Burn Me Right

Chapter 3

"April..............." Autumn shouted, but there was no sound coming out of her mouth.

The lamp dropped on the floor, and Autumn jolted awake. Her palms, forehead, and cleavage were dripping sweaty, and her nerves fried.

Hastily she grabbed her phone, it was 6 am, and she wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. She unscrewed the bottle cap and gulped the water, cooling her nerves.

Panting, she clutched the virgin Mary medallion tight, "where are you, April?" she closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing, but that question would never have an answer, ten years. It had been ten years since she had last seen her sister. She had been looking everywhere she could. But there was no trace of her. It was as if her sister's existence was a joke like April Wraith never existed.

Sighing, she put her phone down. She got up, pulling the covers off her body. Shoving her feet into her fluffy sandals, she rubbed her eyes. The pooch at her feet whined for her attention but did not get up.

"You are lazier than I am, peaches," she patted his head and rubbed her eyes. The pooch followed her into the bathroom. And sat by her feet. She unlocked her phone and sat on the toilet, scrolling through her emails. She had just graduated and began looking for jobs, but the thing proved more troublesome than she had thought. Her phone rang, and she answered with a smile.

"Yes, mom," she scratched her head. Her mother had been bugging her to move back ever since she graduated. She blamed herself for April's disappearence. Subconsciously, she thought her mother and father did, too, though they had never admitted it. Dominique and Rebecca were the sweetest couples to exist. Statistically, couples separate after the death or missing of a child. But her parents proved it wrong. Their relationship was stronger than ever. Autumn hoped that she would have a relationship like theirs someday.

"No, mom. I am not moving back," she pulled the pooch closer to her, ruffling its hair.

"I miss you, Atty. Dad and I miss you," a cold ache in her mother's voice didn't go unnoticed by her.

"I know, mama, but I have to make something for myself," she got up and flushed the toilet. She heard her mother heave a heavy sigh. The reason was to find her missing sister. She wasn't going to talk about April first thing in the morning. Though April never left her thoughts, she didn't want that negative energy of sadness to ruin her day. She believed in energies and did not want to ruin her day by following her and her friends.

"Fine, I will call you tomorrow then, have a good day. I hope you find the dream job you are looking for," Rebecca's words made Autumn smile. The girl denied help from her parents. Her father and mother were highly protective of her and refused to let her suffer for anything.

"Fine, mom, take care. I love you," she pressed the red button. Peaches sat at her feet, waiting patiently for her to feed him.

"Let's go," she ran with the pooch into the kitchen, "eat, eat," she and the pup had a breakfast competition. And the dog won. She ran into the bathroom to get ready, and peaches immediately jumped onto the counter. She dabbed her makeup brush on the dog's cheeks, "look, you look prettier, me," she kissed his nose.

"No slobbering," she adorably warned the dog, and he whined again.

"Let's go. I will drop you off at your brother's house," she put on her white dress and stepped out of the house. Locking the door, she turned around when she came face to face with her neighbor.

"Hi, Sam," she greeted the woman in her early 30s. "Here," she handed a stack of money to her. The woman looked confused, "Millie was here yesterday, I was helping her with her homework, and she informed me you were struggling with some finances. I thought I would help you. I know it isn't much, but I am a single woman. I and peaches don't need much. You have a family," she closed the woman's fist.

"No, Atty, I cannot accept this," Samantha tried to return it, but Autumn denied it.

"Please? Consider it payment for letting me spend my time with Millie. I hate to see Millie sad. No kid deserves that," and the woman gave in, knowing Autumn would never listen to her as she was stubborn.

She walked the dog to her friend's house. The other dog immediately jumped on Autumn. She stroked his soft fur. Rowena, her best friend, moved to her grandmother's place to study. She would drop her dog off every morning and pick him up in the evening.

"We are getting late. Let's go," she hurried Rowena, who was draping her scarf around her neck.

"They began walking to the public library where they spent most of their time applying to jobs, working on tryout articles for new papers and investigating any new cases, writing reports, and sending them to agencies for them to hire.

And just like that, 8 hours went by, and they grabbed their stuff and headed out to work part-time. "So, when are you going to get laid?" Rowena put her hand on her head to control the unruly hair.

"I don't know. I don't want to. I would love to get a job and do something, you know," Autumn melancholically admitted. Rowena stopped Autumn.

"Are you not over that douchebag yet?" she knew Autumn had her heartbroken a while ago. The guy only dated her for her body and never was into her. Nicholas Bianchi is a wealthy Italian boy in her class. He persuaded Autumn till she admitted, and one night at a party, the man drugged Autumn and tried to get into her pants. But Rowena, who had never left her friend's side, noticed it and saved her best friend. Then they enquired about the douchebag and found out that he had been cheating the entire time. The boy moved back to his country after they graduated. She didn't know what was worse, her close to getting drugged or being cheated on.

"No, he is just a mishap in life. I am not worried about it. I just don't have time for it," Rowena deciphered the meaning between her best friend's words but did not pressure her.

Autumn ran to the parking meter and put coins in it before they could expire. Rowena shook her head and followed her, "you are going to go broke doing that, you know?" she asked Autumn, who was counting more coins.

"Bold of you to assume that I am already not," she put the last coin and turned to Rowena.

"Why do you do it, Atty?" they resumed walking back home.

"Because they might be in a tougher situation than I am, helping them isn't a big deal," she shrugged.

They reached home, and her mother called her. Once in a while, her mother gets drunk and calls her, "I miss you, Atty. I lost a daughter, and the other one stays away from me," she could sense the pain of a mother in her tone.

"I don't have the guts to move back home, mother. Her memories are everywhere," Autumn did not want to do this. Moving back will crush her soul and kill her. While her parents cherished her sister's memories, Autumn couldn't do it. Her mother cried and cried for a while, and her father took over and asked her to rest.

She sat on her bed and prayed with tears in her eyes, "heavenly father, please keep April and the girls who went missing like her safe. Give their families the strength to withstand the pain and find peace and comfort. Please give me the strength to endure this pain and lead me to my sister," Autumn always prayed like her sister was alive and well.