The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 8

That evening, Gabriel and James were talking in Gabriel’s office at their home. Jasper was making sure that the staff was leaving the camp. Audrey was in the living room watching the news about what had happened in New Philadelphia. It gave Gabriel and James the perfect chance to talk in private. They were sitting across from each other at Gabriel’s desk. “What are we going to do about Audrey?” James was asking. “Harold and Hannah wanted her and you know as well as I do that they won’t stop until they have her in their possession.”

Gabriel nodded. “I know how dangerous the two of them are.” He reminded James. “For now though, we’ll keep her here until we can make better living arrangements for her. Jasper will go into New Philadelphia tomorrow to try to get as much information about Audrey’s family to see if there are any living relatives we can send her to. If we can get her to them, we can keep her safe from Harold and Hannah.” He leaned back in his seat. “What is disturbing though is that they aren’t going after Emily like the Magician.” He added. If Harold and Hannah who were very powerful and dangerous Black Hands were going after a different child and there was no sign of the Man with the German Accent, it was possible that the Black Hand no longer thought that Emily was the Chosen One and the Man with the German Accent had been punished for failing the Darkness.

James nodded in agreement. “Do you think that Emily is in danger still?” He asked. He knew that Emily was still scared for her life but he was still wanting to keep a close eye on her to keep her safe. He felt a bit like her protector after everything that had happened to her. “Or has the Black Hand lost interest in her?”

Gabriel sighed. “I don’t think that the entire Black Hand has given up on the idea that Emily is the Chosen One still.” He told James. “We need to keep a close eye on her while at the same time, watching over Audrey.” They both could hear the television but they also heard Audrey crying again.

James wasn’t sure what to do about that. On the one hand, he really cared about Emily and for some reason, felt an attraction to her. He was pretty sure that it was an attraction to her. He had never felt that way before so he wasn’t entirely sure but he was mostly sure. On the other hand, if Audrey was the chosen one, they needed to protect her and not risk her safety by sending someone to go after Emily to keep her safe. James wasn’t sure what Gabriel was planning but part of him was hoping that Gabriel would tell him to go keep an eye on Emily while Jasper and he kept Audrey safe.

“Are you sure that we would be able to keep both of them safe from the Black Hand?” James asked Gabriel. “There are only three of us guarding two girls against an entire organization set out to kill them both.” If they kept Audrey in the camp and people found out, it would be bad. Even if they did keep Audrey hidden at the camp, it would just be a matter of time before Harold and Hannah showed up again to take Audrey away. “Can we even be sure that she has any living relatives out there who could take her in and keep her safe?”

Gabriel thought about it and nodded. “The Black Hand is all over the world but I doubt that they could have easily traced every single relative that Audrey has in her adopted family.” He told James. “I’m sure that when Jasper goes into the city tomorrow to replace her relatives, he’ll replace more of her family.” He didn’t want to think about what would happen if they weren’t able to replace Audrey’s living relatives. If they weren’t able to, they would have to try to keep Audrey hidden until they could replace her new living arrangements and that would be tricky with more campers showing up the next week.

James realized something. “You’re not going to be here for the next few days, are you?” He asked Gabriel. “You’re going to take Audrey after Jasper gets back and travel with her until you can get her to a safe place to live, am I right?” He had a feeling that that was what Gabriel was planning. He hated to admit it but Gabriel was Audrey’s best chance of getting to a safe place without getting captured by Harold and Hannah. “Where are you going to take her though if Jasper can’t replace any of her relatives?” He then asked.

Gabriel looked around the room. “If Jasper can’t replace her a safe place to live, I’ll take Audrey to the safe house we have in the forest. She can stay there until we can replace a new family to take her.” He told James. He was referring to the small logged cabin deep in the forest at the camp. It was beyond every living space and the only trail to it was hidden well so it was perfect to hide Audrey at. “While she’s there, I’ll be going into New Philadelphia the next few days after tomorrow to try to scope out how bad the city was hit.”

There was a knock at the door. Both James and Gabriel turned to see Audrey. Audrey’s eyes were red and puffy from all the crying that they had heard her doing. “The reporters are talking about four people on horses appearing right after the fog and the blackout occurred.” She said in a small voice. She didn’t feel good. She sat down in the chair next to James. “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse led the attack today, didn’t they?” She asked. Gabriel and James looked at each other. They had completely forgotten about the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They had been so focused on Harold and Hannah. “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are supposed to cause havoc wherever they go when they’re together, right?” Audrey asked. “It looks like what happened in my city fits that perfectly.”

Audrey looked at Gabriel and took a deep breath before she spoke again. “Are the Horsemen of the Apocalypse working with Harold and Hannah?” She asked. “They killed my parents and then those two horrible killers showed up to collect me. That can’t be a coincidence.”

Gabriel shook his head. “If the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are working with Hannah and Harold, we have a serious issue then.” He said, giving James a look.

That didn’t make Audrey feel any better. “What issue are you talking about?” She asked Gabriel. She was really curious now.

James cleared his throat. “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse aren’t Black Hands.” He told Audrey. “They aren’t loyal to any group of Black Hands. The chances that a Black Hand is controlling them are unlikely and since the Darkness most likely believes that Emily is the Chosen One…” He didn’t complete his sentence. Instead, he looked at Gabriel. “Is it possible someone has gone rogue in the Black Hand again?” He asked. “Or that the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are going their own way now with trying to bring about the apocalypse?”

Audrey looked at Gabriel. “What does James mean?” She asked.

Gabriel sighed and shook his head. “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse don’t work with the Black Hand.” He explained. “The Darkness recruited four vessels that aren’t Black Hands to avoid showing favoritism, assuming he favors any of the Black Hands. They’re all disposable to him. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse though are very important to the Darkness. The four of them are more dangerous and if they’re working with a Black Hand against the Darkness’s wishes, we’re all in trouble.”

James nodded. “We’ve seen what happens when Black Hands go against the wishes of the Darkness.” He told Audrey. “You weren’t around for this but there was a Black Hand known as Bastet. The Magician had given the order that no one was to go after Emily but Bastet still did. No one knew why Bastet had wanted to disobey the Darkness but she went after Emily twice in an attempt to kill her. The first time she had used Black Hands to help her and the second time, she created an army of Cat Warriors. She attacked the Magician with her forces. It was large news in Cleveland for a few days because it involved the death of an F.B.I. agent and a few Black Hands.”

Audrey’s eyes widened. “In Cleveland?” She asked. “Was that a few weeks ago?” She asked. James nodded and looked at Gabriel. “That was on the news.” Audrey said. “The cats in the city were acting strange and didn’t let people leave buildings. There was something about dead bodies by a warehouse but it wasn’t on the news that long.” She looked at Gabriel. “That was the Black Hand?” She asked.

Gabriel nodded. “We were there as well.” He answered. “We saved Emily before Bastet could kill her.”

Audrey looked at James. “What happened to Bastet?” She asked.

James shook his head. “According to Emily, Caterina accused Emily of killing Bastet.” He answered.

Audrey was surprised by that. “Isn’t Bastet a myth though?” She asked. She wasn’t bothered by Caterina being a Black Hand. She had found out about that earlier that day. She wasn’t going to complain about being left in the dark about Bastet being the Black Hand that kidnapped Emily or that it had happened in Cleveland.

James brought up a picture of Bastet on his phone and showed it to Audrey. Audrey stared at the picture of Bastet. “Not just a myth.” James told Audrey. “Bastet was real until her mysterious death.”

Audrey shook her head. “Caterina doesn’t look anything like her mother.” She said. “Was Caterina adopted or something?”

James took back his phone and looked at Bastet. “Caterina had a human husband once but it didn’t last long. Just long enough to have a child. She never did say though who the father was and I doubt any of us will replace out the answer.” He answered.

Audrey thought about it. “So Caterina doesn’t know who her father is either.” She said. She didn’t realize how much Emily’s counselor and she had in common. They both had lost their mothers and their fathers were mysterious. She looked down. She felt James take her hand.

“Will you be okay?” James asked her.

Audrey looked at him. “What if Caterina joined the Black Hand because she had no father to take her away from Bastet?” She asked James before she looked at Gabriel. “I mean don’t we all have that side of the family we don’t know that much about?” She noticed that James looked down when she said that. She looked at him. “What is it?” She asked. “Did I say something wrong?” She then remembered what he had told her. About how he had been found by Jasper and Gabriel and how he didn’t remember much about his past before that moment. “I’m sorry.” She said.

James shook his head. “I know you didn’t mean to try to hurt my feelings.” He told Audrey before he looked at her. “So you think we should try to replace out who Caterina’s father is, don’t you?” He asked. He knew that that was what Audrey was thinking of.

Audrey nodded. She wasn’t sure if she would ever get that chance but Caterina did deserve that. “If Caterina’s father knows she’s alive, it might help Caterina decide to make a better life for herself.” She answered. She then looked at Gabriel. “Is it possible to do that?” She asked him.

Gabriel thought about it before he nodded. “It won’t be easy but we can try that.” He told her. “But only after we manage to keep you safe from Harold and Hannah.” None of them could afford to forget that Harold and Hannah were still out there and that the adults were still very dangerous.

Audrey looked outside the window. The sun had already set and the moon was out. It was a full moon. As she looked at it, Audrey thought she saw something flying in the sky against it. She shook her head. It was probably just an owl or a bat. No reason to get jumpy.