The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 27

That night on a charter bus, Audrey was reading more of her father’s journal under the small reading bus light. It was all she could do to pass the time that would help her feel closer to Jasper and help her with understanding more about possible Chosen Ones. She figured there was stuff that Gabriel wanted to keep from her and Emily. It was still hard for her to believe that Jasper had been her birth dad.

Audrey went back to the beginning of the journal to see what she could replace out about Emily and possibly her ancestor. That was when she noticed it. The sign that the first few pages had been torn out.

Audrey read the first page. It was well after Seraphina had died facing the Darkness. It was about how Gabriel had decided for them to go into hiding. She frowned. Why would Jasper do that to his own journal? Was there something he wanted to forget about Seraphina?

Audrey turned to James. Maybe he knew why there were missing pages. The boy was already asleep. Audrey managed not to groan and just closed the journal. So much for asking James. Audrey looked back at her dad’s journal. She would have to ask James later about it.

Audrey then sensed something. It almost felt like someone was watching James and her. She looked around them but most of the other passengers were minding their own business. There were a couple of men though in the far back that was occasionally looking towards Audrey as they were talking.

Audrey quickly looked away from them. She wasn’t sure why but they were giving her the creeps. She wondered if the men were with the Black Hand. It would explain why they were only looking at her when they weren’t looking at each other. Audrey wasn’t sure what to do. She couldn’t exactly shout to the rest of the bus that the men were dangerous without proof. Besides, there was no telling who else could be with the men.

That was when the bus stopped. Audrey looked outside. They were at a rest stop. “Anyone who needs to use the restrooms or buy snacks need to do so now!” The bus driver shouted to the passengers.

Audrey looked behind her. The men were standing up. Now that they were standing, Audrey noticed that they looked tough. She also saw the Homeland Security Badges they were wearing. Audrey’s eyes widened. Hidden right in plain sight was the emblem of the Black Hand tattooed on the mens’ arms.

Audrey looked quickly at James. James was just waking up. “James, we have a problem.” Audrey whispered.

James looked at Audrey as he rubbed his eyes. “What’s wrong?” He asked. Audrey pointed at the Black Hands coming towards them. James looked. “That is a problem.” He said.

Audrey looked outside at the rest stop. There was no way James and her could defeat the five Black Hands and not draw attention to themselves as well. The minute they started fighting, people would be recording it or calling the police and that would bring in the real Homeland Security.

James stood up. Audrey looked at him. “What are you doing?” She asked James. Didn’t he realize that there was no way they could win this without getting caught?

James looked at Audrey. “I’m doing the job of a Witness.” He told her. “You still need to get to Aunica. If I keep these guys distracted long enough, they’ll miss getting back on the bus and you can complete this journey.”

Audrey realized what James was doing. James was sacrificing himself so that she could save Aunica from Anthony. “Who will rescue you?” Audrey asked him.

James didn’t answer. Instead, he faced the five Black Hands. “Are you guys looking for me?” He asked them. The Black Hands all looked at James. Audrey, wondering if this was what James meant by keeping the Black Hands distracted, quickly ducked under the seats and crawled towards the front of the bus.

“We’re here for the girl.” One of the Black Hands said. Audrey’s eyes widened but she kept crawling. She wasn’t going to let the Black Hands capture her.

That was when she heard fighting beginning behind her. It sounded like James was fighting all five Black Hands. Audrey heard the bus driver standing up. “No fighting! Take it off the bus!” That was followed by gunshots, making Audrey jump. She nearly screamed when she saw the bus driver fall to the ground dead. She heard screams from outside.

Audrey got off of the bus and ran to the restrooms. She didn’t look back. She knew if she did, she would want to go help James and possibly get spotted by the Black Hands.

Audrey ran through the restroom into the other side of the rest stop. She looked at the different charter busses. She had to make sure she picked one that was going to the same place she was. Audrey’s ears perked up as police sirens could be heard. That was fast.

Audrey ran outside to a charter bus that had its luggage under doors opened. She smiled when she saw one of the luggage tags. It was for Syracuse New York. She crawled into the luggage compartment, just making it before the compartment doors closed.

Audrey grabbed onto stuff as the charter bus began moving. She felt terrible about leaving James but James had told her to leave him behind. She heard the police sirens getting louder before they became quiet. “James.” She whispered. She hoped he would escape.

At the rest stop, the five Black Hands came off of the bus escorting James calmly as the police rushed to them. “It’s okay.” One of the Black Hands said calmly. “We’re Homeland Security and this is a case.” One of the other Black Hands took out their Homeland Security badge and showed it to the police.

One of the police officers looked at James. “What did the kid do?” He asked the Black Hands. The kid didn’t look that dangerous to him.

The Black Hand that spoke first, Agent Beckett, spoke again. “He hacked classified government files and is under suspicion of leaking them to other countries.” Agent Beckett looked at James. “We’ll be taking him to a Federal Prison to answer for his crimes.” He continued.

Agent Beckett looked at his other Black Hands. “Answer any questions that these officers have.” He ordered them while he grabbed James by the arm. “I’ll deal with the kid.” Agent Beckett dragged James to a black sedan and threw him into the back seat before getting into the shotgun seat. He turned to the Black Hand that was in the driver’s seat. “Did you see where the girl ran to?” Agent Beckett asked the Black Hand.

The Black Hand pointed at the rest stop. “I saw her go in there but when I looked around the place, she was gone.” He reported to Agent Beckett. “Should we report to Anthony about this?” The Black Hand looked at Agent Beckett as he asked that. It was Anthony after all who had ordered Black Hands to not only follow Audrey but to have Black Hands at the different rest stops in case her bus stopped at any of them.

Agent Beckett shook his head. “If she’s on another charter bus, she’ll have to be at another rest stop sooner or later. That is when the Black Hands will capture her at one of those rest stop.” He told the driver. He then looked over his shoulder at James. “And we have a prisoner now so the girl will be distracted by that.” Agent Beckett smiled.

Audrey crawled towards the back of the charter bus as it came to a stop. She wasn’t sure where it was or if there were Black Hands at the place but she didn’t want to take any chances. She looked above her. There was a small door above her. She opened it and peeked out. It opened into the back of the charter bus aisle. She crawled out and stood by the bathroom door.

She looked out the window. They were at another rest stop. Not knowing if there were Black Hands at the rest stop or even on this bus, she crawled back down into the luggage compartment. Audrey decided to think about the last few trials she had to face as a witness. She first had somehow defeated Abigail Williams by going into the past, then she had found the truth about her mother and had tried to save her mother and then she had saved Savannah and James. She tried to think about what other trials there could be. She knew that saving Aunica was one of them and so was confronting Caterina and helping her with learning the truth about her father. She also knew that she would finally have to face Anthony. Three more trials. So what was the one trial that she needed to face?

Josiah looked around the rest stop. The tracking spell he had used to follow Audrey had led him there. So where was she? His eyes glowed red and he focused on Audrey. A charter bus glowed red. He smiled. This would be way too easy for him.

As he was walking towards the charter bus, he was joined by a few more Black Hands. They all wore black suits and looked very serious. The emblem of the demon was on the palm of their hands. These Black Hands had sold their souls in their past lives to Josiah and had returned as demons. They knew why they were there and they were determined to succeed where others had failed.

“Remember, once we have the girl, we take her to Anthony.” Josiah told his demonic Black Hands. “Anyone who gets in the way will die.” Their eyes glowed red.