The First Touch (67 page)

Autumn
nodded changing the subject quickly, “So
Polina
could change her appearance?”

“Yes but hers were only minor changes, like hair and skin, nothing as severe as mine.”

Autumn
smiled then and smacked her leg, “Finally got ya’, Travis.”

Ivan hissed, “Who is Travis?”

Autumn
smiled, “The first male that I bit, actually the only male that I have bitten who lived long enough to change. But you told him to stay away from me or you would kill him. I have not seen him since I bit him, and I am guessing you were not nice to him even, though I left you a note telling you
to
treat him well.” Ivan raised his eyebrow, and
she
continued
, “
Flanagan said that he thought that Travis was in love with me.”

Ivan grumbled then, “I think it is safe to assume that I was not nice to him then.”

Autumn
smiled her voice cracking, “Yes, now let’s hope that you were not nice and we have found our man.”

She
closed her eyes then and was about to call out when Ivan seemed suddenly alarmed and he reached out to her, “What are you doing? Are you tired again?”

Autumn
smiled reassuringly, “No I am calling for Travis.”

Ivan huffed again, “Why?”

“To test my theory, if he has been turned by me then he might be the key to solving my problem.”
Autumn
felt the man
nod though she did not open her eyes, and within seconds
she
vanished before his eyes.
She
heard him call her name as everything went black around her.
Autumn
thought with a heavy
heart then,
good bye Mirth
, and
she felt the slice, as her heart severed its connection.
She
heard him howling after her as the last reality faded from her grip.

Home
at
L
ast

Autumn
opened her eyes again and there she was,
home again, home again,
jiggery
jig.
Autumn
smiled as she saw the sun pouring in from her open bedroom door. She instantly stood and looked down at her body, her limbs shaking, fuzzy looking and slowly shimmering into focus. For a moment she thought it might be permanent and then there she was, whole again.
Autumn
reached over slowly then and picked up her phone and dialed the front desk, where her favorite door man
Frank
answered the phone cheerfully.

Putting on her most sincere voice,
and
trying desperately to sound as cheerful as she possible she said, “Frank I am expecting a few guests as part of a scavenger hunt for work, can yo
u just buzz anyone who comes to
visit me today in?” Frank seemed happy to oblige, and
Autumn
added before she hung up, “Oh and they will be in a costume a sorts, it’s a themed thing, so don’t
be alarmed if they look...strange
.”

Frank seemed even more curious now, “Oh yeah, what’s the theme?”

Autumn
smiled into the receiver, “The ghosts of Christmas.”

Frank laughed
,
“T
hat is a great idea!”
Autumn
replied, “It was sort of mandatory for work so they will probably not be too thrilled to be here, so please do not pick fun at them. Well at least not to their faces anyways.”

She laughed a little sounding strained even to her, and Frank sobered up quickly hearing her change and replying, “I will be on my best behavior Ms.
Autumn
”

Autumn
frowned and replied, “Thank you Frank, I appreciate your help with this, I hope it will not be too much of a pain for you.”

Frank smiled back and said, “No problem Ms.
Autumn
”

Autumn
hung up and called for J
ack who strolled over
lazily stretching his legs.
Autumn
petted him and then walked to the bathroom casually or at least she hoped it looked that way. Then she showered and dressed as she had done before taking extra time to brush her teeth and style her hair
. Then she thought to herself,
if I die today at least I was going to leave a well groomed corpse.
Lastly she put her shoes on and noticed that the drawer under her bed was slightly ajar.
Autumn
nudged it closed with her knee and then made her bed carefully pushing out all of the wrinkles.

Then
she
made her way to the kitchen and fed Jack who did not meow at her at all that morning. Instead he sat on the counter and watched
Autumn
intently, as she told him her plans, “I need to make it at least look like a party in case Frank decides to make an appearance.” Next
,
Autumn
washed his dish and poured herself a glass of juice and then pulled out a serving tray and Pitcher. Next she poured two containers of juice into the large pitcher. Then she pulled out crackers and napkins and set out a second larger tray. On this tray she pulled out eight cups with saucers and boiled two pots of hot water and set out an assortment of teas lining them up in neat rows. Then she grabbed a large bowl and filled it with sugar and then frowned and spoke to Jack again, “Hum, it is missing something.”

Autumn
walked to the window sill and pulled a few mint leaves from the potted plant hidden there, and placed it on top of the mound of sugar. Then she placed the two trays, the juice and crackers on top of the coffee table and the larger tray with the two tea pots and sugar. Once there she placed each one of the tea cups one on top of the other in a decorative pyramid.

Then she placed her hands on her waist and smiled, “Jack we should have done this entertaining thing long ago, I think we have a gift for this.” She looked over her shoulder at him as he sat staring at her still not making any noises. Then she frowned and said, “You are the weirdest cat ever, but the cutest one.
”
Then she knelt down upon her right leg propped under chest supporting her frame and petted his back softly. Jack began purring again, and
Autumn
smiled sweetly, speak
ing soothingly to the cat. Mean
while she felt her heart beating in her chest thumping steadily against her thigh, sending out her distress call.

She had begun calling them while she had taken a shower humming to
herself
softly trying desperately to keep calm, inside she named each one of her friends. She began with the people that she guessed would be the fu
rth
est away from her apartment. Then moving on to call the people who should be the closest to her home, and ending with Ivan. She intentionally avoided Sophia since she would not be able to help in her current condition. Next she stood and walked to a familiar red book on the shelf; she slid her fingers over the etched title and sighed.

Her thoughts turned darker
then,
perhaps she would be united with her daughter again
.
Without warning
Autumn
began to cry uncontrollably, just as she had the first time that Ivan h
ad learned about her secret pain
. Then the image of Ivan lying on the floor, gripping his chest while Grayton came running towards her his eyes wild.
Autumn
blinked then clearing the image though her heart held something tightly to her chest.
Autumn
swallowed tightly nearly coughing it was so dry now, all of the days of running and fighting and not sleeping well, was getting to her.
Autumn
wiped the tears from her face and poured herself another cup of juice. Then
she
sipped it
slowly
, looking at Jack who still sat staring at her, as she continued to grip the book to her chest tightly.

An aroma wafted up, as
Autumn
sniffed at it, she realized
then that her sense of smell was sharper. Much sharper than she remembered it being before she had changed before. Then she pulled the book up to her nose and made a face, the book smelled awful, and she almost gagged at the strength of it. Then she walked back over to the shelf and placed the book back. Impulsively she yanked on the curtains opened then and looked out the window at the busy street bellow.
Autumn
brightened as did the room, so she turned back to the cat who had begun grooming itself still watching her and said, “So how about some music? That’s a party thing right?”

Autumn
turned on her favorite mix and hummed as she made her way back to the kitchen and pulled out two bags of chips. Once again she pulled out two oversized glass bowls and filled them with the bags contents. Then she carried them out and placed them on the dinning room table and then disappeared into the kitchen again. She returned with a plate filled with cookies and with one gloved h
and stacking
them pyramid shaped. Then she huffed and walked back to the Kitchen frowning and cleaned up her mess. Lastly
she
opened her front door and smiled wide, seconds later
returning
with the flower arrangement from the hallway. Then she pulled off th
e rose petals and spread them
all over the place, decoratively, though she hopped she had not gone too far.

A
knock at the door
made her jump unexpectedly placing
her hand over her heart. It rocketed to a near explosive pace in her chest then as she slowly made her way to the door.
Autumn
opened the door and smiled
genuinely
at the familiar face at the door. Sophia,
“W
hat are you doing here?
”

She smiled and replied looking frazzled, “Are you alright? I mean is everything ok here?”

She
frowned, “Yes, Why? Is there something wrong?”
Autumn
looked behind her at the empty hallway and said, “Come on in.”

Sophia smiled nervously and walked in and began talking quickly, “I had this strange dream last night so I thought I would stop by and check on you.
”

“Oh
,
well that was nice of you.” She gestured for her to sit on the couch. Then
Autumn
poured her a glass of j
uice and got her some cookies from the table.

Sophia finally noticed the trays and asked, “What’s with all of this?”

She
smiled nervously now, “I am having a work party, its one of those themed things.”

Sophia looked around, confused, “What’s the theme?”

Autumn
smiled, “The ghosts of Christmas.”

Then she frowned at Sophia’s look and said
, “
I couldn’t think of a way to make fake snow so I use the white rose pedals from the hall. But now
I am worried about some
of
my
coworkers who have allergies.
”

Sophia offered, “How about three whole punched paper.”

Autumn
smiled, “Excellent that is a great idea. I still have an hour or so. If
I get those peddles up and get
some holes punched, I can make this look better more realistic anyways.”

Sophia nodded in agreement; she stood helping
Autumn
gathering the white peddles. Then
they
sat making whole punched sn
ow flakes for the next half an h
our.
Autumn
invited Sophia to the party though she declined
,
saying she had errands to run. Then she excused herself and
Autumn
happily sent her off.

Then she
w
ent back to punching holes, and
spreading the flakes around watching Jack batting at the sprinkles as she dropped them. By the end
,
Autumn
had nearly covered the room in them and giggled to herself delighted with the turn out.

There was a fine layer of dots covering the floor, and
Autumn
frowned suddenly, “This is going to be a pain to clean up later, but it sure looks cool now doesn’t it Jack.” He did not respond
but he seemed less tense now, she
noted though that he was watching the bed room doorway.
Autumn
took that as a good sign, and sat at the table playing with her hair thinking of options. Then there was a knock at the door and
Autumn
shot up out of her seat, s
ay
ing to Jack, “The first one, yea
h!” Jack continued to stare at the door not looking at her.