rissy stories

Warning: This story is a little bit darker and pretty long. I wrote it for one of my classes and it was about 18 pages. So, if you fairly regularly read my stuff, you probably won’t want to read all of this in one sitting if you’re extremely busy like I am.

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There was a knock at the bathroom door… at least that’s what Autumn thought she heard underneath the water – a dull pounding sound coming from her right side. She opened her tired eyes and stared at the high ceiling of her bathroom. Everything except for her eyes, nose, and mouth were underwater, and she was looking at a raisin-sized black spider that lived in the upper left corner of the bathroom. He had been sitting up there for weeks, and Autumn had named him Kevin. She blinked and then pushed against the bottom of the tub with her prune-like hands so that she could sit up and clearly hear.

“I can depend on you, right Kevin?” she asked, continuing to stare at the ceiling. Her fully clothed thirty-five-year-old body had been submerged in a bathtub full of steamy water for an hour. Her chin-length brown hair was dripping water onto her shoulders as she shifted to the edge of the tub that was closest to the door and placed both hands on the white porcelain enamel. Soaked grey sweater sleeves covered her knuckles as her hands flattened out on the wide edge of the tub. “Come in,” she called.

The doorknob turned and the door opened, revealing Genevieve. She popped her head in before stepping all the way inside. Autumn noticed that the seventeen-year-old girl had dark circles underneath her ocean-colored eyes and her shoulders were slightly slouched. Her straight blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was tugging at the bottom of her maroon sweatshirt. She then pulled her bell-bottom jeans further up her waist, as she closed the door behind her. She looked at Autumn with furrowed eyebrows and walked across the white tiled floor, the subtle squeak of her sneakers, and the light tap of her long shoelaces on the floor, echoed within the tan-painted bathroom.

“Why’re you taking a bath with your clothes on?” Genevieve asked in a naturally hoarse voice as she turned to the toilet on her right and put the seat down. She had seen Autumn do some crazy stuff over the past month, but taking a bath fully clothed was a new one. Genevieve sighed and grabbed a makeup remover wipe from a package that was sitting on the corner of the laminate countertop. She picked up dirty clothing from the floor with one hand and held the white wipe with her other hand as she made her way over to the tub. The bathroom was rather large and spacious now that Tracy and Derek had left with all of their belongings, but Autumn had become lazy in keeping the bathroom clean.

“Because I’m cold,” Autumn replied as she snatched the wipe from Genevieve’s hands once she was within reaching distance. She scrubbed off the smeared makeup on her eyes as Genevieve swept the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead and looked at herself in the foggy mirror. It may be January, but this room is eighty fucking degrees, she thought, deciding against speaking out loud because it might upset Autumn further. “What do you want, Gen?” she asked as she tossed the makeup wipe onto the floor. She leaned her back against the slanted tub wall and slid down far enough for her chin to touch the surface of the water. Autumn laid her head back and shut her brown eyes. She imagined sliding under the water and blowing bubbles until she suffocated and drowned. Maybe that would make her feel better, because to Autumn, nothing mattered except feeling better.

Genevieve bent over and picked up the discarded makeup wipe, throwing it in the trashcan that was already piled high. Genevieve made a mental note to take out the trash later and make a trip to the store after dinner. She turned back to her aunt, ran a hand over her long, blonde ponytail and bit the inside of her cheek. She knew that Autumn was in a bad place, but Genevieve really needed to start asking her for some help.

“I was over-cooking dinner and cleaning up after Shiloh’s puppy when Shiloh’s school called. He got suspended again,” Genevieve said. She normally wasn’t home to answer the phone at this time, but her high school had a snow day. Unfortunately, Shiloh’s middle school was open, and he had gotten into a fistfight. Autumn simply shrugged at this news. She loved her niece and nephew, but regretted ever deciding to be their godmother in the first place. She agreed to it when Genevieve was born because her sister, Grace, didn’t have any other options besides Autumn. Unfortunately, when Grace died while giving birth to Shiloh, and her brother-in-law turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the loss, Derek insisted on adopting the four-year-old and newborn baby.

“It’s different when you have your own kids, but you’ll love them more than you know,” Derek had told Autumn, and. Tracy, their co-wife, nodded in agreement. Their relationship with each other was always complicated and strange, but their group was a safe place, sanctuary, and home in which Autumn felt security. However, that security slowly began to crumble after Grace died. Initially, Autumn had to admit that her partners were right in wanting to adopt the children. She loved her late sister’s kids, but once Genevieve turned thirteen, she became a handful. Shiloh turned the same age four years later, and now here Autumn was one month later, stuck raising two teenagers alone after Derek ran off with Tracy because they were tired of dealing with teenagers.

“We still love you and we want to take you with us,” Derek had told Autumn right before they left. “But you were right, we’re just not meant for that sort of thing. I’ll still give you money for them, but we need time to ourselves right now.” Autumn’s depression told her that she wouldn’t be able to survive without the support of the two people she had been with for the past seventeen years, but she knew that she could never forgive Derek or Tracy for abandoning her to take care of two children she didn’t even want in the first place. Autumn’s nose scrunched up as she thought about her proud response to him: “Don’t even think about ever coming back, I never want to see you again!” She slammed the side of her fist into the tub wall to her right, wishing she could take it back.

“What would you like me to do about it?” She asked Genevieve through clenched teeth. Genevieve forcefully exhaled through her nose and shook her head. She never had to spend that much time thinking about Autumn’s need of support since Derek and Tracy left because taking over Autumn’s responsibilities of doing laundry, making dinner, raising her little brother, as well as keeping up her own responsibility of doing homework, was more than enough for her sanity.

“Autumn, Shiloh beat up another boy at school. They said they’re gonna kick him out if it happens again, and he won’t make it to high school!” She explained. Autumn felt a knot in her stomach as she looked at her run-down niece. The girl looked like death warmed over, but smelt like burnt chicken and dog piss. Autumn pinched her nose.

“Well, the kid has anger issues. Even though I can still provide him with money, a place to live, and food to eat,” Autumn replied, letting go of her nose and making bathtub water waves with her hands. “But it’s tough on a kid when his parents keep leaving.”

Genevieve scoffed, dropped the clothes that she was carrying, and placed her hands on her hips as she stood in front of the bathtub. She had been very understanding of Autumn’s immaturity since Derek and Tracy left, but this was becoming ridiculous. “You think that’s the only reason it’s tough on Shiloh? Do you know how hard it was for us to explain Tracy to our friends, even before they left us?” she asked. “But now we have to tell everyone that our ‘uncle’ left us with the ‘other lover’ as well as because they don’t want us anymore!” Autumn noticeably squirmed under the water as she listened to Genevieve. She lifted her hands and scraped her fingernails roughly against her scalp, begging God to make the constant pounding in her head stop.

“I can’t help who I fall in love with, and I’m sorry it turned out this way. I know it’s hard for you too, and I really wish I wanted to do more for you!” Autumn cried. Genevieve shook her head angrily. That’s not enough, she thought as she picked the clothes back up off the floor, about to give up on her cry for help. Genevieve knew full well about Autumn’s mental illness, and used to feel sympathy because Autumn was a great, loving mother figure when she was in a good place. However, now there was no one left to take over when Autumn wasn’t in a good place. Derek was never really their parent – more like a fun, restless uncle who fixed things and spoiled them with gifts – and Tracy was no longer available to take over the gentle, loving maternal role when Autumn occasionally stopped functioning as an adult anywhere between 1 to 4 weeks.

Genevieve paused and placed the heel of her hand on her forehead while she was still bent over, trying to will away a migraine. She placed another hand above her knee for support and shut her eyes. It was only one month ago that all she had to focus on was graduating high school and getting the Hell out of this circus house, but now there was no escape. Even though she loved having fun with Derek, learning to cook from Autumn, and confiding in Tracy, she was tired of being teased for having three parents. She wanted out, but now she had to stay close to home after high school graduation because Autumn had permanently stopped being a functional, decent, merciful parent.

“But that’s not the worst. Shiloh’s a middle school bully now, and you won’t do anything to help him because you’re too busy taking baths with your f’ing clothes on and talking to spiders!” Genevieve straightened up and yelled, her voice cracking. It was almost impossible for her to yell, it always ended up sounding like a loud whisper. Autumn suddenly became alive and got on her knees, causing water to slosh in every direction. Then she stood up, a waterfall gushing out of her sweater and jeans. Genevieve took several steps backwards, worried that her aunt might actually attack her.

“You have no idea what this feels like. I would never wish this feeling on anyone, but I’d like to see how you react to having your life ruined!” Autumn screamed. “My sister died, I lost the two loves of my life, and now I’m a single mother! Life isn’t fair, you little brat, so get used to it!” Her eyes had gone wide, her face flushed, and her breathing labored. Her soaking clothes felt heavy, and her head was light and dizzy from standing up too quickly. Her stomach growled and her hands trembled. She carefully knelt back down into what was left of the bathtub water.

Genevieve silently watched while remaining standing in front of the bathtub as Autumn leaned her elbow against the side of the tub and gripped hair at the very top of her head with her hand as yet, another anxiety attack took over her body. She pressed her forehead up against the inside of her forearm and grimaced. The inside of Autumn’s chest felt like it was about to explode, and part of her wished it would. It would relieve the massive burden on her lungs, which worked hard to continue expanding and contracting. This brought tears to her eyes, which dripped into the water below. Her thoughts began to flail helplessly, her hands trembled, and every muscle in her body painfully clenched. She finally surrendered to this awful feeling and sobbed so hard that it was silent. She placed her hands over her face and slid further down into the tub. Genevieve quickly looked away from her aunt’s struggle to control the tug and pull between her depression and anxiety, not knowing whether to feel sympathetic or angry.

“If Derek and Tracy are happy without me, then fine,” Autumn shrieked. “But I love them – I never asked for kids – it’s not fair!” She rocked herself forwards and backwards in the water with her arms wrapped around her abdomen. Genevieve scoffed.

“No… it’s not fair,” She replied right before she stormed out of the bathroom. Autumn gasped, coughed hard, and finally went numb. She stared up at the corner of the bathroom with red, puffy eyes. Noticing that Kevin had disappeared from his usual spot, she closed her tired eyes and dunked her head underneath the warm water.

xxx

Shiloh pushed the front door to the house open at 3:29 pm, being careful not to make too much noise. A winter breeze swept past him and flowed into the hot house. He removed a grey beanie from his head and stuffed it in his large red coat pocket as his blue eyes scouted the empty foyer. He subconsciously licked his bottom lip that was cut open and bleeding, and he stifled a groan at the pain in his bruised, freckle-covered left cheek. He shrugged his right shoulder to keep his black backpack from sliding down his arm, and once he realized that the coast was clear, he crept into the house, quietly shutting the front door behind him. He tiptoed across the red carpet, little bits of snow falling from his favorite old sneakers. He headed towards the stairwell, directly opposite the front door. He passed a framed portrait of Autumn, Derek, and Tracy with a vase of fake tulips sitting next to it on a coffee table. He didn’t even pause to flip off Derek and Tracy’s faces in the picture like he normally did, and went straight for slowly climbing up the hardwood steps.

He had no idea where Autumn or Genevieve were located within the medium-sized house that Derek still paid for, but he figured that one of them must’ve gotten the call about the suspension. Once he made it up the staircase without his wet shoes loudly squeaking against the wood, he stepped onto the carpeted floor and looked to his right. He heard voices behind the door to Autumn’s bathroom, so he tiptoed past it, his baggy jeans squishing as they brushed together. He walked right up to a white paint-chipped door that had a typical “Keep Out!” sign taped to the front, quickly opened the door, slipped into his room, and shut the door behind him.

Shiloh fell back against the door, sighed with relief, softly laid his backpack on the floor, and took off his coat. He had decided to walk over to his best friend Tyler’s house after he was kicked out of school at 1:15 pm. Tyler’s parents always welcomed him with open arms, even though they didn’t approve of his recent bad behavior at school. The kid had a love note from his mommy in his lunchbox today, the geek was practically asking for a punch in the face, Shiloh had explained to Tyler’s mother. She found his new attitude troubling because he never used to bully others, or ever be mean in general, but she felt bad about his situation at home for the past month, and has been letting his behavior slide. After two hours of complaining, he reluctantly decided to brace the cold and walk the quarter mile back to his house instead of being driven. He didn’t want to take the chance of Autumn or Genevieve hearing a car pull up the driveway.

He walked further into his room where posters of cars and baseball players covered almost every inch of the white walls. He sat down on his bed, and the red comforter matched the color of his cheeks. He stared down at his floor covered with dirty socks, sneakers, t-shirts, and jeans. He glanced behind him at the single window, and frowned at his shutters that had been broken and slanted for the past month. “Uncle Derek would’ve fixed those by now,” he muttered, but then a yap from his closet grabbed his attention. He smiled and dropped to the floor as a nine-week-old Belgian Sheepdog bounced out of his walk-in closet to greet him.

Shiloh had found him in a large cardboard box on the side of the road one morning while he was walking to school. And having a soft spot for abandoned animals, he turned right around and brought the puppy home. Autumn let Shiloh keep the puppy and name him Sootie because she figured that that was the least she could do for him after Derek and Tracy left. But the black fuzz-ball loved to nap on a pile of clothes while Shiloh was at school, and Shiloh had entered his room so quietly that it wasn’t enough to wake him up. Sootie jumped onto his lap and licked his face. Shiloh fell to his side as Sootie began to sniff and lick his short, dirty-blonde hair. Shiloh laughed, wondering why his dog loved the smell of his peppermint shampoo. He placed Sootie back on the ground, the puppy’s fluffy black tail wagged and his long pink tongue hung out of his mouth. He blinked his shiny brown eyes, yapped excitedly, and chewed on the shoelaces from the sneaker lying right in front of him.

“Well, my shoes smell awful, but knock yourself out,” Shiloh said right as he heard a door slam. He shot up and quickly looked around his room for a place to hide, not ready for yet another fight with his sister over his suspension after getting into a fight with a kid from school. He dropped back to the floor, ready to roll underneath his bed, but it was too late, and the door swung open. Genevieve entered the room in order to add his dirty clothes to her pile for laundry, and as soon as she saw Shiloh, she gasped and dropped her clothes again. Sootie ran over and tugged at her jeans with his baby teeth as she brought a hand to her chest, and leaned against the doorframe.

“Jesus Christ, Shi, you just scared the hell out of me. I didn’t hear you come in,” she said as she roughly kicked Sootie away. Shiloh ground his teeth together and glared up at his sister. He crawled over to his whining puppy as she knelt down to retrieve her clothes again. He slammed his hands down on the carpet as he crawled, loathing how Genevieve acted like she could do or say whatever she wanted. In Shiloh’s eyes, she had become a moody control freak since Aunt Autumn stopped functioning.

“Don’t kick my dog, you loser. And what are you doing in my room, anyways?” he asked, holding Sootie in his arms. Sootie gnawed lightly and innocently on Shiloh’s forearm, and Genevieve straightened back up. She glared back at her ungrateful brother and walked around his bed, examining the floor. She kept glancing at his face, restraining herself from yelling because it looked like he had already taken a beating at school.

“I’m doing your laundry and taking care of your f’ing dog: Sir Piss-a-lot,” she said, motioning to Sootie. Once she grabbed all of the dirty clothes off of his floor, she threw them all out into the hallway and strutted back into the room to refill Sootie’s water and food bowls. Shiloh watched her silently as he sat back on his heels and scratched the back of his head. Sootie continued to lightly gnaw on Shiloh’s other arm.

“You’re not gonna say or ask me anything?” Shiloh asked. Genevieve remained silent as she scooped food out of a large bag sitting against the wall at the foot of Shiloh’s bed. She was squatting with her back turned to him, and he heard her sigh.

“No, I’m not,” she said calmly.

“Why not? You sure did the last three times,” he asked her tauntingly. She clenched her teeth and slammed the plastic cup back into the dog food bag, burying it deep such that Shiloh would have to dig it out if he ever decided to feed his own dog all by himself. She turned herself around on her toes while still in a squatting position.

“Because I just realized that it’s not my fault if you screw up your life,” she replied as she pushed herself off of the ground and turned to her right, “You’re on your own, kid. Good fucking luck, because I have a feeling you’re gonna need it,” she said with a skeptical laugh as she walked out into the hallway. Shiloh’s mouth fell slightly open and his eyebrows furrowed. There were so many horrible, disgusting things that he wanted to say to her in that moment, but he couldn’t choose one in time, so he just scrambled to his feet to chase after her.

Who is Genevieve to tell me that I’m screwing up my life, he thought. He never asked for her opinion about how he should be living – that was his decision to make. He was thirteen-years-old, dammit. I own a dog and everything, he thought. He ran out into the hallway and found Genevieve bent over, picking up the clothes again, her butt up in the air and pointed towards him. He sprinted about three feet, then used his entire bodyweight to push her forward and send her tumbling to the ground, face first. She yelled out and fell into the pile of dirty clothes, “WHAT. THE. HELL,” she cried, rolling onto her butt and rubbing her head. Her ponytail was messed up and strips of blonde hair fell in front of her face. She glared up at her brother, “You are insane!”

“If you mean me doing whatever I f’ing want because it’s my life, then yes, I’m insane!” Shiloh screamed. Sootie had chased Shiloh into the hallway, but they had drowned out his constant yapping until this moment. They both turned their heads when they heard yapping and splashing noises coming from the empty bathroom next to them. Genevieve’s eyes widened when they saw Sootie jumping in the water that completely covered the floor of the bathroom. “Um… why is everything wet,” Shiloh asked. Genevieve looked confused.

“Did you hear or see Aunt Autumn leave this bathroom shortly after I came into your room?” she asked. Shiloh shook his head and Genevieve bit her lip. “She clearly didn’t dry herself off, where did she go?” she asked, looking up and down the hallway. Shiloh shrugged, but paused when a cold breeze hit his face. He glanced at Genevieve and then walked further down the hallway, towards the railing. Genevieve curiously followed him as he peered at something odd down into the foyer.

“The front door’s open,” Shiloh commented. Genevieve suddenly sprung into action, muttering something about Autumn trying to freeze herself to death. She ran to the right and grasped the large railing rung with her left hand, swinging herself around it. Now that she was facing the top of the wet, slippery stairs, she used that momentum to speed down with Sootie excitedly yapping and following behind her. She wished that she could go back in time and take back everything that she had said to Autumn, but she knew that it was too late.

Meanwhile, Shiloh felt extremely confused about everything that was happening, but he called out for his puppy and ran after them anyway, being a little more careful not to slip and fall down the stairs. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Genevieve chanted as she jumped over the last four steps and smashed her feet onto the floor with a loud thud. It was enough force to shake the house, and Shiloh heard two loud crashes in the foyer right after. Genevieve didn’t even look backwards, and sprinted out the front door.

When Shiloh made it to the bottom of the steps, he found the vase of fake tulips and the picture frame shattered on the hardwood floor. Then he quickly followed his puppy and sister outside, into the sunlight. It was currently 401 pm in Rochester, Michigan, so the sun wasn’t setting yet, and it wasn’t currently snowing, but two feet of snow had accumulated two days beforehand. Genevieve had already plowed into a wall of snow to the left of the shoveled walkway that was as high as her abdomen. She was wading through it and calling “Autumn!” as loudly as her voice would let her. Her eyes were focused on the glistening, snowy ground, following a track that someone seemed to have already made. She glanced at the small house next door as well as the surrounding pine trees with piles of snow falling off of the branches, but focused mostly on trying to find her aunt. Sootie tried to follow her, but ended up not being able to make much headway. Shiloh caught up with Sootie easily and scooped his dog up in his arms, knowing that it was too cold outside for a puppy. Shiloh held a squirming Sootie up high. Then Shiloh visibly shook, and chattered his teeth, wading through the snow in only a t-shirt and jeans.

“Shiloh! I think I found her, get the hell over here!” Genevieve suddenly yelled from the right side of the house. Shiloh couldn’t see her, but he rounded the house as quickly as he could. He didn’t have his hands to push away the snow and his baggy jeans were sliding down his legs. The snow was so cold that it started burning his thighs and nether-regions. So this is it, this is how we’re all gonna die, he thought as he found Genevieve shoveling through a large pile of snow, which was sitting up against the house underneath the branches of a pine tree, with her bare hands. Her cheeks were bright red and her hair tie had vanished. Her messy blonde hair flowed over her shoulders and back, the shorter pieces falling into her mouth as she panted hard. Shiloh could see her breath as well as snot dripping onto her upper lip from her nose. “The tracks led to right here, I think she buried herself in this big pile underneath this tree,” Genevieve said, viciously digging. Shiloh shook his head.

“It doesn’t make any sense, I mean – how… and why would she do this to herself?” he asked as he watched his sister dig at the snow. She huffed and coughed.

“She’s mentally sick Shi, she’s probably not keeping up with her meds and I’m sure being abandoned feels like the end of the world to her. She might’ve preferred freezing to death over drowning – then she fell into the snow and covered herself up – or she burrowed her way in, then covered the hole – I don’t f’ing know!” Genevieve explained, feeling out of breath. Her entire body ached, her limbs felt rigid, and her hands and toes were numb – yet, she kept digging. Shiloh suddenly gasped.

“Gen, I see a grey sweater!” He said. Genevieve paused for a moment and scanned the pile more closely. She saw the one grey spot, but it was coated with snow. She reached out to touch it, but her fingers were numb and she couldn’t feel anything.

“Help me!” She said with a gasp and started wiping away snow faster.

“I can’t put the dog down!” Shiloh yelled. Genevieve punched the snow.

“Dammit, Shiloh, we’re down to our last parent, so for God’s sake, HELP ME!” she cried, her voice beginning to fade. She could barely speak above a whisper, but it was powerful enough to shake Shiloh to his core. He never truly thought about that fact. He cared more for Derek than he did Autumn, but she was technically their last family member. If she died, then they would be thrown into the system and would possibly be separated until Genevieve turned 18. He placed Sootie on the ground behind him and the cold dog jumped through the snow, trying to get back into the warm house as quickly as possible. Shiloh then turned to Genevieve.

“Hurry,” he said as he helped her dig out Autumn. Genevieve let out a sigh of relief before going back to work. After a few more seconds, they unearthed Autumn’s entire arm and found her sweater to be completely frozen. She sighed with relief, glad that Autumn hadn’t gotten to the point in her hypothermia where she felt the desire to rip off her clothes from the heat after feeling frozen.

“Can you feel your hands,” Genevieve asked, and Shiloh nodded, his hands were burning. “Feel her hand,” she said. Shiloh did as she asked and his heart pace quickened – Autumn’s skin wasn’t icy or frozen yet. He wiggled her pointer finger with ease, and then Genevieve pointed to Autumn’s wrist. “Pull,” she said. Shiloh grasped the sleeve of the frozen sweater, placed his right leg behind him for support, and leaned all of his weight backwards. Meanwhile, Genevieve continued shoveling snow away with her useless hands. After about 10 seconds, they finally pulled her out of the pile. Snow trickled away from Autumn’s blue skin, her brown hair was frozen to her head and her eyes were open, but unblinking. Genevieve leaned her ear against Autumn’s icy lips, and felt a little bit of air being blown from Autumn’s lungs. Genevieve sighed with slight relief as she looked over Autumn’s clothes that were coated in snow and frozen. It occurred to them that they might have found her just in time.

“Thank God she hasn’t been eating much lately,” Shiloh muttered as he and Genevieve carried her back to the house. They normally would’ve pulled out their cell phones to call for help, but they had left them inside during panic-mode. Shiloh also contemplated taking Autumn to the house next door, but it was hard to walk in the snow and they needed to get Autumn out of the cold now. He figured that Genevieve had a plan to call for help once they were inside.

However, the process was slow as Genevieve kept stumbling, coughing, hacking, shaking, and crying. Shiloh kept glancing at her with a worried expression, finally realizing how much of a toll this past month had had on her. He stopped chattering his teeth long enough to swallow his guilt and then forced himself to think about something else. He finally decided to take notice of his surroundings.

Their neighborhood looked abandoned due to the freezing weather, except for the strange sight of a middle-aged couple jogging on the shoveled sidewalk in all white jumpsuits and snow gear. Their pace slowed down as they made eye contact with Shiloh. Shiloh stopped walking and Genevieve doubled over, coughing heavily into the snow. The jogging couple took an immediate detour from the sidewalk and onto the driveway.

“Oh my God, what happened!?” The woman asked frantically.

“Hypothermia, please help us!” Genevieve croaked. The man ripped off his black winter glove with his teeth and he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a cell phone.

“I’m calling 911,” he said as he settled the cell phone snug between his coat hood and his ear. Meanwhile, the woman jumped into the snow, helping Shiloh and Genevieve take Autumn’s body into the house. They laid her on the foyer carpet, and immediately shut the front door. Sootie ran down the stairs, still shivering and whining, but he walked right up to Autumn’s body and licked her face.

Meanwhile, the white-suited woman who helped them froze. She couldn’t figure out what to do first. She glanced around the foyer and then turned to Genevieve, about to suggest carrying her aunt to the nearest bathtub and soaking her in warm water. However, Genevieve was staring down at an unconscious Autumn on the floor with unblinking eyes, just as unresponsive. Her mind had drawn a blank. She still couldn’t feel her bright red hands, there was a blood-like metallic taste in her mouth, and it felt as though a knife was piercing her lungs every time she took a breath. Genevieve suddenly snapped out of it, spoke in fluent gibberish to Shiloh, and fell to her knees beside Autumn’s body. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen, and rocked herself forwards and backwards.

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault!” she chanted. The woman, being extremely maternal and empathetic, immediately knelt down next to Genevieve and took the poor girl into her arms. The woman took off her hat, revealing her flat, pixie-cut red hair, and she kissed the top of Genevieve’s head as she sobbed into this woman’s white coat. Any thoughts on saving Autumn had clearly vanished once Genevieve fell apart. Shiloh watched the scene, looking paralyzed with his thighs bright pink and burning, his boxers wet, his penis feeling frozen, and his pants halfway down his legs. He stared down at the women in a state of pure shock.

“Oh sweetie, you didn’t do anything wrong,” the woman told Genevieve. Shiloh silently wondered why no one was taking charge and trying to save his aunt, but he felt too speechless to ask. He watched the woman coax Genevieve through her meltdown, but Shiloh finally snapped to attention once they heard sirens. The tall, white-suited jogger man with curly brown hair and kind brown eyes opened the door and looked directly at Shiloh.

“They’re here, make some room,” the jogger man said frantically, picking up Sootie, grabbing Shiloh’s elbow, and taking them four steps up the stairs. Meanwhile, the woman picked up Genevieve with ease and stepped a few feet away from Autumn’s body. Ten seconds later, paramedics burst through the front door and immediately tended to Autumn. Shiloh’s expression of shock hadn’t changed since they first stepped back into the house. The man nudged Shiloh’s shoulder with the hand that wasn’t carrying Sootie.

“You alright?” He asked worriedly, noticing the cuts and bruises on Shiloh’s face.

“I’m cold,” he replied numbly.

“Is she your mom?”

“Aunt. Our last parent.”

“It’ll be okay,” said the man. He took his eyes off of a paralyzed Shiloh and looked over at his wife who was staring back at him with tears in her eyes while carrying a distressed Genevieve in her arms. The paramedics threw heated blanket after blanket after blanket on top of Autumn’s body, desperately trying to raise her body temperature. However, her sad eyes remained wide open, and were staring up at the high ceiling.