Silent Poison

"You're here every weekend. Why don't you come here next year?" Allie asked as she took a bite of her salad. She bit her lower lip as three college boys walked past. They took great appreciation for the female race too. Autumn ignored their cat calls.

"I don't want everything my parents want for me. I'm not their little robot. They have my brother for that."

Autumn set down her fork and sat back in her chair. It was Friday. Homework was done and the weekend was just beginning.

"What do you want to do then?" Allie asked.

"First off, I want to get out of here. I hate living here and I want to get away."

"That should be interesting."

"Oh, I've already been accepted to a few colleges across the U.S. and a few out of the country."

"Is Julliard one of those schools?"

"No." Autumn's face scrunched. "What the hell would I do at Julliard?"

"Hmmmm," Allie said with a pondering tone. "Well, there's the music program. You can sing, play the piano, the guitar. Should I go on? You were born a music prodigy out of business tycoons. It's amazing!"

"But, I'm not going to do anything with it."

"You could get famous! Have you written any music?"

Autumn stared across campus. Pfft, famous. Yeah, right. She had written music, songs too. They just never saw the light of day. She could barely look at them herself. every time she did, her father came into her head and told her what nonsense it all was.

"I have. Got rid of them though. They were all crap."

"How do you know? Have you ever sung them for anyone?"

"My opinion is the only one that counts and I don't think they're that good." Autumn said.

"Whatever Miss SnootyPants. Eventually more than just you will need to hear those beautiful lyrics of yours that go along with amazing music." Allie said in a daydreamy voice.

Autumn shrugged and took a drink of her Vanilla Coke. Her advice along with anybody else's didn't really matter. Who would want to hear her anyway?

"Anyway, are you excited? The Halloween party is tonight. What are you dressing up as?"

"Nothing completely slutty. I leave that up to you girls." Autumn smirked.

"Thanks." Allie said flatly.

"I'm going as Harley Quinn. I'll be doing pigtails instead the head get up though."

"Sounds…skin tight and skanky. I thought you weren't going skanky."

"Harley Quinn is a brilliant villain…she just brought out the bad girl."

"So you two are best friends then. You're lucky you're going, you know, This party is exclusive and going to be packed down at the old asylum."

"Yeah, I know." Autumn remembered the flyer showing up on her car ten minutes after she'd showed up to the sorority. "It'll be fun."

"And scary. You know they have all of these people who work during the party while you try to get to the party which might I add is throughout the entire place. I hear it's haunted there too."

Auutmn listened to her talk about it all enthused. She was excited. Halloween was by far the best yet scariest holiday. The best because you get the shit scared out of you. It's quite and adrenaline rush and scariest because you could actually get killed and it would look nothing more than a practical joke until the next day. The thrill of all of the scary possibilities was enough to make Autumn giggle.

"Haunted…sounds fun."

"We should go get ready then."

"Yes. It takes a lot of time to get ready and look slutty." Autumn tilted her head to the side, a Cheshire gin spreading across her face.

Allie got up and walked across the large quad towards Greek row. She linked arms with Autumn.

"It's going to be an amazing weekend." She sang.

"I have like five layers of make up on my face." Autumn said as she observed herself in the mirror. Instead of putting white facial paint all over her face, she used cover up and eye liner along with black eye shadow around her eyes to blend in with the mask. She liked that all of the black made her eyes stand out.

"You almost ready?" Allie called from the bedroom.

Autumn eyed herself for a few more seconds, checking her dark brown lipstick. "Yes."

Autumn left the bathroom and sat down at the end of Allie's bed. Allie turned around and Autumn eyed her long legs. Guys would be crawling all over her tonight. She was dressed as a witch with fish net thigh-highs, a black skirt with slits up both legs, and a gypsy top that had long sleeves, but the sleeves went halfway down her arm then hung down from her elbow creating a flow like look. The top was cross tied in the front. Autumn admired the touch of crow feathers on her chain belt, shoulders, and the cloth of her sleeves that hung past her waist and through her hair. The make-up was dark and mysterious.

"If I was gay…" Autumn left it at that as she put on her dull black leather baby-doll pumps. She easily gained three inches.

"You don't look so bad yourself in that leather get up. I love that belt and how it crisscrosses over you."

Autumn stood up, putting her car keys in her bra and moved to the door.

"After you." She said.

Some of the sisters had already left to the party with DDs'. Autumn walked slower than usual thanks to the extra height. It usually took a good ten minutes to get used to heels and for her feet to go beyond aching and just go numb.

The asylum had a waiting line and a creepy figure wearing a broken straight jacket was walking along the line making girls scream and jump into the arms of their dates and boyfriends.

"I am so tempted to bring my fake sledgehammer." Autumn said.

"We should've gotten drunk first."

"And drunk drive? No thanks. Let's go twitchy witchy. Go put a spell on the crazy, ugly guy."

"Tonight is either going to be fun or really shitty."

Both girls got out of the car. Autumn scanned the area, her hands on her hips, her pigtails flowing down over her shoulders. Adding the red clip in extensions, all ten of them, was a good idea. It added to the craziness of her hair.

As they made their way to the entrance the gravel crunched under their heels and the loon in the straightjacket saw them. He came towards Allie first. Autumn stopped then shook her head and kept walking. He's not real. Just a mask, a grotesque, disgusting mask.

Allie clung to Autumn's arm and the crazy guy stopped in front of them. The people standing in line looked at them.

"Terrorize other people or I'll be your worst nightmare." Autumn threatened darkly.

"You're fun to scare Autumn."

Auutmn stared skeptically.

"Devin?"

The loon waved, the straightjacket sleeve waving with him.

"Wow." She laughed. "I was ready to knock you out if you came any closer."

"At least I have a warning. See you ladies later." Devin turned and went up the line scaring others.

The line moved quickly and the girls were travelling the halls in no time. The third floor was off limits and the main party was on the second floor and in the basement. They both went to the second floor first. They ran after making it halfway down the hall. A guy with long stringy hair had walked from one of the rooms behind them to the one across from it carrying a large crowbar that scraped on the ground as he dragged it behind him.

"Okay, that was really fucking scary!" Allie exclaimed. Her voice shook.

"We just need to get to the party." Autumn said staying calm. She looked around them to be sure that nobody was around and nobody was. That was the problem. There were nobody, no scary people, no partygoers. Autumn couldn't hear anybody either.

"It's quiet." Autumn said, clenching her fists. "Let's go. The stairs shouldn't be too hard to find."

Grabbing Allie's forearm, she dashed down the hall, but suddenly stopped and gasped nearly falling backwards as a dark figure stepped into the hall at the very end. In its hand was a very large knife.

"Turn!" Allie yelled.

Autumn turned and ran into a room and screamed. What looked like blood was spattered all over the walls and in the center of the room was a body tied up with barbed wire and strung up in the middle of the room. Allie who closed the door turned around and screamed next. Autumn walked up to the body, her heart racing and petrified. Slowly, she reached out.

"Auty don't!"

Autumn let out the deep breath she'd held in then hit the body.

"It's plastic or whatever." She said.

She walked over to the wall and touched it.

"And this is paint probably." She smelled her finger. "Yes, paint."

"Thank god." Allie held her chest. "Let's get to the party, now!"

"We have to go out the way we came."

Allie gripped the doorknob tightly.

"We run." She said. Auutmn nodded in agreement.

"I like that plan. After this, I really want to get drunk." Autumn said.

Allie yanked open the door and Amelie ran out first, skidding to a stop. She looked around, a small group of three ran past her screaming and laughing. Allie and Autumn ran down the hall. A sign on the wall pointed the direction of the stairs. Turning, they found the stairs quickly. Music was blaring at the base of them.

"Going somewhere?"

Allie screamed at hearing the horrifying voice and ran past Autumn up the stairs. She looked back to see the guy with the crowbar. Not wanting to stick around, she ran up the stairs and stopped. Strobe lighting flashed across the floors and dozens of people were dancing with drinks in their hands. Amelie slowed down and walked down the hallway. She peeked into a few of the rooms and every so often looked over her shoulder.

"Autumn!"

Autumn turned as she walked into one of the random rooms and found a bar set up. Allie came from across the room, a drink in her hand.

"You ran on me!" Autumn yelled.

"Sorry. That guy scared the shit out of me." she replied. "I'm going to go dance. Come with me."

Autumn grabbed her drink and took Allie's hand. She was led out of the room. The song changed to Rob Zombie, Living Dead Girl, good song. They wound through the crowd as it got thicker and thicker. Allie pulled Autumn close allowing the two to dance together.

"Can't tell who it is, but you're being watched." Allie said loudly in Autumn's ear. Autumn looked over her shoulder. Though it was dark and the strobe lights made it a little difficult to see, she saw the person and they were coming her way. The form was masculine. He wore a black outfit, a suit with a skull face make up, the black around his eyes covered his profile. Autumn snorted at the get-up. The guy was dressed up as a skeleton head.

"He's cute. Go dance." Before Autumn could argue, Allie shoved her into him. The mysterious male caught as she lost balance. As she regained her balance, she didn't let go of his hand. She knew those eyes…she was sure of it.

He pulled her against him, and she could feel her heart pick up. She took a long drink from her cup and her world began to move differently as if she was dizzy, but without the feeling she was going to fall. Her balance was failing her. Her newly found dance partner held her as they danced. Amelie turned around in his hold so her back was to his chest. His breath was hot on her ear making dance harder back into him. Knowing his identity wasn't important anymore. Autumn could see Allie dancing with her own partner, Devin possibly.

"Let's get out of here."

"I'm a little drunk to be driving. But, I'll go get another drink." Autumn took the opportunity to escape and left the crowd.

She peeked into rooms. Couples were making out in half of them and possibly having sex. she squeaked with glee when she found the room holding the drinks. In the corner, she saw a guy, his head tilted to the side wearing a creepy leather mask resembling that of somebody who had a belt wrapped around their throat and face to strangle him. She giggled hysterically and pointed at him.

"You're ugly." She laughed then walked to the bar.

She made sure to watch and make sure the barman didn't roofie her drink. After having her drink which had been filled with a lot of alcohol. The smell was overbearing, but she drank anyway. The world around her became more tipsy, and the strobe lighting wasn't so horrible. She thanked the alcohol.

"Have enough to drink?"

Autumn swerved around a tipsy Max and leaned against the bar as she saw her mysterious dance partner. His features were more prominent then they were out in the dark, crowded hallway. The way he stood and looked at her or at least she was pretty sure it was her he looking at was cocky-like with his hands in his pockets. She let him check her out for a few minutes. That was why she got dressed up in the leather get-up and got caked with make-up.

"Happy with what you see?" she slurred.

"Possibly. It's certainly different from what I'm used to." He replied, chuckling.

Autumn nodded.

"Who are you?"

"Harmless."

"Interesting name." she joked.

He walked closer to her leaving only a few inches of space between them. Her stomach knotted with anticipation of how he would taste, how his skin would feel against hers, how her name would sound coming from him.

"I get the feeling you don't want to dance anymore." Autumn said barely above a whisper.

"You'd be right Miss Harley Quinn."

Autumn swallowed the rest of her drink and let him take her hand leading her towards the stairs and down them. She laughed at the guys who tried to scare them. The gangster was laughing too. That was enough to send a signal to her brain that he had drank a little too. Driving wasn't a good idea at this point, but if that meant she could get out of her heels she'd take it.

When they reached the parking lot, he led her to his car. Seeing his sleek, red car reminded her that she had brought her keys with her. she grabbed her boobs real quick and felt the lump that was her keys in her bra. She let out a breath of relief and got in the passenger's side.

The car rumbled to life and Saturday Night by The Misfits played from his radio loudly. Autumn giggled then started singing. She ignored her mystery man's looks as he pulled out of the parking lot. The heels were difficult to get off, but felt amazing. She continued to sing as she rubbed her feet.

"You sing?" he asked loudly.

"Sometimes." She replied. "How about we go to the blue bluffs? Just don't drive over them."

"Sure."

The drive was short and soon enough he had her pressed against the steering wheel, his hands on her hips pressing her sweet, tender spots. She sighed as she pressed into him. His tongue massaged with hers creating a perfect sync that sent her head reeling.

Pulling away with the need to breathe, he trailed kisses down the hollow of her throat. Eric Clapton played on the radio now. He looked up at her, his eyes looking at her heavily with lust and hunger.

"What?" she asked.

"I just want to see you." he pulled her mask up.

"I look like a raccoon." She laughed.

He smiled and shook his head.

"You look—gorgeous." He slurred. He caressed her cheek getting her to look at him.

"Ha! Yeah, okay." Her head swirled a little. "Now, how about yours?"

"I don't think so." He laughed nervously. Autumn grabbed the edges of his mask and lifted it from his eyes.

"Oh. My. God." She gritted through her teeth becoming suddenly sober really quick. She slapped his mask back and slapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh god."

She went from his lap to the passenger's seat in a second flat. Grabbing her heels, she got out of the car and began walking then stopped.

"I can't believe this shit!" she screamed. "What is your problem Chris!?"

Chris got out of the car and followed her, stopping in front of her. Autumn's mind sped real fast.

You will not spend any time with me outside regulated hours like the weekend for example.

"I can't even think right now. Go away!"

"We were having a good time. So what?" he said.

"So what? Chris, I know you deliberately did this! You broke the rules that I put out there for a reason!"

"Why? So you don't have any fun?"

"I have fun!"

"Yeah, with people who are three to five years older than you! Are you trying to get raped or something?"

"It's not your life. Butt out."

"Oh, okay. So, a person tries their damnedest to be involved and they get kicked to the curb?"

"Don't even try that Chris. I'm not stupid." Autumn gritted through her teeth. "How'd you find me anyway?"

"Rumors. I was wondering if they were true." He said and moved to lean against the trunk of his car.

Autumn paced back and forth not caring about the tiny pebbles that stabbed the bottoms of her feet.

"We never speak of this and so help me if you tell anyone, even Ricky, I'll kill you." she threatened.

Chris shook his head and sighed.

"I'm hungry." He said then.

"Your point idiot?"

"You know, for your tongue being so sharp, you taste pretty good. I wonder how that's possible."

Autumn glared at him.

"And you're right by the way. You do look like a raccoon."

Autumn fumed loudly letting out a loud scream and threw her heels at him. He ducked quickly, dodging them.

"You're an asshole!" she yelled.

Turning, she walked towards the road.

"Oh what are you doing?" he called after her.

"Walking apparently! You disgust me!" she yelled back.

"Not what you were saying a little while ago which was nothing!"

Chris sighed as she disappeared from sight. He picked up her shoes and tossed them in the back. Getting in the car, he drove after her.

"Get in the car." He said, slowing down next to her.

"Go to hell." She seethed.

"So, you're hoping to live a horror flick then?" he asked. "Plenty of creeps would love to pick you up in that skimpy outfit or possibly just kidnap you."

Autumn stopped, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Just get in the car. I'm hungry."

"I don't want to get into a car with you."

"You got in it earlier!"

"I'm more sober now." She turned to face him, but her feet betrayed her and made her stumble a little.

"Yeah, I can tell," he snorted. "Get in now."

Caving, she got in.

"I mean it Chris. If anybody finds out, I'll do more than destroy you."

"Trust me. I don't want to tell anybody this. I don't think they'd understand our fake relationship." He gushed sarcastically.

Autumn took her pigtails down and tossed the red extensions out the window as she pulled them out then put her hair up in a ponytail. The wind made her shiver, but she ignored it. She said nothing more to chris until he pulled into 24/7, a twenty-four hour diner.

"What are we doing here?"

"Put this on. I don't want people to think you're a hooker." He said, tossing her his coat that she had pushed from his shoulders herself.

"Chris, what are we doing at a diner?" Her tone grew graver.

"I told you, I'm hungry." He got out of the car and went inside. She sat there and watched him go in seeming so polite to the overweight, ginger woman who seated him. That woman had no idea what kind of person he was. He was scandalous and crude and evil.

Allie huffed and got out of the car at her stomach's grumbling. She put the jacket on and went inside. Before she had the chance to sit down, he stopped her.

"People are going to think I hit you. Go wash off your face."

"Maybe I should let them think that. You coaxed me into that scheme of yours."

"What scheme? I wondered where the hell you went partying and found out that you know where the good parties are. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just being the good boyfriend. You're being a bitch."

"I wonder why." She glared.

"Go wash your face." he repeated.

Autumn rolled her eyes.

"Yes, master."

"Stop being irritating."

"Stop being an asshole." She said as she walked away to the restroom. Chris watched her go and noticed the three truckers at the counter were watching too.

"She's mouthy." One said after she went into the restroom. "I can take her off your hands if you like. She sounds like she's too much for you to handle."

"Go fuck yourself. She's off limits." Chri snapped.

Autumn came out afterwards with the jacket wrapped around her tightly. The make-up that was once on her face was gone leaving her face completely natural. She sat down across from Chris and looked out the window.

"What can I get you kids," the ginger waitress asked.

"French toast, extra bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and a glass of orange juice and two aspirin." Autumn said first.

"Same." Chris said next. The ginger smiled at both of them then disappeared behind the counter.

Fiteen minutes later, their food was delivered. Autumn took the aspirin first.

"By the way, you have a lovely singing voice." Chris said.

Auutmn choked on her orange juice and swallowed her pills.

"Drunk. I was and kind of still am drunk." She said.

"Even drunk, it was decent." He said taking a bite of eggs. He wasn't thinking about her singing in the car, but back at school a few weeks ago. Autumn snorted.

"Yeah, right." she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, superstar."

"You call that—Grimm-whatever—music. I believe you have no taste." She laughed. Chris smiled. The laughter was almost civil. She looked out the window mostly as she ate.

"So, you had no idea it was me did you?" he asked.

"No. It was dark, I was tipsy and Allie was nice enough to shove me into anybody. Did you even know it was me?"

Chris hesitated with his answer, but Allie didn't take notice. She rubbed her temple.

"No," he lied.

Autumn nodded and continued to eat. The two ended up getting coffee after finishing breakfast and jabs at each other turned into actual conversation or rather complaints about how they drank their coffee. Chris drank his black while Autumn preferred flavor. That meant a lot of creamer and a lot of sugar.

"That shit is disgusting."

"And it gets me through major tests." He said. Allie shook her head in disapproval.

"Whatever. I would never poison my taste buds like that."

"It isn't that bad," he laughed.

The sun made its way up into the sky slowly.

"I should probably drive you back to wherever you came from." Chris said after finishing his second cup.

"Good idea." Amelie agreed.

Getting out of the booth, she left the diner leaving Chris to pay for everything. He was sure that she wasn't hiding any cash in her outfit. He stared at her as she leaned against the front of his car, hugging his jacket around herself again. She stared out at the woods across from the diner. The trees were losing their leaves. Snow would fall soon, probably within the next week.

"She's cute." The ginger waitress said. "How long have you two been together, a few years?"

"We're not together." Chris said. He smiled and set cash down on the table, leaving a tip. "Have a good day."

"You too sweetheart." She called as he walked out. Picking up the tip, she gaped at it wondering if he'd mistakenly given her the fifty dollar bill.

Autumn sighed. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her whole body felt ready to topple over from exhaustion. She was used to all-nighters, but only when she had work. This was an all-nighter that she'd never experienced. One from...fun? Could she call it fun?

"Would it have been different if you had never found out it was me?" Chris asked as he came out to meet her.

"Maybe, I don't know. I was drunk Chris."

"So you would climb in with any guy?"

"No Chris, and I'm not going through this again. I just…it's difficult to explain." She sighed.

"Well, try. I'm not that complicated. What do those guys have that none of the Ipswich guys do?"

"It's not what they have." Auutmn said feeling enraged suddenly, but it wasn't at Chris. "It's that they don't really know me. They don't know anything about me, but what I want them to know, and they don't care about that and that makes me happy. I don't have to defend myself all the time against assholes assuming that they know everything little fucking thing about me. I can…be okay—accepted even. They don't hate me."0

Chris could tell she was fighting the urge to cry and scream about it. Her chest was rising and falling fast. I didn't think it was so bad.

"I get it from my always absent parents, TJ, everyone at school, and trust me; I hear the things they say. I just ignore it the best I can because they pay me to fix their idiocy and I know that it will fail them in the long run because once they get into an Ivy League school, they'll fail and I won't. I win in the long run."

"I don't hate you." Chris murmured. Autumn stared at him for a second; her eyebrows raised then started laughing. "What's funny?"

"You want into my bed. I'm basically the only girl you haven't slept with, but it's funny because I don't see why you want to screw over your reputation with me. It's all screwed up."

"Not really and no. It's not about the sex with you." he said. "It's your brother. I actually do hate him he's an asshole."

"I think the whole school knows that with the exception of his tart girlfriend."

Chris laughed at her comment.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"We should go." Autumn said. The atmosphere had changed, and she was looking at the ground, not him. For some reason, she felt like she couldn't look at him because maybe he would see her secrets, and she wasn't so sure that he'd except those secrets, not that it completely mattered. Everything just felt strange now. Her feet were dirty and they both looked like they had come out of a horror movie and this was the ending. They survived it. He searched her face trying to understand what had changed so quickly.

"Yeah, I have to get back to campus anyway. Swim practice at three." He said and got in the car.

The drive to Penn was quiet. Autumn looked out the window.

Pulling up to Iota Beta, Chris reached into the backseat and grabbed her heels and handed them to her. She took off the abnormally large crimson coat that Chris had let her use and exchanged it for her shoes. That only left her revealing her midsection since she had gone with the Arkham Asylum version of Harley Quinn. Chris took a deep, but quiet intake of breath; the memory of late last night recirculating his brain. That was real. She'd deny it, but he wouldn't. There was something there that proved she craved a touch, but maybe she wasn't ready to accept taking another chance. Pressing her wouldn't do any good.

"See you back at school." He said offering a small smile then drove off. Amelie watched until he went around the corner.

"Bye." She murmured.

Going inside, she darted up the stairs and risked going into Kylie's room knowing that she could have a guy in there. There was nobody to be found, but the shower could be heard.

"Auty?" Kylie called.

"Yeah, I'm here." Autumn announced loudly as she got undressed and wrapped a towel around herself, waiting for her turn in the shower.

"Where have you been?"

"Went out for breakfast."

"With who?" Kylie inquired.

"Just the guy you drunkenly shoved me into last night."

"Did you have fun?"

"Not that kind of fun," Autumn said pointedly, "but possibly. We just talked..."

"Was that it?"

"Uh," Autumn's voice faltered. "no."

She heard the shower go off, and Kylie came out in a towel dripping everywhere.

"How far did you get?"

"Not that far." Thank God.

"Why?" Kylie asked now confused. Autumn shrugged feigning the same confusion.

"I'm jumping in the shower. I hope you saved some water." Autumn said as she walked into the bathroom. She pulled her hair down and started the shower. The warm water covered her body and washed away the layer of dry sweat, the dirt on her toes, and her worries away. She scrubbed up extra feeling the need to try and make what happened with Chris go away. Letting him think that he had any effect on her was not something she wanted to put into his head.

After showering, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her orange streaks were fading. She would have to get them redone.

"What do you want to do today?" Kylie asked. She sat at her vanity table applying foundation. Autumn dug through her duffel and pulled out a pair of faded grey black jeans, a white long sleeve top that had slits up the arms except at the wrists which were like silver cuff bracelets.

"I'm up for a movie if you are." Autumn said as she climbed into her jeans.

"I do not want to sit through a horror flick."

"Make it a sister event. See who's not completely hungover and we can decide on a majority."

"Sure." Kylie smiled.

Five other girls went and the majority vote went to Confessions of a Dead Man, a horror flick.

"I hate you." Kylie said with disbelief.

"You said majority vote."

Kylie stuck her tongue out making Autumn laugh. Kylie jumped throughout the entire move and if it hadn't been for her sitting between two sisters who kept her in her seat, she would've ran out of the theater. After the movie, Kylie kept saying how scarred she was and that watching people eat other people unknowingly was not what she wanted to do today. They all laughed and decided that lunch would be great before going out for another night of partying. Autumn bought an orange, shimmery, backless top.

"I'm glad that I don't have to wear that leather get-up this time," Autumn laughed.

"That get-up should've gotten you laid." Kylie said as they were getting ready while eating a piece of pepperoni pizza. They ordered it after getting back. One of the sisters wandered in and snagged a slice. Autumn smiled and took a slice too.

She wasn't feeling as thrilled about going out as she was last night. It was just different. She felt as if something was dragging her down into this dulled place. What she had said to Chris came back to her. She had been ready to tell him about Kyle, but was glad she didn't.

"You okay?" Kylie asked.

"Yeah," Kylie replied, being brought out of her thoughts. "I'm ready for another crazy night out."