Dating Father Time's Daughter (Book 1)

Chapter 23: Average Saves the Angel (1/2)

Golden blood gushed out of Freida's chest. The celestial aura that cloaked her body was fading. Her complexion dried into a moribund shade of gray and it was difficult for her to keep her eyes open.

Autumn mouthed the words "no" as she inched to where Freida and Dexter were.

"Not another step, Autumn. Spring has already told me about your double-cross. I sincerely hope it was worth it" said Dexter.

Spring awakened and pushed herself up. Ignoring the pain pulsating throughout her body, she turned in the direction of Autumn. A white petal fell from her wreath and gracefully floated to the ground.

"We had a plan. I was going to give you the gift of an eternal fall! I thought that was what you wanted?" asked Dexter.

The deathly appearance of Freida haunted Autumn's mind. While Dexter teased her with promises of love, Freida instilled her with confidence. The two were night and day. How they saw the world. How they operated in the world. How could they be siblings?

Autumn bit her lip,

"I did want that. I wanted to rule the world with the love of my life... you" said Autumn, "But, I discovered that there was something in this world I loved more than you."

"Really? And what was that?" said Dexter.

"My family."

The other three Seasons shared the same reaction to Autumn's words. Winter, severely bruised and battered, wiped the frozen tears that cascaded from his eyes. Steam gathered in the air above Summer. His natural body heat immediately evaporated his tears, but the amount of steam indicated the volume of his sadness. Finally, Spring smushed her face into her hands and wailed.

"That's disappointing" said Dexter with a frown.

"Will you just shut-up already!" shouted Pixie.

Veins popped out of her hand from how hard she held the center of her scythe. Pixie gritted her teeth and glared at Dexter with puffy eyes. The talk of family spoke to her and she intended to say something back.

"How is Autumn caring about her family disappointing? Look at yourself! You're stabbing your own sister in the chest! You don't have the right to comment on family because you know nothing about it!" shouted Pixie.

"And neither do you. Your father never loved you, Pixie. What type of family is that? And Autumn, you planned to betray your family before you betrayed me. It seems we're all living in broken homes" said Dexter.

"Is that true? Autumn, you was workin' with Dexter behind our backs this whole time?" asked Winter, the pain evident in his voice.

"It was a mistake. Love interfered with my thinking" answered Autumn.

Summer walked over to Winter, who was still on the ground. He held out his hand and Winter grabbed it. With a grunt, Summer pulled him up.

"Why should we side with any of you? It's obvious that we were used as pawns this entire time. How about we just become the three Seasons. As far as I'm concerned, Autumn, you can fall back" said Summer.

Autumn couldn't bare to look Summer in the eyes. The intensity of his stare burned her. Internally, she agreed with him. Who was she to expect their forgiveness? They were right to distrust her. As much as she wanted to fix the family bond, she couldn't escape the fact that she was the one who broke it.

"No, Summer. We can't turn our back on our sister" said Spring now on her feet.

Spring eased over to Autumn and lightly ran her finger down two strands of Autumn's auburn hair,