The Adventures of Emily Tual Book One

Emily was laying in her hospital bed. She was scared to go to sleep. She didn’t want to fall asleep and then wake up days later again. She looked at her book and stroked the cover. She didn’t want to let go of her mother’s gift to her. She held it to her chest and laid back. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling.

That was when she heard movement. She sat up, startled. “Who’s there?” She called out as she looked around her room. She knew that she had heard someone. She reached for her nurse call button when she heard someone walking towards her. She looked around her room. Her heart was beating faster and faster. There was no one in her room. Just as her thumb was about to press the button, she heard a knock on her door.

Emily looked at the door. There was a nurse there. “I heard you.” She said. “What’s wrong?”

Emily shook her head. “I think that there is someone in my room.” She told the nurse.

The nurse frowned and turned on the light. “Really?” She asked.

Emily looked at the nurse as the nurse inspected Emily’s room. “I don’t see anyone here but you and me.” The nurse told her.

Emily shook her head and looked around one more time. There was no one there but her and the nurse. “I guess I imagined it.” She said.

The nurse sat on the side of her bed. “You’re the girl who woke up from her four day of unconsciousness, right?” She asked. Emily nodded. The nurse smiled a little. “Is that why you’re still up at one in the morning?” She asked. Emily looked at the clock. It really was one in the morning.

The nurse took Emily’s hand. “You’re scared to go to sleep again, aren’t you?” She asked.

Emily nodded. “I don’t want to wake up and see that it’s several days later.” She said as tears started to fall from her eyes.

The nurse hugged Emily. “It’ll be okay.” She told Emily.

Emily looked up at her. “Do you ever get the feeling that something bad is going to happen to you?” She asked.

The nurse thought about it. “I have but it’s usually nothing.” She answered. She stroked Emily’s hair back. “Is that what you’re feeling right now?” She asked.

Emily nodded. “I can’t help but feel like if I close my eyes, something bad will happen to me.”

The nurse looked at the clock again. “How about I come in the morning, say nine or so, and wake you up?” She asked, returning her gaze to Emily.

Emily smiled a little and wiped her tears away. “That would be nice.” She said before she hugged the nurse.

The nurse smiled at her. “You should get some rest.” She told Emily. Emily laid back and held her book against her chest as she watched the nurse go to the door and turned off the light. “Sleep well.” She told Emily. Emily closed her eyes as the nurse left.

James watched Emily as she fell asleep. He couldn’t believe that he had almost been caught. His foot had fallen asleep. The movement Emily had heard was him trying to get his foot to wake up and had accidentally kicked the chair next to him. That did hurt but luckily that nurse had come in to calm Emily down. He was relieved that his invisibility spell had kept working. James went up to Emily. The girl seemed to be having a dream again. From the way she was shaking her head, it seemed like it was a bad dream. He reached out to Emily and laid a hand on her forehead. He focused on a dream entrance spell that he had learned from Gabriel. His eyes glowed brightly and he entered Emily’s dream. He had to know what was happening to her in her dream.

Emily was being dragged towards a large circle outlined by small rocks. There was some sort of symbol on the ground. Emily wasn’t focused on that though. She was more focused on trying to break free of her captors. Two red robed hooded figures were dragging her towards the center of the circle. There was the white robed hooded figure. His face was hidden still by his white hood. She knew it was him though because he was the only one in a white robe. All around the circle were more red robed hooded figures. They were all chanting something. She didn’t understand what they were saying. What she did know though was that it was freaking her out.

“Emily.” The white robed hooded figure said in his funny voice.

Emily looked at him. She was really scared. “Please let me go!” She cried. The white robed hooded figure turned to his right. Emily looked there as well. There was a black stone altar. It looked like it was one of the sacrificial altars she had read in a book once. There was a stone dagger laying on the altar. Emily began trying to break free of her captors. She knew why they wanted her. She looked around for her cousins and sister. Her heart sank when she saw them. They were all chained to a tree. They weren’t alone though. There was a boy. He looked like he was two or three years older than her. The odd thing was that he wasn’t chained with the three girls. He was standing next to them. It looked like he was looking at her. No one else seemed to notice him though.

“Help me!” She screamed. The boy shook his head, making it clear he couldn’t help her. Emily started crying. “Please!” She sobbed. “I don’t want to die!” The boy shook his head again.

James managed to look away from Emily. He had to memorize everything he saw. He knew what the Chosen One was dreaming of and since she didn’t have her memories of her time being kidnapped, the identity of the Circles or any of this, he knew what she was having. A vision. That was why no one else there noticed him. Since what she was seeing was going to happen, not only it meant that no one there could see him but it also meant that he had to memorize everything. Gabriel would be very interested in this.

Emily was led to the altar and tied down to it. She cried. “Please don’t do this!” She sobbed as she looked at the white robed hooded figure through her tears.

The white robed hooded figure picked up the stone knife. “Now, in the name of The Darkness, I, the most dedicated servant of Darkness, sacrifice you to bring him back!” He brought down the knife.

Emily gasped and opened her eyes. James quickly pulled back before he got lost in her consciousness. He took a few steps back as Emily sat up. She was breathing and sweating. That was when James noticed that she was crying for real. It reminded James that she was just a child. She shouldn’t be having visions of that nightmare. Emily laid her book on her lap and covered her eyes as she started to cry.

James looked down at his hands and focused on a spell he knew. A dream catcher appeared in his hands. He went up to Emily’s hospital bed and hung it over Emily. As soon as the dream catcher left his hands, it became visible. He was confident that Emily wouldn’t have any more nightmarish visions. He then knelt at the foot of Emily’s bed and drew a protection symbol that Gabriel had taught him. He then drew the symbol three more times. One at Emily’s right side, one behind Emily and one on Emily’s left side. The four symbols glowed before making a small invisible dome over her.

James sighed with relief. The dream catcher was at the top of the dome. With the dream catcher and the dome, Emily would only have good dreams. He looked at her. She was still crying behind her hands. He wanted to cheer her up, to hold her, but he knew he couldn’t. He had decided that she should have her memories wiped of being kidnapped which included who he was to try to protect her from the Black Hand. All he could do was just sit in her room and watch over her. He returned to his seat and watched as Emily laid back down and cried herself to sleep. James kept watching over her.

In Bastet’s suite, Agent Simmons entered. He looked around as he walked through the suite. Several of Bastet’s stuff was broken or smashed on the floor. He walked around carefully. He had heard of the Egyptian goddess but didn’t know that she lived like this. He thought that her home would be fancier like. Not this messy destroyed home. He wondered what the Man with the German Accent had done to make Bastet like this in less than a day.

“Hello?” He called out softly.

“I’m right here.” A voice spat. Agent Simmons saw that the lights were turned off in the main room. He reached out and once he found the light switch, he flipped it. The Egyptian goddess was sitting in her armchair. She looked terrible.

“His doing?” Agent Simmons asked her as he went up to her.

Bastet hissed. “His men did this to me.” She answered, gesturing to herself.

Agent Simmons shook his head. “He is ruthless.” He said.

Bastet nodded. “There’s nothing he likes more than to inflict pain upon others. One of the reasons why he’s in favor with the Darkness.” She explained to Agent Simmons.

Agent Simmons wasn’t sure if he should be more worried now than what he had been when he first saw Bastet. She had been worshipped in Egypt as a goddess and yet an immortal man had his men, a bunch of mortals, treat her like she was garbage. He wondered just who the Man with the German Accent was and what had made him so fearsome that everyone else, even in the first Circle, was terrified of him.

“So your master sent you here.” Bastet said to Agent Simmons.

Agent Simmons nodded. “He believes that you were right to try to get rid of the child before the Darkness could have his favorite servant sacrifice her to bring him back.” He would have sat down but decided not to since the chair looked like it was going to fall at any given time. He crossed his arms over his chest. “My master and I rarely speak to others in the Black Hands unless we have to.” He told Bastet. “So that means for you and me, no one else in the Circles know I’m here.”

Bastet hissed. “He has his men posted on each floor.” She told Agent Simmons. “How did you get past them all without alerting them to your presence?”

Agent Simmons didn’t smile or laugh. He had a feeling that if he did, Bastet would kill him. “I simply used a sleeping spell and altered the surveillance system. Now if he tries to see what happened when his men fell asleep, all he’ll see is his men asleep. No sign of you trying to leave and no sign of me coming in here and leaving.”

Bastet frowned. “He’ll try to see if magic was used in altering the footage and then he’ll be sure to catch you.” She said.

Agent Simmons managed to keep a straight face. “He might be well versed in all forms of magic from when he first served the Darkness to now but this spell my master created and it’s designed specifically to avoid being detected or exposed.”

Bastet looked at him. “Your master is very creative.” She said.

Agent Simmons nodded. “Well he has no love for the favorite servant.” He replied.

He then shook his head. “My master wants me to try to help you carry out your plan to get rid of the child before she can be used for the ritual.” He told Bastet.

Bastet hissed. “Why?” She demanded. “It didn’t work the last time I tried it. I nearly got killed unlike most of my allies who did end up dead.”

Agent Simmons smiled. “Because one, your allies took too long with getting rid of her and failed. Two, I’m an F.B.I. agent and everyone thinks I’m in Washington D.C. right now thanks to a little magic. Thirdly and lastly, my master wants me to bring the girl to him in Italy. He believes that since none of the Black Hands there know who I am, they won’t be able to connect the kidnapping to him.”

Bastet thought about it. It did sound well planned and thought through. She then narrowed her eyes. “What do you get out of it?” She demanded.

Agent Simmons smiled. “The same thing you want.” He answered. “The chance to make the favorite look like a failure in the Darkness’s eyes.” Bastet had to smile at that. She wanted the Man with the German Accent to look like a failure. Not just in the eyes of the Darkness but of everyone in the Circles. Agent Simmons smiled. He knew that he had the Egyptian Cat Goddess’s attention. “Interested in the plan now?” He asked. Bastet nodded.