It was a picture of Rick and her from the summer. She remembered Aunt Katherine snapping the photo a week after she arrived. They were on the front porch, and Rick was holding Autumn, arms around her waist from behind, as she beamed.
Both wore natural smiles. The rare kind that crinkled the corners of your eyes and didn’t require force or practice. Autumn could recall the moment. She felt content and relaxed with Rick holding her, like she belonged with him.
Once the laptop finished loading up, she went on the web and logged into her email account.
The one she immediately noticed had the subject line: Miss you!
It was from Kristin.
Autumn began reading it.
Hey Autumn!
I was sitting at my computer and saw the picture of us together at the “Museum of Local Art” (not its actual name, as you know). Remember the guy who took it for us? He was wearing a peach scarf and a fedora, and he kept referring to us ‘aspiring models’ and asked us to ‘pose’ for him.
We are in front of the ugliest abstract painting I have ever seen (custard yellow and diarrhea brown), and we are laughing about it (and about creepy peach scarf fedora guy).
So long story short (or short story long haha) I miss you! Obviously, there aren’t many stimulating conversationalists at our school unless you count the librarian Mrs. Bilson, but she is going deaf and ignores most of us now. She doesn’t even tell the students to be quiet like she used to. It is very sad and not very cliché librarian like at all.
I miss talking to you in person about good books, poems and of course cute guys (none of the transfer guys were even close to cute this semester despite my prayers).
So I was thinking. If you don’t end up coming home for Christmas break (You better!) that we should do a girls weekend March Break. We could head into the city, shop and see a good play at the theatre. We could even book a hotel and maybe get a swanky room with a spa bathtub or something and spend the weekend up there?
Let me know what you think.
Miss you lots.
Xoxo
Kristin
P.S. I want some guy gossip ASAP. You have been holding out on the elusive Eric you mentioned to me! I want ALL the gory details of your torrid affair!
The next email came from her mother.
Autumn,
Please give me a call sometime this week. Your father and I want to discuss Christmas break with you.
Hope all is well since we last spoke a few nights ago. Love you and talk to you soon sweetie.
Love always,
Mom
After reading all the heartwarming emails, Autumn was feeling close to normal again. That was until she caught a glimpse of what Rick had been browsing on the Internet.
A page of search results for the query “Giant paw print Canada” filled the screen and the feeling of normalcy dissipated as quickly as it came.
Autumn began filtering through the search results.
Bears and wolves were the most common explanation but before Autumn could delve deeper into her search, Rick was at the door with breakfast.
Over bagels, she told him about the emails from her mom and Kristin. Rick offered to talk to his mom and dad about having her parents down for Christmas, so they could all be together. Autumn knew Rick meant so they could be together, and she was glad. She didn’t want to leave him behind either. She was afraid she would miss him too much.
After breakfast, as Rick and Autumn cleaned up their takeaway garbage, Rick casually asked Autumn to go to the mall with him.
Autumn studied Rick, debating if he was being serious or not. Rick had never been one for shopping.
“You want to go shopping?” Autumn blinked, unable to hide her surprise. “At the mall?”
“I want you to have a relaxing day. No talk of monsters or training or spells,” he said.
“We can go get you strawberry ice cream, look at the new books, pick up some fancy chocolate. All those things you love so much.”
Autumn was in need of new reading material.
She smiled. “Okay then. Let me get showered and dressed, and we’ll head out.”
Autumn turned to go but Rick reached out, grabbing her wrist gently.
“Wait.”
She turned, facing him.
“What is it?” she asked and suddenly Rick was kissing her.
Autumn knew she should pull away, but something drew her towards him. The harder she fought the urge to be with him, the stronger the pull was.
So she gave in and let him kiss her, on her lips, throat and shoulders.
By the time they were finished kissing, half an hour had passed.
When they finally made it to the mall, it was already packed with afternoon shoppers. Dressed in a lace tunic and jeans, with her dark hair in a braid, Autumn walked beside Rick, watching people pass by her.
A mother and father with their scowling child, teenagers traveling in packs and elderly people walking gingerly and unhurriedly, not worrying about the world rushing by around them.
Autumn remembered being just like them.
She was once blissfully ignorant too. Unaware of the worlds secrets, oblivious to the supernatural.
Some part of her envied their unawareness, and yet another part pitied them. They had no idea what was out there, what might come for them in the night. Once you knew, there was no turning back. There was no pretending, no evasion. Once Pandora’s Box was opened, there was no closing it.
Distracted by the very thoughts she was trying to ignore, Autumn kept hoping that Eric might call and say he finished the spell. She wanted this nightmare to end.
Rick took Autumn’s hand into his, as they weaved through the mobs of eager shoppers. She glanced at him, her mind unencumbered from her reverie.
“Are you alright Aut?” he asked her, nearly getting bowled over by a burly man carrying too many shopping bags.
“I’m fine,” Autumn said, giving Rick her best reassuring smile. “I was just thinking about Eric.”
Rick’s face went instantly sour. “Eric?”
“Oh not about Eric exactly,” she said quickly. “About the spell and if he’s finished it yet.”
“Oh,” Rick said. “We just got the blood yesterday night Aut. We got home late. Give the guy time. Besides, no supernatural talk. We are shopping, remember?”
Autumn sighed. “I know. No more, I promise.”
Rick leaned over, giving her a quick peck on the mouth. “Alright. Where to next?”
“Oh look! Jacobs got himself a girlfriend,” said a familiar voice. “How much did you pay her?”
Autumn didn’t need to look over to know who it was running their mouth.
Sitting at the food court, at a white roundtable, gawking at them, was Ben and two of his cronies. Dressed in their trademark varsity jackets, they were high-fiving each other and chortling at Ben’s pathetic quip.
“What is the going rate on paying girls to date you these days Ben? I figured you would know,” Autumn replied curtly.
The group of them stopped laughing. Ben grimaced.
“Girls love me sweetheart. No cash required,” he boasted.
Autumn shrugged. “I heard differently Ben. Apparently, you aren’t much of a catch. You are loud, obnoxious and dumb as a sack of potatoes.”
Ben snorted, looking at his friends and back to Autumn.
“Don’t worry babe. We can hook up anytime you like. I know you want it.”
Autumn rolled her eyes, arms crossed over his chest. “And you’re arrogant! Wow, you are just repulsive all the way around aren’t you?”
Rick chuckled lightly as Ben stood up, chest puffed out like a peacock, and began walking towards them.
“No one asked you to speak little woman,” he said.
Then he looked to Rick. �
�It’s a shame you got to her first Jacobs. I would’ve wrecked that bitch and tossed her to the curb when I was finished.”
Autumn sighed. She knew what was coming next when Rick relinquished her hand. He charged across the food court, weaving past the empty and occupied tables alike, rushing towards Ben.
Autumn had never seen Rick so angry. His cheeks were flushed with a heated rage. His hands were balled into fists. She wanted to chase after him, but thought better of it. This wasn’t her battle to fight.
Rick could handle it himself.
Finally face-to-face, Rick and Ben began sizing each other up.
“Didn’t your mother teach you to respect women Mills?” Rick asked, biceps tensing. “You apologize to Autumn now.”
The other two guys stood up, but Ben ordered them to sit back down.
Autumn looked around. Crowds of curious shoppers had gathered, and many of the food court patrons had abandoned their conversations to watch the show unfurl.
Ben stepped even closer to Rick, squaring his shoulders, eyes narrowed.
“The problem is Mills you are jealous. You asked Autumn out and she flat out rejected you,” Rick spat. “And the great Ben Mills has never been rejected! Most girls fall all over you. It just goes to show you. Autumn isn’t like other girls. She has brains.”
Rick stood there, in Ben’s face, smirking, victorious. Rejection seemed to hit a raw nerve with Ben because he put his hands on Rick’s chest and shoved him.
And like a tree firmly rooted to the earth, Rick didn’t budge an inch. Autumn knew Rick had been training hard, and this was the outcome. He was stronger than he had ever been. It gave her chills to watch him.
Autumn heard murmurs from the crowd as Ben stared at Rick, clearly surprised. He tried to shove Rick again, but Rick caught both his hands this time and began twisting his wrists.
Ben tried his best to withstand the pain, but his face was turning an ugly shade of purple, and before long he began crying out. His friends stood up, ready to close in on Rick, just as Autumn saw a figure pushing through the crowd.
“Hey! Hey! Break it up!”
She looked over and saw it was her guidance counselor, Mr. Garrison.
Rick glanced at the counselor, seemingly weighing his options, before he hesitantly let Ben go.
When Ben was free from Rick’s grasp, he didn’t wait around to be lectured.
“This isn’t over Jacobs!” he bellowed as he and his friends took off. Autumn watched as they bolted towards the escalators and out of sight.
“Alright, everyone there’s nothing to see here. This re-enactment of a teen drama show is over,” Mr. Garrison said as he shooed the crowds away with a wave of his hands.
As the people all dispersed, Autumn rushed over to Rick. It was obvious he still had adrenaline coursing through him. His cheeks were red and his hands trembled, probably aching to punch Ben in the face.
“Autumn, give me a second to calm him down,” Mr. Garrison implored. Autumn nodded and stepped back as the consoler forced his way into Rick’s line of vision.
“Rick,” he began, his voice measured and smooth. “Calm down and breathe. The altercation is over. Ben is gone. You can relax now.”
Mr. Garrison spoke, and it was like a sea of calmness was washing over Rick. Even Autumn could feel the consoler’s tranquility extending out towards her.
With obvious effort, Rick began breathing deeply. His eyes went from Mr. Garrison, to Autumn, anchoring to her comforting face. Minutes later, his trembling subsided and the red drained from his cheeks.
“That’s it. Deep breaths buddy,” Mr. Garrison coaxed.
“That’s good Rick,” Autumn said soothingly. She touched him softly on his chest. She could feel his heart pounding rhythmically with his breaths.
“I’m fine,” Rick said but Mr. Garrison led him to a bench outside the malls movie theatre.
Rick sat down with Autumn beside him. She touched his knee gently.
“Sorry Aut. The anger, it just overcame me,” he said, looking ashamed. “I have never felt such fury in my life.”
“It’s alright,” Autumn replied. “Ben was the one who sparked that fire.”
“I don’t by any means condone violence, especially in public, but Mr. Mills has a history of provoking people,” Mr. Garrison said, straightening his brown sport coat.
“He’s had it in for me since our first encounter,” Autumn explained.
“Ah, rejection can be a painful thing for a teenage boy. You probably remind him of his failure,” Mr. Garrison replied casually.
“You think he’d be used to failure by now,” Autumn muttered.
Rick chuckled quietly. She smiled at the counselor gratefully.
“Thanks for breaking up the fight. Everyone else seemed content to do nothing.”
Mr. Garrison nodded.
“Most people can’t resist the thrill of conflict, especially when they are just spectators not participants.”
“I just can’t believe Mills and his lackeys ran,” Rick said, looking rather pleased. “Cowards.”
“Anyone who believes three against one is a fair fight is a coward,” Autumn said, frowning. “Those guys were just itching to jump in.”
Rick blew a raspberry.
“I could’ve taken all three of them,” he said arrogantly.
“Really?” Mr. Garrison said, looking intrigued. “You sound pretty confident son.”
“Oh yeah. I studied martial arts and I train every day,” Rick replied proudly. “They are fortunate I didn’t use any of my moves on them. I wish I’d had my lucky sword to scare them with.”
Autumn looked at Mr. Garrison, who looked back at her, and they shared a grin.
“Well, since you just mentioned a student and a weapon in the same sentence, I am going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Mr. Garrison said, shaking his head.
“I should be off now. I do have some shopping to do.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large red apple. He shined it with his shirt sleeve and grinned.
“You two enjoy the rest of the day. And try to stay out of trouble.”
As he walked away, Autumn thought that lately, trouble always seemed to find them, no matter where they were.
21
Two weeks passed since operation blood retrieval. It was late November now, edging close to December and the first snowfall had already arrived. A light dusting of white snow coated the trees and grass, glimmering in the morning sunlight.
Autumn sat at her desk with Rick, large tomes sprawled out in front of them. Eric was searching for the demons master. She had offered to help him and he lent her a stack of books to go through. So far, nothing was standing out.
Christmas break would soon be upon them, and Autumn couldn’t wait. Maintaining her grades, helping Rick with his school work and hunting, was wearing her down.
Often times she found herself walking down the school hallways wondering if anyone was really normal. How many of them had secret lives beyond the walls of Whitan High? She doubted any of them harbored a secret as strange as hers. Being a demon slayer was spectacularly abnormal.
Her new life came with obvious downfalls. The nightmares were continuous, and the fear before a showdown with a demon was inevitable.
However, she was becoming braver and when a creature attacked her, she no longer froze. Then there was the intoxicating thrill of the hunt. Every time she was out in the field, strapped into her armor, weapons at the ready, she was invigorated. She felt powerful and superhuman. She was addicted, and she knew that could be dangerous. Feeling super powered, when you really aren’t, was a perilous mindset to have.
Every Friday and Saturday night of late, the gang headed to the caves, on the prowl for creatures to slay. Every night that passed, they found more monsters. The more they killed, the more were summoned, pres
umably by the master.
The demons numbers were growing and everyone, including Autumn, was training vigorously to ensure they were equipped to handle the onslaught. As the monsters accumulated, Eric began working day and night on the spell. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as getting the creatures blood to perfect the spell. There were more factors involved and magics that Autumn didn’t understand.
Tonight, after they finished researching, Autumn and Rick were spending a monster-free night at home, snuggling on the couch and watching movies.
They craved some normality, this much she knew.
Autumn was skimming another page, not expecting to find anything, when an image caught her eye.
A full-page sketched image, next to script in Latin: finem mundi.
In the picture, a woman dressed in a long, white, hooded cloak stood in a cave. Her eyes glowed, a crimson color, though her face was undoubtedly, perhaps even deceivingly, beautiful. Surrounding her was the undead. Faceless creatures with black pits for eyes and gaping hallows for mouths. Their bodies were withered and decrepit. Some were hunchbacked, others upright. Many walked on all fours, like feral beasts.
Outside the cave, in the sky, was a blood-red moon. In the field, bony clawed hands rose from the ground and long talons dug deeply into the dirt.
The creatures all had something in common: They were all tethered by a rope. Some wore it around their necks like a leash, others around their waist, or ankles.
Following the rope, they all led back to two thick wooden bracelets the woman wore on either of her wrists.
Puppets on a string, Autumn thought bleakly. Was she the elusive puppet master?
Autumn looked at the picture again.
Upon closer inspection, the woman wore a smug grin on her red lips. The kind of grin that implied what words didn’t need to say. It was the grin of victory, the grin of someone who had just won a war.
“Oh no,” Autumn whispered and Rick’s head jolted up from the book he was reading.
“Aut, what is it?” he asked, blue eyes filled with concern.
“Give me a sec,” she said and she pulled her laptop over to her. She went to a translation website and typed in the Latin words.
A Night without Stars Page 23