The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Break it Up

[Sophia]

Early Afternoon.

I thought it'd be much later, but we still had quite a day left. We were able to escape, together and... somewhat unharmed. We landed quite roughly at the base of the tee house and stumbled to the ground as we tried to collect ourselves. The Twins were able to stand up and were helping Teri to her feet as they both asked if she was okay. Teri had a hard time standing, but she replied that she was okay, besides being a little scratched up and she thanked them for being so concerned about her.

I managed to sit upright, trying to catch my breath. Apollo sat near me on his knees, trying to regain his strength. He turned and asked if I was okay and it took me more than a moment to give him a reply. My chest hurt so much that I couldn't hold my breath long enough to make a sound. Eventually, I did tell him that I was okay (for the most part) however I knew I'd be feeling this pain tomorrow.

Apollo was relieved that no one was seriously injured, or killed. But he couldn't seem to calm down. I tried to stand and help Apollo to his feet, but I suddenly felt weak and couldn't stand up straight. Teri walked towards me and asked if I was okay. I told her I was fine, but I couldn't look at her. The Twins came over and asked me themselves and I repeated again that I was indeed okay. Flyboy went past me and helped Apollo to his feet.

"Sophie, you don't look okay." Teri said to me.

"Well... she didn't eat anything this morning" the Twins answered.

"What?" Apollo looked at me, concerned.

"Maybe we should go back to the house and rest," the Twins suggested.

Everyone agreed and we all trudged slowly into the grove.

When we did get home, we just plopped ourselves down in the kitchen. The Twins sat on the bar stools and Apollo leaned on the counter in the kitchen as I stood behind him, fixing myself something to eat. Luckily, it wasn't close to 2PM yet so I just made myself a large bowl of cereal.

"You guys want something to eat?" Apollo asked politely.

"Can I just have a glass full of water?" Teri asked.

"Yeah, I'll get that."

Apollo poured a glass for Teri and himself. He took out a smaller bowl and filled it with chips before returning to the counter and munching on them for himself. The Twins may have stolen a few, but Apollo didn't really care. I walked over with my bowl of cereal to the table in the corner and sat down as I began to eat. I began to feel much better with every bite, but my jaw hurt every time I moved it so I ate slowly. Teri took her glass of water and sat across from me.

"Are you feeling okay, Apollo?" the Twins asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just a little tired." Apollo replied. And then he suddenly realized something.

"Wait, hey Sophie? How did you find me?"

I was about to explain, but Teri spoke ahead of me. Leaning her head through the doorway so she could see Apollo's face.

"We followed that trail of black stuff and it led into that cave. It actually took a while to find because we lost it a few times."

"Really? How long was I down there? I can't remember anything since you came to get me."

"Well, actually when Sophia went after you we tried to keep looking, but she was hurt and we had to take her back to heal. And it was getting dark by then so we had to wait until the next day to go back out."

"So... you mean I was out for a whole day?"

The Twins nodded. I couldn't see Apollo's face from where I was sitting, but I felt like he could see me through the walls with a worried expression. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for me during that time. I'll be honest, I don't really remember much about what happened after he was taken.

"So, you don't remember anything when you were down there?" Teri asked.

Apollo took a sip of her drink before setting it down and looking away for a moment. He tried to think.

"Well...when I was in that cage... that... shadow creature came to me and told me something..."

All ears were on him at this point, including me. Sure, it didn't look like I was listening, but I was.

"It told me not to escape because it would've been a big mistake. And... Sophie I think it mentioned you..." Apollo said quietly.

I almost gagged on my cereal when he said this and my head shot towards his direction.

"What?"

"Well, it didn't mention you directly, but it knew about you somehow." Apollo explained. "When I was waving at you when you found me, I was trying to warn you that it was a trap."

We all pondered this for a moment.

"It... knew that we were coming to save you?" Teri wondered.

"Yeah... I'm sorry, I think that's all I can remember..."

Teri suddenly got up and gave Apollo a hug which surprised him for a moment, but he accepted it anyway.

"We're just glad that you're safe."

Apollo paused for a moment. "Yeah, me too..."

Teri then turned to me, "Sophie, would it be okay if you could escort me back? I think I should be getting home. But I'll come back soon to see how you're all doing, okay?"

Luckily for me, I finished my cereal just in time and I agreed to go with her. We said our quick goodbyes and Teri and I headed out the door, over the fence and down into the trees. My movements were a little stiff, but I managed. As we walked, Teri spoke to me.

"Hey Sophie?"

"Yeah?"

"Back down there in the cave... how were you able to do that?"

"Uh... do what?"

Teri turned her head away. "When that shadow thing was about to attack me... you stepped in and saved me before it hurt me. How did you do that?" Teri paused before looking up at me curiously, "How did you find the courage to save me?"

I looked away, trying to find something to say. Or at the very least, any answer that wasn't 'um', or 'uh', or 'I don't know'.

"Uh..... well... sometimes when Apollo and I got into trouble, there were times where there wasn't anything we could do to escape. And, uh..... I guess... sometimes you just need to know when to fight back."

"But, how? How did you know when to fight back?"

"Sometimes, uh... I guess you just have to know when to make that choice. And, uh... it's not easy. But, um... we need to try..... right?" I said as I looked at her.

Teri smiled warmly at me.

"Yeah, I think that sounds right."

When we finally made it back to the tree house, Teri stopped at one of the larger pools and looked at me.

"Thank you for saving me. I'll be back soon, but I hope you'll be okay. And take care of yourself." Teri then jumped backwards into the water and she was gone. I stood there for a moment, watching the water ripple and bubble, thinking to myself at the same time. Before I finally walked away. I touched my pained jaw with my hand, rubbing it carefully.

I hoped it wasn't damaged or anything.

And then I suddenly remembered something. I quickly turned around and climbed up into the tree house. I pulled out the ruined book from underneath the desk and began to flip through the pages. I hoped that there might be some information on the creature that attacked us. However, of course I was defeated again by the fact that this book was entirely un-readable both because it was in an unrecognizable language and that the strange ink stains covered most of the pages. Not even the illustrations made any sense or resembled the creature with red eyes.

I shut the book and put it back and began to walk home again.

I thought about what Apollo told me.

Somehow, it knew about me and it knew we were planning to rescue Apollo.

And I'm telling you the truth when I say this, but out of the weird, dark, shadowy creatures that have tried to attack us and all the ones we've fought. I've never seen one that recognized who we were.