Thanks so much to the super talented EmolisciousSkittlez for the gif on the side!

Autumn kept peeking over her shoulder. Every corner she would approach, she would stop and observe the hallway ahead before continuing; Autumn was paranoid.

She hadn’t been this scared since she was forced to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. After watching that movie Autumn couldn’t go anywhere alone for a week.

She still couldn’t believe what Ezra had done. He had given her something dangerous. Autumn was scared he’d get in trouble, or that she’d get caught. She didn’t want to give the council another reason to hate her.

“Hey,” Autumn frantically stated as soon as she entered Cade’s office.

“What's up?” Cade wondered, hitting a key on the keyboard before whirling around in his chair. “Look at you sling-less sally . . . . What’s that?”

“Something Ezra gave me . . . can I leave it in here?” Cade snatched his cane and got up, heading toward her as fast as he could. He took the bag from her and shuffled behind the tables he had in the back. He pulled open a storage closet, one Autumn had never seen before.

“There we go,” Cade nodded as he shut the door.

“Thanks,” she smiled. Why wasn’t he asking what was inside? Autumn wanted to question him, but her thoughts were interrupted when Tate entered the room. Her heart skipped a beat and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered wildly.

Autumn smiled, she couldn’t help it. His presence just made her so unbelievably happy. Tate and David shuffled into the room, Cade shoving past Autumn to meet them. Her feet took her towards them, Autumn’s mind to focus on Tate’s wide smile.

“Hey Cade, we need you to settle an argument for us. Tate says he can hold his breath longer than I can because he’s taller. Which is obviously ridiculous.” David crossed his arms over his chest, tapping his foot as he awaited an answer.

“David, you can’t hold your breath longer than him because you suck,” Cade chuckled at his joke. Autumn stared at her shoes, waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal.

“Hey,” Tate spoke. Autumn gazed at him, his eyes so distracting.

“Hey,” she giddily replied, feeling like a school girl. Cade raised his eyebrow, watching them with extreme curiosity. Autumn blushed, her cheeks pink.

“What’s with that?” David mumbled to Cade, just as confused.

“Hmm?” Autumn tried to distract herself.

“You guys are being weird,” David said.

“You guys are acting like . . .” Cade paused, eyes widening. “Oh my god, did you-” before he could finish his statement, Autumn plopped her hand over his mouth. Cade began to mumble into her palm as Autumn nervously laughed.

“Excuse us,” she grinned, forcing Cade from the room. She drug him all the way down the hall, turning the corner and releasing him outside of the dance studio. She wanted to distance herself from David, not wanting him to find out too.

“You kissed him!” Cade announced, jumping up and down in glee.

“Will you shut up,” Autumn whispered.

“I won the pool, this is amazing.”

“The pool?”

“Yeah. Clarke, David, Jade and I have a pool going. I knew you guys would do that eventually.” Cade said with a proud smile. Autumn tried to appear shocked, her mouth forming an ‘o’ shape. However, she couldn’t hold it. Autumn snorted at his comment.

“You guys suck,” Autumn chuckled.

“David probably knows now. You did make it pretty obvious.” Autumn rolled her eyes, heading back towards Cade’s office. Cade followed, laughing the entire way. As they went to turn the corner, about to pass Autumn’s room, she smashed into something.

Crashing onto her back, Autumn let out a grunt of pain. Cade leaned over and helped her to her feet.

“Look who it is,” someone snickered. Autumn looked at who stood before her, terrified to find Josh, Jonas, and a few others circling around them.

“I believe the Lou Ferrigno wannabees meet in the cafeteria for lunch,” Cade cackled.

“You want to hear something really funny?” Josh cocked his head sideways as Jonas crept up behind Cade. “You’re all alone.” Jonas ripped Cade’s cane from his hand. Cade’s knees wobbled before he smashed to the ground.

Autumn tried to swipe the cane back, but Josh latched onto her wrist, smashing her against the wall.

“Leave her alone!” Cade growled. Cade stood up, his goal to leap after Josh long enough for Autumn to get away. Jonas set his cane in front of Cade’s neck, pulling it back and using it to choke him. Cade coughed, his face turning red.

“Stop!” Autumn cried, shoving Josh back. He stumbled, Autumn rushing to Cade. Josh caught himself, latching onto a chunk of her hair and throwing her to the ground. Autumn smashed her cheek against the tile, whimpering from the pain.

Jonas lightened up on the cane, allowing Cade to breathe. However, he still held Cade in place.

“I told you I was coming after you,” Josh growled, sending his foot into her stomach. She yelled in pain, doubling over. Cade tried to fight off Jonas, but he couldn’t. “We don’t want you here.” Josh kicked her again. “You are disgusting. We’ve warned you once, and now that your little guard dog isn’t around, we take action.”

“If you don’t stop, I’ll-”

“What?” Josh interrupted, eyeing Cade. “What could you possibly do?” Cade opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The truth was, he couldn’t do anything. Autumn began to crawl away. She noticed others forming around, watching Josh hurt her.

However, they did nothing.

That’s when Autumn realized, she didn’t matter to them. She felt as if she had become their friends, accepted by them. But now, when she was being hurt, they only watched. That hurt more than her stomach ever did.

“Exactly,” Josh scoffed, returning his attention to Autumn. “Where do you think you’re going?” He questioned with a laugh, pressing his foot against her back. She sprawled out on the ground. “We’re not done yet.” Josh dug his nails into her arm and forced her to her feet.

“Please, stop. I’m not hurting anyone here. I’m trying to help-” Josh’s fist collided with her jaw, smashing her into the wall. She slid to the ground, fingertips pressing against her lip. She was scared to find them stained with blood.

“You aren’t helping anyone. You made Sibella bleed, you almost killed her! How is that helpful? Hmm? I’m going to make you regret ever being brought here. All you’ve done is brought a disease into our home. Humans don’t belong with us. You are the scum of the earth, a rodent.”

“How do you get rid of a rodent?” Jonas questioned, pulling back on the cane slightly. He sounded as if they had planned this conversation a million times in their heads. Josh wrapped his fingers around Autumn’s neck, driving her off the ground.

“Kill them,” Josh smiled, strangling her. Autumn wrapped her hands around his, trying to pry them off. He only tightened his grip, Autumn gasping for air. All the blood rushed to her face. Autumn’s eyes widened as she realized he wasn’t doing this to scare her, he wasn’t kidding; he was going to kill her.

She scratched at his arms and his face, trying to do some damage to get him to loosen his grip. She tried to scream for help, for mercy, for anything but she couldn’t get the words out.

“Stop!” Cade shouted at the top of his lungs, trying everything he could to get to her. He was stuck. No matter how hard he fought, punched, and kicked he couldn’t get free. Autumn’s eyes scanned the crowd; no one even flinched.

Those who hadn’t appeared with Josh and Jonas seemed interested. It was as if they were looking at a rare bird, just observing in awe.

“What’s going on?” Autumn could hear Tate’s voice, but it was so distant. Black dots began to cloud her vision, she wasn’t going to last much longer. He wasn’t going to make it.

He wasn’t going to save her.

A loud pop reverberated through the hall. Autumn watched as Jonas tumbled to the ground. This didn’t stop Josh, he didn’t even seem to hear it. Cade caught his breath as he scrambled for his cane, which he couldn’t find.

The sound repeated, Josh’s eyes rolling to the back of his head as he collapsed. Autumn fell with him, coughing as she kicked herself backwards and away from him.  Autumn quickened her pace, plowing into something. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Tate. Kneeling onto the floor, he wrapped his arm around her. Autumn nestled into his arm, gasping for air.

Her eyes scanned the area. No one was there except an unconscious Josh and Jonas, and a confused crowd. Who had saved her life?

Something flashed. At first, she wasn’t sure what it was. Then, it happened again. It appeared to be the outline of a person. It flashed again two more times before it stopped, and Autumn could see who had saved her.

Eric.

He let go of Cade’s cane, it clanging against the ground. His chest was heaving, fear clear in his big chocolate brown eyes observing the crowd around him. His hand shook, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Eric, you’re alive?” Someone questioned, exasperated.

“I looked for you everywhere!” Another shouted. Eric lifted the corner of his lip, signaling a smile.

“You did?” He asked.

“Of course!”

“We all did.”

“You did it,” Autumn grinned, wanting nothing more than to hug him. He did, after all, save her life. “You . . . are visible.”

“I guess I needed someone to fight for.”