Page 13 of Autumn Secrets

“Julian and Aurora, is everything all right back there?” Julian gave me a quick smirk and turned towards our teacher.

“Everything is fine, Mr Robertson. I was just showing Aurora what we’ve been working on so far.”

Luckily math was my last class and when the bell rang, I was happy that this day was finally over. I was exhausted and I’d had enough of all these new, gorgeous people for one day. Lexi offered to drive me home, but I decided to walk to the library in town.

It was quite busy on the first floor when I got there, so I made my way up to the second floor instead. I found a little study nook available and sat down and grabbed out my new math textbook. I decided to work ahead a few pages, just in case I found myself distracted again next time Julian was around.

After almost an hour of math, I decided to dedicate some time to English. Lexi had told me what they were doing this term, and I was already quite familiar with it. Still, it didn’t hurt to brush up on the subject.

I lost track of time as I sat there, immersed in my work, and didn’t realise it was already past seven o’clock until I looked up and saw the big clock on the wall. I immediately packed my belongings and left the library. I’d promised Mum I’d be home before dark, and it was almost dark. It would take some time to get used to the early sunsets here. All the shops were closed along the main street, except for the supermarket further down, and the street was deserted.

Did everyone here just go straight home and stay inside during the evenings? Didn’t anyone ever go out after dark? Paris was lively 24/7, and I had a feeling that this new quiet life would take some getting used to. I wasn’t sure of the bus schedule, so I decided to walk to Mum’s work instead.

I knew exactly where Kinsley Antiques was, even though I hadn’t been there in years. I turned down a side street and past a dark soccer field. When the street finally came to an end, I’d reached the industrial area. It was just as quiet and dark as the rest of town, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable walking by myself.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Maybe Angel Falls was a dangerous place to walk alone at night. I didn’t know enough about this town. I decided to keep going anyway, because I knew I was now closer to Mum than if I turned around and walked back into town. I moved to walk in the middle of the road instead of in the shadows of the footpath. It felt a little bit safer.

I could hear a car engine start somewhere, but just as quickly the sound vanished. The further down the street I walked, the more uneasy I felt. This was a stupid idea. I stopped and reached for my phone to call Mum to come and meet me, and that’s when I heard something that made my blood turn to ice.Footsteps. I swiftly turned around, but there was no one there.

“Hello?” I tried.

The next thing I knew, I felt something whoosh past me and I spun around again. No one there. Okay, this was seriously starting to freak me out. I looked down at my phone and noticed that I had no signal. How was that even possible? I was in a built-up area; how could I have no signal? Frustrated, I threw my phone back in my bag and looked at the dark street ahead of me.

That’s when I saw what had been following me. Straight ahead, maybe a hundred metres away, someone was standing under the only working streetlight. He or she, I couldn’t tell, was dressed in all black with a hood covering their face. Pure panic ran through me and for a second I just stood there, paralysed. Then, something kicked in and I did the only thing I could think of; I started running for my life.

Chapter 6

I’d never run so fast in my whole life; I didn’t even know Icouldrun that fast. I was high on adrenaline, and the urge to get far away from whatever was following me kept my burning legs moving as I flew down the street. After what felt like an eternity of dark, deserted buildings, I finally made it back to the soccer field.

To my enormous relief, the field was now alight, indicating that there were people down there training. The sight of the lights gave my adrenaline another boost and I sped up even faster, as if my life depended on it. For all I knew, that might actually be true. When I got closer to the field, I noticed parked cars on the street that hadn’t been there when I walked past earlier. I felt a huge sense of relief and managed to slow down and throw a quick glance over my shoulder, just to see if I was still being followed.

I couldn’t see anyone behind me, but right when I was turning back around, I bumped straight into a huge, hard chest. A pair of strong hands grabbed my shoulders and my instincts and adrenaline told me to fight and scream with everything I had. There was no way I was going to give up without a fight.

“Aurora. Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. It’s me,” a familiar voice said, while grabbing hold of my hands. “Hey, you need to stop fighting me.”

I knew that voice. Even with my eyes closed and my focus solely on breaking free, I could feelit in my very core. I let myself surrender into his arms with complete exhaustion.Adrian.

“That’s better… Are you hurt?”

Too exhausted to speak, I just shook my head and leaned my head against his chest. He slowly let go of my hands and moved his arms around my waist, his hands gently stroking my back.After several moments of silence, I looked up to meet his concerned expression.

“What happened to you?” He gently pushed my hair away from my face and his gaze roamed over my body, looking for any signs I might be hurt.

“I think someone was following me, back in the industrial area,” I said with a shaky voice.

Adrian’s eyes darted down the street, before returning his gaze to me. “Did someone try to hurt you?”

I shook my head. “I just thought I saw someone—”

“Everything all right here? I thought I heard someone scream,” an unfamiliar voice interrupted before I had a chance to finish my sentence.

“Everything is fine, you can go back to practice,” Adrian replied over his shoulder, still with his eyes on me. “I think?”

I nodded reassuringly.

“Are you sure? You still look a bit shaken up…”

Someone appeared behind Adrian, and I knew straight away who he was. He had the same black hair but cut in a slightly different style. Then there were the eyes. Adrian’s were paler, but you couldn’t miss the similarity.