Fate's Path

“Where’s Piper?” Was the first thing Chris said when he woke up. She was still asleep in her room, of course, but he didn’t know that. They had found out, or more, Responsum had found out that the bullet embedded in her shoulder was soaked in Vampire Poison, a lethal dose. He said it was remarkable she had went as long as she did with it in her bloodstream.

“Christopher. You need to rest. You just got the crap beaten out of you. Piper will kick my ass if you hurt yourself right when she got you back.” Demon sat beside Chris, handing him a tea his father had brewed. Chris regarded the small cup with a suspicious look. Demon rolled his eyes. “It won’t kill you. Piper specially told me not to let you get hurt. I am obliged to do as she says.”

Chris raised a brow. “You why is that? You haven’t always listened to her in the past. What makes now so different?” He asked, trying to hide his growing smile. Chris suspected something happened between them but he wanted to be sure. If Demon’s slightly pink cheeks didn’t give it away, he was sure Piper would tell him later. Chris started to get up but Demon shook his head.

“You can get up but Piper might be angry that you do.” Demon scooted his chair away from Chris’ bed so he would have room to get up. Chris stood with a wince, hand holding his side.

“Would you like some help?” Demon asked him, standing with Chris.

Chris looked at him as if he has sprouted and extra head and Demon checked to make sure he hadn’t. “First, you start to listen to Piper like her word is the law. Then, you offer to help?”

Demon glared. “You make me sound like a bad person!” He crossed his arms and turned to leave the room. Chris called after him but Demon didn’t turn around. He grumbled and made his way to a bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, frowning as he examined his injuries. There were still several cuts but they were healing quickly. He pulled his shirt up to reveal the decent sized gash on his midsection. He ran his fingers across the scarring tissue.

“Damn. I can’t wait to see Piper.” He limped out of the bathroom. Finding the stairs, he followed them down to another strange room. He saw couches and figured it was probably the living room.

“Chris!” A high pitched voice exclaimed from behind him and he barely had time to turn around before the pixie jumped up. She hugged him and he bit his lip so he wouldn’t flinch from the pain. It took him a moment before he finally wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her as tight as he could.

“Kiera, I missed you!” He pulled her back and examined her head to toe. “How are you?” Chris weaved his fingers with hers and she relished in the touch.

“Better, now that we got you back from Max.” She said softly and he smiled.

“You are still the sweetest girl I have ever met, Pixie.” They were silent for many minutes before her eyes lit up as if she had suddenly remembered something. Whatever this something was, it excited her a lot and she squeezed his hand hard.

“Come on! I want you to meet someone!” She dragged him out of the living room and on the way started telling him about the events that had happened since she had found Piper and Connor again. Chris listened closely, while examining his surroundings. He saw several paintings and pictures and thought this house seemed awfully bright. The walls seemed to have been recently painted a golden color and he looked at Kiera. She had a streak of golden on her cheek and her arms were stained the color, along with her clothes.

“A demon let you change his house?” Chris asked her and she beamed at him.

“I just mentioned that his house was quite drab and dull so he asked me what color I think his house should be. I said golden and he said, ‘Sure, But you have to paint it yourself!’ I asked him to help me.” Kiera yanked Chris inside of a room that was currently being painted. Someone unfamiliar to Chris was painting the walls. “and he said he would help me!” She giggled as she let go of Chris’ hand and scurried into the room.

The man turned around when Kiera announced herself to him. Chris nearly choked. The man looked like a twenty-seven year old version of Demon. He had golden paint on his forehead and covering his hands, clashing with his black shirt and blue jeans. “Hello. My name is Responsum. Nice to officially meet you.” The man said with a small smile. Chris tried to speak but no words came out. Responsum seemed to understand why he was struggling to speak. “I am Connor’s father.”

Chris blinked several times before he fully understood. “Ah. I see.” He said forcing himself to stand straight and walk forward. He held out his hand and Responsum gave it a quick shake. “I assume you are the one who patched me up?”

Responsum shook his head. “That you are wrong about. I started to help Kiera change my house you guys are going to be staying a while. Demon patched you up. The last thing Piper told him to do was have Demon patch you up so that Connor could re-energize.” Chris raises an eyebrow as if he didn’t believe Responsum.

“Indeed! Demon is quite fond of her!” Kiera giggled and Responsum smiled. Just then a large white dog with black splotches ran into the room accidentally knocking paint onto the walls. Paint splattered all over Kiera and Responsum then on Chris. “Gah! Seymour!” Kiera laughed and ran after the dog. Responsum chuckled silently.

“Wow. Pretty dog.” Chris laughed, wincing and clutching his gut.

“Thanks. He may not look it, but he is a Hellhound. Seymour has attached himself to Piper but he occasionally runs through here to grace us with his presence.” Responsum dodged Seymour and Kiera as they ran passed him.

“Where is Connor?” Chris asked after sidestepping to let Seymour race passed him.

Responsum stares at the huge dog for a moment before nodding to himself. “Probably up in Piper’s room. He generally kicks Seymour out when he is in there with her. If you want to go see her she is the first door up the stairs on the right.” Chris gave a small bow to Responsum then shuffled out of the room and slowly up the stairs. He stopped in from of the door and used his pointer finger to carefully open it. Sure enough, Connor was laying beside her. Her eyes are barely open and he is playing with a lock of her hair. She turned her head towards Chris groggily. The sleepiness in her eyes vanished the second she saw him.

She pushed herself up flinching at the movement but ultimately making it to her feet. Piper launched herself away from the bed and wrapped her arms around Chris’ neck. He yelped but she only squeezed him tighter. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and a single tear fell. He hugged her as tight as he possibly could without harming either of them. They stayed like that for nearly two minutes before Chris finally pulled away. “Hey, Fangsy.” He said when spotting her fangs.

Piper let out a curt laugh. “Hey, Rainbow eyes. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good.” His gaze traveled past his sister and he raised a brow. “How about you?”

Piper flushed. “Well, um, you see...” She struggled for words and Chris burst out into laughter ignoring the slight pain in his gut. She leaned close to his ear to whisper, “He kissed me!” Piper exclaimed in a giddy voice. She started giggling as Chris managed to lift her off the ground with a hug. He laughed.

“You know, that means I owe Kiera twenty dollars. Damn.” His voice showed teasing as he set her back on her feet. Suddenly Connor was by Piper’s side, the two staring at Chris.

“Wait. You guys bet on us?” Connor asked, his cheeks turning red.

“Yup. I was off by two weeks.” He chuckled and then gave Connor a quick hug and left he room. They stared after him with their mouths hanging open.

He skipped down the stairs and found Responsum and Kiera in the same room painting the walls again. They took turns discreetly flicking paint at each other or smearing paint on one another’s skin with paint brushes. “Hey guys? Can I get anything to eat?” Chris asked when they froze to look at him.

“Crap, we forgot to go shopping. We can get Connor and Piper and go. Responsum could you make a portal and give us a key to get back in?” Kiera sounded so formal, her hands folded behind her back. Responsum nodded and waved his hand so a very old looking key appeared in Kiera’s hand. She closed her fist around it then beamed and skipped over to Chris. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. Nothing could distract from the next words that popped into Piper’s head, they were destined to find each other.

They were bound by fate.