The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 13

Audrey waited until she was far enough from the three Black Hands before she got up onto her feet. She looked around her. She still had no idea where she was. She knew that she had to replace Gabriel, Jasper and James but she wasn’t sure where exactly they were. She didn’t even know if they all had gone by the names they were using back in the future. Abigail Williams had called James by his name but what if she only knew it because she was a member of the Black Hand? What if no one else in Salem knew what their real names were? Audrey looked in the direction of the road. She couldn’t go back there in case Abigail Williams and the two Black Hands were there. Abigail Williams in the future didn’t recognize her so hopefully that meant that either she hadn’t been in the original timeline or she had always been there but she had stayed hidden the whole time.

Audrey shook her head and crouched down. She didn’t feel good and she didn’t know what to do. She knew she couldn’t stay there. With the way she was dressed, she would surely be accused of witchcraft and if the Man with the German Accent was there and he saw her, he would surely recognize her as the Chosen One. Then again, he had been focused on Emily Tual while they had been at camp together. A chilling thought then came to Audrey’s mind. What if the Man with the German Accent spoke in different accents? He could very well be there at that moment and she wouldn’t realize it until it was too late.

Audrey heard movement. She looked up and quickly hid behind some bushes. There were men with guns walking near her. They looked like they were trying to sneak quietly through the woods. Some of them were failing though. No doubt they were looking for witches. That was when Audrey noticed one of them was younger than the others. Her eyes widened. It was James. She realized that her best chance of getting to Gabriel and asking for his help was now or never. She took a deep breath and snapped a twig under her foot.

James and the men instantly turned to a bush and raised their guns towards it. “Who goes there?” One of the men asked.

James shook his head. There was a good chance that it was just an animal. Still, if it was the witch that the Black Hand had sent, he was more than ready to execute her. To his surprise, and the surprise of the others, a young girl came out from behind the bushes. She was dressed strangely. “It’s a witch!” One of the men shouted. “We need to capture her before she casts a curse on us!”

The girl shook her head. “I’m not a witch!” She cried. She was looking at James as she said that. James frowned. There was something that looked familiar about her. He wasn’t sure why though.

“Of course you’re a witch!” The man who had identified her as a witch replied. “Look at your strange clothes. Clearly a sign of witch craft.” A few of the other men nodded in agreement. The accuser did have a point there. The girl was in strange clothes.

James looked at the girl and his eyes glowed briefly before he lowered his gun. “She isn’t a witch.” He told the other men.

The other men and the girl looked at him. “What do you mean?” The accuser asked. “Look at her. She came out of the bushes and isn’t wearing proper clothing.”

James rolled his eyes. “From her point of view, we also would have just come out of the bushes.” He reminded the accuser. “As for her poor sense of fashion, I’m sure that she has a perfectly good reason for it.” James looked at the girl and his eyes glowed briefly again.

Audrey sighed with relief. James was willing to try to help her out. “I’m sorry for my strange clothes.” Audrey told the men. “It was all that I could replace when I escaped the witches.” She hoped that that would work. The men looked at each other. “One of them was a girl.” Audrey continued. “I couldn’t see her face though. Her back was to me. Another one had red eyes.” She noticed that James’s twitched at that. “He was wearing black clothes but he had a hood on his head. His eyes were all that was visible under his hood. The last one had a cane and an accent.” Audrey hoped that James would know who she was talking about. “I escaped them and have been running for a while now. When I heard you coming, I hid, fearing for my life in case it was them.”

The men looked at each other. “Think she’s telling the truth?” One of the other men asked.

The accuser shook his head. “She’s a witch I tell you!” He shouted. “There is no way that she could have escaped from other witches. They would have killed her before she could have gotten away!”

Audrey looked at James. He was the only chance she had of getting to Gabriel and getting back to her own time. James was about to say something when they heard a scream in the distance. The men looked at each other before running towards the scream. James looked at Audrey. “I don’t know how you came to be here but you need to get somewhere safe.” He told her before he took off running after the other men.

Audrey watched the men and James running in the direction of the scream as another scream was heard. She knew that with Abigail Williams and the Black Hand there looking for a Chosen One, the one screaming could be the Chosen One. Audrey didn’t know if the Chosen One survived the Salem Witch Trials or not but she couldn’t risk changing history by letting the Chosen One die. If the Chosen One died, there was no telling if Emily would still be alive in the future. Audrey wasn’t worried about herself. She had been born in Russia and, if she was correct, her birth parents were Russians as well. Nowhere near Salem during the time of the witch trials.

James and the men came into a clearing and stopped. There was a creature standing over a girl. The creature was tall, maybe seven or eight feet tall. There was a lot of black fur on it. The creature was growling at the girl. James recognized the girl. It was Aunica. He had seen the young girl around the town. She and her mother, Annaliese had come to the town from England shortly after Aunica’s father had been murdered. Gabriel had given the two of them sanctuary in a small room in the back of the chapel since the killer still hadn’t been found. It was a good thing too that Gabriel did that. Shortly after the Salem Witch Trials began, Abigail Williams, one of the first people to have been “attacked by something unholy”, accused Aunica of it. After the accusation, Gabriel had done his best to clear Aunica’s name and had had Jasper take Annaliese to a safe place out of town for everyone to see so they wouldn’t hunt down Aunica again. James believed the killer had been a member of the Black Hand and that the witch trials were the works of the Black Hand as well.

The men raised their guns and began firing at the creature. The creature ignored them and kept advancing on Aunica. Aunica stumbled back and fell to the ground as she tried to get away from the creature. She wasn’t sure what it was or why it was after her. All she knew was that it must have been sent from the Devil if the bullets weren’t affecting it. “Help me!” She cried. As the men were firing at the creature, more men showed up. James gritted his teeth. It was John Hawthorne and his men. James had a strong dislike for the man. Hawthorne was one of the people overseeing the trials and so far he had been convinced that each person put to trial was a witch.

Hawthorne aimed his gun at Aunica. “Kill the witch!” He shouted to his men. “If she dies, we don’t have to worry about the monster she’s summoned from Hell!” His men aimed their guns at Aunica.

James gritted his teeth. Hawthorne believed that Annaliese and Aunica were witches because Annaliese wasn’t with any man yet. The only reason why Hawthorne hadn’t attacked the two yet was that they were being protected by Gabriel in the chapel. Now however Aunica was fair game to Hawthorne and James knew it. He aimed his gun at Hawthorne. “Fire at the beast Hawthorne!” He shouted. He didn’t want to shoot the man but he would. Aunica had been cleared of being a witch but Hawthorne hadn’t given up the idea just yet.

Aunica screamed as the creature reached for her. Out of nowhere, silver energy appeared and hit the creature, sending it flying into the forest. All of the men except for Hawthorne and James stumbled back and cried out in alarm.

James looked around. He had a feeling he knew who had caused the silver energy. He lowered his rifle and ran to Aunica. He knelt by her. “Are you okay?” He asked her.

Aunica looked at him and hugged him. “I am now.” She said in a small shaky voice.

James held Aunica close and looked at Hawthorne. “Looks like you finally have your proof that she isn’t a witch.” He said to the man.

Hawthorne simply glared at James. “For now.” He said in a cold voice. He wasn’t ready to give up the hunt just yet. He was going to get his proof that Aunica was a witch. He looked at his men. “Let’s return to the town.” He told them. “And James, since you’ve convinced everyone now that Aunica isn’t a witch, you’ll be put to trial. That was clearly magic that sent the beast flying into the forest.” With that, a few men walked towards James. They had shackles with them.

James stood up with Aunica. “That wasn’t me Hawthorne.” He told the man. “Whoever did that came from the forest as well.” James didn’t want anyone to chase Audrey but he knew that she would be able to stay hidden until he could go replace her again.

The men looked at Hawthorne nervously before looking at James. They weren’t sure what to do now. James hadn’t been looking at Aunica when the silver energy had hit the beast. According to all of the past witnesses, the accused had always been looking at whatever objects moved or at other people before something bad happened. James had been looking at Hawthorne the entire time. James stood up. “Now if you don’t mind, I will be taking Aunica back to the chapel.” He told Hawthorn before he looked at Aunica. “Let’s get you someplace safe.” He told her before he led her away.

From her hiding spot, Audrey was looking at her hands in shock. She had never been able to do that before. She had been watching the entire showdown between Hawthorne and James. She couldn’t believe it though. She had read about Hawthorne. He had been one of the cruelest people involved with the Salem Witch Trials with no regret for the lives that had been lost during the trials. If anyone would be a perfect candidate for the Black Hand, it was Hawthorne. If Audrey recalled correctly, Hawthorne’s descendant would write A Scarlet Letter. Audrey watched James and Aunica leaving. She knew that going after them would be her best chance of getting to a safe place long enough to get back to her own time. The Gabriel of this time might also be able to help her understand what she had just done.

As Audrey walked quietly, she thought about what she had just witnessed. She had used actual magic to help fight a creature from the Black Hand. She wondered if it meant that she was really the Chosen One and that the Man with the German Accent had been wrong the entire time. She knew that Emily had used magic but it seemed odd that Aunica was a possible Chosen One and didn’t have any magic. It made her wonder if Emily’s mother had any magic as well. She would need to ask Gabriel that when she found him.

Hawthorne and his men watched James, Aunica and the men with James walking back towards Salem. “Keep an eye on those two kids.” Hawthorne ordered his men. “We’re going to prove once and for all that they’re witches.” They silently followed James and his group back to the village.

From its hiding spot, the beast watched everyone heading towards the village. It had even spotted the strange looking girl who had been hiding heading in that way as well. It wasn’t sure who the girl was or why it was there but it knew that its master would be very interested in her. It growled softly before following them to the village.