Chosen Chapter 6: The Gemini Factor
Part 7
xxx
Violet stared at the screen as Billie used her modern method of scrying to find the twins. Suddenly, the crystal started glowing and the computer started beeping. A mark appeared on the screen and Billie put away the athame. Violet looked at the screen and saw a familiar address, at the same time, Billie gasped.
"What is wrong?" Violet asked concerned.
"I found them." Billie replied. "Only problem is, they found us as well. They are right here on campus. Like right inside this building."
Violet stepped back as Billie got up from her seat. A moment later, the door seemingly exploded and flew across the room, splintering as it hit the wall behind them. Violet screamed as she covered and ducked for cover. She looked up and saw the twins enter the room, both with a dark look in their eyes. One of them raised his hand and unleashed a lot of lighting. Violet instinctively raised her hands and the world around her slowed down until time itself was frozen.
Violet looked around and saw a time-frozen Billie with lightning almost striking her. She turned and looked at the twins. They had come to kill them, Violet realized, and she knew she had to act quickly, since had no idea how long her power would last. She evaded the lightning as she walked over to Billie and touched her arm, breaking the temporal stasis.
"What?" Billie asked disoriented as she became aware. "Oh, you froze time. Thanks, you just saved my life."
"You're welcome, but we don't have time." Violet replied. "We need to move."
"Hold on, they are frozen, right?" Billie asked as she headed to her desk and picked up the athame. "What would happen if we take them out now?"
"I am not sure, contact seems to break my power." Violet replied. "I don't think we should take that risk. Besides, wasn't the plan to strip their powers?"
"Vi, they came here to kill us!" Billie said accusingly. "Seems to me like they have made their choice. They chose evil."
"I don't know." Violet replied hesitantly. "I mean, Duncan…"
"Duncan wants to believe the best, and I understand that. I wish I could do the same, but I am not convinced." Billie stated. "It is either us or them."
Violet wanted to argue, though she suddenly felt a tingling sensation. She could feel her power weakening and saw time was starting to move again. The twins started moving in slow motion and the lightning bolt slowly continued its path.
"We're out of time." Violet said. "We need to get out of here."
"Fine, get ready to run." Billie said.
Billie flung her arm at the bolt of lightning and it burst apart in a wave of electricity. The twins were blasted by electricity and sent flying into the hallway as time sped up to normal. Violet hesitated, but Billie grabbed her arm and ran into the hallway, past the electrocuted twins. They were still alive and groaned in pain as smoke was coming off their clothes.
As they ran down the hall, Violet looked over her shoulder and saw the twins were slowly crawling up. She sure hoped Duncan would get back soon, as they would need that power stripping potion soon. Otherwise, Billie would be right and it would truly be a matter between life and death.
xxx
A little while later, Duncan emerged at the campus through a magical portal in an empty hallway. Arthur had decided to stay behind at Magic School in case they needed more potions. Duncan looked at his watch and saw it was already late in the afternoon. It would start getting dark soon, the potion had taken longer than he had expected, much longer. He hoped the others had managed to find the twins already. He wanted to get this over with and forget about it.
As he headed toward the dorm, Duncan grabbed his phone and tried to call Billie, though she did not pick up. As he entered the building and headed up the stairs, he suddenly saw a small crowd gathered at Billie's door. He worked his way past them and saw the door had been destroyed. That could only mean one thing.
"What happened?" Duncan asked.
"Don't know, we heard an explosion." Another student replied. "When I opened the door, I saw these two chicks run away with two guys chasing after them."
"What did the guys look like?" Duncan asked concerned. "Were they twins?"
"Yeah, I think so. They certainly looked alike, and they did not look happy." The student replied. "What is going on?"
"Oh, it is nothing." Duncan quickly lied. "We're sort-of involved in this prank-war. Things have gotten a little out of hand."
"Pranks?" the student asked confused. "Dude, you could get kicked out of the dorm for this. This stuff is dangerous."
"I know, trust me, we want to end it as soon as possible." Duncan replied. "Which way did they go?"
"They ran outside, I think they headed toward the old deserted gym hall." A female student who just joined them said. "They ran right past me. I think they used firework or something, as one of the guys' hands were glowing."
"Yeah, fireworks." Duncan quickly said, loud enough so everyone could hear. "Those guys are obsessed with fireworks."
Duncan sighed relieved when everyone seemed to believe his lies about pranks and fireworks. At least that took care of the potential exposure problem. Billie would still need to answer for the destroyed door, but that was a problem for later. Right now, he needed to go after them and stop the twins. Luckily, Billie and Violet had been smart enough to head to a deserted building, so no innocents would get caught in the crossfire. He turned around and quickly went after them, hoping he was not too late.
Xxx
Billie signaled Violet to be quiet as they snuck through the empty halls of the old gym building. It had been empty for about a year and would be torn down soon, meaning no innocents would be around to get hurt or expose them. Additionally, the dark hallways made for a perfect spot to hide or set a trap. As they entered another hallway, Billie peeked around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. Slowly, they continued walking down the hall.
"So what is the plan exactly?" Violet asked nervously. "I mean, sure this deserted building will stop the twins from exposing magic, but we're also on our own here."
"We just need to hold on long enough for Duncan to get the potion." Billie replied.
"And how will he find us?" Violet asked.
"That is a good question." Billie said as she reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone. "Great, the battery is dead. Where is yours?"
"At your dorm." Violet replied.
"Okay, so we're alone." Billie said. "Guess we have no choice but to fight."
"Don't you think you're thinking about this a little too casually?" Violet asked. "They are still human like us, right?"
"They made their choice." Billie replied with a shrug. "We can't help them now."
"Are you sure that is what this is about?" Violet asked skeptically.
"What do you mean?" Billie asked confused.
"Are you sure this is not a little about your sister?" Violet asked.
"What?" Billie asked with a confused frown. "What does this have to do with my sister?"
"Well, you were forced to kill her in self-defense because she was corrupted by evil." Violet replied. "I know everything that happened really hurt you, so maybe that is why you're acting so black-and-white about this. You've been manipulated once before, so now you've decided not to question it, you just assume they are evil."
"Okay, that is ridiculous." Billie replied annoyed. "I have a lot on my mind, I barely even have time to compare all of this to what happened with my sister. It never even crossed my mind."
"That doesn't mean it's not somewhere in the back of your mind." Violet said.
"Okay, you need to stop with those psychology classes." Billie remarked.
"Are you sure that I am not even a little bit right?" Violet asked.
Billie hesitated and turned around. The entire idea was ridiculous, Christy was not even on her mind. She did not think about her that much, at least she thought she didn't. However, she was pretty quick to judge the twins though. Could it be that her past with Christy caused her to automatically see them as lost causes, just because Christy had been too corrupted to save? Perhaps Violet was right. Maybe, she was afraid to give them the benefit of the doubt, just to avoid reliving what happened with her sister.
"Okay, I see your point." Billie admitted. "Still, that doesn't mean the twins are not dangerous. They are trying to kill us."
"I know, when it comes down to it, we will do what needs to be done." Violet replied. "But only if everything else fails, okay?"
"Right." Billie replied. "So take them out, don't kill them, understood."
Suddenly Billie noticed a flash of light in the corner of her eye and instinctively pushed Violet to the ground. A bolt of lightning flew past them and blasted an old trophy case. Billie looked up and saw the twins coming their way. She flung her arm and pulled a locker from the wall next to them. However, Nick easily caught it and tossed it aside. At the same time, Nathan moved past them in a blur and appeared behind them. Now Billie and Violet were trapped in between them.
"Look, we don't want to fight you." Billie said as she slowly got up. "Can we just talk about this?"
"There is no point." Nick replied. '"It is either you or us."
"What does that mean?" Violet asked. "Is someone forcing you to do this?"
"The warlock." Billie suddenly remembered. "There was a third person at the bank, a warlock. Are you working for him?"
"That is none of your concern." Nathan said.
"If this warlock is threatening you, we can help you." Billie said.
"I thought out of all of you, you'd be the one who wanted to fight us the most." Nick replied.
"Well, I had a change of heart." Billie said with a shrug.
"So did we." Nick said as he formed a Fire Ball in his hand. "Originally, we just wanted to get you out of the way. Now we want to kill you."
Nick threw the Fire Ball at Billie, though she waved her hand and caused it to curve around them and fly at Nathan. He quickly raised his hands and formed a force field of red energy. When he dropped the field, he charged forward in a blur. Billie felt Violet grab her arm and suddenly time slowed down around them. Billie saw Nathan slow down as lightning sparked between his fingers, until he stopped moving completely. She turned around and saw Nick frozen as well, about to form another Fire Ball.
"So that is how that feels." Billie said. "Cool power."
"Thanks." Violet said. "But it is only a temporary solution. What do we do?"
"I have an idea." Billie said. "But I am not sure it will work. Your power doesn't work on me when we touch, right? So maybe if I use my powers on them while in contact with you, the stasis will not break."
"Really?" Violet asked with a frown.
"It is worth a shot." Billie replied.
"Okay, try it." Violet said reluctantly.
Billie took hold of Violet's hand and then turned to Nathan. She slowly used her telekinesis to move him across the floor until the twins were facing each other, about to charge at each other. She then put him down and sighed, relieved that it had worked.
"It worked." Violet said stunned.
"I know, now unfreeze them." Billie said.
Violet nodded and flicked her hand. Time started moving again and quickly caught up to speed. As the twins were unfrozen, both of their eyes widened and Nicks screamed as Nathan crashed into him with superhuman speed. With the lightning sparkling in his hands, he accidentally electrocuted them both as they crashed and rolled over the floor. As sparks of electricity still coursed through them, Billie noticed they had been knocked unconscious.
"I cannot believe that worked." Violet said.
"Me neither." Billie admitted. "Now hurry, we need to tie them up or something until Duncan gets here with the potion."
Billie and Violet quickly moved over to the twins and started dragging them away. As she did, Billie thought about what Violet had said. She thought she had dealt with what had happened with Christy, but she realized that deep down, she might never really get over it. Perhaps in a small way, helping the twins defeat the evil inside would somehow make up for that.
Xxx
Nearly out of breath, Duncan stopped running and leaned against the door of the deserted building. He checked his pockets for the potions, to make sure he did not lose them, and headed inside. As he did, he conjured his trusty crossbow and headed down the dark hallway. Suddenly his phone started ringing and he cursed at himself for being stupid enough to forget to put it on mute. He quickly grabbed the phone and saw it was an unknown number.
"Hello?" Duncan asked softly.
"Duncan, it is me." He heard Billie's voice through the phone. "We got the twins, I am using one of their phones. We're in the old gym building."
"I know, some students saw you running here." Duncan replied. "I just got here. Where are you?"
"We're by the pool. We got the twins tied up, but hurry before they wake up." Billie replied and then hung up the phone.
Duncan hurried to the pool area and headed through the door. The pool area was a large room with skylights in the ceiling. The pool had been long drained and now stood there empty. The entire room was covered in pale blue light from the evening sky. Billie and Violet stood at the side of the pool and had the twins tied on two chairs with thick white rope. Their heads were down and they still seemed unconscious.
"What happened?" Duncan asked as he walked over and handed his crossbow to Violet.
"We used their own powers against them, with a little freeze kick." Billie replied. "Do you have the potions?"
"Yeah." Duncan replied as he pulled several vials from his jacket. "Let's just get this over with."
Duncan opened one of the vials and walked over to twins. Behind him, Violet raised the crossbow ready to fire in case they broke free. Duncan kneeled and looked at the unconscious Nathan and felt conflicted. He still hated this, but it needed to be done. He raised the potion to his mouth, though before he could, Nathan suddenly woke up and Duncan backed away.
"What, no, wait!" Nathan called out as he struggled against his ties, which also woke up his brother.
"Do you really think these can hold us?" Nick remarked unimpressed as he looked down at his ties. "I can snap these with ease."
"Doesn't matter, make one wrong move and you go down." Billie replied as Violet circled the twins with the crossbow aimed.
Duncan looked at Billie and could tell she was bluffing. However, the twins could not know that, so he went along with it. At least he was happy to see Billie was willing to give them a chance.
"We don't want to fight you." Violet said. "We just want some answers."
"You might as well kill us." Nick replied. "We're dead anyway."
"Why?" Billie asked.
"Does it matter? We're your enemies, remember? We tried to frame you and kill you." Nick replied.
Duncan looked at Nathan and noticed he had remained quiet, looking at the floor with a tormented look. He seemed conflicted and Duncan realized he was scared. He kneeled down and looked at Nathan. "If any of what you said earlier is true, just tell us what is going on. We can help." He said.
"Alright." Nathan replied as he looked him the eyes.
"Nate, shut up!" Nick yelled at him. "You know what will happen if we mess up."
"We already messed up, Nick." Nathan replied. "Everything we've done has been messed up. One way or another, it is over now."
"Fine." Nick replied with a sigh. "Guess we got nothing to lose."
"Why did you come after us?" Billie asked.
"We were approached by a warlock as we were robbing the bank." Nathan explained. "He told us he could offer us anything we wanted if we distracted you. He gave us all these demonic powers so we could fight you, but they ended up corrupting us without us realizing it. After we failed to frame you, the warlock confronted us and threatened to kill us unless we killed you."
"So you decided to kill us?" Billie asked with a frown.
"Sure, I had no intention of dying, or letting my brother die." Nick said.
"But if you killed us, you would have become warlocks." Duncan said. "You would have lost your souls, your humanity."
"How do you know that?" Nathan asked shocked.
"The Elders informed us who you really are, where you are from." Billie replied. "We know your mother was a witch and your father was a warlock. We know about the window and what happens if you take a life."
"I guess you figured us out." Nick remarked casually.
"I don't get why you had to choose crime, why not embrace the good inside of you?" Duncan asked. "I know it is there."
"You think it is easy being like us?" Nathan asked. "We grew up with only each other. Because of our warlock blood, we knew good would never truly accept us, or trust us."
"You need to earn trust." Billie said. "Resorting to crime was just an easy way out."
"We know, we accepted that. Either way, it is too late to earn back any trust now." Nathan said. "So what is going to happen?"
"Well, first you're going to tell us the name of this warlock and why he sent you after us." Billie said. "Then we'll decide what to do with you."
"His name is Bacarra." Nathan said after a deep sigh and the Chosen exchanged concerned looks. "He needed you distracted because he was planning something huge, tonight. He was worried you would notice, so he sent us to keep you occupied."
"Oh god." Violet said worried.
"What?" Nick asked with a frown. "Do you know this guy?"
"How could we be so stupid?" Billie asked. "We should have realized. This is really bad. Whatever the Brotherhood is planning, it is happening now. And we all fell for the distraction."
"Look, he's just one warlock." Nick remarked. "What could he possibly do?"
"He is not just one warlock." Duncan replied. "He is working with a group of demons known as the Brotherhood. We knew they were planning something big."
"And now thanks to us, they got what they wanted." Nathan concluded guiltily. "We're sorry. We never wanted this."
Duncan stared at him and wanted to say it wasn't their fault, but that was not exactly true. However, before any of them could say anything, a loud noise came closer. Duncan looked up and saw a helicopter through the skylight, aiming a search light inside. At the same time, sirens seemed to come from all around them. The building was surrounded.
"This is Homeland Security. We know you have the fugitives in there." Agent Murphy called over a loudspeaker. "Turn them in and we'll let you go, resist arrest and we'll bring you all in!"
xxx