Cage was about to get to her when she noticed something behind him, just at the end of the hallway. A gun. It took her a second to realize a man was holding it and that it was pointed right at Cage. Without thinking, she lunged to Cage with all her might. He reached for her and she threw her weight into him, spinning them both.
There was a quiet pop as the bullet left the gun. It whizzed through the air as Autumn’s eyes connected with Cage's. Suddenly the happiness that filled his eyes was replaced with shock and then terror as his ears registered the gunshot. The bullet tore into Autumn’s back as she held Cage in her arms. It went through her, and into him.
Several feet away Fredric yelled out, pulling away from the wall. He tried to shoot at the would be attacker, but collapsed to the ground before he could bring the gun up. A swat team quickly rushed in, guns raised ready to fire. Cage held Autumn in his arms. She felt warm.
Blood spread across Cage’s shirt as the small hole that connected him and Autumn slid apart. Behind her, Autumn could hear people shouting. “Police! Nobody move!” Booted footsteps echoed through the hall. Autumn looked at Cage, realizing she’d forgotten about the police. She whispered, “I’m sorry…”
Then Autumn apologized for spinning him, knowing he would be mad at her for taking the brunt of the bullet. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to get hurt again.”
She could feel her knees giving way. She knew she wasn’t really sorry. If she could spare Cage’s life then she would never be sorry. The room tilted around her as she began to lose consciousness. Cage looked at her. His eyes teared up. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out.
Then he could no longer hold them up. They collapsed on top of one another. The police held their guns on them, checking the entire room and making sure they were unarmed. They took Cage’s gun and kicked Fredric's gun away. Sean walked into the room, having made the shot. He stood over Cage with his gun trained on him. It looked like he wanted to pull the trigger. Yet he held his gun still, looking over Cage and then glancing to Autumn.
For a second their eyes met, and Autumn couldn’t help but feel there was something familiar about him before she passed out.
Epilogue
Everything after the gunshot was a bit hazy. Autumn could remember the sounds and lights, but the pain was what she remembered most. Autumn had never felt pain like a bullet ripping through her body. She vaguely remembered waking to see Fredric being handcuffed as he called out to the police, telling them to get Cage an ambulance. He spouted off legal code stating it was their duty to provide medical assistance. They pulled Cage away from Autumn, separating the two of them, and she could no longer see him as the swat team surrounded him. She passed out again.
When she came to, an EMT was putting an oxygen mask on her. She saw Cage on a gurney. She wasn’t sure if he was awake or not as they took him away. The room seemed almost empty then as the majority of the swat team left with him. Autumn laid there for a few seconds as another gurney was brought over. As she was lifted onto it, she saw EMT's were looking over Fredric. He briefly looked at her as a gurney was brought to take him away. Autumn lost consciousness before they pulled her from the tower.
The last thing she remembered from that day was being in an ambulance as an EMT read her stats over the radio. She didn’t remember arriving at the hospital, the surgeries, or the days that followed. After several days she woke up to find herself cuffed to a hospital bed. Her first thoughts when she fully came to were of Cage. She asked any and all around her if he was alive. If he was alright. But no one knew anything, or if they did they weren't telling her. She didn't ask about Poppi. She knew there was no way he could have survived the crash that had killed so many people. She cried for him, but no one cared about her tears, or her dog. They just treated her injuries. She had to have more than a few surgeries over a period of weeks.
The doctor told her she had several broken bones, internal bleeding, and a gunshot wound. Her arm had been broken in multiple places and would need reinforcement. There were a list of other injuries, but she didn’t care. The only thing she cared about was Cage. She had to know if he was alive...or not.
As the days passed, she couldn't help but wonder if he was dead. What if taking a bullet for him hadn’t helped? She told herself he was alive, but then she wondered what would happen to him now that the police were involved. Surely there was no way he could explain the blood bath at the tower.
The police came every now and then, asking her questions. For the first week her doctor didn’t let them stay long. Only a few minutes, at most. It was long enough for her to tell them she didn’t know anything. After more than a week she was able to find out what had happened to Cage. When the police came by Detective Carter turned on the news and Detective Stills gloated that what would happen to Cage would happen to her if she didn’t start answering questions.
Autumn ignored him as she focused on the news. She learned Cage had been taken to the hospital and treated. The bullet had hit him but hadn’t done any major damage. Autumn smiled as she couldn’t help but think she’d slowed it down. She couldn’t wait to boast that she’d saved his life…if they ever got to see each other again.
Autumn’s heart sunk as she saw he was facing a lot of charges. Cage seemed unfazed as he stood in an orange jumpsuit in front of the court. Autumn knew he should face charges. After everything he’d done, he needed to pay. But at the same time she longed to be with him. Autumn let out a sigh as she saw a photograph of Curtis’s uncle on the news. He was dead and the news was calling the war between the Fayngin and Zisgani the war of blood because so much of it had been shed.
Detective Carter turned the TV off then and the police left. As Autumn recovered they kept coming back. By the third week she knew she had to tell them something. She told them again that she knew nothing and wasn’t involved in Cage’s business, but this time she told them what had happened on the day of the battle.
She said she was working in her garden when Cage called her into his office. He’d told her he needed her to get on a helicopter. He hadn’t told her where she was going or why. She faked a laugh as she told them she thought he was surprising her. She explained that the helicopter crashed when someone shot at them, and she’d wandered through the tower until she found Cage. She wanted him to explain, but before he could a man shot them.
After more than a month the doctor released her to the police. They took her to the station where they questioned her for nearly two days. After that they couldn’t hold her any longer. They had to let her go. Autumn was a bit upset that they had kept her, and scared that they might charge her with something, but the fact that Cage was alive got her through it.
It was dark when they let her out of the police station and Autumn wasn’t really sure where to go. She only had the use of one arm, and her body ached with constant pain. She wanted to see Cage, but she didn’t think she could get to him in his current situation. She considered calling her family. But she wasn’t sure how she would explain suddenly coming back to the country. She'd been "away" for so long. How would she explain Curtis's death and her current injures?
She hadn’t been mentioned on the news, but if they’d found out about it somehow, if the police had questioned them, she had no idea how she would explain it. Still, Autumn assumed she’d have to tell her family the truth one day. Even if she found a way around it, she'd still have to tell them about Cage now that she knew she’d loved him. They’d eventually have to do something about it. If they got to do something about it.
Autumn decided she’d call her mom, and perhaps tell her she was in an accident. But before she could get to a phone, a car pulled up beside her. When the door opened a man called out her name. Autumn looked to see it was Byron. Like always, he didn’t seem happy to see her. Autumn was glad he was safe and that he hadn’t been in the tower during the war. She didn’t know what to say to him but he didn’t give her a chance to think. He told her he’d been ordered to pick her up.
She got in the car and he took her to a safe house in the city. It was disguised as a bed and breakfast. The woman that owned it had children and a large collection of knives. She had two men that lived with her. They always carried guns. They set her up and she took a shower before going to sleep. Byron stayed long enough to check on her injuries and make sure she was up to date on all of her medications.
He came back daily to treat her, but never stayed long. One day she took him aside. She'd put off talking to him for far too long. If it was one thing she knew now, it was that it was important to say things before it was too late. As he helped her with physical therapy on her arm she said, “I know you don't like me, and I don't want to upset you. I promise I'll never bring this up again. But I wanted to say I was sorry about Penna. She was my friend. My best friend. And she died saving my life.”
Byron stopped helping her to move her arm and froze. She could tell he was upset. She could tell he was holding back his frustration. He surprised her when he said, “I don't understand. I don't understand why she never told me about any of this.”
Autumn couldn't do much, but she knew the answer to this question. “She never wanted this for you. When your parents died, they came to her and they gave her a choice. It was either you or her, and she never regretted her decision. She used to tell me every day about how proud she was of you and that, if she could have, she'd have given you the world.”
Byron looked like he was going to cry, but he didn't say anything. Autumn continued, “I will get Cage to let you go one day. I will make him forget your family's debt so that you, and none of your children, or your children's children, will ever have to serve the Zisgani.”
Byron moved his glasses to wipe his face before he started to clean up. “You shouldn't make promises you can't keep. We're done for today.”
Autumn nodded and watched him go. He didn't return the next day, but the day after he did. She didn't bring it up again.
For weeks Autumn wandered around the bed and breakfast, but she mostly watched the TV and surfed the internet for any news involving Cage. At one point she asked if she could contact her family and they told her it was too dangerous. The Zisgani’s numbers were low right now, and they could only manage so much.
Autumn sighed, thinking there was always going to be some reason she couldn’t be with her family. In the long run it was probably better she stayed away from them. Now that she was in this kind of life, they were safer not being in contact with her. In their minds she was just overseas…working. So, in their minds, she was busy. Busy, but safe.
From what Autumn could tell, Cage was in for a long trial. He had lawyers, one of whom was Fredric. The prosecution argued that Fredric couldn’t be his lawyer as he was also facing some of the same charges, but Fredric seemed to be winning the battle for representation. Autumn vowed she would watch it all play out and when Cage could be visited she would see him again.
One day when Byron came by, he had a carrier with him. Autumn wondered what he was doing with it. When he opened it she saw Poppi. Autumn’s heart swelled with joy. He’d been one of the last things on her mind lately because she couldn’t bear to think of him. He was the most innocent victim in all this. A lost dog that had been dragged into the life of a crime boss's mistress.
Autumn had become very attached to him, and after she’d seen the helicopter crash she had no doubt in her mind he was dead. Surely, if none of her guards had survived, he couldn't have. Poppi looked like he’d had more than a few surgeries himself. He was quiet and timid as he came out of his crate, but when he saw Autumn he couldn’t stop wagging his tail. For several days they were inseparable.
Another month passed before Autumn was finally able to see Cage. When she found the prison he was being kept at, she called it to find out visitation hours and if she would be able to visit. Byron drove her to the prison and she had to wait in line nearly all day to see him. When it was her turn he was behind a hard plastic barrier. He was brought out in chains. Several guards were watching him, as if he would attempt to break out at any moment.
He showed no emotion when he saw her. She looked at her own reflection in the plastic. Then she looked past him as she picked up the phone. For a moment he just sat there looking at her before he leaned forward and picked up the phone. Their eyes met, pinned together for one infinite moment. She spoke, just four words, her voice strong and clear. “I’ll wait for you.”
Cage looked at her, his dark eyes gleaming as he smiled smugly, dangerously. “It won't be long.”
There was so much Autumn wanted to say to him, but this was neither the time nor the place. She pressed her hand against the plastic, still locked into his gaze. Cage placed his hand against the plastic as well, and Autumn imagined for one moment holding his hand, pressing her lips against his. Her eyes burned with emotions she refused to give voice to here. But Cage knew, she was sure of that.
She hung up the phone and turned away from him, walking towards the exit. She'd said what she'd needed to say. Autumn knew the truth now, both about Cage and about herself. No matter what else happened, they would forever more be bound together. Autumn smiled as she walked out of the prison. Into the sunlight.
The End
Sample of Head Star Academy
Episode One
Blackmail
Everyone deserves a second chance in life. At least, that’s what Lottie had always been told. But what if, even given that second chance, you still couldn't make things right?
Lottie twisted nervously in her seat as she bit down on the eraser of her number two pencil. She hated the taste of it in her mouth. Even though the eraser was clean, fresh, and new, it still shouldn’t have been in her mouth.
It was a nervous habit that Lottie knew she needed to break. Yet as she watched the white testing sheets fly through the air, she couldn’t help but bite down harder on the eraser. She nearly severed it from the end of her pencil.
In dismay, Lottie looked down at her desk as one of the white testing papers fell down before her. Little circles from A to D filled the sheet top to bottom. Lottie swallowed hard, bouncing her right leg under her desk as she watched the testing booklet being passed out for the math exam. Any minute now, they would be beginning.
Lottie put down her pencil as her booklet arrived at her desk. She reached into her pocket, pulling out some gum. She unwrapped it almost frantically, putting it into her mouth. The pink raspberry cherry rushed her taste buds, tasting far better than her eraser had. Yet it did little to settle her nerves.
Lottie chewed the gum as the instructor slowly went through the rules of the exam. He told them how much time they had to get through it and what to do once they were finished. Lottie tapped her fingers on her desk, continuing to chew her gum. She knew that at some point during the test she was going to spit it out into a special paper she had in her pocket.
What made the piece of paper special was the fact that it held the answers to the exam she was about to take. Lottie chewed faster when she thought of how she was going to be cheating. The mere thought nearly had her panicking. She looked around the room, as if someone could just tell what she was about to do and was watching her.
Never in Lottie’s nineteen years had she ever cheated on a test. Lottie wasn’t even a good liar. She’d never been good at keeping secrets, either. For the most part she liked to think of herself as honest. Well, except for a few white lies here or there of course, and occasional extravagant stories she'd come up with to cheer up her dull existence.
Still, up until this point Lottie had done her best to keep to the straight and narrow path. But things hadn’t exactly turned out for her. At nineteen, Lottie should have been in college right now, sweating over college exams. At least that would have made her mother and uncle happy.
Lottie didn't much care for school. No, going to college had always been part of her mother and uncle’s dream for her. Ever since Lottie could remember, they'd planned out her life. They told her what she s
hould do and how she should do it. She'd been supposed to enter high school, get good grades, and get into a good college. Once in the good college she was to get a degree for a high paying job.
Then once she got paid lots of money, she would take care of her mother and uncle until she married a man that would take care of all of them. Finally, Lottie would have kids, making sure to have at least one boy to continue on the family line. Then she would take care of her family, making sure her mother and her uncle were well taken care of in their old age.
Ever since Lottie was eight, this had been her future. At times, Lottie had wanted her own life and her own goals. But her mother and her uncle always made sure she knew they disapproved. Every day they would remind her to stay on task, telling her that if she loved them she’d listen to them. After all, they only wanted what was best for her.
Yet all Lottie ever wanted to do was bake. She loved baking, mixing different ingredients. Her uncle owned a restaurant and ever since she could remember, she loved watching him make pies and desserts. When she got older, she was able to help out. The customers always said she was the best. Part of her wanted to go to a cooking school or a culinary college. Then maybe one day she could take over her uncle's restaurant or open her own.
Yet it was out of the question. Her mother and uncle would let her help out in the restaurant only because they needed extra hands. They wouldn’t let her go into the food industry. They were only just getting by themselves. They couldn’t imagine Lottie would ever do any better, even with her fancy desserts and, as one customer had put it, her imagination for color and flavor.
Lottie wanted to bake breads and pies. She made all sorts of new creations, cream puffs, and donuts. She used to keep a recipe book of all the different things she’d like to make if she had the ingredients. She'd read dozens of baking and cookbooks, until her mother caught her. Her mother had thrown them all away when Lottie was seventeen. Her uncle stopped letting her cook in the kitchen, only allowing her to take orders and serve customers.
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