Chosen Chapter 14: Past and Present Danger

Part 2

Xxx

After a regretful night of drinking, Billie woke up in a strange bed. She groaned as her head hurt, an obvious result of a hangover. She tried to remember what happened. The last thing that came to mind was going into the bathroom stall with Nick. With that image in mind, she really felt hungover. She sat up and looked around. There were clothes scattered all over the floor. The bed was empty, but she heard the shower running in the next room. Billie quickly threw on a shirt lying on the floor and left the bedroom. She headed to kitchen for water as she tried to piece together her memories. Obviously she had gone home with Nick in her drunken state of mind.

Billie heard the shower stop and a moment later, Nick appeared from the bathroom with a towel tied around his waist. "Good morning." He said cheerfully.

"How is this a good morning?" Billie asked as her head pounded.

"Looks like someone is a little hungover." Nick remarked. "Want some coffee?"

"Sure." Billie replied. "How are you not feeling as horrible as me?"

"I wasn't as drunk as you." Nick noted.

"What happened?" Billie asked.

"Well, after the bathroom, we went back to the bar." Nick explained. "You obviously wanted to drink away the shame, so you got wasted. I had to take you back here after you passed out. I figured you wouldn't want me to take you home to your friends."

"Good call." Billie replied. "And when he got back here? Did we… again?"

"No, we didn't." Nick replied. "You wanted to, but I figured you were too drunk to think clearly, so I just put you to bed and slept on the couch."

"Really?" Billie asked with a frown.

"It felt like taking advantage." Nick replied with a shrug.

"Thanks." Billie mumbled embarrassed as he handed her a cup of coffee.

Now Billie hated herself even more. She had acted like a drunk idiot while he had done the right thing. She needed to get her act together. If they kept going on like this, someone was going to get hurt, especially since Nick was already dating someone. The whole situation was a mess. She kept telling herself that she needed to stop, but somehow she couldn't. She needed to figure out what she wanted. Was it still just about sex or could there be something more?

"What are we doing?" Billie asked.

"Do I really need to explain how sex works?" Nick replied with a smirk.

"Don't joke around." Billie said. "I was drunk, you weren't. How come?"

"Why do you suddenly want to talk about this?" Nick asked.

"Because I want to know." Billie replied. "Why weren't you drinking?"

"Because I don't need to get drunk to admit what really I want." Nick remarked.

"And you think I do?" Billie asked.

"You don't know what you want." Nick said. "Or you're just afraid to admit it."

"Really?" Billie asked annoyed. "Then if you're so sure what you want, why haven't you just said it? Why haven't you broken up with Darcy?"

"Easy." Nick replied. "Because I know I don't have a shot with you. You made that clear enough."

Before Billie could reply, Nick headed to the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Billie stood silently as she thought about what he said. She told him several times that this was just about the sex and that she wanted nothing more. Nick clearly felt differently, but each time he tried to bring it up, she avoided the issue. If she knew that he wanted more, did that mean that she was the one taking advantage in their current arrangement?

Billie was distracted when she heard her phone. She followed the sound and found her jeans lying on the floor near the couch. She took her phone out and saw it was Violet calling. She was probably concerned that she didn't come home.

"Vi, hey." Billie said as she picked up.

"Billie, where are you?" Violet asked. "You didn't come home last night."

"Sorry, I should have called." Billie said and quickly came up with a lie. "I went out with Hope last night and ended up crashing on her couch."

"Alright." Violet replied. "Look, can you come home? We need you."

"Did something happen?" Billie asked. "A demon? Ambrose?"

"No, nothing like that." Violet replied. "It's personal, but we might need a little magic."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Billie said.

"Good, do you happen to know where Nick is?" Violet asked.

"What? No, of course not." Billie called out a little too defensive. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you went out, right?" Violet said. "Maybe you ran into him."

"No, I didn't." Billie replied.

"Okay, it was worth a shot. We need him as well." Violet said. "Can you just hurry back here?"

"Sure thing." Billie said. "I'll be right there."

Billie put her phone away and continued getting dressed in her own clothes. She would have preferred a shower first, but she could wait until she got home. Right now, she just wanted to get out of here. The bedroom door opened and Nick came back into the room, now fully dressed.

"My brother just called." Nick said. "We need to get to your place."

"I know, just talked to Violet." Billie replied.

"So I doubt you want to head there together." Nick noted.

"Well… " Billie said hesitantly.

"Whatever, I'll just wait outside a couple of minutes so you can keep your dirty secret." Nick remarked as he grabbed his jacket and headed out.

Billie wanted to say something, though she figured it would only end in an argument. She could not deal with his hurt feelings until she figured out her own. After making sure she had all her stuff, she followed him outside.

Xxx

At the Chosen residence, Violet was pacing in the living room while waiting for the others. Now that she had told them, she wanted to get started as soon as possible. She needed to know where she came from. Gideon handed her to her parents because she needed a safe home. Did that mean that her biological parents were in danger? Could they still be alive? Did they know that she was? There were so many questions and she needed the answers once and for all.

Violet stopped pacing when Duncan and Nathan entered the room. "Finally." She said as she turned to them.

"Excuse us for wanting to get dressed first." Duncan remarked. "Besides, shouldn't we wait for Billie and Nick anyway?"

"Wait for what exactly?" Nathan asked. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Violet said nervously. "I want to know where I came from, don't you?"

"Sure, but I've been looking for a while now and I haven't found anything useful." Nathan said.

"But we have something in common now." Violet said. "You said so yourself, so that should help right?"

"Sadly, the only person who connects you is dead." Duncan noted with a frown.

"That's true, Gideon might have answers, but he's gone." Nathan said.

"Well, we're witches, aren't we?" Violet suggested. "We can summon him."

"It's possible." Nathan said with a shrug.

"Vi, you know what Gideon did, right?" Duncan asked. "He tried to murder an innocent boy because he feared his power. He is clearly dangerous and we can't trust him."

"But he has answers." Violet replied.

"I think it's too much of a risk." Duncan said.

"Look, if we summon him, he'll be a spirit, right?" Nathan asked. "Not like he can do much harm."

"Gideon is smart. He ran Magic School for centuries." Duncan noted. "We don't know what he is capable of."

"Then think of another way." Violet said. "I can't keep wondering who I am."

"You know who you are." Duncan replied. "You're Violet Morgan. Your parents are Margaret and Edwin Morgan. You're part of the Chosen and our friend."

"I…" Violet said hesitantly.

"Duncan, you don't understand." Nathan intervened. "You know who your family is, where you came from. It's different for people like us. Part of us will always wonder where we really came from. Why we were abandoned."

"So you want to do this too?" Duncan asked.

"I want answers." Nathan said. "And right now, this seems the only way."

At that moment, the door opened and Billie came in. Violet was relieved that she was there. She was confident that Billie would understand, as she had desperately searched for her sister years ago. She would understand the need for answers better than anyone. A moment later, Nick entered.

"Hey, what's going on?" Billie asked.

"I found out something about my adoption." Violet quickly explained. "I was given to my parents by Gideon. He might know something about my past."

"Wait, Gideon the psycho Elder who tried to kill Wyatt?" Billie asked with a frown.

"Exactly my point." Duncan said.

"You mean the same Gideon that tried to take us to Magic School as kids?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, Violet and I want to summon his spirit to we can all get some answers." Nathan said.

"Vi, are you sure about this?" Billie asked.

"I have the letter here." Violet said as she handed the letter to Billie and waited for her to read it. "So what do you think?"

"I don't know." Billie admitted. "But it's worth looking into."

"You're okay with summoning Gideon?" Duncan asked.

"I am." Billie said. "Look, as much as I despise Gideon for what he did, he was not truly evil. He wrongly believed that was he was doing was for the greater good. If he was involved with Violet's adoption, I'm sure there is a good reason for it."

"I agree." Violet said.

"Me too." Nathan added. "Gideon might know something about our past as well."

"Exactly." Nick said. "I'm willing to risk it."

"Alright. Seems I'm horribly outnumbered." Duncan said.

After agreeing to summon Gideon, Violet got some candles while Billie got the spell from her Book of Shadows. Meanwhile, the guys moved the furniture to create an open space. Violet placed the candles in a circle on the floor and lit them.

"Here." Billie said as she handed her a piece of paper. "Are you sure? Once you summon him, there is no going back. You might not like the answers you get."

"I know, but anything is better than not knowing." Violet replied before turning to the twins. "Right?"

"Yeah." Nathan said.

"Let's just get this over with." Nick added.

Violet nodded and held the piece of paper in front of her. Finally she was going to find out the truth about her biological parents. Everything she knew about herself could change in an instant. Her hand trembled slightly as she nervously cast the spell.

"Hear these words, Hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now the great divide."

After the spell was cast, Violet and the other waited, but nothing happened. Billie told Violet to try again and she repeated the spell. Again nothing happened.

"Why isn't it working?" Nathan asked.

"Well, I doubt the Elders will let Gideon enjoy a peaceful afterlife." Duncan reasoned. "Maybe he is unable to appear?"

"You think he is in some afterlife prison?" Billie asked.

At that moment, a column of orbs appeared in the circle and materialized into Sandra. Violet stepped back, wondering why the Elder was here. Were they in trouble for trying to summon Gideon?

"Sandra, this is a surprise." Billie said carefully.

"Hello everyone." Sandra replied. "I came because I sensed what you are trying to do."

"Are you going to stop us?" Nathan asked.

"I don't need to, because what you are trying to do is impossible." Sandra replied. "You cannot summon Gideon because his spirit no longer exists."

"How is that possible?" Violet asked.

"Gideon went against everything the council stands for and needed to be punished." Sandra explained. "To ensure that nobody would ever follow his example, we sentenced him to be recycled. His soul has been forcefully reincarnated into a new life. The Gideon that once was is gone."

"But we need him." Violet said. "He knows who my biological parents were."

"I'm so sorry, my dear." Sandra said sincerely. "There is nothing I can do for you. If we had known, we would have handled things differently."

"Is there no other way?" Billie asked.

"I'm afraid not." Sandra replied. "When a soul has been reincarnated, there is no turning back the clock. I hope you find your answers elsewhere."

Sandra bowed her head and disappeared in a column of orbs. Defeated, Violet sat down on the couch. It felt like her last hope had just gone up in smoke. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized she might never find out the truth.

"Stupid Elders." Nick said angrily. "Even when they do the right thing, they still screw up."

"At least we tried." Nathan said.

"No, it's not over yet." Duncan said.

"What do you mean?" Billie asked.

"Something that Sandra said got me thinking." Duncan replied. "She said she couldn't turn back the clock and that she hoped we would find answers elsewhere."

"So?" Violet asked confused.

"She said that she couldn't turn back the clock." Duncan repeated. "That doesn't mean that we can't do it ourselves."

"Turn back the…" Billie started to ask, then she suddenly seemed to realize what Duncan meant. "Oh my god. You're right. That's it."

"Uh, still confused here." Nick remarked.

"I'm not, I think." Nathan said. "You're talking about going back in time, right?"

"Exactly." Duncan replied. "Gideon might not exist in the present, but he exists in the past. We can just ask him there."

"You want to go to the past?" Violet asked. "Is that even possible?"

"It's like you said, Vi." Duncan replied. "We're witches. We can do anything."

"And I have the perfect spell." Billie said. "One that will allow us to go back in time and still keep our powers. I got it from the Halliwells."

Billie headed to the table and grabbed her Book of Shadows. She flipped through it looking for the spell. "Got it." She said. "All we need to do is draw…"

Before Billie could finish her sentence, the doorbell rang. Violet headed to the door and opened it. Agent Murphy was standing in front of her. He looked nervous and kept looking over his shoulder, as he was scared about being followed.

"Agent Murphy." Violet said.

"I need your help." Agent Murphy said. "Or actually, the entire magical community does. Your lives are all in danger."

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