The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three

That afternoon at the camp, Gabriel was watching all of the camp groups gathering in the front yard so the campers could be picked up by their parents. His eyes went to Audrey. She seemed a bit pale. He wondered if she knew that something bad had happened to her parents. He looked at James and subtly pointed at Audrey. James shook his head. So Audrey didn’t know that her parents were dead. He had a feeling though that Audrey knew that something was wrong. If James and he had sensed it, she had to have sensed it too. He nodded to James. The message was clear. James was to stay near Audrey when the parents came to pick up their kids.

Gabriel stood in front of the assembled groups. “Camps, it’s that time of the week!” He announced. “Time for you all to go back to your homes and families.” His eyes wandered over the groups as he spoke. “I know that this week has had some excitement but we’ve managed to get through it thanks to our faith.” He knew the real reason though that they had gotten through the week. He looked at James and Emily. Emily was leaning against James’s arm with James’s hand around hers. The chosen one looked nervous. No doubt she wasn’t ready to leave the place where there were people who could keep her safe. Her counselors either didn’t notice that she was leaning against James’s arm or they didn’t care that she was.

Gabriel continued speaking. “I hope to see you all come back here next summer for more fun and excitement. There will be new people joining us like always. There will be new groups joining some of our old groups.” He saw campers looking at each other. Some looked impatient to get back to their families, others were having tearful goodbyes. “I’m sure we’ve all made friendships that we will never forget and will do our best to stay in touch with each other.” Gabriel smiled. “But the memories we’ve made here can never be forgotten.” He gestured behind him in the direction that the parents would be in. “Your parents are all over. Please stay with your counselors until your parents have signed you out.” He told the campers. “Your campers have the sign out sheets for your parents.”

Audrey’s heart sank as she heard Gabriel heard that. She wasn’t sure why but she had a bad feeling. Like something was wrong and when Gabriel had talked about parents signing out, she wasn’t sure that her parents would be there to sign her out. She looked at Gabriel, hoping to see something that would put her mind at ease but his face didn’t betray how he was feeling or there was nothing wrong. Audrey wasn’t sure though if she believed that. She looked at Emily. The girl was leaning against James’s arm and unless Audrey’s eyes were deceiving her, Emily was holding James’s hand. Audrey managed not to giggle at that. No doubt Emily was doing that to feel safe and secure.

Audrey looked at Gabriel again. There was no sign of the other man, Jasper. She wondered where he was. If he was a normal guy, she would have figured that he was with other staff getting ready for the parents to sign out their campers. However, she had a feeling that he was doing something and that it possibly had to with why she had a bad feeling. When she had gotten that feeling the first time earlier that day, she had nearly fainted. She was really hoping that everything was okay. She looked past Gabriel at where the parents would be. She was really nervous about what she would find when she went over there.

Jasper watched a black SUV pull up into the parking lot. He had a feeling that there were Black Hands that were in it. No doubt they were there for Audrey. The doors opened and two people came out of them. One was a short woman with curly brown hair in a black suit. The other was a man with a grey beard and short grey hair in a black suit as well. They both looked dangerous and serious. They looked like Black Hands alright. Jasper was surprised that it was just the two of them though.

The two Black Hands looked at each other before they looked at Jasper. They went up to him rather quickly despite looking like they were older than even Gabriel. “Excuse us.” The man said in a strict voice. “My name is Harold and this is my associate Hannah. We’re from Child Services.” He took out a document from his pocket and handed it to Jasper. “We’re here to pick up a child whose parents were in a terrible accident this morning that took their lives.”

The woman, Hannah, nodded. “The child’s name is Audrey Tangen.” She said in an equally strict voice. “We’re here to collect her and to take her to a foster home until her relatives, if she has any, have been alerted to the situation and can come get her.” The way she said it made it clear that the two of them weren’t leaving until they had Audrey in their custody again.

Jasper looked at the document. Sure enough, it was a court order that gave Harold and Hannah the authority and right to remove Audrey from the camp and to place her in a foster home. The judge that signed off on the document was a Black Hand. He recognized the name as a member of the Black Hand. He knew though that once Audrey went with them, she would never be seen again until after she was killed. He knew that he would have no choice but to take them to Audrey. “I don’t suppose we could wait to get her until after the parents are picking up their kids?” He asked, hoping to stall for time so he could let Gabriel or James know of the situation.

Hannah shook her head. “Sadly we don’t have time.” She told Jasper.

Harold nodded. “We are on a very tight schedule and we can’t afford any delays.” He added. He then looked around them. “It would be a very big shame if word got out that you and your supervisors were disobeying Child Services.” He said in a threatening voice. “Might make people think that you were trying to keep something a secret.” The way he said that and the way that the two of them were looking at Jasper made Jasper knew that they weren’t kidding around.

“Very well.” Jasper told them. “I’ll take you two to Audrey and Gabriel.”

James looked past Gabriel as Gabriel finished talking and he saw Jasper walking towards them with a man and a woman who were in the same uniform. James looked at Audrey very quickly. She saw the two adults with Jasper as well. If there was any doubt that Audrey knew that something was up, it was gone now. James looked down at Emily and silently motioned for her to not make any noise. He pointed subtly towards the man and the woman with Jasper before pointing at Audrey.

Emily looked at Audrey and then at James’s hands. They looked like they were covering something even though nothing was there. If Emily had to take a guess, he wanted her to hide Audrey. Emily looked at Audrey. She had never done magic like that before but she knew that Audrey needed her help. She looked towards Gabriel and silently concentrated on making Audrey turn invisible. She felt James leave her side and heard him speak quietly to Audrey’s counselors. It sounded like he was saying that Audrey needed to leave already and that he was taking her away to the lodge. Emily wanted to look in their direction but she knew that she couldn’t. She realized that the hiding spell was only to hide Audrey there so there was no sign of her. She wondered why James didn’t do it at first but then guessed that the man and woman with Jasper knew the truth about who he was.

Audrey was looking at the man and the woman with Jasper. Her heart was beating fast. She didn’t know how but she knew that the two of them were there to take her away. She looked at Jasper. He seemed to be trying to walk as slowly as he could towards her. That was when she felt a presence by her. “Stay calm.” James whispered in her ear. “Emily has made you invisible to everyone here but her.” Audrey started turning her head towards James. “Don’t look at me.” James whispered urgently. “We need you as still as possible. Any movement and the invisible spell will be noticed. Now stay still for as long as possible and don’t move until I tell you to.”

Audrey was scared but she was willing to listen to James. He seemed to know what he was talking about and for some reason, it felt like he knew who the man and the woman were that were walking with Jasper. She kept her eyes focused on the two. The woman was short, had curly brown hair and was in a black suit. The man had a grey beard, short grey hair and was in a black suit as well. They both looked dangerous and serious. Audrey wanted to ask James who the two were but she had a feeling that the no talking fell under the no moving rule. She held her breath and didn’t blink.

Jasper went up to Gabriel. “Excuse me Sir.” He said to Gabriel. Gabriel stopped talking and they all looked at Jasper. “These two people,” Jasper gestured to Hannah and Harold. “Are here to pick up Audrey Tangen.” Jasper looked in the direction of the Experimental Explosion. To his surprise, Audrey wasn’t there. He saw James and Emily. James was a bit away from Emily. Jasper looked at Emily. He noticed that Emily was focused on Gabriel. The girl had to be doing a spell. An invisibility spell if Jasper had to take a guess. He looked back at James. He wondered if Audrey was standing close to James.

Gabriel looked at the assembled groups in front of him. “Is Audrey Tangen still here or has she left already?” He asked. He already knew what was going on. He had heard James whispering by using his magic to eavesdrop on the boy and had seen James’s hand movements. He looked at Audrey’s counselors. Both of them nodded to him. Gabriel looked at the man and the woman. “I’m sorry.” He said to the two. “I guess you just missed her.” He recognized the two of them. He wondered if they recognized him though.

Harold and Hannah looked at each other before they looked at Gabriel. They both knew that he was lying. The girl was still there somewhere. However, they weren’t as reckless as the Man with the German Accent. They weren’t going to blow up everything with this many witnesses present just to get a child. That was how the Man with the German Accent nearly ruined everything. Not because of the ritual failing but because he had kidnapped the chosen one from the camp. They would just need to wait until Audrey was alone before capturing her. “Very well.” Harold said. “We’ll pick her up at another time.” He turned to leave. Hannah looked out at the assembled group before she walked after Harold.

As the two of them walked away, Hannah looked at Harold. “Do you believe that the girl wasn’t there?” She asked him.

Harold scoffed. “Hardly.” He answered. “I believe that she was hiding there.” He managed not to look over his shoulders at the groups. “And they can’t keep the girl hidden from our eyes forever.”

Hannah nodded and the two walked to their SUV. “So now what?” Hannah asked. “We’ll have to tell Anthony that we didn’t get the girl.”

Harold nodded. “He’ll have our next orders.” He told his partner. “And we’ll be ready to carry them out.” They got into the SUV and drove away.