Pumpkin Spice ⭐

9 - Sounds of the Night

I was working in the gift shop near the end of the night when Thor came walking in.

"Hey little one. You okay?" Thor asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, just a misunderstanding. Everything should be fine." I said and he half nodded.

"I didn't just mean with the authorities. You and John. I mean he came to get you and then came back without you." Thor said and I groaned.

"Yeah well...John and I can't see eye to eye anymore." I said. "I don't how the rest of the season is going to go." I said. Thor walked up and wrapped me in a hug, and I smiled in his embrace.

"Just remember who makes this place great." Thor said as we broke apart and I nodded. "Now I have a date with Jane that I don't want to be late for." Thor said and I smiled as he went to leave.

"Oh hey! Did you get to check the string lights along the trail to make sure they all still light up?" I asked and Thor groaned.

"I forgot...I guess I could go do it now..." Thor grumbled causing me to shake my head.

"No, it's okay. I can do it before I leave."

"Alone?!" Thor gasped.

"I'll be fine. Just go to your date." I said and Thor gave a small smile.

"As long as you're sure..."

"Go Thor, don't leave Jane waiting." I said and he smiled walking out.

Soon I was closing up. I walked through the pumpkin patch to make sure everyone was gone. I checked everywhere on the grounds, and it was empty. I noticed John's truck was gone and I wasn't even sure what time he left. I rolled my eyes and headed back to the gift shop to close the cash register and put everything away.

I closed up the shop and headed to the ATV in the back. I figured I would take it out on the trail and check to make sure the string lights were working. As I walked to the ATV, I walked past the breaker box and turned on the trail lights. I saw a small glow come from the trail and I smiled. I got on the ATV and headed down the property to the trail.

Once I reached the trail, I started driving slowly checking out all of the lights. The trail was pretty long and went far back on the property, I forgot how far back. I would maybe need to talk to Thor, Loki and John about maybe shortening it or getting another trailer, so the wait wasn't as long. As I was checking the lights a saw a whole string out and I groaned.

I got off the ATV to go and check to see if it was a loose strand or a loose bulb. I thought I had heard leaves crunching.

"Hello?!" I called out. I then huffed a laugh. "Calm down Autumn, it's the call of nature." I answered myself. I knew out here in the dark it was probably just an animal moving the woods that were right on the other side of the lights. I did all I could to get the lights to try and work and no luck. I grabbed my phone to make a note of exactly which one was out so I knew I would have to replace it.

As I was typing on my phone, I didn't even hear the person come up behind me and hit me in the back of the head with something heavy, causing the whole world to go dark as I crumpled to the ground.

**STEVE POV**

Bucky was able to get me everything on Autumn and bring it to me while I waited for her to leave work. I wasn't parked at the patch, so she didn't find it weird. I had found a place to park down the road on the way she would go to leave, and I still had a sight of her car in the parking lot so I could see when she left.

I watched her one worker Thor leave and then she was still there. I watched the lights in the gift shop turn off but then I didn't see her leave. I cracked my window and heard an ATV start up and I wondered what the hell she was doing. I mean I knew I could text her, but she never gave me her number and that would be hard to explain how I got it.

I would give it sometime and if she didn't come back to leave, I would have to go check on her and make sure she was okay. She had been gone about half an hour when I saw a car speeding down the road out of nowhere which I thought odd. I decided to go check on Autumn under the assumption I was just pacing and saw her car still at the patch. I went around and looked around.

"AUTUMN!" I yelled trying to get an answer but nothing. "AUTUMN!" I yelled again. Nothing but the echo of my voice and the sounds of a fall night. I saw the trail lights still on. I groaned knowing I would have to walk to get to her since the keys to the ATV's were most likely in the gift shop. I quickly ran down to the trail and started looking for her.

"AUTUMN!" I called out again and nothing from her I was starting to get worried. Where could she be? As I ran down the path, I finally saw the ATV sitting in the path, still running.

"Autumn?" I asked approaching the ATV. I looked and saw her laying on the ground beside it.

"Fuck! Autumn!" I ran up to her and saw blood coming from the back of her head and she was knocked out. I crouched down beside her and dialed 9-1-1.