Chapter Chapter Twenty Seven
“Emily.” Emily’s heart sank. She recognized the voice from past dreams. She was in the forest and she wasn’t alone. There were several hooded Black Hands all around. They all were in white robes except for the Black Hand emblems on their chests. The one in the red robe had spoken in his funny voice. He wasn’t alone. There was a woman with him on one side. She was in really furry robes so it was hard to see her face. On the other side was an old man. He looked eerily familiar but Emily didn’t know why.
“Emily. It’s time.” The red robed hooded figure told her in his funny voice. Emily shook her head. She had to get out of there. That was when she heard the whinnying of a horse. She slowly turned around and screamed. There was a pale greenish-white horse. The Horseman was in a black suit. He had a scythe in his one hand. He was staring right at Emily. “Come with us Emily.” The red robed hooded figure said in his funny voice as the Horseman rode towards Emily.
Emily tripped over something. She looked down and screamed again. Lying on the ground was Audrey. There was a blood red sword sticking out of her back. Audrey’s dead eyes were staring at Emily. That was when Emily heard another horse whinnying. She turned to see a blood red horse with a rider in black armor on the horse. Her eyes widened. She recognized the horseman as the one who had fought King Arthur in her one dream. He got off of his horse and removed his sword from the body.
“You’re outnumbered.” The red robed hooded figure said. “Now come with us peacefully or else things will end badly.” Emily turned to the red robed hooded figure as she stood up. She knew that it was helpless. There was nothing she could do to save herself. She was as good as dead.
Savannah woke up to someone crying. She sat up in her bed and turned her flashlight’s dim light on. She aimed it in the direction of the crying. It was Emily. The girl was tossing and turning as she cried. Whatever she was dreaming about was really upsetting her. Savannah got out of her bed and walked quietly to Emily’s bed. She sat on the edge. “Emily?” She asked softly. She nudged Emily a little.
Emily quickly woke up and sat up. Her heart was beating fast. “Emily?” Emily turned to see Savannah. The girl was looking at her with a worried look on her face.
“Are you okay?” Savannah asked her.
Emily nodded and wiped her face. “Just a bad dream.” She answered. “Sorry for waking you up.” There was no way that Savannah would understand what she was going through.
Savannah didn’t leave. “What’s wrong?” Savannah asked Emily.
Savannah could tell that there was something that Emily wasn’t telling anyone else. She saw it when Emily was talking to that boy before orientation. She had noticed that Emily had started walking slower there and had a feeling that it had been done on purpose. Then Emily had run out of the cabin and just happened to stop an attempted murder. She then was practically clinging to the same boy. Savannah could understand that. The boy was cute but she had a feeling that it was more than just because the boy was cute. There was something that Emily wasn’t telling them.
Emily looked at Savannah. “Nothing’s wrong.” She insisted. “It was just a bad dream. Probably because the last time I was away from home, it was at a hospital.” Savannah looked at her for a little bit longer before she went back to her own bed. Emily sighed and laid back in her bed. She hated to sound so dismissal but there was no way that Savannah or Katie or even her own family would understand what was happening to her. The only one who seemed to want to be there for her was James and he wasn’t there sadly. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep again.
Within the basement of the manor, Derdrom opened his eyes. He was sitting in the center of a circle drawn in the ground. There were five lit candles at the five points of a star. The rest of the lights in the basement were off. “Was the Chosen One asleep?” A female voice asked from behind him.
Derdrom nodded and stood up. “She had a dream about the ritual.” He turned to the woman. “The night was the right night for the ritual.” He then frowned.
The woman saw that. “What is it?” She asked him.
Derdrom shook his head. “There was another girl there.” He told the woman. “But she was already dead.” He thought about the dead girl. She looked like she was older than the chosen one by a few years. The way that the Chosen One was looking at her though surprised him. It was almost as if the Chosen One knew who she was but was shocked to see her dead body there. Who was the dead girl? “Derdrom?” Derdrom looked up at the woman. “What is it?” She asked him.
Derdrom went to the light switch and flipped the switch. The lights came on in the basement. “The dead girl.” He told the woman. “She looked familiar but I’m not sure why.”
The woman came out of the shadows and went up to him. She was wearing a black cloak but the hood was down. Her raven black hair was tied up in a ponytail. She was in a black dress. Her eyes were fixed on Derdrom. “If she was just a dead girl, then she means nothing.” She said. “You should be more focused right now on getting our last Horseman of the Apocalypse.” She looked at the four coffins. Two of the coffins were still opened. Derdrom knew that the one was meant for him but he had no need for it. He wasn’t planning on getting injured severely.
Derdrom looked at the woman. “We should be getting ready for the ritual.” He told her. He went over to the candles and put them out before picking them up. He took the candles over to the side table and put them on the table. He looked at the woman. “And I don’t want anyone to find out about who you are just yet.” He continued. He looked at the sealed window. The Man with the German Accent had gotten too close to discovering their secret. That was a mistake that Derdrom couldn’t make again.
Derdrom looked at the woman again. “Are you ready for the next part of the plan?” He asked her.
The woman nodded. She took out a flash from within a pocket in her cloak and gave it to Derdrom. Derdrom opened it and sniffed the contents of the flash. He then smiled deviously and went to the side table. He took a case out from under the table and opened it. Inside were bullets and a small handgun. He poured the liquid from the flask onto the bullets. The woman went up to his side and looked at the bullets and gun. She frowned. “What exactly is the next part of your plan?” She asked. She knew that Derdrom was up to something and that the plan he spoke of wasn’t the plan that the man with the German accent was following.
Derdrom smiled and put a glove on. He picked up one of the bullets and inspected it. “I have put the poison onto these bullets and with it we’ll have a little fun with seeing how powerful this so called Chosen One really is.” He explained to the woman. He put the bullet back into the case and sealed the case shut. “Now we just need to get this to a Black Hand who can get to the camp.” He told her. His eyes twinkled. He knew of the perfect Black Hand for the task.
Derdrom turned to leave when the woman spoke. “What should I do?” She asked.
Derdorm looked at her. “Just stay hidden.” He answered. “We don’t want the Magician finding out about who you are.” He didn’t want the Man with the German Accent to know about her. If the Man with the German Accent did, it would be very bad. “Please, stay here where you’re safe.” He then left the basement.
Josiah was in his room reading the adoption file on Audrey. He wanted to know as much as he could about the child. He needed to know who she was to Gabriel. The thing was, there wasn’t that much about her in her adoption file. He should have known that the adoption agency wouldn’t have had that much. He only had it thanks to a Black Hand who had started working there about a month or two ago. The file was really thin. There wasn’t much about the girl or even her birth family. It only had the papers concerning the judge signing the papers.
There was a knock at his door. Josiah looked up at the door. “Enter.” He said. He was really curious as to who would be coming to his room at nearly three in the morning. Given what he was, he didn’t need sleep but there was no way anyone else should be up at that time. The door opened and Derdrom came in. Josiah managed not to roll his eyes. Of course, a Horseman of the Apocalypse wouldn’t need sleep either.
“Derdrom. What can I do for you?” He asked the elderly man. He noticed that the old man had a case in his hand.
Derdrom smiled and went up to Josiah. “I know you have a mole at the camp.” He told Josiah. “And it just so happens I need a mole at the camp to try an experiment for me.”
Josiah raised an eyebrow. “What kind of experiment?” He asked cautiously.
Derdrom opened the case and showed Josiah the gun and bullets. “I have laced these bullets with special poison for the chosen one.” He explained to Josiah. “I want your mole to use these on her to see how powerful she is. If she’s indeed the chosen one, she’ll be able to save herself from the poison.”
Josiah looked at the gun and bullets. “I take it that the Magician doesn’t know you’re doing this.” There was absolutely no way that the Man with the German Accent would let Derdrom try to kill the Chosen One.
Derdrom laughed a little. “The Magician has no idea that this is happening and by the time he does find out, if he finds out, it’ll be too late.”
Josiah frowned. “What about the Darkness’s plan for the ritual?” He asked. From what he had heard, it sounded like this ritual was supposed to be the biggest thing planned in a very long time.
Derdrom smiled. “The Darkness will find another chosen one for the ritual.” He said simply. “From what I’ve heard, the chosen one has a younger sister. She could be the chosen one for all we know.” Josiah thought about it. Derdrom was being so dismissive of the Chosen One that everyone thought of. Then again, Anthony was focused on some girl. He realized that this was the perfect chance to see what made Audrey so special.
“I’ll do it.” He told Derdrom. “I’m sure everyone in the Black Hand will be interested to see if the Chosen One is indeed the Chosen One.”
Derdrom smiled his sinister smile. “Excellent.” He said before he stood up. He shook Josiah’s hand. “I can’t wait to hear about how my bullets do when they’re used.” He told Josiah before he left.
Josiah waited until after Derdrom was gone before he said, “Me too.” He looked at the bullets. They would be used but not on the Man with the German Accent’s precious chosen one. Oh no. They would be used on a more interesting target. An interesting target at least to Anthony and him.