The First Touch

by Alice Sweet

  Autumn frowned, “Really?”

  Ivan nodded, “Yes.”

  Autumn frowned, “So they want me to turn them then?”

  He nodded, “Or to use your blood to cure them.”

  Autumn frowned again, “Good idea.”

  “You would let them drain you for that?”

  “Well not drain me but at least give them a bit so they could try for a cure.”

  Ivan growled his disapproval, “They have already taken some while I slept a few months ago. You are their cure.”

  Autumn huffed and replied, “They are our people’s main food source, Ivan. Why did you let them leave?”

  Ivan nodded, “They would need to drain you for months possibly years to repair the damage to their species at this point. Most importantly we do not need them, and no one will stop them from draining you if you fall.”

  Autumn snapped, “Aside from you, yes I know but if I fall it will be because I want to fall. And I won’t do that unless you do.” Ivan huffed his disapproval again as Autumn continued her tirade, “I will pull an Isisa in a heartbeat.”

  He replied coolly, “We are not bonded, you will be fine.”

  Autumn snapped again, “Try telling that to my heart,” she patted her heavy chest and added, “So if you value my life then please stay out of the line of fire.” Ivan huffed, and she continued lying, “I trust no one the way that I trust you love, so cover my back from now on alright?”

  He tightened his jaw and replied with a raspy tone, “I will try.”

  Autumn frowned her heart tightening more and more, “Well I am not happy about this either, I want nothing more than my life to go back to normal and live a long peaceful life, tucked away with you. But that just isn’t in the cards.” Ivan stared back at the woods listening for any sign that the men might be returning. Ivan’s mind searched as deep as he could into the trees to be sure that they were gone, as his mate turned away from him, deep in thought.

  Autumn stared at the burning bodies behind them again, the sorrow building inside of her and she frowned; “Now I know why Isisa kept him alive though.”

  Ivan frowned, “Mirth?”

  Autumn replied, “No Gregory, he would be useful for us right about now.”

  “Gregory never met Isisa.”

  Autumn frowned, “When was Gregory born?”

  “About a century after Isisa died.”

  She snapped, “Then Mirth did not take power until then?”

  Ivan frowned, “What? No the transition was near seamless, about ten years after Isisa died Mirth and I took out the council and he took the throne.”

  Autumn frowned, and then cursed, “So what changed then? Each time I awoke things get worse and worse. And if Gregory is not the one pulling me through it all then, could it be me?”

  She tried a different path then, “Did Mirth seek you out?”

  He replied, “No Serena was there when Polina turned me and then Polina disappeared and a few months later Mirth came for me.”

  Autumn frowned, and Ivan continued, “Serena lost her mind soon afterwards and attempted to kill me. After that she admitted that she had killed Polina. Mirth locked her away then and kept her alive only to utilize her abilities.”

  “You were turned, I thought you were born.”

  “Yes I was born, Polina turned me and I awoke a few days later in this body.”

  Autumn frowned then “How does birthing happen then? I mean if I wanted to turn someone?”

  He answered, “You bite them and they change from human into one of us.”

  Autumn frowned, “So I can change anyone then?”

  Ivan nodded, “Yes but all of the breeders are females so they tend to choose males to feed from. That process has worked well for us since only human females can start the fire in male vessels bodies.”

  She frowned, “That does not sound like breeding that sounds like spreading an infection.”

  Ivan retorted, “The bitten retain memories and in some cases abilities of the people who birth them. There are multiple strands but they all begin the same.”

  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 Last

  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 you 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, “That 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 Jack 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, speaking soothingly to the cat. Meanwhile 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 furthest 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 had 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 hand 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 the 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, “What 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 juice 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 snow flakes for the next half an hour. 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 went 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, saying to Jack, “The first one, yeah!” Jack continued to stare at the door not looking at her.

  Autumn waved at him dismissively and checked her appearance in the mirror on the wall in the hallway, and then huffed, “I need to get out more.” Autumn looked back at the white room and sniffed the air pretending to sniff her arm pits as she made her way to the door. As soon as she put her arm down to reach for the handle she felt a pain shoot through her ankles as they both cracked. Instantly she went flying down the hallway into the television mounted on the wall in the living room. Autumn bounced off of it landing on the floor then, and watched in horror as the white dots on the floor stirred moving erratically with each unseen step of her attacker. Autumn mouthed wordlessly, “Lyla,” as she went flying into the book shelves on the other side of the room, her head finally breaking open with the impact on her skull.

  As the blood gushed from her wound, Autumn found it difficult to concentrate. Though she did hear the knock at the door again, and she slowly placed her hand on her heart that was continuing to beat in her chest. Autumn felt her entire body lift off of the ground again and she watched as Sophia entered the living room. “Autumn is everything alright? I heard a bang.” Autumn heard Sophia’s scream before she even felt her own body hit the ground. Autumn watched in horror as Sophia was thrown into the coffee table sending punch flying into the air and all down the front of Lyla.

  Autumn thought, finall
y, something worked and then she slowly tried to pull herself up but to no avail, her back spasmed at the pressure on her spine and she collapsed again. This was just in time to see Lyla reach down to pick up Sophia’s unconscious body, shaking her violently. Autumn watched as she dropped her again seeing her move out of the corner of her eye. Lyla made her way stealthily across the room to chuck Autumn again. This time into the kitchen table, Autumn slid across the top knocking it over and cut her arms and the backs of her legs on the broken bowls. Autumn quickly pushed herself up and heard another knock on the door. Lyla yelled, “The party has been canceled.”

  While Autumn, slowly drug her body around the table, and watched as Lyla went to check on the front door. She pulled her body as quickly as she could back to through the living room past Sophia’s lifeless body. Autumn thankfully noted that she was breathing deeply, and that the red punch looked like it was just that, not blood. Autumn continued her struggle towards the book shelves again as she listened to Lyla talking to a male, Drake she was guessing. “The party has been canceled go away please.”

  Drake on the other hand was arguing tirelessly, “I received a call and I am not here for the party. I am supposed to meet someone here. Can you let me in please?”

  Lyla snapped back, “No, no visitors. Please leave or I will be forced to call the police, Sir.”

  Autumn finally made it to the bookshelf and winced as she slowly pulled herself up to the shelf where she had left her daughters book. Then she called out, “Lyla I am ready now.” Lyla made her way back down the hall and back to the over turned table and then looked up to see Autumn sitting on the floor next to the book shelf again.

  Then she followed the trail of blood and said, “My own little trail of bread crumbs.” Then she pushed the desk out of the way sending it into another wall and replied, “You don’t look so scary now all covered from head to toe in your own blood.” Autumn winced inciting Lyla’s predatory nature, and she purred with delight.

  “So Mirth sent his little pet to take care of me, did he?” Lyla sliced her cheek, and Autumn hissed protecting her face, looking down at Lyla’s bloody finger tips, she taunted further, “Why didn’t he come himself?”