The Nerd and The Frog

Mark of Death

Quietly following Mrs. Lang down into the basement, Alan was trying his best to contain his nervousness. Daniel wasn't there to shield him from his mother's intense presence, and the fact that he was able to actually get her help was still something he was trying to maintain as much as he could. Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, he was amazed to see what appeared to be a library designed in a modern aesthetic. Paintings and pictures of buildings and landscapes were planted between built-in shelves that held many books on both sides of the large room. The floor a dark wooden color that extended back to the other end of the room, where a large white desk rested in front of a paned window that showed the woodlands behind their home, an iMac resting on the right side of the desk.

"Tell me, has Daniel explained the curse to you in detail?" Mrs. Lang asked as he walked towards the desk, grabbing 2 books along the way.

"He's told me the gist of it. Men in the family are cursed, turn into a frog, have to be kissed to break the curse, and apparently awake for the kiss..." Alan recalled that moment in the back of Daniel's car. "He can have a potion take him out of it, but it may not work all the time."

"Did he tell you who this woman is?" Mrs. Lang asked, taking a seat at the desk, motioning for him to come over and have a seat with her left hand.

"Um, the only thing he explained to me is how the curse came about, and he let me look at some of your documents in your database. I remember seeing a butterfly and some quote..." Alan answered as he took a seat in front of her.

"'The remedy you seek to the curse on your head will appear when you no longer yearn to create in your own image.' That quote, correct?" she asked as he flipped through a few pages in a book.

"Y-yes... that one..." Alan replied, his hands fidgeting slightly.

"Ok... and you've seen the butterfly image. Húdié, correct?" She questioned, looking up at him over her glasses.

"Yes... actually... now that I think about it..." Alan trailed off, recalling that brief moment when Mika touched him and nearly killed him, he saw a storm of butterflies around him. "I saw them... when she tried to kill me..."

"She did what?" Mrs. Lang asked, surprised.

"Long story, but I confronted her and she tried to kill me. Instead, it just put me in the hospital for a day and made it seem like I had a seizure." Alan spoke with a shrug.

"No... that was a warning." Mrs. Lang rebutted, serious. "She didn't leave any markings on you, did she?"

Alan shook his head quickly, not recalling anything on his body after their encounter.

"That's good. There are documents showing that many other individuals chosen to break the curse have been badly injured or killed, and they have always been left with a marking of a black butterfly." Mrs. Lang spoke, turning a book in his direction for him to see sketches and images of markings of the symbol.

Alan looked over the images in fascination, before becoming puzzled. "Why didn't she mark me, then?"

"She probably didn't see you as a threat. However... I find that to be a mistake, when she should be very afraid of you." Mrs. Lang proclaimed, a smirk coming to her face.

Alan, not expecting such a reaction or statement, felt his anxiety skyrocket. "Why... do you say that?"

"Well, you came to me, didn't you?" Mrs. Lang replied, leaning back into her seat as she turned the book back in her direction. "That, and you obviously have strong emotions towards Daniel. Otherwise, you would've given up by now and you easily could've."