REMEMBER WHO WE ARE

"So what exactly do think they are going to do you?" Ashley stood in front of the mirror trying her long brown curls. Autumn laid on his bed staring at his phone. "Who? The cult or my so-called friendly friends?" Autumn's room got sunlight for the first time in months. Ashley opened the curtains and windows an hour before Autumn woke up. "I meant the cult but also Zia and Xavier." She said and put on her shoes which were lying underneath Autumn's bed for some reason. Autumn sends a text message to Walter asking if he wants to meet up. "I don't know about Zia or Xavier but as for the cult, they going to most probably burn me alive and condemn me to eternal suffering." Ashley stopped and gave him a worried look. "Calm down. I'm just kidding. They'll just most probably send me off on a killing spree." He said. "Or they'll order you to find Evan." Ashley's suggestion made Autumn worried about Evan. If he really is still out there somewhere. "If so. I'll just find him." He said and sat up. Ashley checked herself in the mirror again to see if everything is in place. "I don't understand what you had with this Evan character. He just seems like trouble." She said and started packing up her things. "I got him into all this and I'm to blame for it. He doesn't deserve to suffer and besides he's the only person I actually love." It was the first time Autumn said it out loud in months. "Loved." He corrects himself. "So find a way to save him and save yourself as well. You good in doing that." Ashley said and sat down on the bed. "I just want you to be safe Autumn. You keep getting yourself into deep shit and expect that you will make it out alive." Autumn notice the tone of his mother in her voice. The concern and worry. "The cult is dangerous and you know that," Autumn promised to her that he would be okay and nothing will happen. He knew he was unsure himself of how everything would turn out. Walter finally send him a message back as his phone went off. "Got a date?" Ashley teased. "More like a friend." He pointed out. Walter agreed to meet him. "Great. Pick you up soon." He texted back. "Well, dad is going to drive me back home since he insisted." Ashley got up and grabbed her bag. "It was really good seeing you and please just be safe Autumn," Autumn reassured her again that he would try to be safe. "I'm going to miss having you around big sis." He said hugging her. "You can always come to visit." She said and kissed him on his forehead. "Don't die. Please." She begged and kissed him on his cheek. "I'll try." He said. Ashley said her final goodbye and walked out of his room. He wanted to walk her out but he knew his father was going to be overbearing and that is the last thing he wanted to see. Autumn put on his shoes and grabbed his car keys. His phone rang. Must be Walter he thought and answered. "Hey." The person on the other line kept breaking up. Kept saying his name. "I can't hear you. Hello? Who is this?" he asked and the line died. It was a private number. His mind started racing again. Was it Evan? The phone rang again and he almost dropped it of the fright he got. It was Zia. "What do you want?" he answered. "Good morning to you too. We need to talk to you again. We have a plan. Meet us later." She said and ended the call before Autumn could speak. "Just great." He said to himself and headed downstairs.

Autumn drove around in the city until he spotted Walter sitting outside at a small Italian coffee shop. Walter recognized the car and waved at him. "I ordered you a coffee." Walter said when Autumn finally arrived. "Thanks." He sat down and drank coffee. "So why this place?" Autumn asked. "It's something different and better than just an old diner you see every day." He said and skootched around on his chair. The noise of the city was comforting than the deadly silence of the town. Autumn placed his keys and phone on the table and continued their conversation. "So how did you get here after I said I would pick you up?" Walter twirled his coffee around unsure if he should confide in Autumn about Evan, his ex. "I decided to take a taxi. Don't want to be a complete burden for you." He teased. "You know that is untrue. You like my only complete sane friend and I need that. I need sanity." Autumn called over the waiter and asked for a menu. "You have an appetite?" he asked but Walter rather said no. Autumn could see there was something going on. "What's wrong?" Walter drank his whole cup of coffee and wiped his mouth. "My ex showed up. He was in bad shape and needed help. I fought so fucking hard with myself to keep me from falling back into his control. Into toxic waste. So I rather told him to fuck off and never come back and now I'm back in that hole again. Of feeling like shit and blaming myself. I'm fucking stupid." He punched his hand onto the table of anger. "When did this happen?" Autumn knew how he felt. The crazy control someone can have on you. "About a week ago I think. A few hours after you dropped me at home." Walter forced a smile at the waiter as he laid two menus in front of them. "Some guys are fucked up and then they want to fuck you over because they were. It's in us to hurt when we've been hurt but it is not your fault, trust me when I say that. I've hurt someone before but it was never my intention and shit got out of control. I tried to fix it but it got messier and he ended up not being the same anymore. I would do anything just anything to fix things with him." Walter exhaled and grabbed the menu. "Well, I'm not going to be a victim anymore of someone else's suffering. I got better things to do." Autumn smiled and agreed. "So what is nice on this menu?" He asked browsing the option. "I really do not know. I've never been here before." Walter laughed. They ordered some sandwiches and more take away coffee. Autumn could see Walter's mood changing as they spoke about whatever comes to mind. He's joking again and speaking about life with his in-depth version of it. They found comfort in each other and that is what they both needed. "You know our hangouts should be more frequent. If I'm going to be a regular friend to you." Walter brought up. "I mean if you make time in your schedule between working, I would be glad to have you as a frequent friend." Walter stretched out his hand implying they should shake on it. "Deal." Autumn shook his hand as they locked eyes for a brief moment. "Fool." Walter laughed jerking his hand back. "You stuck with me now." He smiled. "I like my odds." Autumn said. They nonchalantly changed the conversation and decided it was time to leave. The car drive back was slow and mellow. Walter sang as Autumn drummed his fingers and hands on the steering wheel. Laughter echoed in the car as they made it into town. Autumn glanced between the radio and the road, shifting his hand to change the song. Walter lifted his hand as well and gently held Autumn's hand. He squeezed it tighter and lifted it to his lips, gently kissing it. Autumn wanted to kiss him so badly, wanted to grab him, and feel every part of Walter against him. "Autumn!" Walter screamed as a car crashed into them. Parts flew off as the car rolled and rolled off the road into a tree. Autumn could hear the radio playing as he got conscious. He tried to get himself out but the seatbelt was stuck underneath the seat. His heart started raising as he saw Walter leaning against the broken window barely breathing. "No." he cried trying to wake Walter. "Come on Walter don't die on me. Come on." Autumn tried everything getting himself lost. He didn't release the large piece of glass stuck in his leg and the piece of metal in Walter's arm. "Somebody help!" He yelled over and over again but no one was in sight, he couldn't hear any cars passing by. He pulled and pulled again trying to get the seatbelt off. Autumn felt the blood dripping from his leg and saw the glass piece. He bites onto his seatbelt and pulled out the glass as quickly as he could. "Walter just stay with me." He said as he cut his seatbelt lose. "I got you." Autumn used the same glass to free Walter. "Just stay with me." He blubbered as he dragged Walter's body out of the car. "Come on. Wake up." Autumn begged. He took off his shirt, jerked out the piece of metal from Walter's arm and applied pressure by tying his shirt around the wound. "Somebody help!" He yelled. Autumn shook Walter but no response. "Walter don't do this. Don't give up." Autumn knew what he had to do but he couldn't. He didn't want to do it. "Somebody help me!" He yelled again but no one was in sight. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He rambled and tried to catch his breath. "I don't want to do this." Autumn gently laid his hands on Walter's chest and inhaled deeply. He cleared his thoughts and controlled his breathing. "Just work." He pleaded and started chanting. Autumn's wounds healed bit by bit and so did Walters. The air around them picked up and the trees restlessly blew. Walter gasped for air as he gained consciousness. "Autumn." He confusedly wept grabbing onto Autumn. "We're okay." Autumn embraced him as he kept clutching and clutching onto him. Autumn could see someone standing at the far end watching them. Lurking in a shadow. He couldn't recognize the person but he could feel it wasn't someone human.

Autumn appeared in the middle of Xavier's room. He fell down onto the ground with Walter holding onto him. "Xavier!" he screamed jerking open the bedroom door. "Xavier." He called running downstairs. "Fuck." Autumn ran upstairs when he didn't find anyone in the house. Walter crawled to the wall, groaning. "Walter no." Autumn stopped him and helped him up. "We need to go, okay." He said. Walter was half-conscious, he could move around, had minimum speech but was unable to gain complete focus. Autumn held up Walter and began to chant. They both appeared in Zia's room. "What the fuck." Zia screamed dropping her clothes unto the floor. "I need your help." Autumn dragged Walter unto Zia's bed. "What the hell did you do Autumn!" She asked continuing dressing herself. "I didn't have a choice. A car came out of nowhere and when I woke up we were stuck inside and he was injured and I was injured. I couldn't feel his heartbeat Zia so I had to do it. I didn't have a choice." Autumn barely breathed and his hands were trembling. "Was he dead." She asked throwing her clothes into her closet. "No he wasn't or I think he was. I don't know, I don't know. I was trying everything and I was scared I was going to lose him. I was scared. Fuck, fuck, fuck." Zia rushed over to Autumn and held his hands steady. "You did what you had to do. That's all." Autumn stared at her and slowly place his head on her shoulder. "You did what you had to do." She reassured him. He wanted to fall apart right there. In the arms of the only person, he knew who put him back together. Zia shoved Autumn aside rushing over to Walter. "He's seizing." She jumped up on the bed and flipped him onto his side. "What does that mean?" Autumn asks trying to keep Walter steady. "Means someone has already has cast a spell over him." Zia replied. Autumn watched Walter as kept seizing. The white foam oozing from his mouth. "That doesn't make sense." Autumn said confused. "Nothing makes sense anymore. If you don't remove the spell that you did over him he could die." Zia flipped Walter back onto his back holding him down. Autumn watched Walter trying to figure out who could have cast a protection spell over me. "Autumn." Zia screamed bringing him back to reality. "Sorry. I just – If I remove my spell he's going to bleed out Zia." She shouted at Autumn that Walter's running out of time. "Fine." He barked back and removed his healing spell. Walter stopped seizing and laid on the bed unconscious. "Can you please just tell me what happened?" Zia climbed off the bed and stood next to Autumn. "We were out for a coffee in the city and we were driving back and a car came out of nowhere. I healed him and I saw someone or something watching us." Zia strangely became paranoid and started closing all her curtains. "What are you doing?" Autumn confusedly asked. "I think they after us, the cult. After I phoned you today shit has been weird. I have been having this feeling that someone is following me." She stood by the window staring out the curtain. "Why would they start hunting us? How did they know where to find me? I don't understand what the fuck is going on." Autumn got a fright when someone started knocking on the door. "Relax it's only Xavier." Zia said and walked to the door. "Wait." Autumn stopped her before she could open the door. "Why?" She asked. The knocking continued with no one saying anything. "Xavier never knocks. We never knock when we come over to each other." Autumn whispered. "Shit." Zia said and stepped away from the door. The knocking grew louder and louder. "We need to leave now!" Autumn shouted and hurried over to Walter. Zia snatched her phone and gripped onto Autumn as her door flew off. "Now!" She screamed and Autumn teleported them to Xavier's dad's house. They fell on the living room floor, protecting themselves from getting hurt. Zia helped herself up falling onto the couch. "They not playing around." She said controlling her breathing. "I still don't know what is going on? Why are they after us? Didn't you say that you going to turn me in as we agreed?" Autumn grabbed a cushion and laid it underneath Walter's head. "We would have but we decided not to." Zia sat up knowing she is going to be attacked with hundreds of questions. "Why the hell would you do that? We could have ended this Zia. I could have ended this bullshit that I started." Zia got up as Autumn continuously screamed at her. "You are not the only one who messed up Autumn. We all messed up. We should have ended this shit years ago but we couldn't, we were too afraid of what they might do us." Autumn went quiet. "I've had enough Autumn. I don't want to be stuck in all of this anymore. That's why Xavier and I have come up with a plan to get us out. All of us." Autumn would have asked her about the plan but Walter started gaining consciousness. "How do I explain what happened?" He rather asked. "You know what you have to do. Besides you still know who and what we are, right." Zia stood next to Autumn looking down at Walter. "I still remember who we are every fucking day of my life." He said glancing at Zia. Autumn knew what he has to do in order for Walter to stay safe. He just doesn't like the idea of it. "I know this is going to take a lot from you but it has to be done." Zia said. Autumn closed his eyes and tried to convince himself over and over again that he is about to do the one thing he promised himself to never do again, erasing someone's memories. "You are right it has to be done."