SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Thirteen
In West Virginia, Andrew parked his truck and trailer in an abandoned building that was in the shadow of the mountain over it. The entire town, if it could be called a town, looked abandoned. Andrew didn’t know what had happened to the place and he didn’t really care. He wasn’t there for a scenic tour. He had parked there to check up on his passenger. He got out of his truck and went to the trailer. He opened the door and turned on the small transport light. He looked at his passenger.
“I take it you had a nice trip in the middle of the night.” He said to the Horseman of Death.
The Horseman of Death looked at him. He had changed from his ragged robes to a black suit. Even the buttoned up shirt was black. He was sitting on a narrow seat. His scythe was against the wall. The Horseman of Death nodded. “It was quite an interesting trip.” He said in a raspy voice. “Even after all of these years, my spirit is drawn to that place.” He was referring to the orphanage in Russia.
Andrew knew that the Horseman of Death had left his body and had traveled to Russia again. As the Horseman of Death’s assistant, he had made sure that he knew everything about the Horseman of Death. That included his spirit trips to an orphanage in Russia. The Black Hands that ran the orphanage, according to his sources, had let a child nearly die there. The only reason that the Horseman of Death was drawn to it each night was, if Andrew had to take a guess, because the child had cheated him out of their soul. It was why the Horseman of Death was after a child in the States. The Darkness had told him that the child the Horseman of Death was to go after was the same one who was supposed to have died in Russia.
Andrew looked through the door to the outside. He could see the highway close to them. “We should get going.” He told the Horseman of Death. “We have at least another day or two to get to the place we’ll be staying at.” He closed the door. “The place is an important location for you and your three comrades.”
The Horseman of Death managed not to laugh. He might have been a Horseman of the Apocalypse but he wasn’t entirely fond of his three fellow Horsemen. They, unlike him, usually required hosts. Dead hosts so that the hosts wouldn’t try to fight back. “So the Master has found three new vessels for my comrades to use.” He said.
Andrew shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure.” He answered. “All I know is that the manor is where you are to stay before you go after the child that the Darkness wants you to go after.”
The Horseman of Death picked up his scythe. “It’ll be good to finally harvest her soul.” He said.
Andrew frowned. “The kid from Russia is a girl?” He asked. He wasn’t expecting that. In his mind he pictured a powerful boy. Not some girl.
The Horseman of Death looked at his scythe. “Yes.” He answered. “Not just a girl though. The Master believes that she might be a possible descendant of Seraphina.”
Andrew’s eyes widened. “I thought that the Chosen One was the only descendant.” He said. “The Black Hand eliminated every other blood line. That’s why we were so focused on that girl. She was the last threat to the Black Hand and to the Darkness!” He couldn’t believe that he had been lied to. That nearly everyone in the Black Hand had been lied to. They had all believed that the girl from Carrollton Ohio was the last descendant of Seraphina. It’s why most of them hadn’t gone after her to begin with. It’s why they had reported and turned in Bastet’s accomplices when she had ordered the Chosen One to be kidnapped.
The Horseman of Death’s eyes glowed white. “We have no proof that she is a descendant or even related to Seraphina.” He told Andrew. “All I know is that the Black Hand in Russia called for me to take her soul when she was a baby. They had found her on their doorsteps shortly after a young woman who the Black Hand had been hunting down was found dead. Eight years or so before Bastet had attacked the Chosen One when she was four. Of course the news media found out that the dead woman had a baby girl so they thought she might have been the baby. Unfortunately she disappeared before I could find out.”
Andrew realized what the Horseman of Death was saying. If the girl’s mother had been the one they had killed all those years before, they only had two threats. If the girl ended up not being the daughter of that woman, then Emily really was the last descendant. “Do we know where the girl is that you’re hunting?” He asked.
The Horseman of Death nodded and looked at his scythe. “I believe that she is in a place called New Philadelphia Ohio.” He told Andrew. “It is the town that the man who took her disappeared to.”
Andrew shook his head. “That place is about an hour or so from the manor.” He said. And the Chosen One’s home was closer to the manor. He wondered if the Man with the German Accent had the manor built there for that reason. But that would have also meant that the Man with the German Accent knew about the girl from Russia as well but kept it a secret. Andrew knew that there wasn’t that much information about the Man with the German Accent anywhere. He was one of the most powerful Black Hands and had always kept his life a secret.
The Horseman of Death cleared his throat. “I believe we should be going Andrew.” He said. “There’s still a journey ahead of us.”
Andrew nodded. “Of course Horseman.” He said. He turned off the light and got out of the trailer, closing the door behind him. He went to the driver’s seat of his truck and started the truck up. He drove out of the abandoned building.
In the trailer, the Horseman of Death looked at his scythe. Even in the darkened trailer, he knew that he was looking at it. He and the scythe were very close. He could always tell where it was, even in the dark. “Watch yourself Girl.” He murmured, speaking to the girl who had escaped him back in Russia all those years ago even though she couldn’t hear him. “For Death is coming for you and not even you can escape it.” His horse whinnied loudly.
At the camp, James and Gabriel were watching Jasper training the new staff members. “Do you think any of them are spies yet?” James asked Gabriel. Gabriel sighed and looked at the staff. He had gone through all of their paperwork several times but none of them seemed faked or made up. He knew that the Black Hand had to know about the child coming to summer camp by now. With everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks to Emily, the Black Hand had to know by now that she was going to the camp. He had a feeling that they were planning something for the day where the Darkness was at its strongest during the summer. The date that Seraphina had died.
“I’m not sure who here is a spy yet.” He told James. “But we don’t have much time before the date that I’m sure they will try to strike on.”
James knew about the date. The date that, so long ago, saw the end of Seraphina. He had to agree with Gabriel. The Black Hand would try no doubt try to do something to Emily on that date. It was most likely that that had been their plan the whole time. Even before Emily had been kidnapped twice. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on her.” He said. “A way better eye on her then when she was kidnapped by Bastet.”
“I’m still not happy about your trip last night James.” Gabriel said. He turned to James. “You had no business trying to save Emily from her nightmare. Even if it was a dream journey.”
James knew that when he had talked about keeping a better eye on Emily, that Gabriel would take that moment to talk to him about the dream journey. “I had to do it Gabriel.” He simply replied. “I had no choice.” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it but I felt like I had to be there.” He looked at Gabriel “Emily spoke of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” He added. “She knew of them.”
Gabriel nodded. “I expected that she would know about them.” He said. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse would have joined the fight sooner or later. If there was one who had appeared in the dream journey for sure and actually could be heard walking, then it meant that the Horseman of Death was for sure getting restless about something. He made a mental note to try to find the girl he had brought from Russia all of those years ago. He had to make sure that she was okay.
He noticed that James was staring at one of the staff members. He looked at the staff member. It was one of the female counselors. “She’s a little old for you James.” He told James jokingly before smiling. He might not have approved of James going on the dream journey but he still did know how to give James a bad time.
James shook his head. “That’s not the problem.” He told Gabriel. He looked at the staff member still. “There’s just something off about her.”
Gabriel looked at the staff member again. “What do you mean?” He asked. “Kat’s background check checked out. She’s legit. Not a fake.” James looked at Kat still. Kat, or Katherine as her real name stated it was, had come from Cleveland. She was a child educator major at a college up there. He didn’t know what college it was but they had confirmed that she was one of their students when Gabriel had called for a reference. Kat Holland did fit in there but there was still something about her that James didn’t trust.
Gabriel smiled. “I think you’re just trying to deny having a crush on her.” He jokingly said.
James didn’t blush. He didn’t know how to. He had never felt feelings like that for anyone. The only thing he felt towards Emily was the feeling of a protective big brother. “I don’t have a crush on Kat.” He said with a straight face. He knew that there was something off about her and he was going to find out what it was.
Gabriel cleared his throat. “I need to get going.” He said.
James looked at him and frowned. He wasn’t aware of Gabriel taking a trip and he usually made it a point of knowing where Gabriel went at all times. “Where are you going?” He asked.
Gabriel smiled a little. “I just have to go check up on something.” He replied. “Something very important to me.”
James shook his head. “Does this have something to do with that girl you brought here from Russia?” He asked. He knew that Gabriel would have to answer him. One of the things that James prided himself on was being able to tell when someone was lying.
Gabriel nodded. “I have to try to find her.” He told James. “I’ll start at the home that I had dropped her off at all those years ago. After that, if she isn’t there, I’ll ask the people who live there now and ask the neighbors where her family had gone.” He had to try to find her to protect her in a way that he couldn’t fifteen years before. If the Horseman of Death had made a physical appearance at the orphanage after fifteen years, he had to be free and was looking for the girl to finish what he was supposed to fifteen years before.
James looked back at the staff being trained by Jasper. While Gabriel was looking for someone from his past, he would be able to keep an eye on the staff and Kat. He knew that there was something off with her. He just had to find out what it was.