The Adventures of Emily Tual: Camp Adventures Book Two

James knocked on the door to Gabriel’s study. “Enter.” Gabriel said.

James entered. Gabriel was at his desk working on paperwork. “Everyone you’ve hired to be staff members are here.” James reported to Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded but didn’t look up at James. “And do any of them wave a red flag?” He asked.

James shook his head. “None yet.” He answered. “But you and I both know that paperwork can be falsified.” He gestured at the paperwork Gabriel was working on. “Any of those staff members could be from the Black Hand and we wouldn’t know it until it was too late.”

Gabriel looked up at James. “You’re very wary of the staff members, aren’t you?” He asked even though he already knew the answer.

James nodded. “The fact that they could have used magic to hide themselves does cause me to be very wary.” He answered. He gestured all around them. “After all, we used magic to make sure that you would be camp director here so we could keep an eye on Emily.” James hoped that he was getting a point past Gabriel. That if they could use magic to appear to be normal, than their enemies could do the same as well.

“Does Jasper think that any of the new staff members could be Black Hands?” Gabriel asked.

James shook his head and managed not to groan. “I have no idea what is going through Jasper’s mind.” He answered. “It’s like he wants to believe in the best of our new staff members and at the same time is watching them carefully.” He sat down across from Gabriel. “All I can tell you is that if the Black Hand did plant their operatives in our staff, than they did a good job covering up their tracks and it’ll be hard to find their spies.”

Gabriel smiled right after James said that. “They would cover their tracks to hide their spies.” He agreed with James. “But I believe that we’ll be able to find our spy very soon.”

James frowned. “How?” He asked.

Gabriel gestured to his window that faced the camp. “Because once Emily shows up, we’ll be able to see how our staff acts around her. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch the Black Hand trying to act normal but will do minor things that would normally be missed or ignored.”

James shrugged. “I don’t know Gabriel.” He said He then decided to change the topic. “That storm we had yesterday. That wasn’t a normal storm, was it?” He had seen storms before and the one that they had the day before was anything but normal. He could sense the dark magic that was within it. He had felt what felt like a tremble in the magical atmosphere. Like something was wrong with the natural order of things.

Gabriel nodded. “It was a Dark Storm.” He answered. The Dark Storm he was referring to was a dark spell that took the form of a storm. The rain it gave could be used to break a seal or a prison. Gabriel knew that and he had a feeling that the Dark Storm had been used to unleash a member of the Black Hand. A member that had been sealed away for the good of the rest of the world. “If I had to take a guess, the Darkness had a powerful operative cast the spell to release another powerful operative.”

James thought of the powerful Black Hand operatives that he knew of. “Who do you think he had cast it? The Magician?” He didn’t know the Man with the German Accent’s real name and just called him that because it was too confusing just calling him “him” or “he” the way that Gabriel did.

Gabriel shook his head. “No. That operative is powerful but he isn’t that powerful.”

James was surprised to hear that. He knew that the Man with the German Accent prided himself on being the second most powerful Black Hand, with being respectable to the Darkness. “If he isn’t the most powerful Black Hand, than besides the Darkness, who is it?” He asked.

Gabriel put down the paper he was working on down. “The only one more powerful than the Magician is someone in Europe.” He answered. “A Black Hand that isn’t as old as the Magician but is quite dangerous.”

James looked at him in disbelief. “A Black Hand in Europe caused the Dark Storm?” He asked. That was impossible. For that Black Hand to have done that, he would have to be very powerful indeed. He knew that people could use magic to spy on people who were in other parts of the world but that was a minor spell. To cast a Dark Storm wasn’t easy.

Gabriel nodded. “Last I heard he was in Europe.” He told James. “It is possible though that he is now in the States.”

James frowned. It didn’t matter where the Black Hand was. He had cast the Dark Storm spell. Gabriel stood up and joined James at the window. The two looked out through the window. “How far did the spell hit?” James asked. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t like the answer.

Gabriel sighed. “All along the eastern coast and west as far as Kansas.”

James couldn’t believe it. That type of storm hitting that much of the States was not a good thing. “Do you think that they released whatever it was they wanted out?” He asked.

Gabriel nodded. “They most likely did but there’s no telling when the operative will join the rest of the Black Hand.” He answered.

Down in Atlanta Georgia, there was an abandoned building near a highway. The building looked terrible and old. The paint had peeled away a long time ago. Dust and cobwebs were all over the place. It looked like it might have been a chapel or a meeting place at one time. The benches in it were in pieces. The only sign of life in it was a pale ashen horse that looked unhealthy skinny. It was standing guard over a coffin that was closed all the way.

A jeep pulled up to the abandoned building as the sun was setting and a few men got out. They were wearing denim jackets and had different things on the back of their jackets. They had bags with them. Small bags that looked very full. “Come on.” One of them said. “We need to hide this stash before the police find us.” They rushed into the building. The four went to the front of the building. There was a platform at the front.

“They’ll never find it here.” One of them said, making the others laugh. They didn’t want the police to find what they were hiding. If the police did, they’d all be arrested.

One of them looked up as the others were burying the stash. “Did you guys hear that?” He asked. He thought he had heard a horse.

“Shut up man.” Another one said. “We don’t want the police coming upon us because you were hearing things that weren’t there.

The guy nodded and knelt down. Just as he was about to put a bag into the hole that the others had uncovered, he heard a horse whinnying again. He stood up. “There it is again.” He said. “I heard a horse.”

Two of the others laughed. The fourth one didn’t laugh however. He looked at the one who was standing up. There would only be one reason why a horse would be in the abandoned building. “Really man?” The one who had told him to shut up asked. “Why would a horse be in this building?” He laughed again. That was when a pale ashen skinny horse came out of the shadows. It whinnied again. The four guys all shut up. Right outside, the sun set completely.

The coffin’s lid flew off of the coffin. The Horseman of Death came out and picked up his scythe. He could sense the four men at the front of the building. He marched out there, scaring three of the four men greatly. He noticed that the fourth wasn’t surprised to see him. He would deal with the fourth one later after he killed the first three.

The men all backed up until they were against the wall as they watched the skinny skin and bones guy marching towards them. “Do you guys see that?” The one who had heard the horse asked. The others nodded.

“I don’t believe it.” The fourth one said. “He’s real.”

That got the others’ attention and even the skinny skin and bones guy’s attention. “You know what he is?” The first one asked.

The fourth one nodded and walked past the three. He went up to the skinny skin and bones guy. “Know him?” He asked. He turned to the three. “We work for the same Master for we are both Black Hands. With that, the moonlight shown through a hole in the roof, hitting the back of the guy’s denim jacket. A Black Hand appeared on his back.

“Horseman of Death.” He said. “These three have seen too much.” He looked at the Horseman of Death. “How about you show them why you’re the Horseman of Death?” It was a question but he knew that the Horseman of Death would show them all the same. The Horseman of Death raised his scythe up. The three guys all screamed as the Horseman of Death marched up to them.

The fourth guy watched as the Horseman of Death finished his “friends”. They weren’t really his friends. Just men he had hung out with down in the south. He was a member of the Fifth Circle but his family had been charged with the task of helping the Horseman of Death if he ever was released by the Darkness by order of the Darkness. Drug dealer seemed the best option for him. It would make it easy for him to get money and stay under the radar in case he ever needed to travel with the Horseman of Death. He knew that the Horseman of Death had been hidden in Florida so he had chosen Georgia as his state. That way, he would hear of the Horseman of Death’s activities before he got too far. The three men’s screams were quickly silenced as they were slashed by the scythe.

The Horseman of Death turned to face the fourth man. “Andrew.” He said in a raspy voice.

Andrew, the fourth man, nodded. “My family has been waiting for your arrival.” He told the Horseman of Death. He knelt before the Horseman of Death. “I know what you’ve been tasked with Rider of Death.” The Darkness had given his family the order to help the Horseman of Death with completing his mission. He now had the chance to bring honor to his family and to hopefully be promoted from the Fifth Circle to the Fourth Circle.

The Horseman of Death gestured for him to stand up. Andrew stood up and looked at the Horseman of Death. “We should get you more modern day clothes to wear.” He told the Horseman of Death. “We want to make sure you blend in with the rest of the world on our trip.” The Horseman of Death snapped his fingers and his horse went past Andrew and up to the Horseman of Death. Andrew looked at the horse. “I have a trailer for him.” He told the Horseman of Death. “It’ll keep you both hidden well from the sun on the way to our destination.”

The Horseman of Death lowered his scythe. “Lead the way.” He ordered in his raspy voice. “We don’t have much time left before the sun is up.”

Andrew nodded. “Right this way Rider of Death.” He said. He left the building. The Horseman of Death got onto his horse and rode after him.