Butterfly and Flame - Alina and Evan

Michael

After locking up the studio Alina jumped in her car and drove to the gas station to fill her tank up and grabbed herself a Cherry Slurpee. The Slurpee was a necessary indulgence while on a road trip. This was her first time driving her new car up to the mountains and by herself to boot. If there was one good thing that came out of the horrid accident it was the new car. She didn't understand how it happened but her insurance covered everything even though it was her fault. She wasn't even charged the high deductible of one thousand dollars that she had on her policy in order to keep her insurance premium low. Her previous car was only two years old and she had a balance on it when she crashed it. But she also apparently had gap insurance so it was paid off entirely as well. She didn't even remember buying that type of insurance. She assumed her insurance agent put it on her policy for good measure. She was grateful for it. Her new car was a Jeep Cherokee. She didn't pick it out. She had been in the hospital along with Luis, Leo and Sophie. Her dad decided that the Cherokee would be better for her as she insisted on taking Leo to his appointments and the SUV was big enough for the wheel chair and anything else she might need. It was also a heavier car than her Mini Cooper that had been totaled in the accident. She drifted off into a memory of the accident and had to pull herself back by focusing on the car itself. It was the only positive thing. Period. And now she would look forward to her weekend with Evan. She intended to enjoy these next couple of days in paradise with this gorgeous man. She had him in her thoughts almost all her waking moments. Just thinking about him now gave her goosebumps and her stomach fluttered with butterfly's.

She had been excited to be hitting the road early in the morning. She texted Evan and let him know that she had left and that she should be at the cabin by 11 AM. Evan had responded with the OK sign emoji and also an emoji of a chocolate covered strawberry. She giggled to herself and realized just how excited she was to go up and see him. She turned on audio systems Bluetooth and searched her playlist. A few second later the first song of the album came on. It was The  Greatest Showman soundtrack. She  figured the songs made up of wonderful melodies the sentimental lyrics were perfectly suited for her trip. She made a left-hand turn onto Highway 41 and said a little prayer that she would drive safely without harming anyone or herself.

Evan was thrilled after receiving Alina's text. He had been up most of the night worried and anxious that she might call of the trip for some reason or another. So when he got her text he couldn't wipe the smile off his face with a crowbar. Evan looked out the windows of the cabin and noted that the sky's looked less than welcoming. It was the end of November and soon it will be cold enough to snow but he knew they still had a few more weekends before that was expected to happen. If his New York trip hadn't lasted for so long this might have been happening in early October but that was then and this was now. He hoped that she would have a safe and quick drive up and if he knew how to pray he would've prayed for her safety.

Only 15 minutes into the trip Alina received a call from an unknown number. She didn't look at the phone while she was driving but her car display showed "unknown number" on the screen. She didn't bother with it and reasoned that if it was someone she knew they would leave a message and if she didn't know them well, that was just too bad. She wasn't that interested in anyone or any conversations right now. Her playlist and seeing Evan were the the only things on her mind, and getting to the cabin.

Michale closed his eyes and thought to himself of the words that he would use when he got to speak with her. It had been longer than a year, almost a year and a half since they last spoke. That conversation had been terrible and she had been uncharacteristically nervous. He knew that they had their issues but she was actually acting afraid of him which he couldn't understand at the time. Now that the pieces of the puzzle had been put together he wanted to speak with her immediately. He knew it would be difficult to get through to her as her family and friends had already shut him down. He couldn't blame them. They were protecting her. He was trying to protect her too but in doing so he would be turning his back on the only family he had. He had made up his mind. Their was nothing he could do for him now.

He had gone missing two months ago. He simply walked out of the center without a trace. Michale had hired experts in their fields to help him. For a time he actually believed that things were improving. Everything pointed to the treatments and the medicines having done their job. His delusions had ceased and his endless paranoia had also tapered way down to the point where he seemed completely normal. Michael was happier then he had been in over a year. But it was all a ruse. A game. Perfectly executed and planned. Most likely from day one. It wasn't until an orderly that had been seen on the surveillance cameras giving him the keys in exchange for money talked, that Michael discovered just how bad things really were. This morning he was called in by the private investigators and the centers psychologists. They asked him to have a seat and told him that what they would be discussing was so serious that they would be turning it over to the FBI and local police but they wanted to inform him first. They pulled a notebook out of a yellow Manila folder. The front of the folder had his name on it. Kyle Harrison Graves. The notebook also had a name on it. In bright pink letters centered on the front cover was one name.

Alina