The Adventures of Emily Tual: Camp Adventures Book Two

Matthew entered his room and removed his mask. That was way too close. He knew that it was just a matter of time before the other staff went to him to see if he could help find the attacker. He quickly removed his hood and his long jacket and hid them in the bottom of his bag. He looked at his knife and hid it below everything else. He knew that there would be a good chance that Gabriel would call the police to search all around the camp to try to find the attacker. He quickly got changed into his staff uniform. Just as he finished, there was a knock at the door. “Matthew, are you there?” It was Jasper.

Matthew looked at his bag. He knew that his knife was there if he needed to defend himself. Jasper was Gabriel’s assistant after all. He knew about the chosen one and everything that went with her. Matthew went up to the door and opened it. Jasper was there with a few staff members. “What’s wrong?” Matthew asked. He knew that there was no way Jasper was there to talk about the Chosen One or declare him to be the Black Hand attacker if he had all of those staff members with him. Matthew had done background checks on all of the other staff. He knew that there was only one other staff member who knew that he was a member of the Black Hand there because she was also a Black Hand.

Jasper shook his head. “There was an attempted murder at one of the cabins.” He told Matthew. “The would be killer got away but he was stopped before he could kill a camper.”

Matthew sighed with relief. “At least the camper is still alive.” He said. He was really hoping that Kat wouldn’t report his failure to the Man with the German Accent. He had a feeling that if the Man with the German Accent found out about it, then Josiah would find out about it as well and attend to punishing him personally for failing.

Jasper looked at his watch. “Gabriel is calling the police to alert them to what happened.” He said. “Hopefully they’ll be here soon. With their help, we should be able to find the attacker.”

Matthew frowned. “Do you think the attacker is still here in the camp?” He asked. He hoped that he sounded surprised by that.

Jasper shook his head. “Truth be told, I don’t know if the attacker is still here or not but we can’t take any chances.” He looked at his group of staff. “We’re going out to try to see if we can find the attacker. Will you join us?”

Matthew nodded. “Of course.” He said. “Anything to help keep our campers safe.” He knew that if he didn’t join them it would look suspicious. He also knew that there would be a good chance that whoever the police sent to investigate the intruder would be a Black Hand. He was betting on that to save him. He followed Jasper and the group of staff members out of the staff lodge.

James was sitting at a picnic table outside of the five cabins. He had a nice size stick with him that he could use as a club or a bat. He was determined to keep the campers there safe until the police had caught the intruder or until Gabriel called him back to the lodge. He wasn’t sure which one would come first but he wasn’t leaving his spot. From there, he could see the team of staff looking for the intruder. There were members of the other team of staff standing guard by the different doors to the cabins. They all had their radios on them. James had his radio as well. He wasn’t an adult staff member like the rest of them but he was respected for his years of experience at the camp.

James had a feeling that Emily still didn’t know everything that was happening around her. He blamed that on Gabriel. After everything that had happened to Emily, Gabriel had still insisted on not telling her anything until the time was right. James couldn’t understand Gabriel at all with that. He had wanted her to have the book when she had turned eleven but he didn’t want to tell her anything just yet. All he had done was alter the book a little by adding more pages to it for her to read. James wasn’t sure if Emily was reading the book or not though. He wanted to tell Emily everything that was happening and he was going to if Gabriel didn’t.

That was when James saw just one police car drive past him to the lodge. He couldn’t believe it. A dangerous murderous Black Hand was on the loose in the camp somewhere and the police had sent only one police car to help find the thug. James took out his radio. “James to Gabriel. The police is here.” He reported in.

“Thank you James.” Gabriel replied. James couldn’t help but feel like Gabriel already knew that the police were there.

At the manor, Josiah was standing outside the man with the German accent’s study. The door was closed but he could still hear everything that was happening in the room. It didn’t sound good at all. From what he had heard, it sounded like the Man with the German Accent had found out about there being an attack at the camp where the Chosen One was. Whoever was on the other end of the line, sounded like one of their police officers, was asking if it had been a Black Hand attack against the chosen one. The Man with the German Accent had shouted no of course. Josiah knew though that once his spy was seen by the police officer that the Man with the German Accent would find out about the attack and the possibility of another Chosen One.

Josiah knew that they couldn’t have that. He would have to go back to the camp and save his spy from having his cover blown. His eyes glowed red and he disappeared in a column of red flames.

Josiah reappeared in Matthew’s bedroom. He smiled smugly. There was no one else there. That was perfect. He could hear people somewhere else in the building. They sounded pretty far. That would give him the perfect chance to get what he knew Matthew had. He went to Matthew’s bag and took out the black long coat, the hood, the mask and the knife. He put the disguise on and sheathed the knife on his belt. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. “Show time.” He said. He disappeared in a column of flames.

James heard a twig snapping behind him. He spun around and his eyes widened. It was the figure again. He took out his radio. “This is James. The attacker is back and he’s at the Experimental Explosions’ cabins.” He reported in, catching the attacker off guard.

The attacker turned to him. “You should have stayed out of this Boy.” He told James.

James’s eyes widened. He recognized that voice even if it was muffled. “You were here earlier today.” He said. He could hear the staff running towards them. He saw the lights being turned on in the cabins.

Josiah couldn’t help but smile under his mask. Everything was going according to plan. If the police officer was indeed a Black Hand, he would see him and hopefully, Matthew would be with the police officer ruling out his spy. He knew that the police officer was a Black Hand as well so the Man with the German Accent would have to go through just about every Black Hand until he learned that it was him under the mask. Josiah looked at the boy who had radioed it in. The boy didn’t even realize that he was doing exactly what Josiah wanted him to do. Josiah put the knife back in its sheath. “This isn’t over yet Boy.” He told the boy. “The child will meet her end.” He made sure that only the boy heard that. He then disappeared in a column of flames.

Gabriel went up to James. “Where is he?” He asked.

James shook his head. With all the staff and the one police officer there, he knew that he couldn’t tell Gabriel the truth until later. “I think he was startled that we were a lot quicker this time with rushing here that he ran off into the woods again.” He looked at the police officer. “Sorry that he got away.” He told him.

The police officer shook his head and grimaced a little. “It’s okay Son.” He told the boy. “You were right in radioing for help.” He was tempted to smile but he didn’t. He had recognized the outfit to be a Black Hand uniform disguise. He knew that the Man with the German Accent would be interested in learning that another Black Hand had shown up to try to kill the Chosen One before the day of the ritual. The Man with the German Accent would be very interested indeed.

Gabriel looked at his staff. “All of you should get some rest.” He told them. “The police officer and I will go try to find the intruder’s trail and to try to catch him.” He couldn’t bring any of them into the chase anymore. He needed them to be wide awake for the next day. He looked at James. “I want you to go to the officer and wait there for me.” He ordered the boy. “We need to have a talk about what you saw and heard.”

James nodded. “Yes Sir.” He told Gabriel.

Josiah reappeared in Matthew’s room and was putting the costume away when Matthew came in. “You!” Matthew cried out, surprised at the sight of the Black Hand.

Josiah smiled and looked at him. “Yes. Me.” His smile then vanished. “Me, the Black Hand who just saved your worthless hide from that police officer who is, believe it or not, a Black Hand as well.” His voice got more dangerous as he was saying that. He marched up to Matthew and grabbed him by the neck. “I ought to kill you right now for failing Anthony.” He told the boy before he dropped him. “The only reason I’m not is because I don’t want to risk the Magician’s plan for bringing back the Darkness and your death might ruin that.”

Matthew rubbed his throat. “Wouldn’t his plan be ruined if Audrey was killed?” He asked. Josiah’s logic seemed off. How would his death ruin the Magician’s plan but not Audrey’s?”

Josiah straightened his tie as he looked at himself in the mirror. “Anthony has a plan set up to ensure that the Chosen One and everyone else stay here for the week.” He told Matthew. “He is after all more powerful than the Magician.”

Matthew was surprised to hear that. “Anthony alone is more powerful than the Magician?” He asked. He had always thought that it took both Anthony and Josiah to be more powerful than the Man with the German Accent. He didn’t realize that Anthony was already that powerful. How was that even possible?

Josiah nodded. “Anthony is the second most powerful Black Hand.” He told Matthew. “And not just when it comes to magic. He’s one of the key factors of the European Black Hand groups.” Josiah smiled, scaring Matthew more. “The Magician doesn’t even compare in power to Anthony no matter how much that fool claims to be the most powerful Black Hand in the entire organization.” He let that sink in before he continued. “Trust me. If Anthony wants everyone to stay in camp after the girl’s death, he will do it.” With that, he disappeared in a column of flames.

Matthew slowly stood up and looked around nervously. Even with Josiah gone, he didn’t feel safe. He kept feeling like Josiah was about to reappear and go through with killing him. Matthew had a feeling though that he knew what Josiah was saying to him. To get back to work and to wait until it would be safe to try to get rid of Audrey again. He also had a feeling that unless he succeeded this time, he would be killed for failing. He took out his mask and looked at it. He couldn’t fail but he couldn’t try it again that night. He would have to wait for the perfect night to strike.

Gabriel and James were in the office talking. “The Black Hand has gone after Audrey now.” James was saying. Gabriel nodded. “They must fear her.” James continued. “So what should we do?”

Gabriel turned to him. “You need to watch over both her and Emily.” He told James. “Watch over them and call for help if the Black Hand comes back to kill her.” He needed to find out why the Black Hand was suddenly interested in Audrey.

“The Black Hand who tried to kill Audrey was the one who disappeared in a column of fire.” James told Gabriel.

Gabriel frowned. “Are you sure?” He asked. It was important to know for sure that the Black Hand killer was the same one as the one who disappeared in columns of fire.

James nodded. “I saw him do it.” He answered.

Gabriel shook his head. “This is bad.” He said. “If he does that, none of the normal binding spells will work on him.”

That was when James thought of something. “What if the Black Hand isn’t human?” He asked.

Gabriel frowned. “What are you implying?” He asked.

James took a moment before he continued. “What if he’s a demon?” He asked Gabriel.