The First Touch (18 page)

Autumn smiled let the flame consume the cold inside of her, and then felt it grow
on its own, taking new life
. Her skin flushed and a fam
iliar whisper came to her aid,
Hurry
time is running out
.
Autumn looked around her and watched as Grayton and Serena slowly crept forward
,
watching her cautiously. Ivan sat up then and blinked loo
king pain free as he
reached for
Autumn
instinctively pulling her close. Relief flooded her and she cried
long and hard in his arms
, “I am sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.”

Ivan cooed her softly, “I know love I am fine.”

Autumn frowned, “No you are not fine. We have to hurry;
you only have a couple of hours
now.”

Ivan replied sounding worried, “So soon?” She nodded and closed her eyes squeezing them tightly; know
ing
imm
ediately that it was the truth. She also guessed by the feeling in her chest that she was not
likely to live through the day either; she would be following her love to the grave.

Possibilities

Autumn awoke in the bathroom with cold water hitting her back. She turned the water off quickly and jumped out dressing swiftly. She quickly pulled her wet hair up
, bracing the edge of the sink for a moment
,
as the world shifted again. This time it was not as difficult as the last, and fearful that she had already changed,
she checked her face in the mirror. It looked fine, a little pale but fin
e, more or less. Then she marched
out
of the bathroom, announcing
, “Grayton we cannot delay any longer. You must go and see Sophia
now
. Ivan will be dead soon, he only has a couple of hours.”

Serena looked at Ivan with dread her face, “So soon?”

“You had a vision?”

Autumn nodded then
, looking
up at Ivan just
long
enough to see that he had her journal in his hands. She reached up with a quickness that surprised the
m all, and snatched it.
Then she threw it into the roaring fire place. It burst into flames and blacked
quickly.
“I don’t know what changed the time line, maybe the touching, or something happened when
I passed out. Either way he
has
like
no time.
”

All eyes were on her now
,
wide and puzzled, as she sat down on the couch not looking at Ivan as she put her socks and boots on. She knew that Ivan was waiting for an explanation, but she wasn’t ready to face him yet. She didn’t know how her body would react and she didn’t
trust that her emotions would no
t set the chain reaction off again. Serena mumbled to herself then, “Probably the temper tantrum earlier.” Ivan shot her a look and Serena said defensively, “Well
,
you were angry, it probably fed the fire.”

Autumn looked at the piles of her folders next to Serena and asked, “What is the eye?”

“Our leader,
”
she replied.

Iv
an asked then
, “What happened in the vision?” Autumn did not answer
him
as she finished her task at hand.

He reached out impulsively to touch her and she flinched looking up at Grayton and said unnaturally forceful, “Ok we have to go now.”

Grayton noticed her change and felt his heart rate increase. His mind whispered,
Ivan
dies
,
he shook his head no, seconding his friends question,
“What did you see?”

Autumn took
the letter from the counter, “Let’s go.”

Serena stood in fr
ont of her blocking their exit, this time her eyes wide,
“What did you see?”

Autumn snapped back, “Move Serena.” Serena stood her ground placi
ng her hands on her hips, while
Autumn
glanced
at her watch,
only
ninety seven minutes.

Autumn snapped again, “Ivan will die if we don’t hurry.” Serena stepped aside but looked unconvinced
,
asking perceptively, “If you had a vision
,
then how are you in danger?”

She shot back without thinking,
her temper flaring, “I
think I accidently kill
myself trying to save him
.”

Ivan grabbed her arm and yanked her back snapping “What?”

She huffed
,
“It’s hard to explain Ivan, and we don’t have the time. I
f it makes you feel better, it was
Grayton’s fault.”

Ivan shot a look at him as if he were going to rip his head from his body. Then as he stepped toward Grayton
,
she
slid her hand onto his arm and he stopped as if he were struggling against himself. She huffed and pulled him towards the door then. “We can change the time line if we hurry
,”
letter in her other hand
,
t
hey all headed for Sophia’s place
.

Autumn knocked on the door in the rhythmic pattern that she always used
,
tak
ing deep breaths
. Sophia opened the door pleasantly surprised by
Autumn’s
visit. Autumn smiled warmly and said, “Hi Sophia, I got another letter.” She slid her hand out with the letter in it, and Sophia grabbed it without looking at it. Autumn watched happily as Sophia’s surprise turned to curiosity
,
as she stared at the three bodies behind her neighbor. They stared at her with the same interest
,
though they kept their distance.

She smiled brighter then a
nd stepped to the side,
trying to sound casual, “Let me introduce you to my friends,
Serena and her brother Grayton…
Oh
…
and my new boyfriend Ivan.” They all waved at Sophia smiling the fakest most strained smiles that she had ever seen on t
heir faces before, and
A
utumn
nearly bust out laughing at the sight
, relieved to see that they were
not
entirely
perfect
.

Sophia waved at them and then smiled at
Autumn
teasing
, “
I didn’t know you had a boyfriend?”

Autumn smiled wider replying, “Yeah, and he’s super cute isn’t he?” Sophia smiled and nodded politely.

S
lightly nervous
,
Autumn
found herself
hoping that Grayton would
approve of Sophia. She had her
dark brown hair up
,
as she almost always did, reve
a
ling her long swan like neck. Autumn had always thought that Sophia was beautiful, exotic looking, brown eyes that were large and deep set
,
though strangely flattering on her. That along with her droopy lids and long lashes gave her appearance of living in a constant sweet haze. Her olive skin and thick sensual lips
were
naturally stained
rose,
perfect
ly
complement
ing her
loveliness
. Autumn smiled thinking, she was lovely, like an enticing flower with an aroma that was familiar but complex.

Ivan slid his hand into
Autumn’s
,
continuing where she left off
,
in the
fore mentioned plan asking
, “You should invite her to come with us?”

“Yes that is a great idea.”
Serena chimed in, while
Grayton nodded as well.

Autumn offered
, “Sophia have you eaten breakfast yet?”

Sophia replied truthfully, “No.”

She smiled brighter, “Well we are heading out to grab a bite to eat
. Y
ou want to come
with us
?”

Sophia looked a little nervous and then glanced at Grayton
signaling her interest in him,
replying, “Are you sure?”

Autumn smiled wide and as friendly as she could muster, “Yes… please.”

Then Sophia broke into a broad smile, “It will take me a couple of minutes to get ready.” Sophia opene
d the door wider offering
, “Come in, I’ll hurry.” Autumn smiled even brighter and walked in
side with her new friends
in tow.

Grayton suddenly looked painfully anxious as he watched Sophia leave the living room. Autumn took that as a good sign, and watched Serena buzzing around the room. She stopped every few seconds looking at every knickknack and piece of sheet music that was lying around the apartment. Ivan simply sat close to
Autumn
his eyes
intently fixed upon her as though he were afraid that she would disappear. Autumn found a sick
comfort in his newest level of concern and shot him a warm smile before turning her attention back to Grayton.

He sat watching the door that Sophia had closed behind her. Serena noticed then that Ivan was watching
Autumn
and then, that Autumn was watching Grayton. Grayton watched the door that the female had gone into, listening intently to her every movement.

A
pang of anxiety hit Serena then, was
there more
speeding up the time li
ne? She needed more information.
Why would it be Grayton’s fault that she killed herself? Why would he let her do such a thing? Did he blame her for letting Ivan die? No because there was still a possibility of Grayton being her mate. Unless
Autumn
is right about Sophia, but why did she ask about the eye?

The eye
, the eye was a seer like
Autumn
was, she shook her head, or perhaps she over heard a conversation in her vision. But if she was right about Sophia....Or perhaps.....
Autumn was the eye!
If she were... it would explain why Grayton did not or could not stop her. She shook her head again. She just needed more information from the source, “
Autumn
why did you ask me about the eye?”

Autumn shrugged
,
and
replied still watching Grayton, “You spoke about it in my vision.”

Ivan let his eyes leave
Autumn
momentarily as he eyed Serena now
,
trying to follow the conversation, as Serena continued, “Did I call you that?”

Autumn nodded her head yes as she said, “Just before Grayton tried to stop me.”

Grayton finally turned his head and said, “Stop you from what?”

Au
tumn answered without
thinking,
“Killing...” she stopped short and looked around dazed as she realized that she had given away too much.

Ivan interjected this time sounding almost frightened, “What happened exactly?”

Autumn looked at the ground then, not wanting to meet their eyes, she knew that she had to tell them now, then she cursed to herself and began, “When I came out of the bathroom the first time I was cold and anxious, and I let the darkness slip.” Ivan looked at her puzzled,
Autumn
continued still looking at the ground, “Then I reached out to touch your arm because you didn’t seem to notice that I was standing there.” She looked at him then by accident and saw the look that she was dreading and her heart sank.

She sucked in sharply eyeing
the ground again
,
trying to calm herself as she continued, “Then...
,”
her voi
ce cracked. “
...then Ivan pulled away and looked at me strangely like I was a different person...he was scared.... I felt a pain in my chest and then Ivan fell to the floor gripping his chest.” Ivan looked at Serena
and shifted in his seat. While
Autumn
continued,
explaining the best she could, ending with,
“
Anyways i
n my dream I pulled the pain back out of his chest saving
him
. It worked and I even let some of the fire follow the stream back in to my chest.”

Ivan breathed, “Why would you do that?”

Autumn refused to look at him,
and he asked again with more force,
“Why w
ould you do that?”