The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 3

At the camp lodge, Emily, Elizabeth, Delaney, Rachel and Audrey were coming out of the office. Gabriel, Jasper and James had just told them why everything was happening the way it was. Emily wasn’t sure how she felt about all of it. It seemed like a lot of responsibility for a kid to have to deal with but she knew that there was no way for her to get out of it. Given what the Black Hand had just done the night before, there was no way to avoid this. She would have to face them when the time came.

Rachel looked at her sister. “Are you okay Emily?” She asked. She was worried and scared for her big sister. Sure James, Audrey and Gabriel had been able to save Emily but from what Emily had told them about it, it sounded like the three had just barely made it. Rachel wasn’t sure how she would feel if she had lost her big sister. It had just been the two of them and their dad since their mom had died. Rachel wondered if Emily was going to tell their dad about what had happened.

Emily looked at Rachel and smiled a little. She knew that Rachel was worried about her. “I’ll be okay.” She told Rachel. She wrapped an arm around her little sister. “You’re not going to be losing your big sister any time soon. I promise.” She was going to make sure that she was able to keep that promise no matter what it took. She hoped that James would be able to help her keep that promise as well. She trusted him with not just her life but with Rachel’s life. He had proven that he cared for them greatly.

“What do you think the Black Hand will do now?” Delaney asked. “I mean it sounds like they can’t do the ritual again until next year but I doubt they will be able to wait that long.” She was also asking because of Savannah, a camper who was turned into the Horseman of Pestilence by the Darkness. She couldn’t imagine what Savannah’s parents would do when Gabriel told them that their daughter was missing. He already had to explain to the rest of the camp why there had been medical staff from the local hospital and police outside the medical building. He had told the campers and the staff that Savannah had a severe allergic reaction and that the police guarding the medical building was with the medical staff.

Emily was thinking about Savannah as well. She still wondered why the girl had been chosen to be a Horseman of the Apocalypse when there were Black Hands that could have been chosen instead. Not even Gabriel seemed to have an answer about that. To the best of their knowledge, which was quite a bit when it came to Gabriel, Jasper and James, Savannah wasn’t a Chosen One. She was a normal girl. Emily had a feeling that there wasn’t a plan to save Savannah before it was time for the parents to pick up their kids.

James watched the five girls leaving the office. He wasn’t sure how they were taking all of this. Sure they seemed to be interested in what was happening but he had sensed that Rachel was scared for her big sister. No doubt they were still worried about Savannah. He looked at Gabriel. The old man was reading an old manuscript. No doubt Gabriel was trying to replace a way to save Savannah from being a Horseman of the Apocalypse. Something tugged at James’s mind. He went over to Gabriel. “Now that the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been released, should we worry about what they bring with them?” He asked.

Jasper looked at Gabriel. “What does James mean?” He asked. “What are the Horsemen of the Apocalypse bringing?” Jasper realized the answer as he was finishing the question. “They’re bringing the apocalypse?” He asked. He looked at James. “You think they’re bringing the end with them?”

James nodded. “I think they were all supposed to be present for the Darkness to rise up.” He told the two. “Gabriel and I saw all four of them at the ritual grounds. If the Darkness did succeed at rising up from his prison, we’d already be having the apocalypse.” James paused before he continued. “But now I think they’re going to take the long way around to bring about the Darkness and the apocalypse.” He went to the shelf and took down the Bible. He opened it to the Book of Revelations. He heard Jasper joining him. “Now there are references to the Darkness rising up and the end of the world in every religion whether people know it or not.” James continued. He looked at Gabriel. “Since the four Horsemen were the first ones to rise up, we should start with the Book of Revelations and try to stop the Apocalypse before it can happen.”

Gabriel thought about what James was saying. “So where do you think we should start?” He asked. He was curious to see what James would say.

James looked at Gabriel. “I think we should start with replaceing the two Witnesses.” He answered. He turned the Bible to Gabriel and pointed at a certain passage. “Two allies who warn people of the coming end.” James was convinced that if they found the two witnesses, they could try to undo the control the Darkness had over Savannah. It was their best chance at saving the girl. Even though the Bible stated that the two witnesses would die, James knew that the two were the only chance they had against the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Jasper cleared his throat. “You do realize that we have no idea who the two witnesses are, right?” He asked James. That was the only problem with James’s plan. “It could be anyone, even any of the Black Hands. The Witnesses could be servants of the Darkness or other people who are against us.” They had no leads on who the two Witnesses were.

James shook his head. “The two Witnesses are our best chance of replaceing a way to save Savannah from being a Horseman of the Apocalypse.” He told Jasper and Gabriel. “If we don’t do anything, Savannah will be lost forever. And her parents will call for an investigation into the camp and everything we want to keep from the rest of the world will come into light.” Didn’t the two realize how dangerous it was to not do anything to save Savannah? “We might have the Chosen One safe for now but we can’t leave Savannah to the fate of being a Horseman of the Apocalypse.”

Gabriel leaned back in his seat and looked out the window towards the cabins by the road. Right now Savannah’s counselors were explaining to the rest of the group that Savannah had to leave because of a fake allergic reaction that got even worse. The medical staff from the local hospital had left, leaving a medical report for Savannah’s parents. A medical report that would never see the light of day again. Gabriel had gotten rid of it shortly after the medical staff and the police had left. There was already a small local Amber Alert out for Savannah. He was waiting until Savannah’s parents were there before telling them about it. It was the best he could do without exposing everything.

“There’s nothing much we can do about the Horsemen of the Apocalypse or the two Witnesses for right now.” Gabriel told James. “If any of the three of us leave right now, it’ll only get more suspicious.” He hoped that James realized that. “With everything that has been happening lately this week, if we do anything that doesn’t seem normal, we risk exposing the truth about Emily and the Black Hand and that might just give the edge the Black Hand needs to get their forces back that are locked up and give them the chance to try to bring back the Darkness.” There was nothing that they could do about this until that night after the staff had either gone home or were out in the local city having fun.

James was about to say something when he sensed a chill in the air. He stumbled back a bit and held a hand to his chest. Something bad had happened. That was what the chill had told him. He looked at Gabriel and Jasper. “Did you two sense that?” He asked. He realized that they did. Gabriel only looked that pale if he sensed something bad.

Gabriel looked at Jasper. “Turn on the television.” He ordered. Jasper went over to the television and turned it on to the news channel. There was a reporter on a street. Gabriel’s heart sank as he realized where the street was. “Something happened in New Philadelphia close to where Audrey’s home is.” He told the two. He could see what looked like the ruins of a house behind the reporter. He recognized it as Audrey’s home. He had just been there to protect Audrey from the Horseman of Death. He had a feeling that he knew what had happened there.

James listened to the reporter. “Although the entire city was plunged into a dark fog, there have been confirmed reports of what looked like four horses with riders on them that did fight with the police and SWAT officers. It seems like these four horsemen are connected to the mysterious fog and the attack at the prison center right outside the city. There have been many causalities and a massive prison break out.” The reporter said before James shook his head and turned off the television.

There was a silence in the office. James looked at Gabriel. “Audrey’s home was the ruined house behind that reporter, wasn’t it?” He asked. Gabriel nodded after a few seconds. James sat down. “Why would the Horsemen of the Apocalypse do this?” He asked. “I thought that the Black Hand was only focused on Emily?” Sure the Black Hand had attacked Audrey earlier that week and the Horseman of Death had gone after Audrey weeks before but they had kidnapped Emily and tried to sacrifice her. He thought that they had decided that Emily was the chosen one.

Gabriel wasn’t sure what to say to James. “Do you think that her parents are dead?” James asked. “If they are, what are we going to do? What if the Black Hand did this to try to get her alone so that they could take her away?”

Gabriel knew that those were good questions. “I think for now you should go join the Experimental Explosion groups.” He told James. Gabriel looked at Jasper. “We need to keep a close eye on who comes to pick up Audrey.” He continued. “The fact that we haven’t gotten a phone call yet about her parents tells me that they’re either alive which is unlikely or the Black Hand is hoping that we don’t know about her parents’ deaths.” There was no way that Audrey’s parents were still alive. Not if the Horsemen of the Apocalypse had attacked New Philadelphia and had done so much damage and killed so many people. “With James staying with the Experimental Explosions and me having to attend to my duties, it’ll be up to you to make sure that none of the Black Hands try to take Audrey away.”

Jasper nodded and waited until James left before he spoke. “What are we going to tell Audrey?” He asked. “She has a right to know about her parents being killed by the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She’ll replace out sooner or later.” They both knew that James might tell her about the bad news. There was some sort of connection between the two teenagers, almost like the two were family. “What should we tell her when the time comes?”

Gabriel shook his head and sighed. “We’ll tell her the truth when time comes.” He looked at the Bible. It was still opened to the passage of the Two Witnesses. He frowned and went to the Bible. He read the passage. “The two Witnesses.” He murmured softly. He wondered if the Black Hand knew about the Two Witnesses. Was that why they had sent the Horsemen of the Apocalypse after Audrey’s home? If Audrey was a possible Chosen One, were her parents the two Witnesses? He looked at Jasper. “We have to keep Audrey safe from the Black Hand.” He told Jasper. “There might be something about her that we don’t know yet. Something important.”