Capewood (Book I) *Completed*

Autumn

There's a crash in the living room, and suddenly everything in my house is very, very scary. Every noise is foreign. Every place I turn to is now something that is potentially dangerous. Frozen, and lying on my bed, I take a deep breath and will my feet to slip over the edge of the bed. I go to the door of my bedroom and slowly twist the knob. I open the door just enough to peek my eye through a corner to see what is going on. 

Three people in baby doll mask are walking around the hallway looking in my sibling's bedrooms. They close the doors one by one until my solo bedroom at the very end of the hall is the only one left. 

I slam the door and lock it, and they spring into action putting all of their force and strength into banging against the door. I open up my second story bedroom window and climb up onto the roof where there is a garden latter. I begin to move toward the latter on the roof when I  hear my door finally giving in and falling to the ground. I expect my father to come parading into the room with his gun, but not one person in my family wakes up. 

Seven brothers and sisters and not one of them can help me right now. 

I get to the garden latter and begin climbing down the wobbly white latter. I somehow make it to the bottom on the outside of the house without killing myself when I feel a sharp prick in my neck, and I begin to lose balance.

"You were a tricky one to get," says a voice behind me. It sends chills down my back, and the last thing I see as I stumble back into the soft grass of my backyard is a baby doll face looking back up at me. 

I wake up covered in sweat. I wish I could say that it was just a nightmare and that everything was some vivid part of my imagination, but I can't. That was how I was taken into captivity for this game. I reach to my side to make sure that Julian is still beside me. I feel his muscular chest under my hand and take a deep breath of relief. 

I get up from the makeshift mat we made and tapped him on the shoulder a couple of times until he wakes up. 

"Hmm?" he asks me. 

I can't explain what happened next. One second I was tapping him awake because I needed to talk to someone and the next thing I know our lips are connected. He pulls me closer, and I'm not even sure who started the kiss, it was probably me as he just woke up. 

His hands find their way to my torso, and he grips down on my waist. I run my hands along the back of his hand and play with his hair in between my fingertips. There's a fire that is enveloping my stomach right now that I can't explain. It's one that I never want to let die right now as his lips crash against mine. 

This is a feeling of safety and security while being apart of something so dangerous and unpredictable. Julian is strong; he's steady. He's not like that white latter I had to pray with all my might that it would hold me up. I know, at least for now, that I can count on him. I hope he knows that he can also count on me. 

Things are progressing in intensity with each passing second. Hands are wandering, down towards my pelvis as he continues to run his other hand around my whole body. He starts to kiss my neck, and my skin erupts with goosebumps. 

What the hell are you doing, Autumn?! You're in a game fighting for your LIFE. Get off of him right now!

My body took a second to catch up with my brain, but I finally was able to pull away from him long enough to catch my breath and allow myself to come back to reality. That was a nice little escape, but any farther and I might make a mistake that I'm not quite ready for. 

"Is everything okay?" he asks me. "I didn't, like, force you right?" 

"No, of course not," I say back to him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that I kissed you first." He grins a stupid grin at me, and I punch him in the shoulder. "I just didn't want to get caught in a precarious situation here. What if the Reaper were to find us in that situation. I don't think she would hesitate to kill us if she saw us doing...this."   

"You're right," he says as he throws his head back and lets out a loud sigh. "Doesn't mean I won't be thinking about this often," he says with a wink. I laugh and put my head in my hand. 

"I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't be," I say with a sly smile. "I just...right thing at the wrong time," He nods his head with a smile, and I swear if the world stopped turning from a smile it would be Julian's. I don't know if it is because I am in a situation where I am fighting for my life, or if it is because I am falling for this boy I met, well actually, I'm not sure how many days ago?

"So what's the plan for today?" he asks me with a smile. He stands up and stretches. I hear his back pop as he lets out a loud moan and cracks his neck. 

"Well, I think that we should keep moving, and hopefully find some food. I don't know how much longer I can handle not eating in here. I'm starting to feel a little dizzy." I stand up and get up to move towards the exit of the opening that we are currently in and frown. "Well, welcome to another day of hell, Ladies, and Gentlemen."