Summary: Devastated by the lost of her brother, Kori Anders decided to move to get away from that pain-stricken place. Few years later, she returns to reopen the case of her brother's supposed suicide and search for the truth behind his death after she stumbles upon a surprising clue that could lead to a cause—and quite possibly his murderer. But as she gets further and further into the investigation, she is torn between fighting for her safety and her sanity as danger soon threatens to shut her up for good.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but this story and the great ideas

Autumn Falls

Prologue

The leaves from the fall trees gently glided throughout the sky, cutting the air as it slowly descended to the ground and rested atop a forgotten pile. The air was cool, the sun shone bright, and the colorful trees accentuated the city in a captivating aurora of vivacity and liveliness.

The leaves crunched under Kori's feet as she walked along the sidewalk to her brother's apartment. After months of trying to find a job, Kori finally was accepted at Gotham's Digest, a popular newspaper firm in town. Anxiety flooded her veins as she reached her brother's apartment building. She couldn't wait to tell her brother about the good news.

Pushing through the building's double doors, Kori passed the lobby desk and into the already opened elevators, accompanying two other individuals that boarded on. The elevator rose to the 7th floor and with a ding, opened its doors to let Kori off.

As she walked the extended halls of the seventh floor, her excitement began to build the closer she got. A smile formed on her face as she pictured the many different ways she should break the news to her brother.

He's going to be so proud of me, she thought. Without realizing she wasn't paying attention, Kori bumped right into a dark figure that was passing by on the other side. The figure stumbled back a bit but held firmly on the ground.

"Oh! Excuse me," she said stopping momentarily to apologize. The man, as she presumed, was dressed in a dark gray hood sweater, black pants, and black combat boots. His hood was pulled all the way up, obstructing his face while his hands remained in the pockets of his pants. Not only that, he continued to look down. Stepping past her without so much as a "sorry", the man continued on his way but not without looking back at Kori, slightly raising his head enough to show a sinister smirk.

"Weirdo," Kori mumbled as she turned and continued her walk to her brother's apartment. She was a little bothered that the strange man would smirk at her, a creepy one at that. Chills ran down her spine as she forced the thought out of her mind and focused once more the great news she had to tell her beloved brother.

Finally reaching the door with the numbers 222, Kori lightly knocked and stood outside the door patiently, sure her brother would answer pretty soon. A minute passed and still no answer, so she knocked again and again…and again. But five minutes passed and her brother failed to show his face at the door.

Frustrated, Kori reached down and grabbed a key from under his welcome mat. Opening the door with said key, Kori stepped inside. His apartment was decorated in a beige and gold color with matching sofas and table cloths. Looking around, Kori found no evidence that her brother had even been in the apartment for the few days.

That's odd, she thought. I just called two hours ago and he told me he was home.

She sighed as she closed the door behind her and made her way to one of his plush sofas and sat down.

"I guess I'll just have to wait for him until he comes back then. And boy am I going to give him hell," Kori mumbled to herself. But before she could fully relax herself, she heard a noise in her brother's room, whose door was currently closed.

Frightened, Kori jumped up. "Ryan?" She shouted. No answer came. A smile formed on her face as she slowly made her way to the door.

"Ryan, stop the playing around. Now is not the time. I want to tell you something," she said. Reaching the door, she slowly turned the knob. But what happened next was anything but play. A shrill scream soon flooded the apartment room as Kori stared at her brother's body sprawled across the floor, blood coming from his head.

Kori looked to the source of the noise, a crow who had come in through the open window in the room and knocked over a candle. She took her eyes off her brother and to the mysterious crow. It stared at her with indifference.

Suddenly, without warning, the crow charged her, mouth open. In the mouth was a black hole sucking everything in its path in, including Kori. Struggling to get away, Kori ran to the nearest stable furniture but even that didn't help and she soon was swallowed by the death-defying hole, only the faint sound of a scream left as a reminder of her existence…

-0-

Kori woke up with a start, panting and tears staining her eyes. That's the fifth time this month she had that same dream. Looking over to her nightstand, Kori glanced at the photo of her and Ryan at the park when they were just kids, the picture serving as a reminder of what once was.

Feeling a stir next to her, Kori realized that she must've woken up her boyfriend of 14 months, Xavier Redd. Kind of frustrated that Kori wouldn't stay still in the bed; he threw the blanket off him and headed for the bathroom.

"Sorry if I awoke you," Kori said feeling bad for waking him up but he didn't seem to hear. Either that or he didn't want to. With the light penetrating from the slightly open bathroom door, Kori could see him washing his face. He grabbed a towel from the towel rack and quickly dried his face before heading back to the bed. She watched as he settled in the bed, not once looking at her or saying anything. It was as if she was completely nonexistent to him.

Fed up with his strange behavior for the past few days, Kori sighed and walked out of the room, grabbing her robe and cell phone on the way, and onto the balcony that was located on the other side of the apartment. The cool air hit her like a ton of bricks. She forgot about the November cold front that currently resided in Jump City.

Kori glanced at the time on her phone. It was 3:45 am. Sitting on a patio chair, Kori dialed a number and pressed the cold phone against her ear. The number rang four times before a woman picked up the phone.

"Hello?" said the monotone voice of a woman. Kori smiled.

"I see someone is up. And might I ask what exactly you are busy doing?" Kori giggled a little. And even though she couldn't see, she could tell her friend rolled her eyes, a common gesture she has grown accustom to.

"I should be asking you that. What brings you to call me 3 o'clock in the morning? You get into another fight with that sorry excuse for a man you call a boyfriend?"

"Rachael, his name is Xavier and no we did not have another fight." Kori decided to leave out the recent conflict in the bedroom, if she could really call it that. She didn't want to give Rachael more reason to hate him.

"I had another dream about Ryan. I don't know what to do Rae. It's really started to take its toll on me. The constant reminder is killing me," Kori explained getting out of her chair and heading to the balcony railing, looking over at the lights of the city. A brisk wind flew pass Kori, making her shiver slightly despite her long robe covering her bare legs.

"Do you think he's sending you a message from beyond? "

"Rachael stop playing that isn't funny," Kori responded in a serious yet calm tone.

"I'm not kidding. What if he's trying to tell you something? Like you're missing something? In all honesty Kori, I really don't think you should ignore these dreams. It could be a sign," Rachael said. She really began worrying for her friend. It also didn't help that she lived about 90 miles away. She couldn't be there for her physically.

"Hmmm…You could be right. But I just wish that they will stop. It's frightening. I can't sleep and I can't focus during the day. It's getting harder and harder to ignore."

"Then don't ignore them. Start listening to them," Rachael said deeply. Sleep finally taking its toll on her, Rachael yawned. Kori taking the hint, decided to end the call before Rachael fell asleep on her…again.

"Listen, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I think it's best we both get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us." Before Kori could say her goodbyes, she was interrupted by Rachael.

"When are you coming back Kori? It really sucks not having you here. I can't exactly talk to the other girls about anything like I can with you."

Kori giggled. "I guess they're not being good replacements then."

"No one could replace you Kori. That's impossible. Everyone misses you."

Kori looked at the fast-moving clouds that obstructed her view of the moon. She thought about her friend's words. Would she ever return? Did she really have a reason to?

"I honestly don't know Rae. I'm just…not ready to come back yet," Kori said sadly. In all honesty, she truly missed her friends but she wasn't ready to face the pain and the memories. It would be like her dreams becoming reality again.

"Well, just consider ok. Listen, I don't think my eyes can hold up any longer so I'll talk to you later. Good night."

"Good night," Kori responded before hanging up. Sighing, Kori turned and entered her apartment, wanting desperately to feel heat. She sat on the living room sofa and clicked on the T.V with the remote she accidentally sat on.

Her mind wondered to her friends and her life back home. She had a great life before the incident. Why couldn't they just stay that way? Why her? Why Ryan?

Her eyes became heavy and her mind was clouded with racing thoughts and memories as she drifted off into a dreamless slumber, unaware of the figure watching her from just beyond the chair…

I honestly feel like this is the best I have ever done. I'm sorry but I have to praise myself on this one. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I am working on the next chapter. A question for my readers, what would you like better:

1. Richard be a normal guy who is her best friend but is mad at her for leaving, so they don't get along for now

2. Richard secretly be Nightwing and still is her best friend but she doesn't know about his secret, causing conflict

3. Richard be the normal guy who she just meets who she doesn't or does get along with

4. Or Richard be the hero who she does or doesn't get along with

I have a plan with these ideas thats why I'm asking. This story is for you guys so tell me what you like and I'll make it happen. Oh and by the way, I changed my pen name...again. It used to Canadianth22, the author of A Thing for Passion which by the way I will be rewriting and continuing sooner or later. Anyway, please read and review.