The First Touch (25 page)

Autumn lay back onto the s
oft bed and closed her eyes, dreaming
of Ivan telling her about a test. She remembered that there was suppose
d
to be danger, and power but the names were blurry. She was sure of one thing though, he had definitely told her that this test would involve
pain
, a lot of pain.

She was not sure how long she had been laying there but Travis was next to her bed again, suddenly looking very anxious. He repeated his request again and
Autumn
asked
, “
What?”

Travis asked for a third time this time more softly, “May I pick you up again Madame?”

She nodded and asked
, “
What is wrong?”

He slid his hands down and scooped her up saying
, “
We are here.”

First

Autumn did not recognize any of the faces standing on the dock to meet them when she arrived. But they did not look friendly or happy to see her and the man standing in the front snarled
rudely at Travis
, “Why are you carrying her?”

“She is not strong enough to walk yet.”

The man scoffed, “Put her down.” His tone began to set the fire in
Autumn’s
chest flaring and Travis set her down gently. Then he backed away without turning his back, his eyes never leaving her face.

She stepped forward slowly, her legs barely holding her weight. The lead male watched her new born legs wobble as she tried to walk slowly. Then he gestured for two men to help her. He was obviously not convinced of her abilities and this display had confirmed his suspicions. The two men grabbed her arms and carried her at the elbow, her legs dangling inches above the ground.
Sending t
he f
lame in her chest spiking
again, and
Autumn
called out to Travis in her mind, “Thank you Travis.”

The two men nearly dropped her in surprise, as
Autumn
looked back at Travis who was smiling back at her and nodded at her. Then the lead male gestured for the tw
o other men to continue on again
. This time he seemed slightly less agitated by her lack of ability to walk
,
and marched slower toward the waiting motorized carriage. It was black with a single coachman who opened the door bowing slightly
,
as she stepped up. She noticed then that everyone that she met was not surprised by her, even though she knew deep down that no
t one of them were human. A
new aspect to her awakening she guessed, though she already had a list of question
for Ivan when she finally saw
him again.

Autumn stepped inside the
coach and sat down, opposite
the rude male, and smiled to
herself
, this was easier than she thought that
it would be. Aside from her frightening awakening and her heart
a
che from being away from Ivan, s
he felt
almost
enchante
d. As if s
he had just awoken in some sort of twisted fairy tale. This was just the type that had magic wizards and beautiful princesses with unicorn protectors and a handsome prince who sealed their love with a kiss. The rude man watched her reaction carefully and scowled at her smile, then looked out the small window at the passing scenery.

After a few minutes
,
his anger flared
, snapping
, “Why are you smiling?”

Autumn replied casually
,
as she looked around the red velvet lined space touching it softly, “I have neve
r been in a carriage before. I
t is nice.”

The rude man snapped angrily, “You are about to
meet the
council
this night and
you
a
r
e
excited by the carriage?”

Autumn smiled feeling better, “I don’t think I will die today.” Then she paused asking her inner voice and then nodded in confirmation, “No
,
I will not die this day,
or any day soon. As a matter-of-
fact you will die before I do.”

His eyes narrowed
, “
Are you threatening me?”

Autumn looked at her hands that rested in her lap and replied
, “
No I am only telling you the truth.”

He scoffed at her then and replied condescendingly, “You do not scare me, little girl. Do you know how many people survive these tests?”

She met his eyes then
,
her own eyes clear and worry free, “No
,
how many?”

He sna
rl
ed back, “None
. And it takes weeks to clean
the smell out of the great hall after they are finished with them.”

Autumn replied blankly,
not taking the bait,
“Then you should not have anything to worry about.”

His tone turned deadly
, “
We are here; let us see how brave you are once they have you.” Autumn peered out the wi
ndow at the large castle and draw
bridge
that lay open waiting for them to enter. It closed slowly behind them as they entered and she let out a sigh. Her thoughts replied,
Yep I am in a fairy tale, a draw
bridge and everything
.

The rain clouds that were sitting heavy above the castle finally burst and rain began pelting them as they made their way inside. By the time that they had all made it into the foyer
Autumn
was soaking wet and freezing. There was a small group of staff and guests waiting for them at the end near a large door. The excitement was high in the air as she passed them still being carried by the two guards.

As they passed through the first set of doors the whispers began, “Is that her?”

Another voice replied, “No that is not her.” Many of their eyes turned back to the main door,
Autumn
felt a rush relief for that. She was shaking violently with the cold and she imagined that she must look something like a wet rat right now.

The guards made a sharp turn to the right an
d followed a long narrow
corridor to a side door. The rude man went inside first telling them to wait for a moment
,
while he announced her. They finally sat her down and
her heart began pounding then,
Announce
her? How many people was thi
s test going to be in front of?
She smiled to herself nervously,
Yes, the rude man was right she was being absurd. She was about to be tortured to death and she wanted to know who would be watching.
Then he came back out his eyes wide with fear, though she imagined it was for
himself
and not for her. He gestured nervously for
them to hurry and bring her inside
. They brought her out and sat her dead center in front of ten large ornate chairs. The chairs had been staggered by steps and pedestals to allow for all of them to see the space in front of them, where
Autumn
now sat shaking.

Six of the chairs were occupied;
Autumn
zeroed in on Ivan first who sat alone on a chair in the upper right corner looking terrible. But her heart jumped at th
e sight of him anyhow
. His skin was pale and he had dark circles under his beautiful blue eyes. She frowned
then,
even his cheeks looked sunken in. He would not look at her, even though she continued to stare a
t him. Her mind began to race,
why won’t he look at me? Is he angry that I didn’t awake when he pleaded before?
No he had continued to visit her, had she talked to him in her sleep or something?
No.
The she huffed to herself,
I am awake,
so
why was he not at my
side?
’ Her heart tightened as she tore her eyes away from him to look at the rest of the seats
now
, hoping to find some answers elsewhere. There were three other men and two women; she huffed again, so these would be her tortures.

The first of the three men
Autumn
recognized from her earlier. His burning hands and black eyes were the same. He seemed disinterested in the proceedings though, instead looking at a stone in his hand
,
turning it over and over lost in thought
it seemed
. Then she turned her attention to the second man in the chai
r in front of fire hands. A
thin small man sat, with large glazed brown eyes and bird like features, all coming to a point in the center of his pale face. She noticed that his white head even twitched the way that she had seen some small birds do. He watched her blinking his features unreadable.
Autumn moved her gaze back to Ivan checking for any changes and seeing none she moved on to another face.

The last of the three men was by far the largest of them all. He was nearly seven feet tall and built tough. He had massive arms, similar to men who competed in strong men competitions, only on a much larger scale. His face was like his body
,
square and muscular with chiseled features. His chocolate hair was cropped short, and his brown eyes were kind though and she felt instantly that this man would
be fair in any dealings. The
young looking female to his right cleared her throat and stared at
Autumn
with warning in her eyes.

She liked this woman as well; she was sweet looking
,
almost innocent.
Almost
, her nose crinkled as she looked at her. Then her eyes shot back up to the large man’s face who still sat staring at
Autumn
.
She realized then by watching the interaction that they were a couple. She smiled a small smile at the woman who did not even notice
Autumn
, her head so full of jealously now. She had long blond hair and childlike eyes that seemed a bit too large for her face. It was
small and heart shaped,
her skin was
snowy white
,
but she used blush to give it a healthier glow. She also had a small mole just above her matching heart shaped lips, though
Autumn
could not tell if it was real or not. Next
, she turned her gaze back
t
o
Ivan; he was still boring a whole into the ground. She felt a littl
e more uneasy all of a sudden,
Why
would he not look at her?

Lastly
, she looked
t
o
the final female present
,
and watched as she eyed
Autumn
carefully from head
to toe. By the time her eyes reached her face,
she seemed to have summed
Autumn
up. Then she stared back at her unafraid
,
daring
Autumn
to do something to impress her. She knew then the type of woman that this one was, even before she opened her mouth to speak, and
Autumn
did not like her.

She was beautiful, no doubt. She had a black razor cut jaw length hair style that made her look like a supermodel. No super models didn’t even look like super models in real life, she looked like what they strove to become. Her hair perfectly complimented he
r pale skin and form fitting
black dress that ended with long perfectly formed legs. Her eyes were sky blue and her make up was expertly applied to compliment them. Even her lips were large and pouty as so many women in the spot light had tried to accomplish with injections and the like. She watched as the woman slid her ivory hand through her glossy black crop of hair and then inspected her manicured nails
, o
bviously
losing
interest in the proceedings just as fire hands had
already
.

As
Autumn
felt the pressure fading she spoke, “Where is Grayton and Serena?” The hissing that followed from the super model made her realize then that she was not suppose to be talking
,
just yet.

Autumn stared at the ground and the large man chastised the model, “Helen, be polite.”

He turned his attention to
Autumn
again after whispering to his mate to his right, “Stand up
.
” She gave a small smile and then tried to stand and slowly gained her footing after a few attempts. When she finally felt stable she looked up to see the largest man’s eye brow cocked analyzing her.