The Adventures of Emily Tual: Camp Adventures Book Two

“Audrey?” Audrey groaned as she woke up. She felt a throbbing pain in her side. She slowly opened her eyes. She was on a bed in a room. Judging from the medical equipment and the camp’s doctor being there, she was in the medical building. “Audrey?” Audrey turned slowly to see Emily standing there. The younger girl was looking at her with a worried look on her face.

Audrey rubbed her face. “What happened to me?” She asked. The last thing she remembered was being at the mud pit with the two Experimental Explosion groups and James when she had felt a pain in her side.

Audrey looked down at her side. There was a hole in her shirt. She looked at Emily. She thought she had heard a gunshot before she had felt a pain in her side. She reached through the hole and felt her skin. It hurt there. She pulled her shirt up and looked at her side where it hurt. There was a bruise there. “What happened to me?” She asked Emily.

Emily shook her head. She had gone over what she was going to tell Audrey. There was no way that Audrey could find out the truth. “There was an accident over at the mud pit.” Emily told Audrey. “You got hurt and James and I brought you here to make sure you’re okay.”

Emily was relieved that James, Gabriel and Jasper had done a memory spell on everyone. Sure she hadn’t had the chance to talk to the older two about what was going on with her but she had a feeling that the time was coming. After all, whoever had shot Audrey had killed Matthew. Jasper was right now in the lodge removing all traces of Matthew being there on Sunday and earlier that day and Gabriel had contacted Matthew’s family to ask them if Matthew was coming back that week. She wasn’t sure what exactly the two had planned but it sounded like they were going to put Matthew somewhere on the road with his car so it would look like an accident.

Emily wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with Gabriel and Jasper doing that but she knew that it was for the better. The last thing she wanted was for the only people who could tell her what was going on with her since her birthday to disappear or to be locked up or in a place that they couldn’t help her. She shook her head as she looked at Audrey. “James wanted you to be brought here because you were unconscious the whole time.” She explained to Audrey.

Audrey rubbed her head more. “Where are the rest of our groups?” She asked.

Emily looked towards the door. “They’re at the cabins right now.” She answered. “The camp director wanted them there since James was here with you and me.”

Audrey looked at the hole in her shirt again. “How did this happen?” She asked.

Emily looked at the hole. “It must have happened when you tripped over that root and hit that log.” She answered. Since it looked like Audrey couldn’t remember much about what had happened to her, Emily was going to take that and use it to her advantage. No point in telling Audrey what had really happened.

James entered the room with the camp doctor. “This is Andrew.” James told Audrey and Emily. “He’ll be giving Audrey her checkup to make sure she’s okay.” He looked at Emily as Andrew went up to Audrey.

“How is our young patient?” Andrew asked Audrey as he took her blood pressure.

Audrey shook her head. “Feeling a bit dizzy.” She confessed.

Andrew nodded. “That’s only to be expected.” He told her as he shone a small light in her eyes. “According to James, you hit your head on the ground a bit hard.” Audrey’s eyes flashed to James. He was just standing there with a normal look on his face. She felt like he knew something that she didn’t. The question was what.

Emily went up to James. “Can we talk?” She asked him.

James looked at her. “About what?” He asked. Emily shook her head. She had just hoped that he would say yes after everything that had just happened. She really needed to talk to him. She felt like she was being overwhelmed by everything that was happening to her. She went out into the hallway. James followed her. Emily looked at him. “I don’t know what’s happening anymore.” She told him. “Am I being hunted by the guys who kidnapped me? Have I always had magic? Could I have tried to save my mom all those years ago? Why are these guys after Audrey?” She got more upset with each question but she didn’t care. She needed answers and she needed to know what was happening to her.

She looked at James. She didn’t know him all that well but she was hoping that he would be able to tell her something about what was going on with her. She needed help and she needed it now. James took her hand and led her towards the entrance to the medical building. He stopped her by the entrance to the hallway near the main entrance. “We can’t talk right now about what is going on.” He told her. Seeing that Emily was about to say something, he quickly continued. “Gabriel has forbidden me from talking anymore about what is happening ever since we took that dream journey together.”

Emily shook her head. She didn’t care what Gabriel wanted. She needed to talk to someone about what was happening to her and James seemed like the best choice of who to talk to. She felt like she could trust him. She felt like he had watched over her when she had been in the hospital. She wasn’t sure why she felt that way but she did. Right now she needed him to be honest with her and to tell her what was going on.

“The dream journey wasn’t just a dream, was it?” She asked. She had a feeling that she already knew the answer but she needed James to say it again.

James nodded. “You were having a nightmare and I joined you originally to try to help you calm down but then I could tell what it was.” He explained. “Everything we did, really happened.”

Emily reached into her backpack and took out the locket. She opened it and showed James the picture of the baby. “What do you know about Audrey in the medical room?” She demanded.

James looked at the picture. “Gabriel knows more about this.” He told Emily. “All I can say is that Gabriel had his reasons for what he did fifteen years ago.” He couldn’t tell Emily about who Audrey was. That would just push her over the edge. She was already freaking out. He could tell that.

Emily stared at him. “What does Gabriel know about this?” She asked. What did he do fifteen years before and what did that have to do with Audrey? Did Gabriel know something about her before she had been born?

James was about to say something when Andrew and Audrey came out of the medical room. “Audrey is able to go rejoin her group but if she feels any dizziness she is to come back here for another checkup.” Andrew told James and Emily.

Emily looked at Audrey and quickly put the locket into her backpack. She would have time to talk to James about the locket. She went up to Audrey. “How are you feeling?” She asked.

Audrey shook her head. “I’m feeling better Emily.” She answered. “We should get back to our groups before they worry anymore about us.” She looked at James. “Ready to go?” She asked.

James looked at Audrey and Emily. He wanted to tell them both what he knew about them but he knew that he couldn’t just yet. Not until after Gabriel had permitted him to talk about it and he knew that that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. He could tell that Emily was trying hard not to break down. He nodded. “Let’s get going.” He said. “I’m sure that your counselors and groups are worried about you two.” The three of them left the medical center.

Gabriel was hanging up his phone when Jasper came in. “It’s been done.” Jasper reported to Gabriel. “All of Matthew’s stuff has been put into his car and I’ve wrecked his car down the road a bit on a side road.” Jasper sat down across from Gabriel. “It’ll be a while before anyone finds him.”

Gabriel nodded. “Good.” He said before he looked at Jasper.

“Why do you think the killer killed Matthew?” Jasper asked. “I mean he was just a college kid.”

Gabriel sighed. “I think you and I both know he was more than a college kid after what just happened.” He told Jasper.

It took Jasper a moment before he realized what Gabriel was saying. “You think he was a member of the Black Hand?” He asked. That was impossible. He had been with Matthew during the second attack in the middle of the night. There was no way that Matthew was the killer.

Gabriel nodded again. “I believe that he was a part of a team of Black Hands who were up to something here.” He told Jasper. “It’s why there was another Black Hand last night when Matthew was with you.” He should have realized that there would be more than one Black Hand working against them that week.

Jasper thought about it before he spoke. “But they still went after Audrey.” He told Gabriel. “Why would they do that?”

Gabriel stood up and went to the window. He looked at the five cabins in the direction that Audrey would be in. “I don’t think that the Black Hand is just after Emily now.” He said in a soft voice. “I think that some of them suspect Audrey of being a possible chosen one.” He didn’t want that to be true but it seemed like there was someone in the Black Hand who suspected that. He wondered who it was though. He doubted that it was the Man with the German Accent. If it was the Man with the German Accent, he would have refused to allow anyone to go after Audrey. He would have wanted that honor for the Darkness or himself.

Gabriel looked at Jasper. The two of them had been fighting Black Hands for longer than either of them could guess. They had fought Black Hands during every big event in history. They had gotten others to help them fight because the Black Hand had done that. World War Two, when the Man with the German Accent thought the Chosen One was possibly a Jewish child, the Black Hand organizing the fall of the Russian Czar and the wiping out of the royal family, and an event older than any of the others, the fall of King Arthur when a skilled Black Hand had managed to get Mordred to be the Horseman of War for the Black Hand. Gabriel had lost his other protégé at that time even though he had managed to save the possible chosen one there.

However, with what was going on in the rest of the world, he knew that getting others to help them fight the Black Hand was out of the question. The Black Hand had a powerful operative in Europe who had control over all the world leaders. The Black Hand had pulled several strings after World War Two to make sure they had every world leader in their pockets. Gabriel knew that Jasper, James and him were on their own to protect two girls, especially with the day of the ritual coming.

“Who do you think the Black Hand will go after now for the ritual?” Jasper asked.

Gabriel sat down and leaned back. “I’m not sure Jasper.” He admitted. “They go after one for the ritual, the Darkness will most likely go after the other to snuff them out.” He hated to say it but it was true. There was no way that the Darkness would let any possible Chosen One still live after he came back and took over.

Jasper was deep in thought when he thought of something. “What if the Magician doesn’t know about Audrey and this is being done by another Black Hand?” He asked.

Gabriel looked at him. “If that is true, Audrey is in even more danger. Because you and I have been focused so much on the Magician that there could be more Black Hands hidden in his shadow that could be doing this.” He answered. “If that is true, we’re fighting an attack blind.” That made him think of the Black Hand that James had told him about, a Black Hand with red eyes who could disappear in a column of fire.

“I think we should look at the old texts.” He told Jasper.

Jasper frowned. He knew that Gabriel was referring to some of the old books about the history of their fight against the Black Hand. “What do you think we’ll find?” He asked.

Gabriel went to his bookshelf and removed a few old books. “Not a “what” but a “who”.” He answered. He looked at the cover of a book. “A Black Hand with red eyes that could disappear in a column of fire.” He said.