When Autumn Ends

Chapter Four

"I'll kill you!"

Death. Nothingness.

Black.

I woke with a start, again, as I always do. But I wasn't surrounded by purple bedsheets and a slowly-lightening room. I saw trees and police cars, and a stretch of road in front of me.

The sun had come up.

Apparently the child and I had fallen asleep on the bench last night. I rubbed my eyes and stirred, realizing that she was still leaning against me.

I looked at her, peaceful and sleeping, probably dreaming that everything was okay. Her brown curls were still messy and plastered to her forehead, but her face was no longer troubled, no longer filled with tears.

I glanced at my watch, noting the time. 5:45am.

Okay, cool. I have time.

The child stirred and woke, her sweet bleary eyes looking up at me confusedly. That's when I realized I didn't know her name.

"Mommy?" she asked.

"No," I started, then trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"She still hasn't come back?" she sniffed.

I was at a loss of words, so I hugged her instead. She hugged me back, still confused, still sad.

Suddenly, a cop car pulled into the station, its sirens glowing red and blue against the frail morning air. The ignition shut off, and out came two officers, who opened the passenger side.

Inside was a young woman, maybe in her thirties. Brown curls and a sweet dimpled face. Just like the girl next to me.

"Ellie?! ELLIE!" the woman screamed and ran towards her daughter.

Ellie, the child, hopped up from the bench and rushed towards her mother. They held each other, blissfully crying glad tears, reunited once more. The love of a mother and her child definitely cannot be compared to anything else.

The mother stroked her hair and whispered reassurances into her ear. "It'll be okay," I heard her whisper. "Mommy won't leave again."

"Mommy, this lady helped me. She stayed with me while you were gone." Ellie said, pulling away. She flashed an adorable grin at me.

I grinned back.

The mother walked up to me, tears still brimming in her eyes.

Then she hugged me.

"Thank you for taking care of my baby. Thank you so much. I owe everything to you."

I awkwardly patted her back. "Oh, uh, it's no problem, Ma'am. Just trying to help."

She pulled away, nodded once while smiling, and went into the station with her baby girl for her statement.

I brushed myself off and headed out for another day of work.

Just before I turned the corner, a young policewoman stopped me. She was very professional, ebony hair in a bun and complete uniform too.

"You're Autumn Rose, aren't you? Daughter of Summer Rose?"

I nodded once, slowly.

"Okay, great. Do you have any details on a Grayson Robins?"

"Uh, no?"

"Oh. Well, he's Ellie's father and the kidnapper of her mother. Thankfully, we got Ellie's mother back. He has a rather long crimimal record, and one of the cases he's been associated with...is the murder of Gabriel Rose, fourteen years ago. I thought maybe you'd know something about him."