Chapter 15
Audrey groaned as she woke up. “She’s waking up.” A voice said. It was James.
Audrey shook her head as she slowly woke up. “I had the strangest dream James.” She said. “I dreamt that I was in Salem during the Witch Trials and you were dressed weird.” She opened her eyes and her eyes widened. James was sitting by the bed she was in. He was wearing his Puritan clothes. Audrey realized that it wasn’t a dream.
“I don’t know what the fashion is like in the future but this is the normal way to be dressed up in this time period.” James told Audrey. James looked over his shoulder. Audrey looked in over James’s shoulder.
It was Gabriel. He was wearing black robes. “So you’re the girl from the future.” Gabriel said.
Audrey nodded and sat up. She rubbed her head. “What happened to me?” She asked the two. “The last thing I remember was being outside the chapel and passing out.”
James took Audrey’s hand. “I had to get you inside before anyone saw you lying on the ground.” He told Audrey. “You seemed freaked out by possibly changing the past.” Audrey looked at James. She thought about what he had just said. She could start to feel her heart beating faster. She knew that she didn’t belong in the past. “Calm down.” James told her. “You won’t do yourself any good by panicking about what has already happened.”
Audrey shook her head and got out of the bed. “You don’t know what could have been changed by me being here.” She told James. “The first time we’re supposed to have met is in the year Two-Thousand and Eighteen at a camp. Not today in Salem. I don’t know if Aunica originally died or not by either the beast’s claw or by the judges who are here because of the Witch Trials.” Audrey started feeling light-headed again. She sat on her bed. “There’s no telling what damage I’ve done by being in the past.”
Gabriel pulled a chair up and sat across from Audrey. “According to James, you said that Aunica isn’t the Chosen One.” He said.
Audrey nodded. “You find the one you think is the Chosen One in Two-Thousand and Eleven but then something happens in the year that James and I meet that makes everyone wonder if she is the Chosen One.” She looked around her. “Where is Aunica?” She asked. She looked at the two. “She’s not dead, is she?”
James shook his head. “Aunica is right now in her room resting.” He told Audrey. “The attack was too much for her. She ended up passing out as well.” He smiled a little. “It seems like that’s a thing for possible Chosen Ones.” He added.
Audrey realized what James was saying. “You know I’m a possible Chosen One?” She asked.
James nodded. “Gabriel figured it out.” He explained. He looked at Gabriel. “Care to explain how you figured it out?” He asked the old man.
Gabriel sighed. “Because you look like Seraphina.” He told Audrey. “I’ve seen many faces since the Great War but I have never forgotten the love of my life’s face.”
Audrey already knew that she looked like her ancestor. Gabriel in the future had told her that when he had explained to her, Emily and Emily’s family what was happening. She kept that bit of information though to herself. “So can you get me back to my time?” She asked Gabriel. “It’s important that I get back. Abigail Williams was fighting James and she won. There’s no telling what kind of danger James is in.”
James looked at Gabriel. “Should we tell her your theory as to why she’s in this time?” He asked the old man.
Audrey frowned. “What do you mean?” She asked. “You think that I’m supposed to be in the past?” She wasn’t sure if she could stay in the past. She had to get back to her own time and, if she did it right, use her magic to save James from the witch.
Gabriel pulled out a Bible from within his robes. “What do you know about the Book of Revelations?” He asked Audrey.
Audrey blushed. She had been raised in a Christian home but she didn’t really read the Bible unless she had to. “Isn’t it some sort of prophecies series about the end of the world?” She asked.
Gabriel smiled and chuckled a little. “Not exactly the words I would use but you’re right.” He told Audrey. He opened the Bible to the Book of Revelations. “According to the Book of Revelations, there are two Witnesses who are supposed to fight evilness during the Time of Tribulations.” He continued. He pointed at an illustration. Audrey looked at it. There were two figures in front of two white trees. It was hard to make out the figures’ faces. “They’re supposed to warn of evil forces.” Gabriel looked at James before he looked at Audrey again. “When James first saw you, you warned of three of our greatest enemies: the Demons who work with the Black Hand and the creators of the creature, the witch who sounds like Abigail Williams and the Magician.”
Audrey had a feeling that she knew where Gabriel was going with this. “You think I’m one of the two Witnesses.” She said. It did make sense if she was. But that would also mean that she wasn’t the Chosen One after all. “Do the two Witnesses fight alongside the Chosen One in the fight against the Darkness?” She asked.
Gabriel nodded. “In the Great War, Seraphina had two who fought alongside her: Victor and me.” He told Audrey. “During that time, it was believed that Victor and I were the Witnesses.”
The way that he looked made Audrey realize that there was more to his story. “What happened to Victor?” Audrey asked.
Gabriel didn’t respond. It was like he was lost in his thoughts. “Victor joined the Darkness.” James told Audrey. “He loved Seraphina as well but Seraphina chose Gabriel. Victor joined the Darkness as a way to get revenge. During the final fight, Victor killed Seraphina before he disappeared to who knows where. The last time Gabriel saw Victor, it was when we stumbled upon Victor’s grave. That was shortly before a new Right Hand of the Darkness came.”
Audrey thought about what James was saying before she looked at Gabriel again. “So you and I are the two Witnesses from the Book of Revelations.” She said. “So the fight starts here during the Witch Trials?”
Gabriel shook his head. “We need to get you back to your own time.” He told Audrey. “The fighting begins there. I’m not sure how you ended up in our time but we need to get you back to your own time.”
There was a loud thudding noise in the distance. All three of them looked in that direction. “Who would be at the chapel at this time of night?” James asked. Audrey instantly thought of Hawthorne. She knew that he was a clergyman like Gabriel but she had a feeling that he didn’t care much for religious practices.
Gabriel stood up. “I’ll go see who is paying us a visit.” He told the two teenagers. “Stay back here where it’s safe.” He looked at James. “If you need to, get Aunica and get the two of them out of here and to the safe house.” He ordered. James nodded and Gabriel left.
Audrey waited until Gabriel was gone before she looked at James. “Can we go to Aunica’s room?” She asked. “Easier for the three of us to escape if we need to if we’re all in the same room together.”
James thought about it. That did make sense. He looked in the direction that Gabriel had walked away in. “We need to be quiet though.” He told Audrey. “There’s no telling who Gabriel is talking to.” They snuck quietly to Aunica’s room.
Audrey looked at Aunica as James closed the door. The young girl was still asleep in her bed. Audrey frowned and looked closer at the sleeping girl. There was something about her that seemed familiar. Audrey wasn’t sure why though. James joined her. “We’ll need to be really quiet.” He whispered to Audrey.
Audrey looked at him. “Where did Aunica come from?” She asked him. James looked at Aunica and sat by the sleeping child. “She and her mother came from England to escape a murderer who got to Aunica’s father.” He answered. “Gabriel gave them sanctuary until he had Jasper get Annaliese out of here because of the trials. Salem was under the illusion that Aunica had fled with Annaliese but now everyone knows she’s still here.”
Audrey looked at the door. There was a good chance that Hawthorne then was at the entrance to the chapel. He was probably there to take Aunica away to be put on trial. “What are we going to do if it’s Hawthorne?” Audrey asked James.
James looked at the door. “We could always try to sneak her back to the future with you.” He said. Audrey’s eyes widened. Was James crazy? She realized that in Puritan time, they never heard of the butterfly effect or the consequences of changing the past. She looked at Aunica. “You said that you had no idea if Aunica survived the Witch Trials, right?” James asked.
Audrey nodded. “Gabriel and you in the future never really speak of past possible Chosen Ones.” She told James. “So I don’t know who lived or died.” She had a feeling that she knew where James was going with this. “James, I can’t take her back with me just to keep her alive.” She looked at Aunica. “I mean what if I do that but in the process, I change history? What if the Chosen One in my time isn’t born because I’ve taken Aunica into the future? What if it becomes three possible Chosen Ones because Aunica is a possible Chosen One?” It was too risky to try.
James stood up and went to Aunica. “I can’t answer all of your questions.” He told Audrey. “I doubt my future self can still give you the answers you want.” The way that he was looking at Aunica made Audrey wonder if there was something special between Aunica and James. That was when she realized what happened to Aunica. Somehow she knew that Aunica didn’t survive the Salem Witch Trials. Whoever the girl was that Harold and Hannah killed on September Eleventh wasn’t the first Chosen One that James had to lose.
“You love her, don’t you?” Audrey asked James. James looked at Audrey. Audrey recognized the look. James didn’t use it as much in his time but Audrey knew that she had seen it when James had been getting Emily out of the ritual grounds. She had been too busy trying to help with getting Emily out of there to notice but now that she looked back at it, she knew what she had to do. She took a step back from James and Aunica. “I’m sorry but I can’t take Aunica with me.” She told James. “The future depends on Aunica staying in this time.”
There was a lot of noise by the chapel’s entrance. It woke Aunica up. She sat up and looked at James and Audrey. “What’s going on?” She asked. “Why are you both in my room?” The loud noise kept getting louder.
James looked at Audrey. “Please.” He said to her. “I need you to take Aunica into the future.” To Aunica’s surprise, James picked her up and carried her to Audrey. “I need you to take her somewhere where she can be safe.”
Audrey looked at Aunica. She could tell that Aunica was scared. “I’m sorry.” She told the two of them. “I can’t save Aunica. She’s supposed to be in this time.”
There was a pounding at the door. “Open up Witches!” It was Hawthorne. “You’re all to be taken to the courthouse to be put on trial!”
James looked at Audrey. “Please Audrey.” He said. “I need you to take Aunica with you!” He was shouting by this point.
Audrey took a step back and shook her head. As she did so, she felt a surge of energy in her. She looked down at herself. She was starting to glow brightly. She looked back up at the two. “I’m sorry!” She cried before the bright light made it impossible for her to see.
As Audrey felt herself traveling through time, she looked around her. She was in what felt like a bright light tunnel. The brightness ahead of her kept getting brighter and brighter. Audrey looked behind her. The brightness behind her was turning dark. If she had to take a guess, it was because it was in the past and she was leaving it behind. Audrey then felt something grab onto her. She looked down at herself. There was nothing there. Whatever had a grip on her tightened its grip before it was gone. Audrey saw a dark speck against the bright light before it was swallowed by the darkness. Audrey looked ahead of her as the brightness got too bright to look at.