The First Touch (36 page)

She found herse
lf wanting to be comforted, wanting
something familiar and warm. Her skin was almost always cold now and she carr
ied a mirror with her checking
her eyes often. Focusing as hard as she could to keep herself calm and keep the irises tight, desperately attempting to stay hidden. Though she knew that the men on that road were probably found a few days later, she burnt them all. But the decapitations were probably enough to lead the vessels in the right direction.

Slowly
,
she experimented with her abilities and increased her strength by feeding on
random strangers. She was
more careful with the processing of the bo
dies tough
,
burning them and then dumping the ashes, though she still was frustrated with her inability to stop herself from draining them dry. She speculated that it had something to do with her time between feedings.

She found that she could go weeks without eating and felt fine until around week three then another part of her body would awake. Then until she fed
,
she would have terrible pains in her chest and head. Like a heart b
eat that thumped so loudly it
forced her to kill to stop it, it was insane. B
y the time she was finished, and was able to feel whole again,
and
her mind would clear
from the fog of need
.

Then she would be able to push herself to incredible feats. Her strength was incredible and for n
early a week afterwards she would not have to concentrate
on
keeping
control. The most bothersome part was still trying to appear normal in front of others.
As it appeared that her normal state was quite different from her old appearance, her eyes giving her the most discomfort. She took it in stride though, as one time slipping in front of a couple who announced their im
pending nuptials to another, reminded
her just how important it was to keep them h
idden. She only flashed them
for
a moment but
the screaming
that took place was
unforgettable, sheer terror
.
She did not make that mistake twice.

She started to wonder if she should avoid society altogether, but the human side of her missed the company of warm bodies. Plus being on guard all the
time
seemed to keep her on her toes
,
so she decided agai
nst it, she needed to feel normal, whatever that was now
.
During her travels she had run into two new potential vessels and had
, as promised,
sent them to be picked up.

The second
time
,
she gave the girl a letter and a phone number to a cell phone that she had purchased just for that occasion. The girl promised that she would text the word yes as soon as she was picked up to let her know that someone had gotten her. Then she was to destroy the phone immediately following it. The next day she received the text at around seven in the morning.
Then a few minutes later
,
the phone
rang, and she destroyed it leaving
the city
at once
.

S
he
had also
learned
that she was quiet the cat burglar with her p
articular set of skills, speed
and strength
.
Assuring that, f
rom that point on
,
she traveled in style
,
and wore clean fitted clothing. Her stress level began to lower as well, especially after sending off the last female. They had
picked up the girl, and
had
not sent anyone after h
er as far as she could tell
,
easing her worries. Sh
e had finally been able to sleep a little more each night
, until she was finally rested enough to feel more like her old self again, more like the old
Autumn
.

When
she awoke a few weeks later
,
even
t
he voices began to slowly fill he
r head
again. That was surprising for her
,
but it had also filled her with joy. Now she would be able to increase her chance of not being caught. She made sure not to call out to them and if at all possible to clear her mind all together before closing her eyes, to ensure that no one else picked up on her errant thoughts. Grayton was easily picked out from the voices and she smiled the first night that she had pulled it out of the well.

Apparently, h
e had not listene
d to her urging and he was
in France
once more
. She huffed at that thought and
realized that after a quick visit
home that he would be her
next stop
. He was trying to torture
himself, she was sure of it now.

Eventually, she learned that they were still searching for her, but that they had no clue where she actually was asides from being in the states again. They had received the vessels but they were concerned for her safety.
She finally had the green light to head home.
Out of the dark a voice warned,
Someone
will be wai
ting for you at your old home
.
Autumn nodded knowing it was true. She would feed before she made that stop. She just needed to see it, it was irrational but the longer she stayed away from anything familiar the more she felt that she wanted it. No correction
,
she
needed it.

She dreamt that night of kissing Ivan on the boat for her first and only time. The pain hit her chest then and she shot out of bed in alarm. The pain was excruciating and she loo
ked at her watch. S
trange it had only been a week and a half since she had
last fed.
She gripped her chest and then dressed quickly
, the thumping increasing three fold as she did. She knew of a night club in this town
that she could easily attain a meal.

As she sat in the alley next to the club she picked off two males within an hour of each other. Not even spilling a drop and the pain finally subsided to a bearable level. She disposed of the bodies without incident. Then since she knew that she was not going to be able
to sleep anyways, she
finally
headed for
her old home. She watched the outside of the building for so
me time, feeling a strong pull to go inside.

Then
she spotted this
newest pull
,
jumping from the window and taking flight, it was Galen, she was sure of it, her newly fed eyes saw perfectly in the dim light. He swooped back
and forth through the neighbor
hood looking for something,
her
she guessed. Then she wondered if he could feel her as
well, probably
,
though his did no
t seem to be as targeted as her ability. He landed two alleys down and she heard him moving slowly looking for her, though happily he was heading in the wrong direction.

She waited until a cat at the end of that alley drew in his attention and took a running jump landing in the w
indow of her living room
, three stories up
. She
took a deep breath and realized that she was alone
, no additional scents remained. T
he condo was also empty
though
,
and she walked through it, ta
king i
t all in fondly, eventually
fi
nd
ing
a letter addressed to her
,
left on the kitchen counter
. As she turned she was surprised to find Galen standing next to her.

She smiled and greeted him warmly, “Hello Galen.” Galen did not speak he merely stared at her unblinking. Autumn shifted then a
nd so did
he
, his intensity
becoming unnerving. Her smile faded as she watched his eyes begin to narrow. Then she decided to take another tack, “I am not running Galen. Please
relax
,
you
’
r
e
starting to make me nervous.”

He blinked, “How do you know my name?”

Autumn smiled
knowingly,
“
Ivan mentioned that there was a man who could defy gravity.”

Galen winced at the mention of Ivan’s name. Alarmed
,
Autumn
quickly nailed him for it, “What is wrong? Is Ivan alright?” Galen winced again and her eyes widened,
“What is it?” H
is eyes widened and
Autumn
cut him off, stepping in closer,
“I didn’t feel any danger, was I wrong?” Galen shook his head solemnly, “What happened then? Why did you wince when I said his name?” Galen
looked confused then, and
shrugged.

Autumn sighed, “Fine
,
I got the letter.” Then she put her hands up and backed away slowly. Galen looked as if he was going to pounce then, and
Autumn
stopped her retreat. “Does that mean that you still want to talk, or are you stalling for time until back up comes?”

Galen looked confused then, “Why would I need back up?”

She smiled a toothy grin, “No one else is coming?”

Galen took a step back then seeing the look in her eye and his posture changed. She continued, “So you still want to
talk then?” Galen nodded, and she
relaxed
a bit sitting
upon the ground
, and
leaning her head back against the bare wall. “So tell me, how has Grayton been lately?”

Galen shrugged, “He is still depressed.”

Autumn nodd
ed sadly
, “They picked up
the two new vessels that I sent?”

“
Yes, they are interested to hear how you managed it.”

Autumn nodded and frowning
saying, “I would have come when they wanted to test me before but I don’t want to be a
council
member
. Besides I hadn’t even fed yet and they were going to test me. Not to mention leaving me with Gregory.”

Her eyes narrowed, and Galen nodded and stepped closer, “And taking you from Ivan.”

Autumn nodded asking
seriously, “How is he?”

Galen answered her questio
n with a question
, “
Why do you want to know?”

She
looked at him seriously
, “
That doesn’t matter, please just tell me.”

Galen snapped
, “
He would not want me to talk about him.”

Autumn winced, “Helen doesn’t want me to know how he is doing?”

He
looked confused
, “
What?”

She snapped her eyes narrowing
, “
His girlfriend Helen, is she the reason you aren’t telling me anything about him? Or is he angry because I didn’t get tested?”

Galen blinked, “His girlfriend?”

Autumn snapped, “Yes, the girl that he sl
eeps with every night, his girl
friend.”

Galen’s eyes widened again, “They aren’t sleeping together.”

Her eyes narrowed
, “I saw her in his room, half naked, and friends do not sit half naked in each others room.”

Galen blinked, “You are mistaken, he has thought of no one but you since he met you.”

Autumn looked at him disbelieving, “Are you certain?” Galen nodded watching her carefully.
She thought,
Perhaps he has not re
alized yet that he loves her
, or vise versa, either way…
Then
she asked
, “If that is true then why do
es he not want you to talk
to me about him?”

He shrugged, “He wanted to speak to you himself.”

Autumn cringed at those words and patted the center of her chest
, “
I don’t want to see him, just thinking about it makes my chest hurt.” Then she mumbled, “It hurts so badly sometimes.” Galen stepped forward his eye
s
filled with concern.

Autumn saw this and realized that something was wrong. Galen looked unnaturally gaunt, compared to what she remembered before, and his eyes
,
were red rimmed. He saw then that he had made a mistake and stood perfectly still waiting for her to speak again. Then she twisted her head unnatu
rally, standing alarmed asking
, “Why aren’t you twitching?”