Okay, unless this is the first fic you've ever read, I'm sure you know the drill. So let's all stand up and do the disclaimer dance. It's both fun and easy to learn. I own nothing, Joss owns everyting, Joss is God, etc. Basically, if you recognize the person, place, thing or idea, it belogns to Joss, the WB, Mutant Enemy, and several others who aren't me. If you don't recognize them, however, they are mine.
Timeline: Also, it is impossible to write in the middle of a season, so for reference sake, the events of this show take place before the events of *Passion*.
Prologue
Autumn Westin was mad. Her mother had made it a “condition” that her older brother had to take her, too, if he wanted to go to the movies with his friends. He’d pretended to absolutely hate the idea, but ended up agreeing pretty quick. He was actually a decent brother most of the time, and it wasn’t his fault that the new usher at the theater wouldn’t let her into the PG-13 movie. He’d bought her her own popcorn and soda, and apologized untill he was about blue, but she’d still had to watch the baby movie all alone. But she wasn’t a baby, she was all of seven now (nearly eight) and it wasn’t fair that that stupid usher let her brother in just because he was twelve and you couldn’t tell he wasn’t thirteen. Besides which, her movie was half an hour shorter than his, and it had started fifteen minutes earlier, leaving her with almost an hour before her brother came out and their mom came to get them. She’d already spent the three dollars she’d had on the video games in the lobby of the theater, and she still had about a half an hour to kill with nothing to do. So Autumn was mad AND bored.
She wandered aimlessly around the lobby, wishing she were in the theater with her brother. After looking at the same posters four times, she checked her watch again and moaned in frustration. Fifteen more minutes.
She glanced over in the direction of the usher, who was busy watching a small TV behind the candy counter. The girl who was supposed to be at the counter had gone down the hall a few minutes earlier, most likely to go to the bathroom, and the usher-guy was watching the counter and registers for her. Which meant he wasn’t paying attention to Autumn. Still watching the usher, she began to back toward the door of the theater her brother was in, maybe twenty steps away...eighteen ...fifteen ...twelve ...nine ...six ...home free! She turned to make her way through the door - just two more steps...
“Ah-hem”
Autum stopped in her tracks and turned slowly around - only to find the usher staring directly at her, shaking his head no.
Angry and embarrassed, she turned away from the jerk and walked stiffly ot the double doors leading outside, stopping just in front of them. A quick glance over her shoulder showed the usher still watching her. She turned back towards the doors and hesitated just a moment before pushing them open and walking outside. She had promised her brother she would wait *inside*, but the small playground was just a few feet to the left of the theater’s front doors, and you could see most of it from the lobby, so maybe this wouldn’t count.
She wandered over to the swings and sat down, making sure she couldn’t see the stupid usher. She looked at her watch again as she absently began to swing back and forth. Just under ten minutes left.
Leaves rustled in the trees somewhere behind her, whispering secrets to each other. Strange, she hadn’t felt any wind. She looked up to watch them dance across the moon - but they weren’t. As a matter of fact, everything was perfectly still. There was no wind, no sound. Even the crickets were silent, which never happened in a place as eternally warm as Sunnydale.
She stopped swinging, momentarily silenceing even the squeaking of the old set. Nothing. Not a sound from anywhere.
She leaned forward in the swing, trying to see inside the movie theater lobby. What little of the room that was visible from where she sat was deserted.
A twig snapped behind her, breaking the silence and making her jump. She stood abruptly, leaving the swing to move back and forth without her. Turning toward the direction of the sound, she strained to see through the shadows. Maybe it was just a dog.
“Hello?” she called, her voice barely above a whisper. “Is someone there?”
No answer, not that she had actually expected one. It was probably just a dog. But maybe she should go back inside anyway.
The bushes off to her left, closest to the building, moved. Nothing else - just the bushes. Definately not the wind, and if it was a dog it was a big one.
She began to edge her way backwards, keeping a wary eye on the suspect bushes, nervous now. Okay, maybe a little more than nervous , she admitted to herself.
“Davey, if that’s you, this is not, I repeat, NOT, a funny joke. So if you just come out of there right now, maybe I won’t tell Mom.” As if in response, the bushes moved again, stronger this time.
Autumn jumped back and tried to run all at once, falling down in the process. “Davey?” she called as she struggled to get her feet back under her. A low growl answered her, followed closely by the realization that one of the shadows under the bushes was man-shaped, and much larger than her brother.
Truely frightened now, she turned to run as fast as she could back inside, but she wasn’t fast enough. She heard him pound up behind her befor she had made it even halfway to the door. Brutally strong arms quickly encircled her, easily clamping her to a large, hard, male body. A rough had completely covered her mouth before her terrified screams could escape.
Her feet kicked futiley in the air as the big man carried her to the waiting car. Her struggles made no difference to him, he simply tossed her into the riders seat and climbed in quickly after. She huddled, terrified, pressed against the firmly locked door as far away from him as she could possibly get. The last sound she heard as he slammed the door shut was her brothers worried voice calling her name.
To Be Continued...
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
