Battered Butterflies
By
Chastine Perkins
SMASHWORDS EDITION
*****
PUBLISHED BY:
Chastine Perkins on Smashwords
Battered Butterflies
Copyright 2012 by Chastine Perkins
Thank you for downloading this ebook. I request that as you are free to share it with whomever you like, you keep it in its original form and do not alter it in any way. This book may be copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes as long as it stays in this original form. That is all I ask.
Your support and respect for the property of this author is highly appreciated. I thank you all.
This book is completely fictional and any resemblances to people- no matter the state of life- or places, events is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s mind and used factiously.
Mature Rating (Some language, sexual content, violence.)
*****
Many thanks to Alex Caudill, my support and inspiration, he has pushed me and griped at me through the process of my book. He isn’t just a wonderful man but also a wonderful, personal agent and editor. Also I would like to thank Shana Young, my spirited sister, for reading and rereading my story until she was sick of it. Her criticism made me stay up for hours into the morning correcting, redoing, and writing over. Without these two my book would just be short moments written on discarded paper and gathering dust on my USB port. I want to thank everyone on fiction press for telling me what fit and what didn’t, for opening my eyes when I was getting sloppy.
I hope you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I beg that you take into consideration that this is my first novel and why it is not my best, I hope that you enjoy it anyways.
Chapter Zero
Life as I had known it, had been crushed in one Night; fallen and shaken from me. I can only recall it as I may or may not have remembered it, trauma tends to mold the memories. I could say though that I was an average girl, high school student and I made very good grades; I had lots of friends but a very superficial outlook on life.
The Night when that life, my life, changed was also the Night I would be reborn again; as a new person. I had never thought anything bad could happen to me, a girl raised up in the presence of god; A god who loved all his children and qualified the called. I would also admit that I was perhaps a little reckless in my freedom years, when I was still innocent and not hunted.
A lot of things have happened, they all shaping and molding my person. I believed everything happened for a reason; from being born, to falling in love, getting hurt, and worse; The Event.
Chapter One
The obnoxious bell rang in my ears for the hundredth time today, screaming at me that I was late, all except this one which was dismissing us. “Thank God,” I mumbled. I was anxious to get home, to get away from this. Posters of this evenings events were plastered to every wall like the flu, Lance was having a party. He was the quarterback, and every girls dream; short blonde hair and, muscular. Every girl drooled over him and swooned at his smile, I mean he is gorgeous.
Out the doors I immediately spotted Clara. She was sitting on the back of her mustang, taking in the warm rays of sun. “Olivia!” She waved and continued to gawk at school boys. She was incredibly skinny, tan, and beautiful; she knew it too. As I approached I could see that she was actually letting her toes dry from a pink disaster. “They look horrible don’t they? I don’t have time before the party to have them done so I had to do them myself.” She gave a sad face, and I shook my head.
“Forget my unloving feet, what are you going to wear?” She hopped down and twirled me in her arms, making me dizzy. Her hair floated behind her in the wind and I couldn’t help but think that she looked like a model. “I’m thinking a long, sexy dress.” She stopped and made a grand sweep of my body length. Long dresses made my gag reflex active. “Ok maybe not long.”
“Clara, I’m not going to the party. I have a ton of work to do.” It wasn’t the fact that I actually had work to do, it was more of the fact that I was tired. I needed to get home and if I got bored then I could help out at the club.
“Awe, don’t be like that, you haven‘t had any fun since your parents left and besides Lance will be there.” She pointed in the direction of a huddle of senior football players throwing a ball. Each one looked as if they could possible be sporting steroids. Tall, hunky, men were not my type, although as a girl I couldn’t help notice the muscles.
Shaking myself back to reality, I dropped my gaze and set my mind again. “No, besides someone has to go somewhere in life.” I hated boys, they all were dogs and that was never going to change; Ever since the event I haven’t looked at another boy in that way.
“Oh, you mean go to college right? I’m gonna live a perfectly good life with a professional football player as a husband to take care of me. I don’t need college.” I looked at my now defensive friend. She was determined to be a trophy wife and she could be, if she wasn’t so damned crazy.
“I totally support that, I’m just wondering what if, what if all those guys were in a horrible stadium freak accident and all die? Who will you marry then and who will take care of you?” I made a cynical remark, one that would hit her at home. If she was focused on her future then she wouldn’t be focused on me.
Without any notice a brown ball came flying out of nowhere, landing at our feet and a feeling of dread hit me in the face. “oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Did he hurt you?” I had found myself instead of being angry, lost; his stupidity amazed me. It was as if I was the concrete, yes the ball hurt me. God men were stupid, and had bad communication skills.
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine, totally fine.” He wasn’t that cute up close, I could see the nasty olive green in his eyes, his tan looked splotchy like he laid out in the sun unevenly. “Let me see.” I took note to the football boys snickering and I could see Clara’s evil grin, she would make an argument out of this.
“The ball hit my feet.” He glanced at the football that was sitting between us, aware that he was making a fool of himself. There should be a class taught for guys who want to pick up girls and can’t, who get by only on their looks. He smiled as he brushed some stray strands from my face.
“Eww, he’s got her good.”
“Nah she’s about to beat him.”
“No way, she is so sweet, just look at her.”
“Yeah, Doctor Lance! Get her!”
More of the football players snickered as they came closer and closer to retrieve their lost player. “You should go.” I pushed him away from me, releasing the bond with a sudden anger. He through up his hands and backed away slowly as if I was holding him at gun point. I shook my head as I watched them all finally turn and leave. Grateful.
“You like him.” Clara wasted no time with teasing me with mine and lance’s ironic meeting. “You might even...” I scolded at her for the thought. “Love him, you love him.” I gave her the finger and started into the trees for a shortcut home. “Hey, where are you going?” I waved my hand as a dismissal and trudged onward through the woods. “You know what happens in the woods!”
I could hear her calling after me but I made no acknowledgement, if I had then she would have wanted to come with me. Clara was a good friend but always pulling me into stuff. “Be careful! Don’t come back with a hobo!” I chuckled, I was never going to live that down.
One day our way to the club, me and Clara had taken this shortcut and run into a hobo that had set up camp. He had spent an hour following us, trying to convince me that I was his long lost wife and that we had three kids together. I bought him a drink for his efforts, but that’s all he got.
The tree tops blocked a lot of the warming sun, so it looked as if it were night. There is no telling what is in these woods, and with the nightmares I’d been having my fears only intensified; but the walk gave me time to think. There was a well beaten path, worn by yours truly.
A twig snapped somewhere behind me and I brushed it off as a squirrel or a bird. “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it still make a sound?” I could have swore that someone said yes, just a breath but I dismissed the thought. I was alone, or that hobo had come back. I rolled my eyes until another twig snapped and I was sure someone was behind me.
Suddenly the air was filled with so much tension it was suffocating and the air smelled of metallic and blood. It’s as if my dream was real. I could feel eyes on me, watching me. I could hear twigs breaking under pressure from something other than my own weight, But I didn’t dare look or stay still. My heart was pounding and my pulse was racing as I began to walk, faster, faster; until I was finally running. Footsteps, stalker, stranger, killer, vampire, wolf; who knows what’s following me.
The footsteps behind me were getting louder, I had to turn around, I had to see who or what It is. Through the trees I could make out several dark shadows; I am so going to die. Each one was taller than me, bigger than me, probably stronger than me too. I turned and ran in the opposite direction, not even sure if it was doing any good. I knew I was off of the path now, I would soon be lost but at least I wouldn’t be I the presence of those things. I wasn’t even watching where I was going, I just wanted to get away.
It felt like I had been running for hours, my legs would soon give out and they’d catch me. My muscles screamed in protest as I pushed myself farther, to go faster. The wind cut through me, I wasn’t use to it being this cold. The sun was warm but under the canopy of trees, there was no rays. There was a sharp pain behind my ears, one that warned me that I would freeze in the dead Night if I kept running. If I even got away from whatever was behind me. I imagine that they have given chase.
I wasn’t for sure what they wanted or why they were chasing me but I wasn’t about to give up, I wasn‘t about to have another event to live with. The scene around me blurred as I slid past trees and over rocks. “hey girlie, wait up! We wont hurt you much.” A male voice came from behind me, close behind me. Men were chasing me and I was the unfortunatefemale that came along. Scratch that, I knew exactly why they were chasing me. They shouted and taunted me as they followed shortly behind.
I turned away heading with the wind, risking one of the guys catching me. I was blind, for the sun was setting in the far west, behind the trees and behind the chase. Shear darkness stretched out before me, hiding my view of the ground. I could hear breathing now, to muscular to be my own; he had caught me.
“I got gotcha, your mine now.” I felt a heavy weight fall on top of me as both me and the man stumbled over a fallen tree. I felt a slight burn on my face as I landed, smacking a branch against my cheek. There were other cuts that I could identify without seeing them. He put my hands behind my back as if I were a criminal. It didn’t take long for the others to catch up, they had been close behind too.
“Yeah, she’s cute.” The first one to catch up loomed over me as I laid there helplessly. I couldn’t make out their faces, just that they were stout and had ruffled hair. More and more started appearing and I counted at least six in a circle around me. Each one hunched over as if to inspect a wounded animal and I hated the similarity.
“No, she’s adorable.” I couldn’t see them as well as I had wanted to, But I could smell the vulgar stench of alcohol on their breath. “Please….” I was panting and I knew that the cold ground would give me hypothermia. “Please god…” Each one watched as I begged god to help me, save me, anything. “I need you… I need help god.” One snatched me up and everything went black, for that I could have truly been happy for the numbness it gave me.
Chapter Two
I’d been there for three months, each day more isolating then the last. There is probably about four-hundred girls there, ranging the ages from 10 to 19. I watched many girls come and go; all being escorted by men, all of them about my age. The place where I was kept was dim lighted and hot. The only relief we got was from the coolness of shower time. Why would something like this happen to a honor roll student like me, I was in church, god loved me and I loved him, I was never involved in bad stuff… until now.
The walls were either rough stone or metal. When I had first arrived I had drug my hand along the metal and when it turned to stone, cut it. My hands trembled, I have a fever, and I’m dangerously fatigue. My ears hurt from being screamed at, my head hurts from being smacked, and my fingers are swollen from the labor.
I watched each girl scurry around like a blind mouse and each one do their job. Not one girl paid any mind to me and for that I was truly thankful for. I am almost happy that for once no one seemed to see me, that for once in my young life I was invisible.
“Number?” I turned quickly to see a man about 5’4 standing about six feet from
me. “girl I’m talking to you. Answer!” He had light brown hair and emerald eyes.
“Sixty.” From what I have noted, each girl has a number and each girl has an assigned guard. Maybe I was in prison? No, Prison would be heaven compared to this.
“Wise are you? I’ll show you wise.” He came at me with the speed of a vampire, lightening fast; I didn’t see the hit but I sure felt it. I was on my knees gasping for air, holding my bruised side. I wasn’t for sure if he had stabbed me, it was so quick.
“What was that for?” It was a new one for my collection. I have countless bruises on my body, may of which are from this man here. His eyes were a deep wooden color and he had brown hair to match. He had a predatorily build to him and I imagined that in a novel he would be a animalistic character.
The room was spinning and there became three of him instead of one. Each one watching me as I again laid there helplessly. This was a sight I was use to, he would hurt me and then watch me intently, as if he enjoyed it. Nausea stirred in my stomach and I had to beg myself not to throw up. It would be hell if I had to have my uniform washed, baggy sweat pants and a t-shirt with shoes.
“Listen, I don’t know where they found you but if you were smart I’d shut up. Pretend this is a pack, I am alpha. What I say goes or I will kill you.” He had told me that when I first arrived. Nothing in my mind doubted that he would kill me, so I submissively did as I was told. I had been here a week before he was assigned to me, before he could tell me what to do and say.
“Get up we need to get you into your room.” I groaned, the floor felt good compared to what my room felt like. I swallowed hard, trapping the pain and nausea where it couldn’t be seen by his eyes. He walked considerably slow so I wouldn’t trip or fall. He wasn’t being nice, just saving his ass; he didn’t want to have to report why his girl died of a concussion on his watch.
My room was a small room, so small in fact that I wouldn’t be able to lay flat and fit. “Go in.” I took a glance at the man and did as I was told, without saying a word. The door slammed behind me and I was suddenly alone again.
A older girl, about forty- seven I’d say, stood in the far corner with her hands folded neatly in front of her. “Hello, what is your number?” I looked her over, she was beautiful; like an old age type of beautiful. Her hair was a silvery white and she had a slender body.
“Sixty.” I took a few steps closer to her, closing the distance between us. She looked cheerful and I wondered if I would be here that long, if my guard doesn’t stop beating me then I might. I shook my head at her, I don’t want to live that long. She didn’t show any signs of abuse and a pang of jealousy hit me.
She clapped her hands together cheerfully. “That’s just great! From now on you will be addressed as sixty, you are in a secrete base.” I wasn’t about to ask her why it was secret, or where I was because I had a feeling she wouldn’t tell me.
On a bench against the far wall was a heap of clothes consisting of a corset, stockings, dress and bonnet; All a color of pink that made me hurl inside my mouth. I pulled the dress to my body and turned to look in the so-called mirror hanging on the wall. “Omigosh.”