The Adventures of Emily Tual Book One
Chapter Four

That evening, Emily, Rachel, Delaney and Elizabeth were having a slumber party. Emily enjoyed having sleepovers with her two cousins and her little sister. They usually had them during their birthdays. Or in, Rachel’s case, the Friday night leading into Saturday since her birthday was usually a school day. Delaney was braiding Emily’s hair. Rachel and Elizabeth were dancing to the music. “Did you have fun?” Delaney asked Emily.

Emily smiled. “It was fun.” She said. These were one of the few times she could forget her sadness.

There was a knock on the door. The four girls looked to see Mr. Tual standing there with a bag. “Here’s one more present kiddo.” He told Emily. He took it to Emily and set it on her lap. “That gift took over seven years to get here.”

Emily frowned and looked at the bag. How could a gift take that long to get to her? The other girls looked at each other before looking at Emily. Emily took out an old looking book from in the bag. The bookbinding was leather. There was an S on the cover. Emily looked at the book before looking at her dad. “I don’t understand.” She said. “Who is this from?”

Mr. Tual sighed before he answered. “It’s from your mother.” He told her.

Emily gasped and held the book against her chest. The other girls looked at the book. “My mother?” She asked. How could a gift from over seven years before finally arrive?

Mr. Tual nodded. “A former professor of hers came here earlier today and said he had finally found it.” He explained. Emily looked down at the book again and opened it. To her surprise, there were strange symbols and texts on the pages. None of it was English though.

She looked at her dad. “Did he say why my mom wanted to get this book for me?”

Mr. Tual shook his head. “He didn’t explain all of it to me.” He told her. “He just told me that he had finally found what your mother had asked for and brought it over as soon as he could.” He looked at the book. Emily closed the book and held it against her chest again. It was as if a part of her mother had come back to her. Her birthday wish had come true that year.

Mr. Tual let Emily have a minute with the book before he spoke. “Lights out at ten.” He told them. “You can stay up to talk in the dark until ten-fifteen.” He told them before he left. Emily kept looking at her new gift. Why would her mother give her a book that wasn’t written in English? She tried to remember the stories she had heard about her mom back when she was in college. Hadn’t she studied a different language? German or something?

Delaney looked over her shoulder at the book. “What does it say?” She asked. Emily shook her head. “It’s not in English.” She answered.

Elizabeth sat down next to her and looked at the book. “Why would your mom want to get you a gift over seven years ago that was in a different language?” She asked. “Did you think that you would be raised up trying to learn that language?” Emily looked at the cover of the book. It was just an S. A fancy S maybe but it was just an S. She opened it to the first page. Unless her mother had written a note on the first page in whatever the language the rest of the book was in, there was nothing.

Rachel sat down on her other side. “What do you think the book is about?” She asked.

Emily looked at Rachel. “I have no idea.” She said. She looked at the strange words. “It could be a fairy tale, some sort of true story, or a family heirloom from who knows how long ago.” She wished she could decipher the text. Maybe that would help her understand why her mom had gotten this for her. She brushed her fingers against the pages. “It’s beautiful though.” She said. She closed the book and held it close.

Delaney looked at the clock. “Are we going to have a slumber party before we go to sleep or not?” She asked. The three girls smiled.

Emily set the book on her bed and nodded. She would have time the next few days to decipher the language that the book was written in. She looked at her sister and cousins. “Let’s get this party started.”

In the mistress’s suite up in Cleveland, the mistress wasn’t having a slumber party. She was sitting in her armchair. Her armchair wasn’t facing the fireplace. This time it was facing the direction of the entrance of her suite. She knew that her limo driver was facing the door as well. She could smell the nervousness coming from him. She was nervous too but she was better at hiding it. She had been nervous since receiving the phone call earlier that day. She had come back as soon as she could so she could get ready.

As if on cue, the doors to her suite opened and he came in. The Man with the German Accent. He smiled when he saw her. “Hello again Bastet.” He said in his thick German accent.

Bastet, the mistress, forced a smile. “It’s good to see you again as well.” She said. She hated not knowing the Man with the German Accent’s real name but most if not all of the people in their organization didn’t know it as well. His real name was a mystery. Bastet knew that there were people who had tried to replace it out but they disappeared without a trace.

The Man with the German Accent looked at the limo driver. “Get out of here.” He ordered. The limo driver quickly left. Bastet resisted the urge to hiss at the Man with the German Accent. This might be her home but the Man with the German Accent was of a higher position. The Man with the German Accent raised his cane up and an armchair appeared next to him. He sat down on it and smiled at Bastet. “Now let’s get down to business.” He told her.

“As I’m sure you’ve heard from the other members of the Circles, there is a rumor that the Chosen One has been found.” The Man with the German Accent told Bastet. Bastet’s fur stood up. She knew what he meant. She had heard the rumor as well over the last seven years since the accident.

“What does our master think?” She asked, referring to the one who the Circles served. The Man with the German Accent frowned. “Our master think’s that it’s something worth looking into.” He answered.

Bastet leaned back in her chair. “What’s the plan?” She asked. She knew that the Man with the German Accent had come up with a plan already. He always did. He was the one who had organized the accident seven years before.

The ruby on the top of the Man with the German Accent’s cane glowed and a file appeared in his other hand. He opened it. “There will be a certain day coming up.” He told Bastet as he looked at the file. “On that day, the darkness will be at its strongest.” He was referring to the day that everyone in the Circle worshiped. “On that day, our master wants me to get rid of the child in a ritual that will bring back the master.”

Bastet raised an eyebrow. “How does he plan to have that happen?” She asked. “Are we to kidnap the child from her home?”

The Man with the German Accent smiled smugly. “Who said we’re kidnapping her from her home?” He asked.

Bastet frowned. They weren’t kidnapping the chosen one from her home? Where would they be kidnapping the chosen one from? “Where will we be kidnapping her then?” She asked.

The Man with the German Accent smiled. “According to one of our spies, she, her sister and her cousins will be going to a camp this summer.” He told Bastet. “If we get more of the Circles in the state near the camp, we’ll be able to kidnap her, complete the ritual and bring our master back.”

Bastet thought about it. “That’s going to be risky.” She said. “How many of our associates are coming?” She asked. If they kidnapped the chosen one from her home, they’d only have to worry about one adult. At a camp, there would be a whole lot more adults.

The Man with the German Accent took out an envelope and gave it to Bastet. Bastet looked at it. Not sensing a trick, she opened it. There was an invite inside it. She took it out and read it. She then looked at the Man with the German Accent. “An invitation to the ritual?” She asked. He couldn’t be serious.

The Man with the German Accent nodded. “I’ve sent these out to everyone in the Circles.” He told her. “Since the date that best suites our ritual needs is a few weeks away, it’ll give time for our associates to get here.”

Bastet looked at the invitation again. “To everyone in each of the Circles?” She asked. “Does that include my daughter?” She asked.

The Man with the German Accent shook his head. “She has a more dangerous assignment.” He told her.

Bastet glared at him. “What assignment?” She demanded. She didn’t love her daughter and she felt insulted that her daughter would get a more dangerous assignment than her. Her daughter was in one of the lower Circles unlike her. She had a feeling that the Man with the German Accent already knew that though and was doing that just to make her mad. She didn’t bother to hide her fury. She could tell that he already knew that she was angry about it.

The Man with the German Accent managed not to laugh. He could tell that Bastet was angry about her daughter getting a more dangerous assignment. That was why he did it. Bastet had been in the Circles longer than he had even if he was in a high Circle and he was determined to make her angry, if not get her demoted to an even lower Circle. “She is going undercover to the camp and infiltrating it as a camp counselor.” He told her. “To be more specific, the Chosen One’s female counselor.” He could tell that Bastet was getting even angrier. “On Wednesday night, at the stroke of eleven, your daughter will kidnap the chosen one and bring her to the ritual.” He continued.

Bastet stood up. “You are foolish to put such an important assignment in the hands of a fool of a girl like her!” She hissed angrily. “My daughter will mess this up. Mark my words.”

The Man with the German Accent looked at her. “You mean like how you messed up the accident seven years ago?” He asked calmly before he smiled. “I think it’s time to see if your daughter will make the same mistake you did but I doubt it. After all, we know who the Chosen One is. We don’t have to guess like we did last time.” He stood up and looked at his pocket watch. “I have to get going.” He told Bastet. “Preparations for the ritual and all.” He spun around and headed to the door. “See you during the ritual!” He called over his shoulder as he left the suite.

Bastet waited until the Man with the German Accent was gone before she turned to the side door. “Get in here!” She hissed.

Her limo driver came in. “Yes Mistress?” He asked nervously.

“Get Johnny here now!” Bastet hissed. “I have a job for him to carry out.” She turned to the door that the man with the German accent had left through. She would make him look like a fool when he couldn’t produce the Chosen One for the ritual.