The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 18

“She’s waking up.” Audrey groaned as she opened her eyes. She had a throbbing headache. “Do you think she remembers everything that happened to her when she was gone?” She recognized the voice as James’s voice. She looked at James. The boy was sitting next to her with a worried look on his face. Gabriel was standing off by a desk. He had his back to the two of them.

Audrey looked around her. “Where am I?” She asked. She didn’t recognize the room. It was small and made of wood. If she had to take a guess, she was in a log cabin. She sat up and looked down at what she had been laying on. It was a small bed.

“What do you remember?” Gabriel asked Audrey. He turned to her.

To Audrey’s surprise, Gabriel had a worried look on his face. She thought it over. “Last thing I remember was…a flash of light and I was sent to wherever this place is.” She said. Her memories came flooding back. Her eyes widened. “What happened to Aunica? Is she safe? Did I change the past at all?” She had to know what had happened after she had vanished from the past. “How long have I been here?”

Gabriel and James looked at each other. They both knew that Audrey remembered her trip to the past. Audrey looked at them. “What happened?” She asked. “Tell me. I need to know what I’ve changed in the past.” Her heart began to beat quickly as she got worried.

Gabriel went up to her. “Aunica vanished in the flash of light that took you away from the Witch Trials.” He told Audrey. “But she didn’t reappear with you when you did.” He added in a grave voice. “Which means she was lost somewhere in the time stream while you were coming back.”

Audrey looked down as she thought about her trip to the future. She remembered seeing a dark speck amongst the brightness of what she assumed was the timeline. She realized that that dark speck had been Aunica. Which meant that the thing that had grabbed onto her had been Aunica as well. Her heart sank. “It’s my fault she’s gone.” She said quietly. She looked at Gabriel. “If I had just held her closer to me on the return trip, she’d still be here.” She looked at James. To her surprise, he had a pained look on his face. “James?” She asked. “What is it?”

James didn’t reply. Instead, he stormed out of the room. Audrey frowned and looked at Gabriel. “What’s wrong with him?” She asked. “Why does Aunica disappearing from the past matter to him so much? It’s not like she had been the Chosen One all of those years ago. She’s dead and the Darkness is still threatening the world.” She didn’t see why James had to be so upset. Aunica was still dead no matter where she appeared in the timeline. Aunica had left the time stream before she had. There was no way that Aunica was still alive.

Gabriel sighed. He knew that James would hate what he was about to tell Audrey but the girl needed to know the truth. “Aunica wasn’t just a girl to James.” He told Audrey. “She was his world. He was in love with her and she was in love with him. When she disappeared all of those years ago, James was heartbroken. Jasper had to take him to a hidden location so he could recover from his broken heart.” He looked at the door that James had stormed off through. “James had gotten over the heart break but after you reappeared here, he realized that this was the only moment he could see if Aunica would return.” He turned back to Audrey. “James’s immortality comes with having to remember his past perfectly. There was always a part of him that would never get over Aunica. I’m afraid that this moment is such a time for him to remember the girl he lost.”

Audrey thought about James. She never would have figured that James had been in love with anyone but maybe Emily. She had seen how close James had been to Emily and how protective he had been of her. She would have thought that Emily was the first girl that James loved. She never would have thought that James had had other crushes and girls to have broken his heart. She regretted going into the past. But that was when she realized something. She still had no idea if the timeline had been changed.

Audrey looked at Gabriel. “What about everything that happened between that moment and now?” She asked him. “Did I change anything at all?” She knew that even the tiniest change would have a huge impact on the future. She was really hoping that she hadn’t done anything to ruin the timeline. She was worried about it.

Gabriel nodded, to Audrey’s horror. “You did change a few things.” He told her. “Though I don’t know if they really were changes or not.”

That didn’t make Audrey feel any better. “What about Emily? Did her mother die when she was little? Did the Magician’s ritual involve her? Did her family survive my trip to the past?” She knew that Gabriel couldn’t answer all of her questions but she had to know.

Gabriel thought about the best way to answer Audrey’s questions. “To start with, Emily’s mother did die when Emily was four. The Magician believed that Emily was the Chosen One and did try to use her for the ritual. We were able to stop the ritual from happening and the majority of the Black Hand were captured. Your parents are dead and there are Black Hands that are after you.” He told Audrey. “Does that cover everything? He asked her.

Audrey nodded. She was relieved that she didn’t change anything big. “But there is one change that you did make.” Gabriel added.

Audrey’s heart sank. She was scared to ask but she had to know. “What change did I make?” She asked.

Gabriel went to his desk and picked up an old book. “This change and I fear that the Black Hand has seen it as well.” He told Audrey before he laid the old book on Audrey’s lap. “You made your fate clear by defeating the First Tribulation.”

Audrey looked down at the book. It was a Bible and it was opened to the book of Revelations. She looked at the illustration. It was of the Two Witnesses. Her eyes widened. One of them was her.

Audrey looked at Gabriel. “I’m one of the Witnesses?” She asked.

Gabriel nodded. “And I believe that the Black Hand that sent Abigail Williams here to kill you now know that since you’ve defeated the First Tribulation.” He told Audrey.

Audrey realized what Gabriel was saying. “You’re saying that I defeated the dead witch?” She asked. “But how was that even possible? I disappeared into the past before I could defeat her.” There was no way that she had killed Abigail Williams.

Gabriel sat down at the desk. This was going to get hard. “Abigail Williams was going to kill Jasper, James and me when she vanished in a bright flash of light.” He told Audrey. “When you returned, her dead body reappeared before it turned to dust. Whatever happened in the past, it caused Abigail’s death in the present for good.” He wasn’t sure how Audrey had done it either but he knew that the two were connected. He just wished that he knew who it was that had sent Abigail Williams to kill Audrey.

Audrey looked at the image of the two Witnesses. “I’m one of the two Witnesses.” She said. “Seven Tribulations.” So Abigail Williams was the first Tribulation. That meant that there were six Tribulations left. She wondered who or what the other six Tribulations were. She looked at the other Witness. There wasn’t any way to tell who it was. She looked at Gabriel. “If Abigail Williams was the First Tribulation, what are the other six?” She asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “There’s no telling who or what they will be.” He told Audrey. “But they will have connections to you since you are the Witness that the Black Hand is convinced is the Chosen One.” He needed Audrey to understand what he was saying. “The six remaining Tribulations will challenge and help you understand who you are and what your role is in the fight against the Darkness.” He wasn’t sure though what challenges Audrey would have to face. “Since you are one of the Witnesses, I will be the other Witness so I can help you.” He told Audrey.

Outside of the cabin, Jasper was watching James. The boy was sitting on the steps facing a small tree. James had been quiet since he came out of the cabin. Jasper had a feeling that he knew why James was quiet. The thought of Aunica came into his mind. He remembered how Aunica’s mother had died of a broken heart a few weeks after Aunica had disappeared. He knew that James had been heartbroken as well. It had taken months for James to get over his broken heart but he knew that James had never moved on entirely. Jasper had hoped that by having James spend time with Emily’s group, he would have fallen in love with Emily and move on the rest of the way.

Jasper sat down next to James. “It’s hard, isn’t it?” He asked James. “Being reminded of how Aunica was taken away from all of us.” He looked at the small tree. James had taken it everywhere with him wherever they moved. It was a small memorial to Aunica.

James nodded. “I haven’t thought of her since that day she disappeared with Audrey and now Audrey has reminded me of who I lost all of those years ago.” James looked down as he took a small box out of his pocket. He opened the box to reveal a small ring.

Jasper looked at the ring. He had no idea that James had it. He knew that James had loved Aunica but he had no idea that James had gotten her a ring. “Were you going to…?” Jasper didn’t finish the question.

James looked at the ring. “I was going to but I wasn’t sure exactly when I was.” He answered. “I was going to wait until after the Witch Trials were over. I know that there were suitors interested in her despite her being only eleven.” James closed the box and looked at Jasper. “Not that it matters anymore.” He said. “Audrey after all took Aunica into the time stream without any plans and lost Aunica in it.”

Jasper realized what James was saying. “You blame Audrey for losing Aunica, don’t you?” He asked.

James couldn’t look at Jasper. “I thought I had moved on but after seeing Audrey reappearing in the flash of light from the past has reopened the wound.” James pocketed the box. “What should I do?” He asked Jasper. “I can’t hate Audrey for something she had no power over but Aunica was special to me.” James looked down. He had no idea what do to about his past.

Jasper thought it over before he took a picture out of his pocket. He gave it to James. “I meant to give you this but with everything that’s been happening I forgot to.” James looked at the picture. It was of Emily’s group. James looked at Jasper. The older man was looking at the group of kids. “There’s someone in that picture that you could have a redo with.” Jasper continued. “You lost one love but that doesn’t mean you can’t find love again.”

James looked at Jasper. “How are the camp groups going?” He asked Jasper. It was Monday after all. All of the staff had returned except for Caterina the day before and the campers were all busy having fun at the camp. James would be out there but he had to work with Gabriel and Audrey with the fight against the Darkness and the Black Hands.

Before Jasper could answer, a woman appeared out of the forest. She had a cloak on with a hood over her head. Both Jasper and James stood up. “Who are you?” Jasper demanded. “Why are you here?”

The woman removed her hood and looked at the two. “Is that any way to greet someone who could be a Chosen One?” She asked the two. “My name is Anastasia and I need your help.”

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