Las Vegas, Sunday Afternoon

[izzyalienqueen]

The unfortunate thing about life after Fandom was that it required a job that didn't give you time off for weirdness or the potential apocalypse. Isabel had managed to get through her shift on Saturday although she'd grown progressively more on edge as the evening wore on and she realized the number of staff people that weren't around when they were supposed to be.

With Wyatt in San Francisco checking the Book of Shadows, sleep wasn't really an option once Isabel got home. Instead she spent most of the night texting Wyatt and Parker like some sort of crazed stalker just to be sure they were still around. Isabel was definitely not thinking about what she would do if one of them stopped responding.

At some point she did finally doze off for a few hours of restless sleep, only to be woken by her alarm reminding her that crisis or not, there was a job to go to.

Cranky and clutching her coffee, Isabel left her car at the parking lot she used and walked towards the Vegas Strip, only to stop dead at the sight before her. Instead of several acres of buildings housing a casio, shopping and hotel towers, there was only blackness. A blackness it seemed only she could see judging by the tourists that brushed past her without a care in the world.

Things were getting serious. Pulling out her phone, Isabel left a few messages for some people. After another incredulous look at where the casino used to be, she headed home to wait.

[For phone calls, visits, etc...]

Comments

[blessed_twice]

Wyatt orbed in in a panic. After checking the Book of Shadows, he'd called Chris to see if he'd noticed anything weird going on. Tried to call, that is. His number had been answered by a woman who swore she'd had the number for years. A call to Summer wasn't any better -- that number went to a bank.

Calling his grandfather had gotten him the person he expected, much to his relief, but when he asked if he'd seen Chris, Victor Bennett had no idea who he was talking about. He'd summoned Grams next, and she didn't know who Chris was, either. "Wyatt, you've always been an only child," she said, concerned about his apparent delusion. He didn't want her telling the Elders he was going insane so he tried to brush it off as being over-tired.

He'd been on the verge of tearing San Francisco apart to find the demons responsible for this when he'd gotten Isabel's call. That snapped him to his senses long enough to orb back to Las Vegas, but one look and Isabel could probably tell he was about to lose it.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Four years and multiple crises (even if things had been pretty quiet since they'd left Fandom) meant that Isabel was pretty attuned to Wyatt's moods. So yes, one look and she was on her feet reaching for him.

"Who?"

[blessed_twice]

"Chris," he managed to get out, clinging to her like his life depended on it. "Grandpa Victor has no idea who he is. Summer, too, I think."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She was doing some clinging of her own, trying to process the idea that yet more people she cared about were missing. "We'll get them back. I promise." How, Isabel had no idea. But she had to believe they would, otherwise she wasn't sure how either of them would cope.

[blessed_twice]

He was trying to hold on to that thought. Trying. "Yeah," he said dully. "We always do, don't we?"

Losing it wouldn't help. Losing it would be bad. Had to keep it together.

"You find out anything useful?" he said. "The Book of Shadows didn't have much that seemed helpful."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"We do," Isabel reminded him, rubbing a soothing hand his back. "I'm living proof. Remember that."

But keeping Wyatt from going all powerful in a quest for answers was added right at the top of the list of things she was worrying about the moment.

"No. Not really. But it seems to be getting worse."

[blessed_twice]

He had sprouted any bad facial hair, so things seemed all right. For the moment.

"What do you mean?" he asked after taking a deep breath to steady himself. "What was the weirdness in your message?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Taking Wyatt's hand in hers, Isabel led the way over to the patio doors that led to the apartment's small balcony. The view wasn't the best but most times you could see the hotel towers of her job above the other buildings. This afternoon, not so much. Instead a smudge of blackness marked the air. "Can you see that? That blackness?"

[blessed_twice]

"What the hell?" Wyatt said, staring at the place the hotel towers used to be. "They're just...gone? Why aren't people freaking out?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"So you see it then? Good." Even though Ronan had believed her when she told him, it was still good to have someone else verify what she wasn't seeing.

"No one noticed it all. The tourists just walked on by like it was just a vacant lot."

[blessed_twice]

"Wait, so first people, now buildings are going missing and nobody notices?" Wyatt said. "I'd say something's screwing with the past but that doesn't explain the black spot."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"No it doesn't. I'm stumped. So's Ronan. I talked to him on the ride home," she said quietly. "He thinks we should come to the island."

[blessed_twice]

"Might be a good idea," Wyatt said, though he was loathe to leave his grandfather after Chris had gone missing. "If there's any place that's going to be information central about this, it's there."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Probably hidden in Special Collections," Isabel nodded, leaning into Wyatt's side. "But we have to do something about your grandfather and my family first."

[blessed_twice]

"Get them to Fandom?" Wyatt said. "That's probably the only place they'd be safe at this rate."

There had to be a way to pull Chris back, and Summer too. Maybe a spell. To Call A Lost Witch, that would work, wouldn't it? Even through all this.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"That's what I'm thinking. And once we get them there we can start working on getting them back. But," she said, reaching up with one hand to touch his cheek. "I want you to promise me something, please?"

[blessed_twice]

"Promise you what?" Wyatt said.

He had a feeling he knew what she was going to ask. He wasn't sure he could keep that kind of promise.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

He'd better. Or she'd kick his ass.

Isabel traced her thumb over Wyatt's cheek and along the line of his jaw. "I know you want them. I do to. So much. But I don't want to lose you if you go and do something impulsive. Talk to me first. Talk to Piper or Phoebe. But don't take risks. Please. I can't lose you now."

[blessed_twice]

He brought his hand up and pressed it over his. "I'll try," he said. He was already warring with the need to do something now rather than sitting and waiting. It wasn't something he did well.

"I can't lose you, either," he said. "I won't."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"No, you won't. I'm sticking to you like glue until this is over," she promised. Wanting to do more Isabel flipped that little mental switch that she used to keep her powers locked down. She didn't do much, just sent a few mental images towards Wyatt, mostly memories of happier times. A quick image of playing Wii with the gang back in Roswell, tossing popcorn at Chris during a movie night at the Manor. Waking up in his arms that first morning after she'd been kidnapped. "We're going to fix this. It might take some time. But we will."