The First Touch (65 page)

Drake
retorted, “You are letting me go?”

Autumn
frowned, “I figured that would make you the most comfortable. I want you to make this decision on your own, without additional pressures. Besides you are easily agitated, and I have another female who hasn’t changed yet with me right now. I don’t want you charring her before she has changed, that would upset my chi right now. So please by all means go clear your head and take your time making your decision.”
Drake
nodded and turned, disappearing into the night,
Autumn
waved good bye
hopeful that he would come around quickly
.

She
returned to the diner where Sophia was
already
happily making out with West. The other two males sat staring off into space their two cups of cold coffee sitting in front of them.
Autumn
smiled
shaking her head at the two at them and then turned to the men at the
table
,
“We can go now” They both stood and dropped cash on the table simultaneously not even stopping to count it. West stood and pulled Sophia along with him her eyes alread
y drooping. By the time they stepped
outside Sophia put her hand on her head and dropped like a rock. West grabbed her just before her head hit the pavement and carried her sleeping body to the car
his eyes gazing at her lovingly as he asked, “Are you certain that she is mine?”

She nodded, “Yep, so be good to her.”

He nodded loading
her
into the back seat gently.
Autumn
plopped
in
to
the driver’s seat and headed for the Marina. She looked out her rear view mirror
catching sight of
two shapes that now followed the speeding car. Then she smiled seeing
Drake
heading the
m
off and
Autumn
fo
cused on stopping the pulse to
Jessup and Ann. The pulse finally
stopped pulling them and
she
mashed down the accelerator, speeding towards her new plan.

When they reached the marina
Autumn
located a large b
oat they promptly stole and put
underway. There were no complaints to her plan and after two days at sea
Autumn
finally laid her head down to rest. As soon as she closed her eyes
,
the bickering began. Then the world went black and
she
hoped, no prayed
,
that
she would make
another jump, but it was to no avail. Mirth knew where she was and he was probably going to kill her in her sleep and there was nothing that she could do about it. She was going to have to rely on her friends to keep her alive and not her first choices either.

Not
that
they were not good people, just that the bonds were not as strong as she would have liked. Not to mention the driving force for rallying her reinforcements was
Drake
,
a man that she would have trusted with her life before. But he was a different beast now
.
Ivan and Mirth had both proven t
hat in Grayton’s visions or who
ever he really was
, now
.
Autumn
felt it the instant he had pushed his hand through his hair in the car the first time that he was wearing a disguise. The bickering between those two began as soon as they knew she had gone into hibernation.

Ivan began the grumbling and Grayton quickly snapped back, “I followed your instructions exactly. If you had not been so confrontational then she would not have been so protective of Grayton.”

Autumn
concentrated all of her energy focusing on their conversation, “This will not be easily salvaged, get Gregory.”
Autumn
faded off into the blackness and the shadows and
the
blurry
familiarity
of her first sleep fell upon her then. The world closed and then reopened again, spitting her out into the wide open space of the unknown future.

Frightful End

The sun touched her skin as
Autumn
awoke on a bench in the middle of an unfamiliar wooded area, the smell of burning flesh in the air.
Autumn
sat up slowly her eyes dilating as she sniffed the air looking for danger but she found none
,
at least none alive. With the exception of the smell that she knew meant that there had been a fight of some kind
,
hopefully all don
e as far as she was concerned. As w
ith her previous wakes this one could become particularly unnerving. Then she felt the pull towards the smell, the need to know the origin and the potential threat to her.

Autumn
cautiously made her way through the leaves that were surprisingly deep, nearly waist thigh hi
gh. As she came
closer
Autumn
realized then that there were multiple burn sights, twelve pillars of smoke rose up from the clearing ahead.
Autumn
moved to the edge of the clearing and confirmed her original count though her
suspicions
regarding its occupants were
wrong. Then a crack on the ground behind her sent her whirling around to face her assailant, her stance ready to attack.

Ivan stood perfectly still his face calm and collected, though he looked extremely pale and emaciated.
Autumn
stood up straight then and said, “Sorry love I didn’t hear you coming, my head is still a bit fuzzy.
”
Ivan nodded and moved in cautiously towards her side though he kept his distance.
Autumn
did not want to scare him so she held out her hand and he quickly stepped closer and took it.
Autumn
grinned and turned towards Ivan and asked
, “
Why do you look sick? I thought our kind could not
get ill
?” Ivan stared at her slack jawed, “And why are there piles of burning humans and animals everywhere?”

H
e
sucked through his now clenched teeth, “Plague, it affects us all.”

Autumn
nodded, “A
food chain thing then? You are not sick?” Ivan nodded and
Autumn
asked suspiciously
, “
How long since you have eaten love?”

Ivan’s posture changed then
, “
A
month or so
….”

She
instantly sliced her shoulder and said, “Drink.”

Ivan looked at her in dis
belief replying, “I can’t.”

Autumn
snapped, “Don’t waste it Ivan.”

He jumped on
to her knocking her backwards onto the thick cushion of leaves on the ground below them. She did not struggle as his mouth drank greedily from her, his moaning was delirious joy escaping his body.
Autumn
smiled and caressed Ivan’s now stringy hair, and said, “So, how long
h
as it really been since you have eaten love?” Ivan finally gasped for air his face completely changed back to its original glory and
Autumn
smiled even wider, “You look much better love.”

He
grinned as the blood dripped from his lips and
Autumn
experienced a feeling of déjà vu aga
in. Then her mind whispered
,
blood dripped from his lips as he smiled
.

Ivan jerked his head up towards her startled and
Autumn
smiled cocking her head
, “
Did you hear that love?”

Ivan nodded his eyes wide and innocent
, “
What was that?”

“My dark side…
You don’t mind do you?”

Ivan eyed her cautiously, “Who is it?”

Autumn
frowned, “Autumn
,
part of me that I keep separate, a darker version of myself, dangerous but it keeps me alive, so there it stays locked up in there.”
Autumn
tapped the side of her head, “Like a doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, except the only thing
that lets it out is my unchecked hunger.” Then
Autumn
frowned, “Why do you not know that already? And why did I not feel you coming, not even a danger pang, nothing. What is going on here?”

Ivan responded appropriately by backing up slowly with his hands raised
, “
I a
m sorry that I deceived you my pet
, I had to,
and well
at least I thought that I had to…” his voice faded off and
Autumn
watched
him closely.

“Who did I bond with then?”

Ivan swallowed hard wiping the blood from his lips as he whispered, “Mirth.”
Autumn
hissed and slammed her hand into the tree next to her sending it splintering and a good portion flying away from them.

Autumn
snapped then, “Where is he?”

“Dead as are all of the others,
”
he explained.

Autumn
stopped and stood erect then and asked
, “
What happened?”

Ivan answered
, “
When they came for you
Drake
and the others
they
defended you till the death
,”

Autumn
frowned, her chest tightening, “And Mirth?”

Ivan swallowed, “I killed Mirth myself, he wanted to drain you dry and burn the remainder of you
just to be safe. He intended to
lock away the ashe
s and to keep them as a trophy.”

“I guess he really was an evil man.
”

Ivan nodded his face turning pale again, “I thought that he might really care for you. During the fighting he was a beast, he used all of his remaining blood supplies to kill all of the invaders. Men who he had thought were his allies, but in the end it was j
ust he and I.”

He
swallowed,
“
I think he would have kept
up the shurad but after the battle
you called out for me and
he came to your side. But some
how you knew and he listened to your mind. Then he knew then that you knew, and that you truly intended on killing him. He cried genuine tears that day and he did not speak for nearly a week. When I pressed him for an explanation he told me the truth and when he
tried to begi
n the transfusions I killed him, both versions.”

Autumn
nodded her face hard
, “
And Gregory?”

“
Mirth killed him first; I think he was worried that he was going to drag you through time again.”

Autumn
nodded her face still impassive, “Are you sure he’s dead?”

“Yes I burnt the body myself.”

She
scowled
, “So then this is my real future?” She looked out at the
open field again, and huffed, “T
his?”

Ivan walked over to stand next to
Autumn
now, “Yes, this is it.”

She
huffed again and said
, “
So is it as bad as it looks?”

He
frowned deeply, “No it is worse.”

Autumn
snapped sarcastically, “Great.”

Ivan watched her
closely
now
, and
Autumn
asked her mind wondering back to the story, “Did Gregory say anything before he died?”

Ivan replied flatly, “No, just that he wasn’t the one pulling you.”

Autumn
smiled sounding giddy with relief, “Really? Who did he say was pulling us then?”

Ivan replied flatly then, “He w
as just trying to save his hide.
”

Autumn
frowned
,
“
W
hat makes you think that?”

He
answered, “He said that if we waited until you awoke
that we would see the truth.”

Autumn
smiled, “He did?”

Ivan snapped irritated, “He was just trying to stall for time.”

Autumn
huffed, “If he was the one pulling me then he would have done it before Mirth killed him.”