The Adventures of Emily Tual: Camp Adventures Book Two

Emily looked out her window as the car pulled into a driveway. She saw the sign that said: Welcome to Camp Wolfwood. Besides that, there wasn’t anything else that screamed camp. “Are you sure that we’re at the right place Dad?” She asked, looking at her father.

Mr. Tual focused on driving down the road before he turned to the left. Emily and Rachel’s eyes widened. “There it is.” Mr. Tual told his two girls. “Camp Wolfwood, the place you two will be at this week.”

Emily looked out her window. It was quite clear where they were supposed to park their vehicles. The parking lot was already filled with a lot of vehicles. Even with vehicles already pulling away, there were still a lot more vehicles. There were people walking away from the vehicles to a large wooden lodge. Beyond the lodge was a large field. On the other side of the field was a forest.

Emily’s eyes widened. The view reminded her of her nightmare. The one where she had been running from the robed figures. She looked at her dad. It was too late to tell him about those nightmares. She hoped those were just nightmares but after the dream that James had told her was real, she wasn’t sure if they were still nightmares or not. She still had the necklace from the orphanage. She had put it into her backpack before they had left. She had a feeling that it would be important for her to have during that week. She wasn’t sure why though.

She looked out Rachel’s window. There were about five cabins lined up near the road. There were a few adults there. Some of them were in the same shirt. She had a feeling that they were a part of the team that worked at Camp Wolfwood. A few of them had kids with them. At least Rachel and she wouldn’t be the first campers there.

Rachel was bouncing up and down in her seat. “I can’t wait to meet everyone in our group!” She cried excitedly. She looked at Emily. “What do you think our group will be like?” She asked.

Emily looked at her sister and smiled. She needed to keep calm and happy for her sister’s sake. “I’m sure that we’ll have a lot of fun with them.” She told her sister. That made Rachel’s smile even bigger.

Their dad smiled as he pulled into an empty spot. “Here we are kiddos.” He told them. He parked the vehicle and turned it off. Both girls scrambled out of their seats and out of the vehicle.

As the three of them were going to the trunk of the car, Emily stopped. She couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching her, someone who felt familiar for some reason. She looked around. She didn’t recognize anyone there. They were all families who were dropping off their children at camp that week. “Dad? How many groups does this camp do?” She asked. With how many people were there, she knew that it couldn’t just be their group. She kept looking around. She knew that there was someone familiar there. She just couldn’t figure out why.

Her dad thought it over before he shook his head. “I have no idea.” He answered. “Your aunt said that this camp apparently does a few groups a week.”

Rachel looked at him. “A few groups?” She asked. “Sounds like they’ll have hundreds of kids here.”

Mr. Tual smiled and laughed a little. “I doubt that they will have hundreds here Rachel. Maybe over one hundred but I doubt that they’ll have two hundred.” He gestured around them. “Besides those five cabins, your aunt said that there’s only six cabins right on the edge of the woods around that bend.” He was pointing to where the road disappeared. “There’s a chapel but I doubt you’ll be living there.” He then shook his head. “I’m sure you’ll find a few more places here.” He smiled as he said that.

Emily spotted someone by the lodge. It was a boy. He looked familiar. She focused on him. The boy wasn’t looking her way. He was wearing the staff shirt that other staff members were wearing but he was clearly not a camper there. She wondered who he was. That was when he turned and looked in her direction for just a brief second. But that was all it took. Emily realized why he looked familiar. It was James, the boy from her dream. She was about to run towards him to get answers when someone walked in front of her. By the time that person was out of her way, James was gone.

“Emily?” Emily turned to her sister and dad. It was Rachel who had spoken. “Are you okay?” Rachel asked. “You looked like you saw a ghost.” Mr. Tual and Rachel looked in the direction that Emily had been looking in while Mr. Tual opened the trunk. “What did you see?” Rachel asked.

Emily shook her head. “I thought I saw someone who I knew.” She told Rachel.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. “But this is our first time here.” She told Emily. “How would that even be possible?”

Emily knew that she needed an explanation quickly that would make sense to her sister. “Doesn’t mean that we won’t see people from school.” She said quickly. “We might see classmates here. This place isn’t just for us and everyone not in Carrolton.”

Rachel looked at her older sister before she shrugged. “Okay.” She said. She knew that her older sister was hiding something. She knew her older sister well enough to tell when Emily was lying. There was something on Emily’s mind, something she was keeping a secret from the rest of their family. She was going to find out what it was one way or another.

“There you guys are!” Emily and Rachel turned to see Elizabeth and Delaney running over to them. Their mom had parked close to them. “You guys haven’t gone through check-in yet?” Delaney asked.

Emily shook her head. “We just got here.” She answered. “Dad was unloading our luggage.” She really hoped that he cousins hadn’t spotted her staring at James. The last thing she wanted was Rachel giving her a bad time about it or any of them thinking she had a crush on him. She really hoped that she wasn’t blushing when she thought that last part.

Aunt Anne smiled when she saw her brother and her nieces. “Looks like we’ll be able to go through check-in together after all.” She said to them as she walked over to them. “Delaney and Elizabeth, the trunk is opened. Go get your stuff.” Elizabeth and Delaney nodded to their mother and both took off quickly. Aunt Anne looked at her brother and her nieces. “So you had an easy time getting here?” She asked.

Mr. Tual nodded. “It was easy.” He answered. He looked at his daughters. “Once you two have your luggage with you, we’ll go get you girls checked in.” He told them. Emily and Rachel ran to get their luggage.

From where he was standing, James saw Emily and her sister go to their trunk. He knew that they would be there that week. He had seen their names on the list of campers who would be there that week. He just couldn’t let Emily see him yet, not until he knew that she wouldn’t expose their secret and everything else to her sister and her cousins. He wasn’t sure if he could trust them yet. He looked at Emily. “Almost time Chosen One.” He told her even though he knew that she couldn’t hear him. “Almost time for you to know everything about what is going on.” He knew that Gabriel would want to know that the chosen one was there.

In the upstairs of the lodge, Gabriel was in the office looking down at the families coming to check their kids in and parents taking their kids and their luggage to their cabins. This was the second week of camp and so far there had been no sign of any Black Hand at the camp. He was beginning to wonder if they had been wrong to suspect that the Black Hand would try to take the child during that week. If that was true, it meant that the Darkness could very well have another plan. A plan that they didn’t know about yet.

James then entered the office. “The chosen one and her family are here.” He told Gabriel. Gabriel didn’t turn to him. James frowned. “Did you hear what I said Sir?” He asked.

Gabriel nodded. “I did James.” He then turned to James. “Did she see you?” He asked, fearing the answer. It was important to know if Emily saw James or recognized him.

James leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not entirely sure.” He confessed. “She was looking around her and did look in my direction. I disappeared as quickly as I could so she couldn’t catch me.”

Gabriel shook his head. “The day of the Dark Ritual is coming here soon.” He said.

James shuddered when Gabriel said that. He knew what the Dark Ritual was. The day where the Black Hand would sacrifice the chosen one to bring the Darkness back. “If we know what day it is, shouldn’t we be warding the camp to keep the Black Hand from getting to her?” He asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “We can try but I get the feeling that it’s too late for that.” He answered.

James frowned. How could it be too late if the child had just arrived there? There was no way that the Black Hand could have gotten to her already. “What do you mean?” He asked.

Gabriel looked at James for a moment. “We’ve suspected that the Black Hand has inserted a spy into our camp.” He told James. “But there’s been no sign of them here.” James wanted to remind Gabriel of his suspicions but decided not to. Whatever was worrying Gabriel was more important. Gabriel took a moment before he continued. “What if there is no spy here to take her away but instead, the Black Hand has been mobilizing outside the camp?” He let that sink in before he continued. “If they are, they could easily overwhelm our wards around the camp and easily get to the chosen one.”

James realized what Gabriel was saying. “What should we do if that is true?” James asked.

Gabriel thought about it. “We’ll just need to be careful on that day.” He answered after a few minutes.

James joined him at the window and looked down at the families coming into the lodge below them. “Should I join their group?” He asked Gabriel. “To watch over Emily and her family?”

Gabriel looked at James. “That is actually a good idea.” He said. “I doubt it’ll discourage the Black Hand but it might give you the chance to check something out for me.”

James raised an eyebrow. “What is that?” He asked.

Gabriel gestured to the families that were leaving the lodge to drop off their kids. James looked at him before he looked down at them. He saw a girl leaving with her parents. “She’s in another group but their two groups will be sitting next to each other during each meal and will be doing some of the same activities together.” Gabriel explained.

James didn’t see where Gabriel was going with this. “And?” He asked. Gabriel looked at him. “And she is possibly a chosen one as well.” He added.

That threw James off. “I thought there was only one chosen one.” He said. “You said Emily was the chosen one.”

Gabriel nodded. “I know but there was something about her dream that made me suspect something that happened fifteen years ago.”

James managed not to roll his eyes. Gabriel wasn’t explaining things fast enough for him. “You mean that orphanage story you were telling me about?” He asked, hoping he was right.

Gabriel nodded. “That girl was the baby I took from the orphanage.” He told James.

James stared at him. The only noise that could be heard was coming from the families. “That’s her?” James asked. He wasn’t expecting that.

Gabriel nodded. “I need to make sure though to see if she is a chosen one or not.”

James looked at him. “Chosen for what exactly?” He asked.

Gabriel looked at him. “She is a descendant of Seraphina as well, or at least according to Jasper she is.” He explained. James realized what he was saying. “She could be the chosen one to defeat the Darkness?” He asked. He had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

Gabriel nodded. “But we have to make sure.” He answered. “It’s important that we keep both of them alive either way but if she is, she’ll be in more danger than we originally expected.”