Autumn's new level.

Before she could fly off into a blind rage, Lynn was sedated.  Her dreams were like fast moving clips from changing television channels and then all turned black. Silence and until a loud fuzzy screech blasted  into the new day. A fist reached from beneath the covers and slammed the top of the clock radio. More silence and then a sudden awakening..."FUCK! I'm late!" ...Sitting up and throwing aside the covers Autumn sprung from her bed and ran into the bathroom. The tepid shower water hitting her face as she cupped the water in her hands and splashed herself clean trying her best to wake up. It was 8 am in Los Angeles and Autumn was due in court by 9.
Ten years since her big move. She'd gotten word that she was presumed dead but didn't bother speak to the contrary. Sadly, she was still under the impression that Lynn had passed on. Something that may have actually helped Autumn. She started her life from scratch months after arriving in L.A. She kept occupied by taking liberal arts courses at a junior college and doing so well she transferred to Stanford and got a law degree. Several years of working as a public defense attorney she had gotten fed up with dealing with the scum of the earth and began working for the district attorney's office. She was tired of defending people who had committed awful crimes. Many of which reminded her of the things done to her growing up. The rapists, the abusers, the junkies. She wanted to protect women and children so they wouldn't become jaded as she. She wanted to make sure that no one would experience the horrors that she was forced to witness for over 24 years.
She was in due in court today for a bail hearing on a man who was accused of raping his girlfriends daughter.  Her quick wit and high intelligence had her moving up the rankings within the district attorneys office. She hadn't neglected her art though. Her apartment decorated with paintings she made. The centerpiece was a painting of her and Lynn holding each other peacefully, overlooking the horizon on Salem Harbor during a late summer sunset. The clouds cast shadows of 2 angels looking down on Autumn and Lynn, protecting them with the light reflecting from the waves. This gave Autumn peace and strength. She would need it for this hearing.
The accused was a well liked man throughout the community . Early 40's, a chef and restaurateur of 2 very high class places in Malibu. A lot of big Hollywood names dined there. He was accused of raping his girlfriend's 14 year old daughter but his attorney was claiming that SHE came on to him and took advantage of him while he as intoxicated. They put the blame on the girl and the mother saying this was just a ploy for money and revenge because he had left her for another woman. His attorney wanted the charges dropped altogether but there was enough evidence to go to trail.
Autumn's job today was to see that he wasn't allowed bail because of alleged threats he had made to his victim and mother if they were to testify. His attorney claimed that as a prominent member of the community he should be released on his own recognizance because these accusations were " far fetched". The Judge, a a middle age female set bail at $5000 citing  that although there was evidence that the defendant ( Jacob Hartwell) may have committed a crime, he had no prior record and cooperated with law enforcement to his fullest. The Judge didn't see fit to hold him in a cell until trial  as she said the district attorney's charges were weak at best.
Being a victim the upset Autumn. She tried to argue this may not have been his only offense, that they are looking into other open cases. The judge answered " You will have your chance to present everything 2 weeks from now at trial. Next case". " With all due respect you're honor..." " Next case!"  Mr. Hartwell gave a smile and wink to Autumn as he was taken from court. Within an hour he was bailed out and back on the streets. She was very upset over this as all she could picture was the fear, and sadness in the young girls eyes as she first told the story to Autumn. The quivering lip and look of shame brought Autumn back to when she was younger. She felt that girls pain and helplessness.  She went back to the office and buried herself in books and notes looking for ways to close every hole in the defense's case. When she lifted her head up from all the books, scattered papers and evidence it was already the day of trial.
Autumn led off with a scathing opening statement ripping apart the defendant's character. Painting him as a predator who gave his victim (s) something far worse than any life sentence for his crimes could give him. Saying that he took something from this poor, scared girl that she can never have back. She was very passionate and firm in her message. Witnesses for both sides were paraded in and out for several days. The focus of the defense was on the victim's mother. Portraying her as a jaded, money hungry woman who used her own daughter for financial and emotional gain. By the end, the girl's mother looked more like the defendant. And the jury bought it hook like and sinker. He was found not guilty on  every charge. Autumn didn't lose often and wasn't worried about her own personal record. This case hit home with her and she felt that she and the system let down this poor victim. Money trumped justice again. Autumn went for a walk...

Dejected she went home and got her dog Rusty. They ran on the beach together as she cleared her thoughts. Rusty was a rescue Pit she had gotten 3 years ago. He survived living in a crate and being forced to fight. They found each other at the perfect time as they healed each other's wounds. It was a beautiful night for a run. Walking back she passed by a handsome man laughing and enjoying the company of a much younger woman. As she got closer she noticed it was Jacob Hartwell. Not 10 hours after being acquitted he was out and about as if nothing happened. She began to think of the young girl laying their helpless as he scarred her for life. She followed at a safe distance and got into her car with Rusty as she kept pursuit. He walked down a side road with the girl behind an old movie theater and a restaurant. Barely a working street light to shine up them. Autumn left Rusty with the car and moved slowly toward the shadows. Images she hadn't seen in ages had begun flickering in her mind. Voices she thought silent had come back. Whispers of young girls from all around asking for help. The sight and feeling of a hand around a victim's throat, too afraid to scream because there's a knife to their stomach. The smell of a man's sweat, the feeling of a soul leaving her body once again encompassed Autumn. Into the shadows she walked. Hood on her head just the whites of her eyes appeared behind Mr. Hartwell. The young girl panicked and ran off down the road. He turned saw nothing.  Looking up he called out " Who's there?!, Don't play hard to get with me sweetie!" Still, he saw nothing. Autumn's eyes opened from the shadows and were red with rage. From her waist she pulled Rusty's chain and wrapped it around Mr Hartwell's throat. He jumped in fear and surprise and he still couldn't see who was their. She yanked the chain until he fell at her feet. Down on one knee she clamped down so the chain or him couldn't move. As he choked and bled from his mouth, she eased up for a second so he could look her in the eyes. She tightened the grip as the air, and life left his body she whispered in his ear, "Case Closed".
Their was a sense of relief in her as she walked back toward the car and her awaiting dog. She thought she escaped but realized this was her calling. To rid the streets of filth one way or another. Autumn had found a new level, of confidence and power.

Autumn's Asylum.

"I have to pee. Where am i?" Autumn looked up as she spoke from a chair. Across from her, a doctor. Red headed, pretty, emerald eyes. " You know where you are sweetie. Same place you been ten years now." The doctor spoke in a southern accent. Very proper. "Dr Lee, is that you? did i have that dream again?" "Yes sweetie." She replied. " We had to sedate you a bit. Thought you might put another orderly in a coma. You got strong legs hun'."  Autumn sat up and shook off the cobwebs. " can i pee now?" And she walked to the bathroom just outside the office door. Afterwards, she cleaned her face with cold water trying her best to escape the sedated fog. To clear away the smoke to some type of memory. She came back into the room and sat back down across from Dr. Lee. Dr Lee was an incredible therapist, a brilliant doctor. She was the only one that Autumn would open up to. The only one making some type of progress. Autumn suspected her for a lesbian but never dared ask. Dr Lee ( Lucinda, as Autumn often called her.) Went over the dream again with Autumn. They talked of the fire at the church, the attack on her and Lynn, and Katherine.
"It was real!" shouted Autumn. She took a breath and sat back again. Dr. Lee spoke very calm as she tried to separate the real from the abstract. It was like trying to navigate a vehicle over a road covered in glass and nails. Dr. Lee was wonderful at it. She would have made a great fighter pilot, avoiding all the missiles. Autumn was settled in. She was on the brink of knowing the truth but still fighting to the reality she created. An even darker escape.
"Sweetie, i need to explain this to you again. I know deep inside that you want this. I also understand how difficult it is to let go. But these dreams. They wanna come out of you, because they aren't you Dear." Autumn felt a tear escaping. Without letting her voice crack she insisted " But i was there Lucinda. I felt the kicks, the rocks. I felt that anger. I watched my loved one close her eye..." Dr Lee interrupted. " Hun, I know. But i need you to listen. You've come so far. Ten years is a long time. I have watched you grow in small steps and here we are. You are ready to hear this because i know in your heart that YOU feel it." The doctor sipped from her tea and paused as she chose her words. Autumn sat across confused, and in tears. She seemed done arguing and was ready for the truth. Or atleast that's the face she was wearing for Dr. Lee. " How can all these things not be real? You weren't their to feel the warm blood drying to your face. You didn't freeze in panic when being gang raped. I know what i...."
"Sweetie, those things happened for sure. You have experienced a trauma like no other. I am not denying you that in the slightest. But i need you to listen now. And listen good. You aren't in Los Angeles. Took nearly 6 months for you to even wake up from that coma. That's where you're brain got sorta scrambled and  your life and story became intertwined with your lover."...Autumn made a fist. She didn't like this one bit. But deep down she knew. She knew where this was headed. " But what about the church Lucinda? those sick fucks who killed my soul mate?! i was there. I got freaked at Logan and hopped the bus. that was m...."
Autumn was politely cut off.  " Baby, baby, baby. This is the intertwining i'm talking about. Your child hood wasn't easy. Your junkie parents were real. You're love was real. The intolerance that me you with blunt force was real. And you not gettin' on that plane was real"..." I don't understand Lucinda. You just agreed with me but you're saying i'm wrong. I KNOW i didn't get on that plane!". Dr Lee sighed and looked straight ahead,  real serious. " You didn't get on that plane deary, But Autumn did. You ain't her. You're Lynn."......

It was a long bus ride out west. Autumn watched the road behind and realized that much like the pavement she was now the past. Everything back east was gone to her. Her family, her true love, her anger.  The world as she knew it ceased to exist. As the doors to the bus opened and she stepped foot in Los Angeles Autumn knew that her journey was about to begin. No longer on a road less traveled she will soon face her biggest enemy. Herself.......The Journey begins soon.