It had been a week since Autumn had helped Sibella; and life couldn’t have been more different. For the first time in a long time, Autumn felt safe. She even walked around the halls a few times by herself, no longer needing an escort.

Both Cade and Sibella had broken through there traps. They could been seen parading down the halls most of the time, no longer ashamed; Sibella more than Cade.

“Good morning,” Sibella greeted Autumn as she shuffled down the hall.

“Hey,” Autumn grinned. Sibella joined her, matching her pace as they walked.

“What are you up to today?” Sibella wondered.

“Just . . . going to see a friend. You?”

“We should do something! I have so much catching up to do. Plus I owe you a whole bunch so why not kill two burns with one stone?”

“You know, you changed your opinion of me pretty quickly.”

“I never hated humans,” Sibella shrugged. “I lived with some before I came here. They were awful, yes. But not every human I came in contact with was.” Autumn stopped outside of his door.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Autumn smiled. Sibella eagerly nodded, skipping down the hall. Autumn had felt so good over the past few days. She, however, hadn’t been able to do one thing. Opening the door, she smirked as he whirled around.

“Hey!” Ezra’s eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “Here for a checkup?”

“No,” Autumn shook her head. “I actually just came to talk.”

“It’s been some week for you, hasn’t it?” Ezra wondered.

“How did you-”

“Word travels fast around here. Everyone’s talking about your heroic acts. You’ve changed a lot of opinions.”

“Why is everyone saying it’s heroic?” Autumn wondered, pacing around the room. She found herself sitting on the observation table in front of him.

“Because. Things like that don’t happen around here. Nothing . . . changes. It’s pretty much the same pattern every day. So, if your powers are bothering you, you're just out of luck."

"There's no books or studies or anything to help?" Autumn asked, Ezra sitting next to her.

"I've been searching. The archive room is downstairs. It's chaos. I just got through the first stack of papers. Most of them are about our history."

"Why are you the only one handling them?" Autumn wondered. "Why don't you ask for help?"

"They don't exactly know that's what I'm doing," Ezra frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a lot of rules around here. Going in the archives isn't allowe-"

"Why are you doing it?" Autumn frantically questioned, scared he'd end up like Tate.

"I need to be able to help my people," they exchanged glances.

"What's the punishment for breaking that rule?"

"There's some rules that tower over the others . . . Some rules that you don't break."

“Am I one of those rules?” She peered in his direction, eyes becoming glossy when she thought of Tate’s wrapped arm. Ezra stared at her, not saying a word. She blinked, a few tears racing down her cheeks.

“Yes,” he nodded. A knock sounded at the door, Ezra leapt up. Autumn wiped her eyes quickly, Ezra opening the door and Tate stepping inside.

“I thought you were here,” he smiled. “Want to grab some breakfast?”

“Yeah!” She tried to sound as cheery as she could.

“You coming Ezra?” Tate asked.

“No, I have a lot of work to do. Thanks though,” Ezra smiled.

“I’ll be out in a second,” Autumn said. Tate nodded, shutting the door behind him. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Now, go enjoy some breakfast.” Ezra threw Autumn into a hug, still careful not to harm her arm. “You're the rule with breaking.” He whispered as she pulled away. Autumn stepped out of the room, his words echoing in her mind.

“What’s wrong?” Tate questioned, kicking himself off the wall and standing straight.

“Nothing,” Autumn grinned. “Let’s go.”

“How’s the arm?” Tate asked as they headed down the hall.

“Good,” Autumn bobbed her head.

"Is that why you were here?"

"Yeah," Autumn answered to quickly for it to be believable. They walked the rest of the way in silence, Tate stopping outside of the cafeteria.

"Autumn."

"Yeah?" She came to a halt in front of him.

"I know that uh . . . Things haven't been exactly easy here for you," he roughly ran a hand over the back of his neck. "But if you need someone," he paused, stammering through his speech nervously.

"I know I can always come to you," Autumn grinned. Tate mirrored her smile, the two heading into the cafeteria.

"Autumn!" Sibella shouted across the room, waving her hand giddily. She sat with Jade and David, David's arm around Jade's waist as he whispered something into her ear; she giggled.

"Looks like I'm finally invited to the popular table," Autumn glanced at Tate over her shoulder, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Popular what?"

"Never mind," Autumn chuckled.

"I'll get you breakfast. Meet you over there," Tate started, walking off. Autumn weaved through the crowded tables, finding a hand wrapping around her wrist.

Frightened, Autumn whirled around. An older woman was holding her. She recognized her, thinking back to that first day she was there. That had been the woman who had screamed at her until her face was blue.

"Hi," the woman uncoiled her fingers from around Autumn. The woman was sitting alone; books sprawled out in front of her.

Autumn didn't know what to say.

"I wanted to . . . Apologize. Apologize for the way I treated you that first day you were here. I was just . . . Scared."

"Thank you for saying that," Autumn forced her hair behind her ear.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. I just wanted you to know that." The woman stood up, standing close to her.

David came out of nowhere, shoving Autumn backwards and taking a defensive step toward the woman.

"What are you doing?" He growled.

"I was just-" the woman attempted to explain.

“Can’t you just leave her alone?!” David began, shouting out a series of insults, some Autumn didn’t even understand. The woman’s eyes became glassy, a frown causing a heavy crease in her forehead.

“David!” Autumn gasped, shocked by his sudden outburst. “I don’t care how you run things around here, you don’t talk to someone like that.” David opened his mouth to speak, however, Autumn wasn’t done. “She’s fine, you can go sit down.”

David froze, contemplating her words before stepping off.

“I’m sorry,” Autumn slid into the seat across from the woman. The woman slowly sat down. “David is a good person. He’s not usually like that. It’s just this . . . situation is odd.”

“Its’ alright. I understand the strain powers can have on everyone.”  

“Strain?” Autumn questioned. The woman let out a hearty chuckle.

“I’ve read a lot of books, one of the only good things you humans have done. Anyway, you guys seem to glorify abilities. But the truth of the matter is, there not perfect. They . . . have side effects. You’ve seen them malfunction.”

Autumn found herself very aware of her sling. She was aware of the weight and force it held against her shoulder, and how she leaned forward when she sat more than usual.

“What’s yours? If I may ask?”

“Knowledge.”

“Knowledge?” Autumn wondered.

“I know many many things, darling. All it takes is a single touch,” she slid her hand over Autumn’s, which rested on the table. Autumn felt a slight spark travel up her spine. The woman shut her eyes, and opened them with a curious look on her face. “You don’t remember anything until you were ten?” Autumn pulled her hand away.

“How did you know that?” The woman didn’t need to answer; Autumn knew.

“But you do have some nice memories, darling. You have very wonderful parents. And it’s good to know Mark wasn’t always jerk.” Hearing his name made something in her stomach lurch. “You miss him, don’t you?”

“He wasn’t always bad,” Autumn glanced over her shoulder at Tate. He was watching her carefully. The woman groaned and Autumn forced her attention back to her. Blood trickled from the woman’s nose. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” the woman wiped the blood. “It’s my little glitch. Can’t see the memories for too long.” A familiar feeling ran through her veins and again, Autumn knew what to do.

“I think I could help,” Autumn smiled. The woman returned the smile, gathering her belongings and rising from the seat. Autumn handed her the single book she had left on the counter. Peering over her shoulder, she could see Tate coming.

“You are very brave, Autumn Sumner.”