Autumn Storm (18 page)

It’d been worth it. At least he knew what he
was doing.

“I gotta tell Dawn,” Sonya said. She rolled
off the bed and tucked the phone away. She left the room.

Troubled, Autumn thought hard as she pulled
on her boots. Did she have a boyfriend before her accident? If so,
did he know what happened to her? She felt bad for the unknown guy
waiting for her.

Really bad. Struck by the intensity of the
emotion, she gazed at the wall. It felt like there was someone. If
so, who? And where? He hadn’t been at the orphanage or the first
school they put her in before transferring her here, to a place
where no one knew her at all.

“Dawn!” The angry voice jarred her from her
thoughts. Biji, the girl who made her feel happy on sight at the
football game, shoved the door open. She planted her hands on her
hips, dark eyes filled with anger. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Autumn answered. “Is
everything okay?”

“No, it’s not. You tell her I saw her with
Beck, and she better watch it! He’s too good for her. She’s a
whore. I don’t even think her kid is his! How
can
it be when
she-“

Autumn listened, astounded as the small girl
went off. She learned more about Beck and Dawn in the five minute
rant than she had interacting with them over the past three days.
She had no idea Beck’s father was a billionaire or that Dawn had
been a real model.

Biji took a deep breath at last and blew it
out, calming. Autumn remained still, afraid of setting the fireball
off again.

“You want to hang out?” Biji asked suddenly,
focusing on her.

“Um, I’m kinda afraid to say no,” Autumn
replied.

Biji grinned. “Beck said you’re cool and to
take care of you.”

Autumn almost rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure
he was messing with you.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He knows better.” Biji’s
eyes narrowed.

Autumn laughed.

“Come on.” Biji left the room.

Autumn trailed. Biji walked past the
stairwell and down the hall. Autumn followed. She found herself
stopping outside one of the closed doors. It’s where she’d stayed
once.

A prick of pain, and she stepped away
quickly. After last night, she’d awoken with less discomfort than
she’d ever felt. She didn’t want to ruin that.

“He said to give these to you,” Biji called
from down the hall. “I’m looking for them.”

Autumn limped to the room with the open
door. Biji was sifting through a worn, wooden jewelry box at odds
with the modern and expensive clutter on her dresser. Autumn’s eyes
stuck to the box.

It was hers. Or had been. Or would be?

“What’s wrong?” Biji asked.

“Nothing. It’s a pretty box.”

“Yeah.”

She thought the girl sounded sad. Biji
finished her search and set it on the bed. Autumn’s gaze caught on
the picture stuck to the top of the inside of the box.

The girl from the mirror stood beside Biji.
They were grinning.

“Who is that?” Autumn asked in a hushed
voice.

Biji followed her gaze. “My best friend.”
She closed the box, tense. “She died over the summer.”

By going off the cliff. Autumn gazed at
Biji, unable to decipher her own emotions. Biji’s best friend
haunted Autumn since she’d woken up in the hospital in late summer.
Was that why Autumn liked Biji so much on sight? Was that something
the dark-haired girl told her?

Autumn recalled her late-night venture to
the cliff and seeing the girl’s body in Miner’s Drop. Why did she
feel like Biji was there that night? It made no sense.

“These are for you,” Biji said, oblivious of
her thoughts. She held out a smooth, blue stone and an
elephant-shaped charm made of jade. “They’ll help you focus the
elements. You won’t need them after awhile.”

Autumn took them. She recognized them as
hers, like the amulet. Nothing else in her world seemed to belong
to her, but these three things did. Holding them gave her a strange
feeling that had nothing to do with the elements. It was the
difference between a memory and reliving something she’d done
before. She didn’t like the sensation, but she wanted what belonged
to her.

Mine.

It didn’t seem possible that Decker belonged
to her, too. Growing frustrated, she stared at the two stones,
willing them to tell her their secrets.

“I hate being snowed in. I hate
snow
.
You want to get some cocoa?” Biji asked.

“Yeah.” Autumn put the stones in her
pocket.

Biji led her down to the kitchen, where a
staff of five worked. Autumn lingered in the door, aware she’d be
in the way with her inability to maneuver through the busy kitchen.
Biji smiled sweetly at the cook she addressed. The cook nodded and
motioned to the dining room.

“Okay, they’ll bring us some,” she said,
returning to Autumn. “What’s your name again?”

“Autumn.” She suppressed a smile.

“Autumn.” Biji gazed at her closely. “Not
sure I like that.”

Speechless, Autumn watched her turn and
retreat to the living area. She followed at last, uncertain why
Biji and Beck both had such a negative reaction to her name. Biji
was texting when she sat down on the couch beside her.

“Beck says hi,” Biji said without looking
up.

“Hello to Beck.” Autumn watched her. She
found herself trying to remember if she ever had a cell phone. No,
the orphanage wasn’t going to pay for something like that, if they
weren’t willing to pay for the brace she requested. It was half the
size of the one she had now and would stabilize her knee area
without making it so hard to move.

Biji muttered at the phone as she typed.
Autumn smiled, at home with the girl. The cook brought out two mugs
of hot chocolate and set them on the ottoman where Decker had sat
last night.

Autumn shuddered at the memory. She recalled
the way the fire had stretched to reach him, as if it, too, wasn’t
able to control itself around him. How could someone affect
everything around him and not have any control over himself?

“It stopped snowing at least,” Biji
said.

Autumn glanced out the window. A plough was
working its way down the driveway while a couple of the students
shoveled the walkway.

Biji laughed. “Beck says your iPad didn’t
survive the snow. He’ll bring you a new one.”

Face warm, Autumn sipped her cocoa,
uncertain how to respond. She didn’t like the idea of taking
charity, especially from Beck. He’d done enough for her already by
helping her with her pain. She didn’t know what to think of his
kindness. He’d been sad last night when she hugged him and held her
tightly, as if afraid to let go. Yet he flirted with every girl
around and seemed to have as little restraint for sleeping around
as his brother, if Dawn was any indication. She didn’t think she
was anymore special in his eyes than she was in Decker’s.

The twins were making her head spin.

“How on earth did he end up with Dawn?” she
puzzled out loud.

“Beck was a jackass until…” Biji drifted
off.

“Until what?”

“I guess until he became the Master of
Light. I used to talk to Decker more but then he went batshit
crazy. Beck’s trying really hard to be more grown up, I think.”

“What happened to Decker?”

Biji paused in her texting to glance up. Her
gaze grew dark. “He shoved his girlfriend into Miner’s Drop.”

Autumn gasped.

“She broke the Light and Dark Laws. Matilda
says he had to do it. I just…” Biji’s chin trembled. “She was my
best friend. She wasn’t bad. She was the best person any of us
knew. He went crazy afterwards.” Biji shook her head and returned
her attention to the phone. “We’re not supposed to talk about it.
Don’t tell anyone I told you.”

Autumn didn’t pry. The information Biji gave
her was enough to leave her reeling. Decker really did push the
dark-haired girl into the canyon. Not only that, but he must’ve
loved her, if he went crazy afterwards.

She relived her trip to the cliff the night
before, recalling how the girl had gazed into the canyon at the
ghost of her own body. Decker accused Autumn of following him to
the cliff; it didn’t seem like the place he’d be, if he’d killed
someone he loved.

She wanted to know more. The story still
didn’t make sense. It made her feel like hyperventilating, though,
knowing that the girl in the mirror wasn’t a hallucination. She’d
existed. She’d died here at the school.

Knowing what happened, Autumn wasn’t any
closer to knowing why the stranger was haunting her. Her anger at
Decker faded. He was in the kind of pain that didn’t heal. Her body
was broken but mending. With elements that didn’t lend him to any
sort of stability, he wasn’t as lucky. She wanted to help him.
Sleeping with him, however, wasn’t the right way to do it. Decker
needed an intervention more than she’d realized initially.

Saddened, Autumn drank her cocoa and stayed
with Biji, watching television most of the day as she tried to
think of ways to help someone who didn’t want help at all.

She awoke early for her workout Monday then
ate a quick breakfast. It was her first day of class with the other
students, and she was anxious about being late. She’d hoped to beat
Dawn to the shower and groaned when she reached her room.

Dawn was just entering the bathroom when
Autumn walked in. It was half past seven and her first class was in
an hour. She sat down to rest her body then waited. A quarter after
eight, she gave up and changed clothes before walking down to the
main floor.

Jenna waited for her, along with Tanya. They
were talking and giggling. Autumn joined them. Tanya beamed, her
dark eyes sparkling.

“Hey!” Jenna said, grinning. “You ready for
the first real day?”

“I hope so,” Autumn replied.

Tanya danced in place, clutching her iPad to
her chest.

“We’ve got a double date tonight, so she’s
ready for the day to be over,” Jenna said and rolled her eyes.
“We’re headed to the mall after class. You want to come?”

Autumn shook her head. “I’m still
adjusting.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. She really didn’t want to be
a fifth wheel on their dates. She wondered who Tanya had met this
weekend. There were a lot of guys at the school, but Autumn hadn’t
ventured out to meet any of them. She had enough issues with the
twins.

“Come on, girls!” Amber called cheerfully
from down the hallway.

Autumn trailed them. They entered one of the
classrooms with a few other girls their ages, including Biji.
Autumn sat beside her new friend.

“This is for you,” Amber said and handed her
a new iPad.

Biji giggled, and Autumn’s face grew
warm.

“We’re going to do a review,” Amber
started.

Autumn listened intently as Amber began to
review the history of elemental magick, starting with the Darkness
that took over the world long ago. She strained to remember as much
as she could, once again surprised at the importance of the roles
Decker and Beck played. Neither fit the description of what she
thought a Master of Light or Dark would be link.

The day passed quickly. After class, she
limped to the front door, surprised to see the late afternoon sun
had melted away a lot of snow. The gravel road was almost clear
while the banks on either side rose over four feet.

Her gaze lingered on the gravel, and she was
struck by a new idea for therapy. The gravel made her struggle more
for balance. If she started walking there instead of the treadmill,
it might build her muscles back faster. She went to her room to
change into workout clothing. After a brief hesitation, she
unfastened the brace from her leg. It felt stronger today than
usual.

She left her cane behind, too. For some
reason, the sight of it made her angrier this day than any other
day. Balancing herself against the railing, Autumn walked carefully
down the stairs to the porch then out into the afternoon.

To her surprise, Tanya and Jenna were
getting in Beck’s car with Adam. Adam waved. Autumn forced herself
to wave back, agitated at the Master of Light who seemed to flutter
from girl to girl. He didn’t see her, and she was glad for it. He
held Tanya’s hand.

She shouldn’t feel jealous, but she did. The
night she’d spent with Beck on the couch was a friend thing, but
she’s still felt her pulse quicken at his touch.

Maybe he really was taking pity on her.

Frustration and shame made her look away and
wait until they were headed down the road. When they turned onto
the main road and disappeared from view, she began walking. Anger
clouded her mind for a short distance, blocking her pain.

She slowed when she stumbled the first time
and forced herself to pay more attention to where she stepped.
There were patches of ice, shallow pits and fist-sized rocks in the
gravel road. She twisted her ankle twice, stopped and continued on
more carefully. She placed each foot with care and tried keep her
hips level so as not to limp. Her bad leg ached and complained, but
she forced herself not to give up. The whispers of the elements
were quiet enough that they didn’t disturb her.