The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 25

Audrey groaned as she woke up. Her head was hurting. The last thing she remembered was a bright flash of light and her getting thrown back. She sat up and heard something fall to the ground. She looked down in front of her and saw a small diary. It looked old. Audrey picked up the diary and opened it to the first page. It was Jasper’s. She looked around. “Jasper?” She called out. There was no response. Jasper’s car was still by the side of the road.

Audrey stood up and that was when she saw her dead mother. She instantly remembered what had happened. Jasper had sacrificed himself to defeat the Horseman of Death, taking the rider with him to wherever the dead went to. Audrey went up to her mother’s body and knelt by it. “I’m sorry we didn’t get more time to be together Mother.” She said to Anastasia’s body. “But believe me, I will save others who are like us.”

Audrey closed her eyes as tears came to them. Her mother and father, adopted and birth, were gone. It was just a matter of time now before Harold and Hannah found out that her birth parents were dead and came after her. Audrey waved her hand over her mother’s body and it disappeared. Audrey stood up. She would hunt Harold and Hannah down before they could and she would end their evilness.

At the log cabin, Gabriel and Bastet were in the basement. Bastet once again had her hands and feet chained down to the cement floor. There was an iron collar around Bastet’s neck that was attached to chains that went to the ceiling. Bastet’s tail was held by several smaller iron collars that had spikes that went into the cat’s tail so it couldn’t break free. The iron collars were attached to the wall behind Bastet with chains too. With how tight the chains were, Bastet couldn’t move anything but her eyes and mouth.

Gabriel leaned against the wall in front of Bastet and looked at his prisoner. It had taken quite a bit of skill to imprison the cat before she had woken up but he had managed to do it. “Three Tribulations completed.” He told Bastet. “Four more to go before the Witnesses have completed their mission.” He knew that Bastet and whoever else was leading the Black Hand knew by now that Audrey was one of the two Witnesses. He was going to keep his role as a Witness a secret for now.

Bastet raised an eyebrow. “So you have both Witnesses already.” She said in a purring voice. “Clever Gabriel. Always trying to stay one step ahead of the Black Hand.” If she could, she would swish her tail. “But will they be enough to defeat him?” She asked, referring to Anthony. She wondered if Gabriel knew about Anthony leading the Black Hand yet. There was no telling what Anastasia had told them. “He knows all about how you took Audrey away from the orphanage is Russia about fifteen years ago. He knows you’ve kept her nearby in case Emily turned out not to be the precious Chosen One.” Bastet couldn’t help but be angry about that. She hoped that Emily was the Chosen One so she could kill the little girl herself.

Gabriel sighed. “If you’re talking about Anthony, I know everything that he has done to help the Darkness rise up.” He told Bastet. “Thanks to Derdrom’s daughter.”

Bastet couldn’t help but laugh. “You mean Anastasia.” She said. “No doubt the Horseman of Death got to her before he was defeated by the Witness.” Bastet knew that if the Horseman of Death was destroyed, the spirits of the other three Horsemen would be destroyed as well. The vessels the spirits used were only temporary but the Horseman of Death was very different. “Tell me. Do you think that the Horseman of Death was able to kill Jasper and the Witness before he was destroyed?” She hoped that Audrey was dead. If the girl was dead, it would ruin everything that Anthony was planning.

Gabriel didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure if Audrey had survived or not. He would have gone after her when Savannah and James returned unconsciously but he couldn’t risk them dying. The two kids were upstairs in healing trances.

“If your little assistant is dead Gabriel, it means that you’re all on your own with leading the Chosen One to fulfill her destiny.” Bastet said, referring to Emily. She firmly believed that Emily was still the Chosen One, despite what Anthony had told her and the other Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Gabriel didn’t say anything. His mind was focused on Aunica from the future. She had seemed convinced that the future would only change for good if they defeated the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and had gotten Aunica’s past form away from Anthony before he could get her. Gabriel knew that he would only be able to do that if he had help. He couldn’t leave the camp if Jasper was gone and he couldn’t leave Bastet at all on her own even if she was imprisoned.

Bastet smiled. She could tell that Gabriel wasn’t sure what to do. “You can’t keep me imprisoned down here forever Gabriel.” She told him “Sooner or later, I will be free.”

“You’re right.” Gabriel replied. He then smiled. “But until then, you are my prisoner.” With that, Gabriel turned off the lights and went upstairs. He had to replace Audrey and make sure that she was okay. He walked into the living room and stopped when he saw Audrey reading Jasper’s diary.

Audrey looked at Gabriel, her eyes were full of tears. “You knew all this time that my father was Jasper?” She asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Audrey felt like Gabriel owed her an explanation. After all, her father, Jasper, had died to keep her safe from the Horseman of Death. “I had a right to know that my father had been here this whole time!” Audrey shouted.

That snapped Gabriel. “You had no right to know!” He shouted angrily, silencing Audrey. “If Jasper had told you, there would have been too much of a chance that he would have tried to take you away himself after your adopted parents were killed and I couldn’t allow that to happen.” Gabriel didn’t care if it was selfish of him to have kept Audrey in the dark about her father. He needed her to help fight the Darkness. “You are a Witness Audrey. You couldn’t just leave your responsibilities to fight the Darkness.”

Audrey shook her head. “A responsibility I didn’t want or ask for!” She cried. She pocketed the diary. “All you care about is your stupid fight against the Darkness. A fight I didn’t want to be a part of.” She glared at Gabriel. Her father was right. All Gabriel did care about was fighting the Darkness. “You might have not killed the woman who dropped me off at the orphanage all of those years ago but you’re just as guilty of killing her as the Black Hand is.”

Audrey turned to storm out of the living room but found her feet stuck to the ground. “Do you really think I don’t regret every death that the Black Hand has caused?” Gabriel asked in a dangerous voice. Audrey felt the magic turn her around by force so she had to face Gabriel. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to have to carry the burden of protecting the world so that the Darkness or his servants don’t destroy it?” Gabriel’s voice was rising with anger.

“You have no idea what I had to sacrifice since I joined the fight!” Gabriel shouted angrily. “I lost my friends, a man who was like a brother to me and the woman I lost before the Darkness was sealed away the first time! Jasper, James and I have been forced to wander the Earth for thousands and thousands of years just to replace the Chosen One. We have had to endure loss and never getting to have a normal life!”

Audrey took out a picture of her parents that she had found tucked in Jasper’s diary and showed it to Gabriel. “Sounds like you didn’t want Jasper to have a life or a love to be with to me.” She told Gabriel. “Is that why you insisted on me taking Aunica with me to the future back then? So that James couldn’t be with her? Is that why you never told James about who the possible Chosen One was back in New York City when the Twin Towers fell? Were you so selfish that you didn’t want either of them to replace love or happiness that you did whatever it took to make sure that they couldn’t be with those who made them happy?”

Audrey snapped her fingers and the magic keeping her stuck to the floor disappeared. “I will help you replace Aunica and defeat Anthony.” She told Gabriel. “But after that, don’t ever try to get me to help you with this war. I’ll bury myself so deep in the Foster System, go by a new name and maybe change my look so you can never replace me again.” With that, Audrey stormed out of the room.

Audrey slammed the door to her bedroom and sat on her bed. She took the picture out of Jasper and Anastasia and looked at it. It was still hard for her to believe that her parents had been two immortals. She wondered if there was anything normal about her. She noticed that they looked happy in the picture. According to what Jasper had written, he had met Anastasia, or Anna as she had called herself back then, at a bar and after a few days, had fallen in love with each other.

Audrey wondered if her father had known that Anastasia had been a member of the Black Hand during that time. He had seemed surprised earlier that Anastasia had been a member of the Black Hand. Probably because she had revealed that she had once been a possible Chosen One even though she had been with the Black Hand. Audrey remembered reading how Jasper had felt betrayed by Gabriel when Gabriel revealed what he had taken from him.

Audrey looked at her mother. “Who was the woman that everyone thought was my mother back then?” She asked. No doubt a mystery that would never be solved. Nothing about her life seemed normal anymore. She pocketed the picture and stood up. She had a mission to do. She had to defeat Anthony and make him pay for what he did to her adopted parents. She also had to defeat Harold and Hannah before they could get to her.

There was a knock at Audrey’s door. Audrey looked up. “Come on in.” She said. The door opened and James came in. Audrey noticed that the boy looked a little pale. No doubt because he had been shot and had nearly died twice. She wondered what magic Gabriel had used to save James and Savannah.

James went over to Audrey. “How are you feeling?” He asked her. He had a feeling that Audrey was still coping with both of her birth parents being dead.

Audrey didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t know if she could trust James. Did he know about Jasper and Anastasia being her parents? Was he keeping secrets from her as well? He did know about her being in an orphanage and that Gabriel had thought she had been a Chosen One. Now she couldn’t help but wonder if he had lied about that.

“Did you know about my birth parents?” Audrey asked James. “No lies this time James.”

James wasn’t sure how to answer Audrey. He knew that there was nothing he could say that would make Audrey believe him. He looked at the picture of Jasper and Anastasia. “I didn’t know about Jasper being your father.” He answered. “But it does explain why, if my math is right, why he was gone for so long.” James looked at the picture. “I’m sure he would have rather stayed with your mother and you.” He added.

Audrey looked at her mother in the picture. “What about Anastasia though?” She asked. “Why would she give me up and place me in an orphanage? I mean I know that according to you, it was another woman that both sides thought was a possible Chosen One but why would my mother give me up to her?” She had another question to answer now.

James wasn’t sure what to say about that. “I’m sure we’ll replace the answer Audrey.” He told her. “But we do have another job to do.”

Audrey knew he was right. They still needed to replace Aunica before Anthony got to her. That would mean she would have to tolerate Gabriel long enough to do the job. “Let’s get going then.” She said.