Author's Note: This story was inspired by a silent prompt from "The Muse Bunny".

Autumn Road

One day, Jake walked across the street to Naomi's house, zipping up his brown jacket; the weather was cooling down some. He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door.

"I'll get it," a voice from inside called.

The door opened, and there stood Naomi, clad in sneakers, dark blue track pants, a black T-shirt, and a dark blue track jacket.

"Hey, Jake," she said happily. "I was just about to go for a walk. Want to join me?"

"Sure," said Jake.

"Mom, I'll be back later," she called into the house. "Jake and I are going out."

"Okay," Naomi's mother replied. "Be back before dinner."

'Kay," Naomi called. She and Jake then took off and started walking.

About an hour later, Jake and Naomi were walking along a road lined with trees, their leaves sporting the colors of autumn. Everyone called this place "Autumn Road" for this reason.

"Wow, Jake, aren't they pretty?" Naomi said as she observed several leaves falling to the ground.

"Yeah," Jake said, looking in awe at the leaves.

"I love this place," Naomi said, looking at Jake. "Remember our secret fort here?"

"Yeah, I do," Jake said happily as he pictured himself and Naomi as 9-year-old kids, hiding in the fort that only they knew about. "Fun times, Nomi."

Just as they turned a corner, the two teens heard someone slowly creeping up behind them.

"Jake…" Naomi said nervously. "Wh…what was that?"

"Dunno," said Jake in the same nervous voice. He tried not to act scared in front of his best friend.

"Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away," Naomi suggested hastily.

"Maybe," Jake said. He and Naomi then kept on walking, paying no mind to the footsteps behind them.

The teens then heard the footsteps gaining on them and heavy breathing.

"Shit," Jake said, more scared than he had ever been. "Nomi, run!" The teens ran until they reached a clearing.

"In here!" Naomi said urgently as she and Jake looked back to see a man coming after them with a pocket knife in one hand.

"Come here, kiddies," the man said eerily to the teens he was pursuing.

Jake and Naomi quickly got into the clearing and looked out from a small space in the branches, watching as the man passed them.

"Where are you?" the man said in a mocking singsong voice.

When the man was gone, the two teens breathed huge sighs of relief.

"That was close," said Jake.

"Yeah," said Naomi. "Hey, Jake," she said, looking around the clearing. "It's our old fort."

"Wow!" Jake said in amazement. "I'm surprised it still looks the same."

"Good thing, too," said Naomi. "Otherwise that guy would've found us for sure."

"Let's go back home," Jake said as he and Naomi got out of the clearing.

"Oh, no, he's coming back!" Naomi said in terror. The man now spotted Naomi and advanced towards the pair.

"Quick, back into the fort!" Jake said. He pushed Naomi inside and tried getting in himself. But it was no use, as the man got a hold of him.

"Let go!" Jake shouted as the man made his way into the clearing, dragging the poor boy behind him.

"Hey, girlie," the man sneered at Naomi. "Let's all play a game, shall we?" he finished as he knocked out Jake and grabbed Naomi.

"Jake!" Naomi cried. "What do you want with us?" she asked the man.

"Oh, nothing more than to…kill you," he said as he ran the cool metal of the knife up and down Naomi's throat.

"No…please…" Naomi pleaded. But she didn't get far when the man knocked her out as well.

Later, Jake and Naomi both woke up on the floor of a basement.

"Where are we?" Naomi asked. She tried to get up and look around, but couldn't, as her hands and feet were bound with tape.

"Dunno," Jake said quietly. He, too, tried getting up, but it was no use. He was in the same predicament as his friend.

The man then came into the basement and grinned at the teens on the floor.

"Time to die," he said.

"No, please, no!" Jake and Naomi screamed at the top of their lungs, hoping someone would hear them. But nobody heard their screams as they pleaded for their lives.