Butterfly and Flame - Alina and Evan

The truth!

It had been over a week since Evan had been cleared and able to leave his bed. He had spoken with Alina and Christian at length regarding all the information that James had dug up. He had left the last part until the end. "We believe that this was indeed Kyle. We will never be able to prove it but from what we can gather he killed Michael just after the trip to Turkey. I know this doesn't change much. He is insane and a murderer. Most likely he is the cause of his parents deaths as well. We will never know for sure". He looked at Alina and noticed the far off look she in her eyes. He stood and set the files down on the desk and moved closer to her. "Alina, it's over. He will never be able to hurt you again. You do know that right? Alina?".

She heard everything Evan said. She understood everything he laid out and explained. She knew the man who was responsible for her pain and fear had been caught finally and unmasked. She knew it was over but she also knew it was Michael and not Kyle. She hadn't told Evan about her dream or memory as she came to think of it now but she was certain of it. She hesitated to say anything quite yet because she still hadn't talked with Michael. There was the slightest chance she could be wrong but she didn't think so. "Evan, James...thank you. I understand and appreciated everything you have uncovered and shared but it doesn't change how I feel. I still want to see him in person. I need to see him". Evan closed his eyes and fisted his hands below the desk. He was trying his best to avoid this and spare her but she wasn't making it easy. "Alina, you really can't be serious. This man...". Alina reached across the desk and touched the files that contained hundreds of pieces of data. "Evan, this is all well and good for the attorneys, for the courts. What that man did to me, and my family and to you Evan...that's not in here. That's all in him. In that room on the other side of the compound. He shot you, he nearly killed you. No....It won't be over for me until I speak with him. Please understand this is for me. I need this. I won't be able to have peace until I do this for myself. Please! Please don't try and stop me! Please!"

Evan stood watching the tide roll in as the sun slowly made its descent. He had avoided Alina most of the day as he brooded over her words. She was stubborn and smart but what she wanted was just so terrifying to him and so dangerous to her well being he just couldn't allow it. Christian had spoken with him trying to get him to see her point of view but he had seen her terror up at the cabin and it was just to much to ignore. How could he let her in a room with that madman? How?.

Alina watched from a distance as Evan kicked at the sand by the waters edge. She knew the kind of man he was and just how hard a thing she was asking him to do. She wanted him to do nothing and just standby and watch her face off with her abuser, her stalker, her nightmare. She hugged herself as she sat on the steps of the patio. She reasoned that once it was over they could finally begin their lives. She knew he feared all the unanswered questions and the very real fact that Michael or Kyle would just seek to play with her mind instilling even more fear than before. However she believed in herself. Once again she felt her confidence rise up within her. She had stood up to him before and she could do it again. She wasn't prey and she wouldn't remain a victim forever. Somehow she needed to convey that exactly to Evan. After reading everything she already knew and had learned about the brothers and discussing some of it with her therapist and the psychiatrist they had hired to come up with a profile of this fiend, she realized that these brothers were very different from one another. One preyed on the other while offering him his protection. While others might try and intimidate Kyle or make fun of him or cause him harm, Michael wouldn't stand by and allow it. He was Kyles protector but he had also been his abuser. He had been the one to place Kyle in the mental hospital when it should have been him all along. He had blamed countless offenses on Kyle. Kyles notebook had relayed so many things of importance. Things that shed a light on their childhood. He had cried out in his book. Always claiming innocence but refusing to place the blame on Michael. He only spoke of the wicked warlock who would hurt him or get him in trouble. He had been trying to tell his story but all anyone saw was a lunatic. Sick and dangerous when the reality was that Kyle was as surely a victim as she had been. He had been Michael's first prey. A thought crossed her mind and she stood up an re- entered her room. She picked up the copy of Kyles original notebook and turned to the page where Kyle told about the treehouse and how he had been banished from it for not being able to keep a secret. A plan formed in her head and she quickly made a call to James and once that was done she walked into her bathroom to draw herself a bath. As the water ran she played out her theory a few times in her mind and knew it to be sound. She would take a chance a mind see where it led her. Hopefully it would be to the truth, whatever it might be.