Post by StoryGirl83 on Jan 5, 2010 11:59:15 GMT -5
Chapter Eighteen – The Joys of Scrying
Flashback
Chris closed his phone and turned to look solemnly at his brother. “The bounty on us must be huge,” he commented as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “Vera is taking steps to keep Bianca out of this battle.”
Wyatt frowned at him. “I take that to mean Bianca was on the other line.”
Chris nodded. “Vera kidnapped her daughter.”
Wyatt’s frown grew. “What are we going to do? Did she say?”
“I got the idea that she’s not sure we should do anything, but she’s also not willing to let Vera win and she believes us capable.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “And will she let us rescue her daughter.”
“She’ll let us try,” Chris confirmed. “She’s not that confident in us.”
“Do we know where Vera might have her?”
Chris shook his head.
Wyatt sighed. “So we need to find that out. Scrying?”
“Makes sense,” Chris agreed. “But how? Ashlyn’s not a demon and neither is Vera.”
“But they are both witches, aren’t they?” Wyatt returned. “Or Ashlyn is and Vera’s a warlock. At least that’s how I understood the explanations I heard.”
Chris nodded slowly. “I suppose that’s true.”
“So we can scry for them,” Wyatt argued. “I am sure we can scry for witches if we something of theirs. To be honest I’m not sure it even matters what someone is so long as you have something of theirs to scry with.”
Chris looked at him, unsure. “I suppose, maybe. But I’m pretty sure you’re right about witches though.” He sighed. “Which means we need something of Ashlyn’s, because it doesn’t matter where Vera is and I don’t know if we could get something of her’s anyway.”
“So we need to go to the Holbrookes.”
Chris frowned at his older brother. He looked at various machines monitoring him. “No, I suspect we don’t need to do anything. You leave here and the doctors will come.”
Wyatt scowled. “I’m fairly certain I could get around normally. My legs seem to be working right again.”
Chris shook his head. “No can do.”
“Are you going to be okay with going to her house?”
Chris scowled at him. “I’ll be fine. I don’t have much choice. That little girl needs our help.” Before Wyatt could argue anymore Chris orbed out.
Chris reappeared in the front room of the Holbrooke’s house. Lawrence looked at him startled and then watched in utter fascination.
Chris raised an eyebrow at him. “You’d think he’d never seen a whitelighter orbing before.”
Bianca looked at her husband thoughtfully. “You know, I don’t think he has.”
“Really?” Chris looked at them surprised. “Seriously?”
Bianca smiled weakly. “Well, Phoenixes don’t have whitelighters, so it’s not something that comes up much.”
“Oh.”
“But why are you here?” Bianca looked at him concerned. “If Vera finds out, you are putting Ashlyn in danger.”
“My wife is trying to help you and your brother,” Lawrence added, “and I realize you don’t think you need it, but she will do as she promised. She will kill Ashlyn if she finds out you are here.”
“And that’s why I’m not staying,” Chris informed them. “I’m only staying long enough to ask you for something of Ashlyn’s to scry with.”
Lawrence frowned and looked at Bianca. “What is he talking about?”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t know what scrying is either.”
“It’s never really been needed in what I do,” Bianca shot back. “What makes you think you can scry for my daughter?”
“My brother.”
“Huh?”
“He’s convinced that it will work and he made a good case for it, so I’m inclined to agree with him.”
“What do you need then?”
“Something of Ashlyn’s, something close to her,” Chris said thinking. “A toy, a piece of jewelry, if she wears any, an article of clothing, even a lock of hair.”
Bianca nodded and ran out of the room leaving the two men alone.
Chris looked, uncomfortably, at the man who, in a sense, had replaced him. “So how long have you and Bianca known each other?”
A small smile curled onto Lawrence’s face in remembrance.
It really was beginning to look like he was going to die. Lawrence glanced over at his oldest brother, Brandon. “Get out of here, Brandon. It’s me she seems to want.”
Brandon shook his head hard and swung the piece of metal piping he had found at the intruder. “I’ve seen enough movies to know if you see the killer’s face they are going to kill you. If I’m going to die anyway, I’d rather die trying to keep you alive.”
The woman, Vera they later learned, easily avoided Brandon’s blow and threw a knife at him. Then she side stepped some falling boxes and took aim at Lawrence.
The knife was headed straight for him, but before he could duck out of the way another woman appeared in front of him and grabbed the knife. “Are you really ready to make this into a fight, Vera?” the younger woman asked.
Vera stepped back and grabbed Brandon by the hair. She yanked him to her and put a knife to his neck. It was only then that she fixed her gaze of the newcomer. With her free hand Vera swiped her black hair out of the way and glared at her. “Truly? Again? Don’t you have anything better to do, traitor?”
“Traitor am I?” she asked looking at her amused. “We’re witches, Vera. Seems to me I’m not the one who’s a traitor.”
“Witches?” Brandon mouthed at his brother.
Lawrence shrugged.
“And I don’t see what could possibly be better than saving a life. Can you?”
“Don’t get in the way of my bounty, Bianca.”
Bianca waved a paper about. “You mean this bounty? It’s been canceled. I would have been here sooner, but it took a while to determine what he wanted and how to get it. You still want to fight this battle?”
Vera scowled. “You will regret this, Bianca. I don’t like losing money.” With that she blinked and disappeared.
Bianca turned to the two brothers. “I’m sorry about that. Unfortunately one of you made some enemies that decided they wanted him dead. I think I’ve dealt with that, but I can’t guarantee he won’t try, again.”
“But how did you know she was trying to kill Lawrence?” Brandon asked looking relieved. “And what did you mean about being a witch?”
Bianca smiled. “I had hoped that you missed that part, but I guess it would difficult to miss how I arrived or how she left, so I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m Bianca and yes, I am a witch.”
“About six years, I guess,” Lawrence told Chris as Bianca returned to the room.
Bianca walked up to them and held out a small doll blanket. “Ashlyn got a doll this last Christmas, but the only thing she ever played with was this blanket. For some reason she simply adored it, so you’d better return it.”
Chris nodded as he took the blanket from her. “I will.” He looked at Lawrence. “I will get your daughter back.” And then he orbed out.
Chris reformed in his parents’ attic, the home of the Book of Shadows. Right now, though, it was not going to be of much use. He could recite what little it said on Phoenix without much thought, could probably write additional information if he was so inclined, and probably should. He hadn’t though and now was not the time for that.
He put the little doll blanket on a table that had been set up for making potions and went in search of a map. After finding one he spread it out on the table next to the blanket and went after a scrying crystal. This proved to be slightly more difficult, but in the end it took only a matter of a few minutes to find all the things he needed.
As Chris picked up the blanket and hung the crystal by a string from the same hand he heard the door to the attic open and looked around startled. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his dad.
“I thought we left you at the hospital,” Leo commented, gently.
Chris nodded. “We got a call from Bianca. Vera went after her daughter.”
Leo frowned. “I see.” Motioning toward the scrying crystal, he asked, “Is this to find her?”
Chris nodded. “She’s just a little girl. She’s not part of this and she shouldn’t be.”
“Being a child never stopped evil when the child was magical,” Leo reminded him. “Sometimes not even when the child wasn’t magical. There was a warlock who went after a pregnant co-worker of Prue’s to get at the baby. And a ghost who tried to kill an infant. Neither child was magical. None of their doing.” Leo shrugged. “Well, perhaps the first one was the baby’s doing since the warlock was a time traveler.”
Chris chuckled. “A little much of that in the magical community, isn’t there.”
“A little much of that in this family,” Leo returned. “I should probably head back downstairs. Your mother is waiting for me.”
“Tell her I said, ‘hi’. I know she’ll ask.”
Leo smiled. “She will. We’ve been talking ever since we got home.”
Chris raised an eyebrow and looked curious at his dad. “About what?”
“Different things.”
“You mentioned it for a reason.”
Leo nodded. “I have been considering something for several weeks and I wanted to run it past your mom.”
“What’s that?”
“I am seriously considering going back to school in the fall,” Leo informed him. “I didn’t get very far as a youth, but I think I should return.”
“Go back to school?” Chris looked at him startled. “No offense, Dad, but you are, what, one hundred?”
“One hundred and three,” Leo replied without hesitation. “Or I will be in a couple of months. I don’t look that old, nor do I feel it. I admit that I am a bit old for medical school . . .”
“Medical school,” Chris looked at him stunned. “You are going back to become a doctor?”
Leo nodded. “I believe I am. It will take several years, even if I take extra classes, and even if I was as old as I look, I’d still be older than probably everyone else in school, but I am being drawn toward it. I will let you know when I am certain, but I think that this is something I need to do.”
Chris stared at him for several seconds, but before he could react anymore he was jerked as the crystal found its home. He looked down at the map. He stared for several seconds and chuckled. “Salem. Great.” He looked up at Leo. “Dad, do we have any maps of Salem, Massachusetts? I need to scry for Ashlyn there.”
Leo nodded and headed for the shelves. “Think about what I said.”
Chris nodded, but under his breath he mumbled, “I’m thinking of quitting my one class and my dad wants to take on a full load.” He watched his dad over by the bookshelf. “Well, at least he has a goal in sight. I never had that.”