After dinner Chase took her on a tour of the house. It was so large it took a while. Each room had white furniture that Chase explained he never sat on. A maid was here every day and a cook came every night.
“I bet you had a nanny too, didn’t you?”
“Her name was Edna. Lovely woman, I still miss her.”
Lyla laughed.
“It’s true. She was from England.”
Lyla laughed harder.
“Come on, I haven’t finished with the tour yet.” They walked into his parents’ room. It was sparse and cold. The furniture black the carpet black and the walls stark white.
“Oh my.”
“Do you like it?”
“No.”
“Neither do I, let’s keep going.” A chill ran up his spine.
“So…this is the last stop. Where haven’t I taken you?”
“Your room.”
“Bingo! Give the girl a prize!” Chase opened his door which was located at the complete opposite end of the house as his parents. He had two large rooms. The front was the sitting area with a pool table, a television, a couch and love seat and a desk. In the corner was a refrigerator. Lyla looked around in fascination.
“I suppose getting in trouble meant really, yay! I get to go to my room!”
“I didn’t get in much trouble. But yeah, I like coming up here. He shut the door behind them as Lyla walked around the room. She stopped at a picture on his desk.
“Who’s this?”
“Edna, my Nanny.”
“I thought you were joking.”
“Nope.”
Lyla giggled again and placed the picture back on the desk. She pointed to another door. “Where does that go?”
“Why don’t you open it?” It was easy to see what it was since there clearly wasn’t a bed in here. He wanted to see if she actually would open the door.
Lyla walked over and opened the door. She walked in and sat on the bed. It was a big four poster queen bed with a lot of pillows. The comforter was a dark blue, the walls were white but Chase had put black and white pictures up of various cities and people he knew. It was peaceful in here. She looked over at Chase who was standing in the doorway, waiting.
“I love your room Chase.”
Chase walked over and bent down, “Do you?” He put both hands on the bed on either side of her and kissed her, slowly pushing her back onto the bed. They were at it in seconds. Chase had one hand on her thigh, and another fisted in her hair. Lyla’s hands were pushing up Chase’s shirt feeling his muscular back. Chase’s mouth went from hers to her neck and back again. They were hungry for each other and Chase prayed that any amount of charm or spell placed on them would slip away tonight. Chase’s hands pushed up her shirt while he French kissed her deeply. His heart raced so frantic that he almost didn’t feel the electric shock that jolted through his body until he became completely numb all over. Damn charm. He took a few deep breaths and kept his head on Lyla’s shoulder. His hand was still on her stomach and his other under her. Lyla was breathing heavy and shuttered.
“What the hell was that?” Lyla was looking up at the ceiling.
“The charm. The birth charm.” Chase was still immobile on top of Lyla. In a few minutes his arms and legs began to get feeling again and he could move off her.
“What…is….the…birthing….charm?” Lyla turned her head toward Chase who was lying on his back next to her on his big bed.
“Have your parents never told you about it?”
“No.”
“When the Charmed are born, they have a spell placed on them that only the parents can remove. They usually remove it when the kid marries someone they approve of. It keeps people of our kind from marrying outside. Keeps us pure. It’s pure crap if you ask me.” Chase was still breathing heavy.
“I think you got it worse than me. I think I can feel my arms and legs already.”
“Yeah, I think I got it worse. Parts of me hurt.”
“Chase, I’m so sorry.”
Chase smiled. “It was worth it.” He turned to look at her. Lyla’s hair was a little mussed up, she looked sexy as hell. He leaned up and kissed her. He moved her back onto the bed and continued.
“Do you think we should keep doing this?”
“I think we try until we can’t.”
Lyla kissed him again and wrapped her arms around him. Chase went a little slower this time and just concentrated on kissing for a few minutes. It eventually became too much and they were at it as frantic as before. In no time they were both being zapped apart and breathing heavy.
“Okay, so, we clearly can’t go very far and not again so fast. Ouch.”
“Yeah.” Chase picked up his arm slowly to look at his watch. “Crap.”
“What?”
“It’s midnight. Weren’t your parents going to check up on you at eleven?”
“Yes.”
It took another twenty minutes for both to move out of the house.
Lyla looked out the window in the car. Her body still hurt. “I had no idea. God, what kind of sick people are the Charmed anyway?”
“I don’t know. I know if I ever have the chance, I’m changing it.” He put the car in gear and drove Lyla home.
When he got there he cut the engine. “I hope you don’t get in trouble.”
“I’ll just tell them I was asleep. Chase, I’m sorry.”
He smiled. “For what? Wanting to do that with me?”
Lyla smiled. “Well, no. I couldn’t apologize for that. I’m sorry you got zapped worse than me.”
“Lyla my sweet, I would get zapped a million times for you.” He leaned over and kissed her. A wave of exhaustion swept over him. “I think I’ll be at Jaden’s for a few days though. Mr. M always has the right strange brew to heal me.”
“Okay. Good night.” Lyla walked slowly into the house. It was and wasn’t the night she had hoped for. Lyla flipped the living room light on and gasped in surprise.
“Hello Lyla.” Lyla’s father was sitting on the couch. Her mother was sitting opposite him. The fire was going in the fireplace.
“Hello.”
“Who was the boy Lyla?” Her mother who always wore her hair in a tight bun had it down tonight in long frizzy waves of un-pretty hair.
“What boy?”
“Please, try to discuss this like an adult, the boy who dropped you off. I’m assuming it’s the same boy you were with when we tried calling you tonight.” Mr. Bleu had a low rising temper that always scared Lyla. She was never sure when it would rise to the surface but she knew it was there.
“His name is Chase. My cloak didn’t work on him.”
“Pack your bags.” Lyla’s mother said.
“No! Please! I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t make us leave again! I can’t take it!”
“We made a deal that you chose to ignore. Our only deal with you was to let you go to school in return you would cloak and not let anyone see you. You clearly broke the deal.”
“No I didn’t. My cloak didn’t work on him. He was the only person out of the whole school who could see me and can still see me! Please don’t make us leave! Call Mr. M, he can vouch for him. Chase lives there most of the time.”
Lyla’s father reached for the phone on the coffee table and handed it to Mrs. Bleu.
“Sam, we need to see you now. It’s about the boy who’s staying with you.”
“Chase? What about him?” Mr. M had a horrible feeling he knew the answer.
“Apparently Lyla knows him. They’ve been seeing each other for the past month.” Lyla’s mother looked over at her sitting on the hearth of the fireplace.
Mr. M walked into Chase’s room. He pointed a finger at him to follow him back to the kitchen. “I’ll be over in a minute.” He hung up the phone.
Mr. M turned to face Chase. “So when I asked you to stay away from Lyla, you didn’t listen.” Chase had arrived a half hour ago in pain and asking for help. Mr. M let him in and cast a spell to alle
viate pain.
Chase paled. “It’s not like I didn’t listen, I thought it was just a suggestion.”
“Do you have any idea what could have happened? What if they hadn’t called me first? What if they took off with her in the middle of the night?”
“Would they do that?”
“Yes Chase! They’ve done that her entire life!” Mr. M’s hands were balled up into fists at his side. “Raise your sleeves.”
Chase stilled. “What?”
“Just do as I ask Chase.”
Chase just stood there looking at Mr. M.
“Chase! I mean it! This is some serious shit! You could get yourself killed now raise your sleeves up.”
Chase pushed his sleeves up on his shirt.
Mr. M walked over and took Chase by the wrist, one arm at a time inspecting them elbow to wrist. He released the hold he had on Chase and sat back down putting his face in his hands. “Thank god.”
“What was that all about?”
“Thank god nothing.”
Chase had enough. “Why won’t you tell me what this is all about?.”
“You’re on a need to know basis, sorry. I have to stop the Bleu’s from leaving town and then maybe, just maybe if I’m feeling generous I’ll tell you. You almost screwed up, Chase.” Mr. M left the room and stormed out to his truck.
Chase followed him out and climbed into the passenger side.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going with you.”
“Chase, they’re going to take one look at you, pack their bags and leave town. There is no way I’m taking someone like you to their house.”
“What do you mean someone like me?”
“Surely you must know what I’m talking about. Every single girl in the school drools over you Chase. If I had a penny for every time a girl was rendered speechless by you merely walking by her I’d be a millionaire by now. Lyla is no different. Her parents are going to see a tall good looking boy with straight white teeth who sparkles every time their daughter walks into the room and they’ll bolt.”
“I’m going with you.”
He glared at Chase, shifted the car into drive and moved the car out of the driveway. He knew Chase by now and when he said he was going, there was no swaying him. They drove in silence the whole five minutes it took to get there. Lyla lived in a small two story house overlooking Lake Morton. Mr. M parked the car on the street and turned to look at Chase.
“Chase, I’m going to tell you this because I love you like a son. Don’t go storming in. Let me talk them down. I’ll send Lyla out while I talk.”
Chase looked up. “But…”
Mr. M was already shaking his head. “No. You have to say goodbye. This doesn’t get negotiated. I’ll tell you someday but for right now, you dodged a bullet.”
Chase spoke through gritted teeth, “Why won’t you tell me then?”
Mr. M got out of the car, walked around the front, pointed a finger at Chase and walked up the steps to the house and rang the doorbell.
Lyla’s father opened the door. He was holding an empty bag. So, Mr. M thought, they were running tonight.
“Sam.”
“Frank.”
“I’d invite you in but we’re a little busy.”
“I can see that. You don’t have to run you know. Not this time. He’s clean.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Sam.” Frank walked back into the house leaving the door open for Mr. M to come in. He followed him to the back of the house to the kitchen. Lyla was at the island table glaring at her mother.
Mr. M walked over to Lyla and whispered in her ear, “Lyla, Chase is in the car, why don’t you go talk to him.”
Lyla ran past the grown-ups and outside before her parents could ask.
Lyla’s mother watched her daughter run out of the room. “We should have left sooner. We’ve never been in one place so long. We let our guard down.” She was pacing the kitchen in an agitated frantic manner.
“You did nothing but try and make Lyla happy.” Mr. M tried to soothe her.
Lyla’s father came over to Mr. M. “Did you check him, Sam?”
“Yes, that’s why I said he was clean.”
Lyla’s parents visibly relaxed.
“We’ll make you a deal. We will stay but Lyla is not to go to school anymore. We’ll home school her and she and Chase will break up.”
Mr. M crossed his arms and stared at the two. “If we can get through the next six months, I don’t see why they couldn’t resume seeing each other.”
Lyla’s mother rolled her eyes. “You know how kids are in school, one week on, one week off. It won’t last the six months, Sam.”
“If you say so. It’s a deal then.”
Lyla walked up to the truck parked out of sight from the house. Chase was leaning against the driver’s door. Lyla thought he looked upset staring down at his shoes. Had this all been too much for him?
Chase looked up as she approached. He noticed how hesitant she was being. Chase hooked a finger into her jean belt loop and pulled her in.
“Chase, I’m sorry. I…”
Chase cut her off with his kiss. He wanted to erase the worry lines on her forehead he wanted to tell her it was all going to be okay. But he wasn’t sure it would be. He was in love with her and he knew McCown could see it. Chase pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes had the beginning glossiness of tears which turned the color of them a light blue. It was beautiful and sad all at the same time.
“I don’t think we have much time. They don’t want us to see each other. I don’t want to use up our time talking about how evil everyone is for not telling us why. I wrote something down for you.” He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket. “It’s a spell. Jaden and I used to talk back and forth when we were supposed to be sleeping. It’s pretty simple. Speak the spell over any piece of paper or like a book, write a note with your finger or the back of a pen. It takes a bit to get used to. The person on the other end just says ‘reveal my words’. The words will appear on the paper’s surface. When you want to erase it just wipe your hand over the page.”
Lyla looked up at Chase a smile curved up the corners of her mouth and continued to her eyes. “That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, we came upon it by accident. Burn the paper with the spell the minute you think you have it memorized though.”
“Thank you Chase.” Lyla wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye.
“For what?” Chase’s face was a mask of concern.
Lyla looked down trying to compose herself. “For not leaving me alone.”
Chase wrapped his arms around Lyla and whispered in her ear, “We’ve both been alone for too long.”
Lyla buried her head in his chest.
“Besides, I could hardly leave you alone now.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “Why?”
“Because I’m in love with you.” Chase gave her a shy smile.
Lyla gasped. She put a hand to her mouth. Tears swam in her eyes.
Chase searched her face for an answer, his heart beating out of his chest.
“I’m in love with you, too.” Lyla wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
That is the scene Mr. M walked around the corner to. Crap, he thought to himself. He suspected Chase had fallen for the stunningly beautiful Lyla but he had been holding out hope that it was a flash like all the other girls in his life. The scene he was witnessing was no flash it was a deep burn, full of fire. He averted his eyes and coughed loudly.
Lyla and Chase pulled apart quickly. Mr. M was sad for the two. The next few months were going to be hell. He only hoped Chase hadn’t fallen for her before she had turned eighteen a few weeks ago.
“They want a word with Lyla. I’d like you to stay here Chase they don’t know you came over with me.” He turned and walked back to the house.
Lyla followed Mr. M into the house while Chase waited by the car.
Lyla’s parents
were sitting in the front room. A fireplace was straight ahead, and to the left and right were two love seats and some stand-alone comfy chairs.
Lyla’s parents stood when they walked into the room.
Mr. M and Lyla sat down across Mr. and Mrs. Bleu.
“We’ve come to an agreement. Lyla, you’re homeschooled as of now. That wasn’t my idea, it was your parents. You will stop seeing each other immediately. By June, if you still want to date, you can. But I mean this, you can’t have any and I mean any contact with each other. No phone calls, no drive-by waving hello out of a car, no meeting at the library. Got it?”
Lyla spoke up, “This would all be so much easier if you would just tell me why.”
Lyla’s father spoke up, “Your job right now is to cultivate your powers. If you learned the reason it would be traumatizing. All of our caution is for your own good. In June if everything goes well, we’ll tell you and it most likely won’t even be an issue. We’re trying to escape the trauma Lyla.”
Mr. M stood to leave. “Lyla, will you walk me out?”
“Of course.” They stood to leave and walked quickly to the car. Once there Mr. M rounded on them, glancing back toward the house to make sure no eyes were staring at them through the windows.
“When did you first notice each other?”
“When did we meet?” Chase held Lyla’s hand and glanced down at her.
“No. Notice.” Mr. M’s brow creased in concern.
Chase looked at the ground and back up at Lyla.
“Chase, you have to come clean with me, I have to know. It’s the only way I can prepare.”
“First day of school.”
Mr. M looked at Lyla who nodded in agreement.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how bad that is. But the good thing is we have a little time to prepare. It’s possible nothing has taken effect, but most likely I’ll have to plan for the worst.” He rubbed his face with his hands. “If we have time, just stay away from each other, okay? Promise me you’ll stay away from each other until June.”
Hurricane (The Charmed) Page 5