The Adventures of Emily Tual: Camp Adventures Book Two

The next morning, James was at the lodge porch deep in thought. He knew that the day of the ritual was on Thursday. It was only Monday. The Black Hand had already struck twice in one night. What he found odd was that they had gone after another possible Chosen One and not Emily. He couldn’t help but wonder why. Did they know something that Gabriel didn’t? He looked towards the five cabins. The two Experimental Explosion groups were going back to the cabins from the bathrooms. It looked like Emily and Audrey were talking. He couldn’t help but smile. The two girls were possibly related and neither of them knew it.

He looked at Emily’s counselor, Kat. He had suspected her to be the Black Hand spy. He knew that she couldn’t be the Black Hand spy if she had been coming out of the cabin when that Black Hand had tried to kill Audrey and that Black Hand had turned out to be the one who could disappear in a column of fire. He wondered if there was no spy in the camp and that the Black Hand who could disappear in a column of fire just kept entering the camp and was hiding when he did.

James had thought about his theory from the night before. It wouldn’t surprise him if that Black Hand was a demon. It wouldn’t have been the first time that the Black Hand had nonhumans within their ranks. From what he could remember of the original war, the Darkness was always in a black cloud so no one could see him. He wondered if the Darkness even had a human body. If the Black Hand who could disappear in a column of fire was a demon, then the human look was just his human form. James was willing to bet that there was a more demonic look to that Black Hand.

Jasper joined James on the porch. “Thinking about something?” He asked James.

James nodded. “About the Black Hand attacking twice last night and how they were after Audrey.” He answered before he shook his head. “With everything that has been happening, I thought that the Black Hand killer would have gone after Emily.” It didn’t make sense to him.

Jasper thought about what James had said. “Is it possible that they’re trying to trick us into protecting someone else and focusing on Audrey so Emily isn’t as guarded as she has been?” He asked.

James thought about it. He had not considered that at all. “So what should we do then?” He asked Jasper. “If we don’t pay attention to their attacks on other campers because we stay focused on protecting Emily, we risk campers dying and all of this coming under scrutiny which I doubt the Black Hand wants as well but if we try to protect Audrey and who knows who else, we give the Black Hand the perfect chance to take Emily for the ritual.” He was hoping that Jasper had a plan that would be helpful with knowing what to do.

Jasper looked at James for a few minutes. The two of them could hear the bell ringing out in the front yard, announcing that it was breakfast time. “I’ll talk to Gabriel about this.” Jasper told James. “In the meanwhile, the Experimental Explosion groups will be having breakfast table by table before all of them head to the mud pit for their first activity. You should go there and make sure that the Black Hand doesn’t try anything.”

James wasn’t sure if Jasper was referring to the Black Hand who could disappear into a column of flames or the entire Black Hand. It didn’t matter though. He knew that he had to keep the two girls safe. He saw the two Experimental Explosion groups heading to the lodge mess hall. He looked at Jasper. “We should meet later to talk.” He told Jasper before he left.

Gabriel was in his office when Matthew entered. “You wanted to see me Sir?” Matthew asked. He wasn’t quite sure why he was there. He knew that it couldn’t have been about last night. There was no way that Gabriel knew that he was a Black Hand. Josiah had worn his costume when he had been with Jasper searching for the attacker.

Gabriel nodded. “Yes. You were with Jasper last night when we had that accident with the intruder here, am I right?” He asked.

Matthew nodded. “I was. Should I get Jasper to confirm that?” He asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “Jasper’s already given me the list of staff he had with him.” He told Matthew. “I just am rechecking with the staff.”

Matthew decided to test his luck. “Do the police have any leads on the intruder?” He asked. He knew that there were Black Hands in the police department. He wasn’t sure though if it had been a Black Hand who had shown up as a police officer or if it had been an actual police officer. He knew that Josiah had disappeared unnaturally so it would be hard to find any good leads but he had to make sure.

Gabriel shook his head. “The police officer last night told me before he left that it looked like the attempted killer had used some sort of chemical mixture to cause that explosion to cover his getaway.” He told Matthew. “The police will be looking into chemicals purchased over the last few days to try to find someone who would have motive for attacking one of our campers.” He leaned back in his seat. “We’re just supposed to carry on though right now as if nothing is wrong for the sake of the campers and other staff. To keep everyone else from being worried.”

Matthew knew that that sounded smart. He also knew that Gabriel was right. They needed to keep all of this a secret. He wondered if Anthony had a plan to keep all of it from getting discovered like Josiah said he did. He also wondered the Man with the German Accent had a way to keep this all a secret from the rest of the world. He realized that sounded stupid the minute he thought of that. Of course the Man with the German Accent wasn’t planning on keeping this all a secret. As soon as the Chosen One was sacrificed, the Darkness would begin his plan to rule the entire world with his forces of evil.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Matthew, you should be getting to your first activity.” He told the young staff member.

Matthew looked at Gabriel. “Right.” He said.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You do know what activity you’re supposed to be getting to, right?” He asked.

Matthew nodded. “I’m going down to the camp’s ranch to take care of helping lead the ranch program.” He told Gabriel. He then stood up and walked out of the office.

Gabriel watched Matthew leave. He wondered why Matthew was acting so odd. He seemed relieved that the police were looking into someone who had purchased chemicals. Matthew had seen the intruder disappear into a column of fire and had been there to see the intruder so he shouldn’t be worried about being suspected as an attempted murderer. Gabriel shook his head. All of the staff members they had were probably just relieved that they weren’t being suspected of being the tried-to-be killer. Gabriel went to his window and looked outside. He saw the different groups leaving for their different activities. He smiled when he saw Emily rushing over to James. Emily was definitely in good hands.

Matthew was taking one of the forest trails to the camp’s ranch when a column of fire appeared right in front of him. He stumbled back as Josiah appeared. He noticed that Josiah had a case in his hand. Josiah smiled a little when he saw Matthew. “Did I startle you?” He asked mockingly.

Matthew nodded. “Dude, you need to call me or something before you appear like that.” He told the Black Hand. “What if I had been with a few other people?”

Josiah shrugged. “I would have just killed them.” He answered simply.

Matthew shook his head. He didn’t want to find out if the Black Hand was being serious about that or not. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

Josiah set the case down on the ground and knelt in front of it. “There’s something I want to test out.” He told Matthew.

Matthew watched Josiah open the case. He then frowned when he saw Josiah put on a glove. “What’s with the glove?” He asked. Josiah gave him a pointed look before he picked up something from within the case. It was a bullet.

Josiah stood up and looked at the bullet. “I want you to shoot the Chosen One with this bullet.” He told Matthew.

Matthew couldn’t believe it. First Anthony wanted him to try to kill Audrey and now Anthony wanted him to kill the chosen one. “Doesn’t he know that the Man with the German Accent will kill me if he finds out I tried to kill the Chosen One?” He asked.

Josiah shrugged. “Just wear your costume.” He answered. “After all, everyone saw you when I tried to kill Audrey so they won’t suspect you of being the killer.”

Matthew wasn’t even going to bother with asking about that. Instead he decided to focus on another question. “What test are you doing with shooting the Chosen One?” He asked.

Josiah smiled and put the bullet into the gun that was in the case. “If the Chosen One is really the Chosen One, she’ll be able to save herself from the poison that the bullets are laced with.” He answered. That explained the glove. Josiah didn’t want to touch the poison. Matthew kept that in mind. He wanted to make sure that he had a way to stay safe in case this went south. He’d use the bullets on Josiah and declare self-defense and pin the assassination attempts on Josiah.

“Who else knows about the bullets?” Matthew asked.

Josiah smiled. “Only one other Black Hand but they don’t know who you are.” He answered.

Matthew shifted his foot slightly. He knew that there was a chance that Josiah was lying. “Are you sure that we should use these bullets on the Chosen One to see if she is the Chosen One?” He asked.

Exactly what Josiah wanted to hear. He smiled. This really was too easy. “Use the bullets then on your target from last night.” He told Matthew. “If the girl is the Chosen One, she’ll be able to save Audrey.”

Matthew thought about it. “What if she isn’t able to save Audrey?” He asked.

Josiah shrugged. “Then we get rid of two possible Chosen Ones with one stone.” He answered. He put the gun back in the case and put the glove in as well. “Once you have found out if the girl is the Chosen One or not, report back to me.” Josiah stood up and handed the case to Matthew.

Matthew looked at the case. “Won’t my cover be blown though once I leave here without warning?” He asked.

Josiah rolled his eyes. “It won’t matter anymore after this experiment.” He told Matthew. “After today, we’ll have our answers and be able to carry on with what the Master wants.” Matthew knew that Josiah meant the Darkness. He wasn’t sure that the Darkness wanted proof though that the girl was the Chosen One. He was more focused on the ritual and coming back.

Josiah looked at his watch. “I need to get going.” He told Matthew. “I am needed elsewhere.” That of course was a lie. He wanted to get a good seat to see if the girl was really the Chosen One or not. He was also looking forward to finally getting rid of Audrey. After all, the third time was usually a charm and, according to his math, this would be the third attempt at killing Audrey. He was wanting to see the Chosen One failing his test.

Matthew watched Josiah disappear into a column of fire before he shook his head. He looked down the pathway that led to the ranch before he smiled wickedly. “Let’s do this.” He said. It was time for him to reveal who he really was. He turned around and disappeared into thin air.