanced at CT, “and CT, I believe. So any siblings he has are demonic. Yet, he’s going after something that he thinks is caused by them. Does he think he can redeem them?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. Daemon is certainly redeemable, but then Daemon is half human and he lives with a witch couple, so he’s kind of in a good position to start with. River . . . I don’t know. Both of them are still rather young, but then Max is only twenty-six and he’s older than any of his father’s other children. Max’s father is a rather new ascender to the throne of the snake demons. He killed his father about seven years ago.”

“His father killed . . .” Wyatt stared at her.

She nodded. “Whatever you think is a messed up childhood, try Max’s. I don’t even think I have a bad one in comparison.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged. “I was about four days old when my mother apparently decided I was too dangerous to live.”

Wyatt’s eyes widened. He saw his brother reenter the room and waved him away. He wanted to know what she had to say.

Chris acknowledged Wyatt with a nod and decided to take his own hand at the scrying. He stared down at the gigantic map and sighed. There was no easy way to do this.

“It was a long time ago,” she informed him as she looked at a lamp next to her, a frown on her face. “I’m told that I dark orbed just as I was about to die and landed in front of Toby and CT.” She smiled at a memory she clearly had only been told about. “B . . They tell me that I just appeared on the couch as they were walking toward it. Toby was all of three. CT was the grand old age of four. They were visiting a place that had belonged to CT’s grandparents years ago when his dad was a child. It’s been empty for years, so sometimes he goes there to think. Sometimes he takes Toby with him. I followed them once.” She rolled her eyes as she looked at the two friends who were at that moment looking through a stack of newspapers for the rest of the article that had caught Max’s attention. “They were playing chess. Most of the time, though, he goes alone. We’re not really sure who owns it, but it sure isn’t CT, so it’s trespassing I guess, but no one seems to care.” She smiled. “I guess for the most part I had a normal childhood. CT’s dad raised Toby and me with CT like we were his own. He’s the only really parent I have. Anya Wilkinson sure wasn’t a parent to me and if she saw me, again, she’d kill me given the chance. Drayin, my father, is long gone. I found that he was vanquished shortly before magic stopped, several months before I was born.” She stopped and looked at him. “But I’ve been talking for quite some time. Tell me about you.”

Wyatt opened his mouth to reply, but a voice from the other side of the room stopped him.

“Anyone want to fill in the blanks?” Chris called from across the room.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him. He was sitting on the map with the crystal firmly in the middle of nothing.

[Chrisaholic]

So, Chris has success with the scrying whereas the others tell about their lives before they met. Definitely complicated relationships, though in that case the Halliwells would be easy to deal with. lol Strange though that the crystal landed in the middle of the nowhere as it seems.

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 14, 2017 9:13:07 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

So, Chris has success with the scrying whereas the others tell about their lives before they met. Definitely complicated relationships, though in that case the Halliwells would be easy to deal with. lol Strange though that the crystal landed in the middle of the nowhere as it seems.

Yeah, once they have a map to work with, the scrying wasn't too hard. It was getting a map. Definitely complicated relationships. Wyatt wants to know more of what he's dealing with when it comes to them and he's really not sure if he should be trusting them yet. Even if they really are on the side of good, they still are a volatile bunch.

Hehe. Yep. There's a reason that it lands in the middle of nowhere though as you will see shortly.

---

Chapter Twenty-Five – Blinking

Flashback

CT snorted. “Of course it would be some place that Max hasn’t been. Anyone?”

Brianna walked over there and looked down at it. “I think Aunt Kayla had a map that went off that point,” she informed them pointing to one spot where map ended, “but it dead ended in a room there.” She pointed again not far from the first spot. “So I know you can’t get through that way.” And everything else seems to dead end around it.”

“Who’s Aunt Kayla?” Chris asked, looking up at her.

“I’m kind of in two covens,” Brianna informed him with a shrug. “One’s more like honorary membership, which is more than enough for me,” she informed him with a shiver, “but they’re my mom’s friends, so some of them insist I call them Aunt or Uncle. Aunt Kayla was my mom’s best friend. Uncle Ry called me his shortcake. It was utterly ridiculous, but made me smile. Aunt Shora always says I need to teach her how come I got blinking naturally and not one of her kids got it.” She stuck out her tongue. “The thing she never got was that I don’t have warlock powers. I never did.”

Wyatt looked at her wide eyed. “Did you just say you can blink, but it’s not a warlock power? Everyone knows it’s a warlock power.”

Brianna shook her head. “Everyone knows wrong then. Warlock’s can get it sure, but it’s just a magic power that either warlocks or witches get.”

“But all warlock’s have it,” Chris protested.

---

“Are you sure you don’t want me to just take you home?” Leo asked his son. It had surprised him when Chris had asked him to drive him back to The Manor. He had figured Chris would want to orb there to pick up his car or even pick it up the next day. And then he’d thought maybe Chris had wanted to talk, but Chris hadn’t said a word the entire way there.

Chris nodded. “Yeah, thanks, Dad.”

“Is everything all right?” Leo pressed.

Chris shook his head and blew out a breath. “I’m not sure. I’m just wondering if I made the right decision.”

“Tonight?”

Chris shook his head. “No, last week with Emily.”

“Did something happen?”

“She was spying on some people,” Chris informed him. “She called the manor to let me know that she thought there was something magical about them. I don’t want her spying on people. I don’t want her involved at all. She’s an innocent.”

“One who you involved when you saved her life,” Leo reminded him.

“What if she would have been fine?” Chris asked. “What if all I did was to expose magic?”

“Is that what you think?”

Chris moaned. “I don’t know what to think. I just know she has no way to protect herself against magic and I can’t let her risk her life if she can’t even defend herself. She has no idea what’s out there?”

“Then, I guess it’s up to you to either convince her or to figure out how to protect her from herself,” Leo commented.

Chris sighed. “Thanks for the ride, Dad.”

Leo smiled. “Be careful heading home. You’ve had a long day.”

Chris nodded. He headed across the parking lot to his black Corolla and leaned against it. He heaved in a deep breath.

“I was wondering when you’d return,” Bianca Holbrooke announced as she came out of the shadows by his car. In her arms she carried her daughter, Ashlyn.

Chris looked at them in surprise. “Bianca? What are you doing here?”

“Lawrence and I thank you for getting Ashlyn back, but Ashlyn wanted to thank you.” She raised a questioning brow.

Chris nodded.

Bianca looked down at her daughter. “It’s all right, Sweetheart,” she told her daughter as she put Ashlyn down.

Ashlyn walked over to Chris. “Thank you for bwinking me home.”

Chris frowned. Did she just thank me for blinking her? He looked over at Bianca. “Bwinking?”

“Ashlyn thinks everyone who can travel magically does so by blinking,” Bianca explained. “She doesn’t understand the difference between that and orbing or shimmering or any other form of magical transportation.”

Chris frowned deeper as a thought occurred to him. “Why didn’t Ashlyn just blink home?”

Bianca looked him straight in the eye as she informed him that, “Ashlyn can’t blink.”

---

She had gone on to give him a short explanation that many had the ability to blink by unnatural means, Bianca included, and that it usually required the death of a witch, something she had refused to allow.

Now listening to Brianna he understood just a little more. Bianca could blink because a spell had been cast and a witch had died. In contrast, Brianna could blink because she had been born that way. For some reason she simply had two abilities that appeared to have nothing to do with each other. It certainly happened. Look at his Aunt Phoebe or their ancestor, Melinda Warren. Both had three unconnected abilities. Of course he knew that Phoebe had not been born with three abilities.

“So if you were born with the ability to blink, were you also born with empathy?”

Brianna shook her head. “Like with Aka’s abilities and CT’s . . . natural ones . . .” when Chris frowned at her, she shook her head. “Never mind. Some abilities he came into very young and some only recently. I imagine you’ve had similar experiences and so has most everyone else born in the decade or so before magic stopped.”

Thinking of his surprise at finding out he could turn himself invisible, Chris inclined his head. “That’s true enough. So what do we do with this?”

Brianna looked at it and held a hand up. “Wait a moment.” She heaved in a deep breath and blinked. Except the only blinking she did was closing and opening her eyes. She sighed. “Well, I can tell you one thing you aren’t doing. You aren’t going straight there.”

“Straight where?” Seth asked as he fully materialized behind her. Looking down at the map his eye bugged out. “Wow! That’s pretty impressive.”

“Yeah, except all these blank spots,” Brianna retorted.

Seth picked up the pen and glanced at her. “May I?”

She nodded. “By all means. If you know what goes there.”

Seth started drawing some lines in. He drew all around where the crystal had fallen. And when he had finished the crystal was surrounded on all sides by walls. He looked up at them and asked. “Who’s in the psych ward?”

---

You will note that no spell was cast on Seth to allow him to draw things on this map. Unlike what Max did when he drew the map (because at present it is drawn by Max other than what little Seth does here) where he was magically guided by the spell to fill in what his mind knew even if he couldn't consciously remember it, Seth did what he did completely from memory. Sure he did very little, but this means he has conscious memory of the layout of the area he drew, which is also why he knows exactly what is in the blank spot.

[Chrisaholic]

Interesting that Seth knows what's in that blank spot but a psych ward? Good that Chris remembers about blinking from Bianca and also now Brianna. But who could there be? Seth seems to know the underworld very well.

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 19, 2017 10:28:16 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

Interesting that Seth knows what's in that blank spot but a psych ward? Good that Chris remembers about blinking from Bianca and also now Brianna. But who could there be? Seth seems to know the underworld very well.

Seth just spent the last four months there, which is more time than Brianna has spent there. Max has spent a lot of time there, which is why he's the one who made the map, and Seth never could have made a map as complete as that, but Seth was down there looking for totally different things than Max who essentially lives down there which is why Seth knows about this and Max doesn't. Seth was looking. Max wasn't.

---

Chapter Twenty-Six – More Insults and Good-Bye

“Psych ward?” Brianna asked, uncertain she heard correctly.

“Well, I guess isolation chamber might be more accurate,” Seth admitted as he looked down at the map, “but if I remember correctly, it’s generally where they dump crazy demons who they’d prefer not to kill, the ones with the powers that are both rare and hard to control. Basically they want the powers around and they don’t want to deal with controlling them, so the demons who have them are protected and if they go crazy they dump them there and hope they work it out.”

Brianna groaned. “So our demons are crazy. Great.”

Seth chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so. Does that mean we’re done? You really don’t want to attempt to get in there.”

“That makes no sense,” Aka announced. “They were up to something. This isn’t over.”

CT looked down at the map and then up at Aka. “Maybe Max was right. Maybe they just wanted dinner and took the opportunity to try and get under my skin. Maybe that’s all this was.”

Aka shook her head. “You’re wrong, but if that’s what you want, I’m going home. I’ll find out what they are up to and I’m going to get some help from someone who actually knows what goes on down there.” She disappeared in dark orb lights.

CT turned to look at Wyatt, Chris, and Seth. “I don’t know what to tell you. Aka may well be right, but I’ve heard of this isolation chamber Seth is referring to. If they’re in there, then they aren’t getting out. I’m going to try and retrace their steps, but it’s not going to be easy. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this if you hadn’t grabbed Toby,” he added looking at Chris. “It’s not easy to deal with your kind.”

“Our kind?” Wyatt asked, insulted.

CT nodded. “Those who don’t understand what it’s like to have evil pulling at you.” He looked at Seth. “And I don’t see that in you. For someone who’s half demon you seem to not take notice of it much. You use your powers, but you don’t really care where they came from.”

Seth shrugged. “What’s the point? They are there. Unless I get them stripped, they aren’t going anywhere and this,” he stuck out his tongue, “sure isn’t going anywhere.”

CT laughed. “Max says that’s a blessing and a curse. Personally I’m quite glad for Max’s forked tongue. It’s noticed some rather interesting things in the air.”

“Yeah,” Brianna retorted. “One time Max flicked out his tongue and was immediately incapacitated. Apparently there was a heavy dose of knockout gas in the air. His reaction gave us the chance to get out before it affected the rest of us.” She sighed. “Look, we kind of dragged you into this. Do you want dinner or something?”

Seth shook his head. “I can’t stick around. I’ll see if I can find out anything about who’s in the isolation chamber, tomorrow. It was interesting meeting you.” Turning to Wyatt he said, “I have to pick something up at your place. Meet you there?”

“Actually, I won’t be there,” Chris admitted. “I have to go get my car.”

Seth considered this. “I’ll meet you at your car then. I could use a relaxing car trip.”

Chris shook his head smiling. “Suit yourself.” He glanced at his brother. “Wy?”

“Sounds good to me,” Wyatt admitted. “I’ll meet you there.” He orbed out.

Seth grinned and shimmered away from there.

Chris looked around. He walked over to Toby and held out his hand. “I’m sorry I ignored you. I can’t say anything was accomplished here, but I’ll listen next time.”

“Are you sure you want to shake hands with me?” Toby asked, remembering Chris reaction to learning he was half darklighter earlier.

Chris reached down and grabbed Toby’s hand. “Yes. You aren’t actually poison to me unless you want to be and even then you kind of need some tools.”

“No, actually I don’t,” Toby denied. “I can’t do the whole conjuring a bow and arrow, but I do have the touch of death as it’s called. I don’t generally get that angry, that hateful, but it’s there.” He smiled a little and shook Chris hand. “You know, it was good to meet you. I’ll see you around.”

Chris looked at him surprised, but then chuckled. This wasn’t the first time he had ran into Toby. He doubted it would be the last.

Toby’s reply was not what he expected though. “I like your mom’s cooking and I didn’t get to eat my dinner tonight. I’ll be back for dinner.

Chris chuckled. “Well, then I guess I’ll see you around.”

Toby nodded. “Be careful. You never know what’s out there.”

Chris nodded as he looked at the others in the room. “I’m not really sure what we accomplished either, but I guess I should thank you for your concern. I suppose it’s nice to meet you.”

CT chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like a typical reaction. And I can’t say I can do it one better. It was better meeting you and your brother than I suspected it would be.”

Chris gave him an astounded look. “You thought about what it would be like to meet Wyatt and me?”

CT shook his head. “No, just your family in general, the family of the Charmed Ones, the fighters,” he waved his hand around indicating his friends, “of demons.”

“Oh,” Chris shrugged. “Well, there’s Seth. And I’m pretty sure Aunt Phoebe married a demon.”

“Half demon,” CT snapped, moving toward him.

Chris looked at him surprised. “What?”

“Your aunt’s ex-husband was only half demon,” CT informed him. “He had a human father.”

“Um,” Chris frowned at him. “Okay. I’ll see you around.” He disappeared in blue and white orbs.

CT’s face changed instantly, like a mask dropping off his face. Pain etched his face and he clutched his stomach.

[Chrisaholic]

Oho, so there's a reaction, yet still that they came together and could conclude some facts is amazing. Let's see how it goes on.

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 19, 2017 11:45:37 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

Oho, so there's a reaction, yet still that they came together and could conclude some facts is amazing. Let's see how it goes on.

Oh, definitely. It's not just, ho hum, psych ward.

This story is almost over, so you'll understand what I meant about it becoming part one of a three part story, because it really does lead into the next very directly.

---

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Behind the Mask

“Ben!” Toby exclaimed, taking a step toward his best friend.

“Are you okay?” Brianna asked concerned, almost at the same time. “Can I help?”

“No,” CT shook his head as he walked backward into the couch. “No, you can’t help.” He allowed himself to fall against the couch and closed his eyes still clutching his stomach.

“Have you been feeling like this all day?” Toby asked, worry in his voice as he walked over to the couch.

CT shook his head. “No, since January off and on.”

“January?!” Brianna exclaimed startled. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Aka would have just worried and fretted,” CT informed them. “Max has too much on his mind. You have Devia to worry about. And I just didn’t want any of you to know.”

“We can’t help you if you don’t tell us something is wrong,” Toby reminded him.

“My dad’s dying.”

Toby and Brianna stared at him stunned. The subject of CT’s pain was forgotten.

“What? No,” Brianna protected. “He can’t die. He can’t.”

“He’s human, Brianna,” he reminded her. “No one’s meant to take what he’s taken all these years, but least of all a human.”

“How long does he have?” she asked as she sat down next to him. “Do you know?”

“He still has some time, a year, maybe two, but then what?” He dropped his head down. “He says the average guardian lives about twenty-five years. He’s been there twenty-two. I’m going to lose my dad.”

“We’ll fix it,” Brianna decided.

“You can’t fix it,” CT argued. “He gave his word. He made a binding contract for me. He can’t get out of it. And you can’t help him get out of it. He won’t let you.”

Brianna scowled. “He should have found a different way.”

“And leave me to the “tender” mercy of the demons that kidnapped me?” CT gave her a look. “No thanks. They did enough damage in the time they had me. You think I want this?” he asked as he held out his hand and fire streamed from it. He closed his hand and the fire evaporated before it hit anything. “You think I want to be a demon. No, thanks.” And then he flamed out.

“Is he crazy?!” Toby exclaimed, staring at the spot where his best friend had vanished from. “They’ll trace him.”

“And do what?” Brianna retorted. “Follow him home? What demon in their right mind would follow him there?”

“This one,” Toby announced before he dark orbed out.

Brianna sighed and walked over to the map. She picked up the crystal. “Looks like it’s just me. And I don’t think three demons are all going to be in an isolation chamber, so I’d better see if I can find the other two. And then I am going to have a long talk with his dad. I suspect he knows what’s wrong with his son.” She looked down at the map. “Now how do you find a demon who doesn’t want to be found?”

[Chrisaholic]

So, that was the reason for his reaction at Chris' handshake. Toby knew the risk but that he feels it is very strange. And if Brianna is going to succeed with her mission, we will see.

P.S. Have you maybe forgotten anything this year?

[StoryGirl83]

Jan 23, 2017 10:19:44 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

So, that was the reason for his reaction at Chris' handshake. Toby knew the risk but that he feels it is very strange. And if Brianna is going to succeed with her mission, we will see.

P.S. Have you maybe forgotten anything this year?

Toby would have to really hate Chris to hurt him by just touching him. He just mildly dislikes him, and it's mostly not personal to Chris so much as it is he isn't a fan of the Halliwell family.

Yep, Brianna's mission will go on into the next story.

Happy Birthday! Sorry I forgot to mention it. Hope you had a great day.

---

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Returning Home

Chris had arrived at The Manor’s parking lot and found Wyatt and Seth waiting, leaning against his car.

“Took you long enough,” Wyatt commented.

Chris shrugged. “You didn’t have to wait.”

“Sure we did,” Seth informed him. “I’ve been doing so much shimmering lately I don’t even remember what it’s like to ride in a car. I don’t think I’ve been in one since last year.”

Chris gave him a look and climbed into his car. Eighteen years ago when it had been brand new, Aunt Phoebe had bought it for Uncle Coop. That hadn’t exactly gone so well, since Coop hadn’t needed a car, but it had worked out for Chris, getting an almost new fourteen-year-old car when he was eighteen.

They drove home in relative silence, Seth actually falling asleep in the back seat. Chris wondered what Seth had been up to that had exhausted him so much. When they reached the apartment and Chris parked his car he was surprised when Seth followed the inside and into the elevator.

It wasn’t until they stepped out of the elevator that Chris brought up the topic of the day they had just spent. “Well, that was pointless,” he commented.

“Not completely,” Wyatt countered. “We found some rather interesting allies and . . .”

“Are you sure they’re allies?” Seth queried.

“Aren’t you?” Wyatt returned.

“Not sure, so,” Seth shrugged. “Some of them have some bad tempers.”

“So does my mom,” Wyatt laughed.

“Still,” Chris agreed, looking at them, “they’re pretty strange.”

“And cryptic,” Seth added.

“Yeah,” Chris agreed. “What’s up with that girl? She talks in riddles.”

“If you mean, Aka,” Wyatt said stopping and looking at them both, “I think she has a naïve way about her, but she’s been told to keep certain things from people and she’s not really sure how to refer to those things without saying it out right, so she talks around them until someone figures out what she means.”

“They seemed to know what she meant,” Chris pointed out.

“They know her,” Wyatt reminded him with a shrug before he started walking again. “And they are probably frequent subjects when it’s just them.”

“However that worked out, it was an off experience,” Seth commented as they reached the apartment door. “Here’s where I stop. Dad’s girlfriend’s going to be over tomorrow night.”

“Drama queen Danielle?” Wyatt queried remembering the first time he met Derek Silberman’s girlfriend.

“That’s the one,” Seth confirmed.

“How’s Peter with that?” Wyatt asked.

Seth snorted. “Amazingly less interested than I am, which means I have to fake enthusiasm. She’s his mother,” Seth spat out in disgust, “but the woman can’t even fake interest in my little brother. Meanwhile, I’ve neglected him for months, so I’d better get home and assure him that I haven’t vanished, again. I probably won’t be around for a while. Call if you need me, but Peter’s going to need me tomorrow.”

“I guess that means we need to reschedule the movie,” Wyatt commented, unsurprised.

“Yeah,” Seth chuckled, “that didn’t go so well. Next time we’ll tell the bad guys to take the day off, ‘kay?”

“Sure, sure,” Wyatt laughed. “And if they listen, I’ll be worried.”

Chris rolled his eyes and unlocked the apartment door.

“I think my little brother is trying to give us a hint,” Wyatt commented, amused.

Chris ignored him and headed into the apartment.

Seth glanced around and grinned at Wyatt. “See you later.” With that he shimmed out.

Wyatt smiled and headed into the apartment, closing the door behind him. He could hear Chris in the kitchen.

You want anything to eat, Wy?” Chris called out as he rummaged through the fridge.

“Na,” Wyatt returned. “I have to get up early to help Nathan with something at the Museum. I’m going to head to bed. Good night, little brother.”

“Knock off the little brother stuff,” Chris yelled back.

Wyatt ignored him and headed into his room.

Chris went back to looking through the fridge. He pulled out his sandwich and put it on the counter. He grabbed a tumbler out of the cupboard and set it down next to the sandwich. He filled it with juice from the fridge and closed the fridge. He grabbed up his sandwich and the tumbler and put them both on the table.

He sat down and took a sip of the juice. A frown crossed his face and he put down the tumbler. He started for the living room, but stopped half way there and stuffed his hand into his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. After a moment he was listening to an answering machine. When he heard the beep he heaved in a breath. “Hi, Mom,” he began. “Just called to let you know we’re fine. See you tomorrow at work. I love you.”

Chris closed his phone and stuffed it in his pocket before sitting back down. He picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

The End

If you'd like to see what happens next just click here and enjoy.

[Chrisaholic]

Oha, so Addison's plan seems to work when Chris eats his sandwich, as predicted. Yet if these three become friends with the others, it's still doubtful.