"You..." Liam began to rise, but Autumn didn't hesitate. She fired another shot, this time striking him in the stomach.
Liam cried out in agony, collapsing to the ground once more. As the room filled with the acrid scent of gunpowder, Carly burst inside, accompanied by Peaches.
"Atty!" Carly screamed, rushing to the visibly shaken girl. The recoil from the gun had left Autumn's senses numb, the weight of her actions sinking in with each passing second.
Autumn had confided in Carly earlier, the only person she trusted with her secrets. She had asked Carly to bring Peaches to her when necessary, and Carly had not probed further, for which Autumn was grateful.
Carly urgently shook Autumn to snap her out of her shock. "You need to leave," Carly emphasized.
"I... I killed him," Autumn confessed, pointing at Liam; all the while, Peaches reached out for her mother. The sight of her distressed fur baby spurred Autumn into action.
Carly glanced down at Liam and noticed the subtle rise and fall of his chest, causing ripples in the pool of blood. "He's not dead yet," Carly declared, kicking Liam's phone out of his hand as he tried to make a call. "You have to go before Cole or someone else arrives," she said as she reached for April.
Curiosity finally got the better of Carly, and she couldn't resist asking, "Who is she?" nodding toward April, whom Autumn was carefully placing in the wheelchair.
Autumn, her eyes a mix of fear and determination, replied. "Someone important," she wheeled out of the warehouse where the driver awaited them. With the driver's help, they put the girl in the car.
"Take care of these two," Carly instructed the driver.
Autumn hugged Carly. "Where will you go?" Autumn knew Zyler would punish Carly if he knew she had helped her escape. "He will hunt you down if he knows you helped me."
"Don't worry about me. I am going to go back home. No one will get me there," she patted Autumn's back. "Besides, it will take him years to come out of this mess he landed himself in," Carly was confident, but Autumn wasn't. Her heart told her otherwise.
Carly released Autumn and touched her cheeks, wiping her tears. "Stay out of trouble, will you?"
Autumn chuckled.
"Where to next?" Carly stroked Peaches' fur as the boy licked Carly's hand.
"Ireland," Autumn had already secured a place there. "I don't think he will find me there. Zyler cannot set foot in that country. I don't know what rivalry he has with that government. There is not a single company of his over there." Autumn had researched every place Zyler had his foot in except Ireland. She didn't know why, and she did not need an answer. For now, safety is all she needs.
"Will you stay in touch with me?" Carly kissed Peaches's head.
"Too dangerous for both of us. But when the time comes, I will reach out to you. I need to get my parents, and we need to flee for now," Autumn glanced at her phone and looked at the time. Grabbing a rock, she cracked the phone into two. "He won't be able to find me now."
She got in the car and closed the door. Rolling the window down, she said, "Thank you for all your help, Carly. I will see you again," with teary eyes, she saw the warehouse disappearing behind her. She kissed Peaches' head as he laid his head in her lap.
She looked at the country that caused her a lot of trouble. With a heavy heart, she closed her eyes, not knowing that no matter how far they ran, the monsters would always be chasing after them. A pair of blue and grey eyes will always follow them.
.............................
Two years later...........
A solitary cabin stood in the heart of the Irish countryside, nestled among ancient woods that whispered secrets and mysteries. It was an escape from the bustle of the nearby city, a lonely embrace of the misty forest.
The world around the cabin was cloaked in a thick fog on this particular day. The air was damp, and the atmosphere weighed heavy with the scent of moss and earth. The girl sat on the wooden porch, her gaze fixed upon the mist-draped trees that stood like silent sentinels, guarding the secrets of the woods.
Her thoughts were a whirlwind, reflecting the turbulent years that had brought her to this moment. She pulled her woolen shawl closer around her shoulders, seeking warmth and comfort as she contemplated the chapters of her life that had unfolded in rapid succession.
The fog clung to the trees like veils of forgotten memories, and as the dampness settled upon her skin, it mirrored the tears that had fallen in the darkest hours of her journey. She thought of the trials and tribulations, the joys and sorrows, the loves and losses that had marked her path.
In the distance, a raven cawed, its mournful call adding to the eerie ambiance of the day. The cabin seemed to huddle closer to the earth as if it bore the weight of the girl's thoughts.
A voice met her ears, but she did not want to be disturbed. She was at peace after so long. No more watching over her shoulder or worrying about when someone would walk inside without her permission.
Closing and opening the doors was a luxury she longed for. Initially, she would open and close them just for fun. It was her way of freedom. Something she had never gotten to do before.
"Rilley," Autumn called for April. She did not answer. "April," Autumn called again. Anxiety rose in her veins, imagining the worst.
"April," she yelled louder. April came running inside.
"Why are you yelling, Atty?" she got up, unwrapped her shawl, and folded it neatly, placing it on the chair.
"Where were you?" Autumn pulled April into a hug.
"In the clouds," April countered, and Autumn rolled her eyes. "Where else would I be? I was watching that raven and these woods," she pointed to the bird, and Autumn's eyes followed the bird.
"Look at it," April smiled, and Autumn looked at April's calm face. "How calm and beautiful that bird is."
"It is beautiful and calm. Something I have longed to see," Autumn wasn't talking about the bird. April stood there staring at the calm woods while Autumn stared at her sister. Two years have passed since they escaped. In these two years, Autumn would wake up with anxiety every day. Her heart would pound every time they went to sleep, fearing that April would disappear the following day. But for this minute, she let go of the anxiety she experienced, and for one moment, she allowed herself to feel the peace that the moment had offered.
A lot has happened in these two years. It was hard for her to settle in Ireland, not because of money. Zyler had paid her well. Her parents gave her a tough time. They insisted on staying back in England. But Autumn stood her ground. She did not let them bully her into staying back in England.
They moved to Ireland, and when Autumn brought her parents to see April, her father collapsed in shock, and her mother lost her capability to speak. It took a few hours to recover from the shock. And when they did, it was like a reservoir after the flood. They wept, holding April's unconscious body. Day after day, night after night, her parents waited for her to wake up.
The drugs in April's system took a while to let her up. It took April a week to gain consciousness. She did not recognize any of her family. The doctor had instructed them to take the information bit by bit and feed it to her in fragments.
..................
"Do you not recognize us, April?" her mother asked one day, sitting next to April's conscious body. The drugs made her dizzy and groggy.
"I am your mother," Rebecca grabbed April's hand, kissing it. April's eyes widened. Her blue eyes shone brightly.
"Ma.........Mom?" she questioned. Rebecca nodded vigorously, tears welling in her eyes.
"Dom, Atty," she yelled for her husband and daughter. They came running inside.
"April," Autumn ran to her sister's side, and so did their father.
"Atty? Dad?" April's mind went numb. How was it even possible? How was she there? What happened to Liam? How did he let her go? Was he there? Her eyes looked for Liam. Her heart monitor beeped loudly.
Autumn grabbed April's hand. She shook her head in reassurance. April did not know what Autumn knew but knew who she was talking about. "He isn't here," Autumn whispered in her sister's ears. "You are safe."
"Oh, how much have I missed?" She touched her parents' faces as if she was trying to remember every single detail of them and memorizing them as if Liam would barge in any second and take her away.
"You have gray hair, Daddy," she laughed through tears. Dominic laughed tearily. Rebecca wiped her tears, but they wouldn't stop.
"Mama," she called out to Rebecca. "I was the one that ate the last jar of cookies before I disappeared that night," she confessed with a weak smile.
Rebecca sobbed louder. "You can have everything you want, April. You can have my life if you wish."
"Oh, Atty. You are no longer 10, are you?" With great difficulty, she raised her hand to touch Autumn's face, and she lowered her face to her sister's hand.
April's eyes welled with tears. The water clouded her blue eyes. Sobs racked through her body. "My babies," Rebecca fell on April's fragile body, pulling Autumn down. The family sobbed for what felt like hours until they had no strength left to cry.
"What happened to you?" Rebecca inquired between sobs. April gulped.
"I don't want to talk about it, Mom." April did not want to ruin the moment by bringing up her past.
"But........." Rebecca wanted to know if her daughter had been abused or raped. She wanted to cry with her, be for her, and share her pain. But April wasn't ready to talk.
"Becca," Dom interrupted his wife. "She will talk when she wants to talk. We need to get back to England."
Autumn's throat dried. They will not go back to England. "No," Autumn's determined tone shocked Dom and Rebecca.
"We are not going back to England, and neither are you," Autumn signed papers that the nurse brought for her.
"The doctor wants to talk to you," Autumn nodded to what the nurse had said.
"I will be there." She was about to walk out the door when Rebecca interrupted her.
"Going back home might help April's recovery," Rebecca was scared to talk to Autumn. She was worried that Autumn would lash out at her.
"Do you want to lose April again?" Rebecca and Dom remained quiet while April understood. "Thought so," she turned to the door. "April and I will move to Ireland. You guys will move to Germany. End of story." She entered the doctor's room, closing the door behind her.
"Come in, Ms. Nessie," the doctor greeted her. She assumed a fake identity for her and April.
"Did you know Ms. Ellis was pregnant?" The doctor removed his glasses and placed a report before her.
"Pregnant?" Autumn did not know April was pregnant. "The baby?" Autumn was terrified of what this information would do to April.
"Was she raped?" Autumn did not beat around the bush. Her stomach dropped in anticipation of what he would say.
"Hard to tell, Ms. Nessie. But her blood had antibodies. I think her baby died. There was no enlarged uterus," the doctor concluded. Autumn's brain ached. All this information was giving her a headache. It was too much to process.
"Can you please keep it a secret?" she asked the doctor, but before the doctor could interrupt. "Her status is fragile, as you know. I don't want her to take this mental load onto herself," the doctor, knowing he would do what's best for the patient, nodded.
"Thank you," grabbing the report, she left the room.
Her phone buzzed. "Zyler Stone granted bail," her heart pounded in her chest. Blood rushed to her ears. Was she next? Was he going to come looking for her? It's been a week, and he is already out.
"Liam Hart was found injured in his warehouse. Police are searching for the perpetrators," another news post popped up on her feed. She closed the app and switched her phone off. She ended that chapter of her life and will never return.
...............
"Atty?" April shook Autumn as she was reminiscing about what had happened the first few days of her family reunion.
"April," she called out to her sister as she walked inside.
"You never talked about what happened to you all these years ago," she noticed April stopped.
"I want to help, Rilley. I want to be there for you," she turned April's face in her direction. Taking her sister's hands into her, she squeezed them. "Let me help you, April. Please."
April looked at Autumn and inhaled. Maybe it is time for her to talk. Perhaps she should open up about everything that had happened to her.