"You need anything else?" I asked as I walked back into the room, eyeing the varying ingredients spread across the dining room table as Phoebe continued to stir her concoction brewing in the rusted iron cauldron.

Phoebe sighed, "No, sweetie. I just hope I'm not too late."

Suddenly, Leo orbed in, talking animatedly as he waved around the objects in his hands, "I stopped off in the attic on the way back,"

"I gotta tell you, Leo, whatever Chris has against you in the future, it can't be your lack of determination," Phoebe pointed out to her brother-in-law.

Leo shrugged, "Still, you might not be in this mess if I hadn't been gone so long,"

"Well, you have to do what you have to do," Paige told him, trying to be supportive.

Without warning, my step-mom glanced up, an irritated expression plastered on her face, "My gosh, Leo, can't you think of anything but yourself?"

Paige shot her a reproving look, "Phoebe."

Phoebe stopped stirring, making a face, "Yeah, that was kind of weird,"

"You totally bailed on us!"

We all glanced over at her in shock at this new outburst when realization dawned on me, "Wait, are you channeling Chris's anger?"

"But he's in the basement," Leo pointed out, "Can you empath from so far away?"

Phoebe threw up her hands in exasperation, "I don't know, maybe my powers are expanding?"

"Or he's closer than we think," Paige suggested.

Apparently, that wasn't far off the mark. Before any of us had the chance to react, a tiny spider that had been crawling closer and closer to us all the while transformed into that of Chris. Phoebe exclaimed as we raced towards him, trying to keep him away from Piper. But she didn't get far. White webs shot out of Chris' wrists like silly string, like something straight out of Spider-Man. Although Chris was a much better looking Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire, it had to be said.

I'm not sure that Phoebe, however, would be that interested in the conversation going on in my head as she struggled against the web binding her and now Paige as well to the far wall of the living room.

"Chris, stop, this isn't you!" I shook my head, taking a step closer to my boyfriend, "You would never hurt us, never hurt me..."

But he was too far gone, too deep in this mess with that spider demon to listen to my words now.

Chris snarled at me, a sight I had never seen before directed at myself before sneering, "Wanna bet?"

Before I could move away, he wrapped a hand around my throat and shoved me against the wall. My head smacked against the hard surface and I winced as I began to feel my oxygen being cut off. I tried to claw my way free but his grip was like a vice, those soulless red eyes glowering down at me.

"You love her, Chris. Don't do this!" Paige interceded on my behalf, wriggling in her web bonds.

His eyes flashed from red to green and back in a split second and despite the lack of air, I could feel a glimmer of hope spark in my chest. Chris was still in there!

Maybe a little premature thinking there though as all of a sudden, I was tossed away like a rag doll. My body was thrown up the stairs, rolling onto the landing with a loud thud. Because I had lost so much oxygen already, hitting the stairs knocked the only bit of air out of me that I'd had left. All I could remember was that flash, that one tiny flash of humanity still lingering in his beautiful green orbs.

Then all was darkness.