The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Seeing Double

[Sophia]

I felt a throbbing pain in the back of my head and in my jaw. I groan as I begin to regain consciousness, rolling my head over to the side, feeling a new pain in my neck. I must've been hanging it in an uncomfortable position for a while.

I regained feeling through my entire body. I wiggled my feet, realized something wasn't right. I... I couldn't move my legs. When I picked up my head, I noticed my shoulders were pulled back and... I... I couldn't move my arms. I could feel my wrists pressed against each other.

My... my hands were bound. So were my legs. I felt a pain in my chest as I realized what happened to me.

I was tied up. I'm leaning against the wall behind me, but I couldn't stand up if I wanted to. I suddenly froze as another realization hit me.

Crap, I did it again! I forgot about Apollo! I need to get out of here and find a way back to him! I shouldn't have come down here, what was I thinking? I hope I haven't been out here too long. He's gonna flip if I don't get back home soon...

I tried looking around, but I struggled to focus my vision. Without the flashlight, it was way too dark in here for me to see anything, even with my great night vision. I couldn't even see my own legs. I began to panic, I wasn't sure what else to do. Until I heard a shuffling sound from somewhere in the darkness, making me freeze again.

"Hey... hey, I think it's awake."

"Huh... really?"

I heard a voice. Or... two voices. I wasn't sure, they sounded... really similar. I felt something kick my foot, making me flinch. I still couldn't see who they were, or... where they were.

"Yeah, it's awake."

I felt something kick the side of my leg and I flinched again.

"Hey!"

I heard the figures gasp.

"It... it can speak?"

"Hmm... good. Maybe it'll give us some answers."

Who the hell is talking to me? I can't see anything! What's going on?

I felt something nudge the side of my leg again, trying to get my attention.

"Hey, eyes up here." said the voice.

I looked up and spotted something within the darkness. I waved my head back and forth to move my hair away from my eyes, and the both of us were surprised with what we saw.

I saw a pair of orange eyes in the darkness. They were the only things I could see. I saw them move back as we made brief eye contact.

"Look at its eyes..."

"...Have you ever seen anything like that before?"

"...No."

I knew what they were referring to, but there was nothing I could do to hide it now.

"Are you sure it won't try to hurt us?" said the voice, nervously.

"Don't worry, I made sure to tie it up really tight. I think we'll be fine."

To my left, I spotted a pair of bright blue eyes. They were staring at me. Whatever... whoever these guys were, I'm just glad they weren't human. At least... I don't think they were human. Last I checked, humans eyes don't glow in the dark like that... do they?

"C'mon, let's get on with it already." said the voice.

"Right..."

My heart raced as the orange eyes knelt down and got close to me.

"So... since you can speak, maybe you can give us some answers..."

Something else entered my vision. He was... holding something in front of my face.

It looked like a... flower. A flower that glowed dimly within the darkness. Almost a white-blueish hue. My eyes focused on every detail the second it was held towards me. I didn't know why, but it was... a little entrancing.

"Recognize these?" asked the voice in a deep tone.

"...What?"

"Don't lie!" he spat. "Even if you don't know what they are, you've seen them before! We know you have!"

My mouth hung open, unable to find a suitable reply. I glanced at the light blue eyes on my left. Both he and the orange eyes were glaring at me.

"C'mon, say something!" yelled the light blue eyes.

"W-what? What do you want me to say?" I stuttered.

"That it was you." sneered the orange eyes. "You did this, you destroyed all of them!"

He shook the flower in front of me as he shouted, but I was still confused as to what they were referring to.

"I didn't do anything!" I retorted quickly.

"You're lying." the voices said at the same time in a menacing tone.

"I'm not lying!" I don't know what your talking about!"

I felt shivers creep up my back and I pressed myself against the back of the wall. The orange eyes held the flower closer to my face again.

"This! Our Moonflowers! They're all dead because of you! This is the last one we managed to save. Now, tell us, why did you destroy them?!"

"Woah, whoa, backup, be careful with it! We can't risk losing it." stressed the light blue eyes as it approached and pulled away the orange eyes. I heard him take a deep breath and he handed the flower to the light blue eyes for him to hold.

"Sorry... I just... I don't want to lose it..."

I tried to think quickly, but I couldn't think of anything smart or witty to get me out. The best I could do... was play along and be honest and hope that got me somewhere.

"You... you called them... Moonflowers..... right?"

The eyes turned back to look at me, "Yes."

"I... I'm sorry, but... I don't know what they are. I've never seen them before. That one, it's really pretty though. I swear, I don't know anything."

"You... you're lying."

"Hey, hold on a second. Let me try..." said the light blue eyes. I watched as the orange eyes took a step back and the light blue eyes approached me. He held up the flower again, but didn't shove it in my face. Being the only thing, besides their eyes, that I could see clearly in the darkness, I couldn't help staring at the flower. It almost looked... weak.

"You sure you've never seen this before?" the boy asked.

I shook my head, unsure if he was able to see it, "No. No, I haven't."

"How can we believe you?"

"I..... I don't know. But I didn't destroy your flowers, I swear! I've never even been down here before."

The light blue eyes looked surprised for a moment and glanced at the orange eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I... I just found this place. The tunnel... I came down from the tunnel... from the surface. I didn't even know all of this was here."

"Wait, wait... you said you're from the surface?"

"Um... y-yes. That's⎯ that's where I'm from."

The orange and the light blue eyes exchanged glances.

"H-how does that prove it wasn't you?" they asked.

"Well... did⎯ did you see what actually destroyed your flowers?" I asked.

"Well... not... not really." the light blue eyes admitted.

"Then, how do you know if it was me? You⎯ you said it before, you've never seen anything like me before. So... how do you really know if it was me or not?"

The orange and the light blue eyes looked away for a moment. I could tell they were thinking. I didn't know if they would say anything more, so I continued.

"Look, I'm... I'm really sorry about your flowers, but I swear, it wasn't me. I only just got here. I saw the tunnel from the surface and I... I... I was just curious, and I came down here to explore. Please........ I... I need to get back home. I promise, I won't come back here, but... please let me go."

I watched as the light blue eyes perked up and moved closer to the orange eyes. I heard them shuffling and whispering to each other, but I couldn't make out what they were saying, nor could I still see anything other than their eyes and the flower. After another moment, I heard one of them sigh and they both looked at me.

"You... you must be speaking the truth. But... you promise you won't hurt us after we let you go?"

"Yes, I promise."

After a moment, I watched as they both approached me and I could feel hands digging into the restraints and breaking me free. I realized I was holding my breath for nearly the entire time I was tied up and I took a deep breath in. The two figures stepped back as I stood up. I felt my bag loosen from behind me and realized it had been tied up with me this entire time and I was pressed up against it. It didn't feel damaged or mangled, thankfully, and I looked back at the eyes.

"Um... thanks."

"Uh... Yeah, I... I'm sorry for... y'know..."

"We're sorry. We still don't trust you, but if it wasn't you, then... it's not right keeping you down here. You can go home now." the orange eyes stated.

"Oh, and um, sorry for... knocking you out too." added the light blue eyes.

"Oh, that was you?"

"Y-yeah... sorry. We thought you would've... attacked us. We heard you coming down this way and hid so we could so we could... capture you."

"It's⎯ it's alright. You thought I was someone else. It's my fault for coming down here, I didn't know anything about this place. Or that... you were down here. Do you... live down here?" I asked nervously.

"Yes," they said at the same time. "And... you come from the surface?"

"Yeah, I do. Umm... I should... I should get back up there, before it's too late. Sorry, it's just... really hard to see, it's too dark..."

"Oh, here come with us! We can lead you back. We know where the tunnel you came from is, please, follow us."

"Uh... okay."

The boys turned ahead of me and I managed to stay close to them as they led me back the way I came. In the back of my mind, I wondered how they found rope to tie me up. And... who they really were. As we approached the larger tunnel, the light pouring in from the surface was enough for me to see a silhouette of the back of their heads. I noticed they looked... almost identical. And... they said they lived down here...?

As much as I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible and away from them, I couldn't help wondering... How and why are they living down here? And... what exactly were they accusing me of? Something about flowers. But what kind of flowers would grow all the way down here?

I managed to shake all those thoughts out of my mind and focus on the fact that I needed to get home before Apollo realized how long I'd been gone.