Post by StoryGirl83 on Mar 19, 2010 23:29:03 GMT -5
Chapter Fifteen – To Remember Or Not
When Wyatt returned to the apartment with Leo, Emily was in the kitchen with Chris, looking at his recipe book. Melinda sat on the couch and Seth stood by the broken chair. At the sight of Leo, Seth quickly moved to his side and gave him a hug. “Hi, Uncle Leo.”
“We are not related,” Melinda growled before Leo could respond.
Leo looked at his daughter, surprised. “No, but Seth has called me that since he was little. Is something the matter, Melinda?”
Melinda looked at Seth and sighed. “He makes me uncomfortable.”
Leo considered this and nodded. “I see. I am not going to ask him to stop calling me that, so in this case you will just have to deal with that. I am sorry, Melinda.” He gave Seth and quick hug and stepped away from him. “It is good to see you again. I am sure your father was glad to see you.”
Seth blushed. “I haven’t actually seen him yet, Uncle Leo.”
Leo gave him a disappointed look. “You haven’t been to see your father. Seth, why?”
“I needed to talk to someone who could deal with an upcoming demon attack.” Seth shrugged. “Dad’s not it.”
Leo shook his head and sighed. “I take it that you also heard something about this demon Wyatt was telling me about.”
Seth nodded.
Emily entered the room as Seth began telling Leo what he had heard. She went over to stand by Wyatt. “Chris said to tell you not to worry about dinner. He’s going to cook dinner for all of us. I guess it was your day to cook?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yeah, he and I switch off days.”
“I guess with a mom like Piper, you can’t really avoid learning how to cook.”
“You’d be surprised,” Wyatt returned.
“You can’t cook?”
“Not even a grilled cheese sandwich.”
Emily frowned at him and then her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my word. Was that you?”
Wyatt nodded.
“You interviewed me?”
Wyatt nodded.
“But . . .”
“Demonic spell,” he interrupted. “I figured you’d ask Chris eventually and I didn’t really want Seth to hear about it.”
She stared at him. “That’s some spell.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. It really made for a bad day, let me tell you. I think Dad enjoyed it though.”
She thingyed her head and looked at him. “How’s that?”
“Dad used to be a whitelighter,” he replied in a low voice. “That’s why I am half whitelighter. When Chris was born he was an elder, so Chris is half elder. It’s why we both can orb among other things.”
“You’re telling me this because I’m going to forget at the end of the spell.”
Wyatt shook his head. “You could forget. I don’t think you will. I think Chris is satisfied that you will keep our secret safe and that you aren’t going to completely flip out about it, so I think you will both remember this day.”
“Then, why tell me?” she asked looking at him curiously.
Wyatt shrugged. “I guess if you are going to remember, you might as well know more than just a little. They say a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. In our world, danger means death more often than not. Ideally you won’t be involved in our world any more than Drinka or Kali is, but I’ve never really taken the world I live in for an ideal one, so if something happens I don’t want you to be completely clueless.”
“That’s sweet,” she commented, looking at him.
He shook his head. “No, it’s not.”
She frowned at him, wanting an explanation, but not sure how to ask for it.
“Last summer my girlfriend disappeared,” he said softly. “The more time passes, the more I am sure that something demonic was somehow responsible. I have no proof, but I know for a fact that her family hasn’t seen her or her older sister since then. I keep wondering if knowing about all this might have saved her life.”
The silence that followed was hard to bear, but harder to break. Emily walked back into the kitchen in search of Chris. “You’re brother is really sad.”
Chris looked at her surprised. It wasn’t a question, so he made no reply.
“We were talking just now and somehow his girlfriend came up.” She looked at him and asked. “Do you think she’s alive?”
Chris sighed. “I don’t know. I try not to think about it. I don’t know what happened to her and I don’t know why it happened. Did she just step into a hole somewhere and injury herself in such a way that she couldn’t come back? I doubt it. It’s not one person missing; it’s two. They didn’t drive somewhere. Both of them owned cars and both of those cars are still with their parents. If either of them is alive, they’re in deep trouble. Most likely, though, they’re dead. Most likely, but . . . I don’t know.”
She nodded slowly. “I see. I really ought to be going. The Manor will be closed by now and I still live with my parents, so I don’t want to worry them.”
Chris nodded. “Be careful. You don’t know what’s out there.”
She looked at him for several seconds and nodded back. “I guess I don’t. See you later.” She started toward the hall and stopped. “Will I remember?”
“Do you want to?” he asked softly.
She looked around the small kitchen and into the living room at the people there. When she turned back to face Chris her face was set. “Yes, I want to remember.”
He nodded. “Then, you will. We both will.”
“You seriously would have forgotten all this, if I did?”
He smiled and nodded. “Yes.”
She smiled back. “Thanks. I don’t get it, but I appreciate it.”
“And that’s why.”
This time when she headed toward the hallway, she kept walking and he soon heard the sound of the door closing behind her. Chris sighed and headed into the living room.