I squeezed my eyes shut as the screaming continued from the other room. After being stuck in this godforsaken motel for the past 4 days, I still wasn’t used to it. I flinched and opened my eyes as I heard something shatter next door. Then more screaming. I couldn’t be the only one who was hearing this. I was only supposed to be staying here for the night, a brief rest stop during my failure of a road trip from Connecticut to Maine. When the snow started, I thought little of it. But what started as a few inches led to a foot, and a foot led to a few feet, and now it’s been 5 days and we’re all stuck here.
The motel itself wasn’t bad, it was actually pretty nice. The food was excellent, there was free Wi-Fi, and the beds were soft, warm, and welcoming. My only genuine issue was the couple staying in the room next to me. I did not know what they were fighting about, nor did I care, I just wished they would shut up so I could at least get 5 minutes of sleep.
I checked the time on my phone. It was noon. I should eat. I shrugged on my coat and boats and headed outside towards the communal building of the motel. As I trudged through the deep snow, I silently cursed at myself for not packing my snow boots. By the time I get to the building, my converse will be frozen and filled with snow.
As I entered the building, I noticed everyone seemed in high spirits, making conversation and laughing with each other. I turned to the nearest person next to me, a girl sitting in a chair reading a book. “Hey, not to sound rude, but why is everyone so happy?”
She cocked her head to the side, looking at me with a small smile, then laughed. “What do you mean? Did you not notice the snow had stopped? It’s been like this for a little over two hours now.”
I looked outside again and realized that she was right. I had been so focused on getting through the snow that I didn’t even realize it had stopped. Relief rushed through me. If the snow stopped, that means the plows will be out clearing the roads soon; which means I can leave this place and continue on with my trip. I thanked the girl as I continued towards the dining area. Maybe this trip would not be a failure after all.
I groaned as I woke up. My leg was throbbing and my back hurt. I didn’t know where I was. The last thing I remember was being on the ship when it was struck, grabbing Cas, and telling him we had to get to a getaway boat. Was that where I was now? I rolled onto my back and looked around. The sun was beating down onto the wooden walls of what I assumed to be the getaway boat. There was some dried meat and water at my feet, along with a rope. I sat up when I heard humming and someone swimming towards me.
“Rolen,”
I froze. That was Cas’s voice. He made it out alive, thank the gods, but how’d he know where I was?
“Rolen, I know you’re awake. We have little time. Hurry,”
I sat up and saw Cas treading water. I went to help him get in the boat but winced in pain as my leg moved from the effort. Cas looked like he was about to help me but then swam back slightly. I reached out to grab his hand, but again, he moved back.
“Cas, come on, get in the boat. We have to go. Someone attacked the ship. We have to escape and see if we can find any other survivors,” I practically begged him. I just couldn’t understand why he wasn’t moving.
“Rolen, I can’t. I’m sorry. That boat attack was planned. There are no survivors. You’re the only one, and you need to leave. Now,” He said, with a rising urgency in his voice.
“What do you mean, Cas? What are you talking about?” I asked him. How would he know that?
“I don’t have time to explain - but you need to go before they-“
“Cas! Who are you talking to? Did you find him?” a deep voice screamed. As I squinted my eyes, I could see a boat approaching us, the same boat that had attacked us...how did Cas know them? Why was he talking to them?
“Yeah, I found him! He’s escaping though!” Cas screamed back.
“I’m so sorry,” He whispered as he placed the boat’s ores in my hands and pushed my boat away. He turned to swim back towards the bigger boat, not looking back once.
As my boat floated away, everything clicked into place. Cas had been working with the other boat this whole time. As betrayal and rage filled me, I paddled as fast as I could. Water was flying everywhere as I dug the ores into the water and pushed. I could hear yelling and gunshots behind me, which only forced me to paddle faster. I did not know where I was going, or where I would end up, but it didn’t matter.
After what seemed like hours, I couldn’t hear or see my newfound enemies anymore, but I still kept going as fast as I could. Every ounce of my being was in pain. My leg was throbbing from being injured during the ship’s attack. My arms and shoulders burned every time I pushed the ore against the water to paddle forward, but I had to keep going. I had no other choice.
There was a creature that haunted the city of Longwood. Most would refer to him as the butterfly man, although calling him a man seemed to be generous. Every Halloween, as the sunset he would emerge from the depths of the forest in search of his next victim. A poor soul alone who’d been foolish enough to find themselves alone after dark. It was unknown what happened to those that he encountered. However, every night someone fell victim to him, a bright blue butterfly would be seen flying into the forest the next day. The city created a curfew and had signs posted everywhere, warning travelers of this soulless monster. Despite their warnings, there was always a straggler tourist left behind, or a rebellious teenager who would sneak out to meet up with friends.
On this night, there was a young traveler wandering the streets. Multiple townies had opened their windows to warn him of the monster, but he seemed oblivious, continuing to walk straight ahead. Finally, the man reached the outskirts of the town, where the road gradually transformed from asphalt to muddy gravel. The traveler stood and waited, unphased as the air thickened with fog around him. As if on cue, a tall, slender figure wearing a bulky trench coat glided out from the woods, the fog parting for him as he went. He stopped, leaving only a small amount of space between himself and the traveler. For a long moment, none of them said or did anything. The Butterfly Man’s solid blue orbs were staring straight into the traveler’s soul, yet he seemed so unphased by it all. Instead, he reached into his pocket to grab something and cleared his throat.
“I believe this is for you”
He held up a dead bright blue butterfly cautiously between his fingers. The skin above the Butterfly Man’s eyes rose, encouraging the traveler to say more, but he remained silent. Without skipping a beat, the monster reached out with his pale, boney hands and hastily grabbed the butterfly. The act of reaching out for the butterfly caused his trench coat to open, showing a thin dirty turtleneck that covered half his face. It stopped right below the two gapping holes that would’ve been a nose. He let out a soft noise, similar to a laugh, and bowed his head in thanks, but said nothing. The traveler furrowed his brows at the monster in response.
“A deal is a deal. You promised if I did this, you would stop. Leave the town to celebrate Halloween at peace.”
As the traveler finished speaking, large droplets of water fell from the sky, hitting the ground with loud ‘plops’. The Butterfly Man reached into his coat, tucking the butterfly into a pocket, and pulled out a hefty umbrella. He opened it and held it close to his chest. He lazily closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were a swirling, cloudy gray.
Before the traveler could react, the fog surrounding them thickened, until neither creature could see more than a few inches in front of them. After a few moments, it dissipated and all that remained was a bright blue butterfly that calmly headed towards the forest.
