Post by StoryGirl83 on Apr 5, 2009 16:32:45 GMT -5
Chapter Fifty-Six – Remembering the Dead
Wyatt listened in absolute shock as Seth informed him of everything his brother had done, as well as everything his brother hadn’t done since the beginning of the year when magic returned. His eyes fluttered shut at the brief mention that was Emily Colson’s death.
Emily looked up as Wyatt sat down in the booth across from her. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite employer’s son.”
“Really?” Wyatt queried. “’Cause I thought that was Chris.”
Emily frowned. “Who?”
Wyatt sighed. “Figures. If my own mother can’t remember, why would you?”
She leaned forward and whispered, “Seriously, Wyatt. What are you talking about?”
“My brother.”
She looked at him confused. “Don’t you only have a sister? Grant you I only met her once, but she was your sister, right?”
“Don’t feel too bad, I’ve only met her twice.” He chuckled, “Which is really weird.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Don’t worry. If I really had a problem, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to find a way to make her stay.”
“Yes, you would have,” Emily argued with a laugh.
“Yes, I would have,” Wyatt agreed, amused.
“So who is this Chris person, really?”
“He’s really my brother, Em,” Wyatt reiterated. “And so far I’m the only one that seems to remember him.”
“Have you stopped to consider that maybe it’s your memory that’s faulty?”
Wyatt shook his head. “Nope. And I won’t. My brother is missing and no one else remembers him. That tells me something is wrong, that he’s probably in danger.” He looked at her across the table, his face serious. “Even though you don’t remember, he’s your friend. I need your help.”
“But I don’t remember him,” she argued. “I don’t know anything about him. I don’t even believe he exists. How can I possibly help?”
Wyatt’s shoulders slumped and he was silent for several seconds. Finally he looked back at her. “Sometimes there are times when only a mortal can do something. I’m not mortal, not in that sense of the word anyway. Yes, I have a limited life capacity and yes I am basically human, but I am also a magical being. There could be times I can’t do things because of that. I don’t want the first time I run into something like that to be now when my brother’s life may be at stake.”
She stared at him for several seconds and as a smile grew on her face she shook her head, almost as if she was trying not to laugh. “How do I resist you? All right. I find a way to get off the rest of my shift. Where should I meet you?”
It had only been a matter of about a week since that had happened. And now Seth told him that Emily had been dead for over two months, that Seth had never actually met her. After all, it had been Chris that had saved Emily from death the day Seth had met her. Without Chris, apparently, neither could happen. When everyone had forgotten Chris, it hadn’t erased his actions, only made people forget them. Right now, Wyatt wasn’t faced with a forgotten brother. He was faced with an evil one.
Next to him Seth sat silent as he waited for Wyatt to absorb everything he had just told him. “It’s very different from what you remember.”
Wyatt nodded. “It’s hard to see Chris as a killer. That’s just not like him.”
Seth nodded. “And from what you told me, it sounds like the Chris you knew wasn’t like that, so what changed?”
“I went back in time,” Wyatt mumbled, shaking his head. “But I don’t remember anything that would have changed Chris.”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can ask Chris.”
Wyatt eyed him surprised. “Do you think that would work?”
Seth shook his head. “No, but it’s all I’ve got right now.”
Wyatt nodded. “Then, I’ll do that.”
“I wouldn’t, not alone.”
“He’s my brother.” Concerned suddenly filled his eyes as he looked at his best friend. “He hasn’t killed someone in our family, has he?”
Seth shook his head. “Not that I know of. Though I think he’s come close with Cilly a couple of times.”
“She can be annoying,” Wyatt admitted.
Seth laughed. “Yes, but I don’t think she was trying to play matchmaker, and that’s when she can be annoying.”
“Don’t I know it,” Wyatt agreed. “Ever since I lost Amber, she’s been trying to find me someone else.” It had been almost a year, but it surprised him at the ease in which he mentioned his missing ex-girlfriend.
“Any clue as to what happened to her?” Seth asked, surprised at the mention.
Wyatt shook his head. “No. And don’t suggest Chris had anything to do with it. He didn’t.”
Seth shrugged. “Considering what you do remember, if you remember that, I’m inclined to believe you.” He stood up and started pacing the room. He sighed and looked at Wyatt. “Look, I’m not letting you face your brother alone. If you want to face him and ask him, then I’m going with you.”
Wyatt shook his head. “And I can’t let you do that. If Chris has been killing witches as you say, then he’s probably been getting their powers, too. You don’t know what they entail.”
Seth shrugged. “I know of a Phoenix, a Firestarter, and a Telekinetic for sure. Start there.”
“I think it was two Phoenix.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Seth argued. “I don’t think he took the powers of either of them. The Firestarter though. . . He took his powers, right?”
“So you say,” Wyatt agreed remembering that same Firestarter coming to them for help.
Wyatt orbed into the kitchen. He looked around and saw his mom looking at him amused. Standing nearby was a man about thirty with dark blond hair. Hugging her arms around his neck was a blonde girl about six-years-old. A dark haired woman stared out the window into the back yard. She looked up as if his presence had just registered. “Where’s Chris?”
“He was busy, so I left a message with Emily,” Piper told him. “She said she’ll make sure he gets here as soon as possible. I think she means to invade my kitchen.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Emily isn’t ready to cook for you. Grant you, she is learning, but she only knows how to make about three items off the menu so far.”
“I know,” Piper admitted. “I called Callie. She agreed to come in. I’m surprised she hasn’t asked for an explanation yet.”
The dark haired woman walked over to stand behind the man. She hugged his torso from behind. “Is this one of your sons, Piper?”
Piper nodded as she turned around. “This is my older son, Wyatt. Wyatt, this is Tyler Westcott, his wife, Miranda, and their youngest daughter, Halli.”
“Hi.”
Tyler turned his head to look at Piper. “I think I’d rather you and your sisters help us.”
“Unfortunately Phoebe is unavailable,” Piper informed him trying not to count the weeks since she’d last seen her baby sister. “I tried calling Paige, but couldn’t get through. I’ll try again later. For now, Wyatt and I are here and we will do what we can to help.”
Tyler sighed. “Okay. As I already told you, Miranda went to get our son, Matthew, for dinner, and couldn’t find him, so she called me. I left our older girls alone in their room and when I returned they were gone. I wasn’t gone that long, less than a minute. I didn’t know where else to turn. I don’t know anyone else in the magical community, but I’m scared. I want my kids back.”
And they had done just that. But according to what Seth had just told them, instead of helping as Wyatt remembered, Chris had come in at the end and he had murdered Tyler and Miranda. And then when their oldest daughter, twelve-year-old Piper, had tried to do something about it, Chris had attacked and killed her as well. It boggled his mind to think Chris could do such a thing.
“Are you all right?” Seth asked, concerned.
Wyatt shook his head. “Not even remotely. I have to find out what went wrong and then I have to fix it.”
Seth nodded his head. “Considering where things are at, I will do whatever I can to help you. Just be careful if we come across your brother. He’s dangerous. Even if he wasn’t in your memory, right here and now, he is.”
Wyatt nodded, reluctantly. “I get that.” And he did, far more than he wanted to.