SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Sixteen
Within the park, there was one Black Hand that Gabriel had missed. This Black Hand had been disguised and hadn’t been with the group of Black Hands who had been in the SUVs. He had been sent there by the same person who had sent the group but he had been ordered to not join them in the fight. After seeing Gabriel’s quick victory over the group of Black Hands, he was relieved that he had been given that order. He knew that the police would get the Black Hands that were unconscious before they would wake up again. There was only one thing left for him to do. He vanished into thin air.
Far off across the ocean, within Venice Italy, there was a large manor. No one dared go near it except for tourists. The men in gray and brown uniforms that surrounded the building and marched along its balcony were armed and looked dangerous. Each one carried an assault rifle. And then there were the eight machine guns on top of the building that were aimed in different directions. Over the main door was a large banner with a Black Hand on it. The police force in Venice never went near the place unless they had to. The owner of the manor though was well known. He was respected and, according to some, feared even. It was rumored that he had connections in every form of the national police forces and that he was the one to go to when international disputes needed to be settled.
Inside the manor, the Black Hand appeared in a hallway. The Black Hands that lined the wall immediately aimed their guns at him. The Black Hand quickly raised his hands up. “I’m one of you guys!” He shouted. He showed the Black Hand patch on his jacket. “See? I have news for the boss man!”
The Black Hands with the guns lowered their weapons. “Then go to him.” One of them said in a gruff voice. The Black Hand glared at the one who had spoken before he walked off.
In a large foyer, a man in a very expensive suit was at a desk on the phone. He looked like he could be in his thirties or forties. His brown hair already had traces of gray in it. All around him were bookshelves. They were filled with very expensive and old books. Behind him was a large fireplace. Above it was a very large portrait of the man in the expensive suit. There weren’t any Black Hands with him in that room. The only person with him in that room was another man. He was in a black suit. His black hair was cropped close to the top of his house. He had black eyes. He wore gloves over his hands. The second man was watching the expensive suit man talking on the phone.
“It’s a pity that the President won’t reconsider the British’s proposal.” The man in the expensive suit was saying. “I’m sure if he saw the bigger picture, he would reconsider.” The man in the expensive suit looked at the other man and rolled his eyes. They both knew that the President would need more than just the bigger picture to be on board with the proposal from Great Britain. He would need motivation. “I understand.” The man in the expensive suit said. “Thank you for your time and be sure to remind the president about the benefits of the proposal. He then hung up.
The man in the expensive suit looked at the other man. “What is it with politicians and their insatiable greed?” He asked before he shook his head. “Not that it matters. In a few weeks, there will no longer be any more separate governments. There will only be one authority and that will be the Darkness’s authority.”
The second man smiled. “Assuming that everything the Darkness plans comes to past Anthony.” He said to the man in the expensive suit. Before Anthony could say anything, the Black Hand that had been in the park came into the foyer.
Anthony and his assistant looked at him. “What news do you have for me?” Anthony asked the Black Hand.
The Black Hand knelt down before Anthony. “I have found the child that you wanted to find.” He reported to Anthony.
Anthony and the second man looked at each other and smiled. “Excellent.” Anthony said.
The Black Hand took a moment before he continued. “But Gabriel was there and he stopped the kidnapping team from getting her.” He closed his eyes and got ready to face his punishment for reporting the failure.
To his surprise, it never came. He opened his eyes and saw Anthony and the second man standing over him. “If you’re expecting a punishment, it’s not coming.” Anthony told the Black Hand before he smiled. “If anything, you’ve confirmed what I’ve suspected now for a while.”
The Black Hand frowned. “What do you mean?” He asked.
Anthony smiled as he returned to his seat. “What I mean is that I had a feeling that Gabriel was protecting more than just one chosen one.” He explained. “That he has been watching over the heirs of Seraphina.” He looked at the second man. “Am I right?”
The second man nodded. “Quite right Anthony.” He said.
Anthony looked at the Black Hand. “Jerome is it?” He asked. The Black Hand nodded. Anthony took out an envelope and handed it to the Black Hand. “I was originally going to have Simmons go but that was before Bastet gave me the chance to one up the Magician.” He looked at the envelope. “I want you to go to the ritual that he’s going to perform and to report back to me what happens.” Jerome nodded and left the foyer quickly.
Anthony looked at the second man. “I’m surprised that he hasn’t found out that it was me who ordered Simmons to work with Bastet at trying to get rid of the child.” He said. Usually the Man with the German Accent was better at finding out who traitors were. He must have just stopped with capturing Bastet. After all, from what Anthony had found out, it sounded like Bastet had killed his men that were supposed to kill her and claim that she attacked them.
“Do you think he suspects that Simmons was one of your Black Hands?” The second man asked.
Anthony looked towards the foyer doors. “If he hasn’t attacked us or taken us to the Darkness to stand trial, I doubt he knows my hand in his plan nearly falling apart the first time.”
The second man looked at the foyer door. He knew that Anthony was doing the calculating on how unlikely it was that the Man with the German Accent would do anything against them. After all, there were machine guns that could fire more bullets than anything else on top of the building and practically an army of Black Hands in the building. There were also the Black Hands that were in disguise at every dock to the city. It was one of the reasons why Anthony had decided to set up his base in the water city. There was no way to bring land vehicles into the city. Even if with the Man with the German Accent’s magic, it would be useless in the building. Most of the building was magic-proof. The only part of the building that didn’t have any defense from magic was the only hallway that Jerome had appeared in and that hallway stuck out of the building so it wouldn’t do the Man with the German Accent any good. The manor was the best defense and Anthony liked it that way.
The second man crossed his arms over his chest. “What about the rumor that is going around the Black Hand?” He asked.
Anthony frowned. He knew what rumor it was that that the second man was referring to. It was the plan to raise the Four Horsemen from their ancient slumber. “I heard that it’s what the Darkness wants and that he is overseeing that while he has the Magician work on getting the ritual ready.” He told the second man. “Which means that we don’t have to worry about the Magician going after us.” What he didn’t say out loud though was that there was no protection guaranteed for either of them once the four Horsemen were released. If the Magician did know that it was them, which did seem unlikely, he could easily go after them once he had four powerful warriors like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Anthony thought it over. “We’ll need to find out just what the Magician knows.” He said. He took his phone out and typed in a code. The Man with the German Accent’s manor in Ohio appeared on the screen. “And we need to start with that building.” He turned to the second man. “I need to get our Black Hands out of prison.” He told him.
The second man nodded. “Leave it to me Anthony.” He told Anthony.
Anthony smiled. “Good.” He said. He turned to the portrait behind him. “Don’t fail me Josiah.” The second man gave a stiff bow and left the foyer.
Anthony looked at his portrait. It had been painted a long time ago. Back during a time where he had gone by a different name. When he had first been recruited to the Black Hand. It had been the Magician himself who had recruited him to the Black Hand. Anthony had joined the Black Hand willingly. He had amassed more power and strength than the man with the German accent. The Black Hands in the First Circle in the States were very powerful but his Black Hands were even more ruthless and dangerous. Anthony was rumored to be the only one who could rival the Man with the German Accent. He knew that that rumor wasn’t true yet but he had plans to make it true.
Anthony thought about everything that had happened in the last few weeks. He knew that the Man with the German Accent was acting protective of Emily but only because he wanted her to be the sacrifice to the Darkness. He took out his laptop and turned it on. He went to the file he had on the child. His file on her was pretty big. He had had his spies watching her while she was growing up. He always found it odd that Gabriel had taken her away from the orphanage when she was a baby. He had gone into a Black Hand’s hot spot to rescue her and then placed her with a normal family.
Anthony had studied Gabriel and his past. The man had been there during the war against the Darkness and had guarded over many bloodlines before disappearing with a family that was descended from Seraphina in an attempt to protect at least one Chosen One. Anthony looked at the most recent picture they had of the girl. It had been taken a few months before. It was of her at her school during Valentine’s Day. It had been easy for his spies to get the picture that day. No one ever suspected janitors. Gabriel must have been working overtime or hadn’t been worried about the Chosen One that the Man with the German Accent wanted or her family if he had been able to go to Russia to get the child.
Anthony had never seen any depictions of Seraphina. From the way that the Black Hand records had described her, he wondered if Gabriel saw her in the girl now. After comparing the description to the last picture they had of the child from Russia and comparing the description to the girl’s dead birth mother’s picture, Anthony had a reason to believe that Gabriel had gone because the two looked similar, if not exact copies, of Seraphina.
Anthony brought up a recent picture of Gabriel, which hadn’t been easy to get in the first place, and lined it up next to the most recent picture of the child. “Gabriel and the Chosen One.” He murmured to himself. Let the Man with the German Accent waste his time with that kid. He was going to focus on the girl from Russia and do whatever it took to get rid of her for the Darkness. Maybe then he would be treated with more respect and be feared even more than the Man with the German Accent.