Free Pieces of Autumn by Mara Black Page A

the pantry to get a fresh dust rag. The gleaming, stainless steel refrigerator caught my eye. Who could afford to run something like that anymore? The gentle, persistent hum of white noise told me he had a generator somewhere outside, but the fuel ?
    I might have been a gift, but this man certainly had enough resources to buy and sell me, ten times over.  
    I opened the fridge, ostensibly to see if anything needed cleaning. It certainly didn't, but I took a moment to survey the contents anyway. There were so many brown paper parcels, fresh herbs resting in little cups of water, vegetables in vibrant colors that must have been plucked from the earth that very morning.
    Even a decade ago, this would have been on the luxurious side. But nowadays?
    Now, having walked the perimeter of everything I could access in this house, I was struck again by the lack of windows. What the hell was he, a vampire?
    I had to laugh. If the shoe fits...
    If only it were that simple. If all he wanted was to drink my blood, we could figure out some kind of arrangement. But whatever was going on inside Tate's head was much more sinister and mysterious than that.
    Many of the doors upstairs were locked, too. I found a few that weren't, mostly empty, some with furniture arranged haphazardly, but critical pieces missing. One room had only a few chairs, and a fireplace, but the rest was empty. It seemed like it was wanting a desk, or a bed. It did have a window, though - which struck me by surprise, although it was small and dingy and seemed to be stuck closed.
    I spent a few minutes trying to pry it open, to no avail. It looked like the wood stain might have been painted over the seam. It was a small thing, but I felt frustration building. All of the negative feelings I'd been bottling up since I got here were starting to rise to the surface.
    Finally, with a massive sigh, I plopped down on the floor and hugged my knees into my chest.
    Stupid window.
    Stupid dust rag.
    Stupid house.
    Stupid me.
    As I sat there, curled up on the floor, something bumped into me. I nearly jumped out of my skin, staring at the offending creature.
    Only, it wasn't a creature at all. It was an object.
    Round and black, about the size of a dinner plate, with a little blinking light. It revved up, rotated slightly, and charged forward again.
    Squealing, I jumped to my feet and out of the thing's path. It reminded me vaguely of the little robot vacuum cleaners that had been popular years ago, but surely, nobody still had one.
    Except for Tate, of course.
    It made sense, I realized, as I dodged the robot's path. I couldn't exactly picture Tate pushing a vacuum cleaner around this place. Laughing at the absurdity of it, I watched its little zig-zag pattern across the floor.
    "Jesus," I muttered. "I guess it's nice to know I'm not completely alone, here."
    I sat on a chair and drew my feet up, out of its way. Although I hadn't actually lost enough of my mind to believe that the vacuum could hear me, it was still a relief to talk to something that I didn't have to be afraid of.
    "I bet you've seen some shit, huh?"
    Whirrrr.
    Giggling at myself, I felt some of the frustration melt away. If Tate wanted his windows glued shut, it was certainly no business of mine.  
    Walking back out into the hallway, I almost collided with the man himself. He cleared his throat, staring me down with an unreadable expression.
    I braced myself.
    "I have to go take care of something," he said. "Stay in the main part of the house. Don't open the door for anyone. Understood?"
    I nodded.
    The idea of being alone in this house was strangely thrilling. I probably had been, before, without realizing it. But this was different. Tate trusted me enough to leave me here. Peculiar, but I wasn't going to question it.
    The click of the front door closing was deafening. I locked up after him, as I'd been instructed, and began to walk the empty house.
    His presence was still so heavy, and it only seemed to grow the