Autumn in the City of Lights

by Kirby Howell

  “Go! Go!” she whispered. She locked the gate after us, and we stole through another parking lot.

  “That’s Cahuenga,” she whispered, gesturing to the empty street ahead of us. “There are a few guards who patrol it, so we can’t take that up over the hill. I don’t think I hit Lush, so she’ll probably be right behind us.”

  “Is there another street we can follow north?”

  Sam nodded. After pausing at the edge of the parking lot to watch for Lush, and any other guards, we ran across the street and alongside what used to be a beach-themed nightclub. We reached the next street, Wilcox, which ran parallel to Cahuenga, but was much smaller and clogged with dark cars and debris. We silently picked our way north for a few blocks, stopping every once in a while to listen, but the night remained silent. No calls or yells, walkie crackles, horse hoofbeats, or even car engines. Somehow, the silence made me more uneasy than if there were evidence of Karl or his guards following us.

  Wilcox began to curve to the right, and soon we came to an intersection where it joined with Cahuenga. Sam swore under her breath. “I thought this street went farther.”

  “We need to get up into the hills,” I whispered to Sam. “We’ll have more cover.”

  Her eyes roamed the perimeter of the intersection, pausing in all the dark alcoves of restaurant entrances, café terraces, and fire escapes looming above us, clinging to the sides of the buildings. I could tell she didn’t like venturing farther into the open any more than I did.

  “Is there a better way to go?”

  Sam shook her head. “There are definitely guards up there.” She grimaced, looking back toward Brass Ring Records. The round structure rose above the shorter buildings that squatted between us.

  “We should head west, away from Brass Ring Records,” I said. “We can keep jumping fences and cutting through alleys until we find another way north.”

  Sam nodded. We were about to enter an alley when I saw movement at the other end and pulled Rissi back. Before I could warn Sam, a shot echoed between the buildings, the bullet passing so close, I heard it whiz past my ears. I turned and dragged Rissi around the corner. Several more shots followed, and Sam took cover behind a car, then began firing back. A groan from the opposite end of the alley was followed by silence.

  “I think I got him,” Sam said.

  “Him? You don’t think that was Lush?”

  She shook her head. “Don’t think so.”

  Rissi clutched my hand, and I squeezed it. “Let’s find another way,” I said. And Rissi tugged on my arm. I looked down at her. She was staring into the alley, and I followed her gaze. A figure darted between shadows, coming closer and closer.

  We ran down the nearest small street, and I tried to silently motion to Sam that we were headed east again — not the direction we wanted to go. Brass Ring Records was ahead of us again. I looked over my shoulder as three figures closed off the direction we’d come from. Then I realized — the guards weren’t bad shots. We were being herded.

  Sam noticed, too, and turned down an alley that would take us away from Karl’s stronghold, but skidded to a stop a moment later when four guards appeared in front of us. She fell in behind me. We had nowhere to go but straight to Brass Ring Records.

  A figure waited for us by the base of the round building, silhouetted black by the glowing windows behind him. Karl. He stepped into the street in front of us and tapped his gun against his thigh. His face was shrouded in shadow, but I could feel the menacing anger radiating from him like a heater on full blast.

  We slowed and came to a stop half a block away. More figures materialized and surrounded us, eyes shining out of the darkness like wolves. Karl closed the distance between us, and the guards came closer and closer, tightening their circle around us.

  I pulled Rissi closer and felt her arms slide around me. She was trembling. I eyed the two guards coming toward us and looked around for hiding places or a gap in the wall of the advancing Frontmen. There was none.

  Movement to my right caught my attention. Sam noticed, too, but not before Lush’s gun was pressed to the back of her head, nudging it forward and down. Lush reached around Sam to grab her gun.

  “Thanks for bringing my lost sheep back,” Karl said quietly, reaching out a finger and tilting Sam’s chin up. The white light made her face seem paler than usual and lit the tears pooling in her eyes.

  He stared into her eyes for a moment before finally speaking. “She’s dead, Sam. You killed her.” His voice was so quiet I could barely hear him.

  Karl raised his gun and drew the barrel down her cheek, almost caressing her. She began to shake visibly, and my chest tightened. I turned Rissi’s face into my chest and pressed my hands around the back of her head, as if that would keep her safe.

  “You could never be what Margery is... was,” Karl said, his voice strangely calm and controlled. “Your worth barely equals a fraction of Margery’s... even in death.”

  “One day... ” Sam whispered. “One day, you will be alone. Alone and hungry and thirsty and cold and naked. And powerless to do anything about it.”

  “Not today,” he said. His voice was as gentle as a father saying goodnight to his daughter. He slid the gun down her throat to her chest and leveled the barrel. Lush backed away. Sam gasped, her eyes going wild with fear and disbelief.

  “No!” I heard myself beg. “Please don’t do this!”

  Karl didn’t pay any attention to me. But Sam did. Her wide eyes searched for me without turning her head.

  “Don’t let him win, Autumn,” Sam’s voice rang out, cutting through the dark terror surrounding us. “You can’t let him–”

  Karl’s shot cracked through the night, and Sam stumbled backward, her sentence unfinished. Her feet dragged as she caught her balance, then she walked a step or two toward me. She held out a hand. Without hesitating, I reached out and touched her outstretched fingertips. She blinked and opened her mouth, but no words came out.

  “Oh, Sam,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  Her features relaxed, as if a pressure inside her had released. She looked almost happy. Her hand fell away from mine, and I realized she was about to fall. I let Rissi go and half caught Sam as she dropped to the road. I cradled her on my knees, brushing the blonde hair from her forehead, as the life slipped from her eyes.

  The look on Sam’s face when she died would remain imprinted in my memory for the rest of my life. It was relief.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “Murderer!” I screamed at Karl, tears blurring my vision. “Why do you have to kill everyone?” I clutched Sam’s empty body and ignored the part of my brain telling me to shut up.

  “I’m not the only one doing the killing.” Karl wiped his nose on the back of the hand clutching his gun and took a deep, shaking breath before he continued. “Everyone will pay for Margery’s death. Starting with you... and you.” His dark eyes turned to Rissi and me, and I saw a guard approach her from behind.

  I stood, abandoning Sam’s body, and started toward Rissi. “Don’t touch her!” I shouted in the direction of the guard. “I will kill you if you lay one finger on her!”

  The guard ignored me and pulled Rissi back against him, pinning her arms behind her back. She cried out in fear, and I charged toward them.

  I didn’t see the guard nearest me when he stepped forward and struck the center of my back with what might have been the butt of his rifle. A sharp pain shot down my legs, and I suddenly felt the rough road against my cheek. I felt like I was sinking through the pavement.

  This was bad, I thought. Very, very bad. This time we might not manage to escape. We’d been lucky in the past, all of us. Until Karl caught up with us.

  I wished I could time travel back to before The Plague. I’d driven down this road many times with my parents on our way to grab a burger after seeing a show at the Hillside Bowl. The tires of my father’s car might’ve touched the place where my cheek now rested. If only, I thought. If only it were possible to go
back.

  I lifted my cheek from the road and found Rissi watching me, motionless, tears dripping from the edge of her jaw. Her small face crumpled when my eyes met hers. “Autumn, I want to go home!” she blurted, her voice thick.

  Tears sprang to my own eyes. I wanted to go home, too. But that seemed just as impossible as hitching a ride with the imaginary car disappearing into the glittering version of Hollywood that only existed in my memory.

  “It’s okay, Rissi,” I managed to say. “Everything will be okay.” But the words were automatic. Even I couldn’t believe them.

  A sob wracked my body at the sudden realization I was jealous of Sam. She was done fighting. She could rest now, away from Karl and the ever-widening ripples of the Crimson Fever.

  We were still here. Still vulnerable, weak, and outnumbered. Still surrounded.

  But still here.

  Rissi.

  I had to protect her. I planted my palms against the pavement and pushed myself up. I got my feet underneath me and stood, head spinning and back screaming with pain, and turned toward Rissi. But she wasn’t there.

  Panic fluttered in my chest, and I turned to search for her, but there was no little girl with curly brown hair among the guards closing in around me.

  “Rissi?” I called. “Rissi, where are you?”

  Silence.

  The panic in my chest twisted into fear, and I turned in a circle, continuing to search between the guards for her.

  Dizzy, I found myself face to face with Karl, and I clutched the front of his jacket, partially out of anger and panic and partially to steady myself.

  “What did you do with her?” I shrieked.

  Karl ripped my hands off his jacket, and I tumbled forward. My knees hit the cement, sending shockwaves of pain up my legs.

  “Bring her forward!” he bellowed.

  I scrambled to my feet, turning to see where she was, but the guards looked at each other, then back at Karl.

  “Who has the little girl?” he shouted to his guards again, but no one came forward.

  Karl had taken her. He’d hidden her away somewhere, and we’d never be able to find her. My eyesight dimmed, and I saw no one but Karl.

  “What did you do with her?!” I screamed and launched myself at him, but hands grabbed me from behind. I fought blindly with the guard who had me, clawing and kicking.

  “Bastard!” I screamed, trying to get his attention. “She’s just a little girl!” My hysterical voice broke into a sob, and I collapsed against the guard behind me.

  “Close your eyes,” a voice whispered close to my ear, and I froze.

  It couldn’t be. I was dreaming. The guard holding me loosened his grip on my arms and squeezed my hand. I turned my head to look at him, but instead of seeing the hard features of one of Karl’s guards, I found myself staring into a familiar face with eyes so blue, I felt as if I were falling head first into Lake Mead on a hot, summer day.

  I didn’t want to close my eyes. I was afraid if I blinked, he’d be gone. That I’d wake up from this glorious hallucination.

  “Rissi’s safe. Close your eyes,” Grey repeated and squeezed my hand again, bringing me back against his chest and tightening his grip around me.

  I reluctantly squeezed my eyes shut and, after a moment, felt the cool breeze around us shift.

  He held me against him, and I felt his breath against my neck. I opened my eyes and broke away from him, turning to see if he was really there. If it was really him.

  I pressed my palm against his chest, needing more proof than what my eyes could provide me. I felt his heart thumping and the warmth of his hand as it covered my own.

  I stared at him, drinking in every detail, still not daring to believe. His usual navy sweater was replaced by a black jacket with a high collar, and his blonde hair was covered by a dark baseball hat with the bill pulled low, casting a dark shadow over his pale blue eyes. I reached up and removed the hat so I could see him better, and a smile stretched the corners of my mouth. Tears pooled in my still wet eyes.

  Grey didn’t move, and I realized he wasn’t smiling. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and his eyes, usually so gentle and calm, were like the blue part of a candle flame, flickering and burning hot.

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered.

  It took him a moment to speak. He reached toward me with his free hand and touched my cheek with his fingertips. I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning into his hand. It was a touch I’d craved, dreamed about, worried about forgetting, feared never feeling again.

  His fingers slid down my bruised cheek, across my split lip, and down my throat. They trailed across my collarbones and down the arm hanging at my side.

  “What did he do to you?” he whispered hoarsely. Muscles moved as he clenched his jaw, and I could see his shoulders shaking. His forehead crinkled in anguish. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded and moved into him again, pressing my face into his chest and wrapping my arms tightly around his waist. “I am now,” I said, my voice muffled by his jacket.

  His arms slid around me, one around my back and one palm holding the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair. I could feel him pressing his lips into my hair.

  “I’ll fix it,” he murmured, tightening his arms around me. “I promise.”

  I didn’t want to let go, and I could tell Grey didn’t want to either. When he finally pulled away, he didn’t release me completely.

  For the first time, I looked around at our surroundings. We were standing next to a pair of closed wooden doors at the top of a curved driveway sloping downhill toward a street clogged with silent cars. A torn awning flapped feebly in the nighttime breeze above us.

  “Are we still in Hollywood?” I asked, trying to get my bearings.

  He nodded. “This is the Magician’s Mansion.”

  I nodded slowly, memories coming into focus. I’d been here a few times with my parents. The Magician’s Mansion was an enormous four-story Victorian house converted into an exclusive dinner club for magicians and fans of magic.

  “Why here?” I asked.

  “Because no one will think to look for you here, and you’ll be close enough to help if I need you, and close enough to run home if I can’t come back for you.”

  “You’re leaving me here?” I blurted. But another question had popped into my head that seemed much more pressing. “Why wouldn’t you come back for me?”

  “I will come back for you, but there’s always a chance, you know that. And you need to be prepared to get yourself home once all of this has blown over and it’s safe. So –”

  “Once all of this has blown over?” I repeated, cutting him off. “I’m not hiding out here while everyone else I know and love–”

  He pressed his fingers to my lips. Surprised, I stopped.

  “You’re malnourished. Your body is weak, and you’re in shock. You’re going to stay here where it’s safe while we take care of this.” He opened the mansion’s door and guided me inside the pitch black lobby, then clicked on a small flashlight and pressed it into my hands, along with a walkie talkie. “If I need you, I’ll call you.”

  I nodded, and Grey gently kissed me.

  “How did you find me?” I asked before he could project away.

  “I didn’t. Ben did.”

  “Ben? How?”

  “Ben cracked their radio code, and everything they said on open frequencies started making sense. He heard the code word for Hollywood, and then the code word for you. Then he started watching the weather cameras in Hollywood. He called me when Rissi went missing and showed me his work. Then I noticed the Morse code had been changed on the blinking light at the top of Brass Ring Records, which was brilliant of you and Rissi, I might add. I arrived right as Karl killed Sam.”

  I closed my eyes and saw her stumble toward me again, holding out her hand.

  Ben, so smart and good. He’d saved me and Rissi. After this, he couldn’t possibly feel his life was useless just because he couldn’t
walk.

  “I need to go,” Grey said, pulling me against him once more. He hugged me tightly and then tapped on the walkie. “Ben is on the other end of this. Just remember, all of these frequencies are open, so don’t say anything you wouldn’t want The Front to hear. And don’t leave until I come back for you. If I don’t, wait for Ben to give you the all clear and then go straight back to New Burbank.”

  I nodded, my panic returning at the thought of him leaving. I could tell he didn’t want to go either.

  “Thank you for getting Rissi out of there first,” I said, squeezing his hand.

  Grey smiled. “Of course.” Then he added, “I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.”

  He kissed me lightly on the forehead, and when I opened my eyes, I was alone.

  I turned around, and the flashlight’s beam sliced through the darkness, revealing rows of crowded, narrow bookshelves and a small desk, but no doorways.

  I lifted the walkie to my mouth and pressed the talk button.

  “Ben?” I asked, after a slight hesitation.

  “Autumn!?” Ben’s voice crackled back. A gush of warmth filled my chest.

  “Ben! How are you? Is Rissi okay?”

  “She’s right here! She’s fine! Are you okay?”

  “Yes!” I paused, almost telling him where I was, but remembered what Grey told me about The Front listening in. “I’m fine. It’s so good to hear your voice again.”

  “Likewise! We were so worried about you! We couldn’t believe you’d been in our backyard this entire time. Then we found you, and Grey... well, he left pretty fast... ”

  I held my breath for a moment before holding down the talk button, wondering what I should say about Grey’s otherworldliness.

  “Did Rissi tell you?”

  There was a crackly pause, so I knew Ben had pressed his own talk button, but wasn’t saying anything. This was going to be a strange conversation to have via walkie talkie.

  “Yeah,” he said finally. “I mean, it was hard enough to believe about Karl... but I guess all I can say is that you guys have some explaining to do.”