Autumn Calling

by T. Lynne Tolles

  Another wave of force made its way towards Summer from the group of witches. It distorted her view of the house and the people sending pulses of fireballs her direction. Autumn ran as fast as she could towards Summer when Summer put up her hands in defense of the oncoming magic. Autumn stopped dead in her tracks not six feet from Summer as she watched Summer send a defensive block of conical wind tunnels over Autumn’s head and towards the house.

  Summer imagined that was probably when Autumn realized she was who her family had said.

  When the two magical forces met just feet away from where Autumn stood, the ground rumbled and cracked. It seemed as if lightning struck inches from where they stood, and maybe it had, for the ground gave way and the two girls were sent downward into a pit of rubble and soil. A second after they landed, the ground groaned once more, and Summer impulsively grabbed Autumn’s arm, yanking her away from falling rocks. They both tumbled into an open crevice quickly blocked by the heavy earthen debris.

  Summer laid in the darkness, banged up and coughing from the dust she’d inhaled. A moment later there was a movement on top of her. She hadn’t realized that Autumn was lying across her legs. Summer sat up and reached into her jeans pocket for her keys. There was a tiny LED light attached to her key ring for those late night returns from the clinic. She pressed the button and illuminated their surroundings.

  They lay in a cavernous cavity completely cut off from the world above. “Autumn. Are you okay?” Summer asked noting a cut just below her hair line that bled down her face.

  Summer reached out. Autumn swatted her hand and scooted away from Summer.

  “Don’t touch me, Midnight,” Autumn said, almost growling and raising a hand in defense, but nothing happened, to Autumn’s surprise. Summer could see the disappointment on Autumn’s face as she tried to send something at her again and again.

  Summer couldn’t make a ball of fire for light nor get any magic to work either.

  “You really ought to let me look at your head,” Summer said.

  “Why, so you can kill me?”

  “If I wanted to kill you why did I pull you away from those rocks sure to bash-in your head?”

  That seemed to puzzle Autumn.

  “Look, we’re obviously going to be here for a while. Let me look at your head and make sure you don’t have any other injuries we should be concerned about.”

  It was apparent to Summer that Autumn was not happy about it, but she didn’t swat her away as she had before when she came closer to look at the cut on her head.

  Summer had a flannel shirt on over another shirt. She tore a strip off the bottom to make a long bandage then ripped the shirt pocket off. She folded the pocked fabric over to double it and placed it over Autumn’s injury and secured it with the long strip of flannel like a head band.

  * * *

  Summer stood and looked around. The cave was not huge in width, but it was very high, and she could feel a breeze. She reached down and picked up a few rocks, trying to discern what they were in the light of the tiny LED. What she found made her smile. She kept one rock in her hand and hunted for another similar one.

  “What are you doing?” Autumn asked seemingly annoyed.

  “Pyrite,” Summer said holding it up to show Autumn.

  “So? What about it?”

  “It’s the next best thing to flint and steel.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “We can build a fire?”

  “In a cave. That doesn’t seem smart.”

  “I can feel a breeze, so there’s an air outlet for the smoke. Might make it easier for your family to find us.”

  That sparked an eyebrow twitch from Autumn. “What are you going to burn? Another rock? I don’t think they have coal in these parts.”

  “No, but roots might work, moss, whatever we can find.”

  “Wouldn’t water be a better thing to find?”

  “Yes. One thing at a time: fire for light, then possibly water and food.”

  “Great. If you want to live down here, fine, but I’m thinking I might want to live up top with the rest of the world,” Autumn complained.

  “I’d like that too, but unless you have a grappling hook and rope under your shirt, I don’t think we have a whole lot of options. After all, it’s better than sitting around doing nothing.”

  “I like nothing. It’s relaxing.”

  Summer rolled her eyes as Autumn lay back on the rubble.

  “That’s fine. You should relax with that head injury. I’ll look around a bit.

  “You go, girl,” Autumn said. “Besides, my parents saw us drop down into the ground. I’m sure they’re doing everything they can to find us.”

  “You, maybe.”

  “Oh, they’ll want to find you too.”

  “Only to kill me.”

  “Maybe, but after all, you are the spawn of Satan.”

  “What? Who told you that? Besides we’re twins. If I’m the spawn of Satan then you are to.”

  “Not necessarily. Mother said you were always evil, and that’s why they got rid of you.”

  “I think you bumped your head harder than I thought,” Summer said while rolling her eyes and continuing to look around the perimeter of the cave for items she could burn or an opening they could use to get out. “Besides, our mother couldn’t have told you anything. She died just after we were born.”

  “Uh, I don’t think so. She’s right up there.” Autumn pointed to the ceiling.

  “Yeah, in heaven.”

  “No, with Dad.”

  “That’s not our mother.”

  “She’s my mother.”

  “Fine. She may be YOUR mother, but she’s not our biological mother, Violet Evans,” Summer explained. “And if you’re referring to the woman that I briefly saw throwing magic fireballs at me, I’d have to guess that was Marcus’s sister due to their similar looks. Our mother was blond and petite. That woman was never blond, and is svelte and tall like Marcus.”

  This statement seemed to throw Autumn into a perturbed silence, and after a moment and few face contortions she said, “That’s just absurd and gross to be honest. You’re suggesting the woman I think is my mother, our mother, is my aunt? My father doesn’t have a sister. He had a twin brother, but he’s dead now at the hand of Henry Midnight.”

  “According to my research and the family trees I’ve looked at from both sides, Marcus has a sister named Juliette who’s a few years younger than him.”

  Again with the disgusted face, Autumn fell silent. “That just can’t be right. I mean her name is Juliette, but she couldn’t be Dad’s sister. That’s just…”

  “Gross, right?”

  “Yeah!”

  “I agree. But maybe they thought it would help you cope with all this craziness if you had a mother and a father growing up.”

  “Ew, I mean,” Autumn’s whole body shook as if she was shaking off the thought of them posing as husband and wife all these years.

  “It just can’t be. There must be a mistake.”

  “Maybe. Might be worth asking them when we, or I should say you, get out of this hole,” Summer added. “To the best of my knowledge, I don’t believe there is a Henry Midnight, though.”

  “What?” Autumn returned.

  “Henry Midnight. You said a Henry Midnight killed Marcus’s brother.”

  “Yes.”

  “There is no Henry Midnight. There’s a Henry Evans in the family tree. Maybe that’s who they mean.”

  “Oh?” Autumn said, still seeming to be in a haze regarding her aunt posing as her mother.

  “Henry was Violet’s father, our grandfather.”

  “Maybe Dad called him a Midnight since he was married to one.”

  “Right. That’s probably it then.”

  “Is Henry dead?” Autumn asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Serves him right for killing Uncle Rene and the others. Do you know how many Macabres died that night? Four, all because of this Henry guy.�
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  “That ‘Henry guy’ was family too, you know, and there were just as many deaths on the Midnight side as well. We’re all family now, aren’t we?”

  Autumn was silent for a long while as Summer made her way back with her little keychain light. She sat next to Autumn, dropping a pile of things in front of her.

  “Why do you suppose our magic doesn’t work here?” Autumn asked. Summer figured she was trying to change the subject.

  “I have a thought, but I’m not sure if I should say, since it will prove we know a secret you may not know we know.”

  “What? I have no idea what you just said,” Autumn admitted.

  “I guess, well, it probably doesn’t matter much if I tell you at this point. I think it might have to do with the dragon your family is holding on the grounds,” Summer said, smashing the two rocks together to make sparks glowing yellow-white.

  “A dragon? We don’t have a dragon.”

  “I seriously doubt you’d admit having a dragon to me even if you did, but I’m telling you, that is the reason.”

  “If we did have a dragon, and I’m not saying we do, but if we did, how would that have anything to do with our magic? Maybe it’s just solar flares interfering with, something that makes our magic go kaput.”

  “How could solar flares interfere with anything this far underground?” Summer asked.

  “Uh, well, I’m not completely sure. But hey, the moon affects all kinds of things in and above the ground. And polar magnets, those can affect…things too.”

  Summer stood with her hand on her hip listening to the convoluted reasoning Autumn was spewing.

  “Seriously?” she answered.

  “Well. It could be.”

  Summer wanted to laugh. It sounded just like a conversation she and Tori had once a long time ago when studying for a test on earth science at the orphanage. They’d both ended up laughing so hard Summer had almost peed her pants. But she wasn’t quite ready to admit she might like this enemy she was sharing space with at the moment.

  “So why do you believe it’s because of this imaginary dragon we have that’s causing this?”

  “From what I’ve learned, a mother dragon will purify the area around where she is nesting, making it void of impurities both manmade and supernatural.”

  “Now we have a baby dragon, too?” Autumn laughed half-heartedly.

  “An egg at the very least.” This fact quieted Autumn’s onslaught of questions. Summer wondered if maybe she hadn’t known about the egg and that her family was holding it hostage to get the dragon to do their bidding.

  “It’s an interesting theory,” she said, as if shrugging off the insinuations cast on her family.

  Summer blew on a wad of cotton she’d ripped from her flannel shirt. She cast some sparks into it from the pyrite and it smoked profusely. One more puff and a small flame popped up, devouring the cotton threads when Autumn shivered. “Here, put this on. It’s not a coat, but it’s a little something to cover your bare arms.”

  Autumn put it on and said, “It’s the new fashion, grunge-wear.” Summer smiled as she put dried twig-looking things she’d found on the fire. More than likely they were just rotten roots, but at least they were a little woody. The smoke rose to the ceiling of the cave as Summer watched it with her little light.

  “That’s a heck of a bonfire you got going there, Summer,” Autumn said sarcastically.

  “I know it’s not much. I was just hoping that, wherever the outlet is, maybe the smoke will be visible to those looking for us. Problem is there’s not much to keep it going down here. Like you said, there’s no coal and only these few roots I found, which aren’t going to last long.”

  Autumn wrapped her arms around her knees, watching the tiny flame consume what items Summer had found.

  “What was it like, growing up all alone in the orphanage?” Autumn asked.

  “I don’t know how to answer that. I mean, I don’t know what it’s like to grow up any other way.”

  “But you had no mother or father to look after you,” Autumn said with sadness.

  “No, but I did have Sister Mary Louise, who was like a big sister looking out for me. And I had my best friend.”

  “So, you’re not bitter?”

  “No. As far as I knew my parents had died. It wasn’t until recently I learned the truth and found I had all kinds of family alive.”

  “What explanation did the Midnights have for dumping you into an orphanage?”

  “I wouldn’t say they dumped me in an orphanage. In fact, there were many involved who looked after me without my knowing, and for that, I’m very grateful. Many kids don’t have anyone. Our grandmother thought she was doing the best thing for me and if she could have taken you with me, she would have.”

  “Why, did they think that would be the best thing for both of us?”

  “I suppose with all the anger and animosity the two families felt for one another, taking us away from that might’ve given us the ability to see the conflict for what it really is.”

  “And what is it? This conflict.”

  “I can’t say for certain, but I think it’s hate fueled by years of revenge inflicted upon each other. I expect the Macabres feel they are in the right as much as the Midnights do, which makes for a crappy situation for all the weight and years of war to land upon the two of us to resolve,” Summer relayed.

  “I know, right? No pressure or anything. I don’t even know half the people I’m supposed to hate.”

  “And I imagine that’s probably the way it’s been for years. Each family’s bigotry towards the other inflamed by the murder of members on both sides.”

  “Hmm. You know you don’t seem to be Satan’s spawn to me.”

  “Glad to hear that,” Summer laughed. “Of course, even if I was, don’t you think I’d probably be lying?”

  “You’re not helping your case,” Autumn chuckled. “So, if my mother IS actually my aunt,” Autumn said, shaking her head as if she wished she hadn’t said it. “Then what happened to our mother?”

  “The way I heard it is that Grandmother Ivy, our mom Violet’s mother, worked out a plan with Violet and Great-Aunt Myrtle, Ivy’s sister, to get out from the clutches of the Macabres. Sorry,” Summer explained.

  “I understand,” Autumn said.

  “But the plan was botched. Somehow Yvonne caught on to what was happening, and Violet and Ivy were killed in the fight. Only one baby was taken instead of both.”

  “You mean Violet was okay with this? She wanted us both to be taken? But why would she want to take us away from our father.”

  “The story goes back a ways, but the gist of it is that Marcus put a spell on Violet in order to have a child with her. This would combine the powers of the two families and thus infiltrate the Midnight’s more powerful magic into the Macabres. That’s what all this has been about is greed for a more powerful magic.”

  “That’s a bunch of bull. The Midnights aren’t more powerful than us. We’re more powerful. It was probably Violet that put a spell on Dad to get the more powerful magic of the Macabres.”

  “Therein lies the problem.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Which is the lie and which is the truth?”

  Chapter 14

  The light from the tiny fire grew dim, and there was no indication that anyone had found the smoke to direct them to Autumn and Summer. The battery of the keychain light was also growing faint. It was cold, it was damp, and hope seemed fleeting. But it was the word ‘hope’ coming to Summer’s mind that made her think of her beautiful angel, and she wondered if his magic was strong enough to pierce through the darkness and save them.

  Summer stood and yelled. “Daniel. Daniel can you hear me?”

  “Are you going psycho on me?” Autumn asked.

  “No. I’m calling for a friend.”

  “Oh, in that case, can you order me a Starbucks non-fat raspberry mocha with no whip,” Autumn said sarcastically.

  “Ver
y funny,” Summer answered, but at the same instance Daniel appeared.

  Summer jumped into his waiting arms.

  “I take that back. Instead of a coffee, I’d like one of those,” Autumn said, referring to the angel.

  “Lunette, it’s very nice to meet you,” Daniel said.

  “Lunette. Nobody calls me that. Not even my dad.”

  “I’m sorry. Isn’t that your given name?”

  “Well, yeah! But everybody calls me by my middle name, Autumn.”

  “My mistake. Autumn, I’m Daniel.”

  “So I gathered,” Autumn said.

  “Daniel, can you get us out of here?”

  “Well, technically yes, but should I, is the question. You know how this works, Summer. I’m not supposed to change a person’s destiny.”

  “Please, Daniel. I know it’s against the rules, but couldn’t you make an exception just this once.”

  “Yes, Daniel, just this once,” Autumn interjected.

  Daniel smirked at Autumn’s plea.

  “I suppose, but you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone,” Daniel said.

  “And how will we explain our escape without the angel story?” Autumn asked.

  “We’ll say that…when we came to, we found a tunnel we were able to dig our way out of.”

  “Aren’t they going to want to see it?” Autumn asked.

  “Chances are they’ll be so glad to see you alive and out of danger, they’ll forget all about the where and how. If they pursue it you can say you can’t remember where or it caved in.”

  “Whatever,” Autumn said standing up and swaying a little from the woozy feeling she had from her injury.

  “Take my hand,” Daniel said reaching for each of the sisters. When they took his hand a warm rush of sunlight washed over them that made them both close their eyes in relief. When they opened their eyes they were near the curb on Shadowbrook Drive, a few feet from where Summer had left her bike leaning against a tree. Voices could be heard of worried chatter on the other side of the hedge, as well the beeping of a tractor or some other heavy equipment moving around.