The silence of the night was peaceful, and yet creepy at the same time since I am all alone in this new place of mine, that I had to call home. Thankfully, Amanda did drop by recently with food, as she did back in Caledon University, and chatted with me for 2 hours. I was obliged to get a hold of Moses, Gwen, and even Yasmin….but I knew perfectly well that they all had things to do and I didn't want to intervene and thought of giving them space and time for them to fully settle in this old town of mine. But, they do check up on me from time to time, only to chat about the school and the new roles they are preparing for the upcoming summer semesters. I of course had been given an assignment before the fall to submit my Photography work, of all events that represent nature and its surrounding environments such as….Arcadia Bay. Lucky for me, I started working on it recently and was able to get good shots of places I had been so far.
On the contrary, while visiting Charlotte's shop and seeing her artwork of all her quality designs. I felt mesmerized with her work, and after stumbling upon Charlotte's painting of the 5 blue moth Butterflies, She didn't hesitate at all and gifted the painting to me as a token of friendship and helping coup with her grievances. I was grateful for it, but felt kind of bad of taking something she worked hard for without paying for it. But, she insisted on me taking this art work, and was taking 'No' for an answer, leading me no choice but to accept it. Now this art piece lies in front of my new Fireplace all neatly hanged, I couldn't stop but felt a unique connection with it, as though I am a part of one these blue moth Butterflies.
Confused and curious, I began to scratch my own scalp, thinking about Gwen's theory of the Butterfly effect….if what Gwen told me recently that the so called Blue Butterfly may have a connection with my alter ego….A.K.A my so called Time powers, then maybe there is a way to fix all of this.
"Could it be possible that this astounding blue butterfly be the source of my power, and its evolution that created chaos along the way?" I started questioning that theory in my own mind as I began to rant more about it deeply….
"I for once had seen the blue butterfly not once….but twice in 10 years, and yet I am still confused as to what this butterfly has in common with my time reverse powers,"
While I was pacing back and forth in my living room, I began to notice movement in the frame. I squinted for a couple of seconds, and notice something different in the frame, as I was studying the image. The images that were neatly drawn of the 5 blue butterflies…..were missing.
"What….on….earth…." Shocked and confused of not seeing the drawn images of the butterflies that Charlotte drew, as if someone vanished them from existence.
"Get it together Max, you are not crazy….you swore that there were butterflies in this image, and now….somehow they vanished…." I closed my eyes, now more confused than ever.
Very carefully I opened my eyes and turned my gaze away from the image and hope to see if I wasn't dreaming at all. However, as my gazed was turned away and now facing the empty room, I saw the mysterious blue butterfly flying around in semi-circle, as if it was redirecting me to follow it. With a curious glance, and eager to get to the bottom of this I had no choice but to follow it. The butterfly turned to the corner of the hallway, leading up towards the stairs. With precaution, I took one step at a time as I began to proceed where this mysterious creature was taking me. Slowly walking up the stairs I notice a shift change in my surroundings as I seen that the stairs leading to the upstairs bedroom was long and narrow. It felt forever as I was ascending, and started to notice trees in front of my view as they appeared out of nowhere, and surely enough I approached the old house where the upstairs bedroom where suppose to be at. What caught my attention was the 5 Blue butterflies the started to surround me as I got near the so called Lighthouse.
I felt the cool breeze of the ocean, and the sound that emanated from the lighthouse. I got peculiar with my surroundings as I noticed the old stump that had the initials of love ones surrounded with the shape of the heart, as I carefully approached it feeling mesmerized in the way it was preserved, and without thinking I began to touch the old stump….still rough around the edges and looking all withered. As I observed all of my surroundings, I began to jot towards the bench that still remained in its usual spot as I last remembered it before the storm. Coming in contact with the bench I froze mid-way as I saw the so called handyman who helped Ms. Maggie with her Jukebox….standing over the edge near the lighthouse, looking over the horizon, all sad.
"What is he doing here of all places? Is this a dream? This can't be real? Or is it?" I said to myself while keeping my gaze towards the young handyman, as he stood there not moving at all.
The only thing that comes out of my mind was Ms. Maggie mentioning him to be known as Allen, and out of pure instinct I approached him….only to experience a major shift change in the atmosphere. One minute it was a late afternoon, the next it's a raging storm….
"What on earth? No way…. Not again…." As I tried to shield my face from this strong wind, and avoiding any obstacles that were being tossed around by the approaching tornado as it tore chunks of the fabric of reality.
Amongst the chaos that was happening, my nose started to bleed; I wiped away the blood using the tip of my fingers. I hesitated at first, but I needed to see for myself if it was all real or not. As I saw my own blood up close, my hands began to tremble in fear.
"Why? Why is this happening again? Didn't I fix all this?" I was trembling and looking all scared of seen the past coming back to finish off where it last left off.
Not realizing, how much of my own mistakes of wanting to undo what I did in the past, has led me right back to where it all began. Only this time reality is slowly breaking away….
"You can't undo what you did…." An echo that was emanating from somewhere followed by another….
"PLEASE SAVE US MAX…." and another while keeping calm my composure.
"This is all you fault….MAX!"
"You shouldn't have returned….for you are better off running away like a scared little girl…."
"That is not true, I tried to help you all…..I tried…." I stood there sobbing, and trying to shield my ears from all the negative comments that I keep hearing from this echoes that were coming out from everywhere.
Out of nowhere, I heard a different voice….only this time it sounded near. And for once it sounded calm and hopeful….a male's voice… "You don't have to do this alone….you are not alone….there is a way to restore it….there is a way…."
The echoes stopped and I started to dose off….feeling tired and wanting lay down. I stumbled on to the bench itself, and drifted myself off to sleep….
"Max…Max…MAX!!! Wake up….please!" I heard someone shouting my name from afar.
I awoken to find Amanda holding me dearly in her arms all panicking, and confused. I immediately jolted up to my feet and found myself in the corridor of the hallway….all shaken and confused. It took me a minute to finally regain my composure and see everyone who was all worried about me: Amanda, Selene, Gwen, and Moses.
"What happened? What….time is it?" I said while stretching my arms
"Its 10 o'clock in the morning, Max," replied Moses, showing signs of relief.
Amanda, who was now calm and glad to see me wide awake, told me what had happened… "Oh man! Max….I've been trying to get a hold of you and see if you would like to join me and my sister for breakfast, since you hardly have the time to cook for yourself."
"Oh my God….Amanda I am so sorry, I must have put my phone on silent…." I came up to Amanda and embraced her as a sign of relief.
Amanda continued explaining more of what led to all of them showing up at my home…. "I called you 6 times, and even sent you 6 text messages as well. When I didn't receive any reply from you, that's when I got worried and decided to call Moses and Gwen to see if they could get a hold of you.
Gwen who had her arms crossed, approached me with reassurance as she placed her hand on my shoulder, "Amanda texted us and told us to check up on you, so we did….and noticed that your front door was unlocked. So we decided to enter, where we found you in the hallway all passed out and unresponsive…."
"A….Max, you got blood coming out of your nose," Moses said as he handed me a handkerchief.
Without saying anything, I immediately rushed past them towards the bathroom, as they followed me behind, and just as I saw myself in the reflection of the mirror….Moses was right. My nose was bleeding, and I immediately wiped the blood away. Afterwards, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Nobody said a word and just stared at me with disbelief. Until Selene, Amanda's little sister, who resembles a lot like Amanda has handed me a plate of food wrapped in Aluminum Foil…. "Here! We brought you some breakfast to help you regain your strength back,"
"Oh thank you! That is very sweet of you," I replied with a warm smile and patted her hair softly, as I took the plate off her hands.
I noticed everyone still staring at me with disbelief and were expecting answers from me, until I locked eyes with Moses; who knew about my abilities and nodded with him a sign of something urgent that is needed to address….privately. Moses closed his eyes and nodded as a sign of getting the message and redirected the message to both Gwen and Amanda. Only this time something big was about to happen and this storm is not a mere coincidence, but a warning of the future to come.