Autumn Calling (23 page)

It startled her and instinctually she turned
to run. She’d been set up. The driver’s face was a glamour spell of
some kind and the eyes were none other than Juliette’s. She laughed
at Summer’s realization and her pointless attempt at escape. Summer
didn’t see what was thrown at her. She only glanced at the
brightness gaining on her from behind, but she recognized the sound
of crackling fire and the smell of brimstone that fireballs
invariably made. She tried to stop its advances with a burst of
wind but she was too distracted to avert it much. Juliette wasn’t
going to fall for the same defensive move as the last.

Summer could feel the heat of the fireball
flying towards her and stench it made. Before she could turn to
avoid its blast she was thrown forward by the force of a shock wave
brought on by the fireball. She could see the tree coming at her
fast, but there was no way to stop. Her feet couldn’t touch the
ground and its energy too great.

She hit the tree and dropped like a rag
doll.

* * *

There wasn’t an inch of Summer’s body that
didn’t ache as her head tried to clear the thick fogginess it held
refuge to. She groaned as her eyes opened. Her surroundings were
confusing and distorted as she worked to focus.

“Where am I?” she said hoarsely when a
familiar face came into view.

“You’re home, Summer—in your bed,” Daniel
said replacing the cold compress on her forehead with a new
one.

“How did I get here?” she asked after
clearing her throat.

“Autumn brought you here.”

“But…” she said as tiny flashes of memory
flooded back into her head. “I…they…attacked me.”

Daniel looked more concerned than he already
did or was it confusion she saw on his face. Her head hurt and the
drawing of lines from one thought to another was almost as painful
as bloodied spot on her forearm.

“Autumn said you were attacked, but she
didn’t say anything about her being the attacker. Are you
sure?”

“I…saw….a man…no, it was Juliette.”

“Maybe you should talk to Autumn about what
happened.”

“No. It was a trap.”

“A trap? Autumn did this to you? That
doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe it was Marcus. I don’t know, I just
know I went there to meet my dad and they tried to kill me.”

“Okay, now you need to calm down and rest.
We can sort out the details later. Thankfully nothing’s broken, but
certainly hit your head awful hard.”

“I’m afraid.”

“You don’t have to be, Summer. I’m here and
I’ll protect you from harm. I promise.”

“But you can’t. You can’t promise me that?
You can’t interfere.”

“You’re right, I’m not supposed to
interfere, but I can tell you without any doubt, nothing is going
to happen to you tonight. I promise on my very wings as an angel,
you are safe. I will stay and watch over you.

“You promise?” she said tearfully.

“I promise,” Daniel said wiping away her
tears. He lay beside her and held her to him and she cried for a
moment letting her fears ebb from her tired and terribly sore body.
His strength flooded into her, filling her, a tingling of renewed
resilience. Just being in his presence healed her wounds and
spirit. As she let go of her pain, she fell asleep assured by his
very presence.

Summer was late getting up in the morning,
but thankfully not as achy, though she had a nasty bump on her
forehead that was a lovely shade of reddish-purple with hints of
black and blue. No amount of make up would hide it so she’d just
have to field the questions as they arose when she got into work.
She was about half way to work when she remembered her conversation
with Dr. Stuart about delivering the envelope to Aunt Myrtle if she
didn’t show. She glanced at her watch noting it was 8:59 and at a
leisurely pace about ten minutes from the office.

That’s when she pumped up the speed. Her
head ached as she flew down the street passing a car. She was out
of breath as she turned into the clinic parking lot and put a final
burst of acceleration into her pedaling and wound up skidding to a
halt, dropping the bike and running for the door.

“Boy, did you make it by the hair of your
chinny-chin chin,” Dr. Stuart said holding the telephone in one
hand. “I was just about to call Myrtle.”

Huffing and puffing she answered, “Sorry
about that…”

Dr. Stuart dropped the phone and leapt
towards her finally noticing the huge amount of bruising on her
head. “Jumping Johosaphat. Maybe I should call any way,” he said
examining her scalp like a mother chimp might look for bugs in her
babies’ hair.

“It’s fine,” she said just as he touched a
sensitive spot and she winced with pain.

“No, in fact, it’s a pretty good hit,” he
said grabbing her arm and ushering her into his office out of sight
of the employees and patrons. Shutting the door behind them, he
said, “Now explain to me what happened.”

“Do I have to?” she said.

“Yes, unless you’d like me to read the
letter in the envelope and call Myrtle,” he retorted leaning
against his desk with his arms folded on his chest.

“Fine. I was supposed to meet my father
yesterday.”

“Marcus Macabre?”

“Yes,” she said as her phone chimed for the
tenth time this morning.

“He did this to you?”

“Not exactly, but it may have been a set up
that he was a part of.”

“I know the Macabres have an evil streak in
them, but I find it hard to believe he’d seek you out like this and
hurt you.”

“Really? Considering that’s why I’ve been
learning magic for the last six months to fight Macabres who have
threatened to kill us all.”

“Right. You’re right. I guess I just can’t
imagine a parent every wanting to kill their child, but then this
isn’t your normal family, is it?”

“Apparently not,” her phone chimed again and
she ignored it like all the rest. “But to be perfectly honest, I
never did see him or Autumn for that matter. It was Juliette who
did the actual act of throwing me into a tree.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense?”

“What doesn’t?”

“Why didn’t she kill you?”

“Uh. Well…I don’t know, maybe she thought I
was dead?” she said frustrated by his question. “Why, are you
disappointed?”

“Of course not, but that’s what doesn’t make
sense. There must be more to the story than you’re seeing or
remember. If Juliette wanted you dead, she’d have checked to make
sure you were indeed dead. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

That got her thinking, which made her head
hurt. “That’s true.”

“What do you remember?”

“I was picked up by the car and we drove to
our destination. When I got out, I saw through her glamour for just
a second and I ran knowing what was next. That’s when I got hit
with one of those fire ball thingies.”

“But I don’t see any burns on you. Are you
sure?” he said hearing her phone again.

“Pretty sure. They have a very distinct
smell and sound coming at you like a bullet.”

“Very strange. Then what?” Then her phone
rang. She looked at the screen and declined the call setting it
down.

“Then I woke up at home in bed. Daniel was
taking care of me.” Her phone rang again.

“Someone is trying very hard to get a hold
of you. Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“No. It’s Autumn. She’s been texting and
calling me nonstop all morning.”

“And you’re not answering because…?”

“Because they tried to kill me. They set me
up.”

“I have a feeling that’s not what happened.
If that’s all you remember, then there seems to be a bit
missing.”

“Like what?”

“Like, why are you not covered in burns? Or
to put it bluntly, why are you not dead? Autumn might be able to
fill in the blanks. Or maybe you should talk to Myrtle. If this was
a death attempt, they should know to keep it from happening
again.”

“Myrtle doesn’t need to know.”

“And Autumn?”

“I don’t know. I’m not feeling very sisterly
at the moment.” Her phone rang once more.

“Maybe not, but it’s possible she’s trying
to explain what happened, yet you won’t answering the phone.”

“Perhaps you’re right.”

“I usually am,” he said straightening his
tie sporting a cheeky grin. She smirked at him. “Just answer the
phone,” he said tiring at hearing it ring. “You can take it in here
for privacy.”

“Fine,” she said defeated by his logic. He
left the room as she answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Finally. I’ve been calling you all morning.
Are you okay?” Autumn asked with great concern.

“Yes. I’m fine aside from a very large bump
on the head and a cut on my arm.”

“Good. We were so worried.”

“We? We, who?”

“Dad and I.”

“You were worried? Weren’t you both in on
this? Luring me out into the woods so the family could off me once
and for all.

“NO! Is that what you think?”

“I don’t know what to think. I just know
that I got blasted by Juliette who disguised herself as my
driver.”

“Yes. That was my fault. I made the mistake
of leaving my cell phone downstairs and out of my hands for a few
minutes. Juliette must have seen my text and planned to thwart our
family get-together.”

“So you’re saying you had nothing to do with
this?”

“Aside from wrecklessly leaving my phone for
her to see, yes. That’s what I’m saying. If it weren’t for Dad,
you’d be dead, Summer. He heard the car pull up and ran out to
greet you, when he saw Juliette attack you. He retaliated with his
own blow to her. I was behind him and tried to dampen you hitting
the tree by throwing an air cushion between you and it, but I was
slow in getting it there and it only helped a bit, though it did
thwart the fireball from burning you.”

“Oh,” Summer said embarrassed by her brash
accusations. “Daniel said you took me home?”

“Yes. Daniel met us in the woods. I think he
was going there to protect you, but he realized we were on the same
side as he, so instead we gathered you up and he directed us where
your home was so we could take you there.”

“I see.”

“Daniel didn’t mention any of this?”

“Not in detail. Though that tends to be his
‘modus operandi.’ He obviously felt I needed to get my information
from you and stayed out of it as he’s sworn to do.”

“Seems a little harsh.”

“He’s an angel. He’s not allowed to
interfere, though I must say, I do get tired of him telling me
that.”

“I’d find it incredibly annoying. Good thing
he’s so hot, or I’d tell him to hit the road.”

“He’s a good man. He’s just very moral and
true to his heart,” Summer defended.

“He’s an angel, not a man, but to each his
own. I couldn’t live with it, but if he makes you happy, then what
do I care,” Autumn admitted. Summer smiled.

“So are we okay?” Autumn suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?” Summer said.

“I mean, you don’t think Dad and I were
behind this assault anymore, do you?”

“Oh. No. I guess not. I’m sorry I assumed
you were.”

“I get it. The Macabres have a bad rep when
it comes to the Midnights. I just don’t want my big sister to think
I would try to kill her.”

“Big sister? We’re twins.”

“True, but you were born several minutes
before me, according to Dad.”

“Huh,” she mostly said to herself as she
thought about her father being there to see her come into the
world.

“No. We’re good, Autumn.”

“Great. And Dad? You’re still okay with
meeting up with him?”

“Yeah. I’m good with that, but this time, NO
DRIVERS.”

Autumn laughed and agreed. “Definitely. When
we make new arrangements, I swear, we’ll either pick you up
ourselves or meet you somewhere close where you can fly to join
us.

“Perfect.”

“Good. I’ll talk to Dad and I will text you
the details, without leaving my phone somewhere stupid.”

* * *

A week later Summer received a text from her
sister specifying a time where they would come and pick her up. As
an olive branch to make her feel less anxious about another bout
with Juliette, Summer could bring Daniel if she liked. It did make
her feel less suspicious about the meeting, but she felt she needed
to do this alone and offer up a little trust to them. The black
Land Rover arrived at her house in the private drive near the
cottage, not to raise suspicion with Aunt Myrtle and Morti.

A bit of awkwardness arose at the truck when
she first laid eyes on Marcus in close proximity. Was she suppose
to hug him? Shake his hand? What? She didn’t know and it was
obvious to Summer that he was struggling with the same questions.
Thankfully Autumn spoke nonstop in the car as they rode to their
destination. Aside from a few glances at her through the rear view
mirror, he barely said a word.

The drove north a bit on the highway and
then headed back up into the foothills of the mountains. Up and up
they climbed where the trees grew so close together that she
wondered how one might maneuver through them. They turned off onto
a dirt road and continued up a bit more bouncing over uneven road
and hills. At the top of the hill just around a long sweeping
curve, a beautiful house revealed itself from the dense forest to
either side of it. Behind it there were only a few trees which made
her wonder what was beyond.

Entering the house she soon found out what
was at the rear. A beautiful lake of deep sapphire blue laid out
before them seen through giant floor to ceiling windows at least
two floors high. A dock stretched into the water, like a weathered
wooden arm reaching for the far bank on the other side.

The house was huge though they referred to
it as a cabin. Summer had always pictured a cabin as a one or two
roomed wooden shack, not something this luxurious and massive.
After a quick tour, Summer and Autumn unloaded the back of the
truck of a bunch of groceries and supplies. Marcus quickly set out
to make a meal of spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. The sweet
smell of butter and garlic slowly sautéing in a skillet mixed with
the pine aroma outside, made a homey feeling throughout the
cabin.