The Butterfly Keeper

2

TWO    

      I WAKE up to the distant sound of leaves rustling along with the wind and to a heavy, acrid stench. It takes me a moment to open my eyes, but once I do everything looks bent and turned. The only color vivid is a blazing red that feels like I'm in the middle of. I rub my eyes with the bottoms of my hands until uncanny patterns are drawn onto the insides of my eyelids, but the minimal movement causes a sharp, heavy pain to tug the lower part of my abdomen.

      I hear a muffled cough from somewhere outside and I hastily take my hands away from my eyes and tuck them underneath my muggy thighs. My vision begins to clear and I become aware of my surroundings. I'm in a colorless room with long planks of wood as walls and a towering door. There seems to be a small closed window sitting on the right side that is cloaked with leaves of a tree from outside.

       I lay on a bed that's pushed against a wall with a flimsy sheet over me. Unsure of how I got here or what has been done to me, I do know I'm in a bad place.

      The ray of sunlight that steeps through the cracks of the leaves outside the window makes my eyes hurt, and my throat feels like it has pieces of shattered glass digging into the flesh. I gag at the taste in my mouth, but immediately swallowed down whatever is coming up before making any sound.

      I close my eyes and take short breaths. I pull my hands from behind my thighs and run them over my body. No part of me is missing. I wiggle my toes and fingers to make sure everything still works. Taking a deep breath, I run my hands over one more time and realize my legs are bare that threads of the sheet cling  onto my wet skin.

      Rowdily kicking the sheet off me in panic, the headboard pounds against the wall as my legs slap the mattress. I look down and see I'm wearing a dress, not the ragged jeans and baggy T-shirt that was on me before.

      No...no.

      With terror welling up in the corner of my eyes and the terrible pain in my abdomen only increasing, I slip my hands underneath the dress and touch around. My fingers graze the thick waistband of my underwear; the same thick waistband I had put on before leaving the house for school. I pant in relief and place my hands on my chest to control my breathing and discomfort I'm feeling in my stomach.

      I think I'm okay.

      The doorknob clatters and a squall of wind breezes over my skin. The bolts of the door groan as it opens and I instantly sit up, pressing myself closer to the headboard. I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them to shelter any part of me that is exposed. I drop my eyes down and focus on the lines of the wooden floorboards. Mentally, I trace the curves in attempt to soothe the attack coming.

      The floor creaks beneath the steps that keep getting closer with each line that I trace. The floor stops squeaking and the heel of a shoe clangs against the leg of the bed, causing a resonant echo to ring in my ears as the bed faintly shakes. I take my eyes from off the floor and level them up enough, seeing the front pockets of a familiar pair of jeans. I can hear them breathing, but nothing is said. My lips shudder as I try to make a voice out but a whimper is all that leaves.

      "Vanessa,"

      Clutching the tops of my knees, I impel myself to look up until I see a face. My stomach churns and the horrible taste in my mouth returns. Sebastian is at the end of the bed, gripping the footboard of the bed with one hand while the other holds a glass of water.

      Part of me expected it would be someone else; I don't want to believe that the person I was admiring in front of the showcase is the same person who has taken me wherever is here. I know I saw him reach out for me, but I wanted to trust that my eyes weren't seeing correctly. The person I met isn't the same one who's staring at me now with blank eyes.