[ We take a step back in time. The night before but from Autumn’s perspective ]
The water had long since turned cold, but Autumn didn’t feel it.
She sat slumped against the shower wall, her skin numb, her fingers wrinkled.The steam had dissipated, leaving only the biting chill of the night air creeping through the half open ventilator.
Her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, her ribs constricting around the erratic hammering of her heart.
Thump thump. Too fast.
Thump thump. Too wild.
Like it was no longer hers.
Like someone else was tugging at the strings of her pulse, yanking her forward even as her body begged to collapse.
Autumn pressed a trembling hand to her chest, her nails digging into damp skin.
"No..." But the rhythm wouldn’t steady. It fluttered, frantic...the kind of heartbeat that only came with fear. With pain.
Her body curled slightly inward, chest heaving... and then tightening again.
Like a hand curling into a fist right behind her breastbone.
But then it grew. Pulling.
Like a string embedded in her ribs was being yanked from the other end. Yanked so hard it bent her inward.
She gasped, reaching for the tiled wall to steady herself.
But her chest only clenched tighter.It was not the kind of pain that came from within her. It was the kind that came from... beyond. The kind that didn’t belong to her at all.
It felt like someone else’s heartbeat had invaded her own.
"Come back..." the voice whispered
And then... A whisper.
Her head snapped up. Water dripped from her lashes, blurring her vision, but his voice was unmistakable.
It wasn’t in the room though...it was like a soundless plea, a ragged breath against the walls of her mind.
"Autumn... please...come to me...I need you..."
Her lungs locked. And that was when her body stopped feeling like her own.
Her hand moved first...reaching for the knob of the faucet, turning the water off without even noticing. The sound stopped, leaving behind a silence that rang.
She did not remember tugging the thin nightgown over her soaked skin.
All she knew was that suddenly...she was walking.
Feet bare. Hair dripping. Water trailing down her spine.The door was open.
It was very dark.But she moved.
The voice called again.
Louder this time.Closer.
Her bare feet carried her forward out of the bathroom, past the bed, through the door. The hallway stretched before her, endless, the walls breathing in sync with her pulse.
The floorboards groaned.The night air licked at her skin, raising goosebumps along her arms, but she didn’t feel it.
All she felt was the pull.
The ’need’ to be with ’him’.
His voice was wrapping around her like a chain, dragging her forward.
"Autumn... help me...I miss you...baby please..."
Because the voice kept calling.Weakened.Wounded.
Not the arrogant, cocky one she knew...
"Kieran?" her voice barely cracked out, a breath more than a word. Her feet padded faster against the cold stone floor, her hands limp at her sides.
The grand staircase loomed ahead, its polished banister gleaming faintly in the moonlight. She descended without hesitation, her fingers barely grazing the rail, her body moving as if guided by an unseen hand.
The front doors were unlocked.
They swung open soundlessly, as if expecting her.
No one stopped her.Because no one was there. No maids in the corridor. No guards on post.
She moved out into the gardens.
The night swallowed her whole. Autumn’s breath hitched. The sky above was colourless.
Like a void stretched overhead, not even starlight breaking through.She turned in circles, barefoot in the grass.
"Where are you?" she whispered.
And that was when she saw it.
Suspended in the air.
Just hovering.It stared at her.Not just with eyes...but with some cold intent.
The crow flapped once. Then turned and flew forward...disappearing into the trees.
She followed.She didn’t think.Her legs carried her over wet grass.
"It hurts...Come back to me...Please don’t leave me here..."
She began to cry. Silently. Without sobs
The voice came again, weaker now, fraying at the edges.
"Autumn... I can’t... hold on..."
Her feet moved faster... faster.
The grass was cold beneath her soles, the dew soaking into her nightgown, weighing it down. She didn’t care. Didn’t stop.
She stepped into its embrace without hesitation. The trees closed around her. She was walking into nothing.
Then came another caw.
Not his voice this time.
Autumn’s head turned slowly.
There its wings spreading wide, was the crow. Again it cawed.
Autumn’s breath fogged in the air.
The crow tilted its head, then turned, circling around her as she walked.
The crow led her onward, its wings beating a steady rhythm, its caws growing more insistent.
The air turned heavy with the scent of moss and blood?
Autumn’s pulse stuttered.
The crow cawed again, diving sharply...
The trees stood still.
The voice had vanished.
Autumn swayed, suddenly unmoored.Her hands rose, trembling, as if to grasp at the emptiness.
A hand clamped down on her shoulder.Yanked hard.
Lights hit her eyes...too bright, too sudden...flooded her vision.
Voices erupted around her...someone shouting her name, gasping, the crunch of boots on leaves.
Autumn blinked, dazed.
Niva’s face swam into view, her eyes wide with panic.
"Autumn! What the hell are you doing out here?!"
Autumn opened her mouth.
No words came except... " Kieran... ! "
The babies kicked...hard, almost frantic...as if sensing the danger... like they were too scared and were hugging mommy.
She tried to hold on. Tried to tell them that it was alright... mommy was right there... but...
But the darkness rushed up to meet her.