Chosen Chapter 11: House Party

Part 3

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When Arthur and Bryant materialized, Arthur noticed they were standing in front of a large mansion surrounded by a large garden. It was clear that the person who owned it was very rich. Since he could see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, he knew he was at least still in San Francisco. Arthur wondered if he had made a mistake coming here alone. It was obvious that Bryant could not be trusted, but his curiosity had got the better of him. It was not too late to back out, but that would mean giving up his chance to find answers.

"Are you coming?" Bryant asked impatiently.

"What is in there?" Arthur asked as he looked at the mansion.

"What you're looking for." Bryant replied. "Look, you either come inside or you don't, I'm getting tired of your hesitations. If this were a trap, I could have easily killed you already."

"But your boss doesn't want that." Arthur noted. "He wants to see me, so maybe he needs me alive for some reason. A trap for the Chosen perhaps."

"The boss doesn't care about those witches." Bryant replied. "He is only interested in you. Although I don't see what is so special."

"Alright, then take me to him." Arthur said as he started walking.

"One more thing." Bryant said as he stopped Arthur with a hand against his chest. "I am going to need your phone. The boss likes his privacy."

"Fine." Arthur said reluctantly as he handed over his phone. "As long as I will get it back."

Bryant nodded and put the phone away. He then led him in through the imposing wooden doors and they walked through a hallway filled with priceless art. A door opened and Arthur noticed a beautiful young woman with auburn hair walking toward them. She seemed awfully interested in him.

"Is this the one?" the woman asked as she looked at him with an amused smile. "So he finally thinks you're ready."

"Not now, Harper." Bryant replied impatiently. "You get a chance to meet him later. We can't keep him waiting for long."

"Alright, fine." Harper replied with a sigh. "Just don't take too long. You know I get bored easily."

As Harper walked away, she briefly touched his shoulder and Arthur saw sparks of electricity running through her fingers. She winked and disappeared through one of the doors. He wasn't sure what to think of her. He got a bad feeling from her.

"Who was that?" Arthur asked with a frown.

"Ignore her." Bryant replied annoyed.

Bryant walked further and Arthur followed against his better judgment. Eventually, they stopped at a door and Bryan knocked before opening it. When they entered, Arthur saw they were in a large study. There was a desk by the window and an impressive fireplace. A man in his forties, with short brown hair and dressed in a sharp designer suit, was standing by the desk.

"Arthur." The man said in a friendly tone. "So we meet at last. You can leave us now, Bryant."

Bryant frowned and then reluctantly left, closing the door behind him. As the man walked to a table to pour himself a drink, Arthur looked around and saw the Staff of Magnus lying in a glass display case. He moved closer to it and considered grabbing in and getting out of here. However, he knew it would probably never work.

"The staff." Arthur noted.

"Of course. I knew that would get your attention." The man said.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked suspiciously. "And why are you acting like you know me? Why did you ask for me?"

"Forgive me. I should introduce myself." The man replied. "In this modern world, my name is Alaric Brewman. And like you, I am a Wizard."

"A Wizard?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Not just any Wizard." The man replied. "I am one of the originals, an immortal that has survived the war against the Source. I was once known as Ambrosius, but I prefer Ambrose these days."

"Are you serious?" Arthur asked. "I thought our race was nearly extinct. I've waited my whole life to meet another Wizard."

"And now you have." Ambrose replied. "Have a seat. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. And we have a lot to talk about."

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While the party went on downstairs, Duncan and Nathan entered his new bedroom while making out. They bumped into the dresser as they made their way to the bed. Nathan pushed Duncan down on the bed and jumped on top of him. He leaned down and started kissing his neck.

"I thought you wanted to see the bedroom." Duncan said.

"I did, but not for the reasons you thought." Nathan replied.

"But everyone is downstairs." Duncan said. "I'm supposed to host a party. What if people miss us?"

"Oh, stop complaining." Nathan replied.

He grabbed Duncan's shirt and ripped open the buttons. Before Duncan could protest, Nathan took his own shirt off. He was making it increasingly hard to resist him as he leaned down and started kissing his chest. Duncan vaguely thought he heard the doorbell downstairs, but he was preoccupied with other things. When Nathan's lips started moving down from his chest to his stomach, Duncan came to his senses and sat up.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked. "No good?"

"Definitely good, but I don't think we should do this now." Duncan said. "You said you wanted to make an effort to get to know my friends."

Nathan sighed and rolled to the side, so they were lying next to each other. "I know." Nathan admitted. "But this is easier. You know me, so I don't have to pretend."

"You don't have to pretend with my friends either." Duncan said. "They will see what I see soon enough. But you need to give them a chance."

"Did you give them the same speech?" Nathan asked.

"Honestly? Yes." Duncan admitted. "I know it will take some getting used to on both sides, but if we want a real relationship, you need to be able to get along with my friends."

"You're right." Nathan said after a moment of silence. "So do we have to go back right now, or do we still have some time?"

"We've only been gone a few minutes." Duncan replied with a smile. "I'm sure nobody is missing us yet."

Duncan kissed him and they rolled over the bed. Suddenly the door opened and Duncan heard a shocked gasp. Both guys looked up and saw Billie standing in the door opening. Embarrassed, Duncan quickly jumped off the bed and began closing up his shirt. Nathan did not seem that bothered and appeared somewhat amused at his reaction.

"Oh god. I am so sorry." Billie said as her face turned red.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Duncan asked.

"Sorry." Billie replied. "I wasn't thinking. You need to come downstairs."

"Why?" Duncan asked.

"Well, someone showed up for the party." Billie said. "We don't know him, but he says he's you brother."

"What?" Duncan asked shocked.

Duncan followed Billie and they headed downstairs, while Nathan stayed behind to put his shirt back on. As they headed down the stairs, Duncan saw his brother standing by the door with Violet. Donald was his oldest brother and their parents' favorite. He was in his early thirties and a lawyer, married and with two young daughters. Duncan had never really been close to him, mostly because he was a jerk most of the time.

"Duncan, little brother. Long time no seen." His brother called out.

"Don." Duncan said confused and slightly horrified. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you invited me." Don replied.

"Yeah, because I didn't expect any of you to actually show up." Duncan remarked.

"Oh, come on, can't a guy spent some time with his favorite little brother?" Don replied.

"In our case, no." Duncan said skeptically. "What is going on? Where is Margaret?"

"We are sort-of on a break." Don admitted reluctantly. "Well, I call it a break, she calls it a divorce and took the kids."

"Oh, you're getting divorced? I'm so sorry." Violet said.

"Don't be." Duncan remarked. "What did you do this time? Or more specifically, who did you do?"

"I might have slept with her assistant." Don replied casually. "Anyway, she will forgive me, she always does. So what is going on with you, little brother? Still in the you-know-what phase?"

"It's not a phase, Don." Duncan replied annoyed. "I'm gay. But sure, keep telling yourself it's a phase. It seems to be working for mom and dad."

"Why do you always have to be so difficult?" Don asked. "The family only wants what is best for you."

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Billie said angrily. "If you really loved him, you would accept…"

"Billie, I can handle this myself." Duncan interrupted her.

"Hey what is going on?" Nathan asked as he came walking down the stairs and stood next to him. "Is there a problem?"

"No, my brother was just leaving." Duncan replied.

"Who is this?" Don asked with a frown.

"Nathan is my boyfriend." Duncan said as he took his hand. "So you can either accept that or get lost. I'm done playing pretend."

"Alright fine." Don replied as he threw up his hands. "Look, I only came because I wanted to see how you were doing, but it looks like things haven't changed. I'll just get a drink and then I'll disappear. I'd hate to disrupt your… lifestyle."

Duncan felt Nathan tense up next to him and he squeezed his hand to keep him from throwing a punch. Nathan looked at him and Duncan shook his head. His brother was not worth it.

Don stepped past them and headed to the living room. "Wow, who is that gorgeous thing?" He suddenly asked. Duncan and the others turned around and saw Don was gawking at Paige, who was standing by the window talking to Tyler.

"That's Paige. She is married. Happily married." Henry remarked in an annoyed tone.

"So am I." Don replied. "But that has never stopped me before."

Before Duncan could say something, Don headed toward Paige. Duncan already felt bad for her, as he knew how much of a sleaze his brother could be.

"I honestly don't know what to say." Violet said stunned.

"I can see why you don't talk to your family." Billie said angrily. "We can kick him out, you know. This is our house."

"Please let me do it." Nathan added. "That guy deserves it."

"Finally we agree on something." Billie said with a smile.

"Forget about him." Duncan replied. "After all these years, I'm immune to it. Let's just enjoy the party."

The others nodded understandingly and went back to the party. Duncan took a deep breath and shook it off. He had given up on making his family understand a long time ago, so he was not going to let this ruin his evening.

Xxx

Billie entered the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She wanted to erase the awkward memory of Duncan and Nathan on the bed. They definitely needed to come up with some sort of system to deal with stuff like that. As she headed back to the living room, Nick stepped into the kitchen. It was clear he had been drinking, though he was not drunk yet.

"Hey, just the girl I was looking for." Nick said.

"Really?" Billie replied.

"You know, I would really love a private tour of your bedroom." Nick said playfully as he leaned against the wall.

"And what on earth makes you think I'd ever show you my bedroom?" Billie replied with a frown.

"Come on, there has always been something between us." Nick said. "I could tell you were into me when we first met."

"Oh, you mean when you failed to seduce me as part of your evil plan to kill me?" Billie remarked. "Yeah, we had real chemistry."

"That wasn't my idea." Nick replied with a shrug. "I'm serious, I think we can be great together. At least for one amazing night."

"You know, as tempting as that sounds, I have a party to host." Billie said as she rolled her eyes.

"It's not about the cop, is it?" Nick asked.

"Excuse me?" Billie asked angrily.

"The cop, Jake. Are you not over him yet?" Nick asked.

"This has nothing to do with Jake." Billie snapped at him. "And don't ever bring him up. In case you forget, you and your brother are a big part of the reason he is gone. We went to that casino to save your asses."

"And my ass is grateful." Nick replied. "But didn't you guys broke up before he went poof? Seems to me there is nothing stopping you."

"Okay. Let me make this very clear. I am never going to sleep with you. Ever." Billie said.

Billie wanted to walk past him, but Nick blocked the way. When he leaned in to kiss her, she threw her glass of wine in his face. She smirked as he stepped back and wiped his face.

"Alright, I get the message." Nick replied reluctantly. "Can't blame a guy for trying. I was just playing around."

"I'm not in the mood for playing around." Billie said as she walked to the counter and tossed him a towel. "Besides, I thought you already had an admirer."

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked confused.

"Darcy." Billie replied. "She was totally into you. She was going to talk to you."

"Hope's friend?" Nick asked. "Yeah, she is smoking hot, but I haven't talked to her all night. I thought she left already."

At that moment, Hope entered the kitchen. "Hey guys, have you seen Darcy? I can't find her anywhere."

"No, we haven't seen her." Billie replied. "Maybe you should try calling her."

Hope nodded and dialed her number. As they waited, they suddenly heard a phone ringing. They followed the sound and ended up in the hall. Billie spotted her phone lying on the floor by the bathroom door. That was strange. Billie knocked on the door and called out her name, but there was no response. When she looked in the bathroom, she saw it was empty.

"She would never leave her phone. She is addicted to that thing." Hope said and she turned to Nick. "She was going to talk to you."

"Hey, I haven't seen her." Nick replied. "Don't automatically blame the former criminal."

"Well, she couldn't have just disappeared." Hope said.

"Unless…" Billie said as she remembered the demon from earlier that day. "The demon."

"Smart witch." A voice suddenly said.

Billie spun around and saw the demon from earlier appear through a vortex of shadows. "Looks like my game was exposed sooner than I thought." The demon said. "I was going to pick you off one by one, but this makes it more challenging."

"What have you done with my friend?" Hope asked angrily.

"She is gone, trapped in the void." The demon replied. "Don't worry, you will soon join her."

The demon smiled as he disappeared in his vortex. Billie turned around and wanted to run into the living room to warn everyone, though another vortex opened right in front of her.

"Billie, look out!" Nick called out.

Billie felt herself being sucked into the vortex. Suddenly she was pushed out of the way and Hope grabbed onto her. As she turned around, Billie saw Nick disappearing into the vortex, which closed a second later. She could not believe he had just done that, risk his life by pushing her out of the way. She called out his name, but she only heard the demon laugh instead.

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