"Mable! Hurry up and come downstairs. There's a parcel for you."
I heard my aunt yelling from downstairs while I was doing my homework.
"Coming Aunt Perry!" I replied to her and closed my books, promptly. I jumped off of my bed and adjusted my clothes. I ran a hand through my hair, in an attempt to fix the bird nest on my head, as I went downstairs.
A parcel for me? I didn't remember ordering anything online.
I went to the kitchen where I could hear Aunt Perry wash the dishes. The kitchen was like any average kitchen with shelves and cabinets and basic stove, microwave and a refrigerator that was too big for it's own good. There was also a small pantry which was packed with necessities.
I walked past the refrigerator and across from the small dining table, I could see Aunt Perry's backside. Her ash brown hair were tied up in a messy bun and stray strands fell on her bare neck. She wore black leggings with a printed tunic top and slippers. She turned her head around to look at me. Her emerald green eyes matched mine but hers were softer while mine were more sharp like my father. Aunt Perry was a sweet woman in her early 30's that liked to workout and watch anime. After my parents death, she was the one who took care of me. She worked multiple jobs to always provide me with the best things and a comfortable life even though I've told her I didn't like her overworking herself. I was okay with what we had. Life was good.
"A package arrived for you but there's no address or name of the sender on it, not even a stamp. Do you know who it's from?" Aunt Perry asked, her eyes focussed on me. My attention went to the parcel on the table. I walked towards it.
"No idea." I responded to Aunt Perry as I analyzed the parcel. It was small and wrapped in a khaki cover. Just like aunt Perry said, there was no stamp or anything on it. Just a 'To Jane' written in black ink.
A chill went down my body and I hoped aunt Perry didn't notice it.
Jane? How did this person know my middle name? Who even sent this?
Nobody called me by my middle name other than my late mother and aunt Perry but it wasn't possible for my mother to send me a parcel unless there were post offices in heaven and aunt Perry wouldn't have sent me a parcel. I mean, she lived with me. She could just give me whatever she wanted.
I looked up at her with squinted eyes. She had turned her back to me again, continuing to wash dishes.
"Did you send this to surprise me? Is there a special gift inside?" I asked, a small smile creeping up my lips, expecting a yes.
"What? No. Why would I send you a parcel Jane, I could just give it to you if I wanted." Aunt Perry answered, giving me the 'are you okay, Jane?' look.
"Right." I pressed my lips together. I couldn't think of anyone who'd send me this parcel. I didn't know many people in all honesty.
"Who do you think it's from?" Aunt Perry asked again, washing the last plate and placing it in the drying rack.
"I don't know." I shrugged. I chewed on my lower lip as aunt Perry turned off the tap and took off the yellow rubber gloves.
"A secret admirer, perhaps?" She raised an eyebrow at me, smirking.
"I think not." I deadpanned and wiped the cheesy expression off her face. She tsked like she was disappointed that it wasn't from a guy.
"Maybe it's from Amelia?" She suggested.
"Lia doesn't send me parcels." I bit my lip, staring at the small packet in my hands. Amelia Harper was my best friend and the only true friend I had. She was a gorgeous girl with hazel eyes and tanned skin. She was smart and always got better grades than me but there was never any jealousy between us. We met eachother in middle school and became one another's rock since then. I often told Amelia that she was the sister i never had. Needless to say, we were very close and soft for eachother.
"That's correct. Open it, let's see what's inside." Aunt Perry leaned in with her elbows on the table. Her curious eyes resembled a kid's who was opening a Christmas present wondering if it had his favourite toy inside or not.
"Okay." I said and started unwrapping the parcel. It was taped from all sides so I just grabbed it from one side and tore it open. A loud ringtone made both of us flinch. It was aunt Perry's phone.
"Dammit, that ringtone could wake up the dead. I gotta change it." Aunt Perry cursed under her breath and picked her phone from the kitchen counter. She glanced at the contact name on the screen and sighed with a frustrated expression. I assumed the call was either from her workplace or one of the many guys in their 20's who wanted to date her. She was stunning after all and had the personality that anyone could fall for. She was loved wherever she went.
"Sorry Jane, I gotta take this call. Show me the gift later." She told me and I nodded.
"Alright, sure."
Aunt Perry answered the call with a very fake sweet 'hello' and went to her room. My attention got back on the parcel. Tossing the khaki wrap away, I glanced at the thing inside.
It was a butterfly.
It looked so beautiful that I almost thought it was real. I forwarded my hand, hesitantly, as if I touched it, it would fly away. It was soft to touch but so cold. If it was a real butterfly, it was a dead one. The thought of somebody unknown sending me a dead butterfly gave me the creeps.
But when I turned it around, there was a pin attached to it. It was a blue butterfly brooch and it was pretty.
Who could have sent this?
I picked it up and stared at it, closely. Something in my peripheral vision fell down from the table. I looked down and there was a piece of paper near my feet. Strange, I hadn't noticed it before.
I bent down and grabbed the paper off the floor. It was barely the size of my palm and had a miniature handwriting on it that said 'Blessed be the one whom the butterfly touched'
I didn't understand what it meant but my gut feeling told me to throw the brooch away and move to another country as soon as possible. I crumpled the note in my palm and dashed back to my room. Closing the door behind me, I plopped down on my bed and reread the note and stared at the butterfly brooch with suspicious eyes. My eyes darted from the note to the butterfly and back. I read the note again, out loud this time, as if hearing the sentence would magically make it make sense to me.
"Blessed be the one whom the butterfly touched."
Suddenly, I felt a strange surge of energy rush through me. My heart pounded in my ears. Goosebumps covered my whole body and I threw the brooch across the room as if i was getting possessed. For a moment, I didn't feel like myself. I felt like somebody had invaded my body, a stranger that felt familiar. I thought my heart was about to explode with the overwhelming feeling inside me. My fists were shaking.
My soul almost left my body when my door slammed open all of a sudden with a loud bang and I screamed like there was no tomorrow.
Amelia's excited expression turned into a frightened one. Her round hazel eyes became wide at my absurd reaction. My hair were sticking to my skin because of sweat and I probably looked as pale as a ghost.
"Mable, are you alright?" She asked, concerned. She closed the door behind her and walked closer to me. She wore a off-white top with a pink mini skirt and stockings. The outfit was a cherry on top to her hourglass figure. She had dark blonde hair with light blonde ombre highlights that looked as smooth as silk. My bird nest couldn't relate. She looked like a Barbie as usual.
"I'm fine. You just scared the fuck out of me." I licked my lips and realized they were dry as a dessert.
"Geez, you look terrible. Did something happen?" She queried, her eyebrows knitted.
"Thanks for the concern, I know I'm ugly." I deadpanned, wiping the sweat off my forehead before she could question it.
Yeah, I felt like getting possessed a second ago and freaked the fuck out. I'm okay.
"Mable! I'm serious." Amelia scowled at me.
"So am I." I muttered.
"You're-"
"Why did you burst into my room like Ghostbusters? And when did you even come? I didn't even hear the bell ring." I interrupted her before she could continue her interrogation.
"Are you kidding me? I rang the doorbell for solid 10 minutes until aunt Perry finally opened the door." She crossed her arms over her chest in a 'I'm-mad-because-you-didn't-answer-the-door' way.
"Oh."
I swear I didn't hear the bell ring even once and our doorbell was as loud as aunt Perry's phone's ringtone.
"Anyway, I've some juicy gossip." Amelia uncrossed her arms and plopped down on the bed, next to me.
"What?" I shifted in my place so I was directly facing her. I was more of a 'minding-my-own-business' type of person but Amelia loved to gossip so I let her. Plus there wasn't anything wrong about listening to some drama.
"James is cheating on Autumn. I've proof." Amelia declared.
"Lia, that's their personal matter. Let's not interfere." I told her, remembering I still had the crumpled note in my left hand.
James? Cheating on autumn? Honestly, he was shady as hell from the start and I didn't doubt Lia's words. I've had my suspicions on him too.
"You mad? He's fucking cheating on her! If you wanna stay out of it, that's fine by me but I'm going to tell Autumn and you can't stop me." She snapped with raised eyebrows.
"It's going to break her heart." I mumbled. As much as Autumn deserved to know it, I didn't want Lia to tell her because it was going to take a toll on her. She was helplessly in love with James. That bastard.
"I know but she needs to know about it."
"You're right." I agreed, poking the inside of my cheek with my tongue.
"I also have another news. Guess what?" Her expression changed to a mischievous one.
"I hope it's not about someone cheating, a fight or a murder at least."
"Nope, It's a happy news. Malcolm confessed to me." She told me and I almost choked on my dry throat.
"Oh my gosh, he didn't."
"He did and he was so cute!" She squealed.
"I know you've had this huge crush on him since day one. You must be on cloud nine right now. You guys dating now?" I asked, playfully pushing her right shoulder.
Malcolm was a french guy, with light blonde hair and deep blue eyes, from our class that Amelia fell for since the first day. She said it was love at first sight. Cliché, I know.
"Nope." She shook her head.
"What? Why not? Wait- did you turn him down?" I gasped, covering my mouth with my right hand.
"No, silly, I'm just playing hard to get. A woman shouldn't give away her heart so easily." Amelia said with a proud smile and did a hair flip.
"You got that right!" I hyped her.
"Alright, so back to you, why do you look like you just survived world war III?" She flipped all of her hair to one side and I knew why Malcolm had confessed to her. She was charming-in a best friend way to me, at least.
"Well, I've something to tell you too actually." I told her, fidgeting with my fingers.
"What? What? What?" Amelia leaned in.
"I just received a parcel a few minutes ago."
"Oooh is it a gift from a secret admirer?" She asked, wriggling her eyebrows.
"No? Why is that everyone's first thought?" I rolled my eyes.
"You're pretty. Maybe somebody likes you in school."
"It's not about a boy, Lia."
"Then who sent it?" She questioned.
"That's the thing, I don't know. It had this butterfly brooch and a very odd note with it that gave me the freaking creeps." I told her as I rubbed the nape of my neck.
"Show me. Where's the brooch?" Amelia blinked.
"Well, um." I realized I hadn't had the time to pick up the brooch from the floor where I'd thrown it. I got up from the bed and grabbed the brooch off the floor, next to my dressing table. Amelia's eyes followed me and when I came back to the bed and handed the brooch to her, she gave me the 'why-was-it-on-the-floor' look but didn't say anything about it. She took the brooch from me and I sat back down.
"Wow, it's so pretty." Amelia gawked at the butterfly brooch that I never wanted to touch again.
"Here's the note. Look what it says." I placed the crumpled note in my palm in front of her. She put down the brooch and flattened the paper.
"Blessed be the one whom the butterfly touched?" She read it.
"Shh, don't say it out loud." I shushed her like a maniac, acting as if Anabelle was going to hear it and come out of the closet to eat my soul.
"Why not?" Amelia gave me a weird look.
"Because, well, I said it out loud and it gave me this really weird feeling. I felt like somebody was taking over my mind and body and I didn't even hear the bell ring when you came. I couldn't hear anything and my heart was pounding so hard that it hurt. I thought I was going to die..." I trailed off when I caught Lia's blank expression.
"Mable, it's just a stupid note." She reassured. She looked worried and for a moment, I thought she thought I was bonkers.
"You're right. It's probably just a prank. I'm overthinking again." I wiped at the beads of sweat that were forming on my forehead again.
"Nah, if you're telling me then there must be something creepy about it. I mean, the note is pretty absurd and we don't even know who sent it. If you want i'll just throw it away on my way back home." She said and I was glad she hadn't just shrugged me off like I was being utterly crazy which I probably was but if Amelia thought I was overreacting, she didn't show it.
"Thanks Amelia but I think I'm going to keep it." I grabbed the brooch and she handed me the note. I placed both the things on my nightstand beside me.
"Even though it creeps you out?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Even though it creeps me out." I nodded.
"Alright. Whatever you want. Anyway, I'll get going now. I just came here for the gossips. I gotta finish my homework." Amelia said as she got up from the bed and adjusted her clothes.
"Oh, yeah, homework. I gotta finish that too. See you at school then."
"See you tomorrow! If you get scared, you can call me." She winked.
"I'm not a child." I shook my head at her.
"But you are a baby."
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes and she chuckled. After a little bit of bickering, I walked her to the door and she left. I looked around the house for aunt Perry but she wasn't anywhere to be found. I figured she'd probably went out to do something.
I climbed up the stairs, lethargically, not wanting to see the homework that was waiting for me, and sauntered to my bedroom. I decided to glance at the brooch for one last time before I started doing my homework but the brooch wasn't on the nightstand where I'd left it.
It was in my hand.
And that wasn't even the scariest part because when I stared at the brooch in my hand in sheer horror, my heart sank.
The butterfly was glowing.
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A/N: Hey guys and girls and gorillas-
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How's everyone doing? I hope you enjoyed reading. If you did, don't forget to vote and tell me your thoughts in the comments. (◕દ◕)
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-Miracle ♡