SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Twenty Three
Josiah reappeared at the entrance sign to the camp. He was relieved that there was no one driving by the entrance. He heard someone coming out of the forest behind him. He turned to see a young man approaching him. The young man was wearing a camp shirt. Josiah smiled when he saw the man. “No one is going to miss you Matthew?” He asked the man.
The young man shook his head. “The staff member I talked to thinks I’m here to get the camp mail.” He told Josiah.
Josiah was impressed. “Excellent.” He said. “I know which cabin bed the child that Anthony wants gone will be sleeping at.” He told Matthew. Matthew nodded. He knew that Anthony was serious about getting rid of Audrey. He didn’t know why though. He hadn’t been told that part. He wasn’t going to question Josiah though. He didn’t know much about the Black Hand. Just that he was just as powerful as Anthony and that the two of them were more powerful than the Man with the German Accent.
“So when am I supposed to try to get rid of Audrey?” He asked Josiah.
Josiah looked at his watch. “Tonight. Anthony wants the job done as soon as possible.” He answered. “He doesn’t want to risk the chance of the Man with the German Accent finding out about her. That would be very bad.” The way that he was saying it made Matthew believe him.
Matthew took out a map of the inside of Experimental Explosion B’s cabin. “So where is the girl’s bed?” He asked.
Josiah looked at the man for a moment before he touched a bed. The white paper where the bed was turned red. “Right there.” He answered. Matthew looked at the cabin map. “Good.” He said. “I can do the job tonight.” That was when
Josiah grabbed his arm. “Anthony wants this job done as quickly as possible.” He told Matthew. “Any mess ups will be dealt with by me.” As he said the last bit, his eyes turned blood red.
Matthew looked at Josiah nervously. “Don’t worry.” He said. He was mainly saying that to reassure himself. Truth be told, Josiah scared the crap out of him just by reputation alone. The Black Hand had a higher body count than the Man with the German Accent according to some Black Hands. Matthew didn’t want to find out if that was true or not. “I’ll do the job right and get rid of Audrey.” He hoped that Josiah believed him. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. Josiah spent that time staring into Matthew’s eyes. Matthew wondered if the Black Hand was trying to peer into his soul or something.
Josiah then spoke. “Very well.” He said. He released Matthew’s arm. “You better get back into the camp.” He continued. “I’m sure that your absence will be noticed shortly.” He snapped his fingers and several envelopes appeared in Matthew’s hands. “I believe that you were getting the mail, am I right?” Matthew nodded before he quickly took off running.
Josiah watched the spy run back to the camp before he took out his phone. He dialed Anthony’s number. “It’s me.” He reported in once Anthony picked up the phone. “Our spy has his mission and is ready to carry it out tonight.” He looked at his watch. “Before midnight tonight, Audrey will finally be dead.”
From within his manor in Venice Italy, Anthony was looking out the window at the sun setting over the beautiful city. Besides the view, the only other thing that helped him feel like a ruler was the Black Hands that were patrolling outside. His phone was at his ear. He had a smile on his face. “That is very good news indeed Josiah.” He said. “Report back to the Magician’s manor and try to find out more about our four guests of honor.” He ordered before he hung up. As he pocketed the phone, he looked at the table next to him. There was an old Bible on it. It was opened to the Book Of Revelations. There was a picture of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on one page. On the next page was an illustration of two olive trees.
“Are you sure?” Gabriel asked as he turned to James. James had just reported the Black Hand who disappeared into a pillar of fire.
James nodded. “Do you know of any Black Hand who can do that?” He asked Gabriel.
Gabriel shook his head. “I’ve come across just about every Black Hand who is unusual in the States but never met any who could disappear like that.” Gabriel was very sure that not even the Man with the German Accent could do that. He looked at James. “Are you sure he didn’t say anything else?” He asked. “Anything that might help us find out who he is?”
James thought about it. “He did seem shocked that I was the one who saved Emily from the Magician and Bastet but you already know that.” He told Gabriel. Gabriel thought about what James was saying. It was possible that he had missed a Black Hand or two over the many years that the Black Hand had existed. He didn’t believe it of course but he knew that it was possibly true.
There was a knock at the door. Both of them turned to see Jasper standing there. “Gabriel, the groups are finishing getting the last of their campers.” Jasper reported.
Gabriel nodded to him. “Excellent. I’ll be heading over to do orientation with the groups.” He told Jasper before he looked at James. “I want you to go join the Experimental Explosion A group as their support staff member.” He ordered the boy.
James wanted to remind him of the Black Hand with the red eyes that was threatening Emily and Audrey but he had a feeling that Gabriel would just tell him that the Black Hand would most likely come back on his own and that they would be able to deal with him when the time came. “Very well.” Was all that James said. Both he and Gabriel left.
Emily looked at the other campers in her group as they walked to orientation. They all seemed okay to her. There was Savannah and Katie. They, along with her sister, cousins and the counselor and her were the girls in their group. Tony had Carl, Jackson, Ethan and Drew. They were the entire group of Experimental Explosion A. Emily hoped that they would have a great week together. Rachel had taken an immediate shine to Katie and Savannah and was chatting up a storm with them.
Delaney and Elizabeth were talking to the four boy campers. Emily was happy that her cousins and sister were getting along well with the others. The other campers in the group seemed okay. Their counselors were really cool so far. Tony was funny and Kat knew how to sing well. Emily however was looking for someone else. She had to know for sure if she had seen James earlier or not. She went over to Tony and Kat. “How long have you two been here?” She asked them.
The two counselors looked at her. “For a few weeks or so.” Tony answered.
Kat smiled. “We had to go through training and we had a week of campers here the week before.” She explained. Emily smiled. That was great. That meant that there was a chance that they had seen James then.
“During the staff training, were there any kids here at the camp?” She asked nonchalantly.
Tony thought about it. “There was one boy.” He answered. Emily’s ears perked up. She hoped that it was James. “He was sort of Jasper’s, the assistant director’s assistant.” Tony continued. “His name was James I think.” Tony shook his head. “We didn’t really see him around all that much though. He spent more time with Gabriel.”
Emily had a feeling that the James that Tony talked about was the James that she was looking for. “If he’s a kid, why is he an assistant?” She asked.
Kat smiled. “Probably because he’s been here longer than anyone else except for Gabriel and Jasper.” She answered.
Emily was amazed to hear that. “How long has he been here?” She asked.
Kat and Tony shook their heads. “No one is really sure.” Kat answered.
“Some think he’s been here since he was born.” Tony explained. “Others though think that he’s only been here since his uncles became the camp director and assistant director.”
Emily thought about what they were saying. “Gabriel and Jasper are his uncles?” She asked.
Kat nodded. “They were brothers of James’s father before James’s parents died.” She explained to Emily.
So James was an orphan who was being raised by his uncles. Emily couldn’t help but feel a little bit of sympathy for James. She had lost her mother when she was little but James had lost both of his parents. “Where is James right now?” She asked.
Kat smiled. “Are you wondering if he’s cute?” She asked Emily. Emily shook her head quickly. She was hoping that she wasn’t blushing. She had only seen James the one time and that was in her dream. She was really hoping that she wasn’t blushing. The thing was, James was a bit cute.
That was when she saw him. James was walking towards her group. He looked exactly the same as when he had been in her dream. The only difference this time was that he was in a staff shirt. He went up to Tony and Kat. “I was told by Gabriel to be your support staff.” He told them. Emily noticed that he was avoiding looking at her. She wondered why. Tony high-fived James. “I’ll be sure to introduce you to the rest of our group after orientation.” He told James.
Kat pointed at Emily. “She was just asking about you.” She told James. Emily quickly looked away. She knew that she was blushing at this point. She had never made it a point to get a boy to look at her. She heard James join her.
“What were you asking about?” James asked.
Emily looked at him. “Nothing much.” She answered. “Just wondering why you’re the assistant to Jasper if you’re a kid. I didn’t know that he and Gabriel were your uncles.” She knew that he probably didn’t want to talk about her dream. She wanted to but she had a feeling that now wasn’t the best time to bring it up.
James smiled. He knew that Emily was embarrassed that Kat had told him that. He was going to do his best not to embarrass her. “We can talk later about you know what.” He murmured softly to her.
Emily looked at him. “You mean that dream you hijacked?” She asked just as quietly. James nodded. He motioned to Emily’s group. Emily looked ahead. They were starting to fall behind. It was clear what James was saying. They needed to stay with her group. She looked at him. “Is this why Gabriel assigned you to my group?” She asked.
James nodded. “That and another reason.” He answered truthfully. “A very important reason.” He noticed that Kat looked over her shoulder at him.
“Catch up you two.” Kat told them.
James looked at Emily. “We’ll have a chance to talk.” He told her. “For now though, I better get to know your entire group.” He smiled as he walked ahead of her. Emily ran after him as James started talking to the four boys and her two cousins.
Savannah, Katie and Rachel watched James talking to the four boys and the other three girls. “Who is he?” Rachel asked.
Katie shrugged. “I have no idea but he must be a staff member if he’s in that shirt.” She said.
Savannah looked at James. She had seen him earlier when her parents and little brother had been dropping her off. She had wanted to talk to him but she hadn’t because he had disappeared. He was a bit cute. She could see why Emily had blushed when he had joined their group. “Think he’ll be staying with our group for the week?” She asked Rachel and Katie.
Rachel smiled. “I really hope so!” She cried excitedly. “I want to make as many new friends as I possibly can.” She looked at Katie. “Want him to stay with our group too?” She asked.
Katie looked at James. “It would be nice if we had another boy in our group.” She said. “It would help the other boys not feel so outnumbered.” She looked at Rachel and Savannah before the three of them started laughing.