The First Touch (27 page)

Suddenly she doubted that
Drake
would have a problem
,
doing either or both. Autumn felt the flame in her chest being to blaze as she watched his hands tense wit
h power and she
touched her c
hest reassuring
herself, “I am not going to die today.” He let the first one off at the same pace that he had thrown the stone earlier. It missed her, then the second and third where fast and then faster still.

Autumn asked as she dodged the fourth, “
Drake
what do you think of when you flame on?”

Drake
replied without thinking, “Pain.”

She replied, “Causing or receiving pain?”

Drake
replied
,
as he exerted himself throwing another fire ball, “Both.”

Then she asked cautiously dodging another ball, “Do you heal quickly as well?”

He seemed taken aback by her line of questioning, “Yes.”

Autumn smiled at that and said, “But you are different, than the others.”

Drake
snapped back, throwing another, “Yes, that is why I am a
council
member
.”

Autumn replied
,
patting her chest, “No you are different; you have a fire in your chest like I do.”

Drake stopped mid throw then asking,
obviously distracted now, “What are you talking about?”

“
Your flame I can see it when I close my eyes, your chest is full of it.
”
Then she closed her eyes and watched as he threw a fireball straight at her chest. She raised her hand and caught it without opening them and then pushed it into her chest adding to her flame inside her body. Autumn heard gasps from the others and she smiled as her body shot a giant burst of blue flame back at him.

When she opened her eyes again
, and
Drake
was charging at her his eyes wild with rage, his clothes all aflame. Autumn ran towards the chairs and instantly Ivan was standing in between her and
Drake
. Flanagan was also standing watching
Drake
closely, “
Drake
I do believe your turn is over.”

Drake
gnarled back putting himself out, “I am not finished yet.” His voice sounded raw and distorted, she had hurt him and he wanted to repay the favor. Autumn slid past Ivan who put his hand on her shoulder restraining her momentarily. Finally she shrugged him off and stepped closer to
Drake
raising her hand and sliding it over his still smoldering skin. He flinched but he did not run or strike.

Autumn spoke softly, “I am sorry I hurt you. I did not even know that I could do that. If you want to continue I will.”
She whispered the last line with
an intimacy that made Ivan’s skin crawl and
Drake
’s cool
instantly
.

He stared at her looking deep into her eyes for a long moment and then he replied in defeat, “No I am finished.” He pulled away and
Autumn
stepped forward causing him to stop his retreat.

Then she said softly in her mind
,
aiming it straight at
Drake
, “I am truly sorry I hurt you.” He twitched and then nodded and trotted back to his seat. He rested in his seat and pulled another stone from his pocket and began twirling it much the same as before. The
skin on his face and hands almost
completely
healed
, as was the rest of his body
,
evident in the many holes in his burnt clothing.

Flanagan slowly sat
,
watching the exchange and then looked at Ivan who was standing tense behind them watching
Autumn
as well. His face
was
guarded
,
masking the pain hidden there. Autumn made her way back to the main floor glancing back over her shoulder at Ivan and smiling sweetly
. Once she was safely out on the stage
again he sat in his chair agai
n, watching her unblinking
.

Next up was Galen; he
fluttered around
Autumn
like a bird, his body able to float off of the ground without apparent assistance. He took chunks from her skin
,
from time to time until
Autumn
realized that she, like all vessels, could do the same thing. Galen nearly lost his left arm when she figured that out. Sending him flying into the group, landing at
Drake
’s feet who smiled at him deviously.

Immediately
,
he switched his tact and picked her up carrying her to the ceiling a hundred feet above their heads. Autumn sliced his hands off and then dropped onto the beam overhead. When his hands grew back, their battle continued on the balance beam high above
,
while all of the rest of them watched fascinated.

It wasn’t until Galen hit her with a particularly savage blow across her neck that should have decapitated her that they all r
ealized that she might actually be the eye
. The wound cauterized instantly as she fell backwards off of the beam, the only proof that it had caused any damage was when she landed
, on her feet, she
cursed loudly. Then she pushed herself off of the ground re-disbursing the energy from the fall. The dust that b
lew out with the initial impact
now drew up underneath her, into energy that she drew from, to jump back up to the beam again.

Flannigan gave a whistle as she did that
,
speculating a
loud, “Well she is definitely
council
member material
.”
Drake
nodded in agreement as did flora. Ivan did not hear the conversation he was completely engrossed by the action high above. Galen finally tired of the game; his body finally exhausted by the hour long fight, went for blood and threw himself at her. It was a lunge of such veracity that it sent all of the members up the walls to stop the fight.

Galen was shrieking in frust
ration by the time that Ivan reached
them. Where he found,
Autumn
was already crouched over Galen singing softly, much as Flora had done earlier
,
“Galen calm down.” He laid back his breathing slowing to a natural fluttering before she backed off of him
,
allowing him to roll off the beam and into flight, swooping back down to his seat.

He was now completely calm and whistling to himself happily as if it had never happened. They watched
him cautiously slowly making their
way back down to the main floor. Ivan on the other hand stood on the beam next to her unmoving, though still n
ot looking at her, asking
tightly, “You sang to him?”

Autumn smiled and nodded then she slid her hand into his and breathed, “I want to try something.”

He nodded curtly and stepped to the edge and looked over at the ground. She gripped his hand tightly anxious about her decision and counted, “One, two, and three.” Then they jumped from the beam and slowly floated down to the ground. The floor beneath them rattled as her energy pushed extra hard to support Ivan’s body weight as well.

Ivan landed first and he released his grip from hers. She hovered for a moment sending reverberations throughout the wooden slats on the floor and then landed softly next to him. She smiled brightly to herself proud of her accomplishment and turned to the group, “Who is next?”

Next

The supper model replied wickedly, “I will go next.” She stood and crossed the distance quickly and then eyed Ivan as if he were a piece of meat before she turned and said, “I want you to kiss Ivan.”

“
O
k.”

Ivan raised his hand to stop her
,
without looking at her
again,
and Flanagan seeing the issue interjected, “I think you should c
hoose a tougher subject Helen, p
erhaps someone that she does not
want
to kiss.”

Autumn stopped and smiled at Flanagan blushing slightly, as Helen rolled her eyes replying, “Alright then, I want you to kiss
Drake
.”

She
asked then confused, “What is the purpose of having me kiss
Drake
?”

The smell of lavender a sweet sickening smell almost sent her to knees. Then Helen stepped closer and said, “I want you to kiss
Drake
.”

Autumn felt the wave of nausea shoot through her and said, “My god, that is nauseating.” As she said that she looked at Helen with a look of utter disgust.

Flanagan smiled and winked at
Autumn’s
wrinkled nose
, asking
, “What does it smell like?”

She replied holding her stomach, “Like cheap perfume.” The smell increased and
Autumn
asked in disgust, “So you stink people out until they comply with your demands?”

The smell grew stronger
,
and she repeated her request unsmiling, “I want you to kiss
Drake
.”

To everyone’s surprise, Flora
walked over to
Drake
and sat in his lap and began kissing him. Autumn giggled and pointed at Flora
,
groping
Drake
,
and the big man quickly moved to pry Flora from him.
Drake
wiped his mouth and scowled at Helen as she demanded, “I want you to kiss
Drake
, Now!” Her voice echoed the same way that Flora’s had earlier and the smell became so bad that
Autumn
had to pinch her nose and breathe through her mouth to keep from vomiting. She realized then that if she h
ad eaten something in the past…
well dam
n
how long had it been?

Autumn was about to continue her teasing but then suddenly the room changed. Helen sent all of the bodies in the room towards
Drake
who was now headed towards
Autumn
in response. She stepped back and put her hands up in defense. Then she said to Helen after seeing their glazed looks, “They are like zombies.” Helen nodded seeming satisfied by their responses. Autumn jetted around the room avoiding
Drake
and the rest of them and finally asked twenty minu
tes later, “So we can stop when
ever you are ready Helen. I think you’ve made your point.”

Helen smiled deviously, “Once it has started it can not be stopped until it is carried out.”

Autumn shot back over her shoulder, “Really?”

Helen smiled broadly and replied, “Yes really.”

Autumn grabbed
Drake
’s hand and jumped to the beam above again and kissed him. As she tried to pull back though he pushed her body against the rafter pinning her body and deepened the kiss. The fire began to come up from his belly and flow into her body through her mouth. The warmth was exquisite; it se
nt her hands up his chest, and
th
r
ough
his thick black hair. Then she gripped handfuls of it
,
while his hands slid to her lower back and pressed her so tight that she felt his manhood stir between them. She gasped then and pushed him off
,
jumping down to the ground fall
ing hard and leaving her bodies
charred outline in the wooden floor boards below. Smoke rose up from her body as she shot Helen a dirty look and walked past her, “Not cool.”

Helen smiled looking at her burnt outline on the floor, “I see.”

The rest of them finally came to and made there way back down from the rafters again. Then the big man asked eyeing the floor, “So were you successful Helen?”

She frowned and replied, “No, I had to trick her to get her to finish the task.”

Autumn snapped then, “You mean I didn’t have to kiss him to end the zombie chase?”

Helen smiled ruefully, “No.”

Ivan shot Helen a look and she replied defensively, “It was just a small kiss Ivan.”

Autumn nodded in agreement trying not to look guilty
, while
Ivan huffed taking his seat again. Then she finally looked at
Drake
who sat twirling his rock with a look of sleepy satisfaction on his face. Her flame jumped at that look and she quickly avoided eye contact with him.

Autumn asked then
,
attempting to change the subject, “So what is left?”