Burn Me Right

Chapter 4

Autumn decided to head to the library, as she needed some time for herself. She wrapped her hair in a bun and walked to Rowena's house. Oddly, her dad was there. "Hello, Mr. Archer," she said, shaking the man's hand.

"Autumn, how long has it been since I last saw you?" he stepped aside and gave her a way to enter, but she didn't have time to go in, not because she didn't want to, but because Mrs. Archer didn't like Autumn much. The woman gave her side eyes and weird looks all the time. She never thought much of it, as the girl never cared for negativity.

"It's okay, Mr. Archer. I am here to drop peaches off. I am heading to the library. I need to study." She removed the leash around Peach's neck and put another one.

"Are you sure? Ro and Alden are here," the man pointed to the open house. Alden had been dating Ro for over two years, and he belonged to one of the wealthy families in the town. Rumors are that Alden and Nicholas both belong to mafia families. She heard that, too, but never cared for it.

"Suit yourself." Mr. Archer closed the door, heading back inside. Autumn turned around and grabbed her phone to call her mother, but she received a text before she could. "Please, baby, give me a chance to explain." Nicholas's text message on the screen flared her irritation. The man calling her baby made her angry. He had been texting her for a while, but Autumn blocked him many times, but he kept calling her from different numbers, and it pissed her off. Ultimately, she chose to ignore them, knowing he won't give up.

She spent her day applying for various jobs, but none were ready to hire someone without experience. She searched for missing cases on the internet and found some interesting ones but could not write a report on any of them. If she wanted to become a good reporter or close and let a paper hire her, she needed more than she is doing now.

She bit her lip, controlling her tears. It was as if she was running out of time. She didn't want to be a burden, but there was nothing she could do simultaneously. Her heart was aching with feelings of disappointment. Her misery made her lose track of time. She did not realize it was late until the librarian tapped her shoulder.

"Go home. Atty, you will find a job. You are stressing yourself so much," the librarian had been watching Autumn for a while now. Autumn nodded, picking up the books she packed her tote. By the time she stepped outside, the sun had already gone, and the wind had become chilly. She let Peaches stay overnight as he had been missing his brother.

Buttoning her coat, she stepped on the fallen leaves, her gut feeling told her this wasn't the right thing to do, her house wasn't far from the library, but it is true what they say, life can change in any moment, and you can get abducted when you are walking back.

Another step, and there it was, the feeling of being followed. What exactly she was feeling, she had no idea. So, she did what she could. She looked around, scanning the area, and found a man in the far corner. He had his head down. That was enough to believe that I was in danger. She picked up the pace and ran. Her heart was thudding in her ears. But she did not stop running. She will not stop running. Clutching her medallion, she picked the pace, but she fell.

She had always laughed at how people couldn't run in a straight line in horror movies when they were running away from someone, but now she understood that maybe those movies weren't cheesy.

She got up, shook her hands off dust, and ran again. Soon, she reached her house, and she fumbled with the keys to open the door, but man was that thing making her mind go wild.

"Come on, come on," she shook the keys, trying to fit them in the keyhole, but failed. She repeatedly kept looking behind her, and she saw a man approaching. He was wearing a hood. "No, no," she aggressively tried to shove the key in there.