Chosen Chapter 14: Past and Present Danger
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In the middle of the night, a black limousine drove through the streets of San Francisco, heading toward an industrial area. It eventually reached a heavily guarded compound, where it was led through metal gates by a guard. It drove up to the entrance of the building, where agent Murphy was impatiently waiting with a cup of coffee in his hand. After parking the limousine, the driver got out and opened the backdoor. The mayor of San Francisco, Amanda Freeman, got out and walked up to agent Murphy. She was dressed in a dress suit and wore a heavy ruby amulet around her neck.
"Agent Murphy." The mayor said.
"Madame Mayor." Murphy replied with a frown. "To what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned here in the middle of the night?"
"I figured you'd be used to late hours in your line of work." The mayor said. "I have something to share with you, and I didn't want to wait."
"What is this about?" Murphy asked.
"A few months ago, I asked you to help me solve the magic problem of this city." The mayor replied. "Tonight, my people have made a breakthrough."
"What kind of breakthrough?" Murphy asked.
"The kind that will finally free this city of dangerous magic." The mayor said. "But perhaps it is better to just show you."
The mayor headed to the door and used a security card to get inside. Agent Murphy followed and tossed his half-empty coffee cup in a trashcan. He followed the mayor to an elevator and they got inside. The mayor swiped her card across a scanner and pressed a red button, causing the elevator to go down.
"A hidden basement?" Murphy asked.
"You can never be too careful." The mayor said.
"Is that why you wear that amulet?" Murphy noted.
"Sharp eye, agent." The mayor replied with a faint smile. "It protects me from some of the harmful effects of magic. I acquired it from a witch doctor I encountered long ago."
"I doubt he parted with it easily." Murphy said.
"He had little choice in the matter." The mayor replied.
The elevator doors opened and they got out. Agent Murphy followed the mayor through a long hallway. On both sides, there were windowed walls, through which he could see all kinds of laboratory equipment. All the labs were empty and dark.
"What is this place?" Murphy asked.
"Long ago, it was a government research facility for biological warfare." The mayor replied. "Now most people have forgotten its existence and we started researching other things."
"Magic, you mean." Murphy concluded.
"Exactly." The mayor replied. "After what happened last year, I hired a team of specialists to find a way to eliminate the threat."
"And you succeeded?" Murphy asked slightly concerned.
"It's best if I just show you." The mayor replied.
They reached another door and the mayor used her security card to open it. When they entered the lab, Murphy noticed a few scientists at work. The mayor walked up to a young man in his early twenties, working on a computer. He had short blond hair and glasses and looked more like a college student than an actual scientist. The empty cans of energy drinks and bags of chips around him only added to that notion. When he noticed their arrival, he awkwardly got up.
"Agent Murphy. Allow me to introduce you to Ramsey Tate." The mayor said. "While he might not seem like it, he is our lead scientist."
"Hi, nice to meet you." Ramsey said as he shook his hand.
"Yeah, you too." Murphy replied. "So what do you do here?"
"Ramsey is a microbiologist that we recruited straight out of Harvard Medical." The mayor said. "He is the reason behind our success."
"She is exaggerating." Ramsey mumbled.
"Tell us about your work." The mayor ordered.
"Right." Ramsey said quickly. "Well, I believe that Agent Murphy is familiar with the research into super soldiers conducted by the government a few years back?"
"You mean when we injected soldiers with demonic cells and accidentally created a virus that caused magical beings to hulk out and die?" Murphy remarked dryly. "I almost forgot. But wait, that research was destroyed."
"Not entirely." Ramsey said.
"We managed to obtain a sample." The mayor added.
"From where?" Murphy asked.
"Let me show you." The mayor replied.
The mayor led Agent Murphy to the back of the lab. Ramsey sat back down at his computer, as he seemed nervous about getting too close. There were doors in the back, behind which were padded quarantine cells. Agent Murphy looked inside the cell they had stopped in front. In the middle stood a table with a person tied to it. There was an IV in his arm and he seemed unconscious. Although he looked human, Agent Murphy recognized his face. He had seen this demon before years ago, on security footage that showed him escaping with a blood sample containing the virus.
"How?" Murphy asked.
"We captured him and the blood sample a few months ago as he broke into a medical lab." The mayor explained. "He had been trying to harness the effect of the virus for himself. We're keeping him heavily sedated."
"Why keep him at all?" Murphy asked.
"Simple, we need test subjects." The mayor replied. "And he's not the only one."
Murphy looked inside the other quarantine cells. There were various magical creatures locked inside. Most were species of demons, but he also spotted some beings of short stature and a young woman in a leafy green dress. He was pretty sure they were magical beings on the side of good. It was clear the mayor was conducting experiments on them to test the virus.
"Why are you doing this?" Murphy asked disturbed.
"Don't let their appearance fool you, agent." The mayor said. "Some might look human, but they are all dangerous. At least for now."
"What do you mean?" Murphy asked.
"We perfected the virus." The mayor replied proudly. "We have a chance to wipe magic from this city once and for all. All we need to do is unleash it."
Agent Murphy turned away from the mayor and looked at the beings in the cells. He understood the mayor's fears about magic, as her city had been overtaken and terrorized by the Brotherhood not too long ago, but this was wrong. If this improved virus really worked, it would not just affect demons. It would affect everyone with magic, including the Charmed Ones, Billlie and her friends. He realized he needed to do something to stop this, but he would need help.
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Across the city in a student bar, Billie entered a bathroom stall and closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes as she impatiently tapped her nails on the door. She knew she should stop this, but she couldn't. The door opened and someone entered the stall with her. He pushed her against the side wall and kissed her. She was a horrible person for doing this, especially in a place like this, but she could not resist. His hands started unbuttoning her blouse.
"I'm glad I got your text." Nick said.
"Don't talk, you'll ruin it." Billie said as she lifted his shirt over his head. "Let's just get this over with."
"Such a romantic." Nick remarked.
"Nothing about this is romantic." Billie replied as she unbuckled his belt. "It's just sex. Just one more time and then we quit."
"You said that the last four or five times." Nick said.
"This time I mean it." Billie said, trying to convince herself as he began kissing her neck and slowly moved down. "We're horrible people. You're dating Darcy. This has to..."
"Just say the world and I'll end it with her." Nick replied as his lips reached her navel.
"Hold on." Billie said she pushed him away. "And then what?"
"Then… I don't know. We see what happens?" Nick asked with a frown.
"Look, we agreed that this was just hooking up." Billie said. "Nothing more, right?"
"Of course not." Nick said quickly. "It's just sex."
"Good, as long as we're clear on that." Billie replied. "But this really is the last time."
"Just keep telling yourself that." Nick remarked.
Billie rolled her eyes and kissed him to shut him up. He lifted her up and pressed her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Neither of them held back as clothes were being ripped off, as they both knew what the other wanted. However, tonight really needed to be the last time, no matter how good it was. Billie was feeling guilty enough already, was worried sick about her friends finding out her dirty little secret.
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The following morning, Violet sat in her room staring at the letter given to her by her parents. She was still struggling to make sense of it all. She had been given to her parents by a stranger named Gideon, who had said she needed a safe and normal home. That meant that her biological parents had to be magical, and were somehow not able to look after her.
"Who were you?" Violet asked aloud as she thought about them. "Why did you give me away? Were you in danger?"
Violet realized she needed to talk to someone. She would most like to talk to Arthur, but he was on Atlantis, studying a way to free the petrified wizards there. She knew she could talk to her friends, but she had been nervous to start the conversation, afraid of where it could lead. What if she didn't the answers she got? What if her parents abandoned her?
"No, I can't believe that." Violet reminded herself. "They had to have had a good reason."
Violet realized she was done with waiting and second-guessing. She needed the answers now. She knew her friends would support her in any way they could. She just needed to go and talk to them. Worried she might change her mind again, she grabbed the letter and stormed out of her room.
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Duncan woke up and stretched in his bed. He rolled over to his side, expecting to see Nathan lying next to him, but the bed was empty. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, after which he finally noticed Nathan sitting on the edge of the bed. He was still in his underwear, as if he had just woken up, and was looking through a map of papers. Duncan recognized it as the map Leo handed the twins after discovering Gideon once wanted to take them to Magic School.
"What are you doing?" Duncan asked.
"Just looking through some papers." Nathan replied.
"Looking into your past, you mean." Duncan said.
"Yeah, except there is nothing new in here." Nathan said frustrated as he tossed the map on the floor.
Duncan got out of bed, also just wearing some boxer briefs, and picked up the papers. "What are you hoping to find?" He asked as he sat down next to Nathan.
"Something, anything." Nathan replied. "I was hoping for some answers to my past. Like what happened to my parents, why Gideon was interested in us."
"I didn't even know you were still looking into this." Duncan said. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you."
"I didn't think it was worth mentioning." Nathan replied. "You had a lot going on, and I figured I could find the answers myself."
"You didn't think it was important enough to tell me?" Duncan asked with a frown.
"I didn't even tell Nick." Nathan replied.
"That's not the same thing." Duncan said.
"Wait, are you upset that I didn't tell you?" Nathan asked confused.
"Yeah, a little." Duncan said. "We're supposed to be a couple, aren't we? To me, that means we share things that matter to us. Especially something like this."
"I'm sorry, this is all new to me." Nathan replied. "I've never done the whole relationship thing. I didn't want to burden you."
"It's not a burden. Look, I've never done this before either." Duncan admitted as he placed a hand on his leg. "So maybe we should just figure it out together."
"Sounds good." Nathan replied with a smile.
"Okay, so let's get some coffee and breakfast and go over these papers together." Duncan said as he got up and wanted to get dressed.
"Hold on." Nathan said as he grabbed his arm. "Not so fast."
Nathan pulled him back down on the bed and kissed him. Realizing that they weren't going to get up yet just, Duncan tossed the map aside and kissed him back. They moved from the edge of the bed to the middle and wrestled for control. Finally, it was Duncan who ended on top and he pinned Nathan to the bed with his hands over his head. He first kissed him on the lips and then began kissing his chest. He was about to go further down when there was a knock on the door.
Before Duncan had a chance to answer, the door swung open and Violet came walking in holding a letter. "Duncan, I really need to talk…"
Violet fell silent as she saw what she had walked in on, the two of them barely dressed while Duncan was on top of Nathan. She screamed and threw her hands before her eyes while they quickly grabbed the bedsheets for cover.
"Violet, what the hell?" Duncan called out angrily.
"I'm sorry, I knocked." Violet replied as she still covered her eyes. "Can I open my eyes?"
"Yeah, we're covered." Duncan said embarrassed. "Don't people usually wait for an answer after knocking?"
"Sorry, my mind was preoccupied." Violet said as she opened her eyes. "Just so you know, I didn't see anything naughty."
"Naughty?" Nathan asked with a smile.
"You know what I mean." Violet replied with a flustered face.
"It's alright." Nathan remarked amused. "I've always had an exhibitionist streak."
"Well, I haven't." Duncan said annoyed.
"Oh really, then what about that time in the…" Nathan began asking.
"Stop talking, please." Duncan interrupted him. "We definitely need to set up some new roommate rules around here. Or buy locks."
"For the hundredth time, sorry." Violet said. "It won't happen again."
"So what was so important that you had to barge in here?" Duncan asked.
"Right. I really need to talk to you about something." Violet said. "I've been walking around with this for a while now. It's about my adoption."
"What about it?" Duncan asked.
"I just found out that it wasn't entirely normal." Violet explained. "My parents got me from this man in a church, who said it was important that I was kept safe."
"Safe from what?" Duncan asked.
"I don't know. Neither do my parents." Violet said. "All I know is the name of the man who gave me to them. His name was Gideon."
"Gideon?" Nathan asked.
"Do you know him?" Violet asked.
Nathan got out of bed and grabbed the map from the floor. "I don't know him personally, but Gideon once tried to take my brother and me to Magic School." He said as he held out the map. "Looks like we have something from our past in common."
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