Chris Halliwell (Charmed) || Hear Now the Words of the Witches

Chapter 2

Annabelle changed her clothes and completed her nightly routine before crawling under the blankets with her laptop intending to watch a movie before bed. She chose one that seemed most intriguing and settled in.

Once he had all the supplies needed for the spells, Chris chose a bedroom and sat down on the floor. He arranged the five candles in a circle, then sat down and set the mortar and pestle in front of him.

The witchlighter took a few moments to gather his energy and cast a protective circle—it was always best to have one when doing any sort of ritual, especially when working magic, and by now it was second nature for him to picture white light coming up through his body and forming a line around the candles. Once Chris felt that the circle was ready, he tossed the rosemary, Cypress sprig, and yarrow root into the mortar and ground it up with the pestle. He chanted:

"Power of the witches rise, 
course unseen across the skies.
Come to us who call you near. 
Come to us and settle here."

He reached into his pocket and took out a knife. Holding his left hand over the mortar, he made a small cut into his index finger and watched as the blood welled over and dripped into the bowl.

"Blood to blood, I summon thee." He formed an image of Piper—his mother, as she'd been the last time he'd seen her—in his mind. "Blood to blood, return to me."

Annabelle paused her movie when the chanting began and listened in for a moment, but felt as if she was listening in on a private conversation. She put one earbud in so she couldn't make out the words, but continued to listen to Chris's voice. When it seemed as if he'd finished, she knocked on his door.

"Can I come in?"

Chris tensed at the knock at the door, Annabelle's voice asking if she could come in. Instead of answering her he focused at the center of the circle, hoping that the spell would take effect and his mom would be standing in front of him as she had been in life.

Nothing.

"Blood to blood, I summon thee," he chanted one last time. "Blood to blood, return to me."

"Shit, sorry." Annabelle cracked the door open a bit and peered in. "It's just that I'm not sure if I want you summoning anything into your room, but we have a room we usually use for spells that has a lot of safe guards...."

Chris stopped, sent a quick glare her way. "I know what I'm doing," he snapped. Then he hesitated, sighed. If the spell had worked, then Piper would have been here by now. She hadn't, which meant...

He shoved the thought aside. "If you must know, I was trying to contact some relatives of mine. But if you'd rather I didn't invite anything into my own room when I've done this particular spell several times already..."

Chris opened the circle, grabbed the five unlit candles, and walked over to the door. He studied Annabelle for a moment, took in her last statement. "You're a hunter that works magic and casts spells, but you don't call yourself a witch. Interesting." A pause. "Where's this room?"

"We only cast a few. It'd be an insult to witches for me to call myself one. Follow me... I know an angel who might be able to help you," she offered in an attempt to make amends for intruding.

"I don't need an angel to help me," Chris muttered, but he followed the teenaged hunter anyway.

"Okay...If the person you're trying to summon is dead, he could take you to visit their soul. He does that for me and my family sometimes, but it's all up to you. Here it is," she said as she opened the door to a room filled with spell books and with a table sat in the center of it. "Feel free to rearrange and let me know if you need anything."