Chosen Chapter 7: City of Darkness

xxx

During a stormy morning just outside of San Francisco, Paige Matthews sat on a bench on a hill overlooking the city. Or at least, what used to be the city. All she could see was a giant magical dome of shadows that cut off everything and everyone inside from the rest of the world. She could not stand it and her hands would not stop twitching. It had been exactly nine days since the dome had appeared, nine days since she had seen everyone she loved. Since then, she had not been able to sleep or eat properly. All she did was wait for a way inside.

They were all trapped inside the dome. Henry was in there somewhere, just like her sisters and their children, Tyler, Billie and the others. There was no way of knowing they were even alive. Phoebe had just had her daughter a few weeks ago and Piper just found out she was pregnant. They were in no position to defend themselves to whatever caused the dome to appear. Why did she have to go take care of that stupid charge in Brazil when it happened?

"You need to get some sleep." Someone next to her suddenly said.

Paige looked to her side and saw a teenaged boy with spiky brown hair sitting next to her, dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans. However, despite his looks, he was not technically a boy anymore. He was an Elder.

"What are you doing here, Kevin?" Paige asked.

"I was worried about you." Kevin replied. "You can't keep sitting here waiting."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Paige asked annoyed as she pointed at the dome. "Everyone I love is trapped in there."

"I know." Kevin replied. "We are doing everything we can, but it doesn't appear we can destroy it from the outside. It has to be destroyed from within."

"We have no idea what is going on in there." Paige retorted. "It has been nine days."

"We need to trust in the ones inside." Kevin said. "We need to have faith that the Chosen will save the city and defeat the Brotherhood."

"How do you know this Brotherhood is behind it?" Paige asked.

"They are the only ones capable of doing something like this." Kevin explained. "They sent a pair of warlock twins after the Chosen to distract us all. We did not know what was going on until it was too late. Luckily, we were at least able to send Mikelle in before it was too late."

"How are you able to keep this from the rest of the world?" Paige asked. "Magic should already be exposed. A huge shadowy dome is not exactly normal."

"We are working around the clock to prevent the mortals from discovering the truth." Kevin said. "The Elders and the Tribunal cast a powerful reality altering spell. The rest of the world is convinced the city is caught in a terrible storm that prevents all communication. Additionally, all Whitelighters and Cleaners have been assigned to prevent people from trying to reach the city."

"You must be running out of memory dust by now." Paige remarked.

"We are running short, yes." Kevin admitted. "Meanwhile, the spell is starting to weaken as well. We won't be able to keep this going for long. A few days at most."

"So it all comes down to the Chosen." Paige stated as she stared at the dome.

"Yes, but we both know them." Kevin said. "If anyone can do it, it is them."

"I guess you're right." Paige said with a faint smile, realizing he was right.

"Now you really need to get some sleep." Kevin said. "In case you forgot, I am an Elder, meaning I am your superior, and I am telling you to rest."

"Does that ever work?" Paige asked with a frown.

"No." Kevin admitted with a sigh. "Guess that is the downside of eternal youth, the world will always view me as just a kid."

"I know you mean well, Kevin." Paige said. "I will go to Magic School. Leo and Coop are there as well, they were also trapped outside when the dome appeared."

"Good. I will inform you as soon as there is news." Kevin replied.

As he finished, Kevin took a last look at the shadow dome and disappeared in a column of orbs. Paige sighed as she looked up. She reminded herself that she needed to have faith in Billie and the others as well. Kevin was right, they were the only people who could fix all of this. Feeling a little bit relieved, Paige focused on Magic School and disappeared in a flurry of orbs.

Xxx

Surrounded by total darkness, twenty-two year old Taylor woke up on a cold marble floor. She was confused and disoriented, having no idea where she was or how she got there. As she tried to move, she was suddenly overwhelmed with an unbearable hunger, one that she had never felt before. She grabbed her stomach in pain and cried out for help.

A door went open and a bright blinding light was cast into the room. Taylor squinted her eyes until they adapted to the light and saw it was a candle, held by a figure in a cloak. Suddenly memories were triggered and images flashed through her mind. Taylor was back at her dorm, when suddenly a woman appeared out nowhere. She placed a finger of her skin and she felt sick before passing out. Then she was dragged into a room where several cloaked figures were sitting around a table. She was thrown on the table and a man with brown hair and a leather jacket stabbed her.

Taylor screamed as she felt the blade pierce her skin all over again and reached for her neck, though there was no injury. The figure closed the door and kneeled down next to her. She removed her cloak and Taylor saw it was a beautiful young woman with wavy brown hair, hazel eyes and pale skin.

"Hush, my child." The woman said in a seductive voice. "They are only memories, nothing can hurt you now."

"What is this? Where am I?" Taylor called out in a panic. "Who are you?"

"Allow me to show you." The woman replied.

Before Taylor could respond, the woman placed her hands on her temples and closed her eyes. Taylor suddenly felt a connection and was dragged into a memory.

Taylor was lying on the table, blood was gushing from a stab wound by her neck and was slowly spreading out across the table. A cloaked figure stood up and removed her cloak. It was the woman showing her the memory. She leaned over the table and opened her mouth. Fangs grew from the corners of her teeth as she took Taylor's arm. She then bit down on her wrist.

When the memory ended, Taylor quickly backed away from the woman in fear. It was impossible, but she knew exactly what the woman was. She was a vampire, but vampires weren't real, right? She was probably hallucinating or something. It was the only explanation. As she crawled over the floor, she was once again overwhelmed with hunger.

"What is happening to me?" She asked as she clenched her stomach.

"You are in transition." The vampire replied. "You are transforming into a vampire, but you will need to consume blood. You have been passed out for over a week, kept alive by magic. If you do not feed now, you will die."

"Why? Why did you do this to me?" Taylor asked tearfully, trembling with fear.

"I saw something in you. You are young and beautiful. Perfect for my clan." The vampire replied. "I felt it was a waste to let you die just because your blood was needed for some ritual. You have so much potential."

The vampire snapped her fingers and the door opened. Another woman with pale skin and long blonde hair came walking in. She was dragging along a young boy, eighteen at most. He was shirtless and barefoot, with only a pair of jeans on. The blonde threw him across the floor and he landed next to Taylor. He had short black hair and a cute, innocent face. There was a small cut on his neck. His blood smelled delicious for some reason. She could barely contain herself. What was happening to her? He was a boy, not something to eat.

"Please, I don't understand what is going on." The boy cried in tears. "I just want to go home."

"You need to feed or you will waste away." The vampire said. "Magic has kept you alive for this long, but only blood will grant you eternal life."

"I can't!" Taylor called out, even though the smell of blood was overwhelmingly sweet.

"Yes, you can, Taylor, you are strong." The vampire said with a hypnotic voice as she leaned over and whispered in her ear. "You could accomplish so much at my side. Drink his blood and accept me as your queen. Just give in."

Taylor cried out and she felt fangs grow at the corners of her teeth. The smell of blood was too much to handle, and she wanted to serve her queen for some reason. She wanted to obey, she felt like she had no choice. The hunger for blood took over. She turned around and threw herself on the boy, who screamed out as she sank her fangs deep in his neck.

His blood was sweet and fulfilling. She felt the warmth spread over her entire body and the hunger faded away with her humanity. She knew what she was now, she was a vampire, loyal to her queen, and she loved the taste of blood.

Xxx

As she heard a demonic howling behind her, Billie Jenkins ran across the dark streets of San Francisco in dark jeans and a leather jacket. Around her shoulder, she had a bag filled with food, everything she had managed to find on her hunt. She could not believe it had been nine days and she was already forced to steal in order to survive. At least she thought it was nine days, it was a little difficult to keep track in a city cloaked in eternal night.

Pretty much the entire city had fallen into decay, with riots and pillaging all over. Nobody knew what was going on, so everyone was panicking and going crazy. She and her friends had done the best they could trying to keep chaos from breaking out, but it was not easy. Luckily, not everyone had gone insane, the police was still out there to keep order, and most people had just bunkered up in their homes to wait out the storm. It was only the idiots causing trouble. However, the mortals were the least of her worries, the ones behind all of this, the Brotherhood, were still out there.

As the demonic growling behind her got louder, Billie levitated up and flip-flopped over a couple of cars. She looked over her shoulder and saw three separate pairs of red eyes chasing after her, Hellhounds. Bacarra had unleashed them in the city to spread terror and to let everyone know the Brotherhood was in charge. She knew she had to lose them fast, otherwise she would lead them directly to the hideout. She ran into an alley and levitated over a fence. She thought it would by her some time, though the Hellhounds simply slashed through it with their claws. She continued down the alley, but the hounds had caught up to her.

"Damn." Billie whispered as she was surrounded.

"Billie, go up!" A voice suddenly yelled.

As a reflex, Billie levitated up and grabbed a fire escape hanging above the alley. A tall and muscular build teenager with spiky blonde hair ran into the alley and held out his hands. A huge stream of fire erupted from his hands. The almost invisible Hellhounds cried out in pain as they were scorched with the flames and quickly ran off. When they were gone, the boy stopped the fire and Billie jumped down to the alley.

"Who would have suspected Hellhounds were afraid of fire?" the boy remarked with a proud smile, however, Billie was not amused and she quickly punched him in the chest. "Aw, what the hell?" he called out.

"What the hell are you doing here, Tyler!?" Billie snapped at him. "I told you to stay with the sisters and Henry. It is not safe out here."

"Hey, I can take care of myself." Tyler retorted. "I don't need to be babysat. I want to help."

"You were helping by protecting Piper and Phoebe and their children." Billie replied. "How are they?"

"They were fine when I left." Tyler said. "They got the entire manor protected with spells and crystals, and Henry is there to protect them from non-magical threats. Nothing is getting in there. They can handle themselves."

"Do they know you left?" Billie asked.

"I left a note." Tyler replied with a shrug.

"Tyler, you are too young for this. You're just a kid." Billie said.

"No, I am not a kid anymore. I just turned eighteen." Tyler argued. "Besides, I am also taller and stronger than you."

"Yeah, I noticed." Billie said as she rubbed her painfully throbbing hand. "Seriously, when did you start working out? Hitting you in the chest was like hitting steel."

"It's no big deal." Tyler said with a smug smile as he crossed his muscular arms.

"Okay, don't get cocky, Johnny Bravo." Billie remarked. "We need to get off the street. Follow me."

Billie led Tyler further down the alley and stopped at a door that was boarded up. Tyler looked confused, since it appeared there was no getting in, but Billie simply knocked three times and then stepped through, causing the wood to ripple as she passed it. She appeared in a small and dark office filled with posters of various bands and singers. A moment later, Tyler followed her.

"Welcome to P3." Billie said with a smile.

"P3?" Tyler asked confused.

"Yeah, Piper had to close for renovations, so it appears to be shut down from the outside." Billie explained. "So for now, we're using it as our base of operations. And since we're using magic to cloak us, the Brotherhood has been unable to find us."

"Awesome." Tyler said.

"Come on." Billie said.

Billie guided Tyler out of the office and to the club, where everyone else had gathered. They had been staying there for a few days now. They had tried to make it somewhat livable, but it was hardly home sweet home. Mikelle took care of cloaking the club, while Duncan and Violet took care of everything else. They had picked up a handful of witches and other magical beings along the way, and they were building a small resistance to the Brotherhood. However, so far any attempt to take down the shadow dome had failed miserably.

"So what is the plan?" Tyler asked excited.

"I wish I knew." Billie replied with a reluctant sigh, knowing she had been trying to answer the same question for days. "I wish I knew…"

xxx