Chapter 11: Will
Will made Autumn take a break while Vic went to call his colleagues in the FBI to get information about the people Autumn mentioned.
"You don't have to do this." Will said as he handed her some water.
Autumn looked up at him sadness on her face.
"Yes, I do." She replied.
Will took her hand.
"Why?" he asked softly.
Autumn entwined their fingers. Will loved the feeling over her hand in his.
"To save Carter, to live a normal live, to help the people that are dead because of me rest in peace. Take your pick." Autumn replied.
Will tightened his grip on her hand.
"It wasn't your fault." Will told her.
Autumn looked at him doubtful.
"Part of me knows that. That I was doing what I had to, to survive." Autumn said.
"You were." Will agreed.
"But the other part of me, feels guilty. If had taken longer with the readings maybe they would have stood a chance." Autumn said.
"You don't know that." Will argued.
"And you can't think like that." Will added.
Autumn nodded.
"I know." She said softly with much conviction.
Vic cleared his throat as he came back into the room.
"Ok, well I have the files of all those you mentioned but they won't be here until tomorrow. So we can either wait until tomorrow or you can tell us what happened just before you were found." Vic said.
Autumn took a deep breath. Will wanted her to stop leave it for today, he could see how much it was hurting her but something told him she wouldn't.
"There was another child, but I refused to read her and he beat me." She said quietly.
"I'm sorry." Vic said.
"Who was the child?" he asked.
Autumn shook her head.
"I refuse to read her. I was tired, knew what would happen to her if I did. I didn't want to be responsible for someone else death." Autumn explained.
Vic nodded showing Autumn he understood why she did what she did.
"He wasn't happy. There were always two men the one who would grunt and do the dirty work and the cold one the one who was in charge made the orders, made the deals." Autumn went on.
"Did you ever see their faces?" Vic asked.
Autumn shook her head.
"The room I was kept in was always too dark and when they came into the room the light would be too bright and was gone before my eyes could adjust." Autumn explained.
Vic nodded.
"What happened after they beat you for refusing to read?" Vic asked softly.
Autumns grip of Will's hand tightened.
"I was alone for two days, isolation is bad for a person." Autumn said.
"The cold voice came in he was alone, he asked me to read again. I wanted to die." Autumn said a sob breaking from her throat.
Autumn let go of Will's hand and stood up pacing. She wrapped he arms round herself hugging herself close.
"I said no. He beat me again. We repeated this over and over again. Cold voice got so annoyed he hit me over and over again. That's all I remember before waking up in hospital." Autumn said her tears falling faster.
It broke his heart to hear see her in so much pain.
"Were done for today." Will said and without waiting for a reply he stood up and pulled Autumn into his arms.
As Autumn sobbed into Will chest he gently stroked her head. When Autumn was done crying she pulled away.
"Thank you." She said softly Will nodded.
"How bout we get out of here for a while?" Will suggested and Autumn nodded.
Autumn
Will lead her out to his car and opened the door. Autumn got in. They sat in silence as he drove.
"Where are we going?" Autumn asked when she got herself back together.
Will smiled at her.
"Fun fair." He replied.
Autumn bust out laughing.
"What?" She said.
"Fun fair." He repeated.
"Why a fun fair?" Autumn asked.
Will shook his head.
"It explains in the title Fun." Will pointed out.
Autumn laughed.
Will parked the car.
"Why are you doing this?" Autumn asked stopping Will from getting out the car.
Will sighed and took her hand.
"The last few days have been a little hard on you I want you to have some fun for a while." Will replied.
His answer surprised Autumn a little but she smiled and nodded before getting out of the car.
"So what do you want to do first?" Autumn asked.
Will shook his head.
"Today it's your choice." Will replied.
Autumn was beginning to like being with Will he made everything feel better.
When they got home Autumn was smiling widely, she had never had such fine in a long time.
"Did you have fun?" Will asked as the walking in the house.
"Yes, thank you." Autumn replied.
Will opened the front door just as Karla said dinner was ready. Will led Autumn to the kitchen and she took a seat next to him.
"How was the fun fair?" Phee asked sitting down the opposite side of her.
Autumn smiled over at Will thinking about their day.
"It was amazing. It felt good to get out." Autumn replied.
Phee smiled at her.
"Glad you had a good time." She replied.
Over dinner they talked about different things and Autumn was grateful for the distraction she knew tomorrow Vic would have the files of everyone that had died because of her and she would have to relieve those three weeks over again.
Autumn looked over at Will who joked around with Zed, she knew this was all because of him. Autumn kissed his cheek. Will looked over at her surprised.
"Thank you." She whispered before turning back to talk to Phee.
Autumn knew he was still looking at her she could feel the weight of his gaze but she didn't look back she was too afraid of what the connection she felt with him meant. Feeling safe with someone she barely knew meant something especially in their world, but she wasn't ready to approach that just yet. She knew she would have to soon though.