Chapter 21
Back at the manor, Anthony was looking around him in the study. He couldn’t help but feel smug. Finally, all of his plans were coming together. It had taken him many years but now his victory was at hand. He would soon show the entire Black Hand and the Darkness that he deserved the position of the Right Hand. He had after all calculated who the real Chosen One was. Audrey was from Russia and the original fight had occurred in what would be considered Russia one day. It only made sense that the real Chosen One would have been born in Russia. He smiled. Gabriel had done his best to hide the Chosen One but fate had demanded that she faced her destiny and be defeated by the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Josiah entered the study. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Anthony asked. “And to think that it was being wasted on that fool of a Magician.” Anthony looked at Josiah. “And now this entire manor will be one of the many locations for our European Operatives to work from once the Darkness has risen up and has taken the entire.” Anthony couldn’t help but feel proud of himself. His victory over the Chosen One was so close.
Josiah smiled a little. Anthony deserved the chance to be happy. He had been hiding in the shadows for so many centuries. He was finally getting everything he wanted. “What about Harold and Hannah?” Josiah asked as he sat down across from Anthony. “You know that they’ll want some of the credit for this victory over the Chosen One.”
“I suppose we’ll have to give them partial credit for helping me carry out my plan.” Anthony said. He didn’t really want to share the glory with Harold and Hannah though. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse were more than happy to let him claim all the credit and glory for this victory since they had been, in a way, supporting Derdrom keeping a possible Chosen One hidden from not only him but also the Man with the German Accent. Anthony had a feeling that they were trying to show their support to him. That was fine with Anthony. He was going to find a new Horseman of War soon. A Horseman of War that would be more loyal to him.
Anthony was tempted to have Josiah find Harold and Hannah and kill them. They were a threat to him and his plans. Sure all three of them wanted to bring back the Darkness but Harold and Hannah were way too extreme with their methods and Anthony suspected them of coming up with a plan to kill him so they could claim the glory for themselves. Anthony knew though that Harold and Hannah probably had something that they could use against Josiah if the demon went after them.
Anthony leaned back in his chair. “Tell me Josiah, how many demons can you muster together?” He asked as an idea came to him.
Josiah raised an eyebrow. What was Anthony thinking of? “How many did you have in mind?” He asked Anthony. “I can maybe summon about seven or eight demons before the end of the day. If you wanted more, it might take a day or two to accomplish.” It would help him though if he knew what Anthony wanted more demons for.
Anthony typed something onto the computer and turned the screen to Josiah. Josiah noticed that it was surveillance footage of Harold’s room and Hannah’s room. “I want the competition taken out.” Anthony explained. “I know that Harold agreed to follow me through with my plan but I don’t trust either of them. If we can get enough demons, we can kill both of them so we don’t have to worry about them ruining the plan or trying to claim the credit for it.” Anthony looked at the two. They were both alone in their rooms. If he had brought his army of Black Hands with him, he could have easily had them carry out the mission but because of the Man with the German Accent’s stupidity, it wasn’t safe for the Black Hand to be there.
Josiah thought about what Anthony was saying. He realized that their best chance of getting rid of Harold and Hannah was by using demons. “I’ll get as many as I can.” He told Anthony. “It might take a couple of days though.” It would be a price that Anthony would have to pay if he wanted this plan to be carried out properly. If it was rushed, the demons might get out of hand and try to kill the two of them as well.
Harold opened his door and, just as he expected, saw it was Hannah. “We need to talk.” Hannah told Harold before she entered the room. Harold closed the door and locked it before he turned to Hannah. “You don’t trust Anthony, am I right?” Harold asked. He knew that he was right though. Anthony had ordered the two of them back to the manor after they had reported that Anastasia was with Gabriel and the Chosen One before sending the three Horsemen of the Apocalypse to kill the Chosen One.
Hannah nodded. “I don’t think either of us is safe here as long as Anthony has power.” She told Harold. “He has control over the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and once he has a new Horseman of War, no one will be able to challenge him, not even the Darkness.” She knew that they were treading on something dangerous. No one in the Black Hand had ever challenged the Darkness before. Anthony though, with the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and a demon in his service, could do it and possibly win. If Anthony defeated the Chosen One, he could turn the Horsemen of the Apocalypse on the Darkness and destroy their master before claiming Earth for himself.
Harold looked at his door nervously before he turned back to Hannah. “What are you suggesting?” He asked her. “That we go against Anthony and try to kill him before he can find a new Horseman of War? Even if we were to try to kill him now, he has a demon in his service here and that demon could easily kill us at any given time.” Even with their fearsome reputation, the two of them didn’t have anything that could repel demons. It was the real reason why Harold had agreed to follow Anthony.
Hannah sat down on the bed. “Then what do you think we should do Harold?” She asked. “Because I can guarantee you that Anthony is planning on getting rid of the two of us whether we want to believe it or not.” As far as she was concerned, all they could do was try to kill Anthony before he got his fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. With him gone, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and whoever they chose to be the new Horseman of War would be loyal to them. They would be able to protect themselves from the demon with the four riders.
“We’ll have to immobilize Josiah if we’re to have a chance to kill Anthony now.” Harold told Hannah. “We keep him frozen long enough, Anthony will be left defenseless.” It was the best that Harold could come up with on such short notice but he knew that they didn’t really have time left for planning this through. Josiah could very well be on his way to their rooms to kill them.
Anthony smiled as he looked at the black bricks that made up the Kremlin. He had done it at last. He now had all of the power. It had taken quite a bit of time and quite a bit of careful planning but he had done it. He saw the soldiers marching by. They were dressed in black uniforms with automatic rifles in their hands. None of them had the emblem of the Black Hand. Instead, they all wore a triangular patch on their left shoulder. The triangular patch had the All-Seeing Eye. The soldiers all spoke Russian. He could hear the Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding around the building’s perimeter.
Anthony looked above him and his smile grew bigger as he saw a black flag with the same design on it. “Hey you.” A young girl’s voice said. Anthony looked down. A girl was sitting across from him. She looked like she was eleven or twelve. She had a smile on her face. She was in a black dress with the All-Seeing Eye patch on her left shoulder. She also had a necklace around her neck. The only thing attached to it was a medallion with the All-Seeing Eye on it. “You need to drink your tea before it gets cold.” The girl told Anthony.
Anthony laughed a little and picked up his teacup. He drank from it. “Thank you for the tea Aunica.” He told the young girl. He drank more of the tea. He then saw that Aunica was writing something in her journal. She seemed focused on whatever it was that she was writing. “What’s that?” He asked her.
Aunica looked up at him. “The story you wanted me to write about how you saved the world from Gabriel and the Darkness.” She told him. “I want to make sure I have it all written before the end of the week if the rest of the world is to see how you saved them all.” Aunica looked down at the page that she was writing on. “And it might help you keep your promise to me.” She added more quietly. Before Anthony could say anything, he felt something shaking him…
Anthony woke up in his study. Josiah was standing over him. “You were dreaming again.” Josiah told him. “Was it the same dream?”
Anthony thought back to his dream. “It felt so real.” He told Josiah as he stood up. Anthony walked to the bookshelf behind him and started skimming through the books. “There was a girl there though. She and I knew each other.” Anthony continued as he pulled a book off of the shelf and opened it. He flipped through the pages until he reached a page that had the symbol from his dream. “According to Aunica, I defeated Gabriel and the Darkness.” Anthony looked at the All-Seeing Eye. “This symbol was everywhere like last time.”
Josiah looked at the symbol. “What do you think this means Anthony?” He asked. He hadn’t been working for Anthony for that long but he knew that Anthony would have the same dream a lot. Him in front of the Kremlin acting like he ruled from it with the All-Seeing Eye all around him. Anthony never mentioned a girl though before. Either Anthony was starting to remember more or there was more to the dream that was just now being revealed because of everything that was going on.
Anthony closed the book. “Aunica.” He said. He looked at Josiah. “Get to work now on getting rid of Harold and Hannah.” He ordered Josiah. “I can’t risk their loyalty to the Darkness getting in the way of making what I saw come true.” If he was right, he didn’t just have a dream. He saw the future and he wasn’t about to give up on that future. Not yet.
Josiah frowned. He wasn’t sure he liked what Anthony was saying. “I thought we served the Darkness.” He said. “Are you telling me that seeing more of this dream has changed your mind about bringing the Darkness back?” Josiah wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Anthony was speaking of betraying the most powerful entity on Earth. If Anthony was saying that he was going to prevent the Darkness from coming back, Josiah just hoped that Anthony would actually be able to carry that plan out.
Anthony looked at Josiah. “Get to work on killing Harold and Hannah.” He ordered. “I want them gone before the end of tomorrow.” He didn’t care if he was rushing Josiah. His thoughts went to one important detail from his dream. The date in Aunica’s journal read: July Fifth, Two Thousand and Eighteen. According to the dream, Anthony was to be ruling the world by Saturday and it was already Monday. He didn’t have much time left before what he saw come to pass.
Out in the forest, there was a bright flash of light and a young woman appeared. She had brown hair in a ponytail. She was in a black leather jacket and jeans. She had a necklace around her neck. On it was a medallion with the All-Seeing Eye on it. The young woman looked around her. “That wasn’t easy.” She said to herself. She took her phone out and looked at the date. She smiled. She still had time to change the future for a better one.
That was when she saw the three Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding past her. Her eyes widened. She didn’t have that much time left before the future she saw started to come true. She quickly ran after the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.