The Seasons

Chapter 39

Summer knew something was wrong.

But he didn’t know who to tell.

But he had missing memories, not while that may not have been a big deal, the lost memories were hours at a time, and when he finally came too, he would never know how he ended up where he was or why. Or what had happened in the time before.

But when he came today, he was surprised to see it was July 20th, meaning two days had passed. Two days had gone by, and no one seemed to notice. He wasn’t sure what had happened in the time he didn’t have his memories. Was he still with everyone/ Or did he go somewhere else? Why had no one realised he would disappear for hours if it were the latter?

But there was also a new thing. There was a new screensaver on his phone with an address. He knew he had not set that saver; there originally had been a photo of him with the rest of the seasons.

And so he snuck out of the house late and left a note to Autumn, saying he was borrowing his car.

He put the address into the map, and after almost a four-hour drive, he arrived at the location, and the sun was beginning to rise. He stared up at the place.

The building was huge with white bricks and black details; he parked where the rest of the cars were and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants as he walked through the large black gates. He climbed the black marble stairs and was a little out of breath as he reached the top. He stared at the large black double doors and wasn’t sure if he should have knocked or walked in, and before he could contemplate it anymore, the doors swung open without a sound.

He stepped inside and was greeted with a large chandelier in the middle of the room. While the outside walls had been white, the inside walls were black with grey wooden flooring. There was a large circular black and red reception table, in the middle of the large foyer, with two people at it. A short, dark-skinned woman with long black hair that fell down her back was wearing a suit and beside her was a much more muscular man with short hair and a short beard neatly trimmed, and he was wearing a suit. Were they not hot? The sunshine poured in through the large windows and shone directly onto them.

He walked up to the woman with a small smile, and when she looked up at him, she began typing away. He stood silently while waiting for her to speak, or was he meant to speak? She looked busy, so he found it rude just to speak.

After a few minutes of debating, someone else appeared from the large archway off to the side of the reception. This person was on the smaller side, with messily chopped white hair and also in a suit. They stared at Summer and turned on his heel, and Summer took that as his cue to follow them.

They went down a long hallway and stopped at an elevator; the two waited silently. Summer watched the numbers on top f the elevator light up, and when it finally stopped on their floor, it was empty. The person stepped inside, pressed -4, and let their finger hover over the button until a small ding was heard. Summer wasn’t sure what to make of it, so he looked around.

The elevators had black walls with white trim in the middle and white flooring. The button panel was a blood red, and the closer he looked at it, the more the shade reminded him of blood and perhaps even the same colour as the large chandelier he had seen in the foyer.

Summer stared at his hands before him as dread swept over his bones. And then he had to remind himself why he was doing this. And Autumn appeared in the forefront of his mind. With his copper eyes that always seemed to crinkle in the corner, or his messy red hair, and no matter how much Summer had tried to tame it, Autumn would run his hands through only to mess it up again. Or how he always liked to wear one colour. One day, Autumn had come out of his room in a bright orange shirt with darker orange pants and even had orange shoes on.

It took Summer almost an hour of arguing/pleading for Autumn to change his outfit. And a small smile appeared on his face as the doors opened and the person stepped out.

Summer swallowed some spit as he followed them out.

They went down another identical hallway to the one on top, and they stopped in front of a black door, and when he turned to ask the person if this is where he should have gone, they were no longer there.

So, he turned around, swallowed and then opened the door.

~*~