The Seasons

Chapter 59

Summer was officially panicking.

They knew about Sion, the man who had escaped, or rather the secret who he had helped escape. This meant he had caused the prophecy to come to fruition, and Instuitila were one step closer to their goal, and even if he hadn’t meant to, he had helped them. And they surely had to know.

He knew things were wrong; there were gaps in his memories. He would remember going to bed clean but waking up with blood on his clothes and muddy shoes. Or, he would be in the bar on a Tuesday morning, and when he came back, it was Friday, and he was in a field in the middle of nowhere.

There were things, memories missing, and he didn’t know what to do.

And, to make matters worse, Autumn had handed out his wedding invitations; it was sitting on his nightstand, a crisp white envelope with his name in elegant black writing, and he couldn’t peel his eyes away from it. Autumn would be getting married soon, and he could do nothing about it. Not that there was anything he would want to do. He had promised himself that if Autumn got married, he would push his feelings down and support him.

Autumn was his best friend, for f**k’s sake. And he was desperately in love with him.

The final straw was today, August 14th. Summer was missing a week’s worth of memories. He didn’t know how he got home, or when, what he had done or said. He sighed as he stood up, stormed over to his door, and threw it open. But he was surprised to see Autumn standing before him.

He was in a maroon sweater with white pants on, and his copper eyes seemed to glass over; his dark red hair was half-tied, and he looked beautiful despite the harsh lighting in the hallway. “Summer?” he asked.

“Oh, hey.”

“Hi, are you okay? You said you weren’t feeling well. Where are you going?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m just going for a walk; some fresh air might make me feel better, you know?”

“Let me grab my coat; I’ll come with-”

“No!” he yelled by accident. “Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “I meant, I want some alone time; I’ll see you later.”

Summer walked past Autumn, who grabbed his arm. He tried to shake his hand free, but he failed despite putting in his best efforts; he always seemed to forget, despite Autumn looking human, he wasn’t.

“Summer, I’m worried. What’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird recently.”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I’m fine. I’ll see you later.”

He didn’t wait to hear his reply as he ran down the metal stairs, holding onto the black railing for dear life, and was out of the door in under a minute. He didn’t know when, but he had started running, and even though he was getting odd looks from people around him, he didn’t stop. Not until he was a good few blocks away from his and Autumn’s place,

He slowed down to catch his breath, and once he had it, he rang Xana. She gave him an address close to where he currently was, and he was in front of the building in fifteen minutes. Surprisingly, she was already there waiting for him in the lobby, a bright smile on her ethereal features. He could see some men and women eyeing her, but she continued to ignore them all, her gaze on him.

“Why are we meeting in a hotel?” he asked, following behind her.

Her dark hair always appeared wet, and she wore a green bikini with some shorts and a black lace cardigan that dropped to the floor.

“I am currently residing here; what is the matter with you calling so urgently?” she asked, opening the door to her room, and he went inside first.

“Look,” he said as he turned to stare at her as she closed the door and leaned against it. “I don’t know what’s happening; I don’t. But I want out. I don’t know why people are dying. I didn’t want people to die; I just wanted to be happy with Autumn. That’s all I want.”

However, he regretted the words that left his mouth the second he had said them, as the atmosphere in the room darkened.

~*~