Autumn Calling

by T. Lynne Tolles

“No joke. Do you think you would be willing to talk with him?” Autumn asked.

  “I don’t know. My gut tells me I shouldn’t but my heart is dying to meet him.”

  “I don’t see why you wouldn’t, unless you don’t trust us.”

  “Remember, Autumn, everyone around me is telling me how I should stay away from you and the Macabre. Especially after I was attacked again after we met.”

  “What? What do you mean attacked.”

  “I figured you would have known about it. At the very least Marcus would have known about it.”

  “No. I haven’t heard of any attacks on the Midnights at all.”

  “This wasn’t an attack on the Midnights, per se, but very specifically me.”

  “Really? Like what?”

  “Well, first it was the crows and last time Juliette came in to my dreams and tried to kill my pet, when I woke up he was choking and all the glass in my house blew in trying to cut me.”

  “Oh my God. I had no idea? Were you hurt?”

  “No. I got a couple of scratches here and there but I was okay. Fought the magic with a little of my own magic saving us both.”

  “I’m so sorry, but Dad and I would have never approved of that. Dad doesn’t go in much for the decisions of the family since Violet died. Something very bad must have gone down the night she was killed because I’ve never known him to even really speak to Aunt Yvonne. I always got the impression he has a deep seeded hate for her, but he keeps it to himself. Not sure why. She’s a weird one. I don’t particularly love Juliette, but Yvonne? Now that woman sometimes give me the creeps.

  “It’s curious you should mentioned crows attacked you, because that was always Aunt Yvonne’s thing. She had a raven as a familiar for years until it died not long ago. It used to poop on me and peck at my head when ever I came into the room.”

  “Do you all have familiars?” Summer asked.

  “Yes. At the age of twelve we pick an animal we find most fascinating. I wanted a leopard, but they told me I couldn’t have a big cat in the city, though one of the Macabres from way back had a panther. That must have been so cool.”

  “Yeah. Though you wouldn’t ever want to make it mad or forget to feed it.”

  “No kidding.”

  “So you settled for a smaller version and got Vixen.”

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t suppose Yvonne is behind the crow attacks?”

  “There was more than one?”

  “Yes. One was just a scare, I think, and the other was an all out attack. You really didn’t know about this? I figured with so few of you that you would all know everyone’s business.”

  “That’s where you would be wrong. Dad’s loyal to the family but he almost never agrees with the decisions. My guess is they don’t bother telling him much anymore because they know what his answer will be.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I don’t imagine he’s going to be all that happy to hear there have been several attacks on you that no one bothered to tell him about.”

  Summer didn’t know what to say. What did Autumn think was going to happen? She must realize that everything points to their offing her and the rest of the Midnights.

  “I even caught Dad with that flannel shirt of yours that you ripped up to bandage me when were in the cave. I had taken it off when I took a shower and then it was gone. I figured Juliette had gotten a hold of it and thrown it away, but I found it in Dad’s office when I was looking for printer paper. Guess he wanted a little piece of you.”

  “I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or find it disturbing.”

  “Compliment, definitely. Will you meet him? I’ll come too if you’re nervous.”

  “Actually that would be nice, though I doubt Uncle Morti would ever approve of my meeting up with not one but two Macabres. He’d tell me I had a death wish or something else just as insulting to my intelligence.”

  * * *

  After work the next day, Summer stopped by city hall to see if maybe she had missed a page in the blueprints, but after examining the originals on file again she found she’d copied everything in full. However, when checking details of each page and noting the legends she did find the symbol but it was of no use either as it basically said “CLASSIFIED.”

  That wasn’t very helpful, she thought to herself. What to do now. Maybe she could ask the carpenter they hired at the clinic for handyman jobs and maintenance, otherwise she was completely out of ideas.

  On the off chance the city clerk might know what the symbol was, she asked when she returned the drawings to her.

  “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  “Yes, and no.”

  The woman looked confused.

  “Yes, I found the symbol in the legend but it did not reveal its meaning. You wouldn’t happen to know what the symbol means, would you?”

  “Let me see,” the woman said.

  Summer pointed to it on the drawing legend.

  “Hmmm. That is odd. It looks more like a old rune symbol than a standard architectural one.”

  Summer reexamined the mark and agreed the woman could be correct. “Are there meanings to the different symbols?” Summer asked.

  “I’m sure there are, though I am no expert.”

  “Could you guess?”

  “I could, though it might be wrong.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “All right, but you really ought to consult an expert, or check it against a book. Let’s see. If I’m not mistaken I’d say this was the thurisaz rune symbol which can be interpreted to mean ‘door.’”

  “A door? Like a safe door or cupboard?”

  “No, an entrance to another place or room.”

  “Oh. Right. Could it be to a secret passage?”

  “Hmm. I suppose it could be construed as such. Yes. But again, I stress, that you look up its true rune reference from something more substantial than my word.”

  “I shall. Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.”

  “I’m glad I could help.”

  A secret passage, Summer thought. Very interesting. And that same symbol was in the room where the egg was. Wouldn’t it be an incredible stroke of luck for them to find there was a secret passage that could be entered from outside the Macabre mansion and lead right to the room where the egg lay waiting. Or was it too easy. She’d have to consult Hunter for his opinion on the matter.

  * * *

  The next day Summer met up with Hunter to relay the information she had discovered from the lady at city hall. He was thrilled by the possibility, though it still needed to be confirmed that the symbol was what they thought it was either by checking a reference or by attempting to open it from the outside. Of course just because there was an entrance didn’t mean they had any idea how to open it or whether it actually went to the room above or not. That would have to be sorted out by Morti and Hunter. Summer had done her job in getting the blueprints and finding a possible entrance.

  Time to get back to work at the clinic and afterwards a quick brush up lesson on some pyrotechnics with Morti, which she was not looking forward to.

  She’d been avoiding Morti as much as she could. She knew she should take a lesson out of Tori’s book and just meet the situation head on to get it over with since putting it off just made her more nervous about doing it. She’d always admired that about Tori. It made her almost fearless in Summer’s eyes.

  No, today was the day she’d bite the bullet and get it over with, that is unless by some miracle Morti canceled the lesson himself.

  Chapter 21

  Summer found herself procrastinating and finding excuses not to head to the far side of the graveyard to meet Morti. Sully seemed to sense what she was doing and started herding her toward the door. A few yards from the door and she turned around saying something about forgetting to bring her notebook. Sully coughed up a small flame that shot just in front of her.

  “Sully. What are you doing?” Summer demanded.
<
br />   He gave her an almost human look expressing he knew she was avoiding the inevitable. She succumbed to his disapproving face and turned back around. In the meantime, Sully peed on the tiny flame making it sizzle and smoke into a damp black ash spot on the ground. When he was done he ran past her to where she was too meet Morti.

  Next thing she knew, he was taking a lap around the graveyard with a drool soaked Morti tightly in his mouth. She wondered if Sully had done this to make her laugh and give the situation a less stressful feel to it. Whether that was his intent or not, it worked. The sight of the crabby cat grumbling for the hellhound to put him down gave her a little perspective on her fears.

  By the time she made it to where they did their lessons, Sully was finishing up and set the disgruntled feline back atop of his favorite tombstone. Summer couldn’t help but smile. His fur stuck out in all directions. It made it hard to take him very seriously when he was belting out commands. She was able to form her fireball quite effortlessly at his direction. Maybe that had been the problem all along with her lessons. Maybe she was so nervous around him she couldn’t perform as he instructed due to that stress.

  Though Morti did not compliment her on her technique, he did move on to a more tricky assignment of pulling electrical tentacles from the ground and clouds above to use as she commanded. In the past, he would just drill her over and over on the lessons for the day.

  She looked at Sully who lounged on his back at the base of the grave, sunning his belly and snoozing through their class. Had Sully known how to conquer her fear of Morti? Or was it just a fluke. She might never know for sure, but she looked at him a little differently from then on after.

  Though Morti didn’t voice any praise, he was unusually pleasant—well pleasant might not be the right word, but certainly less crabby than he normally was.

  When they were done and just before Summer was about to head back to her home, Morti asked, “Has there been any new progress, regarding retrieving the egg?”

  “I asked the city clerk what the symbol was on the drawing and she felt it was a rune. Though she did not feel qualified to interpret it, she thought it might mean door or entrance to something.”

  “Interesting and helpful. Have you informed Hunter yet?”

  “I have. He was going to try and confirm the clerks suspicions.”

  “Right, I’ll check in with him and see what he’s turned up. Good job.”

  Summer was stunned and almost tripped when he said it. Did he actually compliment me? Did she hear him right? She didn’t know what to say and after a moment opted to not respond at all for fear that she’d somehow ruin the moment.

  * * *

  The following day, Summer received a text from Autumn asking for another meeting in the usual place though a car would pick her up at work and it wouldn’t be in the wee hours of the morning.

  Summer wondered if Marcus would be there and this made her nervous the rest of the day wondering what he might think of her. Would he like her? Would he be willing to try and mend the fractured family? So many questions swam in her head, she could barely concentrate on work. Dr. Stuart noted something, too, and asked if she needed to talk, but she declined his kind request.

  She needed to sort things out in her own mind before trying to verbalize them. Her biggest fear was that after thinking of all these questions to ask Marcus, once confronted by him her mind would go blank. This happened sometimes when she had an argument with someone or an important test coming up. Once she’d try to put words to her anger or start the test, her mind suddenly would fall empty of any and all thoughts or facts—very frustrating.

  Of course there was always the possibility that this was all a ruse to bring her out into the open and get rid of her once and for all. Maybe Autumn would be in on or it or not, but it was a distinct possibility. Just to be on the safe side, she wrote a letter to Aunt Myrtle telling her what she was about to do and where she was going, then sealed it in an envelope.

  When the black sedan came to the door at 6:00 p.m., the time in the text, she handed the envelope to Dr. Stuart before going out the door.

  “Dr. Stuart, please deliver this letter to Myrtle if I don’t show up for work tomorrow.”

  “What? Summer, are you in trouble?” he asked spying the car waiting for her.

  “No. I’m just…making sure. Please don’t open the envelope or alert Aunt Myrtle of it unless you suspect something has happened. I don’t expect it too, but well, I just want her to know where I went and who I was meeting just in case of emergency.”

  “I don’t feel good about this. Should I go with you?”

  “No. I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow just like any other day, it’s just…I’d feel better if I had a backup plan in place.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m sure I’m being overly cautious.”

  “I swear if you aren’t here at nine on the dot, I’m calling her and ripping this thing open.”

  “That’s fine, but I’m sure it won’t be necessary.”

  He suddenly grabbed her and hugged her. She consoled his trepidation with, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

  “Famous last words,” he mumbled as she exited the glass door of the clinic. A slight man jumped out of the vehicle at sighting her and opened the back door of the car. Once she was seated they slowly pulled out the parking lot and she looked back at the clinic to see a worried Dr. Stuart standing at the door watching her leave.

  An odd feeling hit her in the gut as they traveled through town. The driver’s eyes seemed somehow familiar. Whenever she met them they darted away as if to try and hide the fact they kept watch over her whenever she turned away and looked elsewhere. It could have just been her imagination, in fact she felt sure she was just being paranoid, but she couldn’t get rid of the deep-seated worried feeling that plagued her.

  Otherwise it was an interesting ride to the cabin since every time she had visited there she had flown. It gave her a different perspective going up the fire road then turning off and winding through the trees. It was a much longer drive than she had thought it would be but very scenic. They pulled up next to a black Land Rover parked in a small clearing.

  The driver turned the engine off and glanced at Summer through the rear view mirror. Something about the look sent a chill up her spine and made the hairs on her arms and neck rise to attention. What was it she was seeing in the man’s eyes. He didn’t look the least bit familiar, but the hard look on his face and the eyes were somehow known to her. He stood before the door and opened it for her. As she stepped out of the car and turned to make her good-byes the man’s face blurred and wavered as a video might on a paused television.

  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, S
ummer—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.

  Chapter 22

  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.