Post by StoryGirl83 on May 17, 2009 21:40:53 GMT -5
Chapter Twenty-Three – Insanity Plea
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The halls of Kendale’s Home for the Insane were devoid of people, though a scream in the distance proved someone was about. It wasn’t so much the scream of someone in trouble, but that of someone frustrated by the padded walls that kept them in. A door from one of the padded rooms opened and a man walked out. His short slick hair was the color of snow. His eyes were unnaturally wide and the color of hardened amber. As he walked down the hall his skin changed to a minty color. A smirk grew wide on his face as he walked toward his next patient. He stopped and turned toward a door, his skin changing back to a peach color, but it stopped before it finished.
The air nearby began to move and distort and revealed Chris with one hand extended and the other clutching Piper’s hand. Chris breathed a sigh of relief as his hands dropped to his sides. He pulled out an athemé out of its sheath at his side.
“That’s quite a useful power,” Piper commented.
“Yeah, well it took you two hours to figure out how to use it, so I don’t even want to guess how long it’s going to take me to master.” He took the athemé and grabbed Sjelmikser’s right wrist with his free hand.
“I should do that,” Piper’s voice halted him.
Chris frowned and looked at her. “How come?”
“If this works two things are going to happen,” Piper reminded him. “Your brother will be back in his body with his powers and that hand will explode, probably injuring him. He can’t heal himself.”
Chris sighed and backed off. “Hurry, though. Even though it’s your power, I can’t freeze as long as you.”
Piper nodded and handed him a potion bottle as she took the athemé from him and grabbing the wrist of the demon to steady the hand, she stabbed the athemé deep into the center. She held it there and waited as the hand turned red around the wound and the red spread out in a circle encompassing the whole hand. Piper let go of the hand and backed off as two things happened at once, time resumed and the hand exploded sending Piper reeling backwards into a wall. The athemé clattered to the floor.
Chris collapsed into a heap, the potion dropping from his hands and shattering by his feet.
Two pale green orbs rose out of them and dozens of other green orbs of varied shades collected around the demon, splitting as they arrived into blue and yellow orbs of varied shades and careening at the speed of light away from there. As two sets of pale orbs entered Leo and Wyatt’s bodies, blue-white orbs spun around behind the demon turning into Paige.
“Wyatt? Leo?” Paige called, grabbing the demons attention.
Wyatt waved his hand weakly in the air. “Here, Aunt Paige.”
Paige nodded and threw a new potion at Sjelmikser. The demon stared at her, a bit stunned as he exploded into millions of pieces and splattered green goo all over the white walls of the asylum. Paige started toward Leo, who was closest to her when she heard a squeal of joy.
Leo moaned, but didn’t move.
It was enough to bring Paige’s attention back to her brother-in-law. She ran to his side and dropped to her knees as nearby Wyatt tried to push himself up.
“Am I me?”
“If you are Wyatt, as you said a moment ago, then yes.” She held her hands over Leo’s head and a warm, golden glow emanated from them, beginning the healing of a nasty cut running along Leo’s temple.
Wyatt pushed himself up against the wall. “How’s Dad?”
Leo’s eyes fluttered open. “Did my wife fling me against the wall?”
Paige chuckled. “I sincerely doubt that was her intent.”
Leo’s smiled a little. “I think we need to get out of here.”
“Let me out of here,” called a voice from one of the padded rooms.
The three in the hall looked at each other. “She’s probably one of his victims,” Wyatt commented.
“It won’t help her if she breaks out though,” Paige reminded him.
“Can you help her?”
Paige shook her head. “Coop . . . but that of no use right now.” She sighed. “Where are they?”
“It’s only been a nine days,” Wyatt reminded her. “They planned to be away twenty-eight.”
“Something’s wrong, very wrong. I just know it is.” She sighed, again, and helped Leo to his feet. “I’ve got some contacts. I’ll see if I can get them to reevaluate everyone here. Hopefully any victims of the demon who are here will be released. When we get home, I’m going to call the girls and see if they have had any luck. It isn’t like Phoebe to not call any one.”
“I’m sure she’s all right,” Leo tried to assure her, though his voice lacked a little in the conviction department. “I still have contacts in the magical world outside this family. I will see what I can do to got some of them looking.”
“Aunt Phoebe is going to be annoyed if nothing really is wrong,” Wyatt commented as he stood an winced. “Aunt Paige, I think something Mom or Chris did, probably Chris, got me injured.”
“And something they did got all four you back in your own bodies,” Paige reminded him as she held her hand against his injured shin. She stopped before anything happened and gave him a look. “I will heal this, but it’s just a bruise. According to Leo, Chris broke his leg.”
Wyatt frowned. “From the demon attacking?”
Paige nodded.
He looked at Leo. “What else didn’t he say?”
Leo walked over to them as Paige healed the bruise. “Why don’t we get back to Paige and Henry’s house and talk there? We really don’t want to be found here.”
Wyatt sighed and nodded as Paige straightened and moved away from him. She reached down and picked up the athemé. “Leo, what should I do with this thing?”
Leo held out his hand. “I’ll take care of it. Chris doesn’t really need this.”
“Chris won’t like that,” Wyatt warned. “He kept that thing for some reason.”
“I’ll talk to your brother,” Leo assured him as Paige handed him the athemé and he slipped it between his belt and pants.
“He’s not going to be happy.”
“He’s not going to be happy about other things I plan to talk to him about either,” Leo informed him.
Wyatt opened his mouth to ask and thought better of it. “Ready?” When Leo nodded he hugged his dad and orbed out, a smile on his face over the very fact that he could orb.
Paige looked around at the green gunk all over the walls. “Let the object of my objection become but a dream as I cause the scene to become unseen." As the hallway around her cleared, she orbed back to her house.