Autumn's Moon

Chapter 1

                               Autumn

 " I know I haven't called in awhile, but I need a favor." her voice was shaky, but she tried to cover it up as much as possible. Without a seconds hesitation her oldest brother Jude responded, "Anything."

It was about eight months ago that Autumn realized  something wasn't right about the way she was starting to feel. It was like her body wasn't her own. The aches and the pain that would happen randomly during the night had her worried. She had never experienced anything like it, but when she went to the doctor on campus they told her it was simply growing pains. She knew it wasn't. She couldn't explain how she knew, but smothering your screams at night to try and not wake your roommate wasn't growing pains and it wasn't normal. 

That's what led Autumn that cold night eight months ago to step out of her dorm and go deep into the woods away from the campus her Mother had sent her too. Something told her that tonight's pain would be more excruciating than the previous nights before. She couldn't explain it, but it was a gut feeling that she had come to trust. 

Autumn was always a night person, so being out this late in the woods wasn't a big deal or a scary place to be for her. She had found comfort there. It was like her home away from home. It was a sanctuary that she was thankful for having when times like tonight became to hard to bare. 

She use to come out more than she had in this past months, but she couldn't bring herself to feel anything about the situation she was stuck with. The woods surrounding the campus was a place where she came to think and some days she just didn't want to think about her family and how they sent her to this god forsaken place to begin with. Or how unfair it was that her seven brothers got to stay. The whole situation was confusing, but that was just like her mother. She was a puzzle that Autumn couldn't figure out and had given up on long ago. To say Autumn and her Mother didn't get along would be an understatement. Giving the fact that Autumn was currently at Crumpton's Academy for Girls, a hundred miles away from home.

Eight months was a long time to be away from her brothers. She was close with all of them, but the distance had made it hard for them to stay connected and Autumn would be lying if she said someday's she avoided their calls. What could she say to them? How miserable she was? And let her mother win? No way. So on days when it was the hardest to fake a cheerful voice on the phone she avoided their calls altogether.

She sat on the cold grass looking up at the moon that night and she remembered thinking to herself how oversized it looked. She also couldn't help thinking about how peaceful everything felt right at that exact moment, but there's always calm before the storm and Autumn quickly learned how true that statement could be.

One minute she was looking up at the moon and the next came pain all over her body that made her fell back on the ground gripping the earth beneath her. It was the most excruciating pain she had ever felt in her life. And then it just stopped.

She layed on her back breathing heavily with tears in her eyes. She prayed that it was truly over, but the way her bones started cracking she knew it had only just begun.

Autumn screamed and screamed for help, but no one came and she knew no one would. She was so deep into the woods that no one even walking the border of the campus would hear her strangled cry for help. She gave up on the screaming for help and just started screaming from the pain that was over taking her body. Autumn knew the cracking and twisting wasn't normal and the last thought she had before blacking out from the pain was that she would be most likely dead by morning.

The next morning Autumn wasn't dead. She woke up hearing the birds chirping and seeing the sun brightening the once darkened woods. To say she was confused was a complete understatement. Had she dreamt the whole thing? It was impossible, it felt so real and by the way her stiff and aching body was reacting, it told her she hadn't dreamt it at all. And when she looked down to make sure everything was still intact, she realized she was naked. Her clothes shredded near by. Autumn remembered nothing after blacking out. Even when she tried to drill herself to remember even the least tiny bit other than the pain, but nothing came.

She was out in the middle of the woods, confused and naked. The only option she had was to call her roommate Jade. Luckily her phone was still in one piece.

"I have to say A I never expected a walk a shame call from you" Jade laughed going off the only story Autumn could think of at the time to explain why she was naked in the middle of the woods with no clothes. Autumn didn't want to say anything further on the subject, so when they reached their room she told Jade she was going to take shower. 

"You know its OK to have a little fun every now and then Autumn" Jade called out before she closed the bathroom door dividing the rooms between them. If she only knew Autumn thought to herself. 

She didn't let herself become embarrassed from the story she told Jade, because of the fact that not knowing what actually happened was already preoccupying her mind, but if that wasn't she would totally be embarrassed. The shower part was the only truth that she had told Jade. She could really use a shower and since every bone in her body was aching she turned on the water and set it on scolding.

She quickly stripped out of the clothes Jade had given her and stepped into the hot water that instantly loosened the tightened muscles and relieved the ache that was all over her body.

 Autumn had lost track of how long she had been in the shower, but she gave herself just a couple minutes more to let the scolding hot water run down her body. She knew when she stepped out of the shower reality would hit her and she just need a few more seconds to breathe. And the few seconds that she had given herself had ended to quickly.

Wiping the condensation from the mirror, Autumn took the time to just look at herself. Nothing physically looked different at all, she still had her long strawberry blonde hair and blueish-green eyes. Nothing appearance wise was wrong with her, although, her complexion was a couple shades paler than her original skin tone, but she knew that it had to be from the shock of everything. But she somehow felt energized as strange as that seemed. Especially from what she endured last night, but she did and it felt like it was just racing down her veins.

Autumn had no explanations for anything that had happened to her. All she knew was that she needed to get home as soon as possible. And that's when she picked up the phone and called her oldest brother Jude. 

" I know I haven't called in awhile, but I need a favor." her voice was shaky even when she tried to cover it up as much as possible. Without a seconds hesitation her oldest brother Jude responded, "Anything."

" I need a plan to get me out of here." she responded.

" What type of plan?"

She thought about his question for a moment before replying. " One that will get me out of here and sent home immediately." The phone went silent for a moment. 

"There she is" Jude replied with smile to his voice, " I was starting to think that school actually changed you."

Autumn had never felt more relieved in her life. " Change me?" she replied. "It's like you've forgotten who I am." She laughed.

She could hear her oldest brother laughing in return. "Guys" she heard him call over the phone. " We need a plan to get Autumn out, who's in?"

"Me!" All seven brothers shouted in unison.

"Alright" Jude spoke while smiling, " This is what you're going to do."