A New Covenant - 10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Last Moment in Alaxio

*David*

As Chris vanished both me and Caleb were glued to the spot. There was finally a possibility of us leaving this place…finally a way home.

“I can’t believe he did it…I thought he would, but…wow…my brother, my big brother broke barriers to get at me…wow”

As the realization of what Chris had done hit me, a silent, bitter tear rolled down my cheek. I knew they would be looking for me, but I had doubts that they would be able to find me, however Chris had broken spells put in place long ago by unknown forces, with strength that I could not even begin to understand, he’d defied his own knowledge of witchcraft, and risked it all to get at me, to find me. A knot formed in my throat that threatened to become racking sobs, I looked towards Caleb, his angel-like face set in a smile that made me go weak in the knees, the thought of leaving him rose like fireworks, I couldn’t speak, so I orbed away. I needed to be alone and sort out my feelings; I needed to figure out if I felt relief or regret. Chris was a passage home, but did I wanna go there now?

I orbed to the Tower of London and stood at its top, just trying to catch my breath, wanting to round up my thoughts, wishing for a cold wind to blow away all this confusion. Suddenly a hot wind rose from everywhere, it was hot, and powerful enough to make my hands fly to the parapet in front of me, clutching it in a tight grip. Santa Anna Winds, I’d recognize them anywhere, their blustering warmth, their high speeds. I leaned forward, letting the wind scorch the tears off my face, letting ruffle my hair, asking it to wisp away the medley of voices and memories from my mind, I wept into it. I was astounded, scared, angry, and content all in the same heartbeat.

Alaxio was, in many ways, a prison and a getaway. Here I had found the most beautiful sights in the world, all in short distances. I had stood on the zenith of Machupichu, ran on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, lunched atop the Eiffel Tower, trained in martial arts on the Pyramids of Giza, dined at the Great Wall of China, slept in the Winter Palace…who wouldn’t want all of that? Add in Caleb and it has been a vacation like none other. But even all the wonders, all the sights, could never replace my family; problem was they could never replace how I felt about Caleb, could never match the connection that ran between us, could never offer that same brand of love. I ached knowing they weren’t here, and still I wondered if I wanted to go back.

“Ummm…David?” the voice was etherreal, and rang like bells in my ears, I could see his face, taste his breath, feel his warmth all before I turned to find him waiting under the arch of the tower’s inner keep.

“Hey…sorry I stormed off like that…it’s just, seeing Chris brought…well it brought up things that I wanted to keep hidden, roaring to the surface, things I didn‘t wanna think about.”

“I have some news of my own…I was able to tell my friends…well one of my friends anyway, where I was…I thought maybe if they could find anything to help…”

“That could be dangerous…2 magics running together, trying to accomplish the same thing…you have to find a way to tell them they can’t try it…” evident panic rose in my voice, I didn’t want to leave…did I? What if they cut what little time we had together even shorter? “we could get vortexed…it happened to my aunt Prue, she got vortexed into some creepy dimension thingy and mom and aunt Phoebe almost had to let her die to save the world…” it was an empty argument at best, and a stupid example too, the circumstances had been utterly different “I wont put my family through that, whatever it is that you did to ask tell them you have to do it again, you have to stop them from trying!!!”

I hadn’t noticed my voice getting louder and louder, reaching a roaring crescendo as I drove the argument home, hysteria completely ruling my thought processes now. The echo told me just how far I’d gone, how loud I had become, his face spoke of hurt, and I was melting, dying inside.

“You’re an ungrateful piece of shit you know that?” his sentence reached my tone, what had taken me moments, had been his intention in the first word, it slapped me like a bucket of cold water in a freezing winter morning “What assures me your ‘oh-so-precious’ family won’t botch the spell and land us somewhere we don’t wanna be? What makes you so fucking sure they can even pull it off? What if the spell doesn’t work?”

I could see the cold anger rise in his eyes, the set of his jaw, the lines around his mouth. Something primal took over me. Rage filled me then like a volcano that is ready to erupt, it devoured my entire self, the words flew out before my brain had a chance to analyze them, to measure consequences.

“Me?” the word was a shrill, menacing sound, edged with more anger than I even knew I could muster “How about you? You’re always so fucking afraid of your powers, so painstakingly avoiding so much as a flicker of it that its become poisonous,” a flag flew above us, the snapping of the cloth poignant against my shouts “it taints your very eyes, its turning evil inside you, that’s why it ages you, that’s why it steals from you. You and your precious little secrets, protecting something that long ago turned on all of you, generations of fear rolling down. My family lives it Caleb, we embrace our powers from infancy so that we can control them, not the other way around. We don’t guard magic like its some sort of abnormal growth, like it’s a monstrosity, it is an art, a craft, a science and so much more besides…” my words crackled with power, the magic rising inside me unchecked, all my inhibitions lost as the anger consumed me, re-made me “you and your little friends your little…Covenant is it? Hiding behind some agreement or whatever, we hide because we have to, because people would die if we couldn’t do what we do on a daily basis, you hide because you want to, because its easier to hide than to face up to your mistakes and do what is right!!!”

I orbed out, my last word echoing through the air, hovering over the Tower, over Caleb. My anger roiled up inside me, I wanted to smash something, I wanted to tear at something until all that was left was tatters, to obliterate and vanquish something…I needed a demon.

*Caleb*

That little fucker…how dare he criticize me? Who the fuck was HE? Talking as if he knew what this… this power had put my family and he other families through…the pain, the loss, the problems, it had brought us

I’d kept quiet out of sheer anger. I hated the fact that he could do that light thing, if I could just get my hands on him I would show him…me turning evil…HA! These powers worked like this, they always had, I mean they had always been this way, since the start. What they wrought was horrible and inhuman, look at my dad, he’d used and used ‘till he looked like he was 140 at the age of 43. I have fought with this for years, I have tried my very best to control this…what would he know? His powers are different, he lives under a different set of rules.

I ran down the steps, a tug carried me past the Alexandrian Library, past the Niagara Waterfalls, past the Arch of Triumph, and straight into the thick of Yellowstone Park.

“I know you’re here David…I don’t know how, but I just do…come out here!!!!!!!!!!”

I stood there, listening to the Santa Anna’s blowing through the trees, scorching my skin as they blew by, searing my eyes, stoking my anger…he was here…I could feel it.

*David*

I perched atop the highest branch of a Pine tree, looking down at Caleb…how had he found me? I had orbed all over the place before coming here, trying to hide, to get distance between the two of us, he‘d gotten here far too quickly. I felt a cold spike dribble down my spine, I knew it wasn’t dread, it was like desire, and yet so different, so foreign in its familiarity. The cold settled on my stomach, radiating out from me, it felt good yet so alien, so unlike anything I‘d ever felt before. I needed to talk, but I wanted to remain hidden.

“Hear now my Spell. Hear my Cry.

Spirits from the other side.

I send my whisper far and wide.

From Left and Right, hide my voice.”

I felt the twinge of magic leave my body, felt the tug of the spell as it came to life, and knew I could speak freely.

“Go away Caleb.” the words were hollow, the reality was that within me, I begged for him to stay, wanted him to be near me “I just need time, I have to sort things out…just leave me alone.”

He looked around, disoriented by the drift of my voice. His piercing eyes searched for me, they raked the wilderness around us.

“Get down here David” his voice dripped with anger

“go away Caleb” I said as I orbed farther up another tree, and old Cedar by he looks of it “just leave me alone…I’m sorry for snapping at you, I‘m confused, I‘m afraid, I‘m …just go!” I flinched as the words flew out, filled with urgency and anger, not the way I‘d meant them to.

“Fuck that!! I’m tired of this shit!! I don’t know how long we’ve actually been here, but I do know that this bipolar shit is getting old…GET DOWN HERE!!!!!!” His voice boomed around me, leaves fluttered to the ground, magic pushed at me.

My blood boiled in my veins as his sharp words cut onto my nerves. I narrowed my gaze at him, and before I knew what was happening I orbed onto the field, mere feet from him.

“MY bipolar attitude? Can we talk about how much shit you put out on a daily basis?” my words flew from my lips, smashing against his face “I am in love with you!!! But even that doesn’t cut me any slack…we fight over nothing, and I’m tired of it Caleb, I don’t know how long its been on the outside world according to Chris, a week, who knows by now it could be even more…but this past year here with you has been unbearable…yet I couldn’t, I wouldn’t change a second…not a single second” the words hung heavy in the air between us, the tension growing with every breath, my fists balled up on my sides, I stared straight into his dark brown eyes, they seemed to smolder with a fire that I’d never seen in them before, they devoured and remade me.

“What did you just say?” his voice was a hoarse whisper, a croak, like his throat had no moisture in it, the Santa Anna carried them with strength, with passion rendering all my anger useless, they washed over me like a wave roiling up against a cliff face. The air between us was filled with electricity, Caleb’s face was pulled tight, his eyes narrowed, his lips set, his brow wrinkled in concentration “you said you’re in love with me? Did you really just say that?” My mouth was dry, words were gone, I could only stare at him “ANSWER ME!!”

The power of his voice startled me, I felt my body tense. My throat tightened at his tone, my knees buckled under his heavy scrutiny “Yea. I did. I do. I have for a while now, are you gonna tell me that after all this time you’d never even gu…” he closed the distance between us in a single step, his lips closed over mine with a force that surprised and intimidated me. His lips moved over mine with a desire that scorched me clean, that melted and remolded me. I was a Phoenix in his embrace, burning and being reborn from the ashes, the circle never stopping, always picking up and dropping off what little there seemed to be of me.

Slowly my pace matched his, my hands entangled in his hair, roamed his back, clutched him closer to me, crushing every available bit of his body to mine that I could; I would not let go. He slowly, almost doubtfully pulled away from our embrace, I felt cold the second his lips left mine, like the sun had been taken from the heavens.

“I want you to know something…” his voice had an edge to it, a determination that raked over me with unparalleled strength “when we leave here…I will find you, no matter what. I know the spell makes it so you can’t remember, but I will…I…I told Tyler, I gave him every detail about you, the color of your eyes, the shape of your lips” he said as he traced my features, his fingers slightly tickling the softer parts of my face “the way your hair moves every time you look away, the way you walk…I will find you…even if it takes forever.” his lips fluttered on mine, his scent wafting over me.

“I will look for you Caleb…no need can be greater than you in my life.” even as I said the words, I realized how true they were “ You’ve taught me how to love, truly, deeply, simply.” my voice was a whisper, echoing from every direction, I remembered the spell and huffed a single laughter, I dissipated the spell with a thought, Caleb’s seriousness melted away, his smile bringing the all-too-familiar sparkle to his eyes, changing his features, softening him, and sending quick-fire shivers roaming down my body.

“I think we need some time off…meet me at the Pyramids of Giza in 10 minutes ‘kay?” the excitement dripped off his voice, intoxicating me with it “It’ll be nice, just wait”

His words faded even as he did, I was horrified, he was fading away, he was disappearing, the spell was being done, our time together was ending, there was so much still to be said, so much I still hadn‘t had time to do. We couldn‘t be taken back now, not like this, not in this moment.

“CALEB!!!!!” My voice was raw and hoarse, the pain and fear evident in its cadence.

His dark eyes shot at me, then like a dream, he was complete again, the face was there, the body was there, the solidness of reality was his again, I could‘ve cried from joy.

“What’s wrong?” his eyes darted over the meadow, looking for something out of the ordinary “why did you scream?” his eyes bore into mine, searching, urgent “why were you so scared?” his arms were wrapped around my frame protectively, his muscles pressing me in, guarding me from an unknown danger.

“I…you were…I thought…you faded…” my voice was small and weak, pleading for explanations “ You faded…you were barely here, disappearing right in front of me…I thought…the spell.” I broke off, realization hitting me like a piano falling from the roof of a building “YOU did that!!! You found out how to channel it didn’t you? You found your true powers!!!!”

“I…I think so, at least two of them…I can fade from one place to another, and I can levitate. I think there might be something else, but I can’t quite get it.” his words carried a ragged edge, dwindling between hope and doubt.

“Caleb, why do you sound like that? This is a good thing isn’t it? I mean, this means you won’t age every time you tap into your magic…doesn’t it?” I was wrought with confusion, I couldn’t read his features, I couldn’t delve into his mind.

“I don’t know Dave, I just don’t know…I mean, while we’ve been here, there’s been no side-effects, but what happens when we get back? What if it all comes crashing through the second I step outta here? I just don’t know…I don’t know how to feel…what to feel…it’s confusing…but enough of that, just get dressed up…and orb to the Pyramids ‘kay?” his tone was final, the discussion was over for the moment.

“Dress up? You mean like a tux…or a suit…or just designer-wear…be specific” I tried infusing my words with curiosity, but it rang false, even to me.

“Designer-wear? You just made that up…how’s about dressy casual?” he rolled his eyes at me and faded away.

I orbed to the Manhattan slice and dove into the nearest shops, they weren’t much, but they had been our closets for a while, and I had grown attached to them, I would miss simply picking things out, throwing them on, not worrying about price tags.

I looked through a rack of Seven jeans and found a dark wash, low-riders, boot cut pair which fit like a glove, I moved over to the shirts section and leafed through all the button downs, finding an Armani Exchange black button down. I put it on, and tucked it in, cinching a Prada leather belt around the pants…something was missing, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something missing. I drifted through the store, hoping to find “it,” but having no luck, that is until I touched a gray bottleneck t-shirt by Marithe Francois + Girbaud, it was “it” the little thing that was missing, I unbuttoned my black shirt and wriggled into the gray t-shirt, then pulled the button down over it and looked at the mirror…PERFECT.

As I surveyed my reflection, I noticed my hair was a big mess, without Mikael taking care of it, it had slowly but surely grown into the wild mess that was a true Halliwell’s curse, all wild curls, frizz and splotchy brown, my dad’s natural blonde only barely peeking from beneath the curtain of Halliwell brown. I needed help. I walked around all six floors of the shop and found nothing, not a blow drier, not a thing. I was about to give up when I remembered a salon façade near the Eiffel Tower, I orbed in front of it and walked through the doors, there they were, all the necessary tools to tame the mane.

I sat at the nearest station and grabbed the blow-drier from its resting spot, flipped it on, and was glad it did not burst into flames. Hurriedly I washed my hair in the sinks that lined the back wall of La Petite Angel Studio…ironic. I sat on the station’s chair again and began to blow dry my hair, smoothing out the curls, straightening it, under these conditions the splotchy brown took on a more subtle hue, and the blonde shone clearly through. I started heating up the straightening iron while I finished smoothing out the last of my hair. I looked at the reflection in the mirror, and was suddenly aware that time had not passed…I would be seventeen now, my face should have aged some, lost some of its baby features, and yet, I looked exactly the same as I did the day I had headed to the airport with Chris and Wyatt…would they look so very different? Had Wyatt and Chris continued their school? How had mom and dad dealt with the whole situation?

Tears sprang to my face as the many faces of my family flashed, bright and beautiful, through my head…Mom…Dad…Chris…Wyatt…Aunt Phoebe…Uncle Coop…Aunt Paige…Uncle Henry…Grams…Granma Patty…Henry Jr…Cooper…Patty…Melinda… Diana…Penny…

I wiped my tears away and looked at my reflection one more time…my hair was subdued, no need to torture it with an iron, as I turned the iron off, my bangs fell forward, and for the first time, I noticed that although it had been a year since I cut my hair, it was exactly the same length…and now that I thought about it my nails hadn’t grown either…TIME had NOT touched us…maybe Caleb was right…could time suddenly hit us once we stepped outside of this place, would it rush at us all at once? A full year of growth and cell regeneration…

I shook my head to cast away those thoughts, and orbed to the Alexandrian Library…I would find something here, something that referred to time in Alaxio…I had to. Realization hit me like a bucket of cold water…Chris, he would find out…I had to try and contact him.

The spell he had used was simple enough, and it had broken this place’s barriers, perhaps the opposite would be true.

“Life to life and mind to mind
Our spirits now will intertwine
I meld our souls and journey to
The one whose thoughts I wish I knew”

The blackness swirled around me, grasping at me, but I sped forward, my body a gossamer strand in the weave around me. I stopped at a park, and immediately recognized it, our childhood park, the one mom and the aunts took us to every chance they got.

“Chris!!! Thank God!!! I need you to help me find out how time moves here, we’ve been here a year, I need to know if it’ll all catch up to us once we re-enter the real world…its important.” My voice echoed and my body unwound, Chris’ face was pensive, and tortured. Had I done the wrong thing? Had I put my own doubts inside his head? The questions roiled in my head as I flew back to my own body, the return trip almost sickening in its haste. When I opened my eyes, I noticed the gloom…I was late, Caleb would have been waiting long now, I needed to explain. I orbed to the Pyramids, pushing my orbs to move faster than they would at any other time.

“You’re late…fashionably…but late.” Caleb’s voice was playful and inviting, he was turning on the charming Massachusetts boy, leaving the Son of Ipswich behind…I had learned to notice this other Caleb, and had loved him as much as the rest of him since the first time I saw him.

“Yes, well perfection cannot be rushed” I hoped against hope he would not detect the slight tremor as the little lie left my lips.

“Well…Sit Down mon Angel, I have the perfect evening planned for us, a last hooray if you will…just in case we are taken back soon, one more thing to jiggle in our memories once we are outta here” his voice was sumptuous now, filled with a desire, a hot flash ran over my body in response to it.

“Well, you’ve learned a bit of French I see…very sexy” my voice quavered through and through, barely making the sound coherent.

Caleb walked to my side and wrapped his arm around my waist, slowly drawing my body to his, his hand always steady on my hip. “I’ve learned quite a few things actually” as he spoke, his right arm swung around my back, and completed his hold on me, tightly securing me to his chest; I inhaled the smell of him, his own fragrance, intoxicating, addictive. The soft weave of his shirt was a caress to my cheeks, I looked up into his eyes, and then we were spinning, faster and faster, the world around us blurred into a million colors.

“I Love You David Halliwell. I love you with every fiber of my being. Now and Forever.” I knew what was happening, and so did Caleb, we were being taken back. My family was casting the spell.

“I Love You Caleb Danvers. I love you like a bird loves the wind. Like a flower looks for light, I will look for you. Now and Always.”

The colors spun faster and faster, but I held tighter and tighter to him, and he to me. In a blur of color he was gone, and I was alone so painstakingly alone, so utterly alone. I was alone floating through a world of endless colors…why was I here? What was going on?

The crash…I remember now, I was driving to the airport, the Manor was attacked, Wyatt was driving, we changed seats, but I lost control…was I dead? Was I dying? Was this still the crash site? The colors screeched away and I was left in darkness, I could hear steps somewhere, then orbing, then muttered voices, then bleeps and beeps…a hospital room then. “I think he’s waking up…Dave can you hear me baby?” I recognized that voice…Mom.

“Yea” my voice was nothing but a croak, my throat felt like a desert, the hospital lights began to filter through my lids “cut…lights” and the light was gone…once again darkness reigned, I fell into it, and slept, and it was dreamless, somehow, I was still alive.

*Caleb*

I clung onto his body as tight as I could, but he dissolved into nothingness, his body ebbed away from my grasp, his scent drifted away from me, his eyes blurred and were gone, I lost him then, and I could barely breathe as I realized, we were now apart. The space between my arms was empty, he had gone. The world ran around me like a nuthouse, noises rushed in and out, light came and went, smells heightened and dulled, I was on a roller-coaster, seeping through memories, hearing past conversations. Then, as if someone had used a break, I was still.

“Good thing that girl found him…at least she called us before she did anything weird huh?” Tyler…why was Ty at the airport? Why were there beeping sounds…I fell…I remember now. I was picking someone up, I got dizzy and I fell, maybe I hit my head harder than I thought. I was in a hospital now, that much was clear, and Ty was here, so the guys were all here. “Who found me?” My voice was raspy and low, it seemed someone else’s voice in my ears, it sounded strange and far off.

“Caleb!!! Shush…just rest” Pogue’s voice was low and demanding, and I did rest then, I slept.