The Adventures of Emily Tual: Revelations Book Three
Chapter 33

In the castle, there was a room dedicated to the ritual. It was large and round. Not as large as the sacrificial ground where the Man with the German Accent was going to sacrifice Emily but it was large enough to complete the ritual. The entire chamber was made of stone. Some torches lit up the room but the fire felt cold. There were Black Hands in red robes. Their robes were more official looking than the robes the Man with the German Accent and his followers wore. They had spears in their hands. The spearheads glowed black. They were rumored to have been brought in from the Darkness’s personal lair. Another rumor was that they came from Japan. They were very lethal.

Caterina looked around the chamber as other Black Hands filled the room. She didn’t care much that Josiah would be missing the ritual. The point of what they were doing was to bring back the Darkness. It didn’t matter how who was present as long as they had the Chosen One. The Darkness didn’t need that large of a group present. That’s what Caterina had learned from the failure of the Man with the German Accent.

Caterina looked at the red robed Black Hands. It was hard to tell what they were thinking about. Their faces were so stone-like. They were glaring at the center of the chamber where the altar was. Caterina looked at the altar. She wondered what it would be like once the Darkness rose. She wondered if the Darkness would be in a body of a human or a creature. The Man with the German Accent was the oldest Black Hand and probably was the only one who had seen the Darkness before she had been sealed away.

A Black Hand went up to Caterina. “Should I bring the Chosen One here?” He asked Caterina.

Caterina nodded. “We need to complete the ritual before Gabriel or Anthony can stop us.” She told the Black Hand. The Man with the German Accent had wasted too much time and that was why he had failed.

A few minutes later, four Black Hands escorted Audrey into the chamber. The Black Hands present didn’t make any noise as they watched Audrey being taken into the middle of the chamber. Audrey looked around the chamber. She noticed that the Black Hands looked very dangerous. She wondered if the failed ritual was the reason that these Black Hands didn’t cheer for this ritual or jeer at her.

Audrey looked at Caterina. “You don’t need to do this.” She told Caterina. She had to try to convince Caterina that there was more to life than serving the Darkness. She looked around at the Black Hands. If she could get Caterina on her side, they could both overcome the Black Hands and escape.

Caterina laughed. “The ritual will be carried out and the Darkness shall rise up.” She told Audrey. The Black Hands tied Audrey down to the altar and backed away. Caterina looked around the room. It was time to start the ritual.

Gabriel looked around him as the basement shook. “You can feel it, can’t you?” He looked at Bastet. The Black Hand was smiling wickedly. “The ritual is about to happen and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Bastet continued. “I didn’t know that your special Witness was the Chosen One but apparently there are Black Hands that did know and now they’re about to sacrifice her to bring back the Darkness.”

Gabriel didn’t like the sound of that. He hadn’t planned on the Black Hands using Audrey as the sacrifice. He had always thought that Emily was the Chosen One and that Audrey was just a Witness. He wasn’t sure if the ritual would work with just a Witness but he knew that he couldn’t let Audrey die because of the Black Hand. “Who’s the one leading the ritual?” He asked. Bastet didn’t answer. Gabriel went up to her and grabbed her by the arm. His eyes started glowing. “Tell me who’s leading the Black Hand in this? Caterina? Josiah? Anthony? Who?” Bastet’s arm began to smoke where Gabriel had grabbed her but Bastet didn’t react at all.

“Gabriel?” Gabriel turned around and saw James and Aunica standing there. “Would Caterina and Josiah really sacrifice Audrey to bring back the Darkness?” James asked. It seemed reckless and dangerous to him. Audrey wasn’t the Chosen One. Sacrificing her wouldn’t bring the Darkness back. It would just kill Audrey and who knows how many Black Hands.

Gabriel shook his head. “I’m not sure but I wouldn’t put it past them.” He answered. If Josiah held the same belief that Anthony did, Audrey would be sacrificed. It didn’t make sense for Caterina to carry it out unless she believed in the same cause. He looked at James. “We don’t want to wait around for the ritual to occur or for Audrey to die.” He told James. “I’ll go find Audrey and save her. You two will stay here and keep safe.” With that, Gabriel left the basement.

In their office in Tokyo, the five Black Hands saw dark storm clouds gather in the sky. “So the ritual begins.” Duchess Annamarie said. She looked at her four colleagues. “Should we be worried if this doesn’t work?” They knew that the ritual involved sacrificing Audrey. She turned on a screen and it showed the chamber.

Doctor Vilt nodded. “No one is certain who the Chosen One is.” She said. “If this ritual fails, there’s no telling how much damage will be caused or how many Black Hands will be killed.” She looked at another screen. On it was a map. There was a large black dot in the Appalachian Mountains and it was spreading. It was a simulation of what would happen if the ritual failed.

The five members looked at the screen that showed the ritual chamber. “If this does fail, we’ll at least be in a position where we can help lead the remaining Black Hands in capturing the Chosen One Emily and carrying out what so many others have failed at.” The first man said.

“Not entirely Professor.” The last man said. “According to Doctor Vilt’s simulator, the negative blast radius will consume most of Ohio, including where Emily lives. The blast will kill her and then we’ll be without a Chosen One.”

The Professor looked at Doctor Vilt’s screen. “Hmm.” He said. “We better make sure then that the ritual doesn’t go according to plan. We’ll need to make sure that the ritual isn’t carried out.”

The Professor looked at Doctor Vilt’s screen. “Hmm.” He said. “We better make sure then that the ritual doesn’t go according to plan. We’ll need to make sure that the ritual isn’t carried out.” He took out his phone. It was time to make a call.

As Caterina started the ritual, there was a commotion that could be heard from outside. All of the Black Hands except for the red robed Black Hands looked at each other nervously and began to murmur. The castle shook. Caterina groaned and stopped what she was doing. She had a feeling that it was Anthony or Gabriel causing the commotion. She didn’t have time for this. She had a ritual to carry out. She looked down at Audrey. “Don’t move from here.” She told Audrey before she looked at the Black Hands. “Red robe Black Hands, stand guard! The rest of you, go outside and see what’s happening! If we’re under attack, get rid of whoever is attacking us.” She ordered.

All over the castle, Black Hands were rushing to the battlements and front gates to see what was happening. What surprised them was seeing several of the Black Hand ninjas fighting against Anthony’s Black Hands. None of them were expecting Anthony to have a large army or that Anthony would be trying to stop the ritual. Anthony’s Black Hands were shooting their rifles at the Black Hand ninjas. The Black Hand ninjas were deflecting bullets and throwing ninja stars. The Black Hands that were guarding the front gates were firing their guns at Anthony’s Black Hands.

Josiah was at the battlement over the front gate. “Don’t let Anthony get in!” He shouted at his Black Hands. His demonic Black Hands had gone down to the battlefield and were attacking Anthony’s Black Hands, killing them swiftly while slowly being killed.

Anthony was watching his Black Hands fighting Josiah and Caterina’s forces. He had never expected Josiah to betray him like this. He had never trusted Caterina or her mother but Josiah was the last person he thought would betray him. Agent Beckett joined him. “What are your orders Sir?” Agent Beckett asked.

Anthony looked at Agent Beckett. “Get the Chosen One out of there and bring her to me.” He ordered. He wanted to be the one who sacrificed Audrey to the Darkness.

As the fighting continued, Josiah saw that Caterina’s forces were starting to lose the fight against Anthony’s forces. His own demonic Black Hands had been wiped out by holy weapons and the others were getting eliminated too quickly. Even the ones that had been the backup were getting wiped out. The only Black Hands that weren’t present were the red robed Black Hands. No doubt they were the very last line of defense.

In the ritual chamber, Caterina raised a black stone dagger over Audrey’s heart. “And now Chosen One, you shall die.” She said.

That was when Audrey made her move. Her eyes started glowing. Her bonds snapped and she rolled off of the altar, making Caterina’s dagger hit the altar. Audrey looked at Caterina. “I won’t be dying today.” She told Caterina. She turned around and saw the red robed Black Hands rushing towards her. Knowing that she couldn’t take them all down, Audrey took off running through another door.

Caterina hissed angrily. “After her!” She shouted at her Black Hands. “Don’t let her get away!” She refused to let whoever was attacking get away with Audrey.

As Audrey was running, she could hear the red robed Black Hands chasing her. She couldn’t let them capture her. She ran around a corner and stopped. Agent Beckett was standing there. He smiled when he saw her. “Come with me.” He told Audrey.

The red robed Black Hands appeared behind Audrey. “Get away from her.” One of the red robed Black Hands ordered. They pointed their spears at Agent Beckett.

Agent Beckett pointed his gun at the red robed Black Hands. “Stand down Black Hands.” He ordered. “Anthony wants the Chosen One so he can bring back the Darkness.” He fired his gun at the ground right in front of the Black Hands. They backed up a bit. Agent Beckett quickly grabbed Audrey and pointed his gun at her head. “Don’t try anything stupid.” He told her. He looked at the red robed Black Hands. “Don’t try anything stupid either.” He told them. He looked at Audrey. “You’re coming with me.” He told her.

Anthony watched the fighting and he was pleased to see that it was going well for him. Most of the Black Hands that served Josiah and Caterina were dead and the only demonic Black Hands that Josiah had were gone as well. He saw Agent Beckett dragging Audrey towards him. “We got her Boss.” Agent Beckett said. “We need to get going though. Caterina has the Dark Guard serving her.” He added, referring to the red robed Black Hands.

Anthony looked at the castle. “Very well.” He said. “Let’s get going.” He turned to the remaining Black Hands that served him. “Wipe out Caterina’s forces. I need enough time to complete the ritual.” He looked at the sky. There were dark storm clouds overhead and they were getting darker and larger.

Caterina and her red robed Black Hands came out of the castle. She recognized the Black Hands attacking her forces. “Wipe out Anthony’s Black Hands.” She ordered them. The red robed Black Hands charged in and started fighting Anthony’s Black Hands. Anthony’s Black Hands didn’t stand a chance. The Dark Guard was very hard to defeat. The Dark Guard quickly wiped out Anthony’s Black Hands.

Caterina’s Dark Guard and few remaining Black Hands and few remaining Black Hand ninjas joined her. “Where’s Josiah?” Caterina demanded. There was no sign of the Black Hand demon.

“He was taken down by Agent Beckett.” One of the Black Hands reported.

Caterina growled. Anthony was ruthless. If he was willing to kill his former assistant, there was no telling what else he was capable of. “Find them!” She hissed. “I want the Chosen One!”

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