Beware [COMPLETED]

6. Insight

"Ray?" Autumn called out. There was no answer.

She entered the room slowly and looked around, picking the bags up from the floor. A moment later, she turned around and exited the room.

"Raymond?" She called out louder than before. Still, there was no answer.

Leaving the bags on the edge of the stairs, Autumn surveyed the whole floor and, upon not finding any sign on her best friend, she looked for him on the upper floor. Her heart clenched everytime she opened an empty room.

She couldn't find him anywhere. It was like he had disappeared from the face of earth.

On her way downstairs, Autumn grabbed the bags and made her way towards the main entrance. The double doors were wide open and Adam was standing outside with his arms crossed and a frown marring his features.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

Autumn let out a weary sigh and answered as she speed-walked to the door, "I-I don't know. Raymond's not here."

If it was possible, Adam's frown deepened, "What do you mean he's ‘not here’?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Raymond's gon-"

The rest of the sentence got caught in Autumn's throat as the double mahogany door in front of her swung shut with so much force that it made the whole house shake. The wood creaked and the walls cracked. Both Autumn and Adam stumbled back with the barrier between them.

The bag was dropped unceremoniously on the floor as Autumn ran to the door and twisted the handle. Panic seized her when the door remained jammed. Hysterically, as she tried the handle again, only to fail once more.

"Adam!?"

"Autie? Autumn, what's going on?" Adam asked as he tried the handle himself. His voice was muffled to his friend locked inside.

Autumn was about to give a reply to her friend when she saw a flash of something white from her peripheral vision. She whirled around, her eyes searching.

"Autumn!?" Adam's volume rose with his worry but Autumn still didn't reply. His fists banged on the door but Autumn didn't register any of it. Her focus was completely on the indiscernible phantom.

Not finding anything, Autumn turned her attention back to the rattling door. She was about to assure her friend of her safety when a hand grabbed her from behind.

Autumn froze. The hand was resting in the same spot it had every time before. The same spot her bruise was in. She whimpered as she felt the area burn, but it was gone in a second. It was like nothing happened and the hand disappeared.

Her shoulders sagged in relief for a brief moment, when suddenly she was whisked back and thrown in the air. She flew back and crashed in the stairs. A cry of agony was pulled out of her as the collision took place and she left the land of consciousness; unknown to the ramming of Adam’s shoulder against the doors.

A few minutes passed when Autumn gained consciousness. She groaned and rubbed her head as her eyes fluttered open to complete and utter darkness. Her brows furrowed as she got up in a sitting position and looked around herself. There was nothing visible in the dark place except for a faint red-orange halo in a distance.

Ignoring her throbbing head, Autumn got up and walked over to the dim lighting. As she got closer, she noticed that it was a candle on a small bedside table. She picked it up and looked around the place for the first time with some light. It was a bedroom in the mansion similar to hers. The only different thing was its size and the king-sized bed.