For a moment, Cole forgot how to breathe, and almost passed out.
The lemonade shattered in his hand, glass and juice making their way to the floor in slow motion. How did you react if someone you loved died? Were you supposed to cry? Or did they only do that in movies?
Slow motion, everything was in slow motion. That gave him more time, didn’t it? But if she was already dead… that didn’t help, did it?
By instinct he fell to his knees. He shook this girl, this gorgeous, attractive… no, no, he loved her too much! It had been only a few hours, and he loved her too much. It seemed cliché, but when you love someone, they don’t die in two hours.
And he’d never even told her…
“No, no! Oh God, no, no…” Cole began. How could she have been murdered this quickly? Something Kray had done had killed her!
Well, this was highly improbable.
Cole didn’t even argue this time. There was nothing he could do… but he could have prevented this… if he had stayed…
“I didn’t kill her,” a strange voice said. At first, he thought it was in his head, and ignored it.
“I didn’t kill her.”
Cole looked up and saw Kray. He didn’t notice the knife she was holding was bloodless.
“No…” he argued, “No, something you did…”
Kray shook her head. “Well, she’s dead now. There’s nothing to worry about!”
Something made the blonde look back at the shattered window when he noticed something odd- a knife on the floor nearby. He then looked at Autumn and saw a crystal clear glass shard near her neck, on the floor, as if somehow it had struck her and killed her. There was no blood- what? And the knife? It looked like someone had thrown it into the window…
But if Kray had had it- why did she need two knives? What was the second one for, if the first one was used to shatter the window to cleverly kill Autumn?
But he realized- if Kray had shattered the window that killed…
She had-
“Cole!”
Before he could accuse he felt the second blade on his neck.
So that’s what that one’s for.
“Cole… I want to introduce you to someone.”
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You know, Kevin had a particular, certain shade of green that always seemed to attract him. It was dark, forest green, Christmas-tree green, the kind that glowed and sparkled with life no matter what the season…
He found that shade in Natashas eyes. Right now, Kevin Jonas held her close, because this was one of those romantic, mushy times where that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Or, you know, if her eyes were brown, then he had a particular shade of trees and the ground that made him think ‘Nature!’ and instantly drove him toward it. The authoress can’t remember whether her eyes are brown or green, but either way, K2 adored her.
“Kevin,”
Her voice brought him back to reality, when he had been thinking about colors and Natasha.
“We should probably get out of here. Before Aaron wakes up,” she said suddenly.
Yeah, him…
“Oh, yeah.” Slowly, K2 stood up. He didn’t bother to look toward the closet where Aarons limp figure lay.
“And…” Natasha trailed off.
“Thanks. For, you know, saving me…” she paused again as they walked out of the room. Mushy romance wasn’t exactly her thing. “Uh- if I may ask- what happened to Jade?” she added.
An ‘oh, shi-‘ crossed his mind when he realized if he went downstairs he’d probably run into her again.
“Uh…”
“She’s still stalking you, isn’t she.” Nat said knowingly, small grin on her face at Jades impossibility. “That’s typical…”
Kevin half laughed, half grimaced, “Uh, maybe she got lost, or-“
As he was thinking of the hopeful possibilities he heard a scream.
The two exchanged a glance and immediately bolted down the stairs.
More civilians were panicking. The last thing Natasha remembered, a bunch of sorority girls had summoned Bloody Mary. But when she landed on the floor she realized someone had died. Was that normal?
Oh shit, okay, I’m leaving now!
Kevins eyes widened. Natasha paled.
“What’s going on…?” the dark haired girl asked, first to speak.
Kevin didn’t say anything.
Sapphire, meanwhile, bolted into the vicinity, followed by about 20 people. Suddenly she halted to a stop.
“Someone’s dead…” she murmured, finally realizing what was going on. “No! Now I’ll get sued!”
“Someone died and all you care about is a LAWSUIT?!” Dawn demanded angrily, stepping out of the way of the panicking people. She had had it with this prissy rich snob. And now all she cared about was money?!
“What’s wrong with that? I mean, it’s not like we can revive her or any-“ Sapphire began when Dawn grabbed a baseball bat and hit her rather violently over the head with it. The blonde stumbled backward, somehow still conscious and not bleeding, but it was likely a large bruise would form on her head later.
Some birthday this turned out to be. But Dawn couldn’t say Sapphire didn’t deserve it.
“What about the people Autumn meant something to?!” she asked. Like Cole! “Like Cole! Wait…”
She spun around. Cole, Kray and Gavin were gone.
“Where’s Cole?!”
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“Don’t speak!”
Cole was really confused now.
Kray shoved him into a random bedroom, having led him upstairs effortlessly. The door hit the wall behind her with a thud as the boy massaged his neck- he could still feel the cold metal pressed against flesh, even though the blade was in Krays hand now.
“What’s going on?” he asked carefully, when the door swung open and an older man walked in.
“Kray. You were supposed to kill her, not kidnap the boy.” Gavin intoned firmly, analyzing what was going on. He dropped a large bag onto the floor, and it made a clinking sound as it hit carpet. So he’s a thief, too.
"What's going on?" he asked again, cautiously. If it weren't for this sudden kidnapping, he'd be grieving right now. But he couldn't- if he showed any vulnerability…
Kray was walking toward him. She tossed her knife into the wall flawlessly- she must have learned that trick from Gavin. The blade froze in the plaster and its momentum was cut off as she tossed her hair back and moved towards him, seductively, almost wantingly.
Cole backed up until he hit the wooden bedpost behind him. Cornered. This room was like a giant trap.
"God, Kray, don't rape that boy- can't you wait?" Gavin asked, annoyed. Cole paled, stumbling onto the bed to avoid her when he realized something.
She killed Autumn because she wanted me instead…
Oh, God- Coles mind went into overdrive as he tried to figure out what to do.
There was a creak, and like in some horror movie, a disheveled man stepped out of the closet. His spiky brown hair didn't look at all natural, and he swayed, but not for nearly the same reasons Kray had earlier.
He stared at the scene for a moment, wondering what had happened while he was unconscious to bring these people here.
"Who are you?" Aaron asked suddenly.
Kray ignored him and slipped onto the bed, leaning towards the blonde: "You're way too sexy for Autumn," she purred.
Cole lost it.
He lunged at this deranged girl, fist whirling; about to punch- surely an attack seemed like nothing compared to murder- when he felt something tug the back of his shirt the other way and threw him backwards onto the floor. The same thing happened to Kray, and she hit the ground.
Gavin let go of them.
"You bitch, don't provoke him!" he told Kray angrily. Cole was secretly relieved, as he had been really starting to panic, not to mention getting pissed off.
"Who the hell are you?" Aaron asked again, not appreciating being ignored.
Gavin rolled his eyes. "And you are?" the older man asked, not even looking in Aarons direction.
"Aaron."
"Gavin, then,"
Normally, he would have used one of his aliases, but most of them had killed their welcome by now and were now on wanted lists. Gavin, however, he hadn't used in awhile. He doubted anyone remembered it.
"Okay. And I know who you are," Aaron said, looking at Cole. "And you're… that girl who fell from the railing, right? Railing Girl?"
Kray giggled in response. Railing Girl!
"Oh God, Kray, you were supposed to kill the girl, not kidnap him…" Gavin repeated, and then turned to Cole.
"We need to get rid of you."
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Pause, freeze frame, oh my Atmos.
Cole had to get away from here. Without thinking, he sprinted.
And ran into a wall.
This was just typical, that when you're trying to get away from something, you get a concussion. He jumped back, room spinning, and somehow managed to get out through the door before Gavin or Aaron realized he was escaping. Stupid wall. Stupid, lousy sense of direction.
He bolted down the stairs and made to jump off the last few steps when he came across an angry group of civilians and a black haired girl- with a tube of red paint in her hand?- who yelled, "Cole, you're alive!"
“Yeah, I’m a- ack!”
Gavin bolted down the stairs after him, only about a minute behind, but that minute was enough. Cole burst into the crowd, and Dawn spun around; “What the-“
Gavin landed- IN the crowd, and barely managing to squash someone- and, in the sudden confusion that followed, Dawn accidently squirted him with a large amount of the red paint.
He stopped suddenly, and shook his arms to get off some of the paint.
“What. Did. You. Just. Do.” He hissed. Dawn paled.
“EVERYONE, RUN!”
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Cole ran through the crowd, and by doing so, disappeared.
He must have run through many hallways, because after awhile, the crowd seemed to dissipate and he became alone. Here, secluded, surrounded by baby-blue walls and away from Kray and Gavin, he felt his fear and panic seep away. He felt safe now.
His mind refocused back to what was really the matter- Autumn. The blonde wandered into a room to think and flipped on the lights when he saw someone.
A woman wearing Indian saris in bright, patterned colors was meditating on a nearby table.
I never get any time to myself around here…
“Salaam,” she said, bowing her head in greeting. Cole stared.
What kind of prep invites a crazy, Indian/Arabian woman to her party? He knew this lady was crazy because of the whacked-out grin she had on her face, as if the joke was on him.
This is so weird, he thought. I’ve GOT to be dreaming. No one smiles like that…
Oh Atmos, if that boy had run into another killer or pervert, then he had some serious bad luck.
“Don’t only Arabians salaam?” he asked, confused- his Middle Eastern knowledge wasn’t that great, but he knew some things. “I mean, ‘cause you’re wearing Indian clothing, and there, I think you say Namaste… or something…”
The womans smile faded and Cole trailed off.
“Do you want me to read your fortune?” she asked suddenly, and the grin returned.
“Uh…”
“Great!”
Said fortune teller suddenly grabbed his arm, yanking him forward. She pried open his hand to reveal his palm.
“Hmm…” she said, tracing- what was it called again, your heart line?- “You have… a long life ahead of you…”
The blonde nodded slowly, doubting she knew what she was doing.
“And ah… great love life…”
Cole shook his head. As if I needed to be reminded right now. He pulled his arm out of her grasp.
“No…”
The lady slid off the table. “I’m sorry, did I offend you?” she asked softly.
“Well… there was this… girl…” Cole started when the teller lowered her shawl, revealing her face.
“What the- Autumn?!”
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"Running, running running, running running running…" Dawn said cheerily as she dashed through the hoards of angry civilians with weaponry and from the madman.
"How can you be CHEERFUL when we could possibly get killed?!" Natasha asked, slightly ahead of her, as her longer legs enabled her to run faster.
"No, it's good, because at least the creepy guy is covered in paint, so at least we'll know who he is BEFORE he kills us!" Dawn smiled. Always happy. Or hyperactive.
Kevin sighed. "Yeah, we're gonna die."
"Or we could leave the party now," Natasha suggested. "As soon as we find… oh boy, we need to find Joe and Nick…"
"And Ophie and Cassie, and I don't really care about Gretchen, so yeah…" Dawn said, finally halting to a stop when she hit a large dining hall with an emerald chandelier dangling from the ceiling. The Moonstones and their jewels, hmm.
"Okay, well Cassie's going to be wherever Joe is," Kevin figured, and Natasha gave him a weird look.
"What, why?" she asked, pulling out a random, fancy wooden chair and sitting down.
"I could have sworn I saw them kissing while I was running from Jade upstairs…" K2 trailed off.
"Aww, Joe has a girlfriend!" Dawn giggled, making a heart with her fingers. "Cassie and Joe would really be cute together…"
"Now all we have to do is find them." Kevin added. Suddenly he realized something.
"In this house? It's ENORMOUS." He emphasized. Natasha groaned.
"We're screwed."
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Now he knew he was dreaming.
Cole jumped back to the wall.
“What’s going on?! You’re dead, remember?” he gasped. This was no imposter- it was definitely Autumn, in the flesh, the apparently not-dead flesh.
Autumn snickered. “You totally should have seen the look on your face…” she laughed, brushing long black bangs out of her eyes.
“What’s going on?!” Cole demanded, asking the same question he had asked several times earlier today. What’s going on?!
“Well, I turned into a fortune teller- isn’t that neat?”
“Uh, I don’t mean to sound rude…” Cole said, “But you’re… you’re…”
“I’m not a zombie, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she explained. “I didn’t die. I just looked like I died,” she added, with a smug grin on her face as she began to take off the foreign attire to show her more goth clothes underneath.
Cole blinked.
“WHY DID YOU SCARE ME LIKE THAT?!” he asked, “You scared the living crap out of me! I thought you died! And then Kray almost raped me!” the boy vented, not necessarily yelling at Autumn but, well, venting, because when people get upset, they vent.
“Um, hello? Kray was trying to KILL ME. She had a freaking knife, I only pretended to die so she wouldn’t actually kill me- she’s so deranged right now, I doubted she could tell the living from the dead…”
I should have realized, Cole thought, she wasn’t even injured… she could have been holding her breath until when they checked if she was breathing…
“Yeah, I kind of noticed the whole Kray-is-deranged thing,” Cole muttered, still freaked out by ‘Railing Girl’.
“Sorry for, as you say, ‘scaring the living crap’ out of you… of course, if I had stood up straight, looked her in the eye and said ‘HEY, WHAT’S WITH THE KNIFE?’ she probably would have killed me, y’know?”
Cole managed to chuckle slightly, despite the circumstances. Autumn smiled, glad he wasn’t upset anymore.
“Just one question,” Cole said. “Where did you get the outfit?” he asked, looking at the red saris lying on the table.
“Think Sapphire likes Cheetah Girls.” One World, One World, One World!
“Oh holy crap…”
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“Do I have to sing you the happy song?” Dawn asked menacingly to the couple gone pessimists at their current situation.
Natasha bolted upright. “Pssh, of course not!” she said immediately and twitched.
Kevins eyebrows rose slightly, and he stood up as well. “Let’s just find everyone,” he said, “This place is really starting to freak me out…”
“Ditto,” was the collective response. Dawn looked up, armed with paint.
“Alright, I’ll check upstairs, and you do downstairs. Grab a shovel or something just in case someone attacks you. And the creepy guy is covered in red paint, so that helps,” she shrugged and grabbed a random pitchfork, remnant of the mob. K2 nodded and took a pitchfork as well, and Nat picked up a shovel, all weapons that some idiot had left in the dining room.
“Oh! And whatever you do, don’t die!” Dawn said cheerfully.
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Autumn grabbed the saris and started putting on the attire again.
“Why do you still need those?” Cole asked, and Autumn arranged some gold-colored jewelry.
“Because, half this place thinks I’m dead, and until I get out of here, I’m not risking get actually killed,” she explained, putting on some bracelets. She looked out in the hall cautiously; making sure no one was there, when suddenly she heard running footsteps.
“Oh crud.”
Cole looked out. “What?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t Aaron, Kray, Gavin, or anyone else they should be worrying about.
Autumn suddenly sighed with relief. “Never mind, it’s Dawn… with paint… and a pitchfork…”
Oh God, what is she doing.
“HI, Cole!” the girl said, stopping when she came to the two and waving wildly. She then looked at Autumn, but because her hood concealed most of her face in the shadows- not to mention the hallway was almost pitch black, for no apparent reason- she didn’t recognize her. “Who’s…?”
Cole shot a glance at Autumn. Okay, just tell her. It’s Kray we’re trying to get not to figure out here… does that make any sense…?
“It’s me, Autumn.”
“OH, HOLY SHI-“ Dawn began, eyes wide, when Cole gave her an alarmed look and she quieted suddenly. “Did you revive her?! Is she a zombie?!” she asked, in a whisper.
“I never died,” Autumn explained, “Look, it’s a long story, but right now we’re trying to avoid Kray and Gavin…”
“This day- err, night- is so weird,” Dawn muttered, shaking her head. “Anyway, I’m just looking for Cassie, Joe, Nick and Ophelia so we can get the heck out of here before someone ACTUALLY gets killed. Oh, and I’m glad you’re alive, by the way.”
Autumn grinned. “Yeah, me too,”
“You’re looking for people?” Cole clarified. Dawn nodded.
“’Cause there’s a huge crowd back in the foyer,” he offered. The girl nodded.
“I know, I was there awhile back. I think we should check the upstairs first, because if any sane people are trying to avoid that crowd, they’d be there- and Kevin said he saw Cassie and Joe there…”
“Kray’s probably still there…” the blonde boy lamented, and Dawn cursed under her breath.
“Whatever. We’ll just be careful.” Autumn decided.
“And prepared!” the other girl raised her pitchfork into the air and cackled evilly.
Oh boy, Autumn thought. She had sugar, didn’t she?
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Suggestive themes much? Lol, I couldn't resist...
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