The Lone, Monarch Butterfly

I couldn't catch my breath. The quick, shallow breaths weren't helping. I reached my breaking point and my chest constricted. I abhorred running like the plague, but I'm stuck with it now. My entire body felt as though it were being torn apart. I pushed myself to jog even though my legs wanted to give up. I was certain that I couldn't continue after some time. 

As soon as I finally made a wise decision, cold sweat began to fall. 

I hurled my brown hoodie in the other direction after peeling it off. 

Was it too obvious? Sure. Do I, however, care? No. At the very least, it would cause him to slow down for a while and that’s all I needed. 

He still needed to catch up, but I wasn't going to ruin this opportunity. I resumed my run in the direction of the obscure alley. Bright spray paint, movie posters, pointless advertisements, and caution notices were all over the walls. I noticed as I looked around and this site appeared to be a popular spot for smoking, vaping, and other vices. How secure. 

I see the faint shadows of towering, tall trees by the side. It 's dark out. All the critters and crickets are asleep and there are no longer the sounds of angry drivers racing down the nearby highway, or shouts of children on the playground that I ran past. 

I felt like the person who dies five minutes into every horror movie. 

I quickly realised that I had no idea where I was going, which only served to support my argument. 

“Please, for the love of God-”

I hurriedly looked around for a familiar sight. However, even if I had been to this location before, it would take me weeks to fully memorise something. I sighed and gave up. If I get lost, I can still get back home. 

The streets appeared to give way beneath me. I had negative ideas as a result of the menacingly positioned dark clouds. The sky was quickly submerged by black, as opposed to other, typical days. The vast blackness was blanketed by a starless, lifeless sky with hues of grey. 

What if he catches up? What if this was his plan and I’m just a mouse being lured in?

I became aware that I was wasting time as soon as my head started to spin with pointless ideas. Once my legs had some breathing room, I returned with my normal demeanour. 

Starting to walk, I got more cautious about my surroundings. Nervousness made me want to throw up, a pit forming in my gut. The sinking feeling of his hands around my neck, who was he? Our first conversation was normal. Nothing you would expect from a creepy, teen serial killer. 

My feet made a sliding stop. The scene in front of me was truly magnificent. It appeared to be something a monarch with lots of free time would construct for his family. This is not the kind of item that belongs in an alley. It should be protected as a national asset and kept behind locked doors, in my opinion. 

I then heard a leaf crunch at that moment. I realised that I became engrossed in its beauty and lost track of him. I was still rushing away, so I didn't have time to stop. To me, the house appeared to be filled with sirens. It reached out to me, lovely whispers gaslighting me. Or perhaps I was simply delusional. And, judging by the mud and the disorganised garden, there were no occupants residing there. 

I reached out for the knobs. It had an intricate design, almost looked private like a secret. I wish I was able to look at it for longer but right now, I value my life more. I stepped in as my heel clicked on the weak wooden floorboard. 

The musty smell of the house attacked me. 

The first thing that my eyes darted to was the giant chandelier, the spider-like vines creeping around the metal looked venomous. I could imagine the bright, yellow eyes standing out from the darkness. There was so much to look at, it was frankly overwhelming. I wish I’d found this in better circumstances. 

Cobwebs linger in every way, and antique furniture layered with dust sits perfectly arranged in the living room. 

I kept throwing glances at every possible direction : the cascading, spiral staircase, the dark corners that played tricks on the weak mind, wallpapers that were peeling off. I kept getting lost in its beauty. That was when the song got louder. 

I wasn’t sure what I was listening to but it sounded like sirens. My heartbeat increases as I intently listen to a hard pounding noise that appears to be getting louder by the second. My intuition told me to hide and I did so. I crouch behind a nearby staircase as the volume of the pounding increases. 

Along with the pounding, the siren song got even louder. I felt it banging right behind my ears. 

Did I walk into a worse trap?

Crouched down, I saw the display case behind me. In another world, it would probably be filled with the prettiest, unmoving dolls or imperfect family portraits. But right now, it was filled with shattered china. 

The song halted suddenly. Moments before a jumpscare looked pretty similar to this. I slowly got up, my legs quivering. I didn’t like how empty the house felt even though it was almost too crowded. The unpleasant pit forming in my stomach told me to sit back down. My persistent mind refused, as always. 

After all, curiosity kills the cat but it still has eight more lives. 

I walked up the staircases, wooden railings quite similar to the knobs. The surface looked dry and rusty and it deceived me. I felt a warm, moist feeling in my hand as soon as I touched it. 

Blood.

I didn’t know why I was so unfazed by that, possibly because I’ve grown up watching my mom deal with worse crime scenes. She would come home and tell me all that happened. The perfect duo of police mom and a curious child. 

The earthquake - like shatter brought me back to reality right as the door creaked open. The grunting footsteps and loud thudding irritated my head. I tried to tip toe up the stairs, in hopes of getting away. But, as my head got light headed, the last thing I saw was a lone monarch butterfly twinkling across the room. 

My vision and senses were stripped away from me after that.

-Nimeshika Sathish