It had been three days since Autumn's trip to the hospital because of their bear trap fiasco. The damage wasn't bad enough to force them into a cast or require stitches. The doctor had told them that they were lucky they wore so much, otherwise they would most likely have broken a bone or two. Still, they had to wear bandages for a while until the puncture wounds healed completely to avoid infection.

They could still move around and the pain had vanished, but Mrs. Brighten practically demanded her husband let Autumn take paid time off until the bandages were removed. Mr. Brighten had finally given in and compromised by saying he'd give Autumn paid time off, albeit only offering fifty percent of what they usually made. After what they had went through, Autumn could care less. They were just glad they got out alive and could attend their sister's upcoming wedding.

They had to hide their bandages from their two friends at university, knowing they'd panic like Mrs. Brighten and Chet had and ask questions Autumn couldn't answer without making it sounding insane. They still couldn't find a good explanation for what became of the coat they had borrowed from the Brightens.

Unfortunately, Chet's big mouth alerted them to Autumn's injury. He had sped to Autumn's university to pick them up so that they didn't have to walk to the bookstore for work and he was the one who had blabbed to them that they got caught in a bear trap. After that, Autumn had no choice but to tell them about having to return the night glider to the wild, getting trapped in the bear trap, and about Frank carrying them back to the estate. They decided to keep the Kinkiller part of the story to themselves. They themselves had experienced it and still couldn't believe it happened.

"Holy fuck, was he hot?" Donya asked when she and Ronan took Autumn out for lunch after finding out about their injury. Autumn groaned in response while Ronan chuckled into her straw, staring down at her phone as she played one of her mobile games. Still, she listened into the conversation and was enjoying every bit of interrogation from Donya who had gone on and on about how creepy romantic it was there was someone in the woods to save Autumn.

"No, he was weird," Autumn answered, trying to hide their blush, "I mean who lives behind a mansion where the owner knows there's someone living back there? He also made it sound like there were others living back there."

"Maybe they all work for Mr. Brighten in some way?" Ronan guessed, slurping down her smoothie and fist bumping the sky when she won something in her game. She then turned the phone off and shoved it to the side, putting her full focus on the conversation.

"He did say something about working for him," Autumn pointed out, "but he already has a gardener and it's not him."

"Well doesn't he also sell not so legal stuff to his associates to get on their good side?" Donya asked in a lowered voice as she threw a french fry in their mouth.

"He doesn't do anything to get on anyone's good side," Autumn rolled their eyes, "people do things to get on his good side, he only buys that stuff for other people so they're too drugged to care that he's stealing from right under their noses." That still doesn't explain why there's people living behind his home. He has plenty of drug dealers in the city helping him. Autumn added to themselves.

"Do you think you'll see that guy again?" Donya asked as she scooted to the edge of her seat. "I mean, he works for Mr. Brighten, so you have to see him again one day!"

"Hell no," Autumn spat, "I've been friends with Chet way longer than I've worked for Mr. Brighten and this is the first time I've seen the guy. If I do ever see him again, I doubt I'll go anywhere near him or even talk to him."

However, Autumn did feel like they should have been a little more grateful that Frank was there in the first place to help them out. Had it not been for him, they were sure going to be found when the sun came up frozen to death. They knew Chet would have tried to gone out to look for them, but there was no way Mr. Brighten would allow a whole search party to look for them. Not only that, but Frank did remove the bear trap from their ankle and even carried them all the way back to the estate.

Perhaps if they ever did see Frank again, they should thank him for his help. They had planned to when the two of them arrived back at the mansion, but Mr. Brighten had kicked him out as quickly as he had arrived with an injured Autumn. They could barely get a work in edgewise with Chet and Mrs. Brighten fretting over them and Mr. Brighten demanding they tell him where the coat he was "nice enough to lend to them" went. As if he'd care even if Autumn had lied about what actually happened, he'd still treat Autumn like a thief for taking the coat in the first place, despite he being the one who had allowed them to use it.

"Aren't you curious though?" Ronan asked after finishing her smoothie. "Like, where exactly does he live back there and how many are there of him? Or what exactly it is he does for Mr. Brighten?"

Autumn was curious about all of that when it came to Frank. They wanted to know if there was a whole company run by Mr. Brighten back there and more about this Kinkiller and why they all haven't just gone and killed him as a group of hunters? Did none of them know how or own a gun to keep themselves safe from a giant wolf in the woods? And what kind of company can you run in the woods? A lumber mill? But, those trees had never been chopped down for as long as Autumn could remember. They had never heard any kind of construction or foresting going on back there when they could hang out with Chet in the middle of the day. Not only that, but Autumn had realized that they nor Chet had ever gone back into those woods. They'd pretend they could as children as Mr. Brighten told them it was too dangerous and full of snakes for two little children to go playing out in the woods. Once they had gotten older, it had become too childish to even bother with asking to go play back there anymore, even when Autumn had done research and found out that snakes would have been able to survive in the city's forever chilly climate.

Things never added up when it came to the Mr. Brighten's transactional business with those beyond the company that his sons would one day inherent. Autumn would always be barked out of the room if they accidentally walked in on a meeting between Mr. Brighten and one of his associates whenever they were cleaning the house. Several men in suits would come in and out of the building every so often, either looking terrified or red faced with fury. Mr. Brighten would then order Autumn to clean the room of any broken glass from a lamp or bottle and red stains that they prayed was just wine. Sometimes Autumn had to wonder what exactly it was they got into when they decided they liked Chet enough to be his best friend when his dad was clearly dealing with some shady stuff. They knew Chet wasn't going to be happy about it, but even if he refused he'd most likely still have to take his dad's place with his brothers one day and deal with the same gangster-style kind of business.

"It doesn't matter," Autumn finally responded, "there's a slim chance that I'll ever see him again and I'm not going to speak to him if I can help it, so that puts an end to that."

"If you say so," sighed Donya with a shrug, finishing her fries, "still sounds like a huge missed opportunity to bag yourself a rich one and work yourself up to be higher than Mr. Brighten on the corporate casket one day."

"I seriously doubt he's a rich one," replied Autumn, "and the chances of me climbing the corporate latter high enough to look down on Mr. Brighten are even slimmer than me running into that guy again."

"Speaking of running into people," Ronan spoke up, unknowningly saving Autumn by changing the subject, "a guy I go to anonymous meetings with ran into me while I was out getting groceries, said that if used his name I could get into a club downtown with no problems."

"A club?" Donya exclaimed, her eyes shining excitedly.

"Didn't take you for a club goer," Autumn tilted their head in confusion.

They hadn't known Donya and Ronan for long. They had met freshman year of university, but only began hanging out outside of classes since junior year. Even then, Autumn could never find the time to spend the majority of their time with them when they didn't have classes together. They were grateful they were the only two who seemed to at least want to get to know them, but they still found themselves uncomfortable when they were asked to join the two on their little outings. It just felt like they were intruding on their two women's free time.

What information they had learned about the two was that Donya was clearly the leader. She was always the one to suggest they all hang out after classes or be a group should any projects require more than one person. She was also what Autumn would call aggressively bisexual. Always commenting on any man or woman she passed she found hot and complimenting them to their faces with no hesitation. Autumn couldn't understand how she did it. Autumn could barely talk to Chet or his brothers whenever they would go swimming in the pool at the Brighten Estate.

At one point in their lives, Autumn had contemplated what it'd be like to be attracted to women as aggressively as any other man or woman. However, they just couldn't get past all troubles they'd face when it came to womanhood. They didn't even like their own body, they couldn't see liking another's who had similar issues as them. It was all too dramatic for them and just downright gross at times. They couldn't fault Donya for liking women with same attraction she did men, but they just didn't know what it was like to be attracted to both. Sometimes they couldn't understand the attraction to either sex. Especially when it came to people they had just met.

Ronan was slightly easier to understand and get behind, but she was still a bit of an enigma. She had never seemed interested in the whole romance scene, usually ignoring the conversations Autumn and Donya shared about relationships until it turned into something completely different. She did have a boyfriend once since Autumn had known her, but that had ended not long after it began and she never appeared to be upset about it. In fact, she handled it with little reaction outside of just telling Donya and Autumn about it in passing. When Autumn revealed how they felt about relationships, Ronan had agreed with some of how they felt, but when it came to being curious about sex and what all the fuss was about, Ronan just didn't seem to have the same interest. She didn't seem to know what it was she wanted, but when she did engage in the conversations Autumn and Donya had, she did speak her mind about what she was on board with and what she wasn't.

While Autumn could see Donya being excited about going to a club, they didn't expect Ronan to show any interest in places like that. Autumn had toyed with going to one whenever Chet was dragged to one by his brothers and when they were still friends with Grace, but they never even knew where one was much less gone into one.

Ronan shrugged. "It's not really my thing," she admitted, "but I'd figured since you're on leave from the Brightens and this is your day off from the bookstore, we could take you on a night on the town to get your spirits back up after almost losing a leg."

"Yeah," Donya jumped in her seat before Autumn could answer "it'll be fun, we have to go!"

"I don't know," Autumn groaned, "I'm off, sure, but... I mean... Well, I've got a lot of projects to work on before midterms and... Just with having gone through the whole bear trap thing, I should just rest up and..." Autumn trailed off, running out of excuses as their friends stared at them hopefully. "I mean, we could just hang out at my place and watch a movie, or work on a project together, or... Or, um..." Donya stared wide-eyed, her beautiful browns growing into those puppy dogs Autumn couldn't say no to and Ronan stared with her usual monotonous stare whenever a plan she comes up with gets rejected. "Fine." Autumn caved with an exasperated sigh as the two women across from her whooped with joy.

~~~

"I changed my mind, I don't wanna be here!" Autumn cried out as they stared at the line of people trying to get into the club.

"Oh, come on, Autumn," Donya whined, "we're already here, we can't just turn tail and run now!"

"Besides, we just have to give him the guys name and we can get in," Ronan pointed out.

"You didn't tell us he worked at a strip club!" Autumn shot back.

They shielded their face, trying not to look at the suggestive neon signs of the man and woman thrusting the air with his pelvis and lifting her leg in a too uncomfortable angle. Autumn had never been to a strip club. They knew Bear and Heinrich would often attend places like this and would sometimes drag Chet along and everything he told Autumn about them was way too intense for them. They already didn't like the female body, why would they want to stare at one for hours as it danced around?

"Will you relax," Donya soothed, "I've come here plenty of times and everyone here has been super respectful and nice. Just sit at the bar with us and eat something, you don't have to watch the main attraction."

"Besides," Ronan reassured as she patted Autumn's back, "the guy who invited me said that there's nothing much to see. We'll go in, check out the food and get you back home to rest that poor little pure heart of yours."

Autumn hid their blush. They were not as pure as Donya and Ronan thought. Chet knew about their secret collection of a certain variety of manga hidden under their bed back home, even Grace knew about all the money they'd spend at particular nerd stores to get their disgusting hands on the new hot series people online would say was too graphic for the weak of heart. Autumn couldn't help how detailed the artists drew the men during their rendezvous with their best friend/new cute guy in school/co-worker/neighbor. Seeing a bunch of naked men wasn't the problem, but seeing them surrounded by other sweaty people getting excited over an overly sexualized dancer made Autumn feel even dirtier than when they were alone.

"Please, Autumn," Donya pleaded as they grabbed Autumn's arm and gave them that same look she used to talk them into coming here in the first place, "it'll be fun!"

Autumn flinched as they felt Ronan put her hand on their shoulder. They slowly turned to look up at her to see that blank stare as well. They clenched their already sweaty fists and glared at the building, almost becoming blind by the lights. At this point, fighting was inevitable and they knew the two women awaiting their answer would just keep guilt tripping them through the night until they finally said yes.

"Alright, fine, I'll go inside the stupid strip club!" Autumn snapped, flailing their arms to get their friends off of them.

Donya cheered as she clapped her hands. Ronan only smiled as she led the two to the bouncer. He was huge and bald, his stance intimidating as he glared at the line of excited patrons begging him to let them in through his black sunglasses, making it impossible to see his eyes. Autumn gulped as they stared at his muscles, his arms bigger than his buff chest and his thighs strong looking enough to break a skull. He was tanned, tall, and, if Autumn liked a clean shaven head, handsome. They stook close to Ronan as she stepped up to stand before the bouncer. Ronan was tall, but this man was taller than a truck. Donya was shorter than Autumn, which surprised them because they didn't think anyone was shorter than them, but instead of being intimidated by larger people, she herself was dating a man taller than Ronan. However, Rey was still shorter than this bouncer who halted the three was a hand larger than his head.

"Back of the line ladies," the bouncer ordered calmly in a low voice that Autumn was sure would shake a room if he talked any louder.

"We're here to see Bade," Ronan told the bouncer confidently as a reply, "he invited us personally."

The bouncer scowled, contemplating on letting them in. He shot a glare at one of the people at the front of the line saying they knew this Bade person too, but thought better of it when he saw the look on the bouncer's face.

The bouncer growled something under his breath before relenting and lifting the hook from the entrance and stepping aside to allow the three to enter.

"Thank you!" Donya cried as she bolted past the bouncer and into the building of loud, booming dance music. Ronan followed after, leaving Autumn glued to the ground.

"Well?" the bouncer demanded as he glared down at Autumn.

"Sorry!" they replied as they zipped past him and into the building, almost running into Ronan and Donya.

The music was deafening inside. The room was dark, save for the several different colored lights that didn't make seeing any easier. People were crowded all around the three friends, some standing in groups, at tables without chairs, in chairs closer to the three stages of half-naked dancing women and men, and at a bar at the far corner of the room, facing the stages. At the one side of one of the stages, hidden jn the corner was a D.J. scratching vinyls and nodding to his own music. On each of the three stages were two people, one man and one woman. There were also scantily dressed men and women walking around taking lap dances or offering their customers drinks.

"Let's get to the bar!" Donya shouted over the music as she grabbed Autumn's arm and began dragging them to the bar, Ronan following behind.

The three shoved past people dancing to the music and people dancing with some of the employees. Autumn watched as a woman was slapped on the ass by a customer, to which she immediately punched him in the face before storming off. The customer shot a glare at the D.J. who had been watching and who also pointed nonchalantly at a sign above him saying: Don't Inappropriately Touch the Merchandise Unless Prompted. The patron then flicked the D.J. off and stomped off with his group of drunk, laughing friends.

This place respects its employees. Autumn thought, barely able to hear themselves think. I'll give it that.

Autumn couldn't have been happier when they and their companions made it to the bar. They didn't like alcohol. It tasted too bitter to them, but they had to admit that it was entertaining to see their friends and family get drunk and be the only sober one to watch and remember the fun. The first and last time they had gone to a bar of any kind was when Bear and Heinrich dragged Chet to one on his twenty-first birthday and Mrs. Brighten had ordered they take Autumn as they were at the party at the estate. Luckily, this city sucked at checking I.D.'s and feared the Brightens enough that Autumn had been able to be let in despite only being nineteen at the time without any trouble. They hated being there. The smells, the people grinding up on one another, the people, it was all awful. The only thing that they saw as "fun" was seeing the Brighten brothers get drunk and act dumber than they already were.

Donya had to yell at the top of her lungs to tell the bartender to get her and Ronan alcoholic beverages and Autumn a bottled water. Autumn thanked Rayphalyne that Donya at least had the sense to not order them any alcohol. Bear and Heinrich had tried peer pressuring them into drinking with them like they had Chet, who only gave in because he just wanted his two older brothers to leave him alone and let him at least try and have some fun.

"When does the real good shit start?" Donya asked when the bartender returned with the trio's drinks.

"We've got our fan favorite coming up next!" the bartender replied before he ran off to serve another group at the other end of the bar.

"Who's the fan favorite?" Autumn asked as loudly as they could, gripping their bottled water like it was their lifeline.

"They call him the Crimson Wolf," Donya answered, "he's really flexible and has the best moves. He really knows how to get the crowd riled up with all sexes!"

Autumn took a sip of their water. This Crimson Wolf definitely sounded like a a crowd pleaser. This did make them curious, but seeing the other dancers made this entire place seem relatively tame. Autumn's secret collection had more intense scenes in drawing form. All they needed was their imagination to fill in any and all blanks. This place was supposed to be a place where fantasies at least moved right in front of them.

When the music stopped, the dancers collected their dollar bills from their respective stages and strode off to the back. The room was now filled with voices of people chatting and asking for refills from the men and women walking around or sitting on the patrons' laps, giggling and rubbing chests as the human chairs drank themselves into stupors. The people who worked here were beautiful, Autumn had to admit, but the more time they spent here the more they realized how strip clubs were really not their thing.

The voices began to grow silent as the lights dimmed, a spotlight shining down on the middle stage. Donya sat at the edge of her seat, while Ronan remained leaning against the bar table, taking gulps of her drink unenthusiastically. Autumn looked around in the dark, seeing the silhouettes of the employees that had been giving their clients attention walk away as they shoved money into their bras or trunks.

"Holy shit, it's Silver Glitter!" Donya bounced in her seat as a beautiful woman strut on to the stage to stand under the spotlight. "She's so gorgeous, I have to know where she gets her clothes!"

The woman was dark skinned, her body glitter sparkling as she stepped into the light. Her nose, ears, and bellybutton were pierced in reds and silvers. She was about the same height as Ronan, had it not been for her high heels. Her stripper outfit was that of a school girl uniform with a ripped crop-top, the tie dangling off her voluptuous breasts, and a mini-mini-mini-mini-pencil-skirt, that clung to her hips uncomfortably tightly. Her black stockings were torn as well and exposed more skin than hid.

"Alright, our little loved ones," this Silver Glitter exclaimed as she ran a hand through her short, boy-cut, brown and white hair, "it's the treat you've all been waiting for!"

The crowd began to cheer as Silver Glitter got them excited with their favorite.

"You know him, you love him, you wish you could be with him," Silver Glitter went on, "it is with euphoric pleasure that I introduce you to... The Crimson. Wolf!"

With that, Silver Glitter raised her fist in the air before swinging it down and vanishing in a cloud of silver smoke and glitter. As the smoke cleared, appearing at the back of the stage, clinging to a pole with both his hands was the silhouette of a man. As the music began to play, the stage lit up with red lights, bulbs lighting up towards the man until they alit behind the man, taking the shape of a wolf howling at the moon. The man had his head down, his golden hair hiding his face as it hung over him with a red fedora hiding even more of his face. He wore an unbuttoned white shirt under an unbuttoned vest. His dark red pants appeared tight and he didn't wear any shoes or socks, metal cuffs on either ankle.

As the lyrics of the song began, the man finally moved to take his hands off the pole to reveal the shine of broken hand cuffs on his wrists. He then lifted his head, still shielding his face with his hat before pushing it up as he dropped to his knees.

That's when Autumn choked on their water and spat out as much as they could. Donya and Ronan immediately tearing their eyes from the Crimson Wolf to look at their friend who was tearing up at the pain of almost choking on their drink.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Donya asked over the cheers of the other people around them and the music that the stripper on stage was dancing sensually to.

"Th-That's h-him!" Autumn exclaimed through coughs.

"Who?" Ronan replied as she patted Autumn's back.

"That's... That's the guy in the... Forest," Autumn breathed as they stared up at the familiar charming face of the man they met three days ago in the woods behind the Brighten Estate. Their heart stopped when they realized he had spotted them through the crowd and dark of the room, staring in their direction before he smiled and dragged his hat down his torso and to his crotch, thrusting his pelvis into it. "That's Frank!"