Her head pounded, and felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds as she peeked open her eyes. They burned, and just keeping them open ached. Autumn fought the strong desire to go back to sleep; she needed to investigate.

Her memory was a little hazy. She remembered being on the phone with Tate, putting the groceries away, and that was it. Autumn could feel her body slowly waking up, her mind having beat it by a few minutes. Her wrists burned, and her legs cried out in agony.

It took Autumn a few moments to realize she was standing. Peering up at her wrists, she was terrified to find them tied above her head. She tried to kick her legs, but they were bound as well. She tugged as hard as she could on the rope connecting her wrists to the column near her kitchen, but nothing happened.

Autumn was tempted to scream; to call out for help. But that's when she noticed two things. First, a man she didn't recognized snored away on the couch. Second, a piece of duct tape was lying over her lips.

As if she was hit by a bus, Autumn was smacked with memories. She remembered the stinging in her neck, falling onto her face, and most of all Kyra leaning over her.

Her heart began to race, it beating so loudly she could hear it in her ears. She began to hyperventilate. Her first reaction was to cry, which she began to do. That was until she heard boots echoing against her wood flooring.

Autumn's mind was racing a hundred miles per hour.  So many thoughts flashed through her head, she didn't know which one to listen to. Before any decisions could be made, she looked up and made eye contact with the one person she never wanted to see again.

"Look who's awake," Kyra wickedly grinned, taking slow step after slow step forward. Autumn panicked and her instant response was to begin screaming, which came out muffled, and thrashing around attempting to get loose.

Kyra watched the display from a distance with a slight laugh before leaping over and throwing her hand over Autumn's already gagged mouth.

"Shh shh, wouldn't want anyone to get hurt now would we?" She questioned, cocking her head sideways. Autumn stopped shouting, the only sounds filling the apartment being her rapid breaths. "That's better."

Kyra rested her hand at her side.

"It's about time you woke up. I've been waiting for . . . oh . . ." Kyra pretended to look at an imaginary watch. "Ten hours now? Human drugs are so confusing. I guess I gave you too much."

Her friend snored loudly as he turned himself around on the couch.

"I've been looking for you for a long time, ever since that day in the store. . . You see, before that moron knocked me out, I shot you. And when I woke up, bam! You were just gone. I don't like leaving loose ends untied, so I searched every local hospital for a gunshot victim. But you weren't there."

Kyra paced around the room as she spoke.

"I did everything I could to find you. I even paid a visit to good old mom and dad," Kyra glanced at Autumn, smiling at the wide eyed expression on her face. "Humans never cease to amaze me. Every time I think there stupid, they manage to get dumber. Can you explain what person would believe a victim of a mass shooting would immediately need some time to herself?"

The thought of Kyra speaking to her parents terrified her. As far as Autumn knew, her parents were alive.

"I'd honestly given up on you. I figured you died on the way to the hospital and your body was ditched. I moved on quite frankly. In fact Joseph and I," she paused to gesture to her friend on the couch. "Were on our way to Grand Central Station in New York. There's no way to say 'hey world, we're here to kill you all' like killing hundreds."

Kyra smiled maliciously at the thought of so many dead humans. She seemed genuinely happy, which scared Autumn more than anything.  

"And then I got a call from some scum rat I sadly have to call a comrade. And he tells me," Kyra held out her pinkie finger and thumb, pretending it was a cell phone. "I found her," Kyra set her arm at her side. "Joseph and I moved our plans to a train station down the road and postponed them until next Friday. We got here this morning, actually. We waited outside of your apartment building all day. We were about to give up when we get another call, he knows it's you. . . Maybe you know our little informant? I think he goes by Hendrix here."

Autumn couldn't believe Hendrix was one of them. She felt terribly stupid to have told him about Tate. His curiosity was genuine, but for all the wrong reasons.

"Anyway, I yell at him, threaten to kill him, when he tells me she's talking about a boyfriend of hers that's visiting. Her boyfriend's name was Tate . . . and that's when I knew it was you."

Kyra had found her way around the living room before making it back to Autumn. She eyed her, watching her expression with interest like Autumn was an animal in cage.

Her friend stirred on the couch. Kyra glanced at him over her shoulder before reaching into her boot, forcing out an all too familiar gun.

"You remember this?" She mocked. "I used this gun to aim at Clarke. I've been wanting to kill her ever since we met." Kyra pointed her gun to the right, all her attention was on the wall.

She positioned herself and the gun as if Clarke was standing there, as if she was reliving the scene all over again.

"I fired . . . but something got in my way." Kyra whipped her head around. She stuck the barrel of the gun against Autumn's abdomen, the place she had been shot exactly. Autumn's first reaction was to back away, which she couldn't. This lead her to her second reaction, sobbing. "You."

"Kyra," her companion barked with a yawn. Kyra lowered the gun, glaring at him.

"What the hell do you want, Joseph?"

"Someone is going to hear her," he warned.

"Don't talk to me like you're my superior. We both know it's the other way around." Kyra growled, her cheeks red with anger. Kyra watched Autumn with a snarled lip before she set her gun back into her boot.

Joseph leapt off the couch and made his way into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets and turning on the sink.

"What are you doing?" Kyra questioned, brow raised. Joseph set a cup of water down on the breakfast bar, circling around to stand in front of Autumn. He reached out and forced the tape from her mouth in one swift motion.

Her lip burned, only for a moment.

"You're giving her water?!" Kyra sounded horrified.

"We can't have her die on us," he shot back. Setting the glass against her lips, Autumn realized how truly thirsty she was. The water was cold, and it felt so good in her dry mouth.

"She's not going to die without water for a few hours moron," Kyra rolled her eyes.

"With the amount of drugs you gave her, who knows." Joseph set the water on counter top. Kyra strolled forward, glaring at Autumn as she spoke.

"You talk to me like that in front of anyone again," she whispered. "And I'll have your head." It took Autumn some time to realize why the name Joseph sounded so familiar. He was there when Cade had gotten shot.

Kyra stormed off into another room. Joseph continued to give Autumn water. When it was empty, he chucked the cup into the sink. He either forgot to reapply the tape or didn't care because he simply walked off and plopped down onto the couch.

He began fidgeting with something on the coffee table. Autumn watched him, never daring to look away, as she messed with the ropes. They were so tight, it hurt to even move. However, she refused to stop trying.

She hadn't figured out why yet, but they were keeping her alive for some reason. She knew she had to always try to stay two steps ahead of them.

Kyra found her way back into the living room area. She stalked behind the couch, watching Joseph with a careful eye. Autumn could sense the tension and distrust in the room. She took note of this, she could use it to her advantage if need be.

Kyra wriggled off her jacket, now only wearing a baggy tank top with no sleeves and the sides cut off. Autumn could see the tattoos she had been able to the first time she saw Kyra in the store. She could also see some new ones, ones that she didn't recognize.

While Autumn was observing them, Kyra noticed.

"Why are you looking at me like that, rat?" Autumn's heart stopped. She turned away, eyes on her feet. However Kyra was like a spider, and Autumn was caught in her web. Kyra practically sprinted over, latching onto Autumn's cheeks to force her to look into Kyra's eyes. "I asked you a question," she spat.

"Your . . . tattoos," Autumn managed to say. Her voice was small, and she realized how bad her throat stung when she spoke.

"What about them?"

"What do they mean?" Kyra tightened her grip, enjoying the pain Autumn was feeling, before retracting her hand.

"You really want to know?" Kyra whirled around, lifting up the back of her shirt. Autumn could clearly see the same two lines running from the back of her neck down. However, what she hadn't been able to see in the store was the lines broke apart near the end of her back. "The two lines on the sides are symbols for order. The breaking apart, for chaos."

Joseph shot Kyra an annoyed look, but didn't bother to say a word.

"The words in white written on the lines are: Qui putant non adorabis iudicare terram. Et adorabunt me."

"What does that mean?" Autumn dared to ask.

"I will not bow down to those who think they rule the earth. They will bow down to me." Autumn's stomach churned at those words. There were a few symbols in between the lines.

"This one," Kyra pointed to the one at the top just touching the bottom of her neck. It was a tattoo of three interconnected spirals. "Is the Talisman of the Sacred Three. It's a symbol for birth, life, and destruction. And this," she pointed to one in the middle that closely resembled the star key on the phone. "Is a symbol for putting fear into people."

Kyra let her shirt fall, turning around Autumn could clearly see one of the new tattoos on her shoulder.

"This is my favorite," Kyra's tone dropped as she leaned in, pointing to the tattoo. It was a circle with a line in the middle. The line was connected to something along the lines of a candle stick holder. "It's a symbol for death."

Just as she said that a phone buzzed. Autumn jumped, terrified. Kyra leapt for the phone, snatching it off the breakfast bar. Joseph crawled over the couch and stood next to Kyra. It was then Autumn realized the phone Kyra was holding was the one Cade had given her.

Kyra handed Joseph the phone as she reached into her boot, forced out her gun, and dug the barrel into Autumn's gut. She grunted, doubling over as much as her bonds would allow. Kyra smacked her hand against Autumn's mouth and smashed her head into the column.

"Listen very closely. You are going to pretend everything is fine. You are going to say whatever you need to to get Tate to come her. If you so much as hint something is wrong," she pushed against the gun; Autumn whimpered. "I'll kill you . . . nod if you understand."

Autumn hesitated, only for a moment, before nodding.

"Good." Joseph accepted the call, setting the phone on speaker as Kyra removed her hand from Autumn's mouth.

"Hello?" Autumn's voice was shaky.

"Hey, it's me." Tate happily greeted. For the first time since they'd met, hearing Tate's voice didn't calm her down. It didn't make her smile, or even grin slightly. It terrified her. The fact that he was on his way into the mess she was in was scary.

"Hey," Autumn's eyes became glassy. Kyra tapped the gun, remaining Autumn it was still there.

"We are almost there. I tried to call you earlier, but I figured you were sleeping in."

"Sorry, I . . . was." Autumn couldn't say anything else. Her body wouldn't physically let her tell Tate to hurry up. She couldn't even open her mouth to speak.

It was then she decided she had to warn him. She would rather die than lead Tate and Clarke into a trap, which was exactly what she was doing.

"No matter what don't come! Turn around and ru-" Autumn screeched, rambling as quickly as she could. Kyra sprang into action, covering Autumn's mouth with her hand again.

"Dammit," she shouted. Autumn waited for the gun to go off, she waited for a burst of pain. But none came. Kyra and Joseph exchanged glances before he gave her the phone and put his hand over Autumn's mouth.

"Autumn? What's going on?" Tate frantically questioned.

"Hello Tate, how's your day going?" Kyra said. Joseph reached for the duct tape, which was also on the breakfast bar.

"Kyra . . ." Autumn could hear the pain in his voice. "I swear to god if you do anything to her-"

"Oh, you believe in god now?" Kyra giggled. "That's interesting. It's been a few years since we got the chance to sit down and chat. Anything else different?"

"I'm going to kill you-"

"We both know you aren't going to do anything, Tate. You don't even believe in using your powers unless absolutely necessary. You're defenseless." Autumn could hear Tate's ragged breath.

Joseph released Autumn for a quick second to rip off a piece of tape from the roll.

"Tate, please, don't come! Turn aroun-" Joseph slapped down the tape before she could finish her thought.

"What do you want, Kyra?"

"You know the answer to that. I want to see you suffer."

"Kyra, please. Please don't hurt her. She didn't do anything," Tate was interrupted by Kyra's cackling.

"She did everything . . . It's her species that drove us underground. It's her species that called us witches and tried to have us hung. It's her species that is ruining everything left on this planet. She will pay for what her kind has done to us."

"What about us? We've killed our own species. Our species is the one to blame, not them." Kyra violently shook her head.

"You've always been so blind! Daddy dearest was the president of the council, so that makes the council good! The council was the reason I broke, the reason so many of us broke. And there time will come." Kyra sauntered up to Autumn with confidence.

This confidence was terrifying.

Autumn screamed through the tape for Tate to leave her. She begged him; pleading.

"It'll be too late. By the time you get here, it'll all be done. You might want to stop at the store and buy a body bag. You're going to need one." With that she hung up the phone.

A single thought crossed Autumn's mind: I'm going to die.