Lifeline (Chills Fanfic)

67 - Autumn

I follow him through the building and up to a door with a sign that reads Morgue. My heart stops. He doesn't seem to even notice how affected I am.

"Why here?" I ask.

"I thought you'd want to see this," he says. "Was I wrong?"

I glare at him, and then walk over to the other side of the gurney we are at. Zeke pulls back the blanket over the body, and I gasp. 

It isn't anyone I thought I could ever see here. It's ... no. It can't be her.

"N - Naomi?" I whisper.

Its her. And she's now dead. Her body lay still on the gurney as I stand there, I feel my legs turn to jelly, and I hiss as I turn to face Zeke.

"You. You did this," I snarl.

"I did not," he says. "You did."

I glare at him. "Don't treat me like I am stupid, Zeke."

He shakes his head. "Arent you just special, little girl?"

"Call me that again and see what happens, Zeke."

He raises an eyebrow and shrugs. "Oh well. She's dead now, so you can give up that foolish hope of someone saving you. Because Arlo, Emma, and Freya won't be coming for you. Because soon, they will be here as well. Soon, you all will be here."

I punch him. I punch him as hard as I can manage. He stumbles back and laughs, looking at me like I'm insane. But he doesn't seem to mind that thought.

"Naomi can't be dead," I whisper to myself as Zeke guides me down the halls and back to Dylan.

"Here. He'll take a while to wake up, but you should be with him when he does. He's gonna be disoriented."

I look away from him, and look at Dylan as we walk into the room. He is still asleep. I sit down on the floor, and Zeke stalks off somewhere.

Dylan doesn't wake up for another hour and a half.

When he wakes up, he looks at me, his eyes wide. "Autumn. Are you okay?"

I shake my head. "No. Naomi. She's ... dead."

His eyes widen again. "What?"

"Yeah. Zeke killed her, I think. She's gone."

He leans forward and wraps his arms around me. "It's okay, Autumn. We will still get out of this. How did you get here in the first place?"

"I am not sure, I just followed you when I felt your thoughts. I needed to find you. Save you."

He smiles and kisses me. He looks at me, his smile never faltering. He leans closer to me, pressing his forehead against mine. I close my eyes for a moment, relishing the feeling of his forehead against mine.

"Autumn, we are going to get out of this," he says. "Together."

I smile at him, tears welling up in my eyes. He cups my face in his hands and pulls my face closer to his, and he starts to gently kiss my tears until they stop falling altogether. He kissed my tears away.

"I love you," I say. "More than you could possibly imagine."

He hugs me. "I love you too."

Then, the door to the room opens, revealing Zeke in all his asshole-ish angelic glory. I stand up.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for your lover boy," he answers.

I clench my fists. "Go through me to get to him."

Zeke laughs and pulls his sword out. "Alright. That can be arranged."

"Autumn," Dylan says softly, reaching for my hand.

"No, do not ask me to back down," I say, predicting his thoughts.

Dylan blinks. "How did you .... ?"

"The connection you share, boy. Gods above and gods below. You really are dense, aren't you?"

I whirl on a Zeke and narrow my eyes. "Back off, Zeke. You aren't getting him this time."

"Oh, I think I will."

Zeke then charges at me, and brings his sword up in an arc, bringing it down on my chest. I throw my hands up, in a vain attempt to protect myself. And then, my shadows respond to my fear, pulsing up my arms, wrapping around my tattoo of swirls and whorls and a crescent moon, all to symbolize my power over shadows. My tattoo glows purple, and a wall of purple energy swirls around me, protecting me from Zeke's sword.

Zeke goes flying back into the wall, striking it hard. He collapses and then lays there, unmoving, his blood pours from his mouth. But I run over to Dylan again. 

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Am I okay? Autumn, you just took on Zeke with a sword all on your own, I am not worried about me," he says.

I can't help but laugh. "Don't be worried about  me. My shadows protected me."

Dylan's eyes widen. "Really? That's how you escaped it?"

I nod. "Come on, let's figure out how to get you out of here."