little butterfly
The once extravagant castle lay in ruin. Once beautiful marble now lay dull under a film of dust. Plates lay on dust covered tables, food rotting atop them. A large black piano sat under a balcony in a parlor keys yellowed and chipped with age. The faded walls of the master bedroom once pale blue, now grey. The large window shattered, beneath lay a small overgrown rectangular pool. The skeletal body of a young woman in a sun bleached servants dress bobbed on the surface of the water. White roses grew over the once white stone pathway. A faded white building white a glass dome, shattered with age. Cracked mirrors covered the walls of the round single roomed building. A large shard of glass speared the ground in the center of the room, lines of red trickled down it….
Dawn walked around the parlor, candlelight danced off of the marble floor. “Where has my little butterfly gone?” a velveteen voice called from the balcony above. Her beautiful heart-shaped face lit up at the sound of the voice, her grey eyes bright as if the moon were behind them. She gently spun around the room, her black dress fanning out around her. “I’m here Lucien!” she called. Her call was answered only by the silence of the old castle. “Lucien?” She called as she stopped spinning. Her short brown hair fell beside her lovely face. “Come little butterfly.” The voice called from deeper within the castle. With a soft girlish laugh dawn ran through the open parlor door and into the hall that led to the castle entrance, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor as she walked through the castle. Her vibrant grey eyes danced in the candlelight. She entered the main room of the castle, a servant girl stood at the foot of the large stairs her head bowed. “Miss the master is waiting for you in the dinning room.” she said in a soft voice. Dawn nodded. She walked to a pair of large wooden doors beside the grand staircase. She pushed open the doors of the dinning room. “Lucien!’ she cried running over to the tall cloaked figure arms outstretched. The figure spun her gently. “My little butterfly is still drawn to the flame.” Lucien said with a seductive smile, His sharp teeth glimmering in the candlelight. “Please let me see your beautiful face.” Dawn pleaded as she reached towards Lucien’s hood. Lucien pushed her away, the smile never leaving his face. Lucien glided to the head of the large mahogany table, his feet never making a sound. “Sit,” he commanded. Dawn walked to the nearest chair and said as Lucien did. A glass of crimson wine sat on the table in front of her in front of her. Lucien lifted his own glass to his red lips, never looking away from Dawn. “Drink,” He commanded before drinking from his own glass. Dawn drank from the glass. She set it down in perfect harmony with Lucien. “What has my little butterfly been up to in my absence?” he asked, his brown eyes gleaming under the black hood. “I practiced the song you taught me. It’s so very pretty.” She said taking another drink from her glass as Lucien did. “Good to hear that you’ve been practicing. I would have been so disappointed if you had stopped playing.” He said. The servant girl walked into the room. “I would never disappoint you.” Dawn said, looking towards the young girl. “Master your room has been prepared for you.” The girl said with a shy smile. Lucien smiled seductively at the girl. “Good, you are dismissed.”
Dawn looked at her hands in her lap her smile twisting into a frown. Lucien stood from the lush chair. The servant left the room. “Come,” he commanded as he began to leave the room. Dawn gracefully stood from the chair. Lucien had already left. Dawn looked at the large window on the other side of the table. On the other side of the glass was a large white building with a glass dome. Her face twisted in confusion. A dark seductive chuckle echoed through the castle. The smile came back to her face as she hurriedly exited the dinning room. Dawn ran up the main staircase, the door closest to the stood open. Dawn entered the pale blue room. Lucien had his back to the large wall of windows at the other end of the room. He lowered his black hood. Dawn ran over him. His long black hair fell in front of his face as he bent towards her. She could feel the cold glass through the back of her velvet dress. With a chuckle Lucien pulled his face away from her. With a gentle shove he sent Dawn through the large window. Dawn floated in the shallow water. Only her face and arms were visible on the surface of the black water. Lucien looked down at the ghostly face in the black water before turning away. Dawn awoke in a large mahogany bed surrounded by pale blue. She stared at the large unbroken window. She got out of bed and dressed in a long black velvet dress. She walked over to the large window. She placed her hand on the cool glass. She could see a small rectangular pool below. A body dressed in a sun bleached servants dress bobbed on the surface of the water. The glass around Dawn shattered she could feel the soft breeze on her face. “Miss Lucien is waiting for you in the parlor.” Dawn spun around, the young servant girl stood in the doorway. Dawn turned back to the window. Only the sun warmed water bobbed in the pool below. “Are you alright miss?” the girl asked.
Dawn nodded as she turned to face the girl. “Yes I’m fine.”
“Would you like me to escort you to the parlor miss?”
“Just leave.” Dawn snapped at the girl who cringed under her gaze. The servant meekly nodded and left the room. Dawn left after inspecting the window again. Lucien sat at a small table in the large parlor. The sun shone through the glass behind him. Dawn sat across from him a smile on her face. The servant girl brought plates of toast and fruit to the table. Dawn’s gaze drifted to the round building outside, the sun reflected off of its glass dome. “eat.” Lucien commanded. Dawns gazed snapped back to his perfect face. With a smile she lifted an apple to her lips.
Dawn sat at the piano playing a soft melody. Lucien stood behind her as the servant girl cleaned up the morning dishes. Before leaving the room she looked at Dawn with Lucien envy in her eyes. “Good little butterfly” Lucien said as Dawn continued to play. “Do you really like it?” Dawn asked. She turned around as she finished the melody. She was alone in a dust covered room. “Lucien?” she asked confusion on her face. Dawn looked at the piano under her nimble fingers the keys were yellowed with age. “Yes little butterfly you play it excellently.” Lucien said from behind her. Dawn’s head snapped back around the smile returning to her lips. “come.” He commanded. He held his hand out to her. Dawn took his hand as she stood. Lucien led her to the parlor doors. Dawn looked back at the large black piano before exiting the room.
Lucien sat on a white marble bench in a garden filled with white roses. Dawn sat in the soft grass beside a small rectangular pool pulling the petals off a rose. A soft breeze blew through her brown hair. Her grey eyes were transfixed with the featureless white building. It had only a large white doors on the outside. “Lucien, what is that building.” She asked never looking away from it. “Just a building little butterfly,” He replied.
“What kind of building has no windows?” she asked her gaze shifting to Lucien.
Lucien laughed softly. “A building that does not want unwanted eyes looking at what is within.”
“But what could be within that is not allowed to be seen by the eyes of others?” she asked a frown tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Little butterfly’s turn ever so unattractive when their faces are twisted with an ugly frown.” Lucien said with a seductive smile. Dawn laughed in a child like manner. She dropped the mangled rose in the water. Dawn traced her finger along the surface of the water. A black butterfly flew above the pool. “What a pretty little thing.” Dawn said she lifted her hand from the water. The butterfly flew farther away. Dawn reached over the pool a smile on her face. The butterfly kept moving away. “Come here.” she said reaching farther over. Dawn slipped on the edge of the pool losing her balance for a moment. Her hand fell into the water as she tried to regain her balance. She sent water cascading in all directions. Dawn stood as she regained her balance shaking her hand. The butterfly floated on the surface of the water. Her face twisted in confusion and panic. “Lucien?” She said in a small panicked voice. “It was just a butterfly.” He said from behind her. The panic left her face. “At least my little butterfly is still okay.” He said as he stood from the bench. Dawn laughed her child like laugh.
Night enveloped the extravagant castle. Lucien and dawn sat in the dinning room as the servant girl served them. Dawn stared at the girl as she served Lucien. The way the girl smiled, the way she moved, her bell like laugh as Lucien smiled at her. A line of red trickled from dawn’s palm as her nails dug into the tender flesh. She could see the envy in the young girl’s eyes when she went back into the kitchen. “Eat.” He commanded. Dawn lifted a spoonful of the steaming broth to her lips in tune with Lucien. Every movement seemed robotic, every move the same as Lucien. “I have noticed the jealousy behind my little butterfly’s eyes.” He said as he placed his spoon down. Dawn looked away, Lucien laughed. “I don’t like the way she looks at you.” She said in a quiet voice. “Who little butterfly?”
“The servant girl, I don’t like her. I want her to leave.” Dawn said as she looked at her clenched hands. Lucien laughed, “Little butterfly she has already left. You don’t have to worry about her anymore.” Dawn looked at Lucien. “She has? Where did she leave to?”
“Little butterfly you know the answer to that already.” He said a smile upon his face. Dawn looked at his unreadable eyes. Her gaze turned to the white building beyond the window a smile spreading across her face. Dawn stood from the chair. She picked up the dishes and headed into the kitchen.
The kitchen clock chimed midnight as Dawn left the kitchen. In the dinning room she walked to the window where she could see the white building. She placed her hand on the cold glass, her eyes as bright as the moon above. “Never to be seen by the eyes of others.” Dawn laughed darkly. She turned from the window. She slowly walked to the doors of the room. With the door open in front of her she turned to face the window. “You’ll never set your greedy little eyes on him again. He’s mine and no one will ever take him from me.”
Dawn lay upon the bed surrounded by pale blue walls. Dawn moved in her restless sleep. In her minds eyes she saw herself and the servant girl standing by the large windows in her room, the building behind them. Dawn stood in front of the girl. with a small laugh she pushed her through the window the window. The girl’s eyes reflected the moon’s own light as she gracefully fell. Dawn looked down to where the girl’s now lifeless body floated in the shallow pool. The moon made her lifeless eyes glow like amber in her ghostly pale face. Her short black hair fanned out around her small face. Only her small arms and face were visible against the black water. A black butterfly flew in the sky above her. Dawn awoke as the sun kissed her face. She got out of her bed and walked to the large windows the stone cold against her bare feet. She looked at the small pool beneath her, only water with in it. Her gaze drifted to the building a twisted smile upon her face. Turing from the window she walked to the large mahogany chest, within it lay her black velvet dress. She dressed and headed towards the main stairs. “Lucien.” She called as she descended the stairs. She was answered by silence. She slowly walked through the parlor door her uncertainty pulling at her smile. “Lucien?” she called again. A seductive chuckled echoed through the castle. Dawn spun around, the doors at the other end of the main room opened. Lucien stood inside the doors his hand held out. “Lucien!” she cried as she began to run towards him. Dawn lost her balance and fell to the floor only inches from Lucien. “Poor little butterfly. That’s why you do not run in heels.” Lucien said turning away from her. Dawn got back to her feet and followed him into the large room. Dawn followed him from room to room as he led her deeper into the castle. Lucien stopped at a large door at the very back of the castle. “Little butterfly drawn to the flame, following wherever it may drift.” He said with a small laugh. Dawn nodded her head her eyes bright. Lucien opened the door of the room Dawn was at his heels as he entered. “I’ve never been in this room before.” She said with child like awe as she looked at the walls of books. “This is the study little butterfly.” Lucien grabbed her hand as he led her to the study’s back door. With a flick of his hand he unlocked and opened the large door. Dawn followed him into a lush garden. Luminescent, whit roses surrounded them. “This is on the other side of the pool.” Dawn said she could see something on the surface of the overgrown pool. “Yes little butterfly.” Lucien said. Dawn’s attention snapped back to him. She looked back at the pool, nothing was on the surface. Dawn followed Lucien down a white stone path that ran through the gardens. “Lucien where are we going?” she asked as she stopped walking.
“Look for yourself little butterfly.” He replied tugging at her hand to get her to move. Dawn look over his shoulder at the large white building. Lucien began to walk faster. Dawn stopped a few feet away from the large crystal doors. Lucien walked to the center of the large white room within the building. Mirrors covered the wall of the single room. “come.” He commanded, the doors of the building slowly began to close. Dawn ran into the room her arms outstretched. She ran towards the center of the room, where Lucien waited for her. She wrapped her arms connected with nothing but air. In panic Dawn looked around the room, Lucien was nowhere. Dawn looked at the glass covered walls. Instead of seeing her own reflection she saw images of dull marble floors, dust covered window, cracked plates and overgrown gardens. “Lucien!” she cried. She saw images of pale blue rooms now faded to an off grey, a shattered window, a skeletal body floating in shallow water. Dawn’s breathing became ragged her face twisted into that of a woman out of her mind. She twisted her finger in her hair as she looked at the floor. Under her was a large round mirror. She saw a young woman in a worn black velvet dress her skin pale, her face that of a madwoman. Dawn screamed a high pitched maniacal sound, the glass above her cracked. Dawn stopped screaming at the sound of shattering glass. She looked up at the glass ceiling. The ceiling collapsed in a shower of crystal. Dawn stood in the center of the room hands stretched above her head a smile on her lovely face. Lucien flew above her on black wings. “Lucien.” she whispered tears forming in her eyes. “Lucien faded as glass fell around her. Dawn’s arms fell slightly, confusion on her face. A line of blood ran from the corner of her slightly parted lips. She made a small laugh like sound. Her body bent back but did not fall to the floor. Her hands fell to her sides. Blood ran from her chest. “Lucien.” She whispered before breaking into a girlish manic laughter. Her head fell back, eyes fixing on an unseen point, the smile now forever frozen on her face. Her body pinned to the spot where she stood by the large piece of glass that ran through her and into the white stoned ground.
The old castle stood quiet in the warm spring day, water sloshed in the murky overgrown pool. The skeletal body of a young girl dressed in a sun bleached servants dress bobbed in the water. White roses grew over the once white stone path. Plates lay atop dust covered tables, food rotting atop them. A once extravagant piano stood in the center of a parlor. Its keys yellowed and chipped with age. Once grand marble floors lay dull under a film of dust. The body of a young girl dressed in a worn black dress stands in a bent posture within the faded walls of a once white round building. Her blood still trickles down the large shard of glass that has bent her body in such an unnatural way. The wings of a black butterfly lay on either side of her.
