Chosen Chapter 12: The Curious Case of Duncan Phillips

Part 4

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While waiting for Gretchen to finally show up, Billie impatiently paced across the living room. Although she still did not like their bossy new Whitelighter, she needed her right now. Duncan was pretty useless as a kid, while Violet had gone off with her parents to keep them out of the way. Meanwhile, they were still no closer to finding the demonic kids or the missing innocents. Basically everything was a mess, and she was the only one left to clean it up.

"Come on!" Billie called to the ceiling. "Gretchen!"

"Screaming is not going to help, you know." Duncan remarked from the couch.

"Yeah, well, watching stupid cartoons all day isn't helping either." Billie snapped at him. "Grow up."

"Wish I could." Duncan replied.

"Sorry, things are just a little chaotic right now." Billie said as she dropped down on the couch.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Duncan remarked.

When Duncan's phone began to ring on the table, he got up to answer it. However, he stopped when he saw who was calling. "Oh crap."

"What?" Billie asked.

"It's Nathan." Duncan said.

"So? Tell him what happened." Billie replied. "He'll understand."

"I don't want him to know." Duncan said. "This kid thing is humiliating. The fewer people who know, the better. Can you pick up? Just tell him I'm sick or something."

"You're such a baby." Billie remarked as she rolled her eyes. "Fine, give it." Duncan handed Billie the phone and she picked up. "Nathan, hey, it's Billie. Look, Duncan is really sick right now. Can he call you back later? Okay, see you later."

Billie hung up and handed the phone back to Duncan. "Happy now?"

"Yeah, thanks." Duncan replied.

At that moment, a column of orbs descended from the ceiling and Gretchen appeared. For some reason, she carrying a briefcase, which made her look even more boring.

"Good morning." Gretchen said.

"Finally." Billie called out. "We've been waiting forever."

"I had other responsibilities to attend to." Gretchen explained. "I just came from the Elders to discuss the situation."

"Do they know a way to fix me?" Duncan asked hopefully.

"Afraid not." Gretchen replied. "As I suspected, the spell was successful. The demonic children are hunting the children of witches, so the spell gave us exactly what we needed. And it will only end once its goal is accomplished."

"So wait, the spell basically turned Duncan into bait?" Billie asked.

"If you want to look at it that way." Gretchen replied. "Although he now has the body of a child, he still possesses the same magical power. The Elders suspect the demons are gathering the children to harness their magic."

"For what?" Duncan asked.

"They don't know." Gretchen replied. "But since they are keeping them alive, there must be a reason. Now I spent a lot of time coming up with a plan. If you will call Violet, we can begin."

"Uh, Violet isn't here." Billie said.

"Excuse me?" Gretchen asked with a frown.

"She had other business to attend to." Billie replied. "A personal matter."

"More urgent than this?" Gretchen asked as she crossed her arms. "Your responsibilities as a witch should always come first. How can you expect to protect the innocent if you let personal matters get in the way?"

"We have a right to a personal life." Billie said annoyed. "Or is that against your precious rules?"

"There is a time and a place for everything." Gretchen replied. "But duty comes first. You agreed to this when you became the Chosen, to protect the innocent."

"We want to protect the innocent." Duncan said. "But mostly I want to reverse this stupid spell as soon as possible. So can we get back to that?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable continuing without Violet." Gretchen said. "I set up a plan that involves all three of you. It offers the best rate of success and the least amount of risk."

"This isn't about statistics, Gretchen." Billie replied. "Fighting evil isn't something you can plan out. You have to act in the moment."

"I disagree." Gretchen said. "I think…"

"I don't care what you think!" Billie called out angrily. "You're not in charge of us. We never asked for you in the first place."

"I see." Gretchen replied somewhat dismayed.

Gretchen took off her glasses to clean them. Billie could not tell if she was simply bothered or actually upset. Either way, she had only stated the truth. The Elders forced Gretchen on them. They had to work together, but that didn't mean they had to be friends.

"So what now?" Duncan asked.

"Well." Gretchen said as she regained her composure. "We will have to adapt to the situation. We'll go over the plan and see if we can make it work. I made sure to bring a copy for everyone."

Gretchen opened her briefcase and pulled out a huge stack of papers. Billie and Duncan exchanged confused looks. Was that the plan or was Gretchen also writing a novel? Before Billie could ask, there was a sudden pounding on the door. It sounded desperate.

"Stay back." Billie told the others as she walked over.

The moment Billie opened the door, a man fell inside. He looked like he was in his thirties with dark brown hair, wearing a white uniform. However, what really stood out was the fact that his arms and legs were severely burned.

"Help please." The man pleaded before losing consciousness.

"Gretchen!" Billie screamed. "Quick, heal him."

Gretchen came running over and saw the burns. For a moment, she looked like she was going to be sick, but then kneeled down and started healing him. Billie looked out the door and saw an ice cream truck standing in front of the house. She recognized it from the Halliwell Book of Shadows. It was a truck created to lure and destroy demonic children. And it was driven by a mortal.

"What is going on?" Duncan asked as he entered the hall. Then he spotted the truck. "Cool, ice cream."

"Focus." Billie replied annoyed.

"Sorry." Duncan said. "It's getting a little difficult to concentrate."

"What do you mean?" Billie asked, though before Duncan could answer, Gretchen finished healing the burned man and stood up.

"I'm finished." Gretchen said. "Though since his wounds were severe, I suggest that he gets some rest. The healing process can be taxing."

"I'm alright." The man announced weakly as he tried to get to his feet. "My name is Caleb, I'm the ice cream man."

"I know who you are." Billie replied. "Let's sit down first."

Caleb nodded and Billie and Gretchen helped him into the living room. They sat him down on the couch so he could rest a bit.

"Can I get you anything?" Billie asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." Caleb replied.

"Caleb is actually the one who first alerted the Elders to the demonic children." Gretchen said.

"Yeah, I've been tracking them for a long time." Caleb added. "These are not your typical demonic children. They're smart and organized, and I think there is more going on here."

"You mean aside from the fact they're kidnapping little witches?" Billie asked.

"I think it's all part of their plan." Caleb replied. "Most demonic kids only care about spreading chaos and suffering. They don't go around kidnapping people. They enjoy killing too much. Something else is behind this."

"Do you suspect they are working for someone?" Gretchen asked.

"Possibly." Caleb said. "But they usually don't listen or obey. They are not like normal kids, they are pure evil."

"The offspring of upper-level demons." Billie noted. "So if anyone can get them to obey…"

"It would have to be one of the parents." Caleb concluded. "Of course. That makes sense. The kids I encountered definitely seemed related."

"Okay, so what kind of upper-level demon would create an army of mini-demons and send them after witches instead of doing it himself?" Billie asked.

"A lazy demon?" Duncan suggested hopefully.

"Right." Billie replied with a frown. "That's a theory…"

"I might have an idea." Gretchen said. "I mean, we would still need to confirm it first, and the chance is very unlikely, but…"

"Gretchen, just spit it out." Billie said impatiently.

"Pazuzu." Gretchen replied.

"Pazuzu?" Billie repeated with a frown.

"That's a silly name." Duncan laughed.

"What do you know about him?" Billie asked.

"Pazuzu was an ancient Babylonian demon that could spread seeds of corruption through his mystical fog." Gretchen explained. "He spread his evil by infecting women, darkening their souls to give birth to pure evil children."

"You said was. Does that mean he is vanquished?" Caleb asked.

"Not quite." Gretchen replied. "Pazuzu was too powerful to be destroyed, so instead, a group of magical children was gathered to imprison him in an amulet."

"Why children?" Billie asked.

"Because only their pure souls could withstand his corruption." Gretchen said.

"And since children trapped him, only their power can set him free again." Billie reasoned. "That is why they are capturing these kids. To free their father from the amulet."

"That is a possibility." Gretchen stated.

"But if Pazuzu was imprisoned ages ago, how can his children still roam the earth?" Billie asked. "Demonic children might be immortal, but they do grow up, right?"

"They do." Caleb replied. "Where else do you think upper-level demons come from?"

"Well, I used to think they just popped out of the earth." Billie remarked. "But I guess every creature has to come from somewhere."

"Pazuzu was imprisoned a long time ago." Gretchen said. "Perhaps the spell on the amulet has weakened over time, or was never able to fully contain his power to begin with."

"So he can still knock up women from inside the amulet?" Billie asked disturbed. "Yikes, I'm never buying jewelry at a flea market ever again."

"This changes everything. If Pazuzu is freed, even the Chosen might not be able to defeat him." Gretchen said. "We need a new plan."

"Well, whatever you need, I'm here to help." Caleb said. "Capturing these kids is my responsibility."

Gretchen nodded and reached into her briefcase for a notepad. "Good." She replied as she handed out papers. "Let's begin with a brainstorm session, shall we?"

Billie rolled her eyes, but she reminded herself that they needed to work together to save the kids. She would have to be patient a little while longer. Hopefully, Violet had better luck with her parents and would be back soon, otherwise, she would probably go insane.

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Her parents had only been around for two hours, but for Violet, it already felt like a week. She had given them the grand tour of the entire college. While her father seemed to be enjoying himself, her mother seemed more interested in interrogating her about her love life. When they wanted to take a break and get a drink, Violet took them to the coffee house on campus.

"I just don't get why you won't tell me." Her mother said as they sat down in a booth. "You used to tell me everything."

"When I was twelve." Violet replied. "And there is nothing to tell."

"Oh please, you're not fooling me." Her mother said. "You're my daughter and I know you best. You're stressing about something."

Violet rolled her eyes. She was stressing about more than one thing. She was worried about her friends, the innocent children and her parents finding out about magic. She did not want them to put them in danger. And of course, she was also still worried about Arthur.

"Violet?" A familiar voice asked.

Violet turned around and saw Zach walking up to the table. She had gone out with him when she still had a crush on Duncan. He had nearly been killed by his Wendigo friend as a result. Luckily, he did not remember that last part due to some memory dust used by Mikelle. She noticed he was wearing a cap and an apron, meaning he worked at the coffee house.

"Zach." Violet said. "Hey, how are you?"

"Long time no seen." Zach replied. "I'm good. How about you?"

"Yeah, me too." Violet said. "So you work here now?"

"Yeah, college isn't exactly cheap, you know." Zach replied with a smile. "This place has flexible hours."

"Violet, aren't you forgetting to introduce us?" Her mother asked in an obvious manner.

"Uh right, Zach, these are my parents." Violet said awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you." Zach replied.

"How do the two of you know each other?" Her mother asked.

"Well, we sort-of went out on a date a while back." Zach replied hesitantly.

"Sort of?" Her mother asked. "So are you this mysterious boyfriend my daughter is refusing to talk about?"

"Margaret, stop making them feel uncomfortable." Her father remarked.

"I'm just asking a question." Her mother replied innocently.

"Mom, please stop." Violet called out. "Zach is not my boyfriend. We went out once. And I am dating someone else, but we had a fight. Things are complicated, so I don't want to talk about it."

"Uh, I should get back to work." Zach quickly said as he walked way.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." Her mother said. "Tell me about it, maybe I can help. What's his name?"

"She said she doesn't want to talk about it." Her father said.

"Well, then what can we talk about?" Her mother replied upset. "I have barely spoken to my daughter in months. How else am I supposed to find out what is going on in her life?"

"Mom, please." Violet said softly as she looked around embarrassed. Her mother has raised her voice and a few people were looking their way.

"I'm sorry." Her mother said. "I just can't help but feel like we're not a part of your life anymore. You have these great friends and a nice house, but we don't even get invited over."

"It is normal for children to build a life separate from their parents, dear." Her father said.

"I think it's more than that." Her mother replied tearfully. "You're growing up into this wonderful young woman and it feels like you're pulling away from us."

"Mom, I never meant…" Violet started to say.

"Is it because of the adoption?" Her mother interrupted her.

"What?" Violet asked confused. "No! Why would you think that?"

"We figured now that you're in college, you might want to know more about your birth parents." Her mother said.

"You never asked us about them." Her father said.

"Because I never cared that I was adopted." Violet replied. "I always considered you my real family. I love you. That's why I never asked. The reason I haven't been in touch as much lately is because I have a lot going on. Things you might not understand."

"Honey, you can tell us anything." Her mother said. "We will always be here for you."

"I know." Violet replied with a smile.

Violet realized she needed to tell her parents the truth, but she was worried they might freak out. They were mortal, and about as normal as it got. They might not be able to handle it. Her magic was something she had inherited from her biological parents. Telling them could bring them closer together, or it might drive them apart.

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