The Adventures of Emily Tual: Camp Adventures Book Two

Emily, Delaney, Elizabeth and Rachel were going through Joan’s notes. Emily’s book was right next to her mom’s notes. They had been sitting on the porch reading and taking notes of their own. Elizabeth looked at Emily. “Your mom had quite a few notes that seemed to come from this book.” She said.

Emily shook her head. “But how?” She looked at the book. “Was my mother able to read this book when she first came across it?” She looked at the pages in her book. How was her mother able to have read the book when she had it if she couldn’t do it the first time she opened it? The extra pages weren’t in the book when she had first opened her book so how would her mother know?

“This is interesting.” Rachel said. She was reading something from the book. She looked up at Emily, Delaney and Elizabeth. “Merlin was the one who took the child and the old lady away from the Black Hand during the fall of King Arthur, right?” She asked.

Emily looked at the page and nodded. “What about it?” Elizabeth asked.

Rachel pointed at the passage. “Then why is the next mentioning of that child where she is with Gabriel?”

Delaney looked over at the passage and read it as well. “She’s right.” She said after a minute. She looked at Emily. “What do you think happened to Merlin?”

Emily looked at the book. “If I had to take a guess, Merlin and Gabriel are one and the same.” She said. “Why else would Merlin be able to so easily appear in this book and then disappear?”

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “There is a problem with that Emily.” She said.

Emily managed not to roll her eyes. Leave it to her Arthurian cousin to find a problem with a theory of Merlin. “What would that be?” She asked.

Elizabeth brought Merlin up on the internet on her phone. “Merlin had a life that comes up in some way or form.” She explained. “Basically from when he was a child all the way to his death.” She gestured to Emily’s book. “This book, if Merlin is this Gabriel, disproves every single Arthurian legend about Merlin’s past.” She wanted to believe that her cousin was right but she didn’t want her favorite stories to be proven to be lies. She just couldn’t come to grips with that idea. “Nearly every story is similar. Maybe a few different details but they’re all basically the same story. This book would make them all lies.”

Emily looked at the story. “If I could just find out what that little girl’s name was.” She said. She opened her mom’s notes to the family tree. “If I can find out where she is on this tree, I could try to flip to that part of Mom’s report and see if there is any mentioning of Merlin or Gabriel at that part.” She didn’t want to believe that the book was real or that she was a part of a family that saved the world from some darkness but her mom did apparently and not only had she used it in her report, but she had also wanted her daughter to have the book.

Delaney looked at Emily. She could tell that this was getting too much for her cousin. Emily wanted to try to find something that explained why the kidnappers had wanted her so badly to die that they had kidnapped her twice recently and had caused a car wreck when she had been four years old. Delaney had been surprised by that. The kidnappers had waited roughly seven years before going after Emily again. She had been curious as to why the kidnappers would have waited that long but she had a feeling that they would never find out why the kidnappers had done that.

She flipped back a couple of pages. “Mordred.” She said.

“What about him?” Elizabeth asked.

Delaney looked at her sister. She knew that Elizabeth would have the answer to her question. “Mordred was called the Horseman of War in this book.” She said. “You’ve read nearly every King Arthur story. Was there any mentioning of a Horseman of War in any of them?”

Elizabeth turned the book to her and read the passage where it talked about Mordred being the Horseman of War. “No, but the description of the Horseman of War sounds familiar.” She shook her head. “I just wish I could remember where I had heard of it before.

Delaney looked at the passage again. “I think I knew where I heard this description before.” She said. That made the other three look at her.

“Where would you have heard of it before?” Emily asked.

Delaney took her phone out and got on the internet. “Right here.” She said after a few minutes. She turned her phone to her sister and cousins. “If this is right, then Mordred wasn’t just the Horseman of War. He was one of four Horsemen.”

Emily looked at the screen. There were four horsemen in a picture. It looked like they were charging out of the clouds. “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” She read, looking at the title above the picture.

Delaney nodded and scrolled down to below the picture. “They’re talked about in the Bible and mentioned a lot in different websites and even in television shows.” She turned her phone back to her. “If Mordred was the Horseman of War, then the white rider on the pale horse would be,” She didn’t complete her sentence.

“Who is the white rider?” Elizabeth asked.

Delaney looked at them. “The Horseman of Death.” She answered.

Emily shook her head. “Aren’t they supposed to signify the end of the world or something?” She asked. She hadn’t read the Bible all that much before but she was familiar with some of the legends around the Four Horsemen. Mainly from television shows and books but they were roughly the same thing.

Delaney nodded. “They’re supposed to bring war, famine, death and pestilence.” She explained. “The end of the world and the end of those who are still left behind.”

Rachel shuddered. “If there are two of them in that book and Mordred was the Horseman of War, does that mean that the Black Hand wanted to bring about the end of the world?” She asked. They all realized that that was what it meant. The Black Hand had tried to bring about the end of the world by having at least two Horsemen present.

“I guess it’s safe to say that they didn’t succeed if we’re all here.” Elizabeth said.

Emily nodded. “The book only mentions Mordred as the Horseman of War. It doesn’t state for sure if the white rider was the Horseman of Death.” She added.

Emily didn’t want to believe that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were servants of the Black Hand. It would just mean that her kidnappers believed that they were bringing about the apocalypse and the end of the world just by kidnapping her and trying to kill her. She shook her head. “It’s just a coincidence that Mordred’s title is the same as a Horseman of the Apocalypse.” She insisted. “After all, Merlin was supposed to be dead by the time this happened and he wasn’t.” She could tell that it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more of this than the others. She was the one who had been kidnapped after all and nearly killed twice. She didn’t want to believe that her death was supposed to bring about some end. It was just a couple of crazy people who had read the book and believed that they were the Black Hand. That was it.

At that moment, there was a flash of light followed by a loud rumble outside. The four girls jumped. “What was that?” Rachel asked.

Elizabeth looked up at the sky. “There’s a storm coming.” She told the others. As if to prove her point, it started to pour down rain. The four girls grabbed Joan’s notes and Emily’s book before running inside.

Delaney flipped the switch to turn on the light. It didn’t come on. She groaned. “The power’s out.” She said.

Emily looked at her. “We better call my dad to let him know that.” She said. More thunder rumbled outside. The four girls went upstairs. Had they stayed downstairs any longer, they would have seen a Bible fall to the ground and open itself up to the Book of Revelations. Right to an illustration of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The picture shined for a brief moment before it returned to normal.

At the sight of the ritual ground, the Man with the German Accent and the Black Hands present rushed inside to avoid the pouring down rain. “That came out of nowhere.” One of the Black Hands said. The Man with the German Accent nodded. He looked towards the sky as lightning flashed and thunder roared.

“Do you think it’s because we disturbed the ruins?” Another Black Hand asked.

The Man with the German Accent shook his head. “No. I have a feeling I know what just happened.” He said.

Down in Florida, there was a burial ground. It was storming over it as well. To anyone who came to it, it was just a burial ground for old Native Americans from the past. However, its past was darker than that. It was a place where there had been a massacre. Hundreds of Native Americans had been murdered there and then just buried without any marker to indicate who had been buried. The ground didn’t grow anything because it was said that the blood of the lives lost poisoned the ground. Animals didn’t go to the place.

A horse whinnying could be heard which was unusual for that area. There were no ranches or farms nearby. The closest farm or ranch was at least a couple of hours. There was no town or city near it. One would have to drive out of their way and get lost to get there. The horse whinnied again. The center of the burial ground rumbled as the whinnying got louder and louder. Then a rider on a horse erupted out of the ground.

The horse was very ashen white and thin. It looked dead. The rider had ashen white skin. His robes were white. His skin was very thin and wrinkled. His eyes were sunk in deeply and white. He had a long scythe in his hands. His fingers were thin and bony. His hair was long and ashen white. He looked around as lightning cracked and thunder roared. His horse whinnied loudly. The air in front of the rider grew dark. “Rider of Death.” The Darkness said.

The Horseman of Death bowed to the Darkness. “I am here Master.” He said.

The dark air surrounded the Horseman of Death. “I have need of your service.” The Darkness said to the Horseman of Death. An image appeared in front of the Horseman of Death. It was of a young girl. She had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked like she was fifteen or so.

The Horseman of Death tilted his head curiously. “I don’t understand.” He said. “Who is she?”

The dark air grew darker. “A possible ally to be of the Chosen One.” The Darkness answered. “While the Black Hand is occupied with finding the Chosen One, I want you to deal with this girl.”

The Horseman of Death’s horse whinnied loudly as lightning cracked overhead. “It shall be done Master.” The Horseman of Death said before he rode away. His scythe was over his head. The dark air vanished as the burial ground sank into the crack left by the Horseman of Death.