Avenging Autumn: Seasons Change Book 1 of 4 (4 page)

“
Are you okay?” she
asked.

“
Yeah, fine,” he had to think of
something else. “So, what’s with the telepathy thing, can you read
my mind and shit like that?”

“
No, I can only read the location
of the people who murdered me, and I also get a sense…I don’t know,
their au-ra’s I guess. I can tell that something isn’t quite right
with them.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
It’s really hard to explain. Kind
of like, their bad people but not necessarily evil. Does that make
any sense at all?”

“
Not to me,” Benny said in a grave
tone.

The little truck pulled onto the long dirt
driveway that led up to Jack Writemans farm house. A large garage
to the left of the house held two hearses and sitting in front of
the garage was Jack’s old Ford pickup. Benny parked his truck next
to the Ford, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Autumn began
to open her door as well, and then felt Benny’s hand on her
arm.

“
You had better wait here,” he
said, “I want to try to ease him into this.”

“
That’s probably a good idea,” she
replied.

Benny walked up to the front door and knocked.
Seconds later, Jack appeared at the screen door.

“
Jesus! Where the fuck have you
been, man?” Jack said in a relieved tone.

Benny held his hands up and started laughing,
“Settle down, Jack, I’ve been at my house, right where I said I was
going to be.”

“
What’s so funny? I was worried
about you, I thought you might have gone and offed yourself. I
should knock that smile off your face.”

“
Alright, first of all, offed is
not a real word,” Benny said comically.

“
So, you’re gone for a couple of
hours and you come back a fucking grammar teacher?”

Benny laughed harder at this, “Just calm down
a second, alright? Something big has happened and I’m going to need
your help with it, if you’re willing to come along.”

“
Come along where?”

“
Well, first we have to go see Dad,
after that I’m not sure.”

“
I don’t understand, why do we have
to see the Old Man?”

Benny took a deep breath, “Let me start at the
begin-ning. I went home earlier this evening and walked into my
kitchen and…had a peanut butter sandwich,” Benny didn’t want to
tell him how close he was to putting a bullet in his head, “and
then something really strange happened.”

“
What?”

“
You know, Jack, I think it would
be better if I just showed you, but you have to stay calm and
promise me you won’t freak out.”

“
Benny, what did you
do?”

“
I didn’t do anything; just walk to
my truck with me.”

Jack reluctantly started to walk with Benny,
“You know, when you tell someone not to freak out, it’s most likely
because whatever your about to show them is going to make them
freak out. I don’t think I can promise you anything.”

“
Fair enough,” Benny said as he
opened the passen-ger side door of his truck.

When Autumn stepped out, Jack only stood
frozen for a moment, then his eyes grew wide and his mouth began to
open and close, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t
quite find the words. Suddenly, a high pitched scream (a scream
that Benny thought might come from a teenage girl in a bad horror
movie) emitted from Jack’s oddly quivering mouth. He then began to
back up quickly, turned and ran screaming, back into his house,
locking the door behind him.

“
That’s your idea of easing him
into it?” Autumn said, giving Benny an amused look, “That went
well, ’Hey, Jack, look, my dead wife has returned from the
grave.’”

Benny only shrugged and the two of them walked
to the front door.

“
Let me handle this.” he
said.

Autumn threw up her hands, “Sure, you‘ve done
grand so far.”

As a mortician, one of Jack Writemans greatest
fears was that a dead body would suddenly be re-animated as he was
preparing it for a showing, climb off its slab and use his brain
for an appetizer before turning his hunger on the rest of the town.
Sometimes his vivid imagination even allowed him the privilege of
hearing his skull being ripped open with a thick chunk sound, like
watermelon being torn from its rind. Seeing his dead sister-in-law
emerge from Benny’s truck was the most terrifying moment of his
life.

Nearly thirty minutes went by, with Benny
trying anything to get his brother to come out. Reasoning with him
didn’t work, neither did a bribe (he probably knew Benny didn’t
have any money, Benny never had any money), he couldn’t even get an
answer.

“
Do you mind if I try?” Autumn
finally asked.

“
Be my guest,” Benny replied,
clearly frustrated with Jack by now.

“
Jack, come on out, there’s nothing
to be afraid of. I’m still the same old Autumn I used to be, just
minus a pulse,” Autumn put her head against the door, “Jack,
remem-ber that time we got pulled over for speeding in your truck
and the cop let you go in exchange for that playboy you had on your
dash.”

“
Yeah,” Jack said sadly, “that was
the issue with Tiffany in it. I was never able to track it down
again.”

Benny had to suppress laughter at his
brother’s re-morse for the missing artifact in his collection of
famous nude women, which was his only real hobby.

“
And remember the night we went to
one of Sarah’s parties and I drank to much vodka. You stayed up all
night with me, holding a cold wet rag on my forehead and cleaning
me up every time I got sick.”

The locks on the door clicked and Jack peeked
out, “Yeah, I remember that. It was the first time you ever got
real-ly drunk.”

“
That’s right. I never touched
vodka again. I’m only back for a short amount of time and Benny and
I are going to need your help.”

“
You’re not going to try to eat my
brain?”

“
I swear I have no interest in
eating your brain or any other part of your body.”

“
Alright, what exactly do you need
my help with?”

“
Autumn can lead us to the men who
killed her,” Benny interjected.

“
Great, call the cops, have them
arrested.”

“
No, Jack,” Benny continued, “in
order for Autumn’s soul to be at rest, and for me to join her when
I die, she has to be avenged.”

Jack’s look of surprise was almost humorous,
he sud-denly threw the door open (totally disregarding Autumn) and
walked up to his brother, “You’re actually plotting to kill people.
I got to say, that doesn’t sound like the liberal, anti-death
penalty, tree hugging, vegetarian, all life is precious, Benny I
know.”

“
Jack,” Benny said seriously, “I
don’t give a shit about any of that anymore. The only thing I care
about is being with Autumn again. There are only six people I have
to kill in order to accomplish that.”

“
Only six?” Jack said, dumbfounded,
“How can you be so nonchalant about taking someone’s life just so
you could be with your girl in the hereafter, let alone six
lives.”

“
I don’t care if it’s a hundred
lives,” shouted Benny, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“
Okay,” Autumn interrupted, “Benny,
why don’t you go calm down for a minute and let me talk to
Jack.”

Benny turned and walked back to the truck.
Jack looked slightly nervous at the idea of being left alone with
Autumn.

“
Jack, there’s something weird
going on here, I have a feeling these aren’t ordinary people.
Besides, Benny will be the one doing the killing. We really just
want you there to watch his back.”

“
I don’t know,” Jack said
doubtfully.

“
Look, Frank knows more about this
then we do, why don’t you come with us to talk to him and you can
make your decision then?”

“
Why would Dad know anything about
this?”

“
It would be better if he explained
that.”

“
Fine I’ll go, but that doesn’t
mean I’m going to help.”

“
Understood.”

Jack ran inside, grabbed his jacket, and met
Benny and Autumn at their truck.

“
All three of us aren’t going to
fit in that thing,” Jack said pointing to the
Mitsubishi.

“
Fine,” Benny replied, still a
little pissed at his broth-er, “we’ll take your truck.”

“
We can’t, its busted. We’ll have
to take a hearse and I have the perfect one.” Jack walked over to
the one door on the three car garage that was still closed and
pulled it open. Inside sat 1979 Cadillac hearse that had been
repainted in a pearl black, with the dark hood and fenders
spreading back into purple flames. The alloy rims gleamed in the
darkness, five point stars to finish off the
modifications.

“
Holy shit!” Benny
exclaimed.

“
You like it?” Jack
asked.

“
It’s beautiful.”

“
It’s yours you know?”

Benny stared at his brother in shock. “Are you
se-rious?”

“
Yeah, I was going to save it for a
Christmas present, but I guess we could use it now. I figured a
pimped out hearse would be just your style.”

“
Fit’s the situation,” Autumn
stated.

Jack smiled, “Sorry, Autumn, dead chicks ride
in the back.”

“
That’s a horrible way to treat
your dates” Autumn shot back. They all began to laugh.

“
Benny, do you want to drive?” Jack
asked.

“
You go ahead, we need to get there
fast and you have much less regard for the law than I
do.”

“
Said the man who’s plotting a
murder.” Jack shot back as he climbed behind the wheel.

Jack hit the left turn signal and veered down
Main St., cutting through the middle of downtown
Triloville.

“
Where are you going?” Benny asked,
“the Old Man lives in the opposite direction.”

Jack gave him a disgusted look and said,
“Dude, Dad hasn’t stayed at home since mom died. He’s been sleeping
at his office, and he hasn‘t been sleeping very much.”

“
I didn’t know that,” Benny stared
out the window wondering how long it had been since he and his
father had talked.

Really talked.

Frank Writeman had just finished a little late
night work and was preparing to crash on his office couch, when
there came a knock on his door. He walked to his desk, went to the
third drawer, and pulled a 9mm pistol from a holster that lay
within. Crossing the office to the door, he stashed the gun into
the pocket of his robe. There was no use in asking the person, or
perhaps people on the other side of the door who they were, he knew
how talented his old friends could be, even when it came to voice
impersonations.

With his right hand resting on the butt of his
pistol, he opened the door.

“
Hey, Dad,” Jack’s smiling face
said from the other side of the hallway, “mind if we come
in?”

Frank was about to ask who we was, but his
question was answered when Benny came walking in behind his oldest
boy.

“
What are you two doing here?”
Frank asked.

“
I need to talk to you about what
happened to Au-tumn,” Benny bluntly stated.

The Old Man knew there was no point in playing
dumb anymore. Benny had somehow found out. “Let’s go for a walk,
we’ll talk outside.”

Frank didn’t bother to change out of his
pajamas and robe; instead he placed rubber soled slippers over his
feet, and led his two sons to the elevator down the
hall.

Down five floors and through the lobby, no one
spoke a word until the three men stepped outside.

“
Sorry, boys,” Frank said to them,
“I don’t know how safe this building is from eves
dropping.”

“
Dad, do you know something about
Autumn’s death?” Benny demanded.

Frank sighed deeply, “Yeah, I think I might.
About seven years ago a group of businessmen from Europe came to me
with a proposition. At the time I was desperate, I was on the verge
of losing the savings and loan, and your mother and I had put
almost everything we had into putting you boys through
college.

“
This group of people came to me
with the idea of running their foreign currency through my bank. I
don’t know exactly how they were doing it, but they would toy with
the exchange rates and make major profits. As long as I kept it
quiet I would enjoy large pay offs.”

“
So you were laundering money?”
Jack asked.

“
Yes.”

Jack began to speak again when Benny waved him
off, “That’s not important right now, Jack,” he turned back to his
father, “What does this have to do with Autumn?”

Frank continued, “When I promoted Autumn to
head of finances, she found the discrepancies almost immediately,
and brought them to my attention. I told her not to worry about it,
that it was something I always handled and if it came up again she
should ignore it.